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The Hell Years (Chapter Three) FINALE
Chapter Three: The Final Trial/ Epilogue feat. Prism- Cupid (1041140)
Lucas neared the mountain and its obscured peak, surely he could breakthrough from such a height. He didn’t understand this world or its rules, he didn’t even understand the terms of his capture but he had to try. Something welled deep inside him with every step drawn closer, before long, Lucas realized it was coming from within the mountain itself. “The bloody hell is-...” The dim red lighting that hung over the entire landscape died immediately. Darkness encompassed everything around him, so thick he couldn’t see his feet beneath him. Something was coming, he could feel it shift in the atmosphere. As he took a step forward, a pale face appeared and was so close they nearly touched. The face was flat and spacious with minimalistic features, wide eyes shut but only just barely. Its eyes splayed in a haunting unnatural manner, its lips splitting into a fanged smirk.
 ‘You’ve wandered too far, return to your prison, or face agony.’ “I live in agony… what makes you think you’re so bloody bad eh?” ‘I am agony, and you have not met me yet.’ The face shifted and pulled itself inside out from the gaping mouth, layers of serrated teeth formed as eyes poked out from the malleable fleshy skin. The being vanished into the darkness, the ground rocked and rumbled furiously. Light returned to the area but not nearly as much, the red hue now black and more reminiscent of twilight. There was just enough light to see the face attached to a tendril-like neck, retracting back into the hole in the mountain it came from. The face disappeared into the rockface and before long, the entire mountain burst into debris and boulders with a thunderous blast. The form the monster took was even taller than the mountain it ripped itself from.
 Hopelessly drawing his 1911 pistols from his holsters, Lucas aimed high and began to fire. One of the countless tendrils made a stabbing strike where Lucas stood, the mutant sliding out of the way just before the incredible impact. The force split the ground as the subsequent tentacles reached and stabbed wherever Lucas landed. It was going to take everything he had to overcome this literally mountainous obstacle, he only hoped he had the strength. Firing more shots, even his energy-charged blasts weren't enough to scratch the skin let alone penetrate it. Ducking quickly behind a boulder for cover, narrowly dodging an oncoming tentacle. He couldn't see the second one that followed closely behind and obliterated his momentary shelter.
Lucas was caught under the tentacle, its skin melting and turning to liquid in an attempt to suffocate him. There was only one thing comparable to the twisted experience he was going through and that was when he researched the abilities of the famous rogue Clayface. Using his hands to push back against the constantly growing mass of flesh, it collapsed on him before he could find his leverage. This was it, this was how he failed.
F̶̾͜İ̷͍G̷̪͊H̶͎̏T̷͙́
The voice in his head was his own, only darker, more hate and fury behind the word. Lucas' eyes began to blaze with the fuchsia energy as he pushed against the still enlarging limb. A breaking point was passed and Lucas' hands burst into hot pink flame. The more he pushed, the more a phantom strength came from somewhere within. A second set of hands hung above his own, glowing with his energy and massive in size, strength poured over Lucas as his grip tightened and with one hard yank he pulled the appendage from the monster. The screech let out was ungodly as black liquid gushed from the wound. Ethereal mist was raising off his skin like steam, a new sense of potential victory powering him forward. "Come on then, let's see what your insides look like." Throwing a punch, the phantom limb rocketed forth and made impact with the base of the beast. It was time to turn the tables.
Tossing himself into the air, fuchsia wings of unstable energy carrying him upward at high speed. Delivering a hammer fist with his hands clenched together, the downward strike landed the massive replicated limbs directly on the head of the beast. The skull caved and the black began to shoot like a geyser. No time to wait, Lucas let himself fall, digging his phantom claw down the front of the beast the entire way down until he felt the ground beneath him. Using his two hands, Lucas fought and flexed his arms in an attempt to pry the fresh wound open. Slowly the sickly pale skin split at the base and slowly traveled up the gash until with a single tearing sound, the beast was split in two and fell in opposite directions. He had done it, so why was he still in Hell? Epilogue: On Cupid’s Wings
Sitting amongst the eviscerated corpse, his head hanging in defeat. He had slain the Corpse Mother, torn her limb from vile limb, and yet he remained. Perhaps he really was condemned to this place for the rest of eternity. Just as he began to wallow in his failure, he felt a familiar presence, though it didn't give him comfort. Soon she appeared, Cupid, surely there to torment him in his darkest hour.
'Come on you silly man, the realm of the living calls.'
"The bloody hell are you on about?"
It appeared that while Lucas was slaying titans, Cupid was discussing the terms of Lucas' agreement with her grandfather Mephisto. The big red devil was more than prepared to keep him around in his personal pit of suffering, that was until Cupid offered something that made his horned ears perk up. Same conditions, he would still get Lucas' soul when the time came. The only difference being he would live as her hand, a personal assistant and herald of the goddess. This, Mephisto could get behind. So it was settled, Lucas would be resurrected. Lucas turned to light and vanished, he wasn't alone and he isn’t the same. A well of Argent energy has been bored somewhere into Bishop’s soul. The kind of energy that would only manifest in stressful situations before Lucas could fully tap into it like any other energy source. It would drain him, weaken him upon using. The power that would come from said energy, would be worth the stress on his body. Soon he would materialize, and soon, he would return.
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