Again, Kaleb found himself falling. Spinning end over end into an abyss that he couldn’t see out of. He didn’t waste time screaming as he tumbled through the darkness, though. Instead, he sighed loudly at the fact that this felt like the hundredth time he’d been flung through the air.

“I really need to invent some hover boots or something. This is getting ridiculous.”

As Kaleb tumbled through the air, the smell of decay and rot filled his nostrils. He could still feel the magical presence of the Demon Lord. But was he still in his mindscape, or did he get sucked into the Nexus orb with the Sludge Demon? Kaleb did not know and with the scenery whipping by his face so fast, he wasn’t likely to find out soon either. He tried to right himself during his fall and that’s when he discovered something peculiar.

He had both his hands, and both were flesh and blood. A quick glance down his body also confirmed that he was naked… and he had a damn tail. He spun in mid-air as he tried to get a proper look at it. But the long, green tail flailed around as he fell. He could feel the thing trying to obey his commands, but it couldn’t fight the wind passing by.

Kaleb tried to take further stock of his surroundings and body. But his fall was suddenly stopped. He didn’t hit the ground or splash into the sludge that made up the entire place. He simple froze in mid-air. Kaleb struggled to get his feet under him as he looked around. The place was still completely black, but he could see the telltale signs of sludge dripping and roiling around him. There even looked like there was a curve to the ceiling above him. Which made him think he was in the Nexus.

“Well… shit.” Kaleb said into the void.

An absolutely rank taste entered his mouth when he opened it and Kaleb hurriedly closed it to save himself. Now that he was aware of it, he could feel his nostrils stinging and even his skin tingling from the foulness of the place. He was in the Nexus of a Sludge Demon. He needed to get out quickly before the place eroded him.

“THERE… IS… NO… ESCAPE!”

A watery roar tore through the blackness of the void and sent Kaleb reeling from the sheer force of it. He winced and looked around before he realized it was coming from everywhere. Even inside his own head.

“SUBMIT… AND… BE… MY… AVATAR!”

“Yeah, that’s going to be a no from me. How about you get the fuck out of my head?”

Kaleb felt something grip his body by the torso and force him lower. As he dropped, he saw the roiling mass of sludge beneath him raise. He struggled against the pull as the sludge bubbled and squelched below. His nose was almost submerged in the muck when the invisible grip let go.

“SUBMIT!”

Kaleb opened his mouth to respond, but the stench of the sludge made him hack and retch. He tried to move his face away. But nothing happened. Sighing, he settled for a simple shake of his head. An insignificant act of defiance. But it seemed to upset the Demon Lord enough for him to roar in annoyance.

“ARGHHH!”

The entire world shook, and Kaleb could feel his teeth rattle in his skull. He shook off the feeling and focused on how to get out of this predicament. First, he needed to be able to move. Kaleb pulled his focus inward and tried to think of something. He was in a magical realm, without his gadgets and weapons. Or even his clothes. All he had were his four limbs, a new tail, and his wits.

“Wait a second. That’s not all I have.”

Kaleb reached for his core of magical power and felt his mind settle. The warm glow of his mana suffused him with comfort, and he felt his whole body go slack. The power echoed through his body and Kaleb felt like the most powerful being alive. Then he fell headfirst into the Sludge.

His body hit the sea of sludge all at once, and he was quickly dragged under. He felt the oily, sticky stuff try to grab at his body. But his own magical power ate away at the inky tendrils. He scrambled against the ocean of sludge and pulled himself to the surface. Once there, he tried to swim, but his hands slammed into the hard surface of the sludge.

An orange glow suffused his skin and Kaleb saw it push back the sludge. The sharp nails on his hands bit of sludge and he slowly dragged himself forward. But it was tough going. The sludge below tried to wrap around his legs and pull him under. But his orange mana burned away the sludge and Kaleb managed to get himself on stable ground. Even though the patch of sludge he stood on looked no different from all the rest of the sludge.

Kaleb checked his mana points and winced. He was burning through mana in this place, and it was dropping quickly. He played with the idea of switching off his orange aura. But he really didn’t trust the place not to engulf him the second it was gone. Although that was going to be a problem in a few minutes. Instead he focused on turning his blazing orange aura into a light shimmer across his skin. Remembering Jar-lock’s own mana manipulation when handling the orb helped.

Soon the bright orange glow was a steady, barely visible shimmer across his body. The MP cost dropped considerably, and Kaleb blew out a relieved breath. Then the ground beneath his feet started to buck and roll. The disembodied demonic voice roared again and the entire world trembled. Kaleb expected another command to submit his body. But instead a sludge monster arose out of the sludge in front of him.

The humanoid sludge creature opened its mouth and roared. As it did, its liquid arms changed into spikes and it charged. Kaleb dove away as the sludge monster barreled down on him like a missile. He felt the sludge monster’s spike arms scythe through the air by his shoulder. But, thankfully, it missed him.

Kaleb rolled out of the dive and pulled himself to his feet. The creature was turning for another swipe, but Kaleb wasn’t going to give it the chance. He rushed forward, hands extended and fingers splayed out to make use of his sharp nails. He caught the monster flat-footed and managed to scrape his nails across the beast’s shoulder. A loud popping and hissing noise filled the air as Kaleb’s attack seemed to burn away part of the sludge.

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But his triumph was short-lived as the creature swung its forearm and hit Kaleb across the face. He stumbled back and tried to right himself. But the beast was already on him. It jabbed at him with its spike arms and tried to impale him. But his aura of magic flashed, and the blows were blunted. But that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt.

Kaleb bent over as a particularly harsh blow to his gut made him want to retch. He gathered himself quick and got his arms up to defend. But the sludge monster side-stepped around him and battered his back and side. Kaleb jumped away and tried to keep the creature in front of him, but it was moving too fast. His peripheral vision caught the monster charging his right side, and Kaleb tried to turn and get a defense up. But he was too slow.

However, the sludge creature jerked to a stop, and its spike arms flailed ineffectually. Kaleb couldn’t figure out what happened until he glanced downward. His tail was wrapped around the sludge creature’s leg and stopping it from moving. Kaleb grinned and focused his mind on his tail. With a grunt of effort, he tripped his opponent and dragged him away. His tail wasn’t strong enough to throw the thing. But Kaleb could imagine how fun that would be.

The beast roared in anger and jumped to his feet. Kaleb’s tail lost its hold, and he charged the creature as it stood to its full height. Kaleb ignored its wailing and thrust all ten of his sharp tails into the thing’s sludgy chest. His fingers sank deep, and they sizzled as his mana burned into the sludge. A moment of triumph flashed across his mind again. So Kaleb quickly jumped back and waited for the other shoe to drop.

His finger nails came free with little drops of sludge burning away as the creature roared. As Kaleb backed away, the beast charged and swung both its arms toward Kaleb’s torso. Expecting to be jabbed with the creature’s spike arms again, Kaleb was surprised to be grabbed from both sides. The sludge monster had switched his arms back into large hands that gripped him about the middle. His mana still burned away the sludge, but the beast ignored the popping and sizzling of its flesh.

Kaleb wrestled against the thing’s hold and even tried to claw the sludge off. But the beast merely redoubled its hold. He was so focused on getting the sludge off that Kaleb missed the fact the sludge monster was shrinking. It wasn’t until the creature was shorter than Kaleb that he noticed. The sludge monster was sinking into the sludgy ground and it was pulling Kaleb with it.

Kaleb panicked and tried everything. He flared his mana, beat at the arms holding him, and even tried to beat the beast back with his tail. But nothing worked, as the sludge monster had a death grip on his waist. He was dragged into the muck again, feet first. His orange mana flared to life and tried to stop the sludge from corroding him away. But soon a headache formed between Kaleb’s eyes and he sighed heavily. He was dead. His mana was going to give out, and his body was going to be pulled under. Then who knew what the demon would do with him? Maybe the demon would use his body to attack his friends and they would kill him? Would he go to Deathville or respawn at the Cop’s medical tent again?

The sludge was just past his chest when his mana gave out, and his aura disappeared. Kaleb winced against the headache caused by mana exhaustion. He tried to stay cognizant enough to watch what happened next. Merely from morbid curiosity. Then a booming voice echoed throughout the Nexus again, making his headache ten times worse.

“SUBMIT!”

Kaleb rolled his eyes, even as the sludge climbed up his chin. “Like a broken record with this. Get another question, jackass. The answer is still no!”

Kaleb’s face was half-submerged as the demon increased its roaring. Kaleb’s eyes watered and he could feel the entire nexus shaking, even as his face was almost completely covered. Then a different voice spoke up. One that made the demon’s own booming baritone seem like the chirping of birds. It rattled Kaleb’s mind, and he felt himself stop sinking into the sludge.

“THRICE HAS AN OFFER BEEN MADE AND THRICE HAS IT BEEN DENIED. THE LAWS ARE CLEAR.”

The voice seemed mildly disinterested as its voice nearly turned Kaleb’s brain into paste. The competing Demon Lord’s voice was almost a welcome reprieve.

“NO! HE’S MINE!”

“THE LAWS WILL BE OBEYED, DEMON!”

Kaleb’s body was lifted from the sludge and he spun lamely in the air. He felt an unseeing eye scan his entire body, and he felt like his entire soul was laid bare. The nexus still shook and Kaleb was starting to grow dizzy from the booming voices and the smell of the place. A bright light was cast from above, and suddenly, a surge of power hit Kaleb. He floated in the center of the spotlight even as the Demon Lord wailed in anger. He didn’t know who the second voice was, but they were clearly higher up the totem pole than some Demon Lord.

Kaleb felt his body be pulled slowly upward, the beam of bright light cascading across his naked body. As he went, he flipped the void the finger and smiled. The nexus shook even more violently, and Kaleb reveled in his own pettiness. His ascension sped up as the world started shaking more violently. He was approaching the source of the beam of light, and Kaleb had a sinking feeling he was going to be flung through the air again.

And he was right. As his face hit the apex of the shining light, he felt a rush of air around his shoulders. Next thing he knew, he was tumbling across the dirt and grass. The stench of the Nexus was gone, though, and Kaleb relished in the scents of the muddy grass and night air. Muffled voices yelled as he went sprawling across the ground. But Kaleb ignored them all as he tried to stop his rolling.

Once he came to a full stop, Kaleb laid there in the muck. His headache was slowly ebbing and his clothes were firmly in place again. That was a good thing. He didn’t want to be flung back into the real world stark naked. His robotic arm was back in place as well, and his tail was gone. Which he found himself saddened by.

Jar-lock’s voice broke into his reverie as footsteps slowly got closer.

“Careful. It’s likely he is still possessed.”

“Fuck you too, Jar. How’s your chest wound?”

“I healed him.” Vivienne called over. “Are you back to yourself?”

“Well, that’s an interesting question. I feel like myself, but how could you tell if I still was myself? I mean, supposedly a demon would know enough about me to fake being me. So you couldn’t really rely on character traits.”

Kaleb rubbed his chin as he heard Two Gun snort.

“Sure as shit sounds like him.”

“Yeah, but it would. Which is what he was saying.” Abby said.

Kaleb closed his eyes and laid back in the mud. “How about this? We wait here for the cops and other mages. Then we can worry about whose a demon or not. For now, I want to revel in a job well done and a demon foiled.”

“Well, you say that…” Jar-lock said in a tone that made Kaleb open his eyes.

“What?”

“The nexus orb is gone.”

“Shit.”