“I will do everything I can to reduce unemployment among the young. I won’t allow our children to waste away their lives in mediocrity any longer. This age of injustice will finally come to an end!” a black-haired man in his late twenties shouted, before being interrupted by an earthquake.
He grabbed onto the podium to avoid falling, only to realise that the ground was retreating below him. He flailed around trying to escape from the force to no avail. What the hell’s going on?!con
The citizens gasped in shock, as his body became blurry, and took out their cell-phones to take pictures. Ten police officers charged in to help him, but ended up slamming into an invisible wall.
“You enjoy politics, right? The place you're going to has so much you could choke on it. Not to mention, the opportunities for exploration and adventure. You will probably die, but it’s also an opportunity to rise far above your station,” a voice echoed in his head.
“Nooo, I don’t want to die!” he screamed as he and the podium faded away into nothingness.
Hundreds of police officers poured in and led the crowd away from the scene, including the reporters who were almost wetting themselves with excitement at the thought of being the first ones to broadcast this story.
“As you saw, the Mayor of Tremence City has mysteriously vanished. He was making the usual election promises, before he was pulled up into the sky, started begging for his life, and vanished on live television,” one reporter said.
-----
Fucking traffic jam, my supervisor’s going to kill me. Sweat dripped down Mark’s face as he stepped on the accelerator, and sped towards a busy intersection.
“No need to thank me, you will never have to go to the office again,” a voice whispered before breaking out into a sinister laugh. Mark howled and faded away, while his car went right into the side of a truck almost making it fall over.
Adam shot out and screamed, “Fucking hell. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
Fucking hell, these damages are going to cost me tens of thousands of dollars, where am I going to get this sort of money?! What’s wrong with these fucking drunk drivers? Go die in a ditch, if you want, but leave me the fuck alone.
He walked over to the other car, but the front was too entangled with the trailer for him to see the front and was strangely quiet. Deathly quiet. Not a scream. Not a shout. No cries for help at all. All he could hear was an ominous silence. A shiver went down his back as he unconsciously backed away.
D-Don’t tell me… He died? Oh no… Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why?! Why did he have to die?! What if they blame me for this?! Shit. Shit. Shit. My life is over, I’m going to be in prison for the rest of my days! Calm down, calm down. It’s not all that bad. I just need to get my side of the story across. I’m sure they’ll be reasonable, there are plenty of witnesses after-all.
He pulled up his phone and rang up the emergency services, “There’s been an accident at the third intersection along Edgewood Road. The other driver collided with my truck and his bonnet is deeply entangled in my truck’s trailer. I’ve heard no screams or shouts or any sign of movement from inside.”
“Okay, we’re sending a patrol and an ambulance your way. Do not move the truck or leave the scene until they arrive,” the voice on the other end said. Like hell I’ll do that, running away from the scene, do I look like I want to be treated like a murderer?!
He sighed and turned, discovering a hundred-dollar note lying on the ground. Without thinking, he stepped forward to pick it up, but it fluttered away with him pursuing it. Every now and then, a faint giggle echoed out, but he ignored it. Which asshole’s laughing at me?! Whatever. We’ll see who laughs last when I grab this. Ugh. Stop moving, you damn thing.
He jumped around several cars before finally grabbing it, when suddenly an invisible fishing line connecting the note to an empty patch in the sky became visible. He tried tugging on it, but it wouldn’t come loose. Guh, what is this thing?! Let go. Give it to me!
The faint giggling from earlier suddenly exploded into a full-blown hysterical laughter and he jolted back in fear, only to discover that his hand was still gripping the hundred-dollar note. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get hand free of it. Let go! What’s the hell’s going on?!
“Haha, sorry. You humans are so funny to watch sometimes, it reminds me of those cat videos I watched on the internet where they jump up at the toys the humans wave around,” the voice said.
“Who are you?! What do you want?!” Adam screamed and the bystanders gave him a weird look.
“The others can’t hear me, you idiot. Neither can they see the fishing line or the hundred-dollar note,” the voice explained. Have I finally lost it? Am I so terrified of being held liable for that guy’s death that I’m hallucinating?
“No. I’m very much real. More real than you would like, haha,” the voice laughed. The fishing line wrapped around him and plucked him up without the slightest cut. The bystanders started screaming as they saw a man floating into the sky and the police patrols showed up.
“Let me go! What are you doing?! Help!” Adam screamed.
“Not again…” a police officer muttered as Adam vanished into thin air.
-----
Heather lied back in her seat, as she watched one of the in-flight movies. She laughed at the antics of the thieves as they planned the most ridiculous heist imaginable, sneaking around in the ventilation shafts? How could they not come up with something to counter that.
While she was engrossed in that film, several terrified flight attendants rushed past her towards the cockpit. Most of the passengers ignored this, dismissing it as a minor matter, but several paid close attention.
Sitting in a chair behind the dashboard was Jake, a short black-haired pilot in his mid-twenties. Next to him was Matthew, a co-pilot of a similar age. Behind them was Brandon, a middle-aged flight attendant with a muscular build and a long black beard.
“What do you mean, we’re going to crash?” Brandon asked the pilot.
“The fuel gauge has been decreasing far faster than it normally should. I’m afraid there’s a leak, this normally wouldn’t be a problem if we were above land, but do you think we can find an airport in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?” Jake asked.
“Are you saying that we’re all going to die?!” Brandon grabbed and shook the pilot.
“Well, not necessarily, but we’re definitely going to die, if you keep panicking,” Jake said and Brandon released him. He sighed as he looked at the stormy seas. Who am I kidding? Most of us are going die. Do you really think we can keep ourselves afloat in those stormy seas?
“We have about an hour of fuel left, I’ve already contacted air traffic control, and the government will be sending out several rescue helicopters. We just need to hold out for a couple of hours after landing,” Jake explained. Brandon’s face turned pale as he looked at the raging storm outside.
“Do you seriously think we can survive in a storm like that? Can we even get the life boats out in time before sinking? Even an Olympian Swimmer would drown under these conditions,” he screamed.
“I don’t know, but if we’re lucky, the storm will lighten up in an hour, this is the best I can do,” Jake sighed as he turned on the PA system.
“Attention everyone, this is your pilot speaking. The fuel tanks have a leak, and the plane is going to run out of fuel in a little more than hour. We need you back in your seats with your seatbelts fastened when the time comes. Don’t panic, just follow the guidelines from the safety videos, and I’m sure that we’ll survive,” Jake announced.
In the back of the plane in economy class, a man in his late thirties named Frank jerked up in their seats and removed his headset.
Shit, we’re screwed. Haven’t any of you realised? This is a typhoon. The chances of us surviving a crash is slim to none. It will only get worse as time passes. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Frank looked to his side and saw Heather muttering prayers to dozens of different gods. Good luck getting any of them to save us. The gods are nothing more than monsters in angelic garbs. If anything, they will rub salt on our wounds instead. Especially… Him.
He reached down and unclasped a latch revealing a life jacket in a compartment under his seat. I don’t know if this will be enough, but this is all I’ve got. Let’s hope this is enough to weather the storm.
Heather and several other passengers noticed his life jacket and hastily rushed to unclasp their latches. This behaviour spread to more and more passengers until the entire plane was outfitted with life jackets, with the sole exception being the pilot who was staring at the fuel gauge, and arguing with air traffic control on the radio
Shit, they have no solutions to the problem. At this rate, we really will end up in the water. And the weather isn’t lightening up at all. Fucking typhoon, of all the days, why did it have to come today? If it wasn’t for that, most of us would come out alive on the life boats.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Have you tossed out all the luggage?” he asked the co-pilot, Matthew.
“Yes, the flight attendants have already dumped it all in the ocean, that should lighten the load a little, but there’s a limit to how much fuel we can save,” Matthew replied.
“Every little helps, if we can slow down the rate at which this plane sinks, then maybe we can save a few more people than we otherwise would have,” he explained before resuming his staring match with the fuel gauge.
The atmosphere on the plane grew gloomy as the deadline drew ever nearer, some even wet themselves in fear at the thought of their imminent demise, and others welcomed their deaths wishing to reunite with their loved ones.
Jake sighed, and a bead of sweat rolled down his face as he grasped the yoke. He flicked the switch to disable the auto-pilot and assumed full control of the plane. The plane shook violently in the turbulent winds and the passengers started screaming thinking the end had come.
The muscular flight attendant stared out the window, and shut out the sounds of the passengers. I never thought I would die like this, hundreds of flights, everything going perfectly fine. Why now? What god have I angered to end like this? A typhoon? Fuel running out? How likely is that? Why? Why?!
Several passengers instinctively took the brace position the moment the plane began to dip down, and Jake flicked dozens of switches, readying the plane for its final mission. The engines grew silent, and the plane became little more than a glider being shaken by the turbulent winds.
The smell of ammonia wafted through the air, but Jake didn’t have time to reprimand or respond to the flight attendant who just wet himself. Instead, he was concentrating wholeheartedly on keeping the plane’s nose aligned and to land safely.
“I never thought I’d have to ditch in the middle of a typhoon. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” he thought as he barely kept control over the plane in the turbulent winds.
“40 thousand feet. 35 thousand feet. 30 thousand feet,” a bead of sweat dripped off his face, when he was suddenly thrown to the side as the plane rolled to the right, only to be held in place by his seatbelt, and the flight attendant let out an inhuman howl.
“Fuck. The winds are only getting stronger as I descend,” Jake cursed, barely managing to get the plane under control.
“O Lord, save us from this tribulation,” the flight attendant screamed, as he bounced around in his seat, barely held in place by his seatbelt.
“Would you keep it down over there? I’m trying to fly the fucking plane here,” the pilot shouted, but the flight attendant ignored him and started praying to a dozen different gods.
“If we survive this, I’m going to beat the living crap out of that retard,” Jake thought as the waves came into view. He gulped as he pushed in the yoke.
“This is it,” he thought as he accepted his incoming death, when suddenly, a loud hiss came out of the PA system.
“Ah, okay. I got it working. Hello humans. This is Anarak, your favourite god speaking. I’m afraid to inform you that your express flight to the afterlife has been cancelled. Please stop praying to ninety different gods, half of which don’t even exist, and screaming like babies. Good grief.” a childish voice rang out of the PA system, just as the plane hit the water.
Jake looked out the window and saw a strange dark vortex below, consuming the plane like quicksand. Strange faces appeared outside licking their lips, but in the end breaking up and returning to the darkness. What the hell are those things?!
“Please ignore the dimension eaters. They’re completely harmless. Well, most of the time,” Anarak’s voice rang out and a chill went down Jake’s back.
He didn’t have time to think further when a bright light broke up the dark world revealing a vast green field with a beautiful blue sky, and a long runway. At the end of the runway was a young child hovering above the ground wearing a long black robe.
The child smirked and waved his hand. Jake felt his surroundings distort and twist before finding himself on a boundless field with tens of thousands of familiar and unfamiliar people around. This isn’t the plane. Where am I?
“Where are we? What’s going on?” they asked. Hell if I know, all I know is that it has something to do with that god… Anarak.
A short distance away from him, a man in his early twenties named Andrew slowly opened his eyes, and turned to look at the time, but he couldn’t find the clock, or anything in his room for that matter. Instead, he found several hundred people around him.
A trembling man behind a podium, a naked man who was transported during sex, and even people with horns and halos. In the distance, he could even see a commercial airliner and a football stadium. What on earth? Angels and demons? Planes? Stadiums? What the hell is going on here?!
“Ahem. Would you mind putting some clothes on?” a ten-year-old child asked, breaking the naked man out of his daze. He looked around, saw the people staring at him and turned red.
“What the fuck!?” he screamed. The kid chuckled and waved his hand before a set of robes materialised. That was when Andrew looked down at the kid’s feet and realised something. H-His feet aren’t on the ground?!
“Okay. That should be everyone. I am the Rae Lord Anarak. I’m kinda like a god. I can create and destroy universes at will, control time and space, all that fun stuff. I don’t like getting lumped in with normal gods, because well… They’re kind of weak,” the kid laughed.
“You’re probably wondering why someone as powerful as me summoned you here, right? That’s simple. We need you guys to beta test a world for us. The physical laws are mostly stable, but we want to make sure that everything is balanced properly. We can’t have anything getting in the way of the Great Game.” Anarak explained.
“Anarak!” Andrew interrupted him.
“Hm?” Anarak said.
“You’re the one who took my parents, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Your parents? I have no clue, lemme see,” Anarak said and he felt someone rummaging through the deepest depths of his mind, as if his deepest secrets were being laid bare to him. Get out of my head!
“Ah, those two. Yeah, I did summon them before,” Anarak said. You bastard. So, it was you after-all.
“Calm down, princess. They’re alive. Who knows for how much longer though,” Anarak’s laugh echoed inside his head. Ugh, I hate this kid. Are all the gods like this?
“Only half of them,” Anarak smirked. Stop reading my mind!
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to make you work for free, well not completely. For those who do well, we have some special prizes in mind, especially for the gods among us,” Anarak glanced at the people with haloes in the crowd.
“For the gods among us, we will start you on a much, much harder difficulty, how could we possibly lump you in with the mortals? But, the rewards will be far grander. You will even have the chance to become a high god, and gain control of time, space, or fate. Everything you’ve been dreaming about since you ascended,” Anarak said.
“Don’t think I don’t know about you. Rae Lord Anarak. One of Din’s Seven Kings. And the Fiction Terror. You like creating worlds from fiction for your own amusement,” a red-haired man with a red halo floating above his head shouted.
“Oh, you know about me? I see, Driima must be gossiping about me. That annoying guy. So… What are you planning to do about it?” Anarak replied.
“I’m not going along with your games!” the haloed man shouted.
“Well. Mr. Franra. Minor God of Fire. I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, don’t worry though, your sacrifice is all for the greater good, and who knows, maybe you’ll survive,” Anarak said.
“Greater good my ass,” Franra said as he conjured up a sea of flames in the sky.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I was you. Good grief, I’m surrounded by idiots.” Anarak said and waved his hand making the sea vanish.
“W-what?! What did you do?!” Franra shouted.
“Nothing big. I simply changed the laws of physics, so your domain abilities no longer work. As much as I’d love to show you what a real domain is, I can’t be killing the people I spent so much time gathering. I’ll restore your powers in time for the great game,” Anarak smirked.
“Rae lords… What monsters…” Franra sighed as he summoned a crimson sword.
A sonic boom echoed out, and thousands of people clutched their ears as Franra shot towards Anarak at a speed far exceeding the speed of sound.
“Anarak!” he screamed.
Anarak laughed, as Franra slammed into an invisible wall, and furiously struck it with his sword.
“Damn. This. Wall.” Franra shouted. Anarak smirked, as he conjured up a black sphere and put his hand through it. Another black sphere appeared before Franra’s face, a hand emerged and slapped hard leaving a red mark.
“Fucking hell, Anarak. Stop hiding behind that damned invisible wall and fight me,” Franra screamed.
“This is… too good… I should do this more often…” Anarak mumbled as he rolled on the ground laughing.
“Nah, that would be too easy, not to mention, boring. This way is far more interesting,” Anarak said as he got up. He waved his hand and a powerful gust of wind swept up Franra sending him flying.
“Damn you!” Franra screamed as he shot into the distance, while an old man started jumping up and down in excitement.
“W-Was that a… Wormhole…? They really do exist… Just wait until the folks back at the lab hear this... This will change everything…” he shouted and Anarak smirked before saying, “Indeed, wormholes do exist. But, that doesn’t mean your gibberish is right.”
“What?!” the old man shouted.
“Oh, nothing important, I’m just saying that you’re pretty clueless about… Well. Everything.” Anarak’s smile grew wider.
“General relativity?” the old man asked.
“Complete nonsense. Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Anarak smirked.
“Quantum mechanics,” the old man’s face turned pale and began to back away.
“Nooope,” Anarak laughed.
“S-String t-theory…?” the old man squeaked and Anarak laughed.
“Nope,” Anarak said and the old man collapsed onto his knees.
“Im-Impossible… This is simply… Impossible… Everything… Is… Wrong…? I’ve spent all these years living in a delusion…?” he muttered.
“Quit torturing that poor scientist, he can’t take this, not even Einstein could,” a voice rang out from the sky, and a man of mist descended.
“Einstein deserved it, that guy kept babbling nonsense about the universe. The only part he got right was about me being an alien. Why are you here anyway, Driima?” Anarak asked.
“The usual. I need to make sure you aren’t toying with mortals and forgetting your duties. I swear you’re worse than Ragnarok sometimes,” Driima said.
“Don’t compare me to Ragnarok, you don’t see me flying around transforming normal worlds into silly little fantasy game worlds,” Anarak pouted.
“Well, it’s not too different from what you usually do,” Driima shrugged.
“Tch…” Anarak clicked his tongue and turned to the crowd.
“Let Franra be an example to anyone who takes the trials to come lightly. A god? So, what. Gods are little more than bugs in the vast cosmos. Hah, you think your bigshots? Celestial powerhouses? What nonsense. Throw away those thoughts before you get yourselves killed!
And you, the humans. Yes, you guys.
Your universe is not the entirety of all existence. It’s merely one of many in the Great Rae, that is to say, the multiverse. Some universes have completely different laws than yours.
At this very instant, the pocket dimension you’re in is shuttling through the multiverse at a speed beyond your wildest dreams. Even your so called supreme gods would spend hundreds of years travelling the same distance.
This is all to deliver you to your final destination, no not that final destination, you nimrods. Not that you won’t end up there, if you aren’t careful.
The place you’re going to is a world with a completely set of laws than your own, it might be difficult for you to adapt right away, but I’m confident you’ll be able to do so.
If you want to survive, you will have to be extremely cautious. There are dangers you can’t begin to imagine in the world you’re going to. One wrong step could lead to death. Okay? Good,” Anarak explained.
“Anarak,” Jake said.
“Hm?” he asked.
“Will you ever let us go back to Earth?” Jake asked.
“Perhaps, I won’t make any promises, but it’s a possibility. But, you will have to survive first. And even if you make it back, you might find that your world has completely changed, beyond your wildest dreams,” Anarak smirked and a shiver went down everyone’s back. He wouldn’t... That bastard…
“Hey, hey. Chill with the profanity. I’m not all bad you know,” Anarak smirked. This guy…
“Anyway, that’s enough talk. It’s time. We’re going to be transferring you now. Good luck in your adventures. And try not to die,” Anarak said with a strange expression on his face, his eyes stopping on a few people for a moment before waving his hand.
The earth trembled and everything grew blurry once more as the world faded away.