CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Welcome to Hell
The moment Marcus had stepped into the tunnel entrance of Tartaros, it shut itself and did not open. Kursed wasn't going to let him run away after he had come this far, but then again, why would he want to? He was this close to rescuing Coyote…he couldn't give up now…he WOULDN'T give up!
What troubled him was the environment around him. It was very dark, somewhat cramped, and uncomfortably quiet. If he was right, Kursed would be somewhere near the top of the mountain since the top of a tower or mountain or what have you is usually where all bad guys make their homes. That said, he didn't know if it was only her there. He knew Coyote had to be here somewhere, whether with Kursed or guarding the passage to her. What if there was something else? Something to protect Coyote.
Marcus exited the tunnel and found himself in a large room with a small path leading higher up, but the issue was that there was barely enough room to walk on it and the risk of falling into a giant crevice that took up much of the room if he slipped. Nevertheless, he pressed his back against the wall and steadily worked his way up the path, his heart beating like a hammer from the tension the situation brought with it.
He grunted in pain when a rock sticking out of the wall sliced a thin wound in his back, but he carried on despite the feeling of a light trickle of blood running down his body. He began to ascend higher and higher, becoming steadily more tired the longer it took him. He was tired, he was hungry…and he was alone. No one could help him. As a sort of people person, having people to talk to was something that kept him from becoming nervous, and since he was alone in a dark cave with nothing but his staff to light the way and no one else but his possessed girlfriend and his evil surrogate mother in the mountain with him. Not only was there blood running down his back, but sweat was starting to run down his face from both exhaustion and even a little bit of fear.
As he was about halfway through ascending, he let out a terrified gasp as his foot slipped and he had to stab his staff into the rock surface to stop from falling into the abyss. Once he had recovered from the shock, he pulled himself back onto the ledge and continued his ascent, watching his step and keeping his eyes and ears attentive to his surroundings.
Finally, after much patience, he was deposited in front of a long rock tunnel leading directly upward. There were several notches in the walls that would allow him to climb up, and he proceeded to do so once he had clipped his staff to his back. He reached up and pulled himself higher and higher with his hands and feet until he grabbed one notch and felt his hand slip from it. Letting out a loud cry, he fell back to the ground and slammed into it. He writhed around in pain for a few brief moments, covered in cuts spilling his own blood. He wanted to cry, and he never cried when he was injured, but here the pain was so intense and grieving that it still made him want to do it. And with the pain came some very grieving thoughts.
Why was everything suddenly working against him? It couldn't just be because it was Kursed's will. It felt like God Himself didn't want Marcus to rescue Coyote. Everything was starting to seem pointless, like he'd have to put his all into just walking a few feet. He resisted, steadily getting to his feet and beginning his ascent up the tunnel once again once another thought had plugged itself into his mind. He needed to rescue Coyote now. Not because Kursed would do something awful to her if he didn't (though that was certainly a large contributing factor), but because that pistol on his belt was starting to look very friendly.
Thankfully he didn't slip as he had done last time (an excellent feeling since he had just seriously considered suicide) and managed to heave himself into a large circular room with large stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites jutting from the ground like jagged teeth. As soon as he walked in, he heard a low rumbling noise and turned to find that the tunnel he had used to arrive in this room had been sealed off.
"Just as well." he muttered. "Wouldn't wanna go back through there after nearly paralyzing myself."
With that, he began looking around for another way out of the room. As he did so, his ears pricked up as something rushed by him. He spun around with his staff unsheathed and found nothing.
"Goddammit…" he said under his breath. "I knew there had to be some kinda of monster waiting for…"
"Hiya, pal!" rang out a voice from above him.
"…you've gotta be fuckin' kidding."
The voice…it was Marcus' own voice though he hadn't spoken it, and it spoke with a mocking tone. He looked above and saw someone hanging from the stalactites with a malicious grin on his face. Someone Marcus was hoping he'd never have to see again.
"Holy shit, how are you living?!" Marcus sputtered. "I vaporized you, for Christ's sake!"
"Yeah, well, where was I gonna go? Detroit?"
It wasn't that there was a hostile monster in the room with him that caught Marcus off-guard. It was who that monster was, because the being leering down at him was none other than Malice, an evil clone of his from three years ago. While before he had simply wanted to drag Marcus to Kursed by his tail, he certainly didn't have that in mind now.
"Doesn't anybody know how to stay dead anymore?!" Marcus growled.
"Not in this day and age and certainly not now, mac." Malice chuckled before dropping from the ceiling. "Y'know, you beat me real good, pal, but before I was being cocky. In any case, we've got a score to settle."
Marcus tightened his grip on his staff.
"So what's your idea?"
Malice smirked before reaching behind him and producing his own staff, a weapon Marcus had never seen him use before.
"None of that chain bullshit and no trying to drag you to the Great Mother." he said, his mocking expression having vanished. "For real. Like men."
Marcus gritted his teeth and sank into a ready stance.
"Fine by me."
Malice made the first move, lunging at Marcus with the full intention of impaling him on the staff. Marcus parried the blow and brought his knee up into Malice's chin, knocking him back a little ways.
"Good move, buddy." Malice chuckled. "Still as light on your feet as I remember."
"How much could you possibly remember?" Marcus spat as he lunged at his rival, only for his attack to be blocked.
"Let's see…you vaporized me with a beam of light from your staff, which I still don't think makes any sense…I woke up a few years later with the Great Mother treating as kindly as she always did…oh, and she had a hot wolf babe with her as her proxy. Is she yours?"
"She's not a proxy, you son of a bitch!"
"She certainly looked like one."
Marcus let out an angered roar before spinning his staff around his hand, thwacking Malice across the face several times as a result. In retaliation, Malice seized the staff and punched Marcus in the throat, rendering him out of breath long enough for a kick backwards onto his rear end.
"Hey, come on, bro!" Malice laughed. "You're better than that! We both know that!"
"You're complimenting me. I feel so reassured now…"
"You're quite welcome, sucker."
"That's better."
Marcus got to his feet and dodged Malice's next few strikes before jabbing his staff at him. In what seemed like the cheapest display of agility, Malice front-flipped over the attack and slammed his forehead against Marcus' face. Marcus himself let out a sharp cry of pain once he felt a trickle of blood fly out of his nose.
"Ooo, that looked like it hurt." Malice mocked.
"That's because it DID hurt." Marcus growled back.
"Anywho, tell me about this wolf girl of yours. What's she like? You two have a good love life? Good sex life?"
"None of your business considering you're gonna be dead and hanging from the rafters by your guts before long!"
"Number one: there's stalactites. Number two: what makes you think beating me is gonna bring you any closer to rescuing what's-her-face?"
"Coyote."
"Yeah, her. What makes you think beating me is gonna bring you any closer to saving her?"
"Why wouldn't it?"
Marcus flipped backward and fired the Hyper Beam. Sadly, Malice saw it coming and flipped away before zipping forward grabbing Marcus by the back of the head.
"So close yet so far." he snickered. "And what I meant was…well, you went to school so you should know already."
"I…only went to school until I was ten."
"Really now? No wonder you're so damn stupid."
"I WAS HOME-SCHOOLED, FUCKHEAD!"
"Vulgar language. It's appreciated."
In order to get Marcus to stop shouting long enough for him to get his point across, Malice started slamming his poor double's face into a nearby stalagmite.
"Now, are you gonna let me talk?" Malice asked.
"Fuck…you…" Marcus groaned, his face drenched in blood.
"I'll take that as a yes. You ever heard of the Hero's Journey?"
"Sure…why does that matter?"
"Do you know what it is?"
"An archetype by which many famous stories go by."
"…huh. I guess you're not so stupid. In any case, you crossed the threshold, you met the mentor, yadda yadda yadda. You know what else is an event in there?"
"Return? I'd certainly like to go home right about now."
"Good guess, but no. It's the loss of the elixir."
He leaned in with a sadistic grin and narrowed eyes.
"And what's your elixir? The thing that means the most to you?"
Those words brought that horrible vision back into his mind. He wouldn't dare let something like that happen. It was the future! He could change it…right?
Whatever the case, the thought of it made Marcus extremely angry, resulting in him finally overpowering Malice and booting him away. He drew the pistol from his belt, aimed it, and began firing whenever he had a clear shot.
"Guns, eh?" Malice said with a laugh. "Now it's gettin' REALLY fun!"
Much to Marcus' anger, Malice swiftly dodged every single bullet before running forward with a strong kick. Marcus ducked under it a landed a punch to Malice's groin before suplexing him and slamming his head into the ground.
"Nice one…ow…." Malice groaned, rolling to his feet and prepping his staff. "Now it's my turn to pop a few shots off."
"Bring it on, douchebag!"
"Such a need to insult. I never knew you could be so monstrous, Mark. You're becoming more like the Great Mother every second."
"Shut up! I'm not like her and I never will be like her, and if you say it again I'll tear your throat out!"
"Ooo, yeah, you're real scary. Wanna play ball?"
Malice began shooting his own Fire Blaster, forcing Marcus to bend and flip every which way to avoid being hit, but still failed to dodge the last hit when Malice faked him out by pretending he was going to run forward. Marcus let out a yell of pain when the flames licked him for a brief moment, then crouched down just in time to avoid another blow from Malice's staff.
"So what's the deal, Mark? You gonna get off your high horse and actually put up a fight or just lie down and make things easier for me?"
"No. I'm going to rescue Coyote whether you and Kursed like it or not!"
"Really? How do you know she's not dead already? Maybe the Great Mother drank her in."
"No…she wouldn't be. I've come to far just to have my hopes dashed like that."
"Fun fact for ya: the righteous don't always win out in the end. Who's to say you haven't lost already?"
"SHUT UP!"
Marcus got to his feet and tackled Malice to the ground, pinning him down and throwing several brutal punches at his face. Malice simply maneuvered himself around Marcus' blows before vaulting him off and running toward the wall. As soon as he got there, he kicked off of it and began hanging from the stalactites above again. Marcus gritted his teeth and slammed his staff downward to release a huge quake, but Malice simply smirked.
"Nope. No use quaking the place. Not gonna do a thing."
With that, he began firing down upon Marcus with the Fire Blaster. In a fit of rage, Marcus bent his knees and miraculously jumped about forty feet into the air, shocking Malice greatly when he grabbed him around the legs.
"Why don't you come join me?" Marcus mocked. "There's a nice cold and hard ground waiting to meet you!"
The two plummeted back down, but unfortunately Malice had flipped them around and drove Marcus against the floor. Marcus himself felt his ribs begin to crack from the pain, but he let out no cry of pain since he could barely breathe. Malic stood up and lightly nudged Marcus' side with his foot.
"It's too much effort, isn't it?" he asked. "Just give up, Mark. Even if you beat me, you're not gonna save her."
"Just shut up!" Marcus whined, tears steadily seeping from his eyes. "What do YOU know? You're just a stupid clone!"
"Even so, I seem to know more about your situation than you do, eh? The Great Mother is too strong for you, Mark. Just give up and go home."
"I can't…I can't leave Coyote…I love her…"
Malice smirked and rolled his eyes.
"There's that thing again. Love. What's the big deal? It's a simple as just screwing some chick and creating more kids. That's all that matters to everyone and everything. They don't care about who helps them along the way. They simply have one goal above all else: survive. That's what it means to exist: to survive. Not to love and be loved. Survive. Prove you're the best…prove you should be the only one that matters."
"I don't care about any of that. Hell, I don't even care if I don't survive. I want her to live on and have a good happy life even if I have to die in her place…and nothing you say will ever change that!"
"I thought not. You're not quite like everyone else, Marky boy. You're unique, as much as I hate to admit it."
"Yeah…why don't I show you?"
Marcus' eyes flash a brilliant white and the room became full of intense fog as he booted Malice off. When the evil clone made an attempt to attack, all he struck was empty air. He looked all about for Marcus and found nothing. He let out a cackle.
"Maybe you forgot, Mark. I've got all the same abilities as you."
Malice sensed the room and picked up a signal behind him right as it swung. He dodged it and stabbed it in the stomach, only to find it wasn't Marcus. Simply an illusion Marcus had generated.
"Maybe YOU forgot." the real Marcus growled from some unknown area. "I'm not as stupid as you might think."
Malice began to steadily become more nervous, and he never got nervous. Was Marcus about to outwit him yet again? He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't be beaten by this whiny teenage boy twice in a row. He had to do for the Great Mother.
"Mark-o?" he called. "Come on out. Let's not forgot we said we'd do this for real like men."
"We are doing it like men." said Marcus from a few feet away. "Supernatural men."
Malice slashed at Marcus, only to find that this was also an illusion.
"Mark-o?"
No answer.
"Mark-o?"
"POLO!"
Malice's screams of pain filled the air when Marcus suddenly dropped from the ceiling and severed his arms.
"No!" he hollered. "I can't lose to you again!"
"Too bad. Your number's up. Now go to Hell and stay there!"
Stabbing Malice through the chest to keep him in place, Marcus grabbed his neck and heaved until his head came off, spine and all. He threw it down on the ground and kicked it away before drawing his staff back and giving it a good shake to get rid of all the blood.
Only then did he realize exactly what he had just done.
"Good God…I didn't just kill him…I outright slaughtered him!"
Marcus slumped to his knees from both guilt and exhaustion since pulling off a stunt like that used up a lot of energy. He had just done the same things Coyote did whenever her instincts took over. Was he becoming just like the monster she'd become after staying on this planet for this long? No…he knew why. A familiar quote of Kursed's from three years ago echoed in his mind.
"My blood courses through your veins."
And course it did. He WAS like her in one way or another. There was nothing he could do about it, and just this thought alone made him very angry.
That anger would have to wait since an exit had just appeared. Getting to his feet, he began walking towards it, finding that it was another dark tunnel. He sucked in a breath and walked into it, the opening shutting after him.
No going back now…not that he wanted to.
Then something even stranger happened. A light appeared from far away and high above, like he'd have to ascend a massive flight of stairs to get to it. The thing was that Marcus could see his own body like it was broad daylight, but everything save for him and the light was pure blackness. Stranger still was that when he took a step forward, there was no sound when his foot stopped moving. There was also no feeling of resistance when his foot landed, like there was nothing underneath him even though he wasn't falling. He was walking on air.
And at last, there came Coyote's moans from far. Not the monster that had taken over, but Coyote's own sweet voice.
"Marcus…is that you?" she groaned.
A glint of hope slipped into Marcus' conscious and he began breathing in relief.
"Yes! I'm here! I'm coming for you!" he called.
He began walking quickly toward the light, but stopped moving when Coyote spoke again.
"No…Mark, don't come. Run away…you have to run away now!"
"But…I can't! I have to save you!"
"Run away! Please…I'm not who I used to be…"
Then a third voice slithered out of nowhere. The voice of that monster that Marcus was trying so desperately hard to defeat.
"And why would he run away, pray tell?" she asked. "He's worked so hard, come so far. Why would he turn back now when he's this close to achieving his goal?"
The horrible sound of Coyote rasping for breath filled Marcus' ears, forcing him to wince and yell out as he picked up his pace.
"Leave her alone!" he shouted. "She doesn't have anything to do with our fight!"
"Then what are you waiting for, Marcus?" Kursed responded. "Hurry…she's waiting for you."
"Mark…please…run…" Coyote said sadly, audibly starting to shed pained tears.
Marcus didn't listen to Coyote's plea. His pace increased until he was sprinting toward the light as fast as he could. He wasn't going to run away when he was this close and after he had come so far. He ran into the blinding light, shielding his eyes with only one thought on his mind.
"Save her…"
Well, this came out pretty quickly, eh?
I can safely say that after much effort, Marcus will finally reach Coyote in the next chapter. Here's the thing: I think some people might react to this next chapter the same way people reacted to Dante's redesign in the new Devil May Cry game...as in I may get some death threats. I'm not singling anyone out on this one, but I'm just saying that it's a possibility. You'll see why soon enough.
SOUNDTRACK SO FAR
Krystal's nightmare/"Save her..."- "Parabola" by Mer (Originally by Tool)
Marcus versus Coyote (friendly)- "Name of the Game" by the Crystal Method
F-Zero race- "F-Zero Medley" by Entertainment System
Space pirate attack- Space pirate theme from Metroid Prime
Ridley- Ridley's theme from Metroid: Other M
Falcon takes down Ridley- "The Meaning of truth" by Hiro-X
The date- Ilia's theme from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Coyote versus the shadows- "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson
The star Lylat- Magmoor Caverns theme from Metroid Prime
Marcus and Fox/Marcus and Chase- "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Fox versus Kursed- "Du Hast" by Rammstein
Marcus and Coyote versus Nightmare- Nightmare's theme from Metroid Fusion (ArcX version)
The Nightstriker- "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath
The death of Commander Dane- "Mad World" by Gary Jules
The prisoners of Kew- Byelomorye Dam from Goldeneye 64
Escape from Sargasso- "Hard to See" by Five Finger Death Punch
Marcus and Wolf versus Master Hand and Crazy Hand- Final Destination from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
To Cerinia- "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence" by Dethklok
Aileen- "Working Class Hero" by Green Day (Originally by John Lennon)
The slaves- "Forgotten Children" by Tokio Hotel
Aileen's sorrow- "Narcissistic Cannibal" by EarlyRise (Originally by Korn and Skrillex)
Marcus and Aileen- "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls
Aileen versus Aphrodite/Marcus versus Malice- "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage (suggested by ianagainstcliffhangers. Thanks, man!)
The river Styx- "Where the River Flows" by Collective Soul