Puppy Dog

I've been out for a little over a week now, and I apologize for that. Some crazy shit happened, but when does it not? It all started while I was out walking to the mall with Kyle and Seraph. I had gathered some information on the Fears activity from the runners, but not enough. I had taken to wandering the city in hopes of bumping into something. Anyway, I was walking next to Seraph, with Kyle walking a few paces behind us. I kept looking to the sides occasionally, keeping an eye on our surroundings. It was silent for a while, before Seraph spoke to me.
“Why are you scared?” she asked.
“I'm not scared,” I replied. “A bit paranoid, yes, but I figure that should be understandable.”
“I wasn't referring to the frequent glances in every direction,” she said. “I was talking about you and me.”
“Wha?” I asked, a little dumbfounded.
“Whenever we're together, you act distant,” she said. “Hesitant. Why? Is it me?”
“What?” I said. “I'm not afraid of you.”
Which is rue. Yes, she's an ex-servant. Yes, she is a scaly snake girl. But I've never been afraid of her.
“Then what are you afraid of?” she asked, stopping me. “Something's bothering you, and I want to know what it is.”
I didn't say anything for a few seconds.
“Daniel?” she asked firmly. “What is it?”
“It's nothing,” I said, sighing. “Don't worry about it.”
“Daniel,” she said sternly. She had on an “I'm about to give you such a scolding” expression.
“Um, guys?” Kyle said. “I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, but have you noticed that-?”
“We're being followed?” Seraph finished for him.
“For at least two miles now,” I said, giving a slight nod. See, there's a reason I was paying so much attention to our surroundings. There were eyes in the bushes and trees, watching us as we walked.
“Okay, good,” Kyle said. “So I'm not crazy. So what's our course of action?”
“Same as I usually do things,” I said.
“Wait for them to make a move?” Seraph asked.
I nodded.
“Then get your Nightwing on?” Kyle continued.
“No,” I said. “This time it's Deadpool. I'm getting my Deadpool on.”
“You could never be Deadpool,” Seraph said, cracking a mocking grin.
“Yes I could!” I insisted. “I could totally be Deadpool!”
“Let's face it Daniel,” Kyle said. “Deadpool is more badass then you'll ever be.”
“Shut up!” I said.
“Seriously, though,” Seraph said. “It looks like trouble's about to start.”
She gestured behind me and I turned slightly. There, emerging from the shadows across the street, was Mute. That technopath I fought earlier.
“Mute,” I muttered.
“You mean the Technopath you fought earlier?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, him,” I replied.
I turned to look down the street behind us, and before I knew it, a snide grin was creeping across my face. Another familiar figure was approaching us.
“Puppy Dog,” I said, letting out a chuckle.
“Um, Daniel?” Seraph asked, but I wasn't paying attention anymore.
I summoned my sheathed sword to my hand and began approaching him as well. He was a tall man, a couple inches above 6 feet if I had to guess, but I'm pretty sure he's at least a couple years younger than I am. He was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, with the twin triangles, the symbol of the Archangel painted across the chest. He had dark hair that was died gray in the front, and his eyes were a bright blue. He had some stubble on his square chin, and he was decently muscular in stature. Across his back he had a sword, and in his right hand he carried a metal baseball bat. He had a combat knife clipped to his belt, and a sawed-off shotgun was holstered on one thigh, with a bayonet on his other thigh.
I was somewhat acquainted with this man. I don't remember our first fight very well, which I'm pretty sure is do to some mental manipulation. I know that I woke up afterwards in a church, having taken a beating. A series of burned cuts, arranged in the shape of the twin triangles, had been etched over my heart by this guy. Although I recovered from the other wounds he inflicted, those scars still remain. And when we met again, I made sure to give him a good ass-whooping.
We now stood a few feet apart from each other.
“Devil Killer,” he said, a little spitefully.
“Puppy Dog,” I said, returning the greeting.
Okay, I don't think that's his real name, but that's what I decided to call him, and he hasn't corrected me yet, so whatever.
“Daniel!” Kyle called to me. I turned to look at him and Seraph. Mute was standing a bit away from them, but he didn't seem hostile at the moment.
“You should be good,” I said. “It's me they want.”
As I said that, I looked into Seraph's eyes, tilted my head a bit, and twitched my cheek. She returned the signal. I was confident that they wouldn't get harmed, but I had given them warning to not take any chances and to make a break for it if things went downhill, and in the worst case scenario, to fight back. Seraph's more than just a pretty face. She's an ex-servant. She could hold her own if she had too. And Kyle had practiced a bit too.
“So, we doin' this or what?” I asked, turning back to Puppy Dog.
Instead of answering, he gripped his bat with both hands and entered a fighting stance. Then we attacked each other. I didn't unsheathe my sword at first. Instead, I kept it in my off hand and used it to deflect his first few attacks. Then I forced his weapon aside and punched him in the face. Then I gripped the hilt of my sword and swung it, still in its sheath, at him. He parried, and tried to hit me again. I dropped my weight quickly, so his attack passed over my head, and I smacked my sheathed sword into his knee. Then I shot back up, shouting “Dragon style, bitch!” and smacked him in the jaw with the sword's hilt. Then I spun around and swung my sheathed sword at him, but he managed to block that one. He drew back his bat, preparing to swing it. As he did, I slid into a stance, gripping my sword's sheath in my off hand, and the hilt in my main hand, and I proceeded to get my Virgil on. I've been practicing Iaijutsu a bit, and I've gotten fairly decent at it. As his bat came at me, I quickly drew the sword and slashed with it in one fluid motion, hitting his attacking hand and knocking the bat out of it. He stumbled back a bit, clutching his hand. I hadn't cut his flesh, but I still hurt him by doing that.
“So?” I asked, raising my sword. “You gonna stop holding back?”
“That depends,” he said, drawing his sword. “Are you?”
The sword this guy uses is a khopesh. It's an Egyptian bade, and is basically the closest you can get to wielding an ax without actually wielding an ax. The uniquely curved blade gives it a lot of an axes power without sacrificing the light weight of a sword.
We started swinging our swords at each other, repeatedly parrying each other's blows. It went on for a while before we somehow managed to disarm each other. I willed my sword to return to me, and it reappeared in my hand. I raised it to Puppy Dog's throat, then I heard something hit the ground over by the others. I turned my head to see that Mute had let his heavy coat fall to the ground to expose his gear, and he had extended his claws. He seemed ready to fire them at me, but he didn't get a chance. Seraph was on him too quickly. I don't get to see her fight much. It's a little scary when she does. She had him pinned to the ground in moments. I heard Puppy Dog moving, so I turned my attention back to him. He had drawn his shotgun and was about to take aim. I swung my sword at his shotgun, keeping it away from me. He pulled the trigger as I did, and a spray of shrapnel burst from one of the barrels. I had pushed the gun away just in time, so most of it hit the ground beside me, with a few fragments grazing my leg. He drew his bayonet and tried to slash at me with it, but I blocked with my sheath and kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him down. I returned my sword to its sheath and drew my own gun. As I did, he hooked the bayonet to the end of his shotgun and stood back up. We stood there for a second with our guns aimed at each other. We both froze, as a new presence filled the air.
Ten figures in dark clothes surrounded us. I didn't get a good look at all of them, but I could feel them.
Back when I had powers, I had a really strong sixth sense that came with them. I no longer had that sixth sense. Or, at least, it wasn't as strong any more, so I can't sense the Fears like I used to. But these people... The felt like a being I hadn't seen in over a year. A being that was supposed to be dead.
They felt just like the Archangel.
And they were standing in a circle around my friends and I. I had to act quickly. I threw myself to one side and fired my gun to the side of Puppy Dog's face, intentionally missing him. That had the effect I had hoped for; he was startled so badly he accidentally shot off (tee-hee) the other barrel of his shotgun into the empty space I had just been, rendering his weapon empty. It would take him a bit of time to reload. I quickly slid my gun across the ground over to Kyle, who dashed to pick it up, then I called Seraph's name and threw her my sword. Now they were at least armed. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out my brass knuckles, which I slipped onto my left hand. I then flipped open my new knife. I turned to keep my eyes on Puppy Dog while addressing the new-comers.
“Who the hell are you guys?” I demanded.
“Do not mind us,” Said a man, who I'm guessing was the leader. “My name is Adon, and we are the Apostles.”
“Apostles, huh” I said. “Never heard of you.”
Which isn't completely true. I had seen an Apostle Yu-Gi-Oh card once, but that's a story I don't care much for telling.
“That is how we prefer it,” Adon replied.
“We're a bit of a covert group,” another Apostle said.
“Even the Archive has little knowledge of us,” said another.
“So why make yourselves known now?” I asked.
“Ugh,” Puppy Dog sighed. “Because you forced their hand, you ass!”
“Hey, dude,” I said. “Language.”
Puppy Dog turned to address the Apostles.
“Stay back!” he demanded. Then he turned to me, allowing his shotgun to fall to the ground. He drew his knife, holding it in a reverse-grip before him. “He's mine.”
There was something off about the way he said that. Like something in the air shifted as he did. Something that made me wanna fight just as much as he did.
“Of course,” Adon said. “For now, we are just spectating.”
“But if you screw up, we'll kill him for you!” said a rather enthusiastic woman in the group.
“Please calm yourself, Lasciel,” Another man said. “The boy has got this.”
Okay, I know for a fact I've heard that guy's voice before. There was some strange power behind it.
Puppy Dog and I faced each other, and the fight continued. Now, there's a pretty big difference between sword fights and knife fights. You see, swords are big. Even shortswords are relatively large in comparison to daggers. Because of this, the can be countered easily if you know what you're doing. Knives are small. Which means you can't parry them nearly as easily. Additionally, their light weight makes them faster and easier to maneuver. Knife fights end quickly, because blocking them is hard as hell. Someone usually lands a finishing cut or stab pretty quickly.
We went at it, and we both got slashes in at each other's arms and chests, but the fight ended when I managed to plunge my own knife into his side. He cried out in pain, and I slammed my knuckles into his chin, knocking him out. I don't think the stab was a fatal one, but the blow to the jaw would keep him down for a while. The key to winning any fight is to be more aggressive then the other guy. It worked for me this time.
I took a few steps back and caught my breath. Adon nodded to one of the other Apostles, who stepped forward and knelt over Puppy Dog. He took a damp clothe and used it to apply pressure to his wound. Then, he slit his own thumb on Puppy Dog's knife and let a few drops of his blood drip into Puppy Dog's mouth.
I approached Adon, and as I did, I reached into my sock and drew the derringer I had tucked in there. None of the Apostles moved as I did. I stood a few feet away from Adon, and I took note of a few things. First of all, he had a large, curvy sword across his back. It gave off a sinister feeling that I've encountered before in three other swords. Well, technically two. Time travel shenanigans and whatnot. Secondly, he had a pendant in the shape of the twin triangles around his neck. Third, he wasn't breathing. At all. Fucking weird...
I shrugged all that off and looked Adon in the eyes.
“Look,” I said. “I don't want things to get any more violent then they already are. I'm sorry about what happened with the Archangel, but you have to understand that he was a monster. He attacked my friends. And my family. I did what I did to protect them.” I clutched the handle of my derringer. I had a feeling this speech would fall on deaf ears. “Are you really going to condemn me for that?”
Adon remained quiet for a moment, before turning to one of the Apostles, the one who I've heard speak before.
“Matthew,” he said. “If you will.”
The man nodded, then turned to me.
“Drop your knife, and your knuckles,” he said, that same power in his voice.
I did. The knife and brass knuckles clattered to the ground.
“Daniel!” Kyle said.
“Don't listen to him!” Seraph cried out.
“Tune them out,” Matthew said.
They continued to call out to me, but all I heard was dim background noise.
“Now, I want you to raise that gun to your temple,” Matthew continued.
I slowly did, and the background noise of my friends grew louder, more urgent. I tried to listen, but something wouldn't let me. I couldn't make out what was being said to me. Suddenly, I felt the familiar wooden sheath of my sword in my free hand, and I gripped it. I hadn't summoned it, but sometimes it acts on its own.
“Drop that sword,” Matthew said. “Now.”
I couldn't. My hand just gripped it tighter, rebelling against the order.
“Very well,” Matthew said. “In that case, pull the trigger.”
My index finger found the trigger. The sounds my friends were making were louder then ever, but I still couldn't quite make them out. I started to gently squeeze.
“Master. Your will is stronger then this.”
A single voice had broken through. I looked past Adon, and saw it there. A muscular, spectral being. It's form was blurred, and difficult to make out, but the glowing red eyes were clear as day. I could see them in impossible detail, despite the being's distance from me. It was the spirit of my sword. I had heard its voice a few times, but I had only seen it once, right before I killed Red Daniel. Now I saw it again, and common sense suddenly screamed “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT GUN TO YOUR HEAD!!!”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Adon. These motherfuckers were brainwashing me! Oh, hell no.
Adon's eyes widened in shock as I turned my gun to him.
“Embrace whatever's left of your master!” I hissed.
I pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit him right in the forehead. His head snapped back, but to my surprise, he didn't go down. His pendant began glowing with a red light, which began to crawl over his body. He turned his head back up to face me, and the bullet wound closed up instantly. The red light faded away.
“No one has ever ignored Matt Onre's orders,” he said. “What are you?”
“You know damn well what I am,” I said, to everyone there. I was pissed, and I made sure they knew by my tone of voice. “I am Daniel Xavier Ferris. I am the man who killed the Archangel, your god! I am a  god damn Devil Killer! I am-”
Before I could finish my badass boast, a portal of red light split open several yards behind Adon, and a few feet up in the air. I had seen such a portal before, and I knew exactly what would be coming out of it soon.
“I am so fucked,” I said.
A man riding a solid steel bike shot from the portal, skidding to a halt in the middle of the circle of Apostles. He wore clothing that was stained red by human blood. His long hair and eyes were red as well, and a pair of glowing pentagrams were etched into his pupils. A massive falchion was strapped across his back, and a satanic looking goatee was growing from his chin.
More portals began opening, and creatures began coming through. I didn't get a proper headcount of them, but there were quite a few small goblin-like creatures, a handful of goats with bat wings, a couple large snakes with hedgehog-like quills growing from them, and one creature that looked like a lion, with massive, boar-like tusks, and golden, lobster-like armor coating its back. Denizens of Bloody Hell. They began engaging the Apostles, who were now fully distracted by the legion of monsters the Biker had brought with him.
“Hello, Daniel,” the man said, stepping off his bike and facing me.
“Hey, Damien,” I said, sporting the cockiest grin I could pull off at the time. “The evil beard's coming in nice.”
Damien Monroe. The Bloody Biker, and ruler of Bloody Hell. He was human, once, but some Archive experimentation combined with power given to him by the Game Master had made him a super-powered demi-god. Amongst his abilities, he had super strength, super speed, a large amount of metal that he had control over, and the ability to rearrange his atoms however the fuck he wants. Oh, and apparently he's immortal. I shot him in the head once. And about a year ago, I discovered he survived, and I've clashed with him twice since then. Barely survived each encounter. He also has a thing for rivalry, and can invoke it in others. Which would explain why Puppy Dog an I were so intent to fight each other uninterrupted. He had turned up the heat on our rivalry.
“I'm a little disappointed you resisted that guy's control,” he said. “You could have learned just how painful a bullet to the bloody head can be.”
“Oh, you're not still upset about that whole thing, are you?” I said. “I didn't shoot you that hard, did I?”
“You've upped the snark a bit since last time,” he said. “I hope you've said your goodbyes, cuz I'm about to send you to see our old friend Benny.”
Oh, yeah, he used to Malkator's archenemy. Long story.
He fired an energy blast from his hand, which I dodged by a hair.
“Since when do you fire energy blasts?” I asked.
“I've gotten a bit better with my powers,” he said.
His eyes glowed, and beams of crimson light fired from them. I drew my sword, which caught fire, and deflected the beams with it.
“Lasers from your fucking eyes!” I shouted, losing my cool a bit. “Are you freaking kidding me!?”
“Sod the hell off!” Damien exclaimed, drawing his sword and charging at me. I engaged him, but I had already worn myself out quite a bit. Out sword fight ended pretty quickly, with me being knocked to the ground. He stood over me, falchion in hand.
“It's over,” he said, smiling cruelly.
Then the tip of PR24 nightstick erupted from his solar plexus. He gasped in pain, then looked over his shoulder. I got to my feet as fast as I could to see that Abdalin had appeared directly behind Daien and plunged his nightstick through him from behind.
“Oh, well hello, Abdalin,” Damien growled.
“Goodbye, Damien,” Abdalin said, pulling his nightstick back out and smacking Damien with it. Damien went down, but before he fell unconscious, he fired another energy blast. I failed to dodge this time, and was thrown backwards by the force.

The first thing I remember after that was water. I was lying on my back, in about three inches of it. I opened my eyes to see nothing but white above me. I sat up slowly. I was in a strange place. The sky was like an empty white canvas, and the ground, as far as I could see, was a sheet of cold metal with a few inches of water on top of it. A number of giant katana blades grew from the ground, reaching up into the sky like huge spires. I brushed my shoulder to try and get some of the water off, only to find that it was completely dry. Not a drop of water on me. When I stood up, I saw that the water, instead of clinging to my skin and soaking into my clothes, simply drip right back to the ground. Weird...
I looked around some more and I saw the spirit of my sword floating a few yards from me, just watching.
“Oh,” I said. “It's you.”
It nodded.
“So what is this place?” I asked.
“Me,” it answered simply.
“This place is you” I asked.
It nodded again.
“Seems a bit wet for a fire elemental, doesn't it?” I asked.
It cocked its head, as if it didn't understand me. I shrugged and started walking until I reached one of the giant blades. I placed a hand against it. It was cold, like touching an iceberg. I'm not sure what kind of steel it was made from, but I'm guessing iron. I turned back to where the spirit was floating.
“So who are you?” I asked.
I cocked its head again. I tried another time.
“What's your name?” I asked. “What do I call you?”
It looked to the blank sky, as if looking for an answer. Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
“How about Burner?” I asked.
It looked back at me when I said that.
“Burner?” It asked.
“I have to call you something, don't I?” I asked. “Burner seems fitting, right?”
It remained silent for a little while before giving a slow nod.
“So, why am I here?” I asked.
It cocked its head without speaking.
“Okay, well, can you at least tell me what you even are?” I asked. “Why the sword can catch fire, or teleport to me when I need it?”
Still no answers. It just kept its head cocked and stared at me. I slumped down, leaning against the flat side of the blade.
“Do you even know what you are?” I asked, a little exasperated.
“I do not,” it said.
“Well, that answers that,” I sighed. “Do you know who might?”
“The old one,” it said.
“Do you mean the Blind Man, or the Lovecraft old ones?” I asked.
It gave me another confused head cock.
“I'm just gonna assume you mean Blind Man,” I said.
It would make sense, considering the Blind Man is the one who gave me the sword. I continued to ask it questions, but I didn't get any answers other then head cocks and the occasional no. Eventually, I just stopped talking, and just sat in the cold water, letting the time pass. I soon became aware of another presence there.
“Who's that over there?” I asked, pointing to the new figure. It seemed to consist of an almost humanoid cloud of smoke, with a flickering mask hoving where the head should be. It just kind of wandered around, not really paying attention to either of us.
“Guilt,” the spirit said. “Pain. Remorse. Sadness. Entrapment.”
“Real helpful answers, bud,” I sighed. I mentally decided to call it Flicker, for now, for lack of anything better to call it. I just sat watching the smoky figure for a while until it wandered off beyond the range of my vision. Then I continued to sit there, until I woke up.

I was lying in the backseat of my new car, which was in motion. I sat up, and realized I was still holding on to my sword. Seraph was driving the car, and Abdalin was sitting in the passenger seat.
“How long have I been out?” I asked.
“Oh, thank god,” Seraph breathed. “We were worried sick about you.”
“Well, she was,” Abdalin replied. “You've been in a trance for about a week now.”
“So where are we now?” I asked.
“On the move,” Abdalin said.
“We had you at Kyle's for a few days,” Seraph said. “But we figured we should probably get a move on.”
“In case Damien or the Apostle's came back,” Abdalin said.
“And we're bringing Seraph along?” I asked.
Okay, I know Seraph can hold her own, but I didn't feel good bringing her along with me when there could be danger.
“I'm not staying behind this time, Daniel,” she insisted. “I'm coming with you."
“Okay,” I said. “That's fine.”
I sat up and checked my inventory. I had all my weapons back. Guess the others had picked things up.
“So what are the Apostles?” I asked Abdalin.
“Trouble,” he replied. “I don't know much about them, but we should try to avoid them.”
“Great,” I said. “So, where do we go from here?”
“For now, we keep moving,” Abdalin said. “We'll figure out where to go later.”
“What about Damien?” I asked. “Where'd he go? What were those things with him?”
“He got away,” Seraph said. “Slipped back into Bloody Hell.”
Bloody Hell's his domain, which he sort of usurped.
“Those things were monsters from Bloody Hell,” Abdalin said. “The humanoid ones were Greenmen. They normally look after themselves, but they can be bullied into servitude. William...”
He hesitated for a minute.
“William used to use them, sometimes,” he finally finished.
“And the other things?” I asked.
“Goatbats and Porcupine Snakes,” Abdalin said. “I think he had a Leocoyr too.”
You mean the giant lion thingy?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Abdalin said. “That.”
“We're gonna have to stop for gas soon,” Seraph said. “Why don't you relax for a bit?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Get me a soda when we stop?”
“Diet Dr. Pepper?” Seraph asked.
“That would be nice,” I replied.
“Sure thing,” she said.
So yeah, that's what happened. Gonna sign off now. I need to think some more.