Me; Welcome to chapter six

Mayhemb; Where Maya's fear and panic mix

Me; Little by little the two grow stronger

Mayhemb; So let's not wait a minute longer!

"Who are you...?!"

Maya's eyes flew open at Eugene's yell and looked towards where the noise was coming from. In the faint light of a few sparking cords and lit screens was the familiar shape of the male Conduit, along with two other people. They weren't wearing D.U.P. uniforms, but...

They didn't exactly impose a friendly feature.

"We're the ones who live here!" The clicking of a gun's hammer filled the choking air. "Now, who are you?"

"Wait, okay? I-I'll leave j-just let me get my things an-"

"Now hold up a sec there, bub." Maya slowly liquified into her ink form and started slithering towards them. "Maybe we want some of your stuff."

In the corner of his eye Eugene could vaguely see a liquid form appearing in the darkness, it's now-forming hand picking up a piece of metal. "I-I don't have muc-"

"Hey Ted, look! There's a laptop." The male without the gun pointed out, making his companion glance away from the male Conduit.

"A laptop huh? That seems like something, kid." The Ink User finally re-formed into her human physique, grasping the metal with both hands. All the while the man cocked the weapon once more. "You holdin' out on us?"

"H-Hey, just calm down okay? W-We can talk an-"

Eugene and Ted carrying the gun both jumped when the other male gave out a yell as he fell to the ground. Behind him was the bar-wielding Maya, who had bashed against the side of the man's head.

"Matt!" The barrel of the gun was pointed at the female. "You're gonna get it, bitch!"

Now in all reality the Blake female could have turned into ink and let the bullet passed through her.

But there was a sudden plunge inside her stomach. Her body locked up at the sight of the metal weapon, her heart quickening as her blood drew cold.

Rocks started filling her lungs, hazel eyes started dilating, and tiny pins prodded her nec-

BANG

Oh...Huh, apparently bullets hurt.

A lot.

It feels...Well, like a bullet.

Pain receptors registered after a few seconds and soon Maya found herself on the ground, clutching the bullet wound in her ribs. Colors in the room started swirling into a downward spiral as sounds of...Wait..What was that...?

It...Sounded like...Wings..?

This question was one of the last things she thought of before she finally blacked out. Note to self. Having a panic attack while getting shot, and holding your breath afterwards, is NOT good.

"Mmmn..." Cold hands slowly rubbed closed eyes as the Ink Conduit finally regained consciousness, an eerie silence surrounding her. How long had she been out?

Slowly the rest of her body awoke and the tanned woman found herself laying on the bedsheets she had taken from the apartment. Wait...Where was Eugene and the two gu-

Sets of steps started to come around one of the corners made by the machine, and once again panic rushed through her. Her own legs tried to move, but were wrapped up and self-tangled in the cloth. Crap.

Grasping at the fabric and tugging only made the situation a bit worse an-

"Uh...What are you...Doing..?"

Stopping the frantic and flailing actions allowed Maya to look in the direction of the voice, and felt at ease seeing just Eugene...Who was holding an odd white plastic bag with some brand name on it in red.

"Uhmmm...Noooothing." Dropping her hands and letting go of the fabric actually made it easier to come undone, so soon she was trying to stand up again.

"W-wait, slow down a bit, okay...? Just...Rest for a second."

Though on the inside she was a bit dubious about resting even more than she already had, after all you only have so much time on this Earth...But decided that arguing wasn't for the best. "Alright White Rabbit."

"Good...And uh, here." He held out the bag for her to take, which she did. Upon inspection she saw it was a few odd snacks. There was an odd brown bar with the name "Hershey's" on it, an energy drinks, and a bag of mixed nuts, dried fruit, and oddly colored round pebble things with "M"s on them...

"Why do you bear such odd gifts, White Rabbit?"

Eugene slowly sat down a bit away from her, on the edge of the bed sheet's perimeter. "I just...Thought you had low blood sugar, or something...That's all."

The odd declaration was...Well, odd. But nonetheless it was very thoughtful and earned him a small smile.

"Thank you Dear." Rummaging around a bit allowed her to retrieve the mixed nuts and colorful pebbles. "But what is this...?"

"It's trail mix." The confused expression he received confused him a bit. "It's...Nuts, raisons, and M&Ms."

"...M&Ms...?"

"Yeah...Do you not know what they are?"

"I don't recall such an odd name, no." Maya cautiously opened the bag, as if it would explode, and used her pointer finger to stir it's contents. "What are they...?"

"It's chocolate."

"Oh..! Okay." Happily she plopped one in her mouth, yet seemed to pause when she tasted the salty tinge to it. Her lips sealed shut and her eyes clenched into an almost constipated expression. Ooooooh jeez she didn't expect it to be salty.

But she was brought back to the realm of consciousness by a soft chuckle beside her. "I-Is something wrong?"

"I didn't...Expect it to be so salty..." A shutter ran down her spine. "I don't like salty and chocolate stuff. It's naaaasty."

"It isn't so ba-"

Maya turned her head to give a mock glare to him, shaking her head. "NAAAAASTY...!"

This rewarded her with an odd expression, but a few more moments of laughter.

So after splitting the trail mix between them with Eugene taking the "nasty" M&Ms and Maya eating the peanuts, they were left quietly sharing the chocolate bar in the bag.

"So THIS is why people love chocolate."

The male Conduit quirked an eyebrow at her. "I thought you loved hot chocolate..."

"I do, but I've never had the bearings of Hershey's or any physical form of the treat. Only the warm liquid goodness with copious amounts of milk and cinnamon."

"Huh...How come...?"

"I don't know..I think I just wasn't allowed to." She gave a small shrug, nibbling on one of the small rectangles that made a bigger one. "I think when I was younger I had a problem with sugar maybe and ate it on vacations...At least, that's what one of the Scientists told me."

For a few minutes the two just sat there, nibbling on their treats.

"...Hey..White Rabbit...?"

"Yeah?"

"...Where are the two guys who were in here? The ones who tried to commit a rather heinous act?"

Her companion fell into a stiff silence for a few moments..."...So, how's the chocolate?"

"Dear...I would like an answer please."

A sigh stifled through his lips as his hand raked through his yellowish locks. "It's...Kinda...What I did to the bullies."

She quirked a red-tinted eyebrow in confusion.

"...Remember what I said yesterd-well, earlier actually..? About Heaven's Hellfire?" A small nod was all he needed to continue. "Well, I can uh...Take people inside of the game...To my Dominion."

His Territory? The dots finally arranged themselves into a proper linear form. "You mean you...Put them in the game?"

"In a sense, yeah..."

"Wow...White Rabbit you have become a lady's personal and private cleaning instrument!" (douche) Maya declared with a rather hurt tone, giving a small glare to her companion.

"Wait-what..?" Though her words were just as confusing as ever the male could easily understand that she was upset over something.

A fist soon hit his shoulder, signaling that it was a teasing anger...Probably.. "I have been thy ally since our escape yet never ones hast thou taken me to thy Dominion!"

When the words finally registered Eugene was both relieved that she wasn't really mad, and a bit surprised. "You...Want to see my Dominion?"

"Of course, it sounds like a wonderful place...Though the name Heaven's Hellfire is a bit daunting, but I shall strive to enjoy it in all categories."

After a few moments of debating with himself he slowly stood up. "Well...Alright, I guess..."

As Maya happily arose to her own feet she just barely heard the Sims' mutter.

"I'm pretty sure the demons are done with them anyway..."

...The Ink Conduit chose not to ask, in fear of what he was talking about. "So how do we get in, exactly...?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

The female did as told and was a bit surprised to see them before one of the once broken screens. Yet it was fully functional now, illuminating a bluish light.

"Ready?"

"Uh...Sure, let's go to Wonderland then White Rabbit."

"M'kay." After slowly wrapping his fingers around her hand he raised his other one as it sparked blue. For a few seconds all Maya could see was white and blue...

Yet soon she felt the blistering hot air around her.

Once her pupils adjusted and blinked back into focus her heart sank to an even lower pit of hell. All around was floating circular platforms, bellow was a vast molten rock ocean. Dear sweet sanctuary where was she?

"So this is my Dominion..."

...Oh Jesus, Buddah, Satan, and Gandhi.

"...Maya..?"

"..Hm?"

"What do you think?"

"It's...Very warm." Warm...Lava...Fire. Oh dear lord, flashbacks from the city came rushing back like a flood. Being boiled and sizzled in scorching flames, forced into glass containers and heated up like a science experiment...

"Yeah, I guess it is. You get used to it though."

...Maya managed to snake her hand out of his grasp and took off her sleeveless jacket, feeling a bit harder to breath. "Geez...Hell is an appropriate name."

"Got that right."

After a few deep breathes she finally managed to fill her lungs with an adequate amount of air. True it tasted like pepper and sizzled her throat with the burning of a thousand flames...But it was still air.

"Are you okay...?"

"Yyyyyup...Just remembering...Some things...That's all."

"...You sure..?"

"...Mmmmhm." Of course not, she was trying to repress the overwhelming sense of fear...

"Well...Okay."

The two then stood there with Maya stayed on the solid portions of the platform. The fact there was glass in the middle of them was, somehow, even more terrifying to her-

A dash of blue zoomed past her eyes as what appeared to be an angel appeared before her, bowing in accordance. "Here's one of my uh...Angels.."

"Oh..! Hello Sir." Maya gave a curtsy to the winged figure before her, only to jump about a foot in the air when a red figure came up right beside her.

"That's one of my Demons."

"Uhm...Hi there."

Both winged creatures stood before her, only adding onto the awkwardness of the silence. By god this was weird.

Wait...Did she even believe in god?

The Ink Conduit paused from her surroundings to think about this. After all, it was a very serious topi-

Hazel eyes widened at the sight of the blue flickering flecks that made the Angel's wings. With the speed and concentration of a cat to a red light, the female started batting at the hues with vast fascination.

"White Rabbit...White Rabbit what is this? Why..Why can I not grasp the specks of wonderful blue hues..?.! White Rabbit explain!"

Eugene was busy laughing under his hand, trying to suppress the sound.

"White Raaaaaabiiiiiiiit!"

"Y-Yeah..?"

"Explaaaaain!"

"Maybe some other time Maya."

"Booooo..."

"Come on, let's just go back, okay?"

"...How come?"

"Well...No offence and all, but I can kinda see that you're a bit...Well, nervous in here.."

"Oh...Alright then.." The Ink Conduit gave him a thankful look before he took her hand once more. Yet she turned around and nodded her head to the winged beings. "So long Mister Angel, Mister Demon."

After a wave from the two the Conduits finally left the digital world. It felt tingly all over once the real realm came to her sights, but Maya was glad to be back.

"Thank you, Robbin Hood, for the journey."

"Robin Hood now...? Really..?" He had quickly let go of her hand, stuffing his own into his jacket pockets.

"Yes, thou cowl is a noticeable mark. Plus the angels have an almost egg of a robin's hue. So, Robin Hood is added to your Nom De Plume list."

She giggled happily at the look he gave her, a small glare with a questioning eyebrow.

"Anyway...I'm gonna go back in, i-if you're okay with that."

Eugene's cautious side was adorable in her eyes, really it was. "Sure it is dear, I'm going back to sleep probably...Or I'm going to read, whichever I'm in the mood for."

"Well...Alright."

Maya started making her way back to the metal shelves where she had been using as a bed. "But hey, I'll see in the morning, right?"

...It was when he didn't answer did she stop and look back at him. "..White Rabbit..?"

..

...

"Yeah...?"

"I will see you in the morning...Right?"

"...Maybe.."

"Maybe?"

"I-I could still be in the game, is what I mean.."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..So..Maybe."

"...You'll come out eventually though, right?"

The silence that followed after the question was a bit worrisome.. "..Yeah, I'll uh...Try to."

"...Alright then.."

"'Kay...So...Night then, Maya."

"..You too, White Rabbit."

With that the two went their separate ways, with Eugene to his computer and Maya to her bed. Inside though both knew that this was just the first time they may separate...

So just like a few hours prior the Ink Conduit lifted herself up to the top of the metal shelves and formed her little bubble...But not before glancing towards the glowing hue of the monitors a while away from her.

"Eugene...? Are you..Still here?"

...

..

...

"...Guess not..."

With that the red-head curled up in her ink blob and closed her eyes. Hoping that tomorrow she wouldn't wake up to see she was alone...

Me; So there we have it, Maya's test through lava and fire

Mayhemb; From what will happen now? What events will transpire?

Me; So we hope to see you again for the next chapter

Mayhemb; And we hope you stay and read from here on after

Me and Mayhemb; Rate and Review! We'll see you soon! BYE!