Hello to all of my readers, and welcome to Arc 2 Pt 7 of To Hell and Back! Read, review and enjoy the new chapter!

Arc 2 Pt 7: A Fateful Encounter

Cain awoke with a strange feeling: his back was against something smooth. As he tiredly turned, he noticed it was a door. He lifted his eyelids, expecting to find himself at home, but was instead in a long hallway, a faint light shining from the end of it. Not startled, surprised, or taken aback by the change in scenery, he got up slowly. He felt a presence surrounding him; a white sphere of mist and light circled in front of his face, then the sphere stopped and fell into the ground. White energy arced forward, leaving a trail of mist at Cain's feet. He followed the trail of mist instinctively, knowing of his actions and what this might do to him. He walks for 5 minutes before the trail of mist abruptly stops. A wall of smooth bricks stands before him. He turns back to find that the energy was arcing off of the floor towards the wall, the energy crawling up the seams in the bricks until it surrounds a single brick at eye level. What am I doing? I feel so confident, but it's barely me that's doing this. Cain consciously reaches for the brick; it falls into the wall and many other bricks follow until a large doorway leads into a different room. Without a thought, Cain walks in.

Upon entry, the bricks close behind him, sealing him in. He turns to the wall, hoping he could push the brick back. He had control over his body by now, so he tried to push the brick out, but when he reached where the wall was he was stopped by an invisible force. He put a hand to the barrier and light revealed seams in the wall. "One way wall," he recognized. He was going to look around the room when he heard the sound of a distant door opening. He looked to the hallway and saw someone approaching: the figure wore what looked to be a black hoodie and beige cargo shorts. Its face was not visible through the hoodie, but Cain noticed an orange glow from its forehead. Its stance suggested it was looking at the wall in suspicion, but it turned around as if nothing was wrong. It wouldn't get the chance to walk away, a deep growl thundered through the long hallway. Through the haze, Cain spotted a massive humanoid beast approaching, shrouded in shadows, and only the green slits on its head were the visible features. The hooded figure retreated a few feet, the monster lurching slowly towards it.

-=…nearby…=-

Isaac was starting to get exhausted from all of the rooms he had cleared. He approached the next room, and looked to the doorway, "How many more of these rooms do I have to clear?" he asked to himself. He had been clearing rooms for hours, part of him wanted to stop and rest. The other part of him knew he might not get another chance to find another human in this labyrinth. He stepped in, expecting to find more pacers to clear. Yet, on the contrary, he was met with dead silence. No pacers… somebody has been here. He continued to find empty rooms, until he discovered something. He approached the door, but immediately stopped upon seeing rubble in the next. So that's what caused the explosion… Isaac thought to himself as he looked on, someone might be nearby. He noticed few rooms back, there was a path to his right, and so he went back and took it: walls to his right and left, and a door straight ahead, still no pacers. He entered the next doorway. Only a door to his right, so he entered.

Isaac looked around the room and saw nothing but plain walls and no obstructions; a dead end. Isaac realized his mistake too late and turned to run as the door shut and two giant metal bars appeared over the doorway, sealing him in. A light rumble sounded as a pool of green liquid leaked in from the ground and swirled up to form a body: it had no skin, but looked to be protected by layers of green caustic flesh. It had hollow eyes and a wide open mouth, oozing with green saliva. The first thing it did was spit a green orb through the air at Isaac. Knowing all too well what happened with those kinds of projectiles, he jumped out of the way as the shot came down with a light bang...

Cain stood near the wall facing the giant creature with traces of fear, even though he was behind a wall of his own, when the world itself seemed to shake and thunder. A panel of light appeared in front of his right eye...

Isaac runs around the room dodging explosive shots and kicking large maggots across the room. With a fireball fully formed in his hands, he flings it at the creature, barely having moved from the center of the room. The creature takes the hit dead on, but only flinches. Lazy Sloth! Isaac thought as he started to form another fireball in his hands. After kicking a few more bugs and dodging a few more bullets, Isaac threw the fireball. Again, it exploded at the creature's feet and it flinched. Isaac paused for a moment, as the smoke started to clear, Sloth was revealed, and he spat another large explosive shot at Isaac. He rolled and dodged the projectile, but when it impacted on the wall beside him, he flew a few feet and landed hard on the ground, cringing as he rolled…

The panel of light shimmered and Cain stared in wonder, not noticing the beast approaching the hooded figure slowly. The panel then revealed text. "Save him?" Two smaller panels appeared to his left and right, the one on the right reading "Yes" in green text, and the one on the left reading "No" in red…

Isaac laid on the ground, pain arcing throughout his body. He barely finds the strength to go get to his knees, then to his feet. Sloth stands far off…

Cain thinks for a moment, a smile coming to his face. The panel that read 'Yes' enlarges and flashes a few times before disappearing. He turns towards the solid wall, and paces towards it while speaking; "Many have seen me as stone cold and even hostile, but…" he pauses "I am not evil now. I am not cruel now." He turns and yells, "I AM NOT HEARTLESS!" He sprinted and leapt with supernatural strength towards the glass wall and swings his foot to kick the wall. The wall splinters and Cain flips before leading with his fist crashing towards the monster. His vision floods with white as he falls closer and closer to the beast…

Isaac's thoughts barrage him, his concentration breaking, barely staying conscious, much less standing, his hope fading, time slowing. He lets the thoughts flow. So is this it? Is this the end? Will my life go, unnoticed? Will I be remembered, where will I go? Regardless of what happens, let it be known, that man does have a say over his fate. He opens his eyes and uses the last of his strength to watch as an explosive shot is fired from Sloth's maw.

...even, if only to a certain extent…

TBC...

Until next time...

- R-015 and SF

AN: sorry about the extremely late upload, many technical diffulties, and bad organization on my part. the next chapter should be out soon(er)