Inc inc 3 -Ch14- (Patreon)

Staring up at him was Jenaphila.

To which Sam was staring back at her.

She was wearing a night gown that was doing it’s best to emphasize what little she had in the way of a figure.

Jenaphila was exactly as he always remembered her. The picture of neutrality. Her brown hair was pulled back behind her ears. Her blue eyes were cold and flat.

She had always been the picture of mediocrity.

Before Sam could actually process that she was here, she lashed out at him. All the Essence that she was sitting in was hers. As was the spell around him.

Sam was literally launched up into the ceiling under the weight of a massive blow of Essence. Slamming into it he felt the air whoosh out of his lungs with the force of the impact.

“Sam!” shrieked Jenaphila as she got to her feet. “You bastard! What have you done!?”

Groaning Sam cut away the Essence she was using to hold him in place. Dropping down from the ceiling he angled himself toward the Imp who’d once been his partner and confidante.

Apparently in her haste to attack him, she’d forgotten the single most important fact about Sam. Something she would never be able to escape as long as he lived.

He owned her.

With a thump, he slammed straight into her. Knocking her flat to the ground. Nearly crushing her under the weight of his body and the height of his fall.

Latching his hands to Jena’s modest bosom, as it was the nearest thing he could grab, he attacked his brand on her. The binding of ownership that she’d taken control over from him.

All she’d needed in the end was some time alone with his personal control rod. Something he’d allowed her to use on a number of occasions because he’d been too bored to deal with their empire.

Even if she held it in her hands at this moment, she wouldn’t be able to stop him from exerting his control. Control over his brand.

Smashing right into her with his Essence, Sam lit up the brand that dwelt inside her. Then he began to crush it mercilessly, grinding it into itself.

Jenaphila screamed in misery as her soul was wrenched around inside her. The brand he’d given her, given all his people, was more than enough to absolutely destroy the body.

To force the soul straight out of it and into the afterlife.

“I’ll kill you,” Sam promised even as he continued to compact the brand.

“Sam! Please! No!” shrieked Jenaphila.

He could feel the massive reserves of Essence that dwelt behind her now. She was drawing on it. Using it to fight back at him.

By pushing all of it straight into the brand and empowering it directly. Forcing it to expand against the crushing weight. Filling it to the point that there was no room for it to actually collapse.

At this rate though, there was a definite possibility of it exploding from the amount of Essence flooding into it.

“Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin Fisch Elh, I beg you to forgive me and spare me!” screamed Jenaphila at the top of her lungs.

Sam had no inclination to give her any sort of leeway. Not in any shape or form. She’d been the bane of countless millions of lives and he was the one responsible for it.

Now that he’d gotten his hands on her, there was no way he’d ever let her go. There wasn’t a single thing in his mind that could change that.

“I’m not Jenaphila!” screamed Jenaphila a second before her entire body collapsed in on itself. She became nothing more than a humanoid shape of water.

The brand he was using to destroy her remained true. Though now that his mind was forced to consider the situation, he knew instinctively he hadn’t drawn it.

It had all the correct markers for his brand, but it wasn’t one he had placed. He’d placed the brand on Jenaphila himself.

It was like comparing two people’s handwriting. There would be considerable deferences between the two.

What was beneath him was a Water Elemental, not Jenaphila.

“Please, Master Sameerixis, forgive me!” said an entirely different voice now. The Elemental thrashed back and forth beneath him.

Her entire body practically became little thicker than a puddle of water, stretching out below him in every direction.

All that struggling was for naught. So long as Sam had his hands, or his fingers in this case, on her though she wouldn’t be able to escape him.

With so much power flooding into the Elemental, Sam was finally able to fine the point it was coming through the planar tears. There was no way he could really miss it.

Grasping at it with his Essence Sam diverted the entirety of it. Wrestling the massive influx of power away from the Elemental.

And into himself.

In the moment that he made the connection there was a shuddering ripple that went through him. Scouring his insides and his mind.

As soon as it hit the core of his being, his true name and his new brand, it came to a world-breaking stop.

With a shattering pain through his body, part of the Essence fled away from him and out.

Then back the way it came. Back down the Essence channel and through the tear and back onto the plane the Elemental had come from. From there it began to spread out further and further.

Storming across countless planes, Elementals, Imps, Demons, Devils, Angels, Deities, and far too many to name. The entirety of the old brand that had been Sam’s was being over-written by his new one.

As if it were a garment being dyed by a much richer color, nothing of the old one was visible afterward. Spreading further and further throughout the expanse of the universe.

Onward it went, ever re-writing his old brand, forcing it to bend into the new one. Overwriting it and adding the changes to it.

After all, the old brand was a limited version of his new one.

There was one strand, however, that hit a dead-end. One that no amount of time or power would likely over-come. A location that for whatever reason was completely beyond the limits of existence.

Everything from that point down, was converted, except for that one point. That line slowly decayed.

Dying away.

Vanishing into nothing.

Leaving behind only a vague feeling that something had been missed in the take-over. Then even that was gone.

Once his consciousness had taken in the vast change that’d just happened, Sam took in a shuddering breath. His entire sense of the planes had just shifted in an incredible and unexpected direction.

I think I just… took over Jena’s entire operation. No… not Jena.

This… Water Elemental?

Though there’s something else going on here. It felt like there were two tracks. One that was this Water Elemental, and another.

But I can’t feel it. It’s lost in the wave of changes.

Gone was the power the Elemental was filling the brand with. She was little more than a stiff unboiled spaghetti noodle. All it would take was him pushing, even gently, to shatter her apart.

He even knew her true name as he held her in his hands, the new brand firmly in place.

“Erv Patricia Brodny Neera, I command you to show your true self and submit to me,” commanded Sam while pushing at her brand.

In a rush, the spread out water began to condense at amazing speed. Pooling into itself and building back into a body.

A very naked body without a blemish on it.

Judging from what he could see she was rather short. Perhaps smaller than even Tiffany if he stood them side by side. Except this Elemental was considerably built toward a very full figure.

Beneath Sam was a bright-green eyed beauty of a woman with strong features and a thick mane of unruly, curly, red-hair.

Her eyes were wide and dilated, staring up at him in true hysterical fear. That death was upon her and the end was very near.

“I submit, my lord Sameerixis,” whimpered Erv the Water Elemental. “I’m sorry for deceiving you. I was only doing what I had been instructed to do by Jenaphila.”

“What? She told you to do all this?” demanded Sam. His hands were still quite firmly on her and he wasn’t going to let her go. She was a line of information that he desperately needed right now. “To try to kill me by trapping me in the void?”

“No. No, she-no, she left instructions that if you survived that I was to kill you. The void was my choice because I didn’t want to kill you,” Erv said shaking her head quickly. “I haven’t seen her since she gave me my part to run. She only contacts through messengers if she does. I haven’t seen her in person since after-after we conquered Hell. I’ve been in my position since then.

“I haven’t seen her ever since, I swear it. She retreated to serve someone she called Zeus. Her master. That-that she was unlikely to ever return. I only get messengers or notes from her!”

He knew all of that was the absolute truth.

With his hands on her material body, his Essence clutching her brand, and having used her true name, there really was no alternative for her.

“And where is that? Where does she serve this, ‘Zeus’? Because I have business with her yet,” demanded Sam.

“I-I don’t know, my lord Sameerixis, please, forgive me! Don’t harm me. I have only merely ever done as I was directed to. Forced to. She held your old brand and her ownership of me was forced,” pleaded Erv. “I have-had no alternative.

“Not till this moment. In fact, you fed on me several times in the past when I volunteered to join the feed harem. You didn’t really know me though and it was more of waiting in line for you to have me and move on to the next.

“That was before Jena scoured your brand from me and remade it with her own hand. I was never against you, but I had no choice.”

Growling, feeling somehow cheated despite regaining all he’d lost and then some, Sam was angry. Angry that he still hadn’t ended Jenaphila’s life.

Through the planar tears, Sam could feel something happening. It’d been building slowly as he interrogated the Water Elemental. Now it was becoming an overwhelming force that he couldn’t actually ignore.

With a boom the tears grew further, opening wider into full blown planar fissures. Unstable points in reality that would take a great deal of time to mend themselves. They would remain open unless forcefully closed.

“Oh, it’s just you,” said a voice from nowhere. “I honestly didn’t expect you, Sameerixis.”

Once again, Sam was being tormented by the voice of Jenaphila.

“It’s her,” whispered Erv, her hands coming up to grasp at Sam. Instead of him holding to her, it was now her holding onto him.

“I mean, even when I felt the brand from that useless bag of water you have there fade, I just figured she’d died,” Jenaphila said in a bored tone. “Its rather surprising that it’s you, Sam. Probably the most surprising thing I’ve seen in the last century.

“Well, that’s not true. Maybe the last decade. You’re surprising, but not that surprising. As long as your brand on me remained, there was no way you were dead.”

Indeed. That’s very true.

Which is why she removed the brand from Erv. Likely from everyone else as well that survived the turn-over.

Removing a link to me and forcing it re-register with her.

“Hmph. Whatever. You can keep the toilet water and her part of the brand. I have no need for any of that,” Jenaphila said dismissively. “It honestly was more of a distraction anymore and provided nothing.”

“You don’t say?” Sam asked, finally wrangling his thoughts around. Taking one hand from Erv’s breasts he propped himself up partially. “Well, that’s fair, I suppose. It was never yours to begin with.

“Speaking of never yours, how in the world did you convince this beautiful Elemental to take on your looks? You’re like a frog compared to her, you dull, simple-minded, boring-to-behold, plank of wood.

“I could put a paper plate with three holes cut out of it, staple it to a two-by-four, then glue two peas on it for breasts, and it’d have more of a figure than you.

“This Elemental here is your better in every way. In fact, I bet she could beat your ass if you didn’t have my old brand on her. You’re like a bargain bin shopper that’s trying to return what she wanted to buy because she couldn’t afford it. You’re pathetic, Jenaphila.”

Beneath him, Sam could feel Erv stiffen up and then promptly bury her face in his neck. Trying to crawl into his chest and cease to exist.

Sam couldn’t actually remember feeding on Erv, but considering the number of partners he’d had that wasn’t terribly surprising. He’d dined on Elementals a’plenty in his life.

“You… you’re… you insufferable li-”

Jena’s voice died out and she audibly took in a breath.

“Hmph. That’s about as much of a victory you’ll get from those words, Sameerixis,” Jena said with a much cooler tone now. “I haven’t paid a moment’s notice thinking of you or that pathetic world.

“I’m busy and you don’t matter at all to me. Not in the least. So much so that I don’t even go by that name anymore.

“That’s how far removed I am from your pathetic existence. You don’t even compare to the effort I put into taking a shit.”

“Really? You sure sound pissed for a drab as a painted wall for a personality woman who probably couldn’t win a contest for ‘most homely housewife’. Got a response to that you oatmeal looking pissant,” said Sam with a laugh. “Cause I bet you don’t. I bet you wake up every day and have to remind yourself, Jenaphila, of how wrong everyone was to say you were bland looking.”

While she didn’t have looks, charm, or grace, Jenaphila was at least more attractive than half the population. There were those who would swap places with her in a heartbeat.

That didn’t matter to her in the slightest though. She only saw women like Irma, or Erv, and resented them for their unwarranted gifts.

“MY NAME IS SKIPPER YOU PATHETIC LITTLE WORM!” screamed Jenaphila at the top of her lungs. It was loud to the point that it actually made Sam’s ears ring.

“My name is Skipper. If I ever come across you in person, I’m going to carve that name into your chest before I tear out your heart,” growled Skipper. “And there won’t be a thing you can do about it. I may not be much of an Essence-Sorceress, as you constantly berated me for, but I’ve developed my natural abilities.

“You won’t even be able to land a finger upon me, you filthy whore of a man. Disgusting monster.”

“Skipper?” Sam asked aloud. He moved the hand he’d left on Erv’s breast to her shoulder and slid her closer to himself. He was fairly certain Skipper couldn’t actually harm them, but he didn’t want to risk it.

He needed Erv. She was a gold mine of information that he needed to start digging into.

“Yes. Skipper,” confirmed Skipper, her tone sounding quite imperious now.

“Like… the little sister to Barbie? The bland little wannabe that no little girl ever actually wanted?” asked Sam. “The one with no boobs and-”

Skipper began screaming wordlessly at that. An incoherent rage the likes of which Sam hadn’t seen since she’d gotten into a fight with a Succubus Sam had invited over for dinner once upon a time.

“Your impression of her was alright,” Sam said, glancing down at Erv. Now that he’d seen a full on ‘Jena-meltdown’ he could see that Erv had been far more subdued in her Jena personality. “Clearly she shrieks a lot more than you gave her credit for.”

Erv gave Sam a weird and frightened smile. Looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

Trailing off into enraged sputtering and panting, Skipper was unintelligible. Sam understood none of it.

“Okay, look, Not-Barbie,” said Sam in between one of her loud inhales. “If you’re done throwing a hissy-fit, I’d like to move onto playing in bed with the actual Barbie doll here.

“I mean, my word. She’s gorgeous. I think I’d be willing to ask if I could wear her personal brand just based on how beautiful she is.

“So, can you speed this up? Because I’m going to do my best to ruin your plans that you put in place here. I’ll counter everything you’ve ever done once I get the info out of Barbie.

“In between thrusts, probably. But still, I’ll get it out of her. And when I do? I’ll just go along and merrily trim all your work back. Cut it down and burn it to the ground.”

“FUCK YOU, YOU GOD DAMNED BASTARD!” yelled Skipper. A second after that and her presence vanished all together. Leaving behind nothing at all.

Except a great many planar tears that were slowly expanding. Her arrival had made them considerably worse.

Sighing, Sam closed his eyes and let his head hang down.

Despite his words, his bravado, he felt as if he’d lost to Jenaphila. Or Skipper, as it were. Not only did he not manage to kill her, but she didn’t even seem to care.

That whatever she’d done to this world was already long since over. Her plans were finished and she’d moved on to another world to probably do the same there.

“I-she-you-she’s gone?” Erv asked, her fingers quite tightly dug into Sam’s front.

“Mmhmm,” Sam said, not opening his eyes.

A second after that he felt the spell Erv had cast on him flutter twice, then break apart entirely. Dissipating into the Essence of the vault directly and combining with it.

Except even with it gone, he couldn’t feel the planes he knew he was connected with. Even the path the brand had taken, converting everything to his own, was dull and dim feeling to him.

“I’m sorry. We’re… somewhat trapped here,” murmured Erv. “Jena, or I guess Skipper, broke the the area of the void between Hell and the planes. She opened far too many planes when she was-uh, when she was kidnapping all the people of your race.”

Sam could only nod his head slightly at those words. As soon as he could feel that there was nothing different after the spell had left, he realized it was something else entirely.

Opening his eyes, he looked to the planar tears.

Trying to use them for anything like travel was asking to be torn apart. A planar tear was open across a multitude of worlds regardless of what one could see through them.

It’d be like being shot through a cheese-grater strong enough to break steel into crumbs. There would be no surviving it.

And since I pulled Erv through, the link she had with the spell back to the other plane was gone. We’re… trapped in Hell till I figure a way out.

“Ah… my Lord Lust, what… should we do with the tears?” asked Abrah from a few feet away. She’d been present during the whole ordeal but had been unable to do anything.

The amount of Essence being used between Sam and Erv had been more than enough to probably send her flying away.

“Close them, of course,” Sam said and then let out a sigh.

It would cost him a great deal of Essence to seal them shut. Leaving them open wasn’t something he could do, however.

They’d only keep growing until they expanded across the entirety of Hell. The problem was doubly so exacerbated that it was in the vault itself.

Where all the Essence he would probably need to force open a portal was stored. Sam was already contemplating ripping open a portal to the void, then on to another plane.

To open one straight to the void was something he’d never considered before. Not until Erv had done it herself. He imagined the amount of Essence required to do such a thing would be incredibly high.

He needed the Essence that was here in the vault, except that wasn’t meant to be. Either he’d lose it to the tears expanding, or lose it to closing them entirely.

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t,” he muttered.

Then the tears suddenly merged together with a clap of force. So strong was it that it blew Sam’s hair back as if he were staring into a full force wind-storm.

“What-what have you done? What did you do?” demanded a wizened old voice.

Ah, what?