"Well... You got time to catch your match." Blank-head commented as he turned to walk into the void.
"I don't think I'm going to watch it," Candle-light replied while thinking.
The other demon-things paused in their steps. It was widely known that Candle-light loved watching the games, and even the games where his idea to begin within the first place.
Dim-Skull couldn't help but ask... "Why not?" It was his prized piece that was going to the finals in his bracket.
"I have a new piece to hold my attention. I can't wait to see what he does. It's like what mortals use to call ant-farms." Candle-light spoke with some excitement.
"Well... I hope this one can stand the test of time. So many of these gifted Horrormancers die early on..." Blank-head said with some dissatisfaction... Many of his pieces faired the same fate.
"Oh, that reminds me... Faceless-teeth, remind me to reward your piece for recommending him to Us. If he didn't recommend him to you to Us, he would have been drafted as a pawn... What a waste." Candle-light mulled over his words.
"What do you want me to tell him?"
"Hmmmm... Tell him I will grant him one low-level wish, and I will grant you five resources of your choice from my collection at your whim."
"No problem!" Faceless-teeth was quite ecstatic over Candle-light's generosity, as he had a lot of good stuff, things that this Omniverse didn't even have yet.
There was one demon-thing that was highly annoyed over this exchange and the new piece... When he went back to his dwelling, there would be many under this demon-thing at his call that would be more than happy to see Kendrick die a dog's death.
The five vanished into the void.
*****
Kendrick dreamed... He dreamed of the last day that led to this dreadful but fateful encounter...
He had finished his work at his retail store. He had just got off in the late hours of the night. Even though he was a manager as well, he was one rank below, as an unloading manager that overseen the unloading of the merchandise from the trucks.
His store manager had just got done chewing on him, berating him that he and his team were not unloading the trucks fast enough. In Kendrick's opinion, he could never unload them fast as they wanted... They wanted them unloaded before they ever got to the story! This was just his manager being an asshole, and throwing his would be weight around. Kendrick took it though, he was afraid of losing his job.
Kendrick left the store and stood outside for a few minutes. Kendrick was of average height for a guy, though he wished he could be a bit taller. He had short dark hair and a slightly handsome face. Kendrick had a face that if you took a quick glance, you wouldn't say he was handsome or good looking, but if you took time to really look at him, he would look more appealing to the eye. He was often dismissed early by those of the opposite sex because of this. With his anxiety issues, getting a girlfriend was difficult for him. At least he wasn't a virgin he kept telling himself, now that he was twenty-seven this year, and kept a record of a nine-year streak of being single.
Kendrick had a slightly overweight build, but a person wouldn't say he was fat in a shirt. If he pulled off his shirt, then one could tell. This had always made him feel slightly ill at ease and was a leading factor in his lack of confidence. He had tried to work out many times throughout his life, but his immunity was garbage. He had the kind of immunity that, even with a flu shot, he got the flu every year. Working at a retail store didn't help him, in this case either.
Still angry with his manager, Kendrick left the store... Pissed that he didn't say anything back to the manager, but he knew it wouldn't be a good outcome if he had. He drove home in the darkness.
Kendrick had invested a lot of money in his vehicle. He had added many aftermarket safety mechanisms in the Vehicle to make it more durable upon impact and safer in case of impact. He also installed the most powerful high beams the law allowed for his Vehicle. This had caused him to be pulled once or twice, but it was worth it. He could put the high beams on at night, and see far ahead of him in the dark. As the high beams also allowed him to see the top of many buildings and trees as he drove passed, much to the dismay of many residents of his area.
It was during this drive that plunged his life into chaos. Even with his high beams dispelling the darkness, Kendrick still slammed into what he thought was a large animal.
Many of his safety devices went into full effect. Thanks to this, Kendrick only had serious rub burns on his right and left forearms from the airbag deployment, maybe a slight ache in his neck. He stared out of his Vehicle to see what he had hit. One of his headlights still worked, but he could see that the front of his Vehicle was all trashed, totaled. The engine even released from the Vehicle, per a safety device.
In the light of the high beams, Kendrick could see a large creature the size of a big bear, lying in the road. He watched to his horror, as this creature stood back up on all fours, with its organs hanging out of its body. He then noticed this bear-like creature had scorpion arm and claws on its right and left body with a scorpion tail. It was like a bear and a scorpion got mixed together.
He thought to himself, [WHAT IS THIS THING!?!] He started to fumble in his pocket to pull out his phone. He needed to call the police, animal control, and maybe get them to send the army... He was sure this wasn't some normal animal... Maybe it was one of those government test animals... [Shit! I've seen too much! The government is going to silence me!!!]
At this point, as he was debating on dialing the phone or not, another creature attacked this scorpion-bear thing. Kendrick stared as he watched this new animal tear it into pieces. This new animal looked like a giant bat with arms... After the Armed-Bat flew away, it quickly returned in a few breaths with the body of a human, as it tossed it beside the tore up Bear-scorpion.
Out of the darkness, he walked a young man. He came up to the body and used a device on the body. After a moment, he took out a vial, and sprinkled it on both the creature and the human body, as it rapidly dissolved into nothing, not even the blood on the pavement was spared.
Kendrick wanted to comment on what was going on... He really wanted to call for help, but this was definitely the government! How was he going to get through this situation? While his mind was wracked with fear, just as his Vehicle was wrecked, the young man looked up to see Kendrick.
A few moments passed while this young man stared him down, the Armed-bat shuffled in the background making a few screeching sounds.
"Hey-oh! I should thank you!" The young man called out.
"....." Kendrick had no way to react to this.
The Young man walked over to the driver's side car door. He opened the door, slightly tearing it off the hinges. Kendrick was unsure if he was super strong, or the door was destroyed in the impact.
"There you are... I thought I sensed some talent." The young man squatted down to talk to Kendrick.
"My name's Yang Chi. What's yours?"
"Ah... Ah... Kendrick?"
"I don't know if it's Kendrick... Good name though, is that your clan name or just your only name?"
"Clan name... I mean it's my first name. I'm Kendrick Cain... Can I ask what's going on here, and are you going to kill me?"
"What? Nah... If you were just another person... Yeah, I'd have to kill ya, but you seem to be talented! I have a very good sense about these things."
Now, the Armed-bat shuffled near the car to look down with its huge face into the busted windshield of Kendrick's car.
"Ah... You, ah... You don't mind if I ask what is that thing?" Kendrick made motions with his head, as he tried to indicate the direction of 'that thing.'
"Oh... This is my nightmare. I call him Batsy... I'm not real good with nicknames." Chi Yang smiled.
"Ni..Nightmare?"
"Yeah, but that's beside the point. I can tell you're a hard-working person, right?"
"Ye-yeah..."
"Take a lot of shit from your bosses, huh?"
"Your point?"
"Can't get a leg up, yeah?"
"Not really, What's this about?"
"How would you like to get everything you ever wanted?"
"Everything I ever wanted?"
"Yeah... Like me, I have a wife, a great place to live, all the best foods, and I can own anything I want. I'm currently working on my retirement. What about you?"
"I, Uh... play video games..."
"Huh?"
"It's what I do."
"I thought you worked on cars." Chi yang looked at the smashed Vehicle, shaking his head.
"Well in my spare time, but that's only to make them safer."
"Afraid to die?"
"Aren't we all?" Kendrick asked questioningly.
"Some more than others... Do you want to be like me?"
"With the bat monster?"
"Well, it's something that comes with the job. Think about it... Anything you want! With or without reason! My wife was a princess, but now she doesn't have to be a princess anymore she just needs to be my wife... Or you can get yourself a husband if that's your thing, as many as you want!"
"What, no! I like chicks!"
"Then get a boatload of women then! Become a tyrant of a world! Make your former bosses your slaves! Or bring world peace to this dust ball... Whatever you want!"
"Can I become fearless?"
Chi Yang shook his head, "No. Unless you lose your mind. No one can become completely fearless, but you can become desensitized! I mean I'm rocking a bat monster, as you call it. It doesn't bother me..." and under Chi yang's breath he muttered, "...at the moment."
"What do I do?"
It would be a lie if Kendrick wasn't tempted.
"So you don't want lots of women, money, power, and fame?"
"What? No... Who doesn't want those things?!"
Chi yang stood up, as he looked down at Kendrick in his seated position, "Then say it... Say what you want!"
"I want everything! I want women, wealth, fame, and lots of power!"
"Then what are you going to give in return?" Chi Yang said ominously...
"Everything?" Kendrick asked he had seen this in a game once... Did he have to drink demon blood, as well?
"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH! I SAID WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE IN RETURN!"
Startled, Kendrick blurted out, "EVERYTHING!"
"Good, good, very good!" Chi Yang nodded his head a few times.
Chi Yang spoke some weird guttural words, that didn't really sound like words but more like the chatter of countless teeth. Kendrick didn't know a human voice could sound like this.
It was only for a few seconds, but when Chi Yang finished, a black ink blob formed in his right hand, and oozed between his fingers. The most horrifying aspect of this ooze was that a few tiny mouths formed in inky blackness, and smiled at Kendrick.
"What the fuck is that thing!" This was scarier than the bat monster, and Kendrick already felt like he had to use the restroom when he saw the bear-scorpion.
"This thing will get you to where you want to be to get everything you want! I have already set everything up..."
The Chattering ink blob sprang from Chi yang's hand and enveloped the screaming Kendrick. As he tossed and turned, trying to tear away the blob that was taking over him, it had fully engulfed him. His movements started to still, as the blob began to shrink at a rapid rate until he disappeared in a small sound.
"Tch."
[Lord Faceless-teeth will reward me greatly, for this one. I've never seen such a talent for being a Horrormancer in all my life!] Chi Yang was really patting himself on the back for this one.
[I need to get back to base to get patched up... Emergency meds only work for so long...] Chi Yang muttered another few incomprehensible words, and a black mass like door appeared a few steps away from him. The bat monster, "Batsy," turned into a black light that flew into the head of Chi Yang. As Chi yang turned to walk into the black mass doorway, with the high beams of the Vehicle on his back, one could see a massive hole in the middle of his back, and if one looked close enough they could just barely see his spine being held together with a black inking substance, with exposed rib bones.
He walked into the black doorway, not bothering to attempt to open it, and disappeared from view, and soon the door too fell into a puddle of blank ink and evaporated.
The only thing left behind was Kendrick's wrecked car.