Some Heavy Reading [[A Bendytime Podpop Tale]]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Plunk.

That was the sound of a book hitting the floor.

A moment of silence passed.

"Damn... I lost everything."

The book pondered a moment.  Almost the size of a person, five feet in heigh and three in width, it stood reasonably well-balanced on its lower edge.  Lord Zetta -- or the Sacred Tome, who could tell any more? -- frowned.  "And where the hell am I?  This isn't the space between worlds. Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

Yes, Zetta was speaking aloud.  He did that. The most badass freakin' Overlord in existence was giving the universe a favor by letting it hear his voice. It could owe him later.

"All right!" Zetta snapped out into the alien surroundings.  "Front and center!  You want to play games with me? I'll come over there and kick you AAAH!"  The book rocked as Zetta attempted to stomp forward angrily, but books don't have feet, so the endeavor was less that successful.  He hurriedly rocked back to balance once again, looking down at himself. "Well. This sucks."

Death to the person who called his next words more hesitant. "Pram?  Mickey?  Babylon?"  Then, a little more sharply, "Alexander?"


[[Open.]]

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

If Reinforce really wanted to know first, she should've said so specifically -- not that Zetta responded to such things as "wait!", "stop!", or "are you really, really sure you want to do that insane, stupid thing?" unless he chose to. But she's getting an answer, delivered in that half-cackling megalomaniacal voice that only Crispin Freeman Lord Zetta could deliver. "What's a battle-monkey? THIS is a battle-monkey!"

A brief pause, just long enough to navigate a series of menus -- and then the steel beam exploded outwards in a Limit-Break-ish wash of light. In the center now stood a green-haired, cheerful woman. "Welcome, loyal minion, to the service of the great, all-poweful, supreme Lord Zetta! Gyaaa ha ha ha ha!"

The woman just smiled. Zetta addressed Reinforce without turning -- no repeat of that earlier disaster here. Not yet anyway. "It's just a matter of confining energy patterns in an object. The result, one more servant for my army! Biological and living, but she's only a construct. No sapience. Sorry, Reinforce, but I'm appointing her leader -- that will give her free reign to carry me around. If you really want the position back you can always wish for it! Hyaah ha ha!"

The woman moved forward, knelt, then hefted Zetta up into her arms like a living bookstand. Zetta considered his position for a moment, then grinned maniacally. "Perfect! Take THAT, Sir Isaac Newton! Your laws of motion are on MY side now! The fundamental nature of the universe is a plaything beneath my boot heel!"

The book suddenly paused. "Damn. I've got to get feet back, so that line makes sense again!"

But back to business. "Good work, Reinforce. When I manage to summon a factory I'll buy you a bazooka. In the meantime, now that I can move, I think it's high time I met with whatever passed for leadership on this yacht till I came around."

[herblessedwind.livejournal.com]

"Ah-" Rein was entirely too slow to interrupt his rant and stop him before he finished his rant and started the... process that converted the steel beam, somehow, into what looked like a woman. "So not a monkey, then."

She poked at Zetta's creation as her magic made other, more sophisticated examinations of its composition. By all appearances human, or something close... she couldn't see how the steel had even been involved. What a strange technique, indeed.

"Best that the honor go to one who will be at all times devoted to it." She accepted her 'demotion' gracefully, and waited patiently through the rest of his... joking. She was pretty sure he was joking. She hoped he was joking.

But... "A factory?" She perked up. For all its size and sophistication the ship seemed to lack much in the way of machine tools or chemical plants or other, more sophisticated tools of manufacture and fabrication for use by the crew. If he could really provide such a thing...

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Well, yes." Thrown off his rant-game, Zetta took a moment to recover. "I AM the Sacred Tome, now. This may not be my Netherworld, or even my private space, but a wish written in the Sacred Tome should be every bit as effective here as anywhere. All it takes is someone with enough mana power to wish for a factory and one will be created in their name. Then it can pump out weapons and armor for anyone to purchase!"

He eyed Reinforce. "Don't get any funny ideas, though. Buildings are... special. Anyone too weak who wishes for one will mostly likely sacrifice their soul to do it. I'm pretty sure if it killed you, I'd be blamed, and I gather that would lead to a fight with the ship. And that would leave you all frantically gasping for air in the vacuum of space while I laugh my way to the safety of the space between worlds, which would put a damper on the whole 'maniacal revenge' thing. So I need to get my constructs to build up some mana instead. THEM I can bring back."