Chapter 40 - Haunted House Activities

The group of four, with one of their members now gone, managed to get inside the haunted house, with Aiden having managed to blow up the entrance behind them so the creature couldn't follow.

Dust had been kicked upwards into the air thanks to the entrance collapsing like it did, making the remaining four cover their eyes with their forearms. When the dust died away, these four lowered their arms to see what had become of it. The entrance now looked like nothing more than a pile of rubble, which was something that peeved the monster off greatly at the fact that it had lost most of its, to the point where its attention shifted from his companions to Aiden himself. Said male had been more than ready for it, if the sounds of furious roars, explosions and conflict outside were any indication.

"Damnit, that bastard…!" Ivan cursed as he glared at the rubble like it was his most hated nemesis. He looked absolutely furious that Aiden had done what he did, but that wasn't all of it. He had a glint of worry for his comrade, hinting at the emotional turmoil he felt for his brother-in-arms as he clenched his fists and restrained himself from blowing the rubble apart to get out there and rescue him. Hell, his Bionic Arm had shifted to Cannon Mode thanks to his emotion-fuelled mental commands. "If he dies on us, I'll go to hell and kill him over and over myself…!" he yelled, his yell echoing throughout the Haunted House.

Lucy frowned, gripping the sides of her skirt to shake off her own worry for the male codenamed FALCON. She may not have much of an interest in him as she did Nico, but they had done many Missions together so it was impossible for her to not feel anything but concern for his safety after this stunt. Seeing the state Ivan was in however, made her push her worries to one side for the moment as she went up to him. her heeled boots clicked against the ground, but Ivan made no motion to indicate he had heard her coming, likely too focused on his rage/worry for his comrade. "Don't worry, Ivy." She whispered in a soothing voice, reaching forth and placing a hand on his trembling shoulder. "I'm sure FALCON knows what he's doing." she told him truthfully and sincerely. With a bit of mirth, she added on at the end. "It kinda comes with the job of being king of the skies."

Yes, Aiden had that nickname in the Spec Ops Community. 'King of the Skies', it came from how he dominated the skies whenever he took flight, a lot like a certain Abnormal that lived in the forest regions in Leanbox. His skill in the air was his specialty, which made scouting and aerial battles a cinch if he was around. Aiden's soldier-like mentality helped in this as well, as being aware of your surroundings was a major requirement for aerial battles, more so than the ground. This was due to the fact that there were more directions to be attacked from in the air, added on to possible threats from the front, back, side, and above. One had to look out below, literally, as well, especially if one was flying and there was an anti air weapon presence in the vicinity.

Aside from all of that, Lucy waited for her comrade to respond. She hoped she had comforted him somewhat, although Ivan likely would remain worried about him till they reunited with Aiden. Her words and actions combined served their purpose, and managed to calm the male down significantly, enough for him to think straight as he sopped the whirring's of his Bionic Arm to shift it back into Cannon Mode, the sounds of it powering down resounding through the area they were in.

Speaking of which, Nico had activated his left Bracer's Scanner the moment they were inside. It wouldn't be long till a map of the area was in its Database as the male looked around. So far, the entire atmosphere fit that of a haunted House, with a long dark corridor with multiple doors on both sides. In the distance, Nico could see a horizontal corridor which lead to both left and right. There was a faint red light in the distance, which made the darkness of the Corridor much more realistic. He got the sense of eeriness from looking at it, and felt slightly creeped out by this appearance. There was just something about this place that made him want to ruin for the hills in fear. "Well, whoever made this place knew how to scare people, that's for sure." He commented flatly as he looked down at his left Bracer, which showed the number 75%.

Not long now.

Turning to him, Raven spoke in a clear, commanding voice befitting of someone of her stature. "What is the progress on your Holomap, DEATHSTROKE?" she questioned, her arms crossed over her chest. To the normal eye, she looked completely composed and proper, befitting a leader. However, if one looked at her hands, they would see that she was clenching the clothing on her arms tightly, indicating her worry for her subordinate. She may have a hate for men, but Aiden and Ivan had served with her for a long time, enough to be called close comrades on the battlefield. One couldn't imagine NOT being concerned for them if they ever got themselves hurt.

Nico looked back at her and responded with an equally military-like manner. He knew that Raven was someone who didn't take shit from anyone and would rather be given it direct. It annoyed her immensely when someone tried to skirt around the issue, this he'd learned when he first met her… back when she had a massive hatred for men in general and saw him as no exception. "The scanning process is at 75%, I estimate that it will be 6 minutes before the process is complete and we will have a route out of here."

"Very well." Raven nodded as she came up with a plan, based off the information that Nico had provided for her as well as the other factors. "We should not let FALCON's departure deter us from our goal. We'll do as he says, and rendezvous with him outside. In the meantime, let us traverse this Haunted Mansion. That bastard will likely still try to hunt us even with FALCON's interference." she instructed them.

Everyone nodded in agreement, that was the best they could do at this point, considering what their situation was. They needed to find another way out of this Haunted House in order to proceed onwards. Aiden would be distracting the Monster for them while they traversed the Haunted House. Hopefully, they'd be able to regroup with him when they found the exit to this forsaken place.


With that, they began making their way through the corridor, heading over to the end where the light was visible. Lucy looked ahead and saw that Raven was at point, so she looked to Nico and gave a small mischievous smile. Slowly, she shifted closer to him, matching her pace with his as her heels clicked against the ground. Finally, she looped er arms around Nico's left arm, hugging it and pressing it into her chest. "Awww, Nicky-dear…"

The male tensed, his eyes widening and his face becoming red at the seductive tone that she was using. "u-u-uh-um-uhhhhhh, wh-wh-what is it, L-L-L-Lucy?" he stuttered, trying to keep himself from fainting as heat rushed to his head. 'Goddamnit, why does she have to be such a tease, and at a time like this?!' Lucy always was a flirt, even if she didn't hold men in high regard. This wasn't due to their perverted nature, no sir, she was sort of perverted herself. She had... dealings with many men in the past. The reason why she held them in so little regard was due to something in her past, a past that Nico wouldn't want for anyone else.

"I was wondering when you were going to accept my offer, remember? You… me… alone… hot… heavy…" she whispered, leaning up so that her lips were next to his ear. The offer she was making wasn't too different from the one she made much before that, one that Nico had practically burst into steam with the amount of embarrassment that he had felt at the time. And with the way she was rubbing herself on him, it was clear that was what she was thinking.

Up ahead, Raven paused mid stride when she heard her vice leader's words. Her form shook slightly, with her fists clenched as she turned around and stomped towards them. "VERONICA, what the hell are you doing in the middle of a tense battle?" she asked, no, demanded as she pulled Lucy off the male, much to his visible relief. She crossed her arms and levelled her angry gaze on the red-haired woman 1 year her junior, her aura visible from her rage and her posture akin to that of someone about to go on a murderous rampage. She even had a hand wrapping around the hilt of her Odachi. "You do know we are in the midst of hostile territory, do you not?"

Both boys tensed at this, knowing the dangers that the pissed off Raven posed, especially to males. There was a time where Raven, in this state, would attempt to, and sometimes succeed, to castrate a guy's dick just for looking at her wrong when in this mood. She wasn't as bad now, but her hate for males with Nico being the exception, although she saw Aiden and Ivan as neutral, was still there.

"You are so fucked, dude."

"Me? What the hell did I do?"

Lucy however, looked unperturbed by the furious gaze directed at her, and giggled into her hand in a ladylike manner. "Ufufufu, my, I'm just inquiring as to what Nicky-dear's response to an earlier offer of mine. It's not like I'm harming him or anything." She said while giving the male a wink, much to his embarrassment.

However, this just irritated her more. Raven gritted her teeth behind her Mask as she stepped forwards, her heels clicking against the ground like Lucy's had done before. "Quit acting like you're innocent, VERONICA." She spat, her aura increasing as she gripped her Sheath, flicking her thumb to partially push her Odachi out while she increased the intensity of her stare. "DEATHSTROKE does not have time for idle chitchat or to be a part of your sick games."

"My, but who says I'm playing around, leader?" Lucy retorted with her ever present smile, although this one contained an edge sharp enough to rival her Odachi with a twitching brow to represent the dwindling calm façade. The faint trace of light in her hands showed that she was going to summon her Cleavers as the two advanced towards each other. "After all, don't you think you're being a bit arrogant? You like keeping Nico all sweet and innocent, but I bet that you want him alone with you in a room just as much as I."

It looked like they were about to come to blows, until an irritated Ivan stepped in and pushed them away from each other with both his palms. "Alright, retract the fangs, girls, Aiden's out there fighting that monster while you guys have your usual spat over Nico's D." he said, ignoring the indignant "Hey!" from said male as he glanced to the two of them, switching between the two as he continued. "Since Aiden can't come to the phone right now due to the certain disease known as 'monster-trying-to-kill-him', I'll take his place in keeping things straight here."

This was one of the few times Ivan dropped his cheerful personality for that of a trained soldier. Nico knew he had a close friendship with Aiden, even with their opposing personalities. One was like the sun, hot, fiery and emotional, and the other was the moon: calm, insightful and patient. Two opposites, yet also similar in a way. In a way, those two had a bond akin to brothers-in-arms, a bond born from many battles together, where they had to place faith in each other to get the tough jobs done. Whenever Aiden wasn't around, Ivan would gladly keep the girls in line for Nico, as he didn't want his friend's efforts to go to waste.

Plus, in a way, while Ivan was jealous of Nico's popularity with the ladies, though the lucky bastard didn't realise it. Though he did have to admit that he did share Raven's feelings somewhat about him, not the romantic ones for any Yaoi shippers out there. He was straight. Ivan just didn't want Nico to lose his innocence to the ways of girls, or rather, girls that would use him like a plaything then discard him like he was nothing to them. Poor guy deserved a break from that crap, with the shit that he'd seen, just the thought of what little Ivan had learned from Nico himself one day was enough to give him nightmares, and he hated the thought of him having to have more stress added to his plate.

Then there was the fact that he and Aiden were among the few who... KNEW of Nico's secret.

Huffing, the girls calmed down from their little spat, momentarily caught by surprise at the sudden change in tones from the usually joking, cheerful member of Team RAIL. They had forgotten that despite his playfulness, Ivan did take things seriously. After all, with what happened that resulted in him getting Cybernetic Enhancements, it was only natural. All the while, Nico chuckled awkwardly, already used to the antics that these three generated. Although he didn't realise it at the time, but unconsciously Nico had sent a grateful look towards Ivan, whom nodded in response back briefly, so briefly that nobody noticed it.


Afterwards, the group reached the next corridor. The right-side lead to a dead end, while the left lead to another corridor, one that had a mirror at the end. The walls though, disturbed them with how many portraits of wide open eyes, which seemed to be staring deeply at them as if they were gazing at their souls. "Which way should we go from here?" Ivan wondered in confusion, scratching the back of his head.

"We'll head to the mirror." Nico replied as he glanced down at his left Bracer, which showed that thanks to that little incident the Scan was complete, and a Holomap of the Haunted House was available to them. "This Map shows the mirror at the edge is fake, there's a path behind it. We should be able to press forward if we go there."

Raven nodded in acceptance at the male's logic. Truthfully, she was glad that they now had some sense of direction. She didn't want to be in this freak show any longer than necessary, though as Team Leader she had to lead by example, so she kept her emotions hidden from the rest of them. "Very well, since you have the Holomap, DEATHSTROKE, you lead the way." She told him while stepping aside.

With a nod, the male began walking towards the mirror on the left side of the corridor. The others trailed behind him, all of them keeping on guard in case of a surprise attack by Abnormals. As they were halfway towards the mirror, though, Ivan noticed something, something that quickly made him suspicious. "Hey, um guys? Is it just me or…"

"Or what?"

"Or has there been a lack of attack rushes from the enemy since we got here?" Now that he brought it up, Raven, Nico and Lucy realised that Ivan had a point. This place would be perfect for staging surprise attacks, like from the darkness of the ceiling, the shadows etc, but they had not once been targeted by Lesser Stygians or Bathos. Did they clean them all out earlier and they didn't realise it? or were they hatching some new form of attack plan?

Their money went to the latter.

Before anyone could say a thing, the mirror ahead of them suddenly shattered, the hunter-like monster's head poking through and string right into them. The shock and suddenness of the entrance had caused them to stiffen as they made to raise their weapons. However, the monster was faster at utilising its opportunity to attack them and jumped towards the group, drawing its Hunting Dagger with the intent to impale at least one of them on it.

However, their salvation came in the form of Aiden, whom had burst in from a hole in the roof, which was likely how the creature got in without them knowing considering its size and the rubble where the light hit the floor of the Haunted House. The male had flown in with his body in the position for a shoulder tackle, his body encased in a grey coloured aura that acted more like a cloak shaped like him, lightning and winds dancing around him.

Everyone recognised that Skill, one of Aiden's buff Skills called STORM DRIVE. Gave the user the power of a Storm's Core, increasing their attributes to levels beyond that of human limitation. There were many versions of this Drive Skill, each one unique to the people that use them, although their base function was the same. In a way, it was like Nico's CHAIN'S OF HEPHAESTUS, in that it was created specifically with the desire to combat Abnormals on their own turf in mind.

The male had slammed into the monster's side, knocking it off balance and causing its Dagger to pass by them harmlessly. The two bounced across the Corridor, the monster slamming into the corridor's wall on the opposite side, going through it and making the new entrance collapse into a new exit. The sounds of combat once again reigned supreme outside, which made the others hasten their escape the area lest it come back for another bout.

They searched for a while, looking around for an exit, until finally they came to a room. The room was filled to the brim with various Coffins hanging from above, with the rest of the walls filled with inactive Sawblades. Rails were along the floor, a significant amount of space between each one. These likely served the purpose of transporting Sawblades across from one side of the room to another.

That was when they finally saw another Lesser Stygian, one that was alone as it waddled towards them with its razor blade spinning its spikes like a chainsaw. The Group stared at it silently, frowns on their features. "Something's wrong here, these guys seem like they are only a threat in groups, so why is there only one left?" Lucy questioned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully."

"You're right, it doesn't make sense…" Nico added, nodding his head in agreement as he tried to calculate what this creature's aim was, or rather, what its master's aim was. While the Boss seemed like it had above average intelligence, the same couldn't be said for the others, whose intelligence seemed to be on the levels of the lower ranking normal Monsters. Normally that wouldn't happen since Abnormals were far stronger than Gamindustri's monsters, something that was noted by the Guild ever since the Spec Ops programme first launched.

Their answers soon came however, when it seemed to step on a switch, one that looked like a big red button on the ground. Looking down in confusion, the creature lifted its leg to see what it had stood on, only for it to experience more confusion for its last moments when a Sawblade spun across, slicing its head off since it was bending down at the time.

"Whoa!" Ivan exclaimed more Lesser Stygians appeared while the rest of the Sawblades came alive. Some lowered themselves on the metallic arms that supported them over the exit, barring their path as a group of 15 Lesser Stygians appeared before them.

Raven then stepped forward, her irritation as clear as day. "Allow me to clear a path. I will not have someone who's not a Team RAIL member outshine us here today." She said calmly as she drew her Odachi. The edge this time was a dark blue, a sign that the element she had chosen was Ice.

Readying her sword for a reverse horizontal slice, one hand on the hilt and the other on her Sheath, Raven began channelling her energy into a Skill, the blade beginning to glow an ominous transparent colour. "1000 POUND CANNON!" she bellowed, swinging with so much force behind her slash that a shockwave shaped like the round of a cannon was launched at it, creating a fissure along the ground that was left in the Skill's wake. The Skill hit the middle of the group of Lesser Stygians, reducing them to nothingness which left only 4 to 7 remaining.

Nico had to whistle in amazement. 'Wow, Raven's gotten a lot better at handling those Skills she has. Last time we met she had been experiencing troubles in controlling their output, but now however…' he didn't finish his thoughts when more Lesser Stygians arrived, reinforcements to replace the ones they had lost in the initial attack.

This time, they didn't let them have any breathing room since they charged straight at them, seeing them as a major threat to their master. Raven held her Odachi in a two-handed stance as she got ready to fight. She charged at them, jumping and slicing through one of them as it disappeared into Particles.

She went to slash more, but saw Lucy come in as well, her Cleavers ready as she flew towards a group of Lesser Stygians. Her Cleavers oozed with purple Sludge-like material as she yelled out "POISON SLASH!" as she slashed at everything in sight, enjoying the carnage to the fullest. Raven sweat dropped at the sight, finding it weird how her vice leader liked fighting as much as she liked doing 'it' with any man she had seen.

That was… until she came across Nico.

Her thoughts about the past were interrupted when said male came down with Rebellion in a double slash, like an X, that cut a Lesser Stygian to ribbons. It brought her focus back to the fighting as she blocked a blade slash to her torso, then rolled aside to dodge a pair of strikes from above. Back on her feet, Raven parried the slashes of 2 Lesser Stygians until she saw an opening and dashed past one, cutting its arm off before spinning and slicing its head off faster than it could reaction. She double kicked the other one in the side of the head, dazing it to allow her to slash it in half.

Elsewhere, Ivan slammed his Bionic Arm's Blade mode into the head of one Lesser Stygian, pulling it out and spinning to face another while its brethren vanished into particles. His Bionic arm switched to Default mode, a sly chuckle escaping his lips as he charged at it. "Heh, you think I'm just a weapon's expert?! Lemme show ya just how wrong that is!"

When he was close enough, Ivan launched a flurry of punches after dodging the initial slash. Each punch would have seemed normal or below average for a man who had a robotic arm, however each punch delivered fierce shocks through the system of his unfortunate victim, sparks of electricity flying from the fists while they pounded the Lesser Stygian into oblivion. The male ended the creature's suffering by sweep kicking it off its feet and then spinning into a vicious haymaker that ripped through its head.

"I'm much more diverse than that, buddy. Remember that in the afterlife…"

Nico himself slashed through enemies with a single swing of Rebellion, enhancing its blows with demonic energy like they seemed to do with their blades. He then got an idea, he wanted to test 1 of 2 more Demon Skills that he'd developed along his journey to this Dungeon. Seeing a pair of Bathos appear in the air above them, Nico decided to test this Skill on them. Sheathing Rebellion on his back but not dismissing it to his Void Storage, the male threw his arm to the side as he Activated his Skill. "ABYSS BREAK!"

Demonic energy poured out of his shoulders, spiralling down his arm to his hand before combining inside his hand. The next second, Nico had a Bow made from what looked like volcanic rock in his hand, about as tall as he was. He aimed at the Bathos in the air, pulling the string back to its maximum which allowed an arrow made of the same rock to manifest into place. He then shot the arrow, which flew at high speeds towards the enemy. One of them managed to dodge the arrow, but the other was not so lucky, for the arrow to impale it down to the halfway point.

The next thing he saw was the arrow exploding, killing its target and sending a wave of sharpened shrapnel through the air and slicing through the other Bathos, dangerously weakening it. Nico finished his Skill with dismissing the Bow and redrawing Rebellion, just in time to launch a Demonic energy slash towards several Lesser Stygians.

'Whelp, looks like ABYSS BREAK works too…' Nico thought as he looked to his remaining opponents: 2 more Lesser Stygians. The rest were being dealt with by the three Team RAIL members, so it wouldn't be long before they would be able to proceed. These two would be his to deal with, and he had a good idea of how to do it. 'I guess I can test this last one, its Drive Skill that I used with Demonic Energy, but still it should be superior to normal Drive Skills. Now to see how it works…'

"DEMON OVERDRIVE!"

In an instant, Nico's body erupted in power, his body becoming covered in a crimson red aura with an orange outline. It flared around him like a raging inferno, arcs of white and orange lighting dancing across his biceps occasionally. The amount of power he could feel was staggering, like he was constantly on the highest form of drug-induced high as possible while still maintaining his sanity. The Lesser Stygians, seeing the new power that their enemy was using, looked like they were becoming fearful.

A lethal smirk tugged at his lips. "Sorry boys… all out of mercy, better luck next time." With those final words, Nico bent his legs and dashed forwards, the ground below his feet breaking under the weight and impact of his empowered body as he moved like a bullet, sealing the fate of his unfortunate prey.


The battle was over soon after Nico's DEMON OVERDRIVE Skill, with him finishing them off in one fell swoop. The Lesser Stygians vanished into Particles just as Raven, Lucy and Ivan finished up with their foes as well. "Whew, I have to admit that I didn't expect this when I woke up this morning to seduce Nicky-dear." Lucy commented as she waved a hand in front of her face like a cleaver, just as her enemies had vanished into Particles. All this fighting was a massive workout for her, and she'd brought out a decent sweat from the experience.

She ignored Raven's glare at her for her seducing comment, though she smirked in amusement at Nico's blush.

"Yeah well, I'm prepped to be over and done with this hellish place." Ivan groaned deeply, he really didn't like a Dungeon for Abnormals. Not just because they were annoying as hell, but because he was used to dealing with only one Abnormal at a time. Dealing with them in groups that constantly harassed them like this took a toll on his nerves. He just wanted to go home and try to flirt with girls again, goddamnit, was that so much to ask for? Unlike Lucy, he shivered and whimpered when Raven aimed her glare at him instead, like she knew what he was thinking.

Damn girl was a radar for thoughts that demeaned her gender.

"The exit's up ahead, and it seems the Saw Blades that were blocking it have moved out of the way." Nico observed as he deactivated his Drive Skill. His body ached slightly, but that was due to having never used a Drive Skill before so it wasn't used to the strain it put on him. Fortunately, he had IT and his demonic energy to take care of that issue.

They looked to the exit, and saw that true to Nico's words, the blades had indeed moved out of the way, although the rest of them now were constantly making obstacles for them to get past to reach the exit. It now had the appearance of an obstacle course... you know, an obstacle course that can chop you in half or kill you in other brutal, horrific ways.

Ivan gulped nervously as he stared at the obstacles which consisted of the sawblades on the walls extending forwards, or downwards for those on the ceiling, while blades constantly rolled from side to side on their rails. The male didn't want to get near them for fear of becoming ribbons, but there seemed to be no other way across. "So, um, what do we do now again?" he asked them, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice.

"We take turns, one of us at a time must brave the obstacles and reach the other side." Raven responded as she eyed each obstacle critically, already calculating how to proceed in her mind while she continued. "If we were to go together, chances that we would be sliced to pieces by those Sawblades is much higher. That cannot be allowed, thus we will take turns. As leader, I will go first."

Everyone looked to her and saw her getting ready to run. But before the woman could do so, Nico just sighed as he broke into a run before her. "What are you doing, DEATHSTROKE?! I'm-" she began, only to halt when she saw Nico slice every Sawblade apart with Rebellion as he passed them, as well as multiple wall and ceiling mounted ones, until he reached the exit.

Turning to face them, Nico sheathed Rebellion on his back but didn't send it back to his Void Storage, he could just keep weapons he pulled out of there on his person, but in some Nations, that wasn't allowed by Law. Lastation and Lowee were two such Nations, and while it isn't frowned upon it wasn't encouraged either. A good thing really, since wo would want to see kids playing with real live light sabres trying to cut each other to ribbons? Nevertheless, Nico spoke in a simple manner while shrugging his shoulders. "Or we could just say 'fuck it' and blow up the hindrances to proceed."

As he watched this, a shit-eating grin spread across Ivan's features as he gave the other male a thumbs-up and a loud laugh. "Hahahaha, yeah, you go dude! Way to show all those mangy blades where to stick it!" he then turned to the others, his posture filled with more excitement that they had seen of him in a while. There were some traces of his earlier annoyance of the situation, but they were overshadowed by his joy at not having to risk his life… and his manhood… to get out of this hellhole. "C'mon guys, Aiden won't wait for us forever, ya know! Let's get this mission a Rollin'!"

They nodded in unison, and before long the group had walked through the exit.


Outside, the group found themselves back onto the path that the creature had blocked them from taking before. In the distance, they could see that there was a large open area, likely the area where they would fight the boss monster if this was a normal Dungeon. "Looks like we've made it out okay." Nico commented as he rubbed his chin.

"Yeah, looks like we did-OH SHIT, LOOK OUT!"

Ivan's outcry quickly made them react, the urgency improved using vulgarity in his curse words. Everyone jumped forwards just in time to avoid a large dagger, a familiar large dagger that circled around them, moving like a wheel before returning to the one that threw it: the monster that had been chasing them. It grasped its Dagger and made to advance towards them, intending to attack again.

However, before it could take a total of 3 steps, a Missile Salvo came down from above and bombarded it and the area around it, making it stagger and roar in agony. The cause, revealed to be Aiden, flew down from the skies with his Backpack steaming slightly from the number of Salvos he had fired.

"Aiden! Man, it's good to see-WHOA! Dude, you look like you've been through hell!" Ivan began, but quickly made an exclamation of surprise and horror, same with the rest of them, when he noticed the state that Aiden was in. The male's body was covered with lacerations and bruises, some of the leaking blood. His right pants leg was shredded up to the knee, with the boot in tatters. The left pants leg looked little better. As while it was still more or less the same length, the end was tattered and there was no boot. His upper body clothing had been destroyed save for his straps for his combat knives and backpack. His head had a trail of blood going down the side, and it looked like he was breathing slightly haggardly.

Regardless, Aiden responded curtly. "The monster has a vicious attack pattern, I was fortunate to last this long with the state of dress I am in. Nonetheless, we must hurry. It will not take long for the beast to recover." He explained, before raising a hand and pointing in the direction of what looked like a large open space. "Over there, is where we can fight it on equal footing. We should make it there with all haste."

Lucy looked him over, and while a part of her appreciated the eye candy, she knew that there were more important things to look at right now, like the wounds on his body. "Are you sure you'll be alright? You look like you just got put through a paper shredded." She made the facts bluntly honest, it didn't look like Aiden would be able to last much longer without proper medical treatment.

"I am fine, I will make sure to apply first aid during the mission."

"We may not have that much time, and it's not like the enemy would have let us heal you. Thus, take this." Nico pulled some Healing Pods from his Void Storage, giving them to the damaged teen. Said teen gave a curt nod of gratitude, before wordlessly downing the contents of the first healing pod. Already they could see the effects of the beverage kick in, with most of his lacerations closing in seconds, though there were a few that remained. There was also the fact that the pod didn't, or rather it couldn't, restore all his lost blood.

Nevertheless, he couldn't down another one because a loud roar told them that the creature was getting close to being able to attack them again. Everyone quickly and unanimously chose to nod and rush over to the space where they would end up fighting the monster that had been harassing them ever since they entered the Carnival of Horrors Dungeons.


And thus, they began running for it like their lives were just short of being snuffed out like candles about to die out. As they began to run however, everyone became taken by surprise when rock formations suddenly shot out, slicing though bits of the path, vehicles fell from the skies while there were attacks from the Abnormal monsters coming at them from areas where they couldn't strike back from.

"What the fuck?!" Ivan shrieked as he dove forwards to avoid a falling piece of rock, rolling back to his feet and keeping his running going. He nearly fell a few timed when spikes burst out the ground in front of him, trying to slow him down.

This wasn't limited to him though, which was made apparent to him when Lucy slid under a massive stone fist that tried to punch her lights out. It was apparent that the monster had attacked her with its Grappling Gun at that moment, but the next attack came not from it, but a protrusion coming up from below. She quickly flipped into the air, rolling forwards and then landing in a crouch, before she forced herself to keep on running so she didn't get left behind. "This Dungeon! It's-It's like it's come alive!" she shouted in alarm.

"Truly a bizarre development…"

Out of all of them, only two of the group maintained a calm air about them, one of them being Aiden as he flew just above them. His Wings were large enough that they had a high chance to get damaged to a point where he wouldn't be able to use them anymore, so he was quickly taking the healing pods that Nico had given him to heal his damaged body. He felt better about 4 minutes later, and landed in a barrel roll, flipping through the air and using a piece of falling rock to jump through the air and land into a run.

Meanwhile, Nico was the second person who was not freaking out, though now that he was looking the male noticed a third person: Raven, not being affected by this new development. "This is an Abnormal Dungeon, just roll with it and keep moving those legs!" he yelled to the others as he twirled around a rock formation that erupted in his path, then jumped onto another one to jump further ahead. A falling rock piece almost crushed him, had he not slid under it, flipping into the air to avoid the Grappling Gun's stone fist attempting to grab him.

While their situation was bad, it didn't stop a coy grin from spreading across Lucy's features as she glanced at the red-haired male. "Oh? I can think of something else I'd like to ride… #WINK#" she said with a suggestive wink while her eyes glanced downwards towards his… little Nico, while its member resisted the urge to stammer in embarrassment.

Although, this finally broke Raven's calm façade as she yelled behind her at them with a tone that suggested she was quickly losing her temper, much to Lucy's amusement and the fear of the three boys. Even Aiden didn't like seeing Raven when she was pissed. "LESS PERVERSION, MORE MOVING!"


Finally, the group managed to reach the boss area without losing too much of their strength. Despite the bizarre development of the Dungeon seemingly trying to bar their passage to the back of it, they had still gotten there in one piece. When they did though, they were greeted to the disturbing sight of the carnival stands there being… lifted into the air by some form of telekinesis, held in suspension while planks were forced upwards, forming a moderately-sized wall.

Freaked Ivan out to no end.

They ran through the area, till they reached the centre before sliding to a stop, although Ivan lost his footing and fell, bouncing across the ground several times before sliding to a stop, muttering a curse word every time he bounced. Fortunately, Aiden was there to pick him up again, much to the cybernetically enhanced male's embarrassment. "Man, that must make me look terrible in front of the ladies…" he whined, his arms hanging in front of him.

"I have no idea what you are trying to imply, CYBORG, when there are no female spectators within the vicinity." Aiden commented, tilting his head in confusion. The winged male then felt some annoyed KI directed at him, which made him look to the source to find both Raven and Lucy giving him irritated stares, although the latter was smiling. There wasn't anything comforting about that smile though. "… the shivers rolling down my spine seem to believe the conrotatory, thus I shall believe it."

Nico rolled his eyes at the four, before they all saw the monster land before them on all fours, growling in both anger and anticipation, its eyes scanning all of them with a sense of hunger, like it wanted them in its belly already. They each got their weapons out, Raven with her Odachi, Lucy opting for her Beyblade, Ivan switching his Bionic arm to Blade Mode while Aiden pulled out his dual Pistols.

Finally, Nico made to draw Rebellion once more, his hand about to grasp the handle, until he remembered something which made it pause at the last second. 'Since I came to Lastation, I haven't used THAT in a while, have I? Well, I guess now would be a good time to test it, since it's been a while since I've used it.' With that thought, Nico quickly raised his racer and accessed his Void Storage, searching for the item he wanted and bringing it out.

Datastreams akin to those that he would have when donning his armour spiralled around his back, soon forming into a new weapon. He grasped it before pulling it from his back, holding it in a battle stance along with Rebellion. It was a large broadsword rivalling Rebellion in size and length. It had a guard with a dragon head with two wings biting onto a golden blade. The hilt had a swirling pattern leading to skulls at the bottom with a spike pointing out.

'The demonic sword known as Alastor… a sword that generates Lightning whenever I use it.' Nico thought as he gave the blade a quick rundown with his eyes. This blade was a troublesome one at first. He'd discovered it not long after he did Rebellion. It had been impaled to the ground, but when he had gotten close to it the male had heard its 'voice' which declared its intent to enslave him. Before he could react, Nico was pinned to the ground by the sword, but he refused to let it dominate him. No, nobody would dominate him like that, he wouldn't let it. Thus, Nico had forcefully pulled it out and… well, it just bonded with him, he didn't know how he knew, but he just did.

Afterwards, he'd learnt of the sword's Name and its abilities to augment itself with Lighting, making the usage off HF Technology unnecessary, as well as how it would possess those who try to take its power for themselves as a 'test' to see if they were worthy. Those that don't were driven made by power and become twisted demonic entities that were confided to these very ruins, but those who pull it out successfully… they were regarded as 'chosen ones'.

Well, looked like he was one of them.

Dual wielding demonic swords and imbuing them with his demonic energy, Nico got into a battle stance. It consisted of Rebellion in his right hand and Alastor in his left, the former held above his head and pointing downwards while the latter was held in the opposite way, making them look like half an X. His right leg was behind his left, with his back arched forwards and his eyes focused on the enemy.

When his energy had entered Alastor, an aura of purple lightning had erupted around it, coating it like a second skin. Whereas Rebellion had the same sinister red aura that came with things imbued with his energy. The monster growled, as if it noticed the blades for the first time as it charged towards them. "Oh, I almost forgot." Aiden began as the monster drew closer to them by running on all fours. "I believe the name: Seeker, fits this boss's movements and attack strategies well."

"Uh, not exactly the time for that, but at least we know what to call the future corpse." Nico responded dryly, sweat dropping while they got ready for the long-anticipated fight.


Chapter end!

A mainly action-oriented chapter this time, ladies and gents. You get to see some of the Skills and antics Team RAIL have to offer, as well as some of the new Skills Nico has gained thanks to his demonic energy being unleashed back in Lastation when he transformed.

Now, when I stated that I was going to OP every member of the cast to keep things balanced, I was honestly ignorant of the fact that one character, in particular, hadn't been thought about as much as the others. Neptune's a CPU with stronger Skills, IF's a BOW, Nico's a DPU, so who does that leave?

Compa.

Now, I did have my own ideas for her that will be shown in the Leanbox Arc, however an Idea was sent to me via PM by "King Carlos" and that was to give Compa a "certain Item" from a certain series about a guy making girls fall for him to protect the world. Its an interesting concept, and it actually can tie into this franchise fairly well, especially with what I have in mind for Lucy. You'll see why during the later chapters of the Leanbox arc, but the point is I'm likely going to take this suggestion and tie it into my story, as after all I HAVE written over 60 chapters of this already, just been uploading them quickly with edits being thrown in. Include a few ideas I wanted to add into the chapters like the Karaoke Scene.

Speaking of uploads, I have been thinking about a possible change to my upload schedule, as the last few days have been very tiring for me. Personal stuff, nothing for you guys to be concerned with. I'm thinking about changing my schedule to 1 chap per day, and the chaps may be larger. It's still in development so far, though, and will likely be finalised after the Leanbox arc and before the beginning of the Lowee Arc.

Until then, read, review, fav, PM me for any queries and ideas, or have a good time, dudes.

Peace out!