NOVEL FROG Hell
Orion and Cole dive into the water at the end of the sunken hallway.
Neither know what waits for them as they descend underneath a broken wall, thinking it could just a hole in the side of the ship.
Instead, they find themselves now in endless caverns and trenches of an underwater world housed in a gigantic, futuristic aircraft carrier.
Hallway after hallway lead to dead ends or to large caverns that once housed planes.
The dark water itself is not dark as they dive.
Spires and blobs of smoking light are around them.
There are emergency lights from the ship that are flicking slowly and are near death, but the lanterns of smoke and light are something else all together.
Beautiful yet horrifying. Beams of dark light, placed there by the fallen. A smoking jelly fish like outline of a smoking, eerie light.
Orion and Cole look around and start to panic.
Nowhere to go and running out of air.
Cole turns around this way and that, eyes wide, looking for some pocket of air and dryness.
Orion squints his eyes, looking for some hope of a break in the sea. His eyes go wide as they catch the greatest source of light they've seen yet, above them.
He grabs Cole, and points up to the bright light above a large opening, like the surface of a pool.
As they ascend, Orion puts his finger on his mouth, saying they will need to break the surface quietly.
Orion and Cole slowly emerge, bubbling to the surface of the water.
Cole nearly gasps, but controls his breaths, but both heroes then nearly gasp once they see the hell they are in.
They do not find themselves in a room of pods and capsules that may be full of people.
Instead, they are upside down and sideways in a massive engine room.
Across the long room, blocked by walls and machinery and cables and racks, stands what looks like is a nuclear reactor.
Cole then realizes where all of the fallen he saw in the radar had gone to.
In front of the reactor, like trying to summon a god, are the fallen.
All of them.
At least, all of them that were in the ship.
Fallen of all shapes and sizes.
Some more human than others. Some in full fatigues and masks and tactical gear with guns. Others more primal and viral sick like with swords and claws and scales breaking from their skin.
All pure evil. An army of demons under strange lights. Oh, they look horrible under the lights.
WARNING - XP NOT HIGH ENOUGH
THREAT TOO HIGH
LEAVE IMMEDIATELY
LEAVE IMMEDIATELY
The warnings flash over Orion and Cole's eyes, as a counter in the corner of their display starts counting up all the enemies before them.
Orion puts his arm gently on Cole, trying to calm him.
Their two little heads, with their noses barely exposed, are not seen in the small pool that is the entrance into the engine room.
Some of the fallen bow to the reactor. Others just look around, looking for something to do.
The closest to the reactor is Goliath, or Sobek.
He has his thin ceremonial gown on as he paces and stares.
Turbines move slowly across the way.
Generators that haven't been touched or turned on sit idle.
And the leader of the fallen paces back and forth, wondering how to use it all as a weapon.
It looks as if all are there for a some grand ceremony or death wish.
A grand harking of death and the next apocalypse.
Though most have lost their humanity, the horde of fallen seem bored. Whatever it is, it isn't working.
They much rather would be out eating islanders.
Goliath knows this. He screams at the reactor and scratches at it, hoping for some great ignition or waste.
Pounds his hand against it. He yells demonic curses at it, hoping hell itself would crack open the reactor.
Nothing. The reactor just stares at all of them, silently.
Sobek turns and yells an order.
Another fallen warrior, who has seemingly has more humanity left like Sobek, comes forward.
The formidable leader points and yells. The fallen creature speaks and shakes their head. Sobek asks again. The creature tries to explain, to the best of their knowledge.
Sobek grabs them and throws them across the room. They are impaled on a large pipe, then slump over and squirm and die, for all of the fallen to see.
At the sight of the violence, the ceiling opens, as fallen, hanging from the ceiling like bats with massive deformed wings, take off, and flap around the room, frightened.
Orion looks up in horror and amazement at the flying demonic creatures, never seeing one before nor knowing they existed. Literally a fallen angel, burnt to a crisp, flying around them.
They wings flap and flutter under the emergency lights in a truly hellish sight.
Goliath stares at the nuclear reactor, defeated.
Everything he wanted to finish the job. Right. before him.
And nothing. He would cry if he knew how to.
Orion motions for Cole that they need to descend and get out of there.
Cole nods, wondering what kept Orion so long in hell.
They slowly descend, and none see them.
Orion and Cole are back in the bowels of the ship, as the hellish lanterns show the massive underwater world in sections for them.
Cole looks around. His eyes go wide as he sees the symbol of the canisters and pods, and starts to swim that direction.
But Orion grabs his shoulder and points.
Cole shakes his head.
Orion points and takes off past one of the floating lanterns.
Cole relents and takes off after Orion.
OXYGEN LOW
ALL BODILY FUNCTIONS FAILING
Cole feels his mouth opening, gasping for air.
He follows after the trail of bubbles, coming from Orion's strong legs kicking towards some unknown haven.
Suddenly, Orion disappears into a small dry surface.
Cole's mouth fills with water as he tries to break through as well.