Michael trekked through the intense blizzard, folding his arms close to his body to maintain warmth. As he stepped through inches of snow, he could see it melting around his footsteps due to the heat resonating off of his new body. While walking, he found himself passing up the corpses of those who decided to also make the journey toward the abstract tower, and he wondered if he too would share their fate. He noticed that these people still looked human, lacking the demonic form that he took. Despite the fact that he was clearly special, he still was doubtful about the journey ahead of him.

“I don’t know if we’re gonna make it, dude.” Michael's voice shuddered as he spoke. He'd never experienced temperatures this low before as a Californian; it made him wonder how he would fare if he hadn't taken this more demonic form, which practically came with a built-in heater.

Stop being a crybaby. We’ll make it.

Mike had already grown sick of Michael's constant bitching and moaning; really, he was already tired of hearing within the first five minutes of their new life together. If the inside of their shared consciousness had a mute button, he would have pressed it long ago.

“But it’s so cold– and I feel like my legs are about to give any second now.” Michael looked down at his charred legs, watching as they quivered in the cold despite melting the snow around them.

Then hand over the body.

“I’ve been trying for the last five minutes! I would love to play spectator mode while you do all the walking.” The two of them still weren't sure how to switch bodies on command. They deduced it was due to stress since prying oneself off of a cross was quite a stressful situation, yet even the stress of the sheer cold surrounding them wasn't enough to compel the body switch to occur. Of course, Mike didn't mind sitting inside of their consciousnesses while Michael did all the work; however, if taking control of the body and piloting it through the storm meant he didn't have to hear Michael crying every five seconds, he would be more than happy to do so.

Michael continued onward, complaining the whole way. After some time, the tower was getting closer, becoming more than just a silhouette. Still abstract in nature, the building seemed separated into blocks, each one being of a different material. The first block, which looked to be dozens upon dozens of stories tall, was reminiscent of a castle made of ice. The rest of the tower was so high up, that the two of them couldn't tell what they were made out of, but they were clearly different than the first, icy block. The closer the two got to the tower, the more corpses were seen littering the path.

So many souls, so close yet so far.

“Hey, Mike.”

What is it now?

“You see all these corpses, right? What do you think happened to their souls? Shouldn’t they be immortal if this is Hell? Isn't that the whole point of this place?"

I don’t know. Maybe their souls are sent somewhere else in Hell. You're the religious one, shouldn't you know?

"Well... I wouldn't really call myself that religious. I mean, I've been to church a few times but I've never actually read the Bible. This is all new lore to me."

Stop! Do you see that!?

Michael halted in his tracks. In the distance, near the base of the mysterious structure, Michael could spot the silhouette of either a child or a very small person on a bicycle. There was something attached to it, perhaps a bag of sorts, and they were making their way directly toward Michael. "What the hell is that!? Is he gonna kill us!?"

It looks like he's just some kid. If he tries something, we'll just knock his little ass out!

"Dude... I don't hit CHILDREN!"

Not even creepy little demon children riding bicycles? I say we deck the little shit before he even gets a chance to try something, take his bike, and run!

"I'm not going to rob a CHILD for his bicycle."

A demon child.

"I don't care!"

If he's in Hell then he must have done something to deserve it. That's all I'm saying.

"I'm in Hell and I don't deserve it. I think."

Oh, you deserve far worse.

As the two of them bickered, the child on the bicycle approached them with a soft smile on his face and curious eyes. “Hello, there!" said the demon child. His skin was red and covered in scales, similar to how one would assume a real-life dragon would look. He had glowing, orange eyes, and sharp teeth that matched Michael's. Attached to his bike was a sack of sorts, one similar to something Santa Claus would be seen with as he delivered gifts on Christmas Eve. "You’re new here aren’t you?” The boy spoke like a whimsical jester, swaying side to side on the seat of his bike. His voice was soft, almost like a whisper with a strange and subtle sinister undertone.

“Yeah… We just got here.”

“We?” The strange child looked around and under Michael for this mysterious other person, yet found no one. “I only see one of you.”

“Just...forget I said anything. What’s in the tower?”

“Oh, this old thing?" The child giggled, covering his mouth with his hand before flourishing an arm toward the tower. "This is what we call Tartarus! It’s an endless tower of demise where demons and beasts lurk, waiting for any poor souls to wander inside so they can EAT them to grow more powerful. Haha.”

Uh... You saw that sinister, creepy laugh, right? And the way he emphasized the word 'eat'. Knock the little fucker out.

Michael, despite agreeing that the child's way of speaking was quite disturbing, to say the least, ignored Mike. “So… I shouldn’t go in there?” Michael asked the child.

“Well, it is a lot warmer in there. And, supposedly, if you reach the top, you’ll escape from Hell... Or so they say.”

Yeah... I don't like him. Knock him out.

Michael folded his arms standoffishly. “I thought you said it was endless.”

“That was a hyperbole, my friend! I’m not sure how high up this tower goes, but there is an end to it..." Again, the boy chuckled as he spoke and Michael looked at him with what looked to be repulsion. "...Probably.” the child whispered.

“Probably?” Michael repeated.

“Anywho," The boy clapped his hands together. "If you’re gonna climb, you’re gonna need weapons and armor! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harut. I’m a scavenger of the tower. Basically, I gather any weapons or gear I find inside of Tartarus and sell it to anyone wanting to make the journey to the top! Have a look!” The boy stepped off of his bike and started untying the sack that was attached to it.

“B- but I don’t have any money…” The second Michael said this, Harut closed his bag at light speed.

"Oh. Never mind, then." Harut started scanning his surroundings, looking at the corpses that littered the ground around them. “Well, in that case, how about a free trial?” As those words left Harut's mouth, the three of them could hear a man's screams coming from above them; his screams growing more pronounced before his body slammed into the ground beside Harut. This person was holding a wooden sword and shield with a bow and arrow on their back. He died the instant he hit the ground, therefore, these items were no longer of use to him.

“Ah! Perfect!” Harut knelt down and began looting the body for all it was worth. “Let’s see, here. A wooden sword. A wooden shield. A bow and arrow. That’s it? Tch, trash.”

Harut looked at Michael before offering his findings to him. “These are worthle– I mean, these are uh… State-of-the-art weaponry, but I will allow you to use them for free! Uhm… If you find any cash in Tartarus, then you can maybe buy some of my goods if you ever come across me again. Sound like a deal?”

“I guess…?” Michael looked down at the weapons in his hand. He’d never used any of these things outside of a video game and the one time he shot a bow and arrow for his physical education class ten years prior.

Are you seriously making a DEAL with a demon child!?

Harut smiled warmly at Michael before climbing onto his bike and waving goodbye to his new potential customer. “Well, I’ll be on my way. Toodooloo!” Harut rode off disappearing through the fog toward Tartarus. Michael stood in place, unmoving as he watched the child fade into nothingness.

Creep! Let’s get moving, c’mon.

“Uh, hello? Did you not just see what happened to the last guy who used these weapons? I don’t really do the whole falling out of a mysterious tower to my death thing.”

Oh? Really? Poor thing. You don’t have to if you don’t want to then.

“Really?”

NO, NOT REALLY YOU DIMWIT! NOW MOVE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO FREEZE TO DEATH! Unless you want to share the same body forever, I suggest you move your ass and get to climbing that tower.

Michael's shoulders and head lowered. “Fine.” he mumbled before shuffling toward Tartarus once more. Before long, he'd made it to the entrance of Tartarus, which was surrounded by even more bodies of past warriors, all of whom had their belongings looted by none other than Harut. The bottom of Tartarus looked like the entrance to a castle, having a large archway that had a thick wall of fog blocking it, rather than a door.

Hey, Princess. Are we just gonna stare at the entrance all day or are we going to go inside?

"Can you get off my nuts, dude? DAMN!"

Then do your fucking job and pilot the body.

"Then do your fucking job and pilot the body." Michael mimicked, flapping his hand as if it were Mike's mouth.

I swear to GOD if we ever find ourselves in separate bodies again, I'm going to kick your ass.

"Womp. Womp." Michael uttered as he approached the door of fog. He first placed a single hand through it, feeling the fog's warmth enveloping him. "Freaky..." he whispered before stepping through the fog with his entire body. Just as it did on the outside, the inside of this block of Tartarus looked like a castle that was frozen over. There was a carpet that looked like it used to be red before it was covered in ice, seemingly leading the path onward. The place was lit by chandeliers whose flames melted the ceiling, causing droplets of water to occasionally fall onto the ground. There was furniture scattered all around as well; however, they were all frozen over and likely unusable.

Michael's shivering ceased, and though he still felt cold, it felt much better than it did outside of the castle. “At least it’s a little warmer in here– what the HELL is THAT!”

Michael looked forward with wide, quivering eyes at a skeleton pacing back and forth on the path ahead, blocking him from progressing. It was equipped with a bow and a quiver filled with arrows on its back. It hadn’t seen Michael yet, it simply walked in the same pattern repeatedly like a videogame NPC.

It looks like a skeleton. Kill it.

“Uh… Isn’t it already dead?”

Clearly not if it’s walking around.

“I’ve never shot a bow and arrow before. At least, not one with real arrows.”

Then use your sword, idiot.

“That means I have to get close to that thing!"

That’s how swords work, yes!

“I DONT WANNA GET SHOT!”

THEN USE YOUR SHIELD!

Hearing Michael raising his voice, the skeleton's programming was seemingly interrupted and it turned to face the sound of the commotion, tilting its head curiously upon seeing Michael arguing with himself.

"I MIGHT AS WELL USE A SHEET OF PAPER TO PROTECT MYSELF! LOOK HOW FLIMSY THIS PIECE OF SHIT IS!"

THEN DODGE, I DON’T KNOW!

Suddenly, an arrow grazed Michael's arm, drawing blood that began oozing out of his blackened arm. Michael's eyes changed from scarlet to gold, signaling that a change in control was taking place.

Ow…

Finally having control over the body for himself, Mike placed his hand over his bleeding wound.“You motherfucker.” he growled. “I’m gonna kick your ass.” Mike’s eyes shone brightly and a distorted grin formed across his face. If there was one thing he was good at, it was fighting! "Watch and learn, kid. This is how you kill the undead!"

Using the shield to protect his vitals, Mike ran headfirst toward the skeleton, whose eye sockets widened cartoonishly as the demon quickly approached him with the intent to kill. The skeleton drew his bow and fired an arrow at Mike, just for the demon to sidestep the projectile and continue closing the gap between them! The skeleton drew its bow again, however, before the arrow could be released, Mike riposted the bow using his shield and stabbed the skeleton in the torso. “Gotcha!” He said with a fanged grin.

However, the sword simply passed through a gap in the skeleton’s ribs, doing no damage.

Did you just try to stab a SKELETON!?

Since they were in close-quarters combat, the skeleton grabbed an arrow from its quiver and stabbed Mike in the eye with it, sending him stumbling backward as blood gushed from the socket. “OOOWWWW!” Michael, who was then in control of the body, let out a cartoony bellow as he held onto his eye. He took a few steps backward, wincing in pain as blood flowed through the gaps between his fingers and down his face.

Michael, move!

Michael widened his single, still-working eye to see that the skeleton was aiming its bow directly at him. Before Michael could react, he was shot in the knee by the skeleton.

“Ah, fuck! My knee!” Mike uttered as he reached down for the arrow lodged in his leg. “You bastard! You're in for it now! I'm gonna kill your ass!” Mike yanked the arrows out of his leg and eyeball at the same time, causing more blood to spurt from within him. However, his eyes turned scarlet and Michael regained control of the body.

What the fuck!

“TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!” Michael screamed, curling into a ball while blocking his body with his shield as the skeleton continued firing arrows at him.

GIVE ME THE BODY, MICHAEL

“I’m trying!” As Michael continued cowering in the fetal position, arrows were still being lodged into his shield, many of which were beginning to crack and pierce through it. “He’s gonna kill us!”

ONLY IF YOU LET HIM! GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIGHT!

The barrage of arrows continued as Michael continued to weep. He could barely see anything through the blood which was drowning out the vision of his one good eye. “I can’t! I’m weak! Just take the body back! I’m not cut out for this!”

STAND UP, MICHAEL! KICK HIS ASS! NOTHING IS HOLDING YOU BACK BUT YOUR OWN SELF DOUBTS! WE SHARE MORE THAN JUST A NAME, MORE THAN JUST A BODY! YOU AND I, WE’RE A TEAM NOW, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! ANYTHING I CAN DO, YOU CAN DO IT TOO! NOW GET THE FUCK OFF YOUR ASS AND FIGHT!

Tears were streaming down Michael’s face as he cowered behind his shield. The tears only made it more difficult to see the world around him. With every arrow that struck his shield, it was growing weaker. It was only a matter of time before the shield would break and he would have nothing left to defend himself.

FIGHT, MICHAEL! FIGHT!

Mike's voice was drowned out by Michael's own thoughts as his own life flashed before his eyes, ‘My whole life, I’ve always been so weak.’ Michael found himself revisiting the memory of his little brother being bullied by other children. They were bigger than both him and his brother, such that Michael was frozen and didn't try to stop them. The bullies were holding Michael's younger brother by the backpack strap at the top of one of the staircases at school. It was supposed to be a joke; once they had their laugh, they were going to pull him away from the stairs and go on about their lives. When the strap snapped, Michael's brother plummeted down the stairs, snapping his neck on the way down. Ever since that day, Michael regretted not being able to stand up for his brother. He regretted being weak. It was until this moment; finding himself on the brink of death, that Michael was truly reminded of that feeling he told himself he would never let himself feel again!

'That’s right. I told myself that I wouldn't ever let that happen again. I don’t belong here. I HAVE to climb this tower! I have to climb my way out of this place! I have to live! I don't know what happens when I reach the top, but if I'm let into heaven, I can finally apologize.'

Michael gritted his teeth and rose to his feet, blocking the arrows as they rained down on him. “AS IF I’D LET A SIMPLE SKELTON KEEP ME OUT OF HEAVEN!” Using the shield to block the oncoming arrows, Michael rushed down his enemy. “RAAAAAAAAAH!” he screamed, holding the shield with one hand and his sword with another.

THAT'S RIGHT, MICHAEL! GET HIS ASS!

Michael couldn't see the skeleton through his tears and blood, but he could hear the skeleton as it drew back its bow. Using only his hearing, Michael tracked the skeleton, raised his sword in the air, and prepared to smite the bastard that took his eye with a wide slash rather than a stab, taking his first steps toward Heaven! At this moment, he felt invincible. He could practically hear an orchestra playing in the background as if he were the main character of an anime, cheering him on as he was about to surpass his limits. “DIE YOU BASTARD!”

However, he failed to notice the arrow on the floor beneath his feet and tripped. Michael’s head slammed on the floor, killing him instantly.