The Raven Part 4: Devil of the Falls

Chapter 10

Abigail was preparing for her guest's final moments. In the back of her mind, she knew that she needed one final bit of insurance to finish Pamela. As much as she loved her boys, the witch had proven too much for the majority of her followers. They would most likely die trying to carry out her wishes, and even with Ripper she knew they didn't stand a chance. She had sealed the mouths of both Jake and Beth with her sludge, and the two sat there glaring at her while she waited. Not a word was said until two men walked in dragging Lisa behind them. Her young pawn was struggling and terrified as she struggled against the grip of her acolytes.

"Lisa, how good of you to join us," Abigail said as she rose from her seat, "I've been considering your place in our family, and I think it's finally time you join your brothers and sisters who serve my will."

"Please, mistress, I've done everything you've asked," the frail young woman pleaded, "I'll be good, just please let me go back to my sisters."

"Why would I do that?" Abigail asked, "That would be such a waste of potential, dear. Bring her to me and keep her still."

"W-what are you doing?!" Lisa screamed, "Please, mistress, I brought them to you like you asked! Let me go!"

"What sort of a God would I be if I didn't reward such loyalty?" Abigail asked as she grabbed a large flask containing a bubbling substance, "Open wide, dear, you're going to have the honor of being my first test subject!"

Lisa struggled, even as she was forced to her knees before the madwoman, and tried to turn her head. One of the men took a fistful of her hair and held her head back. Jake and Beth watched in horror as Abigail grabbed her jaw to hold her in place. She forced Lisa's mouth open, and began dumping the thick goop down her throat. Lisa let out garbled screams as the steaming liquid was slowly poured down her throat. Abigail made sure to get every last drop out of the flask, and she seemed to delight in the girl's pain. Even after all their time with Goth, and all their time dealing with Metropolis' sadists, this was truly depraved. There was no mercy, no reprieve, only the sound of Lisa's struggles and Abigail’s low cackle. Her maniacal laughter grew in volume and began echoing off the chamber walls. The two friends and heroes could feel their hearts sinking in the face of this sadistic depravity.

Lisa's body hunched over, and she began vomiting a thick black substance. Her body twisted and contorted as it began to transform. Her blonde hair began falling out at a rapid rate until all that was left was a few straggling patches. Her eyes bulged and the whites changed to a sickly yellow while her pupils overtook her irises. She grew, slowly at first, but quickly began shooting up. Her muscles rippled as they engorged along with her body, and as they became disgustingly distended her body shot up three feet. The frightened young girl from moments ago was gone, and in her place was a lanky and yet hulking monstrosity. Her face was distorted beyond recognition, and her pained screams had turned to roars of rage. The monster before them was beyond recognition. What was once Lisa lashed out at the two men that had been holding her down. She grabbed one of them, and ripped his body in half. She launched the two halves at the other one before stomping her massive foot on his chest. His bones cracked before he splattered into a mess of gore.

"Magnificent," Abigail said while holding a hand out to Lisa who bowed before her, "I confess, Lisa, I think you look much better this way. Go, find and kill the witch. Bring me her battered remains. Oh, and have fun, dear."

Beth and Jake watched as Lisa lumbered through the lone entrance to the chamber. Beth was more worried for her girlfriend than ever. She could feel her hope draining more and more with every second. She wished that Jake could speak. His almost delirious taunts and ramblings, while slightly alarming, had been the only thing keeping her going. At first, she had held onto the hope of a speedy rescue from Pam, but Abigail had made sure to steal that away. Abigail had blurred the lines between time after their first session together, and the psychotic woman had also robbed her of her vindictive mindset. Taking away her equipment, her collar, and forcing her to both watch and endure endless hours of torture had her nearly broken. Pam was her last hope. She knew her girlfriend would come for her just as she had her, but the question remained would be strong enough on her own? Could she face down the monsters this lunatic was sending after her and still take down the devil herself? There was a crushing feeling of guilt as she contemplated the answer to these questions. Every time the answer was always the same: no, nothing and nobody could withstand everything Abigail had. All she could do was wait for the inevitable and pray that the end came quickly.

The sound of metal screeching to a halt, getting warped and bent, and slamming into walls echoed around Pam. She'd been walking through the maze of tunnels for a while now. She'd taken the path Jason had pointed out to her, but she was still searching for some open chamber. He hadn't been lying about the traps that Abigail had set either. More trick ceiling spikes, tiger pits, and other various implements of death and dismemberment waited for her. They'd been simple enough to spot, but one of the pits had nearly been her end. She'd been quick enough with Beth's grappling gun to save herself, but the fact that it had almost been her undoing hadn't been lost on her. There was a slight hum of an electrical current flowing behind the walls that told her she wasn't out of the woods yet.

She'd cast a smaller orb of light shortly after entering the tunnel. A faint trace of movement caught her eye, and she looked over just in time to see the barrel of a gun emerge from the wall. Just as she was preparing to step out of the way, she caught sight of more gun barrels popping out of the rock and dirt. This was certainly a more advanced trap than the ones she'd encountered thus far. Turning back wasn't an option, and so she did the only thing she could. Years before she'd ended up alone on the streets, she'd shown a knack for gymnastics; it had been the only thing her asshole father had ever praised her for. She'd given it up after the bastard had crashed the car he and her mother had been in, but thanks to Beth she'd fallen back into a beneficial routine. A good thing too because she was going to need every ounce of that training to avoid these damned bullets.

She broke into a run at first just as the first set of turrets began firing. Automatic rounds poured out from the guns, but the sounds of their shells dropping was lost in the hail of gunfire. Pam leapt into a summersault just guns aimed at her ankles began thundering beside her. She followed it with one, two, and three handsprings before hitting the ground and resuming her sprint. These things were on some sort of coordinated loop that was supposed to dismantle whoever was foolish enough to tread this deep into the facility. Fortunately for her, she wasn't some lone wanderer who'd managed to get themselves lost. She dove forward to avoid another round of shots that ripped from the walls, and she rolled as she hit the ground. Without stopping, she threw herself forward into another hand spring that propelled her past another round of fire.

She was back on her feet running with the exit finally in sight. She was nearing the end of the blasted maze, but she heard something that made her heart drop. It was faint, especially behind the roar of gunfire, but she heard it. The ground beneath her was giving way. She quickened her pace, but the entire length of the cavern floor began collapsing inward. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had nowhere to go. She would either be skewered by bullets, impaled by whatever was below, or crushed beneath the rubble. Refusing to accept defeat, she let out a surge of her own energy hoping for the best. She was shocked when everything around her froze, captured in a bizarre moment in time. The flash from the barrels of guns remained still, the rubble from the ground hovered in the air, and at the precipice of it was her floating there. Confused as she was, she was reminded of something Dilatrix had once told her.

"Sometimes, with magic, the weave, and temporal energies at play, there will be unintended and surprise effects. Some may be unnoticeable, while others may be much more drastic. When you see it, do not fight or question it, but rather lean into it. When you question or resist, you run the risk of forfeiting potential gains and advances in your powers. Play with it, experiment, and perhaps you may even be able to recreate it further down the line. After all, I too was once a simple magistrate, Pamela."

Deciding to follow her new mentor's advice, she held out a hand to test the waters of this new temporal power. There was a nagging sensation in the back of her mind, the feeling of doubt. She pushed it as far back as humanly possible, and tried to focus on the moment at her fingertips. With a guiding thought, she reformed the ground piece by piece and began walking towards the exit. She held out her free hand to telepathically turn the bullets back on the turrets that had fired them. She could feel the moment ticking by, and so she increased her pace. She came to the end of the corridor, and released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The ground crumbled behind her, and the bullet storm shed redirected caused several explosions on the walls. The turrets were destroyed, but then so was her way back. There was nowhere to go now but through. That was fine by her, she would see Abigail pay for what she'd done if it were the last thing she did.

"Neat trick, witch," a male voice called out, "I thought for sure that you were done for, but I guess you're just full of surprises. Kinda glad you survived, though, it'll be more fun for us to kill you."

She narrowed her eyes and looked over at the owner of the voice. Three men sat off on the opposite side of the large chamber she'd found her way to. She couldn't see the ceiling, but there was scaffolding around the area as though someone had been trying to renovate the area. It lined the walls, and there were several spread out throughout the chamber. A quick look around revealed that this place had indeed been worked on. It looked like a sort of ritualistic site, but the purpose of it was a mystery to her. She wondered if Abigail had done this or if this was another remnant of the Brunswick corporation.

"Where are they?" she asked, ignoring the man's blatant threat and menacing attitude.

The man who'd spoken wore tattered jeans and a severely stained white shirt. The one off to the side stepped forward to answer her, "Not that it matters, but they're up ahead. They're going to witness the birth of a new God, and then they'll be sacrificed go her."

The man who'd spoken had long and matted brown hair, and wore an outfit similar to the first. Something was amiss with them. Their skin was discolored, and their bodies appeared to convulse at random. The one behind them was more concerning, however. A large brute with a bag covering his head standing an impossible seven feet. She hadn't seen someone, an actual person that is, this tall since her first meeting with Rebecca. This man wore brown pants with suspenders, and a white long sleeved shirt that appeared stained with both Abigail's fungus and blood. His arms were by his side, but his hands looked more like talons or claws than human hands. He was silent say for menacing and ragged breathing, but she could feel his eyes boring into her.

"The birth of a God," Pam repeated with a dark chuckle, "You boys don't know what a God or Goddess looks like, and I'll give you a word of advice: run. Abigail is a charlatan, a pretender who's nothing more than a failed science experiment. She isn't worth dying for. If you knew what she'd done to the ones whom she first turned then you wouldn't be so keen on serving a monster."

"You shut your whore mouth!" one of the men exclaimed, "I'm not going going listen to some bitch badmouth our Goddess!"

"You are a fool," Pam spat, "Do you have any idea what she's done?"

"Oh we know," the other said, "We've been with her since the beginning. I remember how she freed us from inhibitions, and I'll never forget how much fun we had with that skank Regina."

"Good times," the other chuckled, "I was such an idiot back then. To think I was waiting until she was ready when I could have just taken what I wanted whenever I wanted."

"You're...Will and Josh," Pam said, feeling a twinge of rage stir within her, "You two were the first of her little monsters...you broke that poor girl. Do either of you even care?!"

"Gina got what was coming to her," Josh said, "Just like your little slut and that mouthy little fuck are going to."

Pam's anger began to boil over as she listened to the two of them talk. She clenched her fists, and decided to try to conserve her power for dealing Abigail. These boys deserved a more personal lesson anyway. She stepped forward as she spoke, "Don't you dare refer to my Beth in such a manner. I was trying to show you simpeltons mercy, but I can see that was a mistake. I'm going to enjoy beating the lot of you senseless."

"Tough talk for a twig of a girl," Will laughed, "Go ahead, take your best shot."

She rushed forward with blinding speed, and surprised Will with a tight cross to the jaw. He grimaced from the shocking force of her punch and stumbled to the side. Josh went to swing at her, but she ducked under it and delivered a kick to his knee. He cried out from the sudden pain in his leg and yelled at the large man in the back, "Don't just stand there, dumbass, kill this fucking cunt!"

The hulk of a man didn't respond beyond an annoyed grunt, but he lunged for her. She met him midcharge, but she didn't try to match his force. Instead, she rolled over his shoulder, looped an arm around his throat, and tried to drag him down to the ground. The man was incredibly resilient, and she failed to force him down to the ground. His back arched slightly, but he caught himself and tried to throw her off of him. She felt his filthy claws dig into her leg, and she fought to hold her ground. He managed to drag her body around, but she kept her arms wrapped around his neck. She spun around him, stretched out free leg to kick Will who'd moved to catch her in a vulnerable state, and let the brute throw her forward. The force of his own momentum with hers had him toppling down to the ground, and Will grunted as her boot connected with his jaw.

She rolled over onto the massive man and straddled his chest. She was able to get three punches to the face in before she felt Josh latch onto her chest to pull her off. Her arms were locked in his grip, so she threw her head back and slammed it into his jaw. "Ah, you fucking bitch!" he yelled as his grip loosened enough for her to slip out.

She ran forward, making sure to stomp on the mutated man's chest along the way, and moved to intercept Will who'd regained his footing. He dodged a straight jab, and attempted to counter with a punch of his own. She leaned back to avoid the incoming attack and swatted his arm away. He threw a left hook that she dodged, and she quickly launched a kick at the back of his calf. He fell to one knee, but Josh was rushing her from behind. She placed a hand on Will's shoulder, and flipped over him before kicking Will in the back and into Josh. The two collided with one another and ended up in a tangled mess. They growled as they shoved one another away, but there were bigger things for her to worry about. She heard the thundering footfalls of their much larger compatriot charging towards her.

She was forced to step back and dodge his wild swipes. She kept her arms close to her body for protection while she waited for an opening. Her lumbering assailant gave her nothing as he continued stepping towards her and swinging wildly. There was little to no coordination with his attacks, but his speed and strength made him more dangerous than either of the other two. Left, right, left, right, his continuous assault was quickly backing her into a corner. She was close to one of the scaffolding when she made an impromptu decision. She waited until her back was against the steel piping, but she quickly reached up behind her and pulled herself up. She narrowly avoided one of his massive clawstrikes, and she flipped herself up and between the bars. He kept swinging, beginning to tear down the structure, and she kept climbing. It was when the scaffolding started to collapse that she made her move.

She kicked off of the bar she was on just and vaulted forward. Using her telekinetic powers she gripped several of the steel bars and sent them rocketing down towards the lumix. They pierced through his chest, arms, and legs, but she could feel his emotions, or rather emotion, still booming in her hear. Rage, pure unfiltered anger and adrenaline. He was trapped for the moment, but he wasn't dead. She rolled as she landed, and brought her hands up just in time to block Josh's boot as it came towards her face. She grabbed his foot, twisted it, and thrust upward as she got to her feet. He flipped into the air, and she jumped to deliver a powerful side kick to his chest that sent him rolling onto the ground.

Will was on her just as she landed. She ducked and moved to the side to avoid a flurry of punches aimed at her head and torso. She flipped to put some distance between them, but he chased after her. He tried to continue his calculated assault, but she drew on her training with Beth and Jake to counter his punches. She deflected, swatted, and batted away his fast punches while waiting for him to give her the opening she so desperately wanted. Finally, she found it when one of he lost his footing on the slick cavern floor. She caught his fist, threw an elbow into his, snapped his arm, and dropped into a sweep kick that left him on his ass.

She heard the slow and heavy footfalls of the brute breaking free from his steel prison, and she turned her attention to him. The steel bars still stuck out of his body, but he gripped one of the ones in his legs as he slowly walked forward. He growled as he ripped one from his leg, and hurled it at her. She dodged it and snatched it out of the air. It was just a bit shorter than Jake's staff, but she would make do. She spun it around before widening her stance and waiting for her opponent. He picked up speed as he drew closer, and thrust his clawed hand forward to try to impale her. She swung the staff with both hands in a defensive arc that slammed into the brute's outstretched arm. A loud crack echoed off the walls of the chamber followed by a pained and strangled cry of agony. She'd managed to connect with the bastard's elbow and break his arm. She spun around the brute, spun the bar in her hand, and drove with as much force as she could muster into the back of his neck. His body seized up and fell forward with a gurgling noise and blood pooling in his facial covering.

She turned around to face the other two men. They were getting to their feet and Will was laughing, "You stupid fucking bitch. You're better than we expected, I'll give you that, but you're out of your depth."

"Says the boy who's been getting knocked around," she countered, "You've just lost your muscle, and unless you stand down you'll both be losing your lives. Out. Of. My. Way!"

"You really have no idea who or what you're dealing with, do you?" Josh asked with a dark chuckle, "Do you really think our Goddess would send us down here without a means of dealing with...complications?"

"Cut the shit," Pam spat, "Idle threats both bore and annoy me. I won't tell you again, get out of my way."

"She doesn't believe us, Josh," Will said, "Why don't we show this little bitch just how outclassed she really is?"

"Please, enlighten me to just what sort of gifts that harpie gives," Pam said.

"You heard her, Will," Josh said, "Why don't we go ahead and let it out?"

Will didn't say anything, and cast his eyes down to the ground. Pam watched with mild intrigue as his body began twitching. He clenched his fists, unclenched them, and repeated while he hunched over. Josh began doing the same, and both men began groaning. A thick black substance began secreting from their bodies and dripping onto the ground. A foul and acrid stench accompanied the goop as it dribbled off of their bodies. She could see something moving beneath their skin as their convulsions became more violent and erratic. Then, without warning, she heard their bones begin to crack and their skin start to split. Both men began vomiting, but their retches quickly became garbled as something solid shot out of their mouth. Tentacles of the same revolting substance that she'd become accustomed to poured out of their mouths, but strangely enough that wasn't the most disturbing sight. Their arms became coated in the sludge, and their hands morphed into flailing tendrils. More of those repulsive tentacles burst from their backs and curved around them. They pressed into the ground and lifted them up, giving the appearance of an almost spider-like monster. Their eyes, now glowing a sickly yellow, looked around, and a thick viscous liquid rolled off of the tentacles spewing from their mouths. They locked onto her and let out an ear piercing shriek.

"Monsters," Pam said without losing her composure, "This whole town is nothing but a breeding ground for your kind. I'll make sure that none of you survive this."

They began shuffling towards her, their tentacles moving at fast and spontaneous intervals. She knew she wouldn't be able to fight these two in this state with her bare hands, so she began channeling her power. They were fast for their size and closing in fast. Bringing her hands together, she lifted her palms up, and raised the earth up to cut off their charge. A wall of rock burst from the ground and tripped Josh, but Will began climbing up the rock wall. His slimey appendages slammed in and through her defenses, and she was forced to retreat. She dove out of the way of one of his tentacles as it created a massive hole in the ground. She reached out, clenched her fist, and closed the hole around it in hopes of slicing part of his limb off. He let out another shriek of frustration as the rock constricted around the end of his tendril.

She was about to try to burn him when Josh slammed into her. She was knocked to the ground, and she managed to roll just as one of his tentacles pierced the ground she had just laid upon. She flipped herself backwards just as it began beating the ground in an attempt to end her. Dirt and debris shot up as he continued forward while pummeling the ground mere inches from her. She grit her teeth, and her hands began to glow as she readied her next attack. She split herself into three duplicates and broke off in an attempt to confuse the mutated Josh. It was a simple illusion trick, but one that she hoped would work well to divert her attacker. The duplicates had no real power, but all she needed was to create a distraction and an opening. It worked. Josh went after one of her mirror images, and she had a clear shot at his back. She funneled her energy into her hands until they began to burn. She pushed the heat outward into a massive ball of violet fire that roared as it shot into Josh's deformed back. He howled in pain and fell forward slightly as the flames burnt his disgusting growths.

He wasn't finished yet, however, and she needed to capitalize on his vulnerable state while she could. She brought one hand down and the other up to summon her chains from both the ground and ceiling. They snaked their way around him, and bound him tightly in place. She began concentrating on searing his sickly flesh, but it was broken when she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Will had managed to break free, and he'd driven one of his sharp tendrils through her thigh. She tried to break free, but she could feel the ooze seeping into her leg from the wound. It burned, more so than any other injury she'd ever sustained, and she fought to try to break his grip as he hoisted her into the air. She snarled as her hand and forearm became coated in pure energy, and with as much force as she could muster she sliced through his tentacle-like limb. It severed the end of it just as he prepared to penetrate her at multiple points. She rolled along the dirt away from him, and tried to summon the will to get up. Her leg was going numb. Was this some new toxin that Abigail had concocted for them? All she knew was that she needed to get the disgusting thing out of her leg and get back to her feet.

Her concentration had been completely broken now, and Josh was free once again. They moved to approach her, surround her, and finish her off once and for all. She fought to get the offending object out of her leg, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to get it out in time. Suddenly, thundering footfalls filled the chamber, and all three of them looked to see what was causing them. Pam felt it before it rounded the corner into the chamber, hate unlike any she'd ever felt before. There was something else, though, something she couldn't quite place.. Whatever was coming, it didn't have any love or bond for anyone in this room. Then she saw it. A behemoth of a monster if she'd ever seen one. It wasn't as large as the beast she'd fought at the lake, but it loomed an imposing eight feet, maybe more, and its arms were massive. It slouched as it stomped into the chamber, and it was dripping with more of Abigail's demented ooze. It let out a roar that nearly shook the whole of the chamber.

She was shocked when she heard Will and Josh hiss out a single word, "Sssissster."

She felt like she was finished when she heard that. If this monster was here to fight alongside them, then there was no way she would be able to recover in time. The beast charged forward and she braced herself for the end. She was shocked when it took hold of Josh's mutated limbs in one hand, and proceeded to lift him up and slam him into Will. The two mutated men collided and she heard them rasp in shock. The new arrival charged forward, stepping over her, and snatched Will's limbs in its other hand as it ran. It flung their bodies into one of the scaffolding structures, and Pam watched as the steel bars cracked from the impact of their bodies. They landed at the base of the structure, and the beast leapt into the air before landing with both its feet on their backs. It began stomping, pounding, and grinding their bodies into a disgusting paste. The scaffolding gave way as the ground shook, and it collapsed atop the three of them. There was nothing left of Josh or Will, but the monster remained unphased by the weight of the steel and wood that fell atop it. It pushed the remains aside and roared as it scanned the room for its next victim.

"Black hells!" Pam yelled as she finally managed to dislodge the slimy spike wedged in her leg and get to her feet, "If I am to die here, then I'm going to die fighting! You monsters have taken everything from me, and I will be damned if I lay down and die! Come on, come on!"

She didn't have time to heal herself, and whatever filth was leftover from that spike had her moving much slower. She could put weight on her leg, but running wouldn't be an option for her. She was going to have to make her stand and fight. She bared her teeth at the beast as it lumbered forward, slowly building into a charge. She'd hoped to save her reserves for dealing with Abigail, but if she didn't act now she wouldn't make it to her. She drew on everything she had, and raised her hands. The ground shook beneath her, and the patch of earth she stood on began to rise into the air. The steel bars from the scaffolding along with scattered bits of rubble rose as well, and she launched them at the monster as it ran past where she had just been. Rocks turned to dust against its body, but they seemed to stun it for at least a moment. She launched every one of the broken bars she could at it in hopes of putting it down, but even with several digging into its flesh it kept coming for her.

She was just out of its grasp, but she'd already seen how high the beast could jump. She expected the sudden leap before it came, and she shot her hands out to create a protective bubble around herself. She managed to form it just just it grabbed for her and shattered the platform she was on. Her shield protected her from the monster's powerful grasp, but she could feel it buckling against its powerful grip. The shield shimmered and flickered before it began to crack. Filled with a growing sense a panic, she searched for a way out. She could feel her power waning, and she knew that her barrier wouldn't last much longer. She thought of Beth and everything she was enduring, everything the girl had already endured. Was this really how she died? Was this the end of her journey? Was this the fate that awaited those who dared to tread the path of heroes?

Something inside of her stirred, and she felt a warmth spread from her stomach and throughout her entire body. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them they were glowing once again. Her body moved on its own, and she swiped downward creating a portal beneath her feet. She fell through it and emerged behind the massive beast. Her aura burned brightly around her, and her being split into eight copies of herself. They scattered out and surrounded the monster; there was something different about this spell, something stronger. Her mind raced to keep up with her body, but she was certain she'd divided her power amongst the copies. Each of them glowed various colors ranging from deep blue, bright white, scarlet, and even an abyssal black.

"I promised her," she spoke, "I made them both a promise that I will not forsake! You and everyone else in this filth ridden town will feel my wrath!"

Chains burst from the ground, and began wrapping around the beast's limbs. It was forced to one knee while she and her copies approached. The one glowing scarlet lifted its hand, and the ground opened up around the beast. Skeletal figures, each burning with hellfire, crawled out of the pit and began scaling it. The gnawed and stabbed at it, but it only served to further its anger. The cobalt copy brought her hands down, and the air above it shimmered before a dark shadow fell to the ground. The beast buckled under an unseen weight on its back. Tendrils of green energy swirled around the forest colored duplicates, and they seemed to be being pulled from the beast's body.

Pam released a war cry that shook the foundation and rivaled the monster's own menacing roar. The air flashed with a strange light before everything froze once again. Pam and her multiple copies moved forward to finish the monster frozen in time. Then she heard it. Like a faint whisper far off in the distance. The beast was frozen, but its mind was free, and it's thoughts both broke her heart and enraged her as they ran through her mind, "Please...please forgive me, mam. I only did what I did because I was tired of suffering...please, mam, I beg you...kill me...I'm so afraid, so alone, and I don't want to live like this anymore. Kill me, but promise me that you'll make her suffer. The way she's made all of us hurt, cry, beg, bleed, and more...please, end this, mam."

That voice, she'd heard it once before. She walked over to the creature and touched its leg. The emotion she'd felt behind the hatred was fear, fear and remorse. She closed her eyes and united her copies for a final strike. She sent a promise into the mind of the monster before slaying it, "Lisa, I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner...I promise you, I will end Abigail once and for all. Rest now, girl, you've earned it."

She and her copies pulled stone slabs from the ground and shaped them into massive spikes. With a wave of her hand, eight stalagmites were driven into what had once been an innocent girl. Her copies walked over to her, and one by one merged with her. She could feel a new well of power within her, but it was bittersweet. She'd thought the creature had just been rabid when it attacked Will and Josh, but the truth was that Lisa had only wanted to get back at the ones who'd hurt her, who'd betrayed her. She stared down at the hulking corpse, and looked around at the devastation that had been left in the wake of her battle. Whatever this chamber had been meant for, all it was now was burial ground. She would bring down this entire tunnel system after she saved her friends. None of these people had asked for this, no, it had all been forced on them.

She headed for the only opening to where she knew the so-called Devil of Ravenfalls was waiting. Perhaps there was some truth to her little nickname. Abigail may have been a mere mortal, but her actions were that of a demon. "Let's finish this," she said to herself, "I'll send this devil and this entire town to hell before I'm done. Hold on, Beth, just a little longer. I'm coming for you."

Jake was gritting his teeth as Abigail drove a thin stick beneath his fourth fingernail. She'd removed his and Beth's gag shortly before starting another round of torture. She'd already worked on Beth, and his friend had screamed until her voice was hoarse. He refused to give her the satisfaction of listening to him scream, however. It hurt, it hurt more than anything she'd done to him so far. He could feel himself close to blacking out from the sheer amount of pain he was in. "Come on, Jake, let me hear you scream like you're little whore of a friend!" Abigail taunted.

"Go to hell," he breathed.

"You first, boy," she countered as she drove another stick beneath his fingernail.

"She's coming," he heard Ashley say, "She's exhausted, but she's won the battle and is angry."

He laughed upon hearing this, and earned a fierce punch from Abigail. He spit the blood in his mouth at her and said, "You're finished, Abigail. Pam is coming, and she is going to repay everything that you've done to us tenfold."

Abigail dropped her instruments of torture, and reached for a knife she had stashed nearby. She took hold of his face and grinned sadistically at him, "I'm really getting tired of your voice, Jake," she said as she inched the blade closer to his mouth, "You'd be a much more enjoyable toy if you were silent. Why don't we just cut that little tongue of yours out, hmm? After all, you can still scream without a tongue, and I'm sure I can use Beth's if it comes down to it!"

"Let. Them. Go!" Pam's voice called out.

Abigail glared over at the entranceway to the tunnel system. She snarled at Pam, but dropped the knife all the same. With a snap of her fingers Jake and Beth were encased in her thick sludge and slammed into the wall. "Well, well," she said as she looked Pam over, "I see you've survived the opening acts. Did you enjoy the entertainment I provided for you?"

"Entertainment?" Pam repeated as she stepped forward, "You sent your first turns after me, sicked a desecrated corpse of your first victim and former friend on me, and forced the girl who only wanted freedom to become a monster! Do you even care about anyone other than yourself?!"

Abigail threw her head back and cackled, "I see you've been doing your homework while parading around my town. I am a God, and these people are fortunate enough to live and die for me. I give them purpose, strength, and comfort in a world that has nothing!"

"I've fought for and against those who pretend to be Gods," Pam said with clenched fists, "You're little more than a false idol, a failed science experiment."

"Silence, girl," Abigail warned.

"You were nothing more than a pathetic girl who felt the world belonged to her," Pam continued as she walked forward, "You were always destined to hurt someone, but now you've given yourself the freedom to hurt everyone! You're a toxic and entitled little girl pretending to be something you're not."

"Enough," Abigail roared as her skin began to ripple, "This world does belong to me, and I will have it for myself! I will not stand here, and take this sort of verbal abuse from an insect like you!"

"I'm through talking to someone beneath me, anyway," Pam spat.

Abigail's body began to convulse in a way that she'd seen before. She expected to see her sprout more of those disgusting tentacles, but instead she watched as the filth covering the ground and walls raced towards her. She realized that this entire chamber had been covered in her repulsive toejam. The thick sludge began wrapping around Abigail almost like a caccoon of sorts. It swirled around her, and Pam heard the madwoman cry out as her voice became distorted. Her cry soon turned to a chilling and warped cackle as the twister of sludge and slime began to slow down. Pam raised a barrier around herself as particles of ooze were flung at her. She watched the swirling mass begin to slow and subside. Her eyes widened at the sight of Abigail in her transformed state.

The woman had already been tall, but her body had shot up another foot. Whereas most of the transformations she'd seen resulted in increased muscle mass, Abigail had become more lean. Her arms were longer, and her lower body was coated in her sludge giving the appearance of a dress. The robe she had worn had become tattered, and what parts remained were covered in that nasty gunk. Her hands had morphed into into claws of sorts, and her eyes glowed a disturbing shade of yellow. Her hair, now coated in a thick layer of grime, went past her shoulders and covered her exposed chest. She breathed a sigh as her rebirth finished, and she slowly raised her arms. She grew another foot as the filth around her rippled, and four massive tendrils shot out of her fungal gown and lifted her into the air.

"This is the face of this world's new God!" Abigail bellowed in a distorted and twisted voice, "Join me, Pamela, you're no ordinary woman. You're strong, capable, and amazingly powerful! You, like me, are destined for more than what this sad little world has to offer! I can give you everything your gay little heart desires. Women, knowledge, everything this miserable world has will be ours! All you need to do is bow before me, and kill these sad excuses for toys in my name!"

Pam looked over at the mutated form of Abigail, then over to her friends. Their bodies were plastered to the walls of the chamber, literally covered in her disgusting filth. They were trapped there only a few feet from her, but she could see the look in Beth's eyes. It wasn't hope or relief at seeing her, no, it was defeat. Her eyes had lost the light that she'd fallen in love, and now they were almost completely hollow. This woman had turned her beloved Beth into a shell of her former ferocious self. Her breathing quickened, her anger surged, and all she could think about was crushing Abigail the way she'd crushed both Beth and Jake's hopes and mangled their bodies.

"I will never bow to the likes of you," she said coldly, "You took what is mine, you stole the only people I care about! I am going to make you beg me for death, you vile, repulsive, harlot!"

Abigail let out a twisted laugh in response, "Then you've made your choice, girl. Let's see just who'll be begging by the end of this fight, shall we?!"

With those words Abigail launched her spider-like legs at her. Pam brought her arms up and summoned a barrier to deflect those fungal legs. She was pushed back from the sheer force and strength of Abigail's appendages. She shattered her own shield, and created a blowback that put distance between the two of them. She summoned flaming chains from the ground that wrapped around Abigail's mutated body, but they did little to contain the might that the mutagin had given her. She shattered the chains and advanced toward Pam. She summoned several of her own pillars of sludge to crush the sorceress, and Pam was forced on the defensive. She created twin shields around her hands and she began countering Abigail's fungal assault. The weight of her attacks, however, were quickly straining her muscles.

Pam remained on the defensive and waited for an opportunity. She found it when Abigail diverted her attacks to conjure a massive hammer out of her ooze to crush her. Pam shifted the energy around her hands into a large spear and hurled it at the villainess. It dug into Abigail's flesh, but the woman ripped if from her own chest and crushed it. Pam snarled and tried to summon her mirror images from earlier, but they remained dormant inside of her. She found herself caught in a tomb of Abigail's slime. The crushing weight around her began seeping in through the cuts and scrapes she'd received. She could feel Abigail worming her way into her body. She knew it wouldn't be long before she started feeling her pulling at her mind.

"See what happens when you defy the will of a God, Pamela?!" Abigail asked, "I am going to break you, infect you, and make you kill these two! Look at them. Look at them!"

Pam turned her head from her ever-growing prison and looked at both of them. They stated back at her with fear, hopelessness, and heartbreak in their eyes. They'd given up. She'd taken too long, and now they had lost their hope and their will. She watched a single tear roll down Beth's bruised cheek, and then she felt something inside of her break. Her insides began to burn as though they were on fire, and her breathing became labored the longer she stared at them. She hadn't come this far just to fail. She couldn't, she wouldn't let them down.

"See what their faith in you has gotten them?!" Abigail asked.

"No," Pam whispered as the heat inside of her began spreading outward.

"What was that?" Abigail asked.

"No!" Pam screamed as her entire body burst into violet flames, and began burning away at the prison Abigail had her in. Her hair, skin, and clothes were covered in raw arcane energy, and she released a shockwave that shattered what was left of Abigail's prison, "You miserable, spoiled, rotten, brat! I am going to make you suffer, and I am going to show you the meaning of pain!"

"What is this?!" Abigail demanded, "I've seen this trick before, girl. You'll have to do better than that to beat me!"

Pam's face was obscured by the glow of energy surrounding her body. Her eyes and mouth glowed white when they were open, but her skin had seemingly transformed to molten energy. She remained suspended in the air, and slowly approached Abigail who, despite her bravado, was backing away. She lifted her arms, trails of fire flowing like sleeves, and the fabric of time shifted around them. Abigail's movements were slowed as Pam floated forward, "This is no trick, you pathetic wretch, this is what true power looks like. I am just getting started!"

Abigail, having grown sick of listening to her talk, sent her sludge-like tentacles rocketing towards her. They froze in the air and crumbled before they reached Pam. She watched as the wraith of a girl raised her hands above her head and brought them down to her sides. There was a thundering boom from above them that shook the very foundation of the chamber they were in. She looked up just to see if the ceiling was going to cave in, but she felt something sharp dig into her gut. She looked down to see a glistening purple blade dug into her stomach that shot up, slicing her open before disappearing. Thick ooze with touches of crimson spilled out of her chest and onto the floor. She was staggered from the blow, but she tried to resume her offense by sending her pointed limbs flying at Pam. They burned and distentrgrated as they got closer to her.

"What are you?!" Abigail sneered.

"I am the the wrath of everyone you've hurt," Pam replied as she drew closer, "Every ounce of pain and suffering you've inflicted on those that couldn't defend themselves, every plea you ignored for your own selfish designs, and every other unspeakable thing you've done has come to me! You hurt those that I care about, ignored my warnings, and now you'll pay the ultimate price! I'm going to bleed your repulsive soul dry, and filter it into hell one piece at a time!"

"You think I'm afraid of you?!" Abigail demanded once again trying to slow her approach, "I've still got your precious girlfriend and your pathetic excuse for a friend! Come any closer and I'll end them once and for all!"

It was surreal. At the moment, Pam could see every movement Abigail, her fungal ooze, and her friends made. She didn't stop advancing, and she watched as Abigail held out her hand to begin strangling her friends. She held out her own in their direction, and their gooey tombs exploded from a simple thought. Their bodies rolled onto the ground as she continued forward, "After everything you've seen, everything I've said, you would continue to threaten them?! Your death will be a slow and painful one, and it will serve as a reminder to anyone foolish enough to cross me!"

She could see the fluctuations in time and space rippling around everyone in the room. She raised her hand and Abigail’s body was lifted into the air. She slowly clenched her fist, and she could feel the air being zapped from Abigail's lungs. She was crushing her chest and ribs, but that wasn't enough for her. She folded her ribs inward until they pierced Abigail's lungs. The woman began crying out in a pained strain as she continued to inflict pain. She waited until she was on the verge of death to unfurl her hand and restore her. She delighted in the shocked gasps for air that the sadist released. She brought her other hand up, and grabbed the essence of the madwoman. She brought her hands together before quickly pulling them apart. Abigail's mutated body was ripped in half, and she was once again on the brink of death. She twisted her hand to rewind time and piece her bloody and broken body back together.

"Stop!" Abigail screamed, "Enough, take the book and your friends! Just stop!"

"How many times did you ignore those begging for mercy, Abigail?" Pam asked as she twisted her hands again and ripped her eyes from their sockets, "How many lives have you ruined with your cruelty and for your own amusement?! We're just getting started. You wish to be a God? Let me show you the price and fate of those who make such brazen claims!"

Abigail screamed until Pam severed her tongue, arms, and head. To the madwoman's horror, her death was undone and she was returned to the world of the living. Several of her followers burst into the room, but all Pam had to do was crook her finger for them to collapse on the ground. They fell to their knees as their bones and blood were pulled from their bodies and formed small spikes. A torrent of pain and agony swirled around her as the spikes cut through her one by one. Her family, the one she had formed so long ago, was being cut down in an instant, and she was left silently begging for a death as quick as theirs. She prayed to whatever, whoever, was listening that her suffering would end. Her fate was in the hands of a woman she'd scorned, and she felt true terror from being this close to such raw power. The ground below her began to swirl as the shadows moved. Fire crackled from beneath where she hovered, and she could see small streaks of lightning around Pam. Was this what true fear was? What was this woman?

"Stop, please, just kill me!" she begged.

"No," Pam said as she raised her arm and chains shot up to wrap around Abigail, "You don't deserve mercy or a quick death. I promise you, all who dare tread here will remember your folly and will know my name! I am Pamela Lavely, and I am the end that awaits all who dare walk the path of tyranny and lies. Your screams will forever echo throughout this place, even after I've buried it and razed your sad little town. Now die, you miserable little brat!"

Skeletons, their bones blazing in the darkness, crawled out from the depths of the hellish pit, and began climbing on Abigail. She screamed as their bodies burned her own and they began stabbing at her. They pulled the ribs from their own chests to use as daggers, and repeatedly drove them in and out of her body. The chains began slowly pulling her down into the depths of whatever twisted fate awaited her in the pit. She begged, pleaded, and screamed for anyone to help her as she was dragged deeper into the ground. The last thing she saw before disappearing into depths of hell was the haunting visage of Pam's glowing face and those terrifying white eyes.

True to her word, Abigail's screams continued to ripple throughout the structure after she was gone. The portal closed, and Pam lowered herself back down to the ground. Her glowing body reverted to its normal appearance. Her wounds had been healed by the surge of magical energy, but her clothes were torn and filthy. "Holy shit," she heard Jake breathe and she ran over to Beth, "What did you do to her?"

She ignored his question and dropped to her knees beside Beth. Her girlfriend's eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell with ragged, shallow breaths. She ran her fingers through her hair as she spoke in a panicked voice, "Beth, Beth, can you hear me? No, no, no, please wake up. Please, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I made you wait."

Jake slowly got to his feet, his legs shook from the beatings he endured, and walked over to his friend, "Pam, she's alright. She's been through hell, we both have."

"It's my fault," she whispered, "Why did I ever think coming here was a good idea?! I let you down, I let you both down. Beth, please wake up."

Tears began rolling down Pam's face as she held her beloved in her arms. Latent and excess energy caused her tears to glow a vibrant purple as they rolled off her cheeks and onto Beth. She opened her eyes when she felt a finger gently touch her cheek, "Pretty," Beth wheezed before coughing, "Jake said you'd come, but I'd started to lose hope. I'm sorry for doubting you."

Pam couldn't help but chuckle at Beth's words, "I drag you to some place you beg me not to, get you captured and tortured, and you apologize to me?" she asked, "That is...just like you. Oh God, I thought I'd lost you. I love you."

Beth cracked the first smile she'd had since before all of this began, "I...love you...too," she breathed, "Can we, please, go home?"

"Of course," Pam said as she lifted her girlfriend up bridal style, "Nothing would make me happier than to leave this nightmare behind and destroy this place."

"Pam," Jake said pointing to the object that had brought them here in the first place, "You want to get what we came here for?"

Pam looked down at the tome in question. In her arcane rage she hadn't even noticed the presence of the book. She shook her head and replied, "No. I don't need it anymore."

Jake walked over to grab it and asked, "After everything we went through, you're just going to leave it behind?"

Pam nodded, "Yes. I thought that I needed that book to become stronger, but I've learned something in our time here. Every single power surge I had came from thinking about you two, about Beth, and how much you two mean to me. I've been searching for a way to get stronger when it's been right here in my arms the whole time. I've achieved more here than anything that book could ever teach me. True power won't come from spells written by another sorceress, it doesn't come from somebody else's secrets, it comes from within, or in my case from what I feel. Perhaps, in time, I may write my own grimoire, but for now I intend to grow my power on my own."

"So you're just going to leave it here?" he asked.

She shrugged as she walked towards the exit, "Do with it what you want with it, but I'm not taking it with me."

He looked at the book he'd been tasked with retrieving, and while it was against his better judgement, he went to pick it up. He caught up with his friends and asked, "So what was that back there, and what did you do to Abigail?"

"I'm...not entirely sure what that was," she answered honestly, "There are tales, legends really, of something known as an archon form that makes of times long since past could achieve. There are also fables of mages who draw strength from their emotions. Rebecca once made the comment that my empathy was unlike her own. I didn't understand it and therefore dismissed until today, but perhaps therein lies the source of my power. I'll have to do some scrying and meditation to confirm it, but that can wait until we get home. As for Abigail, I did exactly what I told her I would. I scattered her soul, confined it to the hell she created, and have sent her to my own personal hell where, if she's lucky, she'll one day find her way to the underworld."

"Jesus," Jake said in disbelief, "Remind me not to piss you off."

Beth chuckled before going into a coughing fit. Pam looked down at her and asked, "What about any of that is funny?"

She smiled and croaked out, "My girlfriend is a badass."

Pam rolled her eyes but smiled, "You're incouragable. Hush now, you need to rest, Kitten."

Beth nodded and tried to draw closer to her girlfriend, enjoying the feeling of safety from being in her arms, "Yes mam," she yawned.

"Think the car is still where we parked it?" Jake asked.

"I doubt it," Pam replied, "Abigail had an extensive network of surveillance that ran throughout Ravenfalls, and I'm willing to bet even outside of the town. It has probably been demolished, or at best stripped."

"Goddamnit," he said, "Are we supposed to just walk back to Metropolis then?"

"First, I told you to get the insurance on it but you didn't listen," she said, "Second, I believe I can get us home without walking, but there's something I need to do first."

They walked through the disgusting tunnels and towards the exit. She was glad that Beth had fallen asleep as they walked through the room they'd been tortured in. She could feel an anxiety spike from Jake as they made their way through. The smell of blood and other sickening bodily fluids, littered the air. She felt sick to her stomach as she glanced around at all the tools and toys stained with blood, some of them still dripping, and she made it a point to hasten their exodus. They walked through the doors, up a stairwell, and came out into a filthy chapel. The odd symbol that Abigail had ordained for herself was etched into the stone, and the stain glass windows all had the same symbol. The woman's ego had rivaled that of Rebecca's. She instructed Jake to retrieve the key from one of the pouches on his belt and unlock the door.

They walked out into the light of a new day. The dark skies had finally started to clear, and the light of the sun crept over the horizon. It was near dawn and she was tired, but she had made a promise to Lisa that she had to keep. "Take her for a moment," she ordered Jake who gently took Beth from her arms, "I want to make sure that no one ever stumbles upon this godforsaken place again."

She held out her hands, and searched for the threads that held this entire facility together. She hoped that Jason had managed to make it out, but the boy had proven himself resourceful enough. She found the ethereal strands of energy surrounding the chapel and the tunnel system below it. She pulled them apart one by one until the foundation began go crumble and collapse. She cast a barrier around herself and her friends to protect them from the destruction. The ground shook as the building fell in and the network of tunnels that sprawled from the chapel to the lake fell in on themselves. Lisa and the other victims of Abigail's machinations now had the closest thing she could provide to a proper burial. Abigail's tormented spirit had been confined to the whole of the town, not just the caverns, and she knew that her pained screams would serve as a deterent for anyone seeking to follow in her footsteps.

Beth jolted in Jake's arms, "What the hell was that?!" she asked and realized who was holding her, "Jake? What the fuck is going on?"

"I had to fulfill a promise, Kitten," Pam answered, "Come here, let's go home, shall we?"

Jake handed his friend back over to Pam, and couldn't help but smile at the contented look on her face. "What sort of promise did you make?" he asked.

"The kind that shouldn't be broken," she answered grimly, "Let's leave it at that, but Jake there's something we need to talk about when we get back home and get you two fixed up."

"Is if you joining us on patrol?" he asked, "Because with just a fraction of what you did here, I'm pretty sure ninety percent of the criminals would be too scared to make a move."

"No, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon," she answered.

"Why not?" he asked, "We could call you Specter or even Archon."

"You're an idiot," she said with a chuckle, "I need to talk to you about something I may have discovered here. I'm afraid there might be more at play than we realized."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'll explain once I've gotten her home and have you both healed up," she said, "I'm not certain, but I think our struggles are just beginning."

"Our struggles never really stop," he said darkly.

"All the same, I fear we may be in for more than usual," she said as she opened a portal to take them back home, "Let's go home."

They stepped into the darkness, and fell through space and time. It was an odd feeling for Jake, but he trusted Pam. He was just glad to finally be free from Abigail and her torment. In the back of his mind, however, he questioned whether he was making the right decision or not with the book. In handing it over to Rebecca he would be restoring one of the world's greatest terrors. Then there was the lingering question of just what Pam was referring to. Whatever it was and however things played out, he took a small measure of comfort in knowing that the three of them would face it together.