"I feel the air, but I do not breath, I feel my heart, but I do not live; I wander through flames and sorrow, but I can´t feel compassion, for none will hold my pain anymore.
Blood drowns my consciousnesses to the point of oblivion, it rips me from the sight in front of my eyes. I feel nothing, no remorse or love or hate, and still... I can feel it coming.
Walking across destruction, throughout a path of rotten corpses and charred meat. Its face shows no expression, but his eyes gleam with hatred
Worlds collide
Worlds fall
Worlds die...
The sun has hidden from evil, and this earth now dances with the songs of the damned, all that is left... is you and me."
The big landscapes of hell greets every evil soul that did wrong during life, right now that landscape is wrecked, filled with the corpses of several demons laying dismembered on the floor, and one lone marine. The enormous cave shadows the figure like the mouth of the lion that closes on his prey.
The vast lava craters illuminate the man´s lower half, as he passes across the brown colored cave. The heat of the place would be enough to make a human struggle to breath, but he was already used to the atmosphere of Hell, plus, his helmet provided him with personal coolness. The air, though, was surprisingly present.
Soon enough a big blue door opens revealing the green figure as he steps in; he had just found the blue key card inside a circular room containing an obvious ambush.
The forces of hell had tried several times to get rid of him, and all their struggles never seemed to falter, for their rage was mightier than the whole land itself. As much hatred as the marine had for these unholy beings, he never brought himself to interfere with the damned souls businesses, he knew it would break the balance of order, besides, if these assholes were in Hell they might as well have deserved it.
The big blue door closes behind the marine, as he steps into another open area. He cleans his visor from volcanic ash with his left hand, then grabs his double barrel shotgun with the other and checks the ammo. Once all settled, the marine starts the road back to the giant skull he calls home.
It was surprising how contrary to popular believe, Hell was not a landscape of fire and lava (for the most part, at least). The realm of the damned was more varied. Dungeons and mines raised across the wicked lands; Kingdoms and castles stretched under the red skies as far as the eye could see and large landscapes of desert and even ice were found within kilometers of the marine´s current location. And now here he was, walking across a cave, strains of blood and flesh ran through the walls and the rock ceiling covered the star-shaped room.
The star shaped area set him on his toes, as he readied his double barrel shotgun, soon enough two short pink demons launched against him, their mouths ready to feast on his meat... the usual.
The marine instantly raised his weapon blowing the brains of the one to his right, then rolled to the side before the other demon could hit him, he wasted no time to reload. Seeing the opportunity, the man used his right foot to bring the beast to the ground, then placed himself over it, stopping the demon from standing up and placed his shotgun over its head.
BAM!
The pink head was blown up, its blood covering the floor, and the marine´s feet. A few seconds passed before he heard more growls, turning around he spotted four brown figures making themselves visible from behind one of the star-shaped walls. Their spiked shoulders tensed as they roared against the marine.
Fireballs were being thrown against the human, who was evading them without difficulty. Seeing the opportunity to attack, he got close to one of them, and jumped in the air before striking with his foot against the demon´s head, which was completely destroyed in the process.
The marine could spot a fireball pass by his head´s side as he turned around to face the rest and in time to see one of them launching himself against the human, but before the demon could strike, a shotgun blast destroyed great part of its torso, as the beast´s pieces were sent flying in all directions. The marine reloaded.
Fireballs continued to be thrown from the two demons left. The human sidestepped to his left, making sure he had one demon behind the other and shot again, this time striking the two of them, but while the one in front was splattered on the floor, the other was still alive and grabbing his intestines while kneeling on the floor.
The marine walked towards the beast as he reloaded his weapon, the demon looked at him, a mix of pain and hatred, then his vision faded, with the last thing he saw being a black foot striking against his face.
Finally demon-free, the man continued his walk across the enormous cave. The only noises now heard where the man´s footsteps.
The man kept walking for a few seconds until he heard his belly grumble, making him take a look on the bag he was carrying, he couldn´t believe how some of the animals from hell were actually edible, and how they even tasted similar to those of Earth. Normally he wouldn´t leave his place, which lays in front of the portal to Earth, but the marine was hungry and his supplies were running short.
The most logical solution would be that Earth forces sent food through the portal, but they were afraid of it, as such no one got close to it. ´Douchebags´ He thought.
Normally it would be hard to catch an animal, thankfully there were many of them close to the Tartarus landscapes. However, this day´s hunt had gone wrong, as a fleet of lesser demons had caught up with him, the bloodshed started immediately.
The marine had plenty of shotgun shells, and an almost full box of chaingun bullets, which were used to ram against the horde. Limbs and skulls flew in every direction, painting the floor red, in the end, he had somehow managed to take hold of his meal.
It was in times like this when he knew staying there was not the brightest idea, but it was for the best.
Room by room the marine made his was back home, occasionally shooting an average demon. If it weren´t for his unlimited space backpack, he would certainly feel the weight of all his armory. Plus his special suit provided him with some extra strength.
After some more minutes, he finally arrived at a gigantic stone cave room, illuminated by the torches placed around the place. The floor was cracked with a few stone spikes rising above the man´s height level, however the biggest sight laid at the middle.
A giant skull rested on the floor, its lower jaw now completely missing. His upper teeth clenched themselves to the ground, with the exception of one, which was missing.
A normal demon would look at this skull like nothing special, but it was the whole on its head that set this remains apart.
It was the head of Baphomet, the Icon of sin... and the marine´s wicked home.
There simply was no better way to keep demons at bay than using the skull of their general sabbatic goat. "Heh, Templars would probably die a second time if they saw him like this, then they would most certainly crucify me." The marine thought, as he made his way towards the jawless mouth, the entrance of his disturbing home.
Even if Baphomet´s remains lacked eyes, he could certainly feel the beast´s sight following him with enormous hatred, sometimes it led him to believe the Icon of Sin´s spirit remained there, never leaving the man´s side, and waiting for the day of his demise.
Setting those thoughts aside, it wasn´t a particularly interesting day for him, but he was still glad to have arrived. Quickly making his way across the entrance, he made it to his ´room´. It wasn´t much, just a small table on the corner and a bone bed with demon-skin sheets at the middle.
The marine proceeded to place his shotgun inside the back pack, then toss it on the table. After stretching his limbs, the marine went to take his helmet off and place it on the aside the brown backpack.
He glanced towards the right side of the room, and took a quick peek at the gun hanging on the wall like a trophy... his BFG 9000, his love and pride. Even if the Unmaker was certainly more powerful, it didn´t have the soft spot the BIG weapon had in his heart.
Almost instantly he returned his gaze to his head armor. Even after so much time, the helmet was in almost perfect condition, aside from the crudely written name on its left side that read...
"Stan..."
Suddenly a low voice echoed across the place, catching the man´s attention, however, he did not grab any of his equipment, there was simply no reason to.
A lone marine stepped out from one of the few missing teeth of the former general, to greet the voice who called for his name. Stan instantly caught a familiar sight.
"Abezethibou! What brings you to this corner of Hell?"
Just a few meters away from his place, laid a tall black demon with muscular features. His face resembling a goat skull, which had no eyes, and no skin. His back sported only one big red wing, with the other noticeably missing.
Stan was glad, even if most denizens from Hell wanted to kill him, he had managed to befriend others. He had met the demon shortly after the fall of Baphomet, inside a cage of sea water, where he became trapped millions of years ago. It was said he would return once the end of days came, and even if they indeed arrived, the higher generals of Hell wouldn´t risk having a deserter roam freely.
Stan had helped Abezethibou free his fellow angels from the underworld, and bring them back to their rightful place in Amelouth (the first heaven), even though this action didn´t earned him back his place, the demon was more than happy to return as long as he kept his freedom, his brothers would make sure he would.
"Just checking on your well being, Hell has become rather violent lately, haven´t you noticed?" Abezethibou said, getting a confused look from the marine. "Word says Satan´s getting ready to overcome all that exists."
"Old news, Abe." Stan chuckled. "Old bastard has tried to, ever since the invasion on Phobos began." Stan proceeded to enter his place.
"Yes, but this time is different." Abe insisted as he entered the marine´s home next. "The big Se'irim acts like if he was about to wage war, and his armies have become relentless."
"I didn´t know the Harbinger still had pride, ever since I kicked his ass back on Babel." Stan chuckled. "Much less his cheerleader ´army´."
"Blazkowicz this is serious." Stan turned to face him, he did not like his second name, it reminded him of his cursed fate.
The Blazkowicz bloodline has been well known for its heroes, from the culmination of the Nazi army in the 1960´s to the most recent Hell invasion. Stan knew he would never be able to rest as long as he breathed, and even if he still hasn´t accepted his fate, Stan at least had learned to live with it, it didn´t mean he liked hearing the word, though.
Abezethibou continued talking. "Haven´t you noticed? The agitated movement? The lack of trouble you´ve been through? The lords seem exited, especially him."
"He can go fuck himself, that bastard deserves to rot alongside the rest of this place." Stan said, motioning the entirety of Hell with his hand.
"You are not thinking clearly, Stan. Alal has sensed something is rather... off." Abezethibou´s expression turned serious. "They must be searching for something."
"Something like what? An artifact? Because I really don´t need another talking cube." Stan exclaimed, taking sit on one corner of his bed.
Abe placed his right hand under his chin. "I certainly don´t know, but what else could it be? There would be no other reason for the forces in Hell to waste time searching for nothing."
"It must be nothing, Abe." Stan stood up, and proceeded to walk outside the house again to make sure no demons came, Abe followed him. "Where have they been searching now? Erebos? The ´great´city of Dis?"
"None of those." Abe began. "At the center of the Tartarus´landscapes, the Nexus´ presence increased."
"The Nexus?" Stan´s face showed curiosity. "Hasn´t Hell mapped out almost every realm in existence?" The marine asked, but before he could get a response from the Demon, he continued. "Wait a minute, If they are searching inside the Nexus, then that must mean..."
"...They have found another world." Another voice was suddenly heard by the two figures, with this one being feminine and sweet.
Abe and Stan turned to look above them and just in time to spot a pair of gray wings falling in front of them. The new feminine figure had short blue hair, her big eyes were also bright blue, and her skin was white as chalk, the brightness of it able to illuminate even the darkest corner. She wore a long white tunic, with another piece of blue cloth crossing across her chest, and on her shoulders where a pair of golden shoulder pads.
Stan smiled. "Armaita, didn´t know angels were allowed to freely enter the realm of the wicked."
Armaita returned the grin. "Sometimes rules must be broken to achieve a greater good, you should know better Blazkowicz."
Stan frowned upon hearing the name, and quickly corrected. "Stan."
The angel simply chuckled. "Denying your bloodline is like denying you own being, Blazkowicz." The marine deadpanned upon hearing this, Armaita chuckled again. "But I would like to divert you, if that makes you happy... Stan."
After a few seconds of silence, the angel turned to face the other companion. "Abezethibou, it is also good to see you again, how goes your day? Not straying from the path you have chosen, I hope."
"Life in Hell has been going as good as it can, Armaita, although some collateral damage is to be expected... one does not simply live in peace here." The demon shook his head, making Armaita lower her head in sadness.
"A terrible truth indeed." She said. "No being whether alive or dead should suffer any kind of punishment."
Stan chuckled "Not even him?"
Armaita shook her head. "He carries the weight of his own sins, but not even a beast as vile as him should live in torment."
A low growl was heard coming from the marine. "Sometimes you have to rip the roots before the plant grows again, you know?"
"But the plant do not always grow the same."
"No, they grow even more wicked." Stan said, then released a small frown. "Is that why you came here? Or is there another reason?"
The angel released a warm smile. "The reason of my arrival should be more than obvious by now, Stan."
"Our little Nexus anomaly?" Stan asked, getting a nod of confirmation from Armaita.
"Indeed, if they have in fact found a new world, it must not be allowed to be tainted nor controlled, I just hope this is nothing more than just a small anomaly." Her face grimaced. "These beings´ presence can change so much, even in the purest heart."
Abe stepped in with a smirk. "That sounds awfully like an invitation, don´t you think Stan?"
The marine chuckled. "Yep, it does." He turned to face the angel, a teasing smirk visible on his face. "Armaita, you are not inviting us to cause some mayhem, do you?"
The angel released a warm laugh. "As I said before, rules must sometimes be broken to achieve a greater good."
"The greater good in this case being painting the floor red with blood?" Abe gave a wicked grin, only matched by the marine; Armaita however, simply rolled her eyes, and sighed.
"You two are barbarians, you know that?" Abe and Stan chuckled at her words, making Armaita release a warm smile. "But I like you still."
"So, when do we head out?" The demon asked.
"Once the light shines the world you once knew, our journey shall start." Armaita answered, pointing at the marine.
Before the time of men, Demons were encased in darkness and across millenia, their bodies adjusted to the evil in their hearts. They faced what lied ahead of them with straight heads, and angry expressions; burning the right path with their might as they leave destruction in their wake.
There was no sense of time inside Hell, as their beings were deprived of that which shines the soul.
However, Stan was still a human, at least in the sense of the word, and as such he needed to live by the rules of Chronos. Blazkowicz did not think of his own mortality, it did not bother him.
"And when will that be?" Abe asked.
Armaita released a warm chuckle before she answered. "I will let you know, for now I shall return where the brightness signals our way, have faith this will be a quick work," The angel began to ascend. "and follow the paths you chose until the very end."
"Wait!" Stan screamed before she went, causing Armaita to stop her flight and face the marine with a smile. Stan took a few seconds to collect his thoughts, then cleared his throat to speak. "How is she?"
The moment Stan took the decision of staying in hell, he left everything behind, sacrificing everything he ever cared; Armaita sensed him, and grinned warmly.
"She is doing good, Stan; worry not about her, for now she lives well." The marine sighed in relief. "Even though Earth goes through a slow recovery, most humans have found suitable planets across the galaxy, she went to one of them." The angel closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Farewell." With that she left the place, leaving Abe and Stan standing in front of the giant skull.
Abe looked at Blazkowicz, who was staring blankly, and decided to break the ice. "Hey, I smell Argoths inside that bag of yours, why don´t we go inside and take care of them, I´m starving." He patted the marine´s back to get his attention.
"I´ll be there in a minute." Stan answered back, making Abe chuckle.
"They will not last a minute." He began walking inside the skull, however, the marine´s voice stopped him.
"Abe?" The demon turned to face him. "Do you think she still remembers me?"
Abe rolled his eyes as he released a small chuckle. "Come on, only one year has passed, and by the looks of it, she still hasn´t forgoten about you... a great miracle if you ask me, considering the ugly bastard that you are."
"Fuck you." Stan shared a small laugh with the demon.
Stan turned to face Abe, as they began walking inside. The marine cleared his throat to ask. "What kind of world you think we´ll find this time?"
"Who knows?" Abe answered without turning to face him. "At this rate, no kind of civilization will surprise me, I just hope Hell doesn´t get there before we do."
The marine nodded silently, as he lingered in the possibilities of this new place. What kind of world is it? What kind of beings reside there? What kind of abominations could be born if Hell was to set foot in this world?
The sky rages over a small town. Raindrop by raindrop wet the ground and the houses of this colorful place, colors which can still be seen regardless of the darkness caused by the gray clouds covering the shining of the sun.
But this weather did not ended the cheer from the town´s peaceful citizens, as several laughs could be heard coming out from the buildings. One could not deny the beauty of the place, the tall green trees, the big middle age style houses with bright colors; the fountains and monuments covering town.
One place in particular seemed to be more alive than the rest. Behind the windows of the strangely built pink bakery, cheerful voices could be heard enjoying each other´s company, enjoying peace.
The laughs of the group could be heard across the Sugarcube corner, as the mane six relaxed themselves in a friendly chat... all except for Twilight, who was reading a book, her gaze completely concentrated on it.
Rainbow elbowed Applejack with a mischievous smile, and poked at Twilight, getting a giggle from the mare along with a nod of confirmation, then without anypony noticing, she got closer to the alicorn, a paper bag full of air on her hooves.
The rest of the group silenced their chat just in time to spot Rainbow about to play a prank on the unknowing Twilight. A second after of trying to control her giggling, the pegasus proceeded with her plan.
BOOM!
Twilight flew straight to the ceiling while screaming at the top of her lungs, and creating a crater in the process. If Dash and the rest of the ponies where chuckling before, now they were laughing off their flanks once they spotted Twilight´s head stuck on the roof, her lower hooves crazily moving.
After a few more minutes of chuckling, the alicorn finally managed to free herself and landed on the couch she was sitting on, her pain expression quickly changed to that of anger, as her face turned red; her eyes gazed upon one mare... Rainbow Dash.
"WHY THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" Twilight exclaimed as she crossed her hooves while letting out a small roar.
Rainbow desperately tried to gasp for air, her stomach was hurting from all the laughter, totally visible as she placed her hooves on her stomach while rolling on the floor. Finally managing to breathe she began. "You...pff!...you should ha...hahaha! You should have seen the...the look on your pffff! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Twilight was becoming redder and redder, completely surprising the rest of the giggling ponies who were starting to wonder how it could be
possible.
Suddenly, before the alicorn could speak, Applejack got close to her. "Calm down Twi! It was only a prank, you gotta admit she got you pretty good." Twilight gave her a stare, making her chuckle. "Besides, the reason we were gathered here is to spend some time together as friends, without... you know anything trying to hurt us at least for once."
Finally Twilight managed to sigh in defeat and lowered her head with her eyes closed, trying to suppress her anger. "I know Applejack, it´s just that I have found too much interest in this book."
"Twilight is interested in a book? No, really?" Rainbow Dash finally succeeded in controlling her laughter, a few giggles every now and then, but overall calmer. "Twi, name one book you aren´t interested in!"
Ignoring her sarcasm and anger, she began to talk. "There is actually one book I don´t like, I believe it was called the Necronomicon."
Suddenly Pinkie popped from behind Twilight, while screaming. "Kanda, Es-trada, Montos, Ea-gr...Hmmph hmmph!"
Thankfully, Pinkie´s mouth was covered by Twilight´s hooves, who carried a worried expression on her face. "Geez Pinkie! Don´t ever say those words!"
"Why don´t, silly?!" The Pink mare asked, an innocent smile plastered on her face. The alicorn sighed, placing her hoof on her template in exasperation.
"Just don´t, okay?"
"... Okie dokie lokie!"
The rest of the group had perplexed looks on their faces, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, Rarity spoke. "Anyway, what are you reading, darling?"
"Oh, it´s just a glossary listing many of Tartarus´ creatures, I found it down there and I thought it would be a good idea to study it now that we are going to be paying a bunch of visits to the underworld, thanks to a certain centaur." She finished with a deadpan expression.
"Seriously, why don´t we just leave him in there, close the door to the room and toss the key into the mouth of a Hydra?" Rainbow exclaimed, getting a chuckle from Twilight.
"Believe me Rainbow, I would like nothing more than that, but his resent change of... humor has the princesses worried." She placed a hoof under her chin. "He began talking about hearing screams and roars of pain, strange sightings of numerous creatures, Celestia saw this as a distraction at first, but she thinks something else is up." She turned to look at the rest, who were expectantly waiting for her to continue. "Anyway, that is the reason I´m reading this, just in case something happens."
"We understand sugarcube." Applejack finally said, followed by understanding nods from the rest present at the table. "Keep reading that stuff, don´t worry about us."
"Yeah, and tell me when you find something interesting." Rainbow said, getting a nod and a smile from Twilight.
"Of course Rainbow, thank you for understanding." The pegasus returned to chat with her friends until the voice of Twilight stopped her, her face holding a deadpan expression. "And no more pranks!"
Rainbow nodded, a sheepishly smile on her face.
The rain continues for two more hours, and the moon was high up in the sky, it was a shame nopony could witness its beauty in with such a weather, but it was no matter, as they had a peaceful time enjoying themselves.
There really wasn´t too much time for them to enjoy these kind of moments, as the mane six were usually on adventures, thankfully it was all recently quiet... aside from Tirek´s suddenly outburst of fear, but they figured nothing would happen anytime soon.
Finally the rain had stopped, it was very late at night, and half of them were already tired. Pinkie stood up and offered her friends some sweets before retiring to sleep, Rainbow was the only pony who complied, and asked for a cupcake.
Pinkie gave a weak smile, as she tried to keep her eyes open, and headed to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Twilight was in the middle of the book, when she suddenly called for the blue pegasus. She had found something that caught her eye; it was an illustration.
"Rainbow," She got her attention, "I actually found something that may interest you, it is a creature of the flying kind, and it says this one is VERY fast."
"Oh I got to see this!" She excitedly exclaimed as she placed herself behind Twilight. "What does it say? What is it´s name?"
"It doesn´t have too much info about this one, with the only relevant things being "Master of deception", "General of one of the mightiest armies in Tartarus"... and the name..." She suddenly stopped, trying to read the word which was obscured by dirt. "What does it say? It is Ma... Maledi..."
"Who asked for a cupcake?!" Pinkie emerged from the kitchen, sweet in hand and with her trademark smile, although weaker. Rainbow instantly forgot about the book as she sheepishly took the cupcake from the tired Pinkie, who instantly fell to the ground asleep.
The pegasus chuckled. "I guess I´ll take her to bed, see you girls tomorrow!"
Everypony said their goodbyes as they headed to the door, eager to return to their homes and rest, however, before Twilight could even head out, Rainbow asked for her book once she finished it, the alicorn happily complied. She just loved seeing Rainbow getting a like on the all mighty lecture.
Their meeting had finally come to an end, and Rainbow had managed to get Pinkie on her bed, afterwards heading towards her home, it had been a really nice day.
