That Hell
Drops of Kard's blood splatter across the rocks as he spins round and falls. The shadow that struck him moves into the light.
It's a human.
A tall, muscular human clad in dark combat clothing, wielding a bloodied metal bat with a black chronafibre mask over his face. I can only see his eyes, which glow eerily blue in the shine of spores and chrona, like two little holes of hate and death. And suddenly, all around me, screaming erupts amongst the survivors, and all hell breaks loose.
People run, fight, clash and yell. In front of me, the attacker moves forwards, advancing on me.
"WAKE UP!!" I yell at everyone, then I have to shut my mouth and dodge before my brains are spilled across the rocks.
Kard's lying there after taking a direct hit from a steel bat, full swing, on his temple, alive or dead I do not know.
The enemy shifts his centre of gravity, holding the bat loosely between his fingers. He's at least seven foot tall, a real beast of a guy.
I've only ever fought in simulations against mimicked opponents in virtual reality. I'm not ready for a life or death 1v1!!
He lunges with an inhumanly fast and powerful thrust, and I fold my whole body backwards to dodge it. The metal grazes me and shears a bit off skin off my forehead. It stings with pain, but its bearable.
As fast as it had come, the bat retracts, then blurs at my ribs.
I block it with both forearms, but the impact gets through all the way to my shoulders and my ribcage, resonating through my whole body.
That's gotta be a fracture in both arms.
Then he slams me, hard, in the side, and I feel like someone stabbing me in the gut with fifty knives. I can't see it. I can't see his movements.
He's waving that bat at a stupid speed, a blur of metallic whirling.
He rams it into my ribs like a truck. I feel three of them snap instantly, and the pain almost makes me black out.
My guard is-
A strike directly to my lower jaw from below. I feel myself lift into the air, then nothing at all. The world's ringing and spinning and swirling, and suddenly I'm lying on my back on the cold, hard, stone ground, with something wet and hot running down my cheek and neck from my broken jaw.
What just happened?
Elemental's words come back to me.
"This place is absolute hell."
I think I get what he means now.
The bat-wielding menace advances, and lifts it above his head. I can't move, all I can do is struggle to draw in another breath to keep my heart beating.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I can't die yet! Not like this.
Then a hand reaches out and grabs his ankle, and yanks him off balance.
"GET 'IM!!" Kard yells from the floor, words slurring together.
Blood's pouring down one side of his face, and his eyes are glassy and unfocused.
Then suddenly someone dashes past me and jumps in. It's Elemental, and then everyone else is here too.
Elemental
Elemental went airborne, and knee-slammed the masked attacker in the centre of the face.
With that kind of momentum, anyone else would have had their head caved in instantly. The batsman didn't even budge.
Seriously!?
"Artee, Ronin, now!"
The duo swept in, rapid-firing punches at the attacker's face in the wake of his knee-slam.
Elemental circled round and went from the other side as Ronin skidded round to the back.
"EVERYONE ATTACK!!!" Neo was yelling, as the whole group yelled and charged in at one attacker.
For a few seconds, he was swamped by bodies, kicking, punching, yelling, grabbing. Then suddenly the bat broke through them, sweeping people aside three at a time. It collided with skulls, jaws and ribcage, and seven people dropped at once, blood spraying across the floor. He spun around and dispatched Ronin with a swift horizontal blow to the head. 006 barely blocked it with his arm but the impact still hurled him to the ground where he lay still.
004 and Artee pincer-attacked him from two sides, but when they hurled their punches the attacker was gone.
Where-?
He felt cold air above him, and flung his head up.
ABOVE!?
He barely sidestepped the bat, which instead crashed into the stone ground and embedded itself in the rock. A spiderweb of cracks formed around the point of impact, spreading out across the ground.
The hell's with that raw power? This fucker can't be compared with Exqua, or even Airo! This is ridiculous.
But then, the same could be said for Elemental.
Within Sword's group, there were several top-performers ranked in the top 10. Artee, Sword, Neo, Ronin…
No one did actually say it, but everyone knew. That in their little group, 004 Elemental outpaced everyone by miles. Whether it be tolerance, skill or grit, he was the undisputed leading figure.
He knew that if he wanted anyone to walk out of this alive, he had to really put in work.
He caught the bat under his arm, locked and pinned it, scored a punch in the mouth. The opponent slugged him across the face with a vicious backhand, but he returned the favour instantly with a punch to the side of the ribs.
Artee saw his chance and landed a blow to the temple.
Good, if we just keep doing this, then we can…!
His thoughts were cut off by a hurtle and blur of movement in front of his eyes, and suddenly Artee was airborne, blood trailing from his head. The others tried to back up, but no matter how far they retreated they always seemed to be in range of the bat. Neo was hit hard in the side of the face and fell.
Within seconds, all that was left was a single, terrifying, hooded batsman, blood dripping from the steel the ground, knee-deep in limp, blood soaked bodies. Elemental was speechless.
That's no human. That's a…
He felt a tremendous force collide with his sinuses before he could even blink.
…monster.
He lost his footing, vision swimming with red spots and clouds, and the last thing he felt was the stone cold ground against the back of his head.
POV Sword
I feel like I am floating.
Weightless, thoughtless, floating in water.
Is this what it feels like to die?
Am I dying… no, am I dead?
No. Fuck, no, not yet.
I can't drop out yet.
I can't die yet. Please, someone, something, God, Goddess, save me.
I suppose it's ironic that I'm searching for a God now.
If there's one deity in this world, the last person they'd save would be me.
I've never prayed to them. I got rid of anything religious in our house, and told me sister to never pray to her either.
The so-called Goddess of our world, Erisen, the Great Saviour Anastasia. Worshipped around the globe by the World Church, which over 60% of the global population believes in.
I don't believe in Goddesses, or the divine, or God or Saviours or Creators.
If there was one, an all-loving, saviour Goddess, my mom and dad wouldn't've died, and I wouldn't be here, on the brink of death.
"Don't rely on things like Goddesses, Nari," I'd said. "Mom and dad died, so now we can only rely on ourselves. Superstitions can't help you. Even if I do my best to protect you, there'll come a day when I can't. Don't expect anyone to watch your back."
Damn.
I guess only when faced with death, I search for a God.
If only there was a Goddess, a miracle-giver, somewhere.
Please save me…
Oh, I can see something. A light…? The beginnings of a whisper, a warm feeling.
Is this Godd-
WHAM
"AAAAH!!!"
I jerk awake, and Neo pauses, fist raised midair.
"Oh, he's alive. Good for him…"
I prop myself up on my elbows, head still swimming, and glance around. The already quiet cave has been plunged into even further silence, and the other survivors are simply a few shadows moving around in the dim.
"…what happened… to the… bat…?"
Beside me, Elemental, who's sitting upright bandaged with a chronafabric torn from someone's shirt across his face, exhales.
"We were all taken down," he said. "Without much of a fight."
"I woke up first," Mist says, who was struck just below the ribs (still painful as fuck). "But when I did, he was gone."
"Completely gone?"
She nods, and I rub my head.
"We're lucky most of us are drugged up on Pale Viper venom or some other form of stimulating elixir," Artee says. "We were able to survive…"
He glances behind him, and I follow his gaze.
"Sword…" Neo mutters.
"No," I say, fingers tightening against my palms. "It's all right. Can you help me up…?"
"Sure."
"We already closed his eyes. Sad we can't bury him…" Ronin says, still wobbly on his feet.
I look down at Kard's dead face.
***
I hadn't known him for long, but he had grown on me anyway. He cared for everyone, he was kind, and he usually smiled, even in this dark hell. Sometimes he felt like one of those people that always glowed with a reassuring light, but now it feels like worthless garbage.
Light, my ass.
One bat to the head and it's as if he was never there.
"…how many others died?"
"Most of the group," Mist says, shaking her head. "Everyone else, including you, is severely injured…"
I touch my jaw gingerly. It still hurts like hell every time I talk but miraculously I'm neither dead nor crippled; it seems to have pieced itself back together somewhat.
Is this the effect of Pale Viper venom…?
It might sound cool, being able to heal quickly, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.
"Were the other survivors also hit?"
"Yes, some of 'em died, but I think the greater percentage survived."
"Oh?"
"Right," Elemental nods. "There are more than a couple skilled ones still out there."
I go through the options. 001 and 002, the mysterious top ranked duo Airo and Avoma - I wonder how they fared in the metal bat ambush, or where they were. 003 Exqua, the madman. And more.
"But," he continues, "No one was able to make any one of the attackers fall."
"Right, those guys, who the hell were they?" I demand. "Terrorists? Elite soldiers?"
"No idea," Mist shivers, "but don't want to see them again."
We all agree with her on that part.
"Who knows when they'll reappear," another survivor from our group called Kino trembles. "I think we shouldn't stay here, and follow the other groups."
I ask him what he means.
"You had the worst of it," Artee admits, "so you woke up last, and missed it. But most of the other groups that survived have headed over the stream, for fear of getting attacked again."
"I see."
I look over into the 'forest' of stone formations that stretch far into the endless darkness of the vast cavern.
"I don't have any better ideas," I say, and Elemental agrees.
"So, should we get moving…?" Neo asks.
No one objects.
Tired, wearily, painfully, we help each other to our feet, agree again to stick together and head over the underground stream after a final drink.
Me, Sword. Neo, Elemental, Mist, Artee, Ronin and Kino.
I hope we manage to survive whatever lies ahead of us, but all I know is that it won't be a walk in the park.
Pretty sure this place is only just getting started.