(Her) Divine Punishment

7 - Oblivion

A soft voice had called out, "Vince, Vince!" within the realm of nothing. The stench of flesh burning was overwhelming and his body was completely numb. But that soothing voice gave him enough courage to attempt to open his eyes. His eyelids opened, along with the sound of hardened skin moving for the first time in a decade, and saw a woman standing over him.
"S-Sophia?" Vince asked as he sat upon the green bed cot, looking up at her, "What are you doing here?"
Sophia looked down at her hands as she nervously fiddled with her fingers, "I... I don't know exactly. I tried to go out and look for my sister too, but I ended up here..."
"Here? Where is here?"
"I don't know! ... This place isn't anywhere I know of, and it's just been constantly on fire." Sophia admitted as she turned toward the window that displayed the fiery plains just outside, "Everything's on fire, but nothing is burning down. I wonder why..."
Vince grumbled and stood off from the green bed cot. Unknowing by Sophia and himself, the skin on his exposed arms had burnt black skin shed off from his reddish, irritated skin. Though he was unbeknownst of what was happening with his skin. The two were sheltered within a little tent that had been used previously for camping trips, though the tent had shown some wear and tear that showed just how long it had been put up.
Slowly and quietly, Vince unzipped the opening of the tent and took a sly peek into the outside world, taking sight of the world as it burned in the giant crimson flames. He held his nose due to the overwhelming flames and coughed violently, his eyes grew red as they filled with irritated tears. Though, his eyes widened as his sight went up toward the sky; a giant skinless mammoth-like creature would step just past them, making the ground all around them shake with an unseen fury.
"What the hell is this...?" Vince whispered to himself, now holding onto his forehead, "Why is this happening to me!?"
"There you are!" A sly and distorted voice, similar to that of Sophitia's, erupted into Vince and Sophia's ears.
They both rushed toward the opening of the tent, looking forward at a large opening field that was laid to waste in a pool of hellfire. Tall buildings surrounded the area with flames reaching as high as the sky. A thick black cloud of smoke made their vision difficult to see. But Vince could just barely see a dark figure grow right out from the ground just inside the smoke. The body looked like it was made out of melting liquid. The sounds of deepened laughter came out from the thick smoke, scorned by the descent of the darkened figure.
"What is that!?" Sophia asked, pointing toward the darkened figure, soon stepping forward on it's melting liquified legs, making Sophia shriek, "I-Is that-...!?"
"We have to go, now!" Vince shouted as he grabbed Sophia by the wrist and rushed away from the approaching figure.
The two ran the opposite direction of the oncoming threat, though the physicality of the threat hadn't yet been revealed to Vince, but Sophia only. The walls of the hellfire kept their distance from the threat limited, but they approached a ruined home with a giant hole on the side of it. Vince jumped over the hole and helped Sophia cross over it. Inside, the room was destroyed; boxes scattered amongst the floor and tables, trash littered the once-great sanctuary for the past owners. Bloodstains covered the entire opposite wall, blood that had dried and somehow formed small bubbles along the surface of the wall. Sophia tried her best not to get close to the blood
"What are we going to do, Vince?" Sophia asked, talking a bit too loud because of the amount of fear she held down in her bones, "That figure... It looked a lot like-"
Vince shook his head and pointed to the corner of the room, "Sit and stay. I'm going to go find a place where we can escape. There has to be an exit here somewhere."
Sophia did just as she was told. She was used to being told orders by Vince, she was an employee for Atlus, a soldier-in-training to be more precise. Though, rumor had it that Sophia wouldn't be chosen to become a member of the rank because she was afraid of guns. No matter what she was told, she would not even touch a gun of any kind. Even if it was urgent, even if Vince advised her to. Nobody knew why, she just grew extremely anxious whenever she was near a gun, and she would shake violently when she hears a gunshot.
Her body began to shake as she watched Vince take out his handgun and load it with another clip of ammunition. Her eyes stared at the gun, though her fear would grow ever more once he grabbed his assault rifle that rested against his back and was held by a black strap. Vince looked around as he loaded his assault rifle with ammunition, noticing a well-kept iron cabinet.
"What is this...?" He asked as he approached the cabinet, opening it up to find some new guns inside. He took particular interest in a bigger shotgun, perhaps the biggest shotgun he had ever seen. It was called the Sweeper, a shotgun that shot three bullets at once and swept through any target. His hands slowly grabbed it and checked to see if it had been prematurely loaded with ammunition, "This will come in handy..."
"What... What are you going to do with those guns, Vince?" Sophia asked, her voice was weak and pale as she attempted to speak, becoming terrified of the Sweeper.
Vince looked back at her and wrapped the Sweeper on his back, just before taking off his grey sweater. Once he had his handgun in its holster connected to his belt on the right side, and his assault rifle and Sweeper forming an X on his back, he stepped toward Sophia and crouched down, wrapping his sweater around her comfortably.
"Sophia... I know you have problems with guns. But this is different." Vince whispered as he got up close to her, looking her in the eyes, "This isn't a test. This is real." He spoke bluntly, placing a handgun he found in the iron cabinet next to her, "If you see anyone besides me, I want you to shoot them. No hesitation. Do you understand?"
Sophia looked down at the gun and closed her eyes, grabbing ahold of Vince's sweater that was wrapped around her shoulder, "But... What if we see another survivor...? Someone like us?"
Vince sighed and ran his hand over his hair frustratedly, "I don't think we'll see anyone like us here, Sophia." He answered, noticing Sophia looking up at him as he stood up.
Suddenly, a shot from a powerful cannon was shot through the building, shooting the brick material throughout the room, as well as dust. Sophia screamed while Vince delved down to cover Sophia as the cannon took fire. The sounds of a minigun erupted fire into the building, shooting down just about everything except for the area Vince and Sophia were in. The minigun soon stopped, slowly stooping the barrel as the figure smirked at what damage it had inflicted. Vince stood up as the dust from the shots disappeared, taking out his handgun and aiming it at the target.
Vince gasped, but his eyes narrowed as he formed a frown on his face, "Reznor?"
Reznor smirked and spit on the ground next to his boot, dropping the emptied minigun on the ground and placing a toothpick in his mouth, "Long time no see, commander."
"R-Reznor!?" Sophia whispered her shock as she looked up at Vince, though she stayed down once Vince looked back down at her and gestured her to stay down.
Reznor chuckled, "I didn't think I'd find you in a place like this, commander!"
"Don't call me commander anymore, Rez." Vince spoke bluntly, keeping his aim on the target.
"Aw, c'mon man! I didn't think you'd be sent down here to Hell! Into Oblivion, per se." Reznor rambled on as he retrieved his rather large combat knife from the holster on his thigh, twirling it in his hands as he walked back and forth from on top of the building, "I remember that day, just before that girl went and got herself sick. Tragic story that was. We were talkin' about whether we believed in a Heaven or a Hell. I told her that I don't believe in all that bullshit. Course, I believe that when someone dies, they relive that death over and over. I mean, you've seen it Vince, I reckon."
"That girl!?" Vince shouted, growing angrier, "Are you talking about Sophitia!?"
"Ha! You see, Vince-y ol' boy! I knew you and I were the same. You had the brain, and I had the strength. We would've captured the world and made a stupendous two-man army!"
Vince grunted as Reznor stood there laughing. He pulled on the trigger, letting loose a warning shot at his opponent, "You're just as crazy as you were when we rid you of our organization."
"Oh?" Reznor's tone softened, his eyes looked down where the bullet would land, just next to his foot that was covered by his black boot. His eyes grew red once he looked back at Vince, the redness soon vanished, showing only a white eyeball looking toward him, "Crazy? I'm the one whose crazy? You don't know what crazy is just yet, Vince!" Reznor's voice deepened and grew more disturbing, his pure white eyeballs would burst, letting loose pools of blood and two long arms from where his eyes were. He screamed loudly as the arms only grew, where one large eye grew at the center of his head. His body fell forward as his newly grown eye opened, his new arms would tear off his old more human arms and toss them to the side. His back would grow, growing a shell of some kind. The shell would glow a deep red, almost like it was resonating some kind of power from inside. Though, within seconds, the shell would crack and burst open, raining blood around the entire area. Another Reznor would retract from the shell, screaming as he would look down at his new, deformed shape. The old Reznor was now a deformed monster, beating the madness of his new form that came from the odd shell, "This isn't what anyone could've done before. Now that we're dead, we can do anything!"
"R-... Reznor!?" Sophia whispered in a horrific tone.
A blue shine reflected off the new Reznor after most of the blood fell from his body, his eyes were pure white, no color, his muscular tone symbolized the massive veins popping from his skin.
"This isn't what you call power, it's madness. This is just your grudge not letting you move on from the past." Vince spoke confidently.
Reznor snickered, he reached down and retracted all of his weapons from his old form, who stood on his fours as if he was a beast ready to pounce on his prey, "That might've been what my old self would have said, Vince. But I have moved on. I strive to be a better person than who I was before, a better person than any of you. That's why she brought me back."
Vince frowned as Reznor aimed on of his heavy machine guns right at him, the laser sight was aiming a red laser right at the center of his forehead, "She?" He asked.
Vince quickly dodged to the right, just before Reznor pulled the trigger of his gun, igniting numerous bullets to fly where the red laser commanded it to. He laughed maniacally as he followed Vince's trail to the right. Vince attempted to barrel roll to the right side nonstop until he was behind a cemented wall, though a bullet would fly and graze his cheek just as he was hidden.
"Run, Vince! The torture would only serve as more of a great sacrifice to her!" Reznor screamed into the air as he shot more bullets into the sky, jumping high into the air where he would disappear.
Vince grunted and wiped off some of the blood that was trailing down his cheek from the bullet. He retrieved his assault rifle and stood up, running to the open field to search around, not finding any traces of his old nemesis. Soon, he felt the wind pick up just behind him. He turned around and jumped backward, completely dodging a swing attack by Reznor with his massive combat knife. Vince grabbed his own combat knife and swung at him, grazing against Reznor's knife numerous times, letting their blades scream as they cut along one another. Soon, Vince thrusted his knife downward into the head of the old Reznor, making it scream and go out of control, allowing Vince the opportunity to grab his assault rifle again and shoot a full clip into the head of the new Reznor.
Reznor grunted and screamed, covering his face as he once again jumped up in the air. Vince sighed frustratedly and rushed toward a distinct building. The white building was able to avoid any of the blood that rained upon the land because of Reznor and it was shielded by the hellfire by an unseen force. Vince rushed toward the large iron doors, but it was locked. Upon examining the door, there was no keyhole; in fact, there wasn't even a doorknob either. All there was on the door was a picture. A picture of what looked like Sophitia, Reznor, Sophia, and himself. Though, Vince's head was missing from the picture. A rather large concrete material, as if a puzzle was incomplete.
"That's how things were supposed to be." Reznor spoke from high up on the building. He sat down on the window and let his legs dangle downward, playing around with the concrete puzzle piece in his hands, "That was... Until you came into the picture."
"Come on..." Vince mumbled, looking up at Reznor with a frown on his face, "You were always so competitive. Always trying to best anyone and everyone."
"On the very top of this building lies the entryway to the truth; your truth, Vince Novoselic." Reznor spoke in a weakened tone, revealing his badly damaged face due to Vince's recent attack. His face had been unrecognizable, with blood oozing from many open wounds just on his face. "The only way to access the entryway is for you to truly accept what you are."
"Let me guess, you have the final puzzle piece." Vince spoke bluntly.
"Aye." Reznor muttered as be stood up, allowing the monstrous Reznor to get up on his fours once again, "I am who she trusts to guide you toward the right path." He revealed, dropping the puzzle piece down on the ground just in front of Vince, "Come. Our final spar is anxiously awaiting."
Vince watched as the deformed Reznor turned around and walked into the building. His eyes narrowed, glancing downward at the final puzzle piece that showed his own face, though with black x marks on his eyes. He quickly picked it up and placed it on the missing part of the picture, stepping back once the door began to split open.
"Vince!" Sophia screamed as she rushed toward him, burying her face into his chest, "What's going on!? What's wrong with Reznor?"
"S-..." He whispered, looking away from her as his eyes closed, he then opened his and took on a more confident look on his face, taking a step back and looking her dead in her eyes whilst his hands comfortably placed onto her shoulders, "I need you to stay here. I think... I think I'm going to end this, here and now. Stay here, and keep that gun with you." He spoke, turning his back to her and walking into the building with no hesitation.
Sophia sighed and looked back to the building she had originally came from, staring right at the spot where the handgun she was given was still laying.
Upon arriving at the top of the tower, Vince looked around, seeing more of the walls of hellfire that prevented anyone from leaving this realm. He frowned and grabbed his Sweeper shotgun, looking across the roof at Reznor who had been awaiting his arrival.
"Well? Where is this entryway!?" Vince screamed across the roof at Reznor.
Reznor grinned and took a few steps to the side, gesturing his hand toward Sophitia's burnt corpse. Her burnt corpse was lying on the ground, but her body twitched every so often, seemingly from the pain she was going through.
"S-... Sophitia!?" Vince screamed, running toward the two before stopping, "No..."
"No?" Reznor asked, raising an eyebrow, "Can you not accept what you have done to the one you truly love?" He asked, sighing as he was in a deep thought, "You couldn't bear to see her go through so much pain, and you couldn't stand the pain yourself, so you decided to not only kill her off but to kill yourself as well-"
"It... It wasn't supposed to be like that..." Vince tried to speak, but a painful migraine hit him on the top of his head, forcing him to fall to his knees and grab at his head.
"And you didn't even know whether she wanted to die or not. That is the pitiful part. Someone can be going through so much pain, but they would normally try their best to survive. I mean, that is human nature, is it not? Or... Or did you just have suicidal tendencies and you looked at this as an opportunity to off yourself along with her?"
Vince's head dropped down, letting his long bangs cover up his face as he was now sobbing. His heart began to beat at an extreme speed. He could now remember what he felt during that moment.
The day was rainy, clouds drifted along the skies in an attempt to darken everyone's day. A chilly wind blew along the misty air. It was another day where he had to visit that dreadful place. Why did he go over there every day? It wasn't like he was being forced to. Though, he always tried to remember how Sophitia acted before her disease. How she smiled, how her body looked, how she spoke, how much she seemed to unintentionally brighten her day. She was his angel. Though, since he had to visit her in the hospital, all of those seemed to vanish. That enlightening smile vanished, probably due to her weakened will. Her skin was pale, she lost weight, her voice was weak, she forgot who he was almost entirely. And the saddest part was that he was going to confess his feelings to her the day Sophitia was forced to go to the hospital after being diagnosed with the severe disease.
"I'm sorry..." Vince spoke weakly, his head was still hung low, "I'm sorry, Sophitia."
"..." Reznor walked up to him and grabbed him by his neck, holding him up as he strangled him, "Is that all you have to say to her!? She was given a few minutes, those precious minutes where we can tell her what we couldn't, and you can only say that!?"
"It's... All I can say..." Vince replied, closing his eyes so that he doesn't have to witness what he had done to Sophitia, I'm sorry..."
Reznor scoffed and dropped him to the ground, turning back toward Sophitia's burnt corpse. The mouth of the old Reznor who stood on his fours opened up, opening up much more than any normal human could before devouring and eating the burnt corpse of Sophitia.
"I will sacrifice myself to help give you what you can't have!" Reznor screamed as his body fell downward. His body began to shift into the shape of a female, that of Sophitia's physique. The melting liquid solidified and created the perfect replicant of Sophitia, who slowly walked toward Vince and kneeled before him, placing her hands on his cheeks in an effort to bring his head up to look at her.
"Don't cry." Sophitia whispered as she opened her eyes, her light blue eyes shining amongst the light that suddenly shined from the sky.
Vince gasped, holding back more of his tears as he was in disbelief, "S-Sophitia... Is that really you!?"
"You have no reason to be sad." She spoke calmly, her hand caressing his head gently as her soft lips formed the smile he remembered from so long ago, the smile he missed so much, "There is no reason to be sad. Because, the truth is-"
"You are not Sophitia!" Sophia screamed as she held up the handgun she was given and quickly pulled the trigger as many times as the strength in her pointer finger would allow, being a total amount of seven bullets shot into Sophitia.
"Sophitia!" Vince screamed as he scrambled toward the collapsed Sophitia, taking her into his arms, "No... Don't die on me again!"
Sophitia's bullet would were mostly upon her face. Black blood oozed from the bullet wounds, spilling onto the ground where a new form of Sophitia came as one. Her physique was visible, though her body was completely black with a crimson red coloring that shined in the midst of the shining light from above. The dark Sophitia huffed, stepping toward Sophia as she attempted to shoot at the new threat, though the handgun was completely out of ammunition.
"Sophia... Run!" Vince screamed.
Sophia quickly turned around, though there were three different forms that had the similar black and crimson red material of their bodies, though it was different people. Scrambling for a way to get away, Sophia was grabbed by the neck by Sophitia who was behind her. Sophia screamed, though the dark Sophitia had no hesitancy when she pulled her into her body, allowing the three other dark persons to enter into her body. The physique of Sophitia's body grew, with the faces of those who entered her body showing from the body, as if their faces were pressed against the inner layer of the body.
Vince could hear their screaming, the screams were so loud that he had to cover his ears. But that didn't stop his sudden fear in what Sophitia had become, who stood tall and overshadowed his puny representation. Her breathing sounded like she was still on her breathing machine. Just the sound of that breathing machine made Vince's body shake.
Though, as if his body was suddenly controlling itself, he stood up and turned around, running away as fast as he could with his hands covering his ears and his eyes shut tight. He kept running and running, way more than the size of the roof. It was like he was running into an all new realm, though the sounds of the people's screams and the breathing machine still scarred his thoughts.
"The truth is..." Sophitia whispered in his ear, "The truth is..."