Sam sighed as he stared listlessly out of the window of his beat up car. He had experienced this so many times over the last few years, a feeling of hopelessness and complete ennui. He couldn’t even bring himself to blame the things that were truly at fault here, his refusal to do anything about it, and his complete lack of self confidence. He banged his fist down on the car door, but his heart wasn’t really in it. Sam withdrew his fist, examining it as he did so and opened the car door.
“Well, I might as well get to it sooner rather than later,” he said as he looked at the door of Ron’s Diner. He had worked there for far too many years, although any amount of time in that establishment, whether as a customer or a worker, was probably too much. It was a run down establishment, one with few staff and even fewer customers. A realm of dancing grease fires and sweat soaked uniforms, it was perhaps the worst place to work in the entire city. The eponymous Ron slammed the door open and he stormed out of the building.
“Sam! What the hell do you think you’re doing? The lunch time rush is going to be coming soon!” Sam seriously doubted that there would even be any customers, let alone a rush, but he still got out of his car promptly. It was best not to test the man. Short and stocky, Ron possessed a fiery temper that all too frequently was directed towards his employees.
He traipsed up the stairs and into the building, feeling the hot glare of Ron on his back. Sara was already in the shop, and she tended to a hot plate that was loaded with the day's selection of coffee cake and other sweet treats. The sign above it professed that they were entirely homemade, but Sam knew, as well as every other employee, that they were really from the supermarket up the road. How on Earth he had ended up here, Sam couldn’t fathom. His life had turned into a complete shambles after the incident.
Before he could start thinking about that dark day again, the ground shook. Ron screamed, a high pitched noise that was very at odds with his normal demeanor.
“What in the name of God was that?” The man exclaimed as he ducked under a table.
“Ah yes, save yourself before you even think of us, of course,” Sam thought bitterly as he helped Sara under one of the larger tables. They crouched there in silence for a few minutes before the world was rocked by an even stronger quake. Sara let out a whimper as she shook in tandem with the quake. Sam couldn’t care less to be honest, if he was going to go out, then this was as good a way as any. He laid a comforting hand on Sara’s shoulder, but he was already out of it. An incandescent light shone through the windows of the dingy establishment and a third and far stronger earthquake started. Sam, along with the entire building, rocketed up into the air, and as he started to lose consciousness, he saw something impossible. A massive gray head filled the entire horizon as far as Sam could see. Even though it completely blocked out the Sun, it seemed to exude a bright light, perhaps the source of the earlier flare. Sam stared into it fearlessly as he waited for death to claim him.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He came to slowly, his hands wavering in and out of his vision as he waved them limply. He was standing on something smooth and solid and as he saw what it was, he nearly had a heart attack. He was suspended in the middle of a vast and never ending darkness which was studded with balls that shone with every color of the rainbow and some more besides. He could feel the watching eyes of something coming from behind him and he turned, afraid of what he was going to see.
A man stood there, but not a normal man. His skin was completely gray and his eyes were a smoky black color that caught Sam in its endless depths. He shook his head to force himself to break eye contact. The figure just stood there vacantly, as if it was a robot bereft of any sort of programming. He examined it for a few minutes and realized with a start that it was the owner of the gray head that he had seen right before he was transported to wherever this was. If he was dead, this sure didn’t look or feel like the afterlife. Maybe there was something wrong with his car exhaust pipe and he had inhaled too much gas. Yes, that was probably it. He was high on carbon monoxide or some other engine product. Soon, he would wake up, maybe in a hospital room somewhere, and everything would be alright. He could almost imagine this as he closed his eyes. He opened them once more, only to see the black eyes of the figure staring back.
“Ah! God damn it!” He said as he backpedaled.
“Curious. You are the only one I have seen so far that could resist my presence. Your innate mental fortitude must be quite high, even to withstand the pressure of this lowly form.” The man paced around Sam and stared at him. If Sam was not a realist then he would have said that the man was looking into his very soul.
“Eh, who cares. Let’s get on with the announcement.” The figure stopped for a moment, as if glitching, and then started to speak. It was the same voice, but it seemed to lack any sort of life as if it was a prerecorded message.
“I’m sure that you’re all wondering where you are right now. The multiversal records that I bought said that you denizens of this universe are highly intelligent. Good, the last one was no fun. Flying rocks only have so much space for brain matter.” The man coughed once and then continued. “Ahem. That is not why I am here. I am Tantalos Veruvax, the new ruler of this universe. I want to tell you all something before the fun stuff starts.” He leaned in and smiled a wide, shark toothed grin at Sam. “You are mine.” He said this without a hint of emotion in his tone, somehow making the simple declaration much more sinister. “You have 100 years to prepare and then the first of my true minions are coming. That might seem like a lot to you mortals, but the truth is, that is nothing. Even if you had ten thousand years, it would not make an iota of difference. I am an Ascendant, and you are mere mortals. Enjoy your time when it lasts. The System will explain the rest. Besides, I am but one of the things that you must worry about. And as for my unexpected conversation partner, I expect a lot of entertainment from you.” The last sentence was spoken with the normal voice of the man and Sam knew that it was directed solely at him. Tantalos disappeared and Sam was falling, falling down what seemed to be an infinite distance.