Chapter 33- Saved?
Drake shook his head and opened his eyes. His entire body was numb, and yet somehow he was upright, though there were intense pains in both his arms and legs. His vision was blurry. Drake shook his head and tried to focus, but couldn't. Something was acting on him, and it was preventing him from seeing anything clearly. There was a prick on his arm and everything came into focus. He was inside somewhere- exactly where he didn't know. The room wasn't very well lit, and was entirely square.
Fiends were everywhere. The big ones, the normal ones, shadows, hounds. They occupied the entire room. And then there was one, obviously the leader. He seemed to be an intelligent one, and yet his form was different. He didn't look like the normal fiends, his form was more… human.
He looks almost like a human with black skin! Drake thought. What kind of fiend is this? He's got a duel disk… is it possible that he's the newest type of fiend? A stronger dueling one?
Drake heard groaning to his right. He turned his head and saw the others, strapped to metal plates that seemed to have been rammed into the floor. Drake could tell that he was strapped to the same thing, even though he could see it.
"Where are we?" Julie said. "I feel so confused…"
"You should! You failed to defeat that other fiend, and because you didn't die like you were supposed to, he decided to bring you all here." Said the human-ish fiend.
"Where exactly is 'here', anyway?" Flynn asked.
"Rome. But it doesn't make too big a difference, you'll die soon. I have a very special death planned for the four of you…"
" 'The four of you'? How dense are you? Can't you count? There's five of us." Keith said.
"I have orders not to touch the girl." The fiend said, though he looked and sounded displeased with the order. "I don't know what he wants with her… but I will follow orders, I suppose."
"What do you plan to do to us?" Flynn asked.
The fiend smiled evilly. "Hehehe… you'll wish you never asked that." He beckoned to two of the larger fiends behind him, who left the room and re-entered pulling a large machine. It was a huge black shell with an opening at the top, and a slot at the top that looked like it would accept the metal plates they were strapped to. The shell was clear and had metal bands around it at every conceivable angle. On the inside of the shell was a multitude of what appeared to be small claws. They were engulfed in a sort of blue aura.
"What the hell is that thing?" Flynn asked.
"This is the most painful torture device ever created…" The fiend said. He seemed to be almost crooning over the machine, as if it were his child.
"That doesn't help much." Helen said.
"Very well! I will explain the death that has been arranged for you." The human fiend said. "As you can probably tell, a metal plate with the victim attached to it is inserted through the slot at the top. Then, this little bit here…" The fiend gestured to an indescribable thing at the bottom of the machine. "…is attached to the victims heart."
"Do you mean literally or just over it?" Drake said. It felt like the others were trying to stall for time, though Drake couldn't figure out why. Still, he could help stall. "Do you actually plan on tearing open our chests and attaching that thing?"
"Oh, I don't need to tear open your chests. That would be too messy. You see, this thing will drill a hole directly through your flesh and sternum and insert itself into one of the heart's atriums."
"That's sick…"
"Thank you. It's meant to be. And it will likely be painful as well… hehe… Anyway! After that, the machine will begin to drain this energy source you humans have but tend not to use to power itself."
"What energy?" Keith said.
"Don't know, don't care. We just know that you humans have it but only specialized people use it. So, it starts to drain this energy and the machine starts up. This would seem to be enough to kill you, but it didn't kill the humans we tested it on. No, and that's not even the real pain. The real pain comes when the claws come for you."
"What? Do they start to rip apart your body?" Flynn said.
"Oh, no. That wouldn't be very sinister, would it? Now would it fit our theme here! No, no… this is far worse! You see, if we destroy the body, your spirit can escape to wherever you humans go when you die, Heaven or something like that, or perhaps this Hell you speak of. Either way, that's not near deadly enough!"
"Ha! Hell is far worse than anything you can throw at us." Drake said.
"You poor naïve boy. You cannot possibly imagine how deadly this is. You see, the claws do not even pierce your skin. Not your physical skin, at least. You see, the energy the machine drains from you is focused into these claws in such a way that the claws can simply go through your flesh without tearing it. Then, the claws grab hold of your soul and begin to tear it apart, piece by tiny piece. There are many claws, but they tear off very small bits of your soul every time they tear. All the while, the machine must keep draining your energy to keep going. So you will feel the pain of having your souls literally torn to shreds while the machine saps your energy."
"That's… disturbing." Flynn said.
"It's meant to be! I look forward to watching you struggle as the machine tears you apart. And that's not the end, oh no, after your soul is torn up, your body will be possessed by one of these lesser beings and used as our master sees fit. But your soul will not be able to rest, it will wander the earth, torn to pieces, unable to come back together, in pain for all eternity, pain magnified by the number of pieces your soul is in! And there is no way to cure it… hehehe… and I'll say this." The fiend looked evilly at Julie. "This isn't nearly as bad as what you'll have to go through!"
Julie looked away. She was visibly shaken by the fiend's vivid description of the torture device. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her face had gone pale. The fiend seemed satisfied.
"So, who will be the first victim? Any volunteers?" He said. "Come on, who wants to take this thrill ride of death first?!?"
"None of them!" came a voice from outside. One of the walls was blown in, crushing some of the fiends next to it. Something moved through the smoke, firing off blue streaks of light that melted holes through anything they touched. In seconds all of the fiends except the human one had been killed.
Brooklyn stopped between the fiend and Julie. His laser was in his right hand, and the barrel was smoking. His face was red and streaked with sweat. The tips of his fingers were slightly blue, implying that he had traveled without much protection through a cold region to get there. He was holding a black sphere in his left hand, his thumb was on a red button on the side. An axe hung at his belt. "Take one step forward and I swear I'll blow you to Kingdom Come."
"Have you forgotten, foolish mortal? I cannot die from those pitiful weapons!" said the human fiend.
"You're right. I can't kill you with these." Brooklyn threw the laser over his shoulder and slipped the bomb into his pocket. He raised his right arm, which bore a duel disk, in front of him. "But if I'm correct, I can kill you with this."
"Ha! You fool. My dueling prowess is unmatched even among the greatest of all fiends!" The human fiend activated his duel disk.
"Then I suppose you have nothing to worry about, huh?" Brooklyn activated his duel disk.
"Let's duel!"
Author Notes:
Just for the sake of it, I'd like to ask the readers a few questions. Respond by PM if you know the answers:
1. What is the name of the energy used by the machine?
And while I'm at it...
2. Which character (first and last name) is the partial inspiration for Matt? (Hint: The eye)
3. What is the real name of the "Blue Sphere of Death" used by Matt?
Hint: All of the answers can be found in another Shonen Jump manga.