Inside the Fortress

This is joint-written. ...I have nothing to say about the first part of this chapter... *Shakes head* As for the latter part...Glide and company figure out what's wrong with Tendou.

“Well, that’s definitely a trap.” Glide murmured, looking at the back entrance of the fortress from the safety of the alleyway. No guards were stationed there. “Or the person that lives there is an idiot.”

“Well, let’s see,” Niqi said, picking up a piece of rubbish from the streets. She threw it at the back entrance.

The object was vaporized before it even made contact with the back gates. “It appears to be a mesh force field, or something similar.” Shetani said. “Perhaps a good shield could get us by.”

Ambree grinned. “I think I can help with that.” She drew the dark energy shield around the group a second later. “Do you think that would work?”

“I believe it will.” Shetani nodded. “Come, we don’t have much time. That test object may have alerted the guards.”

Ambree nodded, walking forward. The shield held, although it trembled slightly. She opened the door. “Not locked. Guess they thought one defense was enough.”

“Hurry up and get inside, I’m going to fall over if the back of this shield keeps pushing me,” Niqi hissed.

“Right, right,” Ambree said, moving into the fortress. She sent the shield away once they were safely inside.

Glide, being in front of the others, was the one to fall. He fell nearly twenty feet, straight down. “S**t, sheer drop!” He yelped, landing on his stomach on the cold stone floor.

“Are you well, master?” Shetani called down.

“I’m fine...” Glide grumbled, standing up. “I think the outside is just for show! This must be the way to the actual fortress!”

“He really is undead,” Ambree muttered.

“But none of us are. That could be a slight problem,” Niqi said to Ambree. Then she turned to the drop below. “Glide, how do you advise we get down there?” she called.

“How about you jump and I f****n’ catch you?” Glide smirked. “Sound like a good plan?”

“As long as you get the second part right,” Niqi yelled down. Then, she stepped off into thin air.

“You’re lucky I’m not a complete a*****e.” Glide said, catching Niqi and setting her down. “Or you’d be very flat right now.”

“I tend to trust you more than I probably should,” Niqi said, shrugging.

Ambree looked down into the darkness. “Okay…I’m coming down next,” she called, a tad shakily. She took a deep breath, and then jumped.

Glide grinned, catching Ambree and setting her down. “Two down, three to go.”

“Don’t worry about me, dearie!” Belleza called down. “I’ll be fine!” She paused for a moment, then jumped to the wall, grabbing a tapestry and sliding down to the floor.

“I didn’t see that there,” Niqi muttered, looking up as Belleza slid down. “And I had no idea she could do that.”

“She’s one of a kind.” Glide snickered, catching Lujuria as the selkie jumped. “It just makes her cooler.” The Varixian said, setting Lujuria down.

Shetani was the last to jump, landing in Glide’s waiting arms. “... Glide, you’re touching my a*s.” She said after a moment. “And this silk isn’t exactly thick.”

“I knew that was going to happen eventually,” Niqi snickered.

“Shut up.” Glide muttered. “And as for you, mischief goddess, somehow I know this is your doing.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.” Shetani smirked. “You can put me down now. Unless you’d like to feel me up for a little while longer.”

Niqi burst out laughing. “Shetani…you are awesome…” she said, trying to breathe. “Nobody’s ever done that.”

“What? Nobody’s ever one-upped Glide?” Shetani asked. “Surprising.”

“Keep talkin’.” Glide growled, narrowing his eyes. “I’d be happy to go bi for a day to give you the spanking Zeus should’ve.”

Niqi blinked. “You? Bi? With her?”

“Just one time.” Glide said. “Just to tan her hide.”

“You say that like I’m just going to let you.” Shetani purred. “I would skin you alive, kid.”

“But I never thought that you…ever…with…” Niqi shook her head. “This is totally off track. We’re supposed to be investigating the building, not discussing Glide’s sexual orientation. Come on.”

“How do you think Ricky came to be?” Shetani smirked, sliding out of Glide’s arms and heading down the dark hall.

“I still regret that.” Glide muttered. “And I’m gonna regret this, too, but so help me gods, I might just chase her down and make good on my promise after that f****n’ humiliation.”

 

…

 

“They must be idiots, they haven’t come to investigate the back door at all,” Niqi mused.

“I know.” Lujuria said. “It’s like they don’t even care.” He glanced back at Glide and Shetani, snickering. “I can’t believe that...”

“You’ll pay for that in your next life, you demonspawn.” Shetani snarled, rubbing her backside. “I’ll see to it that you come back as a f*****g salmon.”

Glide shrugged. “You had it comin’.”

“I’m trying not to think about it,” Niqi muttered. “Maybe I’ll be able to accept the fact that he actually did that in a year.”

“Have we completely lost sight of our initial task?” Ambree hissed. “We still have no idea what the hell happened here.”

“What did I do to you?” Shetani snapped. “What f*****g provoked that?”

Glide raised an eyebrow. “What? You know what. And, y’know, it was pretty funny, a goddess cryin’ like a b***h...”

“See how funny you find it when you’re in the jaws of a bear.” Shetani muttered.

“This place is pretty big.” Lujuria said, ignoring Glide and Shetani. “It’s not surprising that we haven’t found the owner yet.”

“I know, really,” Ambree replied, opting to ignore the goddess and the undead Varixian as well. “These never-ending hallways are starting to freak me out. It’s like the tunnels, but we have no idea where we’re going.”

Lujuria nodded, going silent for a long moment. “... Okay, I can’t ignore them anymore, that was hilarious!”

Niqi nodded, smirking. “It was. But we should probably stop talking about it, unless we want to be reincarnated as salmon as well.”

Shetani glanced at Niqi and Lujuria. “I’ll just beat the tar out of both of you. Salmon is reserved for the hellspawn that actually did it.”

“Did what?” Glide grinned.

“I have no problem beating the tar out of you, too, Glide.” Shetani responded. “Don’t you dare make me say it.”

“Shush! I hear something,” Niqi said suddenly, one of her ears twitching. She could barely pick up the sound of voices in the distance. “Someone besides us is talking.”

“I wonder if they’re talking about the same thing we are.” Glide whispered, still grinning. “Wouldn’t that be a hoot, if there were security cameras all over this hall?”

“I’m pretty sure Shetani would go on a murdering rampage, if that were the case,” Niqi replied. “Come on, this way,” she said, following the voices.

Lujuria followed without a word, Belleza behind him.

Glide paused for a moment, turning to Shetani. “Here, you probably want these back.” He snickered, handing the goddess her pants.

“The first time you go to sleep when we get off this planet,” Shetani snarled, “you’re waking up a pie.”

Niqi identified the voices quickly. It was another pair of Barghest, apparently patrolling the halls. They appeared around a corner, about a hundred meters down. “Damnit,” she hissed, pulling Ambree, Lujuria, and Belleza into a side corridor, hoping they hadn’t seen.

“Glide and Shetani are still out there,” Ambree noted.

“We’d better get ’em, before they see us and raise the alarm.” Glide grinned.

Shetani sighed quietly. “I didn’t even get to put my pants back on yet...”

“Glide,” Niqi hissed, motioning for him to hide.

“Kinda glad you’re not a guy.” Glide said, darting down the hall. “Otherwise I’d get distracted!”

“Shut your mouth.” Shetani snapped, following Glide down the hall and slamming one of the Barghest against the wall. “Or I’ll stick this fat, fuzzy b*****d down your throat.”

“You wanna get it a second time?” Glide smirked, stabbing Magus into the other Barghest’s gut. “I’ll make you cry again.”

“You guys are being idiotic,” Niqi muttered, walking back out into the hallway.

“You can’t honestly tell me it’s not funny that I reduced a goddess to a whimpering little crybaby.” Glide smirked, yanking Magus from the dead Barghest and sheathing it.

“It’s not funny.” Shetani muttered. “You wouldn’t find it funny if it was you.”

“Why don’t you smack his a*s, then?” Niqi suggested, rolling her eyes.

“She can’t.” Glide responded. “It’s a condition of the contract. She loses a host and has to go back to just watching without being able to change things if she raises a paw against me.”

“You’re evil,” Niqi said, shaking her head. “Let’s keep going.” She began walking down the hallway again.

“Evil and abusive.” Shetani sighed.

“Don’t forget sadistic.” Glide added, following Niqi.

“I see something at the end of the hall that isn’t more hall,” Niqi said, squinting.

“What is it?” Glide asked.

“Is it ice? My a*s still hurts.” Shetani griped.

“You guys really need to drop that. I’ll shove my sword through both of your guts, I swear I will,” Niqi responded.

“It’ll just piss us both off, and we’ll take turns punching you in the back of the head until your brain oozes out your nose.” Glide grinned, patting Niqi on the head.

“It might be worth it,” Niqi growled, smacking Glide’s hand away.

Glide raised an eyebrow. “You wanna die just for the chance to piss me off?”

“Who cares?” Shetani snapped. “What’s at the end of the hall, and can I please have a moment before the next fight to put my pants back on!?”

Niqi stopped walking. “Go ahead. I can’t really tell what’s at the end of the hall. Looks like a larger room, though.”

“Watch,” Glide chuckled, “it’s probably gonna be full of a fuckload of passageways.”

Shetani glared at Glide, putting her pants back on.

“We ready to roll, now?” Niqi asked. “Or do you two want to bicker some more?”

“No, we’re fine.” Shetani responded. “We’ll settle this little incident when we get off of this planet.”

Niqi didn’t respond, continuing down the hallway. “I hear more voices in that direction,” she commented, struggling to see what the hell was in the larger room.

“Hold on.” Glide hissed. “I can see what’s in there, and we definitely don’t want to go in right now.”

“What can you see?” Niqi asked, a bit frustrated that her wolf eyes weren’t as good as Glide’s.

“Guards.” Glide replied. “A lot of them, around a throne. And... hey, I know that son of a b***h...”

“Glide, you dated that son of a b***h.” Shetani muttered.

“Why am I not surprised?” Niqi mumbled, smirking.

“Who is it?” Ambree asked.

“Senshi.” Glide breathed. “I met him last time I came here. He wasn’t such a bad guy back then, but... looks like he needs to be beaten to a pulp.”

“Why is that?” Niqi asked, still struggling to see. She could barely make out several figures in the distance.

“Gods, Glide, is that Andra?” Shetani whispered, pointing down the hall, to one of the figures near the throne - a large woman that appeared to be half spider. “What’s she doing here?”

“I don't know...” Glide muttered. “Maybe we should go ask.”

Lujuria raised an eyebrow. “Go ask? Now I know you’re crazy...”

“It’s dark in here.” Belleza stated. “Did I fall asleep?”

“No, granny, you’re just in a gigantic fortress on a depressing, dying world,” Ambree replied.

“Glide’s got a point, though,” Niqi said. “We ask nicely, and if they don’t wanna answer, then we beat them into a pulp.”

“Andra is a drider.” Shetani growled. “She doesn’t do ‘nice’.”

“She doesn’t have to.” Glide smirked, his paw gripping Magus’ hilt. “I’ll just do all the talkin’, and she can clue me in if I hit the nail on the head.”

“Glide, who is she?” Lujuria asked. “Is she... a demon?”

Glide nodded. “Yeah. Andra is one of the four Dark Lords, extremely powerful demons that have their grubby claws in everything dark and evil. They call her the Spider Queen.”

“Her half-brother, Luvak, is just as bad. He was the one that created the monsters on Seisen.” Belleza added. All eyes were trained on her in half a second. “What? You think I wouldn’t know? I’m a selkie, dears, demon hunting is in our blood, and it’s not a good idea to hunt without knowing your prey.”

“... Okay...” Glide said after a moment, glancing back into the throne room. “Regardless of how incredibly strange it is, she’s right. Luvak created the monsters on Seisen, and Andra was the mother of Gensuma, the ‘demon king’. Their older brother, Yamaki, and their father, Byakko, are even worse. I have a feeling Byakko’s claws were what turned Tendou into... this.”

“Remember,” Shetani whispered, “if we go in there, we have to go in there calm. If we walk in there with our weapons drawn, we’ll have a full three seconds of shock before they slaughter everyone. We might take a few Barghest with us, but you’ll all be killed in the end and I’ll be stuck just watching the omniverse go to hell again.”

“Don’t worry, Barbie.” Glide grinned. “You’re gonna be here for a long, long time.”

Lujuria blinked. “Why’d he call you-”

“Don’t ask.” Shetani muttered, cutting him off. “Just... don’t ask.”

“Whatever happens...” Glide began, moving toward the throne room, “I want Senshi alive.”

“It’s not like we’d get a chance to kill him, anyway. You heard what Shetani said about walking in there with weapons drawn,” Niqi commented.

“It doesn’t matter.” Glide responded. “Come on. Let’s get to the bottom of this.”

“Agreed,” Ambree replied.

“Senshi.” Glide smirked, stepping into the throne room. “And Andra, the Spider Queen. Having a little meeting?”

Senshi glanced over at the Varixian. “... I must’ve missed the part where I invited you here.”

“That’s never stopped us before,” Niqi said, stepping out of the hallway to stand beside Glide.

“We just let ourselves in, since your doorman seems to be on vacation.” Lujuria grinned, joining Niqi and Glide.

“And it was an... interesting walk to your throne room.” Shetani added.

Belleza wandered in, looking around. “... Do you have cabbage?”

Ambree sighed, stepping out last. “We’re not here for cabbage,” she said to Belleza, and then turned to Senshi. “We’re here for answers.”

“So, you brought these with you?” Senshi asked, smirking. “You always did like to take risks, Glide. And I see you’re still denying Magus its true form.”

“Magus is not your concern.” Glide said. “Tell us what happened here. Why has Tendou become... this?”

Senshi stood, stretching out, his enormous wings unfurling. “I wanted it to be this way.”

Ambree nearly choked. “I – I’m sorry, what? You wanted it to be this way? The cities, the smog, the suffering…this whole place is absolutely horrible!”

“It’s actually quite nice when you’re ruling.” Senshi responded. “I love it this way. The old Tendou was... sickeningly perfect.”

Niqi made a disgusted growling sound. “Why are you people always the same? I swear, there’s one like you on every planet. Every freaking planet we go to. Always the same.”

“I grow tired of your inane blathering.” Senshi said, sitting back down. “Guards, take them away.”

“Nobody draw.” Glide breathed.

“Inane blathering? Are you for real? Is there some sort of quote book you guys use?” Niqi demanded.

“Silence!” One of the Barghest boomed, prodding Niqi with its spear. “To the holding cells!”

“All the same,” Niqi kept insisting.

“Holding cells?” Ambree asked, alarmed. “Glide?” She turned to him with wild eyes, franticly hoping he had some sort of plan.

Glide gave a slight nod, allowing another Barghest to take his weapons and push him into the hall. “Don’t worry.”

“That’s a bit difficult at the moment,” Ambree mumbled.

“He survived death. I’m sure he’ll fare just fine with imprisonment,” Niqi responded, patting Ambree on the shoulder.

“The rest of them, as well.” Senshi ordered, waving one clawed hand. “I’ll decide what to do with them later.”

The Barghest forced the others down the same hall, following the one that was pushing Glide.

Reviews

[KEi]

To the holding cells.

Yay.

Sounds like fun, for them.
o_o

This Senshi guy sounds like a complete and utter prat.
>.