Infernal Unity

It's me, Amy. Estren's been doing nothing but meditate since Al and I got here. Eventually, I kind of got sick of it.

“Damn it!” I snapped. “Are you two ever gonna do any actual training!? Silvermist and Dawson could be here any day now!”

“Minute,” Estren said.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“They'll be here soon,” he said.

“What!?” I said. “And you two haven't prepared at all!?”

“They have,” Al interrupted. “They've been training this whole time.”

“All they've done is sit there!” I said.

“We've realized that we can't beat them with strength alone,” Estren said. “That's why we've been working on a different tactic. We should be ready by the time they get here.”

“But-” I started to say.

“Enough,” Al said, interrupting me yet again.

“So, you have something you wanna ask me too, right Al?” Estren said.

“Not you,” He said. “But there is something I'd like to know from HELLFIRE.”

“And what would that be?” HELLFIRE asked.

“What's the deal between you and Silvermist,” he asked.

“What?” HELLFIRE asked.

“This is a personal thing isn't it?” Al asked. “What exactly happened between you two?”

HELLFIRE sighed before speaking again.

“Silvermist is, in a manner of speaking, my daughter,” He said.

“What?” Al asked.

“A long time ago, the Brute was on the verge of being revived,” HELLFIRE said. “I stood in its way. In order to give myself an edge, I broke off a piece of myself to fight with me. That piece was Silvermist. She helped me to stop the Brute's revival, but then she betrayed me by trapping me in the Grove Of Fetters, leaving me there to die.”

“How did you escape?” I asked.

“I had to do something drastic,” he said. “Something most of the other Fears have always hated me for.”

“And what would that be?” Al asked.

HELLFIRE raised one of Estren's hands, which burst into flames.

“I stole the Burning Bride's power,” he said.

“How?” I asked.

“That's not important,” HELLFIRE. “All that matters is that I've been on her bad side ever since. Now, you two should probably find cover. They'll be here right about...”

He turned away from us, throwing a fireball at one of the burned buildings, blowing it to pieces. Bill Dawson darted from the rubble at alarming speed, swinging a sword of ice at Estren.

“...Now,” Estren finished, drawing his cutlass and shattering Dawson's sword with a single slash, before kicking him away. Dawson landed a few feet a away and stood up to face Estren.

“I see you've improved a bit,” he said. Or maybe it was Silvermist talking. It's not as easy to tell as it is with Estren and HELLFIRE.

“A bit would be an understatement,” Estren said, removing his mask, which morphed into an ivory colored gauntlet on his left forearm.

“That can't be!” Al said, shocked.

“What is it?” I asked.

“That's an upgraded shield form!” he said. “Only four people have ever been able to use that!”

A large, transparent disk was projected from the gauntlet, displaying the symbols of the four card suites.

“Ready for this?” he asked. “You bet,” Dawson said, hungrily

They charged at each other. Dawson summoned a blade of ice in each hand and slashed wildly at Estren, who blocked the attacks with his shield before striking back with his own sword. Dawson was able to block pretty easily. Estren began teleporting all over the battlefield, trying to get the jump on Dawson. This seemed to get on his nerves. Eventually, Dawson found an opening, and turned one of his swords into a giant hammer, which he swung hard, hitting Estren in the chest and sending him flying into a burnt house. He then opened his mouth and let out a massive, thick cone of mist, freezing the entire house in a block of ice.

“Shit!” Al exclaimed.

“Looks like I win,” Dawson said. “Now...”

He turned and glared at Al.

“You carry a shard as well, right?” he asked. “Well, I think I'll devour yours first!”

Dawson charged at Al and attacked him. Al teleported behind him and tried to stab with his tanto, but Dawson turned quickly and caught him in the ribs with his hammer, knocking him to the ground.

“Is that the best you've got, Ace?” Dawson asked. “I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than your pathetic brother did.”

Al tried to say something, but he was too damaged to form the words.

“What was that?” Dawson said. “You have something you wanna say to me?”

“K... ki...” Al panted.

“Come on, out with it!” Dawson said, stomping on Al's chest. “Speak!”

“KILL!!!” Al shouted.

He suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Dawson, swinging his sword wildly. Dawson deflected all of his attacks and then engulfed him in a stream of mist which froze most of his body.

“K-ki-kill!” Al stuttered through the cold.

“Ah, yes, Killer,” Dawson said. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was Silvermist this time. “Been a while. I look forward to consuming you. But first, I have one more person to finish off.”

Dawson turned to me next, and started walking toward me slowing. I drew a gun from my belt, although I didn't think it would do much good. However, before Dawson could get close to me, the house that Estren had crashed into earlier exploded. Dawson stopped in his tracks and we both turned to look. Estren was walking toward Dawson. But he had changed. His red jacket now had black flame markings, as did his sword and gauntlet, and his hair was now longer and with red highlights. As he got closer, I could see his eyes. Their pupils were slit-like, with red outlines.

“Well, this is new,” Dawson/Silvermist said. “So which one are you? Estren or HELLFIRE?”

“Both,” he replied calmly.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Dawson asked.

“Unity,” he said simply.

“That's impossible!” Silvermist (I think) snapped. “No Dying Man shard has ever accomplished that!”

“There's a first time for everything,” he said. “But of course, HELLFIRE's no normal Dying Man shard, and Estren's no normal human. That's why we were able to unite like this. Allow us to introduce ourselves properly. We are Infernal!”

Infernal vanished in an explosion of both fire and lightning, which threw Dawson backwards. He reappeared right next to Al and placed a hand upon the ice which shattered instantly. Al slumped to the ground, and seemed to have regain control over Killer.

“You okay?” Infernal asked.

“I've been better,” Al said. “But I'll live.”

“Good,” Infernal said.

“Bastard!” Dawson exclaimed, getting to his feet and summoning a giant blade of ice.

He charged at Infernal angrily, raising the blade above his head. Infernal raised his hand and shot a blast of... something... at Dawson. I don't know if it was fir or lightning or some weird fusion of the two, but whatever it was sent him flying backwards, crashing into the sand several yards away. Infernal then teleported right above him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air.

“Don't do this!” Dawson begged, terrified. “I still need her power!”

“Sorry, but no,” Infernal said.

With a single motion, he ripped Silvermist out of Dawson's soul, allowing him to fall to the ground. He had dragged her into the real world, and had her by the throat. She was terrifying. I had read about her on Malkator's blog before. He described her as a woman made of ice. But she was so much more horrifying in person. But worse than her appearance was her aura. I could feel her fear, her anger towards Infernal.

“You'll pay!” she screamed. “You'll pay dearly for all of this!”

“I doubt it,” Infernal said.

She cried out in horror as she dissolved, and was absorbed into him. He then turned to Dawson, who was looking up at him in horror. He crawled back, trying to escape, but he wasn't nearly fast enough.

“Drown in the river of death!” Infernal shouted, kicking Dawson into the River, where he was immediately swept away by the raging current.

Infernal turned back to face me and Al, and the flame markings vanished from his clothing. His hair became black again, and his eyes returned to normal.

“Are... are you back to normal now?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “HELLFIRE and I have separated again.”

“That was incredible!” I said. “So you two can fuse together to become that powerful Infernal thing whenever you want?”

“No,” he replied.

“What?” I asked.

“I don't think so, anyway,” he said. “This is the Dying Man's domain, so being here helps to improve my bond with HELLFIRE. I don't think union will work anywhere else.”

“Oh,” I said.

“So about your shield,” Al said. “How was it upgraded?”

“It happened when my mask was recalibrated,” Estren said. “I'm not sure why, but whoever did that modified the task that allows the mask to enter shield form.”

“The only people who could've modified your mask like that are the Jokers,” Al said

“I think the Red Joker all ready said that she didn't hack your mask,” I said.

“So that leaves Abdalin,” Al said.

“Whatever,” Estren said, putting his mask back on and turning away from us. “I don't really care.”

“Where are you going?” Al asked.

“Where do you think?” Estren replied. “I'm going back to the human world to relax. You two coming or what?”

“I guess so,” Al said.

“I have no where else to go,” I said.

So yeah, that's what happened. Estren said he has no interest in the blog anymore, so I'm having to type this out. I guess... this is our last post. So... good bye, readers. Have fun. Peace out.

---Amy