Gates Into Hell

"Listen...Gayle. My name is Ane Nickerson. I know you before and so did my uncle; Conner." Ane said. 

"Hmmm; Conner huh. How is he?" Gayle inquired. Ane remained silent before clearing his throat.

"He's dead." he answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Gayle said. "He was a great acquaintance. Strong too. Who defeated him?" he continued.

"A guy in a mask with dragon eyes like these." Ane said; activating his eyes and pointing at them.

"The dragon eh. You must really Ane then. Welcome back to the world of elementals boy. What do you want in hell though?" Gayle questioned.

"My friend." Ane replied.

"Your friend?" Gayle asked.

"Yes. I have a feeling the name "Prince Of Flame" has something to do with his demonic powers. I'm guessing he came to the human world to escape his cruel fate but now his father has forced him to return." Ane growled; frowning.

"You're talking about Lance's kid?" Gayle inquired. Ane nodded and Gayle burst into laughter until tears fell from his face. "You all don't stand a chance against Lance with your current strength. He might be humbled compared to his old self but....still no chance of victory for you lot." Gayle said.

"Humbled?" Lisa whispered in disbelief. Lana gulped and clung closer to Ane.

"Just turn back now." Gayle warned as he turned around.

"I won't abandon my best friend!" Ane yelled. "I'd rather die trying to save him than give up without a fight." he growled. Gayle smiled.

"Oh?" he inquired with a serious look. "What about these two?" he asked; pointing at Lana and Lisa.

"W-we...we'll go where Ane goes!" Lisa blurted.

"No matter what!" Lana added. Ane looked at the girls who blushed and watched away nervously. Gayle laughed heartily and turned away; grinning.

"Rick!" he shouted. A teen with spiky brown hair, baby blue eyes who was wearing a lab coat, blue t-shirt and brown pants walked out from some bookshelves drinking some liquor. He pelted a bottle at Gayle who caught it and sat down; gulping it down unhesitantly. "This..." Gayle began; burping. "Is my cousin Rick. I passed down my power of the gates of hell to him." he continued.

"So these...uh..." Rick said; burping and snapping her fingers forgetfully. "Chumps wanna go to...to the underworld?" he concluded.

"Don't ask the obvious Rick." Gayle scolded; burping. Sweat dripped down the back of Ane's head.

"They sure drink a lot." he thought. Rick rubbed his hands and then stopped suddenly.

"Deal with it." Gayle said lazily. Rick fell into a green portal and reappeared in the shadows with a gun aimed at the wall. A shadow dove from the wall and formed into Sid who landed by the teens.

"Sid?" Lisa inquired.

"Oh...hey guys." Sid said; turning.

"Sid? Why the hell are you sneaking around?" Gayle asked.

"Well I also wanted to go to hell...to uh train my shadow there like Conner." Sid answered. Ane eyed Sid who then sighed. "I heard the entire conversation. Sorry about Ene. I'll help you find him." he remarked. Ane nodded.

"O-okay you assholes. Time to go." Rick said; rubbing his hands together and hitting the floor; hiccupping. A summoning circle appeared in the ground and Rick jumped back as it expanded and flames spat from it. "Your death a-awaits." Rick teased motioning to the gate.

"Haha." Ane said sarcastically as he and the other teens approached the circle.

"I'll go in first." Sid said as he hopped in..

"Without fear, huh." Lisa remarked. Ane held the girls' hands and hopped into the circle.

"Welp; I'm off." Rick said as he hopped in after them.

The teens flung from a portal and onto some rock. "What a landing." Ane said as they stood up. Rick came from the portal; flipping onto his feet skillfully.

"I'll stick by this...uh...p-portal." he stated; burping. 

"Why not join us?" Lana suggested.

"N-no thank you. I-I'm just a humble gate-gatekeeper. Imma stay here and not-and not walk into my death like an idiot." he continued; sipping the liquor.

"It's okay. We'll just find our way around here." Ane said as he flew off. The girls eyed each other and followed; watching about in fear and awe.

"This place looks amazing." Lisa remarked.

"Scary as well." Lana added. Ane remained silent and Sid just whistled a tune. The four landed on a huge hill and saw an entire city before them. All sorts of demons flew, walked, glided or did whatever they needed to move around the city. 

"An underworld city." Sid remarked.

"Do you know where Lance lives?" Ane questioned. 

"Well yeah. He does rule this area." Sid said before pointing at a huge castle that was encased into a wall.

"So what now?" Lisa asked.

"We dive in." Ane replied; summoning his elemental weapons and shooting at the castle. Sid's shadow stretched to Ane and held the boy back.

"I know you're in a rush to save Ene...but patience Ane." Sid advised.

"Why wait?" Ane inquired as the others flew to him.

"We're gonna sneak in as long as we can. There are guards in there that are insanely strong but I've done my research so I should know MOST of their weaknesses." Sid explained.

"Infiltration isn't something I've really done before." Ane stated.

"Leave that to me." Sid said before vanishing into darkness. The others flew to higher ground where the entrance to the castle was visible. Two guards stood at the door; marching to and fro. Eyes opened in their shadows as they crossed past one another and a hand grabbed them both; knocking them both out on contact. Sid stepped from the shadows and Ane and the girls flew to him. 

"What did you just do to them?" Lana asked.

"I placed them both in an illusion." Sid answered.

"It seems you've improved." Ane said. Sid grinned.

"I hope you have as well." he remarked. The teens jumped from the door as it suddenly exploded; laughter coming from the smoke.

"So Lance was right. Some rats really have come in after all." a male voice boomed; chuckling.

"Tsk...he knew we were coming." Sid said.

"Well he did kidnap our friend." Lana stated. Ane activated his dragon eyes and dove through the smoke.

"That idiot!" Sid thought as he vanished into darkness. The twins eyed each other and sighed.

Ane dove from the smoke and sliced at a figure which clashed with a large mace. A buff and bald man with no pupils jumped from the smoke; swinging the mace at Ane who dodged. The man laughed and smashed the mace at Ane who jumped aside and sliced at the man  who jumped back; the mace coming at him. Ane flipped over the weapon and hit it down with his blades as it rebounded at him suddenly. Ane jumped back and flung forward; firing a kick which the man easily avoided. The man grinned as the mace's spikes lit up. "BOOM!" he exclaimed. Ane phased to the roof ; avoiding the explosion caused. The man laughed and placed down his mace. "You're fast compared to most humans I've fought." he remarked as Ane landed behind him. "My name is Boom and let me guess...you're the dragon boy Lance mentioned." the man stated.

"That IS how he refers to me; apparently." Ane replied dryly as Boom turned to him; smirking.