-CHAPTER 1-

  "Whatsoever I've feared has come to life

  And whatsoever I've fought off became my life..."

  -Soundgarden

  ...

  It was just another Thursday. Supposed to be anyways, the bounty was a guy named Kane. No other information. He'd tracked him to this old run down mansion on the edge of Ironhaven. It looked like something out of a Scooby-Doo episode. The ground here squelched with each step as if it had just rained. It hadn't. A thin fog hung around the house. It was odd, as if the house existed in its own biome. He looked down, it wasn't water filling in his footsteps. It was red. Blood red. Thats when the first hand shot up. Thats when Carls day took a turn for the worse.

  This can’t be happening. Can it?

  He slashed at the hands clawing up out of the ground, severing fingers, wrists, didn’t matter. More rose in their place. They wrapped around his ankles and dragged. His boots sank into the dirt. He formed a blaster and fired point-blank. One set of hands burst apart in a spray of thick black blood. Another set lunged up to replace them.

  He dropped lower. Knees swallowed.

  More hands groping up his legs, climbing toward his waist.

  He fought to stay upright, flailing for balance.

  How the hell was he supposed to get out of this?

  Laughter behind him.

  Kane.

  Carl twisted. Kane’s eyes burned red—bright enough to paint the air. This was no ordinary supe. That much was clear.

  The dirt crept to Carl’s waist.

  He looked for something, anything to grab a hold of...nothing.

  “Alright! Let’s talk about this!”

  More laughter.

  Smug laughter, the fucker was enjoying this.

  Infuriating.

  He locked his arms against the ground, refusing to descend another inch. The hands simply grabbed those too, prying his palms under.

  More hands.

  Endless hands.

  Up to his shoulders.

  He couldnt stop it now if he wanted to.

  His helmet snapped shut.

  Then he was under.

  Dirty, undead fingers raked across him as he shot downward through the earth. Then a flash, heat so intense he felt it through the armor, and suddenly he no longer felt anything, as if he was underwater.

  Total weightlessness.

  He was falling.

  Open air.

  A cavern.

  Rivers of lava lit the stone in molten orange. He hit the ground hard. His teeth and bones clattered within him, a sickening thud on the outside.

  “Ow. Fuck.”

  He stayed down, groaning and trying to move his limbs one at a time. He was still in one piece. Wherever he was, it was roasting.

  “Nano, how about some AC buddy?”

  The suit’s fans kicked on. He sat up, cooling fast.

  “Where the hell are we? Underground?”

  “At first we were, but then we were pushed through a dimensional portal.”

  “Wait...are we underground on Earth?”

  “I do not believe it is Earth.”

  “A new dimension? Ahhh, shit."

  He looked around, his eyes straining to pick out a familiar shape, anything. He recognized nothing.

  "Well… let’s have a look around.”

  He stood. Ceiling overhead. Walls faintly visible far off on either side. Ahead was nothing but open cavern, stretching forever.

  Shuffling sounds all around him, shadows on the rocks, something moving. Eyes watching. Plenty of rocks, plenty of places to hide.

  “Give me a motion proximity detector on my HUD.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Light-blue markers sparked to life on every side. He flexed. Three ten-inch slightly curved blades slid from between his knuckles, pure childhood fantasy made real, Wolverine-style. The lava’s glow rippled off the metal.

  “I’m here. Show yourself.”

  A head popped up from behind a rock to his right. Yellow eyes. Long pointed ears. Big shoulders, broad frame, fangs like daggers, claws thicker than his.

  “The fuck is that? A troll?”

  “I do not know, Carl.”

  It approached, fearless. Carl crouched, claws up. The creature grinned, then launched at him. Carl rolled under it, came up on its back, and drove his blades between its ribs. The scream was long and awful. Black blood spilled. It stumbled away, shrieking.

  Then movement everywhere. The proximity detector lost its mind. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of yellow eyes flickered to life.

  “Here we go.”

  They charged.

  He tore into them, superstrength and claws going to work. Creatures fell in pieces at his feet. But more climbed over their dead, snapping their teeth, clawing. Black blood soaked his claws, and dripped down his chest plate.

  “Pincushion!”

  Spikes erupted across his armor. Multiple creatures impaled at once, shrieking. Carl climbed the mound of corpses, claws retracting into blasters. Blue shots exploded skulls—one after another after another. Something latched onto his left arm; he replaced the blaster on his right arm with a blade and sheared the hand clean off. Back to blasters. A steady rhythm now, blasting as he turned full circle.

  “Heat level is rising rapidly on the power source, Carl. I suggest a bladed weapon.”

  “Shit! Alright, spikes.”

  Blasters vanished. Ten-inch blades extended. The corpse-pile beneath him rose higher by the second. This was ridiculous. He leapt off the heap, landing in a new cluster of beasts claws first. Slashing and carving, drenched in oily black gore.

  Was there no end to them?

  He fought until time stopped meaning anything. Eventually, the sounds faded. He stood at the end of a trail of bodies. Demonic imps, whatever the hell they were, either dead or gone.

  He leaned against a rock. Stumbled. Hit his knees and rolled onto his ass. Chest heaving. Sweaty even through the cooling system. Blades slid back into his gauntlets.

  “Give me spikes on my forearms and legs. Make them regret grabbing me next time.”

  The armor obeyed. Sharp two inch spikes shot out. He groaned, pushing upright. He was smeared in black blood. Sticky and stinking.

  “Hey, bud, let’s imitate 26. Black armor, red eyes. Might as well look the part if we’re gonna be fighting through fucking Mordor.”

  The armor shimmered to pitch black. Eyes lit crimson. Ahead lay only one direction. Walls still visible off to either side like the stone ribs of some enormous beast.

  He walked.

  Didn’t take long to see what came next.

  Two massive creatures ahead—horns curling off fanged faces, ten feet tall and thick with muscle under cracked red skin. No chance this was Earth. Whatever hellish world produced these, it was literal.

  Hell.

  Was he in hell?

  Kane’s eyes. The imps.

  Was Kane a demon?

  His claws slid out, now black to match the armor. Predators, Terminators, Nazis, he’d beaten worse than nightmares. Hell was just another challenge.

  He circled the nearer monster, climbed up a cluster of rocks, got above it. Dumb plan. Too late now. He took a deep breath and jumped.

  Claws sank deep. Flesh tore as he slid downward. The creature roared, hands swatting behind itself. The other monster stared in baffled alarm.

  Carl hit the ground, visible now. He hacked the wounded beast’s leg clean off. It collapsed roaring, blood poured from its lacerated back. The partner pounced.

  It hammered his armor, each blow rattling bone. Carl caught its wrists, straining—superstrength barely enough. Behind him, the wounded monster’s bellows weakened, the thing was dying.

  Carl focused on the one on top of him. He hauled his legs up and kicked hard. Its grip broke. He rolled clear and scrambled to his feet. Breath burning. He needed to end this fast.

  Claws retracted, blaster formed on his right gauntlet. He fired. Blue plasma erupted across the creature’s face, burning half of it away. It screamed, lunged, and its claws raked across Carl’s chest, throwing him into a rock wall. Something snapped in his ribcage. Pain screamed, he fell to the ground with a thud.

  “Fucking… what is happening?! KANE! YOU COCKSUCKER!”

  He yelled it at the ceiling as if Kane could hear him. He stood, clutching his side. The beast charged, mangled face twisted in fury. Carl raised the blaster.

  “Full power, buddy.”

  The weapon throbbed with energy, he could feel the heat building in the gauntlet. He fired.

  The shot drilled straight through the creature’s forehead.

  It fell forward, horn driving into Carl’s leg as it crashed down. He toppled face first into the red dirt. His ribs roared as he hit the ground again. He rolled over with a groan, everything hurt. He looked at the creatures mangled face.

  Dead.

  Finally.

  Fuck.

  He was wrecked.

  “I think I need a quick nap.”

  “I do not think that is a good idea, Carl.”

  “Buddy, I got nothing left. Just keep watch… give me as long as you can.”

  “Of course, Carl.”

  “Thanks.”

  He closed his eyes. Exhaustion swallowed him whole.

  When he woke, silence ruled. Too silent. Had he killed everything? Doubtful. More likely they just weren’t close yet. His ribs pulsed in sharp spikes of pain, but he could move. Barely.

  “I’m sick of this shit, Nano… can we manifest a dimensional door?”

  “I can try, Carl. One moment.”

  He faced the stone wall he’d slept against. Energy flickered, an outline of a doorway, but it couldnt solidify, it dissolved.

  “I am sorry, Carl. I need to know where we are to create a door out.”

  “Dammit… I was afraid of that.”

  "Let's take stock."

  He checked his pockets and pouches, a joint, a twenty dollar bill, a folding pocket knife, a vial of anti-serum, and some blue raspberry/green apple fun dip.

  "I am not prepared for whatever this is. What do I do?"

  "There is only one way to go Carl."

  "Is there? Somethings off here. I can't quite put my finger on it."

  He fired his thrusters and shot down the wide tunnel. He saw more clusters of those demon imps below, they climbed on each other trying to reach him. The walls of the tunnel were getting closer. Narrowing.

  There was something else.

  A noise. Something in the distance, reverberating through the stone walls. Whatever it was filled Carl with a sense of unease.

  And it was getting louder.

  It sounded like...like screaming.

  He dodged rock outcroppings that were slowly closing in as the tunnel got smaller and smaller.

  He stopped and hovered.

  No stalagtites though. The ceiling was flat. That didnt make sense for an underground cavern.

  "Nano, is this real?"

  "As far as I can tell."

  He landed on a large round rock. The ceiling was about twenty feet above him.

  "Let's try something, big barrel, full power."

  He brought his hands together in front of him, mag locks formed and connected. A massive nanotech barrel formed on his hands. Energy crackled within as Nano powered it up. Carl aimed straight up.

  He fired.

  The section of ceiling above him cracked and shattered. Sending stone raining down. He threw his arm up and swatted away a large piece of stone. When the dust and debris had cleared he looked up.

  Was that daylight?

  Bright white shone into the chamber.

  The barrel disappeared back into the armor. His thrusters formed.

  "I am sorry Carl. We must let the power source cool down a few minutes after that intense energy blast."

  "Ah shit. Ok buddy."

  He kicked a broken chunk of rock out of the way and sat down on top of the boulder.

  "...think about it. No one knows who John McClane even is in Skeevers time. We just rewrite Die Hard with modern tech. As long as we keep the same story beats, it'll be a hit!"

  "Wouldn't that just be plagiarism Carl?"

  "Ha! Mctiernan has been dead for 10,000 years...who gives a shit at that point?!"

  "Carl."

  "I'm just saying...we're the only ones who remember Die Hard anyways..."

  "The power source is ready to be used at full capacity."

  "Oh, cool."

  He dumped the rest of the fun dip powder in his mouth.

  "So good."

  He licked his blue lips and crunched on the candy stick, then fired his thrusters. He shot up into the whiteness.

  He flew into a white void. It hurt his eyes.

  "Shade the visor buddy, I can't see."

  Nano adjusted the helmet and Carl squinted, looking around. There was nothing. He could still just make out the hole, it was getting smaller and harder to see as he drifted.

  "We can't lose that hole! There's nothing out here!"

  He flew back and gripped the edge of the hole. His body dangled in the zero gravity. He fired his blaster wildly in all directions.

  He hit nothing.

  "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!!!"

  "Dont let go Carl. I think I know where we are."

  "WHAT?! WHERE?"

  "One moment."

  Carl looked down, the imps were on top of the rock, climbing on top of each other. Their jagged claws swiping just four or five feet from the opening. He could still hear the screaming, muffled now, but still there.

  "We've got a problem Nano."

  "I am sorry Carl, I need more time. I believe we are in the space between. Where pocket dimensions can exist. If I can locate us within, I can make a door to your pocket dimension."

  "Uhhh...sure buddy."

  He aimed his blaster down and started picking off the imps.

  They were coming too fast though, clawed hands grabbed the edges of the hole. Heads started poking through. Carls blaster disappeared, a blade slid out of his gauntlet.

  The creatures screeches were muffled in the white void. Their blood splashed out and floated. The lack of gravity here, made a strange funnel of imp bodies and spheres of blood floating in front of him. More of the imps climbed out of the hole and floated off. Carl laughed as he started punching each imp as it emerged from the hole. Sending the nasty creatures end over end into the white nothingness.

  "I have it Carl! You must get back inside, I need a solid surface."

  Carl tried to pull himself in but there were too many imps. He hacked and slashed, but couldnt get through.

  "Ow! Fucking..."

  One of the imps had bit his hand, a tooth had slid in between armor plates and got his wrist.

  His grip was slipping. Too many fucking creatures.

  He let go.

  He floated backwards away from the flood of thrashing, screeching imps.

  "Carl! What are you doing? Do not lose the hole."

  "Forget it Nano, I couldnt get back through if I wanted to."

  "You can't give up Carl."

  "I'm not."

  He twisted his body away from the cloud of creatures, away from the hole.

  There was nothing in front of him, a warmth spread through him. What was this feeling? Any normal person would be scared shitless. Carl knew that, so why wasnt he scared?

  He usually flew with his hands out in front of himself. He brought them to his sides and closed his eyes.

  He fired his thrusters and went forward into the unknown.

  “How much longer?”

  “At least a half hour. You were pushing it too hard.”

  "How long was it...its hard to tell time out here."

  "You sustained full thrust for four hours and seventeen minutes."

  Carl floated in the void, nothing around him. No horizon. No sense of motion except the lazy rotation of his body.

  “Why did you let go of the edge, Carl?”

  “There were too many.”

  “Why did you fly away?”

  “I don’t know.” He chewed on that. “I’ve been trying to figure it out myself.”

  “You want to get back to Chloe and Robbie, right?”

  “Of course. What kind of question is that?”

  “Chloe may be pregnant.”

  Carl blinked. “What? How would you know that?”

  “I live with you. Chloe’s cycle is straightforward. Her behavior and mood shift at consistent intervals. Have you not noticed?”

  “No.” Heat crept into his voice. “Guess not.”

  “I am sorry, Carl. I can notify you in the future.”

  “Notify me? About her period? Jesus, gross.”

  “No. About ovulation.”

  A memory hit him, Chloe two nights ago, laughing against his chest. He swallowed hard.

  “Yeah. Alright. I’d…like that. How long has it been?”

  “Five minutes.”

  Carl exhaled. His body kept rotating through the blank whiteness, armor glossy black against the void. No gravity. No direction. Just the slow spin and the knowledge that he was drifting farther from home with every breath.

  Probably going to die out here.

  Oh well...whatever.