Delta screeched as the Twisted came charging for her, her scream echoing off the metal walls. She dashed aside, the ground shaking as the Twisted got closer and closer, easily twisting its body to turn and face her as she ran, small specks of its body flinging across the room with its bounds. The young Octoling could do nothing to fight the beast, her rifle unresponsive and no other weapon in sight. The Twisted lunged for Delta, swiping her up in its liquid claws – with an evil grimace revealing its razor sharp teeth it unfurled its hand to reveal...nothing. The beast gasped and looked about in confusion, its prey nowhere to be seen.
Delta found herself in an odd body – a small, green round thing with tentacles looking directly up. She couldn't move her head much and only found herself squirming on the floor. Her body suddenly snapped back up, her small body melting into her original appearance "What the…?" She muttered, looking down at herself, bewildered.
Her thoughts wouldn't last long as the Twisted was quick to notice her reappearance on the floor, screeching once more. Delta found herself frozen as the beast loomed over her, its stinking saliva dripping around her. Cast in darkness, the young Octoling could only ever so slowly back away from the monster, the Twisted's coarse, rough breathing sending shivers through her skin. Her foot suddenly hit an upturned piece of metal, tripping her onto her rear end. The Twisted saw its chance, slowly stalking towards Delta as she desperately tried to scramble away, only to fail all the same. The Twisted suddenly charged at her, the green haired Octoling screaming at the top of her lungs as the thundering footsteps stormed towards her, shuddering the very foundation of the battle arena. Covering her ears and closing her eyes, Delta accepted her fate...only it never came. Slowly opening her eyes once more, she found the Twisted looking straight up at an open hole in the roof, two shadowed figures watching them from above. From the hole one of them dropped a bent metal rod with a white cylinder around it...what was that? Delta found no time to ask as the hole suddenly sealed itself, the Twisted grunting at the brief distraction before turning its attention back to its meal. Just as the beast let out another screech, Delta ran for the weapon that had fallen from the hole, grabbing it and swinging around to face her opponent, her grip so tight the metal handle collapsed slightly under her fingers.
As the Twisted charged for her once again, Delta released a roar of her own as she slung the weapon with all her might, a loud BANG shooting throughout the room as the impact sent the Twisted reeling. The power immediately bewildered both of them, the Twisted in shock that such a tiny morsel had so much strength in it and Delta unable to comprehend how she did that, and as to why that didn't break the weapon in two.
The Twisted was right back onto the attack, Delta instinctively holding the weapon above her head and flinging it forward, painting the floor in front of her in a large splotch of ink, the colour of which perfectly matching her hair. The Twisted didn't slow down at all, opening its jaws as wide as they could go. Delta had a clear view of its mouth now, seeing rows upon rows of more teeth going right down its throat, blood coating each and every last one. Delta screamed as she flung the weapon towards the Twisted once more. The beast's jaw suddenly totally unhinged, a thick black substance shooting out from the back of its mouth and grabbing the weapon with a firm grasp, wrapping itself around the rolling part. The Twisted froze in position as a tug of war commenced between the black substance and Delta, the beast's eyes staring straight ahead. Planting her feet as firm as she could get them, Delta let out another scream as she yanked the weapon free from the black mess' almost impossible grip, flinging parts of it through the wall. Before Delta was even on her feet again the spots of black that had flung out of the Twisted's mouth immediately leaped back into its throat. The Twisted snapped its mouth shut and stood upright once more, releasing a primal screech into the room. Delta stood her ground, clasping the weapon as tight as she could, sweat dripping down her entire body. She could feel the back of her shirt sticking to her back, an uneasy expression on her face. The Twisted suddenly went silent as it began stalking in circle around Delta, seeming to be sizing her up. The Twisted knew that it couldn't take any more chances with this meal...it wasn't to be underestimated for its size. Distant noises crept into the room from the deep dark corners of the metro, the noises violating the suspenseful silence. Delta gulped as she and the Twisted started circling one another, an odd sensation in her legs. The Twisted then charged once more, snapping Delta up in one of its claws before she could even bring up the weapon. Its four eyes glared directly into her soul, terrifying the girl. She was thrown up into the air with a scream of fear as the Twisted's thousands of teeth revealed themselves once more, the black goo in its mouth showing itself again. Delta looked at her weapon, gripping it tight "No other choices..." She looked at the teeth below her, spreading her legs on the way down. Her feet barely caught the edges of the Twisted's mouth, now finding herself suspended over death itself by only her heels. She jammed the wide part of the roller down the Twisted's mouth, the beast gagging as it tried to wrench it free or crush it but found no results. Delta snapped the handle off, only to yelp out as one of her feet gave out, her hands gripping to the Twisted's upper face. Her legs dangled over the edge of the darkness, the goop slowly creeping up toward her. Delta barely pulled herself up in time, the goop seeming to react violently to its loss. Delta screamed out as she jabbed the sharp metal fragments of her weapon's handle into her opponent's eyes over and over, black blood shooting out in all directions, caking Delta all over her body. Its eyes absolutely mutilated, the Twisted began to thrash about, its blind rage consuming the room as the walls began to cave, scratches dents and its own body being left in its wake. Delta was thrown off, hitting the ground with a solid thud, watching the rampaging monster from a distance. The rolling part of her weapon snapped in two at least, being consumed by the messy blackness inside the Twisted. It scraped itself against a jutting out piece of metal, leaving a writhing, slimy chunk of flesh impaled on the twisted scrap, the Twisted roaring and screeching out in pain upon the loss of such a large chunk of its body.
After what felt like ages of the Twisted writing and lurching about, it finally came to a standstill in the middle of a roar, its head arched up towards the ceiling as colour faded from its body until it was a simple grey husk. Black liquid started to seep out of its wounds, bit by bit forming into a large puddle beneath it, bubbling slightly. The husk of the Twisted creaked and groaned before exploding into a large mess of the black ink, Delta throwing her arms up to shield herself from the splash, only for it to splatter to the ground only a few feet away from her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a step forward before freezing...something about this black goop felt wrong. She shouldn't be so close. She doubled back on herself, backing into the corner of the room.
Her suspicions were confirmed when a single eye suddenly opened in the ink, its pure red iris staring straight at Delta. Shivering, Delta found herself locking eye contact with it, the two of them simply staring for a good 30 seconds before the black mess formed itself into one blob, the eye splitting into two before squeezing itself through a hole, vanishing completely. Delta was once again surrounded by silence.
Her legs suddenly gave out, the young girl wincing in pain. Looking at her thigh, she could see her biker leathers had been cut straight through, revealing the skin beneath along with the wound, blood trickling down her leg. With a grunt of pain she forced herself back up, looking around for her own way out of this metal arena...only to find nothing. She was stuck.
Letting out a sigh of defeat, she fell back to her knees, remaining there with her eyes closed for two straight minutes.
And that was when it happened.
A blinding blue light suddenly filled the room, Delta clenching her hands over her eyes to protect them from the incredible brightness of it all. It soon faded, now only a gentle glow in front of her. Slowly opening her eyes once more, Delta found a sparkling gemstone in front of her, just hovering there.
Her hand gingerly reached out to grab it, utterly enamoured by its beauty...and it was just a simple blue stone. She quickly swiped it up, holding it tightly.
But the instant the stone touched her skin, her mind went dark, thousands upon thousands of images, moments and flashes of people she didn't recognize at all running through her head at a speed she couldn't comprehend. What was all this, where we they coming from? Her thoughts just couldn't be processed, leaving her stunned and blank.
A whole lifetime seemed to pass before Delta's senses came back to her, finding herself back at the end of the foggy maze she had passed through only recently. The stone was in her hand, which she quickly slipped into her pocket. But just then something entered her mind...a name.
And that name was Trinity.
Putting her hand on her face, Delta groaned out as she tried to think of anything she had seen in those flashes, only to draw nothing in her head. Sighing, she tightly gripped her rifle once more and headed back into the maze.
30 minutes later…
She was lost. Mentally berating herself for getting stuck in this place, a place so bone-chillingly cold that she had felt flakes of ice forming in her tentacles. Every time she thought she'd found the stairs away from this place she just found herself twisting further into the chaos of this place. The fog didn't get lighter, it was still as thick as it was when she left the room the first time. The cold air stung her wound, the girl wincing from time to time with each pang of pain that ran through her nerves. Finding a place to rest, Delta slumped down against the cold steel, clutching her rifle against her chest. She couldn't hear any squelching of the Octarians that patrolled this maze...she was safe, at least that was what she hoped.
A few minutes of well earned peace passed, the young girl occasionally looking at the stone she had procured...was this one of the Gems of Eternity C.Q Cumber had been speaking about? Yellow sparks dotted its surface in a cross-like fashion, Delta noting that it was cold to the touch.
Her thoughts about the stone were soon interrupted when her hiding spot was pounced on by an Octo-Copter, which let out a screech that echoed through the maze. Delta pounded her rifle into the Octo-Copter, killing it, only for hundreds of Octarians of all kinds to surround her, numerous clicks and whirs sounding as they readied their weapons to destroy the teenager. Cowering away, Delta tried to think of any solution to this problem.
And then the earth shook.
The weapons were lowered, the Octarian forces looking around in confusion. Another quake, the entire maze shaking from the force of this all. Every quake was joined a loud and very close banging noise...as if it was coming from between the walls of the room itself. A loud metallic screeching suddenly sounded out as the entire west wall collapsed, falling to dozens of pieces down into the shadowy abyss. The Octarians turned their attention to the wall, seeing a pair of figures standing there. One was incredibly tall, with a slim hourglass figure and one was a bit shorter with a chubbier, more pear-shaped body. The tall one was surrounded by an orange flame, and the blue one was glowing with a similar blue aura. Two pairs of green eyes stared down at the sanitized Octarians, a horde of battle cries sounding as they leaped and charged at the new infiltrators, the duo assuming fighting stance in response.
TO BE CONTINUED