The history of this fantasy planet was a weird one. According to Martha Brown, it all started with: "Why isn’t there magic?

These are the first words recorded in history, spoken by our God Loki after exploring countless worlds.” Martha wrote his name into the dirt with capital letters and attention to details.

“Following this sentence, the God visited a nearby planet and imbued it with magic. Countless creatures perished unable to withstand Loki’s gift. Out of 25 intelligent species, only five managed to use it without... side effects.”

“And the rest?” asked Finn. Martha paused for a bit and closed her eyes.

“Some species die as soon as they make contact with magic. Some are immune, and a few individuals can bend it to their will. Unfortunately, other species suffer mutations.

Their bodies and minds become twisted and unrecognizable. They’re in constant pain and seek salvation through destruction, but since no creature can easily take its own life, they take out their anger on those who are still sane.”

“Wouldn’t intelligence help with keeping these feelings in check?” asked Finn.

“No, it would not. Intelligence just makes everything worse.”

[Back to the present]

The war between the cat-faced monkeys and the horned spiders laid waste to a portion of the forest the size of a football field. Their war and death cries could be heard for miles, and a cloud of dust rose so high into the sky you’d think a volcano was erupting.

“Why are we hiding?” John John complained. Not only had Finn told them to stay low, but they retreated more than 300 feet before doing so.

“Trust Finn,” said Tommy. “You’re new to this, so you just...”

“Just shut the hell up,” Michael completed his sentence. One look at John John was enough to get the message across.

Tommy shook his head. Infighting within the team had to be avoided at all costs. It was Mr. Griffin’s 3rd big rule, and the kids still had nightmares of the punishment from that one time they broke it.

“What’s coming?” Natalie crawled closer. “You know something, don’t you?”

Finn shook his head. “It’s a hunch, hopefully nothing.”

“I can feel it too,” said Annie. These words sent a shiver down everyone's spines.

Finn’s predictions were notoriously wrong more than 60 percent of the time. However, whenever they did turn out right, they saved everyone’s butts, so it was better to trust him.

Annie, on the other hand, rarely shared her thoughts and opinions. But, when she did, it was like the oracle had spoken: You listened or else.

Suddenly, something huge smashed into the ground.

‘A meteor?’ Finn checked out the sky but saw nothing. The earth trembled underneath his feet as if a bomb went off. Several trees collapsed all around them, and Michael had to roll for his life, so he wouldn’t get squashed.

“What the hell is that?” Natalie looked pale. Her eyes were better than most, so she saw it first.

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It was a bat, a four-winged flying rodent the size of a two-story house. It had protruding fangs the size of Annie’s body, and two dozen tentacles were attached to its back. At the end of each one was a razor-sharp claw which the creature used to clear the entire football field within seconds.

Out of the 30 or so monsters still fighting when it landed, not one was left standing by the time Natalie saw it.

“We’re not fighting that, are we?” asked John John.

“No.” For once, Michael agreed. “No way in hell. Finn, we need a freaking army to take that thing on.”

“Yes,” Finn nodded. “We’ll retreat. Slowly.”

If Mr. Griffin wanted to fail them for running away, then he was free to fight it himself. It was their tenth and final mission into the woods near Shallow Creek. They had to bring back some rare flower that only bloomed during January, but Finn was so scared he couldn’t even remember its name.

“Careful,” whispered Tommy. “It’s a bat, so its ears are...”

Suddenly, John John stepped on a branch, and everyone went stiff. Crack went the wood as if it was their own bones breaking. Fortunately, the tentacle bat was too busy sucking the captured monsters’ blood to notice.

“Careful, damn it,” Natalie hissed.

With beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks, John John nodded and removed his foot. The branch cracked once more upon removal.

“Calm down,” said Tommy. Large beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead. “We’re safe. We’ll definitely make it.”

Just as he finished that second sentence, a spear-like leg pierced through his back. A giant spider had appeared out of nowhere. It pulled Tommy’s body into the air and bit off his head along with half of his torso.

“No!” Michael growled and jumped at the monster’s throat. Finn and Natalie let out unintelligible screams while chopping off the spider’s legs.

Annie, on the other hand, stood still. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She did not want to believe it.

The bat creature had heard them. It stuck its tentacles into the ground and launched itself like out of a slingshot towards them. To Annie, it all felt like a dream.

“A nightmare,” she whispered.

[...???....Err@#???#@#$%...???]

Suddenly, John John stepped on a branch, and everyone went stiff. Crack went the wood, but fortunately, the tentacle bat was too busy sucking the captured monsters dry to notice.

'What?' Annie's eyes went wide and she turned her head towards the back.

“Careful, damn it,” Natalie hissed.

'How?'

“Calm down,” said Tommy. “We’re safe. We’ll...”

“Behind you!!” Annie screamed and everyone turned. The giant horned spider released its leg only for Tommy to cut it midair.

“This bastard,” Michael attacked.

“Run!” Finn shouted. ‘There’s no time for this.’ “Run before the bat gets here!”

One second, they were dodging the spider, and in the next, the spider was gone. One swipe from one of the bat’s tentacles was enough to erase it from existence. All that remained were seven dangling legs and an 8th which Tommy had chopped.

Time moved in slow motion. Everyone raised their weapons even though it was pointless. The bat twisted its neck trying to pick its next target.

Annie crumbled to her knees while clutching her head and screaming.

“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream!”

The bat heard and sent its tentacles towards her at such ridiculous speed it broke the sound barrier. Finn could barely rotate his pupils in time to see it. One second, a tentacle came to an inch away from Annie’s forehead, and in the next it was gone.

Something hit the bat so hard it flew through 50 trees and kept going. A droplet of blood poured down Annie’s forehead from where the tentacle had grazed her skin. The girl tasted the blood, started shaking, and lifted her eyes.

“The mission is annulled.”

It was an unmistakable figure, a clean-shaven old man. Some of his hair had fallen off over the years, and what remained was white. He kept a hand on his lower back to support it, while the other rested on his hilt. He was Griffin of the molten blade, and he had come to help.

[ Name: Griffin.

Last name: ???

Title: Swordsman of the molten blade.

Age: 69

Abilities: ???

Debuff: Old age.

Achievements: ???

Comments: Shit. What?] ??? [Come on!] ??? [Mother fu#@$] ???

"Damn it!" A young man with a long twirling mustache grabbed his laptop and threw it into the void of space. He was sitting behind a desk and was shaking it while contorting his face.

"Mark, you better cut it out... Asshole!"

Like a pissed off nerd who lost his admin rights, God grabbed the desk and threw it after the laptop. The two happily reunited and peacefully drifted towards the rings of Saturn.

Left alone in the vastness of space, God redirected his meteor towards Earth, towards Ikea to be exact, for he needed to shop.