Chapter 75
"Alright, it's almost ready. Are you sure this is a good idea?" Martin asks me as he finishes strapping me in.
My harness tightens up to the right amount to fit my body. "Well, we have a little time before the fights supposed to start, and from the bugs we've put throughout this place, there's a meeting going on with the Deity involved."
"While information gathering is essential for any battle, I do not believe lowering you through a ventilation shaft is a good idea." Martin tries to convince me not to do this. He knows it won't work but that doesn't stop him anyway.
"Relax Martin, what's the worst that could happen?" I give him a sarcastic smile to ease the tension. I've never really been good at that kind of thing but it's never too late to learn a new skill.
"I can think of a number of things that could go wrong. It's you we're talking about, of course it'll go wrong." Martin's kind of an asshole sometimes I'll give him that. It's not a bad thing, just something you'd never expect out of him.
I look over my shoulder at him. "Have a little faith man, we're all doing our best." I put on my earpiece to communicate with him down there. Stealth is the name of the game this time. Not my forte but my character is better at it than Martin's.
Martin sighs and shrugs it off, he knows he can't beat my stubbornness, so he'll just go along with it. "You're not right in the head but you're still my best friend, just try not to die down there."
I laugh a little before returning to the mission at hand. "Just don't drop me or let the mechanisms give out. I'm counting on you to not let me fall through."
"Of course, it'd be bad if we hit a hiccup now. I'll do my best for you. Just don't die alright?"
"You got it." I turn on the earpiece while also setting some music to my character that only I can hear. It's the mission impossible theme of course, only natural for a mission like this.
I look back to Martin and nod before jumping through the vent hatch. At first I'm falling at a rapid pace, but shortly after I start to slow down slowly as Martin and some machines hold me up.
"Alright I'm in, just lower me to the coordinates and we'll be good."
"Roger that, just give me a second." After a few seconds my body begins to lower down the shaft. All the while I dodge jutting pieces of metal sticking out of the walks and maneuver through narrow spaces. It's pretty cramped in here, but so far it's going alright.
"How's everything looking down there?" Martin asks me from the earpiece.
"It's dark and cramped, how do you think its going?"
Suddenly I feel my body drop faster before immediately stop midair. Probably Martin's way to punish me for being a sassy bitch right now.
"Point taken, just keep lowering me, we've only got a little more to go before we reach the bottom of this shaft."
I start to go down again at a steady pace, moving when I have to, and contorting my body when it's needed. Although for the most part this feels really easy and doesn't require too much skill.
Just a little more to go, then we can start eavesdropping. From now on, I'm calling this mission corporate espionage, just because I can.
"Martin, stop, I've nearly reached the bottom. I'm close enough to plant the mics and get out." Martin stops the cables and I manually maneuver myself to the bottom of the shaft. From my bag I pull out a few small devices that I place around the corners of the vent cover.
Below, I can see what looks like a meeting table and a large window looking out to the city of Lastation. It's a really professional looking room, but it's run by a corrupt person so it has to fall into the shady status.
From my wrist, I click a few buttons and the mics turn on with a few lights flashing on their exteriors. Which means my job is done, all we have to do is pull me back up and listen to what's happening. The meeting should be well under way, so the juicy bits will be coming up soon.
"Martin, I've planted them, reel me back up." I whisper into my earpiece to not attract the attention of the people down below, especially the Bound Deity.
"Alright, reeling you back up now, be prepared to maneuver your way again." I flip myself around to be facing up, this way getting back won't be too hard.
As the mechanisms and Martin pull me back to the top, I decide to switch over to the mics channel and listen in while doing my best to not get stuck.
"Mr. President, is it safe to say that this problem in our Lady's side will be dealt with today?" Probably one of the subordinates to Arfoire, just get to the good stuff already.
"It's as good as done, they're still shell shocked from last time we met. They probably won't even show up today." Yeah, that's him for sure, I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"It does appear they're growing more powerful as time goes on. It was that one boy who caused Blair to fail, do not take them so lightly." Another voice I don't know starts to speak.
"Then I'll deal with him before he becomes too much of a problem, it shouldn't be too hard." Underestimating me are we? Oh I'll have so much fun killing you.
Suddenly my cables start to shake and I'm flung into a wall. It hurts a little bit but nothing too serious. "Martin, keep me steady."
"Something's wrong, it's starting to break down. I'll try to fix it as fast as I can." Martin sounds really worried, so I know this isn't a joke… this time.
Between the wall hits and general unsteady cables, I try to pick up what I can from the meeting, finding it hard but manageable.
"But how do you plan on killing him so easily?" One of the men asks the Deity.
"Simple, there's something that I have that can easily defeat him and crush this Goddess rebellion once and for all, all you have to know is…"
"Jack, we have a problem! The mechanisms are breaking down and I can't fix them!" He's cut off by Martin giving me bad news.
A second later the cables holding me up snap, and just like that I'm sent flying down towards the vent cover.
"FUUUUUUUUUCK!"
Two thoughts are going through my mind right now. The first thought is why does this shit always happen to me? The second thought is oh shit, vent hatch.
*Crash!* I come falling through the meeting rooms ceiling, surprising everyone in it, especially the Deity, who seems to be at a complete loss of words. Not the entrance I wanted but I'll take it… when I can stand up that is.
"Are you… ok?" The Deity asks me out of concern. Not sure if it's genuine or not but I'll take it for now.
"I meant to do that…" I say as I try to pick myself up.
I roll over onto my stomach and try to push myself up, but to no avail. That landing did more to me than I thought.
"…" Everyone just sits in silence, still not fully grasping what just happened.
I try to push myself up again but all I manage to do is fall back down and hurt myself more. At this point all I'm doing is earning more concerned looks.
"Come on dammit… come on…" I keep struggling to get my character off the ground. Everyone in the room just stares in disbelief. Even the Deity can't help but give me a confused look, despite him being a mostly cruel person.
"I can't watch this anymore…" The Deity walks forward and helps me up, a very surprising action, one that I'd never think that would happen. If I'd have to guess, me struggling to get off the floor was so pathetic that it was just uncomfortable to watch.
I stagger on my feet before gaining a foothold, and a few moments later, everything is back to normal on my end. That was one hell of a fuckup though, I mean seriously.
As I look to face the Deity before me, I forgot how much taller he was compared to my avatar. It's very intimidating to say the least, but I'll stand my ground the best I can. Although like last time, his face is covered by that mask that muffles his voice.
"You're earlier than expected, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing." The Deity still talks like he's a normal person, and not like the beast we encountered last time that would kill us in a heartbeat.
"Well considering I fell through a ceiling vent I think I should've just arrived on time." I give off some of my wit to test the waters with him.
"I will admit, you made this day a lot more enjoyable with an entrance like that. Didn't even see it coming that's for sure." Is he… complimenting me?
"Wait… you seem different from the last time… what happened?"
"I run this business and a few others, I won't give some of the employees here a taste of what I'm like on the battlefield. It's our war, not theirs." Huh, he's actually more humble than I thought.
"Hold on though, why would Arfoire need minions who run businesses? Wouldn't she prefer just straight up warriors?"
"Even we need money to run our operations, you think we just took over Gamindustri in a day with the brute strength of a few men? No, it took months of careful political bribes and subtle ad campaigns with our products to slowly lean the people's hearts away from the Goddesses enough to weaken them just so we'd be able to fight them and not get annihilated. And also money's just a good backup in case our plans fail."
"Alright, I've got no more questions." With an explanation like that I can see a different side to this guy. He's not a monster all the time, and he doesn't just attack out of instinct, he's cold and calculating, masked by insanity to throw off the opponent.
He's even more dangerous than I thought, but even without this devious nature to him, his strength alone is enough to make me quiver. Because if card games have taught me one thing, sometimes a beatstick is all you need.
"Gentlemen, you're free to go home for the day. It's about to get bloody here soon." The two men in the room with him silently leave, he does care for him employees I'll give him that.
"So now what?" I actually don't know where to go from here.
"Well it's simple, just follow me and we'll go up to the roof via the elevator. I won't fight you on the way up, you're someone I actually want to take on to their fullest potential."
I shrug him off as actually being not that bad of a guy outside of battle with a physical shrug. "Lead the way."
He starts walking and I follow him a short distance away, I still don't trust him fully, so I'll play it safe for now.
"Martin," I whisper into my earpiece, "Prepare the teleportation spell, it's about to go down."
"Alright, I'll get everything ready, you'll probably have to engage him on your own for a little bit since a mass teleport takes time."
"Great, just what I wanted to hear…" I cut off our communication to focus on following him.
We walk for a little while before reaching an elevator that looks different from the ones we've seen before in this building. It must be the roof access one he was mentioning beforehand.
He pulls out his keycard and swipes it down, the doors open and he beckons me in. I walk into the elevator and he follows me in after I make my way to the back wall. It starts to go up, and not long after we reach our destination.
So far he hasn't done anything suspicious, just escorting me through the building like I'm an honored guest or something. I'll give him credit where credit is due when I say he's a good host.
The elevator stops and the doors open swiftly, revealing a dark room that seems to just be a transition room to enter the roof. Doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it either.
"At the end of this room lies the door to the roof. Once we enter, I won't be like this towards you, and the only way out is for one of us to die. Do you still want to fight me?"
I'm glad he's taking my thoughts and feelings into consideration, but I need to fight him. It's a personal goal, and it was my new years resolution to kill this guy so I think it works out in the end.
"Yeah, I'm ready… I'm scared of you, but I won't hold back. I'll be prey worthy of killing if that's what it comes down to." I smile at him with resolve, not sure why since I hate this guy but he does appear to be more human than we initially thought.
"Good, I'm looking forward to it. Maybe if this never had to go down, if we never fought on different sides, we could've been friends maybe. But I chose the path of a hunting dog, and you chose to be a servant to the Goddesses.
"You don't seem like a hunting dog right now though."
"It'll do you good to remember that deep down, we were all normal people at one point. The curse of Arfoire shifts and changes us into the tools of destruction for our masters glory, and we have no choice but to obey."
"What were you like before then?"
"Pretty much what you see now. When I came under the service of Arfoire, I was much younger, and trying to find a place in the world. She made promises of power and glory, but at what cost? She shackled me to her rule, and I can't disobey… or else what's left of my humanity will be stripped away, leaving behind a bloodthirsty dog."
I never stopped to consider why the Bound Deities are the way they are. I always thought it was because they were pure evil beings who only do evil things for the sake of being evil.
But if what Blair told me is right, the way you become one is through a painful ritual, and she had another person inside of her pulling the strings. A persona covering up the real identity deep inside.
"There's only one of us so far who joined willingly, and that's the boy from your dimension. He's crazy, so much so that it makes my madness look sane." Of course he's referring to Andrew.
"But there's still a piece of Arfoire's power that's yet to be claimed. You could join us if you wanted to, just to make our slavery a little more tolerable." Did he just ask me to join the Bound Deities? Well that's some kind of joke.
"I'm flattered, but I'll have to refuse your offer. I'm sorry, I'll try to end your suffering as quickly as I can." From what he's told me, it's not just a fight to save Gamindustri, it's a fight to unshackle the people lured in by Arfoire and who have to suffer being her pawn.
"Thank you, I look forward to our battle… even if it's not going to be me fighting. I'm sorry for what I'll become." With one last look of quiet resolve, we start to walk towards the door.
I don't want to kill him now but I kind of have to after listening to that. I'll help liberate him and everyone else who Arfoire Manipulates. That's a new goal that I plan to achieve.
As we reach the door, we open it and step onto the roof. It's very cloudy today in Lastation, so much so that not even the sun's rays can penetrate the thick blanket.
He walks past me and stops right before the edge of the other side of where I am. Taking one last look to the sky, I can tell he doesn't want to do this, but he has to. The only way to remain human, is to become a beast.
I slowly draw my sword and pull out my revolver, getting ready for battle.
"Forgive me for what I become, and please… save me!" He yells that last part as a dark aura takes over his body and forces its way inside. After a few seconds of stumbling around, the Deity hunches over like a beast and looks towards me while drawing both of his swords from his sides.
From the clouds pours rain, which only ads more to the scenery. But the tension is so thick that I don't have time to admire it. I just have to wait for backup to arrive.
I may not have known you for long, but I'll do what I can for you. Because after all, it's not beasts we hunt now.
It's people.
A/N: Alright, so I may have procrastinated a little bit, but I got back to it just in time for Christmas. It won't be posted then, but it was finished on Christmas morning. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and any other holidays I may have forgotten. I truly believe it's a time of year where we can all just come together, setting aside our differences and just having fun together.
Of course in the real world it doesn't work like that and most of what I just said is bullshit. However, I do wish each and every one of you guys the best, and may 2018 be better than 2017, which wasn't too bad to be honest.
Let's get back on topic now, this chapter had many design changes from original concepts about a year ago to today when I started writing it. I enjoy the final version a lot and think it's better than my previous ideas. If you don't like it, then why are you still here? If you do like it, tell me what you like about it, and about anything you think could happen or just your current thoughts. I've been known to take requests.
Well that should wrap things up here, I'm probably going to put off writing chapter 76 for a little but come back to it when I remember that I write again. So until then, I'll see you in the next update.