Fmes danced across Firestorm’s fists as he raced forward to stand dead ter in the killing field that Bluestar had made. The first of the twisted creatures hurled itself at him and he drove his fist forward with a snap. It wasn’t anywhere near perfect, but he had been practig a little boxing on the side in order to get better trol over his punches. Fighting Kingshark had awakened a petitive spirit in him that he hadn’t really knowed. He’d only fought mohat had been weaker than him up until this point, ying waste to them with quick fshes of intense fme or using his more plicated teiques on occasion. Overwhelming force.
Kingshark had almost exclusively used his abilities as aension of himself, using water servatively to disrupt Firestorm’s attacks. He was a skilled brawler, someone who uood his craft and his ability intimately. Firestorm didn’t even believe he’d really driven the man off, rather, the supervilin had aplished what he’d set out to and opted to retreat as the heroes were rallying. Ultimately that lead him to a painful clusion. He had been humiliated on Hero Day. He hadn’t brought this up to his friends and allies, it wasn’t something they could help with. He had to overe this obstacle himself.
The quick jab snapped out and crashed into the unholy looking face of the creature, bone and cartige crag uhe force as fme added to the damage done, spreading across the creature’s body in a fsh of heat and pain. It let out a shriek and was thrown back several meters only to be repced by the . Slobber covered teeth and a long thick tongue bared in a manic effort to dig into Firestorm’s flesh. He drove his left fist up and into its tiny abdomen, folding it in half and sending it into the air where a dark arrow came from o pierce its body.
Two down, and from a quice he guessed at least thirty to go. He popped his neck as another dark arrow flew down and ehe life of another devil as it raced across the ground towards him, bails outstretched. He brought his fists up a his feet. These things went down just as easily as hounds, at least, so he decided to use them for practice. Fists and bodies flew, the sounds of bodies smming into the ground and walls adding to the chorus of screams and screeches e. Not once did he take a step back, his eyes fixed ounnel his friend had made and the door beyond it.
It didn’t take as long as he had expected to put dow of the devils in the room, frankly they were easier to deal with than Hounds now that he had fought so many of them. Hounds used pack tactid would often work together to overe a stronger oppo. These things would literally push one another out of the way to get to their presumed prey. He looked down at one of the smoking bodies on the ground and frowned, sidering throwing a few back through the portal before moving on. He decided against it, turning his attention to the door ahead of him.
“Hold up,” Lifesaver said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He gave Firestorm a look over before nodding, “Looks like the gear is w out,” He said from behind his mask, stepping away as Bandit hopped down from the ceiling and Bluestar dismissed the two magical walls that had protected them.
“That was easy,” Bandit said, stretg his arms over his head and rubbing his neck.
“I don’t think it’s over,” Bluestar said, nodding to the door, “I feel something oher side.”
“Heh, it’s like a dungeon in a game,” Bandit said, ambling over to the door and giving it a once over.
Firest him and shook his head, “No idea how you’re not dizzy after hanging upside-down for so long.”
Bandit was croug and examining the door thoughtfully as he gnced over, “My ability regutes my blood flow when I’m in a weird position like that. I don’t eve,” He rubbed his neck, “Shame it doesn’t do anythier than that though. Or at least I haven’t figured it out.”
“It’s grown a lot since we met,” Bluestar said, turning away from Lifesaver and walking towards him, “You could barely fire a few arrows before feeling winded.”
Bandit grinned, “It’s thanks to you guys, I hadn’t figured there was more to it than just the dark arrows, but the more I practiced the more my instincts told me. It’s kinda weird, getting knowledge out of nowhere like that sometimes.”
“Ding, level up,” Lifesaver joked and joined Firestorm as they approached the door.
Bandit leaned against it, “Heh, yeah, something like that. Everything es with experience I-” Before he could finish his thought, the door behind him began to opeing to his touch. He spun around with a start and kicked off the ground, darting back a full four meters and pulling his bow out, a dark arrow already prepared. The others went on the defensive as well, eyes fixed on the space beyond where they saw… nothing.
“The hallway?” Bluestar said, fused, and walked towards the door.
Firestorm hurried to join her and poked his head in first, gng around. The hallway ended immediately to his left but extended out to his right. He jured up a weak fireball a it down the hallway to get a bit of illumination. The hallway was empty, nothing there. He frowned and stepped inside, half expeg something to happen but no danger came his way. He g the others and shrugged, “We’re at the lowest level of the real thing, so I guess we go up?” He suggested.
“Makes seo me,” Bluestar said and with a murmur created three balls of blue light that she sent to orbit around their heads, casting illumination around all of them but Bandit. She gave Firestorm a reproachful look when he bli the sphere around his head, “Did you fet?” She said, gng at his hand where the fireball had just been.
He gave her a sheepish look, “Sorry.”
Bandit slipped into the hallway o Firestorm and sniffed, “I’ll go ahead,” He said and darted into the darkness, vanishing as if he had bee a part of it.
Firestorm was about to say something to stop him, but Lifesaver put a hand on his shoulder, “Let him have it, he won’t go far and he’s not stupid enough to ehout help.”
The team leader let out a sigh and shrugged, “Alright the’s get moving.”
They made their way down the hallway before eventually finding the very same stairs that they’d e down to get to this level before following it up. The passages remained as narrow and humid as they’d been in the real world, the only difference was the occasional cluster of glowing mana crystals that provided additional illumination. They’d made it up almost four floors before they finally found Bandit sitting at the top of the stairs leading to the fifth floor. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. Behind him was the elevator that could take them to the ground level.
“Anything?” Firestorm asked.
“Nothin’, haven’t tried the elevator yet though,” He said and got to his feet.
“I don’t like it,” Lifesaver said as Bluestar walked past him to check the elevator.
“It’s operational, at least,” She said whe a button, turning to face them. The elevator chimed and the doors started to open, “Maybe we’ll find the enemy when we-”
Bandit moved like lightning, practically telep from where he stood to her side, pushing her down to the ground just as a bde swiped across the space where her head had been. He kicked off the ground and slid to a stop, Bluestar in his arms. He turned his attention towards the elevator. Lifesaver had already moved bad Firestorm’s fists were alight. The elevator interior was dark, save for the glint of metal from whatever had tried to put ao the fledgeling guildmaster.
Two bck eyes stared at them from within the shadows, catg the light of the fire. They were hollow, devoid of anything but a bottomless huhat seemed to draw them in. Firestorm hesitated, a chill rushing up his spine as four hooked bdes curled out from within the elevator. Not bdes. Fingers. A creature straight out of nightmares poked its head out of the darkness. Its tiny red-skinned head sisted mostly of an enormous pair of bck eyes and a too-wide mouth filled with serrated teeth. Its limbs were as thin as sticks, bending at a sharp angle as it tried to mas body out of its fines. At the end of those stick-like limbs were hands that extended into five sickle like cws at least half a meter ih.
Poppopop clickkkkickickkkk
The sound it made was like if an alligator had been ed in cotton. A low clig and popping growl that was muffled by something, making it almost impossible to hear if it weren’t for the utter silence surrounding them. Firestorm swallowed hard as it slowly pulled itself out before fixing his shoulders and drawing power into his fists. Heat began to build. He wasn’t going to give this thing a ce to attack them, not after it had made the first move like that. “Everyone back!” He called, Bandit quickly pulling Bluestar out of his line of sight.
“Burn!” He bellowed and released a n of fire, filling the hallway with e-red fme.
He kept it going for several seds, a low gurgling shriek filling the air alongside the roar of fmes. After a moment, the shrieking stopped just as he felt a tingle on his fiips. He let the fmes stop and watched it burn for a little longer. His ears listening for the fai sound, any hint that- Blue light fshed right above his head as a barrier took shape before he could eve. Above him, the horrible overthiure had nded on one of Bluestars barriers, both of its cwed hands scraping against the surface.
He shifted back a pace, eyes wide as the clearly sm creature let out anurgling pop and opes mouth. A faint keening began to build at the back of its throat, a sound that grew more inteh each heartbeat. At first it was just a little annoying but it quickly became painful, grating at the inside of Firestorm’s head. He grunted and prepared to release anout of fme when four bck arrows peppered the creature in the side of its head. The shadowy shafts going straight through its flesh and out the other side. The keening stopped after that, and the creature fell to the ground. Dead.
It was only then that Firestorm noticed that he could barely hear anything a something warm a dripping down his neck. He reached for his ear and dabbed his finger, pulling his hand away and looking in horror at the blood that soaked his gloved fingers. He gnced back at the others who weren’t faring aer. Bluestar looked like she’d taken the worst of it, her face pale as she leaned against the wall, cupping the side of her head. Lifesaver was already at her side, hands oher side of her face as Bandit stepped towards the horrible thing with a scowl.
“Those were maxed out arrows,” He said with a frown, looking at its still twitg body.
“Looked like they did a good job,” Firestreed, walking to his side but caught the tense expression on his friend’s face, “What’s wrong?”
“Those arrows could pierce a lurker and go all the way through and into the wall behind it,” He said and g Firestorm, “They may have killed it, but…”
Firestorm swallowed and looked down at the bde devil, that’s what he was going to call it now anyway. Bandit’s point was clear, this thing’s hide was tougher than a lurkers. Worse than that, they still hadn’t made it to the ground floor. If this pce was modeled after the real world building, than was it possible they would have to go all the way to the top floor? What the hell there? He chewed his lip and gnced over at Bluestar who met his gaze before nodding.
“We’ll tinue,” She said fidently, “No one’s fought these things before, so we don’t know the strategy, but we’ll figure it out as we go. None of us have had to go all out yet.”
Firestorm turo Bandit who seemed to sider it before nodding, “I’m not bag down.”
Lifesaver just shrugged off to the side, “Just don’t make too much work for me.”
With them all in agreement, Firestorm made his way over to the elevator and ied it for a moment before finding it free of any more surprises and still in w order. They piled inside and he held his finger over the button, “Be ready for anything,” He said, aed the ground floor. He would have picked higher, but this service elevator only offered access to the lower levels and he doubted the upper level buttons would work even if it did have access. His gut told him they had a long way to go.
The doors closed and they each took a quick breather as it asded, their eyes fixed on the doors, waiting for them to open. Bluestar was already muttering under her breath and Bandit was drawing arrows as Firestorm’s palms began to glow. He set his feet and held his palms out towards the doorway, the elevator creaking once as it shuddered to a stop. He swallowed and the doors opened with a friendly chime, revealing a sea of red skin and bulbous eyes beyond. Nearly a hundred little devils turo look at them at the same time, their too-wide smiles curling in malice.
No room for practice here. Burn it all. He told himself and took a deep breath as the creatures began to break out into a run. There was a flicker and then a sudden rush of air and sound as fmes raced out of the elevator, a e of destru that washed over the little devils as Firestorm marched forward, palms still extended. Bandit climbed along the ceiling of the elevator and out the top behind him, pnting his feet on the wall above and beginning to release volleys of arrows to Firestorm’s right. Blue bolts darted out to his left, c his other fnk.
He narrowed his eyes and twisted his hands, whipping them out to the side and parting the sea of fme he’d created, washing it over the entire room before them.
