Chapter 2: A Glimpse Into Hell
Ryuko was getting her wounds patched up by the paramedic on-site, as she watched her friend gather up the bodies of those creatures with that man that she was with. The portal that brought these creatures here was mostly closed at this point but wasn't fully. The portal was just big enough to probably fit a pencil through. But what had her worried was the distressed state of her friend and that man. Thanking the medic who dressed her wounds she Decided to head over to the two and to see what was up. As she approached, she managed to over hear their conversation, and what she heard she did not like.
"Vega, are you sure? I'm pretty sure we killed every demon here." Rumi said as she Paced back and forth anxiously.
"I am positive Miss Slayer, the portal remains open due to a demonic presence on this side." A synthesized voice of a male said, which Ryuko guested that it belonged to this Vega person.
"Can you locate it vega?" the large man said as he growled out in annoyance.
"Yes, the location of the demonic entity that is holding the portal open is located somewhere in Musutafu General Hospital, Putting it up on your HUD now. " Vega said, but before they could run off Ryuko got in front of them.
"I don't think you two are going anywhere without explaining what the fuck is happening." Ryuko said, crossing her arms as she stood in front of them.
"Ryuko we do not have time to explain now, so get out of our way." Rumi said quickly as she pushed past her friend. But Ryuko was steadfast as she stepped right back in front of her, But this time She was less composed.
" Rumi Usagiyama, you better tell me what the fuck is happening right now, before I beat it right out of you!" Ryuko said as she snarled out in Fury. Which had the effect of stopping Rumi in her tracks.
It was then that Rumi really took a good look at her, seeing the heavy bags Under her eyes as well as the fear and confusion in them. Rumi guessed that she hadn't slept for the whole week that she was gone, if she was this quick to anger. She must have been extremely worried about her. So she decided to play ball for the moment. Because she knew that she did not have time to deal with an angry Ryuko. So after letting out a long sigh, she spoke up.
"Okay, basically those things that came Through the portals are literal demons, straight-from-hell types of demons. Now as long as that portal remains open the higher the chance of the FUCKING Apocalypse happening. Now If you want more information you will have to wait until that portal closes and that's only going to happen if we take out the last of the Demons." Rumi said quickly as she attempted to push past her friend again, but like before she stepped in front of her again.
But this time Rumi let out a snarl of anger that shocked Ryuko forcing her to step back a bit. Let's snarl that came out of her mouth was nearly primal and it was laced with so much Fury that scared Ryuko on an instant level. I could never seen her friend like this. What happened to her to make her this way? Shaking her head from these thoughts for the moment, she quickly got over her shock, stood up straight again, and spoke.
"Demons Rumi, are you serious? Okay, I might be sleep deprived at the moment But even I can tell What you are saying is nothing but insanity." Ryuko says looking at her friend incredulously.
"Fine, put my helmet on, then take a peek through the hole, and tell me what's on the other side is Insanity or not." Rumi said pushing the helmet onto Ryuko's head and dragging her towards the portal.
It was at this point that Ryuko realized that her friend was somehow more physically stronger than her now, and by a large margin, which was an impressive feat. But that thought was quickly dragged out when Rumi physically moved her in front of the portal. With a gesture from her friend she peeked through it, and what she saw would probably haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. Because on the other side was a literal hellscape. There was a literal ocean of lava, ancient and worn down demonic looking structures that reached the red thundering Skies above. But what frightened her the most was the horde of demons waiting on the other side for the portal to open again. Stepping back from the portal she ripped the helmet off and tossed it to Rumi as she backed away from the portal as quickly as possible.
"What the fuck was that?" Ryuko asked now terrified.
" that my friend is hell, and if we don't kill the rest of the Demons here that portal is going to open up again and more of those fuckers are going to come out." Rumi said as she put on her helmet again and started to walk off. Snapping out of it Ryuko ran after her. But this time it wasn't to stop her, But to help her instead, which Rumi appreciated.
Transforming into her Dragon form Ryuko gave them a lift to the hospital. Flying through the air as fast as possible, Ryuko could not help but note that the two were not affected by her speed in the slightest. Just another thing that she was definitely going to bring up with her friend after this was all over. Landing at the hospital's entrance, they quickly realized that it was way too quiet. Pulling weapons out of nowhere her friend and her companion entered the hospital where she quickly followed behind.
But she Wished that she didn't, because the walls were practically covered in blood and entrails. As well as pentagrams and demonic symbols that looked like they were painted in blood. But it was as they pressed on she quickly realized something that she vocalized.
"Where are all the bodies?" Ryuko asked Because as she looked around there were no bodies just a lot of blood and the occasional organ.
"It is most likely because the possessed have taken them. This is a common tactic for the possessed to take the Dead. They do this so they can use the Corpses to create a Gore Nest. Which acts as a birthing ground for new demons, As well as an Anchor Point for hell." Vega said answering Ryuko.
But before she could ask what a possessed was, the trio stopped, And at the end of the hallway stood a man wearing what appeared to be a tattered hero costume with his back turned to them. Thinking that another hero was investigating the hospital as well, she attempted to call out to the man. But she was quickly stopped by Rumi, who stopped her and aimed her gun at him. Wondering why she would do such a thing she attempted to get a closer look at the man. But when she did the man turned around and she saw that the man was no longer a man but a twisted form of Flesh given form.
Its skin is almost mummified and brown in color, and the skin seems to be fused with Parts of its hero costume and support gear, and its movement is erratic and slow. Its eye sockets have disappeared, and instead, they have a single large socket on their forehead. Which could have been a mutation but given the rest of the appearance of the creature she doubted it. Wasting no time Rumi fired her weapon and blew its head off. Looking back at her friend who looked to be a little shaken. Rumi Could not help but let out a long sigh before slapping her. When Rumi was satisfied that her friend Got a hold of herself again she spoke.
"Look Ryuko I understand that this is a little much, I really do. So you are welcome to go back outside and wait. But if you're coming with us, just know what you just saw was only the tip of the iceberg." Rumi said causing Ryuko to look seriously at her.
"Rumi thanks for your concern but you don't need to baby me. Especially since I am a hero and if I cannot get past my fears and protect the people who are in danger I do not deserve that title." Ryuko said with renewed determination. Giving her a nod of approval she handed her a Plasma Pistol that again she somehow pulled out of nowhere. Another thing that she will need to ask about later, And before she could ask why she needed a gun. Rumi decided to answer her unspoken question.
"These fuckers like to come in hordes and I know you can partially transform. But it's best to keep your distance from these guys as much as possible Since they can gang up on you pretty quickly. Also, aim for the head it's the fastest way to kill them. Demons can keep coming at you even if the majority of their body is destroyed. That's why headshots are the best way to take them out, especially the possessed." Rumi said and when Ryuko took the gun from her hands they started moving down the hallways of the hospital.
It was when they turned a corner that they saw another possessed. But this one used to be female and as it noticed them it proceeded to breathe a large cone of fire out of its mouth That enveloped the hallway That they were in. As the others duck back behind the corner To get into cover. The doom Slayer just tanked the blow, as he shot the possessed in the head, killing it. Approaching the body Ryuko could not help but let out a gasp of shock and horror. Rumi let out a long sigh as she looked at her friend before speaking.
"Let me guess you knew her." Rumi's said placing a hand on Ryuko's shoulder.
"Yeah, she was one of the new Heroes I hired in my agency. She's Mabara Urerari her hero name was Spitfire. What the fuck happened to her?" Ryuko said looking at her friend. But it wasn't Rumi who spoke up instead it was Vega's voice that reached her ears.
"Identity confirmed, Mabara Urerari, hero name Spitfire, quirk fire breathing, Description, fire breathing allows the user to breathe fire up to 10 ft. The Flames are capable of reaching up to 250° and if pushed can reach up to 350. But doing so risks the user burning their throat and mouth. It seems that the possessed retain the capability of using their quirks even after the mutation process. I recommend you be wary slayers it seems that their quirks have been supercharged. As for your question Miss Ryukyu they were affected by what is called a Lazarus Wave event, a phenomenon first discovered by Dr. Olivia Pierce during her Lazarus Project. While most victims exposed to Argent biowaves will expire without further effect, some subjects will absorb traces of Argent Energy and enter a state of posthumous vigor. Despite necrosis on the internal organs with the exception of the brain, the victim continues to animate and exhibit a low order of sentinence for weeks or even months after clinical death. If I am correct after scanning the two Corpses of the possessed that we have slain they were exposed to a low-yield Lazarus Wave That lasted for a minute. If my guess is correct it was Emitted from the portal the second that it was opened. Luckily for you though your cell walls seem to have a high resistance to this phenomenon. But I still recommend caution since you are not immune to the phenomena just resistant to it. In the future if another portal opens allow the slayers to handle the initial wave before moving in." Vega said which caused Ryuko's Head to spin a bit from the information dump. But she was quickly snapped out of it by the sounds of pencil writing on paper.
Looking over to the giant of a man she could see that he was writing something in a very old leather-bound book marked Demonology Analysis Volume 732. As he mumbled to himself as he wrote into his notebook, Ryuko could not help but Wonder how long has he been analyzing these things for him to get up to that many volumes. But her thoughts were cut off by the chuckle of her dear friend Rumi who she could tell even through her helmet was looking at him fondly.
"Honey, you can analyze the demons later we got a job to do remember." Rumi said as she gave him a love tap on his shoulder. Which, if she hit Ryuko with that Much force would probably break hers. this caused him to stop immediately, and after he rubbed his head sheepishly. He gave her a quick apology before they moved on down the corridor of the hospital.
As they cleared the various rooms they ran into a few more possessed which they were able to eliminate. After eliminating the 8th one they finally made it to the cafeteria where 12 of them were kneeling down near a large pile of corpses as they silently chanted. It was then right before their eyes the Corpses melted and formed a large fleshy Construct. But before it could fully form Rumi and the doom Slayer charged forward crushing through the possessed before smashing through the fleshy construct and destroying it. The construct exploded into blood and gore and the Doom Slayer and his partner quickly annihilated the rest of the possessed.
Ryuko was quick to help out, firing her Plasma Pistol she managed to take out four of them in quick succession. Six of them were getting pretty close to her but like Rumi had instructed she kept her distance as much as possible. Approaching The entrance that they came through, she was forced to dodge to the side as a possessed fired a beam of light out of its single-eye hole that barely missed her. Getting to her feet she realized 12 more of the possessed entered the room through the doorway and even more Poured through another entrance. But it seemed that Rumi and the Doom Slayer were taking care of The ones that were pouring through the other entrance quite easily on their own.
Focusing back on the fight she was quickly forced to dodge another attack from a possessed. It seemed to be capable of breathing out some type of corrosive gas, If the melted floor in furniture was anything to go by. Leveling the Plasma Pistol she took aim and shot at the possessed blowing its arm off, another shot blew its leg off. It seemed the creature was unfazed about its missing limbs as it crawled towards her. Taking aim, she fired Another shot that blew its head off, which seemed to finally put it down. But her fight wasn't over with the single possessed down. Because she was forced to dodge again from the possess that fired The beam of light at her earlier. Looking at the possessed that just fired at her, she recognized the hero uniform. It was one of her interns from Shiketsu. She was only a first-year intern, a 14-year-old girl who was full of life, and now she was nothing but a mutated husk, Being used as a puppet.
As the creature powered up another attack she leveled her gun at it and hesitated. And that hesitation would have killed her if it wasn't for Rumi caving in its skull with a single kick. After letting out a small tear for the poor girl. She prepared herself to finish off the rest of the possessed. It only took a couple more minutes to finish off the rest of them. Rumi, seeing her friend shaking, put a comforting hand on her shoulders. It seemed to do the trick since Ryuko got a hold of herself pretty quickly. Once Rumi was sure that Ryuko wouldn't break down, she let go of her shoulder before speaking up.
"Okay, Vega is there any left?" Rumi asked and Vega quickly responded.
"Negative there is no longer a demonic presence on this planet and the portal is closed. But unfortunately, the gore nest even though it was incomplete still was able to get a partial connection to hell. The chances of hell creating another portal are 87% and this time it will be more stable than the last two attempts." Vega said causing the two slayers to grown in frustration. But before any of the two could ask any questions Ryuko asked one of her own.
"Wait what do you mean their portals were unstable." Ryuko asked worried. If it wasn't for the ache of her ribs and the wounds that she received earlier she would have started to think that this was just a very bad and fucked up dream and she just fell asleep on her desk.
"The portals they used previously were unstable due to the fact that they were attempting to enter a new dimension That is somehow protected. I do not know why this dimension is very difficult for the demons to reach. Because normally they would just open portals all across your planet And send their forces through. But Your planet is lucky, since at the moment They can only open a portal for a few seconds and rely on demons on the other end to Anchor it to your dimension. Because of this they can only open a portal in one specific location as well as it being unstable. In fact, 80% of the forces that they sent through had not made it." Vega said shocking Ryuko. If that was only 20% of those forces she did not want to see what was a hundred percent.
"How stable are we talking about here And how long until they open Another portal." The Doom Slayer Asked in a Gruff and rough voice.
"If my calculations are correct the forces they send through 30% of them will make it. But it'll take around a month for them to make the needed calculations and adjustments." Vega said.
'Well, fuck.' Everybody thought Simultaneously.
Notes:
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