Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 29: Declaration of War and Final Pieces
Somewhere in Europe the Zeppelin landed in a huge holding area. From the entrance, The Major, the Doctor, the Captain, and Desker exited. They paused as a huge group of people saluted them with their right hands out in a diagonal direction. At the same time this was going on Lexwell who those from the nether had met in that museum was interrogating someone in the Vatican who had apparently worked with the Major during World War II. "The despicable, smug little smirk he wore on his face. That dreadful laugh; his checks puffing up for every action. He looked nothing like any Nazi SS officer I had ever seen! The pudgy creature spoke with a mad authority. He was a male ready to command the legions of hell itself!"
"But at the time, back in 1941, you was a member of the Vatican's European General Director collaborated with this man, and his organization," stated the human doing the interrogating
"He was accountable to no one but the Fuehrer!" the human being interrogated replied. "You must understand we were forced into collaborating!"
"Yes, of course you were," Lexwell replied, almost in a mocking voice that then turned serious. "And so they set their plains into motion."
Meanwhile Leon and those from the nether had made it back to the main land. Logan had retrieved the treasures from their safe spot and all had been distributed equally. Ashley was just getting some much-needed rest while Napoleon and Leon were on his radio with Runnigan. Nicholas and Liru were on their way back from getting some food since the group were now in an area of civilization. They male human and vampire then learned that they were to head to the UN Building in New York. The situation had gotten so complicated with monsters and viruses that leaders of the world had begun to notice. Something had to be done fast before things went from bad to worse. Even the Queen of England would attend this but be on screen. There was also talk of a group formed to combat these called the DSSA, short for Destroying Security Assessment Alliance. "Well now things have gotten interesting," Napoleon stated with a grin and actually laughed.
Meanwhile the Major were face to face with others who had played roles in German's army during World War II. Some were in wheel chairs due to being older, a couple required walking sticks, and the rest were still fit like the first two. The head of them was shaking with anger. "What the hell is this, Major?!" he snapped.
The smug grin on the guy's face got wider. "There's simply no way I can tell you that corneal. My orders are top secret issued personally by the late Fuehrer!" The other person limped over until he was face to face. The Major smirked even more but the other human growled and struck suddenly with his right back fist. It sent the shorter human back a few inches and on his face. Now he had a bloody nose. Desker made no move at all, but was surprised by the strength this human had.
"Don't you dare take that attitude with me!" the Corneal snarled and began to beat the first male with his walking stick. "Why won't you turn us into vampires?! Why?! WHY?! ANSWER ME YOU MISERABLE SPINE!"
Suddenly a gun shot was heard and the walking stick was blown apart, stopping the Colonel as he looked over with fear at the one who had done it. "That's enough back talk from you corneal," they replied. "One more childish outburst and I'll blow your fucking head off."
All of the Major's men pointed their guns at the Colonel, their eyes glowing red and teeth sharper, showing they were vampires like Napoleon and Pachira. "Major…" the Colonel replied weakly as the shorter human got up with a huge, evil grin. "What is this? What would drive you to create an army of a 1,000 vampires?"
"I intend to imbed on the infinity pleasure of war and revenge," stated the Major. "Und so I will bring forth another, und another war, und again, und again."
"This male's plans, it called the creation of many vampires," Lexwell continued during the interrogation while the second human was sweating so much from fear it was pooling onto the table. "The Fuehrer 's secret last battalion. How simple. But you did more to help fund the operation, and you were more than a mere pawn. The title more suited to you my friend, is collaborator." The human being interrogated was looking on the second with fear and whimpering from it. "You were forced to corporate? Ridiculous. You asked him to turn you into a vampire, didn't you?"
"It- it wasn't just me!" the first human stammered, now panicking. "All of us! All of us were forced to help him! They tricked me! Please! Help me Lexwell! I'm a begging you!" The said human closed his eyes as another in the room circled to get behind the man being interrogated.
"No, no way," Nicholas in the meantime stated to the others. "It won't work. It's pointless."
"But getting back to the United States would take an extra week by boat!" Uma said.
"Going on a jet is out of the question! Runnigan has given reports of the skies being watched! And there's the fact we probably need a permit or license of some kind to get the treasures along with Kratos and Venus out of the country!"
Liru was next to the two and had one hand on each. "It might be nice to take it slow after all the fast action we've had," the female werewolf stated. Suddenly a figure came bursting through a wall with a shout. Everyone looked up in shock and were even more so when they saw it was Fileson along with Super Doctor K-Ko and her assistant. Although these three hadn't been seen for a long time, they were recognized by everyone but Leon. The paladin priest slowly began to walk forward. Napoleon got a psychotic grin and rose up. The two males approached and drew their fists back. Both made contact with the other a few times, drawing blood. The rest were still getting over the shock. Ashley was asleep though and wouldn't know of this. Napoleon spat out the blood from his mouth.
"I've had enough, Fileson!" he stated, drawing his guns. K-Ko and her assistant were just standing back. The male priest flicked some blood from his nose and his glasses had been knocked off and were broken. The guy drew his bayonets. Pachira began to come in with a heavy object, but Fileson turned his head to her, causing the female vampire to back off in fear. The priest paladin smirked and then threw something at her. Pachira flinched and then realized it had gone to the wall behind her. Some kind of paper that was being held by a bayonet. The female vampire sank to her knees weakly. Fileson picked up his glasses from the ground as the males from the nether looked to him with a questioning look.
"The Vatican has a small, private jet 13 kilometers north of here," the human priest stated. "There's your release paper. Our people are expecting you. So take it, and get the hell out of here before I decide to decapitate you again."
The group left and found his words to be true. Leon was told about the other three who had come barraging in. Meanwhile in the room Lexwell was in, the human being interrogated had a gun to his head from the one that had circled behind him. The first human was walking out with a smile and his hand up. "Amen," Lexwell said simply and the second male was shot in the back of the head, blood and gore spraying onto the table. There really was a plane and the group made it back to the United States. Ashley was reunited with her father but the rest had to head to the UN Building. The President would properly thank the group once the meeting was over. All the documents gathered while fighting the cult had been copied. Those from the nether were keeping the original. When that was finished, it was onto the meeting. Leon was going as well. They were all dressed up and entered into the main meeting area. Even Kratos and Venus were with them. The world leaders all looked to the group.
"We have arrived. I hope we're not late," stated Nicholas.
"Not at all," came the President's reply. He was attending this as well. Those from the nether then noticed Lexwell was here to with two other humans which surprised them. "Now then, I take it everyone is present?" Looking showed that everyone was. Even the Queen of England's monitor was on and showed she was listening and watching this. "Now then, it's time to tell everyone here what has happened." The group began with stating all that had happened with the enemy up until now. They left the pieces from that realm out though.
"The information Napoleon gained from one of top officers in that organization is the final bit," Nicholas stated. "The remains of Rindella have joined up with them. Now it seems were dealing with Nazis and them. Like a last battalion."
Suddenly a new voice sounded out in the room. "I guess some spilled blood and files must have given us away." Everyone turned in shock to see a male in German uniform standing there. The hair was very light in color and the person had magenta colored eyes. But there were also small cat like ears on the head. "Someone sure blew that one."
Some including those from the nether reached for guns. The newcomer held up his hands. "Whoa there!" he stated. "I'm just a messenger. I'm not here to fight anyone."
"Explain this someone," stated the president.
"I do apologize," stated the head guard. "I don't know how he got pass security."
"They are useless against me. I'm everywhere and nowhere." "A child?" Liru thought. "What is this person even? Another from the nether?"
"To the gathered represents here today, my commanding officer, the glorious Major has a message for all of you. Please attend carefully." The guy brought out another monitor and a remote. But when pressing the on button, nothing happened. The male tried again and again. Then a voice could be heard.
"What's going on? There's no picture! Warrant Officer Schrödinger, the screen is not working!" Suddenly a static image appeared and came into focus. "Hold on! Right there! That's good!" It was the Major and some kind of muffled screaming could be heard. This was the first time anyone had seen him. They could see a room filled with bloody corpses of the others who had played leading roles in German's army. Everyone either narrowed the eyes in disgust or wondering.
"Major, looks like you've really got your hands full," stated Schrödinger.
"No, no, things are going well," came the reply of the human. "It feels as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm feeling quite grateful." Everyone then noticed Desker who smirked.
"Hello there Desker," Napoleon growled.
"Ah yes, the male vampire," the human with sunglass replied. "Charmed to see you and the others again. It's been quite a while hasn't it?" The first male bared his teeth at the enemy.
"What is it that you want?" Nicholas asked in a stern tone.
"Hm?" the Major responded. "Ah, finally face to face with the head werewolf and his fräulein themselves. Mr. Nicholas and Liru, I assume; it's a pleasure to meet you."
"What's the purpose? What are you trying to accomplish?"
"Answer him!" Liru demanded when the enemy human didn't respond.
"Answer his questions?" the Major purred. "What a silly request my beautiful fräulein. Purpose… quite…" The male began to giggle and those in the room got a sense of dread. "To put it in the simplest terms fräulein and the rest, our purpose is a total absence of purpose." The camera then turned to see the same Colonel who had lashed out was now tied and mouth gaged. He was absolutely terrified and wearing a sign that had the words, "Hang the defeatist" in German. There were other vampires ready to kill him. "You should be aware, all of you, that there are certain people in this world, certain ones, for whom the means does not require an end. I speak of course of myself." The Major snapped his fingers and the male tied up was attacked by the vampires, drinking his blood and ripping parts of him off.
"Let's hope this gets the message across," said the Doctor who was recording this. "If he turns into a ghoul, I will not be happy. Not really."
Everyone watching this looked on with shock or disgust. "Oh wow," said Schrödinger with a grin. "I didn't think your decision would be that harsh sir." The camera then went back to the Major.
"You're insane, all of you," Lexwell stated. "Did I just hear someone from Iscariot questioning my sanity?" the Major responded. "Well let me ask you this, if your god would allow my madness to flourish across the globe… Then wouldn't it seem to you that any god like that would be just as mad as I?" This caused the other human to bare his teeth in anger. "We are the finest of the third rank. Do you have any idea how many people we have killed? I would say, what foolishness! You didn't have any objections during World War II! But never mind that. Try to stop us then you self-proclaimed normal people! But unfortunately, almost none of you here are my true enemies. My true enemy is Japan! Those who have fought against us and destroyed Rindella! Well really it's now that vulpine and werewolf who are laughing in the corner back there!"
Everyone looked and could see Nicholas and Napoleon doing so. But one not like they enjoyed this, but one of disbelief. "A declaration of war then?" the long-haired replied. "So be it! We'll be sure to crush you!"
"No matter what you do, we will never give up. We will reverse this ridiculous situation as many times as we need!"
"Now one of you, get the messenger," stated the President to those from the nether. Cosmo whipped out his gun and shot Schrödinger in the head. The body was sent back, the head destroyed. Blood and gore was sprayed everyone
"Fine, shot the messenger if that is what it comes to," commented the Major. "Until then all of you and Liru, my fräulein. I look forward to see you across the battle field." The monitor was also shot. Those then looked and saw the dead body had just simply vanished and were shocked by this. Even the mess was gone. But now those from the nether were given the order to do whatever it took to destroy Millennium Virus. But they could return home to Japan and then figure things out. They were also told about DSSA and that their old friends, Chris and Jill, were a part of it. Meanwhile the Major, Doctor, Captain, and Desker were walking down a hallway.
"Doctor, Captain, once I start my dance, I dance to the bitter end," the short human stated.
"Enjoy it to the fullest Major," the taller human with dirty blonde hair said. The four then reached a monitoring room. The rest inside saluted the Major with their right hand held up in the Nazi fashion.
"You're so slow," Schrödinger's voice stated. He was seating on the Major's chair which was made of fine leather and very comfortable. "In the time that it took you to walk down one little hallway, I went all the way to the UN Building, got my head blown off and made it back. Perhaps you should think about going on a diet, Major."
The said person chuckled with amusement. "No, I couldn't do that," he said.
The Doctor grabbed Schrödinger by the scruff of his neck. "Show some respect, Warrant Officer Schrödinger!" he stated in anger.
"It's alright Doctor," the Major commented. "My Warrant Office has succeeded in his mission." The said guy smirked but the Doctor had a look of irritation. The short human took his place in the seat. "So then… onto the next phase."
"Yes," Desker replied. "That new organization being formed is a minor issue for now. But it's best to keep an eye on them. In the meantime, the main problem are those from the nether. But it shouldn't be a problem even if they run into Deltro."
"Yes. Have we been able to acquire a sample of what they've developed?"
"We are close." "Excellent. Then let us keep our eyes and ears open for now."
Meanwhile in a dark room, Lexwell had made contact with Fileson by phone. "Yes sir," the paladin priest said. "We're bleeding information from them like a stuck pig. The vampires have had their agents ambush me four times since I got here." There were bodies surrounding him, all dead and with limbs and head detached from the main bodies.
"They have informants all across the world," the second human stated. "South America, The United Stated, the Vatican, Japan. Just stay alert, and do not underestimate the resorfullence of this scum."
"So now the question we have to ask ourselves is, what's Millennium Virus's next move going to be?"
"At the moment, it's not known the full plan. But they've set their sights on Japan."
"Imagine that," Fileson replied. "It's all turned out just as you thought it would Lexwell. You must be pleased."
"Quiet please," the second human said. "And yet… There's something distasteful about this situation."
"Then maybe you should've shown a little backbone. The pudgy little maggot called our Lord in heaven a mad man."
"He's not the least bit interested in us. He's focusing all his attention on those from the nether and those who have fought off Rindella and other viruses. With that in mind, I thought actions would speak louder than words."
"Ah… I see. So you're going to prepare a surprise attack when the time comes."
"Exactly. When the dust is settled, we will be the ones standing in the ring with our fists raised high. His Holiness, the Pope, has just issued the order a few days ago. He's transferred several orders under my command. The Vatican's administrative of Holy Relics 3rd division Mathew has also gone into action. Specialized anti-vampire and anti-virus armaments are being prepared as we speak."
Fileson let out a laugh. "This almost feels like a crusade," he said.
"Yes, exactly like a crusade," Lexwell stated. "Only this time, we don't face Allah! This time we'll hunt a war god! This time, we will face Mars! Destroy castle after castle! Pillage town after town! We will use their mangled corpses and build monuments to the price of their insolence! You are the instrument of divine will Fileson. Return to headquarters by whatever mean you see fit."
"Yes sir!" The second human then said a line in Latin. "Amen!" Fileson replied and hung up. He slowly turned and saw enemy vampire soldiers and some zombies caused by the viruses seen so far. "Mars…" The guy slowly approached and was fired upon. The bullets didn't do anything due to his healing ability. The human's bayonets came out and struck the vampire opponents down. "Mars!" The zombies were then quick to follow. "Mars… Alright you bastards. It's time you had a taste of divine punishment!"
Meanwhile those from the nether had made it back to their home in Japan and had put the treasures gathered from the last mission in the right spots. Kratos and Venus had settled in quiet nicely. As for Napoleon and Pachira, the two went the next step in their relationship and he took the female's virginity as she did with the male. Both of them then started to have sex whenever possible. This had been coming for a while so it wasn't a surprise to them. The only question was when it would happen. Thanks to this, the female vampire learned quite a bit which would help someone else latter on. However, for Liru she had felt nervous the first night back. The female had been separated from Nicholas during this last trip. Would the male want to take her then? Liru had seen it and heard about it before with lovers who had been through situations like that. He in turn would learn something that had happened the night after those brothers had attacked. "Are you okay honey?" Nicholas had asked before going to bed. "You seem nervous."
"Nicholas..." The female replied and then stopped, her courage failing her for a second.
"Liru, you can tell me," he said gently.
"You're not… you're not going to try something tonight, are you?" That left her boyfriend so confused he just looked at the female with raised eyebrows.
"Honey, what are you talking about?"
Liru blushed hard thinking about trying to find the words. "It's just… I'm worried that something will happen in our bed like that first night we shared it." The male thought back to that time and didn't think there had been anything sour that had happened.
"Liru, did something happen when I was asleep?"
"Yes!" she whispered in a rush, eyes closed. "I rolled over and felt… what you had at your waist!" It took a few seconds and then Nicholas got it with her touching his junk.
"Liru… you mean…? But… how? I was sound asleep."
"I know!" the female werewolf replied. "My tail just started twitching on its own and it went there!" Her guy was silent for a bit and Liru had to open her eyes to see Nicholas was looking at her with understanding eyes.
"Well… You were asleep when you rolled over which you had no control over. And there's the fact even if you had woken me up to tell me, I wouldn't have done anything. I promise." The male placed one finger under the female's chin. "I love you too much to risk it with something like that. I'm willing to do it latter."
"You mean it?" the female asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry that it happened that way, my friend down below sometimes has a mind of his own." That statement actually made Liru giggle since the way Nicholas had said it was funny. It lightened the mood. "I wish you had told me sooner, but hey, at last I know now." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Now then, we should think about sleep, okay?"
The female werewolf nodded and hugged her boyfriend. "I love you…" she whispered.
"I love you to," Nicholas replied to his girlfriend. What he said though brought thoughts to Liru's head. What about down the road with him in that way? She then shook her head mentally. Now wasn't the time to think that. He on the other hand, when getting ready for bed, thought about having sex with Liru. Nicholas would keep his word and wait, even if that meant till marriage. He could see it, being married to the female. But now wasn't the time for that. The werewolf couple slept well, which was good since something else was coming up. It all started a week later. Everyone was out and about and it was an overcast day. Nicholas and Liru were walking Kratos and Venus while the rest of the group were doing errands or their own thing.
"They've really settled in nicely," the female werewolf said to her boyfriend.
"Yeah," he replied. "I figured they would."
"It's so cute when the sleep together at night."
Suddenly the two dogs stopped and let out growls. "Kratos, Venus, enough," Nicholas commanded in a firm voice, and the dogs did but still stared ahead.
"What is it?" Liru asked. The two werewolves looked up and saw a familiar fog heading their way.
"Not this again…" the male werewolf growled and all four were swallowed up by the fog of the Otherworld again. When they came to, they noticed the foggy atmosphere hadn't changed at all. Kratos and Venus picked themselves up and did a shake each. But to Nicholas and Liru's surprise, the rest were here as well.
"You guys as well huh?" Napoleon stated.
"What could it be for this time?" Logan asked.
"Maybe the last of the pieces," Nicholas said. "We don't have weapons, but we should be able to handle ourselves just fine." The first thing they noticed was that they were right by a car that had the trunk open. There was a key inside that went to a lumber yard. And next to that was a theater ticket. The group then walked forward into the fog. They noticed there were monsters lumbering about, ones without arms and no faces. These were easy to avoid. Then came the main street where the monsters became some kind of blob like ones. Even though nobody had a map, their guts were telling them they were heading the right direction. Soon they reached a building that had the word deliveries on a sign above the door. They went right in and found themselves in a darkened hallway with what appeared to be large bodies of meat hanging on hooks and a couple of places which meant the place was a butchery. They walked forward and saw blood on the floor in a large stripe. However, there were a few things in here that could serve as blunt weapons. Nicholas grabbed a crowbar, Napoleon got a meat hook, and Liru found a bat. The androids were fine since they were naturally strong while Logan and Uma had their wands with them always.
"That's better," Nicholas said. "But I'd rather have a sword or gun. No helping it I guess." They made their way outside and stopped when they saw a monster with female characteristics. Her entire front was split open and blood was everywhere.
"My god…" Logan stated. "She's been gutted and split open."
"I don't think we want to meet whatever did this," Cosmo said. Moving away from the gruesome sight, the group went up the street and found the lumber yard. Right away a couple more things that could be used as crude weapons were found and taken. There was only one door that they went through. Emerging from it showed the theater that the ticket could be used at across the street.
"Handy," Uma said. Everyone walked up to the counter and Nicholas slide the ticket in. They heard something click and went to the front entrance of the building. It was unlocked and there wasn't much choice but to head in. The inside, while clean was dull in color like the surroundings outside. The lighting wasn't the best it could be as well. Aiko then spotted a map for this placed and grabbed it. Everyone took a look, even Venus and Kratos who sniffed at it.
"Looks like there are two floors," Nicholas said. "We could split up but knowing this realm, we'll have to go back and forth in here."
"So where do we start?" Liru asked. It was decided to go through one of the doors on the first floor. It was dark in here but thanks to a certain ruin, the group were able to see just fine and found themselves in the viewing area. They could see the rows of seats. It was then down to the stage and to the left. Doing so led to a door that everyone went through. After passing through a small room, the group found themselves on the stage.
"And we couldn't just jump up to it?" Napoleon asked.
"True, but just in case we might have missed something," Nicholas replied. "And we did say we'd stick together." Walking across it found them in another room that served as a control one. There was some kind of note on the main switch in here.
"What is it?" Pachira asked.
"Well this isn't good," Cosmo replied, reading it. "Seems this place doesn't work right. We'd better be careful or we won't be able to move the curtain on stage if a light blows out." The group then went through a door here to another dark room. It was a storage area for props and costumes. They slowly walked ahead and didn't notice a creepy mannequin doll turn its head to them. It was wearing no clothes so the entire wooden body could be seen and there were spots on it that looked rusted. But the clacking it did was picked up by the ears of the dogs and werewolves. They turned and Liru let out a startled gasp which caused the others to look.
"Strike it down!" Nicholas growled.
They all attacked and knocked the enemy to the ground where it was torn apart by Kratos and Venus pulling at the head and body apart. "There's likely more in here," Napoleon said. "Keep an ear and eye out for them." The group continued down the dark area, eventually reaching a door. Going inside they found a dark grey square with a painted-on sun symbol. There was nothing else though. Upon going out, they noticed another of the mannequin like enemies. "I've got this," Cosmo said and fired at them, killing it right away. It was then onto the security office that was back here. Inside this room was a katana that Nicholas took, giving his crude weapon to Liru. There was also a mirror in here.
"Guess it's time to change things up," Nicholas stated. "Everyone ready?" They nodded and held up their right hand to it, immediately going to the twisted version of this place. The surroundings became molded like. The group walked out to find more mannequin like enemies waiting for them. Nicholas took his new katana and sliced them to bits. Then it was through a door where a key was obtained. Since there was nothing else in here, it was back out in the dark hallway. Looking at the map that had been picked up earlier showed the group was still on the first floor but in a side hallway next to the seating area. They made it to some stairs that went to the second floor. After going through a door, they saw another nearby that had a shining light like symbol on it. There were two square holes next to it on either side.
"I bet that square we found goes there," Liru said and inserted it on the hole on the right. It was a perfect fit.
"There should be another," Uma commented.
"Doesn't seem like there's anything else here," Aiko said. "Let's head back to that mirror." The group did so and soon the molded like surface disappeared. Then it was back out to the main entrance and up the stairs to the second floor. It was here that the key picked up from before was used to unlock one of the doors. This allowed them to get where the seating on this area was and the lighting box that controlled the lights. The only thing in here of value were four different lights with different watts. There was a piece of paper here that had notes on it about how to make the spotlights work. Then it was out of this room and down the stairs into a smaller one where a similar looking slab was found that had a moon design on it. It was then back to the mirror and upstairs where the first slab had been placed. The new one was inserted into the second hole they were able to go through the door that had the shining light symbol on it. Then it was up some stairs and into another dark hallway. It was then down the single path until another mirror was found which was used to return things to normal. Then it was to the scaffoldings of this place.
"I bet we can find the area where the lights go here," Napoleon said.
"Let's go," Nicholas commented and slowly led the way across one of the narrow paths. "And don't look down." The group went to each of the four sections that had the lights missing. They were all put in and then Cosmo found a lever at the end of the walkway and pulled it. The lights came on, lighting up the stage. It was then back downstairs and to the controls that worked the curtain on the stage. When the lever for it was pulled, it came up. Going to it showed that one section of the wall there was a mirror. But in the corner was what was more important; the controls for the props and scenery.
"Looks like there's a lever missing for the props," Napoleon said.
"Let's match up what we can for now," Pachira commented. The first props and sets that were used were trees and some kind of arch appeared. Doing so caused a sound to be heard from where the mirror was. The group went over to it and were transported to the darker version of the place. They didn't leave the stage but looked by one of the trees which had a key for the stage office. It was then back to the mirror. Those from the nether and the dogs took the key to the door it went to. Inside this room they found the missing lever. This was taken to the control panel and placed in the missing slot. The group got the right scenery out which was some kind of cave wall with a drape for a prop. The same nose was heard again. They all walked in front of the mirror but didn't use it just yet.
"Just get ready for whatever comes at us," Nicholas said and they all held their hands up to it. They were teleported to the distorted version. They emerged and instantly the sound of shuffling. Looking behind, they saw a limb with some wrapped bloody bandages around it. Then the group saw a body of some kind that was a bit massive. There were three more legs with more bandages and the head of it was underneath the body. It began to move but these were slow.
"Let's take it out!" Nicholas stated and drew the katana. Venus and Kratos let out barks and went in with the male werewolf, the blade and their teeth scoring marks. They then backed off as the monster lashed out with its limbs.
"My turn!" Napoleon stated and went in to attack. The rest of the group did whenever they could and it wasn't long before this creature was beaten. Like the other times a circle colored with symbols appeared with another piece of the Flarous in the middle. Uma went over and picked it up.
"Looks like it's the Falsehood piece," Logan stated. The group then looked up and saw Aya standing there.
"You need these, don't you?" Nicholas asked.
"Two more…" the little female said and the vibrations came out again, causing the group and dogs to fall unconscious. When they woke up, they saw they were in the lobby of the theater.
"Guess we're not leaving yet," Logan said.
"Were to now?" Liru asked. Aiko looked to the floor in front of them and saw a dead mannequin like enemy. There was a key next to it and she picked it up. There was a tag attached to it that had the word Motel on it.
"Probably here," the female android said.
"Let's go then and get the next piece," Cosmo stated. The group left the theater and had to walk quite a ways and even cut through a couple of buildings before reaching a gate near a dinner. From there it was a quick walk across the street to the motel. They knew they were there because they saw the sign. They went around the side that had another sign that showed it was for staff and went through the gate. There was a short path to the door which the key was used on and the group got in. They found themselves at the lobby and sign in area.
"Nothing much here," Logan stated.
"It's simple," Uma commented.
"That should make it a bit easier to search," Aiko said. Looking on the wall behind them the group found a map of the place. This was taken along with a key behind the desk that was for room 306. There was also a rotary calendar here, but without the combination, there was no point in messing with it for now. It was then out another door to where the rooms could be reached. The dogs and those from the nether saw that the rooms were small spaces that could be walked to on the outside and there were stairs that led up to the ones above. One of them was used to get to the right side where the room was. There was an enemy in here that was killed quickly. Going into the bathroom, the first mirror of this place was found.
"Guess it's time to change again," Liru said.
"Let's do it," Pachira commented and they all held their hands up to it. The walls became cracked with blood on them and darker shades of black. There were also pipe like bars appearing to. The group left this room and went outside. They saw the floor had become grate like with short walls that were rusting. It was like that for the building and some had bar like walls to.
"Where to now?" Uma asked.
"This way," Nicholas replied and led the rest to a door that was rusted. He pulled on it, creating a horrible noise.
"Ugh!" Liru moaned, covering her ears. A couple of doors latter, the group found the next mirror and came out of the hellish version. The room they were in had a lot of photos hanging on the wall and on string.
"What the hell is all this?" Logan asked.
"There's nothing here of value," Cosmo said after looking around.
"Back outside," Nicholas said simply and they all waked out. It was then onto the maintenance office. There were power boxes and a note saying that one of the washing machines was broken. There were instructions to on how to make it work. Then it was out to the long hallway through a door. There was a hole in the wall where they saw a calendar with a fish on it. One of the dates was circled. The fish was similar to the one found at the lobby. At the end was a table with a management office key. The group left this and went back outside. It was then through a gate and down an alley. Two monsters were in the way and quickly killed. Everyone made their way up to the office. Thanks to this, they were able to reach a new section. They kept going until they reached some dumpsters were and stopped when the saw the dead body of a monster with a trail of blood leading to the door they had to go through.
"Oh my god…" Liru whispered in fear, grabbing Nicholas. Kratos and Venus let out growls.
"Shit, someone's gone to town on this one with a knife," Napoleon said, getting closer and looking at the carcass. "And quiet a big one." The male vampire looked to the door. "Guess it went in there."
"Do we really have to go in?" Aiko whispered.
"You wanna get out of here?" Logan asked and led the way in. Everyone walked in and heard the sound of what sounded like a pig squealing. The wizard held a finger to his lips as they got closer to a corner. Then then heard the sounds of some kind of being and chopping. The males and females looked around and saw a horrid sight. Some kind of monster was hanging from the ceiling by a chain. There was also a humanoid monster with a huge meat cleaver. It was wearing a bloody apron and the skin was grey with blood on it. Half of the face was covered by a grey colored mask. But the other half could be seen and there was no mouth or eyes. Only an ear and nose. The group watched in horror and disgust as they saw the butcher like monster run the weapon down the body of the chained-up monster, drawing blood. It then proceeded to stab it with the cleaver until it stopped squealing and was dead. The butcher like monster then sniffed the air and as though sensing the group, turned to face them.
"Shit," Nicholas simply said and then the creature began to advance. He transformed along with Liru and the male came out with his katana at the ready. The butcher monster took a swing, but the male werewolf was too quick and landed some hits, blood spraying everywhere. Kratos and Venus came forward and jumped on the creature, growling and pulling at the apron and exposed face. The creature went down from this sudden weight. The rest from the nether took this opportunity to go forward with their weapons and attack. Napoleon dealt the finishing blow with his hand stabbing through the monster's heart. The large weapon it had fell from its grasp. Napoleon then picked it up and threw it to the side. It was then out another door and into a different dark room. Then it was out another door to the outside which showed it was the pool area. The group went around a corner and into some kind of arcade room. There were only a few games. But the group found some kind of token on top of a broken pinball machine. This was taken and then it was out of the arcade room and to the laundry one. Here on a table they found a guide ripped out from a manual to the washing machines. The token was used on one of them that had something inside of it. The group got it and it was another key with a snake symbol on the tag. Then it was back outside and up some stairs right nearby. They walked until they found the door the key went to and used it.
"This seems fancier than the others," Uma said. The group then went to the bathroom and noticed the bottom of the tub was broken with a hole that went to the room below.
"As good as a way to get in," Logan said and took the first jump. The wizard landed and brushed his clothes since a bit of dust had come with him. Kratos and Venus had to be lowered down and then caught by the guy on the floor below. The rest quickly followed. While this room was nice to, there was a door that was locked and had no way out. There was a mirror found in a bathroom here which was used to get to the other dimension. Doing this allowed the door to be opened and get out of this room. This was by the pool area with the water now gone. There was some kind of jeweled heart on the bottom of the pool that was large enough to hold something. Shaking it proved this.
"Let's find a place to smash this," Cosmo said. "I'd keep it, but I don't want anything cursed from this realm." The others agreed with him. Then it was onto a room that had some kind of ornamental dagger with a crescent moon on the bottom of the handle. Then it was up the stairs nearby to the second floor. The group found a door after walking that looked a bit like some kind of eye with a slit that the dagger was placed in. Something clicked and this door was able to be opened. Inside here another ragged hole was found in the floor.
"Back down again," Nicholas said with a shrug and took the lead this time. Down below a hole in the wall was found that everyone was able to squeeze through. The group saw they were in a long hallway. The group kept going until they got out of the hellish version of the maintenance room. They were soon back at the room nearby with a mirror to get back to the less creepy version of this place. It was then back to the maintenance office where a heavy-duty vice bolted to the side of the desk was found. This was used to break open the jeweled heart. Inside was a wedding ring with a date engraved on it. The group then returned to the lobby where the fish calendar was and entered the date on the ring into it. A secret compartment appeared and the ring was placed onto the circular depression on it. Doing so caused another key with the rage having the number 505 on it.
"I think I saw it on the map were we just where," Logan said, taking it from where the other room keys were. "It was pretty locked up." The group then went to the mirror nearby this room to return to the hellish version of the place. The key was then used on the room and they were able to get in. They found that there was a long flight of stairs leading down. Finally they found the door and Nicholas slowly opened it. The male werewolf peaked around it. It was a small room, but big enough for the whole group. The guy then saw what appeared to be a corpse hanging from a rope.
"Nothing," he said.
"Nothing?" Liru asked.
"Just a corpse in here." They all went in. Suddenly Uma jumped back with a shout of surprise.
"What is it?!" Logan asked.
"It moved!" she pointed at the corpse. Everyone else looked and suddenly saw the head and body begin to twitch along with the sound of something coming. Then the twitching became unnaturally fast and distorted. Through the movements they saw the body begin to change to something else before the monster that was really there let out a roar. The head had no eyes but a mouth with sharp teeth. It was cemented to the wall. Two other limbs were on either side of the main body with them cut open to reveal ribs. There were also two tentacles that descended from the ceiling.
"Quick!" Nicholas said. "Kill it!" Logan, his girl, and all the androids used their magic and ranged weapons to attack. The enemy took quiet the beating but was still moving. Nicholas jumped up and thrust his katana through the head and deal the death blow. The monster disappeared and on the floor, the second piece appeared. Nicholas went over and picked it up.
"Come out Aya!" he said, holding it up which was the Truth Piece. "We've got it here!" They saw her emerged, but this time, Aya didn't say anything. The group felt the vibrations before passing out again. They woke up what seemed like a second latter and found themselves in a room with nothing. But looking showed it was still in the hellish realm.
"We're still here," Liru said.
"We have four of the pieces," Nicholas said. "But they seem to be part of a much bigger thing. Question is; where is it?"
"Only one way to find out," Napoleon commented. "There's a door over there." The group had to go through a couple doors until in a final room they found what appeared to be a fifth piece in the same red circle. Nicholas went over and picked it up and saw it was diamond in shape with holes for the other four parts found. He realized it was the Present piece.
"This is that last one," the male werewolf said. "All the parts go to this one. We'll have to get back to our world to do so." The group then noticed Aya appear again.
"You have them…" she said. Suddenly the group felt the vibrations again and were knocked out. When they awoke, they saw they were back in their mansion home where the other pieces were kept safe, the weapons obtained from the realm were gone. Cosmo got them out without a word and proceeded to complete the Flaruos. The male android got it and a flash was seen briefly from the object. Suddenly it glowed with an orange light and Aya's figure metalized in the room.
"You're here now," Nicholas stated.
"Yes…" she replied. The little girl looked to Napoleon. "When the time comes… use it… You all will know…" The Flarous suddenly levitated in the air, surrounded by an orange colored light. The group saw the four pieces that attached to the main one come off and float. Suddenly they all went to five of the group with Napoleon getting the middle one and the rest being distributed to Nicholas, Pachira, Liru, and Cosmo. The light then disappeared and Aya was gone. The group from the nether just looked at the other and didn't say anything. By this point it was night time in the real world. They all went to bed, somehow knowing what the everyone else was thinking. In the morning, nobody talked about this. But the male werewolf had to bring up something else.
"I think it's time we check out that organization we heard about," he said at breakfast. "After all that, I think some action in the real world would do us some good." Everyone else agreed with him and so it was time to pack up and head to those that could take them to the DSAA. What they didn't know was what it would lead to.