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Chapter 2 - Gateway

  Deep in the waters beneath the N.E. Sacrifice, there was an area where not even the most apex of predators had dared to swim for the last day. They could feel the Earth screaming at them whenever they swam too close.

  In the middle of the area, there was a small crack. The crack was unnatural, like whoever had created the Earth had never finished in this spot. Or like the chisel that sculpted the ocean had been hit a little too hard and fractured a spot. The fracture had appeared around a half of a day ago.

  Suddenly, an indescribable ringing resounded throughout the ocean. It almost sounds like a castle of glass being shattered entirely at once. And the fracture grew. At first it was small, maybe the size of a tennis ball. After the ring, it was longer and skinny, like a razor sharp slit separating the world. But it wasn’t round, it was jagged and spiky, as if it was being forced to grow rather than being natural.

  The sound rang out again, even louder this time, and the fracture grew even longer. It was quiet again. Two strange dark tendrils slowly crept their way out of what was now obviously an opening or gateway of some sort.

  These gateways had been heard of before. They had been encountered in The Wastes before, but no one had ever seen anything exit or enter one. And they had always been a deep crimson color. This one was different. It was a colorless void, from which no light was emitted or escaped.

  As the tendrils stretched out, they seemed to be feeling the edges of the rift. Grabbing onto an end each they started to pull.

  A sound rang out again, but this time it was different, like a million pieces of cloth being torn at the same time. The crack was extended unnaturally, up to the width of a small house. The tendrils moved, now pulling the rift into more of a circular structure. The tendrils were pulled back inside.

  Although nothing was there to see inside of the gateway, if something would have, they would have seen the iris of a colossal being staring back at them. It peered up through the dark waters, its gaze piercing all the way to the surface. The being shot a new tentacle through the portal, easily dwarfing the tendrils used to extend the gateway.

  As the tentacle swept its way through the water it was met with no resistance. It was swiftly approaching its target, a large ship cutting its way through the water above it.

  As the tentacle continued, it suddenly slowed down, then it stopped. A new noise was heard, simply sounding like a sword being unsheathed from its scabbard. Not far from the black gateway, another was formed.

  A bright blue ring, perfectly circular, formed in the air. Through the ring sat a pale young man with black hair and sky blue eyes sitting on a tree-stump. Behind him was a simple cottage nested on an outcropping overlooking a valley.

  “It’s not everyday you see a Vanished Demigod attempt to meddle with the affairs of an un-integrated planet.”

  A deep booming voice resounded in the man’s head.

  “And who are you to question a Vanished Demigod's actions? Especially one like me, who is on the verge of becoming a god and who serves a True God.”

  “Ah, don’t worry about me. You see, there’s someone on that ship who I have plans for. Actually that’s a lie. I don’t know what I'm going to do with him. But he’s been calling for me. That makes me intrigued. And I can't just have you go and cause problems for me by killing him. That would ruin all of the fun.”

  “I must sink that ship. If I don’t, my God has foretold that a being on that ship will one day cause problems in The Battlefield. I cannot let that happen.”

  The young man just laughed.

  “What makes you think you have the power to change anything? You paid a heavy price to open a gateway that wide. Every second you hold it open has to be draining. So all I have to do to stop you is stall for time. But that’s no fun now is it.”

  The young man reached forward and in a cascade of sparks a flawless scythe appeared in his hands.

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  “It would be much easier to simply erase your connection to the world.”

  The demigod’s eyes darkened. It started to retract its tentacle back through the portal at a sickening speed.

  “No. You wouldn’t. I thought his teachings had been erased from this era. How could a man as young as you possibly harness the teachings of-“

  The man swung his scythe down, and as he did a faint whisper escaped from the man’s mouth barely audible to himself. But somehow its sound echoed throughout space itself.

  “SPATIAL MEND.”

  The Gateway that had allowed the Vanished to pass through into Earth was violently snapped shut. The remainder of the tentacle that had failed to make it back through the gateway was severed from the Vanished Demigod and started to sink.

  The young man simply looked away from the gateway.

  Hopefully he arrives here soon. I am growing impatient with waiting.

  —-

  The commentators for the men’s middleweight boxing championship were in disbelief. Sam Thorn, also known as Titan, had been the favorite to win by a landslide. He had never lost a single fight in the seventeen bouts of his professional boxing career. With an impressive fifteen wins by knockout, Thorn had earned his place in the boxing Hall of Fame. The only two that had not been knocked out had been the lightweight and welterweight championship fights that he had still won by unanimous decision. There were even rumors that he had never lost a non-professional match either. However, something was wrong.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t know, but it seems like Titan has made it all the way here for nothing.”

  A well-built young man with several cuts and bruises on his face was sitting in the corner of the boxing ring. Sam and his opponent Mantis were currently resting after their seventh round of the fight. Mantis was a bald and broad shouldered but small man that always had a mischievous grin on his face and devilish glint in his eyes. He was the current men’s middleweight champion. The crowd cheered for both sides. Some wanted Titan to finally be put in his place. Others wanted Titan to continue his streak, and watch him soar into the annals of history. Mantis was the only one paying any attention to the crowd though.

  Damn, I must have spaced out. How the hell did I lose focus at a time like this?

  Breathing heavily, Sam Thorn couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he had been experiencing all day. It was as if the world itself was screaming at him, telling him something was wrong.

  Sam had frantically been searching for the cause of the feeling for the last seven rounds, but nothing jarring had stood out to him.

  Maybe it’s just my nerves. The only other time I have ever felt this bad was the day I…

  “THORN, GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SPACING OUT RIGHT NOW?” Sam’s thoughts snapped back to reality as Coach Morey, better known as Coach Mo, berated Sam as he tried to salvage the current situation.

  “THIS IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH, AND ALL YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR IS SIT THERE AND ACT LIKE YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO IN THE WORLD IS BE A HUMAN PUNCHING BAG,” he shrieked as he continued his rampage. He leaned down and cupped his worn hands around his mouth, as he looked like he was going to utter something personal to Sam to get him in gear.

  “Oi, have you figured it out yet?” Mo whispered. He was well aware of the habits and feelings of Sam, and he could tell that he had been out of it.

  Sam shook his head, covered in short brown hair with his matching brown eyes. His busted lip did nothing to hide his captivating smile and well defined jaw. If anything, it drew more attention to his good looking face.

  “Well then just stick to the plan and watch for the tell. Remember, duck, shift left, and then lights out.”

  As coach Mo finished up the pep talk, the bell rang, signifying that the time between rounds was over. As Sam stood up, Mo patted him on the back.

  “Listen Sam, just give the signal and I’ll throw in the towel.”

  Sam nodded, turned to face the center of the ring, and made eye contact with Mantis.

  Strange. Something about him seems off.

  The characteristic devilish glint in the Mantis’s eyes had been replaced with a cold, seething clarity. Not blinking a single time, he held Sam’s gaze as they raised their gloves. The ref blew his whistle and the fight was on.

  Sam reigned his focus in, ignoring the lingering feeling, and decided that enough was enough. His mind entered the flow state, and he started acting like Titan for the first time that night. He started taking noticeably less punches, and was throwing many more of his own.

  Block, step right, right jab, block, swing right.

  The clock dwindled down, seconds turning into minutes, and Mantis finally showed his tell.

  After many hours watching and studying Mantis’s film. Coach Mo had noticed something. It was small, almost imperceptible. Sometimes when Mantis went for a left jab, he would scrunch his face to the right, almost shying away from his punch. The problem was, every time he did this, his guard with his right hand would drop a little bit. This left his right side open to a quick attack.

  It’s now or never. Duck, swing, and…

  PARDON THE LATE NIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT. IN THE MORNING WE WILL REACH WATERS DESIGNATED AS AURIAN TERRITORY. PREPARE YOURSELVES.

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