Ms. pink tentacles came up in front of Jiang, her face looking even more inhuman up close. She had no mouth, only a writhing mass of what looked like worms where her lips should be. There was no border between “face” and worms, only a slow gradient where her flesh grew striated and began to move on its own. Atop her head the tentacles were more squid-like, long and floppy, but constant-width and smooth the whole way down. Her brain pulsed, exposed to the air, and the tentacles didn’t bother covering even though Jiang was sure they could form a mesh hat if she so-willed.
Though she didn’t have much of the traditional human face, Jiang was sure if she did it would be plastered-over with a big, almost inhuman smile.
The announcer began almost shouting, “Aaaaand in this corner we have a pink abomination, killer of babies, murderer of toddlers, human-smoothy-enjoying Chthe’ilist abomination, Scthqolik IX!”
Jiang laughed at the absurdity of it all.
“In this corner we have Jiang. He’s human.” The announcer’s voice was flat.
They teleported into an alternate space with a jolt. Jiang supposed this was a more expensive technique necessitated because they didn’t want S. IX damaging the arena.
SIX didn’t do anything, she just kind of sat down. Her tentacles were active, but she criss-crossed her legs and didn’t seem like she was going anywhere. Jiang knew this meant her powers were either psychic or qi-related, so he immediately began walking towards her. It would have been prudent to run, but it would take time for her to take control of the ambient qi, and Jiang doubted her psychic techniques would be able to penetrate the passive resistance of his void-imbued body.
He wanted to walk up and kick her in the face, but of course that wasn’t going to happen. About ten feet from her there was an invisible wall, so Jiang walked back to where he had started in the arena and sat down across from her. The whole process took about twenty seconds, which gave her a definite head-start, but that was ok. Her tentacles were beginning to grow more active now, and it had become clear that beneath her robes wasn’t a normal body either, but rather a mass of large worm-like tentacles much like the ones she had for a face.
Jiang sat down and closed his eyes, then opened up his inner sense. The qi in this place was rich and flowed through from the edges of the pocket-universe which was about one hundred feet in diameter and cylindrical in nature. At the seams of the universe where the circular arena met the flat top and bottom were small holes in the fabric of reality where qi flowed in, spaced about ten inches apart from each other equidistant throughout the whole space.
Words echoed throughout space, and Jiang knew it came from his opponent.
「The world is writhing beneath my feet」
「Paralyzing infinity of nature」
Her scripture seeks to disorient me by exposing me to more information than I’m able to process.
「Expose yourself from beyond the seams of this world!」
Oh fuck.
Her scripture left its implementation up to chance.
That was never good.
Suddenly and all at once Jiang’s vision changed to third-person, and he knew the little green blob in his vision corresponded to himself. There were a thousand metal carriages painted in a thousand little individual colors zooming by in front of him across daylit black paths paved with stone. Between the dark paths were blue-green rivers polluted by sludge. Inside the sludge were a number of bright yellow containers bearing some kind of weird symbol with three circles with their outermost edge cut out overlaid atop one center circle. Jiang knew the symbol was a label, and guessed it may have been a warning of some kind, though couldn’t tell for certain. The containers lazily floated down the rivers of sludge, and behind them was some kind of checkered flag, which Jiang supposed was his destination.
On the other side of his vision was another frog, a pink one, which he knew was 6, his opponent.
There was a heavenly ringing,
*BING*
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
*BING*
*BONG!*
During which the world unfroze and the metal carriages started zipping down the asphalt path. The pink frog started hopping forward and narrowly missed death from a metal carriage. It made it two lanes down the road before Jiang realized that if he didn’t get a move-on he might lose this game.
Jiang tried to control his body and found it very strange. He couldn’t feel the frog body, but he knew it was him through some divine sense of proprioception. Jiang tried forcing his willpower forward in the same way qi-less flight was supposed to occur. It worked! His frog body jumped forward one lane and landed directly in front of the path of a car.
*SPLAT*
He died.
*DING*
His body re-appeared at the start of the game and he could now sense three hearts on the top-right of his side of the world’s screen diminish to two hearts. Jiang cursed and watched the road.
“I get it now.”
He jumped forward, a car whizzing by an inch from his nose in the next lane.
He jumped forward, a car whizzing by quickly behind.
He jumped forward, then he jumped forward again.
Soon he found himself at the small grass strip by the toxic waste in the river.
6 had already cleared the level, and her world-screen scrolled up to the next stage.
Jiang cursed, jumping onto the first barrel. He felt like he would fall or drown, the barrel sliding beneath him despite being unable to sense his position on it.
He struggled to remain upright, and ultimately drowned.
*BING*
A heart diminished. One life remained.
He did not know what would happen if his life reached zero.
Jiang tried to smile but his froggy lips didn’t move.
This is where I thrive, here on the precipice of death; here where there is no room for error or defeat; here where I might die at any moment; here where there is no room for anything but complete victory along every step. My scripture, my life, it all carries me to this moment, and to this victory. I cannot fail— I. Will. Not. Fail.
He jumped past a car.
He jumped past another car.
He jumped past another car.
He jumped past another car.
He jumped into the river and died.
*BING*
*GAME OVER* the announcer said in a booming male voice.
6’s pink face appeared in front of Jiang, superimposed on his vision, blotting out the now-black sky and she laughed in the way aliens can’t, which is to say her guard dropped while she made a chortle sound. Jiang swatted at the air and then realized she was a figment of his imagination. He could almost recognize a smile through the squirming of pink tentacles where her lips should be. She didn’t speak as her face began drawing closer, blotting out the broken remnants of the once daylit sky.
Jiang laughed and gloated silently, knowing she was in his brain and could hear his thoughts.
“Your scripture is powerful indeed, Scthqolik IX,” Jiang’s imagined Chthe’ilist lips clicked unnaturally to a human as he pronounced the name in her language, “but mine is stronger.” 6’s eyes did not widen and her expression did not change, but Jiang knew she was listening as her face grew in size in front of the sky.
“You see, while you have left the implementation of your scripture up to chance, this in itself was a great failing. I have left the whole implementation of my scripture to the Dao.”
6’s expression remained static. It didn’t faze Jiang, he’d dealt with worse.
“In specifying so much to the Dao you have stripped it of the ability to help you, as well as to hurt. But how can you claim to the Dao that you know which is better for your nature? Sometimes it is better to be hurt, to fall, and to get back up to another day. Indeed, sometimes it is better to die than to continue down a path destined toward great pain. Would you deny the Dao the ability to give you mercy in these moments?”
Jiang stopped speaking silently and moved his lips, still in perfect Chthe’ilist standard, “I would deny the Dao all paths leading towards my death and I would demand it to lead me toward victory in every scenario.”
He stood in the air, nothing beneath his feet, nothing but 6’s ugly face in view, nothing but robes on his body.
「I will live」
“And I have.”
「I will conquer」
“And I will.”
The game reformed.
“I have not conquered.”
The first number appeared on screen.
“3”
“I am not conquering.”
“2”
“I will.” he practically spit the words, knowing she was still listening.
“1”
Scthqolik did not speak. She did not make even a single sound acknowledging what Jiang had just said. She simply hopped forward into traffic, dodging cars with her frog body and making her way toward the checkered flag along the opposite riverbank that would advance her to the next stage of their new reality.
