The Story Game

"Get back, you beast!" he yelled, but suddenly, it swiped its tail at him, knocking it over. It opened its mouth to kill him...

As Vlad struggled through Dante's Inferno, he felt glad that he'd read the book.

He fought ferociously against the harpies and dogs, all the While Tors was looking for an opening.

Though every time he hit a tree or bush, he heard a scream

"Vlad! What's the deal with these trees?"

"They contain the souls of the violent against self; suicides, if you will."

"Suicide sends you to hell?!" Tors asked

"I think it's situation-based actually, but that is not important! Remember, its the metaphor that counts." Vlad pointed out as he continued to fight; all the while getting closer to the outer ring. At last they reached the Phlegethon River... and were greeted by the Centaurs.

"Oh, brilliant." Vlad said as a couple hundred arrows or so flew at him.

He saw a shield, and a split second before they could hit him, he picked it up, and it protected him.

In the distance, he could see demons singing "Rock You To Hell", "Hell Awaits", and "Highway To Hell".
"Idiots," thought Vlad.

Suddenly, he saw the opening. He rushed forward...

He fought bravely, until a couple centaurs grabbed him and threw him into the river of boiling blood and fire!  Vlad's will was the only thing that kept him from sinking deeper than his legs

"I've come this far; and you're not going to stop me from getting to the sixth circle!"  Vlad declared as he went to get out of the river; the centaurs aimed their arrows.

"You can do it grandson." Vlad's grandfather said; as he looked down from the sixth ring.

Vlad saw his chance. As the demons sang and danced, he grabbed a stone, pulled himself out, and swung himself out of the sixth ring... to freedom!

From the river, at least; but it was still one more step

Vlad's grandfather proceeded to inform him.  "The next two rings you can get through rather easily; this ring, the heretics, are encased within flaming tombs, then in in the fifth ring lies the River Styx; where the anger lie; you will need to find Phlegyas to cross there though; I will meet you at the fourth ring" the grandfather said as he disappeared.  Vlad and Tors then began moving through the maze of flaming tombs.

The passed by the heretics, who scowled at them, then came to the River Styx. Here they heard "Renegade" by Styx, but didn't see anyone.

Vlad looked at the souls of those consumed by anger; they fought each other in the swampy waters of the Styx.

Vlad and Tors scanned the river for any sign of Phlegyas and his skiff; but he was no where to be seen.

"I don't like it."  Vlad said

"What do you mean?"  Tors asked

"It's too easy; how could we have gone through two rings and not encountered any demon guards?"  Vlad observed

"Well, the way that these rings are set up, there's no point for guards."  Tors pointed out

"But I... We are trying to escape.  Surely someone must've noticed by now..."

"SURPRISE!!"  And a sword wielding demon sprang up and stabbed Vlad straight through the chest from behind.

"This is where your little journal ends, mortal!"  The demon said as Tors stood there, shocked by what just happened.

"Wait; Vlad is already dead; how can he die again?"  Tors asked

"Oh no, you misunderstand; this blade is merely meant to render him comatose, so when we return him to his proper place."  The demon explained.

Again, Vlad's will proved strong, but he could feel his "soul body" going numb.

Vlad's grandfather observed everything "he's come so far; hopefully he will give me a little time before he returns." He thought

Vlad started to fall to the ground, and his soul went to Hell...

The demons laughed, "The ****ing idiot!" (Sorry for the cursation, but that's how demons are.) "He should've watched out!"
Then they jumped. "It can't be!" they cried.
For there was Vlad... alive!
"You tried to kill me, but I have the last laugh!" he roared, and slashed their heads off, sending the demons to Hell...

Vlad grabbed Tors, "Come on! There's the door to the upperworld!"
They raced forward. The demons now feared Vlad, and didn't stop him.
They opened the door. Vlad inhaled the sweet smell of fresh air. He was back, and the world was his.

Meanwhile, Heph...

Was continuing his battle; so we shouldn't interrupt him

Vlad enjoyed the fresh air, but he heard a familiar voice in the back of his head.

"Vlad; behind you!"  Vlad turned around to see a hand grab him; it was king Minos.  He dragged Vlad back down and warned him

"You will never return!" He declared, as he cast Vlad back down, and tors not far behind.  But this Time, Vlad's grandfather caught them at the fourth ring; saving them a lot of trouble.

"Darn it!  We were right there!"  Vlad said.

"The underworld is a complicated place Vlad; the demons have many traps in place to keep you here; that door was yet another red herring; unfortunately you must go through all the rings to get to the gates."  Vlad's grandfather stated

"Seriously?"  Tors yelled

"All right; if I have to I will; that will show satan he can't keep me locked up here."  Vlad stated

"This fourth ring is greed; there are two groups the souls are separated into; the avaricious into one, the prodigal into the other.  They joust each other with great weights."  The guard over the groups, Pluto, did not see the him and Vlad was able to get to the third ring with no problem.

"You are almost there Vlad.  This third ring is home to the gluttonous; they lie in a vile slush produced by foul rain.  And are guarded by Cerebrus.  The second ring is where the lustful are; forever blown about by the winds of a violent storm.  Finally, there is the first ring, limbo.  Its actually not that bad here; we were good enough that we weren't sent to the lower rings, but bad enough that we weren't admitted to heaven.  That is where I am Vlad" Grandfather said as he disappeared again.

"Final stretch."  Tors said.

"So this whole time, grandfather was only able to appear to us as a projection."  Vlad noticed

Tors nodded in agreement

"Tors; when we get to limbo, we're taking a very slight detour; there's someone I really should meet in person."  Vlad decided

Tors knew what he meant.

So they marched forward, right into the greedy. They hated Vlad, for they wanted to rule the world themselves. "Get him!!" they roared.

"Get back in line!"  A voice boomed, forcing the souls back to their jousting with heavy weights

"Who dares come to my domain?"  Pluto said as he appeared in front of Vlad and Tors.

"P-Pluto?!"  Tors said

"The mythical ruler of the underworld."  Vlad added.  "Well, one of them anyway."  Vlad then quipped

"What was that?"
"Oh, well, we need to get through."
"Why?!"
"Because I am to rule the world, and..."
"Why, you are a man after my own heart! You may pass."

Vlad made it to the third ring, the gluttonous, and was almost disgusted with what he saw in from of him.

"Ok we just gotta avoid Cerebrus."  Vlad said

"Who's Cerebrus?"  Tors asked

"Guard dog of the underworld; three heads, tail that is a snake and each head is surrounded by a mane of snakes; can't miss him."  Vlad asked.  Tors then looked terrified, tapped Vlad's shoulder and turned around.

"That would be him". Vlad said as the three dog heads roared.

"Hi, Cerberus!" he called. The dog growled. Then Persephone, Hades's wife, walked up.
"That's a good dog, now," she said. The dog wagged his tail and licked her.

Vlad and Tors snuck away into the next ring...

The second ring, lust.  The violent winds were even stronger than a hurricane.  "They're too strong!"  Tors said as he began to lose his footing

"Hold on!" called Vlad, and he grabbed both Tors and a rock. He swung them over, and they landed...

Near the outskirts of a the first ring.  Limbo was... Rather peaceful actually.  Green plains, and a massive castle with seven doors

"Ah, the seven virtues" Vlad observed.

"Where now?"  Tors asked

"Hold on, there is something I need to do" Vlad told tors; and he went to find the spirit of his grandfather.

"Halt!" said a voice. The two men turned.
"I'm afraid that you cannot disturb these men."
"But I have to find my grandfather."
"Limbo is a place of peace for the dead, and no humans are allowed to be with the dead. I'm sorry, but that's the rules."
"Wait a minute; YOU'RE my grandfather!"
"That's right, Vlad," he said, but then disappeared.
Vlad had seen his grandfather, so he was now okay.

The two exited the Underworld.
Vlad took in the sweet smell of fresh air. The world was now his, as was foretold. He would rule the world.

As for Heph,

He was finally winning his fight.

But Vlad now had one last obstacle to overcome.  He found he could not interact with the world around him. Tors explained

"We have our humanity back, but since your body was cremated as soon as you died, and I have been dead 390 years, we only exist in the astral plane.  We need bodies to get back to the physical plane."

"Don't worry, I know a guy."  Vlad said as they began to make tracks.

Meanwhile, Heph was still in battle.

The beast swung it's tail...

Vlad and Tors went to an extraordinarily handsome guy, with his very pretty girlfriend. "I'll take the man, and you take the woman."
"The woman! Why?"
"Trust me."

The entered the bodies. Slowly but surely, the man's features changed, so that he looked exactly like Vlad did. The same happened with Tors and the woman.
"Now," said Vlad, "Let's tell the world that we're back."

"Where do we start?"  Tors asked.  Quite literally, they had to start over from the ground up.

"We'll just go to the TV Station. After all, I was President of the United Nations of United Peoples, so they'll know me. I guarantee you that you'll want to see their faces."

"what's a TV station?"

*doesn't this take place in medieval times?

(Not anymore, )

"Oh, I forgot that you've been dead for so long. Come on, I'll show you."