| Canon Story | ||||||||
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| Saving Arloest | ||||||||
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| Artist | Writer | |||||||
| David Hopkins | David Hopkins | |||||||
| Previous | Next | |||||||
| Short XXIX: Golgotha | Short XXX: Twist, twist, twist | |||||||
In Hell, Jack is flying and encounters Silver Blue climbing a mountain to get a view of the Necropolis. While giving her a lift to the top, Silver Blue reminises about how Virgil recently found a way to escape Hell. When Jack asks why she hasn't left, she said it's because she wants to help Jack. First off, she offers to help him with rescuing Arloest from Drip.
Jack next visits Drip's Cave, calling out his brother sin to confront him. When Drip comes out to greet him, Jack demands he turn over Arloest. Drip refuses, reminding Jack of his deal with Arloest. When Jack points out that he violated the rules by allowing Arloest to be alive again, Drip dismisses his argument and dares him to try to take her. Jack just says he'll be back with angels. Drip is angry, but gets an idea and decides to flee with Arloest in his custody.
Farrago and Reckonin arrive later to assist Jack. He asks how Farrago's enjoying her wings, and she says she loves them. She tells him Virgil has been reborn and wants to be a cop. Reckonin said Central is still recovering from her run in with Kane and the Gluttons, but has sent along her sickles to give Jack a weapon. When they return to Drip's cave, Jink tells them he's fled with Arloest, and Jack says they'll have to go to his brother Sin Sloth for answers.
They travel to Sir Eric's Swamp to meet with Eric, a fellow soldier and friend from Farrago's era. He directs them to a tree that functions as Sloth's main hub of communication. Jack explains that Sloth is the very ground of Hell itself, and despite it's laziness and disinterest, it will never know peace from all the people walking on it's surface. Sloth at first refuses to help, so Jack instructs Reckonin to drive his sword into the ground. This causes Sloth considerable pain, and he relunctantly tells them Drip has taken Arloest to the Valley of Lust.
The valley is a writhing mass of furries called "Lustoids" fused together into one giant mass in the shape of a phallus. Jack, Reckonin and Farrago slice their way through the mess of perversion in order to enter a dome in the phallus. Once inside, they encounter Drip and Arloest. Drip threatens to rip his hostage apart if any of them try to come near him. Farrago responds by throwing her bo staff, which connects directly with Drip's face. While he's dazed, the three gang up on him,
Although they manage to slice him, he steals Reck's sword and impales Jack with it. He grabs Farrago to choke her out, but Jack overcomes his injuries and castrates Drip with one of Central's sickles while Reck recovers his sword and slices off the hand Drip is using to grip Farrago's neck. Reck then slashes Drip across his abdomen, seeming to put him down. However, he just uses his influence to make the Lustoids outside attack the dome, and they begin to flood into the chamber. They become overwhelmed, Farrago seized by tentacles and Reckonin surrounded by fleshy abominations. With Jack distracted, worried about his compatriots, Drip seizes him, threatening to let the Lustoids "play" with Reck while he promises to rip Farrago's wings off again. He also threatens to bite Jack's head off, and open his maw to make good on it.
However, Jack beats him to the punch and goes for Drip's throat instead, his eyes becoming wrathful as he bites large chunk of flesh away. He finally weakens Drip enough to decapitate him with his bare hands, much to Drip's shock. After tossing the Sin of Lust's head away, Jack comes back to his senses when he hears Farrago calling for help. He slices away the tentacles holding Farrago with the sickles, and she flies away with Arloest to safety. Jack then comes to Reck's aid as he's being enveloped by the Lustoids. Jack pulls him free and Reckonin flies away as well, followed by Jack.
When he encounters Farrago again, he finds that Arloest has already left to be reincarnated on Earth. With Drip's hold on her gone and her understanding her sin, she knew how to escape Hell. Farrago asks why Jack's eyes became some black and violent, and he says he doesn't know, he's never felt so wrathful. She warns him to be careful, as he learns more about his old life, the more his original personality will come forth. He promises to keep himself in check, and Farrago departs on good terms with her boss's sickles.
Drip, who has already respawned, threatens Jack from inside a nearby cave. Angry he lost Arloest, he vows to hurt Jack, and that it will be pain worse than he's ever felt.
Characters[]
Locations[]
- Hell
- Valley of Lust
- Sir Eric's Swamp