Bigger than you can imagine, part 6

Drops of water fell from the cracks in the ceiling, increasing in number and size as the situation became more tense. Mercury was swinging the iron chain furiously, trying with all his might to hit Joey or at least harm him. The sounds of screaming echoed through the room, as water droplets crashed onto the hard floor, forming small puddles that reflected the dim light of the room.

Despite the severity of Mercury's blows, Joey was able to dodge them with exceptional skill. The movement of the whip was so fast that it was difficult to track it with the naked eye. Joey knelt on the ground, panting heavily, gathering the breath lost while dodging the fatal blows. He looked at Mercury carefully, thinking deeply about whether he could really escape this predicament.

As his eyes wandered around, he noticed his torn bag on the ground behind Mercury, a few steps away. He rose slowly, keeping his eye on his target, and began to advance steadily toward Mercury, who watched him in confusion and incomprehension. Mercury didn't understand why Joey was confidently walking towards him, lowering all his defenses.

Mercury prepared to attack again, gripping the iron chain tightly. The sound of Joey's steps advancing towards him confused him a little, as they were only a few meters apart.

Joey approached cautiously, his face showing seriousness, and asked in a calm voice: “Do you want that old item?”

Mercury looked at him a little puzzled, and said, "So he's with you, isn't he?" He started to spin the chain very quickly.

Joey smiled slightly and replied: “Yes, I have it. I don’t intend to hand it over to you. After all, whoever finds it first keeps it, right?”

Mercury's expression changed into a frown and annoyance, and he said angrily: "Well, I was going to force him from you anyway." Mercury pressed down hard on the ground, causing the air beneath his feet to explode, launching him towards Joey like a rocket.

With surprising speed, Mercury sliced through the air towards Joey with lightning speed, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. At the moment when Mercury was about to strike Joey's head, the latter evaded with amazing agility, rolling with difficulty under his feet.

Joey quickly got up from the ground and rushed towards his tattered bag that Mercury had thrown away earlier. Mercury noticed Joey dodging his blow, but he didn't stand still. With a quick gesture, and a powerful leap, Mercury jumped high, landing in front of Joey with terrifying ease. His gaze was directed at Joey, who grabbed part of his torn bag, and realized with astonishment and worry: "It must be a supernatural being! How did it get here so quickly?"

Before Joey could comprehend what had happened, Mercury's iron fist was firmly planted in his chest, violently forcing the air out of his lungs. Joey took off, rolling violently across the ground until he crashed into one of the giant pillars.

Joey raised his head with difficulty, clutching his stomach in pain, and a successive cough shook his body as he spat out air and saliva. His breathing faltered as he tried to stand again.

The pain was unbearable as his eyes bulged out in his final moments, trying to suppress the sharp pain that tore through him. He tried to pull himself together and stand up, but every time he tried to get up, he fell again, as if the ground refused to support him.

Mercury's steps echoed through the vast space like the sound of a horse's hooves running down the sidewalk. He reached Joey, who was writhing at his feet, and looked at him with a look that lacked any compassion.

He noticed his shiny black shoes as Joey writhed in pain that was beginning to subside a little. He slowly raised his head and looked at Mercury, whose features were as hard as ice.

He looked at him coldly and stared at him calmly without saying a word or showing any expression.

"Is this what you wanted? Do you like the feeling of pain slowly flooding your body? Of course, boy, no one likes that."

Mercury calmly reached out to Joey and grabbed his neck with gentle but firm force. He raised it until his face met Joey's and looked into his eyes. One eye reflected a feeling of pain, fear, and intense tension, while the other reflected a serious, frightening, cold but burning look.

"This is what you want in the end, right? So, take it." He whispered to him in a sharp voice before throwing him away forcefully towards one of the huge pillars.

Joey hit it hard, and the sound of his bones hitting the wall was heard, like the sound of shattering glass.

All he felt after that was dizziness and pain, dizziness and pain, and a disgusting feeling of needing to vomit and empty everything inside him.

He watched his hands on the ground as he leaned on them while sweat and saliva dripping, his blood-red gaze focused on the ground. His feeling of being unable to get up and stand in front of him was absolutely ridiculous.

He knew that escape was impossible and that his resistance was useless. For Joey now, he finally knew what it meant to face the devil.

That cruel look on his face did not leave him, as if he refused to feel pity, just wanted to continue torturing him silently and calmly, enjoying every moment of Joey's suffering. His actions stem from his personal experiences, and his goal is to destroy him until he obtains the fused seal from him.

Mercury stomped Joey in the back contemptuously, digging into his body in pain. As Joey tried to struggle and get up with his arms, Mercury noticed the effort.

Mercury did not like this steadfastness from Joey, so he increased his foot pressure on him, and Joey began to gradually descend until his face stuck to the ground like compressed asphalt.

"You know this won't end unless...you know better. If you want to continue your irrational resistance, go ahead. Don't worry, I'm here to destroy you."

Mercury raised his left foot slightly off the ground, then stomped on Joey's left hand forcefully, crushing its bones slowly and harshly. Joey's screams filled the room, his thoughts distracted by the devastating pain. Everything became colorless and meaningless, and he could no longer express himself except through painful wailing.

His facial expression changed to a lifeless void, unable to move or express his condition.

Mercury approached again slowly, lifting his foot from the elbow of Joey's arm as if to give him a little breathing space from his pain, but he stomped on it more forcefully this time, making Joey's cries louder to the max. His face turned white from intense pain, followed by a horrific and slow breaking sound that made his hand close in on itself and devoid of life.

Venus closed her eyes at the ugliness of the violent scenes that Joey was subjected to, as she watched from nearby.

Joey's cries escalated in terrible pain, clutching his broken arm as he lay on the ground with a pale face.

Venus intervenes, growing impatient with all this nonsense, telling Mercury in a firm voice: "What you're doing has gone too far, and if you continue, you might end up killing the boy."

Mercury lifted his foot off of Joey's arm and began to walk away from him, heading toward Venus with heavy steps that echoed throughout the dark room, where dim lights poked through the cracks in the crumbling walls.

When he reached her, sparks of anger appeared in his eyes: “It's not your business to interfere with my work, is it? Or have you put yourself in charge of this mission without my knowledge?”

Venus looked at him nervously, her eyes shining with fear: “I know that I have no right to interfere in your affairs, and that you are tasked with solving problems. But don’t you see that this act is brutal even for you? Look at him, he is just a teenage boy who has lost his way.”

Mercury looked at her tense face and her worried tone of voice, then said in an annoyed tone: “You don't know how to solve problems, right? I've done these things thousands of times and I don't feel any pity. Even if I had to break every bone in his body so he could tell me where the seal was.”

Venus sighed heavily and said, “You are a person with no morals. Maybe coming with you was a wrong choice... Okay, listen. I will search him, and if we find the seal we will take him and leave without harming him again.”

Mercury looked at her without answering, and after a deadly moment of silence, he said, "Okay."

Venus finally breathed in relief and said, "Okay, finally, it's good for us, believe me."

Mercury turned to Joey to continue his questioning, but a look of astonishment appeared on his face when he saw Joey standing on his feet in the distance, holding his broken arm with his other hand.

Joey smiled arrogantly, breathing hard, directing his question to Mercury: “Is this what you were really looking for? Then fine, consider it my repayment.” His words are tired and broken with every breath.

He took out the seal while holding it in one hand, after wrapping its middle in a piece of cloth, and the seal was hanging from the end of the cloth.

Mercury's face grew stern, but he quickly calmed himself down: "Well, if you're starting to show your true colors now, huh? I like that."

Joey focused on him, his eyes shining with intense concentration.

Mercury began to move lightly sideways, while Joey did the same in the opposite direction, as if they were slowly moving in circles around each other. Mercury then said his words to Joey, saying, "Okay, little boy, if you want to get out of here without any further harm, you can now simply throw the seal to me, and you will get out safely."

Joey stopped moving and Mercury stopped with him, making them stand facing each other, but at a distance.

Joey looked at the cloth-wrapped seal, holding the end of it with his right hand. He collected his breath, felt the tension seeping into his limbs, and closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathering his courage. When he opened them again, his gaze was filled with firmness and sharp hardness. “Well, if you want it, take it if you can,” he said quietly, his voice carrying a hidden challenge.

"And yet I'm sure you'll never be able to," he murmured again in a low voice, reflecting his unwavering confidence in himself.

Mercury smiled, thinking that Joey would finally surrender, believing that victory was sealed for him. His smile betrayed overconfidence and anticipation of celebration.

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At that moment, Joey's footsteps sounded as he ran towards him quickly, grabbing the seal by the end of the cloth tightly. He jumped high, stretched like an energy-charged bow, and threw it with all his might towards Mercury. The seal surged through the air like a war shell, charged with irresistible energy.

Mercury saw the seal heading towards him, his eyes staring in intense concentration. He didn't move, confident that he could catch it. Every muscle in his body was preparing for this challenge, believing that he would control the situation.

When the seal reached Mercury, its power was like an unstoppable storm. The seal pressed against him with the force of a heavy-caliber cannon, pushing him back at an insane speed, piercing one of the pillars as an exploding meteorite. The pillar crumbled into scattered pieces, and Mercury ended up stuck to the wall, creating a large hole in the wall.

He was lying against the wall, his body heavy with injuries, and difficulty breathing clearly visible on his face. His condition was critical, with pieces of the column scattered around him, and dust rising into the air. It is clear that this blow has left a deep impact.

Clouds of dust gradually disappear behind a light curtain of air, leaving behind a heavy, earthy scent that mixes with the coolness of the air resulting from the rain. The low sound of raindrops punctuates Joey's footsteps as he approaches Mercury, who lies injured, cradling his broken arm and his face pale with exhaustion, lying against the cracked wall that seems about to collapse. Joey saw him with a blurry look from the water falling on his eyes.

"If you can't catch her in the end... I knew from the beginning!" Thus spoke Joey, declaring his victory after a series of risks and dangers, his eyes glowing with victory and anger.

Joey is extracting the seal from the wall, leaving cracks that extend to the ceiling, and a lot of water is quickly starting to seep in, making the floor slippery and difficult to move around.

"Damn it! The room is sinking fast, we should leave now!" Joey shouted in a tired and annoyed voice, turning to Venus who rushed to help Mercury, who was still unconscious from the blow that separated his shoulder, his face scowling and his eyes tightly closed.

Venus, with a face full of frustration and anxiety, advises: "We must get out now. Mercury, do you hear me, Mercury? We are in no position to continue now." Her words echoed filling the room as her heartbeat increased and her tension was evident.

As she gets up from the ground, Venus turns to Joy, "I already took the seal, but I'm warning you... the day will come when we get the seal back, or worse, you'll be cursed. I don't have much to say, so get out safely." Her voice held a silent threat and genuine concern for their fate.

Large magic circles formed on the ground with beautiful geometric drawings, from which a light cosmic sparkle emanates, illuminated by a light blue color mixed with white, surrounding Venus and Mercury, and ending with harmonious magic words that illuminate each letter in the circle. "Dulxum Zhan!" Suddenly, Bloom disappeared, as if they were not here. The circles slowly faded away above the freezing water, leaving Joey to stare in place, amazed and astonished by the series of events he had experienced today, his hands shaking with excitement and fear.

Now, Joey is alone, in the room where the ceilings are slowly falling, with rocks rolling down from everywhere. Joey runs among them, narrowly avoiding the falling rocks, and with each increase in the water level, he finally reaches into his tattered bag, extracts Gary's notebook from the wet ground, and carefully places it in his pocket, while holding the fused seal in his right hand. He strangely notices that the weight of the seal changed after taking it from the wall, as if there was a secret hidden inside it.

Joey glances at his cracked seal, seeing the pieces break and disintegrate in his hands. "Shit, now's not the time." His face is frowning and tired, his eyes staring into the space in front of him with eyes heavy with exhaustion and fear. He didn't have time to think. He started moving towards the exit, but falling rubble was quickly following his steps.

Joey runs with difficulty, avoiding falling rocks that resemble autumn rain in their intensity. He rushes towards the exit, but the many rocks collapse in front of him, blocking it tightly. Now he was alone, stuck deep underground with no way out.

But he continues to resist hopelessly, trying desperately to find a way out. The pain in his broken left hand makes the situation worse, and falling rocks trap him on the brink of death.

In a moment of utter despair, Joey glanced at his broken seal. A violet glow began to seep out of the cracks, accompanying a thick misty smoke, which spilled onto the floor like a purple vaporous liquid, spreading across the room rapidly and unexpectedly, surrounding the space and Joey with a suffocating density.

"Oh my God, what the hell is going on here?" Joey tried to push away the fog with his hands with a desperate effort, his features filled with fear and confusion. He continued his futile attempts as the violet smoke rose like a trapped storm.

The cracks in the seal increased, and smoke began to rise thickly, as if wandering spirits had exploded from within it. As the dense mist continued to spread, the remaining symbols in the seal began to glow and move in complex geometric patterns, as if they were forming anew.

Joey, not understanding what was happening, finally decided to throw the seal away. But before he could, a bright white light momentarily flooded the room, then disappeared, leaving behind a cold black void, in which Joey's voice echoed.

Joey floated into a pitch-black space, where no light or sound filtered in except the echo of his cries for help. He was lying down, unable to move, being buffeted by waves left and right.

“Ah, damn it. Am I dead, is this death? Just endless blackness... How long will this last?” Joey asked, overwhelmed with frustration and fatigue. He was silent for a moment as he stared into the blackness surrounding him, remembering his friends and his previous life.

"I've broken my promise now. I won't come to dinner this time. How sad. I was very hungry, mother." Joey looked into the deep darkness around him, remembering the face of his mother and his friends, Chris and Rhodri.

"I think Chris and Rhodri have found the way out. They're on the verge of getting out now, or so I really hope. Well, it doesn't matter now. I just want to rest." Joey tried to think positively about his friends.

As he slowly closed his eyes, he felt his body floating in the blackness, merging with it. Suddenly, an unexpected whisper pierced his ears, like a cool breeze on a sunny day: “Not now, not yet.”

Joey opened his eyes again, but he saw nothing in the darkness but darkness and more darkness.

"Hello? Is there anyone here?" He asked in confusion, but there was no answer. The black waves he was floating on began to shake violently, as if something giant was about to emerge.

From it emerged tall towers made of slender hands, rising quickly into the dark sky, like gray trees in a dark forest. Each hand went down, moving with a dull sound as if it was drawing the screams of spirits towards Joey who lay, unable to move.

The hands approached him, their large paws enough to lift a mountain. She gathered around Joey and began to grab him, trying to pull him deeper into the darkness. Joey struggled hard, choking with fear.

“Fuck, not again! Leave me... This is too bad. Why does this situation seem so familiar to me?” Joey asked, wondering why he felt this way earlier.

Before he could think further, hands pulled him into the depths of darkness, where he began to suffocate. In those final moments, he heard whispers carried by a cold breeze to his ears: “You won't die now... I need you to stop it.”

The whispers were not completely intelligible, as he felt suffocated and tense. An intense violet light formed around his right wrist, turning into a long iron chain that extended deep into the darkness. Purple lights began to appear along the chain, leading to its end, where Joey was being held captive.

Joey slowly woke up from his dream to the sounds of water droplets hitting his face, as he floated on his back in the cold water. He felt drops of water crawling on his skin, slowly waking him up from a dream world into a strange and exciting reality.

He opened his eyes and found himself floating in a large room that was flooded with water almost reaching the ceiling. The old walls were covered with a thin layer of moss, and the rickety ceiling beams looked like they were trying to withstand the force of the flowing water.

Staring at the ceiling, he murmured faintly, “So, I was dreaming, after all.”

Realizing the situation, Joey tried to swim with balance, careful not to hurt his left hand. But he was surprised that the pain he was feeling had disappeared. But also, his broken hand had completely healed, and all his old injuries from the fall were gone.

His astonishment turned into deep astonishment, and he said to himself: “How is this? It is never possible. Is it possible that all this happened because of the seal? Oh my God, this is amazing!”

He felt overjoyed after recovering from all his injuries, and realized that he had no choice but to get out of here before he drowned. He began to look at the ceiling that had become close to him due to the increasing water level, and noticed a large crack from which water was seeping abundantly , if it were an exit leading to the outside.

With his heart rate rising and adrenaline surging, Joey looked at the crack hopefully, and murmured curiously, "Okay, here's my way out of here. Rhodri, Chris, wait for me, I'm coming."

He started swimming toward the rift, trying to control himself and stay calm.

Currently Rhodri and Chris

The sounds of their footsteps echo in the main street, which is crowded with passers-by and unknown people. The street was narrow, lined with old buildings that looked like they had been around for decades. Dim lights reflect on the wet sidewalks.

They walk without causing any problems, but the eyes of passers-by follow them with looks of doubt and confusion.

"Hey Rhodri, where are we heading now? This isn't the right way or are you planning to get out of here without looking for Joey? Remember?" Chris asked in an agitated tone.

Rhodri, who was ahead of him, stopped and looked at him seriously, "Jeez, man, what do you think I'm doing now? I'm trying to go back to the place where we parted ways, maybe we can find him there."

Rhodri said again with disdain, “You know better than most of us what a fool that guy is. He may have lost his way and is now running around in circles at the junction.”

Rhodri responded with narrowed eyes in a challenge, "Well, you're actually right. I changed the route so that we wouldn't meet that rampaging unknown person again... Maybe now he's woken up after taking all those blows and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets even more angry than before, but now... “Don’t worry about the road, in the end all the streets are intertwined here and we will reach the starting point in the end.”

Chris said sarcastically, "Well, you said it that way and you sounded pretty convincing, so what's the plan now, Alpha?"

Rhodri turned forward again after hearing Chris's words and answered with slow but steady steps, "The plan is as clear as the sun at noon. First we search for and find Jonathan Caines."

Chris quickly asked, his eyes shining, "And then what else?"

Rhodri answered confidently with a little hesitation, “I don’t know honestly, but we will follow that masked man’s note about the director’s direction.”

Chris sighed heavily, tilting his head as if thinking in frustration, but he quickly walked over to Rhodri and put his hand on his shoulder, "Okay, good plan, honestly, and I think it would help a lot since we don't know what we're going to do next."

Rhodri nodded and said, “Yes, I know, so let’s go ahead now, we don’t have any time.”

Rhodri advanced quickly, with Chris behind him, trying to synchronize his steps with him, while dim lights illuminated their path in this tangled street.

They advance slowly down a semi-dark street, illuminated by dimly lit, blue lampposts dotting the dirty pavement. The pole lights cast shadows on the stacked garbage bags, exuding unpleasant odors mixed with the smell of mold and dampness. The atmosphere is heavy and full of fog, making breathing a bit difficult.

Although the city was full of unknowns, this street was different. The number of unknowns in it was noticeably limited, which added to their feeling of tension.

Their eyes were watching them from the shadows, shining with a dim light as if they were monitoring their every movement.

They move forward in heavy silence, until Chris decides to break this silence to relieve the tension.

"Haha, now I'm sure you won't make fun of what Slim has to say about creepy and strange creatures again, right?" Chris said jokingly.

Rhodri, with an annoyed look, replied: “That's true, I suppose. But that wouldn't negate what he said about reptilian humanoids.”

Chris smiled suspiciously and said, "The whole time I've been here, I haven't seen any humanoid reptiles or anything similar, just those little lizards sneaking between the garbage bags over there."

Chris sighed before adding, "But do you know what's on my mind more than that?"

Rhodri nodded silently, ready to hear what Chris had to say.

"Gary the Tramp. He's the reason we're here, right? If Joey hadn't taken that notebook, we wouldn't have known about that elevator and been stuck here."

"Yes, Gary... I haven't interacted with him much, but he's mysterious in a very strange way," Rhodri replied, looking at the cross street.

Chris smiled suspiciously and continued, "Isn't it? At first, we thought he was just a crazy vagrant, but in the end he proved to be much more than that. I just want to know how he ended up here and discovered all this and wrote it down in his notebook."

Chris then laughed a little and added: “Rhodri, do you think it might be one of those unknown people, disguised as a human with wrinkled skin?”

Rhodri smiled as he thought for a moment, then said: “Who knows? In this city, nothing is as it really is.”

As Chris and Rodri moved cautiously down the street, an unknown person suddenly appeared in front of them unexpectedly. He stood tall and his frightening majesty filled the place, as he was the size of a giant covering the entire street. His embroidered leather clothing looked like it was made from the skins of various reptiles, adding to their awe.

He approached them with heavy steps and a powerful presence, his voice like the roar of an old engine when he said: “Did you just mention the name Gary Henry Blake, or am I wrong?”

His yellow eyes shine with a faint light, and he looks at them closely. Chris and Rodri stepped back, fear creeping into their chests.

Chris stammered. “Is... is it a humanoid reptile? I can’t believe it.”

The human reptile smiled evilly as he approached them closer: “Okay, okay, this is unexpected, but what a coincidence.”

The stench of mold and old leather emanated from it, making the atmosphere even more stifling. Chris and Rodri remained standing cautiously, trying to quickly think of how to get out of this predicament.

Chris said in a trembling voice: "Who... who are you? And what do you want from us?"

The humanoid reptile gave a short laugh and said, "I think you already know the answer. Gary Henry Blake is not someone who forgets easily.

"

To be continued in the next chapter