Keyhole

Got up early this morning. Leg was hurting. After I got some ice  on it, I decided I might as well get dressed for the day. As I was rummaging around my sock drawer, I found something I had forgotten about. It was that little metal man I found several months ago by the church.

I never really described this thing very well. It's sort of like a really small metal statue, mounted on a square, iron platform. As I examined it, I realized that the platform was the same size as the indentation on the alter beneath the church, that I saw when I escaped the Path Of Chaos.

I warped there immediately. I placed the statue into the indentation, and sure enough, it fit perfectly. A keyhole appeared just beneath it. I slid the key I got from the Path Of Chaos into and turned. Nothing happened. I waited a little while to see if anything would. Nothing. I pulled the key and the statue out and went home.


The fuck is that keyhole for?

P-A-R-T-Why? Because I Gotta!

So, Now that I'm home, I'm gonna be going to a New Years party.  probably shouldn't be going out with my injuries, but fuck it. After everything I've been through the past couple weeks, I deserve to fuckin' party.

Escape

I was limping slowly toward the temple. I was pretty far. As I walked, I started getting this weird feeling from behind me. I turned around and saw the path behind me was disappearing. Not just crumbling or dissolving, but vanishing.

Of all the fake Fears the Path Of Chaos could through at me, it had to be the Quiet.

I picked up the pace and ran as fast as I could, while the path disappeared behind me. The emptiness was catching up. I entered my vessel mode, allowing the pain I was feeling to increase my speed.

I reached the temple door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge, even with my vessel strength. I reverted into my normal form. I can't remain in vessel mode for extended periods of time. I turned around, and saw that the emptiness was almost upon me. I turned back to the door and started to pound on it angrily. It suddenly flew of the wall and crashed onto the floor several feet away. I ran inside. The place was completely empty, save for an alter at the far end. I ran over to it. The emptiness sped up, surrounding me and the alter from all sides. I examined the alter, and I found a keyhole with an old fashioned key jammed in it. I grabbed the key, and yanked it out.

Everything went black. I was standing in front of a man wearing dark armor, with his face completely concealed beneath a helmet.

"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am the Representative," he said. "The symbol of the Path Of Chaos. I have come to inform you that you've passed. Congratulation."
"So what now?" I asked him. "I'm supposed to get something for all that, right?"
"You've all ready got something," he said. He pushed me backwards.

I fell on my back in this weird underground chamber. It was dark as hell, and there was another alter in front of my. I got up and checked it out. There didn't seem to be anything there except for a square shaped indentation on the top. I found a way out of the chamber, which turns out to have been hidden beneath the old church where I fought the Archangel.

I started walking back home, and went inside. There was a sign on my door saying "I'm gonna be gone for a couple weeks". I think ParaDan put it there so that my roommates wouldn't worry.

I need to sleep. I don't have much more to say anyway.

Oh yeah, I still have the key from the first altered. I guess that's supposed to be my prize or something.

I Fucking Hate This Place

I was surrounded earlier. The Fake Slender Man was there, and so was a fake version of the Reverie and the four-armed Archangel. They all attacked me, and I was almost killed. I broke away from them and started running. They chased me. I managed to ahead of them a bit, but I reached a dead end. The giant void stretched out in front of me. There was a platform bellow me, but it was pretty far down, and several yards in front of me. But seeing as the fake Fears were catching up, I didn't really have any options. I jumped, and reached out toward it. I missed, but someone reached out their hand and pulled me up.

 I laid down to catch my breath, and looked at the person who had saved me. I gasped pretty loudly. It was Malkator. The one from my dream. He stood over me, staring with his black eyes and his broad, fanged smile. He lifted his arm and tried to drive one of his arm-blades into my skull. I rolled out of the way, and it plunged into the ground. He ripped it back out and slashed at me again. I brought my shadow to life and used it restrain him, while I started to run. The rock around me rose from the ground and started pelting me. He was controlling them somehow. He ripped my shadow off of him and gave chase.

I suddenly had this sharp pain in my leg, and I fell over. The wound I got when I was stabbed by that knife the first time I fought the Archangel had reopened. I had no choice but to fight. I turned around and tried hitting him with the Convocation's lightning, but he absorbed it into his mouth and kept charging at me. He made it up to me and swung with one of his blade. I ducked under his arm and grabbed onto his wings. He attempted to shake me off. I used the Cold Boys power to freeze his wings so that he wouldn't be able to use them. He turned and slashed me across the chest with one of the blades I entered my Vessel form. All the pain I was feeling began working to my advantage, strengthening me. I grabbed both of his main blades. They cut the palms of my hands, but I ignored it. I twisted sharply and threw him over the edge. I can't get his screaming out of my head.

There's some kind of temple a distance from here. I'm injured badly, but I think I'm almost to the end of this thing.

Holy fucking shit.......

Another Dream. This time I'm pretty sure I was seeing through my own eyes. I was speaking in my own voice. I was at my parents house and... and...



There was so much blood. All over the fucking place. Peoples skin was shoved into Christmas stockings and hung over the fireplace, which was full of burning wood. Bloody organs and intestines were strung up in the Christmas tree like sick, twisted ornaments. and at the top of the tree... it was... Seraph's head.

I heard laughter behind me. I turned, and I still can't believe who was standing there.

It was Malkator. Just standing there in the doorway, smiling. His wings and armblades were out, as well as a bunch of addition blades sprouting from his shoulders and forehead. His eyes were pitch black, and his teeth were sharpened into fangs.

"Is this your idea of a present?" I asked angrily.
"You don't like it?" he asked. He was speaking without his accent. He wasn't the Malkator I knew. "What a shame. I went through so much work to set this all up for you."
"Go fuck yourself!!" I shouted, drawing a samurai sword that was at my side and charging at him.

We fought. It was long, and brutal. We ended up destroying the entire house and part of the next door house. My old neighbors, the Nehaless family, got caught in the crossfires. I managed to get up close to him, and without hesitating, I cut off his head.





That... can't have been real. Malkator's dead, and even is he was still alive, he would never...

No. I refuse to believe that was real. That was just a nightmare. I... What the fuck?

Christmas

It's only an hour away. And I'm stuck here in this frigging place. ParaDan came by earlier. He let me know that he's covering for me. My family's convinced that I'm spending Christmas with some friends out of town, and that I'll be back soon. Don't know if I will though. This place is just... insane. I'm seeing things even my nightmares couldn't show me. I saw fake Slendy again earlier. Managed to avoid it.

And I had another dream. I was looking through someone else's eyes again. Whoever it was had on some kind of mask, so his voice was muffled. He was breaking into some kind of high security lab. He tore through the metal barricades with his bare hands and killed all the guards he passed as if they were nothing. He finally reached his destination. A vault container a bunch of high tech weapons. Ten of them. A staff, an ax, two rifles, and six swords of varying shapes and sizes. He took them all and strapped them to his back and waist.

He turned and left the vault, and was confronted by a bunch of armed soldiers, and androids. Yes, fucking androids. With machine guns.

"Place the Omnibolg on the ground and get to your knees!" one of the soldiers ordered.
"Yeah, no," the guy said.

He drew a sword and a gun and began fighting. The soldiers and androids were dead and destroyed in a few minutes. He began walking down the hall, and encountered a giant human operated robot, like the Nightmare frames from Code Geass.

"You wanna piece of me too?" the guy asked.

He clicked these buttons on the handles of the sword and gun, and they altered their shape. He combined them together to form this big gunblade, and he charged at the robot. He sliced its arms off and jumped on it's torso.  He stabbed the gunblade through its chest, pointing the barrel straight into the face of the pilot, and he pulled the trigger. The machine stopped moving, and he jumped down from it. He separated the weapons again and returned them to their sheaths. Then Slender Man appeared.

"I've retrieved the Omnibolg," the guy said, bowing. "As you requested."

Slender Man nodded, then vanished. That's when I woke up. I'm not sure what the Omnibolg is exactly, but it seems like a group of weapons that fit together to form stronger weapons. I don't know if the people from the two dreams are connected at all. One was a Blood Vessel, the other was a Proxy. An Enhanced. A powerful Enhanced. Stronger than any I've seen so far. I actually have an Enhanced living in my head right now. One of the souls I took from the Archangel a few weeks ago was Quan, the Enhanced Malkator used to know. The guy from that dream was way stronger.

I don't know why I'm having these dreams, but they're really bugging me.

I'd kill for a beer right now...

So this place sucks. I was just chased by Slender Man, except it wasn't really him. I think the Path is replicating the Fears. And since it wasn't a real Fear, I didn't get any stronger from its presence. All I could do was run. And at one point, I came to a dead end in the path, and had to swing on vines to escape. I managed to lose it, but I bet I'll be running into more of them.

Also, I had a crazy dream earlier. I was seeing out of someone else's eyes. They could have belonged to me, but I'm not completely sure. Whoever it was sounded a lot like me, but something was different. His speaking was kind of slurred, and sounded kind of coy. He was lying in a bed, speaking to someone who was out of eyesight.

"What are we gonna do?" the other guy asked.
"What do you mean," the guy I was seeing through said. "We're in the finals. All that's left to do is keep fighting."
"But these are fights to the death," the other man said. "What if we have to fight each other?"
"Then one of us has to kill the other," he said. "Simple as that, Doug."
"But..." the guy, I guess Doug, began to say.
"We don't have a choice," he snapped. He picked up a bottle of wine and took several swigs from it. "It may be hard for you, but there can only be one winner."
"But what if we found a way to escape?" Doug asked.
"Doubtful," he said. "We'd have to get past the spades and the Jokers. And that Ace Of Spades guy... we've seen what he can do."
"I'm sick of being the Game Master's toy, though," Doug said. "There has to be some way we can get out of this."
"Stop thinking so much," he said. "If we're lucky, one of us will see the end of this. Just concentrate on killing whoever you up against next, even if its me. If you get killed, at least you won't be stuck on this crappy board any more."
"I'm still afraid," Doug said. "I'm not like you. I'm not a Vessel who can face death and laugh in its face."
"You may not be a Blood Vessel," he replied. "But you've come a long way. You can overcome the Fear Of Death. After all, it's dwelling inside you as we speak."


Then the dream ended. I think the one I was a drunken Blood Vessel, and that Doug guy was possessed by a Dying Man fragment. They were both in one of the Game Master's tournaments. I'm guessing this was someone's memories. Not sure. It was weird.

Holyshitholyshitholyshit!

So I was just chased through the forest by something that H.P. Lovecraft would come up with while tripping out on shrooms. I managed to lose it, and now I'm... Somewhere else. Have you seen that episode of Ben 10 Ultimate Alien where they chased Aggregor into that weird universe that was basically the home of all magical energy or some shit? This place looks kind of like that, only it's more of a dark purple as opposed to the bright pink coloration the used in the TV show. Also, I think I saw a dragon earlier. Well, that's it for this update. I'd better get moving again.

Against My Better Judgement

Some of you may be wondering how I'm typing these posts. I've recently gotten into the habit of carrying my laptop around in my backpack, just in case.

Anyway, I was sitting there contemplating my choices for a while. Eventually, the other me came back.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" he asked.
"Not yet," I said. "None of these seam like good choices."
"They're not supposed to be," he said. "The Crossroads Of Trials are meant to test you."
"Which would you take?" I asked.
"That a good ," he said. "Seeing as we're the same person, I don't think you should have too much trouble figuring out my answer, but I'll tell you anyway. I would pick the path that seems most challenging. I would push myself to overcome my most difficult trial the Crossroads have."
"I see," I said. "You're not sticking around, are you?
"Not for long," he said. "I'm willing to help you out some, but this is a test you need to face on your own."
"I need a nickname for you," I said. "I can't keep calling you 'my future self' and 'the other me'."
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "You're some kind of time paradox, so I guess... ParaDan?"
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he said. He smiled. "It's exactly the kind of thing I would of come up with."
"So, I guess that's settled," I said.
"Listen, I have to go to the Page for a while," he said. "I'll see you later."

He disappeared. I looked at the 3 paths. Insanity, Struggle, and Betrayal. But then something else caught my eye. There was someone watching me from down the Path Of Chaos. I couldn't tell who it was. They were too far away to see properly. Then they turned and walked away until I couldn't see them anymore.

I decided then and there which path I would take. I know I said I wouldn't, but I can tell that this is the right choice. I took a few steps, then turned back. The other paths were gone. Too late to change my mind, I guess. Oh well. I beat up the Archangel twice, and I played a huge role in preventing the 10 plagues. A brisk stroll down the Path Of Chaos should be no problem for me.

The Chaotic Crossroads

We held something of a funeral for Malkator in the pond park. It wasn't supposed to be as big as it was, but I guess word of what we were doing got out, and people started showing up.  Several Archivists were there, including Martyr Beta and Collector Tsu. A few Slender Proxies came as well. I recognized Sound and the Gamer. Also, there was one who had on a Butterfly shaped mask and one who had a flower mask. I'm guessing they were Myrir and Lotus. I  think I've seen Myrir before, but it's hard to tell with that mask on. Estren, Ren, the Samurai, O'Zalia, Jane, and a bunch of people I don't recognize also showed up.

At one point, Beta came up to me and started talking.

"You were there when it happened, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "It wasn't easy to watch."
"You shouldn't grieve over his death," he said.
"Why not?" I asked. "Was it easy for you when you heard?"
"No, it wasn't," he said. "I've never told anyone this, but before I joined the Archive, I had a son. He was my pride and joy, but he was taken from me by the Archangel. I don't remember much of him. The Blind Man saw to that. But what I do remember of him are the happiest memories of my life."
"I hate the Archangel," I said. "He's a giant douche."
"Agreed," he said. "Malkator sort of remind me of my son. Some of the time, anyway."
"Must have been hard to lose them both," I said.
"It was," he confirmed. "but there's something you need to remember about Malkator. You can never stop being a Martyr. He may have left the Archive, but that doesn't change who he was. He was the kind of person who is more than willing to die for what they believe in. In his own words, he was an "eccentric chess player who would sacrifice his queen to protect the pawns". He wouldn't want us to sit around moping. He wants to be remembered, not mourned. Remember that."
He started to walk away, but I had one more question for him.
"Hey," I said. "Your son. What was his name?"
"It was Darius," he said. "Darius Foxxe."
He then stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to me.
"I shouldn't remember that," he said. "His name is one of the memories that was taken from me."
I didn't know how to respond to that, so we just kind of stared at each other for a bit. He was the one who broke the silence.
"What are you?" he asked.
"I've been asking myself the same question for months now," I said, shaking my head. "I still haven't gotten a straight answer."
"Maybe the time strider knows," he said, before walking away.

I went away from the crowd after that. I guess I just needed some space. I caught sight of my future self watching from the trees. I ran to him. I wanted answers. He started moving. He wasn't running away. He was leading me somewhere. I followed for a while. I tried to get some questions answered while we walked.

"What am I?" I asked. "What are we?"
"Devil Killers," he replied simply.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"How much do you bench?" he asked me.
"If you're me from the future, then shouldn't you already know?" I asked.
"How much do you bench?" he repeated.
I sighed. It was embarrassing to admit, even to myself.
"I can barely lift the bar," I confessed. "I might be able to handle ten pounds added on, but that's about it."
"You're weak," he said.
"Yeah, rub it in," I said.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "I'm weak too. But have you noticed that every time you fight against the Fears, or at least fight in their presence, you get stronger, and faster?"
"I have noticed that," I said. "Why is that? You know, don't you?"
"In the presence of Fears, we are able to use our bodies to their full potential. Normally, the human body can only use a small percentage of it's full strength."
"So we get stronger when the Fears are around?" I asked.
"Exactly," he said. "We're weapons, born to fight the Fears."
"I don't completely understand," I said. "Even as human using their body to its fullest shouldn't be a match for the Fears, right?"
"That's where our other power comes in," he said. "We can absorb power from the Fears, and use it as our own. We spend enough time around a Fear, we can steal its powers."
"I guess that explains some things," I said.
"Yep," he said. "The Cold Boy's power let's us control coldness, Archie's power let's us steal Souls from him and transform into them, the Convocation's power let's us control lightning, the Plague Doctor's power let's us produce a number of diseases, the Nightlander's power let's us bring our shadow's to life and use them as weapons, and so on and so forth."
"But I've only encountered the Nightlander's a couple times, and I was able to use their power the first time I encountered them."
"They're living shadows," he said. "You really think that was the first time you've been around them? They're really hard to notice sometimes."
"So you're saying I've been around them before without noticing?" I asked.
"Yes," he said, stopping. "This should be far enough."

We were in China. Not literally. China was the nickname of a hangout point near the pond park that Kyle brought me too a while back. It's in a wooded area, with some cliffs that hide us from view. I remember my first time going there. Paris placed a can of beer at the top of each cliff, and then he climbed them all and chugged the beers when he reached the top. I miss him.

"This place brings back some memories," the other me said.
"Sure does," I said. "Why did you bring me here?"
"You have to face a challenge," he said. "And I figure the sooner the better."
"What kind of challenge?" I asked.

The scenery around us changed. We were at a crossroad, in a lush forest. Four signs were nailed into the trees, pointing down each of the four paths.

"The Crossroads Of Trials," I said.
"Yeah," he said. "I have enough skill using the Godsway that I can enter and exit this place as I please."
"What about me?" I asked. "Can I get out of here?"
"It'll be a while before you can use the Godsway to that extent," he said. "For now, your only way out is to make it to the end of one of the paths."

I looked at the signs. Insanity. Struggle. Betrayal. And Chaos. The same path Tony went down. Definitely ruling that one out.

"So I have to pick one and travel down it?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. Then he was gone.

I'm, gonna wait for a while, and put some thought into which of the three paths (again, not going with Chaos) I'm gonna take. If any of you readers have a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.

December 11th

I teleported to the Chrysler building this morning at around 11. The front doors were locked up tight. I could feel something at the top of the building. Since I couldn't get inside to use the elevators, I had to warp up there.

This was my first time seeing the Game Master in person. He was even scarier when I saw him in that Vision. He towered over me, at least 10 feet tall. He was dressed in tattered brown clothes, and a giant black sword was held in his hand. Next to him was a grotesque machine, that radiated eldritch energy and was pulsating as if it was alive.

“I've been awaiting you, Ferris,” he said.

“I guess you read my blog and knew I was coming, right?” I asked.

“You guess correctly,” he replied.

“What is that thing?” I asked.

“Perhaps my Emissary can explain it to you,” he said. Another man stepped out from behind the machine. It was the same man who was experimenting with Silvermist.

“You again,” I said. “So you've been working with the Game Master this entire time?”

“Yes,” he said. “I was commissioned to build this device. An eldritch bomb capable of destroy the entire planet.”

“Why?” I demanded. “You'll be destroyed too, won't you?”

“Of course not,” the Game Master said. “My Emissaries and I will retreat to the Board before it goes off, while you humans perish in the destructive force of this machine. Even my rivals, the Fears, will be destroyed, should they be foolish enough to remain in this world.”

“As much as I hate the Fears, I'm not gonna sit by and let you do this,” I said.

“Well then,” he said, opening his arms wide. “Try to stop me.”

I slipped on Kyle's brass knuckles and charged. A flash of red zoomed past me and knocked me over. I got back up and saw a man with long, bright red hair and a goatee standing a few feet away. He was wearing all red clothes, including a red blindfold, and he had a large metal bike resting on his shoulder, as if it were a weapon. The Bloody Biker.

I drew my wakizashi and attacked him with it. His bike morphed into a falchion, and he parried my attack. He was strong, and fast. He weapon kept changing form, so I was never sure what to expect. But no matter what form it took, it was always made of solid steal. That gave me an idea. I did the same thing as I did against the Newborn's machine, and I shot a lightning bolt at him. It his his weapon, which conducted the electricity and shocked his entire body. I got in a roundhouse kick to the head afterwards. I turned back to the Game Master and tried attacking him again. The scientist stepped in my way and threw a fireball at be. I deflected it with my sword.

“I know that power,” I said. “You're the one who stole HELLFIRE, aren't you.”

“Yes,” he said. “I possess the powers of two Dying Men.”

I ignited the wakizashi and attacked him. He released a bolt of lightning, but it missed me. I slashed at him, but he caught the blade it his hand and held it back. He opened his mouth and a stream of flames poured out. I stepped aside to avoid them and punched him in the face. He stumbled back some, and I took the chance to elbow him in the face.

I made another attempt to attack the Game Master, but when I did, I felt an invisible force squeezing every muscle in my body. I fell over in pain.

“Did you really think you stood a chance against me?” he asked. “You possess the power to fight against the Fears, but there's one major problem with that; I'm not a Fear.”

I allowed the Red Caps power to flow through me. My hair changed colors, and the pain I was feeling started to feel good. I got back up and ran toward him. The Biker appeared in front of me and slashed his falchion. I stopped it with my forearm. My blood hardened, preventing it from cutting too deep. I slashed him across the chest. We started fighting, but this time I was stronger. I managed to hit him in the temple with the hilt of my sword. But after that, the Red Cap's power wore off. He attacked me, and I could barely defend myself. And then the Scientist got back up and threw a fireball at me. I managed to deflect it again, and then I kicked the Biker where it hurts. The Game Master then sent a wave of power that almost knocked me off the building. As I went over the edge, Estren appeared and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me back up.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” he replied.

The Biker charged at us, and we both began fighting him. He vanished into a portal. I had no idea where he was. I heard a voice in my head saying behind you! I turned around to see him behind me, with his sword raised. I blocked his attack, and he was attacked from behind by O'Zalia. Looks like he decided to show up too.

We all started fighting, and managed to overpower both the Biker and the Scientist. Then The Game Master did his weird thing with the invisible force that crushed muscles. He brought all of us to our knees.

“I've had just about enough of you three,” he said. “I believe it's time for me to finish-”

He was cut short when a bolt of lightning hit him in the chest. We were freed from whatever power he was using. We all turned around to see Malkator, standing up on the edge.

“You!?” the Game Master said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I came here to take care of something,” he said. “But first, I have a few things to say.”

He turned to face O'Zalia.

“Isaac,” he said. “I heard that you've been gathering runners together and protecting them. Keep it up. They need someone like you to look after them.”

He turned to Estren next.

“Estren,” he said. “Get HELLFIRE back, and don't lose track of him again.”

He addressed the Biker next.

“Damien,” he said. “I'm sorry. About everything. I know you won't accept this, but I had to say it anyway.”

Then he turned to the Scientist.

“You,” he said. “Fuck you.”

He looked at the Game Mast next, and took a deep breathe.

“Congratulations,” he said. I was surprised to hear him say that.

“Excuse me?” the Game Master asked.

“You've beaten me,” Malkator said. “After this, there will be nothing left of the Vision. You've won that battle at least, so congratulations. This machine, on the other hand, is a different story.”

At that moment, Crow showed up.

“What are you going to do!?” he demanded.

“I'm going to put an end to the Game Master's plan,” Malkator replied. “When I had that vision the other day, I saw what this device is capable of. It's an eldritch bomb, which the Game Master plans to destroy the world with. But I can't let that happen.”

Malkator's shirt peeled away to expose his second mouth. His tongues shot out, and grabbed the machine. It was ripped from its platform, and pulled into Malkator's mouth.

“What did you do that for!?” I demanded.

“My body is strong enough to restrain the explosion,” he said. “You guys and the rest of the world will be safe from it.”

I realized exactly what was going through his head. I didn't need to have telepathy to see what he was doing.

“What about you?” I asked, stepping forward. Tears were beginning to fall from his eyes.

“This isn't about me,” he said, smiling. “It never was. You're the hero of this story.”

I locked eyes with him, and I saw his eyes become normal. Bright green.

“Save the world,” he said, before throwing himself off the edge.

Crow shoved past me, and jumped down after them. I could feel the explosion, then nothing. Malkator had died.

The Biker warped to where Malkator had been standing and looked down. He began laughing.

“He's finally dead,” he said, delightedly. “This is almost as satisfying as killing him myself!”

That pissed me off. I reached behind my back and drew my gun. Yeah, I know I said I had lost it. I lied. He turned around just in time to see me pull the trigger. The bullet hit him right between the eyes, and he fell off the edge.

I turned to the Game Master and started attacking him. Estren charged at the Scientist. I'm not sure what he did exactly, but they were both consumed by this silver glowing tornado thing. The Game master removed his mask, and it turned into a dragon. It snapped at me, and I managed to dodge it and stab it in the leg. It whipped it's tail at me and knocked the sword from my hand. It bit into my arm and flung my up into the air. I began falling toward its open jaws. I drew my gun again and shot it in the eye, distracting it. I landed infront of it. It turned back to me. I felt the air around me becoming cold, but I couldn't feel any of the Fears nearby. The coldness was coming from me. The dragon charged at me, and I concentrated on its body. It completely froze, unable to move. I aimed at its head and pulled the trigger over and over again, until its head had been blown to pieces.

The dragon disappeared, and I turned back to the Game Master.

“Is that the best you've got?” I asked.

To the side of me, the glowing tornado vanished, and I saw Estren with his sword through the Scientist's chest. The scientist burst into flames and incinerated.

“What!?” the Game Master demanded. “How did you...?”

“I'm sorry,” he said, removing his mask and revealing his yellow eyes. “Did I just break one of your toys?”

“HELLFIRE!” I said. I can't believe I was happy to see a Dying Man.

“I'm back baby,” he said. “And I'm ready to kick some tail!”

He shot a stream of fir at the Game Master. I put my brass knuckles back on and charged. The Game Master's sword transformed into a swarm of bats and attacked us. I shot a bunch of them with my gun, while HELLFIRE hit them with flames and lightning. It took a while, but we killed most of them. The ones that survived fled. HELLFIRE hit the Game Master with a bolt of lightning. I jumped as high as I could and punched him in the head, fracturing his skull.

My throat suddenly seized up, and I couldn't breath. The same happened to HELLFIRE.

“Did you fools honestly believe you stood a chance against me?” he asked. “I am William Timerus, the almighty Game Master! My powers rival that of the Fears! You mortals are powerless against me! Just as powerless as that pathetic Demi-God.”

“What did you call him?” O'Zalia said angrily. Whatever kind of shock he had been in before had worn off now.

“Pathetic!” the Game Master said. “He was a miserable dung beetle compared to me!”

I could feel reality beginning to quake after he said that. O'Zalia had really been pissed off from that.

“Cease to exist you cunt!” he shouted.

As I watched, the Game Master began to crumble into nothingness, starting with his limbs, then spreading to his body and eventually his head. He had completely vanished. O'Zalia had erased him from existence.

I went down to the bottom afterwards. The Biker's body was lying dead in the middle of empty street. I have no idea where the civilians were. Crow was lying unconscious on the ground. There was no trace of Malkator anywhere. The explosion must have completely destroyed his body.

I went to wake up Crow. His right arm was missing, and he was covered in countless injuries. As soon as I woke him up, he shoved me aside and vanished threw a portal. I returned home after that and started typing this.

I may not post for a while. I just... I can't believe all this happened.

Getting Ready

I getting a few things ready for whatever's going on tomorrow. I'm guessing I'll need weapons, so I'm bringing my wakizashi and some brass knuckles that Kyle gave me. I can't find my gun though. It may have been stolen. I don't know, but I have more important things to worry about.

I Did It!!! Again!!!

I didn't have to use the Godsway this time. The location I was to face the Archangel was the same place my first fight with him took place. The old church. There were Timberwolves every where, all over town, but they let me through. They Archangel wanted to fight me. He ws alone when I entered, in the form of Haji.

Of course, I thought to my self. He took the form of the first guy I killed.

To be fair, I'm the one who killed him, Justin said.

Shut up, I replied. Then I spoke to the Archangel. “You plan to fight me in that form?”

“If you don't like it, I can use a different form,” he said. As he spoke, he switched between different bodies. “Perhaps your dead aunt? Tony's father? Maybe one of the Proxies you watched Benjamin kill. I have more. The champion of the Game Master's tournament, the runner up, several warriors from ancient times. Genghis Khan, King Arthur, Ali Baba, Masamune, Joan Of Arc. The bodies I possess are endless. Oh, I have an idea! How about Shane?”

“Shane?” I asked. He shifted into a familiar face.

“You remember him, right?” he said. “You only met him a few times, but he was quite liked at your high school. Especially after his untimely death. Dropped dead while running across the school field with his friends. It was never clear to anywhere exactly how he died. But I know. Would you like me to tell you the truth of his death?”

“Shut up!” I demanded.

“What's the matter?” he asked. “Don't like what you're hearing?”

“All I wanna hear from you are your reasons for doing this,” I said. “Why did you side with Bill? Why do you want to destroy the world?”

“Well to be honest, it seemed like a fun idea at the time,” he replied, still wearing Shane's body. “Of course, Dawson's planning was terrible, and it all fell apart pretty damn easily.”

“So why are you still doing this?” I asked. “It's over. Almost all the plagues have been stopped.”

“This isn't about the plagues,” he said. “It was a fun idea, but I could care less about destroying the world. All I want right now is you.”

“Me?” I asked.

“Yes, you,” he said, grinning broadly. Creeped me the fuck out. “You see, Daniel, I hate you. I absolutely despise you. That's why I'm here. I want to kill you, and reclaim what you stole.”

“Then let's end this,” I said.

He got into a fighting stance. Didn't summon any of his weapons. No scythe, no swords, not shotgun, just unarmed combat. I charged at him and threw a hook punch at his head. I wrapped my attacking arm around his as he blocked and hit him with and elbow strike to the nose. He stumbled backward and I turned to hit him with a back-two-knuckle punch (look it up) to his solar plexus. He attempted an uppercut, which I dodged by leaning back. He leaned in and tried to do a cobra strike. I stopped it with an upward block and chopped him in the neck with the same hand. I threw a backhand strike with my right hand. He brought his left arm up to defend himself. I grabbed his arm with my attacking hand and pulled it out of the way so I could catch him with a reverse crescent kick to the temple. I planted my foot between his and caught him with another hook to the temple. Two consecutive temple strikes had him stunned. I raised my leg and caught him with a skin kick to the groin. He didn't seem to notice. I guess he didn't copy Shane's genitalia. No matter. Since my leg was already lifted, I used it to sweep one of his legs from underneath him and bring him down. I dropped my wait and jabbed my knee into his solar plexus, and drove my fist down toward his face. He vanished just before it hit.

Right. He teleports. I forgot about that. I turned around and blocked a kick. I got back up part way to fight back as he swung his right arm in a hook punch. A scythe blade sprouted from his wrist as he swung, and I dropped my wait just in time to avoid it. I stood back up and pinned his with hand and punched him in the face with the other hand. He stepped back and swung his arm the other way. I leaned away from it, and the leaned back it and held his arm back before he could swing at me again. He grew another blade from his lefty knee and brought it up. I stopped it with a double downward palm block, then I whipped both my arms up and caught him in the jaw. He sprouted another blade from his right arm and swung it. I tripped over my own feet. Yeah, embarrassing, but if I hadn't I would have been beheaded. I jumped into the Godsway and appeared behind him with my wakizashi out. I stabbed it into his back before falling over from the pain of teleporting like that.

He stood over me. He yanked the sword out of his back and let it clatter to the ground. The blades sprouting from his body dissolved into smoke and his scythe formed in his hand.

“It's over!” he said delightedly.

“Like hell!” I exclaimed.

I fought the pain and got to my feet, grabbing the pole of his scythe before he could swing it. We struggled with each other, both trying to throw the other off. I managed to knock him off balance and the scythe slipped from both of our hands. He regained his footing, but I was on him before he could form another scythe. I put my hands around his throat, and he did the same to me. He stood there, struggling to choke the life out of each other. Then the weird thing started to happen. He was forced into a different body, of a man wearing a sailor uniform, then he became a tall balding man, then a woman with green hair, and multiple other forms. And all the while, I felt something filling up my subconscious. It didn't take me too long to realize what was happening; I was taking more souls from him. And he realized it to. He threw me off angrily, with a sudden burst of strength.

“You bastard!” He shouted. “You dirty rotten thief! You're dead!!”

He shifted into his giant form armed monster form, but he was bigger this time. He kept expanding til he ripped the roof off the church, then he expanded even further. If I had to guess, I'd say he was probably 5+ times as big as he was last time I saw him take that form. He swung a giant sword at me, and I jumped out of the way. He brought the scythe down, and I stumbled back just in time. I was pushed back against a door. A door I don't remember being there.

It swung open and I fell through. I was in the empty city. I panicked at first, but then another door suddenly opened right next to me. Looking through it, I could see that it opened up right behind the archangel, in his blind spot. I ran through, grabbed a chunk of fallen rock, and threw it as hard as I could. It hit him in his coccyx. He turned and attacked me with his scythe again. I jumped to the side and fell through another door, which slammed shut afterward.

“So what!?” I called out, hoping the City could hear me. “Are you trying to help me!?”

I heard a metal clang a couple feet away. I looked and saw a morning-star that had fallen from the sky, and a door appeared right next to it. Guess that answers my question kind of.

I grabbed the morning-star and opened the door. It opened into the s air behind one of the Archangel's knees. I stepped to the edge, and jumped off, cracking him in the back of the knee with the mace. He cried out in pain. I landed on the ground just as he turned to glare at me from behind his gas mask. I spun around and threw the morning-star like a hammer toss. It hit him in the face, shattering one of the gas mask's lenses. Another door appeared, and I ran through it. I was now in a room filled with various swords and lances. I got and idea. An awful idea. I got a wonderful, awful idea. I grabbed a couple swords and ran through another door. I was behind him again. I threw one of the swords, and it stuck into his back. He turned and slashed at me with a sword. I ducked under it. He slashed with his other sword, and I barely deflected it. I switched my grip on my remaining sword and ran between his legs as fast as I could. I jumped up and stabbed it as high up on its calf as I could. I ran through a door, back into the room with the weapons. I grabbed a sword and a javelin. I jumped back into the fight, and was disappointed to see I had reappeared in front of him. I don't think the city was paying attention to where it was sending me. I dodged a sword slash and jumped over a couple church pews. I barely avoided a slash from his scythe and made it behind him again. I threw the javelin into his hamstring and manage to throw the sword so that it stuck into on of his ass cheeks (go on, get the laughter out of your system). I jumped into another door just before he brought one of his swords down. I looked through the weapons, trying to chose wisely this time. I found a pickax and a Chinese wind-and-fire wheel. Perfect. I I could get my aim just right, I would be able to pull this off. I ran through a door, and this time I was glad to be in front of him. I threw the pickax overhand and it stuck into the gas mask just above the broken eye lens. I ran the gauntlet of swords and scythe again and got behind him. I threw the wheel as hard and accurate as I could. It hit him in the back of the neck. It was large enough to penetrate him very deeply, but it was just enough to pull off my plan.

I wasn't expecting him to take flight though. He flapped his wings and took to the air. He turned his swords into rifles and shot a giant bullet of darkness out of one of them. I jumped out of the was. It left a decent sized crater where I had been standing before, so I'm glad I dodged. I ran through another door before he could shoot at me again.

“Listen up, City!” I yelled. “I need you to open up a door right next to my wakizashi! I'm not trying to diss your weapons, but if I want this to work I need my own sword! Can you do that!?”

In response, a door opened, and I saw my sword lying on the other side. I ran through and grabbed it. I dodged a couple more bullets and got in position so that I could see the sword I had stabbed into his calf. I focused on it and warped into the Godsway, reappearing right by it. I grabbed it with one hand and held on as well as I could, trying to ignore the pain. I recovered, and looked up at the javelin in his hamstring. Problem. Too much distance. I'd have to improvise. I slashed him in the lg with the wakizashi. He cried out and bent his knee. I held my sword in my mouth (need both hands for this) and leapt up to the javelin. I climbed up and grabbed the sword in his ass, then gripped the sword in his lower back.

New problem. The wings. They were flapping pretty hard. This would be hard. I jumped up and grabbed the first wing, and started climbing them. I almost got thrown off several times, but I managed to get to the top and grab onto the wind-and-fire wheel. I swung myself over and managed to get one foot onto the wheel. I stood up and grabbed onto the top of his mask and pulled myself up. He jerked his head really quickly, and I lost my footing. I grabbed the pickax and hung from it before I got thrown off. I stared him directly in his expose (and really gross looking) eye, and grabbed the hilt of my short. He started to reach for me with one of his huge hands, and I quickly ignited the sword and jabbed the flaming blade into his eye.

There was a tremendous roar, and he grabbed me and threw me to the ground. I was falling to my death. Lucky for me, a group of birds caught me and carried me to the ground safely. I looked to see that Crow and Malkator had arrived. The Archangel aimed his guns at us, but Crow fire a lightning bolt that destroyed them. Malkator charged his arm blades with this silver light and fired these weird energy blades that sliced through the Archangel's wings. He fell to the ground. The three of us approached him. He was now wearing the body of some random guy I didn't recognize. He glared at us and then vanished.

“Great,” I said. “Looks like we won. One question though; How many witnesses were there? If the Fears become known to everyone, won't it cause world wide panic?”

“The Blind Man's taking care of that,” Crow said. “He's been modifying the memories of everyone who witnessed the plagues, and the birds and Slendy are destroying any footage that's out there.”

“Good,” Malkator said/ “We would have helped you out sooner, but we got tied up with some Timberwolves.”

“Yeah, figures,” I said.

I guess it's over. We stopped the plagues, and everyone's safe now.

But there is one thing that's troubling me.

The note that future me left. There's one more thing on it.

Chrysler Building. December 11.

Nightmare On Elm Street.

I went to sleep last night, and entered my subconscious. It was to be my battleground against the Reverie. Justin awaited me.

"You ready for this?" he asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied.
"Good to hear," said another voice behind us. The Reverie had arrived.
"I'm gonna destroy you," I said.
"Good luck with that," he replied. "I'm sure you're aware of how much power I have here. Defeating you will be no problem."
"You'll have to face both of us!" Justin said, summoning his scythe.
"Great!" the Reverie said. "A challenge!"

The sky was suddenly flooded by monsters, dive-bombing us left and right. He had our work cut out for us. No matter how many we killed, the Reverie just summoned more. We were severely outnumbered. I did the only thing I could think of, and charged straight at the Reverie. His demons squished together in front of me, forming a hideous, living wall between me and him. Then Malkator showed up. He conjured a bolt of lightning that broke through the wall.

"Was that mana?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he said. "Go get him before he forms another barricade."
"Got it," I said.

I charged and started fighting the Reverie head on. He absorbed a bunch of his monsters, doubling in size. I kept fighting him, but he was too strong. He grew larger, and larger. He was at least twenty feet tall. Luckily for him, a stray lightning bolt from Malkator hit his shoulder. It didn't hurt him much, but it distracted him long enough for me to get on the offensive. I summoned a chain, and tangled up his legs with it, bringing him down. I then summoned some brass knuckles and began repeatedly hitting his face. It wasn't long before he threw me off. He stood up, ready to stomp on me, but he was hit in the chest, full force, by a massive ball of fire launched my Malkator. He fell off the edge of the ship. The demons all disappeared. I looked over the edge of the ship, but there was no sign of the Reverie. I turned back to Malkator. He had this insane look on his face. I approached him.

"He man, you okay?" I asked. He answered by throwing a fireball at my face that I barely managed to dodge. "Whoa, dude, chill out," I said.
"Don't tell me to chill out!" he shouted, hitting me with a blast of cold that chilled me to the bone. He proceeded to push me over and began kicking me.
"Stop!" I shouted.

It wasn't getting through to him. Justin attacked him from behind, but he effortlessly defeated the attack and sent Justin flying. I got up and put him in a full nelson.

"Calm down!" I said. "Keep it together, man!"

His body ignited. I was being scorched, but I held on as best as I could. "I'm your friend! Don't do this! Don't let the mana control you!"
"Shut up!" he commanded, as the flamed grew hotter. I summoned more chains to try and hold him.
"Don't give up!" I said. "I know you're still in there! Listen to me!"
The flames started to go down. It was working.
"Come on, fight it," I encouraged him. "The Ace Of Chaos told you about mana because he thought you could control it. You're not going to prove him wrong, are you?"

The flames died out, and he fell to the ground. Justin came over and leaned us both against a wall. I was pretty burnt up.

"How bad is it?" I asked.
"This are all mental wounds," Justin said. "As long as you don't die, you'll be able to recover."
"I'm sorry," Malkator said. "I lost control back there."
"It's okay," I said.
"No, it's not," he said. "I'm not cut out to wield mana. I tried to use it without practicing, and I let the power consume me."
"Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day," I told him. "You'll be able to control it some day. You just have to take it slowly and avoid going overboard again."
"If I hadn't regained control when I did, I would have destroyed your subconscious and killed you," he said.
"But you didn't," I said. "You did display some control back there."
"Not enough," he said, miserably.
"Okay, encouragement's not working," I said, standing up. Then I punched him really hard in the face. "There! We're even now! So suck it up and keep going! You agreed to take on Bill tomorrow, and you'll never be able to pull in off if you just sit around moping inside my subconscious."
"Heh, you're right," he said. "I'll see you later. And from now on, I'll try to keep my mana under control." Then he vanished.
"I guess violence is the only way to get through to guys like him," I said.


Then I woke up and started typing this.

Thorns And Poison

Made it to Sacramento. I found the Plague Doctor waiting on top of a hospital.

"I'm here to stop you," I said. It simply stared ahead, without paying any attention to me.

I drew my Wakizashi and charged. A bunch of red roots grew from the beneath me and entangled my legs. I turned to see that Ren was there. I hacked at the roots. He sprouted a thorn sword and ran toward me. I fought back, and we became locked in battle. While we were facing each other, the Plague Doctor began his job. A cloud of purple and green smoke billowed from his robes. I started coughing. Ren on the other hand, coated his mouth and nose with bark, and sprouted black leaves from his shoulders.

"What-?" I started to asked, but I had a coughing fit before I could finish.
"This poison only effects oxygen breathers," Ren said. "I can photosynthesize, making me immune. You, however, aren't so lucky."

I coughed some more. I was dying. The poison was too strong. Then I heard the other me inside my head.

Use the Plague Doctor's power, he said.
What? I asked. How are you talking to me?
We're the same person, he said. We share a unique bond. Now listen, you can use the Plague Doctor's abilities to create an anti poison to counter the poison you're inhaling. They'll cancel each other out.

I didn't no what to do, so I just tried thinking about the Plague Doctor. Nothing happened.

You have to let your adrenaline flow, the other me said.

I tried. I let myself get angry. And then I started feeling different. The poison's effect were wearing off. I had done it. My body was fighting it.

Good, the other me said. Now, kill Ren.
What!? I thought.
You have to, he said. You have no idea what he will become.
No! I thought. I can get through to him! I don't know what you saw him become, but I know I can prevent it from happening!

"Ren!" I said. "Don't do this! You don't have to help this creep!"
"Yes I do," he said. "In order to defeat Slender Man,  need to help my master."
"You're better than this!" I said. "I get that you were wronged by the Entity, but by doing this, you're just wronging others. You don't have to be a villain. You can fight Slender Man without putting innocent people in danger."
"Sh-shut up!" he demanded, clutching his head.
"There's still good in you," I said. "Please, help me stop all this."

He looked me in the eyes, and hesitated for a while. Then, a look of determination crossed over what could be seen of his face. He turned to the Plague Doctor. Both is arms turned to wood and expanded, and he attacked. He fought with the Doctor, but the Doctor started producing a new poison, one which Ren wasn't immune to. His leaves wilted and he collapsed. I charged at the Plague Doctor with my sword. He raised a snake shaped cane to defend himself. He started releasing more poisons.

"There's a difference between me and Ren," I said. "By mimicking your powers,I can adapt to your poisons."
"Not all of them," he hissed.

He released a new poison, one that I couldn't fight. I had to beat him before it finished me. My sword burst into flames, and I sliced through his cane, then slashed him across the face. His bird mask split in two and fell to the ground. What was beneath almost made me vomit. I can't even begin to describe what his face looked like. He vanished, and the clouds of poison disappeared with him. I had won. I ran over to make sure Ren was okay.

"What happened?" he asked.
"We did it," I said. "We beat the Plague Doctor."
"I see," he said, getting up and opening a portal into the Path Of Black Leaves. "For the record, this doesn't make us allies. I still plan to kill Slender Man, and I will not hesitate to destroy anything that stands in my way."

And then he was gone. As he left, shadows rose from behind me, and Bill appeared.

"You meddlesome bastard!" he hissed. I could see that the shadows that spread over more of his body.
"I can't just stand by and let you destroy the world," I said.
"You and that demi god have stopped six of my plagues," he said. "But I won't let you prevent the others!"

He summoned his sword and charged at me, but the other me decided to show up. He clashed with Bill, and he screamed in his face. I couldn't hear it, but Bill seemed to. He stumbled back, clutching his head in agony. It was as if he had focused the sound so that only Bill caught the full blast of it. As a matter of fact, that's probably exactly what he did. Bill faded into the shadows.

"You were a fool to let Ren live," he said to me. "The world would be better without him."
"I don't believe that," I said stubbornly. "Anyway, if you know how all of this goes down, why can't you step in and help more often?"
"Things are happening a little differently than they did for me," he said. "Besides, I have Emissaries to deal with. I'm sure you heard what happened to HELLFIRE, right?"
"Estren lost him," I said.
"He's been imprisoned inside the mind of one of the Game Master's servants," he said. "The plagues aren't the only thing going on right now. I have to go now. I trust that you can handle the grotesque." Then he vanished.

That's right. The Grotesque. The next location for me is the subconscious, on the 30th. I have to throw down with the Reverie.

Swarm

Warped to Egypt. Again, painful. I hate the Godsway. Anyway, Suez was supposed to be where the 3rd plague would start. And of course, I soon saw him. A man carrying around a large stone gourd. I approached him from behind.

"Haji!" I called to him.
He turned around and said something in Egyptian.
"No hablo Egypt, pal," I said. "You speak English, right?"
"Yes," he said. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"My name is Daniel," I said. "And I know that you serve the Intrusion."
He chuckled. "So you're the one who wants to stop the plagues?" he asked.
"That's right," I said. "Call off the Intrusion. I may have hesitated when I fought the Blood Vessel, but I have no problem beating the hell out of a guy."
"I serve the Intrusion," he said. "It's not the other way around. I can't call them off, and you can't make me."
"Then let me talk to them," I said. "I'll convince them myself."
"They won't listen," he said. "They listen to no mortals."
"And what about Bill Dawson?" I asked. "They listened to him."
"He is no normal human," he replied.
"Neither am I," I said. "I want to speak to the Intrusion."
"Even if you do speak to them, you will be unable to dissuade them," he said. The swarm will begin within the hour. You'd best seek cover if you want to survive."

He fled. I lost him in the crowd. I ran for as long as I could. I was running out of time. But then I saw them. Birds began to flock toward the city, in huge numbers. The Convocation had arrived to back me up. Then I heard a familiar voice call down to me.

"Hey Danny!" Crow called from atop a building. "The birds found him! Come with me!"

He tossed down the end of his whip for me, and pulled me up. He then tossed it into the air, and a bird, I'm assuming Alexander, caught it and carried us both into the sky. We landed right next to Haji, just as large numbers of insects started to rise from the cracks and crevices. Every nook and cranny seemed to contain bugs.

"Shit," I said. "What do we do?"
"There's other Nest's here," Crow said. "Even the Witch of Gatlingsburg has graced us with her presence. We and the Convocation will try and hold the Intrusion back. You take out their servant."
"Okay," I said.
"And listen," he said. "I know you're kind of a goody-two-shoes and stuff, but don't show mercy on this guy."
I nodded, and turned to face Haji.
"So, you have the Convocation with you?" he asked. "All right. Let's see how much good it will do you."

I drew my Sonic Sword and started fighting him. He swung that gourd around like it was nothing. I kept fighting. I took some hits, but I was able to use his strength against him eventually, and knocked him over. I raised my sword to strike, just as he guarded with his gourd. As the two collided, his gourd cracked open and bugs flew out. I quickly hit the sword against the ground and created a sound wave loud enough to drive them away from me. Hurt my own ears in the process, but it was a small price to pay. Haji then got up and jumped back.

"Khepri!" he cried. "I give my self to you, mind, body, and soul! Give me the power to exterminate this pest!"
"Me?" I asked. "A pest? Look who's talking."

The bugs started burrowing into his skin, and he went through a change. Razor sharp wings sprouted from his back. His eyes divided rapidly (and disgustingly) so that they became multifaceted. Chitin grew over his skin. Antennae sprouted from his head. He had turned into a bug man.

"Shit, what now?" I said out loud. I was getting tired.
Let me handle this, I heard Justin say.
"You sure?" I asked.
You have to trust me, he replied.
"Alright," I said.

I allowed Justin to control my body. My form shifted. My clothes dissolved into black mist and reformed into his black clothing. My sword vanished as well, and his scythe appeared. He charged, and began fighting Haji. Haji was strong and fats. But Justin was the Archangel's power on his side. He was able to weave behind Haji and clip both his wings in a single slash. He attempted to slash him, but Haji's armor was too strong. Just sprouted a pair of wings and floated up to the top of a building and transformed his scythe into a shotgun. Hr aimed, and fired. It penetrated Haji through the heart.

You killed him! I said.
He was already dead, he replied. He wasn't  human anymore. The Intrusion took that from him.

Justin returned control of the body to me. I looked around. The Intrusion was retreating. Crow approached me.

"We lost a lot of good Nests today," he said. "But we averted a world wide crisis, and that's the important part."
"Yeah," I said. "Thanks. I guess I owe you?"
"Don't worry," he said. "We'll come by for a favor later down the road, but it'll be a small one, and it shouldn't be too big. I have to go. See you."


So that's that. Three plagues prevented so far. My next stop is Sacramento, California on the 28. I have to stop the Plague Doctor from poisoning the entire world. Something tells me this won't be easy.

Water To Blood

I used the Godsway to get to Boston Harbor. It hurt, just like all my other times using the Godsway, but I made it. I confronted one of the Blood Vessels at the Harbor. It was the same one I had met in LA.

"We meet again," she said.
"Let me speak to the Red Cap," I said.
"Why not me?" she asked. "I love talking to handsome boys like you."
"Cut the crap!" I snapped at her. "It's your master I want to talk to."
"Ugh, fine," she said. A red fluid rose from the ground around her feet, and took the form of a red, gooey woman.
"Daniel," it said. "You wish to stop me?"
"Yes," I said. "But first, I want you to answer a few questions."
"Go ahead," she said. "I may chose not to answer some of them, but I will listen."
"Why am I different then the other Vessels?" I asked.
"You are a Devil Killer," she said. "You have a strong resistance to mind control."
"What is a Devil Killer?" I asked.
"I chose not to answer," she said. "You must learn from someone else."
"Fine," I said. "How does the water to blood thing work?" I guess the answer wouldn't matter too much, but I was still curious.
"My servants can transform the atomic arrangement of water molecules to become identical to their blood," she explained. "Sea life will die without water."
"Why are you siding with Bill Dawson," I asked.
"No particular reason," she said. "His idea seemed interesting, so I thought I'd check it out. I don't care much either way."
That gave me my idea. "What would I have to do to change your mind?" i asked.
"Seeking a peaceful resolution, are we?" she asked.
"I'll fight you if I have to," I said. "But if there's a way to avoid that, I might be willing to go with it."
"Very well," she said. She moved aside. "Face my Vessel in hand to hand combat. If you win, I'll have all my servants retreat."
"Is that the only way?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Okay," I said.

I approached the Vessel. I leveled the playing field. I allowed some of the Red Cap's power flow through me. I saw my hair turn red again. We fought. I managed to bring her down. She was on her back, and with the Red Cap's power effecting my mind, I almost killed her. But I stopped. I managed to hold myself back just in time.

"What are you waiting for?" the Red Cap said. "Finish her."
"No," I said, as my hair returned to normal. "I agreed to defeat her, not kill her."
The Red Cap laughed. "You are stupidly noble," she said. "Very well. I'll withdraw my servants. But be warned; It is not over between us. Sooner or later, I'll see you again."

So I managed to avoid the first plague. My next plague is on the 25, in Suez, Egypt, against the Intrusion. Wish me luck.

He's Back

I just got a call from Malkator. He says he's back and ready for action. We're gonna give those Fears hell.

I still haven't heard from the other me. I hope he wasn't lying when he said I could trust him.

Also, there's some more troubling news. I heard from Estren. HELLFIRE was stolen from him somehow. Shit.

Meet Up

The next date on the note that future me gave me is Boston Harbor on the 23rd. Also, looking at Bills blog, he posted what he has planned for each plague. It's starting on the 23rd, and ending on the 2nd of December. There's a location on this note for each of those days. I know where to go, and I know which Fear will be there. But that doesn't give me a huge edge. I needed help from the others who are fighting against Bill.

I met up with Malkator along with Crow. It was my first time meeting him. He's... okay, I guess. Tried to hug me. Malkator says he does that. I would have met up with O'Zalia too, but he's not picking up his mind phone. Maybe he's out of telepathic range or something.

I showed them the notes. We've decided I'll handle half of them, and he'll handle the other half.

"Are you sure we can do this?" I asked.
"Me and Crow have the Convocation on our side, so that should help us some," Malkator said. "As for you, I'm sure you can handle things You've beaten Fears before, and you'll have some of the Convocation standing by just in case."
"We can't guarantee anything," Crow said. "But we've all faced a lot of tough enemies to prepare us for this. Also, why did you chose to handle plague number one?"
"I'm a Blood Vessel," I said. "The Red Cap made me into one. I need to confront her."
"You're not a normal Vessel," Malkator said. "I've watched you, and you have some unique traits. You can suppress her, prevent her from gaining complete control or spread to other people. Just like with HELLFIRE."
"I know," I said. "I plan to ask her about that."
"Why can't you just talk to her inside your subconscious?" Crow asked.
"I can never find her," I said. "Justin's seen her around, but she's never there when I go in."
"So how's your future se-" Crow started, but Malkator kicked him in the shin.
"I haven't seen future me," I said. "Have you?" I looked Malkator directly in the eyes.
"I haven't," Malkator said. "And I'm sorry. He told me not to mention it to you."
"Why isn't he helping?" I asked. "He's a lot stronger than me. He could easily give us an edge."
"I don't know," Malkator said.
"I am helping," said a voice behind me. I turned around and there he was, leaning against the wall. "Trust me, I managed to stop the plagues when I was your age, and with all the clues I've been leaving you, you should have no problem with it."
I heard a weird electric-like noise behind me, and when I turned around, Malkator and Crow were both gone.
"We're are they?" I asked.
"Just on schedule," the other me said. "Don't worry, they're fine. And best of all, they'll be more than ready to take on the Heralds of the Plagues."
"I'm getting annoyed with you," I said. "Start explaining things!"
"I'm sorry," he said. "Things are a bit complicated. You'll have to trust me."
"And why should I trust you?" I demanded.
He smiled and said "Because I am you."

Then he vanished. Great. Anyway, I have ten days to get ready for these plagues.

More Dreams

I've had three more of those dreams, like the one I mentioned a couple posts ago.

In the first one, I saw myself, kneeling over a pool, surrounded by human bones. My eyelids were still black, and my hair had grown out some. I dipped my hands into the pool and drank some of the water. I then clutched my throat and started to cough and sputter. I fell on my back, choking to death. Then Jack appeared and crouched over me.
"Silly boy," he said. "You should have known that the fountain of youth is poisoned. That's why no one who finds it ever lives to tell the story. Those who find it all die from its water. You are no different. Although, I can keep you alive, if you're willing to make a deal.
"No," I coughed, rolling over on my stomach. "I don't need you." I struggled to get back to my feet. I fell over again, but kept trying to get up. He belittles me some more.
"You can't do it," he said. "Very few have pulled it off. What makes you think you can?"
I changed. My eyelids, hair, and raincoat all turned a bright red. I stood up, laughing maniacally. I grabbed Jack by the throat.
"You know what's fun about the Red Cap?" I asked. "When I use her power, I get really masochistic. In this form, the poison empowers me."
"I then threw Jack into the water. The redness faded. I coughed a bit, but I was okay. Jack rose from the water and glared at me.
"You think this water can kill me?" he asked.
"No," I said. "But maybe this will." I shot lightning from my hands and hit the water, giving him a really big shock. He collapsed. Still alive, but weak. "Go to hell," I told him. "And when you get there, tell Bill Dawson I said hi."

That's where that dream ended. In the next dream, I had grown really pale, and my hair had darkened and turned white in places. I looked like the guy in that video, who had left the note. I was entering a detectives office.
"Tony?" I asked. "Tony, are you here? I need to talk."
I entered the back room. There was blood everywhere, and black bags dangled from the ceilings.
"No," I said, falling to the ground. "Not you too. Not like this."
I was on the verge of crying.
Then the Entity came. I looked straight into its faceless face, drew my rapier, and charged. We fought. Teleporting everywhere, trying to gain the upper hand on each other. But the Entity won. It managed to stab a tentacle into my chest, and I went down. It was above me, ready to finish me off. Then I vanished. I reappeared somewhere else, with a masked man standing over me. The symbol on the mask was of the four poker suite, aligned in a row and surrounded by flames. He wore a long, black scarf, and had waist length black hair. If not for his voice, I wouldn't have known who he was.
"You okay, Daniel?" Estren asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "Thanks, Game Master."
"You don't have to use that title on me," he said. "I'm still the same Estren Saltown you've known."
"I know," I said. I paused for a moment. "It's all over, isn't it?"
"It seems so," Estren said. "Almost all of humanity is dead, and the few survivors are being picked off one by one."
There were no more words. I simply laid down my head in my hands and started to cry.

The last dream was of me, just walking with my head down. I looked like I had really lost everything.
"You're really giving up, aren't you?" a voice said. It seemed to be coming from thin air.
"Marshall?" I asked, looking around. "Where are you?"
"Such a silly question," the voice replied. "You know I can no longer manifest physically. I can, however, lead you to a solution."
"A solution?" I asked hopefully. "There's a way to fix all of this?"
"Not exactly," the voice said. "This timeline is doomed, no matter what. But with my help, you can create a new timeline, free from all this tyranny."
"You mean creating a paradox?" I asked.
"Yes," the voice said. "Come."
I began running, and warping occasionally. I was soon in an abandoned house, with intricate symbols drawn on the wood floor.
"This is it," the voice said. "I asked David to arrange things."
"Kallaway was here?" I asked. "Where is he?"
"He left," the voice said. "He though it would be best that he didn't bring his shards of the Brute and Vision into the past. You remember what happened with the Red Cap, right?"
"Of course," I said. "So how does it work?"
"Everything's in place," the voice replied. "All we need is a secret ingredient; fear."
The air became cold, and the windows glazed over. I knew what was happening. The Cold Boy had arrived.
"Shit!" I said. "Why is he here?"
"You've isolated yourself for too long," the voice said. "But this will work to our advantage."
The symbols on the floor started glowing.
"His presence here automatically fuels the ritual," the voice said. "Hurry, the portal opens soon."
Sure enough, a portal appeared. I jumped through, and fell to the ground. Malkator stood over me.


That's where the dream ended. I think I get it now. The guy from the video. He doesn't just look like me, he is me. From the future.


Great Scott, this is heavy.

The Heralds Of The Plagues

I was sitting in my room, looking at that note. I still didn't have it figured out. I just closed my eyes and tried to think about it. The word Godsway just kept going through my head. I don't know how long it was, but I after a while I started feeling this horrible pain, all through my body. It lasted for several second before the word Eerie Illinois passed through my head, and the pain stopped. I fell on my stomach, my eyes still closed. It took a while to recover. When I did, I realized I was lying in frost covered grass. I got up and looked around. I was in front of a school, which was closed since it was the weekend. I looked at the schools name, and  realized where I was. It was Eerie Elementary School. I had been warped to Illinois.

I approached the door to the school. Locked. I had to get in. I felt something in there I needed to face. I had made it to Illinois. I thought maybe I could make it inside. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the other side of the doors. Another surge of pain hit me, and I was there. I collapsed again. It took me a little while to get back up.

I wandered the halls for a while. Some of the doors were wide open, while others were locked up tight. It wasn't that long before I found him. Bill Dawson was waiting.

"Well, well, if it isn't the young Blood Vessel," he said to me.
"I've been hoping to see you," I said. "I'm going to stop-"

I passed out before I could finish. I was back in my subconscious, with the Reverie standing over me laughing.

"I'm sorry, Danny boy," he said. "I can't let you interfere with our plans."
"You!" I shouted at him. "You're in on this too?"
"That's right," he said. "And I'm going to make sure that you don't screw this all up."
"Like hell!" I shouted, charging.

I don't know how long we fought. Time doesn't flow normally inside the subconscious  Sometimes time speeds up, sometimes it slows down. It's not the same as in the normal world. It wasn't an easy fight. He was strong, and fast. I was on the brink of losing when I managed to catch him in the temple with a lucky hit. I heard a familiar voice calling to me, and I woke up. Jane was there.

"Jane!" I said. "I haven't seen you in ages! How did you...?"
"I've been traveling with Isaac," she said. I looked and saw that Bill was now fighting with a white haired man with a glave.
"Is that... O'Zalia?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Hey, let me get some punches in!" I called out, jumping into the fray.

But our fight was interrupted buy a chilling coldness. I coldness I had felt before.

"Oh shit," I said, turning around. The Cold Boy and the Entity were both there.
"Finally!" Bill exclaimed. "I have been waiting for you two! Please, join me in my conquest! Help me to recreate the plagues of Egypt!"
"Yes, sound like fun, doesn't it friend?" said a voice. The Archangel appeared behind Bill, with its attention on the Entity. "We can team up, just like we did back then."

The Entity stretched out its tentacles, and tried to strangle the Archangel, but it vanished just in time. The Cold Boy approached Bill, and nodded. Bill returned the nod, and looked back at the Entity.

"It seems your strongest rivals have both agreed to work with me," he said. "Why do you still resist?"
Something weird happened to O'Zalia. He fell to his knees, and when he got back up, he glared at Bill fiercely. When he spoke, I could tell it wasn't him. The Entity had taken over.
"I refuse to aid you," it said. "I will crush your petty plans."
"Why?" Bill asked, smirking. "Why do you want to protect this world?"
"I am not protecting anything," it said. "My reasons for standing in your way are beyond your comprehension, and even if your feeble mind was able to understand, I would still have no reason to tell you. You are nothing before me."
Bill chuckled. "I may be weak compared to you, but what about my dear friends?" he said, and Nightlanders began flooding the hall, and the Archangel reappeared.
"Shit!" I said. "We have to get out of here."

I punched O'Zalia, hoping it would snap him out of it. It didn't work, but I guess a little after that the Entity decided he didn't need to control him any more and released him. We started running. When we had rounded a corner, we hid in a computer room and closed the door.

"Think we're safe in here?" Jane asked, as I slid a desk in front of the door to barricade it.
"I hope so," I said.

I was wrong. Almost as soon as I said it, the computer next to me burst open, and cords lashed themselves around my wrist. O'Zalia jumped in and sliced through them with his glave. Other computers were starting to come to life, thrashing at us with cords and firing computer chips at us like bullets. We charged through them to the window. O'Zalia used his psychic powers to blow up one of the windows and we climbed out. A bunch of cords came at me from the side and I was lifted into the air. The cords were coming out of this robotic creature. It was about six feet tall, with four metallic spider leg, each one slightly different from the others. It had two arms, one which was clawed where the cords were coming from, and another that ended in a clamp. It had two wings, one that was bat like and one that looked like a plane wing. It's head was a large metal skull.

I struggled with the cords, but it was no use. That thing was too strong. Suddenly, a flash of blue crossed my vision and the cords were severed. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and some whispered in my ear.

"Use the Convocation's power," it said, before vanishing. I got a brief glimpse of a blue sleeve before it left.

The metal creature jumped at me, and my instincts took over. I raised a hand, and lightning started shooting out of me. The metal thing collapsed, and O'Zalia took the change to slice off it's head.

"Is it dead?" I asked.
"That one is," he said. "But the Manufactured Newborn is bound to send another droid our way if we don't hurry up and get out of here."

We made it back to his current hideout. I told him to keep in touch and take care of Jane. I then closed my eyes and teleported back to my room, where I collapsed on my bed in agony.

I think I know why godsway is written on that paper now. It's how I'm supposed to get to these places.

Dreams and Videos

Okay, first of all, I had a great time at the party. There was booze, candy, and I made out with Seraph. Yeah, that happened. Congratulations to myself.

Anyway, when I got back, I found this on my youtube channel.

Which explains why Tony's laptop was opened up to that blog when we got back to his place. Question is, who's that guy in the video. I've seen him before, in the images the Vision has shown me. He looks so much like me. I don't get it. And then there's the other guy. The one who seemed to attack him. It was hard to tell from that distance, but I think I saw the Entities symbol on his stomach.

Also, the envelope that he left on the laptop had DanXferriS written on it. Inside was a piece of paper with several locations and dates written on it. The first one is Eerie Illinois, November 4. I guess I'm supposed to go there? I don't know. I don't even know how I'd get there. One more thing. At the bottom page is the word Godsway. Like the thing Malkator talks about. Not sure what it means.

I had a dream last night. I saw myself, sitting on the sidewalk across from a burnt down house. My clothes were burnt, and my vest was completely ruined. There was a lot going outside the burnt house. Police, firemen, stuff like that. Seraph and Tony both approached me.

"That was pretty brave of you," Seraph said.
I sort of grunted as a response.
"Dude, you could get famous for saving those kids," Tony said.
"I don't care," I said.
"Is something wrong?" Seraph asked.
I said nothing.
"What's going on, man?" Tony asked.
"He was there," I whispered.
"What?" Seraph asked.
"The Entity," I said. "Slender Man. He started that fire. He's after those kids. I saved them this time, but he'll be back. He never gives up on his victims." I stood up, and started to walking away. "May whatever god exists have mercy on their souls," I said, as the image faded away, and a new setting appeared.

I was in a thrift store, picking out a new coat. I found a cool looking raincoat. A blue one. The zipper was ruined, but it was still nice. I went up and purchased it and walked out. Tony was waiting for me.

"Looks good," he said. "So what now?"
"I'm gonna find Estren and HELLFIRE," I replied.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I need training," I said. "I can't keep letting the Fears do what they want. I have to stand up to them. HELLFIRE says I'm a Devil Killer. It's about time I live up to that title."
"You sure you wanna do this?" he asked.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I said. Then I just vanished, leaving him there.

There was one last scene. I was in the desert, sparring with HELLFIRE, in Estren's body. I had a rapier, he had his cutlass. I was also wearing sunglasses. We were both giving it our all. I was good. Better than I am now. I managed to disarm HELLFIRE.
"That's enough for now," he said.
"I can keep going," I said.
"That's enough," he said. "You're pushing way too hard.
"You said you'd help me!" I said. I stepped toward him, just as a tumble weed was blowing in my path. It got caught in my leg, and as I was shaking off, the sunglasses slipped off my face. Now HELLFIRE had a look at my eyes. The eyelids had turn pitch black.
"You've absorbed too much energy," he said. "It's beginning to alter your appearance."
"I don't care," I said, finally getting the tumble weed off.
"Well, you should," he replied. "If this keeps up, you'll-"
"I'm aware of the risks," I said. "And I'm willing to deal with them."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is!?" he demanded, grabbing me by the shoulder. I can't explain what happened, but a bolt of lightning flew from my hand and sent him flying away from me.
"I need to become stronger," I said, with electricity still weaving around my fingertips. "I don't care if my powers mutate my body. It's the only way I can win this war."

That was the end of the dream. That was some weird shit.

Anyway, I have to go. I need to try and figure out this note.

Setting Up

got a call from Melissa. Tony and I have to go to her place early so that we can help her set up the party.


I also got a call from Malkator earlier. He might be coming to town soon. He's trying to stop the plague dude too, but he's having to work with one of the Fears servants. I hope he doesn't get in over his head. I don't like any of those Fears.

Anyway, I have to go now. Just thought I'd let people know this stuff.

Invitation

So, I haven't talked much since the incident with Silvermist. We went back to Temecula. Seraph is staying with Melissa. I've been trying to find out what I can about the Fears and the shadow guy. I've found a few blogs, and learned some things about the Fears, But I haven't found out what that guy is up to.

In better news, Melissa's throwing another party. On Halloween. So, we got invited to that.

Anyway, I'm going now. If anyone has any information on Bill Dawson, please let me know.

Silvermist And The Shadow Man

It finally happened. Me, Tony, and Malkator were in town, trying to find more info.

“What was that thing the red thingy told you?” Tony asked after a while.

“It was 'Follow the night',” I said.

“Well, do you thin that might be what she meant?” he asked. He was pointing down an alleyway. I couldn't see what he was pointing to at first, but after a few seconds I realized what was going on.

The Shadows. They were moving. There were a lot of them, too.

“Nightlanders,” Malkator said.

“So that's what she was talking about,” I said.

“Wait just a second,” Malkator said. He vanished and then reappeared with my weapons. I slid the wakizashi into my belt and gripped the sonic sword I had gotten from the proxy.

We followed the Nightlanders. They led us through some pretty bad areas of the city, and we had to avoid the eyes of gangsters and cops on multiple occasions. We were eventually led to an abandoned building. Before we entered, Malkator pulled me aside. He slid a gun into my hand.

“If things go South, you may need this,” he said.

“I already told you, I'm not gonna kill you,” I said.

“Hate to break it to you, but there may not be a choice,” he said. He then entered the building. Tony and I followed.

Silvermist was inside, still inside of Seraph's body. There was a large group of thugs protecting her. There was also something I wasn't expecting to see.

There was a man there, wearing these brown clothes and a vest. We was Caucasian, with a light tan, but his right arm was completely black, and seemed to be moving in a weird inky manner. The fingers of his left hand were the same. And his hair... it was made of whatever his arm and fingers were, only it wasn't as contained, and moved freely in the air. When we entered, he turned to us. That's I got to see how scary he really was. The left half of his face was made of the same shadowy substance. He didn't even have a left eye, and half his mouth and nose were eclipsed by the blackness.

“Nice of you to join us,” he said, smiling. He had fangs. “Misty and I were just discussing some business.”

“Don't call me that,” Silvermist said.

He laughed. “If you insist,” he said. “Anyway, what isn't you gentle men have come to discuss?”

“We're not here to discuss anything,” I said. “We came to put a stop to Silvermist.”

“Oh really?” he asked, chuckling. “What do you have to say about that, Silvermist?”

“The longed haired one bores me,” she said, yawing. “However, I'm curious to see what the Demi-God can do. Why don't you take care of the others, and leave him with me?”

“As you wish,” he said.

Suddenly, he was right in front of me. I knew something bad was gonna happen, so I pulled the wakizashi from my belt and tossed it over to Tony. Right after that, he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into the shadows. I was dragged into darkness along with him, and suddenly we were in the basement of the building.

“Who the hell are you!?” I demanded.

“I am William Dawson,” he said. “You may call me the Shadow Man.”

“What's your business with Silvermist?” I asked.

“Simple,” he said. “Thousands of years ago, the Gods of Darkness brought about ten plagues, nearly destroying Egypt. I wish to recreate their work, on a much larger scale!”

“You want to destroy the world?” I asked him.

“Only after destruction, can the world be rebuilt, and restored to it's former glory,” he said. “The Darkness agrees with me, and has given me their power so that I may accomplish my goal.”

“You're insane!” I said.

“Am I?” he asked. He summoned a sword made out of shadows. “If you think so, then try to stop me.”

I drew the sonic sword and charged at him. The sword didn't seem to hurt him, and he kicked me so hard in the chest I went flying. He was suddenly standing over me, ready to strike. That's when I heard her voice.

Give in, and let the redness take you.

I raised my arm up and blocked his sword as it came down. It broke the skin, but didn't cut very deep. My blood was holding it back. A lock of my hair fell in front of my face, and I saw that it had turned bright crimson. I could feel pain where the sword had struck, but it didn't bother me. As a matter of fact, it felt good. It was exhilarating.

“Is that the best you've got?” I asked, ginning evilly. I punched him, sending him across the room.

“How amusing!” He exclaimed. “You wield the Bleeding Lust's power, don't you!”

I charged at him, and he charged at me. We fought. I landed hits, and so did he. But his attacks didn't hurt me. They just made me stronger.

“Go on!” I yelled gleefully. “Hit me! Hurt me! Make me hurt! I relish in the pain!” I overpowered him, and he went down.

Suddenly the Red Cap's power left me. The pain was no longer enjoyable. It hurt! I fell to the ground. Then I heard a growling behind me. He started laughing.

“Hate to break it to you,” he said, “But the Darkness isn't the only God I have on my side. Allow me to introduce the Hound Of Destruction!”

He melted into the floor, and I managed to get up and turn around, to see a very large dog with glowing red eyes. The Black Dog. Then a bunch of fireflies appeared. They burst into flames and started swirling around, blending together and taking the shape of a woman. As the fire cleared, I saw that she was glowing red, and was dressed in a scarlet wedding dress and veil. I held the sonic sword in one had and drew Malkator's gun in the other. These were both Fears, and I didn't have the Red Cap's power any more. I was in trouble.

The dog charged, and I was quick to jump to the side and blast its shoulder with the gun. The bride shot a fireball at me, which I knocked it away with the sword. Although, I forgot that the sword amplifies sound, so my ears were now hurting. I fell over, and the dog pounced.

My shadow suddenly rose from the ground and grabbed the dog by the throat. Punch it! I thought, and the shadow did as I ordered, before sinking into the ground again.

Okay, so my shadow was alive, and I could control it. Perfect.

The bride raised her flaming arms, ready to attack. Restrain her! I ordered, and my shadow's arms shot from the ground and held her arms in place. I charged and began beating her with the sonic sword. She dispersed into fireflies, and left. Before she vanished completely, I heard her voice saying “I will come for you later”.

The dog got to its feet again, and leaped at me. Punch! I ordered, and my shadow's fist flew from the ground and sent the dog flying. And then, because I'm such a huge Devil My Cry fan (the classic games, not that Ninja Theory crap), I slung my sword across my back and started shooting the dog over and over again while it was still in the air. And I don't mind telling you, it felt fucking fantastic!.

The dog disappeared, and I went running back up the stairs.

Tony was unconscious on the ground, as was Seraph. S]Silvermist wasn't inside her anymore. I could feel her. Malkator was standing next to a burnt area on the ground, and a serpentine lady with a long tail was hovering before him.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

“So, this is the fabled Devil Killer?” the lady said, examining me with cold, pure black eyes.

“Stay back, Daniel,” Malkator said.

It was about then that Seraph began stirring again.

“Ah, you're awake,” the snake woman said. “Come, it is time for us to go.”

Seraph looked up into the ladies eyes. “No,” she said weakly. “I- I don't want to.”

“Oh?” the lady said.

“I've been through to much,” she said. “I don't wanna go back. I've had enough of all of this.”

“It is not your choice,” the snake lady said. “You are my servant. You've had enough when I say you have.”

She slithered toward Seraph, but I fired a bullet that just barely passed by her head.

“She said she doesn't want any more of this!” I said. “Leave her alone!”

She stared at me thoughtfully for a moment.

“Very well, Devil Killer,” she said. “Our time to fight has not come yet. Until then, I shall leave you, and this woman, alone. But from now on, sleep with one eye open.”

She then vanished into a hand mirror which was lying on the ground. Malkator ran over to the mirror and began stomping on it.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“I'm fine,” he said. “I have to go for a while. Take care of these two for me.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I have to find something,” he said. “Mana.”

And then he vanished.

Tony and Seraph are both okay. Well, Seraph is a little banged up. Tony says the thugs were eaten by Malkator before he was knocked out, and he doesn't know what happened after that.

I have know idea what mana is, but I hope Malkator finds it.