In the infinite void of creation, a world emerged thanks to the hands of the gods, gods who then abandoned the world they created. Abandoned like garbage, without anyone's protection, a world that, by the very hands of its inhabitants, became locked in an infinite loop of disastrous events. Constant wars for control of the world, wars for freedom. A strange purple storm emerging from the jaws of hell.
'I didn't belong in that world...'
He said to himself. Under his white fox mask with pink details, the man sighed. He was not part of that world, but thanks to the hands of the inhabitants of that same world, he came to that place. At first he was scared, confused. But he met people who made him feel at home. He fell in love... and...
The outcome of it all was not pleasant.
Thanks to his powers he was one of the few survivors of the sudden battle between an Overlord and a Champion. The powers he gained thanks to the singularities of his world allowed him to travel through multiversal holes, which are long tunnels connecting worlds throughout the multiverse.
"Boss..."
A mental connection was enabled. Drift, the man in the fox mask and strange coat whose wide sleeves reached to his elbows and the ends to his calves, looked up at the light at the end of that multicolored tunnel. Pink rays were streaming from his body that seemed to merge with his black garment with pink and gold accents. Wearing a pink hood and his kitsune mask, he shook his head and touched his ear to heed the statement.
"What...?"
On the other side, in one of the multiversal tunnels specifically, that girl who mimicked the way her boss, Catalyst, dressed spoke nonchalantly.
"The Overlord of the Shinobi World is dead. The anomalies were eliminated by the World's own hands. Although we had a few problems with some time-traveling girls, we were able to fix it in time. What's our next mission?"
Drift thought about it...
"There's nothing else for now. You and Vi take a break. The other divisions were deployed. More Overlords and Champions must be prevented from being born."
"As you command, boss. Anything so that the order of the multiverse doesn't fall apart."
The communication was terminated. Drift continued to walk through the multicolored tunnel until the light at the end shone brightly.
When that happened, everything changed from one moment to the next.
-Another multiversal tunnel-
"Why didn't you tell him that those girls had enough power to reverse the time of the entire multiverse?"
Vi, the girl in the white hood that resembled a fox's head, complained to her teammate. In response, Catalyst shook her head.
"Had I told him, he would have been worried about us. If that happens, I don't think the boss will let us keep working on this."
With Catalyst's response, Vi reflected. She was right. There was no need to worry this man who was destroyed inside. Losing more friends would make him give himself over to Chaos, and eventually become what he swore to destroy.
"Well then."
Vi turned around and looked at Catalyst.
"Shall we go get some mead?"
Catalyst smiled under her mask.
"Fuck, obviously. And while we're at it let's buy some candy to eat."
The lightning around Vi became more present and the tunnel suddenly changed color.
"There's a new tavern that opened a few days ago, they have food too. We should go."
"We lose nothing by trying. Right now we're on our break. By the way, you're paying."
"I don't have 'units' you pay."
"I always have to pay. But well, it doesn't matter. You'll pay me back at the inn."
-Planet Drool, Another World-
As the environment changed, Drift opened his eyes under his mask. The reality of this world was shaking hard and he could feel the fear of the world from the sudden attack of a dangerous enemy. The world itself was quite strange, bizarre, one might say. The sky was turning in dark colors, blues and greens, with a constantly changing landscape between cold and hot mountains.
'I see...'
He realized that he had not been late, but also that he could not intervene. In front of his eyes... the battle of an Overlord and a Hero was taking place. Drift sensed that the World protected and supported that hero with a mother's love.
'He's just a child...'
Blonde-haired and fair-skinned, emerald green eyes. A high school boy covered in bloody wounds. As Drift saw it, just a kid fighting to protect what he loved most.
"A boy about to become a Champion..."
***
A giant black dragon the size of the moon was lashing the planet. Its eyes were bright yellow, like two strange amber jewels. Its scales seemed to glow, spreading strange black clouds that seemed to eat the planet.
"I can't... I can't defeat it..."
That teenager, Max, fell to his knees going into despair. His friends were hurt, the girl he loves was in critical condition. Everything had gone to hell. All was lost.
"We're going to die..."
However, this was something that made Drift smile. For, despite the despair, the boy stood up with a determined look on his face. That was the courage of a hero of the World. Someone who stands up despite the odds and faces the dangers to protect everyone.
"Marissa... look at me..."
His fists clenched tightly and he frowned. All his life he had created selfish things for himself. He had used his power to create innocent things that, mostly, wouldn't hurt anyone. He used his powers to protect and bring happiness...but he never wished to use his powers to kill.
Max knew what he was up against. That's why he shouldn't back down. In front of him was an Overlord who manipulated the anti-life. Any of his creations would die in the jaws of that beast. The anti-life would destroy his dreams the moment the dragon's breath hit the planet.
"I never knew what your name was... I don't know where you came from and I don't know what you want to accomplish by destroying my world either, but I'm not going to let you take away what I love most. You are evil... so I will have to fight your evil with a greater evil."
The Imperial Dragon of Anti-life smiled. His throat began to glow purple and more of that black smoke began to pour from his snout. He clutched his claws tightly to the surface of the world and the light in his mouth became present. His breath that eliminates all traces of life was charged.
On his side, Max had already decided how to end this. There was only one place that could generate things capable of killing. They were not his fondest dreams... they were his most terrifying nightmares.
The shadows covered him and the grim, grim-smiling monsters embraced him. Max felt a shiver, but he didn't give in to fear. He stretched his hand forward and his eyes glowed with determination.
"The deepest nightmare. The brightest dream. The most brimming goodness and the most glittering joy. I've decided to act that out and you ruin what I want to do. Lose yourself in the depths of my nightmares and be forgotten, monster."
"Grrrrroaaaaaaargghhhh!"
The dragon spat out his breath and the shadows behind Max lunged at the same time.
***
It was hard for Drift to put the situation into words, but he certainly saw something majestic in that hero. He was not like the heroes he knew. He knew the importance of life, but also what death entails. He saw that this boy had grown up in a good place.
And as the shadows devoured the anti-life and transformed it into the fuel for nightmares, they struck the dragon and covered it completely. The beast let out a cry of pain as the monsters ate it and Max watched this coldly.
Sometimes the worst part of you can turn into something good. It just takes accepting that part of you and learning to live with it.
'A brat with so much power, huh... Worlds sure likes to create broken protagonists.'
***
Max fell to his knees, tired from fighting for so many hours. He felt exhausted, he felt full of fear, but... at least... what he loves will be safe for a while longer.
"My hero... my Champion..."
A female voice echoed inside Max's mind. Then a bright light manifested above his head. A glowing golden crown rotated, slowly descending upon his head.
"Who are you..."
The boy asked, as in front of him was a golden glowing female figure.
"You will know soon enough, my Champion. You have been very strong... I am proud of you. You saved me."
"I... I don't know what you're talking about..."
And when Max said that, he fell face first to the ground, finally fainting.
***
"It seems I came into this world in vain. I could use a drink..."
Drift wasn't disappointed, but he did feel tired but having used so much of the "breach" to get through the tunnel. Still, there was still something worth doing before looking for the next mission.
"Chaos City should be a good place to take a breather."
And so he continued on to that chaotic place.
-Chaos City-
"I came for your best mead."
Lucifer winked at the girl behind the counter, who promptly pulled out a black bottle from one of the shelves. Lucifer took the bottle and hugged it lovingly. Almost instantly, she touched the air with her fingers and a semi-transparent red screen appeared.
[200 Units have been transferred]
After that, Lucifer walked out of the bar with a big smile. Yes, she had spent all the little money she had on a bottle of alcohol, but that didn't mean that was a bad thing, at least not for her.
She stopped at the entrance to the bar and looked at the letters above the door.
[Seventh Heaven]
'Even though they opened only a few days ago, this bar is already quite successful.'
In the City of Chaos it is very difficult to succeed with your business, but if you are lucky and powerful enough, you can accomplish quite a few things. Power is money and money is power. This place is ruled by the law of the strongest. Those who have power are the ones who succeed, but that's not all, because....
'Those who are cunning crush those who have power.'
Her eyes twinkled mischievously, but she immediately returned to her usual smile as she remembered the bottle in her hands.
She walked relaxed throughout the city. There were dead people in the streets, blood strewn on the ground, destroyed buildings, constant fights everywhere. There weren't even homeless people, for those don't last more than a day in this city. Even the many people of varied races didn't seem to see that as a big deal.
She took a deep breath and smiled.
"What beautiful scenery."
-In a large dark building-
Surrounded by other similar buildings, with large crimson windows, Lucifer's scout guild stood glorious among the whole place. Above the door was a large sign with the name Devil's Paradise, the name she decided to give her guild when she arrived in this city.
She then approached the large front door, which was nearly ten feet tall. She made a gesture with her fingers and a pair of keys materialized in her hand. With that key she unlocked the door and entered the building.
"Welcome back, Luci."
Behind the counter, a woman with pale skin and long, wavy albino hair sighed wearily. She adjusted her round glasses as she looked up at the red semi-transparent screen displayed in front of her. Atop her head was a pair of black horns that showed her demonic race, and a black suit with a red shirt that looked a bit tight, which marked the outline of her body.
"Hi. No one has come to join the guild yet?"
The demoness at the counter, Pandemonica, sighed tiredly again and shook her head.
"I see..."
Lucifer ignored that and advanced towards one of the long corridors that stretched off to the side of where Pandemonica was standing. But before she moved forward, she stopped and frowned.
"He's coming today, isn't he?"
She answered him.
"I don't know. Last time it took him a year to come back."
"Well, if he does come back, I hope he doesn't come empty-handed. I'd like to have objects from other hells."
"Obsessed with collecting weird stuff, huh...like the last ten damn years."
"You do your thing, and I'll do mine, Monica."
"As usual..."
"And the other girls?"
"Doing the usual. Nothing new."
"I understand..."
After that exchange of words, Lucifer walked relaxed down the corridor and looked at the doors that stretched the length of the place. At the end of the corridor, there was a large room with many strange objects. Among them, and the most important, a musical box said to hold a hero inside. Besides that, in the center of it all, was that shining armor and Michael's sword.
"I'm back, sis."
She sat down on the floor and removed the cork from the bottle using her fingers. She gestured with her fingers once more and two small black glass tumblers appeared. Lucifer then poured the alcohol. The first glass he placed next to the armor and the other he took between his fingers.
"Cheers, Michael."
She toasted her deceased sister and drank the contents of the small glass. As the alcohol passed down her throat, she felt a chill, felt her body accept the alcohol modified for an Overlord like her.
Unable to stop, because of the bitter taste of the drink, she poured and drank again, and again, and again, and again.
When the bottle was half full, Lucifer felt dizzy. She smiled relaxed and then looked at the armor, but her eyes widened and a gentle smile showed on her face.
"Michael..."
It was the same as always.
"Big sister... why are you still sad?"
Lucifer didn't want to answer, but he still did.
"Because it's all my fault..."
***
Near the door, Judgement folded her arms.
'Again...'
She shook her head.
'The more years go by, the worse Luci gets...'
From her point of view, Lucifer was talking to herself. When Lucifer drinks mead, she usually imagines herself talking to her little sister Michael. Lucifer dreamed of returning to heaven, she was sorry for everything she did. She was young and immature at that time when she rebelled against heaven.
Judgement knew this, for she too is a fallen angel. But there is little that can be done, for that time is over and the world they come from no longer exists.
***
"So you came back..."
Pandemonica took a sip of her coffee. The door had opened and there in front appeared that man, the owner of this building, for really this guild does not belong to Lucifer. In fact, this group of demon women have nothing in this city. However, it is because this man considered them useful that they live in this building.
"You don't speak? As usual. What did you bring Luci?"
The man, who wore strange full body armor, grunted and approached the counter. Pandemonica felt chills at the man's presence. He was the nightmare of demons, the protagonist of a bible written by the most hellish beings in existence. Many know him by different names, but the one that resonates the most in all the hells of the multiverse is....
"Doom Slayer..."
The Slayer raised his hand and a strange cubic box materialized floating down. The box fell to the ground, revealing that it was brown in color and had a thin, flat hole in the top. Doing the same, he pulled out a strange disk pixelated with the common colors of the ground of multiversal hells.
"This will be the payoff, won't it?"
Pandemonica sighed wearily, but the Slayer didn't answer her. Silently he headed for the door.
"It's not much, but I guess it doesn't matter. We've got more than enough to do with this place anyway, we can take care of ourselves. Besides... thanks... for not killing us back then..."
The Slayer turned around and....
"You are not the same as the demons I have known in my entire life. You are useful to me, that's why I didn't kill you. I won't intervene unless you stand in my way."
A deep, whispering voice, broken into a thousand pieces. A man who carries suffering in his life, but uses it to put down anything that opposes him.
"Getting in your way, eh... that will never happen. Rest assured. I'll see you when you want to come back. I'll pass your regards on to Luci."
And with that, the Slayer left the building and disappeared wrapped in a small crimson tornado.
"That guy is really scary..."
The end...