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It was dark in the factory subterranne, with only a spot of light streaming down from a full hole in the canopy of metal grate floor panels above a layer of steaming and whistling pipes. In that spotlight upon a bed of fallen metal grate panels laid Axel, stiff as stone as he stared up at the hole above him in disbelief.

Anyone would have thought him dead after a fall like the one he just experienced.

To his own shock and surprise, Axel felt that he was still as alive as ever, and he was able to move, if barely at all. He groaned a little as he rolled over, rubbing his neck sorely. "Ow... I think I broke a bone..." Axel croaked softly in exaggeration of the aching pain he felt. He crawled off the metal grate panels and came up to his knees, shaking his head slightly and stretching out a little, making sure he was all in one piece.

He glanced to the side and saw his handgun lying on the concrete floor, and reached over to grab and holster it. He then stood up carefully and glanced up at the gap in the floor above with wary eyes. Axel then staggered off into the darkness, spots of light from the floor above streaming through the metal grate panels and painting a spotted path.

Axel clutched his aching side, trying to keep his breathing even as he stumbled into the darkness foolishly. I'm not out of danger yet... Axel thought to himself as he tried to put as much distance between himself and his pursuer.

Axel wandered the dark underground corridors aimlessly, not caring where they took him but only that they hid him from his pursuer.

Suddenly, there was an unmistakable ringing clatter o metal coming from far away, Axel's keen ears picking up the noise with ease. Axel grunted and turned the other way, the all-too-familiar- laughter of the Hunter starting to echo throughout the dark halls.

"I told you, little rabbit! I told you it was only a matter of time..." The voice called out from the encompassing shadows. Axel glanced frantically from side to side as his keen ears picked up swift and dramatic footsteps that seemed very close and drawing near . "It will only be a matter of time... You 'will' fall into my trap, snap, snap... Little rabbit..." The voice taunted.

Axel drew his gun in a flash and he felt his hastened speed setting in as he rushed through the darkness, hanging lights in the underground beginning to flash and illuminate the shadows, each one clicking on in Axel's wake. He stopped in a room to catch his breath, feeling his limits closing in as the soreness in his bones set in once more.

Crash!

The ground split apart in front of Axel all of a sudden. He cried out in shock as a great chain burst out from the fissure, the sound of metal clinking could be heard as the chain snaked and twisted around. The chain was as thick as a person, moving elegantly like a vicious serpent, a great grappling hook head with a demonic skull in the centre with eyes shining red like glowing rubies in an abyss.

The skull burst into flames, the chain becoming red hot as Axel could hear a howl of anger all around him. The rabbit's eyes in fear as he turned to run away from the chain as it slowed down on the floor, the subterranne shaking slightly around Axel as he yelled out in fright and tried to keep his footing stable upon the trembling floor.

He was desperate to escape as the chain dove right into the floor after recovering, the force of it shaking the underground as the noise of clattering metal through stone filled the hallways. Axel's eyes darted from left to right as he sprinted onwards without pause, his mind just waiting for the nightmarish chain to erupt from the walls and floors, as his ears picked up the sound of the chain travelling underground.

Axel took a left at an intersection only to stop dead when he saw his pursuer once again, a sinister smile plastered upon his face as he dramatically strutted down the corridor, drawing his blade up and slicing at the air around him, opening rifts at his left, right and just above him. Axel thought he was summoning more demons, but when the man paused, Axel stopped to watch with terrible intrigue. The man then raised his gun at each rift and one by one, he fired a shot into each rift.

Fixed with ominous curiosity, Axel watched as more of the hellish chains leapt forth from the rifts, one for each portal to god knows where.

Axel didn't wait a second more. He turned tail for the 12th time that night, and ran away in a dire escape as the chains 'howled' and burned up in flames, plunging into the walls and floor with the same metallic grinding like before. "The rabbit will not escape the Chains of Tartarus..." The voice called out from far behind Axel as the grinding of metal and stone resonated all around him. "They will catch you, and they will drag you... To Hell..." Before Axel could think, the walls and floor around him cracked and split apart. As the sound of grinding chains became unbearable, the hallway became bathed in crimson firelight.

Suddenly, shards of stone and concrete exploded into the air all around Axel, who flinched and shielded his face as the tiny bits of debris flew and the chains from before erupted from fissures in the walls and floor, snaking and twisting to create a fiery web of hot metal to bar Axel's path.

He could hear the dramatic footsteps closing in again, the sound betraying logic and echoing over the howling of the nightmarish chains. "Snap, Snap... Is this the end of the line, little Axel?" The voice teased. Axel looked back down the empty hallway behind him with wary eyes, before glancing back at the blockade of ruin, the cruel laughter chilling the air once more.

Axel took a deep breath of the sulphurous air, before making a dash towards the moving web of flames, his heart pounding with each step that landed on the quivering floor. As he felt the blasts of heat like a furnace spitting fire before him, he took a last breath and held it in, his good foot landing with such force that was carried as quickly as it had landed.

Axel put his arms out in front of him as he dove through the unbelievably miniscule gap of safety in the web of flames, gasping suddenly as he felt the fires and hot metal just barely lick at his fur and flesh.

Axel landed and rolled across the floor afterwards, groaning in pain as he smacked at the flames that caught on his singed clothing. The chains stopped moving and Axel looked up as his pursuer turned the corner at the end of the hallway behind the web, raising his gun in a deft movement. Axel jumped and hit the floor as the bullets flew through the air, the gun shots echoing through the hallways as the chains 'heads' slowly resurfaced from the ground around Axel. Panicking, Axel fired his gun at the demonic skulls as they slowly curled around him, before leaping away from the chains. The web of chains slowly fell away to let through their master, and Axel grunted as he staggered to stand and make a run for it.

The man chuckled, not bothering to shoot down his prey as he watched, his free hand stroking a curling chain next to him, not unlike an owner petting a loyal pet. He said nothing this time however, instead clicking his tongue and waving his hand. The chains instantly writhed and then surged violently through the underground as the man set off again.

Axel's eyes brightened as he stumbled through a room towards stairs that lead upwards and out of the underground, never did he expect be glad to hear the sound of machinery again as the light glinted in his eyes. His heart began to race when he heard the grinding chains once more, and he groaned as he pushed himself to run faster, his hand clutching his burnt side and his gun hand flopping pathetically beside him. I'm almost there... If I can just-- Get there... Axel thought, feeling his heartbeat in his head along with the cacophony of screeching metal.

Then, as he crossed the two-thirds mark of the room, his hopes that were the stairs to freedom were literally destroyed as a hellish chain surged towards him in a heartbeat. Axel's eyes widened in fear as he dove to the side, crying out in pain as his wounded side collided with the floor, groaning as the chain head lodged itself in an opposing wall. Axel slowly stood to his feet, only to see a chain swipe towards him.

Only this time, Axel was unable to dodge.

With a painful grunt, Axel watched as his handgun flew out of his hand and he hit the wall behind him, his only capable weapon clattering to the ground as Axel felt his hastened ability fade. Leaning on the wall as he slowly tried to pick himself up, Axel gasped suddenly as a chain head smashed him into the wall, the hooks around it digging into the wall, surrounding Axel like a cage. He screamed out as he struggled and tried to escape.

There was only the same cruel laughter from before. Axel gave up for the moment, panting. "Let me go you bastard!" Axel screamed as he watched the chains snake around him. The laughter died down to a mere amused chuckle, as his pursuer stepped out of the shadows.

"Where would the fun be in that, little Axel...?" The man asked. Axel's eyes twitched as he stared at the man. "Down your throat when I get free!" Axel yelled at him. The man chuckled and shook his head. "My, my, what a rude little rabbit you are." The man murmured disapprovingly. "Perhaps I should teach you some manners...?" The man clicked his fingers once more, and the chains snaked around Axel, letting him off the wall so he could be wrapped in their embrace. Axel gasped softly as he felt the cold chains brace his bare fur.

Suddenly, the chains warmed until the heat was blistering, with Axel screaming out as the hot metal burned his body. "AAAAAH! Make it STOP!" Axel cried out. The man smirked and leaned forward, looking into Axel's eyes, as if staring into the wounds in Axel's soul that the excruciating pain created. "Oh... But I've only just started..." The man whispered to Axel, his voice as cruel and sheer as ice. The chains cooled until they were as cold as snow, and Axel shivered in their freezing grasp. "P-P-Please..." Axel barely managed to breathe. The man grinned at Axel as he raised a hand to brush Axel's face. "Such warmth in a prison so cold..." He mused, ignoring Axel's plea. "Believe me now, that before I turn you over to the one who asked for you to be caught, you will wish you were as dead cold as you are feeling now..." The man whispered to Axel, the Terran rabbit's eyes widening as the man clicked his fingers once more, and the excruciating torture began all again as Axel's screams echoed throughout the subterranne.