Death of Bishop part 2: The Hell Years (Chapter One)

The Hell Years

Chapter One: Hit the Ground Running
Eyes closed, he could feel himself falling. The heat in the atmosphere an unfriendly kind, normally it would just be another source of power, here, it burned like any other fire. Taking it in even felt like poison to his senses of absorption. Breaking through the billowing black clouds, his limbs flailed as he tried to correct his falling position and break his fall. The thud was thunderous and captured the attention of every snarling fiend and under-demon in the immediate area. The rumble of a horde’s charge shook the ground Lucas laid upon like a landing pad. He only remained flat against the ground for 3.21459 seconds but it felt like a week. The crimson cloud-covered sky, veins of bright red lightning darting across the coverage. This was his home now, this was the new cage he found himself in. He almost gave up right there, he almost remained still and let the throngs of unholy consume him. Maybe then he’d finally get some rest.

What would they consume, why did he have a body? Was this vessel just a manifestation of his soul or perhaps something more complicated than even that? Sitting up, he checked his holsters, both of his custom 1911 handguns were there. Clenching his fist, neon pink light burst from the closed appendage with furious power. He still had his abilities and firearms. Why? Mephisto, he was playing games. If he was giving him the tools to fight, perhaps he wasn’t so eager to steal away Lucas’ soul just yet. A thought that did not sit well with Lucas despite it encouraging his efforts. 3.21459 seconds before Lucas lept to his feet, just in time to face the leering eyes and gaping maws of the demons. 

A scrawny ankle biter with something to prove was the first to reach Lucas, it was met with an eye beam that turned the demon into liquid. A bruiser, massive in stature and heavy with muscles knocked Lucas into the crowd with a boulder-like fist. Teeth gnawed and talons ripped as Mephisto’s children fought for their next meal. Uncomfortable twisting of limbs and searing pain from the animalistic attacks, Lucas refused to give them the satisfaction and grit his teeth. The aura of neon pink returned as orchid lightning leaped from Lucas’ body to any demon unfortunate enough to be making contact with his body. Squeals and screeches rang out as the closest of the lot turned to ash, the others left smoldering and equally dead. Left no time to react, he was barraged by another duo of towering creatures with warped and scrawny features and two heads that met at the neck and formed a more singular shape. “Bloody f***ing hell…” It was as if the realization just dawned on him upon viewing the monstrosity, he really was in rock bottom. Surely this was where he belonged, surely. One of the heads had glowing yellow eyes, an invisible slash tearing into Lucas’ flesh across his chest while the body charged. One head seemed to control the body while the other was gifted a different sense of control. Staggered, Lucas retaliated with a clenched fist, his abilities displacing the force around the telekinetic head and amplifying it. The head erupted into a geyser of black blood which caused the main head to screech and cave in. 

“AGH!!” Lucas felt the searing shock of a dagger-like claw embedding itself in his back, he had lost track of the second two-header. Pulling away as quickly as his injury would allow, Lucas pressed one hand to the wound as it began to glow. While one hand cauterized the wound, the other made a pushing motion that tossed the beast backward twenty feet and impaling it on to a spiked rockface. The creature twitching, until it no longer did. He had to keep moving

A mutant battering ram, the neon pink aura protecting Lucas as he barreled through the remaining uglies from the initial group of hellspawn that came to greet him. “Not today ya daft cunts! Not today...” Lucas yelled to the group, spearing the closest of the lot with a vicious tackle to the deep red dirt. He created space with a kinetic push that launched him out of arm’s reach. ‘Arms’ being the important word, this demon appeared to have six, and a female figure at that. This was no demon. “Rita?!” Lucas’ brow raised in disbelief, it was Spiral the six-armed shiva. “What the bloody hell are you doing here?” He almost powered down, before he remembered where he was. 

‘I could ask you the same thing.’ She cut to the chase, dashing at Lucas with visceral speed before vanishing. He forgot she could do that, his leering orchid eyes ripped his surroundings apart with two beams of energy. More of a ‘spray and pray’ than a ‘sure shot’ and he yielded no result from the brash effort. Suddenly he felt Spiral plant her feet on his back with considerable force that sent Lucas forward and rolling along the red clay ground. Rebounding, the crouched position not the best for observational capabilities, which was when Xraven brought two fists down on the back of his head. “Bloody hell, not you too…” With a battle cry, Lucas slugged Xraven in the chest and knocked him to the ground. Spiral teleported above him in an attempt to catch Lucas off guard. Catching the assassin by her neck Lucas squeezed with lethal intent. Xraven was about to get up when Lucas brought his booted foot down hard on the back of the clone’s head. The soaked squishing sound of Xkraven’s skull caving in rang out as Spiral tried to scream. Lucas was slipping back into old habits, ruthless killing being one of them. “You! I see you again and you wind up like him! Hear me!?” Lucas pointed with his free hand down at the mutilated man still beneath his foot. Lucas’ arm was covered in claw marks, last-ditch attempts from Spiral to free herself. ‘Not...just...us…’ Spiral spat out before slowly losing consciousness. Lucas in a fit of anger did more than just drop her on the ground, it was more of a rough toss. 

The horde could be heard stampeding in their direction. Hopefully, the group will be busy feasting on the freshly dead and the currently unconscious. He needed a plan and that, next to the realm of the living, was the furthest thing from him. A cliff face sat in the distance, shelter could prove useful, he could climb to the top when he felt better. If that was even a potentiality. So he tapped into his reserves and converted the power to forward kinetic force, running at super-human speeds. He’d lose one single foot race to Quicksilver five times (at least) but his speed was well beyond what any would call even hyper-athletic. This was a risk/reward scenario, spending this energy meant he wouldn’t have much to heal or defend himself later, but if he didn’t get there quick who knew how many more demons were watching from the shadows waiting for him to stop or slow down before they pounce. 

A running start was all he needed, Lucas launched himself at the mountain and began to scale it just as a wave of demons crashed against the rockface. Pouring over each other, mauling one another to just attempt to get close to their new prey. Scaling the mounting with leaps, catching himself on the rocks. The mountain was immense, it stretched past the deep red cloudline and probably went considerably higher than that. He climbed for what felt like a full day and it still wasn’t enough to get anywhere near the lightning soaked clouds. Lucas began punching into the mountainside, digging a hole one glowing fist at a time until he broke through. He had broken into some kind of inner chamber, Lucas wondered if this was how it formed naturally but didn’t have the time or energy to dive deeper conceptually. Breaking away a massive piece of rock, he slid it over the hole he came out of leading to the outside. 

His back against the sheetrock door he had to fashion himself, Lucas sunk down to a seated position. He couldn’t even bring himself to form a plan, what plan was there for Hell? The slashes on his arm from Spiral’s claws began to throb and sting abnormally, something was wrong. A guttural clicking emerged from the black of the cave, wide yellow eyes open. One pair, two pair, three, soon Lucas couldn’t count all the sets of eyes he was seeing. That was when it hit him, Lucas had dug himself into a Brood nest...