FanFiction:MHQ:To Hunt A Man Chapter 13 - Stairway to Hell

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Previously: MHQ: To Hunt A Man Chapter 12 - A Scorched World

Language Warning

Night has fallen, and the moon and stars were hidden behind the clouds, leaving the group’s surroundings shrouded in darkness. They had to make the decision to rest up for the night, or risk going into battle exhausted. They made a small campfire, and used a broken down house for some shelter and went to rest for the night.

“Shit dude, I’m hungry.” Blue said as he rubbed his stomach.

“Well, all of our food got blasted. And there’s no food to hunt for around here.” Sky responded.

“I know that, what’s your point?

“My point is shut up.”

They began to go back and forth like this for a little while. Kreuz rolled his eyes before glancing over at Rebecca, who was staring out into the distance. He thought for a bit about what he should say, and how he should say it.

A smack was heard, jolting Kreuz out of his thoughts. Blue and Sky had begun to wrestle, with Annie attempting to break it up. With a sigh, he decided to remain quiet. He then rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

The night dragged on, and no one was able to sleep well. When morning finally rolled around, the group was already up, albeit groggy. The usual complaints rang out from Blue. They then continued their journey.

During most of the journey, everyone was silent. Kreuz was still working out his thoughts and feelings toward Rebecca. He came to the conclusion that if he didn’t say anything now, he might not get another chance.

“Uhh, hey, Rebecca.” He began to speak, although it was painfully obvious that he was nervous. “When all of this is over, um...maybe we can go on a date sometime?”

Rebecca just stared at him. She was a bit surprised by the question, but simply said nothing. Kreuz’s nerves shot through the roof as he began to regret saying anything.

“Y-you know, just uhh, just if you want to! I mean, it’s not a big deal to say no, y’know? In fact, I’d say no to me! So-so I wouldn’t really blame you if-if you weren’t interested in-”

“Kreuz.”

“Huh?” His voice cracked when he answered.

“It sounds like a good time.” She responded with a soft smile before turning her attention back to the tower.

“D’aaawwwwww” Blue mocked, but Annie elbowed him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

Kreuz looked back at them and Annie gave him two thumbs up. He just rolled his eyes in response as he blushed.

The group walked on and on until eventually, they made it. It’s almost sunset, and everyone is incredibly exhausted, but they damn sure made it to M’s tower. But a new problem has been found. They looked all around the perimeter, but there doesn’t seem to be an entrance.

Blue fell to his knees and and groaned. “Duuuuude if we have to climb this shit, I’m done. I’ll just let him win.” There were no footholds or anything like that, so climbing this tower from the outside would likely be a futile effort. Annie patted him on the back.

Rebecca looked around and thought. There isn’t much around the area except for a bunch of rubble. She glanced up at the tower, and there was a big hole at the top. He must fly in and out with a monster. An idea came to her.

She took a deep breath before speaking. “I...I think I know how we can get up there.”

Blue sprung up with excitement, startling Annie. “YES! We’re not done yet! I’m coming for you Pinky, you little bitch!” He turned to Rebecca with a fire in his eyes. “How do we do it?”

“Um...well…” All of her confidence seemed to be lost again.

“Well?”

Just then, a rumble was felt in the ground. Everyone looked around, but there was nothing. Another rumble, and Sky looked down at his feet. A Najarala then burst from beneath him, sending him flying through the air. He landed a short distance away, and was mostly unharmed.

“Oh you have GOT to be kidding me right now!” Blue yelled as he shook his fist in anger.

The Snake Wyvern pulled itself out of the ground, but seemed to struggle a bit. The group noticed that it was wounded severely.

“Is that the same one from the town? What the heck happened to it?” Annie asked.

Rebecca seemed sad as she watched the Najarala. “Sometimes the monsters can resist that glove’s power. Although...the Dragon element can fix that…”

They didn’t have time to discuss much more before the Najarala lunged for Blue. It was a bit sluggish though, so it was easy for him to dodge and counter with a slash to the face.

It jolted backwards. As it recovered, Kreuz charged in for it, jumping off of its tail and bringing his Greatsword down onto it. The monster flinched back again and let out an agonized groan.

Annie readied an arrow, but she hesitated. She thought about the Brachydios that was unleashed in Bondersburg, and how it was injured as well. ''This isn’t fair. This monster isn’t a threat to the town anymore. I shouldn’t have to do this,'' she thought.

She became lost in her thoughts and slowly started to undraw her arrow. Blue’s voice suddenly rang out, “ANNIE!”

Annie snapped out of it, but was a bit startled and dropped the arrow. She looked back up to see the Najarala coming right for her. She panicked and just put her arms up, but Blue was able to slice at the monster’s tail, causing it to turn its attention to him.

As it turned, Kreuz gave the Wyvern an uppercut with his sword, cutting it right in its throat. The monster let out one last groan as it fell to the ground. They waited a minute to see if it would get back up, but there was only silence.

Annie slowly approached it, putting her hand up to it. “M is the real monster here,” she whispered to herself.

Blue went back to bugging Rebecca about her supposed way of getting up the tower. It doesn’t take very long for him to shift his focus. “Alright Rebecca spit it out, how are we doing this?”

Kreuz pulled him back. “Oh for crying out loud, get out of her face.”

There was no time to waste at this point. Rebecca suddenly held her arms out, shaking a bit. She took another deep breath before closing her eyes. Everyone else was confused.

Blue tried to say something, “Uh, hey-” But he was immediately interrupted as Rebecca reopened her eyes, and electricity sparked from her arms. Now everyone was both confused and scared. They became even more-so when the rubble in the surrounding area all began to lift into the air.

The rubble attached itself to the tower in the formation of a spiral staircase. Rebecca lowered her arms and the electricity stopped. She approached the staircase, but before she began to climb it, she looked back at the others who were dumbstruck.

“Hey uh...we-we should probably hurry…” she said shyly.

Annie was finally able to shake herself out of a daze. “So are we supposed to ask about that or…”

“I’d rather you didn’t. Maybe later.”

Rebecca began her climb while the others just looked at each other. Blue then shrugged and began to follow. “Whelp, guess these stairs go up to the hell floor” he said.

“You don’t go UP to hell dumbass,” Sky responded.

“You do if you’re currently in Super Hell. Which is where I’m at whenever I have to be near you.”

Kreuz had to speak up. “Please stop or one of you are going to get thrown off the top of this thing.”

The tower was fairly high up, and going up this large flight of stairs after the trek they just had is agonizing. After they made it up a decent height, Sky made the mistake of looking over the edge. Blue pretended to try and push him off, which resulted in Sky trying to actually push him off. Kreuz had to hit them both in the back of the head to get them to stop.

While the guys were back there slapping and threatening each other, the girls were ahead of them a bit. Walking in silence, Annie was thinking about the Najarala. She finally spoke up, “So this guy just brutalizes monsters that don’t do his bidding?”

Rebecca reluctantly answered, “Yes...it’s cruel. The glove has been a torturer instrument for ages.”

“So how did he get it anyway? And where did you learn all of this?”

Rebecca remained silent this time, clenching her fist. Annie decided not to pry any further.

It took a while and the sun is almost gone, but they finally made it to the top. Rebecca peeked in, but it couldn’t see anybody. It was dimly lit as the sunlight vanished, leaving moonlight to take its place. The group entered, cautiously.

“I was growing bored. You fools really know how to take your time.” M said has we walked out of the shadows, alongside Pinky.

“That’s the most cliche shit you could’ve done. ‘Oh look at me, menacingly coming out of the darkness I’m so fucking edgy’”. Blue teased.

“Do you really think I care about that? Should you even care about that? You’re about to die!”

“Look man I barely even care about you. I’m here to whoop your boy toy’s ass.”

M growled in annoyance and raised the glove up. At that moment, the Doragyrosu flew in. “I hope you enjoy your little remarks. Because I assure you, you’re going to be miserable after we’re through with you.”

The group readied up for a fight. Despite the events leading up to this, they’re all as prepared as they can be for this.

Next Time: MHQ: To Hunt A Man Chapter 14 - The Man and His Monster