The observation deck at NASA is abuzz with activity as scientists and officials stare intently at their monitors, tracking a massive cosmic storm heading towards Earth.
The storm appeared as a swirling mass of dark energy, crackling with electricity and cosmic radiation that could wreak havoc on the planet if it hit. "Should we inform the public? They can't remain in the dark about this. But if we panic them..." Proclaimed the director.
"I'm getting a mix of signals here, sir." Said a scientist, monitoring the Cosmic Storm, "The storm's energy signature is off the charts! It's generating unprecedented electromagnetic disturbances. We need to determine its impact on Earth's magnetic field." Tens of screens display shifting data, while nervous murmurs fill the air, such an event could cause destruction to the entire world.
"This isn't good! At this rate, we'll experience catastrophic consequences!" An analyst points to a particular screen showing complex readings of atmospheric pressure and temperature changes. Others gather around, their faces showing varying degrees of concern. "Shit, we only have an hour before impact!" Another scientist balls their fist worriedly as they stare at the data.
"The storm's approaching fast. If we don't act soon, it could cause massive disruptions to our communications and electrical systems. But what if we create panic?" The tension in the room escalates as the gravity of the situation sinks in. One of the monitors displays an animated projection of the cosmic storm's projected path over Earth. "Look at this trajectory, it's already caused a 50% decrease in radio waves reaching Earth. If it hits us, we could be facing a total communication blackout or worse!"
The projector casts an eerie blue glow across the room as alarms begin sounding from several control panels.
"We need to weigh our options carefully. A massive panic could trigger chaos and disorganization that would only worsen the situation." Said the director.
Several staff members exchange worried glances, knowing the weight of their decision could have far-reaching consequences.
"Huh? What's this?" The atmosphere in the room grows increasingly tense as a strange, pulsating energy core appears in the center of the cosmic storm. Scientists exchange concerned looks.
"This is unparalleled... there's something... alive in the storm's heart?!" The monitor displays footage of the pulsating energy core, which seems to shift and grow more agitated with each passing second.
"Something alive?" Asked the director, widening their eyes. "Explain! What do you mean?"
"Whatever it is, it's directly affecting the storm's power output. This could mean..." One of the scientists swallowed hard, their heart sinking in their chest. "It's using Earth as its hunting ground."
The staff members back away from the monitors as dark tentacles start emerging from the energy core, reaching out like eldritch branches.
"That thing is intelligent. We need to make a decision - warn the public or contain this anomaly before it's too late!" Announced the director, worried about their situation.
"Understood, director!"
+
The hallway was bustling with students of various grades rushing to their classes, but one of them stood out - literally. He was carrying his books awkwardly as students stopped in the middle of the hallway to press against his round belly as laughter echoed around him.
"Hey there, waddles! Why don't you take up less space in the hallway?" Your typical, popular jock, sneered, while his friends snickered behind him.
He tried to ignore them, focusing on getting to class, but a girl shoved him "accidentally" as they passed by, grouping him up with the rest of the oppressors.
"Why are you even bothering to come to school? No one wants to see your sweaty, pig face." The girl said cruelly as she leaned her arm against the shoulder of another one of her friends.
"I'm just... trying to get to class." His eyes started to well up with tears as he clutched his books tighter, trying to walk away from the problem.
"Hey, hey! Where do you think you're going? I'm not done talking with you." The jock yanked his backpack strap roughly, causing him to stumble backward as the contents of his backpack spilled onto the floor. "Oh no, look what you made me do, you big cow! Make sure to clean up your mess before someone steps on your fat fingers, Yuto."
Other students started circling around the commotion, pulling out their phones to record with smiles on their faces.
"O-Okay..." Muttered Yuto, crouching down to reach for his papers and notebooks.
Needless to say, Yuto was a victim of bullying from being overweight. He couldn't fight back, no matter how hard he tried. He was a coward.
"Pfft, bro, do you guys see this shit!? His ass crack is all out! I'm gonna fucking die!" Shouted the Jock with glee. "How can you struggle with such simple tasks?" He said, laughing in hysteria.
Yuto, now pulling up his pants, could feel his hands shake as he scrambled to pick up his things. The weight of the situation pressed down on him like a heavy blanket. Everyone was recording and probably posting it on social media already. He couldn't get away.
The circle tightened around him, and everyone's faces twisted with malicious joy. The jock reached down and grabbed his favorite diary, holding it just out of reach.
"Dude, who the fuck carries a diary with them in 2025? You're the perfect definition of a loser, Yuto, holy shit! You should be ashamed, man." The jock shook his head in disappointment, keeping the diary in his hand.
"W-Wait, don't take that! Give it back, Tanimoto!" Suddenly, someone shoved Yuto from behind, causing him to fall onto the floor. His uniform got dirty and ripped at the knee as his weight kept him stapled to the ground.
"Pwa haha! Look at him rolling on the floor like a beach ball! This is comedy gold!" One of the bullies laughed hysterically while recording the situation.
The bell rang for class, but the crowd remained fixated on Yuto's misery, and to make matters worse, his stomach growled loudly in hunger - he hadn't eaten lunch yet because he was too insecure about his weight.
"You're pathetic." Said Tanimoto, stepping over Yuto and heading for class. "Later, pig, try entertaining me after school." The jock threw his diary to the ground as his friends followed behind him, ending their recording with wicked smiles on their faces.
Yuto would lay there, barely able to stand from being so overweight. Everyone walked passed him, whispering to one another and laughing about his obesity.
Finally picking up his things, Yuto stumbled out of the school building, ignoring the looks of pity from other students. His mind was numb as he found an empty bench on campus. He sat there, staring at the grass beneath his feet.
"What's the point anymore? I can't even stand up for myself..." he sat there for what felt like hours, watching other students laughing and enjoying themselves. His phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling it out to see tweets about him being obese, including the videos recorded a while ago. "Maybe I should just stop eating altogether..." Yuto whispered to himself, feeling more alone than ever before.
His stomach growled again, reminding him that she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He couldn't risk getting any more fatter, even if it meant starving himself to death.
"Maybe I should just disappear... like they all want me to." Just then, sirens pierced the quiet afternoon. People around him began screaming and running. His phone vibrated frantically with breaking news alerts - a cosmic storm, unlike anything ever recorded, was headed straight for Earth. Images of writhing dark energy and glowing tentacles flooded social media.
Gazing at his screen, Yuto widened his eyes in horror. "What's... going on? Is this real?" The boy watched in terror as chaos erupted around him. Students sprinted past him with their phones glued to their ears as they tried to contact loved ones. "This can't be real... it's just some kind of practical joke... right?" His screen suddenly went dark, the news reports abruptly cut off. Only emergency broadcast warnings flashed on every billboard across the city and on TV.
Yuto sat up from the bench, stuffing his phone in his pocket as he tried to make sense of the pandemonium around him. Students were abandoning their classes, campus security rushing in frantic patterns, maybe this was a prank, but suddenly, the atmosphere grew heavier, as if the very air was being polluted. A dark shadow passed overhead, and Yuto looked up to see something straight out of a cosmic horror movie.
"W-What the hell is that?" The cosmic storm had arrived faster than anticipated. Tendrils of darkness reached toward Earth, blocking out the sun as they stretched across the sky. Panicked voices rose to a deafening roar, but through the chaos, Yuto heard something different; a whisper, soft and gentle.
"Do not fret, Yuto... you have been chosen to stop this catastrophe..." His blood ran cold as the whispering intensified, wrapping around his mind like an ethereal smoke.
The students around him started showing peculiar symptoms - vacant stares, blank expressions, movements becoming robotic. The grass beneath their feet began to wither and die, but Yuto remained unaffected.
"C-Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Asked Yuto, stuttering, as he looked into the sky, watching the dark tendrils above the earth squirm about.
"Their minds have been consumed by the Eater of Worlds, Azathoth. He awakens to now consume all of reality, and your world has fallen victim to his hunger." The whispering voice appeared again, this time more stern. "You and the other seven have been chosen to put an end to Azathoth and his hunger. You must destroy his army, once and for all." The once-bustling campus was now a ghost town, with students shambling in strange patterns like zombies.
"Is this really happening? My mom, dad... all of them... gone?" Yuto stumbled backward, his body feeling overcome with adrenaline. A single thought broke through the growing fog in his mind, he needed to get away from here, away from the storm and whatever it was doing to everyone.
"Run, Yuto, you must run and find a mirror! it will be the access way into our world." Yuto, confused as ever, ran for his life and listened to the voice, even if it sounded suspicious. This was his only chance of survival.
Sprinting into his school, the scene around him became increasingly surreal as the cosmic storm grew in intensity. Its tendrils spread like cancerous growths across the sky, devouring everything in its path. The world was being consumed. As the sky turned a diseased purple, lightning crackled between the eldritch limbs as they ripped through the atmosphere. A thunderous roar echoed, drowning out all other sounds across Earth; Azathoth hungered.
"A mirror... I must find a mirror!" Yuto ran blindly through the hallways of the school as the ground shook with each pulse of the storm, making him stumble and fall repeatedly.
Nearby students suddenly transformed before his eyes, their flesh melting into a dark ooze as they became one with the invading darkness. "Aah!" Yuto screamed at the sight, closing his eyes as he lowered his head.
"Open your eyes, Yuto, you're almost there." Proclaimed the voice, leading Yuto to unfold his eyes.
"The bathroom!" Yuto, relieved to find a restroom through his panicking, opened the door and ran toward the bathroom mirror. In front of him, he could see the glass move in ripples, as if it was some sort of liquid. His expression became increasingly worried as he tried catching his breath.
"This is your chance, Yuto, go through the mirror, and enter our world." The voice spoke again, this time tender and demanding.
"Enter your world? Uhm... okay..." Hesitant to enter, he stuck out his hand, reaching for the mirror as he noticed it going right through. "Huh?" Widening his eyes, Yuto climbed atop the bathroom sink and slowly emerged from the other side. "Aaahh?!" Shocked, he felt his body pulled through by an unseen force.
Falling flat on his face, Yuto lifted his head and found himself in a different world straight out of a fantasy novel. There was a fantastical landscape with floating castles and glowing rivers, and the air carried a magical energy that tingled against his skin.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of flowers and freshly baked bread from nearby villages. People moved about their daily lives, seemingly unaware of the destruction happening in Yuto's original world.
"No fucking way... am I dreaming? Oh my god... everything feels... unreal!" Yuto slowly stood up, still processing everything. The sky above was clear and blue, nothing like the purple-black abyss of his former reality.
"Welcome to Algunita, Yuto Alltear." That voice—it was the same as the whispers he heard from before.
Turning around, Yuto could see a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and pink eyes. She wore a pink dress with black and white details and had braids in her hair. Beside her were nine individuals, one of them being none other than...
"T-Tanimoto?!" Yuto's bully. He too was summoned into this new world, alongside unfamiliar faces. A mix of emotions overtook Yuto's heart, but from the surreal circumstances, he couldn't bring him to hate his bully, despite their previous actions.
Yuto bit his tongue as Tanimoto widened his eyes, baffled to see his victim alive and summoned into this world.
"The hell? Yuto??"
This was the calm before the storm.