30: Void

Sitting in the entrance of the hideout he only remembered portions of, he saw the demoness lie on a black, leathery bed. Next to it stood one guardian insect, different from the others. Toyboy was the first thing he thought. But a hideous one with an insect-like head and a body with two tall black snake legs and four insect limbs. Wait, wasn't that his old body? How was that possible...? As he looked, he saw the demoness use her hand to draw small circles in the air, tapping with a finger on her beautiful leg in a soft rhythm. She seemed bored, but he remembered her face as she cut him to pieces and ate him. 

Sneaking into the room, never letter her out of his sight, he found a hiding spot behind a large rock covered in books. What was with all these books everywhere? Examining the area, he saw it was smaller than he had guessed, and besides the bed, the rock he hid behind and a large closet, there was nothing here. Good time to get some vengeance!

He snuck through the room, making sure not to make any noise and keeping his eye on the queen. A small movement from beside the bed made him glance. His previous body was staring at him but didn't make any sound. Wait, did it just shake its head?

~ Awww, now you ruined the surprise! ~ The demoness rose on the bed on one arm, her head, and ample bosom the only thing he could see from his angle. 

Anton barely blinked, barely surprised. He had found it to smooth, but now things made sense again. Fine, she wanted to play games? Two could do that. 

He smiled softly and got to his feet, looking at the demoness stretched out on the bed. The prettier they were, the worse things they did, he thought before sitting down on the edge of the bed. 

"I thought I would come to show you the body I had chosen to go to the fourth level. Do you approve?"

The demoness widened for a split second before she snarled and shook her head. ~ No. It is tedious and far too handsome for my taste. I like this one better! ~ She stroked the leg of his old body and got an immediate reaction.

"What the..." Anton muttered, looking at the enormous lid.

~ I made some improvements! Do you like it? ~ She laughed before viciously gripping the member and bending it. His original body gave no reaction, but he shuddered.

"Not really, I prefer the classic look. " Anton wanted to curse and rage at her, and barely managed to resist the rage that was telling him to rip her throat out. 

The demoness hissed and got up from the bed, pushing away the unresponsive body and striding towards him. Anton felt his blood boil the closer she got, his pent up emotions of the last few hundred years rushing up. A red haze began covering everything he saw, and as in slow motion, he saw the demoness look at him a smirk on her face.

~ Still not in control over your new body? That's great. ~ She stroked his chest and grinned, baring her pearly white teeth. ~ For me! ~

Through the slow motion, Anton saw her move closer, about to hit him. Furious, he wanted to slap her hand away, but his movement wasn't any faster ten hers. Her small fist punched him in the chest like a speeding train, and he flew backward against the wall, the red haze slowly dissipating. The fog lifted from his mind, just in time to see the demoness bolt towards him through the room, her face a hysterical snarl. 

She thought she could kick him and eat him again? Fuck her! Pushing himself from the wall, Anton ducked below her poorly executed punch, striking her in the gut. A woosh of air stopped the insane laughter coming from her, and he kneed her in the face, hitting her back towards the bed. The demoness managed to somersault backward and crouched down on the bed on all four. Growling deep in his throat, Anton jumped forward, waiting for her to move. That stupid head was right! This bitch had no actual combat experience. 

Anton dodged her flailing arm, fast but too obvious, and kicked her in the chest, causing her to flip over back on the bed. He quickly pressed her down, his knees on her arms and his hands around her neck, squeezing. It was like trying to strangle a metal pole, and she began struggling in panic. 

Anton growled at her. "What's the matter, never had anybody resist before?" He heard a faint shuffle and got a bad feeling. Rolling sideways off the bed, he saw his original body slash the air where he had sat moments before. What was this tool doing now? 

"I've got no time for this! Cursing, Anton jumped forward and kicked his original body in the chest. Blood spurted from its mouth, a big dent in his chest, as the unmoving body hurled down the hole in the middle of the room.  He didn't have time to admire his handy work, because the demoness had gotten back up and was slashing at him with wicked looking claws she didn't have before. 

No matter, she had no idea how to use them properly, and now he was as fast and strong as she was, they were next to useless. He ducked beneath an attack and grabbed one arm, pulling it behind her back. Before she could react, he grabbed the other and pinned both her hands behind her back. Feeling her struggle, he rammed her face-first into the side of the cavern wall. It took a while, but eventually, her struggling stopped, and she stopped moving. Tossing her on the ground beside the bed, he looked at her raved face and felt a slight pang.

Was he as bad as she was? No, he wasn't, he sighed. He looked at her unmoving shape and grabbed her head in a chokehold. Okay, the easy way for you. Her breath cut off, she struggled a bit again, but so weak he barely noticed. From below, he was hearing howling noises, but he would deal with those later. When the body went slack, he snapped her neck and looked at her still form.

"A bit anticlimactic, don't you think?" He muttered before bending over and ripping her head off. "Sorry hun, can't be too sure with the likes of you."

Keeping the head under his arm, he jumped down the hole, barely avoiding crushing his old body. Looking at the ugly insect monster, he held the head up. "She is gone, fool. Do what you want to do."

The body sighed and sat down, staring at the decapitated head in Anton's arms. Seein no more action from it, Anton shook his head. Time to get going! Keeping his attention on the unmoving body to avoid any funny business, he walked through the tunnel. Halfway through, he heard a shuffle and then footsteps moving the other way. At the end of the tunnel, a set of runes lined the door indicating the exit. 

"Hope to see you again sometimes, Victor..." He muttered before gripping the demon head and walking through the exit. A surge of light followed by a disembodied feeling, and suddenly he was floating in the space he came to after death. If he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat. Now he just cursed in his mind. Had he just died? What the hell was going on?

Hanging in the void, he had no feeling of movement, while five small lights grew in front of him. At the last second, he realized he was flying towards something at an insane speed, before coming to a jarring stop. Confused, he saw dozens of portals, all dark and still hanging in the void in front of him. 

"Anton Beck." A deep and emotionless voice seemed to come from all around him.

"The choices and actions you have made in the in-between will now result in the following options. Choose the path you wish to take by entering one of the active gates. 

As the voice spoke, some of the portals lit up, a shimmering translucent glow revealing a vague outline of what lay beyond.

"Lastly, for making it out as the last one before the collapse of the dimension, you are awarded a glimpse of the future. Instead of picking one of the gates without knowledge of what they hold, you may peer inside. Savor this, for it is granted to but two beings, the first and the last."

Anton stared at the illuminated portals and wondered for a moment what would have unlocked the other ones. He had expected a lot of things but not this. Wonder what he should do now, he found he could move around, like a floating balloon. Mentally shrugging, he hovered towards the first of the lit-up portals and looked inside. As he did, he felt his consciousness drawn, away, and everything turned blurry. 

---

Hovering in the corner of a sterile white room, Anton looked at a man in a white doctor's coat sitting in a foldup chair. The doctor, or whatever he was, looked at an unmoving figure in a restraining jacket. 

"Come, mister Beck, tell me again about your dreams. Did you change into a..." the man flipped through his notebook quickly, " spiderling again?"

Hanging in the corner, Anton froze. Vincent? What was he doing here? Then he realized what the doctor had said, and he hovered through the room to look at the form. He stared at his face, the one he was born with! Pale and squinty-eyed, his eyes held a dead look. No, this wasn't real!

He surged towards the doctor and looked at the notebook on his leg. 

Patient name, Anton Beck, suffers from a severe onset of delusions and psychosis. Likely resulting from childhood traumas and abuse. He believes he is living in some hell, where he has to escape. 

Backing up against the wall, Anton panicked and looked around. Whatever the other gates where they were better than this! He would rather die!

"There is so much more to live for in the outside! Why don't you tell me how you failed again?" 

As the man with Victor's voice continued, Anton's vision blurred, and he was hanging in front of the portal. Feeling scared to death, he quickly moved away from the entrance, lest he accidentally moves through. And he thought he had been in hell before... After he calmed down, he looked at the other portals. They better not all be like that, he thought, as he moved towards the next one.