HuniePop Space Adventures

Chapter 2: Face Your Fears

Warning: This chapter contains content that is NOT for the faint of heart. It includes a VERY tragic backstory with disturbing elements. Read at your own risk!

Ayano Aishi. My second ex-girlfriend. The mere sight of her made nightmares of my past rush back to me. Nightmares that took me years to forget. Ayano playfully rubbed her finger all over the glass, as if she were trying to spell something.

"H-how? The doctors said that you escaped and were never found again. How the hell are you here?!" I asked, stunned. I heard a small chuckle coming from above us, to the right. I looked up and saw a red haired girl with glasses standing at a control console.

"It's so strange how fate can be sometimes, isn't it?" the girl said.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. The girl just lowered her glasses. Her eyes were a blood red while her sclerae were black.

"You may call me Info-chan. Do you know about the infamous cyber-attack of 2010 at a certain high school?" she asked.

"Akademi High School. Whole school went dark for a day and a lot of private information was almost leaked. I remember that school and that event. I don't remember you," I replied. The girl just chuckled.

"Of course, you wouldn't. Because as I recall, the cause of that attack was never uncovered. You see, Ayano is my loyal subordinate. I fed her information on how to get her 'Senpai' and eliminate the competition while never disclosing my identity to her. After she broke free of her prison, I brought her here to give her the power she so desired. And I believe that it's past time that you rekindled your old romance," Info-chan said. She pressed a button which raised the cell which was holding Ayano. She stood up and staggered a bit before looking me in the eye.

"Oh, Senpai. How I longed to be with you once again. And now, we will finally be one again!" Ayano said. All of a sudden, her eyes turned red, her fingers elongated into claws and her teeth became razor sharp. She stared at me with such intensity that it became so unnerving.

"See, Senpai? Don't I look so much more beautiful?!" she asked.

"Jeez, you really are a psycho," I said. Bad idea, Max. You know she doesn't like being called that. Ayano's pupils contracted and she lunged at me. I shot at her with my shotgun, but she easily avoided the shot and pinned me against the wall.

"Do I look like a psycho?" she asked with a toothy grin. She rubbed her hand against my right side, feeling a scar I had ever since I had known her. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. Tears of BLOOD.

"You kept it… after all these years. I'm so happy, Senpai! But… I think we should have more proof of our love," Ayano said. Without any warning, she stabbed her claws into my side. I couldn't help but yell in pain as she took her claws out and the blood gushed out of my side. She ran her bloody hand down the side of my face, as if to comfort me.

"Don't scream. It's just a product of our love. I promise that you'll enjoy it in time," she said, advancing in on my face. But before I could say anything or she could do anything, a rain of plasma bolts came down from above, one of them hitting Ayano in the shoulder. I looked up and saw Nikki aiming her arm cannon down at Ayano. She fired again and hit Ayano in the chest, which made her stagger backward. Quick thinking, I aimed my shotgun upward and fired the grappling hook, which was caught by Amki. I grabbed the BFG before she yanked me upward out of Ayano's grasp and dragged me through the door as Celeste and Eva shot at Info-chan, who managed to escape. Odango was at one of the terminals, apparently trying to hack into something. Ayano climbed up the wall and got an eyeful of Nikki, who shot her again and made her nearly fall of the ledge. Ayano screamed and lunged right for us, claws and teeth out, but the door suddenly closed, locking her out. As she audibly tried to get through the door, Nikki tried to tend to my wounds.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Define 'OK'," I replied.

"'OK'. Usually a term to describe how one-," Odango started.

"He did not mean literally, Odango," Celeste interrupted.

"Soooo, are we gonna talk about what just happened? Who was that girl?" Amki asked.

"My second ex-girlfriend," I said, cringing at my pain.

"Your second ex?" Nikki asked, looking at me with a worried look on her face.

"Ayano Aishi. She's a yandere. Or at least she was until she became a psychopath," I said.

"What the hell is a yandere?" Amki asked.

"It's a term used to describe a person who is initially very loving and gentle to someone before their devotion becomes destructive in nature, often through violence and bloodlust," Celeste explained.

"And you dated that girl?" Amki asked me.

"Not intentionally," I replied.

"Well, it could be a lot worse. You could've had a yandere girlfriend who wanted you to drink her love nectar," Odango said, sheepishly.

"YEAH, I'D THINK I'D RATHER HAVE THAT INSTEAD OF WHAT I GOT!" I yelled. However, I immediately reeled back from the pain coming out of my side.

"Please tell me there's an infirmary near here!" Nikki said, trying to put pressure on my wound. Celeste took out a sprayer and sprayed some sort of medicine on my wound, which stopped gushing blood and then proceeded to check the mini map on her wrist.

"There is. It's just down this corridor. And thanks to Odango's extensive computer skills, we now have access to every door in this facility," she said.

"And better news! There isn't a single enemy down this entire corridor!" Odango said.

"Then let's get going before they decide to come back," Amki said, picking me up. Nikki gave me a kiss on the head before looking up at Amki.

"Please be careful. I don't wanna lose him," she said, tears running down her face. Amki just smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He's in good hands. No one's getting left behind," she said.

"We need to move. Every second we waste means a second closer to death for him!" Celeste said. The team immediately began to run down the hallway toward the infirmary.

"I know that this might be a bad time to ask, but what was it that exactly occurred between you and Ayano that caused her to become like this?" Eva asked.

"Something… that happened a long time ago," I replied.

9 years ago…

I remember the day like it was only yesterday. It was on May 6, 2011, underneath the sakura trees at my old high school, Akademi High, where my life took a turn for the worst. As I was walking down the pathway from the entrance of the school, I was ambushed with a hug from behind. It was my wonderful girlfriend, Generica, a girl with luscious purple hair, a voice as smooth as silk, and the sweetest heart ever known to mankind.

"Hello, Marshmallow. I missed you," she said, hugging me tightly. I turned around and kissed her tenderly. Her kisses were always so soft and filled with love, so much that it felt like the world stopped around us. After we broke away from the kiss, we stared into each other's eyes.

"I missed you, too," I replied, smiling.

"Oh, how I envy that I couldn't be in the same classes as you. It would be great for us to have more quality time together and to improve our relationship!"

"Well, the school makes the schedule, not us. Plus, we share English class together," I replied.

"So, what shall we do now that we are out of school?" Generica asked.

"Oh, I have a pretty romantic night planned for the two of us," I said, ruffling through my bag.

"Is something wrong, Marshmallow?"

"My school notebook. I could've sworn that I put it in my bag. Ah, whatever. I'll get it tomorrow," I said.

"No, you should go get it real quick! We do have that big test we've been studying for in a few short days and those notes would really help! I'll just stay here until you get back," Generica said. I smiled and kissed her.

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute! I love you!" I said, rushing back to the school. But I wish that I had never gone back in that school and left her just standing there. After I had grabbed my notebook and put it back in my bag, I ran back out the door, only to find that Generica was gone.

"Generica?" I called out. No response. I went back over to the cherry blossom trees, looking for her and calling out her name. After a while, I started to get a bit frantic. After a few more minutes of searching, I heard the slight splashing of some kind of liquid. I looked down and saw a pool of it. BLOOD. My whole body became cold and tense with fear as I looked around the trunk of the tree. What I saw confirmed my fear: Generica's body was on the ground, cold and lifeless, blood gushing out of her stomach. I immediately went over to pick up her body and put two of my fingers up against her neck. Tears began to run down my face. She had no pulse.

"Generica? Sweetie? Please, wake up," I said, crying as I cradled her lifeless body. There was no response. But before I could say anything more or call the police, something hit me from behind. I fell face first into Generica's blood and the entire world went dark. When I came to, I was lying in a bed with bandages around my head. I turned myself around and saw a girl sitting alongside the side of the bed. She had black hair wrapped into a ponytail and grey eyes. I immediately sat up, startled.

"Are you alright?" she asked. I just gave her a confused look.

"Uhhh, yeah. Except… What exactly am I doing in your bed?" I asked.

"Oh, that. I saw that someone had knocked you out and they left in a hurry when I saw them. I brought you home so you could recover!" the girl said happily. I suddenly remembered exactly what had happened and began to search my pockets frantically for my phone.

"What's wrong?"

"My phone! I swear I had my phone on me when I was knocked out!" I said.

"Why do you even need your phone?"

"To call the police! Someone was murdered and I need to tell them!" I replied. I got up and started to head out the door.

"Wait, take it easy! I already called the police and they're searching for the killer now!" the girl said.

"OK, then why didn't you just lead with that?" I asked.

"I didn't mean to worry you. I just was more concerned with your safety."

"Wait a minute. I know you. You're Ayano Aishi, aren't you?" I asked. The girls eyes lit up and she smiled.

"Yes! Yes! I'm so glad that you remembered!" Ayano said, ecstatic.

"Yeah, you were getting bullied and I helped you get back up."

"And you told those girls to leave me alone. I was so honored that you stood up for me like that. I'm sorry if I startled you by bringing you here."

"It's no problem. So, um, can you tell me where my phone is? I need to call my parents," I said. Ayano looked up at me with disappointed eyes.

"Why?"

"So I can tell them that I'm OK. They get really worried when I'm gone for too long."

"Oh! Of course! I'll see if I can- Wait, do you smell that?" Ayano said, sniffing the air.

"What?" I asked. I started to smell the air too. It smelled like someone was cooking. It smelled very good and made my mouth salivate. Ayano suddenly grabbed my hand and led me out of the room.

"Come quickly. My mother just made dinner. You simply must join us!" she said, leading me down the stairs. I tried to protest but she wouldn't listen to me. Plus, my stomach started to grumble so I felt that having dinner would help a bit. Ayano led me into the living room and sat me down on the couch.

"Wait here! I'll go get the table set for us!" she said before running away. I don't know why, but it felt like Ayano was being a bit forceful towards me. Well, maybe she was just being a bit overprotective. I got up and looked around the living room, looking at how neat and organized everything was. My eyes then fell upon a picture of a couple that was sitting on a table. I picked it up and saw that the woman looked about 40 years old, was wearing a purple T-shirt and jeans and had black hair wrapped into a ponytail that went all the way down to her hips. The hair at her sides also went down that far. The man was wearing a collared shirt with a tie and khaki pants and black hair. But what was a bit off-putting about it was that the woman was smiling tenderly while the man looked… disappointed. Like he didn't want to be there or he didn't like the woman he was with. I didn't really understand why, given that the woman looked really nice and cheerful. My thoughts were interrupted by a woman running up to me. She looked exactly like the woman in the picture, except she was wearing an apron on top of her clothes and had purple slippers on.

"Excuse me! Please don't touch that! It's very precious to me!" she exclaimed, taking the picture from me and putting it back on the table. She adjusted her hair and smiled at me.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it meant so much," I said sheepishly.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have overreacted like that. You must be Ayano's friend from school. She's told me so much about you."

"Uh, yeah, that's me," I said. Ayano suddenly rushed up to me and hugged my arm.

"I see that you've met my mother. Senpai, this is Ryoba Aishi. Mother, this is my Senpai!" Ayano said. Wait, hold up. SENPAI?

"Uh, my name's Max Smith, actually. Nice to meet-," I started to say. But again, Ayano interrupted me and dragged me over to the table.

"Come on, Senpai! Let's have dinner!" she said, sitting me down. Ryoba just giggled at Ayano's antics and sat down with us. She had prepared us a simple chicken meal with some peas and carrots, but it tasted REALLY good. I don't know why I wasn't friends with this girl sooner. And her mother was so nice too! After a while, I started to make conversation with the two of them.

"So, Mrs. Aishi, how long have you been married?" I asked.

"Oh! Around 20 beautiful years! MY husband is the most wonderful man I could've hoped to marry!" Ryoba said, beaming.

"And where is Mr. Aishi?"

"Unfortunately, he's working late tonight. I'm sorry that you couldn't meet him. He would be pleased to meet you," she replied. Ayano immediately got up from the table and grabbed my arm.

"Senpai, let's go back to my room. There's something that I would like to discuss with you," she said, lifting me up and dragging me away. Seriously, my poor arm felt like it was going to pop out of my socket. After we got into her room, Ayano closed the door behind her and sat down in a chair.

"Sooooo, uh, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. I noticed that Ayano was starting to blush.

"Senpai, I don't know any other way to say this but, I feel like I have to say it now," she said.

"OK?"

"Senpai…. Ever since that day that you stood up for me, I've been having feelings. Feelings whenever I'm around you. Like my heart starts racing," she said, gripping her skirt.

"What are you saying? That you… like me?" I asked. Ayano gave a slight gasp and her face turned bright red.

"What… how… when?" she stammered.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Ayano. A lot of girls like me. It's not like I'm the most unapproachable person in the world!" I said, smiling. Ayano seemed to be embarrassed. She was completely red in the face and she was clutching her skirt really tight. Before I could say anything, Ayano stood up in silence and trembled a bit.

"I'm… going to go get us some dessert! I'll be right back!" she said, running out of the room. I started to get a bit uneasy, as if something was off about her. But, that couldn't be the case, right? I then noticed that her phone was on her desk and I picked it up. I had to call my parents and let them know that I was alright. Plus, Ayano wouldn't have a problem if I was just calling my parents, right? But when I unlocked the phone, I saw a whole bunch of pictures of me and Generica. A bit weird, but I noticed that several of the pictures had red lines crossing out Generica and a circle around me with the words, "He's MY Senpai! Not yours!". Was Ayano a stalker? Did she have a thing for me and wish that Generica was gone? I immediately shook it off and went to the phone app. When it opened up into call history, I noticed that she didn't call 911. In fact, the only two contacts in her history were her mother and an unknown number. Nothing else. I just ignored it at the moment and continued to call my mom. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey, Mom, it's me," I replied.

"Max?! Sweetie?! Oh my God, are you OK sweetie?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm at a friend's house."

"Oh, sweetheart, I was so worried about you. I was about to file an amber alert, I was so worried!" my mom said. Did I mention that my mom was super protective of me?

"Mom, amber alerts are for abducted children, not young adults," I said.

"Sweetie, listen. Where are you? I need to come and pick you up now!"

"Mom, I'm at a friend's house, I said. Her name's Ayano Aishi."

"Who? You know what, never mind. Is there a street name that you can see?" she asked. I went over to the window and parted the blinds, looking for a street name.

"Hold up. I can't see it that well. Oh, wait, the street is-," I started to say. But before I could say anymore, the phone was snatched out of my hand. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ayano standing there, the phone in one hand and a plate of custard pudding in the other hand. However, she didn't have a look of innocence anymore. It looked more like a look of disgust and anger. She hung up the phone and set it down on the desk along with the pudding.

"Who were you talking to, Senpai?" she asked in a dark voice.

"Just my mom. I told you that I had to tell her where I was," I replied.

"So she can take you away from me?" she said.

"What are you talking about? It's not like I won't see you again at school tomorrow."

"That's just the point. I don't want to see you again at school tomorrow. I want you to stay here with me. Forever."

"Whoa, Ayano, I think you're being a bit too serious about this, aren't you? Also, I saw your call history. You never called the police. Why did you lie to me?" I asked nervously. Ayano sat down in front of me with glaring, disapproving eyes. It was like she was trying to burn a hole in the center of my head.

"Don't you get it? I finally have you here… with me. It only took the death of that slut for you to notice me. And now that you have, I will NEVER let you go," Ayano said, grimly. Her words shocked me. I felt like I knew the answer, but I had to ask her.

"Ayano… did you… kill my girlfriend?" I asked, tearfully. Before I could react, Ayano grabbed my wrists and wrestled me to the ground, tying up my wrists behind my back with a rope. She then proceeded to tie up my ankles and then sat me in a chair. She then brought the pudding over to the table behind me and sat on top of my lap. I never felt so scared in all my life and it didn't help that Ayano had this evil look on her face.

"It's time for your dessert, Senpai. I made it with a lot of love so you better eat all of it," she said.

"Ayano! Answer me! Did you kill Generica?!" I asked, becoming hysterical.

"I did. But it was because she was hogging you all to herself and taking advantage of you. I was just trying to help you," Ayano replied.

"WHY?! She was an innocent girl! She didn't deserve to die! I loved her!" I said, crying. Ayano just ignored me and stuck a bit of pudding in front of my face.

"Eat," she commanded. But I refused to eat it, even as she pushed it up against my lips.

"I SAID EAT!," Ayano said again, louder this time. But I locked my teeth together, refusing to eat. But I probably should've actually eaten it, because next thing I knew, Ayano pulled a kitchen knife out of her drawer and stabbed me in the side with it. As I screamed in pain, Ayano put the pudding in my mouth and forced me to swallow it. If it were any other kind-hearted girl feeding me this pudding, I would've enjoyed it. But, with this girl, sadistic and insane, sitting on my lap while I was tied there, driving a knife into my side WHILE she was feeding me? It was completely horrifying. Ayano took the knife out of my side and some of the blood on it splattered onto her pudding and the floor. Ayano seemed displeased but not too upset at what had just happened.

"You got blood all over the pudding. Now, I have to go make another one," she said. She got up off of me and drove the knife into the table and balled up one of her shirts and placed it on my wound. As she started to walk out the door, she turned back to face me.

"Don't even try to escape. If you do, there will be consequences, Senpai," she warned, wiping the blood off of her face. She then walked out the door and closed it behind her. After she did, I started to inch my way over to the knife. I didn't care if she told me to stay put, I HAD to get out of there. After the knife was directly behind me, I began to cut the ropes with the blade and free myself. After I had gotten the ropes around my ankles undone, I made a silent dash to the door. I suddenly heard the phone ringing and cautiously opened the door a crack. I saw Ryoba standing there, talking into the phone.

"Hi sweetie! How's your day going? You know, Ayano has a friend over. He's a very sweet boy!" she said cheerfully. After a pause, however, her expression turned dark.

"I hope that you aren't with somebody else at this moment. You know I don't like that. You're married to ME, remember?" she said. My whole body went cold. Ayano's mom was ALSO a yandere?! Then that meant that her father was forced into this marriage against his own will. After another pause, her expression softened.

"Well, that's good to hear. I think he might be staying for the night, so you might still get a chance to talk to him. So, hurry home! I love you always!" she said in a cheerful mood again. I silently closed the door and tried to look for another way to escape. If Ryoba saw me trying to leave, she might put me back in the chair and toture me for trying to leave her daugther. Or worse. I suddenly noticed that my bag was lying under Ayano's bed. I immediately started to look through it, trying to see if Ayano had put my phone in it. But only my notebook was inside. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. I realized that I had no other choice but to escape out the window. I slipped my bag over my shoulder, silently opened the window and made my way down the roof. I dropped down to the ground and landed on the side where Ayano had stabbed me, but I gritted my teeth and tried to hold back my screams of pain. After that, I snuck past the kitchen windows and ran for my life, clutching my side. When I got to the road, a car had just turned the bend and stopped right in front of me as I collapsed to the ground. A woman got out of the passenger's seat and ran over to me.

"Omigosh, sweetie are you OK?" she asked. She suddenly noticed my stab wound.

"Harry! Get us to the hospital as fast as you can! He needs a doctor!" she exclaimed as she led me to the car and laid me down in the back seat. After that, I passed out. When I came to, I was sitting in a hospital bed. A doctor was standing right beside me, trying to wake me up.

"Son, are you alright?" he asked.

"Sort of. Where am I?"

"At the hospital. You had a severe knife wound in your side, but none of your vital organs were hit. You're very lucky to be alive, son."

"My bag. Where is it?" I asked. The doctor picked my bag off the ground and gave it to me. I weakly wrote my parent's number on a piece of paper and gave it to him.

"That's my parent's number. Please call them," I said. The doctor smiled and patted my shoulder.

"We'll call them right away. Get some rest for now, son," he said, walking out of the room. I didn't really feel like sleeping and opened my notebook. If I had to do the test even if I was in the hospital, then I should get started on studying. However, as I flipped through it, a pink letter fell out of the pages. I saw that it was addressed to me. I opened it and inside was a card with hearts all over it and inside the card was Generica's handwriting.

It said:

My dearest Marshmallow,

These past two years have been the most memorable of my life thanks to you. I remember that when we first met, it was at first because of a dare. You could barely stand straight because of how beautiful you saw me. And you bravely stood up to a bully later that day when he was sexually harassing me. Even though he gave you a black eye, you still didn't back down from him. And when I came to tend to you after the fight, you looked me straight in the eyes and told me that I was the most beautiful angel in the world. And I called you my knight in shining armor and you kissed me tenderly. You felt so soft and warm and sweet when you kissed me, it felt like I was kissing a marshmallow, which is what I decided to call you. Despite this pet name I gave you, you were always there for me throughout the year and your love for me made me whole and any woman would be privileged to have you as their husband. I look forward to the many years that we will have to spend together and the memories we will have to share.

Your future wife,

Generica

The tears came to my eyes and I pulled the letter closer to my heart. Generica was the first girl that I ever loved. And now she was gone. As I was crying, a nurse came in with a glass of water and noticed me crying.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. I immediately wiped the tears from my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a heartfelt love letter," I replied, smiling a bit. The nurse smiled back.

"I brought you some-," she started to say. But, before she could say anymore, she fell completely silent. I saw blood starting to drip out of mouth, some of which fell into the glass, coloring the water red. She suddenly fell to the ground and what was standing behind her horrified me. Ayano was standing there, a knife in her hand and the darkest look I had ever seen. I fell out of the bed and tried to make my way toward the window as Ayano locked the door and walked toward me. The nurse's blood started to make a large pool which Ayano walked through and she grabbed my shoulders and forced me up against the wall. My entire body was cold and Ayano's stare made me even more fearful as she straddled on top of me.

"I warned you, Senpai. Now you have to face the consequences," she said.

"Just leave me alone! Ayano, you're gonna be in a whole lot of trouble if you don't stop this!" I said, hysterical. Ayano just ignored me and proceeded to rip my hospital gown apart and caress my chest.

"If you won't accept my love, then I'll need to do something that you'll remember forever," she said, starting to slip out of her shirt.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU PSYCHO!" I yelled, slapping Ayano across the face. She held her cheek for a bit before looking back at me with an enraged face.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Please get off me so we can discuss this in a more calm way," I said, sheepishly. But, Ayano grabbed my neck in a fit of anger and pinned me against the ground. It felt like she was trying to choke me to death.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST NOTICE ME?! IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU, THEN NO ONE CAN!" she screamed, grabbing the knife and holding it above me. But, before she could bring it down, an arm grabbed her from behind and wrestled her off of me. It was another nurse, who had unlocked the door to see what the racket was. A third nurse came in to help and wrenched the knife out of Ayano's grasp. Ayano struggled to get free but the two nurses were just too strong for her.

"Amanda! Call the police immediately! And someone get this boy some help!" the second nurse yelled into the hallway as Ayano continued to struggle. A fourth nurse came in to comfort me and see if I was injured. As the other nurses dragged Ayano away, I could hear her screams.

"SENPAI! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME! YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU! PLEASE! SENPAAAAIIII!" she screamed. And just like that, in one day, my girlfriend was killed, I was stabbed and nearly raped, and I felt totally helpless.

Present day

After a while, the six of us finally reached the infirmary. Amki set me down on the bed and the others started to search through the cabinets for any sort of medicine.

"There should be some kind of penicillin or something here right?" Nikki asked.

"Something like that. But it looks like all of the medical supplies have been cleared out," Eva said.

"You mean to tell me that the friggin' geniuses who built this place couldn't restock their meds every now and then?!" Amki said, still applying pressure on my wounds.

"There was a supply ship that was supposed to arrive, but I suppose that they got the transmission before they arrived and turned back," Celeste replied.

"Well, there is a supply room back here. Maybe they have extra meds," Odango said, pointing to a large door near the back of the room.

"Well, open it! We're wasting time!" Nikki said.

"OK, OK! Jeez, you're being so pushy, Nikki!" Odango said, opening the door. But, what was on the other side of the door scared her and alerted the rest of the team. It was another Infernite, except this one was large and spherical body crowned with horns that was floating off the ground. It's mouth was way larger that the other Infernites we saw earlier and it had one giant green eye in the middle of its head which was covered by armored plates. Underneath its body were a bunch of vestigial arms that looked practically useless. Odango stood there in fear, even as the monster opened its mouth and the inside of it began to glow purple, but Nikki leapt into action and stabbed it through the eye with her sword and following it up with a blast into its mouth from her arm cannon which blew out its back and splattered blue blood all over the floor. After Nikki pushed the creature's corpse off her sword, she and Odango went into the supply room.

"So, you got a weird name for that one?" Amki asked me.

"Cacodemon," I replied, coughing a bit. Odango ran back out with a worried look on her face.

"Well, that 'Cacodemon' must've eaten all of the medical supplies, because there's barely anything in there!" she said.

"And I think things are about to get worse," Eva said from the doorway. Sure enough, we started to hear snarling again, which got louder with every passing second.

"Again with these things! How do they even know where to go?" Amki asked.

"It could be a number of things. Sound is one. The smell of blood is another," Odango replied.

"Odango, close the door!" Celeste said. Odango did just that right before the Imps could get through the door.

"Are you sure that there isn't some sort of medical bot or something here?" Nikki asked with a worried look on her face as she held my hand.

"Or better yet, a defense system?" Amki chimed in.

"I'm looking right now! I can't guarantee I'll find within the first few seconds!" Odango said, searching through the files on her wrist. A loud bang came from the door, no doubt from the Infernites outside.

"Well, you got futuristic tech, right? You should be able to use that!" Amki said, getting into a stance. Odango kept searching through the files until she finally found something.

"Wait, here's something here. Project… Praetor?"

"What the hell is that?" Nikki asked, nearly dodging a clawed hand from and Imp that came through the door.

"It looks to be some sort of mech defense system. Perhaps it could buy us some time to find some medical supplies for Max," Celeste said.

"Well, it's worth a shot!" Odango said, pressing a button to activate it. Nothing happened at first but, without any warning, the bed I was on sprang to life, cuffing my wrists and ankles and trapping me inside it like a coffin.

"Max! No!" Nikki said outside the bed. I could hear her banging on the outside.

"What just happened?" Celeste asked.

"I don't know! I don't even think that WAS me!" Odango said. I could hear Amki audibly struggling to try and get the bed open.

"Seriously?! How come everything in this damn place has metals stronger than me?!" she asked. As the others outside tried to get me out, a scanner went over my body and then a trio of tentacled needles injected some sort of serum into my wounded side. The pain was too great that I couldn't help but yell in pain.

"MAX!" Nikki yelled, trying again to open the bed. I looked down to my side in my pain and saw that my wound was healing rapidly until it looked like nothing happened. Then, a group of mechanical parts placed some kind of armor starting around my legs.

"Guys, those Infernites are about to break through that door. We should take shelter in the supply room!" I heard Odango say.

"No! I'm not leaving him!" Nikki protested.

"Nikki, there is nothing we can do! We need to retreat!" Celeste said.

"Then go! I'm staying here!"

"Nikki… Go," I said.

"Max, baby, no. I'm not leaving you!" Nikki said.

"If you stay here, you'll die. I promise, I'll be right behind you."

"That's a whole load of crap and you know it!"

"Nikki. Please… go," I pleaded. I couldn't tell, but I had a feeling that Nikki was probably crying outside the bed. She angrily punched the bed one more time.

"Damn you!" she said.

"I love you. Now, go!" I said. All I could hear after that were the sounds of a door closing, metal tearing, and the growls of Infernites getting closer to the bed before the armor formed a helmet around my head, blocking out my vision.

Nikki's perspective

We left him in there. We just LEFT HIM. I leaned my head against the door, crying while the others looked on. Nobody said anything, possibly because they didn't know what to say.

"We just left him in there," I finally said. Odango walked up to me and showed me a heart rate monitor on her wrist.

"I have his vitals here, Nikki. He's doing fine right now," she said. I silently nodded my head and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Nikki… I… I'm so sorry. I didn't… realize that the threat was this grave. I should have never asked you to come," Celeste said, looking upset. I immediately walked up to her and grabbed her hands.

"No. You didn't make the decision. We did. None this is your fault!" I said. Celeste gave me a slight smile. But her smile was broken when the Imps started to punch at the door.

"I hate to be that person, but does anybody see a way out of here?!" Amki asked.

"I don't think there is a way out. The supply room's door is made of a stronger and denser metal than the other doors. They can still break through, but it will take them longer to do so," Eva said.

"And how about that mech defense system?!"

"It says it's 90 percent complete! I don't know where it will be coming from or how long it will take to get here!" Odango said, panicking a bit.

"Then there's only one thing we can do," Celeste said, drawing her katanas.

"Prepare yourselves," I finished, taking out the BFG. The others took out their weapons and got into a ready stance.

"ETA to door breaking: 60 seconds!" Odango said, priming her arm cannons. One of the Imps tore a slight hole in the door, giving us a small at the danger outside.

"So, are you actually gonna use that?" Amki asked me.

"If I have to. Either way, I'm blowing all these bastards straight back to Hell," I replied, my finger on the BFG's trigger. Without any warning, another Imp hand tore through the door, widening the hole. We could see a bit into the room, but all of a sudden, the entire room filled up with steam, blocking out our vision in there.

"ETA to door breaking: 30 seconds!" Odango said. The Imps were doubling their efforts at breaking the door. But suddenly, two of them broke off roaring at something and disappearing into the steam. But I could kinda hear the sounds of tearing and crunching, but it was hard to tell with the Imp in front of the door, roaring at us.

"10 SECONDS!" Odango yelled. Just as the Imp was about to get through, an armored hand reached in from behind and grabbed it by the head, pulling it back. There was the sound of the Imp screeching in pain and the sound of a fleshy impact and then it all went quiet. I cautiously inched toward the door and peeked out. A sudden burst of Imp blood suddenly splashed over my face, making me fall backwards. But after that, it fell silent again.

"Odango… open the door," Celeste finally said. Odango did just that and the steam started to pour in. One of the Imps came crawling in, its lower half completely missing , before an armored foot crushed its head. I looked up and saw that the foot belonged to some kind of suit, which looked a lot like the Doom Slayer.

"Uh, OK. Is that thing a friendly or no?" Odango asked. I calmly stood up and walked closer to the Doom Slayer or whatever it was. But I looked to the side and noticed that the bed Max was on had opened again, which was the source of the steam. It took me a few seconds to realize who was inside the suit.

"Max?" I asked. Before he could reply, we heard more snarling coming from down the hallway. The Doom Slayer suit immediately turned around and activated a blade on its left arm and grabbed the shotgun from the ground. When the next horde of Imps ran into the room, all hell broke loose. The Doom Slayer went all out on the horde, slicing them in half, crushing them with his hands or underneath his foot, punching through their chests, or blasting them with the shotgun. After every single Imp was dead, the Doom Slayer crumpled to his knees, breathing heavily. I approached him and his helmet deformed, revealing the man in the suit. My boyfriend.

"You OK?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not dead. And I just killed an entire group of Imps by myself, so, I'm doin' fine," he replied, smiling. I smiled back and hugged him.

"You know, you look really hot in that suit," I added.

"Ah, that makes sense," Odango said.

"What?" Max asked.

"Project Praetor's not a mech defense system. It's a super suit. It increases your strength, speed, and durability while also heightening your senses," Celeste said.

"Huh. Well, that explains the adrenaline rush I just had. Any side effects?"

"None that are listed," Odango said, before an alarm started blaring.

"Aaaaand now have a new problem. The power generator at the top of this place has gone into overload mode."

"Wait a minute. Does that mean that…" Amki started to say.

"…If we can't shut it down, the entire facility will explode with us on it," Eva finished.

"Can you shut it down from here?" Max asked.

"I'm trying to, but someone has locked me out. We'd have to go to the roof and shut it down manually," Odango replied.

"Then we should get going. Is there an elevator that can take us up there?" I asked. Celeste checked her mini map again.

"There is. It's just down the hallway. If we can get to that, it should take us all the way to the control center," she said.

"Then what are we doing just standing here? Let's get to it!" Max said, standing up and grabbing my hand. After we had gotten to the elevator and started to go up, Celeste pulled up a schematic of the roof.

"This is how we shut down the power generator. There are three levers on three separate spires that need to be switched off. Once those spires are down, we can shut down the generator from the control room. If one of those spires is still on, we can't shut down the generator and we all die," she explained.

"Hey, uh, Celeste? I think there might be a slight flaw in that plan," Amki said. Sure enough, several feet above the generator was a giant portal in the middle of the sky. Falling out of it were hundreds of different Infernites, from Imps to Hell Knights.

"Was that there when we got here?" Max asked.

"Frankly, we couldn't even see outside when we got here. That could have been here when the invasion started," Eva said.

"It must be originating from Infernus! If we wish to halt the invasion, we must destroy that portal!" Celeste said. When we reached the floor we were going to, we ran down the hallway to a split corridor, one path leading to an airlock, the other to the control room.

"Listen, if something happens to you two…" Celeste started to say.

"You're acting like we're not comin' back. We've survived this far. We'll make it," Max said, putting a hand on Celeste's shoulder.

"You better. Or I'll have to live with my mistake."

"Let's not waste any more time! We got a planet to save!" Amki said. The four of them headed to the control room while me and Max stood in front of the airlock.

"How do we even begin to deal with something like this?" I asked. Max just took out his shotgun and smiled.

"Like we do in videogames. Except this time if we die, we die for real," he replied before his helmet reformed around his head. I just smiled back and created my own helmet and the two of us walked out into the chaos. Sure enough, three spires were not powering the generator, they were powering the portal itself. A bunch of Imps spotted us and began to charge, baring their teeth and claws.

"I'll take the spire on left! You take the one on the right!" Max said, charging headlong into the Imps and shooting them. I ran to the right and shot a few myself, but a few Cacodemons floated up and began spewing plasma balls at me. I was able to dodge a few, but one nearly grazed my leg and threw me a bit off course and over the ledge. But, as I was holding on, another Cacodemon was floating up toward me, about ready to bite me. But I jumped out of the way and grabbed onto its back, which earned me a ride up to where the lever was. After I jumped off of the Cacodemon's back and pulled the lever, I unleashed a missile barrage on the Cacodemons and Imps beneath and then got into a fight with a Baron of Hell, a giant, pink minotaur-like monster that was one of the higher ranking demons in DOOM. I stabbed it in the chest with my blade and transformed my other hand into a mace and bashed the creature's head in. After it fell to the ground, I ran over to the third spire, where Max already was.

"I beat you here," he said, jokingly.

"Technically, this… wasn't a race," I said, panting a bit. The two of us looked up the third spire, where the final lever was. There seemed to be a large gust of wind near the top, no doubt from the vortex of the portal.

"You wanna take this one or do you want me to do it?" Max asked me.

"Together. We do it together," I replied. Max nodded in agreement, but the metal floor in front of us was torn open and out of it crawled Ayano, who looked even more psychotic.

"Do I have your attention now, Senpai?! I don't know what it is that you wish for me to be, but you STILL refuse to pay me any attention! You hang around all those girls. WHY NOT ME?!" Ayano asked. Max just pointed his shotgun at her.

"Ayano, I've been wanting to say this for quite a while: I think you and I need to see other people," Max replied before he shot Ayano in the chest which made her fall backward over the ledge.

"'You and I need to see other people'? That's your big comeback?" I said after a while, jokingly.

"That was really all I could come up with," he replied. But, unfortunately, Ayano climbed back up and angrily lunged at me, pinning me to the ground. She stared at me through my visor, her mouth dripping blood.

"So you're the one that Senpai cares for more than me! With you gone, he'll finally turn his attention to me!" she yelled, her hands turning into claws. But before she could stab me, Max grabbed her by the arm and punched her off of me. As she was getting up, Max picked me up and put me on my feet.

"You flip the lever. I'll handle this," Max said. I nodded and started to climb the spire as Max fought Ayano.

Celeste's perspective

As the four of us moved down the hallway, I couldn't help but feel a dark presence as we progressed forward. When we reached the door to the control room, Eva and I took up position on one side and Amki and Odango took up position on the other side. After I opened the door, I pointed my rifle into the room. Standing at the terminal was the same red-haired human from before, Info-chan, who was watching Max fight his ex-lover, Ayano, through a window. Unfortunately, she must've known that we were coming, because her head turned toward us.

"I figured that you would be coming. So, come out. It's pointless for you to keep hiding," she said. I kept my rifle up and walked into the room.

"Step away from the terminal if you value your life," I said. But, Info just gave me a smirk, clearly mocking me.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done here," she said. Odango, Eva, Amki, and I surrounded her to prevent her from escaping again. But Info didn't seem fazed by our approach.

"Final warning: Step away from that panel or I'll vaporize you," I said. Info just chuckled and leaned up against the control panel.

"You know, I must say, I am impressed with your progress. Not many aliens can stand against whole hordes of Infernites."

"Cut the crap, lady! What is this even about?!" Amki asked, impatiently.

"My, my. You Quadrasapiens are so dense. You need to learn to lighten up," Info replied before her hand burst into flames and she threw a fireball at Amki, knocking her back. As Odango helped her up, I pointed my rifle back at her.

"You're an Infernite," I said. Info just grinned.

"I am."

"So, this is about you finding more worlds for your kind to destroy? More food for them before they starve?!"

"Oh, no, no, no. It's much more than that. My superior is in search of an artifact on my home world. This portal is to ensure that he can get to it so he can begin," Info replied.

"Begin what?"

"His conquest. You can figure out the rest from there. Not that you'll be alive much longer to do so that is," Info said, charging up another fireball and throwing it at me. I dodged to the side and shot at her, but she jumped up and lunged at me, slicing my rifle in two. I took out my katanas and began to fight her in hand-to-hand combat. As this went on, Odango plugged up to the terminal and started to initiate the shutdown. Info caught sight of her, but Amki grabbed her by the head and threw her against the wall. Before she could get back up, Eva hit her with a concussive blast. I ran over to Odango's side as the others fought.

"How much sooner?" I asked.

"Third spire isn't down yet, but once it is, I can activate it immediately," Odango replied.

"Nikki, Max, we need that third spire down now!" I said through my comms.

"Working on it! I'm almost there!" Nikki replied. I looked to the side and saw Max fighting Ayano. It was remarkable, him standing up to that which he once feared. Before much time passed, Nikki had pulled the lever and Odango's wrist computer glowed green.

"And we are a go for launch!" Odango said, pushing a button on the HUD. The three spires suddenly pulsated an energy wave that shut down the generator which began to effect the portal. Flashes of lightning began to constantly strike random areas of the roof. One struck Ayano, who fell to the ground, not moving.

"The portal is shutting down! Max, Nikki, you need to get out of there, now!" I said.

"Copy that! Heading back to the airlock now!" Max said. Both he and Nikki started to make a run for the airlock, but Nikki was grabbed by Ayano who proceeded to try and stab Nikki through the head. Nikki, however, managed to dodge each of her attacks until Max was able to punch her off. But it did not take long for her to recover and start attacking again. A small alarm on Odango's wrist suddenly started blaring.

"Guys! Something's happening! The portal's about to collapse! You have two minutes to get out before it incinerates the roof!" Odango said.

"Forget about Ayano! You need to get out now!" I yelled. But, I had not realized that Info had snuck up behind me and stolen one of my katanas. Before I could react, she stabbed me through the shoulder and forced me to the ground. She stood over me, staring with her bright red eyes.

"No one is going anywhere. This place shall be your tomb! A new era has begun and we all have-!" she started. However, she could not finish as Max had fired his grappling hook and yanked her out of the window, pinning her to the ground. I heard the wind howling as Nikki continued to fight Ayano and Max held Info on the ground. All four of them didn't have time to react before a bright column of light shot down from the portal and engulfed them. After a while, the wind stopped howling and everything went quiet. I looked out of an unbroken window and saw that the entire roof had been melted and the portal was gone. But Max and Nikki were nowhere to be seen. Amki and Eva walked over to me as I started to tend to my wounds.

"They did it," Amki said.

"Odango. Are they… gone?" I asked. Odango took a look at her wrist and pulled up Max and Nikki's vital signs. They were still there.

"They're alive. I guess the beam transported them somewhere," she said.

"Max? Nikki? Are you there?" I said over the comms. There was no response. I tried again.

"Max. Nikki. Please respond," I said. I heard a faint crackling and then Max's voice.

"Celeste? Is that you?" he asked.

"Oh, thank God. Are you all right?"

"I need to get back to on that. I'm in free fall right now."

"Free fall?"

Max's perspective

The wind was rushing against my visor. Wherever we were, we were transported WAY above the ground. A few feet below me, Nikki was falling slightly unconscious. It was a bit of a close call, but I was able to grab her before we crashed into the ground, forming a giant crater. Nikki fell to my side and suddenly breathed a gasp of air. Both of our helmets deformed and we laid on the ground, panting.

"I changed my mind. I wanna go home now," Nikki said.

"I think it's too late for that," I said, looking up at the sky. It was a bright orange with a lot of heavy clouds.

"Max, are you alright?" Celeste asked through our comms.

"Yeah, we're fine. And we're breathing somehow," I said.

"Breathing? I told you, Infernus' atmosphere would burn your lungs within seconds!"

"Maybe we hit an air pocket. Sky looks nice. And the moon's pretty close."

"Infernus doesn't have a moon," Celeste said. Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Nikki asked, sitting up.

"Infernus has no moons, just like Venus. Whatever planet you're on, it's not Infernus," Celeste replied. Confused, I got up, strapped the BFG to my back, picked up my shotgun, and walked out of the crater with Nikki following behind me. The whole landscape DID look a bit like a volcanic landscape, but there were also a bunch of floating islands being held together by chains and some of the rivers were either blood or lava. But we also saw metal structures. Some of them had an alien language on them, others were like buildings.

"Celeste, there are a bunch of buildings here. And some of these signs have alien language we can't read," Nikki said.

"My God. The portal wasn't coming from Infernus. It was coming from GAIA PRIME," Celeste said.

"It's not Gaia Prime anymore," I said as me and Nikki looked out over the landscape.

"This is Hell."

To Be Continued…