It was unlike anything either of them had ever seen; it was a monster beyond what the two of them could have ever concocted in their minds.

Its skin was human, though it was obvious by how it looked stitched and grafted together haphazardly, that this human skin did not belong to the demon. Its head looked like a misshapen cube, having multiple mouths affixed to it, although none of them appeared functional aside from the one at the center which expelled a vapor cloud into the chilling air.

It had human eyes clinging onto its face, however, they all looked decorative rather than operational. The only two eyes that looked back at Mike were the two white dots at the top of the creature’s head, staring blankly at him from across the hallway.

It wasn’t a bipedal creature; Mike and Michael wouldn’t even know what to categorize it as. Holding up its body, which was a mishmash of human torsos sewn together, were multiple arms and legs of different sizes and skin tones. The smaller limbs were suspended in the air whilst the longer ones, about a dozen or so, met the ground.

It took a single step toward Mike. The sound of bones crackling was combined with skin tearing and limbs flopping against each other, nearly compelling Mike to vomit whilst Michael gagged from inside their brain. The beast groaned, though its singular wail sounded like a concoction of tens of lamentations put together.

M-mike.

For once, Mike was speechless. His legs quivered beneath him as he walked backward, using his hand to guide him toward the fog door behind him. However, his body jolted once his hand struck a solid object. He reared his head slightly, still keeping the beast within his peripheral vision to not allow it to sneak attack him. “Where’s the entrance!?” he said with wide eyes. The wall of fog was gone, replaced by an icy wall with no exit.

“Hello?” the beast spoke, jolting Mike. Its voice sounded like a mixture of male, female, and child-like voices combined into one. It was as if the souls of its previous victims were calling out to them. Mike could feel his stomach churn; even Michael felt sick from the inside of their consciousness.

Oh, HELL no did that thing just SPEAK!? Just this time, Michael, was glad that he wasn't the one in control of the body. If he were, he was certain that he would've likely been the first man to piss himself in Tartarus.

“God…” As Mike spoke, the beast twitched and turned its entire body toward him.

“There you are…” It said before sprinting at him like a centipede! Mike immediately ran down the hallway to his right, sprinting with everything he had as the monster gave chase behind him.

Go, go, go, go, go!

“What do you think I'm doing!?”

“I found yoooou!” the monster spoke again as it continued on its hunt. Mike took one glance back, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull upon seeing the creature climbing up the walls and the ceiling like some sort of flesh spider.

This is why you don't put all of your skill points into one place!

Just as Michael spoke, a skeleton walked in front of Mike and was instantly demolished by his hammer. As luck would have it, this gave Mike just enough points to level up his stats.

AGILITY! AGILITY! AGILITY!

"I am!" Mike spent all three of his points on upgrading his agility, and the moment he pressed confirm, he gained a noticeable amount of speed and began outrunning the monster.

After some time, Mike found himself hiding beneath a table, sitting in complete darkness after having turned off the flashlight so as to not attract the creature. His chest was moving up and down as he obscured himself beneath the frozen table and his breaths were harsh. However, the moment he heard the beast’s footsteps and voice getting closer, he held his breath.

“Where are you? Where did you gOOoOOo?” the creature called out to him, sounding like a child playing hide and seek.

Mike covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his breathing, and for a short moment, there was silence.

Is it gone?

Very slowly, Mike reached for his watch and turned on the flashlight, only to see that the monster’s face was mere inches away from him! Mike’s eyes widened and his body trembled as the monster looked directly into his eyes; at least, that's how it seemed at first. Upon closer inspection, it appeared as if the monster was looking right through him. Mike didn't notice or care as his fight or flight activated, this time opting to fight! He raised his war hammer, aiming the pointed side toward the eyes of the monster. Just before he could impale the freakish creature in the face, Michael stopped him.

Don't make a sound! I think it's blind!

“Are you here?” Once again, the monster sounded as if it were a child, though a disappointed one this time around. As it spoke, Mike could feel its breath touch his face. The stench of its breath was the most disgusting scent he'd ever come into contact with in his life. It reeked of bile, rotting flesh, and human excrement.

Mike stayed calm, but his weapon remained drawn as he continued looking the monster in the eyes with his mouth still covered. He was holding his breath this entire time, fearing even the smallest breath would alert the beast. "Where did you go?" asked the curious monstrosity before it turned around and waddled in the other direction.

Once it was gone; Mike let out a silent sigh and caught his breath.

Follow it. As long as we stick behind it, we'll know where it's at and we won't have to worry about running into it by accident. It'll have to run into the stairs to the next floor eventually. Michael said this so matter-of-factually, one would think he had the balls to do it himself, which was far from the truth. He figured Mike, the killing machine marine who fought in Afghanistan would be capable of such a feat, but Mike was scared shitless.

Mike shook his head aggressively. ‘HELL NO!’ he thought. He was too scared to even speak at that point, worrying it would attract whatever the hell it was that was stalking them.

Stop being a pussy. Michael was speaking in a mocking tone, thinking it would peer pressure Mike into doing as he said. However, this plan only backfired drastically. Mike took the sharp end of their war hammer and sliced his thumb, dealing five health points worth of damage to himself.

-Michael-

Then you do it! Mike sounded like a child folding his arms in protest of eating his veggies as he spoke from the inside of their consciousness.

Michael's eyes widened and he immediately did the same thing that Mike did, cutting his thumb whilst dealing five Health Points worth of damage to himself.

-Mike-

No, you!

This triggered a childish back and forth between the two of them as they cut their thumb in a constant loop, passing on the responsibility of outmaneuvering the monster to the other.

No, YOU!

You do it! You said I'M the communications guy!

Well, I take back everything that I said! You got this, kid!

Fuck you! I'm not doing it!

Fuck YOU! You ARE doing it! It's your turn!

-Michael-

“Hey! Mr. Hugh Jaynus!” Both the beast, who was at the end of the hallway perpendicular to them and Michael turned around toward the sound of the voice. Harut, the traveling merchant, was sitting on his bike right behind Michael, speaking loud enough to attract the monster. “Oh, is this a bad ti-” Michael grabbed Harut and covered his mouth before hiding against a wall with him in his arms.

The monster sprinted toward them, “I found you!” it said before stopping right in front of them. It looked around for a few seconds before scurrying down the hallway like an arachnid. Once it was gone, Michael scolded the demon child.

“What is wrong with you?” Michael whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” Harut matched Michael's voice with child-like wonder, playing along in what he assumed to be some sort of game.

“Because I don’t want to DIE from that THING!”

“What thing?” Harut tilted his head.

“The fucking grafted creature that just ran past us!” Michael said in a loud whisper, one that was barely quiet enough to not be heard by the beast.

“Oh…" Harut nodded his head. "I can’t see the monsters and they can’t see me. That’s how I scavenge Tartarus so easily heheh.”

“Yeah, well you almost got me killed.”

“Wheeeree aaaare yooou!” bellowed the monster, it was clearly growing impatient and perhaps hungry since it knew that there was fresh prey lurking around.

“Do you have like a map or something?” Michael asked the child quickly.

“Maybe. Do you have cash?” The boy had a smug smile on his face, looking down at Michael's watch to see that he had a good amount of Hell Bucks on him.

“Yes…” Michael whispered. "I'll pay whatever the price."

"Finally! A sale!" Harut exclaimed very loudly.

"I Heeear yoooou!" said the beast, causing Michael to hold his finger up to his lips and loudly shush Harut.

These idiots are gonna kill me...

"Oh, Sorry. I'll be quiet." Harut said as the two of them snuck over to his bike. The monster was seen sprinting past the intersection beside them, buying them more time. However, Harut opened his sack of goodies and began rummaging inside of it in an extremely loud and obnoxious fashion, going as far as to crawl inside it. "There should be a map in here somewhere."

"I fooound you!" the beast exclaimed as it scurried directly for them. Michael grabbed Harut and ran, forgetting that the monster couldn't even see the child.

“Hey, my stu-” Michael covered Harut's mouth and kept running until he felt like he'd escaped the monster. Before long, he could see the staircase in front of him, barely being illuminated by his flashlight. Meanwhile, Harut was still trying to talk through Michael's hand.

There's the exit! Go! Go! Go!

Michael sprinted as fast as he could, putting everything he had into this final sprint! However, the monster was waiting for him by the entrance, knowing that his prey was going to turn up there eventually. They always do. "Found yooou!" said the beast, tracking Michael due to Harut's muffled voice.

Toss the kid!

"Way ahead of you!" Michael said before he chucked Harut behind him and the boy still talked as he soared through the air.

"Hey! I'm gonna charge you extra for the map! You better hope no one stole my stuff or else you're gonna have to pay for replacements! Do you hear me, Mr. Jaynus!?"

The beast ran past Michael and toward the talking child. Michael wasted no time, making his way toward the exit, and diving through the wall of fog toward his freedom.