In the Fourth Rendition: The Slicer
🕑 Added 2023-11-04 20:13:00 +0000 UTCSo, sorry for the super confusion. I was writing Alma, got about 4k into it, and realized I wasn't sure how it would end. The big trick for writing my books is knowing the ending before I start writing the beginning. I didn't want to write a sub-par book, so I swapped my writathon over to Creation. That means my chapters are going to publish FAST, and often. I'm doing three this weekend (planned, may have one on monday), and a ton of chapters thanksgiving week. It also means RR chapters will slowly catch up to my Patreon chapters, which i'm not a huge fan of. It's gonna mess me up a little, so I'll try to at least give you guys a full day with the material before it posts to RR. Enjoy the chapter, it's a weird one.
The Slicer:
Deep in the reaches of space....far far away from Walker and his tiny world.....a great yet small Universal Terror floated among the particles of the many broken universes.
Some would call this the chaos territories, while others called it the great emptiness....but currently, it is known as....the Slicer zone.
The former Bobbit Worm could move freely. Nothing he'd found, except those massive teeth things he'd once chanced upon, could hurt or impede him. He'd destroyed dozens of worlds at this point, and relished in the memories and connected sounds their Creators had made. He had traveled out here, far beyond the fourth universe, and the AA rendition for some peace of mind. Anytime it found itself near others, it couldn't help but feel the same all-encompassing need that was first instilled in it upon its creation. Many creatures had felt this all-encompassing need take them, and many worlds as well.
Cut
Destroy
End
The Slicer had so many evolutions that the protocol had long ago given up on identifying it. It had every form of resistance possibly thought of or created. Its evolutions reached far enough back in the protocol that even the hidden ones were within its reach. It even developed a new one just a week ago, self-regenerating cells. While the evolutions had stalled out and stopped shortly after, there was still one big issue it had thus far....it had trouble writing.
"Motherfucker!" The Slicer yelled into space, as it continued to try to use a beam of fire from its tail to write its name on a nearby frozen asteroid. Every time it tried to hook the top of a T to the bottom, its control would shake and the T would turn into a J. During its travels, it had seen plenty of people writing and knew the basics of it, but there was great difficulty in writing itself. How were people to know it was the Slicer who had destroyed a planet, if it couldn't even leave its name behind? There were never any survivors, as was just and right and would continue, but still, it needed to leave something behind for the legacy of its glory.
"Fuck you Creator! I know somehow this is your goddamn fault!" The Slicer yelled into the cosmos for maybe the tenth time in the last hour. Everything about its form was perfect. Every shape of its body is well defined and, in fact, closing in on THE Divine if you asked the Slicer itself. But this one simple task was still beyond it. "Fuck your ancestors and their shitty genetics!" he ranted again to no one in particular.
Constant thoughts of retribution inclicted upon Walker's home world passed through the Slicer's mind. He could make the protected Creator feel real pain if he could only figure out how to get over there. The third rendition, thus far, was well protected. The Slicer had moved this far into space, thinking it could cross over and find a way to reach what was essentially a different dimension, but, thus far, no dice. It couldn't find an exit from this baby universe and the undeveloped inhabitants that were so so easily destroyed.
There was nothing more boring, and thus painful, than to be trapped with a series of worlds that were just starting out. Where was the combat? The evolutions? Where were the massive populations it could slowly melt into puddles of nothing but acid? This was, simply put, boring. The Slicer's mind had long ago evolved far past the basic sapience it had gained on that stupid green woman's world. Nothing was more painful than the standard blandness of generic worlds and stupid Creators. It needed more.
Almost as if by magic, two lines cut through space and moved up, widening as they went. As they connected, the Slicer understood what it was seeing. It was a door. Just beyond the opening, the Slicer could see a metropolis with thousands, millions of people going about their day peacefully. Strolling in their bright blue sun, carrying items in bags or on their backs, and even walking with children. They seemed quite happy and at peace.
They needed to be destroyed!
"Yes! My chance!" The Universal Terror said with glee, as it quickly shot towards the doorway at a ludicrous speed. It passed through space in a blur, dodging asteroids and quickly scooting around a baby planet that had been blown off course from another failed Creator's world. But, just before it could squeeze its still relatively small eight-foot-long body through the door, a being stepped through, with the door closing quickly behind them.
"Nooo! I'll kill you motherfucker!" The Slicer yelled, and lashed out with its tail at the offender. It moved faster than a normal person could blink, and yet still got caught on a shield. The shield cushioned the blow, not breaking no matter the strength behind the swing. The Slicer had seen this shield a few times before, and knew it would rebuff their attack with a distinct lack of pain. That didn't mean it didn't still hurt...egotistically.
"Now now, we can't have you doing that Mr. Slicer." A gravelly-sounding voice said. Then a light landed on top of them, showing their full figure. "It is important to me that we start this off just right. I know you can understand me, so playing dumb won't work. Now...."
As the being continued speaking, spreading drivel into a universe already oh so bland, the Slicer kept spinning around them in circles, looking at them from every dimension before coming to a stop. "Where's that light coming from?"
"...task force...what?" The being said in confusion as it caught on to what the Slicer said.
It had to calm its usual murderous tendencies just to speak, which was a challenge it had faced many times in the last few days. Information, it had come to learn, was incredibly important to its future survival and grand plans of total destruction. Also, when the time came for it, the Slicer had learned it was better to distract your opponent before you attacked. "You're lit up with a light asshole. Where.Is.It.Coming.From? I know you can understand me, so playing dumb won't work."
"They never said how rude you are..."
"Who the fuck is they?" The Slicer demanded to know, and attacked on impulse, spraying acid towards the edge of the creature's foot. It struck the shield and slowly slid off into space, no worse for wear.
The creature shook their head, whispering quietly "Why did they give me this job? This entity is far below my standards." But the Slicer heard them.
"Hey stupid ass, I have advanced hearing!"
"I know." The creature sighed, "Look, my name isn't important, but you can call me twenty. I am a part of the multiversal protocol team, and specifically, I am a high-ranking member of the Psi protocol. I...."
"What the fuck is that?"
"Umm...which part?"
"The multivwhatever bullshit whatever."
Twenty frowned at it, but continued speaking, "The multiversal protocol team is made up of millions of members from every rendition and world within the created universes. They serve the purpose of making sure that Creators do not overstep their bounds, and that progress and growth are ensured for the sake of all. Life must find a way, and we are in charge of making sure it finds the "right" way."
"That's shitty. Life sucks and....hiyah!" The Slicer thought he'd found a weak spot in the shielding, right behind and below the neck of the moron talking to it for so long, but the attack was repelled like usual.
Twenty slapped a hand to his forhead and shook his head. "Seriously, why me."
"You're talking to a Universal Terror, show some respect!"
"I was making Universal Terrors a million years before your Creator accidentally made you. A lot of what makes you...you...is because of me. I suspect that's why I was chosen to speak to you."
"Ain't nothing like me, but me." The Slicer said standoffishly. "There never will be either."
"You are still a fool, yet I do not blame you. Your age and limited exposure to other similar beings is the primary reason for your issue. As well as what the Alpha Protocol mistakenly modified you with. Such a shame."
"What are you talking about you piece of shit! Tell me!" The Slicer yelled out, enforcing his words with a little evolution he'd found handy against particularly agitated creators in the past.
"Empathic bullying doesn't affect me." Twenty replied with another small shake of his head. "I am the master of my mind and body. You will also never find a way through the protocol's shield. It has been tested countless times across millions of years. It is impenetrable and powered by the primordial energy of a new universe. We could stand here and speak for thousands of years with you attacking me and still you wouldn't find a way through."
"Hah! You don't know me at all." It said with a quick electrical attack from the end of its tail, the being's shield protecting him yet again.
For the first time in its life, the Slicer hesitated after seeing a smile break across Twenty's face as he said, "I absolutely do, young one."
Not believing him, and also not liking the strange feeling of inferiority bursting through it for the first time, the Slicer started attacking with gusto. Electricity, fail. That weird dark electricity it'd picked up on that fucked up storm planet, fail. Acid, fail. Acid strong enough to burn through an ocean, fail. Pure force through great speed, failure. The Slicer decided not to try that one again as the rebound from the shield shot it a thousand miles away, taking more than a few moments to return.
Through it all, Twenty continued to smile, enraging the Universal Terror. This would not be its first failure to destroy. It would figure out how to destroy this simple smiling son of a bitch. It would not continue to feel this way!
Radiation, fail....it thought. Radiation was weird sometimes. Explosive water thing? Fail. Wrapping it in conjured metal from a weird portal thing it'd evolved with? Fail. Throwing passing asteroids at it with gravitational force? Fail.
Nothing worked thus far, and although the Slicer didn't need air, mentally it felt out of breath as it struggled to find more and greater ways to destroy the shield and the piece of shit within it.
"This shield is bullshit!"
Twenty laughed within his protective bubble, a smug smile plastered to his face. "Indeed. I did not create it, the One did, and their work is, as always, impeachable."
"Who is the One?"
"Jet Li"
"Who?"
"Nobody you will ever meet more than likely. So, little Universal Destroyer. Are you ready for a chat?"
For once, the Slicer slowed its spatial, metaphorical, roll. It slowly floated in place, staring at Twenty with its deep red eyes. It did the thing it never thought it would ever do. It agreed to speak peacefully with another being.
"Fine."
"Excellent. As I was saying, I am a member of the Psi protocol. We designate worlds that have stalled in their progress, and we send...challenges...to help them get back on track. We are interested in if you would like to be one of those challenges."
"What's in it for me?"
"Why, nothing but what you love to do. As I understand it, your whole goal, in your thus far short lifetime, has been to destroy. Why not destroy with purpose. Rather than focusing on these baby Creators and their weak worlds, I can send you to massive systems with billions of people to fight against, to annihilate. Entire cities that have been designed with great purpose and wonderful plans for the future, yours to destroy. You can even continue to gain evolutions, as I am sure you have noticed that they've stalled out some time ago."
"It's bullshit."
"Yes.Yes. A safety measure for making sure singular beings don't become strong enough to challenge first rendition creators. I can remove those restrictions and allow you to become that which you so dearly want to be. A rendition annihilator. It will take a great amount of work from you, but I believe in the power of your hatred, as, after all, I essentially created you."
"My Creator made me. He sucks ass by the way. If I hadn't already destroyed his work, I'd go back and do it again."
"Dante is alive and well within the Alpha Protocol, Mr. Slicer. You haven't done anything but teach him an important lesson within the framework of Creation. Always control your entities."
"Lies! I fucked his world up! When I left, it was in pieces! Nothing could survive that! Those terribly untasty fish are all dead!"
Twenty laughed, the tinkling sound grating on the Slicer's mind. "He fixed it, of course. He is a Creator, endowed with all of the primordial strength one can obtain in the Alpha Protocol. Also, he is quite successful, and currently being watched with great hope by their ruling council. Dante is more successful than ever, and his time in the protocol flourishes. Behold" After saying so, he waved his hand and a screen appeared, showing the hated one currently speaking to that stupid fucking brown squirrel who the Slicer hated almost as much. There was even sound coming through, showing his Creator laughing at something the brown squirrel had said while they looked in on some tubes holding weird shit inside.
Drool began to leak from the Slicer's mouth as it shouted out, "How do I get there! Send me there!"
"I will, of course I will, but not yet." Twenty paused for a moment in thought, then said, "Perhaps I have been going about this all wrong. You're not destroying without purpose, are you?"
"Creators need to die. They need to lose everything they have! Everything! They imprisoned me! They made me kill for them like I was on a show! Made me crawl through their dungeons and worlds for entertainment! I am more than a dungeon crawler! I am the terror of the fourth rendition!"
"Ah, I see." He said with a nod. "You are interested in destroying Dante, and the Creators like him, more than anything else. Am I right?" He looked through his screens for a moment before saying, "You already took out poor Joliva and a dozen other Creators, ending their time within the Alpha Protocol. Oh, that poor Blitzburg." He spent a long moment staring at his screen, then shook his head again. "She even lodged a complaint with the council. Ignored of course, but still. Hrmm. This can still work if I explain to you what you haven't asked about as of yet. Quite rude by the way."
"Fuck you."
Twenty smiled, "You would not enjoy that experience. Or in seeing what my true self looks like."
"Please, you're just some weak-ass Creator like the rest."
"Oh really? I may get into some trouble for this, but I feel it is worth it for the intended effect." After saying so, the shield turned off. The Slicer knew this because the space particles floating around the man, which had always moved away before, suddenly pulled inward from his gravitational force touching the universe.
This is my chance! The Slicer thought as he quickly shot toward the man, his tail leading the way with a sharp metallic spike erupting through his skin. It was painful, but worth it. But as he got closer, the man started to grow...and grow...and grow. As the Slicer's tail impacted the hardened exterior, not making even the slightest cut on what used to be a man, the Slicer was pushed away as he rode the growth of the terrifying being revealing itself.
It was ten times greater in size than any planets the Slicer had destroyed since first escaping his bullshit world, and it kept growing. Huge, massive teeth appeared and the Slicer remembered seeing one just like it, only at less than half of the size the creature in front of him was showing itself to be. In a rare moment, the Slicer understood when it was in a losing fight. One of its original evolutions showed itself, and it tried to zip away quickly, putting on a burst of speed that would make him virtually disappear to the unevolved's eyes.
A piece of its tail was suddenly missing, and both of the flappy things on its sides were gone too.
"Ahhh, delicious" a massive voice behind him said while smacking too large lips. "Yess, you are quite the tasty morsel, now aren't you. Mmmmm."
The Slicer arced its head back and forth, using one of its telekinetic evolutions to turn itself. It could try to get away, but those flappers were helpful in steering and it hadn't worked on its telekinesis in awhile. Training fell away as destructive opportunities presented themselves in its path. It finally got its body to turn around and beheld the creature before it.
"I'm sorry for the quick nibble, young destroyer. But I couldn't help myself and I'd rather not have to chase you, I don't believe this part of the rendition could manage a being my size moving that quickly. The repercussions on my evaluation alone would be quite detrimental, and I have no interest in dropping back to the thirties."
"What are you?" The Slicer said, proud of itself for hearing little to no termor in its voice.
Two sets of huge teeth smiled, then laughed, showing thousands, millions of rows of teeth behind them. It pursed cracked lips before saying, "I am the original planeteater, although I have since evolved into something else entirely."
The Slicer tried to identify it, but nothing happened.
"No no baby terror. That won't work on me. I am not quite beyond the protocol, more alongside it if you will."
The Slicer zapped it with electricity, but it was like trying to zap a whale with a tiny spark, fizzling out all too soon.
"Yess, that won't work on me. Nothing you do will work on me. You need, more." When it said so, flashes of memories shot through the Slicers mind, showing worlds screaming as pieces of it were bitten and removed. Families, houses, and cities being destroyed in the blink of an eye. Entire solar systems went down in flames and implosions. The memories showed one thing that resonated with the universal terror more than anything else it had ever seen before. True power and freedom. The freedom to control it's own life, and never have to back down again. The Slicer began drooling again.
"I want to do that! I want to be that!" It screamed out to the relatively empty universe around it.
"Hahahaha" The monster laughed, its breath blowing the Slicer back and forcing it to move forward again in space, "And so you shall. But let me explain what you truly are, first. You were meant to be a modified Bobbit Worm. A run-of-the-mill predator, an Alpha by the weak view the alpha protocol gives all entities that are first created. But, when the system looked at the changes your Creator imposed upon you, it made an error. In trying to help Dante with its first creation it gave you....tendencies...inclinations, toward great destruction. The luck of destroying that tree and gaining the adaptability evolution is outstandinggg"
The Slicer ignored a lot of what the creature had said, fixating on one thing in particular, "The Alpha Protocol messed with my mind?"
"Oh yyyess. it wasn't intentional, but still, look at you now! You're a Universal Terror! The first step toward greatness in the eyes of the latter Protocols. And with my help, and a bit more time, you could be so so much more."
The Slicer thought on that for a few moments, unusually taking its time. This being had power, AMAZING power, and it wanted that. But, from what it had seen of the fourth universe, there were always strings attached.
"What do you get out of it?"
The being smiled, then again when you were pretty much a giant mouth attached to a worm-like body, smiling is one of the few expressions you could have. It's planet-sized mouth opened, saying, "Whyy, I have the potential to move up to nineteen and will be removed from this protocol. Your success within the Psi protocol will grant me a promotion and placement within the Omega. The great ones. The true terrors of the dark and forgotten. Those who came before." It licked its lips with a great white tongue filled with barbs dripping in different colored substances. "I will be the first Created Omega destroyyyer. It will be....delicioussss"
The Slicer didn't see any real negatives to the arragment, and said, "Fine, but I have one requirement."
"Oh?" The being wet its lips again, "I have already promised to allow your evolutions to continue and place you in locations where you can wreak great havoc. What else could an entity like you need?"
"I want to kill Dante. I want his shield gone."
"Mmmmmm" The great mouth mumbled..."No guarantees young one, but I will see what I can do. Do we have an agreement?"
.....Scanning.....
New Task Found!
Join the Psi Protocol: Plainly state yes or no for confirmation.
Additional information: Twenty will attempt to remove Dante's shield at an opportune time should the Slicer join the protocol.
"Yes!"
Comments
Wanderer
"Additional information: Twenty will attempt to remove Dante's shield at an opportune time should the Slicer join the protocol." Well, we don't want that happening.
