Ladies, Gentlemen, and others, for your reading pleasure. It should be noted that I will be posting from now on under the name of Hailfires, though the page on the wiki listing all the fanfiction will still have these chapters under Deltaseph's name. Read on!

The next level proved to be a strange one. It was overrun in some sort of sticky, gel-like substance. As we stepped off the elevator, we could see a long hallway mired in the stuff stretching from the elevator entrance.
“This looks somewhat like the previous abandoned mansions we’ve been in, only more…new,” Rulen commented as I edged forward, prodding the slime-covered floor with my sword tip.
“Chief-what are those?”
Parma pulled her handgun and pointed it down the hallway. Several small cubes of jelly were slowly moving towards us.
“This jelly stuff is alive?”
“No, probably not,” Rulen said, eyeing the cubes. “They most likely just secrete this stuff on the floor – that’s why it’s so messy.”
Parma snapped off a shot at one of the cubes. It absorbed the bullet, continuing on undaunted.
“It doesn’t seem to care about my piercing shots.” Parma holstered her pistol and put a hand on her sword, starting its charged attack. “How about an Acheron to the face?”
The blast sliced clean through the little cubes, splattering their remains on the walls and adding to the overall jelly-ness of the place.
“That worked rather well,” Rulen said. “Um, how about we start moving?”
I realized we were still standing by the elevator, and gestured forward. “Right. Come on, let’s go.”
As we advanced through the hallways of the mansion, we were frequently accosted by more small jelly cubes. Fortunately, we made quick work of them. Unfortunately, I had an edgy feeling that this couldn’t be it. It was way too easy for what we’d encountered so far.
Suddenly, the hallways opened up into a courtyard. It seemed abandoned.
“Squad, halt.” I looked around the place, searching for any signs of more enemies. My sixth sense was tingling: this was a prime ambush point.
“Hey, Grantz,” I said, gesturing forward. “Take point. Rulen, get that BAB out. I have a feeling we’re going to need some firepower.”
The distinctive hum of a charged bomb soon permeated the air as Rulen stored energy in his weapon, and Grantz accompanied the sound with his clanking as he strode forward, his Suderuska ready on his shoulder.
Surprisingly, nothing happened. We crossed the courtyard without harassment, making it peacefully to the other side, where two large double doors waited for us.
“Uh, sir – can you hear that?” Parma asked.
“No, what?”
She put her head to the door, listening. “It’s…like a cross between a rumble and gurgle.”
I frowned and pressed my head against the door as well. Sure enough, I heard the sound she had described – like a feral growl, only more disgusted.
“Sir! Contact!”
I spun around to the blinding FLASH-BOOM! of Rulen’s BAB – or the Big Angry Bomb, as it was otherwise known. Grantz was standing poised, glaring at a group of jellies that was approaching over a smoking crater and remnants of other, less fortunate ones.
These jellies were different than the others: they were easily ten times as big, and short spikes protruded from their bodies – if you could call them ‘bodies’. They moved much faster than their smaller counterparts, and certainly looked as though they could do more damage.
“Parma, get those doors open. Rulen, I want you standing behind her with a charged BAB – whatever’s behind those is probably trouble.” I walked over to stand beside Grantz and placed a palm on the flat of my sword, infusing it with energy. “Make ‘em taste energy, Grantz.”
He nodded, imitating my stance with his own blade. As soon as the distinctive ping of the sword’s charge completing sounded, we unleashed both of our attacks at the oncoming mass with a yell and a swing.
The three distinct, shining blades of my Divine Avenger leapt forth from my swipe like charging bulls, smashing into the horde of approaching jellies and penetrating through. The pure elemental shockwave blasted back those it touched, and flat-out annihilated the ones it pierced.
In tandem with my attack came Grantz’s, sounding like a crack of thunder as he released the fury of Suderuska, the mountain-crusher. The gigantic sword flashed over his head in a vicious chop, slamming down into the crowd of jellies and unleashing a minor earthquake as it struck the ground, a pure bolt of energy through whatever defenses the enemy had.
We both stumbled back from the charge release, though, and I nearly fell. The Divine Avenger and Suderuska were both immensely powerful blades, but at the price of being extremely difficult to wield. I backpedaled, trying furiously to regain my balance.
“Whoa there, Chief!” Parma’s hand grasped my shoulder, steadying me. Her next words were drowned out in an oomf as Grantz stumbled past me and crashed into her.
“Watch it, you could’ve made me drop my-”
‘Bomb’ was drowned out as the heavily-armored beast of a guardian slammed into the double doors, making a resounding boom sound. The doors slowly creaked inwards, swinging open.
I glanced over my shoulder at the jelly horde behind. They had paused at the ferocious attacks of our swords, but I was certain it wouldn’t be for long. I looked back at the room ahead, which was shadowed and ill-lit. A few torches flickered high, high up on brackets in the walls.
“Come on, let’s go,” I hissed, walking forward and hoisting Grantz up with Parma’s assistance. We hesitantly entered the great hall, Rulen keeping an eye on the jellies behind us.
No sooner had we gone more than six feet from the doorway than there was an ominous moan as the doors slowly creaked shut behind us, accompanied by a click as something latched into place.
“Is it just me, or did they lock us in here?” Parma whispered, her voice nonetheless echoing eerily around the dimly lit hall.
“Shhh!” Rulen whispered back, his hushing sounding even louder.
We advanced a few steps more, then stopped again as several loud plops sounded throughout the chamber.
“Rulen, do you have a shard bomb on you?”
“A couple, Chief.”
“Use one. I want some light in here.”
There was a click as Rulen set the primer of the bomb, then he chucked it forward. The bomb landed with a small tinkering noise, then burst with a loud shattering noise.
The light provided by the detonation and its subsequent shard pieces revealed a huge gelatinous mass at the other end of the hall, in front of a large staircase. In the quick glimpse I got with the flash of light, I thought I could see something that looked like a crown on top of the massive cube.
“Is that a king? The king of these jellies?” Rulen breathed.
“Looks like we didn’t break into any old mansion. This must be some kind of palace,” Parma agreed.
Any further conversation was stopped by a low, menacing gurgle. The kind I’d heard on the other side of the doors, except this was a lot more angry.
“Um...boss?”
The gurgle continued, and then there was a shuffling noise as four jellies – even bigger than the ones we’d just encountered in the courtyard – came into view by the dim torchlight. They were huge, with massive spikes stuck around their tops and many more in their sides. They lowered their heads and shook them like bulls, joining the larger jelly in its angry muttering.
“Um, are they talking to us?” Parma asked.
“We did just kind of break into their home, didn’t we?”
“Sir, I suggest we prepare for engagement,” Grantz broke in. “Whatever they might be saying, it’s clear what their intentions are.”
We automatically fell into our diamond formation, Rulen holding a BAB ready and the rest of us brandishing our swords.
We didn’t brandish them for long – two jellies immediately rushed us, their top spikes down and towards us in a brute charge. Grantz and I clashed swords with them, digging our feet in and stopping the attack cold, locked in a silent battle of strength. The other two swept around the sides, surprisingly nimble for their brutish appearance, and charged at Parma and Rulen separately.
There was a familiar crack – BOOM! as the BAB detonated, filling the room with a blinding red flash. Almost immediately afterwards I heard Parma’s Acheron hiss through the jelly charging her, killing it instantly.
“This thing is really good,” Parma muttered as she walked up between where Grantz and I stood, static in our positions of wrestling with the jellies. Her sword slipped effortlessly through the two of them, almost casually decapitating their spiked tops from their bodies.
“Is that it?” I called into the darkness where the royal jelly sat. “Were those your bodyguards? Kind of pathetic.”
Silence.
“GRUUUUUH!”
The enormous figure of the jelly king slid into the dim view of the torches, and I now saw that it did indeed have a crown on its head. I didn’t have much time to think of anything else, though, because the king suddenly lurched forward in a massive spin, catching all of us by surprise.
Wham! Whack! Crunch! Bang!
All four of us went flying by the force of the blow. I flew back and smashed into the now-locked doors. Rulen tumbled towards the left wall, Parma the right, and even Grantz wasn’t safe from the powerful swing – he smacked into the door nearly beside me, letting another resounding boom ring through the chamber as his solid Guardian armor hit the thick oaken wood.
The Jelly King roared: a primal, disturbing sound that resonated throughout the hall. I scrambled to my feet, wincing – those bruises would last. I grabbed Grantz and helped him up, looking around for Parma and Rulen.
Rulen was still by the wall where he’d landed, slumped over, probably unconscious. Parma was nowhere to be seen.
“Grantz, can you buy me a few seconds?”
The Guardian nodded. I clapped him on the shoulder and dashed sideways, towards where Rulen lay. The jelly king started to track me, then switched to Grantz as the Guardian charged forward, yelling and swinging his Suderuska two-handed.
As they met with a clash, I arrived at Rulen’s spot and hurriedly examined him for any injuries. There were no visible ones, besides the bruises I knew we all had from the king’s first blow. I hoisted his limp body up and over my shoulder, grunting with exertion as I did so. Rulen wasn’t nearly as heavy as Grantz was, especially since he only wore a reinforced coat and hood, but he was still no lightweight. I staggered forward, trying to stick to the wall and get around the jelly king like we had for the beast in the woods.
I had nearly made it when two more of the royal jelly’s guards, with their huge spike torsos, came sliding out of the shadows. I froze.
Then, suddenly, they melted like candle wax. Parma stepped out from behind them, deactivating her recon cloak as she did so.
“Hurry up, Chief – that should be all of them. I’ll go help Grantz.”
As I carried Rulen away from the battle that unfolded in the center of the hall, Parma dashed to help the Guardian who was struggling to keep the king at bay. Grantz’s armor was tough, built to withstand a lot of beating, but the jelly king was powerful. Even digging his feet in and leaning into the blows, each strike by the king pushed Grantz back several meters.
Then the king roared again, this time in pain. Parma was behind it, slashing furiously with her Acheron. The gelatinous mass melted before her dark blade, spilling parts of the king onto the floor as it slipped through the giant jelly.
As the king turned its attention to the recon, Grantz charged forward, swinging his massive sword in a powerful, overhanded blow. The jelly king shuddered, buckling under the force of the hit, sliding towards Parma – who kept alternately dodging and swiping.
I made it to the stairs and started dragging Rulen up them when the king let out a scream. It was high-pitched, completely unlike the low gurgling sounds it had made before. It started to wind itself like a spring.
It hit me: I knew what was going to happen. “Parma, Grantz, get clear! Move! Move, move, move!”
The two dodged away instantly, making space between them and the winding mass. Parma darted up the stars after me, her sword momentarily sheathed as she scrambled up the stairs. Grantz ran to the side, trying to go around the jelly king towards us.
Too late, the king abruptly released the coiling momentum it had been building up and started to spin, fast. It shot across the chamber, smashing into the doors and shattering them like thin boards, sending splinters flying everywhere. It spun again, shooting after Grantz as he circled around, trying to reach us.
“Grantz, eyes up!”
The guardian looked over his shoulder as the king launched itself towards him, and I swear he grinned. Then he leaned back.
The king slammed into him, catapulting him forward like a shot from a gun. The plate shield Grantz wore on his back absorbed the blow, and as he flew through the air he stretched his arms forward, catching himself as he smashed into the stairs.
“Come on, let’s go!”
Parma ran up to me and grabbed Rulen by the arm, and together we hoisted him up the stairs to the elevator I could see at the top. Grantz, recovering from his abrupt flight, got up and charged up after us.
The king slowed as it hit the staircase, ascending them at less than half the speed it had charged us with. We reached the elevator far ahead of it, piling on quickly.
As the bars closed between us and the advancing jelly king, it let out a long, gurgling moan. Then it suddenly leaped, bounding up the stairs and towards the elevator.
“Come on, thing, let’s get out of here!” Parma smacked the elevator screen, her eyes fixed on the king, who gave another massive leap.
The elevator creaked and slowly began to descend. Just after we lost sight of the hall completely, the king roared and leaped again, crashing into the elevator mechanism above us. Several blobs of jelly from its huge mass plopped down onto the elevator between us and the whole shaft shook, but the platform continued to descend, and soon we lost sight and sound of the enemy above.
After a tense moment, there were several audible exhales.
“That,” said Parma into the darkness and silence, “was not something I want to do again.”