X. Double Header

A brown, broad-brimmed hat passed through the darkened alley. A cold, slightly caustic rain had begun to fall, sending small waves of water from the figure's running feet. Just once, he slipped--and there was the sound of a third splash as the figure righted himself.

He turned a corner to see a familiar form blocking his way.

"Stop." said Darrus, ten feet from the figure.

The figure stood stock still.

"It looks as though much has, in fact, changed." Darrus looked the figure up and down. "You included."

There was no reply.

"I finally figured it out, and I think you wanted me to. You do know that I can't let you run free. I've been sent to retrieve you, or destroy you if it's more convenient." said Darrus. "Of course, this could just be a horrible misunderstanding. But I don't think it is. Are you some confused junky, or are you the spawn of a twisted and guilty mind, given corporeal form by the pits of Hell?"

The figure's answer did not come in words. Darrus simply knew he was right.

"I'm impressed, Szziszzigji. Your knack for survival always impressed me, and you've taken it to new limits, evading Hell itself. But you're a loose cannon, now. With no one holding your leash, you have the potential to be a liability. I know you can't resist my orders. Now, come on, we're going back to Hell now."

The figure's face twisted into rage. Darrus felt a new sentiment invade his skull.

"It's not a question of wanting." said Darrus. "No one wants to be there, not even Lucifer! But you have to come back now. You're a Nightmare--your place is in the Nightmaritorium, or in the minds of men, not in their world."

Szziszzigji drew up to his full height, which Darrus estimated to be over seven feet. He remained humanoid in appearance. "I--was." he rasped. The accent was heavy, like a young child's.

"You're smart, Szziszzigji, I've never doubted it. Show me another being that takes less than a week to learn how to make itself human and learn to talk. But you're harboring Fury energy, and if you resist, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"I--will--not--go--with--you." Was the Nightmare's halting reply.

"You saved my life, and that means something to me." said Darrus. "You took out that Fury when no one else could. For that I am grateful--don't make me kill you, Szziszzigji. I don't want to kill you."

Szziszzigji hesitated a moment, then spoke more quickly than before. "It's not a question of want-ing." With an unearthly wail, Szziszzigji's humanoid form erupted into its true shape. A pair of curved horns on either side of a red mohawk capped a hideous, fanged head. Two assymetrical arms jutted from Szziszzigji's side, a tentacle beneath the left. A double-tipped tail unwound from between its shoulderblades, while the entire structure of the Nightmare balanced on an imperfect tripod of legs varying in length. Its horns were inches from a second story window.

Darrus recieved the impression that Szziszzigji's place was right here, and this was an idea it would die for. Or more precisely, kill for.

Szziszzigji's full glory was visible for only a moment before it faded from view. Szziszzigji had the power to become invisible, one of the things that made it so dangerous. A human would have been entirely outmatched, but Darrus had senses no human possessed. His hearing was sharp enough to hear Szziszzigji's footsteps. Darrus was well aware when it made a sharp move to its left, trying to sneak around Darrus and attack from the side. He could see a fire escape bend as Szziszzigji lifted itself up and over Darrus' form. Darrus hand went into his coat.

Szziszzigji slipped down the wall, behind Darrus. The rain rippled off Szziszzigji's unseen form, further outlining it to Darrus' senses. Darrus hadn't moved. The trick was to make Szziszzigji think it was outsmarting him. He had worked with Szziszzigji many times before; he knew its strategies, and more importantly, its limitations. He could tell by the echo that Szziszzigji was too far away to strike.

Just as it moved in, Darrus spun around and withdrew the net from his coat, tossing it over the Nightmare in a single movement.

"Sorry, Szziszzigji. You know that net won't break. You've lost."

The Nightmare snarled beneath the net. It had extended over its entire form. Szziszzigji faded back into view.

"Now, then, let's get back to--"

As Darrus bent down to grab the net, Szziszzigji's hands melted and shot through the holes in the net. Before Darrus could react, they slashed at his arm, tearing straight through it. Darrus reflexively leapt backward, but the claws tore straight through and severed his right arm at the elbow. A substance entirely too gray to be blood oozed from the wound. It reeked of sulphur.

Darrus stared in disbelief at his wound. Demons were invulnerable to the mundane energies exhibited by the inhabitants of Earth, but could be harmed by the divine energies of those that existed outside it. The destruction of the Fury had been the last time Darrus had felt pain, but nothing like this. For a split second, Darrus' memory went back to Darius Briggs, and that dim, dirty room where he had died at the hands of Edwin Rass. One of the last tortures Rass had inflicted was the amputation of Darius' right arm.

"You shapeshifting bastard." spat Darrus, clutching the wound. Szziszzigji was flowing through the net, leaving Darrus no option but to retreat down the alley, trailing his sulphuric blood behind him. His remaining arm went into his coat, coming back with a single pill in a blister packet.

Szziszzigji seemed to recognise the pill, and struck. His arm stretched, closing the gap between them. Szziszzigji's hand closed around Darrus', digging through the wrist.

A bullet lodged in Szziszzigji's neck, coming from the other end of the alley. Szziszzigji turned its head.

Another Darrus smiled at him, holding a smoking gun in one hand. Some smiles showed mirth; this one showed only teeth.

"Tell me something, Szziszzigji." said the second Darrus. "If I wasn't willing to tackle a Fury alone, why would I attack a Nightmare/Fury hybrid by myself?"

Waves of confusion radiated from the Nightmare.

"You've heard of a Doppelganger, correct? Demons that mimick the form of another individual? Well, one of us is Darrus, the other is a Doppelganger. Can you tell the difference?"

Szziszzigji threw the wounded Darrus to the ground and charged down the alley. The wounded demon climbed to his feet and downed the pill. The wounds closed, and a new arm lowered from the torn coat sleeve. He withdrew his gun and fired a half-dozen shots into Szziszzigji's retreating form.

"You'll have to; the Doppelganger isn't empowere to kill you, but Darrus is. Of course, Darrus doesn't want to kill you. Surrender, and all this can go away!"

Szziszzigji snarled in pain, then turned and faced the Darrus he had wounded--then did something Darrus hadn't anticipated--he melted. Both Darruses quickly closed the distance between them, but Szziszzigji was sinking into the street.

"Damn!" said the formerly wounded Darrus. "A sewer grate!"

Szziszzigji's liquid form had withdrawn into New Liberty's sprawling sewer system.

"Dahl, I owe you one." said Darrus. The other Darrus flickered for a moment, changing into the shape of a young man with waste-length black hair. He nodded. "But I'm going after him."

"Alone?" asked Dahl.

"Too risky, but there's not enough room for more down there. Tell Cankerworm to have a squad of Guardians at the ready. If it hurts me again, I want it dead before it knows what's happening."

"Understood." said Dahl.

Darrus pulled the grating from its rest and leapt into the darkness below.

"But I hope it doesn't come to that." Darrus said to the darkness.

IX. Pursuit

Darrus felt the heat envelope him the moment he stepped from the door. He stood above Hell's most recognizable feature--the Lake of Fire. The screams of the damned wafted up to his perch, nearly a mile above the molten surface. Very few souls had been added to the Lake since the Middle Ages--there were punishments far worse to the modern soul--but in the end all of hell would be confined within the Lake. On Judgment Day, the Savior would return to Hell after being absent for so long, this time not to taunt Lucifer, but to initiate a cataclysm that would send all Hell screaming into the Lake. What happened after that wasn't in the propheciess. It was said that Lucifer knew what happened next, but he wasn't talking.

The Lake was ideal for the destruction of an unholy trinket like the bell that lie in Darrus' hand. Darrus extended his arm over the platform and dropped it, watching it until it dipped beneath the surface of the lava below. Without a word, he slipped back through the dread portal he had emerged from, coming back to Lilith's room in the brothel.

"It's done. I watched it hit the surface." he said.

"About time. Now let's find this wayward Nightmare of yours, before it retreats."

"You start at the top of the house." said Darrus. "And I'll start with the sewers beneath. The odds of it escaping before it runs into either of us are slim."

"What makes you think I'll help you?" asked Lilith. "You promised me that that bell would be gone days ago!"

Darrus hand came down on Lilith's wrist. "Because you have no choice."

Lilith sneered, but went through the door to the attic of the brothel and began her search.

"Unbelievable." said Darrus as he took the door to a hatch in the sewers. "She made me pull rank on her!"

There was a splash and a growl from a dozen feet away. Darrus saw what had caused it immediately; it was a Nightmare, but not the one he was looking for. He'd have to dispose of it. He walked calmly through the ankle-deep water, grabbed the alligator by the jaws, and tossed it up and out of the water. Rather that hitting the surface of the pipe, it disappeared as it rose, going back into the mind of whoever had spawned it.

"Sewer gators. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of them. There's not even a suitable nesting ground for them down here." Darrus muttered, continuing down the pipe. Ten feet from where he'd disposed of the alligator, a creature the size of a large dog leapt from the shadows at him. It was covered in mangy black fur, had glowing red eyes, and trailed a hairless, whiplike tail. Darrus caught it in mid-lunge, and disposed of it the same way.

"And sewer rats can't actually get that large!" he continued.

Lilith searched through the attic. A spindly-fingered old woman blocked her way, dispatched to its creator's mind by a quick slap on the cheek. Ghosts stared at her from every shadow, dozens of red eyes hid beneath each bed. A few quick movements and they were no more. The work was annoying, if not taxing. Lilith went down to the third floor.

Given to the length of sewers and watermains in New Liberty, it took Darrus longer to reach the first floor than for Lilith to reach the second. By the time they'd converged on the ornate main stairway, both had become frustrated.

"Nothing?" asked Darrus.

"Oh, that's hardly the problem. There's plenty to talk about, but none of them were even close to your description of that thing. The only thing I found that even had a tentacle was living under one of the beds, and it had no head. I suppose you've done equally well?"

"Unfortunately." said Darrus. His hand went to his chin in thought.

"So, it looks like the damn thing was killed in the blast, just like everyone except you." said Lilith. "We've done all this for nothing!"

"Not..." said Darrus. He was grasping at threads, pulling together half-remembered details. "Not...necessarily. Give me a moment."

Lilith waited with her hands on her hips. Her fragile beauty now radiated with exasperation. "You do realize I have work of my own to be doing?" she asked after a few moments.

"Wait! I think I have it!" said Darrus, pounding a fist into his open hand. "Make sure no one leaves, especially anyone with a broad-brimmed hat!"

Darrus stormed off without another word, searching each doorway for the man he was looking for. His search came up empty.

Darrus came through the door to the main entrance.

"Did anyone in a broad-brimmed hat come through here?" he demanded of the entrance girl.

"I..." she yawned. "Don't remember."

Darrus would have coerced her in the human method, but simply didn't have time. He strode up, put her in a headlock, and pressed his hand to her forehead, ignoring her screams of protest.

"Then I'll help you remember! Now, did anyone looking like this--" Red light flickered around the edges of Darrus' hand. "--leave in the last hour?"

The girl's face was blank. "Yes." she said in a toneless voice.

"When?" Darrus pressed.

"In the last five minutes."

Darrus dropped the girl to the ground and was out the door before she hit the floor.

VIII. House of Nightmares

Just past hour 71, the magma tube slid open and Darrus tumbled out. He coughed a few times, then looked up. Cankerworm and half a dozen armed Guardians looked back down at him. The barrels of the Guardians' weapons looked at him most intently of all.

"So." said Cankerworm. "How do you feel?"

Darrus coughed again. "Like I want to ring your neck."

Half a dozen guns cocked loudly.

"But that I can't bring myself to so much as lift a finger against you." Darrus finished.

The guns remained where they were.

"Very good." said Cankerworm. "Everything is back to normal."

The guns lowered and the Guardians departed.

"Darrus, I trust you've found no sign of the Nightmare?" said Cankerworm.

Darrus stood up and brushed himself off. "None."

"So we can rule out that it is still alive at this point, can we?"

"Not yet. I had the succubus Lilith DeCarte build a beacon to draw any Nightmares in New Liberty to it. It takes some time to work, but if it's not there within a day, it's not alive."

Cankerworm cleared his throat. "You've been in that tube for just under three days."

"What?" demanded Darrus. "You sent someone to throw the beacon into the Lake of Fire, didn't you?"

"I was never told you had created a beacon." said Cankerworm.

Darrus didn't answer, he just ducked through the door and was gone.

*

Darrus came out in the entryway to the brothel. The same girl was waiting at the front. As Darrus approached, he noticed that the makeup under her eyes was heavier than it had been. She was trying to mask the heavy bags under them, with little success. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Good afternoon." she sighed. "What are you looking for today?"

"I need to see Lilith DeCarte." he said. "It's urgent."

The girl yawned. "Yes, yes, I'm sure. She's in the first lounge on the left down that hall."

Darrus walked in the gestured direction. He turned a corner and found a large man blocking the way. He had long, black hair and wore a wide-brimmed hat. For a moment, Darrus thought it was the Fury, then remembered that was impossible. This man bore a startingly resemblence, but carried himself too awkwardly and dressed in brown and black, not the Fury's flamboyant red.

"Excuse me." said Darrus, pushing past. A large hand clamped down on Darrus' wrist as he passed. Darrus assumed the man was high on some drug or other, and briefly considered ripping his arm out of its socket. He settled on a more civilized course of action.

"What are you doing?" he asked the stranger.

"Much..." said the man. "has...chang-ed." His words came out slowly, as if they were being carefully formed.

"I'm sure. Now let me go." said Darrus. The hand released and he continued down the hall.

The hall was dark, but Darrus could see regardless. He noticed that the walls themselves seemed to be undulating. Faces and fingers swirled out of the wallpaper in places bathed in shadow. Ever since he'd set foot in the brothel there'd been a chittering sound hovering at the edge of perception.

Darrus reached the lounge. There was one figure inside, who stormed up and smacked Darrus on the cheek.

"What the hell took you so long?" Lilith demanded.

Darrus rubbed his cheek. Being divine herself, Lilith was one of a relatively few beings that could actually cause Darrus pain. "Cankerworm threw me in a lava tube for 70 hours. Believe me, this wasn't my idea. Now, where's the bell?"

"What about your precious Nightmare? As you can see, the house is crawling with them! No one can even close their eyes without being assaulted by them!"

"I noticed. If Szziszzigji is here, he'll stick around long enough for me to incinerate the beacon and get back here. Now come on, we've no time to lose. Where is it?"

"In my room." said Lilith. The two went out the lounge door and appeared in Lilith's spartan bedroom. Lilith pressed the bell into Darrus' hand. A second later, he was gone.