Chapter One:
Where Evil Lurks in The Darkness...
Footsteps echoed through the ominous halls of the cathedral, the beam of the flashlight shining upon the walls covered in strange green computer code-style text. Misty darkness surrounded him, the place was spooky; just like the rest of the Dark Web.
And yet, he'd been looking into the mystery for a while, the strange disappearances and the haunting whispers of something evil lurking down here that had been occurring for some time now.
He wasn't alone, he wasn't unarmed.
His gun lay ready in his belt, filled to the brim with all the bullets that GreenStacheBoi859 needed to protect himself. ShadowSquid9 was with him, dressed in dark leather with shades resting over his eyes.
The Octoling had come by the Dark Web many times; he knew it like it was the back of his hand. And yet, it seemed he wasn't too familiar with this chapel.
"Whomever was here..." GreenStacheBoi murmured, "Whomever made this place, they must have discovered something or were trying to uncover something connected to the great mysteries of the universe; some higher power we know nothing about. Real spooky."
"That's the Dark Web for you." ShadowSquid remarked, "Shady, spooky and ominous; perfect place for thieves, hackers and shady dealers to gather and conduct so many heinous acts."
"Hold on..." GreenStacheBoi stopped, "What's that on the wall?"
The green-clad mustached machinamist shone the flashlight upon a spot in the middle of the wall and his heart pounded with dread; a red blotch sat upon the green text, covering it up. It looked like... blood. Something must have happened here ages ago, the blood blotch looked dry now.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say someone must've been attacked or harmed themselves." ShadowSquid quipped, "That is not pretty."
"I can see more blood." GreenStacheBoi turned, seeing another red spot.
But this time, it seemed someone had written something in red. The duo looked closer, the words in blood appeared to be a message; 'Turn Back! Danger!'
"Whatever happened here, the victim must have known more people would come." ShadowSquid speculated, "They only had time to write those three words with their final breath before their attacker finished them off."
"The shadow lurking here..." GreenStacheBoi said.
He turned away from the wall, moving left and heading further down the corridor. But halfway, he stopped and turned, ShadowSquid was still standing there and gazing at the bloodied wall.
"You coming?"
"Oh." ShadowSquid turned, "Sorry, man, it's just... I... wanted to see if there was more..."
'Rrrrrrrrrrgk!'
GreenStacheBoi and ShadowSquid looked around cautiously, the former grabbed his pistol and the latter whipped out a Splat-Charger. The shadows danced ominously around them; sending cold chills up their backs. The sound came again, then it was quiet in the cathedral.
The two travelers shrugged and continued down the corridor, keeping their weapons ready while GreenStacheBoi shone his flashlight through the darkness and kept an eye out for anything shady as their footsteps continued to echo throughout the halls, despite their efforts to walk at a slow and cautious pace.
Light shone through an open window, partially cutting through the darkness; GreenStacheBoi and ShadowSquid both knew it was just the way the sun was shining since the Dark Web was a region obscured in mist where the solar light barely shone through the murky haze.
"This chapel is like a maze." GreenStacheBoi said, "It's just as big as any other chapel..."
"Perhaps bigger than that." ShadowSquid suggested, "The architects probably wanted visitors to be intimidated if they ever dared to come here..."
Shrugging off their nervousness, the two of them moved further down the corridor, diving deeper into the haunting shadows. GreenStacheBoi and his Octoling partner took another turn, seeing more red blotches on the walls with more words written in blood just like the previous message, letting off ominous warnings.
'Need life.' One message read, 'Must live.'
'Help!' Another message said.
'Save us, please…'
A nearby door that sat half-open caught the duo's eye, GreenStacheBoi approached and slowly peaked it open. He looked inside the room that awaited on the other side and held back a horrified gasp.
He couldn't unsee it now; A pile of lifeless bodies with blank faces lay in heaps all over the room, both wearing overalls of various different colors and sharing a similar dark mustache.
GreenStacheBoi was unable to recognize some of them, but he knew they were Mario Recolors. Whatever was here, whatever was behind their disappearance; it was stealing their lives. More blood-written messages lay on the wall near the corpses, saying the exact same words as ones in the hallway.
ShadowSquid peaked inside the room, almost dropping his Charger. He and the green Mario recolor pulled out and closed the door, looking at one another with horror. This nightmare was deeper and more haunting than they thought it.
Those Mario Recolors that had been vanishing weren't just being abducted here; They were being slaughtered, slaughtered by something sinister!
But for what purpose?
With their curiosity peaking and aware of the danger they were facing, the two of them resumed following the corridor, seeing more blood messages everywhere on the walls as they did.
A dim light got their attention, followed by a chill breeze from somewhere. GreenStacheBoi and ShadowSquid could make out a slight red hue as well, there was something here and they were getting closer. They looked at each other, wondering if they should turn back before something happened.
They made their decision. The two moved closer and took another turn, finding themselves in a massive hall; the kind where people came to attend services in a traditional cathedral.
It was gigantic, just as large as the cathedral itself, and tall pillars rose up toward the ceiling all around them. GreenStacheBoi shut down his flashlight and raised his pistol, keeping on guard for hidden danger.
He and ShadowSquid wandered the room, taking their time to take it in. Then they saw it ahead of them; the altar, the obelisk. They knew its purpose, it was clear, this place was most likely often used for sacrificial purposes.
And then, their eyes took in the horror awaiting them here; More lifeless Mario recolors lay near the altar, a pile of them lay around the room. GreenStacheBoi felt like he was going to throw up.
"Psst, hey. Look!" ShadowSquid tapped him on the arm.
GreenStacheBoi looked up with his Octoling companion, seeing the massive archway beyond the altar with swirling red mist within it. GreenStacheBoi turned on the flashlight again and raised it, peering into the archway, his curiosity spiking.
There was something about it that made his skin crawl, danger was close by and that archway was connected to it, connected to the shadow in the Dark Web...
Suddenly, without warning; A bright red spotlight came to life, shining around the room. Then it looked down, spotting GreenStacheBoi. A low growl emitted from the portal, the noise he and ShadowSquid had heard earlier. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't happy to have unwelcome guests.
A large blue arm emerged; its three fingers outstretched. GreenStacheBoi and ShadowSquid raised their fire-arms, the arm came closer and closer, it's shadow looming over them.
Fingers squeezed the triggers on both guns and the two opened fire, letting off as much ammo as they could. The bullets and ink streaked towards the ominous creature; one bullet seemed to nail the creature in the wrist as it cried in pain.
The gunfire stopped and GreenStacheBoi looked at ShadowSquid, wondering what was next... then a blue streak surrounded the former, the arm had grabbed him!
"GSB!" ShadowSquid yelled, he dropped his Splat Charger in shock!
GreenStacheBoi screamed as the arm pulled him into the archway, he could feel the light engulfing him, terrible pain as something sapped his life force. A voice spoke, a horrible voice, burning into his ears; "Avatar!"
All he could do was scream, scream in pain. He was helpless, unable to act and free himself! GreenStacheBoi faced his doom, facing the fate that had beheld his fellow Mario recolors, it was terrible!
ShadowSquid watched the archway with shock, picking up his fallen weapon cautiously and wondering what was about to happen next. He fired a shot into the portal, then another and another.
The Octoling didn't know what to do, his mind was screaming at him to run, run for his life. He hadn't felt this scared in his life, it was terror beyond terror. It was something out of a horror movie!
A horrible roar echoed through the cathedral and a force shot out GreenStacheBoi seconds later, he landed on the ground and ShadowSquid saw what had become of him; GreenStacheBoi was another lifeless Mario Recolor, his friend was gone; lost to a horrible monster.
The arm emerged again and ShadowSquid backed up, his knees trembling. The arm came closer, closer and closer.
Then, ShadowSquid morphed into Octo-form and fled from the room as fast as he could. The arm stopped and slowly retreated back into the shadows, back into the mist, while the gleaming red eye lit up again. The creature growled, letting out one more ominous utterance before it was gone:
'Soon... All shall witness...'