(Chapter 4: Showtime!)
The sounds of scraping metal along a rocky ground woke up Ryan from his slumber, how long he had been knocked out he couldn't have known. His eyes slowly fluttered open, the plate that had crashed down upon his face had apparently slid off. He let out a weak groan as he examined his surroundings as best as he could, his eyes fading from clear to blurry vision frequently, making things hard to see in a way.
That same man, Heisenberg, was dragging him along by a chain attached to the steel in which still encased most of the ex-marine's body. Ryan also noticed that his hands were now locked up together by a small steel rod that had cuffs big enough to keep his hands restrained, now this man was pretty strong, but he wasn't strong enough to break these bounds that held his hands together.
The environment was dimly lit by lights from the ceiling every now and then, the walls, and ground appeared to be all rock with some wooden boards coming into view here and there. This must be some kind of mine, the place smelled of dust and the wood was starting to rot from how long it had been there. The loud grinding noise the metal made while scraping along the rocks hurt Ryan's ears, and he had no way to cover them. The screechy sounds making Ryan groan in pain as his world continued to fade in and out of darkness.
"Quit your whining, we're almost there!" Heisenberg shouted, shutting Ryan up as he fell back asleep due to being so incredibly sluggish from all of the action he had to put himself through earlier, thankfully he had gained a small bit of energy back due to this nap he was taking after being knocked out.
His world remained dark until a loud, proud feminine voice was heard.
"The man is of no real use to anyone else, and my daughters do love entertaining foreigners..." The woman was heard saying as Ryan slowly blinked, his vision blurry for a moment.
When Ryan came back to reality, he noticed a small white porcelain doll dressed in what appeared to be a miniature wedding gown. The problem about this doll is that it was moving on it's own, the woman continued to chat in the background as his eyes remained fixated on the doll as it tried to wake him up. It's eyes tiny, and beady. It's mouth having a crooked smile.
Then came another being, this one had a large hump on it's back that was obscured by a large piece of clothing thrown over it. It's face was deformed, and ugly looking. It's eyes looking similar to a fish than human, and it smelled of a fish too. A crown of bones appeared to be sitting on top of this thing's head, this hunchbacked monster getting in front of the doll to get a closer look, to which the doll didn't like.
"Out of the way ugly, I wanna see!" The doll shrieked as it smacked the deformed thing on the side, causing it to turn away, giving the doll a clear view of the ex-marine downed at it's front. The voice of the doll told Ryan that it was female, as it had a high pitched, insane voice to it.
"Ohhhhh, he's awake!" The doll cheered, sounding ecstatic to see that this man had awoken up to this nightmare reality that was before him, the hunchbacked monstrosity grumbled towards her, their bickering causing the hammer wielding man to snap.
"Both of you shut the fuck up!" Heisenberg barked at them in quick succession before silence fell upon the room once more.
The doll scampered back to it's apparent handler, who was dressed in all black with a black veil hung over her head to obscure her face. The hunchbacked being scuttled over towards the far right of the room close to the front.
Sitting in a church pew was a towering woman, the tallest woman that he had ever laid his eyes upon. She was dressed in a large white dress, and a massive grey hat that sat up top her head. Her lips were a ruby red, around her neck was a necklace of white pearls, and the woman also had pearls for earrings as well. Black leathery gloves were worn on her hands. Her eyes seemed to have a golden glow to them as well, this person was strikingly...beautiful to Ryan despite her menacing frame of being 9'6.
Then there was that hammer wielding man that had trapped him sitting in a chair across from her, sitting comfortably as he looked around the large room. The woman in the middle caught loads of attention, the one standing at the front of it. It was that woman from the paintings that the ex-marine had discovered in the village. Wearing the exact same robe of crow or raven feathers, her golden mask looking like a plague doctors mask, but at the same time it wasn't. There was also that halo around the back of her head, giving her a seraphim like appearance.
The building they all seemed to be in was that of an abandoned chapel, the insides having been messed around with to their liking. It reminded him of that chapel that he had camped out in ten years ago during that failed mission. Even the bell tower seemed to have collapsed, reminding him of his fate during that mission as well. A large roof having been put in the ceiling.
Candles were on the floor close to the angelic woman standing at the front of the room, slightly lighting up the ruined chapel, most of the light coming in from the exposed sky from the hole in the ceiling.
After admonishing the mutant fish humanoid, and the small porcelain doll; Heisenberg redirected his gaze towards the tall woman across from him.
"You mean you'll screw around with him in private, where's the fun in that? Give him to me, and I'll put on a show that everyone can enjoy." He told to first the tall lady, and then towards the angelic woman in the center.
"Ugh, so gauche...what do we care for bread, and circuses, the man-thing's suffering is assured regardless." The tall woman grumbled, apparently having to deal with Heisenberg's antics before in the past, his games becoming old for her, too old as a matter of fact.
"Yack, yack, and if a man's dick is cut off in the castle- blah, blah, blah!" Heisenberg taunted her, but almost just as annoyed as the massive woman was. Wanting to have his fun yet again, the hunchbacked beast of a man was heard laughing at this, enjoying the rivalry between the two.
"I've heard your arguments, some of you were less persuasive than others, but..." The angelic woman began, Ryan found himself looking at every thing in this ruined chapel that was staring down at him.
The tall woman seemed to be thoroughly examining him from afar, her face a semi-smirk as her expression still showed signs of being annoyed by Heisenberg. The lady seeing how banged up the man was, how there was so much dried blood all over him as if he had been in a fight for his life, it made him look 'delicious' to her...
"I've made my decision...Heisenberg, the man's fate is in your hands." The angelic woman stated, pointing towards the hammer wielding man who then tipped his brown hat to her as a sign of giving thanks.
So that's his name, Heisenberg... Ryan thought to himself, thinking of his encounter with him earlier as his memories started to come back to him now that he was wide awake.
"Mother Miranda, I must protest!" The tall woman boomed, her bass filled, deep feminine voice sounding like thunder as she violently rose from the church pew. Dropping her long wand in which Ryan didn't know was a cigarette. Now that she was standing at full height, she was even more menacing than before, but less intimidating than that Urias beast, she appeared to be human, just taller than average...
Ryan's eyes widened when he heard that name, 'Mother Miranda' spoken from the massive woman. That angelic looking woman in the middle, the same one seen in the paintings, and practically worshipped by the villagers, that was her! Confirming his suspicions.
"Heisenberg is but a child, and his devotion to you is questionable! Give the mortal to me, and I will assure he is ready..." The lady continued, aggressive at first when referring to the hammer wielding man, but growing soft when speaking about 'the mortal,' which was no doubt the ex-marine that was staring up at her, dumbfounded at what was going on.
It was then that Heisenberg stood up, and decided that he was going to give a piece of his mind to this tall woman.
"Shut your damn hole!" Heisenberg yelled, his hammer launching itself into his hand as if he was some type of living magnet. It was as if he was ready to use it or something, the arguments between the two reminded him of brothers and sisters bickering back and forth, he found it quite comical at first as a smirk cracked across his face.
"Don't be a sore loser, go find your food someplace else..." He continued, the two of them standing a bit too close for Ryan's comfort as he scooted back.
"Quiet now child!" The tall woman snapped." Adults are talking..." She continued, her voice reverting back to that soft, sweet sound.
"Heh, this is why I never wanted to have a sister or brother, so shit like this doesn't happen..." Ryan grumbled to himself, catching the attention of Heisenberg who appeared to throw his hammer right at the ex-marine's face, but it stopped just shy of hitting his jaw.
"Shut your mouth! Don't get involved you little smartass!" Heisenberg barked, Ryan had his head tilted back, a slightly nervous snicker coming out from his mouth.
"Chill out man, it really does sound like the brother and sister I never had!" The soldier said as loud, and best as he could.
When Heisenberg wasn't paying attention to the tall lady, she appeared to have a smirk on her face as she heard this man taunting Heisenberg. Even though she was part of it, she was impressed, and also enjoyed seeing a brave mortal such as Ryan not backing down. From the dried blood all over him, to the bruises, and scars that she could see, she started to take interest in this man. Breaking his mind would be fun, but she was also somewhat attracted to his boldness in a way...
"And oh, I'm the child? You're the one arguing with Mother Miranda's decision!"
"You wouldn't know responsibility if it was welded to that hammer!"
"Oh, keep growing, one day your head might actually fit your ego!"
While the two fired shots at each other back and forth, it appeared that some lycans were starting to emerge from the shadows on ruined scaffolding behind Mother Miranda. The doll also appeared to be enjoying the two of the lords arguing with one another.
"Fight, fight, fight!" The doll cheered.
"SILENCE!" Mother Miranda screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice reverberating off the walls, and even exiting through the massive hole in the rooftops. The wings on her robe extending as she held her arms out.
"My decision is final, there will be no arguing. Remember from whence you came!" The woman boomed with authority, the tall woman rolled her eyes as she strutted back to her position, standing over the pew, gazing down upon the man. She was still upset with Heisenberg, but there was nothing she could do against Mother Miranda's orders, she had devoted her life to her.
The growls of the lycans became numerous now as several of them began to emerge, foaming at the mouth, others salivating at the thought of getting another hand at attacking Ryan. All of those who had been put through these games had failed, either becoming a meal to these humanoids or suffering another deadly consequence.
"Lycans, and gentleman! We thank you for waiting, and now let the games begin!" Heisenberg boomed, sounding like a ringmaster to a circus with the way he shouted those words as loud as he could for all to hear him.
"Let's see if you can get out of this one, Ryan Miles..." Heisenberg growled with a devious sneer on his face as he rose back to his feet, hoisting his hammer over his head before slamming it down upon the chains in which bound the ex-marine's lower legs!
Finally he could get up, Ryan scrambled back to his feet. Slowly backing up towards a hole in the floor, lycans surrounding him. All eyes in the room were on him, all of them appeared to be smirking at the man's trouble.
"You're gonna learn to regret your arrogance, you fools!" Ryan screamed in defiance against all of these monstrosities in the room staring at him, seemingly wanting to see him get butchered.
A lycan did a mock charge towards him, causing Ryan to take a few more steps back. His eyes wide, he tried to break free from his shackles on his wrists, but it was no good. He would have to run. Growling in frustration at his helplessness if he got caught by these hungry beasts.
"Hah, well how about you back up those words. Let's see how tough you really are!" Heisenberg taunted before starting to count down.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one!" He would scream as Ryan backed up, eventually jumping down into the hole, landing into the mines he had been dragged through earlier.
"SHOWTIME!" Heisenberg announced as loud as he could, and it was then that the chase was on!
As he ran down the tight corridors, he could see lycans running on the other sides of the boarded up walls. They could just as easily break through, and attack him. One of their arms reached through, Ryan barely getting by via the skin of his teeth.
"God help me!" He cried out, relying on the man upstairs to try and get him out of this situation, or at least give him the strength to do so.
"That's right, Ryan, run for your life!" Heisenberg taunted through an intercom as he watched as the ex-marine darted through the mine like a mouse in a maze.
The soldier turned a corner as he ran as fast as he possibly could. Teeth clenched tightly as he put all of his focus and energy into surviving these games, he would do it for all he had lost in his life. It would feel damn good to defy the lords of the village, and stun them all over again.
He noticed a lycan burst out through a wall in a forked path, so he went to the left, kicking out some boards before jumping into another section of the mine which turned out to be a large cave. There seemed to be a natural occurring stone bridge leading to an exit of this cave, could it be this easy? There was also pitfalls in the floor, tunnels leading down to God knows where, he darted forward as he saw lycans perched on ledges within the walls with fiery bows aimed right at him.
"Very nice, Ryan!" Heisenberg complimented before breaking out into devious laughter, something was wrong, the trooper could feel it.
His hunch was proven correct as he saw that bastard Urias emerge from the hole in the top of the cave, massive war hammer in hand. Growling as he landed on the natural occurring bridge, the entire landform shaking under his heavy weight.
Ryan backed up, his eyes wide in horror as he was completely powerless to fight back now. The only thing he could do was survive, especially with flaming arrows trained on him. The look of fear in his face caused the lords of the village to laugh wickedly.
Urias reared his monstrous head back, letting out a roar before cocking his arms back, about to take a gigantic swing at Ryan. The impact would surely kill him, the ex-marine decided to make a ballsy decision, and he jumped from the ledge, sliding down a tunnel as the large hammer missed him!
His body bounced, and struck the rocky walls of this tunnel repeatedly. Tearing up his clothing, cutting him open in some places on his face, and leaving prominent bruising. One of the hits landing dangerously close to his eye as a jagged edge struck him, creating a black eye, the hit being so hard that it caused his eye to go completely bloodshot. His left eye red, while his other eye was normal.
He then emerged from the tunnel at the bottom, his body flying into another room with a harsh impact on the rocky ground. The ex-marine groaned in pain as he rolled to the side. He noticed several lycans standing behind a gate, roaring for his downfall. One of them even appeared to have a smirk on it's atrocious face, this caused the man to slowly look up to see a spiked ceiling...
"Still alive? Impressive..." Heisenberg said, admittedly stunned to see how Ryan had a massive will to live, and survive no matter what the costs. The ex-marine clearly had a never say die attitude about him, and he would never give up, fighting until the end or until all hope seemed lost.
Dust flew down from the spikes on the ceiling, indicating that they would soon be lowering down to gore, and impale him. This was something unlike Ryan had ever seen before in his life, the way these traps were set up.
"Shit..." He said to himself as he noticed some flimsy boards covering up a hole in the wall within the distance, he narrowed his eyes as he inched himself back to his feet. Stumbling towards the boards, giving them a kick as hard as he could so they would fall off with a loud thud. As he ducked down low to fit through the hole, he noticed that the spikes were still lowering from the ceiling on the other side.
"Oh fuck!" He screamed as they were getting even closer than before, now a few inches over his spiky hair, he could feel the cold steel of the spikes pressing against his sweaty hair after all he had been put through so far.
Ryan continued to run as fast as he could to the end of this corridor where the spikes weren't lowering down, slowly lowering his stance the more he felt the spikes pressing down upon him until the point where he had to lean all the way over. With a scream of both determination, and fear, he drove his heels into the rocky ground, turning his body into a torpedo as he launched himself out of harm's way in the nick of time.
"My word, you truly are as strong as they say you are!" Heisenberg laughed, Ryan could tell there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. Something about it told the ex-marine that he was coming up on the end of this challenge of doom that many others haven't came out alive of. A smirk cracked again on Ryan's face as he could hear the concern in the voice of the magnet of a man.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with, Heisenberg. None of you do!" He screamed in defiance, knowing that Heisenberg and the lords would hear his bold words.
Ryan looked down off of a small ledge, seeing a light in the distance at the end of an open room. The way out, he chuckled to himself as he hopped down from the ledge, approaching the doorway until a gigantic roller slammed down to the rocky ground, taking him by surprise. His eyes widened, his jaw slightly parted with a look of worry.
"Oh really?" Heisenberg was heard asking as the roller began to spin around repeatedly at such a rapid pace, the roller was lined with spikes, slowly approaching the ex-marine as it continued to back him against a wall. He frantically looked from left to right, nothing was there to protect him.
"Dammit, no!" Ryan screamed, you could hear the fear in his loud voice as he continued to back away. Seeing the sparks fly off the rocky floor from where the spikes brushed against them with each quick revolution.
"I have a very clear idea of who I am up against, I know more about you than you could fathom. Ryan Miles..." Heisenberg chuckled.
"Did you really think that I would let you get away?" He was heard asking the ex-marine as his back was getting closer to touching the wall behind him, he looked anywhere for a way out, but in his frantic, chaotic movements, he couldn't find anything...
"Gotta keep Donna and Moreau entertained!" The magnet man boasted, within the chapel, the tiny doll was clapping her hands like an excited child. Moreau was happily jumping up and down, Lady Dimitrescu smirked as it seems that the man's luck had finally run out. Another confident man having his hope of escape crushed into dust. Mother Miranda watched on quietly as Heisenberg provided commentary, a television providing the view of the action from various hidden cameras.
Ryan's back finally touched the wall, and he looked over to the side, running towards the wall over to his left to see if he could smash through it with his shoulder. A very dumb idea, but considering how some boards were partially covered up by rock, perhaps he could bust through with enough force.
It went the exact opposite of how he hoped, now his shoulder was hurting like a bitch. A scream of pain emitting from his mouth as the gigantic meat grinder only got closer to him, the loud scratching sounds the spikes made as they scraped against the rocky floor were about to bust his eardrums!
"So now it's time for the beautiful," Heisenberg started, his voice sounding like he was trying to hype everyone up.
"Blood soaked!" He continued, turning to Lady Dimitrescu, the tall lady. Knowing how much she liked to drink blood, in an attempt to hype her up. The only thing that came from her was nothing but a smirk and a huff through her nose.
"Grand finale!" He finished.
Ryan would back up, surprised that he found himself within a depression in the wall. Providing enough space to just barely keep him safe from this grinder, too close for comfort. He could feel the air whisk downwards as each spike quickly went down. It was then that he had an idea, he took the tiny metal rod that held the locks on his hands, and smashed the center of it into the grinder with a scream, a cry of worry, and potential regret if this had cut his hands off or mangled his arms up. The spikes continuously landed against the rod, turning it from the rusty brown color to a fiery orange.
"Nothing like American ground beef!" Heisenberg joked before letting out a sinister laugh, not realizing what was happening on the other side of the grinder that he couldn't see.
Finally, the steel rod that held Ryan's binds, freeing his hands. He collapsed against the wall, exhausted as the grinder came to a halt. He could just take a nap here if he wanted to, he felt like he was about to pass out from using so much energy. Even though he had been knocked out momentarily, it still wasn't enough to last him through another one of these courses if he was to be put through one.
"Let's see what we got." Heisenberg stated as the grinder started to retract backwards, and lift up, resetting itself. His eyes widened in shock as he noticed Ryan Miles still breathing, his chest heaving up and down slowly as he tried to catch his breath after non-stop running, and movement.
"I told you, you have n-no idea. Who y-you are fucking dealing wi-with, he-re..." Ryan huffed, and puffed out between breaths. A smirk then coming to his face, even a snicker came out of his mouth as he passed through the exit, getting out of harm's way at last.
It was then that Heisenberg switched off the television, he stood there in complete silence for a moment until a steel rod came in, smashing through the television! Shattering the device to pieces on the floor with a loud sound of shattering glass as the screen burst.
"Urgh, what a let down!" The tiny doll yelled.
"I wanted to see him die..." The ugly fish humanoid grumbled.
Heisenberg's gloved hand shook as it slowly moved up, taking off his glasses as he gently placed them down on the church pew that was next to him.
"He survived, he actually survived..." Heisenberg said to himself before his shaking hand formed into a fist.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he pounded his fist into an altar.
"HOW THE HELL DID HE SURVIVE?!" The magnet man continued to scream, his face turning red from pure rage.
"You saw it, I had him trapped against the wall, and he somehow comes out unscathed?!"
"I would tell you to rewind it, but in your anger you've destroyed our only source of checking for mistakes." Lady Dimitrescu taunted him, Heisenberg growled before turning around.
"Can it, Alcina!" The man of steel boomed.
"He survived, when all of the others have faltered...just you wait until I get my hands on that son of a bitch..." He growled through his teeth as he marched away, the lycans coming back to the chapel empty handed.
"My apologies, Mother Miranda." Heisenberg growled as he strolled past her as he left, one by one each lord left. Leaving only Alcina to stand in the ruined chapel all by herself, hand on her hip as she smoked her long cigar, puffing out some.
As she stood there she thought of Ryan Miles, and how he survived through so much. The lycan attacks, the cruel, frigid air of the storm as it passed over them all. To surviving Heisenberg's game by mere luck. This man was certainly more than met the eye, she could tell he would scratch and claw for survival. It was evident by all the dried blood on him, and the condition in which his clothing was in, not to mention the scars, and the sickening bruises on his face.
The tall woman glanced at another television screen as she left the ruined chapel, showing off Ryan leaving that underground chamber where all of the abandoned traps were located. Where several skeletons were seen laying on the ground. He was limping, his face showed that he was the most tired he had ever been in his life. All Ryan wanted to do now was rest, and find peace...however, Lady Dimitrescu had other options.
"Now it's my turn..."