Chapter 20 - To the Undergrounds

{20} Evans Smith: To the Undergrounds

Evans walked into a building covered in blood.

Red stained the floors, the walls, the windows. The stench of iron permeated in the air, mixing with the discomforting itch of airborne dust. The blood was still fresh, trailing down the walls and spreading across the floors.

Corpses of Revenants were strewn about the place. Their faces frozen in either rage or terror. Their limbs were chopped off, and if they weren't, they were horribly mangled. Some were crushed under fallen chunks of concrete. Most having fallen from the floors above, likely caused by the torn pillars he occasionally came across.

He knew the Revenants would soon come back to life, but it was horrific as it is fascinating. Avant garde, almost.

He walked through a small doorway, and he saw her. Standing in the center of a floor covered in blood. Red soaking through her rags, falling down her cheeks and her fingertips.

He saw her, and he couldn't help but smile. "You really need spare clothes."

Io turned to him. Tilted her head. "Why?"

His smile turned wry. "I might not mind, but you'll probably scare others." 

"Ooh." She looked down at herself. And then back to him. "Do you have any spares, Sir Evans?"

"Nope." He said simply. "But we might be able to find someone that sells them." And by that he meant Coco—the merchant that Louis works with. He had no idea how the hell she found the things she had, but someone like her could probably get Io some clothes. And ones better than the rags she wore.

She hummed, and looked away for a moment. "...is there anything else I must do?"

He shook his head. "We're good." He jabbed his thumb back. "Come on. Let's go back and spread the news."

She nodded, and followed him as they walked out the room. 

They passed the corpses as they left, their blood fresh, strands of flesh slowly reknitting. The stench of iron was almost oppressive.

And for a moment he empathized. These Revenants had oppressed others for their own sake, but he could understand why. This world was in ruins—there was no one that could provide them relief in blood without shackling their freedom. The wastes were ruled by power, not by authority.

He empathized. 

It didn't stop him from ordering Io to kill them all. He initially considered doing it himself, but his -Kung Fu- was already at its Max Level, and Io still needed some combat experience. 

Besides, it wasn't as if they'd be dead forever. They revive in time—at least if they weren't foolish enough to head to get corrupted right after they came back to life.

When they came back out to the streets, it was to be greeted by the warm sunlight. The skies had turned a somewhat orange hue by that point, and he frowned. He hadn't realized just how long Io had spent clearing that entire building out. 

They came back to the large pit that Revenant had led them to. The people he'd seen earlier were still there, huddled together near now-extinguished barrels.

He made his way to a nearby ladder, and with a small grin he kicked it. Its hinges snapped, and a loud clunk echoed as the ladder slammed down onto the bottom of the pit. The people finally looked up, and whispers broke out as they saw he and Io.

He grabbed onto the ladder as he slid down. They all backed away slightly as his foot touched the ground.

Silence stretched, broken only by Io's soft 'hup' as she landed by his side. 

And then, finally, someone stepped forward. 

It was Oliver Collins. 

"Who are you?" He asked, his fingers twitching as specks of yellow light spun around his wrist. He seemed like he was moments away from pulling out his weapon.

He raised his hands. "I'm no enemy." He began. "I was only searching for the entrance to the Undergrounds when I saw you all."

Gasps rang around. Whispers followed. His mention of the Underground had stirred the people's interest and fear. Oliver's expression pinched slightly. A mixture of anger and regret. "You can't go there." He said sullenly. "The syndicate is keeping it to themselves. They won't allow anyone to-"

"Ah, you mean the Revenants in the building just north from here?" He interrupted. Oliver blinked, and then slowly nodded. He huffed and jabbed his thumb towards Io. "Where do you think all the blood she has came from?"

Oliver froze. "...they haven't come today." He whispered, as if he was saying something sacrilegious. 

"They're Revenants, so they're not dead." He shrugged. "But I'm pretty sure they won't be coming after you all any time soon."

A startled laugh escaped Oliver's lips. "We're free." And the moment he said so, an infectious cheer spread through the crowd. The people who'd kept them here like animals were gone. They were free. Or at least, as free as they were in a dying world like this.

He smiled, turned around and gripped onto the ladder. His job here was done.

"Wait!" Oliver suddenly called out. 

He stopped for a moment, and then gave Io a tap on the shoulder. "You go up first." He said. She nodded, and she began climbing up as he turned to Oliver. "What's wrong?"

"Uh," Oliver rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you heading into the Undergrounds?" He nodded. Oliver took a breath. "Will you be alright?"

He smiled. "We'll be fine. I've faced worse before." And then he blinked. "Oh, but do you have a spare mask? My companion lost hers some time before."

They did. He got another mask, and he hung it on his belt as he grabbed onto the ladder once more. Oliver looked somewhat conflicted as he began climbing up, but he didn't follow. Which was exactly what he wanted. He didn't want the man to perish.

When he climbed back up to the roads, he handed the mask over to Io. She stared at it for a good moment, confused. "It's to help you blend in." He explained to her. "Neither of us needs the mask. We should be immune to the taint in the air, but others won't know that. It's better we keep this to ourselves."

"Ooh." She nodded and wore the mask. It was a bulky mask, and hardly suited her. But it would do for the time being. He'd need to see if Coco had more gas masks they could purchase later on.

They went to the south, and before long they came across what looked to be a path down to an underground metro of some kind. Except the stairs were long gone, and it only led to a hole that stretched into the darkness. Only a metal ladder remained as the sole path of exit, held precariously by rusted hinges.

He walked over and kicked the hinges off. The ladder clanged loudly as it descended down. It went on and on and on, for nearly thirty seconds before a sharp crash echoed from the darkness.

He turned to Io. "Ready?"

She nodded. "I'm ready."

Together they leapt down, holding onto the ladder as they slid down into the dark. The darkness enveloped them, though his enhanced senses made the dark hardly an issue. The air turned damp at some point, and the rocky walls slowly expanded away as they descended further. 

Then they finally reached the ground. And it was to find himself in an underground complex of some kind, filled with fallen chunks of debris and torn metal gates. The place was dark, with only the dim purple glow emanating from pulsing spikes that grew out from the walls.

And so forward they went. He didn't quite know where he was supposed to go, but he didn't need to. From what he remembered, the first few maps of Code Vein were fairly linear. Well, most of the maps were linear in truth. They were just filled with various dead ends to make exploration just that little bit more annoying.

Ugh. He was already dreading the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood. He did not have fun exploring that Anor Londo wannabe.

He stayed mostly passive as they explored. Io took on most of the Lost they encountered, though he made sure to kill any that dared to run away. He could kill them all if he wanted to, but Io needed the experience. 

And he was more busy trying to search for Louis. He still didn't know whether the man was even in the Undergrounds, but he held out hope still.

They spent a good few hours parsing through the Undergrounds. There were a lot more Losts down here. It seemed they were trapped in here. The Revenants they spawned from must've suffered a similar fate. 

He wondered just how many Revenants have perished down here. Revenants might be undying soldiers, but many of them had been normal people before they were converted. Not everyone had the mental strength to fight for a world that was moments away from dying. Many would've died, struggling or by choice.

But then, just as Io sliced a Lost in two, he heard something. There was a distant rumbling. It came from the east. It was extremely faint, but it was unmistakable.

Someone was fighting.

"Io." He called out as flames rose around him. "We found our man."

Io blinked for a moment, before she nodded. "Lead the way, Sir Evans."

They charged forward, this time with him at the helm. The Lost was there to obstruct them, but his Agility turned him into a bulldozer. He smashed through them with abandon, tearing through them in an explosion of grime and ash. Any that escaped his charge were burnt alive by his flames.

Streams of memories rose in his mind with every Lost he killed, but he forced them to the back of his mind.

And then, as they came out to a large cavernous opening, he saw him.

There was a man fighting against a particularly large Lost. His brown hair whipped to the side as he leapt under the Lost's claw, revealing bright red eyes that glowed in the dark. Puffs of steam rose from the sides of the gas mask he wore, mixing into the flames that swirled around his sword.

Despite the difference in size, the man wasn't struggling. If anything, it looked like the Lost was being played with. The man almost seemed to blur as he moved, and his sword turned into a red smear with every slash he made.

"Io!" He shouted, and a powerful gust blew as Io leapt past him, her halberd held back as its blade glowed a shimmering white. 

The man turned to her as she flew past him, and blinked as her halberd smashed into the Lost, causing a ring of white to splash outward as the Lost crashed into the wall. Evans arrived not too long after, and he gave the man a grin as he rolled his shoulders. "Mind if we jab in?"

The man smiled. "Any help is appreciated." He swept his sword to the side. The blade shone red. "Louis Amamiya." 

"Evans Smith." He pointed at Io. "And that's Io. But let's save the introductions for later."

The cave rumbled, and soon the Lost broke free from the rocks. The air shook as it roared, joined by twisting wisps of dark purple. 

Io raised her halberd.

Louis readied his sword.

Evans raised his fists.

And together they charged forward, with flames and shimmering white swirling around them.