Briar

This is completely the writing of my friend.

"Those defenses should hold, for now." Glide said. "Now, we need to figure out where they are. Knowing 'Daddy Dearest', he's where he feels most at home - a Hell dimension. The only question is, which one?"

Therali glanced at Shetani, the goddess shaking her head vehemently. He nodded in response, turning to Glide. "We know someone that can help out with that."

"Therali, we can't get him involved." Shetani growled. "I don't want to owe him anything."

Glide raised an eyebrow. "Get who involved? What aren't you tellin' me?"
Shetani sighed, giving in. "His name is Briar. Briar the hare. He's..."

"The devil." Therali finished. "Well, the devil's master. Elder God, ruler of the underworld and overseer of all Hell dimensions. If something's happening in one of the Hell dimensions, no matter what it is, Briar knows about it. He would know where your father and his demons are."

Glide snickered. "Briar the hare? Is that like the Br'er Rabbit?"

"He hates it when people make that connection." Shetani said. "Anyway, Briar wouldn't just help us out for nothing. He'd expect something in return. You remember what happened last time, don't you?"

Therali rolled his eyes. "So he made you give up one of your priests, big deal."

"He gave the poor man to Kerberos as a chew toy!" Shetani exclaimed. "Briar is nothing more than a spoiled little brat that won't help anyone unless he gets something for it."

"Gimme five minutes alone with him." Glide smirked. "I'll convince him to help us for free."

Shetani shrugged. "Your funeral."

"Well, I never had a proper one." Glide replied. "How do we summon him?"

"You don't." Therali said, shaking his head. "The only way to meet with Briar... is to die."

 

...

 

"... There's even more out there than last time..." Revan murmured. "And my magic is stretched too thin to try anything. I can barely even feel it anymore. I might have enough for one spell, but that's about it."

"Don't risk it quite yet." Ricky said. "We might need it later."

Revan nodded, looking back out the window. "It's going to be even harder to fight in the dark."

"Well, we just have to try." Glide stated. He opened the door and stepped outside, pulling his eyepatch off. "Who wants to be first!? Come on, don't be shy, step right up and let me snap your spine!"

An ice creature stepped forward, knocking Glide to the ground with a blow to the side of his head.

That didn't go as well as it could've... Glide thought, rolling to his feet. "Okay, let's try that again."

The creature raised its enormous hand, smacking Glide again, though the Varixian managed to stay on his feet, swaying slightly; taking a punch hadn't made him that dizzy since the first time.

Niqi watched from the doorway, somehow unable to get through the protective shield around the house. "What's going on? It's like Glide's just letting it hit him!"

"He has to have something planned." Ricky responded. "Just keep trying to get through the shield. Revan, if it takes to long, use that spell you have left to blast through it."

Revan glanced down at Ptolemy's Ring, then back to Ricky. "I'll try to use the ring."

A few more punches and Glide hit the ground again. Growling, he struggled to get to his feet. "One more f****n' time and you're really gonna get it."

The creature attacked again, Glide ducking under it and drawing Magus, the blade slicing through the creature's body.

"I told you." Glide muttered. "Fucknut." His attention focused on the creature he had just killed, he never saw the hoofed demon coming.

The butt of a scythe impacted against the back of Glide's head. A fraction of a second later, he met ground and darkness claimed him.

"Dad!!!"

The shield around the house vanished.

 

...

Glide awoke in a bed, a red silk sheet covering him. A vermilion-furred hare stood over him, his jet black hair tied in a ponytail and his ears tied similarly under it. He was painting his claws with pink nail polish. "Hey, you awake yet?" He asked, not looking up from his claws.

"Yeah, I'm awake..." Glide groaned, sitting up. "What the f**k just happened?"

The hare shrugged. "You died. Should've been paying attention, honey."

"I can't die!" Glide snapped, rolling off the bed. "I'm already f*****g dead!"

"Calm down." The hare muttered. "You're not staying here; thanks to that nifty little auto-revive thing your friend wove into your body, you've got about five minutes, and you're already cutting into your time. So, whatcha need?"

Glide blinked. "What do you mean? Are you telling me you're Briar?"

The hare nodded, taking a moment to blow his claws dry before responding. "You bet I am. Why? Expecting some big, burly guy with the IQ of a tree stump? Sorry to disappoint you."

"No, it's not that, I just..." Glide laughed, shaking his head. "I just didn't expect you to be such a twink."

Briar smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment. Anyway, you need me for something?"

Glide nodded. "We need you to help locate my father."

"I could do that." Briar said, starting to paint the claws on his other paw. "For a price."

"Well, depending on your price, I could pay it." Glide grinned. "Or I could beat the s**t out of you."

Briar kicked Glide onto the bed, holding him down with a hindpaw. "No, you couldn't." He responded, closing his nail polish and tucking it into his back pocket, then holding his paws in Glide's face. "Does this look good to you?"

"Uh, yeah, looks okay..." Glide said.

"Okay, super." Briar smiled, letting Glide up. "Now, listen, sugar. My price is easy to pay. I want to help you. I know your Daddy, and the guy's won 'A*****e of the year' for the past five centuries."

Glide shot the hare a quizzical look. "You... have a grudge against my father?"

"Oh, like you wouldn't even believe." Briar replied. "So, here's how this is going to work. You're going to take this." He paused, producing a glittering blue gem and pressing it under Glide's jaw. "That's gonna stick to you. It marks you as my champion, and lets me locate you when I need you. I'm going to use that to find you when you go back, and once I know where your father is, I'll be along to join you. Expect fast results."

"How fast are we talkin'?"

Briar waved a paw. "Fast enough, don't worry. Now, move along, sugar. Time's up, and if you stay any longer, you won't be able to see that cute little bat kid again."

As Glide was returning to the mortal world, Briar kissed his cheek.

 

...

Five minutes passed and the battle still raged. Demon corpses once again littered the streets.

Emerald eyes snapped open. "Icarcti..." Glide breathed, reaching toward his weapon. "It's not over for me... Not until Iccy says it is..." In a brilliant flash of purple light, he was on his feet, a ring of dead demons around him. He reset the bones in his neck, turning his attention to the hoofed demon that had killed him.

The demon was standing over Ricky, its scythe raised. The boy appeared to have lost his weapons.

Glide darted forward, pressing his palms to the demon's back. "The Fifth Seal!"
The chain around Glide's arm shot forward, piercing the demon's chest and curving upward to plunge into its skull. As it emerged from the back of the demon's head, Glide grabbed the end and gave it a rough yank, cleaving the demon's upper body in half.

"Do not f**k with me or my family." Glide snarled, wrapping the chain back around his arm. He grabbed Ricky's paw and pulled him to his feet.

Ricky hooked his arms around his father's waist, hugging him tightly. "Dad, you're okay!"

"What, are you f****n' kidding me?" Glide grinned. "I'm not letting some f****n' peon kill me."

Slow applause sounded from nearby. "Touching. Very touching." The one-eyed imp boy said. "The father lives; he and the sons can now die at the same time."

Glide released Ricky, guiding the younger Varixian behind him. "Keris. I see your arms have healed."

"Oh, just one of the many perks of time travel." Keris replied. "You have as much time as you need to recover from even the most grievous of wounds. You'll pay for what you did."

Glide shrugged. "Sure, sure, whatever you want. You take checks, or would you prefer plastic?"

Keris scoffed. "Humor, at a time like this? You obviously have no idea what you're getting into. I'm sorry to say I can't fight you right now; we're still in the middle of Act One. I'm your enemy for Act Two."

"Act One, Act Two, it doesn't matter." Glide said, waving a paw. "I'll take you on any time you want, dickhead. In fact, set up some cameras on your battlefield of choice. We'll go worldwide."

"Sounds fun." Keris smirked, turning on his heel and walking away. "And I look forward to watching your fight with Zi'Ran at the end of this act! Don't die beforehand!"

With Keris gone and the battle winding down, Glide had a moment to breathe. The memories of his brief stay in Briar's chambers flooded back to him. He touched the blackened fur on his cheek; Briar's kiss burned like hellfire.

Reviews

[KEi]

//Glide snickered. "Briar the hare? Is that like the Br'er Rabbit?"//
My thoughts exactly.
Great minds think alike.
(And fools seldom differ.)

//"He hates it when people make that connection."//
Oooooooooooops.
xD

//"The only way to meet with Briar... is to die."//
Sounds like fun to me.
Pass the paracetamol, whiskey and razorblades, and turn up the depressing/crappy music.
�.�

//"Who wants to be first!? Come on, don't be shy, step right up and let me snap your spine!"//
Oh, yes please.
/epic sarcasm.

//An ice creature stepped forward, knocking Glide to the ground with a blow to the side of his head.//
Smooth, Glide... Reaaaally smooth.
(Well, that's kinda what you get for being a smug b*****d.)
xD

//"Fucknut."//
Possibly one of the best insults ever.
Consequently added to my vocabulary.