Before the third battle, Walker had made the mistake of relaxing in bed. He hadn’t known the system would send him back to the same spot, only inches to the left and directly over his beloved. The man couldn’t help but think that something was going on with the Protocol Council to make such a small and simple error.
To be safe this time around, as the clock wound down to the last few minutes, Walker was seated in a lotus position on the floor, performing his breathing exercises to clear his mind. Virgil, however, had other plans.
“Walker, I have told you before, but it bears repeating. This is the winnowing. Historically, the protocol has always ended with only a few hundred Creators after the final battle- A little over a thousand at most. My last estimate puts the current Creator’s numbers at nearly two hundred thousand. You need to be prepared for anything they may throw at you.”
“I know, Virgil, I know,” Walker said, still trying to find his inner zen.
But the Supreme Assistant wouldn’t let it go. “Remember, if you lose, you lose everything. Everything you have built. Everyone you have prepared for the future, because your world will not have one anymore. The plans you have painstakingly created will end, and for your own…well, you do not know what shape the Earth is in should you return, and I no longer believe it is held in the standard form of stasis. Certainly not after it has already begun the first stage of the Omega protocol.”
Walker opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, “I know! Okay, I know!” He shot the large squirrel a fast glare, then sent a few messages to his army’s chatrooms.
Athena stood leaning against a wall nearby, a book in her hand, though she wasn’t reading at that moment, “Virgil, he’s acutely aware of what is about to happen. Please leave him be.”
The large black squirrel nodded, listening to her more than he did his own Creator, “Very well.”
Finally, with a moment of agreed-upon peace, Walker exited his overlay and closed his eyes, doubling down on his internal world. Finding the candle in the darkness took a few minutes, the flickering flame in the back 0of his consciousness not wanting to appear. The moment it did, he fed the flame all of his thoughts, emotions, and everything he was, clearing all the junk out of his mind as much as possible. The only thing that mattered was his breathing: In…and out.
Even-keeled emotional choices would be extremely important in the next few minutes. He couldn’t allow unrealized feelings to worm their way into his subconscious. He had to be focus incarnate.
The timer started to hit the final moments, and as he opened his eyes, he received a wink from the woman leaning against the wall and an encouraging nod from Virgil; then, everything around him froze.
Congratulations Dante! You've made it to the fourth battle!
Translocation in
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Walker’s world faded out, and an odd one faded in as the translocation released its hold on him, his feet quickly touching the ground. Looking around, Walker got a weird feeling in the bottom of his stomach.
The room was warmer than he would have liked, with a high vaulted ceiling holding an artistic depiction of ten shadowy figures seated at a round table. Behind each seated shadow stood an assortment of different and oddly shaped figures, one by each shoulder. Before him, a massive chair in the shape of a throne sat, a much smaller and less comfortable chair resting beside it. Next to the throne was a small round table, hot food and drinks ladled generously across it. Walker didn’t know what to make of it but received an odd message when he tried to sit on the more comfortable and larger of the two.
Warning: This is not your seat.
Please move to the seat beside you, or you will be moved against your will…
“What the fuck?” Walker said in surprise, quickly standing up as he didn’t want to get somehow shotgunned out of the area. Just then, the wall facing the chairs disappeared, and a large screen appeared in their place with writing across it.
Battle!
Dante vs. Kandoon vs. Flordion vs. Blitzburg#22 vs…
- - -
Rules:
Stage: Territorial.
Entities allowed: Ten.
Rounds: Until completion.
Battle Type: Attack and Defense.
Evolution possible: Yes.
Weapons allowed: Yes.
Extenuating Circumstance: Due to the overabundance of Creators remaining within the Alpha Protocol, this battle will be decided as a winner-take-all scenario. Twenty-five Creators will start from similar points, but only one will walk away for the final battle of Rendition 4AA.
Each Creator will have twenty minutes to select ten entities for this battle. Each Creator may use two abilities on each entity.
- - -
Reward for the winner: All resources held by every Creator. A copy of the losing creators chosen entities. One ability by choice from each.
Reward for the loser: Survival and placement back into their universe at the time of their removal.
- - -
Battle begins in twenty minutes.
As chaotic as the battle to come would be, what happened next was even worse.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
System notice for all participants:
Creator Dante has access to the Betting system!
Creator Zain Field has access to the Betting system!
Activating the Betting system now…
…
Welcome Creator Dante!
The Betting system is unique in that it can only activate at the beginning of a battle.
While you have unlocked the system, your opponents will have access to it as well.
Please bear in mind that all bets, when finalized, cannot be revoked.
The following are your options.
Bet everything, including your-
The screen cut off before readjusting.
System notice:
Creator Hotsauce has bet the following:
Everything in its entirety, no exceptions allowed
- - -
Special circumstance: Due to the number of Creators with access to the betting system, a majority choice will be required.
Blitzburg#22 declines
Dante approves
Klintin approves
Leor’e approves
Bueller/Bueller approves
Zane Field declines
…
A majority has been met.
The winner of the Fourth Battle of Rendition 4AA will remand all losing Creator’s abilities, resources, titles, and independence to the winning Creator.
Nineteen minutes remain
“Whaaatt, the fuck,” Walker repeated. He’d still not fully adjusted to everything he’d gained from Mirail. Now, there was the potential that he would gain the same amount, only twenty-three times more. What would happen when he kept absorbing titles? What would happen when he gained twenty-three versions of Identify?
Plus, how insane was this? The Betting system, something he’d been rewarded from the second battle long ago, was setting up twenty-three people for a devastating loss. Not only that, but two of them had access to the thing, meaning something similar was likely occurring across the entire rendition.
The majority, MAJORITY, of Creators had voted for it. Meaning fifty percent or more of the Creators in this battle believed they would either win or commit themselves to slavery instead.
Was this just something normal across the Evolververse? To dive headlong into a fight, believing there was no chance you would lose? Or was it something else? Like the chance at forced indentured servitude to someone you didn’t know was better than what they had back on their home planet?
Well, I did vote for it, Walker thought with a certain amount of chagrin. But with whatever the fuck happened to Earth, I don’t see much of a choice. He also couldn’t allow the insidious feeling of potentially losing into his mind. That was not the right mindset going into this. No, if they were going to go all in, he had to as well.
Not wanting to think about it anymore, he breathed slowly, taking a moment for himself, then focused on the screen.
The screen was split in half, the left holding the word Attackers, while the right Defenders. Each had five open spots, with a few notes written near the top.
All Territories will be magically enhanced.
All entities will be randomly placed.
Defeat of a defender will see the attacking victor placed in a new location.
Defeat of an attacker will see the defending victor gain a new challenger.
No Creator’s entities may fight one another.
All rules are subject to change after only five Creators remain.
Walker read the rules once and then again. Virgil’s wise words from the beginning of the protocol eeked back into his mind. They’d been speaking of the Territory system and why the idea of permanent magical conjurations was so important.
"But...why?" Walker asked in confusion, deflating the large squirrel. He knew renditions had a beginning and an ending, but nobody had explained why they did.
"Because! Anytime a rendition has a huge breakthrough from one of the Creators, and the current Protocol reaches its natural end, that rendition closes! Then, the Council begins to use the last rendition's new systems and inventions for the start of the next.
Walker pulled out of the memory, looking at the screen again with a sharp glare. He had a good idea of what they were trying to do but no confirmation, only wisps in the wind.
Shaking his head to take some of the anger away with the simple act, he clapped his hands together and refocused. For attackers, he immediately chose Runner Grove and Bale Quick, firmly believing their speed would see them through. He also chose Fillion the Kind Pirate; rumors around Symphony said the man could fight like the devil, and he could certainly use that right now. For the last two spots, he made selections he was sure the other Creators wouldn’t see coming.
On the defensive side, he immediately chose both Chipper the Zenith and Thomas Lord. Chipper was always one of his first choices in these matters, while Thomas was a bit of a wild card. He hoped the man was ready. He also selected Lucy Reed and Speaker Adele, believing both would put up a strong fight at the least. Lastly, Walker considered the final spot.
Briefly, his eyes moved back and forth between Melias the Wanderer and Hank. While Hank certainly had a lot going for him, particularly with the man’s strategic mind, he couldn’t help but further consider the standout traveling Founder.
He had to admit it was an eclectic choice, but he couldn’t shrug off the feeling that there was something strange about the man. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Plus, there were Virgil’s notes from his time in the conservatory.
Reaching into his memory again, he recalled what the slip of paper said about him. Melias consistently found ways around fights that were too much for him by simply talking to the Monsters, something Walker didn’t understand. From what he’d seen and experienced of the creatures on Fortis and Melody, talking was the last thing they wanted to do. Then again, Melias was the only one to get an invite to the giant’s village…
Looking at the countdown, he found himself running out of time. Knowing he was gambling in more ways than one, he slotted in Melias for the final slot. The board glowed golden before all ten of them gently faded in around him.
None of them looked surprised to be there, but they did look shocked to see the two Monsters standing in the area.
“Everyone, this is Phil,” He said, nodding to the large hissing Scorpion standing in the middle of the group, his claws clacking with thunderous retorts, “And this is Gorlak the Consuming, a Hrímtursar who won the right in battle on Fortis. Echidna promised me that Phil wouldn’t attack anyone without being attacked first, and I can personally vouch for the giant.”
No matter that Walker and Echidna spoke up for the two, everyone still moved away from them. The twenty-foot giant, albino white skin showing through the rags of animal pelt he wore for clothing, leaned down close to Walker’s face as the eight Guardians and Founders spoke together.
In the quietest voice the giant could make, he said, “I did not win the battle, Creator. You did.”
Walker waved it off, “Yeah, but they don’t need to know that, and you came in second. Also, I’m a fan of what you’ve been doing for your village.”
He shrugged, great muscular shoulders moving up and down, “It does none of us any good to always be fighting the Greeks.”
Walker gave him a wink and a gun, “And that’s why you’re here. If…no, when we win, my promise to you will stand.”
The giant lifted a very large hairy unibrow, “You will clear out many of the Nomads?”
“Yep,” Walker confirmed with a nod, “I’ll scale them back far enough that they won’t threaten you for a while. Give your people time to better prepare.”
The giant laughed as he stood, the sound exploding within the room and causing many of the Founders to step back, “That is well!” He slammed two fists into each other, then smiled when he spotted someone in the crowd, “Melias, you bastard, what are you doing here? You’re no fighter!”
Walker smiled as they spoke, the others slowly coming around to working with the giant. He felt a hard tap on his shoulder and turned. A hissing Phil waved at him with one claw.
“Hey, buddy. You ready to fight?’
Two snapping clacks answered his question, which was good because one by one, they disappeared as they moved to their Territories, both the ones they would attack, and the ones they would need to defend. Phil gave him a light wave before he too winked out.
Not knowing what to do with himself as the screen split into ten, each showing one of his entities, he sat down in his chair, crossing one leg over the other as he prepared himself to do nothing at all, relying completely on his people.
That’s when the wall opened up behind him, and someone stepped in.
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