-Mike-

Mike stepped through the fog, finding himself on the first floor of Tartarus. However, there was something that was clearly off about the place. It still looked like a frozen castle with its chandeliers, red carpet, and fancy furniture; yet all of these things were in different places than they were during their last visit.

Is it just me or…

Mike nodded before Michael could even finish that thought. “Tartarus has changed.”

So much for revenge, huh? You’ll have to take all of that anger out on some other poor guy.

“It’s all the same to me.” Mike grunted, spinning his flail as he walked through the icy halls of Tartarus. Upon turning the first corner, Mike found himself face to face with three skeletons, each one equipped with different weapons.

Shit! Three versus one!

“I’ve seen worse!” Mike stepped forward, his fangs hanging from his closed mouth smile and his yellow eyes gleamed, scanning each enemy one by one.

One archer.

Two swordsmen with shields.

“Heh. Watch and learn, kid. Remember our rule. If we switch bodies, draw blood and we’ll switch right back!”

Alright! I’ll- I’ll be your extra set of eyes!

“No need!” Mike was already running head-first toward the skeletons, dodging past arrows with ease! “I won’t let simple skeletons stop me!”

Mike’s veins bulged as he gripped his weapon tightly; the weapon was so flimsy, that the wooden handle started to crack under his strength! With a singular, wide swing, Mike knocked one swordsman into the other and as if they were two towers of blocks, their bones collapsed onto the ground!

“I see! Blunt weapons are the way to go for these fuckers!” Mike directed his attention back toward the archer who was five or six steps away. Swiftly, like a boxer, Mike weaved to his right, barely avoiding an arrow that only took a few strands of hair with it.

Without missing a beat, Mike grabbed a shield from the ground and sprinted toward the archer, still spinning that flail in his right hand. The archer only had time for one more arrow, firing it at Mike who was charging at it like a raging bull!

Mike blocked the arrow with his shield, “This is for last time!” he proclaimed before knocking the skeleton’s head clean off with a single strike! He wasn’t sure if this archer was the same one as before, but it didn’t matter to him. For the first time in years, Mike was able to fight freely, reminding him of his days in the military. His heart was racing and his body was trembling not from fear, but from a mixture of excitement and adrenaline coursing through his body.

“Who’s next!” Mike scanned the hallway he found himself in, spotting no other victims to his disappointment.

You probably got EXP for that. Check the watch.

Mike folded his arm and looked at the screen of the smartwatch. His Health and Mana were still full, but his EXP had grown. “Sixty out of one hundred EXP… What’s that mean?” Mike asked the gamer in his brain.

It means those guys we just killed-

“I just killed.” Mike corrected him.

Michael sighed from the inside of their collective brain.

It means those guys YOU killed are worth twenty EXP each. All we need to do is kill two more dudes, which will net us forty more EXP, and then we level up.

“So what happens when I…” Mike made sure to put emphasis on the ‘I’. “...Level up.”

Usually, you get stronger or gain new abilities. I’m not sure how it applies down here though. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. It looks like we got some money for that too.

Mike took a closer look at their watch, seeing a peculiar-looking symbol right beside their EXP. It was similar to an American dollar sign, however, it looked more like an ‘H’ than an ‘S’. They’d earned fifteen of these Hell Bucks though it was impossible to tell how much that was really worth.

“Oh yeah… Fifteen Hell Bucks. Well, maybe we’ll run into that creepy little fucker in here and be able to see how much this is worth… Or we can just take what we want from his bag.”

We’re not robbing Harut.

Mike rolled his eyes, lowered his shoulders, and scoffed. “Fine. Let’s keep moving.” Mike stepped forward, jogging through the halls with his shield and flail in hand. It wasn’t long before he came across an intersection that broke off into four branching paths, including the path he’d just come from.

This architecture is strange…

“You’re right. A real castle wouldn’t be built like this. These hallways all look endless. It's more like a maze than a castle."

Look over there!

Mike stared blankly in front of him, lowering his shoulders once more. “Am I supposed to know where you’re looking?”

West, dumbass! There’s a chest, but it’s being guarded by an enemy.

Mike shifted his eyes to his left, and sure enough, he could see this so-called treasure chest being defended by another skeleton. However, this skeleton looked tougher than the rest. Anatomically, it shared many similarities to a human skeleton, but its height and mass were beyond that of any mere man.

Mike’s lips slowly curled into a devious, toothy grin. “Let’s get him!” Before he could take off toward his prey, Michael’s voice halted him.

Hold on! If this is anything like an RPG, this guy is gonna be tougher than the others. There’s no telling what he’d do to us and we still only have standard gear. I mean, look at the guy! He is ten times our size!

“So what? There’s loot behind him! Besides, won’t I get more EXP stuff if he’s harder to kill!?”

Well— Usually, but–

“That’s all you had to say! Let’s get him!” Mike took off, heading down the western hallway with his flail trailing behind him. It didn’t take much for the giant skeleton to take notice of the crazy demon running toward it, holding its shield in a ready position as it rested its greatsword on its shoulder.

Once Mike was close enough, the giant slammed its weapon downward, though Mike was quick to sidestep and avoid it! “Big and slow! See! I told you this guy would be-” Before that sentence could finish, Mike’s face was met by a shield the size of his body, sending him flying backward into the icy wall behind him. He hit his head so hard on the wall, that not only did they lose ten Health Points, but Michael took control of the body accidentally.

-Michael-

“AH!” Michael yelped as the giant skeleton’s greatsword nearly sliced his head off had he not ducked under it.

GIVE ME THE BODY!

“Hold on! I- I got this!” Michael uttered, feeling ninety-nine percent horrified and one percent courageous, although that’s being generous.

Michael rose to his feet, and despite feeling as if he were going to piss himself within the next five seconds, he stiffened his body and stood tall. Though Mike could not see the resolve written all over their shared body’s face, he could feel Michael’s determination as if it were his own.

Alright, kid. There's your chance to redeem yourself. Watch out for the shield attack.

Michael said nothing before dashing toward the giant skeleton. Just as Mike predicted, the monster went for yet another shield bash attack, but Michael was ready!

With an opening and his weapon ready, Michael lifted the flail high in the air while letting out a war cry!

...then the flail came back and slapped him in the forehead, knocking him on his ass and drawing blood.

-Mike-

“Are you actually an idiot!?” Mike yelled as he took control of their body.

Mike looked down at his watch, seeing that this one mistake cost them half of their health pool. They only had forty Health Points remaining.

The Skeleton repositioned itself, turning back around to face Mike. Once more, it attacked Mike with its sword before readying itself for a shield bash. Mike, of course, recognized this pattern and stepped to the side, avoiding that attack which left the skeleton wide open for an attack. Unlike his bodymate, Mike was able to destroy the bony beast in one hit, its bones collapsing on the ground into a small pile beside his feet. Mike let out a sigh of relief before immediately verbally attacking his partner.

"You will NEVER control the body again." Mike yelled, sounding more like a disappointed father than a partner.

I'm sorry.

For once, Michael truly felt ashamed for disappointing Mike, especially since his tone sounded almost exactly like Michael's father when he scolded him. When he took over the body during that fight, he felt as if that was his moment; that was his chance to prove to Mike, and most importantly himself, that he could fight too. However, it looked like he was wrong.

Mike sighed, he could feel himself starting to feel sorry for Michael and he hated it. Regardless, he mustered some words. Whether or not they were words of encouragement is up for the reader's interpretation.

"Listen, kid. Not everyone is meant to be a fighter. Trust me, I've seen my fair share of bushy-tailed, wide-eyed kids like you join the military with dreams of being on the front lines. You wanna know where most of those kids ended up? Communications, the guys on the computers who give the guys on the front lines valuable information among other things. You might not wanna hear it, but you fulfill that role and there's nothing wrong with that. Those guys in communications are as important as those guys on the front lines. You said the way the tower works is like a videogame, right? I don't know shit about games but you do. Just sit back, be the guy behind the screen, and do YOUR job. I'll do mine. Got it?"

Michael was silent. Ironically, the silence Mike requested throughout their partnership was finally given to him when he wanted Michael to speak. "Got it!?" he repeated.

Yeah. Understood.

Michael was officially down in the dumps. 'I guess he's right.' he thought to himself. 'Just stick to what you're good at, idiot.'

“Alright. Now, let’s see what's inside.” Mike opened the chest, finding a weapon that was a little more instinctive to use. “A war hammer, that's more my style." Mike gave his new weapon a few practice swings, finding it far more intuitive in comparison to the flail. Perhaps Michael would've managed better with a weapon as simple as this, but Mike wouldn't take any chances.

Hey... how much EXP did you get for that? Check the watch.

Michael's voice was still full of defeat as he spoke from within the main body's brain. Mike almost preferred the witty, smart-ass version of Michael in comparison to the sad and mopey one. Nevertheless, Mike checked his watch, and sure enough, the display had changed.

"It says I leveled up." Mike said before tapping the screen with his pointer finger. A menu opened up, showing him a stats sheet of sorts. "Strength. Agility. Vitality. Intellect. Luck." Mike read off all five of the stats on his screen. "Skill points..." Mike pitched his head curiously. None of this was making any sense to him. "What's all this mean, kid?"

Well, it looks like you got three skill points. This means you can put those points into one of those five categories and it'll make that attribute better. For example, if you level up strength, you'll become physically stronger. The other-

"Let me stop you right there, kid. In a fight, strength is all that matters. I'm going all in on strength!" Mike put all three of those skill points he'd just earned into the strength category. While all his other attributes were level ten, his strength was level thirteen. He swung his hammer around a few times, already feeling a difference. "Yup. Feels a bit lighter."

You should've done Vitality. It would've increased our Health Points. Or Agility to increase our movement speed.

"Who needs Health Points or speed when you can just do more damage?" Mike continued swinging away at his hammer before resting it over his shoulder. "Let's keep going."

---

Mike and Michael continued through the first floor of Tartarus, taking out a few skeletons throughout their journey, putting them just shy of leveling up once more. Eventually, they found themselves at the bottom of a staircase, and at the top of it, there was a wall of fog similar to the one at the entrance of Tartarus.

"On to floor two, I guess." Mike climbed the stairs and stepped through the fog; once he passed through the other side, he found himself enveloped in complete darkness. “Uh… Where did the lights go?”

Maybe the smartwatch has a flashlight setting?

Sure enough, it did. Mike pressed the touch screen and a small light emitted from the device. “And… let there be light. Say, you're pretty good at this communications thing.”

M- Mike… Michael's voice was shuddering, though Mike assumed it was just Michael being the scaredy cat he'd already proven himself to be. He figured it beat him being gloomy, but being a chickenhearted bitch wasn't much better.

Mike was still fiddling with his watch as Michael spoke. “M- Mike” He mocked his bodymate. “What? Afraid of the dark?”

Look. In. FRONT OF YOU!

Slowly, MIke’s eyes lifted from his watch, following the beam of light that lit his path.

“Holy shit.” Mike uttered upon seeing what it was that was waiting for him down the hallway.

It was unlike anything either of them had ever seen; it was a monster beyond what the two of them could have ever concocted in their minds.

Its skin was human, though it was obvious by how it looked stitched and grafted together haphazardly, that this human skin did not belong to the demon. Its head looked like a misshapen cube, having multiple mouths affixed to it, although none of them appeared functional aside from the one at the center which expelled a vapor cloud into the chilling air.

It had human eyes clinging onto its face, however, they all looked decorative rather than operational. The only two eyes that looked back at Mike were the two white dots at the top of the creature’s head, staring blankly at him from across the hallway.

It wasn’t a bipedal creature; Mike and Michael wouldn’t even know what to categorize it as. Holding up its body, which was a mishmash of human torsos sewn together, were multiple arms and legs of different sizes and skin tones. The smaller limbs were suspended in the air whilst the longer ones, about a dozen or so, met the ground.

It took a single step toward Mike. The sound of bones crackling was combined with skin tearing and limbs flopping against each other, nearly compelling Mike to vomit whilst Michael gagged from inside their brain. The beast groaned, though its singular wail sounded like a concoction of tens of lamentations put together.

M-mike.

For once, Mike was speechless. His legs quivered beneath him as he walked backward, using his hand to guide him toward the fog door behind him. However, his body jolted once his hand struck a solid object. He reared his head slightly, still keeping the beast within his peripheral vision to not allow it to sneak attack him. “Where’s the entrance!?” he said with wide eyes. The wall of fog was gone, replaced by an icy wall with no exit.

“Hello?” the beast spoke, jolting Mike. Its voice sounded like a mixture of male, female, and child-like voices combined into one. It was as if the souls of its previous victims were calling out to them. Mike could feel his stomach churn; even Michael felt sick from the inside of their consciousness.

Oh, HELL no did that thing just SPEAK!? Just this time, Michael, was glad that he wasn't the one in control of the body. If he were, he was certain that he would've likely been the first man to piss himself in Tartarus.

“God…” As Mike spoke, the beast twitched and turned its entire body toward him.

“There you are…” It said before sprinting at him like a centipede! Mike immediately ran down the hallway to his right, sprinting with everything he had as the monster gave chase behind him.

Go, go, go, go, go!

“What do you think I'm doing!?”

“I found yoooou!” the monster spoke again as it continued on its hunt. Mike took one glance back, his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull upon seeing the creature climbing up the walls and the ceiling like some sort of flesh spider.

This is why you don't put all of your skill points into one place!

Just as Michael spoke, a skeleton walked in front of Mike and was instantly demolished by his hammer. As luck would have it, this gave Mike just enough points to level up his stats.

AGILITY! AGILITY! AGILITY!

"I am!" Mike spent all three of his points on upgrading his agility, and the moment he pressed confirm, he gained a noticeable amount of speed and began outrunning the monster.

After some time, Mike found himself hiding beneath a table, sitting in complete darkness after having turned off the flashlight so as to not attract the creature. His chest was moving up and down as he obscured himself beneath the frozen table and his breaths were harsh. However, the moment he heard the beast’s footsteps and voice getting closer, he held his breath.

“Where are you? Where did you gOOoOOo?” the creature called out to him, sounding like a child playing hide and seek.

Mike covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his breathing, and for a short moment, there was silence.

Is it gone?

Very slowly, Mike reached for his watch and turned on the flashlight, only to see that the monster’s face was mere inches away from him! Mike’s eyes widened and his body trembled as the monster looked directly into his eyes; at least, that's how it seemed at first. Upon closer inspection, it appeared as if the monster was looking right through him. Mike didn't notice or care as his fight or flight activated, this time opting to fight! He raised his war hammer, aiming the pointed side toward the eyes of the monster. Just before he could impale the freakish creature in the face, Michael stopped him.

Don't make a sound! I think it's blind!

“Are you here?” Once again, the monster sounded as if it were a child, though a disappointed one this time around. As it spoke, Mike could feel its breath touch his face. The stench of its breath was the most disgusting scent he'd ever come into contact with in his life. It reeked of bile, rotting flesh, and human excrement.

Mike stayed calm, but his weapon remained drawn as he continued looking the monster in the eyes with his mouth still covered. He was holding his breath this entire time, fearing even the smallest breath would alert the beast. "Where did you go?" asked the curious monstrosity before it turned around and waddled in the other direction.

Once it was gone; Mike let out a silent sigh and caught his breath.

Follow it. As long as we stick behind it, we'll know where it's at and we won't have to worry about running into it by accident. It'll have to run into the stairs to the next floor eventually. Michael said this so matter-of-factually, one would think he had the balls to do it himself, which was far from the truth. He figured Mike, the killing machine marine who fought in Afghanistan would be capable of such a feat, but Mike was scared shitless.

Mike shook his head aggressively. ‘HELL NO!’ he thought. He was too scared to even speak at that point, worrying it would attract whatever the hell it was that was stalking them.

Stop being a pussy. Michael was speaking in a mocking tone, thinking it would peer pressure Mike into doing as he said. However, this plan only backfired drastically. Mike took the sharp end of their war hammer and sliced his thumb, dealing five health points worth of damage to himself.

-Michael-

Then you do it! Mike sounded like a child folding his arms in protest of eating his veggies as he spoke from the inside of their consciousness.

Michael's eyes widened and he immediately did the same thing that Mike did, cutting his thumb whilst dealing five Health Points worth of damage to himself.

-Mike-

No, you!

This triggered a childish back and forth between the two of them as they cut their thumb in a constant loop, passing on the responsibility of outmaneuvering the monster to the other.

No, YOU!

You do it! You said I'M the communications guy!

Well, I take back everything that I said! You got this, kid!

Fuck you! I'm not doing it!

Fuck YOU! You ARE doing it! It's your turn!

-Michael-

“Hey! Mr. Hugh Jaynus!” Both the beast, who was at the end of the hallway perpendicular to them and Michael turned around toward the sound of the voice. Harut, the traveling merchant, was sitting on his bike right behind Michael, speaking loud enough to attract the monster. “Oh, is this a bad ti-” Michael grabbed Harut and covered his mouth before hiding against a wall with him in his arms.

The monster sprinted toward them, “I found you!” it said before stopping right in front of them. It looked around for a few seconds before scurrying down the hallway like an arachnid. Once it was gone, Michael scolded the demon child.

“What is wrong with you?” Michael whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” Harut matched Michael's voice with child-like wonder, playing along in what he assumed to be some sort of game.

“Because I don’t want to DIE from that THING!”

“What thing?” Harut tilted his head.

“The fucking grafted creature that just ran past us!” Michael said in a loud whisper, one that was barely quiet enough to not be heard by the beast.

“Oh…" Harut nodded his head. "I can’t see the monsters and they can’t see me. That’s how I scavenge Tartarus so easily heheh.”

“Yeah, well you almost got me killed.”

“Wheeeree aaaare yooou!” bellowed the monster, it was clearly growing impatient and perhaps hungry since it knew that there was fresh prey lurking around.

“Do you have like a map or something?” Michael asked the child quickly.

“Maybe. Do you have cash?” The boy had a smug smile on his face, looking down at Michael's watch to see that he had a good amount of Hell Bucks on him.

“Yes…” Michael whispered. "I'll pay whatever the price."

"Finally! A sale!" Harut exclaimed very loudly.

"I Heeear yoooou!" said the beast, causing Michael to hold his finger up to his lips and loudly shush Harut.

These idiots are gonna kill me...

"Oh, Sorry. I'll be quiet." Harut said as the two of them snuck over to his bike. The monster was seen sprinting past the intersection beside them, buying them more time. However, Harut opened his sack of goodies and began rummaging inside of it in an extremely loud and obnoxious fashion, going as far as to crawl inside it. "There should be a map in here somewhere."

"I fooound you!" the beast exclaimed as it scurried directly for them. Michael grabbed Harut and ran, forgetting that the monster couldn't even see the child.

“Hey, my stu-” Michael covered Harut's mouth and kept running until he felt like he'd escaped the monster. Before long, he could see the staircase in front of him, barely being illuminated by his flashlight. Meanwhile, Harut was still trying to talk through Michael's hand.

There's the exit! Go! Go! Go!

Michael sprinted as fast as he could, putting everything he had into this final sprint! However, the monster was waiting for him by the entrance, knowing that his prey was going to turn up there eventually. They always do. "Found yooou!" said the beast, tracking Michael due to Harut's muffled voice.

Toss the kid!

"Way ahead of you!" Michael said before he chucked Harut behind him and the boy still talked as he soared through the air.

"Hey! I'm gonna charge you extra for the map! You better hope no one stole my stuff or else you're gonna have to pay for replacements! Do you hear me, Mr. Jaynus!?"

The beast ran past Michael and toward the talking child. Michael wasted no time, making his way toward the exit, and diving through the wall of fog toward his freedom.