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Day 11: All Hel Breaks Loose
"Come with me," said Homer. "The rest of the gang have been sticking together. We'll meet up with them and unite against Fenrir." He began to lead them through the twisting halls and caves of the underworld, needing no light to see his path. Beardo walked beside him, full of questions.
"So, uh, why are we here? In hell, I mean, as opposed to heaven. You're a really good guy..."
"It doesn't work that way," said Homer sadly. "I've heard it used to, back in the old days. The wicked went to Hel, and the good went to Valhalla. But when Hela was banished to this realm - she's the queen down here - she managed to close off the gate to Valhalla. I think she just wanted minions to serve her, the witch."
"Hela? Valhalla? I've never heard these names before. I was expecting more of a St. Peter at the pearly gates sort of thing."
"They're old Norse names. It seems the Vikings got it pretty much spot on. I remember reading the Norse myths growing up. Perhaps I should tell you all, to help you understand what you're facing." As the group continued through endless tunnels, Homer told them the old tales: of the nine worlds connected by Yggdrasil, the world tree; of Odin hanging from that tree to gain the wisdom of the runes; of Loki's affair with a giantess that led to the birth of Hela, Fenrir, and Jormungand; and of the life and death of Balder, the greatest hero of all.
The queen of the dead had stories to share as well. But as she was catching up with her brother about her life, there suddenly came a scrabbling knock at the door. A servant opened it, and Nidhogg scrambled in. "Your Majessty! Mortalss! Living oness! In thiss realm!"
Hela rose immediately and said sternly, "You could not intercept them at the bridge?"
"They had help, milady. One of our own brandisshed a holly sspear againsst me." He leaned back to reveal the deep wound in his belly.
"A traitor? Get one of my servants to prepare the iron maiden. I will punish this one personally."
Fenrir grew angry at this news. IT MUST BE ONE OF THEIR FRIENDS, he growled. THEY'VE FOLLOWED ME DOWN HERE AND THEY'RE GOING TO FIGHT. I KNEW WE SHOULDN'T HAVE WASTED TIME ON IDLE TALK!
"You don't suggest they really want to fight you?"
FIGHT ME AND KILL ME. THEY SEE ME AS A THREAT. PATHETIC VERMIN, THEY THINK THEY'RE SO CIVILIZED AND GOOD, WHEN THEY HAVE THE SAME ANIMAL INSTINCTS AS I. Fenrir looked first at Nidhogg, then at his sister. MAKE NO MISTAKE, RAGNAROK BEGINS NOW.
Hela said, "Then I will gather my troops and defend this palace to the end. With the bond of our kinship, we will be unbeatable in battle!"
After an unknown time of walking, the party came to their destination. It was a wide cave wherein stood a circle of lean-tos and shoddily buitl cottages, a sad parody of the community they had on the surface. Homer called out, "I have returned, and I have a surprise!" From out of the buildings came the faces the group had never hoped to see again, and, for the first time in days, many of them smiled.
"Ian!" called out Inverse as he stepped into the dark square. He ran over and hugged his old comrade tightly. "Can you ever forgive us?"
"For what? Oh, for trusting a wolf? Of course. We were all scared and confused. I would have done the same thing, to be honest." The another voice quietly said, "The real question is, can you ever forgive me?"
Inverse turned to see Jello B. standing in a doorway, looking plaintive. He paused, then said, "Yeah, I guess we can forgive you. As long as you've learned your lesson and won't do it again." Jello's expression didn't change, so Inverse cracked a grin to show that he was joking. Jello slowly smiled and stepped down to join the reunion.
The Noid turned to Homer and said, "Wow, you said you were going to do something important, but I didn't think you meant this important."
Revenge of the Burninated asked, "How did you guys get down here alive?" to which Ex began telling their story, with numerous dramatic exaggerations. The dead gathered to listen. Just as he was finishing, there was a great quake that shook the entire cavern. Everyone fell silent. "What was that?" whispered greg.
"It must be Fenrir," said Ju Ju. "I'm sure he's figured out by now that you've followed him. Right, Homer?"
"Absolutely," nodded Homer.
Einoo fell back into his old role. "Right then, if we have to stand and fight, we will. There are..." he did a quick head count, "18 of us versus how many wolves?"
"Yeah, the only problem is, it's not just the wolves anymore," said Al Capone. "He's probably bringing Nidhogg and Garm and who knows what else."
"And besides," said weer, "one of the living four is a wolf."
They did not have time to plan a strategy, however, as at that moment, an army of souls rushed into the cavern. The first wave was a wave of people, running out of panic, chased by the enemy: demons and monsters that defied description, wearing heavy armour, weilding crude swords and spears, shrieking thier battle cries across the cavern. Nidhogg flew at the head of the demon army, bearing Hela on his back. He scrutinised the area, and quickly spotted Homer. "There! That'ss the one!" he yelled and pointed, then dove towards his target. Homer dodged with only a split-second to spare and Nidhogg slammed into the column behind him, shaking the tunnel.
Bringing up the rear came the wolves. First the seven dead werewolves, in lupine form, then the brutes, and finally Fenrir himself, his ears scraping the ceiling. ATTACK WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT, MY SONS, he said.
The seven bounded forward, searching for the group of their former friends. Teff said, "Are they all here? Is greg here?"
"I can smell them," replied Susan. "I just wish all these people would get out of the way."
"There they are!" said buhubs. "Right in the middle of all those houses. greg! Get over here!" he called over the crowd.
sci-fi greg was gesturing to the wolves to be quiet and not draw attention to him. He was hoping he could fight alongside the humans for a while, then turn on them at a critical moment. But Beyond the Grave and Homeschool heard buhubs' call. "greg is the last wolf! Get him!" said Beyond, and Homeschool lunged at greg to pin him down. greg quickly transformed and shook Homeschool off him, then ran away to join his brothers.
The chaos raged on, demon swords clashing against rock and cutting into the dead that they hunted. Every human that they cut down vanished with a poof of black smoke, never to be seen again in any world. The human spirits fought equally on both sides; some were confused, some thought they could win Hela's approval, and some fought to defend themselves and their friends against total annihilation. But the IPSI crew concentrated on their old enemies, the wolves. Fenrir trampled men and demons underfoot, smashed the tiny buildings, and snapped at them. He had them backed into a corner.
"What now?" said Dndrhead with a tone of despair. "We've wasted all our bullets on those monsters with no effect."
"Eight wolves, five brutes, and Fenrir," said Ido. "We do still outnumber them."
"No, I think Fenrir probably counts as at least ten wolves," said The Noid. "He could take us all out by himself."
dacheet15 began to taunt the humans from the sidelines. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" he said in a sing-song voice. MikeMcG joined in and laughed. "Ya daft fools, you canna win!"
Homer darted out of their corner, still holding his holly spear. He aimed for Mike, who jumped away and bit him in the leg. Fenrir snapped at him, but he rolled at the last second out of the way. Fenrir's head slammed into the floor, there was a quake and some rocks from the ceiling became dislodged. Homer was beginning to see a pattern. He crept back to the corner and explained. "Twice now I've dodged an attack and they've slammed their heads into the wall. Both times dislodged some rocks. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think so, Homer, and I like it," said Einoo. "But we'll need to be extremely careful."
"The three of us should do it," said weer, indicating himself, Inverse, and Ex. "Us getting killed won't be as bad as you guys getting destroyed."
Inverse grabbed a rock, ran out, and threw it at a brute wolf. The wolf started, then ran out to meet him. Inverse made sure he was in front of a rock column, and ducked just as the wolf leapt. Another shake, another shower of rocks. A large one struck greg in the head, knocking him to the floor. Ex and weer repeated these actions, egging the wolves on like matadors in the ring. "What are they trying to do?" said Ace to Rogue Leader. "Are they trying to die in style?" he laughed.
"I don't think so," said Rogue. "They've killed greg by making the rocks fall... they must be..." But Rogue's realization came too late. weer performed another daring dodge aganist Fenrir, who once again smashed into the wall. This time, the shaking went on and on as rocks tumbled to the ground. The living humans ducked and lay low to avoid getting hit. When the dust cleared, sunlight poured into the cave, and Fenrir was partially pinned under the collapsed ceiling. Many of the demons disintegrated at the touch of sunlight, and many more had been crushed to death.
The souls of the dead looked up as one, many of them having not seen sunlight for centuries. The IPSI crew breathed a collective sigh of relief, and yet it still seemed the battle was not won. The werewolves were unharmed, and although two of the brute wolves were crushed, three were trying to worm their way out from under rocks, as was Fenrir. "So, uh, what do we do now? Stab them?" asked Revenge.
weer looked up and squinted into the sun. He thought he could make out a familiar shape, the shadow of a tree on the surface. "Wait right here," he said, then walked up to Fenrir and began to climb up the creature's back.
"What are you doing? Are you nuts?" said Inverse, and he started to stop weer, but Homer held him back. "I think he's got the right idea," he said.
weer climbed upwards, grabbing hold of precariously balanced rocks, until he rested on Fenrir's back. HOW DARE YOU! the wolf cried. DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME? I WILL DESTROY YOU! He began to thrash harder, but weer dug into his fur and crawled up to his head. He stood and leapt, and just managed to catch a root hanging down from the ceiling. He clambered up the opening and onto the surface. He had been right; his tree was here, in full bloom of its strange fruit. He gathered as many of the fruit as he could and threw them down to his friends. "Eat them!" he cried. "You'll know what to do after!"
NO, IT CANNOT BE... THE SACRED GROVE! Fenrir attempted to snatch the fruit out of the air in his mouth, but weer kept throwing more and more. The rest of the crew picked up a fruit each and bit into them. As they did, each one was filled with a serene grace, a feeling like they were at one with the universe and at peace forever. They understood everything. They knew what to do. All of them joined hands and whispered their individual prayers to Odin the All-father. They concentrated their wills, and as one, created a force of pure light that penetrated the darkest corners of the cave. Fenrir, the remaining wolves, Nidhogg, Hela, and all the remaining demons cried out in pain. Then they all stiffened in death, caught forever in the angels' light.
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