Inferno: Chapter 19 (396 hits)
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Submitted by SoxSexSax (View user info) at 2005-07-18 14:00:07 EDT
Chapter 18: http://www.ubersite.com/m/70350
Chapter 17: http://www.ubersite.com/m/69845
Chapter 16: http://www.ubersite.com/m/68845
Chapter 15: http://www.ubersite.com/m/66508
Chapter 14: http://www.ubersite.com/m/65131
Chapter 13: http://www.ubersite.com/m/35192
Chapter 12: http://www.ubersite.com/m/34063
Chapter 11: http://www.ubersite.com/m/18528
Chapter 10: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=10676141967013473
Chapter 9: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1066487978166723780
Chapter 8: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106595175399835122
Chapter 7: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106549765998947541
Chapter 6: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064957367793418459
Chapter 5: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064708642207119853
Chapter 4: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=106445883547967169
Chapter 3: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064345511408928163
Chapter 2: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=1064195167876012309
Chapter 1: http://www.ubersite.com/cgi-bin/message_get.cgi?message=10639441118252674
Chapter 19
His eyes flickered open and he found himself standing before the imposing figure of Inferno, with about twenty feet between them. They were standing on white marble tiles and between two long rows of very tall stone pillars, just as in the dream about his mother he had experienced.
"This is what I like to call my dream chamber," Inferno said, casually. "You are only the ninth mortal to stand here, and the only one ever to see it twice."
"Oh, I am sooo honoured," replied Midnight, heavily sarcastic. "Pretty boring place."
"Boring? Perhaps, although I prefer to call it peaceful," his adversary replied. "Peace and quiet are not things I often seek, but on occasion even I need somewhere to reflect upon matters. And it makes a splendid setting for any mind duels I partake in."
He sounded almost friendly (in tone, at least; his voice was still grating and evil), as if this were not a life or death struggle but merely a chance encounter with an old and trusted friend. Keep that damn guard of yours up Midnight, his little voice reminded him firmly. Sly multiplied by crafty to the power of cunning doesn't even nearly describe the way his mind works.
"How long was I asleep for? And what did you do while I slept?" he asked.
"Your slumber last for a matter of minutes. It was certainly less than a quarter of a human hour ago when I engulfed that feeble wretch of a servant. I then spent a few moments gazing upon your fragile little body, wishfully contemplating the sheer pleasure I will get from tearing it and your eternal soul to pieces, before calling upon the magic required to meld our bodies together to form one single being. Right now we look a thoroughly grotesque sight...your body is stretched so far it is almost unrecognisable as a human being, whilst mine, I am sure, is fairly stunted and distended. We are joined with a proboscis that extends from my head to yours and neither of us has any significant bodily attributes not shared by the other. But our minds are both completely under our own control. Only one, however, will continue to retain that control over the whole. And, of course, it shall be mine."
"We'll see about that," replied Midnight, rolling his eyes. "So how do we do battle with our minds? Are you just going to bore me into submission or what?"
"Allow me to demonstrate," replied Inferno, with a sudden grin.
Immediately after his foe has spoken, Midnight felt a bizarre sensation inside his head. If someone had told him that he'd sprouted little handles from his brain tissue and Inferno had attached cords to them with the intent of pulling his brain out through his nose, he would have readily believed them. It literally felt as if his grey matter was being tugged out of his head.
It hurt...badly. He could feel Inferno probing into his mind, trying to wrest control of it away from him using his own evil brain. He raised his hands to his head and pressed the heels of his hands tightly into his temples. It made no difference, the pulling sensation did not lessen; if anything it was getting more severe.
This cannot be good, his little voice said in a surprisingly calm tone under the circumstances. Hadn't you better try doing something? Like, now perhaps?
Like what? Midnight thought to himself. The pain was almost unbearable. He had suffered from a small number of migraines as a child, but nothing he'd ever experienced had felt as sickeningly horrible as the sensation of having his brain forcibly yanked from his skull.
Well I don't imagine this is a contest of brawn!
Yeah, so?
Concentrate dammit! Use your brain!
Concentrate on what?
I don't know...what about a song?
Good idea.
Midnight was never short of appropriate song lyrics and Iron Maiden's The Number Of The Beast leapt straight into his head.
666 the Number of the Beast, 666 the one for you and me. I'm coming back, I will return, and I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn. I have the fire, I have the force, I have the power to make my evil take its course.
That helped...the relentless pulling sensation in his head was lessening. He switched to Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell.
Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes. When the night is over, like a bat out of hell, I'll be gone, gone, gone. Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes. But when the day is done and the sun goes down and the moonlight's shining through. Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven I'll come crawling on back to you.
He could still feel the pulling sensation in his head but it was nowhere near as severe as it had been just seconds before. With a tremendous effort, he began pulling with his mind. He had (obviously) never done anything like it before, but he found that if he concentrated and visualised it as a psychological tug of war, he could actually get mental leverage. He could feel himself reeling back in the part of his mind that Inferno had a hold over, slowly but surely. With one final, mighty cerebral heave he felt normal once more. He had repelled Inferno's attack.
Without even knowing he was going to do it, he reached out with his psyche and concentrated on getting right back into Inferno's brain. Almost immediately he felt a mental connection between the two of them, and straight away he started dragging with his mind. He could feel himself beginning to pull Inferno's will away, painstakingly slowly, and almost unbelievably difficultly, but definitely surely. He screwed his eyes up in concentration and put every ounce of energy he could muster into the battle. It was as if his mind was a winch, capable of lifting objects of massive weight and size.
After about thirty seconds he felt resistance to his attempt. He briefly unscrewed his eyes and saw Inferno had now tightly closed his own and wore a look of utter concentration on his malicious face. For a few seconds there was a stalemate, with Midnight unable to take any further control of Inferno's mind and Inferno unable to regain what he had already lost to Midnight. But then, much quicker than Midnight had gained it, Inferno began reeling his control back. Midnight could feel the small part of Inferno's will he had managed to forcibly capture get suddenly wrenched from his mind's weak grasp. Equilibrium was restored. Both fully controlled their own minds once more.
Midnight was panting from his exertions, but he felt more than a little satisfied at what he had achieved. Inferno stood stock still for a few more seconds before finally opening his eyes.
"You have caught on quickly Midnight," he said, his tone suggesting that this was not a compliment. "That is exactly how it is done. He who pulls the other's will away will take control of the whole we have become."
Midnight nodded. It had been a tremendous effort, but he knew he was capable of doing it at least. "Easy enough."
Inferno chuckled at Midnight's flippancy. "The basic premise is simple enough to grasp I agree. But to go undefeated for twenty centuries as I have is an astonishing achievement, wouldn't you say?"
"Nope," said Midnight. "I bet you pick your opponents with great care."
Inferno smiled. "Really? Who, then, would you propose I do battle with? Who could defeat me at a contest of my own creation? Name this mysterious contender of whom you speak."
"God," replied Midnight, with a grin. However, the look of anger or annoyance he had been hoping for did not touch Inferno's face. His smile simply widened.
"God," he said, with a hint of a laugh. "Let me tell you some truths about God, Midnight. God rules because I was banished from heaven many centuries ago and spiritual powers far too immense for your puny mind to fathom keep me from returning. I grow stronger with every passing day in my new domain. God, however, is as unchanging as the mountains. I have become more powerful than God. I will be the new ruler of the universe. Earth will be just the start."
Midnight yawned in a sarcastic manner. "Tell your lies to someone else Inferno. You're finished and you know it."
"No, Midnight, you're finished," Inferno replied in a menacing tone, his face no longer smiling. "You and your pathetic God!"
Before Midnight could fashion a reply he felt the pulling sensation inside his head again and this time it seemed Inferno was putting much more effort in to tearing control away from Midnight. His whole head ached horribly; it felt as if somebody had stuck the hose of an industrial strength vacuum cleaner to his forehead.
MIDNIGHT! the little voice screamed at him. SONG, MIDNIGHT! SONG!
He grasped at the lyrics from his favourite song, Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer.
She says: We've got to hold on to what we've got, 'cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love - we'll give it a shot! Whoa, we're half way there, whoa, livin' on a prayer. Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear. Whoa, livin' on a prayer.
It helped but not as much as it had the first time. He could still fell Inferno inside his mind, wrenching his will away from him. Still, it had lessened just enough to allow him to think clearly. He again visualised the battle as a mental tug of war and after a few seconds felt his mind lock on to Inferno's once more. He tried to pull Inferno's mighty will away once more, but found that he did not have the strength to do it. He managed to create a deadlock, but Inferno still had part of his will and was heaving mightily to take more of it. His head was throbbing wildly and he was seriously worried it might haemorrhage at any second. He screwed his eyes shut again and tensed every muscle in his body. His arms and legs began trembling involuntarily as he focused every ounce of power he had into the contest.
Finally, after over a minute of stalemate and just as he felt doomed to fail, he felt Inferno's mental hold on his mind slip a tiny bit. Encouraged by this, he immediately began reciting another song in his head.
Welcome to the jungle baby, we got fun and games. We got everything you want, yeah we know the names. We are the people who can find, whatever you may need. If you got the money, honey, we got your disease. In the jungle, welcome to the jungle, it'll bring you to you knees! I want to hear you SCREAM!
Guns N Roses saved him. At the final word he felt Inferno's grip give way completely and his will returned to him. The aching pain in his head dissipated almost immediately and he felt normal once more. He was sweating profusely and panting heavily. His muscles felt weak and his whole body drained. But nevertheless, he had proved once again that he had the power to stop Inferno taking control. He opened his eyes and looked directly at his adversary. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you're finished Inferno," he panted, forcing a smile onto his face to demonstrate to the demon that he was still confident.
Inferno smiled at him. He was showing no signs of exertion at all. "Do not allow yourself to be fooled into thinking that just because I have not emerged safely victorious yet, you have a chance. You will fall helplessly to your knees at my feet in time as many have before you. If you think that what we are doing does not take very serious amounts of stamina, I'm afraid you are wrong. I have it in almost limitless quantities. I am quite sure that you do not"
"The difference between us is that I don't expect to win," said Midnight, still breathing heavily from the effort of freeing his mind from Inferno's evil hold. "I'm just the decoy."
"Really?" said Inferno in a sarcastically bored tone, although Midnight was sure he could see interest in his enemy's eyes.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked where John is, actually," Midnight continued in a carefree manner.
"I would have asked had I cared," replied Inferno.
"You'd care if you knew."
"Don't count on it, Midnight. You are the chosen one, he is your feeble little helper. He is of slight consequence."
"I bet you haven't even noticed that I no longer have the demon ring," Midnight replied, casually. "Now, I wonder where that could have gotten to."
Inferno's face remained totally impassive. "It seems you are dying to tell me something before I destroy you Midnight. Perhaps it would be wise to tell me now, as that moment is very close at hand. Although I have my doubts as to whether you have anything remotely interesting to say to me"
"OK demon, know this: as we speak John is facing Kyriss with the demon ring. Your channel is about to be closed, permanently. So even if you win, you lose. How do you like that?"
Midnight folded his arms and smiled at his foe, expecting anger or dismay to immediately show itself on Inferno's face. However, his smile quickly vanished when Inferno began to chuckle in what seemed a genuinely pleased manner.
"John is going to face Kyriss is he? With the demon ring? How amusing! Trust me Midnight, I have no fear whatsoever for my channel's integrity. Your plan is more foolhardy than even you know. But there is no need to take my word for it. I can show you what is happening on earth for yourself."
He raised his evil arms above his head then brought them down simultaneously, creating an oval shape with his fingers. A smoky ring was left hanging in the air along the path his hands had taken. With a flick of his wrist, it floated forwards towards Midnight, maintaining its shape perfectly the whole way. When it had travelled half the distance between the two, it rotated ninety degrees in mid-air, then floated just as steadily off to Midnight's right.
When it had stopped moving, the air in the middle of the oval began to shimmer unnaturally. Without warning an image, as clear as a window, appeared in the middle of the smoke. It showed a white door standing in the middle of a ash and debris strewn patch of grass. After a few seconds, the door opened and John stepped through.
Midnight watched with trepidation, whilst Inferno merely smiled evilly. "Let us see how your friend manages," he said nastily. "It should prove to be a pleasant little interval for us both."
Midnight gave no answer. His eyes and mind were firmly concentrated on John's fate.
User Reviews
Submitted by Clawsss (user info) at 2005-07-18 15:32:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This seems interesting. Should i actually put time into reading it from the beginning?? That's more than i read in a...well...that's alot for this year already.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2005-07-18 14:47:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this is great.
Submitted by Xcuses (user info) at 2005-07-18 14:07:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for writing a novel on the internet