Speed Is King

And the next day, a fearsome Void Walker appeared in my office, and "requested" that I nuke the planet into smithereens.

I did it.

The planet exploded.

Everything within it died.

He disappeared.

I was convicted and sentenced to death.

And somehow, I was sent here."

"What?" Elliot frowned deeply.

Red had been so generous with his words and so ridiculously slow in progressing his story that the speed of progression in his last few sentences left Elliot scrambling to go back and digest the enormity of his words once more.

"It's only been a few short weeks since I was a powerful and respected Game Master." Red sighed sadly. "And now I am a Breeze Apostle to a weak, pipsqueak beast master. Woe! Woe to me!!"

Elliot ignored his barbed words and focused on the significance of his story. And then he linked it to the spider's ominous words'¦

"Beware the shadow parasites'¦ They are coming'¦ They are all coming here'¦"

Immediately, a deep chill ran down his spine.

"Red. Do Game Masters use some sort of mind control to instigate the beasts to go berserk in the first week of the Games?" Elliot asked him seriously.

"Mind control? Of course not. Why would we do that? We merely feed them aggression-inducing chemicals and then release them on the planet. They'll go crazy, kill as many as they can and then revert back to their old selves after a week." Red answered.

"That means that the strange power I felt in that spider's mind is the Shadow Parasite's power." Elliot said grimly.

"What? The Shadow Parasites are here? Quick! Tell me all about the spider!" Red shouted in shock.

Elliot quickly told him everything.

"The Shadow Parasites are probably exploring Earth to look for the catalyst. They are actually on a time bomb, you know." Red said contemplatively after he heard Elliot's story. "Their queen died when I nuked the planet. WHICH, by the way, was the only reason why I did it. I killed a lot of young masters and mistresses in that explosion, and many clans wanted me dead. But it was a cost I was ready to bear when I took the selfless act of killing the parasite's queen by nuking the planet."

Elliot snickered lightly. What a load of bull. He was forced to do it under pain of death, and that was the only reason he did it.

Red ignored him and went on with his line of thought.

"But by killing their queen, I had effectively placed a noose upon all of the Shadow Parasites. They are probably trying their hardest to produce another queen before all of them die out without any new parasites to take over their hosts. If there is one weakness of the Shadow Parasites, it is that like all parasites, they are extremely short-lived. The average Shadow Parasite will probably die within a year. Two at the maximum."

"What would they need in order to produce another queen?" Elliot asked.

"They'd need whatever it is that is within the black planet which helped them to evolve. And to find that, they'll need information." Red explained.

Elliot nodded in understanding.

"So basically the universe is currently in a crisis. The Shadow Parasites have taken hold of several powerful clans and empires, and are searching high and low for a planet like the one that evolved them. How is the universe responding to this?" Elliot asked.

"Last I heard, hard quarantines were in effect for the clans and empires that were affected, as well as ALL affiliated clans and empires. That's probably almost one percent of the known Universe! But all the clans and empires were all cooperative. Of course they were. To openly resist is to admit that they are infested. But I doubt it's effective though.

Until detection devices are created, there are bound to be Shadow Parasites who are roaming the universe freely."

"And you're probably absolutely right too. The spider did say that they are all coming here'¦ Planet Earth must contain whatever they're after."

Elliot's mood was rather grim.

Another dangerous enemy had been introduced.

Although the enemy was also his current enemy's enemy, it was not just his current enemy's enemy. It was the enemy for all living beings, and thus was his enemy too. He didn't have the luxury of befriending his enemy's enemy and cooperating to defeat a common enemy.

(Author's Note: Now read that paragraph once more, very, very fast. :] )

"How long till the Parasites arrive, you think?" Elliot asked Red.

"Arrive?" Red scoffed lightly. "They're probably already here! That spider you killed was definitely just one of many, many beasts that they control. When it said they are ALL coming here, I am assuming that it is literally ALL of them. They want to make Earth their nest."

Elliot's already grim mood soured even more.

"Now in addition to having to survive this apocalypse, save my sister from an impossibly strong villain, I have to fight a huge bunch of beasts and powerful alien forces that are controlled by parasites that want to make earth their home?"

"Not just home. Ground zero for an invasion of the entire universe." Red corrected.

"Bah!" Elliot spat out a blob of frozen Ice Beam in frustration.

The stakes were already so high previously, and it just got much higher and much more difficult.

How in the world could he win against such overwhelming odds?

"Where is hope? Is this really fate? Is this really destiny? If so, then I SPIT ON FATE! I SPIT ON DESTINY!!" Elliot cursed vehemently in his mind.

Fate or destiny must have felt his spit upon them because they immediately tried to placate him by offering him a juicy and delicious carrot.

[Hidden Dungeon Challenge triggered. B-Grade Automobile Race against Jagor Tawlon initiated.]

A wordless message appeared in his mind.

His vision turned dark for a moment and then when he opened his eyes once more, he was standing in front of a highly modified classic Honda Civic Type R.

[Welcome to a Hidden Dungeon Challenge. Please defeat Jagor Tawlon in a three-lap race in this circuit for fabulous rewards! This is a cars-only race. You have ten minutes to practice.. Good luck.]