《World App》


 Prologue: The Virus

    A man sipped a cup of coffee as he typed away, neither hurriedly nor slowly.


    ¡°Chapter 58, Chapter 58¡± He muttered as he held his head in contemplation before continuing, as he did, the mail icon on the screen vibrated. Huh, what? Did someone send me something?


    He halted in his tracks and clicked on it revealing countless emails. But he could not find anything, but that didn¡¯t stop him, his eyes hovered over the ¡®junk¡¯ folder. Probably just spam, well let¡¯s take a look.


    He clicked on the folder revealing hundreds of seedy emails, from emails claiming to be from the Prince of Nigeria to ones telling him that his bank account has been suspended and that he desperately needs to login on a shady site to get the problem resolved.


    And sitting at the top of this rabble was an email titled ¡®God Maker App¡¯. Is this some new god game? No Russian beauties trying to seduce me this time?


    He quickly clicked while maintaining a wary gaze, but when it came into view, he softened slightly. Okay, so it¡¯s a new game on the app store. ¡®Become a God¡¯ today? It must be one of those god games like Godus. Sure, I¡¯ll give it a try.


    He pulled his phone out of his chest pocket and held down the button. Within moments, a splash screen appeared as the phone took it¡¯s time to start up. He tapped his foot impatiently as the usual menu screen finally appeared. Finally, it¡¯s about time it loaded.


    He tapped on the icon for the app store, tapped the name ¡®God Maker App¡¯ into it and found a single app. Ignoring how strange it was to only have one result for such a vague name, he clicked on it bringing him to a download screen. He paused for a moment, before hitting the button. I¡¯ve got time to kill, let¡¯s see what this ga- Fuck.


    The download was interrupted by a window telling him that the application contained a virus.


    ¡°Oh, hell no!¡± He thought as he hurriedly hit the option to block the app. Damn it, Google. Why the hell did you let something like this onto your app store?!


    -----


    Meanwhile at McAfee¡¯s Corporate Headquarters, seven men in red and black suits sat around a table. One had a piercing gaze, as if it could see through your very soul.


    ¡°The ¡®God Maker App¡¯ and its other forms is spreading across the world at an inhuman rate. It¡¯s infested every app store, every email. Our people have tried analysing it, but it¡¯s code constantly shifts and changes, almost as if responding to our probes. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would assume it was a living thing. ¡± A large man in his late thirties said.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°I¡¯ve suspected something like this would happen for a while, many nation states have been upping the ante in recent years.¡± A red haired man with a piercing gaze sat, he wore an elegant red suit and black spectacles.


    ¡°You mean¡­ This could be some sort of weapon¡­?¡± The large man asked.


    ¡°Perhaps, take care, this thing is extremely infectious. It can even transmit itself with sound and if you give it the slightest weakness, it¡¯ll take-over the entire machine.¡± He said.


    ¡°Mm, don¡¯t worry though, we¡¯ve got the perfect counter-measures in place.¡± The large man said.


    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll trust you to deal with this issue, I want to know exactly how that thing ticks, so we can improve our antivirus to block it.¡± He said before turning to another man.


    ¡°How¡¯s the damage?¡± He asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Our clients have $200 million over the past week from the ¡®God Maker App¡¯, it encrypted all their hard drives and vanished without a trace. They didn¡¯t notice it until it was too late, it passed through their security as if it didn¡¯t exist.¡± A short man in his early thirties said.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± He bashed the table with his fist, ¡°How could we let this happen?!¡±


    ¡°There was nothing we could d-¡± The short man was cut off.


    ¡°Nothing we could do?! Our clients have lost $200 million from this virus, how can we call ourselves an antivirus company, if we can¡¯t even stop a virus?!¡± He screamed.


    ¡°W-We¡¯re doing what we can. Our teams are constantly pushing to fix the problem.¡± The short man hurriedly said.


    ¡°Good, I hope so, if we can solve this catastrophe first¡­ Our sales will skyrocket. But if we don¡¯t¡­ The entire industry might collapse.¡± He grimly said.


    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡± The short man said.


    ¡°Does anyone else have something to say?¡± He asked, but the others shook their heads.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s it for today then, but I¡¯d like to hold another meeting tomorrow to keep track of this¡­ Situation.¡± He said and the others nodded. The large man hurriedly left with the short man, while the others got up more leisurely.


    ¡°Damn it, this virus¡­ It affected my daughter¡¯s school. It destroyed all the student records, destroyed the hard drives, and shorted out the router.¡± A man with a long goatee said.


    ¡°Ugh, another talk with the press, what am I supposed to say? It¡¯s not like we can do anything about this damned virus¡± A muscular man with black hair said.


    The man with the piercing gaze sat still as he thought, ¡°Idiots, complete idiots. What ¡®nation state¡¯? You think Russia could have done this? America? China? Hah. What idiocy. I created that virus to hide the real ¡®God Maker App¡¯. Do you think anyone would dare install an app with the same name after this incident?¡±


    As they slowly made their way out the door, he pulled out a phone with an icon labelled ¡®World¡¯ on the main menu, and then he started fiddling with various little options. I¡¯ll give it a day or two and then I¡¯ll tone down the destruction, that should be enough to get the ¡®God Maker App¡¯ into the minds of every man and woman on this damn planet.

 1: The Emissary

    In a dark alley, a man wearing a blue jacket dragged himself along the ground.


    ¡°Grarf,¡± he mumbled as he put all his strength into lifting himself off the ground, but when he was half-way up his strength let out and he collapsed. Da...mn¡­ Grarf¡­ Aaahhh¡­ Ugh.


    He inched bit by bit towards the exit of the alley, gasping and moaning in the process, a man walked by the alley, but he didn¡¯t see him, or at the very least, he put up a convincing enough act that he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Hel-¡± He gasped out before passing out. He descended into darkness, and ended up running into the cold and empty world of dreams, countless terrors descending upon him before it all returned to nothing and he ascended back up to the world of consciousness.


    He slowly opened his eyes, the sky still dark and managed to lift himself up. He slowly limped along towards the end of the alley and thought, ¡°Damn¡­ How did I get here¡­ Where am I. What on earth is going...¡±


    He put one leg forward, then another, and finally emerged from the alley. He panted, then continued down the road. His limping shifted into a walk before he finally regained the ability to run, as the darkness surrounded him and whispered in his ear.


    An old dilapidated three storey building came into view and the look of terror faded away. He fumbled around in his pocket and discovered a key and a look of relief appeared on his face. Finally... I¡¯m back¡­ What the hell was that¡­ Ugh¡­ Let¡¯s go inside.


    He stumbled towards the building, grasped the handle and pulled hard revealing a dimly lit interior with an old man watching a television with occasional static.


    ¡°The ¡®God Maker Virus¡¯ has caused 5 billion dollars worth of damages across the world over the past we-¡± A voice said as he stumbled towards his cell, or should I say, home. He grasped the rusty old handle and thrusted with all his strength barely managing to push the badly maintained and noisy door open. Urghhh¡­


    As he stepped through, he stepped onto the hard concrete floor and slammed the old rotten slab of wood shut behind him. He stepped towards a dilipitated bed with iron springs poking into his skin and passed out on it. Aaaa finnallyy¡­.


    He descended into darkness before he was eventually dragged out by a piercing light, he opened his eyes and discovered the burning hot Sun in the sky. He stumbled forwards and collapsed again discovering a small metal slab on the floor, no not a slab, but¡­ A phone¡­ He stopped to ponder for a moment, then thought, ¡°Oh yes, I did have one of these, didn¡¯t I¡­ A mustang¡­ No¡­ mustard¡­ Sustang? Uragh...¡±


    He flipped it open and waited patiently as several logos appeared showing off the creators of the phone, but he took no notice of them as a simple interface with one unread message appeared. He grunted and started hard at the interface before noticing it. M-Message?!


    He tapped the screen several times before discovering the arrow keys below and hitting them revealing a long list of messages. The top one was labelled ¡®God Maker App¡¯, a thought rose up, but was quickly squashed as he clicked through. God¡­ Maker¡­? What? Like making gods?


    ¡°Uarf!¡± He suddenly turned away and threw up all over the floor. He trembled slightly before bringing the phone back up to his face. He read the message, but it was all unintelligible to him and he decided to just click the link.


    A prompt asked him whether he wanted to install an ¡®app¡¯ and he clicked ¡®Yes¡¯. He drifted off when he shaken awake by his phone vibrating violently. Tons of text scrolled down the screen at an inhuman speed and lots of little whispers gathered.


    ¡°Location identified as Terra V of Bounded Sphere Layer Zetta. No gods or other transcendent beings detected in this star system. Host device is extremely primitive, recommend upgrade. The user appears to be heavily impaired, preparing to clear status effect. Cleared status affect ¡®drunkenness¡¯.¡±


    He mumbled and gazed at the strange symbols when a strange force descended into his body and he suddenly became much more lucid. What? What?! Fuck, it happened again. And what the hell is going? Gods? God Maker App? Clearing drunkenness?


    ¡°Hello user. We are the World App, a mysterious mobile app created by the Rae Corporation. We can¡¯t tell you much, but we can grant you powers beyond your wildest dreams¡­ If you cooperate.¡±


    ¡°An app? But this is a flip phone? I can¡¯t install apps on that. Ugh, powers beyond my wildest dreams, do you mean you¡¯re literally going to make me a god?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes. No. Sort of. It¡¯s complicated. It depends on what you call a god.¡± Characters appeared one by one on the screen.


    ¡°I see, so¡­ What do you want me to do? And what are you doing to give me?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to do anything. You do what you do. You live if you live. You die if you die. But, if you want to further your¡­ ambitions, you might want to make use of our services. First. Gestik Minkin.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± He asked.


    ¡°You say that every-time you want to enter your ¡®world¡¯.¡± It said.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°My world?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s one of the World App¡¯s voice commands. Say it. Now.¡± It said.


    ¡°Okay. Gestik Minkin.¡± He said and the world blurred revealing an endless white world. A white floor formed below him, as did a ceiling above and four walls forming a small white room.


    ¡°This is your ¡®world¡¯, it¡¯s very primitive right now, but before long, it¡¯ll be just like a real room. And that¡¯s not all¡­ Well, you can figure that out yourself.¡± A disembodied voice said.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Right now, you can only come in spirit, but soon you¡¯ll be able to shift your body in for¡­ Limited durations. This¡¯ll help you survive fatal encounters and other problems, also you¡¯ll be able to customise this area beyond your wildest dreams.¡± It said.


    ¡°Fatal encounters? What?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Like people trying to kill you.¡± It said.


    ¡°Why the hell would someone want to kill me?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Because of your godlike power.¡± It said.


    ¡°...Fuck. Fuck! Right, what else then?!¡± He urged.


    ¡°Your power is roughly proportional to your knowledge and mental power. Two things which you will find¡­ Many ways to increase. In other words, knowledge is literally power. As you accrue ¡®power¡¯, you can open new areas and abilities. And as you go on¡­ More options will open up.¡± It said.


    ¡°Well, I never was a genius...¡± He said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have ways to improve that, although you would be comparatively weaker at the beginning in comparison to someone smarter.¡± It said.


    ¡°I see, so what can I do with this space right now and what else can I do?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Double time. Humans waste vast amounts of time sleeping, but in this space, you can stay here while you sleep without wasting a single moment of speed, although there is a time limit at first.¡± It said.


    ¡°Great, so I don¡¯t need to waste as much time, but¡­ What can I hope to accomplish by staring at a white wall?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Look inside your pocket,¡± The voice said and he reached into his pocket and discovered a phone.


    ¡°It was slightly primitive, so we upgraded it with¡­ Internet capabilities. You can look up information on the internet and study. Or chat to people, we really don¡¯t care.¡± The voice said.


    ¡°Ah, that would be great. Wonderful. What else is there?¡± He asked.


    ¡°What else? You defeat sleep and that¡¯s all? Tch. Next up is your mobile. Your primitive phone has finally entered the current decade. Behold!¡± The voice shouted and the mobile shed it¡¯s skin revealing a shiny glossy one.


    ¡°Wow, great¡­ Although, that¡¯s kind of crap compared to the whole¡­ Awake all the time thing.¡± He said.


    ¡°So demanding¡­ Alright. Onto the main event, I saved this one for last, as it¡¯s the most useful to you right now.¡± It said.


    ¡°What is it? What is it?!¡± He asked.


    ¡°Haha, I call it ¡®Psion Analysis¡¯. Psions are the essence of minds, souls, all that boring stuff. Some call it ¡®datons¡¯, other call it ¡®mana¡¯. It forms the basis of many of your abilities. You can read the traces of psions which leak out of other people and you can see ghosts.¡± It said.


    ¡°I could care less about becoming a medium, what do you mean by traces?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Emotions. Thoughts tied to strong emotions. If you manage to resist particularly strong psion storms, you might even temper your soul, another way of improving yourself.¡± It explained.


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot more useful than the no sleep thing. I mean, it might be useful later, but certainly not that useful now.¡± He said.


    ¡°I know right, not only that, but you have the ability to bolster your mental prowess for a short time, basically making your smarter.¡± It said.


    ¡°Great, how do I improve my mental power or whatever? What are these ¡®storms¡¯?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Storms are rare. Usually when a large mass of psions condense, vast amounts of resentment and other emotions can gather into powerful storms, usually controlled by a phantom of some sort. The most effective method¡­ I hesitate to tell you.¡± It said.


    ¡°What? What is it?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You have¡­ You realise that psions are the essence of minds and souls, right? In other words...¡± It said.


    ¡°You mean¡­ Taking it from someone else?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes, and in most cases, this leads to¡­ Death.¡± It said.


    ¡°Death¡­ You mean I have to¡­ Kill people¡­?¡± He gulped.


    ¡°If you want but¡­ That¡¯s not the only way, just the most effective. Other ways involve gathering vast amounts of negative emotions to temper yourself. Also, using your powers a lot will eventually strengthen you, it¡¯s like exercise, although you might wind up mentally drained a lot.¡± It said.


    ¡°Better than killing someone, alright. I¡¯ll do just that then.¡± He said.


    ¡°Haha, the la- Mm, okay. Anything else you want to know?¡± It asked.


    ¡°What¡­ are you exactly¡­? I thought you were a computer program at first, and then...¡± He said.


    ¡°A RaeI, an artificial intelligence of sorts. I can¡¯t say too much about that though.¡± It said.


    ¡°RaeI¡­¡± He muttered.


    ¡°Anything else? I¡¯ve explained what I can, but if you have any further questions....¡± It asked.


    ¡°No, even if I asked, you probably wouldn¡¯t tell me, would you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Mm, alright my business is done here, let¡¯s drop out of here. To leave, you repeat the same phrase as to enter. But, let¡¯s skip that this time.¡± It waved its hand breaking down their surroundings and returning them to the room. W-We¡¯re back¡­


    ¡°The tutorial is complete. Welcome user¡­ Matt.¡± The blinking screen said as several options showed up, he turned to look at them, but they were instantly obscured by a window and violent vibrations.


    ¡°Warning: A world virus has been blocked.¡± A world virus? What the hell is that?


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s a world virus?¡± He asked but no one answered. Tch, it left¡­ Damn it. What¡¯s this world virus?! Ugh¡­


    He sighed and held his head. Ugh, what the hell is happening, first that power, now a world virus¡­ What the hell is going on¡­


    His hands dropped down, rose up and walked towards the door. He pried it open and stepped through into the musty hall of doom. As he walked, he could hear various people crying or flying into rages¡­ No¡­ It wasn¡¯t through his ears but¡­ Through a different sense¡­ Something higher¡­ This is the leakage then¡­ Damn it, is there a way to turn it off?


    He focused within himself, sensed a cloud of psions and managed to push it away. That¡¯s it¡­ Wait, how did I know how to do that? What the¡­ Ugh. None of this makes any sense.


    He walked towards the gates of purgatory¡­ And stepped out into the outside world.

 2: Insanity

    The harsh rays of the sun beat down on Matt¡¯s face as he walked past the half-dead plants infesting the pavements. A large man with thinning hair ran past him with a dog when he thought, If I can sense leakage¡­ Can they¡­?


    He channeled his inner thoughts and thought about all the times his landlord and boss treated him like trash, forming a dark nebulous cloud of psions and sending it towards the man who momentarily trembled. He trembled and his face turned red as he held back the urge to smash something.


    Matt grinned as he thought, I can use it like that, haha. I can influence other people¡¯s emotions, this is amazing, incredible. Heh. With this, I can influence every situation and get myself promoted to the top, who can stop me?!


    He started to madly laugh when he noticed a crowd of people and suppressed himself. Later, later. He casually walked towards the crowd who were waiting for a bus and he felt feelings of urgency from one and not much of anything from the others. Emotions not strong enough? Tch, how annoying, hard to tell what they¡¯re thinking.


    He focussed and compressed his inner hate into another ball and felt fatigue build up as he tossed it at the man desperately trying to get somewhere. He was a tall man wearing black sunglasses and a white work shirt.


    He started pacing back and forth as he became more and more desperate and started shouting, ¡°Where the hell are they? Fucking hell, what the hell are they doing? What¡¯s taking so long? Completely useless. Absolutely incompetent. It¡¯s been thirty minutes. Three zero. Thirty fucking minutes, where the hell is that bus?!¡±


    Aaah, beautiful. I can¡¯t wait to use this at work, it¡¯ll be wonderful, spectacular.


    The man shouted louder and louder, ¡°Where are they?! WHERE ARE THEY?!¡±


    Splendid, I¡¯d love to dissolve those bad thoughts, but I¡¯d like to save my positive emotions for influencing my boss, don¡¯t go smacking someone, okay? He turned with a vicious grin on his face as the bus came around the corner, shot towards them at incredible speeds and slowed to a crawl before stopping.


    The steel doors slowly opened up, beckoning them, and the man jumped in with the athletic skills of a gymnast. He grabbed the driver by the scruff of the neck and violently tossed him out the door. He cackled madly and jumped into the driver¡¯s seat before speeding off.


    What¡­ the fuck¡­ What the hell just happened? This isn¡¯t influencing emotions, this is¡­ almost driving people to madness¡­ His face twisted as the others stood there with their mouths open, the driver especially, before he pulled out his phone and furiously dialed a number.


    ¡°The bus I¡¯m responsible for was stolen. I¡¯m an employee for Transpo Internationational, the bus¡¯ registration number is EDX 055.¡± He frantically screamed before dialing again and saying, ¡°Boss! The bus was stolen, someone dragged me out and drove off with it!¡±


    What a mess, I never thought it would go this far, well not that it really matters to me, but still. This power¡­ is ridiculously powerful.. I have to be careful with it, otherwise the whole city might fall into chaos.


    The driver tapped his foot as he impatiently waited for the police to arrive, while Matt took the opportunity to slip out from the group. While I¡¯d love to test my power on the police, I really need to get to work right now, I can¡¯t afford to be questioned by a couple of dumbasses.


    At first, he walked away, but after a while, he broke into a sprint across a street, looking left and right to avoid getting run over. A white car zoomed past him the instant after he stepped onto the pavement, but he didn¡¯t stop, he simply shot into an alley. Since I missed the bus, I¡¯ll have to take a few shortcuts, damn it, that guy didn¡¯t have to go crazy.


    He panted as his feet bounced off the concrete slabs, stopping for a moment to catch his breath before pacing towards the exit of the alley. Images of his boss and the crazy guy flashed through his head as he bounced along before taking the last step out of the dark maw.


    He turned to look at the darkness for a moment, before stepping away from the void. Urgh, last night was just¡­ ugh. He slowly began to pick up steam again, going from a walk to a jog as he shot past a long row of shops.


    Several strands of emotions drifted into his head as he shot by several people, but they disappeared just as quickly as they went out of range. His feet hit gravel as he once again shot across a road, vigilantly watching for crazy drivers before once again entering the warm embrace of the pavement.


    The Sun¡¯s harsh rays beat down on him as he baptised himself in the endless joys and sorrows of the passerbys, while thinking, This is really draining, dealing with all these psions¡­ Wow, but still¡­ That RaeI said that¡­ The more I stress myself, the more I¡¯ll grow, right? Urgh¡­Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    His head began to faintly hurt as he shot through a group of twenty people and turned the corner onto a construction site. His face twisted into a grin for a moment before getting forcibly shifted into a bland expression. Finally¡­ I¡¯m here¡­ Hehe.


    He turned to a half-asleep man and grabbed a helmet from the pile. He also grabbed several utensils and a bag of cement. I wonder what¡­ No, let¡¯s not bother him¡­ Hehe, I have a better person in mind.


    Matt turned away and caught site of a man with blonde hair wearing an orange shirt and a sombrero. He caught a faint air of arrogance around the man, as if he was the master of the universe. Urgh, it¡¯s even worse when I feel his emotions through the psions¡­ Ugh¡­ Hm. Wait. Heh, let¡¯s see what happens when I send him over the edge.


    Waves of power gathered in his cranium as he gathered thoughts of standing on-top of the world with countless slaves bowing before him and his boss in chains begging for his life. He condensed it all into a ball and send it barrelling into the man.


    The man trembled and then started shaking in excitement as he looked down at his hands and then at the people around him. He sat down on a brick wall and let out a majestic demeanour as he said, ¡°Bill. Fetch me a drink.¡±


    ¡°What? I need to get to work no-¡± Bill said but was interrupted by him saying, ¡°What? You dare to defy my orders?¡±


    ¡°Kevin. I really need to get back to work, I don¡¯t have ti-¡± Bill said once more before he was interrupted by Kevin shouting, ¡°You dare talk back to me?! Guards. Seize him!¡±


    ¡°Kevin... What the hell are you babbling about?¡± The others asked with a frown. This is golden, he actually thinks he¡¯s some sort of all-powerful overlord or something, hah, what a fool.


    ¡°I said, why aren¡¯t you seizing this insolent fool? Are you rebelling as-well?!¡± Kevin shouted.


    ¡°Oh god, he¡¯s completely lost it, let¡¯s ignore him, the boss¡¯ll have to deal with him sooner or later.¡± They muttered.


    Matt slowly stepped away to a safe distance and calmly started laying bricks, this act was merely a delusion though, as he could barely contain the urge to break out into laughter. Hahaha, they think you¡¯re insane. Completely mad. How does it feel being on the side of their ire this time around? I hope you remember all those years you treated me like trash, talking shit about me to the boss and ruining my work, ahahaha.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?! You¡¯re all rebelling as-well, agh what the hell?! I am your king, how dare you do this to me!¡± Kevin screamed at the top of his lungs before picking up a rake and holding it up like some sort of scepter.


    He turned to Matt and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re rebelling too?¡±


    Matt held back the urge to laugh and mockingly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your ¡®majesty¡¯, but I¡¯m too weak to face Bill¡¯s dark forces, the most I can do is continue my work here.¡±


    ¡°I see, yes he does possess superior numbers now, but once my faithful followers arrived, he¡¯ll be dead, okay keep up the good work.¡± Kevin said before turning around and Matt trembled with suppressed laughter.


    Faithful followers?! Ahahaha, this is too ridiculous, it¡¯s perfect! Ahaha, it¡¯s just what he deserves, it couldn¡¯t be better! Or so Matt thought, but things were about to get crazier, as Kevin slammed open the door on Patrick, the boss¡¯ door.


    ¡°Patrick!¡± Kevin shouted.


    ¡°Huh, what is it?¡± Patrick asked.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s rebelling against me.¡± Kevin shouted.


    ¡°Wait, rebelling? What do you mean exactly? Are they bullying you or something?¡± Patrick asked.


    ¡°They refuse to follow my orders, one of the peasants refused to bring a drink I requested of them and the others refused to seize the foolish harlot.¡± He shouted.


    ¡°So, let me get this straight. You asked someone to bring you a drink, they refused, and the others didn¡¯t back you up, is that it? I mean, this is all confusing with this strange language. If that¡¯s all, then don¡¯t bother me with this crap, I really don¡¯t have time for petty stuff.¡± Patrick said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand, they¡¯re rebelling against me, they actually¡­ dare¡­ to...¡± Kevin muttered.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t give a damn about this crap or your insecurities, get the hell back to work and stop bothering me. You¡¯re really testing my patience here. If you have a real problem, then give me a holler, otherwise don¡¯t bother, I¡¯m not your nanny.¡± Patrick said and Kevin¡¯s mouth dropped open as his face twisted into absolute shock.


    ¡°You dare speak to me like this?! You insignificant little worm. I am your king, your god! I could have you executed for your insolence. How dare you. Countless people would give their lives for me.¡± Kevin screamed.


    ¡°Are you on meds or something? Ugh, I can¡¯t deal with this. Ben!¡± He called and a tall muscular man emerged from behind a shack.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ben asked.


    ¡°Get this clown out of here, he doesn¡¯t work here anymore, he¡¯s on drugs or some crap. I don¡¯t want people like that here.¡± Patrick said and Ben sighed before leading Kevin out, but Kevin refused to follow and Ben added up grabbing him and dragging him towards the exit.


    Matt caught sight of the spectacle and thought, This is¡­ Fabulous¡­ He¡¯s finally¡­ Finished. Done. He¡¯ll never come here again, it¡¯s perfect¡­ Especially the look on his face when he sobers up, heh.


    ¡°Unhand me, mortal!¡± Kevin screamed as the muscular man dragged him out the gate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother coming back, you¡¯re lucky we¡¯re not calling the cops.¡± Ben said before heading back.


    ¡°The cops are my loyal followers, do you really think they¡¯d betray me for an insect like you?¡± Kevin screamed. Ben ignored him, walked away a few steps and fiddled with a phone, and then started talking into the receiver, while Matt slathered cement on a layer of bricks.


    He then placed down several bricks, and then repeated the motions as he thought, Aaa, perfect. It still feels unreal how easily I got rid of him, after all these years¡­ He¡¯s finally gone.... Incredible¡­ Incredible¡­ To think it was this easy¡­ And¡­ This is just the first day¡­ If this power becomes stronger, what will I become capable of¡­?

 3: Supermarket Madness

    I do have to be careful however, as it¡¯ll only become easier and easier to permanently knock someone into madness, and even if they deserve it, it¡¯ll attract suspicion if every place I go has people go insane.


    He heaved up another brick, then smacked it down onto the glue, before repeating the motions again and again. As he did this, time flew by and the Sun shone ever harsher, and he finally put down the tool and wiped the sweat off his face. Finally¡­ Ugh, when I¡¯m done here, I won¡¯t be doing this crap anymore.


    He dusted his clothes and crept along catching sight of a group of people huddled together.


    ¡°What the hell happened to Kevin? Is he on drugs?¡± One man asked.


    ¡°I did hear that he had a drinking habit, but I never thought it was this bad...¡± Another said.


    ¡°Drinking? That was something else¡­ That was¡­ He was completely gone¡­ He must be snorting something really nasty...¡± Bill said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I¡¯ve seen people wind up like that before¡­ Although, not that bad...¡± A large older man sighed. Matt listened in for a moment before sneaking away and heading across the road to a small supermarket.


    The guards scowled at his tattered clothes before letting him in and he scanned over the shelves for things cheap enough for him to buy. One item caught his eye. A bundle of tomatoes past their expiry date, he peeked at the back, skimming past the useless nutritional information and thought, Only two months over, it¡¯ll do.


    He sighed, picked it up and slowly made his way across many aisles to the cashier. But when he got there, he caught sight of a queue which felt like it went from one end of the store to the other. Ugh, queues are the worst...


    ¡°Hurry up!¡± A man in the distance shouted.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Another shouted and Matt¡¯s eyes bored into the tall man in his way as the queue moved forward at a glacial speed. Ugh¡­ He moved forward step by step, growing ever more annoyed when a man with a long goatee shoved him out of the way and jumped in-front.


    Oh, hell no. He began channeling feelings of desperation and a desperate desire to make money to the point of insanity, imagining himself stealing good to make do and condensing it all into a ball of madness and thrusting it into the fool.


    The man trembled, a pulse of insanity streaming through his body and pouring into his cranium. His eyes stilled, scanned around and slipped his hand in the pocket of the man in-front of him. As he pulled out his wallet, the man punched him in the face, seized the wallet, and eyed him like a hawk.


    Haha, that¡¯s it, he deserved i- The man rose up, eyed the man, and jumped at the next person in-front trying to pry the wallet from his hands.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Let go!¡± The man screamed, his face turned red as he thrusted the man with the goatee away, and as he was about to leap at the next person, two muscular guards grabbed each of his arms and dragged him away. A bit much, but I like it, he deserves it.


    He flailed and howled as he tried to break through, and despite their efforts, he broke through with a burst of inhuman strength and pounced at man like a wolf locking onto its prey. He ripped the wallet out of his hands and shot towards the exit with the man and guards in pursuit.


    Matt¡¯s mouth dropped open and the people in the queue unconsciously clutched their pockets or checked their purses to see if their wallets were still there, breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing and feeling the familiar pieces of leather.


    Matt looked down and thought, This power is incredible¡­ He completely ignored everything, pushing himself to his limits to break out of their grasp¡­ Just to steal a wallet¡­ Incredible. Not even a delusion about being king¡­ Just an impulse overriding all¡­ This power¡­ Hehe¡­


    This will be very useful to me¡­ Very¡­ very¡­ useful..


    Matt shook in excitement. He resisted the urge to break into laughter and waited as the queue moved forward a step at a time before he finally made it up to the summit before the cashier. The cashier was a well-groomed man in his early twenties, he had long black hair and donned a corporate uniform with the supermarket¡¯s logo embroidered on it. He looked in disgust as Matt¡¯s attire and tossed the tomatoes in-front of the scanner.


    ¡°Ugh, do you really want to buy this crap? It¡¯s expired.¡± He said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Matt said.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Ugh, damn it, you know what. Take it for nothing, it¡¯s your problem if you end up in hospital.¡± He waved his hand shoo-ing Matt off, but not before a pair of guards walked up to him. The scanned him with their shifty eyes and said, ¡°We¡¯ll need to check if you stole anything.¡±


    The tall muscular man on the right stepped up to search him, but he thought, Oh, hell no. I¡¯m not having your bastards search me. Take this.


    Feelings of infinite lust welled up and poured into a bubble, making it pulsate with each passing moment. Images of the goatee-ed guard joined it and he smashed the buddle right into the man who trembled and turned to his friend.


    He grabbed his arm and began searching him while Matt calmly walked out, pulled the package open, and popped a tomato into his mouth. Ah, not bad, two months are the best. Aah, wonderful. But I¡¯m not going to settle for this crap for long¡­


    He hummed as he took small hops in excitement across the road, watching out for traffic, and stepping onto the gravel that was the construction site. He looked around for Kevin and grinned before grabbing his tools and returning to the half-finished wall.


    He slathered the top in cement before heaving the heavy blocks onto it, and whistled as his power came to mind.Behind him, Patrick casually walked by, and surveilled the wall.


    Matt took the chance to conjure up the image of himself being an incredible man with godlike mastery over bricks, while simultaneously conjuring up images of supreme incompetence from Kevin and the other supervisors.


    The bolt shot out from between his eyebrows and into Matt¡¯s cranium taking root in his psyche, as he turned to return for tea. He stopped for a moment, took another look at the wall, and departed. I hope that works...  If it does¡­ Well, we¡¯ll see.


    The hours went by, as the mid-day Sun descended, as did the scorching heat. Patrick never came back and the same motions of putting down brick and slathering cement over and over as if it would last for eternity before the end. Another hard day¡¯s work¡­ Urgh¡­ What a pain, maybe I should look for a higher paying job when I¡¯m not completely broke, I should be able to do a thing or two with my power¡­


    Matt stepped away from the wall and headed off the gravel when he heard someone shout, ¡°Matt.¡±


    Matt turned and spotted Patrick walking up to him. Could it be¡­


    He stopped before him and said, ¡°You did some good work today, now that I think about it, I never did appreciate the meticulous work that you¡¯ve done. I¡¯d like to give you $50 as a bonus for your hard work. I hope it¡¯ll motivate you to keep it up in the future.¡±


    Matt grinned as he handed him an envelope and he turned to leave when a car shot by him at twice the speed limit with several police cars in pursuit. Little did that he know that in that car was the very man who stole his spot in the queue. Fifty dollars, finally some recognition for the crap I do every-day, not bad. Might even make me consider coming back tomorrow.


    Matt stepped onto the road, made his way down towards an old bus stop and stopped. A man with an eye-patch stood next to him as they waited for the bus to arrive. Let¡¯s not drive someone insane this time, I¡¯d like to make it back without going through that alley.


    He stood there waiting, while the eye-patched man pulled out a lighter and a cigarette. He lit the tip and breathed in the fumes as the clouds built up. Several water droplets dropped down, but not anything uncomfortable. The eye-patch man took several deep breaths as Matt stared into nothingness as the minutes went by.


    As he did, a small green bus came around the corner, and just as it was nearly there, Matt took notice of it and readied himself. The steel door opened up and the door ascended into the frame.


    ¡°The man who stole a bus this morning has been apprehended, his name is Jim Davos, 32 years old and cur-¡± An old man with thinning hair and a white beard sat there listening to the radio. Matt walked up to him and he said, ¡°Three dollars.¡±


    Matt¡¯s heart ached as he opened up his wallet, took out three dollars and placed it on the plastic table. The old man quickly grabbed it and Matt sat down as the eye-patched man also went up to the man. Urgh, three whole dollars lost¡­ just like that¡­ Ugh¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t worry about it¡­ It won¡¯t be long before three dollars is nothing, ugh¡­ still¡­ horrible¡­


    Matt held his head in horror as the eye-patched man walked past him, looked around for the ¡®best¡¯ seat and sat down next to the door. Matt looked out the window at the construction site, with Patrick stepping into his car and two guards smoking before the bus shot down the road.


    The bus began to rattle and shake as it picked up more and more speed before abruptly moving to the side as a black car and several police cars shot by, but more importantly, Matt who was bored enough to stare out of the window caught sight of the driver.


    That¡­ That was¡­ The guy who stole my spot in the queue¡­ I used that power on him and he turned into a wallet stealing demon and that was great and all but¡­ How the hell did that turn into a police chase?


    Matt¡¯s eyes alternated between his window and what little he could see of the windscreen, but it wasn¡¯t long before the group went around a corner at high speed.


    Damn, I wanted to see what happened, especially to see if he¡¯s still affected by that power¡­ Ugh, well I¡¯m sure the result will be on the news¡­ Maybe next time, I¡¯ll influence them in a way which won¡¯t get them in trouble with the law or get them sent to a madhouse.


    He shook his head and thought, Maybe, I should try it on this guy¡­ No, I¡¯d like to avoid people who haven¡¯t messed with me, also I don¡¯t want everyone I go near to wind up in jail or people will realise before long that I¡¯m in the middle of every mess, ugh¡­ This power is great and all, but it¡¯s also very inconvenient, even if I try to be sneaky, I¡¯ll still get caught on CCTV footage¡­ What should I do¡­ What should I do¡­ There must be something¡­ Well, there is something but¡­


    Matt trembled as he actively pushed away psions from the two. Maybe I can exercise it like¡­ this¡­ But it¡¯s really not much but¡­ When I¡¯m back home, there¡¯ll be plenty of people there coming back from work¡­ This isn¡¯t much now but¡­ Every little helps...

 4: Training

    Every¡­ last¡­ bit¡­ Matt thought as he sank into contemplation while repelling the surrounding psions. The bus rattled as he did so, but it didn¡¯t affect him as he studied the flows of the psions trying to derive meaning from it. As he did, the bus stopped and he opened his eyes. Not my stop.


    The eye-patched man stepped out, but he did not, and moments later, the bus began to rattle again as it picked up speed. He felt right at home as it sped over bumps sending the rattles over the edge and felt the driver¡¯s aura¡­ Reading it closely and trying to find patterns, as he did, the bus turned around the corner and stopped once more.


    He opened his eye, looked out and thought, Oh no¡­ Ugh¡­


    He built up strength in his legs and send himself flying out of the steel cage and across the grass with heavy rain drenching his clothes. He shot down the pavement like a possessed ferret, shielding his head, and turning into the decrepit old building. He panted in the lobby as he thought, Ugh¡­ That was horrible...


    He slowly made his way to his cage as the drops dripped down, turned the handle, and stepped into the usual place. He entered the bathroom, removed his clothes, did an absurdly quick wash, and stepped out. So expensive¡­ But if I don¡¯t do that much, then Patrick¡¯ll get mad¡­ Still, the amount of money I waste on water is¡­ Absurd¡­


    He dressed up in an equally tattered looking shirt and pants before sitting down on a simple wooden chair. He zoned out and sensed the various psion leaks in the surrounding area. As he drew the psions in, countless emotions followed. Hate. Madness. Love. Sadness. Lust. Joy.


    So many emotions poured in to the point where he could barely bare it and he suddenly cut off the connection bringing the emotions back down to their normal level before projecting psions to deflect them.


    Urgh¡­ That was too much¡­ Far too much¡­ I almost went crazy¡­ It makes sense that if I can repel then I can absorb but¡­ I really don¡¯t want to do something like that again, if I don¡¯t have to¡­ Well¡­ I might not have much choice, my power¡¯s still far too weak, but still, I need a breather before continuing¡­


    Matt panted as he shook off the countless conflicting emotions and said, ¡°Gestik Minkin.¡±


    The world him dissolved as a world of white formed. He looked around, or rather, felt around, but he couldn¡¯t feel a single psion, not useful for training, but great for recovering. This place is as empty as ever, how depressing¡­ Urgh, still¡­ I managed to escape from that hell.


    He took out his phone as he flipped through the messages and opened up a local news site. The first article caught his eye and was titled, ¡°Strange string of insanity in Burns Town.¡±


    Could this be¡­


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Strange string of insanity in Burns Town</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    There have been some strange cases of insanity in Burns Town today. They have all inexplicably exhibited a moment of insanity and don¡¯t understand why they behaved so absurdly.


    The first was the 32 year old Jim Davos who stole a bus and abandoned it before attending a meeting in West Burrow. He claims that he suddenly went insane all of a sudden and that he was filled with rage towards the system for having bus¡¯ which run so late.


    The second was the 38 year old Kevin Harclays who believed that he was the master of the universe, he insisted that officers called him master or king and was furious when people gave him instructions of any sort.


    The third was the 44 year old Jack Parsley, who worked as a security guard at Burrowmart. He was arrested for molesting one of his co-workers. He claims temporary insanity like the two above. Also, the same store had a man attempt to steal a wallet, while seemingly petty, he fought with guards, managed to steal another wallet and drove off.


    Store officials contacted the police shortly after with the car¡¯s registration number and several cars were deployed to apprehend him, but as they were on the way, he stole a golden necklace from Miss Elaine Lirvin and a diamond watch from Darwin Markel.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Matt¡¯s mouth dropped open as the article contained all the information he needed, including the results of all of his tests. And while it didn¡¯t tell him as much as he would have wanted, it told him something extremely, extremely important.The effects aren¡¯t permanent. That¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s good that they¡¯re not in the madhouse for petty things, but¡­ This is¡­ Too distinct. It¡¯s already drawn suspicion from the media for them to connect the incidents like this¡­ I knew that it would look suspicious, but I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d join the dots so easily, even though they¡¯re doing this for sensationalism¡­ Tch. Not good.


    He grimaced as the scenes of the guard and Kevin came to mind. He read the article two more times and clenched his fists. Not good at all, while I can influence Patrick, if I do the other things, then there¡¯s a good chance that I¡¯ll be discovered, and that RaeI¡­ It said¡­ That people might be out to kill me, I don¡¯t think it said that for no reason. There must be someone who knows.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    If I¡¯m seen in too many places then¡­ It really could be the end.


    His body trembled as he hit the back button and scanned the list of articles, but asides from murders, theft, and a controversial new law, there wasn¡¯t anything relating to the people going insane.


    It wasn¡¯t too bad¡­ Good¡­ Good¡­ Ugh, I really shouldn¡¯t take risks like that again, especially not something as obvious as with the guard¡­ If someone did use a power there, then wouldn¡¯t it be obvious that it was me? It only takes so many moments like that to raise the eyebrows of even the dumbest inspector.


    If I do do something then¡­ I need to do it in the midst of many people, preferably a crowd to make it hard to zone down on me. But more importantly, I need something more. This new power I discovered is great for getting back at enemies, but the chances of detection are too high.


    There must be something else I can do¡­ Something more¡­ And to discover that. Matt rose up and repeated the words, ¡°Gestik Minkin.¡± The surroundings broke down and he returned to the usual dump, a dim light shining above him. I¡¯ll need to¡­ Study more psions!


    The emotions poured in, and as they did, he sucked them in, but with a much weaker force than before, while trying to sense the secrets they hid. As he did, he managed to slid a small tendil of psions into an otherwise silent man, and discovered a vast reservoir of lust.


    Very¡­ lustful¡­ But that emotion hasn¡¯t surfaced¡­ At-least, not strong enough for it to leak, I see¡­ Like this, I can sense the emotions of even someone without a leak, although¡­ Ugh¡­


    He tried to push the psions deeper and met resistance, he pulled back and found another silent target. He didn¡¯t know what this person looked like, but he could feel someone there, he tried to push his way through the outer psion shell, but unlike with the man, he couldn¡¯t find any way of doing so and pulled back.


    I don¡¯t want to go too far here, otherwise I might drive her insane¡­ And that¡¯ll be a huge problem considering I live here¡­ He instead decided to push a psion tendril into the first man and channeled the smallest strand of people he could into the sea, concentrating as much as he could to avoid going over even the slightest bit.


    A pulse went across the sea, but he couldn¡¯t sense anything outside, not a bit of leakage. Hm¡­ He decided to instead channel a strand of emotion, but unlike before, he couldn¡¯t project it, not in the slightest. Odd¡­ Hmm¡­ He envisioned a mild scene with a woman, and while it made it to the tendril, the sea didn¡¯t react in the slightest. What¡¯s going on, this was working before¡­


    He tried channeling a stronger pulse of emotion across the tendril and over the sea, but there still wasn¡¯t a reaction. I could channel the image of¡­ Wait. Wait. What. What if¡­ It¡¯s just him¡­ Let¡¯s see how the others react¡­


    Matt scanned around with his psions looking for another silent target, but asides from one unknown person, most of the people had strong emotions, mostly stress from work or a lustful mood. The tendril hovered over the person head, then it crept into his cranium and past the outer shell. So far so good.


    Before it lied a small sea of sadness, in fact it wasn¡¯t even really a sea, more like a pond. He sent a pulse of power into it followed by a primal sense of sadness and waves spread out from the point across the sea unlike the previous one.


    Great, a response, it¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t see what¡¯s going on with this person, but¡­ Finally, a response¡­ If I can implant or¡­ Stoke up... emotions without going too far, then maybe I can avoid the complete insanity they end up in¡­ Maybe¡­


    The tendril retracted out of the sea and back into Matt as he began to suck in psions again, starting with as little as he could pull to a strong storm. I¡¯ll alternate between the two¡­ Or three. I¡¯ll stoke up that sea over and over¡­ While absorbing these psions to help strengthen my mind¡­ And occasionally jumping into the blank space to rest. Yes¡­ That¡¯s a good idea.


    He began to tremble as the emotions constantly ate away at him, his psions began to fall into chaos, and he repelled the psions once more before resting. After doing that, he went back to probing or absorbing before once again rest before looping over and over and over.


    As he did, a thin man in an adjacent room had a strange look on his face as a strange feeling almost rose up for a moment before dissipating, stronger sometimes, weaker other times, but nearly non-existent. He shrugged and went back to watching a horror film.


    Matt kept probing, absorbing, and resting until he collapsed on the bed from his head hurting really badly. He entered the strange space, but even after sitting for half an hour, it didn¡¯t go down by much.


    Ugh, I might have pushed a little too hard, I should probably stop for today, it¡¯s time to sleep anyway¡­ He sat on the springy bed and stared at the wall for twenty minutes with the background psions tickling away at him before finally dozing off into sleep, and as he slept, his mind was drawn into a strange area.


    A room with white walls with no exits and entrances, the same as he had previously been in, but with a white figure hovering overhead. It whispered, ¡°Subject 52,788¡¯s progress is abysmal, this one¡¯s a wash. The virus king is still the best candidate, the others are too few and useless.


    We might need to change our approach, this isn¡¯t working.¡±


    The figure dissipated into the white nether as Matt opened his eyes, clutched his head and looked around. This place again¡­ Ugh, what did they say I should do here again¡­ Oh yes¡­ Study, ugh. Can¡¯t they just shove this knowledge in my head? What should I learn? Better bricklaying? No¡­


    Wait. Wait Wait wait wait wait. Kevin¡¯s a supervisor, if he¡¯s fired, then they¡¯ll look for a new supervisors, so what I should do is¡­ Learning about supervising people¡­ Managing people¡­ That¡¯ll help a lot¡­ A looot. If things go well, then I¡¯ll go up all the way...

 5: Chaos of the Night

    Meanwhile in another part of Burns Town, in a small police station, several officers stepped out of the station having finished their shift for the day.


    ¡°Ugh, what was that...¡± One mumbled.


    ¡°I know¡­ That crazy guy¡­ He was adamant that he was a king¡± He said as a tall blonde man with an expensive jacket walked past him. A sliver of a thought entered his mind and when he looked again, the man was gone as was the memory of him.


    The mysterious man stepped into the lobby of the police station.


    ¡°Hello? What you here for?¡± A man asked and he turned to him. He pulled out a blank card and an order surfaced in the man¡¯s head. ¡°This is a police ID for Inspector Smith. He¡¯s investigating the crazy guy who thinks his a king. You will forget you ever saw him after he leaves.¡±


    The man then turned to the CCTV camera, traced psions through the electric cables all the way back to a small security room. Within it was an old man sipping tea and lazily glancing at the CCTV footage as a strange power crept into his head and compelled him to destroy all evidence that this man was ever here.


    The man casually walked upto the holding cell and found Kevin fast asleep on a bed. He¡¯s the one¡­ His psions are still unsettled, the remnants of a strong ¡®notion¡¯... Crude¡­ Very crude¡­ Whoever did this probably hasn¡¯t had this power for very long¡­


    He chuckled and thought, Let¡¯s see who you¡¯ve been in contact with¡­ First¡­ let¡¯s start with who¡¯ll have a motive to attack you, it could be a random experiment, but¡­ The first thing all these newbies usually do is get even with their enemies...


    Kevin trembled slightly as the psions softly swept through his mind, stealthily infiltrated the depths and excavated little bits and pieces of information.


    Estranged wife¡­ Acts like the centre of the universe and shoves it in people¡¯s faces¡­ Ugh, if he annoyed some random person, then it¡¯ll be difficult to hone in on them¡­ Deeper¡­ Yes¡­. No¡­ Ugh, too many people have a motive to get even with this guy, no wonder he ended up like this.


    The tendrils retracted from his head back into the man¡¯s hand. I could start with his wife, but¡­ There are other leads¡­ I¡¯ll leave her for later¡­ Where are the others¡­ His phone started vibrating and he held it to his ear.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You know the individuals you asked me to look into?¡± The voice asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± He said.


    ¡°One of them¡­ Was murdered.¡± The voice said.


    ¡°What?! Who?! How?!¡± He shouted.


    ¡°Jack Parsley, the security guard. He¡¯s brain dead. The psion¡¯s in his head were completely shredded and drained.¡± The voice said. If he went after that man specifically, then he probably¡­ Wanted to silence him, perhaps because he knew of his true identity¡­ Wait¡­


    ¡°Did they see anyone suspicious appear? Did any police officers behave oddly?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Nothing of the sort,¡± the voice said. Whoever did that is much more sophisticated than this one, maybe he did this to fool me? No¡­ Ugh¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ He drives him crazy and then kills him? Hm¡­ It could be that¡­ This man could have been a hated enemy of his, so he drove him insane to make him suffer before finishing him off¡­ Does that make sense...? What¡¯s going on¡­


    ¡°What about the others?¡± The man said.


    ¡°They¡¯re fine for now.¡± The voice said and he sighed. I can at-least squeeze them for information, but I¡¯m afraid the most important bit has been lost.


    ¡°Is there anything unusual about him at all¡­?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Well, there is something. I noticed¡­ Discrepancies...¡± The voice said.


    ¡°What sort...¡± The man asked.


    ¡°The story is that he died from a drug overdose, but when he first came in¡­ There was no such drug overdose, it was just a story of psychosis.¡± The voice said. Cover¡­ To explain the death¡­ If it¡¯s a drug overdose, then things will go by without a hitch, who can really question and overdose¡­ Still, if they kill everyone but the most important ones, then if too many people start dropping likes flies, then certain¡­ People might appear¡­ Or even¡­ even¡­ a king¡­


    But what if¡­ I need to get out of here¡­


    The man hurriedly turned, casting orders left and right, and stepping out the front door while projecting false traces of psions. As he stepped into his car, he noticed a teenage girl walk by, followed by an old man walking his dog, but not much else other than flickering lights.


    He turned the key, started the car and shot down the road out of there. Good¡­ I made it out of there, whoever did that is as skilled as me, and I should be able to handle them but¡­ Who knows what sorts of friends or superiors they have¡­If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    And secrecy is everything, the ones who fall in the limelight usually die within a week... I can¡¯t afford to do that, I¡¯ve come too far for that¡­ Way too far¡­


    As he drove, a slither shot out and activated a concealed order within the guard. It said, ¡°Stream everything that happens to lolcats.xyz¡± With him streaming it to my server, I should at-least see¡­ Who this person is, if they appear¡­ Who could it be¡­ Could it even be a king¡­? No.. A king wouldn¡¯t bother¡­ Or would they¡­ Could this be some sort of conspiracy among the kings¡­ No¡­ But¡­


    -----


    In a strange white world, Matt started at management articles for hours on end, some written by complete morons telling him nonsense, and some written by people with half a clue. The two meshed and intermingled. I think I¡¯m getting the hang of this¡­ But ugh, study sucks... Still, I need this to graduate from laying bricks, if that jerk Kevin can do this, then so can I¡­


    His eyes bored into the ridiculously small font as he sucked in the scrawls further refined his knowledge, while the psions grew sharper and denser.


    Sweat dropped down his head as a nearly endless amount of knowledge poured into his head. Ponzi schemes, hyping up the worthless as something amazing, and extracting the most work out of his workers.


    Yes¡­ Yes, that¡¯s more like it¡­ I can get people to give me money and call it an ¡®investment for a business¡¯... Perfect. Wonderful. Such a perfect way of getting money out of people for vague promises, Ahahahahaha¡­ha¡­ Preferably without driving them insane, I need to work on that...


    He sighed and flipped through the local news again, but the list was identical without any changes.


    I guess no one¡¯s going to be writing news articles at 2am¡­ Still, I want to find out what the hell happened to those guys¡­ Ugh¡­ And¡­ How long is this stupid virus going to rampage across the world, these guys are useless¡­ Luckily, the world app is the ultimate firewall or I¡¯d be screwed. World app¡­ world¡­ world virus¡­


    He lifted the phone up and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s a world virus?¡±


    He pressed the world app and opened up page detailing what the emissary said. No¡­ No¡­ What else can this thing do¡­ What else¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it can¡¯t do more...


    He tapped over and over on random areas before noticing several grey icons. They were a question mark, a dollar sign, and a fist. They appeared for a moment before shimmering and vanishing. Was that just¡­ Something appeared!


    He began tapping more and more furiously, but nothing happened, until he switched back to the web app. That¡¯s enough¡­ Nothing¡¯s going happen... But¡­ Those icons¡­ What¡­ was... that¡­ Grey icons¡­ Disabled. Disabled features? Why? Is it because I don¡¯t have enough mental power and knowledge?


    He grinded his teeth and furiously tapped before stopping. Enough¡­ Enough¡­ Let¡¯s get back to study, if I¡¯m lucky, then maybe I¡¯ll open up a new power tomorrow or hone this power. Not that I care if people go insane, but it would be inconvenient, it¡¯s a miracle I didn¡¯t send Patrick into a sea of ecstasy¡­


    He slapped his face. That wouldn¡¯t be good¡­ Wouldn¡¯t be good at all¡­ It¡¯s one thing if he thinks I¡¯m competent and the best for the job, but if he starts thinking I¡¯m some sort of god, then it could get bad, it¡¯s good I didn¡¯t push him too far.


    He picked up the phone once more and started consuming information as the hours went by.


    -----


    The blonde man sat in a spacious suite in a hotel, he munched an apple with one hand while staring at a computer screen. Come on already¡­ Are they not going to come after-all? Wai-


    The surveillance footage shifted from the lobby to a porn movie, a female actress lay on a be- Nonononono, this isn¡¯t what I want! Mole!


    He activated hidden notions one after another to try to get the old man to keep the stream going, but nothing happened. Text began scrolling across the bottom saying, ¡°Did you really think I¡¯d be such a moron as to show myself on camera? I don¡¯t have a death wish, you know. You are really a fool though, did you really think I wouldn¡¯t be able to track you down¡­ Paul?¡±


    The man stood up shocked as he thought, They know exactly who I am?! How! I didn¡¯t leave any traces, I wiped all of their memories. How did they find out? Did I.. No, it¡¯s impossible, unless¡­ But that¡¯s ridiculous¡­


    He gulped as he thought, It could be¡­ It could¡­ Hidden cameras. Damn it, how could I fall for it, they probably drove those people crazy to set a trap for me, ugh to think I fell for something like that¡­ And they hid the entire time so they¡¯d discover my identity, but I wouldn¡¯t discover theirs¡­ They¡­ They¡­ If they give this information to the wrong people¡­ Or worse¡­


    Wait¡­ There¡¯s another possibility, what if. It was someone on the scene, but they disguised themselves perfectly, but I went into their seas and. How could it be a disguise, even if you stop leakage, you can¡¯t fake a sea. I don¡¯t suppose they¡¯ll tell me?


    Yeah right, they¡¯re not that dumb, every card they keep hidden is an advantage, every bit of information is a valuable treasure worth killing for¡­ In that case¡­ Why tell me they know about me? Are they that arrogant o- Not good.


    Paul turned to the door, but backed off deciding to lower himself out the window, he clung to the pipe and slowly lowered himself down as the steel creaked and moaned. If they¡¯re that confident, then that means that they¡¯re coming after me right now, in fact they must already be here.


    He sped across the grassy field, and caught sight of a man with a flashlight. He whispered an order, ¡°You are a chihuahua. Go to the first random person you see in the lobby and give them a big lick on the face. They are your new owner.¡±


    The man trembled as lost control of his body and stooped down onto all fours. I doubt this¡¯ll distract them for long, but maybe it¡¯ll buy me a couple of minutes. He clutched onto the fence and forced his body up, grunting in the process.


    His bones cracked, as did his temper, as his body went up half-way before finally being thrust over the wooden menace. He shot across the grassy lawn, jumped in-front of a green car, and stared at the driver. An order flew into his cranium saying, ¡°Give me that car. You will find this car in a gutter in-front of Burn University. You drove it in there yourself. You will go to collect it tomorrow. Ignore what it about to happen and forget me.¡±


    The driver jumped out and Paul jumped in and fired up the ignition. The car shot off and the driver stood their confused before remembering that they left their car in a gutter, but it isn¡¯t anything particularly important so they¡¯ll collect it after they go to bed.


    Urgh, not good. A notion like that has so many discrepancies, it¡¯ll be easy for someone to read, but¡­ It should buy me some time, I¡¯ll change vehicle at the university, and then I¡¯ll hire a vehicle under the name of ¡®Mr. Smith¡¯ before heading out of this city...

 6: Disaster

    An old man, a dead faced young girl, and a little boy turned to a police station. The stopped and a gelatinous blob of psions flew through the wall, pored through a guard¡¯s memory and extracted the wifi password.


    She tapped open the world app, connected to the wifi and found the computer the cameras report to, not that it was hard considering it was the only computer which wasn¡¯t powered down for the night.


    ¡°Tch, they¡¯re not using password as their password this time,¡± she grumbled.


    ¡°Try superman or iloveyou,¡± the old man said.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t work either,¡± she said.


    ¡°Throw every word in the dictionary at it, try it with and without random numbers on the end,¡± he said.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t work,¡± she said.


    ¡°Hm¡­ This is a tricky one, we could use the world app¡¯s¡­ No, I have an idea¡­ Try¡­ iamawesome.¡± He said.


    ¡°It works, I¡¯m in.¡± She said and she tapped the mobile several times.


    ¡°They¡¯re streaming the footage of the cameras to a random server¡­ lolcats.xyz...¡± She said.


    ¡°lolcats.xyz¡­ That¡¯s¡­ Completely obvious. Too stupid. Okay, we need to cut that off, and then wipe the data after we¡¯re done in there.¡± He said.


    ¡°I have a better idea, we could repeat the footage over and over like in one of those movies, or use footage from last week,¡± the little boy said.


    ¡°I mean, surely someone would catch onto that¡­ I guess, we could make it look like the internet connection is patchy and splice it in.¡± The old man said and he scratched his head.


    ¡°I know who¡¯s watching us,¡± she said.


    ¡°What?¡± The old man said.


    ¡°I placed bugs on everyone earlier, every person in the area, just to be safe. And one of them is watching the footage from a hotel room¡­ Right now.¡± She said.


    ¡°Psion bugs? Ahahaha, that¡¯s perfect.¡± The old man said.


    ¡°According to what he said to the receptionist, his name should be Paul¡­ And¡­ I have an idea of what he looks like¡­ I just need to¡­ Get the footage from the hot-¡± She said.


    ¡°No, I have a better idea¡­ A much much better idea...¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Fine... Okay, the footage is looping now.¡± She said and then, the trio walked towards the door, as they opened, a tendril shot into the police officers and projected the image of an empty room making it look as if they weren¡¯t even there.


    ¡°Their psions have been disturbed¡­ Someone was definitely here and messed with their heads¡­¡± The old man said and paused before saying, ¡°Heh¡­ We¡¯ve finally found another rival...¡±


    The boy grinned and they continued through the hall. They stepped into an area full of cells and walked up to a sleeping Kevin, a tendril snaked its way in and entered his head. He trembled as it rifled through his thoughts and memories.


    ¡°Arrogant jerk. Probably killed by the same one as last time¡­ And I have his name now¡­ ¡®Matt¡¯.¡± She said as the tendril violetently retracted making him froth at the mouth.


    ¡°Matt¡­ I see.¡± The old man mumbled.


    ¡°Kill this man. We¡¯ll blame it on this ¡®Paul¡¯, overwrite their memories with an image of him killing them, you know what he looks like, right?¡± The old man said and a large hand shot out of her and tore into his mind.


    He screamed as his mind cracked and broke apart and the pieces were consumed by the hand. And as he gasped his last breath, she ran up to him, pulled out a small handgun and shot him over and over.


    ¡°He¡¯s the story. This ¡®Matt¡¯ provided the group with a highly potent drug and this man called Paul ran into the police station with a gun and two thugs, intimidated the officers, injured one, and killed this man.¡± The old man said before shooting a guard in the leg, the guard screamed in pain and couldn¡¯t understand how a shot could come out of thin air.


    He tripped and crawled towards the exit when another hole opened up in his leg and a memory of Paul shooting him surfaced.


    ¡°Fuck, that psychopath¡­ Ag-¡± The police officer said as the old man hit him on the head and he collapsed.


    ¡°Hm, okay¡­ No, that¡¯s not enough, we need more casualties¡­ To make it look authentic...¡± The old man said as he pored through the minds of the prisoners painting a horrific scene of Paul shooting a guard in their minds.


    ¡°We also have to deal with the doctors who tested his body for drugs...¡± The boy said.


    ¡°Ah yes, of course, we can¡¯t forget that,¡± the old man said as the three left the corpse behind. They stepped into the lobby and the hand once again lunged out, this time at a bored guard. He trembled as his innermost essence was ripped to shred and begged his friend for help.


    The other guard was confused, but had a horrified expression was his friend collapsed. He ran forward, checked his pulse, but discovered that he was¡­ Dead.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°What the hell?! Did he just have a heart attack?¡± The guard thought as he quickly pulled out a phone to call an ambulance, but as he did a piece of lead opened up a hole in his leg. He screamed and stared at the empty space.


    ¡°What are you?! Some sort of evil spirit?!¡± The police officer screamed and backed away.


    ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯m an evil spirit alright,¡± a voice spoke out of the void.


    ¡°And I¡¯ve come for your soul.¡± It spoke again and the officer screamed and ran for the door.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get away...¡± The voice said and footsteps echoed behind him.


    The officer leapt at the door, trying to push it open only to discover it¡¯s a pull door, and desperately pulled for his life. As he did, a sinister aged cackle echoed out before and he felt a warm breath on his neck.


    ¡°Hi.¡± A little boy¡¯s voice said and he screamed and leapt out of the station, but as he was in mid-jump a hand dragged him back into hell.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think you¡¯d get away, did you?¡± The aged voice said.


    ¡°Let me go¡­ No!¡± The officer screamed.


    ¡°Hah, fool. Humans are such foolish creatures, watch him squirm¡­ But don¡¯t worry¡­ You¡¯ll become one of us soon enough¡­ You¡¯ll get to cast your weak mortal shell behind...¡± The voice whispered.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to die!¡± He screamed and he struggled trying to break out of his grip, but the old man was too strong. My body has been enhanced by the world app, you think you can essscape?!


    ¡°Listen¡­ While I¡¯d love to separate your soul from your body right now¡­ I¡¯ll give you a chance, I¡¯m a reasonable man...¡± The voice said.


    ¡°Really?¡± The officer said.


    ¡°Oh yes¡­ Now die.¡± He said as he was shot once again and collapsed.


    ¡°Is he dead?¡± The boy asked.


    ¡°No, I just knocked him unconscious. I¡¯m going to wipe that little episode and replace it with Paul, haha I haven¡¯t had so much fun in ages.¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Next¡­ The watcher who watches the watchers...¡± He muttered as they headed upstairs, they shoved open the door of the small security office, the man inside screamed and picked a club but spotted no one there.


    Three sets of footsteps echoed out and the man leapt at them with the club, only to be blocked by a strong sturdy hand.


    ¡°Fool.¡± An aged man¡¯s voice said and the watcher lost consciousness. The girl walked up to the computer, fiddled with it and started wiping the past week¡¯s worth of recordings, while the boy tied the watcher up and the old man started smashing random objects to make it look as if a struggle happened.


    ¡°The computer told me which doctors¡­ diagnosed our friend Kevin...¡± She said.


    ¡°Excellent, we¡¯ll pay them a visit after we¡­ cause a little more damage to make it look like a battle happened, and then¡­ We can¡­ Arrange some ¡®accidents¡¯ for some of our other friends...¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done.¡± She stepped away from the computer and they stepped out of the office, closing the door and leaving the unconscious guard behind. They walked down the stairs and started smashing chairs and other objects with clubs.


    Here¡¯s the story. A man called Kevin bought a highly potent drug from a drug dealer called Matt, but to afford the drugs, he had to take a loan from a local gangster called Paul. After reneging on the debt for months and taking more and more, Paul broke into a rage and came here with several heavily armed underlings to kill him, it¡¯s perfect.


    Melodramatic and ridiculous, but since it¡¯s in their memory, there cannot be any doubt. No matter how ridiculous it is, if everyone saw it, then it ¡®happened¡¯. Without the camera footage, no one can prove it any other way!


    Paul! You¡¯re finished! You will be pursued from one side of the country to the other, sure you could hypnotise people, but the traces will eventually get the attention of a king, no matter where you run, you¡¯ll be finished all the same. And you, Matt¡­ I have far bigger plans for you...


    The old man smiled in satisfaction at the destroyed before strolling out with the other door, as they did, a man jogged past them and a tendril slithered it¡¯s way in to erase their presence from his mind.


    In addition to that, the boy tapped on the device and the appearances changed to that of a middle aged woman, a handsome man in his mid-20s and a fat man in his mid-forties. This was only an illusion however, their real appearances remained the same.


    The trio casually strolled down the road, occasionally encountering a person who they hypnotised, and stepped into a well hidden car before shooting away.


    ¡°Where does the doctor live?¡± The old man asked as he turned left.


    ¡°145 McVallen Street. There¡¯s another who lives at Turdsridge.¡± She said.


    ¡°I see, McVallen is closer, we¡¯ll pay that one a visit first¡­ And the person who came up with the name Turdsridge should be shot¡­ Or hypnotised into thinking he¡¯s a chihuahua for the rest of his life...¡± The old man chuckled as he made another turn, and then another before eventually pulling up to a yellow brick home.


    The three put on three balaclavas, picked up two clubs and a shotgun, and stepped out. A small beetle crawled out from between her eyebrows, flew up to a slightly open window and crawled.


    A short man still asleep got up from the bed and walked to his bedroom door before opening it and heading down the stairs. After that, he opened the front door, his eyes still closed.


    A tendril shot out from the old man and starting poring through his mind for several seconds before finding the ones where he diagnosed the man which changed to include the startling discovery of a horrifying drug.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, there are a few officers we¡¯ll have to brainwash who heard the original ¡®clean¡¯ diagnosis¡­ We¡¯ve already changed the data on the computer¡­ Yes, we¡¯ll deal with them first, this is quite the busy night.¡± The old man said as he waved off the man back to bed.


    The three stepped back into the car and the old man sat in the driver¡¯s seat as he fired up the old reliable once more. I was prepared to stage a break-in, but I guess we didn¡¯t need these balaclavas after-all.


    The car shot off towards Turdsridge, stopping at several lights, and even passing by Matt¡¯s decrepit building. As they drove, he turned on the radio and listened to classical music before switching to the late night news.


    ¡°Breaking news, just in. A man went insane in the Purtsridge Hotel, he started walking on all fours like a dog and started licking people, he even urinated on the floors. We¡¯ll keep you updated as the story progresses.¡± The reporter said.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ The hotel that Paul went to.¡± She said.


    ¡°I see¡­ Was that him with the brainwashing power? No, it couldn¡¯t be, no one would do something that meaningless, there are far more subtle ways to get back to someone, even if they give you bad service.¡± The old man said.


    ¡°It was. He climbed down a gutter in a hurry and looked like he was running for his life.¡± She said.


    ¡°Why? Did he lose his mind?¡± The old man asked.


    ¡°Monty scared him with a little message saying he knew who he was.¡± She said.


    ¡°Ah, you really shouldn¡¯t do that, it¡¯s best not to give him a heads-up. Still, it doesn¡¯t really matter, in fact if he panics then it¡¯ll increase the chances of getting caught, especially if it was him who messed with that guy¡¯s head.¡± The old man said.

 7: The Police

    Finally morning¡­ Matt thought as he emerged from the white realm and opened his eyes. Being awake permanently isn¡¯t all it¡¯s cracked up to be¡­ That empty realm was just hell, in isolation for countless hours poring through information surrounded by¡­ Nothing¡­


    He turned his head to the door, picked up a slow withered wallet, and slowly stepped out into the foyer. Countless particles assaulted his senses immediately and his body trembled for a moment before particles started spinning around him, but without touching him once.


    Instead of pushing outwards, I¡¯ll build up momentum and keep a continuous flow going around and around endlessly. It might not work, but¡­ I have a feeling that¡­ It just might¡­


    He braved the rapids and pushed past the old man. He heard an engine approaching and broke into a sprint towards the bus stop. An old bus emerged from around the corner and shot towards the bus stop at an inhuman speed, but Matt was barely able to get there in time.


    His hearing was far sharper than the previous day, able to hear the whispers from the passengers talking about the guy who hijacked the bus, but he took no note of it thinking of that incident instead. The news said he was arrested, right? I wonder what happened to him, did he get out by claiming insanity¡­ or¡­? I¡¯ll have to check the news tonight¡­ If they report it...


    He stepped onto the bus and held back his despair at the horrifying words from the driver. The fare¡­ Had increased¡­ To four dollars. H-How could they do this to me?! Four dollars? Four dollars?! Are you insane? No! Nooo! That¡¯s it.


    A tendril snuck into the man¡¯s head stirring up the positive emotions hidden within. The old man broke out into a smile as Matt asked, ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s $4? It was only $3 yesterday...¡±


    ¡°Well, you know how it is with inflation...¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Matt repeated as the tendril tickled the little strand of persistence and stubbornness in the man¡¯s mind. Two strands with an unrelenting will which he could feel through the tendril, but even that power quickly gave in.


    ¡°Well, okay. I guess it doesn¡¯t need to be that high. $3.¡± The old man said.


    He dropped down the three coins and stepped towards the stairs as he thought, Interesting, I can even do that¡­ I figured I could after those tests, but¡­ I half-expected another lunatic. Ah well, let¡¯s see how this¡­ doe-


    ¡°Hello newbies. I am the mighty god Odin, a support representative of the Rae Corporation, not that insects like you have ever heard of it. I am here to inform you that we have distributed five worlds seeds to your planet, be glad you¡¯re even getting a single one.


    I won¡¯t tell you what they¡¯re for or how to find them, but you¡¯re in for a treat if you do, I strongly encourage you to kill each other for them, don¡¯t disappoint me. It¡¯s not just me watching your progress, but also the Dual Gods of Time and Space, as-well as the Supreme One. Be sure to give us a good show, not that you¡¯re capable of that.¡±


    Gods? Supreme One? Wh- Matt began to think before he was interrupted by the voice once more, ¡°Ugh, I hate this job, dealing with these insects. Me. A god. Why should I deal with this cr- It¡¯s still broadcasting? Damn it. Turn it off!¡±


    What an asshole¡­ Still¡­ Gods¡­ Time¡­ And Space¡­ What ridiculous titles, but not surprising considering how ridiculously overpowered this thing is. Still¡­ Gods¡­ Urgh¡­ Damn it, he even called for us to kill each other, that sick bastard¡­ Is it just a game to him? And who¡¯s this ¡®Supreme One¡¯?


    Urgh, what a headache¡­ Can I just¡­ Not get the world seed¡­? Whatever the hell that is... I¡¯m fine with being a billionaire. Nothing big, just a few billion dollars, you know. The basics¡­ This power is so ridiculously powerful, haha.


    He chuckled as the bus slowed down again, he stepped out and went to the usual worksite, but instead of going to the wall, he decided to pay his boss Patrick a visit. He opened the door to the little ¡®office¡¯ and sent a small tendril into Patrick¡¯s brain to stimulate the happy parts.


    He also sent a small thought into his mind saying, ¡°Matt would be a good choice to replace Kevin, he¡¯s surprisingly talented at supervising people.¡±


    Patrick had a strange expression on his face as he quickly refuted the thought within, but he decided to ask, ¡°How much do you know about supervising people?¡±


    ¡°I know a few things.¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Alright, as you know, now that Kevin is gone, we need a new supervisor. I¡¯ll give you the position provisionally, and I¡¯m going to see how well you do.¡± Patrick said and he stepped out with Matt towards a large crowd of people.


    ¡°Bill. Gertrude. John. Matt is your new supervisor. You will report directly to him.¡± He said before turning back to his room. Matt on a rock table and started staring them down as a car screeched behind them. What the¡­ Anyway, finally¡­ I¡¯ve finally graduated from laying bricks, I just have to write reports, watch people and tell them what to do.


    Two police officers stepped out of the car and stomped onto the construction site. They flashed their badges at the guards who tried to stop them and were let in without the slightest bit of resistance.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Patrick stepped out and asked them.


    ¡°We need to question a few people, including you.¡± They asked.


    ¡°Me? Why? What happened?¡± Patrick asked.


    ¡°Seven people including one of your employees were murdered last night, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re familiar with a man by the name of Kevin?¡± The black haired one asked and Patrick¡¯s mouth dropped open in horror.


    ¡°M-Murdered?! He¡¯s dead?!¡± Patrick recoiled in shock.


    ¡°Yes, we arrested him yesterday after he went¡­ Crazy¡­ But while he was under custody, a group of armed men broke into the station and gunned him down.¡± The red haired officer said and Patrick¡¯s mouth dropped further in disbelief.


    ¡°T-That¡­ Someone would actually do something that audacious? Charging into a police station and gunning someone down? What the hell?!¡° Patrick screamed.


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. And so, we¡¯d like to ask you a few questions. Did you notice anything strange about Kevin yesterday? What about in the past week?¡± The black haired officer asked.


    ¡°He was fine, a bit arrogant as always, but he does his job well, so I usually let that go. But yesterday, he went completely insane to the point that we had to forcibly remove him and sack him. I don¡¯t know what the hell happened, but he completely lost it.¡± Patrick said.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Drugs would do that to you¡­ Please tell me what happened in more¡­ detail, it¡¯s important to our investigation.¡± The officer said.


    ¡°Yes¡­ He burst into my office and was furious about how people weren¡¯t doing menial tasks for him, I dismissed it as idiocy or a personal grudge, but he started acting like he owned the place and acting as if he were some sort of medieval prince, so I sacked him on the spot and got a guard to kick him out.¡± Patrick sighed.


    ¡°I see...¡± The officer stared at him intently for a moment before he continued, ¡°So, before then, he never behaved in any¡­ unusual way¡­ Perhaps, a little let¡¯s say¡­ disconnected from reality¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all, not in the five years I¡¯ve worked with him.¡± Patrick said.


    ¡°I see, hm. Okay, we might have some questions for you later, but that¡¯s it for now.¡± The black haired officer said before heading in to question some of Matt¡¯s co-workers, including one of the ones he now supervised like Bill.


    ¡°Are you Bill?¡± The black haired officer asked.


    ¡°Yes? Who are you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I am Inspector Palmer, and this is my partner, Detective Bransk. We work for the police and we¡¯re investigating several murders, including that of Kevin.¡± The black haired man pulled out his ID and showed it to him.


    ¡°K-Kevin is¡­ Dead¡­?¡± Bill asked.


    ¡°Yes, he was shot dead last night.¡± He said as a small psion beetle crawled out of his head and jumped down onto his shoulder, it¡¯s red eyes stared at Matt in the distance.


    Kevin¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock before saying, ¡°B-But¡­ Why would someone want to kill him?¡±


    ¡°We believe he got mixed up with a vicious gang in order to pay for his drug addiction.¡± Palmer said.


    ¡°Drugs¡­ Gangs¡­ This is unbelievable, I mean¡­ I know he was an alcoholic and he went crazy yesterday, but¡­ Still, he was perfectly normal up to then...¡± Bill muttered.


    ¡°Perhaps, but in many cases, they can be very good at hiding these things, from the public at-least... Let me ask you¡­ Did you notice anything unusual about him prior to yesterday? And what did you see exactly yesterday¡­?¡± Palmer urged.


    ¡°He ordered me to fetch him a drink and when I refused, he ordered the ¡®guards¡¯ to seize me. When no one stepped up, he started calling us all rebels. I can only imagine what he said to Patrick, he was fuming after he went into his office, he sacked him on the spot.


    But to be honest, I never really noticed anything strange before yesterday, yes he was a bit of a jerk, but who isn¡¯t? It was barely anything to be concerned about, and he talked perfectly fine like a normal person. I don¡¯t know what came over him, but it must have been some pretty nasty drug, or at-least that¡¯s what I think.¡± Bill said.


    ¡°I see, okay I understand.¡± Palmer said before stepping away with his partner towards Matt who was busy writing reports on a stone workbench. So good so far, this job is surprisingly easy, at-least compared to laying bricks, and maybe it¡¯s because they¡¯re still shocked from yesterday, but no one¡¯s given me grief.


    He continued scrawling things down when he was interrupted by a man in blue saying, ¡°Good morning, Matt Ambridge. I am Inspector Palmer, and this is my partner Detective Bransk. We¡¯d like to ask you a few¡­ questions...¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Matt asked. Why¡¯s the police here? Is it to do with the crazy people?


    ¡°Kevin and several other people were found murdered.¡± Palmer coldly said. What?! He¡¯s dead? What happened? Did he get knifed after insulting someone?


    ¡°D-Dead?!¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Yes, last night, a group of armed thugs burst into the local police station and gunned him down.¡± Palmer said.


    ¡°What?!¡± Matt gasped. What? What?! What the fuck?! Did he spit in the face of a mafia boss or something? Who else would someone gun him down¡­ No, that doesn¡¯t make any sense, if he angered that sort of person, then they¡¯d just kill him on the spot, they wouldn¡¯t take on the risk of attacking the police¡­ So¡­ What exactly¡­ Happened...


    ¡°We suspect that he reneged on his debts, this angered one of the local gangs and they charged in to kill him.¡± Palmer explained. Oh come on, not even a Hollywood movie would have such a ridiculous event¡­ Anyone would be smart enough to wait until his out of jail.


    ¡°Matt Ambridge. Where were you yesterday night? In fact, where were you the entirely of yesterday¡­?¡± Palmer asked. These questions¡­


    ¡°Yesterday, I was at home until ten when I left to board the bus, but unfortunately, when I got there, one of the people went crazy and sped away with it. After that, I ran to the construction site and worked until lunch when I went into the shop to buy some lunch, and then I continued my work until 7PM and head home where I stayed until this morning.¡± Matt explained.


    ¡°I see... Have you ever dealt in drugs? In fact, do you possess any drugs?¡± Palmer asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Matt said and the beetle twitched for a moment.


    ¡°I see, we¡¯re need you to come back with the station with us for further questioning, we suspect that you sold prohibited drugs to several individuals, including Kevin..¡± Palmer paused before saying, ¡°We¡¯re also going to need you to empty out your pockets and to hand over anything you¡¯re hiding, including wallets and¡­ especially¡­ phones...¡±


    Phones¡­ Oh, please. Do you think I¡¯m a moron? I know exactly what you want, you want to take the world app, right? Screw you, I won¡¯t let that happen.

 8: Breakdown

    I haven¡¯t tried two at once yet, but¡­ A tendril shot towards at Inspector Palmer¡¯s head and tried to slither itself in when it was repulsed by a powerful force, it tried again and again to enter to no avail. The beetle watched mockingly as it repeated itself, and as it did a second tendril shot towards the other officer¡¯s head.


    It too tried to enter his cranium, but it hit a brick wall, unable to slither in even the slightest bit, but unlike the first, it quickly retreated and shot a vast distance before landing in Bill¡¯s head. Bill turned and shot towards the group, while Matt fumbled around with his pockets turning out old receipts and pulling a phone ready to hand it over.


    But as he did, Bill shouted, ¡°Officers! I have something important pertaining to this case! I know who killed Kevin!¡±


    He jumped between the two groups, as another tendril brought over a second man, and then, a third, while some convinced others to come, and that was when a gunshot rang out. Bill clutched his chest as he collapsed and the others turned tail and ran including Matt. W-What the hell?! They just randomly shot a civilian?!


    An order rang out in Inspector Palmer¡¯s head telling him that he is justice incarnate and that he lives for the sake of justice. It also said that these fools dare to obstruct his justice and that Matt is a monster akin to a cannibal or infant rapist.


    Officer Bransk turned in shock at his colleague before an order too unfurled in his head turning him into an accomplice of ¡®justice¡¯. His face turned red as he shot after Matt with Inspector Palmer.


    ¡°Get back here, you bastard! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Inspector Palmer screamed.


    The beetle on Palmer¡¯s shoulder looked on mockingly and inaudibly laughed. Matt shot through a second crowd of people, but Palmer once again took out his gun and fired it at a random civilian scattering the herd. Damn it, they¡¯re definitely being controlled, even the police wouldn¡¯t go this far! What should I do?!


    Patrick burst out of his office in horror as he shouted, ¡°What the hell is going on here?!¡±


    No one answered him as Matt shot past him with the two officers in tow, two guards stepped out from their posts, and Palmer shouted, ¡°Help me catch this guy, he was eaten eighty infants alive, after raping them and forcing their chained up parents to watch!¡±


    What the fuck?! T-That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s ridiculous! How.. Who¡­ Who the fuck would do that?! Are you trying to paint me as the fucking devil?! Some sort of demon?! What the fuck?!


    The bulky guards faces turned red as they too shot after Matt at an incredible speed, but even they couldn¡¯t catch up to Matt who had an athleticism skin to that of an olympic athelete.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Why¡¯s he so fast? I can barely keep up¡­ Ugh, why the hell is he laying bricks, he should enter the Olympics!¡± A guard grimaced, and then he trembled as Palmer shot at Matt. Matt shuddered as he snaked left and right to make it difficult for him to aim, but at the same time killing his incredible speed.


    Officer Bransk shot forwards with incredible strength and endless wrath. He shouted, ¡°You bastard! I¡¯ll get you for what you did to my daughter!¡±


    I¡¯ve never even met your daughter, what the hell do you want?! Urgh, damn it, these bastards¡­ I¡¯ll get them for this, u...agh¡­ If it wasn¡¯t for that godforsaken gun, I could outrun these slu-


    He trembled as a shot went straight his arm and clutched it as he shot away from the deranged cops. Fuck! My arm! I don¡¯t care who you are, I¡¯m going to kill you for this! How dare you! Agh! Is this about the fucking world seed?! That piece of crap?! I don¡¯t even know what the hell it is?! Leave me alone! Take the crap, agh! Fuck! You bastards!


    As he stepped onto the stree, a tendril shot into a cyclist wearing sports gear and fiddled with his head making him think that Matt¡¯s his son and that a pair of corrupt cops were coming to kill them both for refusing to pay the ¡®protection money¡¯ they were owed. Urgh, damn it, will this do it? It should buy time...


    His face turned red as he shot towards the deranged cops knocking them on the ground, he even beat his chest like a gorilla as he smashed them with the bike over and over until blood poured down Palmer¡¯s face, but Matt did not turn around once, turning left and shooting down the pavement.


    Should I st- No¡­ They won¡¯t stop until they¡¯re immobilised or die, that¡¯s the power of the world app, I can¡¯t take chances¡­ The beetle grimaced as the beating continued and shined once more.


    A gunshot ran out and the man collapsed on the pavement and the bloodied men mechanically forced themselves up and resumed pursuit as their bones cracked and Palmer started to cackle.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You monster, no matter how many demons you send at me, you¡¯ll never stop me. I am Justice. I live to destroy monsters like you, I won¡¯t stop even if I die, even then, my soul will continue chasing you! I will avenge all the poor souls you destroyed! Aaa, they died so young! Those poor children, how could you do such a thing?! Why?! You bastard! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± He screamed.


    I didn¡¯t do anything to them! Aaaa¡­ Palmer growled as he fired his gun hitting Matt in the shoulder, he almost stalled, but forcibly suppressed the pain by applying the psions on a certain part of his brain and eked out every little bit of strength he could to escape.


    Fuck, not again, agh¡­ The pain¡­ It¡¯s down slightly but, agh¡­ I¡¯ve got to get out of here¡­ Get to a hospital¡­ A doctor¡­ Brainwash them into fixing me up without asking too many questions¡­ agh¡­ fuck¡­ damn it all...


    Several onlookers looked on them curiously, but recoiled in horror when the bullet rang out. As they turned to leave, a tendril shot into their brains and they lost control of their bodies. One trembled as his legs moved without his will and he broke out into a sprint after Palmer, grabbing his limbs and pinning him down on the ground.


    He managed to pry the gun from his hands, as another man leapt at Officer Bransk, but he wasn¡¯t so luck as Bransk instead managing to overpower him and pointed his gun right at the man¡¯s head.


    ¡°Release him!¡± Bransk shouted, an inkling of sanity coming over him for a moment, but the man holding Palmer refused and a bullet went right through the other man¡¯s head. He trembled for a moment, before bolting after Matt.


    These guys are ruthless, they don¡¯t care about people¡¯s lives in the slightest, they kill without the slightest care¡­ Damn it, are all world app users like this¡­ Wait¡­ H... He didn¡¯t kill the other guy? I would have thought that they would execute the guy I controlled on the spot and send both officers after me¡­ Why¡­


    Officer¡¯s Bransk¡¯s face constantly shifted between anger and horror as he sweated like crazy, the psion beetle grimaced and jumped off Bransk and onto Matt¡¯s shoulder without him realising it.


    Bransk¡¯s face alternated between blue and green, as Matt shot right into a small crowd of people, he rose his gun to fire, but trembled before howling and clutching his head dropping the gun. There¡¯s definitely something weird going on, it¡¯s almost as if¡­ Almost as if it¡¯s losing power...


    A tendril shot out of Matt¡¯s head as he squeezed past the crowd and shot down a small side road and burrowed its way into Bransk¡¯s head before being repulsed once more, however Bransk collapsed on the ground screaming and clutching his head. It¡¯s almost as if¡­ Just a little more¡­ No¡­ I can¡¯t risk it, they might be nearby, I¡¯ve got to get out of here...


    -----


    Through the eyes of the beetle, an emotionless young girl watched, taking in every little detail. The old man grimaced as he said, ¡°Damn it, how did it break so easily?¡±


    ¡°The kill order. It resonated badly and the psions I left in his head didn¡¯t have enough power left to deal with it.¡± She said.


    ¡°Damn, how did it¡­ It was only a kill order, we order people to kill themselves all the time, why would it go wrong now...¡± He muttered.


    ¡°Remote control has limits. The stealth beetle can act as a relay, but it can¡¯t match up to our power. Don¡¯t worry though, he won¡¯t get away that easily, the stealth beetle is following him as we speak.¡± She said.


    ¡°Ugh, it¡¯s good that we¡¯ve got him but... This could be troublesome in the future, maybe we should curb the kill the orders and shoot to immobilise with these puppets...¡± He said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do tha-¡± She said.


    ¡°...However. Before we do that, I¡¯d like to do some¡­ tests¡­ first to see exactly what triggers it...¡± He said.


    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, we could order people to kill their most beloved companions¡­ If anything messes up the control, it should be that¡­ If it¡¯s the kill order which threw a wrench in our plans, then an even more¡­ emotional impact should result in the same results...¡± He said.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that then.¡± She said as a bleeding Matt staggered into a small hospital.


    ¡°What about him?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Him¡­ We¡¯ll setup a cordon even he can¡¯t escape from, he shouldn¡¯t know about the stealth beetle and is probably hypnotising the doctors¡­ Little good that¡¯ll do him¡­ Let¡¯s activate some more of our¡­ pawns...¡± The old man said with a ferocious smile and she simply looked on with a blank look before saying, ¡°Okay.¡±


    -----


    Matt quickly snaked his way into a small alley before shooting out the other side. A small tendril shot from his head into a short pudgy man convincing him to turn over his coat. This should hide the blood¡­ Somewhat¡­ But it won¡¯t be enough, I¡¯ve got to move¡­


    He gasped as the suppressed pain surged through him almost making him collapse, but pulled together the strength to drag himself down the road, in-front of him was a man wearing glasses stepping into his car. The tendril shot into his head and he paused for a moment before waving Matt into his car with him.


    ¡°My lord, where do you want to go?¡± He asked.


    ¡°A hospital. Preferably one really far from here...¡± Matt muttered and the man nodded. He turned the key and the car flew down the street.


    Matt gasped as the pain ebbed and flowed through his arm and constantly looked back.


    No signs of Palmer or Bransk¡­ But¡­ Who knows where that person is¡­ They could be anywhere¡­ Anyone¡­ They might even be watching me with binoculars from one of these buildings¡­ It¡¯s crazy¡­


    ¡°I want you to snake around in a complicated way to shake off anyone tailing us¡­ Make sudden turns¡­ And keep an eye out¡­ If you find anything suspicious, step on the pedal and get us out of here as fast as you can¡­ This is a matter of life and death...¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my lord, you¡¯re in safe hands with me, I won¡¯t let these fools harm you.¡± The man muttered. Urgh¡­ Even this isn¡¯t enough, I just¡­ Just can¡¯t shake off the feeling that someone¡­ Somewhere¡­ Is watching us¡­ Following us¡­ Like a spider hunting its prey¡­ Damn it¡­ Damn it all...

 9: Demon King Matt

    Deep down below the surface of the earth, beyond any mine dug by mankind was the mantle. An inhospitable environment filled with molten rocks and incredibly high pressure. The rocks which had long melted into magma.


    It circulated endlessly transferring heat from the core towards the crust, however, in the midst of this endless cycle, a black sphere suddenly appeared consuming vast quantities of magma before a man stepped out.


    He had short black hair, pale white skin, red eyes, five pouches on his waist and a long black cloak with a symbol of five stars embroidered on the back. He also two irregularly shaped guns which looked as if they were taken from some sort of alien mothership and a long black sword.


    He was surrounded by a psion field which kept the magma at bay forming a small pocket of air around him and waved his hand around to manipulate some sort of interface.


    A holographic image of the Earth appeared and zoomed into a spot before morphing into one showing his distance below the surface. He sighed and thought, ¡°I got the wrong coordinates¡­ Oh well... I¡¯ll just make my way up.¡±


    He focused a burst of power under himself and shot up at an incredible speed before encountering resistance and throwing a small metallic object protected by a small ¡°pocket of air¡± much like the one he was in. It was an antimatter grenade, and as it shot towards the plate, he bent space to protect himself from the blast, shimmering before vanishing entirely.


    The grenade continued for several miles before detonating into a giant ball of light, instantly vaporising millions of tons of magma, far surpassing any nuclear warhead ever made by man, the destructive force spread out, cutting through the plate and leaving molten rock in its wake, but even this miraculous sight with greeted with disgust on the man¡¯s face.


    He shot into the giant crevice and formed a link with the ocean above, he coerced the hydrogen atoms in the water to fuse and they detonated into yet another horrifying explosion, smaller than the previous one, but still on par with the Tsar Bomb.


    The blast spread out consuming countless deep sea fish and rock, but that wasn¡¯t all as he once fused the hydrogen atoms producing a second equally powerful explosion blasting open the crust and displacing a vast amount of water sending it towards Brazil and Africa.


    He shot out of the crack, through the water, and quickly arrived at the surface where he waved his arm to mess with a pesky little spy satellite before fiddling with the holographic map.


    Now¡­ Where shall I leave the world seeds¡­ Hmmm¡­. What place would be best¡­ Maybe, the Sahara Desert¡­? Or¡­ The Amazon? What about somewhere they¡¯d never expect like right under Paris¡­ No¡­ Hm¡­ I wonder¡­ So many choices...


    -----


    An unremarkable car screeched to a halt outside a hospital and Inspector Palmer stepped out wearing a combat vest, an automatic machine gun, and a number of grenades in a pouch. He was accompanied with a priest wearing a long cloak, a silver gun, and a stake intended for killing vampires.


    Matt, you bastard, I¡¯ve come for you¡­ I¡¯ll make you pay for eating my infant daughter and castrating my son for your own twisted amusement¡­ I¡¯ll destroy both you and your undead army¡­ I won¡¯t let you summon Beelzebub¡­


    Several civilians strolled around, completely oblivious to the horrors, Palmer grimaced as the smell of rotting corpses entered his nose and he pushed the door open and stepped into the scene of a horrific crime. The wall was covered with pentagrams drawn from a dying man who lay in the corner with his entrails ripped out and also had words written in some strange language.


    ¡°T-This is¡­ Hebrew¡­ He¡¯s offering up sacrifices to call upon the power of Satan...¡± The priest said with his mouth open. That bastard! How could he! Damn it!


    But, that wasn¡¯t the worst as Palmer turned his head and caught sight of a horrifying scene¡­ A little girl lay naked on a cross, with steel nails rammed through her fingers and a 666 inscribed on her forehead. His mouth dropped open as he took in the immensity of Matt¡¯s cruelty. T-Thi-


    As he did however, a monster garbed in white with an eye hanging out lunged at him, Palmer pointed his old friend at it and opened fire spraying it with dozens of bullets in an instant and bringing an end to it¡¯s unholy life.


    It¡¯s corpse lay on the ground, once a hospital receptionist, but now a monster raised by the Matt¡¯s dark arts, it twitched and gasped, ¡°Forgive me, o supreme one!¡± before collapsing for eternity.


    The priest chanted a scripture and invoked the name of the Lord to help to cleanse her soul and guide her beyond the veil. Palmer sighed and he was more resolved than ever to find Matt and send him back to Hell.


    The two slowly walked into a large foyer filled with the ghastly smell of blood, he quickened the pace while holding up his trusty gun, while the Priest murmured words, these were prayers for the Lord to give him strength.


    Palmer stared into the eerily silent hall, looking both ways when the Priest said, ¡°Be careful, there¡¯s a strong power here¡­ Akin to that of an archdemon¡­ Matt is definitely nearby, and if his here the-¡±


    A dozen grey skinned zombies kicked down the doors on the sides of the hall at once, some had eyes hanging out, others had half their faces missing, while others had maggots crawling out of their mouths. A triple six flashed on their foreheads and they broke into a sprint towards the two.


    In response to this, Palmer unleashed the full power of his machine gun, spraying hundreds of bullets towards the abominations, while the Priest pulled a bottle of holy water out of his pouch and threw it at one making it scream as it¡¯s face melted away.


    ¡°Begone, foul demon! The lord commands it!¡± The Priest screamed as he threw another bottle at it ruining it¡¯s face beyond recognition and finally bringing it¡¯s false life to an end.


    While that happened, countless zombies trembled as the bullets bored into their flesh and they collapsed in droves, but as quickly as they fell, more zombies emerged from behind¡­The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Old, young, healthy, sick¡­ They had zombies of all kinds breaking into sprints with glowing red eyes and growls like that of a beast, however this wouldn¡¯t stop Palmer as he pulled a grenade out of the pouch with one hand while firing the gun with the other.


    He threw the grenade with all his strength and it blew up killing dozens and he was about to use another when he noticed the crowd thinning before the last of the zombies collapsed before the combined firepower of him and the young priest.


    He gazed at the corpses and sighed, These poor civilians, they were happily living their lives, falling in love¡­ getting married¡­ going to work¡­ going on vacation¡­ but then¡­ But then¡­ That monster¡­ He killed them all¡­ And turned them into his slaves¡­ Mindless monsters who exist just to kill¡­ This is so¡­ Cruel¡­ So¡­ vicious¡­ How could someone¡­ Sigh¡­ Don¡¯t worry, everyone¡­ I¡¯ll avenge your souls soon enough¡­ And Tina¡­ I¡¯m sorry for not being able to protect you¡­ I¡¯m a useless father¡­ If I succeed¡­ I¡¯ll be able to cast this demon into the fires from which he came, but if I fail¡­ Then, I¡¯ll be joining you up there¡­


    He sighed once more before cautiously walking down the hall and peeking across a corner. His mouth dropped open as he caught sight of not just a crowd of zombies, but a man wearing a long black cloak and drinking a cup of blood with one hand while holding a black scepter with the other.


    The scepter had a crystal skull on the end and several distorted faces swirled around it, and next to him were two pale skinned men with red triple sixes on their heads who said, ¡°The preparations are nearly complete...¡±


    ¡°Excellent¡­ My plans will finally come to fruition, I¡¯ll reduce this city to rubble and blood and I¡¯ll use their souls to summon the King of Kings, the mighty archdemon Beelzebub, and with his power, there will be no one that can stop me.¡± The man cackled madly. T-That¡¯s¡­ He intends to slaughter the entire city?! What?! I can¡¯t let him do this! Hell no!


    Palmer jumped round the corner with the priest and blasted the zombies with bullets, Matt turned with his two minions and ran while using them as human shields. He said, ¡°Well¡­ Well, if it isn¡¯t Inspector Palmer, we meet again. It¡¯s been years since I last saw you, is your daughter doing well?¡±


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Palmer screamed.


    ¡°Haha, I can¡¯t describe how tasty she was, you are really good at raising some lovely snacks, maybe I¡¯ll taste your son next time, I took a bite but never got around to finishing the meal...¡± Matt said. You wouldn¡¯t! Damn you!


    ¡°Fuck you! I won¡¯t let you! I¡¯ll kill you! Go back to hell, you monster!¡± Palmer pulled out another grenade and Matt¡¯s face turned serious as chanted a spell and the grenade dropped on the floor like a rock. W-What¡­ I lost control of my hand¡­


    ¡°Hah, so it works, I¡¯ve been meaning to test this spell for a while, phew. That was a close one...¡± Matt sighed and once again conjured up the spell and Palmer¡¯s hand lunged straight at his throat forcing him to use the other to stop it, dropping the gun but just as quickly as the influence came, it stopped.


    He quickly stooped down to grab the gun as the monsters lunged towards him, one was a fat man who grabbed his arm, but was quickly silenced by a bullet to the head from the priest, and another was pushed back by yet another bottle of holy water.


    Palmer quickly swung the gun up, once more letting loose the rain while saying, ¡°What was that spell?!¡±


    ¡°That spell¡­ Is the very same spell he used to zombify everyone here and to turn them into his slaves. It¡¯s name is Gertana. Normal mortals can¡¯t resist it, but we have the power of the Lord on our side, so all he could do was take control of an arm before it lost power.¡± The Priest explained.


    ¡°I see...¡± Palmer muttered as zombie after zombie collapsed exposing Matt bursting through a door and jumping onto a carriage pulled by a skeletal horse. Oh no, you don¡¯t!


    Palmer sprinted towards the door with the priest in tow, mowing down zombies along the way while shooting past some, while the carriage shot out at a breakneck speed out of the ambulance bay and onto the road.


    He howled and shoved the door open and lunged towards the closest ambulance with an unbelievable speed akin to that of an olympic athlete, and then, he ripped the door open on the closest ambulance and shot into it with the priest. I won¡¯t let you get away!


    The ambulance vibrated as he turned the key and the metal beast shot out onto the road. He scanned the road and quickly caught sight of the calcium menace and shot after it overtaking several vehicles and driving far faster than an ambulance ever should with the siren blaring in full force.


    Palmer stuck his head out the window while the priest drove the car and rained down a hail of bullets upon the box, punching several holes through it within seconds, however a window poked out of the window and sent a small fireball right at them.


    The fireball smashed into the windscreen and shattered it into pieces. Palmer turned his fire towards the window and shot out the window before turning his attention to the tires when his gun clicked, and he kept trying to fire, but it just wouldn¡¯t. Crap, I¡¯m out of ammunition.


    Matt¡¯s ghastly cackle echoed out, ¡°What will you do now, Palmer? Without your gun, you don¡¯t stand a chance against me. Behold!¡±


    Matt stretched his arm out the window before stabbing it with a knife, but the blood didn¡¯t fly away, it formed into a strange diagram and countless ghostly skulls formed around it. Not good!


    Palmer grabbed the priest¡¯s gun and started firing at the arm, but the vibrations from the speed bumps send his aim off making him miss, and the diagram completed sending a dark ball flying past the ambulance towards the hospital.


    Palmer turned around and his mouth dropped open as he saw a giant explosion engulf the entire hospital. S-Such power¡­


    ¡°Hahaha, yes. This is the power of Beelzebub. I¡¯m far stronger than when I last faced you, a mere mortal has no hopes of defeating me, I¡¯ll give the victory for today to you, but that little game in the hospital? That was just for fun, I enjoy a little killing on the side every now and then, my true plan and true power is beyond your comprehension.¡± Matt cackled.


    ¡°You¡¯re planning to destroy the entire city! Do you think you¡¯ll get away with this?!¡± Palmer screamed.


    ¡°Of course, do you think these foolish peasants are capable of stopping me? Do you know who I am? I am king of death, the bringer of misery, and herald of the apocalypse. The great one has entrusted the beginning of the end of times to me.


    This city is just the beginning! I will raise my zombie army and will lay waste to this entire nation! I will turn this planet into a nest of undead, with me as it¡¯s god!¡± Matt screamed.


    ¡°You¡¯re insane!¡± Palmer screamed as he frantically shot at the wheels to no avail, while Matt responded with shots of his own. Many of them missed, but one struck the priest in the shoulder sending the ambulance barrelling towards the right and making Palmer drop his gun out the window. Fuck! What am I supposed to do without a gun?!


    The ambulance was quickly brought back on track, but without his gun, Palmer began to sweat, especially as Matt started firing more and more aggressively without fear of being shot at. The ambulance continued to pursue, but one shot went through the windscreen and between Palmer and the priest, while another puncturing a tire of the ambulance sending the vehicle skidding forward.


    ¡°Enough.¡± Palmer said.


    ¡°B-But¡­ If we let him get away, then...¡± The priest said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid¡­ There¡¯s nothing we can do now, all we can do is resupply and go after him again¡­ We can find him from the aura he gives off, but damn it, he¡¯s going to kill more people, damn it damn it damn it!¡± Palmer screamed and the priest sighed.

 10: Preparations

    In the depths of a damp lush rainforest, a man wearing a black cloak jumped through at an inhuman speed. He had two red eyes and a strange symbol on his back, much like the man in the Atlantic, in fact the two were one and the same.


    He stopped before a shallow spring and waved his hand producing a small black ball exuding a noxious black gas. He looked down on it for a moment before dropping it into the depths of the spring and saying, ¡°World Seed. It¡¯s time.¡±


    The spring rapidly started turning black from the spot it was dropped in and the seed started germinating at a rapid rate forming a small stalk before bursting out of the surface, the man nodded in satisfaction before jumping back into the thickets.


    Shortly after, a small black frog with three eyes jumped out of the black spring, it gave off a piercing shriek and shot into the thickets, while the surrounding plant life began to change, shifting and growing furiously.


    -----


    ¡°Ugh, there really needs to be a better way of finding world app users, not everyone¡¯s going to be an idiot like Paul or Matt¡­ Who the hell is dumb enough to go to a police station in person without an illusionist? He should have known other users would converge on that station.¡±


    The old man grouched as he and the soulless young girl pulled up at a small derelict building adjacent to the hospital and went in disguised as construction workers.


    ¡°Well, we could scan the minds of everyone in the city,¡± she said.


    ¡°That would take forever, and people come in and go out all the time, how would we even round them up¡­ It¡¯s not like we can pass down a decree to the entire city, even the mayor doesn¡¯t have that sort of power, and the states are probably under the control of kings or powerful lords.¡± He muttered as he recalled the president delivering a speech and a little person made of psions controlling him like a puppet from behind.


    ¡°Even if we could round up every person in the city¡­ They would just have to hypnotise one or two people to escape, it¡¯s not like we can hypnotise the entire city...¡± He said.


    ¡°Actually¡­ We can. But it¡¯ll take a long time. We could rewrite their memories.¡± She said.


    ¡°Rewriting memories is dangerous¡­ The more changes we make and the further it gets from reality¡­ The riskier it becomes¡­ Especially if contradictions arise¡­ Or¡­ Patterns¡­ They¡¯re good at spotting patterns¡­¡± He said and peered through a pair of binoculars.


    ¡°Where is he¡­?¡± He asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ Almost here...¡± She said.


    -----


    Matt¡¯s car, or should I say, the car of his slave shot around the corner towards the hospital. Matt stared with bloodshot eyes constantly scanning the road for police cars and anyone with a gun. If only I had a gun, that damned Palmer wouldn¡¯t have been able to dominate me like that¡­


    The car screeched to a stop before the hospital and he stepped out with his slave. He looked left and right cautiously and slowly walked up to the arch telling him that he was entering Violet Hospital. He¡¯s not much, but at-least he¡¯ll buy me some time if Palmer appears again...


    As he opened the door, a blob of psionic power shot towards the receptionist and sank into the depths of her being, branding an imprint of absolute obedience. To her, he was her master, her god, anyone who opposes him is a monster who enjoys eating infants and soaking in a bathtub filled with their victim¡¯s blood. His word is law. Without him, her very soul would cease to be.


    Along with that notion, another image filled her mind. Palmer. This was a monster beyond imagination, one who tried to kill her master, her god, the one who is all. He beats old women every night for fun and ate his own daughter alive.


    No matter what, she must do everything she can, even if it means destroying her very mind and soul to destroy this menace and to keep her master and the world safe from his madness, otherwise¡­ The world would fall into an eternity of darkness, her soul would fall into the depths of oblivion and demons will scour the earth.


    Matt nodded in satisfaction and moved onto the other people in the reception room, sending blob into the depths of a businessman¡¯s mind, injecting memories of Matt saving his business after Palmer shot his best employees, along with information about his saviour being under threat from corrupt government officials, including a senator, a mayor, and a judge.


    I know you were controlled, but screw you, Palmer¡­ You really messed me around¡­ The businessman trembled as his thoughts changed his and his past shifted before looking at Matt and sighing.


    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Palmer shot me in the arm.¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Ugh, that bastard. I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s still in the police force, he belongs in prison, who knows how many people that psychopath has killed...¡± The man sighed.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s crazy¡­ He was chasing me earlier, in fact¡­ I sometimes wonder if he¡¯s right around the corner¡­ You know how crazy he is, he¡¯ll never stop once he¡¯s found some meat...¡± Matt sighed.


    ¡°Ugh, tell me about it¡­ You know what¡­ I might have something which could help you out.¡± The man said as he fiddled around with his briefcase.


    ¡°Really?¡± Matt asked.


    ¡°Yes. Here.¡± The man a small pistol and handed it to Matt.


    ¡°Thank you so much¡­ I hope that I don¡¯t need to use this and I¡¯ll repay you for i-¡± Mat began, but the man cut him off.


    ¡°Keep it, you helped me a lot when that freak came for me last time.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Okay, I will. Thank you.¡± Matt nodded before turning to a thin man sitting on a couch and sending out a blob. It flew across the room and drilled into his head replacing images of demons and devils in popular culture with images of Palmer.


    I doubt they¡¯ll send him again, but¡­ If he does come, then I¡¯d like to provoke a strong response, if possible¡­ It¡¯s a shame that vague notions are much weaker, but I don¡¯t have anywhere enough power to hypnotise dozens of people at once, by the time the assassin comes, it¡¯ll be too late¡­


    Matt sighed and walked into the hallway, sending out tendril after tendril, naturally he implanted a great degree of respect or worship towards himself and a deep hate of Palmer, the corrupt officials after him, or the mafia. He alternated his stories each to best cater to their psyches, and clutched his head at the incredible amount of psions he had to use.


    Urgh, damn it. This is really draining¡­ If I keep it up, I won¡¯t be able to squeeze out more psions today¡­ Maybe, I should stop¡­ No¡­ If they come, then they won¡¯t overlook the chance to attack me deep in a hospital where it¡¯s hard for me to escape, but¡­ They¡¯ll probably be prepared, if they do appear to deal with anything I can do¡­ Damn it¡­


    He trembled as he wandered into surgery room with his slave and found a man wearing a surgical gown. He send a blob out into his psyche imprinting a scene of Matt saving his career and stopping a rabid man whose son died in a failed surgery from stabbing him to death.


    He also didn¡¯t forget to bestow an overinflated sense of respect and worship which was so over the top, that even this reason wouldn¡¯t cover this near obsession for his ¡®master¡¯¡¯.


    Okay, that should do it¡­ Now¡­ Matt turned and said, ¡°I need a little help. Palmer shot me, there are couple of bullets I need¡­ Extracted.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll do it.¡± The surgeon said as he rushed to get a pair of tweezer and other bits of equipment, including a small surgical knife.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about this¡­ There are some dark forces at play here, if you know what I mean.¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t. This never happened, you came here for a quick check-up.¡± The surgeon said as he came back with a tray of equipment.


    ¡°Thank you for being so¡­ Understanding. Make it fast¡­ Otherwise, we might have some unexpected¡­ visitors...¡± Matt said as he rolled up his sleeves exposing the ugly wounds and the surgeon gasped.


    ¡°This¡¯ll hurt, but¡­ If you don¡¯t have time to lose, then I¡¯ll have no choice, stay absolutely still.¡± The surgeon commanded as he strapped down the arm to help stem the bleeding and looked closely at the wound with a magnifying glass.


    He picked up the knife, opening up the wound slightly as Matt grimaced and searched around for the bullet, finding it deep in the crack. Resist the pain¡­ Resist it¡­ Come on¡­ A little pain like this is nothing compared to ear- Agh¡­


    He reached in with the tweezers and slowly tweezed it out, before applying some agents and carefully stitching the wound shut. He briefly stopped before proceeding to the second bullet hole, quickly locating the bullet, and to Matt¡¯s dismay removing the second bullet. Agh¡­ If only I had some sort of¡­ bullet-proof¡­ armour¡­ agh¡­


    Matt trembled as he pulled it before stitching it up, applying special bandages and relieving the pressure on the arm.


    ¡°That should do it for now, but I would advise keeping that on for a couple of weeks, and of course¡­ Not getting shot.¡± The surgeon said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try, but I¡¯m not sure Palmer will be so kind.¡± Matt said as blob drifted through the wall into patient¡¯s head and swiftly enlisted him onto the Palmer Resistance Forces. And immediately following that, another blob latched onto another patient in that room, along with the doctor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll take an ambulance out of here, they¡¯re probably watching my car.¡± Matt said as the two followed him out the room, with blobs flying everywhere towards unwitting targets, as Matt pushed his psionic powers to their limits. I never thought I could seize control of so many people¡­ Desperation does that, huh¡­


    He continued walking briskly down the corridor with slaves on either side while pushing out blobs and tendrils now and then to create a devoted army with a variety of backstories and reasons for following him, and of course, reasons for absolutely hating Palmer¡¯s guts, it was unbelievable how much these people hated Palmer.


    Another blob shot out, this time towards a man wearing a black tracksuit, it drilled into the depths of psyche, burning the devotion and hate into the depths of his psyche, but as it completed, the sounds of gunfire echoed out. It¡¯s them. They¡¯re here. I knew it.


    ¡°Move, move, move.¡± Matt said as he hurried the two along the corridor and pushed his mind to it¡¯s limits to send out more and more blobs. Every person I control is another person I can use to stall them, even if it¡¯s just for a second more, come on¡­ More¡­ More¡­ Agh, my head¡­ More!


    Screams echoed out a more gunfire echoed out and Matt broke out into a sprint along with his slaves. Damn it, why did they have to put the ambulances so far, how on earth does any patient survive the trip from there to here, ugh¡­


    As he burst through a double door, a couple of security guards jumped out in-front, they were armed with two handguns and shouted, ¡°Freeze!¡±


    A blob shot out from Matt¡¯s echoed towards one, but it bounced off as if he was protected by a shield, much like with Palmer and his friend. It¡¯s one of their minions, damn. In that case, I¡¯ll have to¡­


    ¡°Pin them down!¡± Matt shouted and several men lunged at the two startled men and pinned them down on the ground. They struggled like demented ferrets, but after several punches, they descended into darkness and Matt¡¯s two slaves seized their guns.