Sorry this is short, but I had a really good idea, but for it to work I needed to stop at the beginning of the seventh pocket. In case you're wondering, it's a sub-boss, something I wish they would've added in the actual game, the thing I will put at the beginning of the next chapter. Also, vote on my profile. I won't make a sequel if there's a tie.
Chapter 14: Beyond the Mask
"Ok, Diethard, what is the fifth Malebolge?" Lelouch asked, still slightly stumbling after his mother's little elevator prank.
"The fifth pocket is that of the Grafters." Diethard began, looking at Lelouch to make sure he doesn't throw up, especially on him. "Here are the souls that used their position in life to get what they want, no matter how cruel it was. Now they suffer by being placed in a river of boiling pitch and tar, symbolizing their 'sticky fingers.' Should they attempt to escape, demons are on stand-by ready to attack those who do try."
"Good…" Lelouch was still trying to calm down. Even though he got strong after dying, that doesn't mean he gets sick from fast movement. In fact, he almost got nauseous just by watching the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, in action for the first time. "…to know." Lelouch managed to get out before he stumbled to the door and opened it.
By the time Lelouch got to the center of the arena, he had fully recovered from his free fall experience. 'Ugh, hope mother doesn't do that again.' Lelouch thought.
"Welcome to the Malebolge of the Grafters. I'm sure you hate all the souls here, seeing how most of them represent everything you're against. In fact, I think you sent some souls down here yourself." Marianne said as fifteen Anger Minions surrounded Lelouch.
"Really, was that near-traumatizing experience you gave me not enough?" Lelouch asked, annoyed at the fact he was about to be blown sky-high.
"Oh Lelouch, of course it wasn't." Marianne said sweetly, but something changed in her voice near the end. "Not until I see you suffering and groveling at my feet will it be enough!" Marianne shouted in a demonic-like voice right before the first Anger Minion began to glow red.
'Crap!' Lelouch thought as he reached for his cross to blast the ticking time bomb of an Anger Minion back before it explodes, but another Minion behind him exploded, causing him to grab and end up throwing the wrong thing: a Suicide Fruit. Unfortunately, all the Anger Minions were in the radius of the suicide blast, causing ALL of them to start glowing red.
'That just had to be divine intervention.' Lelouch thought as he frantically looked for a way to get off the platform before the Anger Minions self-destruct. Lelouch then eyed the still raised drawbridge and launched his scythe into it. The scythe pierced the stone near the top and stuck. Lelouch smiled a bit and pulled himself to the bridge before climbing over the ledge and sliding down. As Lelouch was sliding down, he heard a massive explosion, something only ten tons of Sakuradite could rival.
When Lelouch stopped in front of the elevator, the drawbridge came down and the arena was no longer there and ash marks were covering the door Lelouch came out of and, Lelouch presumes, the bottom of the drawbridge. Lelouch, a bit shaky from the fact that he was almost a part of that explosion, pulled the lever of the elevator. The elevator dropped a few feet suddenly, preparing Lelouch for an emergency jump, but after the small drop, the elevator went down smoothly.
When Lelouch reached the sixth pocket, he walked out and sighed. Diethard walked over and asked "Mother issues?"
"My mother seems to be taking pleasure in torturing me. Guess she's still sore over the whole act I denied their stagnant world and sent them to Hell." Lelouch responded. "Anyway, what's the sixth Malebolge?"
"The sixth pocket is the home of the Hypocrites, people who led fake lives and those who downsized others for their sins even though they have their own. Here, they have to wear monkish robes that while look like they're made of gold, are lined with lead and are forced to walk like this."
"I feel like there's something else."
"Something else? Hmmm…ah, there is Caiaphas, the Pharisee that insisted that Jesus should be executed. Now he is in this pocket, crucified and staked to the ground so that the other souls that reside here may walk across his body in their lead-lined robes."
"Not that I'm Christian or anything, but he kind of had that coming for what he did."
"Yes, but his faith is of no importance to you." Diethard said as he opened the doors with the Roman VI above it.
"There's no crime in knowing." Lelouch said as he walked past Diethard and to the center of the arena. As all the times before, the door closed and the way back vanished.
"Welcome to the sixth pocket, Lelouch." Marianne said, but this time she was much sterner. "Wonder if you were sent here if they'd make you wear your Zero clothes. After all, you were leading a lie during your whole time as that masked terrorist."
Lelouch didn't answer and just pulled out his scythe. He found his mother to become very annoying, and not in a good or funny way. A second after Lelouch pulled out his scythe, three Temptresses and three Arch-Demons, which were on the ground, surrounded Lelouch.
"Let's just get this over with." Lelouch said to himself as he leapt at one of the Guardian Demons. The demon blocked Lelouch's attack, but Lelouch pulled out his cross and shot it point-blank at the Demon, completely stunning it. He then turned his scythe into a spear and drove it into the demons chest. Lelouch saw another Arch-Demon rushing towards him and threw the Arch-Demon that was on his spear at the attacking Arch-Demon, stopping its movements and causing both to be immobile. Lelouch proceeded to finish them off, but a Temptress jumped in and attacked Lelouch with its long nails. Lelouch dodged, but had to jump again because another Temptress leapt at him. Before he could land though, the third Temptress attacked him, but Lelouch quickly launched and stabbed his spear into one of the knocked out Arch-Demons and threw it at the Temptress, knocking both off the ledge. When Lelouch landed, he was met by an assault of attacks from the only conscious Arch-Demon. When the Arch-Demon was about to perform a rushing attack, Lelouch hooked the other Arch-Demon onto his scythe and threw it at the now rushing Arch-Demon. By instinct, the rushing Arch-Demon sliced the object coming at him, cutting the Arch-Demon in half. When it realized this, it grew into a rage and threw its swords at Lelouch, who just parried them, knocking them to the ground with a 'clunk'.
'Demons are quite similar to humans it seems. They both get sloppy and don't perform as well when enraged.' Lelouch thought this and smirked as he turned his attention to the two Temptresses as they are the most eminent threat, with the Arch-Demon disarmed. Lelouch sent a barrage of cross bolts at them. With their nimbleness, they dodged some, but got hit by the others. Lelouch zoomed in and cut one in half while he grabbed the other by the head and threw her of the ledge. Lelouch turned around to see the Arch-Demon attempting to retrieve his weapons, but Lelouch shot his scythe at the Demon, hooked him, and pulled him over the edge behind Lelouch.
'Is it just me, or are Hell's creatures starting to get easier?' Lelouch thought as he walked across the just dropped drawbridge. Strangely, there was no elevator, but there was a rope dangling downward. Lelouch thought that his Mother was just teasing him and started to climb down via the rope.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot the elevator." Lelouch heard his mother say before he heard her cackle sinisterly.
"Please, don't tell what I think is about to happen next happen." Lelouch groaned as he heard something break and something else begin to fall. At that moment Lelouch started to slide down as he looked up and saw the elevator falling towards him. Lelouch saw the next pocket and made a jump for it. He made it through right before the elevator would have squashed him if he didn't jump.
"Ok, now that seriously wasn't nice." Lelouch said angrily, getting up.
"What do you expect? She's on Lucifer's payroll right now." Diethard reasoned.
"Still, I expected my mother, the mother I knew when I was ten, to be there, hell, even the mother I know before I banished her would be better… but I guess she truly is a demon right now." Lelouch sighed at this understanding.
"Yes, well nothing is as it seems, this is Fraud after all. Anyway, as you can see here," Diethard said before pointing to the VII above the door. "This is the seventh Malebolge. This Malebolge is reserved for the Thieves. Here, the thieving souls are tormented by serpents, dragons, and other vengeful reptiles that constantly torture the thieves. Some of the serpents' bites cause the souls to explode into flames instantly while other bites trade the soul's essence with that of the snake or lizard that bit them. As thieves, they stole possessions in life. Down here, their very identities are subject to theft."
"Sounds like the countries that Britannia have conquered, with the numbering system." Lelouch said as he walked to the door. He pushed it open, expecting to find at least thirty Hell Minions ready to strike and at most twenty Arch-Demons about to swipe at Lelouch's head. However, none of this was true, for there was only one thing there, but that thing made Lelouch completely freak out.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lelouch's scream could be heard throughout the three kingdoms as he stared at the crazy creature his mother probably made just for him.
If you really want to know what I'm forcing Lelouch to fight, look to the description of the seventh pocket, or its torture tools to be exact. I've really thought that the game would be funner if they put stuff like this in the game so I'm doing what I wanted to happen in the game in my story, saying it now in case I haven't said it already.