Everyone watched the black screen warily, afraid something might come out and scare them, until the tower started rumbling again with even more force. Another roar that seemed to come from some ancient creature shook everything and if there was furniture, they would be all toppled by now.
The oscillations were so strong that everyone temporarily lost their hearing, as if a gun had shot off right next to their ear. They all kneeled, for whatever reason, as they clutched their ears tightly in unison. Well, Shirley's ears are on the inside but you get the idea; that shit was loud!
As the roar kept ringing within everyone's skulls, the screen lit up again, attracting not only their attention but also their ire—Bob was the most furious and of course he would be. The screen once again was filled with a depiction of a planet, yet something seemed off this time.
They all came closer to get a closer look, their faces were all scrunched up against each other, giving them pucker faces. In and around the planet's northern and southern holes, the fabric of space appeared distorted or warped. Well, neither of those is the most accurate. Rather, it appeared to stretch.
Suddenly, as everyone was trying to figure out the significance of it, the roar stopped. Then, from a point in space around the planet, a golden light shone like a star. It grew bigger and bigger until it seemed to take form.
It was… a snout. It was scaled and there were pits on the sides and nostrils in the front. Then, from under the nose, a long tongue several thousand miles long slicked in and out. It was forked and red in color.
The snout also grew bigger and bigger until an entire face was in view of the screen. It jumpscared everyone, who had all their faces just inches from the screen, as the process occured to quickly for them to digest. They all fell backwards and felt a sudden pressure for them to kneel—they couldn't resist and did as such.
After all, what they were looking at was the face of a golden serpent. And it wasn't just any golden serpent, it was the face of the golden serpent!
The whole body then seemed to slither out from an unknown hole in space as it wasn't there one second then completely there the next. Its body, as said, is completely golden and it had an iridescent sheen on top as well. It appeared pretty prototypical of a snake besides its size and golden luster, but something else was indeed off… or on.
On its head was a mask that was made of a singular bone, which was in pristine condition and completely white in color. The mask was covering the topside just until the nostrils where it ended in a point. It had holes for the eyes that were golden. The bone mask had rigid angles and the back side ended in a little nub. The whole thing was fused to the head, like it was part of the skull itself.
The serpent then seemed to stare at the screen for a bit, or rather, the person behind it, before suddenly opening its mouth and unrolling its gigantic tongue. It stretched across space as it acted as a bridge from the serpent to the planet. And when it fully reached out and touched the surface, a figure walked out from the serpent's gaping mouth.
The figure wore a purple silk robe, which had a white fur collar and cuffs splotched with black spots. And underneath this robe, he wore… huh. Umm, it appears to be nothing. Yup, that's his schlong, I can see it, okay; let me just wash my eyes with bleach real quick.
Okay, there was more I promise, just let me check real quick. Hmm, yup, alright. There was indeed something else he wore. It was on his head and it was quite strange. It was a flat ring—red and with magma seemingly flowing from it continuously without going anywhere. It had four prongs which each held a red ruby embedded within and the magma would flow from the gaps between them.
Hmm, it indeed had a strange yet awe-inspiring appearance, but I'm sure there is a name for it. Oh right, it was a crown! A literal, true-blue (or red in this case) crown! And it wasn't those shabby things that were made of metal and held no other significance than to act arrogant and wave fingers.
He also had volcanic-red hair and eyebrows, with no facial hair. His skin was very tanned, like the kind golden brown you expect to see after a nice bake in the oven. His face was slightly round with high cheekbones and a bulbous nose. His eyes were the most normal thing about him; they were a nice hazel which, while more common, still had a charm unique to them.
And now, this strangely half-naked, crowned, person was simply strolling towards the planet on the tongue barefoot. Each step was slippery and made squelching sounds because of the river-like saliva.
Luckily, they couldn't see he was naked, otherwise his regal image would be destroyed instantly. Worse yet, they had to watch this cutscene of some dude walking for like five minutes; and guess what, there was no skip button!
Luckily, while they don't have a skip button, we do.
…
There. Right, now where are we? Yes, ok; the Northern pit. After the little walking sequence, the person then jumped into the hole and… that was it.
It was a hole, a deep one. A very deep one. We're talking several hundred kilometers deep, to the point the planet's lower mantle was peeking through some of the rocks, magma flowing from some cracks. Other than the light emitted from the sheer heat of the molten elements, all else was covered in darkness.
Then… splat. Sprawled on the floor like a pancake, the person actually appeared to be unharmed. After all, he was actually going past the speed of sound and his body hit the dense rock head first
He didn't even use any soul powers to achieve that. And so, with a seemingly terrifying body, he slowly got up and looked at the ground around him.
All throughout the hole, the diameter of a hundred miles stayed the same. And in the center of this hundred mile-wide circle was a strange structure.
The structure was made of seven silver rings. The first ring was serrated with teeth spinning clockwise. The second ring, at the same height, was inside the first ring and also had teeth. It spun counterclockwise. They form the first layer.
The second layer was above the first by about a meter. While the first outer ring was about three meters in diameter (and the inner being two meters), the second outer ring was two meters in diameter followed by the inner ring being one meter. Not only that, but it was spinning counterclockwise first then clockwise second. They also had curved teeth, and in fact, they all did.
The third outer ring was a meter in diameter while the inner ring was only half a meter instead. They followed the first layer's orientation and they were above the second layer by about three meters.
At the very top was another ring, but this one was instead golden and did not have teeth. It was also the smallest, being around only about a third of a meter in diameter. It spun clockwise at about five meters above the third layer.
They all spun at varying speeds, with the first layer being the fastest, and the third layer being the slowest.
The whole thing was mostly separated from the world by a golden glass that enclosed it except for the hole at the top. The glass-like exterior was shaped like a funnel with its mouth facing upwards, which was the exact opposite layout of the rings.
A silver cone was laid on top of the funnel and was connected to the topmost ring, having golden gears of varying sizes placed on top. Lastly, flat, cylindrical golden pipes ran up from the hard ground and were connected to the funnel through sizable slots. On the glass was a flat black rectangle.
The whole structure was unlike anything seen so far—it didn't even make a sound. And on that note, to show just how strange it actually was, they all began feeling a sense of not just fear, but also anger towards this contraption.
The group, the crowned figure, and even the golden serpent all felt a fight or flight response when in its presence. It was like their instincts were awakened after being confronted by a potential predator.
The group, with dilated pupils and quickened breaths, then watched as the crowned figure calmed himself down before kneeling one knee as he looked at the ground.
"It's been so long since your transformation, and yet, you still haven't awakened. We need to speed things up a bit, and I'll be needing your help. It's going to be tough times ahead and no one has the time to take care of them."
"Don't worry, I'll leave behind a set of runes to give them a leg up. And…" At that point, the figure's face scrunched up like he was remembering something awful.
"And I'll leave behind my one and only possession. I'm leaving behind my legacy—" and he murmured afterward, "just in case…"
He then smiled kind of pitifully as he continued.
"You—you have to have to find me a good inheritor, alright?"
He patted the ground and rubbed it like it was a pet as he… talked to it? Or maybe he was talking to something beneath the ground? Maybe both?
"Now… WAKE UP FOR ME!"
And so, as the cutscene was finishing, the group watched as he suddenly raised his hand before slamming it on the ground.
Yet, when he slammed the ground with his palm, the planet in the game started shaking heavily, and they were stupefied as they felt the same thing outside!
Oh no!