The small monster stepped forward. “If this was another one of your tests, I’m removing your balls.”, Elsa sighed. Philemon shook his head. “No, no, none of that. I arrived here just a few seconds ago, I assure you. I have some good news.” Gerard walked over to Philemon and stared down at him. “Alright, let’s hear it.” “I found out something very useful.” As he spoke, Philemon produced a map as long as he was tall. It depicted the castle in nearly full detail. The group stared for a second, taking in the sheer scale of it all. Philemon pointed to a room in the top spire. “As you may have figured, this is the throne room. Wouldn't you think it should be at the top of the spire?” The group nodded in unison. “So,” Philemon continued, “The question is, what’s above it? That’s exactly what I found out. As it turns out, it’s a secret passage into Victor’s private chambers. The chambers are in a normally inaccessible part of the castle, and have a direct link to the throne room.” He pointed to Gerard. “You, with Lord Victor’s blood, can access it.” Gerard cocked his head. “How do I access the chamber? And shouldn’t I wait until I awaken to my full power before I go there?” All of the others stepped forward, awaiting an answer. “Gerard,”, Philemon spoke up after a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, “You can use your power to allow the others passage. In other words, any team you can assemble can be used to take on the demon.” There was another pause, and this time it was Alicia who finally broke it. “If a demon overcame Gerard’s father, who’s to say that we’re not too weak to take it on, even together?” Elsa chimed in, “She’s right. We don’t know for certain what we’re up against. My orders and equipment coincide with destroying Victor’s inactive body in order to force the demon to choose a weaker target. I’m not prepared to take on Victor or this demon directly, and I’m not sure that changes with the strength of my team.”
“That’s where I come in.” Hannah stepped into the soft light around the fountain, dressed in a simple white robe and a pair of cloth boots. “I met a man named Sydney, who said that I could help you.” She handed Gerard a picture of what appeared to be an MRI. On the sheet, empty craters appeared in the imagery. Close to one fourth of the brain appeared to be entirely missing in total. “This is why I was so much stronger than a normal thrall. My brain damage gives me the ability to be more than an empty vessel - I can be a link to otherworldly power.” Philemon grinned and put a hand to her robes. “Allow me to demonstrate.” Hannah’s eyes flashed, and Philemon slumped to his knees. As soon as he hit the floor, Hannah seemed to snap off of the ground. Sigils burned brightly underneath her robes, and the entire room shook with a palpable energy. A red figure in the shape of Gerard, slightly larger than the real thing, appeared to materialize around Hannah, and then consume her entirely. Once Hannah was completely gone, the false Gerard gained the coloration and detail of the real one. A wave of energy pulsed from it, and the room shook again as pillars cracked and bits of stone fell. The false Gerard locked eyes with the real one, and said in his voice, “Come.”
Gerard was upon his clone with all the speed his nigh-unbridled power could muster. He attacked ferociously with magic, bullets, and sword blows, holding nothing back. All the same, he found himself on the ground in a matter of seconds, with the clone on top of him. It smiled, and then dissipated slowly. As the clone faded away from around Hannah, she climbed off of Gerard. He got up, panting. “In-incredible…”, he spat as he fought to regain his breath, “That thing overcame me with absolutely no trouble.” Hannah nodded, and Philemon finally rose to his feet. “As you can see,” he addressed the gathering, “Hannah’s link to Heaven allows her to tap angelic power to purify and amplify any power that she is fed through possession or other means. You’ve all seen the extent of this frightful power, and I assure you that the witch who turned Hannah into Lanaya held no such power. That should be evident by the fact that some of Hannah’s personality was intact.” Alicia blinked a few times in disbelief, then gathered her breath and spoke up again. “Even with this incredible store of power, there’s no way of knowing if we’ll be enough to destroy that demon.” Philemon shook his head. “Not to worry, child, I have a solution to that. You’ll have to combine all of your powers.” Alicia stole a cursory glance around, taking a mental inventory of her party members. A half-vampire awakening to incredible power, a full-blooded vampire that could not be fully trusted, a powerful mage, a shining warrior, and a wide-open vessel all greeted her. Adding on her own mysterious and growing power, she began to feel a bit more confident. “Pah,” Zack huffed, “What’s the catch?” Philemon smiled. “Clever child. There is, indeed, a “catch”. In order for your minds to reach the kind of perfect synchronization needed to work together in such a way, a grand feat is required; you must cheat death together, all at once.” Gerard nodded. “So, how do we do that?” Sydney entered the room. “The Reaper is a servant of God, and I can ask any servant of God for their presence. The question is if they will listen. If the Angel of Death does come here, don’t expect its full cooperation.” He drew from his coat a small white orb. He put it close to his face, closed his eyes, said a few words, then violently smashed the orb on the ground. Brilliant white light filled the room, blinding everybody for a few seconds. Gerard looked around as his eyes adjusted to the light, and found a tall black robe standing before him, its wearer obscured. Though he could not see the being’s eyes, he was sure that they were staring into his, and he quickly became certain that he was indeed staring at the Angel of Death, the servant of God responsible for the reaping and shepherding of souls. It waved one arm, and a massive scythe appeared, its blade cutting a sick arc around the wielder. The light grew dimmer, and a pressure fell over the room. The Angel waved its free hand, and a voice leapt into the minds of everybody in the room. “Your plans run counter to those of God.”, it boomed in their brains, “The time for this world to end is here. Abandon your endeavor, or I will be forced to cast you into Hellfire.” Gerard had been ready to let the world end by inches just a few hours ago, but he felt conviction surging in his chest. “Fuck you!”, he screamed at the Angel, “How can you just write off all of the people of Earth?! How can God?!” The scythe whipped at Gerard, seemingly of its own accord, and he barely raised his shield in time to see it cleaved through with ease, along with a few of his hairs as he ducked. “Know you place, mortal!”, the Angel shouted audibly, its voice like lightning. “God’s plans are higher than yours, and God is above your perceptions and morals. I enforce His will.”
The scythe came again, and this time Gerard batted it back with a glowing black fist. The red eyes and horns that he had during his first battle with Zack returned, along with a swell of dark power. “You would stand against me?”, the Angel roared, “You would stand against God?!” Gerard flew forward, and was a bit surprised to find that everybody else had joined in his attack, and was drawing strength from him. Mary gave the Angel a zap, and the dark lightning met its target. Zack slashed in a wide arc to deflect a blurringly fast scythe blow, and was successful. Gerard and his friends had entered into a sort of gestalt trance, and all drew from the same dark power. It ate away at their souls, but they fought through the pain. The Angel of Death found itself seemingly overwhelmed, and summoned its full power. The room was lit even brighter, but with a flick of Gerard’s hand, darkness came again to even things out until everybody could see. He felt entirely in control of the vile, dark energies flowing into him from an unknown source. Alicia and Hannah were unconscious on the floor, having used up their energy refusing to allow the Angel of Death to use their link to Heaven against them. WIthout thralls, the Angel faced off alone against Gerard, Elsa, Zack, Mary, and the effeminate vampire, all boosted by vile power being channeled through Gerard. The Angel’s wings spread wide, and it approached Gerard and his party.
Gerard snapped awake from the incredible pain in his crotch and shoulders. Two vastly large demons, easily miles tall, had his limbs and were tearing him in two. “Where am I?!”, he shouted in a panic, “How did I get here?! Where is everybody?!” He fought down the fear to reach inside and harness his strength, and the demons’ heads clashed above him with a mighty crash. His bare feet hit the hot ground below, and he did not feel pain. Instead, he felt more powerful than ever. He could sense where his friends were, and was determined to find them, save them, and return to Earth. “I’ll show God that my world is worth saving,” he muttered to himself as he leapt high into the air and sprouted his wings, “Even if that means that I have to personally tear Hell apart.”
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