Sometimes death is a relief. For Danny, it was a goddamn nightmare. As his last breath escaped his body, he could hear the devil's laughter, he could smell the sulphur and he could feel his soul being dragged down through the floor, through the dirt and through the gates of hell. Pain and blackness swarmed him. His soul tried to scream but couldn't, it could only bear with the pain and grit it's non-existent teeth.
For what seemed like eternal pain only lasted about an instant. Danny's soul was dragged down into the pits of hell.
The pain left but the blackness that covered his vision was still there.
“HAHAHAHA IT'S ABOUT GODDAMN TIME YOU MADE IT HERE!”
"Hey old friend, miss me?" Danny's soul gave a rueful smile. He expected the devil would want to gloat before he was sent off for purgatory.
“Fuck no! I would send you off to the very bottom of hell's abyss if I could but I can't. Let me turn on the lights for you and then I'll explain.”
SNAP
Danny's blindness faded into crystal clear vision. He looked at the room around him. It looked like he was in a cave. The ceiling was high up and strangely smooth, as well at the floor and walls. No odd rock or crack waiting to catch someone's foot. It was odd. Torches with a crimson fire burned in brackets on the wall. In front of him was a tunnel that had a slight slope downwards and behind him was a tunnel that went slightly up. It took no rocket scientist to figure out he was in a hallway.
The creature in front of him was a perfect representation of the devil. Long, black horns, bright red skin, horrific claws and eyes that spoke of evil. You could smell the fire and brimstone.
“Not as handsome as I am when you first saw me, but I can still make the ladies wet. Although usually wet with tears and blood….” He mumbled that last part but Danny still heard it and gave a grin.
“Some changes have been made to the way I usually do things. Used to be, I would just throw you down into a fiery abyss, which I still might do if you keep that grin on your face. Some things have happened, I tried to break out of once or twice, no big deal or anything, I just wanted to get a donut and maybe enslave all of mankind. I was unfortunately stopped however. My demonic powers were restricted and I have no way to ever leave hell again. My 72 lords of the underworld can, but they can only make deals with the gullible humans. What they can't do is carry out their end of the bargain. So me and the big man upstairs talked it over and we agreed upon one thing. Carrying out our end is necessary for several reasons that are above your pay grade. Long story short, potential souls are given a test and if they pass they're allowed to be my bitch for the next millennium or until they can buy back their soul. Basically, you're a lucky one that has been given a chance to win back your soul. Pass the test, you become a reaper. Fail the test, down to the bottom of the bottomless hell you go. Any questions?”
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"Yeah I've got a few."
“Great, no questions, now let's go on with the test. You have one week to find and kill the demonic viper. The system will answer all your questions. Have a great trip to the Bermuda triangle!”
" The Bermuda triANGGGLLLLLLE!?” The floor underneath Danny opened up and he left shouting the last part of his question. The devil couldn't help but chuckle. He then turned around and walked away.
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In a small house on a deserted island in the middle of the deathly triangle between Bermuda, Florida and Cuba sat a lone man. He hasn't been there long, only an hour. The man is asleep on the bed, but he'll wake up soon, he has a test to take and it's not going to be easy. He stirs restlessly, almost to the point of waking.
The island he's on is not located on any map, but if you find it, you better pray you die easy because you have no hope of going back to the mainland. The man aboard it has no clue but if he fails this test, he'd be wishing for a quick release.
He stirs yet again, then he opens his eyes and gasps for air!
“Fuck that felt weird. It was like dying all over again. Guess I better get out of bed.”
He gets up and looks around the room. The cottage was simple with only one room. It had a queen-size bed pushed to the corner, a mirror hanging on the wall opposite of the bed and a few windows spaced out at odd intervals. It's being gracious calling them windows, however, they're more like holes with a bit of cloth draped over them.
After his survey of the room, he gets on his knees and looks under the bed. Under it, he finds backpack.
“Oldest trick in the book." He thinks to himself.
He pulls it out and finds a sticky note stuck on the front of it. It read "Oh ho, so you found it. Smart, just like he said you would be. Inside the pack are a few things you might need. I've set my viper loose on the island and you need to kill it before it kills you or you might just end up in my demonic legion. Wishing you the best of luck-Aim, number 23 of the 72 demon lords.”
He grinned in spite of himself. He knew just who Aim was. When his 18 year old self decided to sell his soul, he immediately began brushing up on his demonology. He wanted to know who was who and what to do. Eventually he came upon the 72 demons of the goetia and figured it wouldn't hurt to know who they were. Aim has the power to answer any question, make men smart, cunning and shrewd and is even able to destroy entire cities, or so the book states.
After recollecting who Aim was, he began looking through the pack. There was a watch, a knife, a full canteen and a book with a note on it saying to read it after he steps outside. He puts the bag on his back and the watch on his left wrist and looks at the door. He walks on through, each step resounding in loud thuds across the floor. He walks out the door. Immediately he hears a voice in his head.
[System starting up: Would you like to go through the tutorial?]