hell

when my eyes finally opened again my vision was blurry and unreliable, unable to focus on anything, not even the most obvious of my strange surroundings.

but with one head bobble downwards and an accidental glance my own shock was enough to recover my eyesight, something that was noticeably shittier.

I was myself, Jake, I was me again! my average frame and clothing returned, I even somehow still had my phone!

my initial joy quickly soured and became panic, as with a sweeping glance I instantly knew where I was.

hell.

for beings of power hell was a cakewalk, a practical vacation destination, for mortals.

it was hell.

duh.

this was bad, this was really bad.

and to top it all off I had absolutely no power, I had no strength, I had nothing I had grown so accustomed to, nothing, not even the echo of God's annoying voice every once and a while, nothing, my mind sat as quiet and as empty as the rest of me.

"this one's awake!"(man) next to me shouted suddenly, drawing my eyes to him, he was a tall man, scrawny and pale, with dreadlocks of brown hair, something that didn't work AT ALL.

and let's not forget his face, which looked more rodent than human.

"newbie, welcome, we're currently on our way to the capitol, not the best time to be launched into hell."(rodent face) said with a crooked smile, his teeth not faring any better than the rest of his appearance, almost arguably worse in fact.

"well fuck."(Jake) I cursed as I quickly knew what was going on, we were screwed.

every now and again the ruler of hell, or at least the ruler of this level of it, sends for souls, those souls are sacrificed and used to power the level, something I now found myself intimately involved in.

"great, can nothing else fucked happen today?!"(jake) I yelled to the swirling blood red clouds above.

a bad move really, as it seemed someone was listening and specifically said, "ya know what? fuck this kid in particular".

which directly translated to an armored demon entering the carriage and grabbing me by the back of the neck, hauling me out and into the open wasteland, tossing me to the ground with a shove.

I spit dirt and dust from my mouth as I coughed and held my bruising arm.

"I can tell from your glare, your confidant, we'll have to fix that."(demon) mused as she cracked her knuckles, a grin on her face.

"who's gonna do that, you? anyone one of those souls on there could kick your ass!"(Jake) I taunted as I raised my guard, instantly regretting it as I heard a crack in my ribs, causing me to groan and curse quietly through forced suppression.

---

angel pov...

"you idiot!"(God) yelled as he took the unconscious girl out of my arms.

"I told you to kindly inquire where the fourth was, not to attack him!"(God)

"he resisted me, so I found it necessary to use force."(angel) I informed, still not seeing the wrong in any of my actions.

"no shit he resisted!"(God)

at that point I had begun to feel a sliver of emotion that was telling me I had done something wrong, more a sinking feeling than a full blown emotion.

"where is he?!"(God) asked frantically, his eyes darting all over the girl.

"he was in my arms, and then some kind of shadow plummeted through the ground and the girl was all that was left."(angel)

his face paled immediately at my words, his mouth wide open and his eyes larger than plates.

"send an emissary to hell, NOW! TELL THEM TO LOOK FOR A TEENAGE BOY IN STRANGE CLOTHING!"(God) echoed, dozens of angels zooming past the window, each racing to fulfill his command.

---

I jumped and rolled to my left, groaning as I did so, a massive sword crashing into the ground where I was just standing, my breath ragged and my balance uneasy and effortlessly breakable.

"hold still mortal!"(demon) roared as she swung her massive sword once again, nearly catching my neck before I leaned back in time.

I had learned early on that my attacks had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever, my only goal now was to survive as long as I could, maybe even take her sword and use it, but that plan, well, that idea, fell through pretty quick too.

"fuck!"(Jake) I cursed as I rolled again, the pain in my chest growing as I could easily feel a rib on my right side cleanly broken, stabbing into my lung or my side every time I moved.

"mortal won't last much longer, will he?"(demon) asked, more to herself than to me.

"I could go all day."(Jake) I said, more wheezy gasps than words escaping my mouth.

"wrong, mortal will collapse any seco-"(demon) began, interrupted by a scaled fist colliding with her cheek, Andrea standing before me, arm extended as the demon went flying.

"Now is not the time for you to be acting like your old self!"(Andrea) yelled as she hoisted me up and onto her back, holding my arm around her neck as she began racing away, every once and again her wings flapping, boosting us.

"look this is bad, when we were attacked I think I somehow dragged us to hell to survive, but seeing as hell is nothing but a massive leech to me my power isn't with me, it's probably somewhere in hell and without it were trapped!"(Jake) I yelled over the rushing wind, informing her of the situation.

"why'd you go and drag me into it?!"(Andrea)

"you think I meant to?! like I said somehow we were dragged here and my power separated from me!"(Jake) I responded, ending the debate before it could officially begin.

"great! I'm stuck babysitting and forced to get stronger all at the same time!"(Andrea) exclaimed, an accurate observation of our current circumstances.

"not entirely! get me close enough to a demon and I should be able to sever their link to my realm and gain some power back, it's a theory but it's better than nothing!"(Jake) I suggested, my words changing our course immediately.

"nearest demon coming up!"(Andrea)