by Ramy Vance
The ground slipped away, and space swallowed them all before sucking inward and belching out a new planet covered in blue grass that rose to the knee. Long-legged creatures walked in the distance, their tube-like necks reaching down for the grass in unison.
A small human sat on a rock, watching the creatures. Bennington. His skin looked to have been whipped for a lifetime and left to heal. He looked over his shoulder, and they saw that his face was growing new skin, soft and powdery. The look in his eyes was hard to place. It might have been sadness. "What do you want, thief?" he spat at Grok.
She narrowed her eyes at Bennington. "Where did she put the council chambers?"
"What do you care? Are you back to take her away from me again? Why don't you let her be what she is?"
Grok's eyes flashed, and she took a step toward Bennington. "Do not play with me, human. I will tear you open, and Rasputina will have to put you back together again."
Bennington sneered as he turned around and stood. His body was hardly more than bones with flesh stitched over him. "Threaten me all you want. You can't hurt me, not like my mistress would. You lack her creativity, her conviction. And you took that from her! You were jealous."
Grok rushed Bennington and held him up by his throat. "Tell me where she is. I don't have the time to scour each of these worlds."
Bennington shook his head. "You took my mistress from me. If you can't find her in time, you don't deserve her."
"You know she's meeting with the Lords of Death, don't you?"
Bennington smiled, his beady eyes flickering beneath his rotten brow. "Mistress is doing what she does best. She's tearing flesh, breaking bone, and spilling blood. BLOOD! You can try to make her into whatever you want because she's weak, but I remember what Mistress is. I won't ever forget." He spat in Grok's face.
The orc’s eyes flashed as she screamed in rage and slammed Bennington on the ground headfirst, cracking his skull open.
His brains oozed into the grass, and flowers sprouted around his emptying skull.
"Jesus," Anabelle muttered as Grok walked back.
She waved away Anabelle's concern. "His head will heal in an hour or so, and then he'll be whining again. Goddamn it!"
Abby stepped forward, holding the sigil book Cire had given her. "Wait, I think I might have something to help. You're looking for something you lost, right?"
Grok sighed. "Yeah, something like that."
Abby's finger converted into a laser and she carved a sigil into the ground, looking at the book for reference.
Once the sigil was etched, it glowed brightly. A faint echo of another sigil appeared beside it. Grok knelt and carved it into the ground.
The world lurched, and this planet was gone.
A regal throne room stood before them. Thousands of statues lined the sides, their faces mournful, twisted in fear, many of them crying.
Twelve cloaked figures sat around the throne, which was empty.
Grok took a step toward the figures when something flew out of the sky and smashed into her, then landed on the floor.
A four-armed demon fell from the sky, beating its bare chest as it roared, its mouth filled with sharpened teeth. Scars covered its body, and it wielded a sword in each of its hands.
The demon stepped forward and kicked the orc out of the way. Rasputina lay beneath her. The demon picked the lich up by her hair.
A plasma blast hit the demon in the face.
Anabelle, Abby, and Terra stepped forward.
"You're going to want to put her down," Anabelle growled.
Chapter Thirteen
The four-armed demon straightened, showing how tall he actually was. He towered over the three DGA agents. He laughed caustically as he raised one of his swords. "Ah, so the would-be queen of hell allows any mortal into her domain as she wishes? Is hell to be overrun by the foul scent of the living, much like she has turned our rugged wild into a sterile imitation of the realm of the living?"
Rasputina's eyes creaked open as she groaned softly.
The demon slammed her into the ground. "Today you face Skahhaj, avatar of the Blessed Lord Shiva, his finest warrior, scourge of the underworld, the Blade That Never Dulls."
The DGA agents exchanged glances. Terra cleared her throat. "Uh, do you guys have any titles?"
Abby and Anabelle shook their heads. "Sorry, no one’s ever asked," Abby said.
Terra sighed as she unsheathed her axe. "All right, we can forgo the titles. I don't want to look like I'm bragging or anything. Let's just kick this guy's ass."
She lunged toward the demon and drop-kicked him.
He stumbled back, dropped one of his swords, clutched his chest, and coughed loudly as he tried to catch his breath.
Abby appeared in front of him, her hand charging a plasma blast. She fired, and the blast was large enough to cover the demon's body.
He was thrown back.
Anabelle ran and flipped over the demon, moving nearly as fast as she'd seen Grok moving in the wildlands.
The demon opened his eyes to see Anabelle's fist colliding with his face. He hit the ground hard and did not get up.
Terra ran over to Rasputina and helped her to her feet.
The lich looked around, confused as to what had gone on after she was knocked out. "What happened?"
Terra smiled proudly. "We took care of that asshole for you."
Rasputina's eyes flashed bright with green fire. "You did what?"
"Uh, we helped you out?"
Rasputina grabbed her hair and pulled at it as she stomped off. "You fools! You have no idea what you've done."
The world shifted, and Rasputina and the DGA were standing before the twelve lords of hell.
The lords of hell removed their hoods. They had been the gods of death and the afterlife throughout humanity's existence.
Anubis' jackal head stared at the DGA. Freya sat by his side, her armor covered with shards of ice. On one end of the council stood the Orisha Eshu, his eyes white, a flame in one hand and staff in the other, his hood swooping toward his back. A tall, slender man in a black suit with a blank face sat at his side.
Anubis took a step forward, snarling. "It would seem that we have interlopers destroying the sanctity of the challenge. Is this the sort of rule you propose, Rasputina? Insulting our traditions in the name of disrespect?"
Rasputina cast an annoyed glance at the DGA. "Hardly. I've fought beside these three before. They found their way here through a friend of mine. None of them were aware that I was fighting to rule."
The Slender Man stepped forward, his arms stretching as he moved, nearly touching the ground. "Humans can be...impetuous, to say the least. That does not change the fact that you violated our rules."
Rasputina's face tensed as she spoke slowly, enunciating each word. "Quiet, fool. I destroyed worlds before your name was even on the lips of children. Let your elders speak of matters you wouldn't understand."
The Slender Man hissed loudly but stepped back, giving the floor to another.
Hades, a pale-skinned god who smelled of wine and decay, stood. "Everyone quiet, quiet. It was a reasonable if unfortunate mistake. There must be something we can do to rectify this grave injustice."
Eshu met Abby's eyes. "Hm, one of my children. As it stands, I would be interested in seeing how this new situation plays out. If Lord Shiva is allowed to send a proxy, why should we not allow Rasputina to fight with hers?"
The Slender Man curled around his chair, his body moving like a snake's. "Because they were not part of the bargain. Some of you may be keen to lose our hold on hell, but that cannot be said of us all. That is not even taking into account the potential battle with the Dark One."
Anubis and Eshu laughed. "Child, none of us is losing anything other than you and Hades. We weren't stupid enough to put all our stock in the Christian idea of the afterlife. We all have our own domains," Anubis said. "This is nothing more than a condo to rent out for us, though one I am quite partial to. And concernin
g the Dark One, not all of us are afraid of a god’s death."
The Slender Man turned to Hades. "What about you? You're in the same situation as me."
Hades shrugged as he ran his hand over his bald head. "What do you think, Freya?"
The goddess picked at one of the shards of ice on her shoulder. "Hades and I are looking to start a new death cult together. We could go either way."
The Slender Man's body shrank slightly and then expanded vertically. "You all may have forgotten your roots, your pride, but I have not. If Rasputina wishes to take the throne and be helped by her friends, who have already disrespected and violated our sacred ways, then they should be held to a trial worthy of the kingdoms of hell."
Anubis snickered. "Why would we care about the 'sacred' things? This is hell."
A chorus of laughter erupted through the lords until silence eventually overtook. Anubis spoke again. "But you have a point. Who are we taking bets on? I think the bald human will be the first to die."
Freya jumped up from her seat. "We haven't even chosen our champion. Who wants to pick?"
The lords were silent, each of them thinking of an apt demon, monster, or hero for the occasion. Finally, Hade said, "Why not have the stickler for the rules make the choice?"
The Slender Man slithered forward. "Very well. You will face one of my offshoots, a lesser demon than my great glory but one of intense power nonetheless. Today you face the Scungilli Man!"
Terra cracked up, holding her sides as she stepped back. "Wait? Are you serious? Scungilli Man? Like the pasta dish?"
The Slender Man's body pulsed and vibrated. "Do you accept?"
Anabelle looked at Rasputina, who solemnly nodded. "Please. Bring him on."
The Slender Man floated into the air, raising his tentacled hands. "Scungilli Man." He repeated it three more times.
Terra, still laughing, rested her hand on Anabelle and leaned against her. "Oh, my God, are you really doing a Bloody Mary thing? This is unbelievable. Are we at a high school sleepover?"
Abby was also having a hard time not laughing.
The Slender Man repeated the name three more times.
The sky began to darken. In the distance, waves could be heard crashing. The air was suddenly filled with the salt scent of the ocean.
The name was spoken again.
Lightning crackled in the pitch-black sky, and the ground beneath the DGA agents’ feet began to roll as if it were rocked by the sea.
Abby leaped into the air, firing her thrusters. "This is a little more than I was expecting."
The smell of the ocean turned rancid, like rotting carp and shark skin reduced to decay and death.
A conch sounded in the distance. A chorus of whales answered, their voices rising, long and mournful, the dirge of death come from the sea itself.
The Slender Man let loose a foul cackle. "Scungilli Man!"
Blackness settled over all. The only light came from the sliver of a moon on the ground beneath the Dark Gate Angels’ feet, which rolled and rocked.
A terrible screech tore through the air, a high-pitched violent noise full of anguish and melancholy, accompanied by the Slender Man's cackling laughter.
Tentacles reached up from the ground, grasping the legs of the DGA agents and Rasputina, wrapping tightly around them.
Another long, mournful blast of the conch and the agents were pulled beneath the rolling ground.
Terra wasn't sure how long she'd been in the sunken black place. She knew she'd been awake most of the time, but that only made the time seem to have passed even slower.
She tried to move, but her range was limited. When she looked up, she could see the Lords of Death looking at her through a small box.
Across from her, Anabelle and Abby floated lifelessly.
Terra tried to run to them but could not move. Realizing the situation she was in, she flopped onto her stomach and kicked her feet like she was swimming. She easily glided toward her fallen comrades.
She shook Abby as hard as she could.
The girl’s eyes slowly opened. "What happened?" she asked, air bubbles escaping her mouth.
Terra shrugged before swimming over to Anabelle and waking her up.
The three of them glanced up at the Lords of Death standing over them.
Terra didn't care about them. They weren’t the problem at the moment. The Scungilli Man was the issue, whatever he was. "Can either of you see Rasputina?"
Abby popped one of the air bubbles that had come from Terra. "This doesn't make any sense. How are we talking underwater?"
Terra grabbed Abby by the shoulders. "We're fighting something called a Scungilli Man that was summoned by an internet meme in a kingdom in hell built by a lich who tried to kill us a year ago. Are you really going to try to look at this logically?"
Abby nodded, defeated. "You have a point. Where is this guy, anyway?"
Something dark bolted past Terra, knocking her to the side. "What the fuck was that?"
Another black bolt blew past Abby, shoving her as well. "Don't know. Don't really want to find out."
A black bolt came racing toward Anabelle, who braced herself, the water around her bubbling from the mana she was shooting out.
The black bolt rammed into Anabelle, who caught it in her hand. It was a snout. The snout was attached to a shark’s head, which was attached to a muscular human body with fins.
The mershark snapped at Anabelle, trying to chomp through her hands.
The elf punched the mershark in the face before kicking it, which sent her floating backward.
The mershark swam away, only to return within seconds with a team of ten other sharks.
The sharks rushed the DGA agents, and the water boiled with blood and energy.
Abby tried to fire a plasma blast at the sharks, but the water dampened the attack, resulting in nothing happening. A shark rammed into her side, clamping down on her leg with its two rows of teeth.
She tried to swim away, but the shark held on tightly.
Anabelle was in a similar situation, trying different attacks that were nullified by the water.
Terra wasn't affected at all. She pulled her axe from her back and slipped down the Path of the Lost, her eyes flashing brightly. She sliced through two of the mersharks before slamming her feet into another and kicking off it, heading toward Abby.
She cut through the shark that was holding onto Abby, slicing its head from its neck. Then she swam over to Anabelle and swung around in a slow-moving circle, cutting up any of the beasts who were close enough for her to reach.
Another school of mersharks was rapidly approaching.
Terra grabbed Abby and Anabelle, pulling them close. As long as they stayed together, they would be able to handle this.
Suddenly, the mersharks were sucked downward as if someone had pulled the plug.
Terra looked down and saw Rasputina, her arms outstretched. Thin strings of energy stretched from her fingers, attaching to the corners of what looked to be reality.
The lich let out a scream and swung her arms down.
Water drained from above, and Terra, along with Abby and Anabelle, got caught in its pull, swirling down with the mersharks toward Rasputina.
Terra hit the floor and coughed up water as she struggled to her feet. As she straightened, she saw Anabelle and Abby standing as well.
The mersharks lay at Rasputina's feet, their gills flapping as they gasped for breath.
Rasputina sighed as she swayed to the side. "Scungilli Man! Face us!"
A conch sounded, and the room shook.
The Scungilli Man was coming.
Chapter Fourteen
Thick fog spread through the chambers as rain poured from a nonexistent sky. A low, pitiful moan echoed throughout the dim room as lightning crashed and shadows danced across the floor.
Rasputina joined Terra and the rest of the DGA. "Have you heard of this...thing? I'm not familiar with it."
Terra shrugged. "I think it's like an
online meme. How long has the Slender Man been a god of death? I remember seeing him in a video game or something."
Rasputina looked at the Slender Man, who was rubbing his long fingers together greedily. "A few years. Compared to the other gods, a couple of hours. No doubt why he feels he has something to prove. He’s extremely irritating."
Her words were cut off by another loud moan. A massive, hulking figure came out of the shadows, his head nearly touching the clouds above. Red eyes peered out of the darkness as the monster's barnacle-covered body heaved into the light. Its arms were covered with thick, corded muscles, but there were no hands. Instead, its wrists trailed off, splitting into hundreds of blood-stained spaghetti-like tentacles.
Beneath the creature’s cracked legs rowed dozens of gondolas, each with a lantern sitting in it, casting light upon the Scungilli Man, who now stood at his full height, nearly that of a ten-story building.
The Scungilli Man let out a pained roar, his red, beady eyes peering out from behind a swooping conch that stretched to his chest, a gondolier's hat resting atop it. Squids, octopi, and jellyfish fell from the opening in the shell as the profane creature lumbered toward the Dark Gate Angels.
Abby raised her hand cannon and fired.
The plasma blast eviscerated a few of the gondolas on the path to the hulking creature.
The Scungilli Man raised his hand, creating a wave of water to shoot up and block the plasma attack.
Terra glanced at Abby and grinned. "Looks like we're going to have to get close and personal with this one."
Abby sighed. "Yeah."
Anabelle's eyes flashed white. Terra flexed and slipped onto the Path as Abby's armor reconfigured, shrinking down to its bare minimum, her body pulsating with invisible energy.
Rasputina joined the DGA agents. "Let's end this quickly." She slashed the air in front of her, tore open a portal, and stepped through.
Abby teleported out of sight.
Terra groaned as she tilted her head back. "So, we're the ones who have to do the anime run now?"
Anabelle grabbed Terra and sprinted forward. The floor came up in massive chunks from the force of their feet.