Colonel Dillo dismissed every screen. His attention was required elsewhere for a moment. But he was confident that the children would take care of themselves just fine.

The Major was particularly surprised by the sudden lack of viewing material.

Dum. Dum. Dum.

The knocking was from the front door. Somehow still audible down the hall and through the solid door of his office. The General could have sent him a quick message that he was there like a normal person, but no, that wouldn’t have been violent enough.

Dillo rose from his seat with a graceful little stumble. He placed a hand in front of his mouth to guide his breath to his nose. It was a bit sharp. He wondered if he’d have time to cast a nice scent over his breath. Something like a pleasant mint for his esteemed guest.

DUM. DUM. DUM.

Probably not.

“Who could that be?” said Major Caps.

Dillo strutted past the Major with a wobbly gait to his steps. “Caps, you silly man. You know exactly who it is.”

Major Caps’ already stiff posture somehow stiffened even more. “Pardon, sir?”

Dillo had a hard time understanding the weakness in some people. How they can do something and act like they didn’t, trying to save face with two parties on opposite sides. Often an action to please one will harm another and that’s just life. Better to stand proudly while clutching the knife in someone’s back than to remove one’s hands from it and act surprised. At least the former was honest.

Bah, who was he kidding. He didn't care about honesty.

Dillo sauntered out of the office and down a hall lined with sculptures of various types of crystal. The statues depicted blends of humans and other creatures. Some with flowing manes and others with four sturdy legs. Each of them was excited to see their father, and Dillo high-fived his way through a hall of applause. That never failed to raise his spirits.

The hall opened to a loft overlooking a foyer. Before continuing to the steps down, Dillo turned to his children of art and gave them an extravagant bow. They wacked various extremities against each other, clinking their excitement.

“Thank you, thank you all for always showering me with such love and gratitude,” Dillo said, slurring a bit.

BOOM.

A battered and warped front door burst free from its hinges, scraping across the marble floor.

Dillo felt a sudden added weight bearing down on him as he stood upright from his bow. He had to respect the General’s dramatic flair, adding so much gravitational pressure to the room as he stepped inside. Not many could use such powerful Abilities so brazenly.

What a big, scary man.

Dillo sighed and peered down at his destroyed entrance. That was going to cost quite a bit of mana to fix.

***

Jace felt his strength melt away leaving him cold and stiff. What was that? Jace’s heart began to pound as if it were trying to break out of his chest and hide. This feeling wasn’t right. He couldn’t move. He didn’t want to move. No, of course he did. This thing was new. And new was fun, right?

The writhing figure stuck its arm through the hole.

He heard Satch’s distant scream.

“Hey!” Jace was moving before he realized it. That was good because once he did realize it, his instincts tried to stop him. But he was already in motion. He just needed to keep it up.

The figure ignored him, continuing to squeeze itself into the room beyond. Worm-bits oozed over the ground to form wriggling puddles of tar.

Jace dragged the spike hammer behind him. It bounced along the ground as he finally got himself into a run. He needed to kill this thing. He couldn’t be afraid. No, of course he wasn’t afraid. That was Satch’s thing, not Jace’s. Jace was a winner. It made no sense to be afraid when he knew he’d win.

The figure had half its body in the hole. Jace planted a firm step to shift his weight and carried all his momentum into a spin, swinging the hammer like he did when striking the wall. But this time, he tilted the rotation, the force behind the hammer picking him off his feet as he brought the hammer down on the wriggling mass of worms.

THUM!

The flat side of the weapon scraped along the wall, smashing half of the creature to the ground like jelly under, well, a big metal hammer. Bits of it burst all over the floor, some spraying over Jace’s legs. That sent a chill up his spine. He jumped back and kicked off the worms before looking into the hole.

That should have stopped it, right?

Well, that was easy. The thing was soft and harmless. What was he even scared about?

Well, nothing. He wasn’t even scared in the first place.

The worms in the hole plopped to the other side. They were still advancing. Not dead. Okay.

“Satch,” Jace said through the hole, “I just smashed half of this thing off with one hit. All you gotta do is finish it off. You can probably just hit it with the chair or something.”

He watched the shifting glob of worms produce six limbs that hardened to points like the legs of an insect. Then it took off, scurrying silently with speed. Its larger front claws were positioned to strike and aimed at Satch who was hiding in the corner of the room. Screams rose to a high-pitched screech.

Would he be able to stop it?

Jace sighed. Probably not.

Jace threw Big n’ Spikey through the hole but when he placed his hands in to climb after it, he felt slimy squirming all over them. Ew. Bits of the creature were still moving through the hole. Jace smashed at them with his fists, but they… would just keep moving. He couldn’t smash them. They flattened out only to return to their shape right after.

Whatever. Guess he was going to have to crawl over it anyway. Satch squealed in the room beyond. Did he really need to help the crybaby out?

Something tightened over Jace’s ankles. He tried to pull his leg free but was yanked back instead. He slid from the worm-lubricated hole to catch himself on the ground in a pushup position. He turned to see a black shape looming over him like a giant writhing thumb.

It split open at the top to reveal thousands of little worms. They hardened into the rows of teeth. A whiptail around Jace’s ankles slowly reeled him in. He tore at what bound his ankles and managed to free one leg. But as he tried to stand and kick his other leg free, a silent whip struck his back, lashing him against the floor.

The warm sensation of blood began to soak his shirt. He clawed at the ground to get away, but all he felt were worms. They were everywhere. He couldn’t get any traction, slowly sliding backward, closer and closer to the hideous mouth. This wasn’t right. Dread prodded at his mind but he refused to let it in. He could get out of this. He could figure it out.

Jace flipped onto his back to face the monster and all its teeth. He clenched his jaw as his wound burned against the floor. The thing was dragging him as if savoring the moments before the kill.

Jace tried to recall the feeling when he created the hammer, attempting to open the door deep within his mind. It felt as though he reached it, but all he could get open was a peephole.

A grid of thin lines overlaid his sight.

Little icons filled slots from left to right. There were only five of them, leaving an otherwise empty grid over the view of a gaping mouth full of rows of teeth.

This was not familiar at all. Desperate for anything, Jace swung a hand up to press one of the icons, but he couldn’t touch it. The grid remained over everything he saw as if stamped onto his retinas. Instead, he poked at the icon with his mind by imagining a phantom limb like a finger. He felt a soft clicking sensation in his mind as he made contact and the grid vanished.

A tongue flicked over the creature's teeth, slathering slime over them. Thick drool dropped from its lipless mouth and splattered over Jace’s leg as fancy cursive text flashed across his vision.

Welcome to the Artideus Outfitting App.

Loading wardrobe. . .

Ready to look the way you feel? Ready to express yourself?

What the hell is this?

The best dressed, best expressed, and most blessed version of you... in only a few simple steps!

Open Outfitting tutorial?

Yes let's dress / No thanks

Two more tentacle-like limbs snagged Jace by both his wrists, yanking him upright to level his face with the gaping jaw poised to consume him.

“How do I go back?!” Jace spammed the no thanks option with his mental finger. “Different app thing, different app!”

The words condensed back into the Outfitting App icon and the grid returned with it. Jace panic pressed at the remaining ones. A few icons expanded and faded as they were rapidly opened and dismissed. Then one fully opened.

Opening Casting App.

Artima is zero...

Purchase more Artima?

Yes/ No

Yes! Sure, whatever!

You have [0] Coin. Sorry, insufficient funds to purchase Artima.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Consider purifying mana into Artima directly or earning Coin.

Closing Casting App...

“Wait! No, no, no,” Jace tried to open another app but accidentally dismissed the grid entirely. The peephole in the door at the back of his mind slid shut. “Oh c’mon, all I need is some more of that hardened light! Something simple to smash this thing, anything!”

The creature's jaw rotated and pulled Jace in like a hunk of helpless meat.