You stand next to your newly forged Colossus, its titanium armor glimmering in the void's light.
The [[//Beyond//|Beyond]] is just up ahead.The light on the other side bends and warps around you as you stare into all and nothing.
(if: $enteredCol is false)[You enter your Colossus, its fuselage closes behind you.
"Glad to have you back Diver." it states with comradery.
(set: $enteredCol = true)
You load a full magazine of 60mm railgun rounds into your primary launcher. All weapons checked.]
[[//Walk through The Beyond.//|theBeginning]]
The air is dry, completely deprived of life and potential.
(if: $demonDead is false)[To your left you notice a resting Demon.]
(if: $harpyDead is false)[To your right, a horde of Harpies feasting on a fallen Diver.](else:)[To your right lies a fallen Diver.]
Ahead of you appears to be a pentagram with the lines glowing dark red.
[[//Turn back.//|Beyond]]
(if: $demonDead is false)[[[//Obliterate the sleeping Demon.//|sleepyDemon]]](else:)[[[//Inspect where the demon once lied.//|sleepyDemon]]]
(if: $harpyDead is false)[[[//Clear the horde.//|harpyHorde]]](else:)[[[//Inspect where the harpies once swarmed.//|harpyHorde]]]
[[//Approach the demonic symbol.//|pentagram1]]An endless ocean of men fill the horizon, their moans deafening.
(if: $secretKnown is false)[One of the men reaches out.
(link: ">Answer his call.<")[(set: $secretKnown = true)(goto: "seaOfThieves")]](else:)[The voices cry "The right choice is the right one, trust us for we were the Thieves."]
[[//Return to where you came.//|secondLayer]]The ground is intricately carved out in some ancient hellish language. The lines seem to glow and pulsate with resonance.
(if: $portal1Opened is false)[It's really nothing new, however. After your thousandth or so run, activating one of these becomes muscle memory. The demonspawn skull necessitates its destruction to move forward.]
(if: $portal1Opened is false)[(link: ">Crush the skull<")[(set: $portal1Opened = true)(goto: "pentagram1")]](else:)[A gleaming void stands in front of you.]
(if: $demonDead is false)[The demon remains alive, resting behind.]
(if: $harpyDead is false)[The group of harpies still swarm what appears to be a corspse.]
[[//Turn back.//|theBeginning]]
(if: $portal1Opened is true)[[[//Leap forward.//|secondLayer]]](if: $harypDead is false)[You alert the horde with the deafening sound of your footsteps. They are watching.](else:)[Ahead lies the fallen Diver, surrounded by the corpses of dismembered harpies.]
(if: $harpyDead is false)[You brush your steel arms over your fragmentation grenade.]
(if: $harpyDead is false)[[[//Throw your grenade.//|theFlail]]
[[//Retreat, back from which you came.//|theBeginning]]]
(else:)[[[//Aproach the fallen.//|fallenDiver]]
[[//Go back from which you came.//|theBeginning]]](if: $leftHub is false)[While the air feels much thinner, the gravity is much stronger.](else:)[You seem to be back where you started]
There are three paths, each of them a narrow hellstone hallway leading to something unknown.(set: $leftHub to true)
[[//Take a left.//|left1]]
[[//Move forward.//|forward1]]
[[//Choose right.//|right1]](set: $demonDead = true)The Demon's flesh was vaporized by your railgun, with only its horrible stench remaining.
(if: $superCharged is not true)[Its essence awaits your consumption
(link: ">Feed on its history.<")[(set: $superCharged = true)(goto: "sleepyDemon")]]
(else:)[Its essence flows through your Colossus, granting you extra durability.]
[[//Return from which I came.//|theBeginning]](set: $harpyDead = true)The ground is littered with pierced and dismembered Harpy corpses.
(if: $fallenInspected is false)[Just ahead lies what appears to be a fallen Diver.]
[[//Aproach the fallen.//|fallenDiver]]A fallen, mangled Diver lies on the hellish floor.
(if: $fallenInspected is false)[The dogtags around his neck indicate he was a lowly novice, only have dived a few hundred times.
You gently take one of the tags off his neck and store it away.](set: $fallenInspected = true)
[[//May his soul rest in peace.//|harpyHorde]]{
(set: $superCharged to false)
(set: $demonDead to false)
(set: $harpyDead to false)
(set: $dogTags to false)
(set: $enteredCol to false)
(set: $fallenInspected to false)
(set: $layer = 1)
(set: $portal1Opened to false)
(set: $secretKnown to false)
(set: $gatekeeperDead to false)
(set: $gatekeeperHealth = 2)
(set: $skullCrushed to false)
(set: $leftHub to false)
(set: $newWeapon to false)
(set: $spiked to false)
(set: $damaged to false)
(set: $meetDiver to false)
(set: $bossHealth to 3)
}(if: $skullCrushed is false)[Referencing the first pentagram, you draw a new one.
(link: ">Crush his skull.<")[(set: $skullCrushed = true)(goto: "pentagram2")]](else:)[Yet another fragment of The Beyond appears. The darkness inside it looks and feels almost debilitating.
[[//Step through.//|thirdLayer]]]You meet a four-way junction.
A musty stench reeks from the left.
Struggled coughing can be heard from the front.
Tectonic ambience can be felt from the right.
[[//Inspect the stench.//|left2]]
[[//Discover the source of coughing.//|forward2]]
[[//Continue right.//|right2]](set: $damaged to false)(if: $spiked is false)[You slip and tumble into a pit of sharp spikes.
(if: $superCharged is true)[(set: $superCharged to false)You feel the demonic essence leave your colossus and suddenly feel weakened.](else:)[(if: $newWeapon is true)[(set: $newWeapon to false)Your shotgun of the Past is left beyond repair. You must now resort to your railgun.](else:)[(set: $damaged to true)Your Colossus sustains heavy damage, thus you must warp to the beginning of the realm to repair.
(link: ">Warp back.<")[(goto: "thirdLayer")]]]]
(if: $damaged is false)[[[//Go back.//|right1]]](if: $meetDiver is false)[You encounter who appears to be a fellow Diver, a seasoned veteren.
He sits pale, with a mortal wound.
(if: $newWeapon is true)["Use that shotgun... and aim for the chest... shooting //his// limbs won't incompa...si..tae..."
The Diver succumbs to his wound.](else:)["Use that railgun... and break his helmet... anything else is futile..."
The Diver succumbs to his wound.](set: $meetDiver to true)](else:)[Here lies the fallen Diver who gave valuable information.]
[[//Return to the junction.//|right1]]Towards the end of the corridor exists another pentagram, predrawn and preactivated.
The only logical path seems to be forward.
[[//Step, again, into The Beyond.//|bossLairStart]]
[[//Go back.//|right1]](if: $newWeapon is false)[Leaned up against a wall you find what appears to be a weapon from the Past. It resembles an ancient shotgun.
(link: ">Pick up the shotgun.<")[(set: $newWeapon = true)(goto: "left1")]]
(else:)[Cobwebs fill the dead-end, where the shotgun used to rest.]
[[//Turn back.//|thirdLayer]]You face a blank hellstone wall with a path to your left and right.
[[//Turn left.//|dummyLeft]]
[[//Take a right.//|dummyRight]]
[[//Turn back.//|thirdLayer]]The narrow hallway continues.
[[//Proceed forward.//|dummyLeftForward]]
[[//Go back towards the beginning.//|forward1]]You reach a junction similar to the first. You can take a left or a right.
There is a light coming from the left.
[[//Follow the light.//|dummyRightLeft]]
[[//Go right.//|dummyRightRight]]
[[//Go back.//|forward1]]It's a dead end. Large, hellish spiders line the walls, where your only path is backwards.
[[//Go back//|dummyLeft]]The air feels extraordinarily hot. Dust flows through the air like mist.
The Elderspawn Knight stands before you, awaiting your challenge.
There is only one option.
[[//Approach the Knight//|bossFight]](if: $bossHealth is 3)[The mighty Elderspawn Knight stands ready with a magnificent halberd carried in both arms.
One of his legs appear somewhat torn.
(if: $newWeapon)[(link: ">Use your shutgun on his chest.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 0)(goto: "bossDead")]
(link: ">Use your shotgun on his legs.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 1)(goto: "bossFight")]](else:)[(link: ">Use your railgun on his helmet.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 1)(goto: "bossFight")]
(link: ">Use your railgun on his chest.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 2)(goto: "bossFight")]]](elseif: $bossHealth is 2)[The Knight suffers your shot, but is only dazed despite the gaping hole in his chest.
(link: ">Use your railgun on his helmet.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 1)(goto: "bossFight")]
(link: ">Use your railgun to expand the hole.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 0)(goto: "bossDead")]](elseif: $bossHealth is 1)[He lies stunned and defensless on the ground.
(link: ">Finish him.<")[(set: $bossHealth to 0)(goto: "bossDead")]]The Knight's body is split in two, however with no organs or other innards visibly falling out.
You push aside his gargantuan halberd, and approach his skull.
[[>Crush his skull.<|end]](set: $layer = 2)The atmosphere feels damp this time, perhaps suffocating -- like a dimension-wide sauna.
(if: $secretKnown is false)[The sound of crashing waves radiates from the left, along with human-like moaning and cries.](else:)[The Sea of Thieves lies to the left.]
(if: $gatekeeperDead is false)[In the distant right appears a Gatekeeper, weilding a towering shield and an executioner's sword longer than you are tall.](else:)[In the distant right lies the fallen Gatekeeper.]
(if: $secretKnown is false)[[[//Approach the sound.//|seaOfThieves]]](else:)[[[//Walk towards the Sea of Thieves//|seaOfThieves]]]
(if: $gatekeeperDead is false)[[[//Challenge the Gatekeeper.//|gatekeeper]]](else:)[[[//Approach where the Gatekeeper once stood tall.//|gatekeeper]]](if: $gatekeeperHealth is 2)[The Gatekeeper stands tall, sword and shield in hand. It challenges you. You bolt your railgun.
The Gatekeeper shelters behind his shield with his sword ready behind him.
(link: ">Shoot his sword-hand.<")[(set: $gatekeeperHealth = 1)(goto: "gatekeeper")]
(link: ">Shoot at center-mass<")[(set: $gatekeeperHealth = 0)(goto: "gatekeeper")]]
(elseif: $gatekeeperHealth is 1)[The Gatekeeper kneels paralyzed, clenching at his now-missing hand.
(link: ">Finish him off.<")[(set: $gatekeeperHealth = 0)(goto: "gatekeeper")]]
(elseif: $gatekeeperHealth is 0)[The Gatekeeper lies slain. The only thing left to do is to craft a pentagram, utilizing the Gatekeeper's blood and skull.
[[//Draw a pentagram.//|pentagram2]]]There is another T junction.
Light is coming from the right.
[[//Go left.//|dummyRightLeftLeft]]
[[//Follow the light.//|dummyRightLeftRight]]
[[//Return to origin.//|dummyRight]]Debris blocks the path. You cannot proceed.
[[//Turn back.//|dummyRight]]Centered on the wall, a tablet reads: "The Right path will lead you."
[[//Return.//|dummyRightLeft]]An oil lamp from the Past sits next to a skeleton.
Its fingers seem to be pointed straight towards you, down the hallway.
[[//Leave.//|dummyRightLeft]]A pitch-black portal reveals itself.
You check the current date on your visor.
"54785 days since Colossus standard-service check-up"
And without hesitation, you step into ''The Beyond.''
The End.