The Underworld : Rivers of Hades (Part VII)

[Spike]

The temperature dropped rapidly throughout the underground maze, chilling further with the occasional gust of wind that burst in from above, each one carrying with it the blood-curdling screams of countless tortured souls. Huddled in the darkness, three comrades sat and listened as their newfound friend recounted his story.
Peter Wilson rubbed at his wrists, callused fingertips brushing over red-raw skin that had so recently been bound by rusted manacles. Likewise, his throat bore similar marks. After taking a long gulp from Kalliope's water ration, he continued.
"Mess hall", he rasped. "having lunch. Tasted like shit, but..." his hands were working at his wrists nervously again. "I'd give anything to have it now. Anything's better than this."
Suddenly, he checked the pockets of his fatigues, looking for and finding the familiar shape of a twenty-pack and a lighter.
"Smoke?" He asked suddenly.
Hendry reacted without hesitation, grabbing a cigerette and accepting a light as it was offered. Both blew out long, blue-gray plumes of smoke, their expressions conveying much-needed relief. The Colonel and Private declined politely.
McMillan regarded Wilson through the hazy air. "You were just grabbed and hauled off?"
Wilson nodded nervously, mentally replaying the events within the confines of the hellish crypt. "I don't remember how we got here. One second i'm eating reconstituted mash and stew. The next..." He shuddered in spite of himself. "...I saw Hetherington being gutted." Almost on reflex, he glanced over at another mutilated corpse on the wall, his facial features obscured by a mass of exposed, festering flesh and covered with feasting maggots.
Kalliope wafted away cigerette smoke and leaned forward. "This can't just be restricted to Athens Base. If they could kill and abduct this many marines, then they did it for a reason."
Hendry clicked on in an instant. "Defence measures. Military headquarters. They'd have everything they need for a full-scale invasion." Painful memories rushed back momentarily. "Again."
McMillan nodded and stood, reaching for his shotgun. "Then we've got even more reason to get back. And to get back, we've got to find Baphomet."
"Baphomet?", Wilson enquired.
"Long story," Hendry muttered inbetween drags of his cigerette. "I'll fill you in on the way."
McMillan turned back on Wilson. "Any idea where that teleporter goes?" he asked, motioning towards the glowing red pad.
"None", he replied. "They go through, they come back, and they kill more of us. I don't know."
The Colonel mulled over that one for a moment. "Then we just have to hope it takes us back where we started. After you, corporal."
Hendry gave a nod of affirmation, grinding his cigerette out beneath his boot and and stepping onto the teleporter, vanishing in a cascade of green light. Nervously, Wilson did the same, followed quickly by Kalliope and McMillan.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto", Hendry commented as Mcmillan reappeared through the gateway. Blinking away dizziness, the Colonel glanced around the room. So similar to before, only the dimensions were different; a small, square room with a pair of torches that illuminated a massive carving of Baphomet.
"A door?" Kalliope inquired?
"Only one way to find out," replied Hendry. He stepped forward, reached out to touch the cool marble...
...and the door rushed open to reveal darkness. No, not darkness. The faintest of luminescence pulsed away in the distance like a living thing, softly illuminating the area. Ropy intestines crept up stone walls, meeting in the center of the cavernous room's ceiling like some sick interpretation of a spider's web. Wilson found himself tracing the throbbing menbranes, gasping as he caught sight of twitching bodies suspended from them. Soft mechanical whirring provided a strange ambience.
"Where's that noise coming from?" Kalliope asked.
"I don't think you want to know", McMillan replied. Easing himself forward, he checked the surroundings once more. A long stairwell led around the chamber's perimiter; another teleport pad sat some 12 feet above upon the highest step. Beside it, he saw a familiar metallic shape, a glimmer of hope amid so much darkness.
The sudden blast of a chaingun sent everyone throwing themselves to the ground.
And for a split-second, McMillan saw their protaganist illuminated in the soft light as it lumbered towards its prey. The other three marines found themselves staring in horror.
Immense, metallic spider-esque legs clattered onwards, supporting a circular base that mounted a high-speed chaingun with multiple ammunition packs. The horror, however, came from the beast riding the bizarre construction. A pulsing brain, perhaps twelve feet in diameter, with small stubby arms sprouting from its sides. Growing from the front of this abominable tumour was a face, beady eyes set above a fanged mouth dripping with blood.
The Spiderdemon unleashed its firepower once more.

[Livo]

Nice! I can't wait until they meet up with Baphomet :)

On second thoughts, something like the Doom fanart pic of the demon behind the Bpahomet wall would be even better IMO.

[dsm]

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto", Hendry commented as Mcmillan reappeared through the gateway

LOL, someone has been visiting the Classic Doom General Forum :-)

Great story, let's see how they manage to bag that spider masterfreak.

[Spike]

I'll try to come up with something innovative; suffice to say, they find the BFG.

As for Baphomet, i'd like to give it a more 'animated' feel - a giant, snapping-jawed beast with psychich powers that cause hallucinations, as well as the ability to spawn demons.

[dsm]

Spike said:

I'll try to come up with something innovative; suffice to say, they find the BFG.

/Me listens to "Facing the Spider"
I just wonder how the Heck they get to the BFG without getting cut to shreds by that brain freak's high-speed chainy.
/Me anticipates next ish of The Underworld.