Happy Halloween everyone. Enjoy the new chapter!

"Well, that's what had happened to you?" Ulthane asked him.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. It was crazy. I'm surprised I survived this long."

Sora told the giant man of what happened to him after several days he had left Ulthane's home. It felt like a month, but he couldn't really tell. He had to omit a few things about his meeting with War and fighting the giant bat demon Tiamat. Considering all that he had gone through…

"Y'know, you're among a few lucky humans that managed to survive for this long," Ulthane remarked, speaking what he was about to think. They had the idea to sit in another area for privacy, the human sitting on top of a car while Ulthane leaned against it. "The world is huge and there may be some stragglers yet."

"Huh," Sora said softly.

"Still, glad to see that you're still alive, pup," Ulthane said to him. "I was worried about you for a while."

The boy noted it, but he slouched, making an unhappy look. "Because I'm a human, aren't I?"

"Oi, not just that," Ulthane chided him, lightly smacking him on the head. "You ain't the first human I met."

Sora was about to make a huffy rebuttal until what Ulthane said registered in his mind. With a blink, he looked to Ulthane. "Wait, I'm not the first?"

Ulthane noted what he said, and grimaced. "…Aye," he said finally after a while of silence.

Sora stared at him for a while. He looked back out to the clearing. "Oh," he said softly. That…left a lot to interpretation. He almost wanted to ask but…should he? He isn't sure if he wants to. Though…

What happened a while back popped into his mind. Of…that weird flame he emitted, and the 'sword' created… Sora rose his hand to gaze down upon it. "Hey, Ulthane-?" He raised his hand to look up at the giant.

However, Ulthane's head jerked up as if he noticed something. He placed his large hand on Sora's face. "Hush."

Sora muffled out his confusion but didn't say a thing. He managed to see through a crack of the man's large hand, watching Ulthane as he narrowed his eyes a little. Ulthane rose from the car, removing his hand. "Stay here, and don't cause trouble, pup," the giant man told him.

"Huh?" Ulthane didn't have time to respond to Sora's befuddled question as the giant man began to head off. "Wait, what's going on?"

"I said 'stay'," Ulthane ordered him, before he was soon further away, opening up a stone gate and it closed behind him.

Sora tilted his head. "What was THAT about?" He questioned. The brunette soon looked around a little. It seems to be around a large building. It has a fountain in the middle and like everywhere else, falling apart or nearly overcome by nature.

Though, the old…train station? Yeah, train station – looked a bit out of place. Especially with the stone doors before it. Curiosity getting the best of him, Sora got up from the car to approach it, adjusting the backpack on his back. Getting a close look, the middle seems to have a unique pattern to it. A pattern that he had seen on the doors to Ulthane's abode a while back. Did that mean Ulthane had made those doors? And even this one?

"Huh…he makes doors too?" Sora asked himself aloud. That's…actually kind of neat. Though, WHY make a door for this?

Sora scratched his head at it, humming as he looked over at it inquisitively. Normally, you make a door to keep something out, right? And he barred the doors and windows to keep the demons out for him to sleep at night. So…this means that this was made to keep something within the building? The question is…what is this 'something'? It somewhat explains why this place seems relatively peaceful. The majority of the demons and beasts must be in there.

…Could there possibility be a way out of here in there too?

The more he thought about it, looking up at it in thought, the more he felt like going in there to find it anyway. And yet, on the other hand, it may be a bust too, like at the Cathedral a while back. It doesn't hurt to look though…

Sora blinked as he heard a sound. Like…a whistle. Yet before he could see what it was, a yelp escaped from his mouth, jumping at a car that landed on the side of the building. At that moment, he heard combat sounds from the direction Ulthane had went and started to sweat. "Oh geez! I can't stick around here!" He exclaimed. Even if Ulthane had told him to stay in this area, Sora would rather not get tangled up with what caused the car to be sent flying. Frantically, he looked around before he looked up. He knew there's no way he could open the doors.

He could at least climb in another way.

With that, he scrambled up the door and landed on the other side. He looked back for a moment and to the entrance of the station.

Well, he's in the building. No turning back now. Cautiously, he entered the building. The path that leads below had caved in and was covered in rubble. Looking around the room a bit better, he found a giant hole in the middle of the room and more rubble. He peered down into the hole, seeing a shallow creek running below. Glancing at the 'growth' on the side, Sora grimaced. He didn't want to touch that. It's…ick.

Sora moved his body to dangle over the edge before he fell. Before impact, he made another Aerora to slow his descent before landing lightly. The water lightly splashed around his feet, covering the top of the sole around his toes. There's a rather small opening that allows the water to flow through behind him. Looking up, it's an uphill path leading to…somewhere. Tilting his head, Sora makes his way up. (Thank the gods for traction in his shoes. Otherwise he would be slipping!)

Curiously, he looked around. The entire pathway looked naturally formed, with small waterfalls adding into the creek underneath his feet. Sunlight filtered through the cracks above, giving light to the area at least. The rocky walls had moss growing on them and small plants. A quaint place, if not for the fact that it's connected to a den of Demons…

Soon enough, he found himself at what didn't look like a natural opening. Like something had blasted out from the other side of the stone wall. Approaching it, he stepped onto dry ground. It lead to a part of a hallway, or rather, a slightly submerged train tracks. Both ends of the subway had rubble in the way. Sora gave a dubious look at the water before he used the Keyblade to lightly touch the water. Yet nothing happened. Though, he's a bit…iffy about the height of the water. It looked like it could soak his shoes if he isn't careful. Who knows what lurks in the water…

Glancing around a bit, Sora soon concentrated…before he soon completely froze the hallway. Tentatively, he slowly placed his foot to test his weight on the ice. Standing there for a while and not hearing a crack, he looked down, pleased with himself. "Guess the magic lessons were worth it after all," he remarked. He was about to move until he paused. Looking down, he thought back to how he nearly slipped at the Twilight Cathedral. Just in case, he rested his hand onto the wall and carefully walked. He soon found an opening that leads upstairs and, with tricky maneuvering, managed to get to the stairway. Thankfully they're dry, allowing him to walk up them (even as his shoes obnoxiously squeak against them).

Walking up them, he noted that the fluorescent lights were still functioning (even if they flickered a little), and exposed pipes. When he got to the top, yet another path had caved in. He frowned at it before he looked to his right. It looked like an opening had long broken down. As silent as he could be, he snuck up to the opening before peering in. There appears to be nothing. The area looked to be your typical entrance to the subway station, people filling in to get to their destination on time, whether it would be to work or such.

Quietly, he walked down the stairs, looking around in the limited light. However as he walked near the opening leading further, he inhaled through his nose. His nose scrunched up and covered a disgusted groan as he clapped a hand over his mouth and nostrils. "What's that smell?" It smells like something rotting out in the open. He glanced over to the opening to his left. Cautiously, he pressed himself against the wall before silently making his way over. He peered out from the opening...and covered his mouth in shock.

Corpses. A lot of them dotted here and there. A bunch of them looked to have been bitten a chunk off of them. Or had been eaten on. Due to the ornate armor and the wings, these are angels. As Sora looked over at the remains of a carnage…the fight might have taken place a while ago. The blood had darkened and coagulated around the bodies, while the blood on the walls had long since dried up. Weapons lay near their owners, whole or broken in half.

They were fighting something here. But…what?

(And odd that the bodies remained. Were the others slain…burned out from something?)

Warily glancing around, he slowly moved out from his hiding spot. His ears perked at the sound of movement around and above him. His head moved about frantically to try to find the source. Swallowing a lump forming in his throat, he slowly walked out into the opening. He controlled his breathing, his eyes shifting around for anything that's hiding.

He only managed to get in the middle of the room before he heard…buzzing?

Sora blinked. "Huh?" Then a lot of shadows covered him and the only light on the floor. He looked up…and saw a swarm of a rather sizable insects with a long abdomen, a single blue eye and four wings. Something told Sora that they aren't ordinary bugs, though. He gave a start as they soon rushed him. On reflex, he used Reflectaga, with a bunch of them being repelled by it. He kept it up as several others used their bodies to hit against the barrier. Sora's eyes looked over at them as a few of them hit the barrier.

Okay, there's a lot of them…and even if he made the barrier burst, the new ones will jump in. The boy narrowed his eyes at this.

Well, he's got this far on his own. So far. He had to keep going.

(He has people he needed to get back to after all.)

Inhaling through his nose, Sora focused his strength onto the barrier…and soon made it 'burst'. The shards instantly downed a lot of them, the pieces sticking out before fading away. Some even sliced off their wings. Sora quickly got his weapon, and jumped at the creatures before they could recover.

~o~

Well he certainly didn't expect the way his day had gone.

He was doing a check up on the 'gate' to the Griever's lair, making sure that it's still holding, when he sensed something rather…familiar. Upon investigating, it was the young outsider boy with the Keyblade trying to pull his hammer out of the ground. He was pleasantly surprised to see the boy still alive and well, as was the boy. The best he could do was listen to the young lad's story thus far.

Ulthane, though, had a feeling that he wasn't rather…open about his journey thus far. He had figured on 'why' though. It's a big, dangerous world, even for a small human. One that is literally a 'child' to the eyes of those who had lived longer than he.

One that had seen a lot.

To be honest, he somewhat glossed over the actual events of the Keyblade War he had heard about. He doesn't know the EXACT details, but he knew enough that the 'war' that had occurred wasn't the 'actual' war between humans and sentient Darknesses. And that the war that was said to those 'younger' was actually a means to make a stalemate between the two forces. Only a madman would involve CHILDREN into this mess. Innocent lives lost just to get rid of the bloody things. Before they could even begin to truly live. Really, those that wield those weapons are often doomed to have a miserable life or a gruesome fate. All of the sake of fighting the Darkness.

To think that there are still people who use those blasted things…the boy deserves better.

Ulthane somewhat slipped up in mentioning that the boy wasn't the only human he had met – it was the truth, but it was…a long, long time ago. Nine decades by now. The humans that he sent away with Fury are most likely safe by this point and are slowly growing back their population and are in training for their time to defend themselves. He made sure of it, by deactivating the Reflection Pool he made for her after their departure. He was certain there were some others that weren't around nor retrieved, as Earth IS a big world after all, but just a select few that they did manage to shelter, and those that Fury had managed to find and send their way.

(It was his fault this happened anyway. He should not have agreed to all of this. Should have…

He knew that what he did back then would not fully undo what he did. Would not erase his actions. But he wants to do everything he can to at least keep what's left of this planet alive.)

Thankfully, he didn't have to divulge into too many details when he felt the presence of another visitor. He told the boy to stay as he went to investigate.

To his surprise, it was a man in red trying to pull his hammer out. And upon seeing one of those mangy Watchers from the Charred Council urging the humanoid to hurry up, he was immediately on guard. During the confrontation, he took note of the massive sword the man has. The unmistakable design of the infamous Chaoseater. So this is War.

Though he did make a promise with Fury to help him out, he can't just…give it. (Especially with the parasite attached to him currently.) Besides, he's in a pissy mood. He felt riled up upon seeing the Watcher and being reminded of his actions…

And luckily for him, the Nephilim wanting a fight is a PERFECT excuse to vent.

The red and black clad warrior managed to dodge his initial attack before the two exchanged blows against each other. The smaller warrior was smart enough to put away his sword after a couple of test hits against Ulthane's tough skin and resorted to using his height to his advantage to dodge most of the Maker's attacks. Neither of them ever touched his hammer, but they used the environment around them for the most part in their brawl.

Ulthane let out a cackle as had managed to grab the Nephilim by his calf, only doing one spin before launching him towards a building near them. He saw a hole being made into the building before he heard the Horseman crash through the wall. Ulthane had his hands on his hips, watching the hole inquisitively for a few moments…before he soon saw something 'fly' out of the wall and landing on the ground- but a powerful leap from powerful legs and a roar of fury (with a blood red aura appearing around him) was all the warning he needed before Ulthane had to brace himself against the now transformed Nephilim. He skidded back, feeling the burns from the 'fires' of the form.

Mostly red with darker red and black, but almost looking as if he was made entirely of fire and lava, small wings, big horns and a long tail, wielding a club-like sword…

Well, it just got interesting.

The Maker had managed to keep up with the ferocity of the transformed Nephilim, Ulthane blocking what would be blows to his face with his beefy arms, but there were moments where they traded blows. He was lucky that he hadn't lost a tooth nor had his jaw broken from the punches he received. After a while, Ulthane managed to get behind it, grab the form around the waist and performed what humans call a 'suplex' to smash it onto the ground. He had managed to roll to his feet when it stabbed the sword into the ground with energy billowing under it- before the energy exploded, sending him flying back. He skidded a little bit before he managed to rebound and got to using his knee and hand, making him skid back slower. He looked up to see the Horseman regain his humanoid form, having drawn his sword from out of the ground. His face curled into a rage.

Been a while since he had a good fight. But as they charged at each other for another round, of COURSE the angels picked the wrong time to show up. Among them is the female with gold wings while the rest of them is your typical forces of the Hellguard.

Annoyed, Ulthane grabbed his hammer, ignoring whatever spiel she had to say in regard to the Horseman.

(All of this for Abaddon. If she ever found out what he did…)

With them focused solely on the Nephilim, (and what a pity that they couldn't return to the White City due to the actions that happened back then), Ulthane used one of the main magicks the Makers could do, requiring a small 'slip' between dimensions to get to the top of the building. From there, he hurled his hammer with such force that it had crushed an angel under the force and weight.

And soon after that, the two were off fighting the pigeons. They saw the Maker as a threat for 'helping' the Horseman, so may as well make it into a contest. The Horseman gave a mix of an incredulous look and an annoyed look when he proposed the contest.

Besides, he had an inkling of why he was here. He just need to get him to the subway.

The two of them split off at one point, Ulthane throwing his hammer to clear the way for the Horseman as the two of them cleared out and killed the angels that tried to stop them. He admittedly lost track at some point and from seeing the ferocity of what the Red Rider is typically known for…yeah, most certainly he's winning the contest.

But as they got to the entrance to where the subway is, Ulthane suddenly remembered that on the other side of the stone gates is also where he had left the boy. Careful, as to not arouse the Nephilim's suspicions, Ulthane opened it up-

And there was no sign of the boy. His eyes looked around for the small human in black. "Ah, Maker's breath," he muttered, holding it open to let the Nephilim pass through. "'Course the lad would be gone."

War turned to him. "What was that?" He questioned; eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Before Ulthane could say anything, the female angel soon descends down. "You'll go nowhere, Horseman," she declared. "You cannot escape your fate. Abaddon will be avenged."

Ulthane scoffed a bit. She just sat back and let the others get killed off eh? However, he just let the two go at it, surveying the area for the boy in black. It suddenly hits him that telling him to stay in the area that would potentially become a battle ground is…perhaps not the smartest of ideas he had. He had no idea any of this would happen to be honest, but…on the plus side, the lad isn't naïve enough to stick around. He probably heard their battle. But where IS the pup?

The Maker's eyes soon drifted up to the subway in the background.

He's praying to the Stonemaker that the lad hadn't went in there…

The only warning he got that things were going to go REALLY wrong was hearing the roar of the Griever, the clash of swords locked into a stalemate by both opponents nearly drowning it out. Followed by a strong burst of magic then a large quake from the earth itself, and a loud CRACK. Ulthane damn near lost his balance, bracing his feet onto the ground- but the Horseman wasn't so lucky as he fell through the large crack. The angel had floated up in the air when it happened, but her surprise shifted into determined anger after she shook her head.

"You will NOT escape me!" She declared before she flew in after him.

Ulthane peered in, seeing darkness. He palmed his head. "Aw, for fok's sake!" He threw his head up to gripe to the sky.

What were the ODDS?

Considering Darksiders III, I figured I should come up with something on Ulthane's end on why he would be hostile before he helps War out, especially later on. Though from here, things...start going off the rails. At least for this dungeon. It's mostly underwater and at this point Sora doesn't have anything to allow him to be shielded underwater. So yeah. Things get original in the Hollows dungeon.

Figured I should let you know.

I also wanted to do War and Ulthane's fight some justice - War is powerfully built, so why not he should use his powerful legs to pull some stuff off. I should NOT be surprised that he takes two massive steps to do so. I mean, if Grog of Vox Machina could do that, why not he? I REALLY want to do some people justice, as it's not just swords and magic after all. Gotta move their bodies too.

Leave a review if you can and have a Happy Halloween!