Max looked back at the smiling Vespera, who was currently rearranging her dress one more time before stepping through the door that used to lead into his bedroom, now leading into utter darkness.
"Let's do that again sometime, when you can put a little more 'oomph' into it...God-speed, Maxie!"
Smooch!
She lifted one hand, raising it to her face before blowing a kiss his way while winking, still making jokes all the way until he stepped through the door.
His mind was still processing everything after receiving the god-seed from Vespera and the 'testing' of his new body, Max grinned and adjusted his fresh clothing while walking, (provided by Vespera with a wave of her hand) a little bit as he walked into the strange darkness ahead of him. He lifted an arm into the air and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture at Vespera, wagging his eyebrows and sticking out his tongue before looking away.
It had been a couple of years since he had 'taken a girl home'. When the owner of Action Now! Comics started to grow ill, Max had taken it upon himself to go the extra mile, picking up the slack at the comic store while also trying hard every night to develop his own games.
In his free time, he focused on fitness, played video games, reading, and enjoyed Jumpchains. For socializing, he'd play cards at the shop or debate power combinations with others in the Jumpchain Discord.
The few times he was dragged to a bar or pub each year could be counted on one hand, so his chances of meeting women were slim. Besides, Max had no interest in spending money on lavish dates or pursuing a serious relationship while he was focused on creating his own card game and running the shop.
Blowing off steam and easing some pent up tension were really the only reasons he ever set foot in those kinds of places anyways. It's not that he was against having a drink now and then either, but he preferred enjoying a cold one at home—he could get a six-pack for the price of a single beer at the bar, and that just irritated his frugal side.
The dark, luxurious looking door closed behind Max and then vanished.
As soon as Max disappeared, Vespera snapped her fingers and a long, thin, crystalline pipe tube appeared in her hand, followed by a golden looking cigarette, which she placed in the end of the tube.
She blinked and the end of the golden smoke immediately began glowing, lighting itself.
"Ahh, all jokes aside, that was quite nice, my new favorite godling... it's been ages since I've fraternized with a mortal..."
Vespera took a pull from the godly smoking apparatus, moments later blowing a golden, shimmering cloud from her mouth, a look of a 'job well done' on her face.
The golden smoke from Vespera's pipe was still hanging in the air, drifting in lazy, ethereal ribbons, when the space beside her recliner suddenly buckled.
The air didn't just move; it bruised, turning a deep, static-charged violet as it distorted like a heat haze on a desert road.
A low, rhythmic growl vibrated through the floor—a sound that felt less like an animal and more like a shifting tectonic plate. From the center of the distortion, a massive, furred hand—claws shining like obsidian—reached out and parted the reality-warp distortion as if it were a beaded curtain.
A large, fur covered, humanoid being stepped through, his lion-like mane shimmering with the residual static of the void. He loomed over the space, his golden eyes immediately locking onto the spot where the door Max walked through had just vanished.
"Oh, it's you, it's been awhile Grey-ger..."
"So?" Grey-ger's voice was a tectonic rumble that threatened to rattle the crystalline pipe in Vespera's hand. "Did you tell him everything, or just sugar-coat it for now?"
Vespera didn't even flinch one bit while the voice boomed out and ruffled her hair.
She leaned back further into the plush fabric of her couch, taking a slow, deliberate pull from her golden smoke.
She held it for a beat, then exhaled a shimmering cloud that cut right through the violet distortion Grey-ger had brought with him.
"Clearly the latter..." she murmured, a playful spark in her eyes as she watched the smoke swirl.
"...Would you agree to this, as a mortal, if you knew what's lurking outside the Multiverse's membrane?"
Grey-ger snorted, a sound like a steam vent. He looked at the screen Vespera was watching, Max was currently shadow-boxing in the dark.
"He looks like a common shopkeeper, Vespera. A frugal one at that. Why give him the Seed?"
"Because he's not just a shopkeeper, Grey-ger," Vespera replied, tapping the side of her pipe, laughing inside due to the fact Max was indeed a shopkeeper prior to today.
"The other candidates I've watched and considered... they want the throne. They want the glory. But Max? He's spent his life theory-crafting the very rules we live by. He doesn't just want power; he wants to understand the mechanics of it, even if he doesn't know it himself. This kid is dependable."
She flicked her eyes toward the screen with a look of genuine pride. "It's been ages since I've fraternized with capable mortals, and this one? He's got the kind of mind that builds worlds before he even sets foot in them, here, I'll show you..."
Both of the gods' eyes glowed brightly, Vespera sharing everything about Max in a mere moment telepathically with Grey-ger.
"I see. You're right, he's one of the best we've encountered in the last four hundred years... it's funny that all four of the 'best' appeared within just twenty years, and in your universe. It's a good thing, only beings from your 'reality' have the natural ability of 'conceptual creation'. The trade-off is that the only super beings that exist here are fictional, right? By the way, how are the other ones you're raising doing?"
"Come sit and see."
"...Not after what you just did on that recliner with your new toy."
Vespera blinked a few times and snapped her fingers, a small glow surrounded the couch and a gentle breeze appeared from nowhere, passing over the couch and writing it out of existence before seamlessly replacing it with an exact copy. It looked like the entire thing rippled with the conjured breeze. A fresh smell akin to laundry left out on a clothesline lightly lingered in the air now.
"Is that better? It's not like you looked away while I was having fun, I could feel you lurking."
She then nodded at the still floating screen, and it separated into four different panels, each focusing on a video of a different being.
The Lion-like god shrugged his shoulders, disappeared and then reappeared again in a seated position beside Vespera.
"Would you like a snack, Grey-ger? The Earthlings call it 'popcorn'."
A moment later, a large glass bowl containing the hot, buttery snack appeared in her hands.
"Ah, don't mind if I do!"
His large fist plunged into the bowl, pulling out a large amount of the fluffy yellow and white snack, shoving it into his mouth.
"Ah! Not too shabby, the flavor reminds me of whipped lattle! The Tarians of Janis Five are famous for it back in my universe."
"Make sure you remember to share some next time I come over to your place for a look."
"Of course, now, Vespera, how about getting a look at those other 'Jumpers', as you like to call them?"
Vespera smiled and a remote control appeared in her hands, she pointed at the screens and pressed a few buttons.
Grey-ger looked over at the glass bowl, smacked his lips and then retrieved more of the delicious snack.
"You're going to have to pack me some more of this for my trip back."
"Of course, here try this too, it's called 'soda'... very fizzy and delicious."
Two bottles were produced and both sipped on the beverages while the images on the screen started moving.
One screen showed the freshly minted Jumper Max, he was busy kicking and punching in the dark space of the 'loading screen' he was still in. He hadn't even begun to look at the options for his first jump and was busy familiarizing himself with his new, massively improved body.
To the top left of Max's screen was a video of a beautiful, olive skinned woman with black hair and sharp blue eyes, in the middle of throwing a red and white ball at what seemed to be a monster.
Another small, strange, pink, feline-like creature with a rounded body covered in fine, delicate hair floated beside her. Its long, thin tail ended in a large bulge, and its big blue eyes radiated intelligence and curiosity—at the moment, it even seemed to wear a pleased expression. Its small, pointed ears added to its charm. With effortless agility, its slender, graceful body darted around the woman as the ball she had thrown moments earlier sailed through the air.
The ball ricocheted off the beast's belly, and in an instant, the massive, fire-covered monster transformed into a streak of red light and was sucked into the now open ball. It snapped shut, dropping to the ground and rocking from side to side as its center pulsed with a flashing red glow.
"This is Jan. On track and has already come a long ways, hopefully picks a few more powerful training grounds after the world she is in."
"Hhhhmmm, a beast tamer type world? Interesting." Grey-ger pulled at the hair on his chin, stroking it in amusement while watching this 'Jan' make capture after capture.
"Now look at the final two, the young one is called Sasha, he is doing an amazing job, just like Jan." Vespera said, her playful voice dropping an octave as she tapped the remote again, "...And then there's Alaric...He has become a bit of an issue..."
The third screen was enlarged, showing a stark, ash-covered world where a man stood atop a throne of scrap metal. He wasn't smiling; he looked bored, as if the destruction around him was just another chore.
Grey-ger leaned back into the plush cushions of the couch, the heavy plates of his black armor digging into the fabric with a faint groan. He reached into the bowl between them, his thick, furred fingers snagging yet another handful of popcorn.
He popped a few kernels, his jaw working slowly as he watched the carnage on the hovering display.
On the screen, Alaric sat atop a mountain of shattered stone and twisted metal, his boots resting on the cracked breastplate of a fallen warrior. Around him, the city was a graveyard of smoke and silence.
"So this one is a dud?" Grey-ger rumbled, his voice a low, gravelly vibration. He took a casual swig of soda, swishing the simple liquid around his teeth before swallowing. "Vespera, he's… messy. And not the 'good' kind of messy. This is vile, even for a god in training."
Vespera didn't look over. She was slumped in the corner of the sofa, staring at the screen with her chin resting in her hand, lazily swirling the ice in her glass. "He had potential. High 'will' stats, great adaptability. clever ideas, almost as good as Max's. I thought he'd be the one to lead the front."
"Adaptability?" Grey-ger gestured with a clawed hand toward the background, where Alaric's automated drones were systematically stripping the remaining survivors of their resources. "He's not adapting to the world; he's lobotomizing it. Look at his eyes. There's no fire there, just a cold, predatory calculation. I've seen some rot in my time, but this one is curdling from the inside out."
He leaned forward, his lion-like features tightening as he focused on the way Alaric didn't even flinch when a nearby cathedral spire groaned and collapsed. "He's a hidden danger, V. Usually, when they go bad, they get loud. They scream, they rant. This one? He's quiet. He's the kind of creature that will wait until the Outsiders are at the gate, then open it just to see what the fallout looks like for his own amusement."
Vespera sighed, tossing a piece of popcorn at the screen. It hit the image of Alaric's cold, indifferent face and fell to the floor. "I wanted a strategist for the upcoming war. I think I ended up with a saboteur."
"He won't be any help against the Outsiders," Grey-ger grunted, setting his soda down with a definitive thud on the coffee table. "He'll view them as a better deal, more...'fun'. If I were you, I'd pull the plug now. I don't like the way he's looking at that horizon—who knows what sinister thoughts that psychopath is having."
Vespera watched Alaric on the monitor, her eyes narrowing as she watched the massive man begin to weave a dark spell from the lingering souls of the city.
"I'm considering getting rid of him," she murmured, her voice turning cold. "But I don't want to waste the energy of a direct termination, I've made it hard for an outside god like us to enter as a precaution." She turned to Grey-ger, a small, dangerous smile playing on her lips. "I'm going to distort the time-stream within his current Jump. I'll stretch his years into decades in relation to the other Jumpers while I fast-track them. Once Max or one of the other three Jumpers is strong enough to handle a monster like this, I'll drop them right into his throne room to finish the job."
Grey-ger let out a low, appreciative huff. "Using one of your own to prune the garden. Bold. Let's see if your Max has the stomach, and the power for it."
Grey-ger growled low in his throat, his patience finally snapping at the sight of Alaric's cold indifference on the bottom leftmost panel. In one fluid, frustrated motion, he tossed his soda cup high into the air. Since they were sitting in a giant white nothingness that stretched infinitely in every direction, the cup had no ceiling to hit.
It simply sailed into the void until Grey-ger flicked a massive, furred hand; a jagged bolt of purple and pink energy hissed from his palm, vaporizing the container into a fine, shimmering mist before it could vanish into the white.
Vespera didn't even flinch. She simply rolled her eyes, leaning further back into the sofa—which had gotten a small tear from the armor rubbing on it during his sudden move, venting his anger.
"The upholstery, Grey. Honestly," she muttered, though she made no move to stop him. Grey-ger ignored her, his heavy, black-armored shoulder plates clinking as he reached back into the large bowl between them.
He grabbed another massive handful of popcorn, his humanoid face still twisted in a scowl as he turned his attention back to the four-paneled display hovering in the empty space. On the far-left panel, the screen was a desolate smear of ash.
Alaric sat motionless on his throne of debris, a silent predator in a world he had successfully strangled into submission. Directly beside that grim image, to the right, the contrast was jarring.
The fourth panel was a riot of color and kinetic energy. The young teen Jumper being showcased was a blur of motion in a forest of towering redwoods.
He was lean and lithe, with messy dark hair held back by a blue forehead protector, and he wore a high-collared navy tunic that flapped as he spun through a hail of iron throwing knives. His hands wove complex signs with blinding speed, his eyes wide and focused.
Beside him, a boisterous boy in an orange jumpsuit was screaming a ridiculous battle cry, conjuring a dozen shimmering clones of himself to overwhelm a masked assassin in a whirlwind of dust and grit. The teen landed softly on a tree branch, his fingers glowing with a sudden, crackling blue energy. With a focused shout, he slammed his palm into the wood, sending a pulse of power through the trunk that erupted beneath the enemy's feet in a tangle of roots and sparks.
"Now that is more like it," Grey-ger rumbled, his mood shifting as a toothy grin pulled at his black-furred muzzle. He crunched on the popcorn, watching the teen and the orange-clad boy exchange a triumphant high-five. "The kid's got spirit. He's fighting for the person next to him, not just the stats on his menu."
Vespera lazily swirled her own drink, her gaze drifting back toward Max, just starting to choose his options and perks for his first Jump. "The other three will be just fine." Vespera said, nodding toward the screens.
"At least they are a delight to observe. It's a hell of a palate cleanser after looking at that butcher on the far left. Seeing Alaric next to them... it makes the rot in his soul look even darker." Grey-ger's expression turned solemn.
He turned his amber, cat like pupils eyes toward Vespera, then toward the screen displaying Max. "We're going to have to keep a very close eye on these three—and that new one over there. If Alaric is a shadow, these kids are the only light we've got left for the future of the Multiverse. If we're going to survive the Outsiders, they're the ones who'll have to carry the weight, we only need a few more to tip the scales."
Vespera nodded, her gaze hardening as she looked back at Alaric's 'throne room'.
"I know. That's why I'm going to distort the time-stream for Alaric. I'll let him rot in his own silence for a few decade our time while I fast-track these others. By the time I let Alaric's clock aligns with the others again, Max, Jan and Sasha will be strong enough to walk into that throne room and end him."
She took a slow sip of her soda, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Because when the Outsiders arrive again, I won't have room for a traitor in our ranks."
"Fair enough... What other snacks do you have? I may say awhile and watch them grow."
"Suit yourself." With a snap of the fingers, a large tray containing many treats from different countries of Earth appeared, along with many bottles and a large wooden keg.
The two gods started eating and drinking like gluttons, settling in to watch what the Jumpers do next.