Episode 59

- Part VII

... from the Files of Hydrogen Guy

The Story So Far: Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy arrive in the Plane of Aybabtu, a lesser plane of Hell, and meet Matthias the Shepherd, and learn a few of the whys and wherefores of the place. Matt gives them some directions, and they set out on their quest. Meanwhile, Hans-Raoul follows them to the Plane of Aybabtu - along with his secretary and inter-dimensional stow-away Robyn Cheung. After a brief dispute, they likewise head for Castle Aybabtu to prepare a treacherous surprise for our heroes. Meanwhile, back in this reality, the alien threat continues...

Lunar Orbit, Day Four of the Zxanxi Crisis

Chuck War sat at the controls of the Galactic Customs transport, waiting. The upper half of the holocanopy showed a coordinate grid with various points and x's scattered across it; the lower half, showing the real-time video feed from the forward cameras, showed nothing but stars and the moon below. The x's on the coordinate display were clustered some hundred and fifty kilometers away from the circle representing the moon, showing the position of the Zxanxi pirate fleet. A small red dot showed the position of the transport.

A second red dot wove slowly through the x's, showing the position of the Justice Council's Force Ranger. He could fly through space using nothing but a mysterious Force Bubble, below the size limit of the Zxanxi radar. The Piece was out there as well, and he didn't show up on any sensor known in the Galaxy.

Chuck thumbed through a menu of computer games the transport's regular pilot kept on file. The regular pilot and certain other members of his unofficial GC support team were back on Earth, pitching in either in Melbourne or in making the superhero "fleet" space ready. He'd broken the news of his resignation from GC to them, and they hadn't batted an eye. They'd also reassured him that it would likely slip their minds during any conversations with Radar in the immediate future. He'd made it clear that they were under no obligations, but they seemed to disagree.

The secure comm light went on and he quickly closed the games menu. He flipped the switch to activate the channel.

Chuck War
Go ahead.

The Force Ranger's hard, deep voice answered back.

Force Ranger
War, this is Force Ranger.

Chuck War
How's it look?

Force Ranger
We've hand-counted 50 large warships, confirming the ground telemetry. Three smaller boats, shuttles I think, have been exchanged between the lead ship and those nearest to it.

Chuck War
Were you able to tag the lead ship?

Force Ranger
Affirmative. Piece got right up to it and slapped one of those GC tracers of yours on the hull.

Chuck War
Good job. They shouldn't find that for a while.

The Piece's voice broke in on the channel, despite the fact he wasn't wearing any radio equipment.

Piece
Guys, ship #5 just launched fighters, six of them.

Force Ranger
Roger. Let's get'em, Piece.

Chuck War
No! Belay that! Force Ranger, Piece, do not engage the Zxanxi!

Piece
Allan! Hold off! Hold --

The channel cut off. Chuck pounded on the board.

Chuck War
Piece! Force Ranger! Respond! Piece! What's happening?

As if in response, the tactical display on the canopy disappeared and was replaced by what seemed to be a direct video feed. In the center of the field was a speck he could barely make out as Force Ranger, which was slowly growing larger. He was floating in space, hurling bright white spheres of energy at a distant group of small spaceships. Chuck realized that somehow he was seeing what Piece saw.

The fighters were circling around to intercept their tiny attacker, keeping a triangular formation. Force Ranger summoned a vary large ball of energy, which shot directly into the oncoming group of fighters. They broke formation, and the ball glanced the edge of the center ship. The ship's defensive shields flared blue, went out, and then the damaged side exploded. The damaged ship careened off, dead in space.

The remaining five ships circled around Force Ranger like mad Indians in an old Western, firing continuos streams of energy at him. His protective force flickered under the barrage, but it seemed to be holding. Force Ranger reciprocated with a steady stream of energy balls of varying size, none as large as the first. Most of them hit the attackers, but none were strong enough to take out their shields in a single shot. Clearly he couldn't keep up his attack forever that way.

Piece had now gotten close enough that Chuck could see the details of the fighters clearly. Piece was clearly moving very fast now. Chuck felt like he was watching some crazy IMAX film, as the view rolled and bucked while Piece executed some fancy 3-D maneuver. Suddenly a fighter reared up on the screen large enough to read the markings on the hull; then something indescribable happened, and the ship was gone.

Chuck War
Man... I'm glad those guys are on our side...

Suddenly an alarm went off inside the transport.

Chuck War
What?!

Computer voice
INCOMING TELEPORT - SECURITY ANNULLED - INCOMING TELEPORT - SECURITY ANNULLED -...

Sneak attack! The Zxanxi knew they were there all along, and had used the fighters to distract them while they teleported a boarding party onto the transport. Chuck lunged out of the pilot's seat and grabbed his Argon Blast Cannon just as three red blurs began to materialize in the aft of the cabin. As soon as he had the gun in hand he brought it up and fired. The environmental suit of one Zxanxi exploded and the invader fell.

The two other boarders sprang away and returned fire. The party had consisted of two Zxanxi in enviro suits - they could be called humanoid, if you were sufficiently loose with the term to allow eight limbs and a tail, plus a glass-enclosed "face" that seemed all beady black eyes and mandibles. The third was a short, bulky unqualified humanoid in menacing black body armor - Bap Nerada, the bounty hunter the Golden Claw was rumoured to employ as a personal bodyguard.

Chuck tried to lead their fire away from the instrument panels, but he knew they must be taking heavy damage. The second Zxanxi carelessly left one of its sides exposed, and Chuck nailed it, leaving Neradas his only opponent. Nerada dropped his weapon and called out in a gravely, synthesized voice.

Nerada
Hold your fire.

Chuck stopped shooting, but didn't lower his cannon.

Chuck War
What do you want?

Nerada
This is a reminder. You have twenty-four hours to deliver the Crustacean to the Claw. Otherwise your planet will be sterilized for re-colonization.

Chuck War
We've been trying to tell you, the Crustacean's dead!

Nerada
That's not my concern.

Chuck War
Why does the Golden Claw want him so bad, anyway?

Nerada
That's not my concern, either. Deliver the lobster in twenty-four hours, or else.

He hit a control on the arm of his suit, and he and the two fallen Zxanxi dissolved back into a red haze.

Chuck War
Nice talking to ya.

Piece
Chuck! Respond! The fighters have pulled back, we're coming in!

Chuck slung the cannon over his shoulder and rushed back to the flight deck. There were several smoking and sparking holes in the control panels, but it looked like he's still be able to pilot the ship back.

Chuck War
Great, Flarm's gonna kill me... Piece I read you. What happened?

There was a near silent fwip behind him. Chuck whirled around, expecting another boarding party; instead it was the Piece, supporting an unconscious Force Ranger.

Piece
Hey, easy.

Chuck War
Announce yourself next time. I've had enough of people teleporting in and out of here.

Piece
I did announce myself... what happened?

Chuck War
Bap Nerada showed up with a couple goons and tried to break my kneecaps. I'll need your help putting the weapons panel back together. Is he okay?

The Piece lowered Force Ranger onto a crash couch.

Piece
He's got a couple minor burns, but I think he just over-taxed himself. We took out all but two of the fighters before they pulled back.

Force Ranger
Uhhh... War?

Chuck War
Easy, Ranger. Let me get you some water.

Force Ranger
I blacked out... that's never happened before.

Piece
You've never tried to take on six fighters single-handed before, either.

Chuck War
[hands him a cup] Next time, listen to me when I say back off, all right? That didn't have to go as well as it did.

Force Ranger
I didn't know what they were up to, I thought it could have been another attack on the Earth.

Chuck War
It was just a distraction.

Force Ranger
Huh. Lucky for them.

Chuck War
You just rest up, we have to fix this damage.

Force Ranger
What damage?

Piece
Chuck had Bap Nerada over for coffee and didn't invite us.

Chuck War
The nerve, eh? Let's make these repairs quick and get back to base. We just got a reminder that if we want to make a preemptive strike, we'd better hurry.

The Plane of Aybabtu, a quarter past Infinity

Hydrogen Guy
You know, DB, I'm starting to think that there are really two kinds of demons.

Deuterium Boy
Really.

Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy were hiking across the rolling, soul-grass covered hills. Matthias's cottage lay two hours behind them, and beyond that stretched the Desert of Discomfort. Ahead of them, unnervingly close and rising like the fingernails of some zombie leviathan digging its way out of the earth, lay the Peaks of Putrefaction, and their ultimate goal, the Castle Aybabtu, where the soul of the Crustacean did penance for its mortal crimes.

Hydrogen Guy
Yeah. First you have your traditional demon, a bestial fiend forged in a perverse mockery of man, who exists solely to corrupt, degrade, and ultimately destroy all that is good and worthwhile, and who relishes the job.

Deuterium Boy
Evil incarnate, you mean.

Hydrogen Guy
Right. The sort of nightmarish hell-beasts that those in the insurance industry look up to.

Deuterium Boy
And then...

Hydrogen Guy
And then you have guys who - despite the fact they still look like bestial fiends - are just basically average joes, who do their jobs not because they relish evil, but because they see their function as serving some kind of big picture that ultimately serves Goodness and Light, despite a few necessary detours. Guys like Matt.

Deuterium Boy
I think you're basing that on a rather small sample size.

Hydrogen Guy
Since I've seen it's possible, I've decided to keep an open mind about any demons we should meet.

Deuterium Boy
As long as you keep the Ruler and a semi-automatic handy.

They continued onwards, drawing ever closer to the jagged black peaks ahead. The oily, fetid soul-grass gradually thinned out into coarse gravel as the foothills gave way to the lower slopes of the mountain. Within a half hour they were in sight of the pass Matthias had referred to as Running Sore Pass. The terrain slowly got steeper; the temperature seemed to drop unnaturally fast, at least 5 degrees , Deuterium Boy estimated, in just a two hundred vertical meters. By the time they reached the mouth of the pass, there was a faint dusting of snow on the ground around them. They stopped to break out the Gortex, and had a look at their surroundings.

Hydrogen Guy
So where's this Joyful Ned's place supposed to be?

Deuterium Boy
That's probably it over there.

Hydrogen Guy
You mean that pile of old boards leaning against the cliff?

Deuterium Boy
Matt didn't say it was luxurious.

They headed up the gravel slope towards the old shack. As they got nearer, one of the boards swung open - apparently, it was a door - and a bent, hooded figure swathed in rags came shuffling out. The old man was leaning on a large rough iron harpoon, and was singing and chuckling to himself. He lay the harpoon aside and started picking up some of the twisted pieces of wood that that were piled around the front of the shack.

Hydrogen Guy
Hello! Excuse me, are you Joyful Ned?

The old man dropped his bundle of sticks and quit singing. He grabbed the harpoon and turned to face them, throwing back his hood. Instead of a head, he had a large, scaly green fish's tail sprouting between his shoulders. Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium stopped in horror.

Joyful Ned
Who's there? Who are ye and why do ye wanna know?

Hydrogen Guy
Ah... ba...

Deuterium Boy
We heard we could rent some llamas from you.

Joyful Ned
I ain't got no llamas. I gots the Alpacas of Heresy! The Llamas of Leprosy are two doors down past the post office!

Hydrogen Guy looked around in confusion. The loose collection of junk wood was the only structure in sight.

Deuterium Boy
We'll rent a couple of those, then.

Hydrogen Guy
[whispering] What post office?

Joyful Ned
Oh ye will, will ye?

The fish tail nodded. The fins seemed to quiver, but they couldn't tell what Ned was speaking with.

Joyful Ned
Are ye willing to pay the price?

Hydrogen Guy
That depends on what you're asking.

Joyful Ned
Arsking? Arsking's the right word...

He lowered the harpoon, and used it like a cane to hobble forward. Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy met him halfway, consciously trying not to get any closer than necessary.

Joyful Ned
What be yer names, boys?

Hydrogen Guy
Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy.

Joyful Ned
[to DB] And what about yeu?

Deuterium Boy
Uh... Deuterium Boy.

Joyful Ned
Don't that get confusing?

Hydrogen Guy
No, see he's --

Deuterium Boy
How much for the Alpacas?

Joyful Ned
Aye. Ye know, I don't take gold or money. Nor credit cards. Especially not American Express.

Hydrogen Guy
That's fine with us.

Joyful Ned
I will arsk ye a question. If ye answer in trooth, I'll let ye have the llamas. If ye don't, I'll rend ye from crotch to chin and collect yer immortal souls.

He waved the harpoon menacingly, and they jumped back

Hydrogen Guy
Stiff terms.

Deuterium Boy
Maybe we should try the llama place...

Joyful Ned
Ehh, be off with ye then, and good riddance.

Hydrogen Guy
Wait, wait, hang on, no need to be hasty. Okay, ask your question.

Joyful Ned
That's more like it. Now, here's a riddle for ye... *ahem*

A young man made for the corner where he knew
she was standing; with his own hands
he whipped up her dress, and under her girdle
as she stood there, thrust something stiff,
worked his will; they both shook.
This fellow quickened: one moment he was
forceful, a first-rate servant, so strenuous
that the next he was knackered, quite
blown by his exertion. Beneath the girdle
a thing began to grow that upstanding men
often think of tenderly... Now tell me what the lad was doing!

Hydrogen Guy
Churning butter.

Joyful Ned
Ahhhgh! No fair, ye heard that one already!

Hydrogen Guy
Come on, everybody's heard that one before. It's over nine hundred years old.

Deuterium Boy
[muttering] I've never heard it called that before...

Joyful Ned
I call a do-over!

Hydrogen Guy
No do-overs!

Hydrogen Guy drew his automatic pistol and pointed it at the creature's ventral fin.

Hydrogen Guy
Look, Joyful, I hate to be rude, and generally I'm a hundred percent against both armed robbery and shooting unspeakable horrors armed only with medieval weaponry, but the lives of six billion people may well depend on this quest of ours. So I'll make an exception. The alpacas, please.

A bolt of lightning shot out from the tip of the harpoon and struck the gun, blasting it out of Hydrogen Guy's hand.

Hydrogen Guy
AAAH! Oooh, ooh, ow... Okay, okay, my fault. I stepped over the line, I apologize. Go ahead with the do-over.

Joyful Ned
Glad to hear ye listen to reason. Now -- what is the --

Deuterium Boy
And nothing about sparrows, please.

Joyful Ned
Ah. All right then, have it yer way. Each of ye must tell me two lies... first, the biggest lie ye've told another... second... the biggest lie ye've told yerself.

They stared at him in silence. An antarctic-calibre wind whistled down threw the pass.

Deuterium Boy
Ah...

Hydrogen Guy
Er...

Joyful Ned
Hurry up with it. I have to bring the sticks in for the winter, and if ye don't make it quick I may gut ye regardless.

They shut their mouths. Each stared at their feet in uffish thought.

Joyful Ned
Ain't easy, is it? Never easy admitting a great lie, especially in front of the one ye may have told it to! Even harder is admitting to the lies ye tell yerself... some men can't even tell what those ones are...

Hydrogen Guy
All right... just for the sake of wrapping up this psychologically painful moment, I'll go first.

Joyful Ned
Keep in mind, I can know yer thoughts... I'll know if yer lyin' to me, or even still to yerself.

Hydrogen Guy
Fine... The biggest lie I ever told another... was I once told someone I loved her when I knew I didn't.

Joyful Ned
And to yerself?

Hydrogen Guy
I told myself the same thing.

Joyful Ned studied him carefully, then nodded.

Joyful Ned
Aye. That'll do.

He struck the ground next to him with the tip of the harpoon. There was a burst of smoke, and tall, shaggy black creature in a saddle and bridle appears.

Joyful Ned
Now... one more.

Deuterium Boy
All right... the biggest lie I've ever told another was, obviously , hiding the fact I was spying on you for CSIS.

Hydrogen Guy
You bet your ass, it was.

Joyful Ned
Hush up!

Deuterium Boy
And the biggest lie I told myself... was that I didn't have any choice in the matter.

Joyful Ned apprised him. He paused a moment, fingering the harpoon. Finally, the fish-tail nodded.

Joyful Ned
Aye. Ye've both spoken the trooth.

He struck the ground with the harpoon again, and a second black alpaca appeared next to the first.

Joyful Ned
There's yer mounts. Yeu yobs can ride? Well enough? Fine then. Hydrogen, yer mount answers to Simon Magus, and Deuterium, yers is called Cain.

Hydrogen Guy
How sweet, biblical names!

The door to the shack banged open, and a bent old crone hobbled out. Like Ned, she had a fish-tail instead of a head.

Ned's Wife
EDWARD! Ye stinkin' hound, get moving! I'm waiting for those sticks, ye thrice-damned son of the Abyss!

Joyful Ned
I'M COMING, ye miserable wench! I gots business to finish up here! Miserable old fish-wife... [to HG and DB] Off with ye. When ye're ready to return the beasts, speak their names backwards.

Leaning on the harpoon, he turned and shuffled back to the house, exchanging insults with his wife the whole time. Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy shifted their backpacks to the alpacas, and saddled up. After a brief period of tottering accompanied by bad tempered snorts from the Alpacas of Heresy, they set out from the shack and into the pass.

Hydrogen Guy
Well, that was easy enough.

Deuterium Boy
You're joking.

Hydrogen Guy
It's called sarcasm, son, get used to it.

Deuterium Boy
Your hand okay?

Hydrogen Guy
What? Oh, you mean the lightning bolt. Yeah, it's fine, just a bit of a shock. I have a feeling my butt's going to hurt in a few hours, though. These things need to get their shocks replaced.

Deuterium Boy
Please, don't talk about your butt hurting. Remember where we're headed.

Hydrogen Guy
Oh, the Valley of Anal Rape. Right.

They rode along in silence for a while, climbing further into the pass. The alpacas loped along at a steady pace.

Hydrogen Guy
So, you had a choice, huh?

Deuterium Boy
Yeah, I could've gone to Turkey. I guess that would have been the honourable thing to do, but it was easy enough to convince myself I didn't have to.

Hydrogen Guy
Well, it wasn't much of a choice. I can't really say I blame you. No worries, DB. Heavy water under the bridge.

Deuterium Boy
You wanna talk about yours?

Hydrogen Guy
No. Not here. Maybe not in this lifetime.

Deuterium Boy
Fair enough. No need to make the trip any more Hellish than necessary.

Hydrogen Guy
[pause] Hey, wanna sing "99 Tall Cappuccinos on the Wall"?

Deuterium Boy
I just said, there's no need to make the trip any more Hellish.

Hydrogen Guy
Okay, okay...

The Gates of the Castle Aybabtu loomed above the path. Frequent flashes of lightning illuminated its grotesque gothic design. Next to the gate, a gleaming brass plaque read "Please Deposit All Hope In the Receptacles Provided".

Hans-Raoul paused in front of the Gate and straightened his tie. Robyn Cheung took a compact from her pocket and checked her hair and make-up. A bit mussed from the trip in, but how fussy is a demon going to be, anyway? She shut the compact with a click and slipped it back in her pocket.

Robyn
So what do we do, my Lord, knock?

Hans-Raoul
Usually --

There was a deafening clank, and then the gates slowly creaked open. Beyond a narrow bridge led over a gaping chasm about a hundred feet to the Castle entrance, which likewise stood open.

Hans-Raoul
As I was about to say, usually getting in isn't the problem, it's getting out.

Robyn
Great. You really know how to show a girl a good time, you know that?

Hans-Raoul
Zip it. Don't speak until spoken to, and then only if I say it's okay. Let's go.

They stepped through the Gates and started across the bridge. Hans-Raoul didn't bother looking down. Robyn did, briefly, and instantly wished she hadn't.

Inside the castle, they were first presented with a large circular foyer. Rough-hewn stone steps led both up and down on either side, and in between at the very back of the room was a huge stone block. The top was stained indelibly by some long-dried fluid - blood, probably, thought Hans-Raoul. Sitting on a stool behind the block and using it as a desk was a pink demon with nobbly skin. It had no actual body, but appeared to be the misshapen head of a balding, middle-aged man, attached directly to a single large, ugly leg. The thing's skin was covered by a continually dripping film of mucus.

Robyn
Ugly points for that one...

Porter
'Allo, 'allo.

Hans-Raoul
Good day. I am Lord Hans-Raoul of Dan. I have come to see His Malfeasance, Lord Aybabtu the Wingless.

Porter
Sorry, mate, think you lot want to be in Receiving. Not that anyone wants to be there, of course, but y'take my meaning, I'm sure.

Hans-Raoul
You misunderstand. I'm not one of the wretched chattel under His Malfeasance's eternal yoke. I am Lord Hans-Raoul, of Dan. A Vallene Lord.

Porter
Ah. Mmmm. Sorry, sir, don't think we were expecting any Vallene visitors.

Hans-Raoul
I wouldn't expect so. I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in.

Porter
Quite kind of you, I'm sure, sir. Gennerly 'Is Malfeasance doesn't like to be disturbed unexpectedly, you understand, sir.

Hans-Raoul
I'm sure he'd make an exception in my case.

Porter
I wouldn't like to take the chance, sir. More than my job's worth, I'm sure. 'Is Malfeasance doesn't take to the staff breaching protocol, if you understand, sir. 'E'd most likely be wanting to devour me for that, sir, grind me between 'is teeth, swallow my still writhing flesh, and digest me over the next thousand years. Not something I'm too keen on, to be 'onest.

Hans-Raoul
I sympathize, porter, but let me put it this way - I don't care, and if you don't bring us to Aybabtu immediately I'll tear your disgusting corpse apart with my bare hands and throw you into the pit outside. Take your choice.

Porter
Er.. ah. Well, I suppose if you put it that way, sir, we'll see about getting you a pass.

Hans-Raoul
Thank you.

A frog-like tongue shot out from the porter's mouth and picked a red cardboard binder from the case behind him. Hans-Raoul and Robyn signed the register, and the porter handed each of them a laminated visitor's badge the same way. Finally, he flicked the gong hanging behind him with his tongue, making it ring out. A squat little creature shaped like a mushroom on cockroach legs scuttled over from nowhere.

Porter
Nicky 'ere will show you the way, sir. I advise not to wander off, there's plenty of nasty surprises in the Castle.

Hans-Raoul
Thank you, porter, we won't.

The squat thing skittered up the left hand staircase, its legs clicking on the stone floor. Hans-Raoul and Robyn followed it.

Hans-Raoul
You seem to be taking all of this rather stoically.

Robyn
Actually, I'm grossed out beyond belief. But I find once you accept the fact that you're in Hell, nothing's really that shocking.

Hans-Raoul
The day is young.

Their guide lead them through a maze of passages, up and down staircases, through curving halls that seemed to double back repeatedly, until Robyn was sure they were hopelessly lost. Exactly, she thought, what the little shit was probably trying to do. Finally they entered a long, straight hallway with a single door at the end. The creature led them straight to the door, and then disappeared through a small hatch at the foot of the door. They waited expectantly for a second, then there was a click, and the door swung open. Hans-Raoul led the way inside.

They walked into a vast cavern of a room. It was completely windowless, lit only by sporadically scattered torches. Long red banners were draped along the walls, and the squat creature led them through one of these. At the far side of the room was a golden throne, and sitting on the throne was an enormous, stinking, rumbling, tragically naked, oily-grey-skinned arch-demon.

On its head were a half-dozen horns, each encrusted with a noxious looking substance. Its eyes burned like a pair of cigar butts. Its grotesquely-muscled arms were as thick as traffic poles, and any comparison of its chest to a barrel would be laughably inadequate. But the real horror began below its belly. The creature did not, as was mentioned, seem to believe in clothing. Where a particular appendage hung on a normal male, the demon had the front 18 inches of a venomous cobra. Emerging just below its knees were the heads of two large, mangy-looking hawks, which gleamed hungrily at the visitors.

The squat guide led them to the centre of the room and stopped. In a surprisingly basso profundo voice, it announced "Lord Hans-Raoul, Vallene Lord of Dan", and withdrew. Robyn looked very pale and tried to keep behind Hans-Raoul.

Hans-Raoul bowed deeply.

Hans-Raoul
Lord Aybabtu, Majuscule of the Unrelieved. Your Malfeasance.

Aybabtu nodded.

Aybabtu
Hans-Raoul. You do my Castle honour with your presence.

Hans-Raoul
I am honoured to be received so generously, my Lord.

Aybabtu
Tell me your business, Vallene.

Hans-Raoul paused to choose his words.

Hans-Raoul
I have come to present you both with a boon, and a request, O Wingless Terror. Recently arrived in your Realm are two heroes from the Universe I have claimed as my own, called Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy. I believe they are on their way to the Castle Aybabtu at this moment.

Aybabtu
I have been made aware of their presence.

Hans-Raoul
I have sought to destroy these two for some time, Your Malfeasance - they are powerful champions of the Light on their homeworld.

Aybabtu
They are now mine.

Hans-Raoul
As they rightfully became when they entered your Realm. All I would ask, My Lord, is that you have your Unholy Forces prevent them from leaving your Realm with all diligence --

Aybabtu
And?

Hans-Raoul
-- and that I be present when the torment of their souls begin.

The arch-demon bared its fangs in what Hans-Raoul chose to interpret as a grin. Hans-Raoul was unnerved, and trying not to show it. Let it think I'm as foul as itself, he thought, I just need to know they're dead. I can take this demon if I need to. I just hope I won't need to...

Aybabtu
Be assured, Vallene, that the mortals will not escape here with the soul of the Crustacean. But first -- I am afraid I will have to check with my manager.

Hans-Raoul
Your... manager?

The shadows behind the throne slowly swelled, creeping around the sides of the room. Hans-Raoul broke out in a sweat, and Robyn clutched his jacket again in panic.

Aybabtu
The Dark One is pleased to have both the two Elementals and their Vallene foe delivered into His Hands. You will witness the torment of Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy, Hans-Raoul, son of Ziphael, and Robyn, daughter of Mae -- at their side.

The shadows enveloped the torches and extinguished. Hans-Raoul started to scream in protest, but then shadow overwhelmed him as well, and all was in Darkness.

The Golden Claw continues...