The Descent

Chapter 28: Tentacles From Down There

Darkness. Total darkness. My eyes felt heavy. Oh, so was my head. Sharp pain, pain in my belly. Pain everywhere. My eyes fluttered open, and it was still dark. Light was coming from a lamp, yellowish and warm, but that was it. It was dark everywhere else. I could barely move, and when I did, I was aching everywhere. Nightvision goggles – I remembered. So I looked for it, and found more than my goggles. The floor was slick, but I couldn't remember any puddles of water from before I opened my eyes. But I didn't need my nightvision to know it was blood. And a body was next to me. It was one of them, one of Leopoldo's meanies, and he had an MP5 in his cold hand. I nearly screamed at the sight of the body, but I kept my mouth canned. I remembered. I needed to be quiet. The reason why came like a snail a little later: Operation. Reconnaissance. Leopoldo's men.

A surge of pain came through my arms as I put on my nightvision. A wince escaped my mouth, struggling out halfway before I buried it. One of the lenses was cracked, but I could still see in the dark just as well, at least until half my owl vision began flickering. But it was enough to see what happened. There was a huge, horrible hole in his neck. My combat knife was in his eye. Someone stepped out from beyond where my nightvision could see. It was her, and she had a mask on, just like me. The silvery pattern on her uniform stood out from the blackness that made up the rest of it. She was wearing these contraptions in her hands that gave her long, steel claws, and they sparkled when my nightvision picked them up. "Beautiful work of art, isn't it, girlie?" She said, waving a hand at the dead body.

There was blood dripping down her mouth, one drop after the next. I could see them so clearly in my nightvision, black and shining. I could feel them caressing her lips, down her chin before falling away. I could feel them sliding down my lips, my chin. I reached to wipe it away before I knew I should. Blood on my mouth, my face, my chin.

I remembered crawling out of the vents frantically. I wanted to get out – It felt like I would fall through. It even felt like the vents would swallow me, crush me. Then someone pulled me out. He was strong, and I couldn't escape his tight grip. He had a hand on my left arm and collar, so I punched him with my right, but it didn't do much. It made him mad though, and he slammed me against the wall. He kicked me hard, just below the stomach, and he was wearing boots. The pain came back to me. I remembered the pain when he kicked me there, and it was unimaginable. I might even have fainted.

Glimpses of him unstrapping his MP5. Pointing it at me. Which was when it happened. I couldn't control myself, and something else was moving me. The pain was nothing to that something else, and she grabbed the bad guy by his wrist and twisted it. I remembered his bloodcurdling cry as she moved my leg to kick him in the knee. I remembered the crunch as it bent the wrong way, the exhausted gasp as the man in suit fell to his lonely good knee and hand. I wanted to stop, I wanted to run, but that something else did not let me stop and run. She moved me to bite him in the neck. I remembered how it was like, biting into someone's soft and tender neck. The bad guy was a little tougher and fleshier though, but my teeth were stronger. I remembered blood spurting out, like sudden bursts of water from a hose, splattering into the roof of my mouth and tongue, my chin and cheeks. I was moved to bite down hard. The man did not scream.

I was terrified of myself. I wanted to stop and run, but she wouldn't let me. I bit down harder, until I tore a part of his neck away. I remembered the slimy bit of flesh in my mouth, still bleeding, rolling in my mouth. I remembered how it went down my throat with a single swallow, how she forced me to do it, how she forced me to quiver with excitement and enjoy the taste of blood, sweat and meat. That should round off the protein intake, girlie, I remembered her words.

I remembered as she forced my mouth curling up in the biggest smile yet even as blood was streaming down my lips and chin as I looked eye-to-eye at the man who tried to kill me. He was begging with the saddest eyes this side of New York for me to stop, for help and an ambulance even, but she didn't let me stop. She moved me to plant a kiss on his forehead and stab him in the eye with my combat knife. It went in right down to the hilt. But at least it was over by then, both for me and him. When he was on the floor, so was I.

"Hey Barbie, get up." Demoness shook me from my thoughts. I was on the floor, leaning against a shelf. I couldn't get much further than that. Pain everywhere, especially in my tummy. There was something stuck in between my teeth, something that made me uncomfortable. The taste was horrible – blood and sweat and skin. I picked it off. A bit of the bad man's skin. Something rose from my stomach. Demoness came close to me, knelt beside me, pressing her masked face close and said, "I can't be doing all the work now, can I?" She took me over without asking, and she made me eat my target.

"I'm not listening to you." I found the energy to say. I was sliding off my shelf, so I pushed myself up. An ache in my arms stopped me from doing that too much. They throbbed, almost crammed up.

"Your father would have been so disappointed, he'd rather shoot you than let one of those low-lives do it." Demoness taunted. I shifted, but I couldn't even do much of that. The slab of meat from Mr. Meanie's neck. I could feel something hot and sour rising from my stomach. She leaned in closer to me. Her face was shining like a ghost through my nightvision. "I don't know what's worse – you dancing around with his killer-" What are you talking about? "Or you failing so badly in everything even that clown could beat you in your own game."

"What, you don't know? Dave killed your father, Honey Boo Boo!" She shouted right in my face. I could even feel the blood mixed in with saliva splattering on my face.

"Liar." I managed to call her, but I could feel myself slipping into sleep again Demoness took me by the collar for a really weird moment I thought she was going to kiss me or hurt me but she turned her head to look elsewhere

You hear that? Demoness went on I didn't want to listen, They're coming. Now, up you get! She tried to pull me up but I pushed her away she was a liar and I couldn't hear anything she lied about Dave calling her a killer I didn't want to listen to her

I'm your guardian angel, Mindy, now get up or Leopoldo's men'll get you! Please! For the first time ever and ever she sounded frantic as if she needed to go to pee she pulled me up but I fell over on all fours she disappeared after that I could hear them just like she said I didn't want to listen to her but I had no choice so I forced myself to stand up and walk every single oh every single muscle hurts my belly hurts so so bad the cargo door looked like a thousand miles away I could feel my Underoos they were wet why were they wet

I wanted to just throw up. I could feel the bad man's flesh rising up in my gullet, but I stopped myself. Just as I crossed under the cargo door to get back out of the warehouse, I nearly did. It was a horrible moment – I nearly spilled. The sour and bitter taste was in my mouth, and I had to swallow back down a bit of the slime.

Back out, I could see lights coming around the corner. I ran as quickly as I could, even if my legs, and my arms, and pretty much my entire body burned. The pain in my belly had spread down and up like mutant cooties. I could feel something slick in my Underoos, lubricating my legs. More beams of light were shining from the corner, growing bigger. The patrol party. The pain down there was getting worse with each step, so I launched myself through the hole I made in the fence.

As I landed on the ground, I could feel it in my stomach, and it was pulsating in pain. I imagined tentacles like a squid's, reaching throughout my body from there, suckling at me with its pores, piercing me with their tips. Nauseous. I crawled away. Had to crawl away. Somewhere halfway, I couldn't control the bad man's meat inside of me, and it came out suddenly, forming a small little puddle underneath me as I tried to crawl at first, but the disgusting smell and taste forced me to widen the puddle of my own vomit. I could even see the small slab of neck flesh from the bad man, thanks to my flickering night vision. I couldn't move without vomiting a third time.

The nausea was gone after that (slightly), but it didn't help with the pain. Good job, Girlie. Maybe there's some hope for you yet. I had no idea how I managed to pull my bike out of the bushes, but I did, and I rode it back straight home. It felt like I could die from the pain alone – I needed Dave. He was the only one I could trust to help me. Even if he'd kill me for going out on reconnaissance alone.

And it wasn't over when I got home. I had to hide my bike in the bushes by a window of the house. My limbs were feeling a little better, but pain, so much pain was still radiating from my stomach, and below my stomach, stabbing me all over at times. I didn't dare to take wide strides. Riding the bike made the pain from my stomach worse, and it even felt painful there… down there. From outside the door, I couldn't see the lights – 'dad' was either asleep too early or doing God knows what in his room.

As I tried to unlock the door, I was fumbling with the keys – my hands were shaking, and in that mess, the gloves were getting in the way when it normally wouldn't. I knew I needed to hurry – I was lucky that the street was deserted and dark enough at places; I had to push my luck with 'dad', but I knew I couldn't push it too far. For a moment, I thought about climbing into my room, but I knew I wouldn't make it, not when walking was a huge problem; the only thing I'd accomplish was leaving a costumed body behind for the police to scratch their heads over.

When I was finally in, I could immediately see where the light was coming from, especially when I had my night vision goggles back on. 'Dad' was in his room, so I sneaked across the living room, up the stairs, careful not to set off the creaking too much. Hard to do, with pain running through my body. Wetting my underoos, snaking down my thigh from the insides of my tights, cold and uncaring…

I collapsed in bed the moment I got into my room time passed as I lay down there in my uniform guns and tools – if I felt any better I would have been terrified at the idea of coming in with all that but I was either in so much pain or asleep sometimes I couldn't even tell anymore it got worse the longer I stayed there so I tried, tried hard to reach for my cellphone to call Dave I couldn't even remember what I said, or what he said I just knew that he was coming and I was both happy and afraid at the same time that he was coming before I fell asleep falling into darkness

Meanwhile

User: Colonel Stars and Stripes

Justice Forever Members Manifest – Regular Member Combat (Updated as of 14/7/2011)

The Enforcer

The guy we picked from the subway. He knows a few tricks from a few styles of martial arts he picked up here and there. It didn't stop him from getting swarmed easily. He is not a real fighter, but at least he is willing to fight dirty when it comes down to it. It must be from his days as a social activist. It can get pretty rough out there for people of that vocation. He did mention during his first meeting that he was mugged once, and he kept boasting about getting into fights with the police during riots and demonstrations. The Enforcer is a wild card, but I can understand where he is coming from. He should not be a liability in and out of any fighting that might happen, considering that I am an even bigger wild card than he is with my kind of criminal record.

He has no weapons. That is a problem. It would have been fine if he knows exactly what he is doing, but he doesn't. I talked to him about this, and he agrees to bring something to defend himself with. After that fiasco at the Greene Apartment, I don't think he could disagree.

All-Seeing Eye

He claims to have no martial arts background, but his work as a journalist and photographer counts as his training. He's been through some rough situations. Other than covering the Demoness incident, he is a regular in the crime department, and he's had his fair share of encounters with the underworld. At the very least, he's kept a cool head so far, and he's pretty smart even in the middle of a royal rumble – something I've seen even some of my more experienced old buddies had trouble with.

Bottom line, he's a real smart fighter, preferring to use his brains to trick and trap rather than wrestle it out. We could always use such a guy. He has a huge lamp on his forehead, which would be neat whenever it is dark, but with us taking on the mob, I'm starting to get worried that it will become a target for any guns pointing in our general direction. I should probably talk to him about it.

Moonbird

She is a very quiet girl, but that's where it ends, and 'girl' does not exactly fit her. She's almost my size, and from what I've seen in headquarters and out there, she could really pack a punch. Back at Cosimo's, I saw her knock a man out with a single whack. Now that's something. It certainly helps that she used to be a bouncer at some nightclub. That means some actual training and experience.

As for weapons, she has a pair of sais on her belt, which she has not used yet; my guess is she has no need to use them yet. In one of the few moments she talked during our meeting and during training, she was actually considering breaking out her old billy club and what she called her favorite 'ground-pounders'.

The only problem is her costume. She's entirely in white. It is certainly not what I will be wearing into a fight, especially when God's enemies have something to shoot with. I will have to talk to her about it.

Hacksaw

A self-professed ex-military who was in the national guards. From what he said, he was sent to either Iraq or Afghanistan, so not only is he professionally trained, he's experienced, and learnt it the worse way possible.

He had training time to show off what he learnt in the army, and he delivered. Not only is his 'Ground Fighting Techniques' on par with the best of us, he could have beaten anyone of us if he was given enough time in a match. He nearly floored Kick-Ass on the mat, and that was with dummy weapons.

And speaking of weapons, there's his problem. He brings with him a pair of hacksaws, which are not exactly very handy. They are too light, and they cannot cut – and even if they could, I would not allow him to bring them out with him. I had a talk with him about it shortly after he joined, and he swapped the blades with thick iron rods, which works better, if his contribution at Cosimo's is a sign. He saved the entire team the trouble of getting shot. His confidence is not in question, that's for sure.

Which leads me to the next point. He's fortunate to be wearing body armour. His costume is one of the most practical designs I have seen. He wears bulletproof plates all over underneath, and stab-proof fabric over. Anyway, he's the first man on our team to get shot, but with his body armour, he survived to fight another day. He had to spend a few days at the hospital and a few weeks out of Justice Forever, but at least we won't be visiting the graveyard anytime soon.

User Colonel Stars and Stripes Log Off

Taking my eyes off the computer screen, I found myself admiring my own headquarters. Had this been a month ago, I would not have expected it to take off like that. Just a month ago, I wasn't even expecting Kick-Ass to join the show, or to be that awkward teenager in the same church as I was. Standing up, I took a stroll over to the founding members' conference table, and slid my hand over the tasty logo Kick-Ass and gang designed. The table was getting crowded, and newer members had to take their seats on the desk-chairs arranged in rows. They were arranged to face the podium, which I brought in a week or two ago for briefings. The new furnishing was burning a hole in Justice Forever's funding pocket but we had the Real Life Superhero Movement to lean on – they'd recently handed me a piggy bank through this wacky new 'crowdfunding' platform they'd just set up, and it was enough to pay for most of it.

I would need more chairs from the storeroom though. Another band of new recruits were coming in. Getting off my office chair, I got to work, carrying stacks of plastic chairs out – ain't no shame in that, doing the dirty work, as long as it wasn't dirty in a God-offensive way. I might even need to place an order for more chairs, as Kick-Ass brought up the idea of working with other superhero groups. He was ambitious, but not nearly enough. I would prefer a more united front. Absorbing other teams to form one huge organisation, something to rival the Five Families of New York. Things were already going in that direction. My contacts in the police force and the underground world were growing. People were getting to know us very well, even considering us folk heroes and celebrities. Doing our duties and keeping secrets might become a problem.

As I was hauling out another stack of five chairs, a retching cough caught me unprepared that I nearly fell over my chairs. I set them down instead, and found my seat in a solitary chair. The kind of hacking cough that never stops. I made my way to a nearby water dispenser – I felt like floating, my head as light as a helium balloon. The trip to the dispenser felt like forever – the hacking cough, my burning throat, the evil of Satan festering inside of me…

The cone of water, when I finally drank it, was heavenly, but it was only a temporary thing. How long could I stick around in Justice Forever, I would never know – it could be anything between a day and a million years.

It was for this reason that I had a little talk with Kick-Ass. He was the kid who started the show, took the risks and opportunities when no one else would. Sure, he did it because he was a crazy teenager high on hormones, but there was something in him better than that. Millions of crazy teenagers high on hormones are born every second, but only the single guy who became Kick-Ass did this. It was the right thing to do, putting his name down next to mine should anything funny happen.

Outside…

"Kick-Ass!" I caught up to my boyfriend when he was going away. He was doing it again, running away like that. We weren't spending as much time as we used to either. It felt as if he might be moving on, as in away from me.

"What? Oh." Dave went on the same way as that time when Hacksaw was shot and sent to a nearby hospital. He was always rushing somewhere these days. I was hoping we would spend the night in the nearest café, just like that other time, but he was ruining my plans again, "I'm sorry I left you there – something came up with Mindy and I gotta get home." And straight after that, he made his move to get away again. I had to jog up to him to keep up. I was glad I'd been wearing my high heels for so long that I could practically do a Swan Lake with them.

"Dave!" I grabbed him by the hand, and I was pulling at him with my entire body weight to get him to stop for a second. Even then, I almost lost. He was strong for a guy his type, and he was wearing lots and lots of things for his Kick-Ass business.

"Nightbitch! It's serious! I have to go!" He merely said and pulled his hand away, and already, it was heartbreaking, and it was hard to hammer my heart these days ever since my sister was gone. We were alone, and yet he refused to use my name. He was swatting me away like some irritating housefly. Men!

"Then I'm coming with you." I caught hold of him again, and the look he was giving me says it all. Must have been the words I used, those clichéd words from the movies, and if I knew Dave well enough, superhero movies.

Back at the Lizewski Residence…

Something jolted. I could barely feel anything. But when I opened my eyes again, or barely, I could feel it all again. So much pain, coming from down there, hurting so much. I could even feel it at the tip of my toes and fingertips. My arms and legs were still aching so much I couldn't really move. An 'eeeeeeeeeee' sound was buzzing in my ears. A voice. Someone was speaking to me, but it sounded I was under a ton of blankets – but I wasn't.

A blob loomed over me, covering the ceiling lamp that was blinding me. I didn't remember switching it on. The blob had something to do with it. It lifted me up and shook me. I tried to push it away – it was scaring me – but it wouldn't go away. I couldn't put lots of strength into my arm because it was too painful, especially at my fingertips.

Then it put me down again, and I could feel little things around my waist, like tentacles, touching me. It felt wrong and I tried to stop it but the tentacles were too strong. " –Christ –Hell –Doing" The blob spoke, but I couldn't understand. But when Christ and Hell was mentioned, I became afraid that I had died and gone to heaven. It was so bright, and everything was so weird. Yet it felt like hell – I couldn't even remember how I got here, or why I was in pain, and it felt like it would never go away.

The tentacles grew thicker, fat, and I could feel it pushing against me. My Peabuddies. Their weight came off me, and I felt more vulnerable. Click. My utility belt. A weight off my waist. The pain became less, but it was still so much. I could hear myself moaning, when there were sudden sharp pains that came with the relief, and when it finally fell. Everything felt wrong –my cheeks flushed. And when I could feel the zip on my chest coming down, I couldn't help but to feel… No words for it. But I couldn't stop it.

"No, -dy, it's- don't- me." The blob said. I could hear better now. The bright white light was fading. I could feel my uniform slipping away, and something tearing. The vest underneath removed. Relief. I moaned even more, and I hated myself for it. Then the pain came back hard, and I could feel my cheeks wet again. It felt sticky and dirty before. The tears made it harder to see, just when I thought my eyes could work again.

Another blob came above me, and even more tentacles were pulling my uniform away from me. I could feel my cape getting unfastened, my gloves slipping away. My fingers felt like they were pierced with needles. "She's bleeding!" I heard one of the blobs said. It wasn't a voice I was familiar with. It was a voice that shouldn't even be in the room; I was the only girl in the Lizewski residence. My tights slipped down to my waist, pulled down by fat tentacles. Soon, I could feel them slipping off my legs.

"NO!" I cried as I tried to pull the pants half of my tights back up but I couldn't. The tentacles wrapped around my wrists and there was nothing I could do. My boots came off next, and I struggled harder, even if it meant hurting more, but the blobs were too strong.

"Oh God, Mindy! Why're you doing this to me?" The moment the other blob said it loud and clear, it became a little more understandable what was happening. It was Dave. He came back for me. "Where the hell are you bleeding from?"

"Dave, I think she's…" The other voice said. I could see her a little clearer – she was a woman. I saw the long hair.

"What?" Dave replied. My eyes were adjusting to the light. I could see them clearer after a bit more time. The other blob was Dave's new girlfriend. After realising that she wasn't some weird blob monster, I couldn't help but to feel embarrassed as I realised I was in my underoos with a stranger in the room. They were both looking down at my… lower half, so I looked down there too, and I saw red, lots of it. BLOOD. Lots of it. Was it any wonder that I felt like dying?

It was a strange word, what came out of Dave's girlfriend next. It was familiar, but I couldn't remember where I heard it from. After noticing the blood, Dave went off to get 'dad', and the three of them took me to the hospital. With 'dad', I couldn't care less about what he thought of me in my panties, covered in blood, but for a fake parent he seemed worried enough. He was driving very fast, trying to get us all killed, and Dave had to keep telling him to slow down.

When we were at hospital, Dave did his thing again, covering for me – I knew he would; he needed his sidekick-in-training. The excuse he came up with this time was perfect. I fell down the stairs at Pete's, came home and felt worse, all this while I bled from below.

As in, I was having my first period.