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Darkness. All consuming, ever expanding, filling every last corner until it can stretch no farther.
Silence. An oppressive force, a memento of how nothing stays forever. Wherever noise goes, the silence will follow, yet only will the emptiness persist in the end.
Isolation. For some, a nightmare. For others, it’s merely a state of being. Crippling to some, emboldening to others.
And for Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, these three things were what he reveled in. His realm of the Underworld was chaos incarnate, but even in the depths of hell, he found a way to exert his powers, creating a small domain where these three forces of life were brought together as one. It was a pleasant domain, one where none were permitted to enter without his own hand beckoning them forward, and even his Four Dark Devas knew the power and importance of this shelter. This was his fortress, his respite from his own horrid followers, a place where he could release the darkest of powers from his soul without fear of them spreading to new hosts. This was his domain alone, and it would always be this way.
….well, sort of.
The sound of knocking on wood filled his domain, shattering the seal of silence, breaking the Overlord from his thoughts. It would seem that the time has come. Approaching the barrier that sealed him away from the rest of the nine hells, he uttered his ancient incantation, the only code that would allow for the rift of chaos to be welcome once more to him.
“Password.”
“Oh, come on Gundham! Just open the stupid door! You know we’re the only ones who would actually bother you this late at night who isn’t your obnoxious sister!”
The seal of silence had not just been broken, but it had been crushed beneath the heel of the Twister of Cruelty. Merely a testament to her power, he supposed.
“Password, Mortal, and I will not be asking a third time.”
“Gundham, just open the-“
“Cerberus.”
A third voice echoed beyond the barrier, and the incantation had been uttered. The forces beyond his walls were most certainly the ones he had called for.
“Hmph. Enter at your own risk.”
With the wave of his hand, the barrier split before him, it’s great walls giving way, and the light from hellfires beyond burned into his realm, shattering the second seal of his domain as his guests entered.
“A pleasure to see you as always, Forbidden Samurai.”
The silver haired warrior gave a nod to her host, slipping her way into the realm and awaiting the entry of her colleague.
“Oh, so I don’t even get a hello? What was the point of inviting me if you’re just gonna ignore me?”
The second, much shorter figure entered the realm as well, pressing forward through what little remained of the darkness to establish herself, as was expected.
“In due time, I would have arrived at such pleasantries. However, given you’ve already invited yourself into my realm, I suppose the time for that has passed.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just close the door already! And turn the damn lights on too!”
…the out most defenses of the Ruthless One truly live up to their name, don’t they?
“Very well. Peko, the light switch should be on your left.”
As Gundham closed the door to the room, the overhead lights flipped on, fully banishing the second seal, and finally destroying the final rune, confirming that his company was here to stay, at least for now.
“Thank you! Now, can we actually get to the fun stuff? Please?”
“Patience, Hiyoko. We still need to set things up by the look of it.”
Peko waved her hand, showcasing how little the location was previously prepared for the events of the night.
“The Swordswoman is correct. This oasis from the mortal realm is still in need of some preparations. Luckily for us, I’ve come with a plan.”
“Ugh, fine. Can we cut the chit chat and get to it then?”
Hiyoko dropped a duffel bag onto the floor, and Peko followed her lead by placing a small tote bag on one of the folding tables that was previously set up.
“But of course.”
“Hiyoko, you’ll be the one to prepare our thrones for the night. Remember-“
“Yeah, yeah, “comfort is of the utmost importance”, you said this three times earlier today!”
Hiyoko unzipped her bag, pulling out three different sleeping bags and more pillows than it seemed possible to actually fit inside of the bag to begin with. After removing the mountain of bedding, she pulled out three small stuffed animals, and gently placed them on top of the pile.
“Peko, I assume you’ve brought the provisions?”
“Of course. I have them all right here.”
Peko reached into the tote, pulling out all manner of sweets, soft drinks, and all other kinds of tooth rotting foods, setting them out separately across the folding table, making sure nothing crossed into the territory of another substance.
“Well, Mr. Shotcaller? Did you hold up your end of the deal?”
Hiyoko stared up at Gundham from her spot on the floor, an eyebrow raised accusingly at the much taller man. A grin crossed onto the breeder’s face, as he raised his arm to point over to the wall next to him, revealing the small portable DVD player and Television that had been set up in advance, as well as a stack of three disks.
“You wound me with your assumptions, truly. But you’ve nothing to worry about, for I’ve prepared the perfect selection of visual tomes for our own enjoyment.”
Hiyoko gave a soft scoff as she finished rolling out the final sleeping bag, but the smile on her face betrayed her annoyed tone.
“Oh, good, at least you can do that right. Now, quit blabbing and get down here already! I wanna get started.”
Hiyoko grabbed three pillows from the pile beside her, as well as the small rabbit plush that sat closest to her, before dropping them all in front of her and flopping into the mound of comfort she created.
“I’ll be there in a moment. Let me just….a bit more here….yes, this should do.”
Peko finished murmuring to herself as she turned around from the table, carrying over a large tray of samples from the treats she had brought with her, placing it in front of the sleeping bags as she settled into place.
“How considerate of you, Samurai. Now, allow us to continue to the main event! Fuhahahaha!”
Despite his overdramatic laugh, Gundham simply opened one of the disk boxes and inserted it’s contents into the DVD player, tossing the remote over to Peko before making his way to the light switch.
“Are we ready?”
“Of course we’re ready! Now, can we-“
“Um, just one moment, please?”
Hiyoko’s guttural groan could easily be confused for a wild animal, as she shoved her face into one of her pillows before lifting it back up.
“Okay, what?”
“….I….I would like the cat plush, please. Two pillows as well.”
Hiyoko simply stared at the girl laying next to her, before sighing and handing her the requested items.
“There, happy?”
“Very much. Oh, pass the last pillow and the mouse too. Gundham needs something as well.”
Hiyoko only rolled her eyes this time, before handing the last of the comfort items over to Peko, who proceeded to place the two soft objects in front of the final sleeping bag.
“…I’ll assume we have everything settled now.”
Gundham flipped the lights off, before walking over to his own sleeping bag and slipping into it, quickly bringing the mouse plush closer to him.
“Peko, if you would kindly do the honors?”
“Of course.”
With the press of a button, the title screen of the movie faded away into black, and the opening credits began.
“This better be a good movie, cause if it isn’t, I’m never gonna do this again, got it?”
Hiyoko muttered to her friends as she set up a dome of pillows around her head, but Peko and Gundham were already too invested in the movie to care about her “threat”.
The camera focused on a group of teenagers driving through the woods, before parking their car at the edge of what was told to be a long abandoned summer camp.
While the dialogue stretched on between the characters, Gundham couldn’t help but let his eyes wander from the screen. After all, he knew precisely where these events were going, and that this group of mortals weren’t going to last. Taking a look around the barely illuminated room, he laid witness to Hiyoko’s tiny hands reaching out from her fortress of pillows, as well as the light from the screen reflecting from Peko’s glasses as she watched the screen intently. Now, that was certainly odd…had the Samurai never experienced something like this before?
“…My apologies, but I can’t help but notice how these teenagers seem oddly…uh, intimate.”
Peko’s eyes finally darted away from the screen, and it was only when Gundham looked for himself that he saw what Peko had initially been so absorbed in.
“….ah. yes, they do seem a bit….primarily driven.”
Similar to his friend, Gundham couldn’t help but bury his head in his pillow as the actors began running into the cabin together.
“Oh, c’mon, it’s just one pretend sex scene! They aren’t even gonna show anything good. Maybe like, one boob at most. Just keep watching!”
Hiyoko tossed one of her pillows at Gundham and tilted Peko’s head back towards the screen, revealing to the two embarrassed Ultimates that Hiyoko was telling the truth. The scene had cut short as the sound of glass shattering caught the couple’s attention, and the man got up to investigate.
“…well, he’s certainly inexperienced. He didn’t even bother with a weapon…”
Peko mumbled to herself, glaring at the man on screen for his stupidity until her eyes went wide, a loud gasp sounding from her core as she ducked her eyes behind her cat plush.
“What? What was it?”
Gundham asked, frantically searching the screen for what Peko saw, before he realized what it was a moment too late. The masked killer leapt out from the dark hallway, impaling the man with a spear and tossing him out through the previously broken window.
“Wow, this guy is brutal!”
Hiyoko perked up, watching the screen intently as the killer marched towards the bedroom, and Peko kept her eyes covered by the fluff of her plush until she heard the screaming stop. Gundham, to his credit, was still watching the movie, but his grip on the mouse plush had increased significantly over time.
“…is it done?”
Peko asked, peeking out from behind her cat, and giving a soft sigh when she saw the scene had changed to a campfire, with three teens from before resting around it.
The scene cut away to the main cabin, where one of the guys was busy looking at himself in a steam covered mirror, touching up his appearance while talking to his reflection.
Hiyoko knew exactly what was about to happen; killer in the reflection, guy wipes the steam, doesn’t see him until the reflection shows up again and attacks him. And to her credit, she watched the exact scenario she imagined play out in her head, save for one small detail.
As the masked man grabbed onto the nearest weapon, he held up a razorblade, and the sight of the metal tool caused Hiyoko to screech, ducking into her sleeping bag while Peko and Gundham watched on in terror as the killer and the man got into a scuffle.
All three of the Ultimates had been stunned into silence, and when the man rushed out of the cabin with a minor injury to tell the final girl that they were in danger. At that point, Hiyoko crept back out from her sleeping bag, though she had also moved closer to her friends.
“D-Do you think they’ll make it in time?”
Peko whispered to the two people sandwiching her, and despite Hiyoko vigorously shaking her head no, Gundham simply shrugged his shoulders and watched on.
The two teens got into their car, starting it up and beginning to drive from the camp, and Peko felt her muscles begin to relax until she heard Gundham gasp and saw him point towards the screen.
“There! The backseat! Behind him!”
Peko and Hiyoko’s eyes snapped to where Gundham told them to look, and Hiyoko couldn’t help but reach out and latch onto Peko, squeezing her eyes shut as the silver haired girl watched on through the cracks between her fingers.
As anticipated, the masked man reached up to the teen boy driving, making use of the razorblade from earlier in the bathroom to kill the one who almost got away. The screaming of the final girl was just enough to push Gundham over the edge, causing him to reach out as well and wrap an arm around Peko, in hopes of helping himself feel safer.
The three ultimates watched on as the girl ran through the woods, the killer in hot pursuit, until the two reached the edge of a cliff, with the killer slowly approaching the girl, before the woman had an idea.
Peko’s jaw dropped as the girl jumped off from the cliff, and Gundham’s eyes widened in disbelief at the scene. Hiyoko was muttering to herself about the girl being an idiot as the killer walked right up to the edge, but all three of the watchers gasped when they saw the girl pulling herself up the cliff side, now behind the killer, having climbed to the side off screen. With a heavy kick to the back, the killer toppled over the cliff edge, and the girl didn’t bother checking the bottom before running off through the woods back towards town.
As the credits began to roll, all three teens gave a sigh of relief, before slowly untangling themselves from their pile of limbs and getting back into more comfortable positions.
“…well, that film was certainly something, wasn’t it?”
“…most definitely. It was good at what it did, that much is certain.”
“Yeah, I guess it was kinda freaky at times. But only cause it used that stupid Razor!”
Hiyoko stuck her tongue out towards the television, before looking back down at the snack tray and quickly putting a frosted cookie into her mouth.
“I admit, the killer was certainly brutal. Though, at the very least, it’s over now?”
Peko gave a small smile to her friends, but it quickly fell when she saw the look Hiyoko and Gundham gave each other.
“…it is over, right?”
Peko heard Gundham take a deep breath, before putting one of his hands on her shoulder. His eyes were locked on the pile of DVD boxes, and Peko pieced it together before the pale boy could say it.
“…W-We aren’t gonna watch them all tonight, are we?”
The deafening silence that came from the other two teens was enough to make Peko groan, burying her face in her pillow and pulling her cat plush closer to her.
“Well, we don’t have to watch them tonight, but that’s all I told Gundham to grab…sorry Peko…”
Hiyoko gave the taller girl a pat on the back, before the light from the television turned off and both girls heard Gundham place the remote off to the side.
“Perhaps, we could simply call it a night here. After all, I have my doubts that any of use will sleep easy tonight.”
The quiet agreement of Gundham’s assumption sealed the deal for the other two girls, as they both moved into their most comfortable positions in their sleeping bags.
However, after around half an hour of painful consciousness, Gundham couldn’t help but whisper to the other two laying next to him.
“…are…are either of you awake?”
“Nope. Sleeping. Totally.”
“…um, yes, I’m awake.”
The Overlord couldn’t help but sigh, turning over in his sleeping bag to face his friends and running his hands over his face.
“Well, then at the very least, let’s make the most of our collective awareness.”
Hiyoko sat up in her sleeping bag, looking over at the boy two bags down from her.
“If you suggest some kind of stupid sleepover game, I’m gonna knock you out and drag you to the woods all on your own.”
“…Hiyoko, now isn’t the time for those jokes.”
Hiyoko sighed at Peko’s scolding, laying back onto her pillows, but still staring at Gundham with a death glare. Whether anyone liked it, she seemed to be serious about her threat.
“Not quite. I was thinking, well…perhaps we could plan what to watch next week?”
The two other girls looked between each other for about ten second, before both turning back to Gundham. In sync, the two said the same thing.
“Something cute.”
With another small moment of quiet, Gundham laid back down in his sleeping back, closing his eyes with a smile on his face.
“…so be it. we’ll search for movies tomorrow morning, then. It’s far too late for intense consideration.”
“Agreed. Now, um, Hiyoko? Could I borrow that Rabbit Plush tonight?”
“…fine. But give it back in the morning.”
Hiyoko handed over the small plush, with Peko gently taking it in her hands and holding it close to her chest.
“Yes, of course…uh, good night, you two. Hopefully.”
“Yeah, yeah, ‘night.”
“Rest well, you two. May tomorrow be pleasant for you both.”
“…god, you’re such a dork.”