Kyoko stirred and opened her eyes as she slowly drifted back to consciousness. She found herself laying on a grey settee, with her head resting on a cushion.

Where am I?

She carefully stood up and looked around. The room was mostly empty except for the settee she was laying on. The walls were grey and the carpet was green. Against one wall was an empty fireplace, and a silver chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Her eyes widened as the fog cleared and she remembered what had happened. The last thing she recalled was Ito laying on the floor battered and bloody after one of those horrible things had slashed him with its claws.

"Ito-san!"

With an effort she managed to calm herself down. Whatever was going on here she knew she had to find him.

She checked the room's only door and to her surprise it was unlocked. On the other side was a large hall with a blue carpet and wooden bookcases lined up against the walls. The bookcases were filled with ancient-looking tomes that clearly hadn't been read in years as they were covered by a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Four wooden chairs were scattered around the hall and laying on the floor was a metal pipe.

Kyoko picked up the pipe and looked around warily. Something felt amiss but she couldn't quite put her finger on what. Then it came to her. The chairs looked brand new, not even a speck of dust on them. Compared to the bookcase they looked completely out of place.

As if they'd read her mind the chairs suddenly levitated into the air. She stared at them in disbelief as they floated several feet above the floor.

What in…? Are they suspended on wires or something?

The closest chair abruptly flew right at her. Snapping out of her confusion, Kyoko swung the pipe with all her strength, knocking the chair aside. She started running, dodging around the chairs as they came at her and using the pipe to bash away any that got too close. Within seconds she had made it to a door on the far side of the hall. She flung it open, hurried through and slammed it shut behind her. The chairs thudded against the door for a few seconds as she held it closed and then the thudding stopped. Apparently the chairs had given up.

Satisfied that the immediate threat had passed, Kyoko stepped away from the door and looked down the corridor. The blue carpet continued and the walls were plain wood. It looked harmless, but then so had the library.

Steeling her resolve she started walking down the corridor, alert for any hint of danger. She prayed that Ito would be all right and that she'd find him soon.

After a few moments of wandering Ito found himself in another long corridor, this one with a wooden floor and brick walls. Like the cavern the floor was littered with malformed, decaying corpses, while others were chained to the walls. To Ito's horror the manacled ones were still moving, rattling their chains and uttering low moans as if they were in pain.

Shocked and not really thinking he stepped towards one of the creatures, reaching out a hand to offer aid.

I wouldn't get too close if I were you the mask advised.

Before Ito could ask what it meant the creature in front of him opened its jaws and vomited a mass of grey-green ooze right at him. He dodged just in time and the gunk splattered on the floor. A second later and the un-dead thing collapsed, its flesh seeming to melt until it was nothing more than a gooey mess.

Overcome with nausea, Ito stumbled back. For a moment he was certain he was going to vomit himself.

Relax you wuss said the mask. You can't bring your lunch back up as long as you're wearing me. If that happened you'd choke to death and as I said before, you're no good to me dead.

"What's going on here? What are these things?"

No time for that. Incoming.

Ito looked over and saw a pack of yet more of the creatures that had attacked him and Kyoko. Leading them was a new monster. This one was a tall, lanky humanoid with grey skin a deeper shade than the others. Its head had been replaced by a giant fleshy mushroom that seemed to have grown from its neck.

Ito charged in and landed two big punches to the mushroom-thing. It hit the floor and its body dissolved, but its "head" floated into the air and zoomed right at him! Ito barely reacted in time to smash it into the wall.

That's it Ito-boy, do what you do best the mask encouraged. Beat their asses!

Ito realised the mask was right. He needed to start thinking of these things as just opponents, same as the bad guys he routinely beat. With that in mind he let loose and began fighting without restraint, holding nothing back. His mighty fists smashed into the creatures faces, imploding their heads with wet squelching noises. They melted away as he moved on to his next targets.

The monsters fought back with mindless fury, their claws slashing his chest and limbs. Ito clenched his teeth but the image of Kyoko being taken away filled him with blinding rage, driving him to ignored the pain and battle on, smashing his way through the foul beasts. All the time he heard the mask cheering and laughing in his mind as it revelled in the carnage being unleashed.

A few times Ito strayed too close to the shackled creatures. Whenever that happened the mask would briefly pause in its glee to yell a warning, allowing him to evade the things projectile vomit.

Hatches slid open in the ceiling and more of the bloated grey creatures dropped through, dangling on the end of nooses. He didn't know if they contained bore-worms like the last one or not and he didn't wait to find out. Instead he leaped up and nailed each of them with powerful jumping kicks that ripped them from their nooses. They hit the floor and dissolved into green slime that evaporated in seconds.

Finally all of the monsters were destroyed. Only then did Ito remember his wounds where their claws had caught him. He looked down at himself but to his surprise all of the cuts and slashes had healed, leaving no sign they'd even been there.

Surprised Ito-boy? I said I'd heal you. Just make sure you don't get damaged too bad or it's game over.

"I understand."

Glad to hear. Now step on it. We have things to kill.

Ito jumped down a hole and landed with a splash in a tunnel flooded with icy water that came up to his chest. His teeth chattered and he shivered as he waded through the tunnel.

What's wrong? Feeling a little chilly Ito-boy the mask teased.

He clenched his teeth to stop them chattering. "I don't care. I'm going to find Kyoko even if I have to go through Hell and back" he said firmly.

Good. Because if you somehow haven't figured it out yet, that's exactly what you're going to have to do.