Feros and the Underworld Prince (43 page)

“
That’s going to be tough… you know he’s a head of a Category 3 pantheon, right?” Jason says.

“
Category 3? I thought the scale went from low tier to supreme tier?” I ask.

“
Nah, they changed it last year and just numbered the categories one through five.” Jason clarifies.

“
Yeah, that makes way more sense… I don’t care what category he’s in, he’s still going to die.” I malevolently reply.

“
Alright, let me grab my gear and we can get going.” Jason responds and starts for the door before I stop him.

“
No, if you come with me, it will get you, your mom, and possibly all of Niflheim involved. I don’t want to accidentally cause political implications with my revenge.” I tell him.

“
I can’t let you go alone, man…” Jason softly says with a pained expression.

I close in on him and give him a ‘bro hug’ i.e. a hug in which our pelvises as far apart as physically possible while still providing enough bodily contact to constitute a hug.

“
So, uh… what’s goin’ on in here?” Reyna asks while leaning against the doorframe, licking the bottom of the lid of her pudding. We break apart our hug since we both still have some pride left.

“
Are you two going to kiss next or skip straight to plowing each other, followed by some cuddling?” Reyna adds while taking a bite of her pudding.

“
Not a good time Reyna.” Jason says while choking up as I just glare at her.

“
Why, what’s up?” Reyna inquires.

“
I’m in the process of exacting my revenge against Horus, but Jason is insisting that he won’t let me go alone.” I explain.

“
What did Horus do?” Reyna asks.

“
He killed Adelaide…” Jason replies for me.

“
Who’s Adelaide?” Reyna inquires as her eyes narrow.

“
She was Cole’s adopted three year old daughter…” Jason says solemnly and I hear the crunch of a plastic cup.

“
He’s dead… I’ll go grab my stuff.” Reyna furiously replies.

“
No! Both of you need to stay out of this! I will handle it, but I don’t want to start an Underworld war!” I tell them.

“
Alright CT… but you aren’t stopping me from giving you a lift to Duat.” Jason concedes.

“
That would be good actually, because I have no fucking idea how to get there.” I reply.

Jason grins at me, grabs my arm, and a swirl of black mist surrounds us. A yellow sky is the first thing I see as the black mist dissipates. In front of us are high black walls that appear to be made of sandstone; I can just make out the top of a black pyramid over the walls.

“
You even walked me to the door, what a gentleman!” I sarcastically say.

“
Dick!” Jason replies and punches my left arm.

“
Ow, ow ow ow!” Jason exclaims as he grabs his hand while I laugh at him.

“
That is so not fair… you… you’re coming back, right?” Jason asks uncertainly.

“
Bro, I’ll be back in like an hour with stories of how I made Horus eat his own dick.” I confidently reply.

“
I’m looking forward to hearing them, CT!” Jason smirks and disappears in a swirl of black mist.

Sorry for lying to you Jason… but this might just be my last stop.

Chapter 38: Assault on Duat’s Palace

I leap up onto the eight foot wall, glad that I’m wearing my boots because there is a lot of broken glass up here.

“
Halt! You are trespassing! Leave immediately or you will be summarily executed!” I hear from below me.

I look down and do a double take at the pack of six dogs below me before gawking for a few moments as my mind processes that they aren’t exactly dogs. The creatures are about the size of a small bear, with the hind legs of a hippopotamus, the torso and front legs of a lion, and the head of a crocodile; in other words, I’m pretty sure I can outrun them. I’m also pretty sure that these are Ammit’s children, the creature that eats the hearts of those that Anubis and the scales of justice deem unworthy.

“
No offense intended… okay, a little offense intended, but you guys don’t seem very threatening to me.” I tell them. The leader’s crocodile mouth opens.

“
We are the offspring of the Devourer of Death!” the leader expounds without moving his… her… its mouth, which is really creepy. Its mouth just sits there open, and words come out.

“
Riiiight… anyway, I came to see Horus. He and I have some business to take care of.” I reply.

“
Leave now!” the leader orders.

I could just kill them, but I really don’t want to look like the bad guy in this one.

(C23H30N2O in smoke bomb form)

“
What is it?”

(3-Methylfentanyl, a fast-acting sleeping agent of sorts)

I do as Airi suggests and spend the next twenty seconds acting like I’m thinking things over while I build a four layer smoke bomb that is RMX-nitrogen triiodide-RMX-Methylfentanyl.
(5.6 Liters)

“
This is your last—” the leader starts to say as I throw the smoke bomb.

The bomb explodes with a puff of purple and white gas; the pack scatters before they start passing out in mid-stride. Well, that worked out pretty well. I jump off the wall and start walking towards the black pyramid as I form two more of those bombs, staying myself from transmuting my blood inside of the second layer of the bombs so they don’t explode in my pocket.
(5.2 Liters)

I head for a set of doors that automatically open as I approach. As I walk into the lobby, I notice three things: the black sandstone floors and walls appear to have a layer of glass over them, there is elevator music being played, and I hear growls from three more packs. The doors close behind me and I get the feeling that they’re locked.

The packs start advancing on me, which is fine because I only have two bombs for three packs so forcing them closer together is advantageous for me. I wait until they are about six feet away, when they form one large pack, and then I throw both bombs while transmuting the triiodide. My helmet automatically engages as the bombs explode, knocking out the majority of the pack. The few that are still conscious scatter, except for one that jumps at my jugular. I move my left arm in the way and the crocodile mouth of the creature bites down on it. Crocodiles can bite down with a force of 3700psi; that much force on an object that can’t be broken shatters a great number of teeth. As it releases my arm, I punch it between the eyes while following with a quick uppercut, jarring its brain and rendering it unconscious.

Now to find Horus. On each side of the room is a sweeping staircase that connects to the same balcony that lies in front of me, which matches the glass and black sandstone interior of the rest of the lobby. My intuition tells me that that is the correct way to go, or it could be the fact that there are no doors so the stairs are the only way to go.

“
WHO ARE YOU TO DARE TRESPASS IN MY DOMAIN!?” a loud voice booms throughout the lobby.

Suddenly, ten gods form a half circle in front of me, each wielding a khopesh sickle sword. A man with grey-green skin appears on the balcony with a smoking hot Egyptian woman in a tight fitting, strapless golden dress that shows off her significant frontal ‘attributes’ (and most likely the rear ones as well) standing beside him. I don’t recognize the gods around me so they must be minor gods; still, fighting ten category three minor gods is not a fight I’m looking forward to so I think diplomacy may be my best bet. I disengage my helmet to appear more amicable.

“
Osiris, your Highness.” I say while giving a slight bow.

“
Isis, the pictures of you do not do your beauty any justice.” I say while repeating the bow to Isis.

“
I apologize for the rude entry, but I have some business to handle with Horus. Do not worry about your guards; they have simply been incapacitated.” I inform them.

(Yeah, about that… 3-Methylfentanyl is actually a powerful, fast acting, opioid so hopefully this will turn out better than it did for the Spetsnaz in 2002)

“
Airi… do you mean to tell me that I dosed all the guards with the same chemical that had more than a sixty percent mortality rate when used during the Moscow theater hostage crisis? What part about not wanting to look like the bad guy did you misunderstand!?”

(Core concept? Well at least you didn’t kill everyone! Besides, I doubt the mortality rate will be nearly that high with supernatural creatures)

“
Did you consider the possibility that it wouldn’t knock them out and instead make them killing machines that are impervious to pain?”

(…but it did not do that)

“
*Sigh* I guess you do have a point…”

“
And what business might this be?” Osiris asks, snapping me out of my inner dialogue.

“
Killing him for the murder of my three year old daughter.” I reply.

“
Did he directly kill her?” Osiris inquires.

“
No… he ordered someone to.” I respond.

“
Well then, I see no proof that he has done anything wrong.” Osiris expounds.

Keeping my emotions in check, I put my hands behind my back, twist open the ring on my left finger, and slice open my right wrist.

“
I also know that he is the one behind the enhancements that the supernaturals have been getting as of late and that he was the one that was actually behind the attempt to take over the Underworld a few months ago.” I tell him as I start the draw for my Mu-cutter while keeping my hands behind my back and hoping that nobody will notice the puddle of blood forming behind me.

“
Do you have any evidence to verify your accusation?” Osiris asks.

“…
None that you can physically see.” I reply.

“
Enough of this charade. Kill him.” Osiris orders before my Mu-cutter has the chance to connect. Isis suddenly stops him.

“
I like this one.” Isis whispers to Osiris.

“
Seriously? *Sigh* Fine, capture him then!” Osiris commands and disappears.

I vaguely play with the fantasy of being in a James Bond scenario that calls for me to sex my way out of it and I consider surrendering.

“
That won’t be necessary. Follow me, boy.” Isis says with a ‘come hither’ look and finger motion.

The ten gods lower their khopeshes and allow me to head up the stairs. I reach the top of the stairs to find Isis walking down the hallway. I follow after her and see that my previous estimate of Isis’s rear ‘attributes’ was not incorrect. She takes a right into a room and I quicken my pace to catch up to her. The room is pitch black when I enter and the door slams shut behind me. I’m about to engage my helmet and draw a Diamond sword, but then the lights kick on. The room is made entirely of gold, even the elaborately large four poster bed. Isis is at the golden bar along the right wall, pouring wine from a golden carafe into a golden goblet.

“
Would you like a drink Cole? Or do you prefer to go by Feros?” Isis asks with her back to me.

“
If you knew who I was, why did you ask me back here?” I ask as I take a seat on the bed and unzip my jacket to give the appearance that I’m relaxing.

“
I figured I’d try talking to you instead of having you try to kill those ten gods.” Isis replies as she walks over and takes a seat on the bed while handing me a goblet of wine.

“
Unlike my husband, I am not so blinded by my love for my son to be unable see the possibility that he was planning something, what with all the trips to Duniya al Jinn, the jinn plane.” Isis says and takes a drink. I repeat the action so as to be polite.