Side Note

"Why are you here?" Isn't the Devil an Earth thing? Also, the family ain't gonna like this, based on their reaction the last time they saw him. 

"Two reasons," He held up two fingers. "To inform and to offer. Shake my hand, Alice, and your Wonderland will be yours!"

"I'll have you know I've read the Bible. I'll only take the information. Thank you very much."

"A wise but boring answer. Fucking typical." His face briefly went neutral before returning to its creepy grin. "Whatever. You are currently in the part of the gauntlet I like to call the M Series of fights. Mammon, Mari, Mira, Merry, Mare, and… hmm… I'll refrain from saying the last one."

"I know four out of five of those names. I just fought Mammy, Mira is my sister, Merry is Merry, and Mare is speedy… so Mari is why you're here, right?"

"Geez, niece. When you actually use your brain you're smart. Why don't you do that? No need to explain, I get it. Boredom is quite tricky, innit?"

"Just tell me."

"Mari is… an aunt of yours. Formerly known as the Robot. That's all I'll diverge."

"Huh."

"Now get lost, you fucking bore." He snapped his fingers, creating a red, demonic magic circle at my feet that I'm pretty sure sends me to the next floor. I flipped the bird at the Devil (That was for ruining the family dinner), then prepared for the next floor… what's a robot?

I have found out what a robot is. It is incredibly dangerous and most definitely going to be the cause of my untimely death. The worst part is that this is my aunt seriously trying to kill me. Does family mean nothing in this day and age of Mendass?! It really doesn't, now that I think about it… oh, she stopped firing.

"That was the technological might of a deity whose machinations are a thousand years ahead of the curve. Do you yield?"

Do I yield? Hmm… I'd rather not… but I also have no idea what to do against this… oh yeah, I should probably explain what I'm going against. You see… I can't fucking see it. These laser beams just come out of nowhere, and I've only managed to dodge them through reflexes and Ava's help, who pulls me down into the Shadowrealm if there's a laser beam I can't see. I tried covering my blindspots with earth magic, but the laser beams pierced through. They also seem to be able to be shot from literally anywhere. I even had one shoot out from Ava's mouth, which I only managed to dodge through literal pure luck.

"I would rather not strike down a relative, but if you choose not to yield, you will be met with my full force. Hasten your thoughts and make a choice."

Umm… umm… I could throw a dagger? No, there's a barrier that stops magic, so it should also stop daggers. I could throw Ava at it? And risk Mammy killing me herself? No thanks. Uhh… I could call for mom's help… how? I have no idea. I've gotta think… hmm… I can't use the shadows, she explicitly said she has countermeasures against shadows because of my mom… I could do the dagger flood… that's more likely to kill me than her. Welp, I guess it's last resort time.

"I give up, aunty!" I threw my hands up in surrender.

"Good choice." She walked up to me, grabbing out some glowing rope… haha, too bad for her! She fell for my trap! It was a lie! I quickly circled around her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind, and tried throwing her back with a suplex… huh? Why aren't we moving? "I increased my weight."

"Oh… well shit." Suddenly, metallic tentacles appeared around me and grabbed my limbs, lifting me up. I struggled a bit but to no avail. It's okay. I'm sure I can get out of this.

"Fascinating." She lowered me to her level, meeting me eye-to-eye. I could even do a sneak spit attack at this distance. "You refuse to yield. Incredibly admirable."

She gave me a little smile, and suddenly I was dropped to the ground, landing face first. I got up, rubbed my now-hurt nose, and stared at her before finally thinking about what to say. "What?"

"When I laid my eyes upon you at the family dinner, I thought it was a shame you were like us Avatars. Shallow caricatures incapable of true expression. Yet, despite your rather goofy personality, you chose not to yield here. I ask why."

"Well… Mammy would kill me if I lost with Ava here, and I'm pretty sure Myka wants something out of me… obviously, the biggest reason I can't give up is because of Mel. Sure, I know everything will be fine, but I've still got to fight."

"Hmm… certainly shallow compared to real beings… but rather remarkable for an artificial soul, even one made by the most powerful of Evelyn's Avatars. I could not begin to replicate what you are with my technology. You may proceed." She took out a monocle with a crack in it. "My first failure, my first step towards progress. I wish you luck, niece."

I took it, and onto the next floor I went.

Hmm… darkness, just darkness… but it's comforting. Like a mother's embrace…

"How'd ya like my sister? Despite her cold exterior, she's pretty caring. A robot is only capable of thinking about others, you know."

Huh. That explains the mother's embrace feeling.

Chapter namesake: The rock band 'Robot God'.