Endless Halls

Chapter 8 - Loss on the Battlefield

"Well, I'm pretty sure there's the elephant in the room. What happened to your eye?" Akari asks. "That's not that big of a deal. Sophia, I know you hate talking about it but.." Damien says. Sophia also removes her helmet and reveals herself to be a tan-skinned woman with the same exact eye removed. "You too...? What the hell happened..?"  Junpei ponders.

Damien points to a radio on his hip before he takes it off and lays it on the floor. Sophia does the same. They both crush their radios together. "This is what they do to those who work in the halls at HEADS. As a sign of loyalty, they take your eye. Hell, they even track your every move because of a chip in our necks. We're expendable. Because everyone that lands here ends up in HEADS eventually." Damien explains.

"That confirms our suspicion. That Lisa woman is our enemy." Makoto whispers to Akari. "Figured as much. Let's get everything we can out of HEADS and make a break for it." Akari whispers back. "So not even humans are our allies...?" Junpei ponders. "There are definitely people in the halls who help others. I'm pretty sure there's even a group solely dedicated to reaching Hall Infinity. Just find your group and stay close." Damien instructs.

Suddenly, two people open the door to the break room. "Finally. Took you two long enough." Sophia proclaims. “Sorry about that, this kid is real slippery for a coward.” Daniel proclaims, holding the unconscious Nori in his arms. “He almost got us mauled by hounds, someone needs to get this fucking idiot under control!” Jacob exclaims. “The coward is the least of our problems though…” Tsunade adds.

Daniel and Jacob direct their attention to the smashed radios on the ground. “Are you two INSANE?! They’ll know you two fucked them over! You’ll DIE!” Jacob shouts. “This hall is gonna kill us anyway. There’s no point in pretending.” Damien says. “Is this for us? Are you doing this because you pity us?” Akari asks. “I couldn’t give less of a shit about you kids. But the way I heard you carry yourselves when you first arrived in the halls, maybe you’ll actually reach Hall Infinity. Maybe not. All I know is that I won’t live long enough to see what happens.” Damien replies.

“I’d rather take that bitch Lisa down with me, I don’t want her to keep going.” Sophia responds. “We can deal with it later, for now we need a plan to take down that ogre..” Junpei states. “...Ogre?” Daniel ponders. “I mean, that’s what I call it!” Junpei continues. “Both of you’ll see. I have a plan.” Damien says. “If only we had Kenshin..” Tsunade whispers. The group gets up to leave the break room, leaving Nori there for the time being. They open the door and sneak their way over to the entrance where the ogre resides.

“Daniel, Jacob, you rush in from the left, you kids go to the right. The middle is gonna be pretty preoccupied. Stay quick, don’t stop and don’t be afraid.” Sophia proclaims. "I don't see a reason for us to be afraid though, besides the big scary monster." Junpei proclaims. Damien stomps his feet down. "HEY YOU FUCKERS, WE GOT YOUR NEXT MEAL RIGHT HERE! BUT WE AIN'T GOING DOWN TOO EASY! YOU HEAR ME?!" Damien screams.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?!" Tsunade shouts. The entire hall starts to shake as  the group hears the distorted howling. "... That's not a hound, is it?" Makoto asks. In front of them, a hound even bigger than the shapeshifters rushes towards them. Hundreds of hounds follow behind it, with tens of shapeshifters sensing the mass of body heat.

The Hound Leader snarls, it's skin darkened by blood and almost seemingly armor plated. Bones poke out of its spine, colored a pitch black. "Of all fucking things... They're so rare I wouldn't have even thought.." Jacob whispers. Tsunade reaches into a bag and wraps a camera mount to her shoulder. She puts her phone onto the mount and sets it into place quickly.