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Chapters 1 – 39 Archive

“Dude.”

There was nothing but darkness around them, yet they could see each other just fine. The ground below them still looked like the floor from the building, but a few yards away it faded into nothingness. It was like the entire world had faded away and all that was left was the little piece of floor they all stood on. Around them was nothing but the eeriest quiet… until a woman started screaming.

“Chi-something, handle up on your people!” Bryce shouted, still holding up the small, glowing cylinder.

“Okay, but what’s happened?” Chimezie turned to the freed prisoners and smiled unconvincingly. “Everything is under control, I think.”

Lulu addressed the group. “Here’s what’s happened: We destroyed the generators in the building that were holding wastelands at bay. We stole some portable reality stabilizers Ronove had made…” She took one out of the metal case and turned it on. “Thus we’re all safe from irreality… as long as the batteries hold out. I really don’t know what the battery life is on these things. For those who can’t understand what I’m saying, I’m going to smile now so you know everything is happy.” Lulu smiled.

There was a third reality stabilizer in the case and Doug took it. “So will the wastelands stop Loch?”

Lulu shrugged. “I dunno. Seemed worth trying at the moment.”

“And we weren’t on the ground floor,” Charlene shined a flashlight into the darkness, but it didn‘t yield. “Shouldn’t we have fallen when the building was ripped apart?”

“Hey, I don’t know how it works when reality falls apart, okay?” Lulu said. “We’re in unchartered territory. Ooh! I could write an article about this if we somehow survive.” Lulu turned back to address the rest of the group. “Just stay near us so you don’t get ripped from reality.” Lulu frowned. “I can still remember Lara! That means she wasn’t ripped from reality! Well, hopefully something else horrible is happening to her.”

“I think it’s time we pick a direction and start walking,” Bryce said.

“I’m in charge I get to pick.” Lulu looked around and eventually pointed one way. “We go this away.”

They all started walking. “Don’t look at any circles in here,” Doug told Chimezie and the others, “or your head will explode because of the pie.”

“Thank you for helping us,” one woman said uneasily, obviously not adept at the language.

“No problem!” Doug said cheerfully. He looked around the darkness. “I just hope there is an end to all this.”

“There is never an end.” The horrible voiced echoed all about them.

Doug shoved the reality stabilizer into his pocket, drew his sword, and shouted into the air, “Leave us alone!”

“I am a being beyond your comprehension,” Loch said, sounding like he was coming from all directions at once. “Do you really think you can stop me with a piece of sharpened metal?”

“Maybe if I stab you in your stupid face!” Doug shouted despite Loch’s apparent lack of a face.

“Come on!” Bryce whined. “We’re a bunch of pathetic idiots! There has billions of more important things for a being such as yourself to worry about.”

Loch laughed. “The others have their thoughts on what to do with your world, but all I enjoy is making you things suffer.”

“You will fall, demon!” Chimezie yelled. “We are protected by the Lord, and your power is still no mach for His!”

“Yeah, what he said,” Lulu added. “We’ll smack you around with the Lord and stuff.”

Loch laughed again. It shook the ground and felt like it was about to shatter Doug’s skull. “You humans have always come up with such odd notions to give yourself hope. I assure you, I will inflict upon you such agony that you will beg for death within seconds. Within minutes you shall realize that such peace will never come for you. There is nothing that can stop me. You were created for no other purpose than this agony.”

Doug felt a tight grip on his arm. Charlene was beside him, rifle in one hand and looking as scared as he had ever seen her. “He’s wrong. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.” Doug looked up again. “If you’re so powerful, come and take me, asshole!”

“Alright.”

The darkness gave way slightly and now they could see creatures approaching from all around. First they were just moving shadows, but soon they could see limbs with claws. Some of the people screamed, other fired weapons in panic.

“Run!” Bryce yelled as he fled in one direction, firing ahead of him. The others followed, but then the ground started to move. The darkness faded some more, and Doug could see they were on Loch’s ship which was slowly rising out of the ground. He fled towards the edge of it, but then turned to see the creatures had descended upon most of the group and he couldn’t see his friends. Then something sharp hit him in the back. He fell to the ground and saw nothing but jagged teeth before his face.

Gunfire stunned the beast, and Doug stabbed it with his sword and knocked it off of him. Charlene then grabbed him and helped him from the ground. “We have to get off of this!” she yelled.

Doug looked over the edge of the ship into more black. He had no idea how far down it was, behind him were the creatures and everyone struggling against them. “We can’t leave everyone.”

Charlene looked a little uneasy, but she quickly firmed her resolve. “Okay.”

A beast leaped upon her. “Char–” Doug started to yell, but something swiped him in the face. Before he could regain his senses he was falling, staring up at Loch’s ship as it receded further into the darkness. Soon he lost sight of it entirely, and it began to seem like he would fall forever into nothingness.

But it did come to an end.

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