Hi guys

Stress from setting in after moving, and fatigue, were why I haven't uploaded recently.

But I'm back now, so let's get started.


Chapter 39 - Carnival of Horrors

Overall, things could have gotten way worse.

That was Ganache's thoughts in a nutshell as he sat at a café table, inside a restaurant in a different District than the one that had been... unfortunate enough to house that Passé Factory. It was a nice afternoon, and since he had little to do, he thought he'd spend it outside the boring, hot confines of Avenir's facilities. Even though he was the founder of the company, he was still a lowly worker, so he always had little to do.

Ganache had foregone his suit as well, that thing as wholly uncomfortable, itched like crazy in places he'd rather not mention. In addition to being unpractical for movement, which for his new... condition, could be life threatening. He would still wear it for formal meetings and such, but only for those times. Right now, he was wearing his black getup that he fought Nico and the others in.

His table was an inside one, so he could look out of the window he sat next to towards the outside saw the people going on about their days, thinking that everything was normal. He watched as some started talking about the CPU with his enhanced hearing, making him chuckle slightly as he sipped some of his coffee. In his lap, there was a newspaper, and its main title was thus follows:

CITY ATTACK - AVENIR POSSIBE SUSPECT?

Lastation attacked by new monsters. Is Avenir the cause or is it something else?

A pity. Those fools thought that they could make them out to be the monsters to the public just because the CPU was with them? As well as that damned Spec Ops group? What folly, Ganache could hardly contain himself with glee. Those fools must now know the true power of "ruling" now that Avenir deflected the blame onto several unimportant companies that were becoming an eyesore. They had spent years going from a small time company to one of the largest in Lastation, of course they were going to have plans for something as large a scale as this.

'Still though...' The man's arrogance faltered as a pensive frown formed on his lips. Things were close, and not everything had been achieved that day. True, their main goal, to test the Killachine's abilities for future development was a success, however the fact that he had gained powers from some of their more... secret project was not meant to have been revealed. At least, not before the Expo. However, Ganache had little choice in the matter, even though it didn't look like such from an outsider's perspective.

There were 2 main reasons why Ganache had to unveil his powers, and one of them was Nico himself. Nico had been recorded and documented in their Archives and research as being someone with a very acute sense of smell, sight, hearing, touch and mental processing. Not to mention his instincts. From the moment that he first made contact with their operatives in the Basilicom, he figured out what was wrong. He probably didn't show it back then, due to his secretive nature, but Nico's prior experiences with their corporation must have tipped him off. Then, he began investigating the fallen Umbrella corporation bases, bases that had long since been abandoned according to... reliable sources, and quickly deduced that they had been dealing with them behind the scenes, thus began warning the Military of an impending danger. He KNEW that they would attack Lastation's capital, even if he didn't know the goals for such a thing. That made him one of the biggest threats to Avenir's plans for domination at this time, a threat Ganache felt more than eager to deal with himself.

Though, careful planning and preparation would need to be taken, considering his new... abilities that he demonstrated during that battle.

Speaking of said abilities, Ganache had never seen such abilities before, and in a world which uses Skills with OP effects and broken damage limits, that was saying something. Those abilities he saw felt so much like a deity's, like the CPUs. However, he was certain Nico was NOT a CPU. His energy, those abilities, hell even his appearance suggested anything but that. He felt much more... devilish, demonic even. Like a complete counterpart to the CPUs. This posed a problem for the man, not to mention his company. If a deity with power that rivalled that of the CPUs was present, whose full power was yet to be revealed, then their plans could very well be ruined before they could truly take off. Ganache just KNEW Nico hadn't showcased that power's full potential just from the reactions of his friends alone, and then there was the power itself: it felt awful, wild, uncontrolled, like a monster on a blood rage.

The second reason was another member of that little group... Neptune. She was a CPU of a foreign Nation, and quite similar to Nico in many ways. Both had the backings of others, one being a whole organisation while the other had an entire Nation. Should anything happen to her that Lastation was found to have been the cause of, then Planeptune would go to war with them. Ganache was no fool, he may seem arrogant, borderline psychotic, but he wasn't blind. He knew that with Lastation being as it was, Planeptune would curb stomp their asses. While it would forward his OWN plans, not Avenir's, greatly, Ganache didn't want that to happen just yet. Things still needed to be done here, and for that, Lastation was still needed.

He had heard from a 'client' that she had fallen from Celestia, the other CPUs turning against her, and had lost her memory. That meant she had little access to those possible connections, anyways, so her threat level had been reduced, making Nico the primary threat. However, during several battles recorded without her knowledge, Ganache had noticed that she wielded Spec Ops weapons and armour. Weapons that could only come from her Spec Ops Guild Branch. That meant that she was aware of such a branch, and now that she found out from Noire that she was a CPU, she could access that Branch with her standings, as well as the rest of Planeptune, making her a true threat once more.

Though they weren't as threatening, their skills were commendable, so Ganache did have to factor in Team RAIL. Those four were each Racoon City survivors, just like Nico was, although back then they were separate Spec Ops/Guild Agents back then. They were formed into Team RAIL only recently, about 6 months ago. That team was made out of some of the more successful Agents that Planeptune had to offer.

The Leader was a woman named Raven, codename SAMURAI, 18 years of age and the eldest of the group. She had a massive hatred for the male gender, any who tried hitting on her ended up beaten within an inch of their lives, some of them even castrated with one swipe from her Odachi. According to Ganache's research, it came from something her father had done, something that made her hate males in general. She showed exceptional potential when she joined the Guild at 14, which was when she was recommended for the Spec Ops Programme by Nico. As for why she didn't seem that way towards him, Aiden and Ivan, three males, was still up for debate since he couldn't find that answer out.

Aiden and Ivan, codenames FALCON and CYBORG respectively, intrigued Avenir as a whole. The former was an Orphan who had lived on the Planeptune Streets. His parents had financial problems, so they couldn't afford an Abortion, so when they gave birth to him they had put him in an orphanage. He spent 2 years there, before he was left on the streets when the Orphanage closed down. He grew up on the streets, alone and cold, surviving by sheer force of will and following his own set of rules. With his two hands, he made his own life.

Then, he was found by Nico as a 14 year old pickpocketer. Nico then took him to the Guild where he was registered as an Agent, though he quickly joined the Spec Ops Programme, passing with flying colours. His talent for combat was not to be underestimated. He was able to master combat at an early age thanks to monster raids, and when he joined the Guild he had access to martial arts teachers which helped expand his Skillset. Nico was also there for him, solidifying a powerful bond of comradery with FALCON.

The latter, CYBORG, was another interesting case due to his cybernetic enhancements. When Ganache learned that through his research, it raised his intrigue in him rapidly. He was once an ordinary citizen of Planeptune, just another one of the mindless masses, except for his unique aptitude for military games. Then, a monster raid happened that Nico himself had been a part of, and at the time Ivan was 13. During the raid, his family had been hiding in their house when a stray attack destroyed the building's roof, making it collapse on top of them.

While most of the family made it out of there alive, they died during transportation to the hospital. Ivan was the sole survivor, but only due to cybernetic enhancements being implanted into his body to help accelerate his body's healing. These enhancements also enhanced his physical abilities, and with a desire to prevent Monsters from causing more tragedies like that, he had become a Guild Agent. Though soon after, he applied for and passed the Spec Ops Exam, getting the codename CYBORG. He met Nico afterwards, took missions with him and formed a bond akin to the one FALCON has with him.

Lucy, codename VERONICA was another unique one, for the fact that most of her profile was classified beyond anything Ganache had ever expected. He had tried hacking into the Planeptune Database, but his efforts were rewarded with failure, Planeptune security was way more advanced than Lastation's thanks to their technology advantage. From what he could find though, was that Lucy had appeared from literally out of nowhere and was ushered into the Spec Ops Programme at 17. She earned a reputation as a tease, a flirt, yet an exceptional soldier.

She had just as big a distaste for males, like Raven did, although her distaste was hidden. She had quite a fanbase back in Planeptune, with many men trying and failing to get her. Once, she even tried to seduce Nico, but the details on that were suspiciously vague, and ever since she has been trying to get his attention like she had all the others. It was like she lost interest in those men and focused solely on Nico himself, much to the male's dismay Ganache could imagine.

Ganache had quickly clued in on one similarity these people had, and that was a connection to Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE. It was both suspicious and intriguing, which prompted Ganache to look more into Nico's profile, and what he had found only added a slight sense of disturbance to him. That was something, considering recent events, Ganache knew this which was why he found his feelings on the matter ironic. Nico's armour had bee outfitted with special drugs, drugs that lowered aggression and regulated his instincts.

In addition to that, there was something... off, about his anatomy, physical abilities that were better than normal humans, his senses unusually acute, and on occasion displays of animalistic behaviours like growling, snapping his jaws, and a gaze that only hungry predators could make. For some reason, his body was unable to digest human foods, he would just forcibly expel any attempts like it was vomit if he tried. When Ganache tried to look into why that was, he was met with the good old 'classified' trope. In fact, much of Nico's history and profile was under 'classified' which obviously meant one thing:

The Spec Ops branch, maybe even the entire Guild, was trying to hide something about him from the public.

A bell rung to signal someone else had entered the restaurant, pulling Ganache from his thoughts. He checked his black leather watch, and found that it was time. "Looks like she's here..." he mumbled under his breath, looking up towards the entrance. Aside from relaxation, there was a business element to coming to this place as well. Though he still wore his black getup because of the lack of formality behind the request. It was a meeting between him and him alone, with the Client.

Their 'Client' who requested them to do the things they did in the first place, had asked him to report here for a meeting, a meeting to do with recent events revolving around Lastation, Noire, Neptune, and Nico. At first, he was surprised and partially suspicious about how this client was aware of those people, seemingly knowing more than she let on, but didn't voice these thoughts. After all, that would be bad for business, and with who this client was, that possibility was even more severe than it would be if it were a NORMAL Client.

"Ah, just in time! I was beginning to think you wouldn't show..."

"Oh please, you know I wouldn't call you here without reason. Now then, let's get started..."


After dealing with that little… mishap, Nico continued his way to the co-ordinates provided by Noire. He made sure to double time it, since those last couple detours took away valuable time he could have used for sparring or training his body. The male sped through the countryside, heading south with the speed that IT was known for. After that little 'incident' where Nico had slightly lost it to his instincts, the male had made sure to clean the mess behind as well as inform Helena through Text about what happened, requesting a resupply of 'medicine' afterwards.

One upside came though, his body felt better than it had in a long time. His reflexes were honed, his senses were on high alert, and he had no felt this… ALIVE, in a long while. It was like he had been reborn, a new-born infant in the vastness of the world. This feeling, this euphoric sensation… it both amazed and scared the male at the same time. Sure, it FELT good, but it promised more pleasure if he had continued more than he needed, like a drug making him addicted to the feeling. The Species that Abnormal was drowned themselves in pleasure, fulfilling their perverse fantasies in sick, disgusting ways that made him want to throw up.

Fortunately, Nico didn't have to ponder long, because he managed to get to the Dungeon's entrance, which looked like a wooden gate to a carnival, in time. The entrance was located around a small grassy clearing, out in plain sight. There wasn't much to hide this entrance, making it extremely easy to locate. That was where the danger lay though. If they could easily find it, ordinary civilians could DEFINITELY find it... and get munched on just as easily, which meant this problem had to be dealt with soon.

Team RAIL was already there, everyone looking ready and waiting for orders. Aiden had his Goggles on his eyes while checking his equipment, same as Ivan with his won goggles, and his Mask covered the lower portion of his face. Lucy looked like she was sharpening her nails while leaning against a large rock, however if one looked at her posture they'd see she was just as alert as the others. Raven meanwhile, was staring at the Gate, her Mask over her face.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, had to take a few detours."

Upon his words as he walked up to them, his own Mask now on, the four raised their heads and looked at the new arrival. "Good." Raven replied simply, before turning to face him. "We were about to head in without you." She then rested her hand on the bottom of her Odachi's hilt, twisting on her heels once she saw his rolling of the eye while summoning Rebellion from his Void Storage. Although he didn't draw it… yet.

His mirth soon vanished and Nico's eye became stone cold, seriousness radiating from him as he looked to the entrance to the Dungeon. "What are we looking at here?" he asked them. If a new Dungeon were to pop up, normally scouts would have gone in and returned, sometimes with fewer numbers, but they'd return nonetheless, with information about the Dungeon's monsters, their weaknesses strengths etc so they knew who to send if those Dungeons became a problem.

There were instances where Scouts DIDN'T return though, so if this was one of those...

"We sent in a Recon Drone while we were waiting, curtesy of our fearless leader here." Lucy replied as she walked up to him, her face never dropping the cold edge that a soldier would have. What she must have seen must have been something if she hadn't tried to tease him already, something Nico noticed. Whenever they met, she always tried to tease and seduce him, Nico never figured out why. "We got some info, and believe me these Abnormal Dungeons deserve the name. What it brought back freaked us the hell out. Here, watch." The woman looked to Raven, who nodded as she brought the Recon Drone back out from her Inventory.

The moment he saw how banged up it was, a sight that usually happened when it was sent into new areas, Nico couldn't resist the urge to grimace. There were numerous dents and claw marks on the robot, showing that it had taken a beating before coming back. Its lense began to glow as a holographic projection was shown before them.

It showed the Carnival alright… just not what Nico had expected.

"Holy shit…" that was all he could say as he watched the footage of the Recon Drone as it flew about the Dungeon. The wooden planks that made the ground had these large black twisted looking protrusions piercing them, some going through buildings and wrecking rides. The skies were a crimson red, akin to the blood of the innocent with an ominous crimson fog.

There seemed to be a straightforward pathway through the Dungeon, though it seemed to be larger than a regular Dungeon but that was to be expected. This was a Dungeon for ABNORMALS after all. There were some circular areas that seemed like they would be perfect for combat. It all lead to this larger open area that Nico guessed the final boss would be at.

Then, the robot encountered some Abnormals… and what a sight they were. There were multiple types that it encountered: The first were these humanoid creatures made from robotic shells, with glowing yellow lenses, with extra armour plating made from… some sort of sludge-like substance. Their most promising feature though were those razor blades attached to their arms by the wrists, about half the length of their arms. The Recon Drone came with the name 'Lesser Stygian'

The second creature the Recon Drone encountered was a cherub-looking thing with a shield and a crossbow, which fired explosive arrows according to the footage. It looked akin to the Lesser Stygians, only standing at 1 to 2 feet tall, making them look tiny in comparison. The Recon Drone classified it as 'Bathos'.

The Recon Drone took too much damage avoiding those creatures so it had to return, and when it crossed through the gate, or what Nico thought was the gate when it looked like this big black spire of similar appearance to the protrusions sticking everywhere, it returned to Ravens side.

Once the footage stopped, Nico noticed that he had some new data sent to his Bracers Database, and when he looked it up he saw it was map data, a map of the new Dungeon. Looking up, he aimed a grateful look to the quartet, knowing it was their doing. "Thanks. Seriously, that shit… you don't see it every day." He remarked, inwardly glad that he had convinced Compa and the others to stay back at Lastation. Stuff like this would give them nightmares.

Carnival of Horrors indeed.

"Alright, so we have our enemies, but nothing on the Boss of the Dungeon. Whelp, we can deal with that when we get there, so you guys ready?" Team RAIL nodded in unison, each of them readying themselves so that they could quickly draw their weapons. If this was an Abnormal Dungeon, then they had to be prepared. Abnormals sometimes preferred to ambush travellers and other Spec Ops, sometimes they would even succeed. Those were the lesser intelligent ones, others were... well, let's just say they eat well and leave it at that, shall we?

"We were born ready, now let's get down to business, shall we?" Lucy questioned rhetorically.


With that decided, the group approached the Gate and made to pass through it. Raven went first, and Nico saw that when she did, it was like she was passing through a pool of water as ripples spread from her through the air around the space inside the Gate. Once she was inside, they couldn't see her anymore. Nico and the others gave each other looks and then followed Raven's example. They each took turns heading inside, until Nico was the last one.

He made to jump in after them, but then, an idea popped into his head, one that had to do with his inner desire to be like Leroy Jenkins. There were just times when Nico loved to make an entrance, not to show off, though. Sometimes he did them to surprise the enemy and get a good hit in. A surprise attack, one could say. The male smirked as he took a few steps to get a head start, before dashing towards the gate and jumping right in.

Turns out his little stunt saved his life. Nico's expression morphed from smug excitement to shock and surprise in an instant, faster than the speed of which Neptune ate her pudding. 'Oh shit!' he thought seeing the horizontal side of a Trailer being sent at him. That was one way to be greeted when at a Dungeon, made a change from the 'silence-then-get-swarmed-by-monsters' kind of thing.

Quickly he straightened himself like a sausage, twisting so he could slide trough the, thankfully, open trailer's door. While inside the trailer Nico's perception of time slowed as he looked about, seeing the various items that were held in the air. Food, clothes, female undergarments, male undergarments... wait, what? He forced himself not to choke on his own spit at the sight. 'Whoever owns this trailer must be a bum…' he thought to himself.

Thankfully for his sanity, time sped back to normal when he exited the trailer, falling through the air as he landed in a barrel roll before getting to his feet. "Okay, what the hell?" He yelled as he fixed the collar of his Trench Coat. He was about to say more when he noticed the silence of Team RAIL. They were silently staring at something ahead of them, something he saw not a second later.

It was a massive creature, resembling an excessively large primate with gangly proportions, dark grey skin, and black fur. A deep scar ran down the centre of its face, and its nose was completely gone, with only a large, open nasal cavity remaining. It wore a metal harness over its torso, and has a strap on its right leg to hold a grappling gun. Its limbs were long, and ended in large hands and feet, with a brown mane over its body to act as a Cloak, giving it a predatory appearance. Its eyes were hollow and white, while it had a maw of small, but sharp dagger-like teeth. There was something hidden under its mane, though, what that was Nico couldn't see, and he doubted the others could see either.

Nevertheless, it had a hideous vibe to it as it clung to the side of a particularly large rock formation. It glared at them with hate, roared and then jumped down into the crimson fog below.


'Okay, I can assume this is a Boss monster. If that's so, then why is it… well, Noire did say this was an Abnormal Dungeon, so it makes sense that the boss monsters don't stick to their spawn zones.' Nico frowned as he observed this behaviour. He did this while walking up to the group. They didn't make any motions that they noticed his presence, their eyes glued to where the monster had been, but Nico knew that they noticed him just from instinct alone.

"It Appears we will be encountering that boss, for it is employing hit and run harassment tactics." Aiden commented thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb. His eyes then narrowed behind his Goggles as he deployed his Wings to take flight. "In addition, our enemy has ambushed us."

The reason for his words and soon became apparent when they saw several bubbles of sludge suddenly grow out the ground and explode, a horde of 50 Lesser Stygians manifesting from them. They all revved their wicked razor blades, glaring heatedly at them like the Boss Monster they had just encountered.

"Whelp, here's the welcoming committee." Ivan chirped happily as his Bionic Arm switched to Rifle Mode. He got into a battle stance, reminiscent of a Boxer with the machinations of his arm whirring to life. "Let's show em our appreciation, eh?"

Everyone else had already drawn/manifested their weapons, Rebellion for Nico, Dual Cleavers for Lucy, Odachi for Raven, and Dual Pistols for Aiden. Nico had forgone the idea of transforming into Crimson Soul for the time being, at least until they got to the Boss Monster.

Raven nodded as she got into a combat stance. "Yes, lets."


The battle began with Aiden unloading a Missile Salvo on the enemy's asses. Aiden stuck to the air since it seemed they could only strike ground targets, providing air support for the rest of them. Some did try to jump at him to strike him with their Razor Blades, but Aiden either shot them down or unleashed a barrage of kicks to keep them away. Raven and Lucy charged from the front while Nico bounced through their ranks, demonic energy fuelling his movements. The sounds of combat, frenzied shrieks, battle cries, flesh being torn and blood squelching rang through the air, mixed with razor blade whirring.

Nico flipped through the air, bisecting a head from one Lesser Stygian and landed on top of another. The creature shrieked as it tried to get him off while is buddies jumped at him to cleave him with their razor blades. Nico jumped into the air at the last second though, saving him from being sliced to ribbons. The one had had landed on though wasn't so lucky, as it got shredded instead by its comrades. He landed on solid ground this time, before beginning to observe the enemy with a critical gaze.

'Considering my newfound control over my demonic energy, I should probably use it to form new Skills. I was able to think of a few to try out actually while I came here…' he thought to himself as he began to circulate demonic energy. His earlier thoughts had referred to his journey to this place, where he had found out some new Skills had manifested within his psyche and were added to his list of Skills, skills that relied on his demonic energy instead of his natural energy.

Came with the territory of having multiple energies within him.

"Alright, taste this!" He yelled, landing on the ground with a smash, kneeling like a knight. Nico then stood up, holding his Rebellion out which thrummed with crimson demonic energy, a new Skill activating as the energy got to work. "DEMON SAW!" The energy erupted out of the blade and transformed Rebellion into a massive Sword, one that took the form of a long pole connected to a guard less Katana Hilt, with 6 saw-toothed patterned black blades, resembling a shark's saw-like teeth.

Grinning devilishly, Nico felt the power make his eyes glow a fiery crimson, like the gates of hell itself as he swung the blade all around him in a full 360-degree arc, slicing through many of the Lesser Stygians around him before bringing it down on the one in front. The ensuing explosion was enough to rival the height of Lastation's Basilicom.

The Skill didn't damage the environment, he didn't want it to so it didn't, but that couldn't be said about the Lesser Stygians, whom were all burnt to a crisp with their cries being the last uses of their voices in this world. Nico watched as the sword shattered like glass, exposing Rebellion once again, before raising the blade to his eye level to look at his reflection. The eye transformation had gone, but he could still feel it, the rush of demonic energy surging through him. It was wild, free and unrelenting as it coursed through his veins, spiralling with his natural energy reserves.

'This energy… before, it always felt slightly difficult to control, nothing's changed about that.' He thought before becoming beset by more demonic-looking Lesser Stygians as they tried to avenge their comrades. Raven and the others were doing their bit, Ivan keeping back to offer fire support while batting away any who got too close to him. Thus, he didn't need to worry about those guys, they had this stuff in the bag. These ones seemed to have come from their side, thinking that he would be an easier target. Vengeance still shone in their eyes, however, so his earlier thoughts still had credit.

His eyes narrowed as he channelled the energy through Rebellion, slashing and blocking when he needed to, as well as using agile footwork to avoid their Razor Blades. 'However, now that I have control over the DDD transformation, something… something's been added, like an extra layer to it. I don't think it's anything bad, but, it doesn't hurt to notice these things. I'll keep an eye on it for now until I can examine my energy when I'm alone-'

He had to pause his thoughts to roll to the side, avoiding the Grappling Gun's hand that had dug into the ground behind him, forming some form of hand from blackened rock to grab him. The Grappling Gun retracted its claw back to its owner, the massive demonic monster from earlier which had landed on top of a larger rock formation. How it had gotten there was a mystery to Nico, however that wasn't what was on his mind right now.

What was, was that he had to take a chance.

Quickly, Nico reached for his hip holsters, Ebony and Ivory manifesting in them as he drew them and fired rapidly at the creature's face. The bullets, empowered by demonic energy, flew true and would have hit the creature… if it cared at all for them. It just let them hit its face while snarling, with a hint of a smirk tugging at its mouth.

The teen cursed, quickly seeing that is demonic pistols were having little effect on the enemy. It reared its Grappling Gun back, and Nico instinctively looked to his allies, seeing that they were still fighting the Lesser Stygians. His mouth opened and moved on instinct as he shouted. "Guys, c'mon we gotta move! Our friend's back!"

Team RAIL glanced to Nico who pointed upwards, so they turned to see the creature about to fire its Grappling Gun. Their faces twisted into snarls, some of them hidden, as they quickly batted their foes away and took off down the wooden path down the Dungeon. Nico followed suit, and so did the Lesser Stygians, until he twisted around and fired a PHANTOM BLADES Skill at them. Each blade impaled one Lesser Stygian, exploding on contact to kill them.

Turned out their choice was the best one as the grappling gun fired its claw right at the spot where the wooden path of planks connected with the circular platform, beginning to rip it apart from there. Ivan, Raven, Lucy and Nico ran for their lives along the path while Aiden tried to distract it with bullets from his Magnum Pistols. Along the way, pieces kept getting blown off, debris fell onto the path which they had to jump, slide or sidestep to avoid while running like the reaper was on their tail.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck-fuck, shit-shit-motherfucker-" Ivan cursed up a storm in a constant manner as he repeatedly switched his Bionic arm from Rifle to Cannon Mode to blow debris from rock formations, fallen trailers etc out of their way to make sure they still had some path left to use to travel to the other side. "The fuck is this shit?!"

Lucy growled in frustration as she repeatedly sliced through objects with her Beyblade, before she gave a fierce glare to the cursing teen. "Less cursing more running, idiot!" she yelled over to him before they sped up after glancing to the space behind them. The grappling claw had made a hand that was quickly chasing them, smashing things and making more obstacles to hinder them from progressing into the Dungeon.

Up ahead, they could see the next platform, which was built into larger platform supports due to there being more on it, like stands and attractions etc, as opposed to wooden supports like the last platform. "Guys, let's move, we can make it!" Ivan called out, expressing much needed joy in the knowledge that they were almost out of this new life-or-death situation. That joy was soon extinguished however when a sin decker buss suddenly fell on top of the last bits of the path they were on, the wooden planks collapsing to the fog below. "Oh, Goddess fucking damnit!"

"Shut it, Ivy, and use those legs instead of ya gob!"

Team RAIL plus Nico increased their speed, pumping energy, both kinds for the DPU, into their legs and lungs. The bus looked like it could be used as a substitute to the pathway that they had lost, but that wouldn't be the case for long. The Bus was slowly tilting downwards, the pieces of the wooden planks it was connected to shattering under the weight. The urgency was as plain as day as they jumped onto the Bus's roof while it began to fall, running up it before making a single unified leap to the other side.

They each landed with finesse, save for Ivan ho tripped and fell onto his face. Raven landed with her knees bent before casually striding forth, same with Nico and Lucy. Aiden landed beside them, the only one who hadn't been affected by the collapsing path like they had thanks to his ability to fly, much to Ivan's dismay and jealousy. "What the hell, man? Why'd you not help us when we were literally close to our deaths there?!" Ivan yelled as he pouted at the flying male.

Said male regarded Ivan with his usual blank stare. "It was merely confidence in the abilities of my comrades. Lack of faith in that would hamper the team's effectiveness." As usual, Aiden answered calmly and emotionlessly, as opposed to the emotional Ivan who looked like he wanted to tear his hair out in frustration with his near robotic teammate. Although that was ironic considering Ivan was the one with a Bionic arm and Cybernetic enhancements.

"Moving on. it appears that the enemy tried to kill us prematurely by collapsing that path from under us." Traven spoke as they turned behind them seeing the creature standing on all fours as it retracted its grappling gun's claw before putting it into its holster, glaring at them before releasing a snort as it jumped into the fog below.

None of them were under the illusion that this was over. They figured that it would come and harass them till they got to the end of the Dungeon, where the REAL boss fight would begin. They had to admit, tactics like this was only common with Abnormals, they had seen it before when they fought against Banshees or other Abnormals. The ways they come up with to be regarded as different from the nom were both creative and disturbing at the same time. This was just one of the many deviances from the norm that the Abnormals showed.

Good thing this was part of their job description. If they weren't prepared they'd have died already.

"I hate these guys…" Ivan moaned in deflation, his shoulder slumping as he dropped his head to gaze at the ground. He hated the Abnormals for many reasons, one of them being their erratic behaviours when compared to normal monsters. They were so varied and unpredictable that it made fighting them a real hassle. Even if they were trained specially to combat these creatures, it was still annoying whenever they fought these beings.

Raven rolled her eyes behind her Mask as she made to address the situation, give the team some of its morale back, but her words never left her mouth because several creatures burst out the fog below and floated up above them. Judging by their appearances they were Bathoses that the Recon Drone had sighted. They didn't have as great numbers as the Lesser Stygians, about 30 or so. Though this was soon rectified when the enemies they'd fought before, which they'd assumed were dead when the whole collapsing thing happened, came out of the woodworks, literally, from black sludge like the first time. Their numbers had dropped to 15 though, a far cry from what they had before.

Guess some of them really did perish that time.

Now at this moment they would have gotten ready to attack and fight them off, like they had done before. The group had their weapons out, with Raven being about to charge forth into the fray with the idea of ripping them all to shreds for what they had almost made her Team go through…

"… you know what, I've had enough of this."

But then, they got the surprise of their lives at Ivan's dully made remark, which lacked the energy and life that he would usually have whenever he opened his mouth as he switched his Bionic Arm to Cannon mode and aimed at the mob of enemies. The male said nothing as he charged up a basketball sized blast and unleashed it on the enemies, ripping through them and the environment which reduced their number to the single digits. This allowed Aiden to finish them off with a Missile Salvo, the airborne male knowing that his companion was just about done with all this bullshit.

After lowering the arm and switching it back to default Mode, he gave the others a silent stare before he moved on, walking around the hole, which was still steaming with residue electricity sparking every now and then, deeper into the Dungeon.

Landing beside them and retracting his Wings into his Backpack once more, Aiden was the first to point out the elephant in the room. "it appears our companion is fed up with this Dungeon in a remarkably short time. Shorter than previous encounters with the Abnormals."

Nico could only sweat drop as an awkward chuckle escaped his lips. "Honestly, I kind of agree with him there… once we get to that Boss battle and I transform, I'll make sure to put it down quick and easy for him…" There was only so much one could take before they would go and say, 'I'm done!' and just leave, even for him. It appeared that Ivan had reached his threshold already, though it was understandable since he had expected the day to be relaxing and helping with the repairs in the city.

"Back on topic, we must move." Raven stated bluntly as she began walking forwards in the same direction, hopping over the 6-foot-wide hole in the oath made by Ivan's blast as she continued to venture deeper into the Dungeon. "We must get moving. Ivan may get swarmed if he is on his own, in addition that creature may be back soon."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement when the leader of Team RAIL said this, and they continued moving forwards, since they couldn't go back yet thanks to the Pathway being destroyed. Not like they would however, they had a bone to pick with that monster.


After that eventful encounter, the group traversed the Dungeon. The path ahead had unfortunately been blocked off by the stone protrusions, but luckily, they had found a backward path through several attractions they could have used. If they hadn't, they'd have had to resort to sing FALCON and Crimson Soul to carry them to the other side, something that they were reluctant to do so because Crimson Soul was still a new form, untested with a lot of unknown territory surrounding it. They didn't know the limits of Nico's abilities when he did transform, plus there wasn't much guarantee that the personality he would adopt when changed would be thrilled with the idea.

In addition, FALCON would only carry one person at a time, which meant that the ones on the other side would be vulnerable while they waited for FALCON to bring the rest of them across. Plus, FALCON himself would be vulnerable since it would tire him considerably, plus the strain on his Wings would likely destroy them, further inhibiting his combat potential.

Though, with the way they chose to move they weren't privy to avoiding the Abnormals in the form of Lesser Stygians and the Bathos. They hounded them when they passed through a small spinning attraction that looked like one for children, attacking from the ground and air. They managed to take them down of course, but the idea that they would sully the fondness of a children's ride was fucked up in their minds, and gave them more incentive to defeat this Abnormal Dungeon.

"Hmmm, it appears the intensity of the attacks have increased." Nico noted as he stood up, plucking Rebellion out of the corpse of a Lesser Stygian as it disappeared into Particles. He wiped the blade to clean it of blood on a nearby rock, before turning to the others and informing them of his observation.

Raven nodded her head, agreeing with the male's analysis. The intensity of these attacks on them had increased, not enough to be called drastic, but more along the lines of gradual. It seemed that the Abnormals intended to slowly bleed them dry until they were ripe for the picking. This 'harassment' was not something she favoured, not one bit. "Agreed. I too noticed that they seemed to gradually come at us in larger groups."

Lucy hummed in thought at this information. "Hmmm. Well, Abnormals are known for their random behaviours, so intelligence like this isn't that surprising, really." She remarked, shrugging her shoulders as she turned to Aiden, who was holstering his Pistols after landing just now. "What's your opinion on the matter, Aidy?"

Once Aiden had finished his little task, he glared at her for calling him by that nickname instead of his codename like professionals do. However, her question was repeated inside his head which stopped him from forming his usual response to it. With that out of the way, Aiden thought about what his companions were saying, and concluded the same as they did. "I also agree. It appears the enemy is attempting a mix of hit and run and chipping tactics. That creature must be leading them."

"How do you figure that?" Ivan asked as his Bionic arm thrummed silently. "I mean, it's not like we've actually fought the guy, so we can't know how it fights." That was true, through their repeated encounters with the creature, not once did they have a direct fight. It was more on the lines of it sending minions after them to whittle them down while making their days harder for them by launching sneak attacks.

Not a cool move, in his opinion.

Raising a hand, Aiden touched the side of his Goggles and a holographic projection formed from its right lense. Nico remembered that Aiden's Goggles were like his Bracers in terms of functions, with several combat ones added in. "I made sure to record the previous encounters with our elusive enemy, and have concluded these tactics based from the evidence acquired. It is not a stretch to assume that this being has intelligence rivalling that of a human's. For example, it knew how to use its Grappling Gun to destroy the path we were on to stop us from progressing, as well as to likely kill us by dropping us into the smoke, out fates being unknown currently." He explained as the projection showed the footage of the enemy destroying te bridge they were on.

"Not sure I like seeing my own embarrassing moments, but sure."

"Enough, CYBORG. Continue, FALCON." Raven commanded sternly, her hand resting on the bottom of her Odachi's hilt. She eyed the projections with rapt attention, paying attention to every detail. Like his namesake, FALCON's Goggles captured every tiny detail when it recorded, which made recon missions as well as detective missions where they had to hunt down Bandits and other criminals much easier.

Spec-Ops did more than just fight Abnormal Monsters. While that was their primary task, they also were tasked with making sure that any lawbreakers were found and brought to justice. In truth, Team RAIL excelled in catching criminals, for every one of them had experiences with the horrible and the corrupt in various ways. These experiences were the drive they were fuelled by to do their job to their fullest potential.

These thoughts were also in Nico's mind as he calculated what he had seen in the Projections. 'It seems that this thing acts like a Hunter, and we're its prey… evidence includes the way it moves, hiding in the shadows as well as behind tall rock protrusions and buildings, to how it manoeuvres its Grappling Gun for surprise attacks. In addition, now that I'm looking at it like this, I can see that it has a dagger, which is also a common tool for Hunters…'

"Furthermore, as I am fully aware that DEATHSRTROKE will have realised by now, that this Abnormal has the movements and attack patterns of a Hunter, and we're the prey. I estimate that this creature's constantly harassing us to break down our energy until it could deal the fatal blow. We should avoid prolonged fights until we reach the boss area where we can fight it on our own terms, for right now we are akin to fish in a barrel."

Raven nodded in acceptance as Aiden once again turned the projection off by pressing the side of his Goggles. "Very well, good work FALCON. Make sure to record anything you can on this creature. I want to know everything about it, from how it moves to how it breathes." She ordered him, getting a confirmed soldier-like nod and salute before Aiden deployed his Wings once more and took to the skies to act as their lookout.

Afterwards, she turned to the others and began addressing them while walking along the wooden path, which led further along in a straight line. "In the meantime, you tree will accompany myself as we get to the Boss area." She instructed, getting nods of acknowledgement from the other three, even Ivan as he knew not to mess with her when in this mood, as they continued their trek into the Dungeon.


Their walk soon was short lived however, when an incoming message came from their lookout through their earpieces. "Incoming Abnormal 5'o'clock." Their eyes widened in unison as they turned in the direction Aiden had said the enemy was, to see the creature from before suddenly jump out from its hiding place and land before the bottom of a Ferris Wheel.

With the look, it was sporting as its arms reached for it, Grappling Gun in its holster, Nico quickly figured out what it was going to do next. "Everyone, we gotta move, NOW!" He yelled in a panic, getting everyone to run forwards with him trailing behind them.

No sooner had he made his exclamation, the monster had gripped the railing of the Ferris Wheel with strength that would make wrestlers blush, before lifting it slightly and throwing its arms upwards, sending the Ferris Wheel rolling towards them to bury them alive.

"Oh hell, I SERIOUSLY hate this fucker!"

"Less talking more running, Ivan!"

Nico shouted towards his companion as the Ferris Wheel closed in on them. When it was about to flatten them, the group responded by doing their own stunts of Parkour, ending up jumping onto and over pieces of the metal that made up the Ferris Wheel, until they could jump to the side from within, landing in various positions. Raven had landed in a crouch with one hand on the ground and her Odachi sheathe moved across her back, Nico landed on all fours after flipping backwards through the air like a badass, and Lucy along with Ivan landed in a handstand before jumping back to their feet.

Seeing that its next attempt to kill them, this time by burying them alive, had failed, the monster snorted in anger as it jumped down into the smoke below to plan its next attack. Not seconds after a bunch of Lesser Stygians and Bathos manifested from the ground and air, glaring at them with the intent to kill. Nico made to ready Rebellion, when an idea popped into his head. "Hey guys, I'll deal with the ground units, you get the air boys!" he called to the others.

"What you thinking, Nicky-dear?!" Lucy called back with a flirtatious wink, making him blush in embarrassment before he shook those thoughts away. Giggling, she switched her Cleavers out for her Beyblade, spinning it over her head in prep for a throw. The others soon were doing their own ranged preparations, with Aiden being the one to attack first when he dived down from his lookout spot like his namesake, slicing through the Bathos with his dual military grade combat knives, which were improved with HF Technology like Nico's demonic sword.

Said male just grinned as he called upon his demonic energy once again. He felt the power respond to his call as an orangish red aura appeared around him. "Just this! HELLGATE OBLIVION!" he roared as above him, a portal made from orangish red energy formed from thin air. The portal was large enough to pull in even a full-grown adult of average to above average height. From the Portal, dozens of long arms, each made from Magma and sporting pieces of volcanic rock along their bodies, grabbed the Lesser Stygians in one fell swoop, dragging them into the fiery portal with them kicking and shrieking all the while. When they were all pulled in, the portal erupted in flames, which burned the contents alive within seconds, before it vanished in a vortex of flame.

By this time, the others had already dealt with the Bathos, and were just in time to witness the end of his Demon-based Skill. Lucy's jaw was the only one who dropped since it wasn't covered by a Mask or anything, but if their faces weren't then Raven and Ivan's faces would have been the same. Even Aiden was surprised, shown through the slight opening of his mouth in a faint 'O' shape. "Whoa dude, how'd ya do that?!"

"Heh, came up with a few Skills while on the road. Anyways, we can talk later because it looks like we have company." Nico's words, and how he pointed Rebellion forwards towards the direction of the path they travelled upon, made Team RAIL look and see that, in the distance. The hunter-like monster had returned, and it was pissed. They were starting to think that was its usual expression.

Ready for round two… three, four, whatever, it was ready for another attempt at weakening them. It aimed it's Grappling Gun at them and fired, the claw embedding itself into the ground and forming a massive hand, made from the earth itself, which rose out to grab them. Fortunately for them, as while its size was impressive, it was also easy to read and predict, thus they managed to jump/roll out of the way.

"This Fucker's going to DIE!"

Ivan made to shoot it with his Bionic Arm in Canon mode, however Aiden descended till he was at least a couple feet off the ground and placed his hand on the top of it. He pressed downwards, getting his comrade's attention. "That will not work. This creature's body is immune to bullets and all electricity will do is stun him, which does not satisfy your need for vengeance." Aiden stated as the two jumped in opposite directions, dodging another earth hand from the creature's Grappling Gun.

Rolling to his feet, Ivan made to shout at Aiden when the male continued his speech like that incident hadn't happened. "Therefore, it will be best if I distract the enemy while the rest of you proceed through that haunted house." He said this while pointing to an old-looking house, which had various dolls and limbs sticking out. The Dolls had this creepy stare on them that made the group feel lightly disturbed, although they hid it well. "Do not worry, I have made my calculations on its movements, thus I will be able to stall it for the rest of you. We'll rendezvous at the Boss area."

Lucy made to interject to possibly deny this plan, however Raven stopped her by speaking first. "Very well, we shall follow this plan, FALCON. However, I must warn you…" her eyes narrowed into a deadly glare behind her Mask, which only added to its intimidation factor. "Fail to survive and I'll revive you only to discipline you myself."

Aiden nodded his head as he wordlessly took off towards the monster, distracting it with a Missile Salvo while the others managed to get inside the Haunted House.