Luckily, there were no Death Walkers or Walking Corpses in sight. But...
There was evident of an absolute, brutal massacre; the crushed, disembodied and dismembered bodies and remains of both the prisoners and Angels- who were adorned in white uniforms, now scarlet, lay everywhere.
Blood splattered and drenched very surface, tainting the walls and forming pools and puddles across the floor. It was a gruesome and gut-wrenching sight. Dolffie held back a hiss as he felt his crimson marks sting at the sight. He did nothing as he felt them 'fill', get redder, heavier and feel hotter. There was a small flicker of silver in his eyes, but that's all it remained- a flicker, before he advanced further into the structure.
Both he and Carrot said nothing as they felt the sensation of their boots in the sticky blood, remained silent as the foul stench of death had them resisting the urge to gag and vomit all over the place.
The creatures of nightmare really did a number on the place. So, they had to move quickly before the monster decided they too deserved to join the blood and flesh-pile.
Dolffie closed his eyes and thought:
The plan was simple:
Step 1. Break Atom T. Bellium out of Heaven.
Step 2. Make it look like the Death Walkers took to their instincts, brought with them the Corpses and went crazy, destroying and murdering everyone.
He paused and opened his eyes to see Carrot, who appeared a little paler and unwell, suddenly in front of him.
"You know where to go, but we don't have much time," he exclaimed, " I'll personally destroy the security footage. You just go... Make him yours... Dolffie."
Dolffie felt a cool and chilling breeze gently caress his back as he stood frozen, appearing a little surprised before chuckling and smiling as he responded, "Thank you, truly... Carrot."
Carrot simply smiled- a beautiful, genuine and kind smile, then quickly stalked off, disappearing into the hallway at the far-left end of the floor. Dolffie wouldn't be wrong to say that smile was a powerful yet precious weapon in itself. Carrot had better be careful who he used on, some people might choose to never let go.
He chuckled to himself once more before facing the remaining looming hall on the right.
He looked at the gruesome massacre one last time and felt a slight tinge in heart.
"I'm sorry that I exist... and want so much. Forgive me."
***
Walking down the gruelling stairs because the elevators were not operating was not Dolffie's style or vision of his dramatic entrance. So, he decided to fly.
His power, Alabasta, was a complex and intriguing ability that allowed him to achieve a multitude of feats many would consider impossible, even with their own Virtue Gifts. But, at its core, it was one thing, and one thing only...
Pure destruction incarnate.
A loud explosion shook the mountain as Dolffie, like a missile enveloped in the Crimson Flames of Sin Marker, descended towards his treasure.
Even Carrot, all the way in the other side of the detention, felt the vibrations and shockwaves of Dolffie's advancement deeper into the Heaven. Sweat dripped down his face as the prison trembled and groaned. He had known from their journey and his earlier display of easily shattering the enchanted gate, that Dolffie's power, Alabasta, was a powerful and hungry force to be reckoned, but not to this extent.
As he stood in a room surrounded by flashing screens, multiple controls and intercoms, Carrot looked at the SOS message that was waiting to be sent:
[Alabasta is the one behind it all.]
He thought carefully on the matter before erasing both the message and the entirety of the Heaven's footage and data.
Carrot grinned as he spoke, "Dolly B. Dolffie. What a jackpot you've turned out to be."
***
Roofs collapsed inward, crushing and killing all in his wake as his flames left behind powerful rust that spread like a virus.
Though he was descending at the same speed as a rocket, if not faster, Dolffie still managed to note the expressions of terror on the residents faces as he blasted through, floor by floor. It was the same expression: their eyes wide in shock and horror as they looked him.
In their eyes, he appeared as a demon bathed in bright, crimson flame.
He continued his descent, nonetheless, occasionally blasting past guards that relentlessly fired at him, but were of course in vain.
His flames were special; they did not burn anything else except for him, but instead, they rusted any and all metallic material they came into contact with.
Dolffe knew his target was on the last and deepest floor and decided to waste no time and descended headfirst at the speed of lighting, rusting away all metal in his path. Occasionally, he exploded the flames at his feet to speed himself up, resulting in shockwaves that killed more people on the floors he passed, utterly destroying the Heaven. The rust his flames created did not disappear or stop, instead, it spread rapidly, crumbling the floors of the prison and causing many to fall to their deaths.
[Emergency Evacuation]
A malfunctioning loudspeaker blared incessantly, but it was hopeless; how could they evacuate when the very ground beneath their feet was crumbling?
As he continued shooting toward the deepest floor of the Heaven, Dolffie suddenly felt something cold and stiff slither around his waist before he was abruptly slammed into the wall. He groaned in pain as he lay wedged in the dented wall. He hissed as he tried to rise, but before he could react, a solid, burning hook was landed straight on the side of his jaw, unwedging him and sending him falling. He was disoriented for a moment but quickly stabilised his failing flames before he almost crashed into another wall.
He frantically looked around to see who the attacker was, but they were nowhere to be found. All he could see were rusting and collapsing floors and walls, not even a glimpse of his enemy. Whoever this person was, they were beyond fast on top of having the ability to fly, considering they would fall to their death if they tried bouncing off the crumbling surfaces.
Dolffie had his guard up and search furiously, but to no avail. He damned himself for getting too comfortable and being unprepared for a such an enemy after coming so far down.
'Merit user?!' he hectically pondered. He couldn't tell, but he was certain of one thing: he was close to his target, for the most treacherous prisoner required the most dangerous guards.
He decided to ignore it for the time being and get to his target quickly, departing with a particularly massive blast as he didn't want whatever that thing was to catch up to him.
He kept going until he reached a chained floor.
'Huh?'
There were huge chains surrounding the entire floor.
'Is this the work of the same or another Merit user?' Dolffie wondered as observed the chains. They were massive, almost his full height in length and the span of his thigh in width.
'Doesn't matter what it is. I'll just destroy it.' He clenched his fist, drew his arm back and struck.
There was a huge resulting shockwave that made the entire tremble, but it was not from his punch making contact with the chain, but the... chains, or at least their master, blocking his attack. The embodiment of the chains- a Persona, stood before Dolffie, easily gripping his fist with its hand and defusing his flames.
'Arg!'
He groaned in pain as it squeezed his fist. He tried to pull his hand arm out of its grasp, only for the Persona to throw him away, sending him flying and crushing into the chains that enveloped and slithered across the walls and floor.
It was as if they were in a separate realm, a different dimension created and controlled by this Persona. Everything around them slowly disappeared, the steel walls and crumbling floors that surrounded them were all engulfed by the slithering, tightly compacted chains.
Dolffie's body slipped from the wall of chains to the floor, and he groaned in pain before looking up, his vision blurred.
The Persona stood in the centre of the realm, not even looking at him. It had the body of a tall, slender man tightly wrapped in old, white bandages from head to toe, with two red sashes running across its chest to form an 'X'. When it finally turned to face him, his vision a little clearer and back on his feet, he noticed that on its chest was a piece of paper with the incantation [Hand of Judgement] written on it in fine, bold red ink.
'Red ink- Magnia Ink,' Dolffie realised. That meant this personified incantation... was the true Guardian Angel of Stone Heaven: Steel Judgement.
Sweat dripped down his face as he clenched his fist and channelled all his anger. It didn't matter the Guardian was a Persona, he'd worked so hard to get here, done so much, seen so much; no way was he letting a walking piece of paper stop him.
'I am Dolly B. Dolffie.'
Alabasta's flames rekindled in a furious burst, which he quickly gathered onto his fists and feet, leaving the rest of his body bare, revealing his crimson marks, that had now spread from his feet and forearms to his entire body, scarcely stopping at his chin. His eyes were no longer dark emerald nor were they silver-grey, instead they were a burning, deep red.
The Persona, now facing Dolffie, seemed to understand and accept the challenge as some of the chains surrounding the realm began to rise and slither toward it, wrapping around its fists to form massive balls and coiling around its chest to cover the incanted paper.
'Smartass bastard!' Dolffie gritted his teeth and cursed at the sight.
He couldn't do the same with Alabasta, not yet at least; the damned thing was a demanding power and ability that took a lot of mental strength... which he was quickly running out of.
He fisted his hands and lifted one leg in a walking motion before, in a split second, he appeared behind the Persona, ready to deliver a powerful blow to ethe back of it head. But the Persona had already sensed his movement. In the blink of an eye, the slender figure looked over its shoulder and seemed to stare Dolffie down, catching him off guard with its speed.
'How did-'
The Persona shiftily and effortlessly stepped to the side while simultaneously coiling its chains around his arms before leaning back and spinning him around.
"Arr!" Dolffie exclaimed before the chains released his arms and sent him flying and slamming into the chain-cover walls once more.
He spat out thick black blood and sluggishly began sliding off the wall, but the Persona reacted quickly through with its incredible speed and appeared beside him before rearing its bandaged arm and striking him with yet another furious, burning hook, this time more powerful as it was fused with the chains.
He was sent crashing to the ground and broke more bone than he could count as Alabasta gave up on him. He did his best to hold onto it, but Alabasta pushed him away, for though Dolffie was 'desperate' to reach his goal, he had no hatred for the incantation, at least not enough for Alabasta's liking.
Dolffie didn't see much difference between himself and the Persona. It was protecting its only purpose for existing: the prisoners held within its chains; they were they only reason it had been brought to life in the first place and were also the reason it could lose that life. Well, considering it was just a piece of paper, a person couldn't really call it a living, maybe just a being that simply existed.
But Dolffie was the same; his only purpose, only reason for existing was to become the Crown. He had nothing and no one left to live for, and unfortunately, he needed that accursed power with a mind of its own to do so, and right now that bastard was rejecting him; he wasn't angry enough, he didn't have enough hatred, and he wasn't showing as much malice as he did back then.
He had gone soft.
Though he tried, there was simply not enough venom in his heart, at least not enough for Alabasta's approval and cooperation.
Dolffie felt pathetic as he lay on the chain-floor.
First the world, and now his own flames were forsaking him.
Death was the only future weakness and those who harboured it deserved. To those who are pathetic and hopeless, going to hell was mercy, it seemed. His vision was blurred and his breathing laboured as the Persona hovered over his battered and bruised body, which had reverted back to its natural state.
With all the strength he had left in his poisoned heart, Dolffie cursed Alabasta as the Persona's chains slowly slithered toward him, reaching for his throat.