Sparda's Revenge: Story 2

All that Sparda could sense was the icy cold water chilling his bones and the faint light that shined onto his face through the water. His body floated motionless as he felt the sharp pain of the need for air. Yet he had no strength left to commit any movements but only float and wait until the overwhelming pain burst through his lungs. Just as he was about to reach the brink of oblivion, Sparda felt his body being pulled by an invisible like force. It seemed to coil itself around his body and pull him in building speed through the chamber rooms filled with water. As the pulling continued, all that Sparda could see was the ripples of the water and a bright light emerging. As the bright light grew stronger, a shadowy image of a figure emerged.

Sparda: "What?…"

The shadowy figure stood over Sparda before it finally disappeared into thin air. Slowly, Sparda closed his eyes while he took large gasps of air. It seemed an eternity for Sparda as he lay on his back, blacked out of reality. As always before, his nightmares hit him with forces and continued to spin around his mind. Yet now the dreams seemed different for some certain reason. They still produced the same amount of anguish but they seemed to be more vivid and clearer. The tortured souls of those he killed rotated around his mind, showing their pain and death to him. He moaned in his sleep as he saw an image of a small girl staring up at him with wide eyes as he drove his sword through her neck. Sparda instantly awoke from his unconscious state and began to cough violently. The liquid in his lungs burned him as he tried to expel them.

Soldier: "Are you all right?"

Sparda gasped for air as he saw a soldier standing in what looked like a metal cage.

Soldier: "Oh, thank the gods you've come. Break these bars get me out of here!"

Sparda: "How did I get here?"

Soldier: "I don't know. You appeared right there out of thin air. The Gods must of sent you to save me".

Sparda looked around the room while trying to regain his focus. The room was covered in Demon statues and containers that seemed to be full with red lava. By the caged soldier stood a platform that had the head of Shao Kahn staring down onto the cage. Still behind him was a large door that seemed to be sealed shut with an unknown pressure. Instantly, the true meaning of what this room really was hit Sparda.

Sparda: "This is a sacrifice chamber…"

He turned to the caged man and just looked around the cage while running his hand across the bars.

Soldier: "Well, what are you waiting for? Let me out, we can find our way back to Artines."

Sparda grabbed the bars with both hands forcefully.

Sparda: "The gods demand sacrifice, from all of us."

Soldier: (Looking over to sacrifice chamber) "Oh please, no... No."

Sparda grabbed hold of the cage and push the it towards the platform that stood beneath the statue of Shao Kahn. While Sparda dragged the soldier to his ultimate fate, the sound of the continuous begging came from the cage.

Soldier: "Gods up high! Save me from this barbarian!"

Not listening, Sparda pushed the cage right underneath the head. He left the side of the frightened soldier and headed towards the lever.

Soldier: "No please, please! Please, on your humanity, don't do this!"

Without mercy, Sparda pulled the lever down as the soldier's breath suddenly stopped. The head above the caged soldier began to shake as its eyes began to glow. It's stony mouth finally opened as a wave off boiling lava oozed down onto the cage as he screamed in pain and terror.

Soldier: "No, no. Noooo!"

The lava burned through the metal as it turned the soldiers flesh into butter. Sparda had to turn away as he saw the melted body of the soldier as he still stood on his feet and screamed in agony. Finally all that was left was a small mount of lava that burned through the platform. Then the large door that was sealed shut finally emerged to open itself. Sparda carefully walked through the door trying not to step on the cooled lava. The entire room that Sparda stepped into was full of lava flowing in from all directions inside pipes and drains. Inside the very center was a pool of blood that had dismembered parts of gore. As Sparda looked down the pool, a loud and thunder some sound hit the room nearly causing Sparda's heart to jump to his throat. Quickly he pulled out his blades as he surveyed his surroundings in search of the culprit that made the sound.

Sparda: "Show yourself."

No answer came but another loud band that seemed to be seemly close to iron crashing over wood. Sparda still looked around the room while still poised to attack. Now Sparda had seen where to noise was come form, behind some large wooden planks held together by an iron chain. For behind it sound as if a large creature was trying to break through its barricade. As Sparda waited quietly for the creature to break through, he failed to notice that a trap door opened from the west sidewall. From with in it came the sound of galloping hoofs that keep getting louder after every passing second. From the darkness of the opening came a group of centaur demons. They growled and hissed as the galloped into the opening. Sparda now was wide aware of who was present with him. The centaurs held with them nerve-wracking axes as along with great bows and arrows. The center centaur pulled out a large arrow and aimed it at Sparda's heart. As the arrow was let go from it's standing, Sparda had nearly no time to react as the arrow dove into his chest. The force that repelled through the arrow was so strong that he was lifted off the ground and flew against the barricade that was still thumping from the mysterious creature. Sparda gasped to breath as he tore out the bloody arrow from within his lung. Enraged, he threw it at one of the centaurs who just simply caught it in front of it's face.

Sparda: (Drawing his blades) "Come, who will be the first to die."

Two of the centaurs came charging towards Sparda who waited eagerly. Instantly Sparda transformed his blades into the long sword that Artemis had given him. He simply held out he sword by his side and watched as the centaurs ran into it. Sparda swiped his sword through the two Demons and charged forward to the rest. The centaurs were caught off guard as Sparda slit through the first line of the centaurs. Grapping one by the neck, he flipped it over his back into the pool of blood. The centaur's skin began to dissolve as all it's inner organs and limbs were torn apart by a invisible force within the pool. But Sparda paid no attention to the deadly torture of the centaur as he pulled his sword from one's chest. Still the main centaur stood over Sparda as he tried to stab him but found that his hand was being held by the centaur's mighty grip. With one forceful throw, Sparda flew backwards almost landing into the sacrificing pool. As he recovered, the entire remaining group of centaurs crowed around him with the largest on in the center. Sparda glanced around him in hopes to see a open space but the centaurs had completely closed his path of retreat. A pair of the Demon centaurs jumped upon Sparda and began to trample him but Sparda's enormous strength was able to push off all of them. His large wings spread open as his eyes grew in a deeper burning red glow. He leaped onto the back of the large centaur's horse body as he tried to kick Sparda off. Still with no mercy Sparda drove his blade into the back of the Demon's back and ripped it up until it cut through his shoulder. The centaur's top human body split into two has he too fell into the pool. The rest of the centaurs watched helplessly as Sparda dove onto the floor and began to spin with his sword extended. All the centaur's hind legs where cut apart as they fell over onto their stubs of legs. He purposely left the Centaurs to suffer as they slowly died in such agony from the blood loss. Sparda sighed angrily as he wiped the blood off his face. He stopped as he watched the blood on the floor group together and enter the sacrifice pool. At first nothing happened but then the pool began to bubble with heat. Without warning the pool exploded in a large sphere of burning blood with the agonizing screams of the souls stuck inside. The sphere floated over Sparda and headed toward the large chains that held the barricade together. Slowly the sphere fell onto the chain as it broke in instant contact. The long chain ricochet from itself until only the wooden barricade stood. Sparda watched quietly as he expected the thing that was pounding behind the barricade to crash through. Nothing was hitting the boards and Sparda began to thing that it had backed away, that is until the barricade came crashing through and tumbling down. The dust of the barricade blocked Sparda's vision of who or what came through. As the dust settled Sparda found himself staring into a pair of orange eyes that looked at him in hate. As Sparda focused, he saw that a massive minotaur stood just inches away from. It was covered in large plates of iron armor that covered its entire body except for its eyes. It roared at Sparda as he just stood their not even fazed by it. The Iron Minotaur just stood where he was with its horns drawn down and his right foot scraping the side as to charged. Sparda tried to dodge the Minotaur's charge but found himself crushed between the wall and the monster's head. The Minotaur repeatedly crushed Sparda into the wall, each time worst stronger then the next. Finally the Minotaur backed away and looked at it's pray as it was struck deep into the wall.

Temple Minotaur: "Warrior…Sparda…Why…do you… value life…so…little…? Shall… not…let you…pass. Should…killed you…first…before."

Sparda remembered after meeting Artemis that a large voice had called his name but then disappeared.

Temple Minotaur: "No…Same…Mistake!"

The Minotaur took a breath of air and exhaled a swing of molten lava from its mouth. Sparda ripped himself off the wall and barely missed being scalded alive. Sparda took himself onto his feet and hewed at the Minotaur's leg. Because of the armor it wore, the efforts of Sparda were to no use. The Minotaur pounded its leg on top of Sparda's body before backing away. Sparda felt his bones crack under the force of the Demon's iron foot. He lay there as his body tried to heal its broken bones but was not given its full chance as the Minotaur came charging once more. Sparda was knocked of his feet and landed by the glass container that held the molten lava. Sparda struggled to his feet as he held he should with his left hand.

Sparda: "Damn, that armor would let be touch him."

The Minotaur once more began to scrap its foot against the ground before charging towards Sparda. Just as he came to collision with the Demon, Sparda dove underneath the monster as he crashed into the container full of lava. The Minotaur roared as the lava heated his armor to scorching degrees. His black armor now shined red as steam exploded from the inside of his protection before he lost his balance and fell. Sparda saw his chance and ran towards the fallen Demon and jumped across it's large back to its' head. The armor burned through Sparda's feet but he still stood upon him. As the Minotaur regained its' conciseness he felt the Demon warrior cutting away at his horns. It tried to shake him off but Sparda had sunk his blades deep into its horns. Now Sparda removed his blades and gouged the open exposure of the iron Minotaurs eye. The blades had hooked itself deep inside the eye of the beast that Sparda now yanked the entire head of the Minotaur into the floor crushing one of it's horns. In agony, the Temple Minotaur held his face in its paws as he stumped around. Sparda looked for a way to attack his enemy again but found that there was no clear exposure and the lava that was broken now was filling the room slowly. The Minotaur regained its focus back and enraged charged for Sparda, diving into and out of the lava. Sparda saw bubbles coming from the lava and then finally nothing. He cautionly looked around the room waiting for him to come out. Within a blink of an eye, the Minotaur exploded out of the lava and knocked Sparda across the entire chamber.

Sparda: (Getting Up) "I… had enough of this!"

His anger absorbed his power as he felt everything in him explode in fury. He took a hold of his blades and transformed it into the Artemis sword. He leaped into the air in hopes of stabbing it but was knocked back down with one swipe of the Temple Demon's paw.

Temple Minotaur: "I will…make you suffer…like Argoton… dec…lare."

Sparda stumbled to his feet as he watched helplessly as the Minotaur grounded his feet over him. Sparda laid in the crated of the large footprint as he struggled to keep awake. To his feet once more, Sparda looked at the enormous monster with hate.

Temple Minotaur: "Stay…Dead!"

It charged at Sparda with full speed as Sparda smirked. Because the lava had burned a bit of the Minotaur's iron armor, it now had become rusted and it's body slowed down. This pleased Sparda as he dove out of the path as the Demon crashed its single horn into the wall. With the distraction, Sparda once more climbed up the beast's back and placed his blades inside a small creak that had formed in the armor. He twisted his blade around the creak until a chain reaction happened that broke the Demon's shoulder armor. As the Minotaur freed itself, Sparda leaped over towards a large wooden board located at the ceiling. As he forced himself up the board, the Demon Minotaur below him spied around the room as to where his prey went. Sparda cut the supporters that held the board and it came falling down on top of the Minotaur completely crushing him into the ground. Still, after the wooden board was freed from the ropes that held it, more parts of the ceiling came falling down as well. Sparda just simply set down near the rubble and allowed his body to heal itself. Still, Sparda knew inside him that this wasn't the end of the battle. As he waited for a few minutes, the pile of debris erupted with the Minotaur standing and roaring into the air. Its entire armor had now been destroyed and his true body had been reviled. The armor had made this Demon look large but he was rather slimmer because his entire body was made out of his skeletal system with small chunks of meat.

Sparda: "Pleased your not dead yet…"(Snickering) "What's this, I expected you to be a handsome prince."

Enraged, the Temple Minotaur charged for Sparda with such speed that Sparda was dumbfounded before he could react. Still, Sparda recovered faster and was ready for another attack. As the Minotaur turned around to charge, Sparda leaped onto it's head and stabbed his blade into its only eye. The Demon roared in understandable pain as he swung his paws randomly in hopes he would find Sparda. Sparda simple turned his sword back to the Blades of Chaos and watched the Temple Minotaur suffer. The Minotaur crashed through the lava as it burned through his already decomposing flesh. But the Minotaur was full of rage to be effected by the lava that burned his body. Finally, Sparda spied a pillar of broken wood being hung over head by a single piece of rope. Using his thunder, he hit the single rope and the board swung around towards the Minotaur. The pillar of wood impaled the chest of the Temple Minotaur as he was impaled onto the wall as well. He roared in pain when he tried to free himself as the blood leaked out through his chest. But finally his strength gave out as his snout and mouth became full with blood. His paws and legs fell dead and numb to his sides as a pool of blood formed underneath the corpse of the Minotaur. Sparda watched the blood drip into it's own pool as he spat onto the floor.

Sparda: "Worthless."

As Sparda left the rotting corpse of the Minotaur behind him, he noticed the path on which the Minotaur had broken through. He walked over to the open pathway, crossing the trail of blood and gore from the Minotaur and the centaurs as well as the lava which was now beginning to fill up behind him. A large stair way was visible through the broken debris of the barricade. Jumping over the barricade, Sparda looked over at the minotaur as the lava burned its dead corpse. Sparda simply turned around and headed towards his path. Unknowing to Sparda, a mysterious character had been spying him from the moment he had entered the temple. A figure emerged from behind one of the statues in the stairway. The figure wore a dark robe that hid ever part of its body but it looked as if it had a female characteristics. As she stepped onto the marble stairs, Sparda instantly turned around to see who had followed him but to his surprise there was nobody there. The figure had disappeared into thin air just as Sparda had turned around. He shook his head at himself and gradually made his way up the stair's ending. At end of the stairs was what looked like an incredibly long statue of the Elder God and by him laid two coffins. Sparda made his way over to one of the coffins and ran his hand over it to wipe the dust and cobwebs off. The inscription said "Paerlo, wise architect and magnificent son. Died in the serves of the Gods will." This was one of the sons of the great architect that build the entire Pandora's Temple. Sparda looked at the coffin across the other one where the other son laid dead. From across him was a small room that had a faint discouraging smell emerging. As he entered the small room he saw the bodies of the Temple Architect and his wife. The architect's corpse lay on top of a round table with his wife's body sitting on the chair across from him with a dagger in her chest. Sparda looked at the dead architect's body and noticed a note in his hands. He lifted the skeleton fingers off the note that the corpse held. Within it read, "The gods have betrayed me and all that I have stood for. I have tortured myself into making this temple and putting my son's bodies into coffins. I have driven myself mad and have killed the only woman I loved with a dagger through her heart. Now there is nothing left for me but to enter hell itself. I curse all the Gods that have left me. For those who want to pass I have given the statue of Elder God an area to where to put my loved ones families head." Sparda put down the note and looked over at the corpse of the woman. He stepped behind the chair where she sat and wrapped his head around her neck. With one clean jerk, he twisted the head off her neck. He held the head by dry hair and headed to the other two coffins. After ripping the heads off the Architect's sons, he placed them all forcefully into the statue. Almost immediately the room began to shake violently as the statue of Elder God began to rise through the ceiling of the temple. It crushed all the architectural builds as the debris began to cave in. From outside, the body burner watched as the statue emerged from the temple and through the entire cliffs.

Body Burner: "Well, I guess he did make it."

Inside the statue was an elevator that led Sparda up onto the Cliff of Madness, closer to his destination.