Earth, Death Valley Hell Rift Site, 2029
5 figures walk towards a large red portal, crackling with energy that scorched the ground wherever it shot off.
The man in the lead walked with confidence and purpose, a cocky smirk on his face. Hanging off his arm was an attractive blonde woman, and trailing close behind was a mountain of a man, easily over a foot taller than the other man the couple. A few feet further back was another attractive woman, though with striking red hair and a frigid face.
As they approached the portal, cordoned off and strictly controlled by the military, the 4 stopped to look behind them at the last member of the group. Gregor Katsov finally joined the group, clearly out of breath based on his red face and heavy breathing. Normally Gregor was confident in his above average looks, 6'1" with an athletic build. But being forced to carry 200lbs worth of supplies had turned his face a concerning shade of red.
The blonde woman and the massive man looked annoyed, while the red head had no expression. The smirking man looked Gregor up and down and scoffed before introducing himself, clearly trying to take control.
"My name is Evan, my power gives me control over metal. I can reshape metal around me to my needs. Sherry can manipulate the air, and Zeke here turns to stone. We have already cleared 2 yellow rifts before, so we will lead, unless you think you would be better?" As Evan said the last line, he looked directly at the red haired woman, ignoring Gregor.
"That's fine," she replied, "but what about this one?" She said, pointing her finger in at Gregor, who had managed to at last catch his breath and stand up straight. He initialy wasn't going to speak, but decided to anyway once he was brought up.
"My name is Gregor, my pow-" "He's our pack mule. His power is completely worthless so he carries all our extra supplies," Evan interrupted Gregor and said with a joyful smirk, "Isn't that right donkey boy?"
Gregor did not respond but hung his head in shame. His ability wasn't useless, but perhaps he made it so. It allowed him to heal from any injury, even regrow limbs, but Gregor didn't have an ounce of combat ability. He was clumsy with every cold weapon he picked up, and when the army tried to give him a firearm just so he would be able to defend himself, he shot himself in the foot. The fucking foot! Just thinking about it made his face burn with shame and anger.
The woman shrugged and moved on. "Grace, I can summon a flame creature to fight for me."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers and a bird made of fire appeared above her head. It looked vaguely like a hawk, with a wingspan of about 2 yards, but there was very little detail to make out of the flames.
"Alright then, Zeke will be in front with me, Sherry and Grace in the middle, and the donkey boy in the back. Let's get this done." Evan spoke while he walked, advancing toward the portal. As he finished his last word, his foot crossed the threshold and he disappeared, followed shortly by the rest of his team.
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Hell Rift
Charcoal black pillars rose all around the party, set against a burning sky while the smell of death lingered in the air. The group rested among these pillars after killing a pack of small flying creatures best described as imps.
Rifts had begun appearing less than 3 months ago, throwing the world into chaos. But humanity is nothing if not adaptable. Some people quickly began discovering that they had powers, beginning the fighting back. Cites were retaken from the unknown creatures, and world governments began the systematic exploration of these rifts. Not much was known about them save that they were highly dangerous, and full of natural resources. Advance teams made up of those confident enough to risk their lives or desperate enough to try were formed to explore the rifts, not just as a safety measure but as a means of exploitation.
The first teams made massive discoveries about the nature of the rifts. When they are active they are unstable, eventually allowing the monsters within to pass through. But once the rifts is cleared the portals stabilize, trapping its inhabitants, allowing for more in-depth exploration of the realm within. They way to clear a portal is to kill the Anchor, an incredibly strong creature that destabilizes the portal with its mere presence, with stronger and more intelligent anchors capable of actively damaging the integrity of a rift portal.
Gregor came out of his day dream to the sound of his team gearing up. He opened his eyes and quickly got his gear on while the others waited for him. After an intense stare from Zeke, they set off again in search of the Rift Anchor. This was the first red portal, or Hell Rift, that had been explored, the other was at the bottom of the Yellow River in China, and there were rumors of a terrifying red glow being seen be passing ships in the Antarctic circle. Most rifts were various and for the most part not that dangerous if approached cautiously, but this particular rift was surrounded by creatures straight out of a child's nightmare, plus the eerie red glow and scorched earth around the rift, thus the affectionate dubbing of Hell Rift from the military personnel on site.
As the group walked through the ashen land they felt the ground tremble and stopped dead in their tracks. The ground shook again but harder. Clearly whatever was causing the shaking would show itself soon. The group quickly hid, ready to watch the Rift anchor. The plan was to gather information then return with more people to slay the creature.
"Here it comes," Evan whispered, "We just need to find it's nest or whatever, then come back with the cavalry. I want no fuck ups, that means you donkey boy!"
Gregor gritted his teeth but remained silent. After this mission he was going to quit, this wasn't what he envisioned signing up to enter the rifts. A pack mule and punching bag for an entitled prick and his jackass friends. He looked at Evan from the corner of his eye with a glare that could kill a ghost, before turning his head and clenching his fist over and over to try and calm down.
Evan watched Gregor suppress his anger with a gleeful smirk on his eyes, but quickly refocused as the quakes became more intense. They finally stopped when a massive black shadow flew through spires, destroying dozens before crashing to a stop a few yards in front of the team. The team quickly got up to move away, but when they turned around all of their faces paled. Twice the size of whatever creature lay among the shattered spires behind them, a massive beast looked down on the team with contempt clear in its eyes.
The head of a lion, a mane of fire the color of blood, emitting a freezing cold rather than heat. A second goats head on its back, with horns black as night, twisted and deformed. A snake for a tail, coiled to strike, venom dripping off its fangs, the sizzling as it fell to the ground, audible over the stilled hearts of every member of the team.
"Fucking Chimera."