In a city decorated in white stone and gargoyles statues at every lamppost, Vanessa strolled down the clean road. Her black leather dress was tight against her body. The patterns at the end of her blood-red underskirt matched the ones on her long-sleeve under-shirt of the same color. Vanessa's make-up matched her outfit. Her elegant demonic look was completed with her leather boots and hairpiece that kept her hair tamed while allowing it to flow in the breeze.
Coming near a cathedral at the center of town, Kiki approached her, "Back with the black. It seems like you're either trying to become the new goth chick of the stadium or you have a prophecy".
Vanessa shook her head, causing her hair to brush against her shoulders, "No. I'm not worried dressing like anything except cute and sometimes elegant. I let the game give me new outfits each time".
Kiki rose her chin and brows, "Then it's likely an omen. The game knows when we're going through some serious trouble in our lives. They'll often times send us ghosts or even omens to help get us in the right direction".
Vanessa shook her head, "No. I don't want any of that. I just want to have fun".
"I do too," Kiki nodded, "But you have to consider what's going on. Black symbolizes death in Hell. It's possible that you are either about to die or in a state of life where you might as well be dead".
"Look," Vanessa shook her head, "I-".
In the sky, above the cathedral, there was a giant rip that let out a dark aura that showered against the cathedral and across the city like a fog. Demons flew out and into houses. Demons rose from the ground to feast on the humans. Kiki ran, claiming to get help whereas Vanessa decided to run for the cathedral to kill off this nightmare herself.
Some with wings, others with heavy blades, Vanessa slaughtered her way to reach the stairway of the church. There was a moment of hesitation where she remembered how vulnerable she was to the Jester. But she had faith that Watson would finally leave her alone.
Upon entering the cathedral, a giant white demon flew at her. Vanessa jumped out of the way and swung Magenta.
The demon flew back, laying its tiny black eyes on her. It resembled a roach with no skin and shorted body. Its legs were twice as long as its body's length and its mouth was bigger than its head. The iron odor in the air came from the many half-eaten people across the ground.
Vanessa covered her nose with her arm for a moment to reduce the intake of the stench. But was forced to roll out the way when the demon flew at her again.
It slammed through the benches and struck the wall. Its legs sliced across Vanessa's arms, causing her to take a more defensive stance.
She hurled behind fixtures and shot out fireballs from her hands. The demon resisted every attack and continued to tackle and rip at her skin. On a few occasions, it had attempted to bite her head off.
On one of its attempts, Vanessa drove her blade across its face and through its neck. With its head rolling away, kicking its legs, and flapping its wings into a corner.
Vanessa was catching her breath and healing her wounds when a wheel rose in front of a large picture on the wall behind the statue of Jesus. She investigated the wheel, noticing that it was stiff. After hitting it with her fists a few times, she realized it was only nudging to heavy attacks.
Thus she used Magenta to swing upon the wheel. Blue flames appeared around it as she inflicted damage. in time, the flames spun around the wheel, causing the picture to open up. It was a dark tunnel leading underground.
Vanessa took her time walking down the tunnel to let her wounds heal. But once the light from the church was no longer visible, there was a distinct chattering echoing down the path. By coating Magenta in fire, Vanessa was able to see a number of dwarf-sized creatures crawling on the ground and walls. They were monkeys with a shrimp tail for legs, shrimp eyes, and shark teeth.
"Aaah," Vanessa smiled, "Is sea monkeys".
The devilish creatures leaped at her in waves. Each bit at her, but were easily dodged. Their tails were heavy, nearly clobbering Vanessa to the ground. She swung her blade and created a sea of flames to burn out the sea monkeys as she raced for the end of the tunnel where she found an elevator to take her to the second floor of the church.
There were no doors, and the glass windows seemed to be indestructible. It was nothing but a well-designed hallway for Vanessa to walk around while admiring the outside view and four statues of knights.
Haven realized that there was a perfect view of the four cardinal directions, Vanessa pushed the four knight statues to watch over them. She followed a crackling noise in the wall till she came across an opening with a staircase spiraling upwards.
Vanessa ran up to an outdoor garden on the third floor. There was a walkway leading to a glass enclosure. Inside was a staircase among the flowers. When she ran for the glass door, red energy surrounded it.
From the ledge of the garden, a blue wolf creature with an owl head crawled up. Its bottom half was a snake tail that shot towards Vanessa. The demon known as Amon was roughly half the size of an elephant. She countered with Magenta, but couldn't penetrate its scales.
Before she could step away to charge her magic, Amon bit at and knocked her into the glass wall. It crack apart but didn't break.
Vanessa got on her feet and created katanas that spiraled around her. Amon spewed flames from its mouth that set the garden on fire.
"Power!" Vanessa hurled towards Amon's head. She slammed Magenta against his fur but was barely penetrating. A few of her blades jabbed into its body, but couldn't kill it.
Every time Amon swung, his claws would rip across Vanessa. He was too fast for her to dodge, much less counter. Soon he had knocked her back into a bed of fire and lashed his tail at her.
Vanessa absorbed the flames and focused the power into a single blow to the tail. The magma-like flames tore through Amon's tail, sending him into a frenzy. He screached and howled as Vanessa charged her blade. And with everything in him, he attacked again.
A cry of lightning shot up and through Amon head when Vanessa sliced upwards. His blood sprayed into the air and all over his killer. The red aura disappeared from around the glass door, but the sky grew darker.
It was hard for Vanessa to catch her breath, much less stand with her wounds. She could only think of how out of shape she was to be playing such a game. But this was it. Without this game, Vanessa wouldn't know how to live happily. After a thirty minute rest, she mustered the strength to stand and continue through the church.
Vanessa took her time to walk in the glass room. It reminded her of Watson. Not so much because of the glass, rather the flowers had a shine to them despite the gloomy air of demons attacking. It was like a moment of refuge where she could feel him trying to save her again. Regardless, she rose her head and entered the next floor.
It was a small circular room with a stairway leading to the roof top where the portal was still open. There was two small pillars on each side of the stairway. On one, there was the statue of a grim reaper. The Jester sat on the other, just watching her. Vanessa took a deep breath before taking a step.
"Don't worry," the Jester spoke in a more calm tone, "I have more important matters to tend to at the moment".
"You're," Vanessa gulped, "His ghost".
The Jester gave her a sneer, "And you're the one he's dying for... Go"!
Vanessa hung her head and ran up the stairs. Her heart stopped for a moment, believing he would attack. Luckily, she ran to the top without the Jester ever saying another word.
There stood what appeared to be a priest, facing the portal. When Vanessa called out to him, he turned exposing his grotesquely black eyes and purple-cracked skin.
She attempted to persuade the priest in closing the portal, but he argued that he was being bestowed power by the Archangel Samael to rid the world of demons. No matter how hard she tried to enlighten him, he was firm on his belief.
With ease, Vanessa ran up and pierced Magenta through his heart. But the cracks on his skin grew, releasing a dark aura that overtook him. His neck and body bent against his internal screaming.
Vanessa began charging her blade with lighting to ensure his death. However, the aura around him had an acidic effect towards her. She jumped back and released the charge that she had, nearly slicing his body in half.
The priest pulled himself together and spoke in multiple tones, "... Face the power of a devil"!
Vanessa rose her blade to attack, but the priest swung in and knocked her back. Before she could stand, he stomped and kicked her away. The acidic aura was eating through her clothes and burning her skin.
By absorbing some of his blows, Vanessa was able to coat herself in lightning and fight back. The priest took a Tae-Kwon-Do stance and avoided her blade to kick her several times.
To the face, ribs, and stomach, the priest was sure to send Vanessa down on every opportunity. It forced her to get away, only for him to use the dark aura to drag her back in range.
She tried to absorb the aura for herself, but couldn't. In fact, she didn't know what it was. Blood spatted from her mouth and dripped on herself.
The priest used the aura to hold her in place while he crafted a trident out of midair. He boasted himself before hurling at Vanessa
She blocked and absorbed the impact, "Endure!" raced forward to slice off one of the priest's arms, "Summon!" two ghost-like fish came from her hands and bit at the priest's heart to immobilize him.
Before he could utter a word, Vanessa sliced off his arms and ripped through his body repetitively. She knew he wasn't dead, but couldn't think of a way to secure her victory. It dawned on her that she would need the ability to kill immortals.
While leaning over, panting, Vanessa brainstormed many ways to end this. Using Magenta, she cut out his beating heart and stared at the portal.
It made no sense for her to go in alone. But given that she had no backup and still wanted to win, left her no choice but to enter. And with the heart in her pocket and Magenta in her right hand, she took the leap forward to end the chaos.
Inside resembled a throat of a giant with no end. There was no source of light, yet everything was visible in tones of red. In the distance, there was a figure standing. Vanessa squinted to get a better look. It seemed to be unstable. There were times she couldn't see it at all, and others where she felt it was definitely a person.
"Heal," Vanessa crept further down while looking around for attackers. Soon it was inevitable that the figure ahead was a man watching her. He did nothing but smile and rub his small beard.
Once she was able to approach him, Vanessa noticed the horns on his head, "Who are you"?
The demon jumped up and widened his eyes, "You never heard of me?" he chuckled, "I am, The Devil, Mephisto".
Vanessa swung her sword at him, to which he dodged with ease. She ran in, slicing away. He dodged every attack with the slightest of movements. Upon coating herself in lightning, Vanessa let her guard down for a full assault to finally get him on his toes.
Mephisto grabbed her blade and snapped it in half before punching her back, "That was a weak attempt. Much like your attempt to survive in this world".
Vanessa crawled to a wall so she could assist herself up, "I will...".
In a flash, Mephisto kicked her stomach, sending her flying back, "Quit again? Pretty weak, don't you think"?
Vanessa became light-headed in remembering her previous failure and cried, "I don't know".
Mephisto squatted above her, "Sad. You had so much potential," Vanessa attempted to ignore him, "But I can help... A long time ago, you made a decision for power. You wanted to be an astrologian instead of a warlock. An astrologian can connect with forces beyond man to obtain powers unique to them. But where did that get you? You can't even kill the priest terrorizing town. Wasn't your goal to beat the man terrorizing your friends"?
Vanessa sobbed and nodded, "I just wanted to have fun".
Mephisto held out his hand, "Then join me. Give me your soul and I will lend you my powers to rule all others," he let his hand down, "Or you can continue this pathetic daily existence you have practitioned for so long".
Vanessa shook as she breathed towards the ground. Toxins in the air made her feel as though she was puking intestines that weren't hers. The deal itself was a mouthful. On one hand, she could play this game at a level to compete against other players at the cost of playing in mostly solitude to service a demon. On the other, she could join Watson to play with others to build herself over time to hopefully get strong. Knowing how the game worked, Vanessa knew what the game was saying. Her life now was the equivalent of a poppet.
Vanessa shook her head, "No..." she looked into his eyes, "I can't".
Mephisto yoked her up by the neck and grabbed the beating heart from her pocket, "Then go!" he snared whilst crushing the priest's heart, "You don't belong here".
Vanessa crawled to her feet and walked towards the exit. She looked back momentarily and saw nothing left in the tunnel. And with the broken Magenta sheathed away, Vanessa cried herself out to the top of the cathedral.
The portal to Hell closed away, blocking any more demons from escaping. Vanessa looked out into the city. Cart and Kiki were leading their respective squads to kill off the remaining demons. However, there was a stairway on the side of the cathedral that led to balcony where Watson sat by himself.
Vanessa walked down, sobbing from the choices that has brought her here. She couldn't tell what exactly she wanted. But she knew she could use some affection from someone who cared.
When receiving her gentle hug, Watson looked up, "Big oof, I wish you would come hug me. Preferably sooner," he rubbed her hand, "Instead, I think imma have a little fun".
"I'm sorry," Vanessa rubbed her face into his shoulder, "I'm just...".
Watson held her head in, "Don't be. We're all having it a little rough. And the decisions we're making are not easy. I can see how demons may be keeping you away from living. And that's fine. Honestly, I just love hunting them down".
Vanessa rose up, "What do you mean"?
Watson let out a faux gasp, "Oh no. Don't tell me you haven't heard of the legendary Jester who haunts the stadium".
Vanessa could tell by the look in his eyes that there was something unusual about him. "Stop it," she whispered.
Watson turned and grabbed her hips to hold her close, "For your sake, and my friends, I tried. But here I am, sick to my stomach and unable to sleep at night. Think of what goes on around here".
Vanessa looked into his eyes, noticing they were both light brown with a red ring around them, "Please just stop".
The look in his eyes was something between anger and sorrow, "Can you tell me why people only like me when I'm like this? Yet they hate the things I do. And often want me dead regardless".
Vanessa closed her eyes and rested on him, "I'm sorry. There's really nothing I can do".
Watson rubbed his hands up to hold her face close to his, "Yah know, it sucks that I can't kiss you. But it hurts that you never gave me a chance to help you".
"I'm sorry," Vanessa cried away, "I just can't," she wiped her tears, "But please be safe. I'm worried about you".
Watson chuckled, "Don't worry. I'm always fine," he snapped at her, "I tell you what though, you'd make a pretty good reaper if you ever pull through".
Vanessa smiled away, "I'll think about it," and headed out to revisit Carter's squad.
There were cheers from afar. Steven, Pattie, Carter, Mike, Iku, and all were congratulating Vanessa on single-handedly beating the theme. She confessed that it wasn't true. It was only through pity from Mephistos that she was able to kill the priest and close the portal. They all continued to enlighten her on how well she did regardless of the details. Logan for one kept standing close to her and eventually held her hand.
"That's about it really," Carter looked around town, "Just about all the demons are dead. And it's time to go. Does anybody have anything they would like to share before leaving".
"Way to hang in there Vanessa!" Mike cheered.
Pattie clapped, "I'm getting you for my team. We need a tough hybrid like you".
Logan looked into her eyes, "Actually, can I take you on a date next month".
For a moment, Vanessa froze before jumping, "Yes"!