Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2024 01:47:53 -0500 From: Fang Saito Subject: Welcome to Avernus - Chapter 24 This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected under copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproduction is allowed without the author's consent. Conversations and feedback are appreciated to Greyson B. via email at hokkaidohotel86it@gmail.com. I love hearing from readers. As always, special thanks to Johnny Kape for the excellent editing assistance he always provides me. If you enjoy this story, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation by visiting https://donate.nifty.org/. We did it, guys! As with Cadence, Welcome to Avernus is now complete. I hope you enjoyed the wild ride. If you can find an opportunity to help out a favored author, it would be appreciated. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GreysonB. You can find my other Nifty stories at: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/cadence/ https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/a-ghost-finds-a-body/ Welcome to Avernus Chapter 24 Neither of the twins commented, choosing to keep quiet for now. Instead, we followed Dom as he started walking down a ways to a driveway entrance. There was a chain link gate, held shut with a chain and padlock. One of the goons started forward, pulling a ring of keys from his pocket, but Dom didn't wait, instead reaching forward, grabbing the chain and lock with one hand, and ripping it apart as if it was paper. "Shall we?" said Dom, casual as anything. The goon with the keys fumbled for the briefest second, then shoved the gate open so we could follow Dom into the parking lot. His five goons spread out slightly, all of them bringing their machine guns up and ready. I could tell that Wren and Erin were both salty that two of the guns being used were the ones we had brought with us. I'd already vowed to myself that if it came down to it, we were just going to take them back, Dom's attitude be damned. There was a loading bay with three roll up doors for semis, and a regular door beside them. That was what we were heading for. I had no idea what to expect, so I just followed along and tried not to be too tensed up. I expected the door to meet the same fate as the padlock, but it was unlocked. I guess that means everyone else entered the lot from a different side. The place was pitch black inside, and four of the goons pulled out flashlights that they were able to somehow attach to the barrels of their guns. The other guy handed out tiny pen lights to me and my other friends, which I appreciated, even if they were pretty weak. I flashed back to Boots joking about us using flashlights to explore the Warrens, and I was momentarily filled with a deep sadness, which quickly morphed into a grim determination. The massive space was half filled with defunct machinery. Not like this place used to use it, but more like a graveyard for old manufacturing machines. Off along the right side, there was a whole line of offices, suspended on stilts. Like a second floor, but where someone forgot to build a first floor below. And that was the direction Dom led us. The area under the offices haphazardly stored more junk, which felt cramped and dark after the 30 foot airy ceilings of the rest of the place. We came to a set of rickety steel stairs leading up to the offices, and I thought that's where we were going. But then behind them I saw the wide, concrete stairs leading down. There was a thick metal industrial floor cover that had been thrown back, massive enough to seal the entire staircase entrance. Of course we had to go down. Garrett had said they were in the basement of a warehouse. And looking down those stairs, which looked dark and impenetrable, claustrophobic despite their width, I knew this wasn't going to be some small, simply organized, open basement. That kind of a place doesn't get given a nickname like "the Tombs". Just as we prepared to descend, I was overcome by a wave of paralyzing fear. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere brightly lit, somewhere I could see a mile in every direction, 360 degrees, and yet know there weren't any doors into where I was. Nothing was down there below that was worth dying for, not even Boots or Wren. The best thing, the smartest thing, the ONLY thing, was to run! But that didn't make sense, and some tiny part of my brain knew that. Probably the part that was moronic enough to fight bullies, to question Dom, and push away someone as hot as Wren. I grabbed onto that little corner of my brain and pushed. I fought against the fear, and my little corner became a touch bigger. I used the extra room to remember the smile on Boots' face when he was relaxed in my house. Then I remembered that look of unease he wore the first night he walked me back to the hotel. That look of dread that made me see him as prey, as a target. He had to be feeling a hundred times worse right now. And I knew he was below. Just down those steps. Frustration and anger and concern boiled out of me, exploding the cage that the fear held on my mind. Now I was pissed. I could see that Erin and Wren were both struggling to fight off what I knew now was some concentrated form of mesmir. Even Dom seemed to have been affected, though he seemed to be fighting it off as quickly as I was. The difference was, he was grinning as he came back to himself. I actually felt a wave of satisfaction from him, but whether it was pride at shutting it down, or being impressed at a worthy adversary, I had no clue. Nor did I care. While three of Dom's guys were still standing there struggling with the mesmir, Robert and another goon were bolting in blind panic for the door. I reacted instinctively and took off after them. The second I did, I realized it would look like I bolted for safety as well, but I didn't care. I threw myself into super speed, catching up with the other two before they could make it halfway to the door, then immediately circling back around. "Surely you didn't panic and run, my brash Assecla," Dom said with a grin. "Nope," I said while half ignoring him. Instead, I shoved the two machine guns I had taken from Robert and the other guy into each of the twins' bellies. It wasn't hard enough to hurt them, but the impact brought them each back to themselves. "Ah, well," said Dom dismissively. "Shall we continue?" Wren and Erin got the three goons back in their right headspace and moving, and I followed Dom into the basement. When I asked, Dom confirmed my suspicions that these three were Vampyre, while the two that ran were Mortal. That certainly explained things Now I felt microscopically better. The twins were armed again, and I had a feeling that was probably the hardest Plague could hit us with his mesmir. It sucked that he could hit us all at once, even Dom, but I was glad to see that the most he could do to us Vampyre was distract us. Wow, wait. Did I just think of myself as Vampyre? I mean, I guess technically I am? But until now, I've never thought of myself that way. Interesting. We made it down to the bottom of the stairs where they opened up into... a small, tidy basement. The fuck? It was a decent sized room, don't get me wrong. Maybe the size of my home basement, but not the cavernous expanse I was expecting. It was all concrete, a bare ceiling, with walls painted an industrial pale blue. There were a bunch of metal racks breaking up the space, and one wall was filled with tiny lockers, each maybe a foot square. One of the goons found some light switches and flicked with them, but nothing happened. I had a feeling the building didn't have power. Hooray for flashlights. Dom led the way into the room, acting for sure like he knew the place. Hell, for all I knew, Wren and Erin knew their way around down here as well. After all, they knew enough about the place that it had a nickname. I followed Dom around the corner of a particular pile of tetanus and at last saw what I'd envisioned the whole time. A service tunnel led off down into the darkness. I was immediately reminded of the Warrens, except the place was painted that odd blue-grey instead of white, and the ceiling was dotted with regularly spaced bulbs in cages, rather than fluorescent light panels. Oh, and the lights here didn't work. I wanted to take a step back and let somebody that could spit out a hundred bullets a second take point. But I think it was safe to say that Dom expected me up here with him, so I couldn't do that. Fuck me, and my big mouth. Why did I have to be the one that talked Dom into moving his ass? We marched down the service tunnel, easily for hundreds of yards, passing side tunnels on both sides. Every once in a while we came to steel double doors, standing open rather than barring our path. I had to trust Dom knew the way, because we never turned, and he never slowed. None of us had said anything since the stairway. Judging by the distance we had come, there was no way we were still under the same warehouse up above. I was curious if this place connected up to the Warrens at some point, but if it did, why had we entered aboveground? We came to our first set of stairs, for all the world like what you'd see in any building, concrete with metal handrails. They even had the yellow metal gripper plates on each step so you wouldn't slip on them. My danger sense screamed at me to run up the stairs, to get out of here. The stairs seemed to be a landmark though, because immediately after them, we turned left down our first side tunnel. Not far down, we ran into a set of doors that were closed. Our first barrier, hooray. Dom pulled the handle, opening the door toward him, waving me in, to go first. It was only as I stepped through that I realized something was different. There was light ahead. Not like a small, close light. More like a well lit area farther away. I instinctively ducked and moved out of the doorway. I hadn't exactly been in many firefights, but I'd had years of practice playing first person shooters, so I was well versed in the concept of duck and cover. Not Dom though. He strode in like he owned the place. Of course, for all I knew, he did. I followed Dom down the tunnel, nervous as shit. Nervous enough that I actually turned my flashlight off, slipping it in my pocket and gripping my pistol in both hands. Between the light coming from up ahead and all the other flashlights, I didn't need mine for now. We made it perhaps halfway down from the doors we had opened, to the source of the light. It was another set of doors, but there, one of them was propped open, and the other side was well lit. We slowed as we approached, making sure our feet weren't making any more noise than absolutely necessary. I jumped as someone walked across the open doorway. I think everyone else did too, because someone's shoe squeaked on the painted concrete floor. The person in the other room stepped back, leaning in to look through the door. It sounded like a woman when they gave a yell, and I was shoved forward into a run by those behind me. The doorway ahead darkened as it was partially blocked by people, and out of nowhere, the world exploded. Thunderous roars surrounded me as gunfire erupted from both groups, the echoes off the concrete walks blurring it into a solid wall of sound. I felt like my ears burst, a fraction of a second before my right shoulder screamed in pain. My ears were ringing as I collapsed to the ground, dazed and probably in shock. I put my hand up to my right shoulder and my fingers found a wet, ragged hole in my hoodie, and when I flinched at a stinging pain in my skin, my fingers came away bloody. I was pretty sure I had just been shot! "Get up, 'partner'," Dom said as he grabbed me by my hoodie and lifted me to my feet. I was still trying to figure out how I could hear him so soon, when he spun me around to face him. "You're fine. It was only a standard bullet." "Standard, my ass!" I screamed at him. "I've been fucking shot!" But even as I said this, I poked back at the injury in my shoulder, and realized it already didn't sting as bad. Sure, it hurt like hell, but the blood was already stopping, and the skin was closing. Fuckin' hell. Looking around, I saw that one of our goons was picking himself up off the floor, and ahead, two of their people were down. But their people were down-down, because the twins were already up ahead, standing over the bad guys and scanning for more. I half walked and was half dragged by Dom as we caught up with Wren and his sister. Dom didn't seem too fussed about his goons keeping up, so I tried not to, either. "Babe, are you okay?" asked Wren. "I guess it's good I'm wearing a black hoodie," I chuckled wryly, then winced as Wren poked at the wound. Looking down at the two baddies, I asked, "Are they dead?" "No," said Erin. "Just incapacitated. The council can deal with them later, assuming we win." "Then by all means," Dom smirked, "Let's go win." Another 20 minutes of twists and turns that totally lost me, and we found ourselves in the subbasement of another building, this one well lit and filled with boilers and other machinery. The noise was loud, but not so deafening that I wished I had earplugs. It was also dirtier here, more "in use", I guess. Poking around a corner, we were treated to a scene out of a bad Batman movie. One of those neon colored ones with the Terminator playing Mr. Freeze, and the Batsuit with nipples. A half dozen teenagers, Vampyre I'm sure, stood around nervously with various guns all pointed at us, while three support girders had people tied to them with ropes. It was almost comical. Well, except for all the guns. For real, what was their plan here, and why couldn't Bai, Garrett, and a few others have dealt with this? Then I realized what was probably happening. Nobody was shooting, because Dom was here. Even a Kung Fu member like Wren might have slowed them down and made them hesitate, but I'm guessing that if Dom weren't here, there would be a gun fight. Instead, everyone knows that Dom owns Avernus, council be damned. "Well go on, 'partner'. Ask them where Beishang de Wenyi is. You took a bullet for the information. Go get it." I looked over at Dom. He was being a real dick about this, and absolutely making me earn his involvement. Fuck. Fine, I guess. I stepped forward, looking around to see if I recognized any of the people down here. I thought I recognized one of the girls from the game store, but that was it. Then I looked over the people tied up. At first I didn't see Boots, but then I saw him half hidden around one of the poles. He was bound with a pair of adults, his parents, I guessed. I thought it was probably the closest they've been in years, and tried not to smile at the stupid ass joke. "Where's Plague of Sorrows?" I asked to the group at large. I know I had to look pretty pathetic, with my scrawny ass having to be backed by Dom. Even the gun I was holding, half forgotten, didn't mean much, when everyone else had bigger guns. The whole situation was pissing me off, so I did what I always do. Something stupid. Holding out my empty left hand, I said, "Mr. Tsui, would you happen to have a blade I could borrow?" I was praying he might have a knife, or worst case, maybe he would not be too insulted by giving me his sword for a minute. Instead, he reached under his coat and pulled out an entire second sword and placed it in my outstretched hand. I looked up at him in surprise, but with a grin I swapped him for the pistol. I walked forward, seemingly ignoring all the enemies, though really I was scared shitless that I was possibly turning myself into yet another hostage. I approached the support girder that Boots and his parents were tied to, sliding the blade from it's scabbard, when Montgomery stepped out from behind it, a pistol aimed at my face. "This would have been cleaner if you had just come with me in the first place, Jason." I could see that he was trying to act arrogant, but I could also see the twitching in his hands and eyes. He was nervous, scared, regardless of how he tried to cover it. And those twitchy fingers made me all too aware of that dark barrel I was staring down. I may have survived a bullet to the shoulder, but if his finger slipped, the next one would be to the face. And who's to say he had "standard" bullets in this gun. I was happy to hear my voice didn't shake as I asked again, "Where's Plague?" "Don't worry about him," snarled Montgomery. "You can deal with me." "I'd love to say I was interested in knowing what he promised you, to make you turn on Dominic, but I'm really not. The way you act sometimes, I wouldn't be surprised if you were somehow jealous of me." "Don't think so high of yourself," Montgomery yelled at me. "I've been at Dominic's right hand for DECADES! You are NOTHING! Then a pissant like you comes in, he gives you anything at all, no matter how rude you are..." He shook his head in disbelief. "It was like, the more disrespectful you acted, the more he gave in! Pathetic!" he spat. "And then he had the balls to give you MY seat? And to trade blood with YOU?!" "You really think I wanted any of this?" I asked incredulously. "That's my fucking point! Dom's over there handing you everything that should be MINE, and you don't even WANT it?!" Now it was my turn to shake my head in disbelief. "And you somehow think this is going to get you what you want with Dom? "You'd be surprised," said Montgomery. "I've had decades to watch the most innocuous things impress him, and grab his attention. Even rugrats from fucking Alabama." "Hope it works out for you---" But before I could say more, Montgomery began to levitate, rising up higher than his already impressive height. I looked around, trying to figure out what was happening, and how everyone else was responding. Everyone was staring, with mixed looks of awe and fear, but nobody seemed to be making even the smallest move to intervene. Then I noticed the sword blade protruding inch by inch from his chest. "You disappoint me, Montgomery," came Dominic's voice from the blackness behind him. Then the darkness shifted, fluttering back like the wings of a thousand bats, yet pulling back as smoothly as curtains being drawn. Dom stepped forward, effortlessly holding his sword one handed, his former right hand man pinned and held aloft like nothing more than a skewer of meat. "I have missed your heart by an inch, my child," he said, voice laced with playfulness. It was clear he was enjoying himself. "Please do not make me regret my strike. Help me end this. Where is Beishang de Wenyi?" Montgomery twitched as he reached up, slicing his hands deep as he tried to grasp the sword blade enough to lift himself. His struggle was useless, and his mouth flapped open and closed, unable to draw breath enough to speak. I winced and stepped back in sympathetic pain, watching him destroy the flesh of his hands, grasping at the blade suspending him above the floor. "No? A pity." mocked Dominic. "My Assecla, draw your sword and finish him." I took a step even further back. "What? No! Why?" "Assecla, you declared yourself my partner. My equal. Now, when it comes to honest work, you would become complacent, leaving it all in my hands?" He stepped forward, closing the gap between us and holding Montgomery aloft as if nothing more than a grotesque flag. "Very well. I shall be kind once more, and remove this responsibility from your young shoulders." I flinched at Dom's sudden movement, and before I could register what was happening, I was showered in hot fluids, overwhelmed by the scent of coppery blood. I stepped back as several people started screaming. As I wiped the thick fluid from my eyes, I saw Dom holding each half of Montgomery above himself in each hand, blood and viscera raining down on him, his face looking up to accept the offering in ecstasy. I was stunned. I may as well have been shot again. This was the monster I was bound to? I don't think I could have asked for more proof that he wasn't human, if I had a century to think of ideas. "Was that necessary?" came a breathy, echo-y voice from a corner behind Dom, barely audible over the machinery around us. Dom turned, letting the torso of what had been Montgomery smack against the man tied next to Boots. His father, I guessed. His mom was already slumped in her ropes, passed out completely. "My apologies at having crashed your party, Wenyi," said Dom. "You have overstepped, and it is time to collect." "You would... break your oath?" "Oh, bié dòu le! Heavens, no," laughed Dom. "I could never destroy you. I vowed not to." A wall of red mist preceded Plague as he floated out of the shadows. "You will... release us? You will release... the Jiéjiè?" "I swear to all the Gods who no longer exist, that this night I will dismiss the barrier. The Jianshi of Avernus will be free to leave, and make their way to the four corners of this land." "It is good... that you have finally... come to your senses." Plague looked down at the wreckage that had been Montgomery. "It is sad... the young one... needed to be destroyed." His voice was such a weak passage of air, that it was difficult to make out all his words, even as close as I stood. Still, I was glad to hear how agreeable he was being. It was actually surreal, like there wasn't blood and gore all over the place. "Release... the innocents." But before anyone could react to Plague's order, Dom struck out lightning-fast. I jumped, and suddenly Plague's skull was on the concrete floor, pinned under Dom's boot, while the tail of his spinal cord was held in his hand, pulled tight. "Jason, it is time for you to act," said Dom. His voice was calm, but there was power and authority behind his words. "Draw the sword I gave you. Draw it now." "Your word..." whined Plague, at the same time I shouted, "What the hell?" "You didn't want to punish Montgomery, and so I took his life for you." He twisted to look at me. His eyes flashed a radiant orange glint. "But you will do this, or I will take my power from you, no matter the cost. You heard this monster. I have vowed not to destroy a Jianshi, upon pain of final death. Nevertheless, he has earned his destruction." He pointed at me with his sword, still wet with the innards of his former assistant. "You will do this, Jason. My Assecla. Draw that blade. You merely need to pierce his eye socket." I looked down at the scabbard I held, now feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. Could I do it? I knew he had to be stopped, but was this really the way? And could I be the one to do it? Dom locked me with his eyes. I felt him asserting his will, not with mesmir, just with the sheer strength of his will, and the power of a being who had lived centuries. "It is one simple thrust, Assecla," said Dom, more softly. "This is not optional." I jumped when someone brushed my elbow. It was one of the twins. I searched their eyes, and they gave me a soft, encouraging smile. This was Erin, I think. "This is going to have the backing of Si Jing Fu, Jason," she said. "It sucks, but Dominic is right. You have to do this." I looked back and could tell the other twin was Wren. He nodded sadly. I turned back to Dom, carefully drawing the sword from its scabbard. Looking past Dom, I saw Boots, twisted around in his bindings to keep track of what was happening. His eyes showed white with how wide they were. He looked at me in fear, but I could tell, it wasn't me he was afraid of. I did my best to ask for his opinion without using words. One shake of his head, and I would refuse, Dom and the whole Kung Fu be damned. Instead, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. I felt like my heart was breaking when I saw the look of hurt in his eyes. I handed the scabbard behind me, and Erin took it from me. Then I took the sword in both hands, blade down. I knew I had to pierce the skull, but I was half tempted to drive it through Dom's foot to get there. Instead, I drove it downward as intended. I didn't strike hard, or fast. But instead I struck deliberately. There was almost no resistance. For a brief moment, I worried that Dom had set me up, that nothing was going to happen. Didn't Bai say it would take a sword made of melted down coins? Who the fuck keeps one of those laying around? Suddenly, blue-white flames shot up the length of the blade, licking the metal as if a liquid. The skull began flashing with cracks of pinkish red energy. Great gouts of blood red mist vented from the length of the spine, which Dom let drop to the floor. There was a scream from our feet, but it was soft, as if echoing from the end of a long pipe. Within moments, the skull crumbled into a creamy pink powder, and I knew Beishang de Wenyi was no more. A week later, things had calmed down to whatever passed as normal for Avernus. All the mortals held in the Tombs had been forced under a pretty harsh dose of the mesmir, bullying their brains into forgetting what they witnessed that night. Unfortunately this included Boots. I tried, I really did. Dominic wouldn't bend on this. Neither would Wren, though I couldn't help but wonder how much he really wanted to fight for that. And speaking of Wren, we are kind of cool on things at the moment. I told him I needed time to sort out how I was feeling and where I thought things might stand. So much for him treating me like a casual fling. I'm pretty positive his feelings were hurt. As for Boots, his parents were a serious piece of work. Dom even jokingly offered to let his dad join mine. He said he would be doing me a favor. As much as I was tempted, I didn't think it was my call. Boots remembers us being friendly, and he still stays over at my house more than he does at his parents'. I'm afraid to push too hard, too fast. I'm afraid of what memories I might open in his head. So for now we are staying friends... with benefits! Si Jing Fu acted like this was business as usual. True to his word, Dominic dropped the barrier, the Jiéjiè, and the other Jianshi were free to leave Avernus, free to find their own ways through the United States and beyond. Zhou Hua, the woman who had been on the council, came to find me before she left. She thanked me for my part in freeing them. She promised me an oath that she owed a favor to me, should she ever find a way to repay it. To Hong Bai also sought me out. He expressed a more personal message to me, saying he regretted how much responsibility had been thrust upon me. However, he was glad that I had been able to follow through. Of course, that did not stop him from attempting to steal the sword that I had used on Plague, before slipping away from Avernus. It turned out that Dominic had had a contact make that sword for him a century and a half ago. It had been forged from more than a hundred old silver dollars, and it had been waiting for him once he returned from China. Having an impressively high silver content, and made from coins that had actually been in circulation, it was a powerful weapon against many species of Vampyre. I don't think he liked the idea of it staying in Dominic's hands. So that's it. I have two half-boyfriends, though fortunately they aren't currently fighting. Things seem to be settling down, with a few less problems. Hell, maybe now I can pass a test?