by Ramy Vance
Armor coated Abby's body. "Guess this is the prince or general of hell we have to beat."
Asmodeus laughed, his other heads making sounds as well, the ox only gurgling. "Some prince? Bitch of a human, I am the Prince of Lust and Revenge, one of the nine princes of hell. I will tear your bodies apart and torture your souls for eternity."
Abby scowled. "Ew. And you guys talk about our swearing?"
Anabelle closed her eyes, unshackling her mana. "Fuck off, Ass-modeus! You're gonna talk to the Dark Gate Angels with respect. Now, we want further passage into hell. Either you're going to let us through..."
Terra cracked her knuckles as her muscles tensed. "Or we're going through that ass."
Anabelle cast a glance at Terra. "Uh, that was a weird ending."
Terra frowned, still trying to look tough. "You have to give me a better setup than that. Next time Abby or I will go first."
Asmodeus roared with rage. "How dare you challenge me within my domain?”
Abby raised her hand and fired a bolt of plasma into the air. "Mocked you, too. Don't forget that one."
Asmodeus pulled a sword from his back and raised it high. Behind him, the tornado vomited out the butchered corpse of the giant Juliet and the hundreds of Romeos. The pieces of flesh started to reform, jamming into each other, bones splitting from skin, teeth forcing themselves out as the pounds of flesh rearranged themselves into something grotesque.
Juliet's body was mostly whole but was hunched over on all fours. The arms were pointed outward and her mouth hung open, her jaw slack, nearly touching the ground. A massive cock hung between her legs, dragging on the ground and leaving a thick, yellowing trail of mucus as dozens of Romeo’s heads burst out of her heaving breasts like boils, all of them screaming and yammering. The side of her shoulder split open, leaving a gaping hole lined with the open mouths of the Romeos, their white teeth flashing alongside the hands that reached from the flesh, grabbing at any fold of skin or hole close by.
The DGA stared at the monstrosity for a moment as Asmodeus leaped onto its back, grabbed Juliet's hair, wrapped his palms in it, and snapped it like reins.
Abby curled her hands into fists, charging her body up. "That is disgusting. What, is that supposed to be, a metaphor for lust or something?"
Terra rolled her shoulders. "Don't want to fuck too much or you'll become horror porn, I guess."
Anabelle shrugged. "I don't know. Still kinda seems worth it."
Asmodeus and the Juliet monster charged, and the demon raised his gleaming sword. "Die, Angel Bitches!"
Abby and Anabelle broke to the right and left, while Terra stood her ground.
The demon brought his sword down on the Hand, who dropped her axe, raised her hands, and caught the blade.
Juliet swiped at Terra, sending her toward the tornado.
Abby shot toward her, caught her, and dropped her on her feet, then flew back around and fired on Juliet’s and Asmodeus' backs, her plasma blasts tearing through the demon’s and the monster's flesh.
Asmodeus bellowed and pulled Juliet's hair back, forcing her onto her hind legs as she spewed teeth and blood into the air.
Anabelle ran through the mist of blood and leaped, her hands crackling with lightning. She struck Asmodeus in the face.
The demon leaned back before slashing at Anabelle with his sword, catching her in the stomach and sending her flying into the tornado.
Anabelle screamed as her body caught fire and was torn apart.
Abby shouted, "Anabelle!" and went to fly to her when Terra grabbed her.
"No, we can't help her," Terra said. "We finish this."
Abby looked at where Anabelle had disappeared and then nodded. "You're right."
She blasted toward Asmodeus, slamming into him with a kinetic charge. As the demon reeled from the attack, the girl flew backward, connected her hands to form a large cannon, and fired.
The blast obliterated the ox head.
Abby retreated, needing time for her nanobots to cool down. As she backed away, Terra stepped forward to keep the pressure on.
Terra flung one of her axes at Juliet, slashing through the monster’s arm.
Juliet fell forward and Terra moved in, trying to close the space between her and the demon.
Asmodeus slashed at Terra and she dodged, the blade narrowly missing her. She followed the move by rolling forward and scooping up her axe, then ran both of her axes down the middle of Juliet's torso, dragging her blades all the way down to her cock. "I've always wanted to do this!" Terra shouted as she brought both axes around and sliced through the engorged phallus.
Juliet screeched in pain and threw Asmodeus off as she thrashed about, her blood and entrails falling to the ground.
Asmodeus got to his feet, using his sword for support.
A plasma blast hit his goat head, severing it.
Terra rushed forward and threw one of her axes, which caught Asmodeus in the chest. She cut through the demon's leg with the other.
The demon fell forward, blubbering. Terra caught his jaw with an uppercut, knocking him off balance.
Her eyes flashed as she grabbed the demon's head and drove hers into it, following it up with a crushing punch to the face. She cracked her knuckles. "I’m going to enjoy this," she said as she slipped into the Path of the Lost.
"Not as much as they will," a voice called.
Terra looked over her shoulder.
Anabelle stepped out of the flaming tornado, bits of her skin flying back onto her. Behind her, thousands of naked humans were stepping out of the tornado.
"I think they want to have words with the Prince of Lust."
Terra and Abby moved out of the way, and the horde rushed at Asmodeus, punching, kicking, and gnashing their teeth. They tore the demon limb from limb as he threatened them, his words quickly turning to howls of pain. Then there was nothing more.
When the humans stepped aside, Terra saw that only a mound of flesh was left.
Over to the side, the malformed body of Juliet started to convulse. Light shone from her eyes and her wounds. Skin and appendages melted into a pile of smoldering flesh as a portal opened in front of Abby, Terra, and Anabelle.
The elven warrior clapped Terra on the back. "Good job staying focused. That must have been hard. I know you wanted to get in there and save my ass."
Terra shrugged. "Wasn't too hard. I figured the whole place was keyed to Asmodeus' power. If he was fucked up, he probably wouldn't be able to keep all this going. Also, we lived when we jumped into the tornado the first time."
Anabelle frowned. "That was a pretty big gamble."
"Same thing you would have done."
Abby cleared her throat. "We would have tried to save you first."
Terra tapped Abby's nose. "Which is why everyone likes you the most. Now come on. Let's see what else hell has to offer."
Romeo and Juliet walked over to the DGA agents. "Wait. Before you go, we wanted to thank you," Juliet said. "We've been like this for too long, and all we ever did was want to be together. Punished for hundreds of years for yearning for each other, for—"
Terra raised her hand. "Yeah, we get where you're going with that. No problem."
The rest of the humans wandered off as grass began to sprout across the sand.
Juliet and Romeo bowed slightly toward the DGA. "We should join the rest of them. We've all been apart for too long."
After the two of them joined the rest of the humans, Anabelle gave Terra a look. "We created the perfect realm for the horniest people in history."
Terra nodded approvingly at all of the buttocks walking away from her. "We're saints.”
Abby was checking out the portal. "We give it a day until this is an orgy realm. Wait, and those weren’t even souls. Romeo and Juliet weren’t people. They’re characters in a play. Hell doesn’t make any sense."
Anabelle and Terra walked over to her. "You didn't see Cire, did you?" Anabelle whispered.
Terra groaned. "Will you
drop it?"
"Nope. Abby guessed what it was. I'm sure she was right. She thought you were a warlord or something. I said you saw yourself."
Terra burst out laughing as she looked into the portal. "Okay, you got me. I was a warlord."
Anabelle shook her head. "Damn it."
Abby looked from the portal to Anabelle. "You owe us twenty bucks." Then she glanced at Terra. “Belle thought you were going to see yourself.” She jumped into the portal.
Anabelle followed Abby.
Terra laughed to herself. “I guess I’ll take both of those as compliments.”
Persephone slid her fingers into the three dark holes and curled them together. She lifted her bowling ball and walked over to her lane.
Myrddin, Roy, Blackwell, and Naota had taken her out bowling. Naota had made it sound like it was his idea, but Persephone had her suspicions that this was as much for him and Blackwell as for her.
Life had been nothing but work for months. She hardly had time to see Abby. Their communication was purely online at the moment, and she traveled between the Nine Realms so much, she didn't even know where she was half the time.
Persephone didn’t know anything about bowling (or any human sport, for that matter), but it was nice to be doing something other than work.
As the drow lined up her roll, looking down the lane at her pins, she felt a shiver run up her spine that set her teeth chattering and gave her goosebumps on her inner thighs. She was suddenly hot and flustered as she swayed to the side, barely catching herself before returning to the group's area and putting her ball down.
Naota looked over from the plate of buffalo wings in front of him. "You okay, Percy?"
Persephone raised her hand, signaling she was fine. "Yes. I just felt weird is all."
Roy, who was leaning back in his chair, sipping a beer, nodded as he met Persephone's eyes. "Yeah. Same here." He shook his head like he was trying to shake something away. "That was really freaky. I thought I smelled Anabelle's perfume for a second."
Persephone had definitely felt Abby's lips on the nape of her neck, but that was impossible. Abby was in hell right now.
Myrddin cleared his throat. He was wearing a polo shirt and a pair of slacks. Everything about him looked wrong for a bowling alley. "Whatever the reason, it is probably minor. Maybe the two of them are thinking about you particularly hard at the moment. Let's wish them luck and continue with the game."
The wizard waved his hands, and a drink appeared in front of each of them. "Cheers to some well-deserved time off. Now, who's playing Time Crisis with me?"
Chapter Sixteen
Cire stood behind Creon, watching the goblin work, before clearing his throat. "It's hard to concentrate when you're being watched by an orc."
Cire chuckled and stepped back. "My apologies. I didn't realize I was being intrusive. I’m merely curious. There are many things you and Abby are capable of that I do not understand."
Creon leaned back in his chair. "When it comes to Abby, we are equally baffled. She is a genius."
Cire nodded. “Still, you gnomes have got so far and seen so much. We orcs are playing catch-up with the rest of the Nine Realms, a task we are accomplishing quickly, thanks to you. I cannot extend enough thanks to you." He bowed deeply to the gnome.
Creon was taken back. Even with everything he’d seen and done, having an orc bow to him was something he’d never imagined possible. With a smile, the gnome extended his hand to Cire. "I'm glad we can get you up to date with the rest of the realms. The next thing is to work with the elves. A little too dependent on magic, in my opinion. Everyone needs to have options, especially in light of what the Dark One was capable of. Who knows what we might all have to face next?"
Cire's brow darkened, and he seemed hesitant to speak. "Do you think there could be another threat? One as serious as the Dark One?"
Creon shrugged as he turned back to the computer. "Never hurts to be prepared. That was what screwed us over last time. Myrddin had thousands of years to prepare, and it took nearly that long. Hopefully, the realms won't make that mistake again."
Cire pulled up a chair next to Creon. "What are you doing at the moment?"
Creon smiled, happy to explain his work. "I'm trying to reestablish comm links with the DGA. The farther they go into hell, the harder it is to keep track of them. Martin's still functioning, but it's only because he's located in Abby's body. As for the rest of their tech, well, it’s slowly going out of range. I'm working with Martin to reinforce the signal before he disappears entirely."
"That is difficult, I gather?"
Creon shrugged. "Tedious is more like it. I can try to explain the ins and outs to you. It will be confusing, but then again, learning something new always is. Interested?"
Cire nodded. "If I am to lead the orcs to strength, it would be remiss of me not to take advantage of every chance I get to learn. To grow. And after seeing how easily Abby picked up the sigils, I have been inspired. Perhaps this old orc can learn new things, after all."
"I suspect this old orc will learn faster than most young ones.” Creon turned to his computer, angling the monitor so Cire could better see. “Thanks to Martin, most of my duties are automated now anyway. I'm mostly monitoring, waiting for something complex that needs my attention. While I wait, it would be nice to have company and a new student. Abby caught up to me far too quickly."
Cire leaned forward, staring at the computer screen. "I shall not fail you where Abby did.”
Creon looked at him curiously.
“I will not learn too quickly and make your role redundant.”
Creon and Cire shared a laugh. Who would have thought a gnome and an orc would ever be friends?
There was a blip on the monitor, interrupting their laughter. Creon snapped his fingers and leaned back in his chair, staring smugly at the holoscreen. "That would be our agents. Looks like they've made it to the fifth circle. Guess there was more lag than I thought."
Abby, Terra, and Anabelle were walking through what looked like a shattered version of New York. In truth, it could have been any city. There were skyscrapers, but none Abby could place. The streets seemed familiar, but only because they could have been any urban street.
As Terra walked, she rubbed her stomach, which was noticeably bloated. "Dude, you can send me back to Gluttony anytime. I have never had that much good grub."
Anabelle chewed on a toothpick. "You know if we sent you back, you wouldn't have passed, right? You would willingly be choosing to be in the ring of gluttony."
"Of all the rings we've been in so far, that's my favorite. There wasn't even a demon. Easy. Free food. Plus, the folks there were a riot. Except for the drunks. They were kinda weird."
Abby, who was still distracted by the uncanny nature of this ring, shrugged. "How would you feel if you were trying to get drunk, and it never happened?"
Terra scrunched her face as she thought. "Don't know. How do you feel? You can't get drunk, right?"
Abby shook her head, unable to take her eyes off of her surroundings. "No, we can't. But we aren't really trying to. Plus, we've never been drunk. There isn't anything to miss. Martin could probably simulate the experience if we asked."
Before Terra could say anything, Abby pointed at her and said, "Don't ask."
Anabelle was walking a little ahead of the rest of them. She held the compass. "I would have thought the ring for Greed would have been harder too. Like, I know I'm a greedy person. I love having shit, and all they tried to get me with was a couple of diamonds. Human demons probably only know about human vices, though."
Terra kicked a stone ahead of her, launching it through the air. "What do you mean? Elves have different vices than the rest of us?"
"Every race is unique in how they think of morality. Granted, we all think murder is wrong, but humans have a vastly different opinion on assisted suicide than elves do. We wouldn't even think of calling it murder. Stuff like that."
"So, what does elvish greed
look like?"
"Jewels would have worked well on a dwarf. You know, mining and everything. It's a huge part of the culture. Elves? Oh, should have tempted me with land. Long stretches of open plains. That would have gotten me."
Abby and Terra stifled their laughter. Anabelle turned around, frowning. "What's so funny about that?"
"What are you, an early American settler?" Abby asked. "Land? You planning on homesteading?"
Anabelle crossed her arms and harrumphed at the two humans. "I'll have you know, I'm a descendant of wood and plains elves. We spent most of our time in the wild. It wasn't until we were absorbed by the high elves that we lost that. A lot of us still have dreams about it. It's a deep ancestral memory."
Neither Abby nor Terra looked swayed.
"What the fuck would have gotten you?" Anabelle spat, her voice taking on an edge Abby had never heard directed toward them before. "Abby? Another couple of personalities to help you be more neurotic about your dead dad?"
Abby was speechless. She couldn't believe what Anabelle had just said.
Terra stepped forward and put her hand on Abby's chest, pushing her back. "Fuck you, Anabelle! That's a horrible thing to say. Figures it only takes someone poking a little fun at you to remind us that you're a heartless, knife-eared bitch."
Abby was even more surprised by what had come out of Terra's mouth. She knew Anabelle could be short when she was stressed, but she'd never heard Terra speak like that before.
What came out of her own mouth was even more surprising.
"Don't fucking push me out of the way. We…I am not a fucking kid, and I'm sick of both of you acting like it. As if you're both so goddamn mature."
Abby could hear her voice. She was shouting. The blood was pumping, and her face was hot. And it felt good.
"If you two could get your heads out of your own asses, you wouldn't be at each other's throats."
Anabelle threw up her arms and pretended to curtsy. "Oh, meek little Abby finally decided to stand up for herself instead of letting someone else fight her battles. Or was it Martin? Is he speaking for you this time? Just like he fights all your battles? Admit it, you aren't anything without that AI running your brain for you. Underneath all the technology you've had to add, you're still just a weak, pathetic human."