Usurping the Universe

Niel's job was fairly simple. Alex had given him the wooden seed item, the 'forest'. He would place this seed on the threshold of the deeper forest. He went left, she went right.

Alex would either kill the bears on sight or circle the crowd of trees erected by the 'forest' seed with the bears closely behind. Then, she would eliminate all of them using the rest of her items.

Alex could only guess what effect each item had, based on its name and shape, as she had not seen them in action. But she estimated that would still be enough.

Niel, one of the few survivors of a collective nightmare, was mostly the same as she remembered, wearing an icy shell to protect the little warmth within. After 'training' in the facility, it was hard to smile again. Over three years had passed, but little had truly changed. Considering they were built for adversity, it was unsurprising he had made it this far into the stages.

She hadn't gone too far when she spotted an abnormally colossal bear basking in the snow. Its elongated talons and fangs promised a gruesome death to whoever fell into its grip. Alex slowed her speed, surveyed the area and, upon noticing no other predators, threw her Chakram between its eyes.

The circular blade lodged in deep, but that was not enough to kill the beast. Blood sprayed out, and the beast let out a pained growl and then attempted to face its attacker. Alex swiftly beheaded the creature before it could stand properly. She retrieved her weapon and continued on her way. 

She restricted her force with the throw to see if the monstrous bear could howl or roar for reinforcements, but it didn't seem so—just like regular bears. She smeared the bear's blood on herself, hoping it was possible to attract other bears with its scent. 

She sped through the forest, with the bear sightings becoming more frequent the deeper she went. To maximise speed, she stopped killing the bears and only grazed them slightly before running off. Most followed her, and by now a flurry of angry, snarling monster-like bears chased her through the trees.

Alex swerved past a tree, narrowly dodging the opened maw of a leaping bear. She saw another bear lazing off to the side. Entirely normal save for its crazed glowing red eyes, elongated claws and exaggerated size.

Her hand halted on her weapon, and she passed by it swiftly, her weapon drawing blood as she left a shallow graze on its side. Another irate beast joined the fray. Whatever madness was already within it heightened because of her action. 

As she continued her inciting actions, she reached a side of the forest with more trees than grass. Two different tree species littered densely across the ground. The taller trees, different from the ones around the forest, had vines and moss, gargantuan, piercing into the clouds, reaching an end Alex could not see.

Alex did not pause to marvel at the tree item's creation, instead, she moved through the tiny gaps between the trees, leading the horde to a blockade of trees. 

The frenzied beasts refused to give up the chase, bulldozing through the trees in their rage, only to get knocked back or injured. Alex stopped running and faced the creatures a good distance away from them. She held an item in her hand.

Then she climbed one of the towering trees, not minding the dampness and roughness of the bark. Her speed was blinding, expertly reaching a grand height in a minute. 

From her vantage point, she could see the heart of the massive horde with hundreds of snarling bears trying to break past the throng of trees. One hand looped around the moderately thin tree trunk and the other in a swinging position. Her hand lurched in the sky, and the item, propelled, dove into the crowd of bears.

The item was grass. Its thin blades promised little power, but Alex used it first anyway. The moment the grass landed on a bear, gigantic sharp blades of grass sprouted from the ground, surpassing the height of the bears themselves. The thin blades either killed the bears directly or impaled them, sealing their movements, as the bears could not even struggle against them. 

'That was not what I expected.'

"So cool!" 

Alex turned her head to see Niel on a tree. He seemed to have been there for a while as he lounged on a branch. He exclaimed excitedly, a rare grin on his face.

He turned to Alex as if just noticing her.

"Grass is overpowered."

"Why are you still here?" Alex deadpanned, not at all matching his enthusiasm.

"Did you expect me to miss the best part?" He answered Alex briefly before turning his attention back to the ensnared bears.

"Throw something else!"

Alex grimaced at his antics but threw the plastic bee at the centre of the unfortunate bears.

A flurry of buzzing bees emerged from the centre and circled a small radius of the bears. The bears could only watch helplessly as the bees sucked on the blood of about thirty bears, draining them of life slowly but torturously. Their wails echoed throughout the forest, a far cry from their mighty battle roars.

"That was awful. Next please."

Niel's face contorted in disgust at the gruesome scene.

Alex threw a piece of charcoal next, but instead of the centre, she threw it to the left. The bear's next challenge was a simmering heat, even from the high altitude Alex and Niel could feel the uncontrollably surging heat, and the bears were melting under its effects, but so was the grass and the trees could catch fire so Alex called out to Niel before immediately throwing the solid water drop, a lightning bolt, a rainbow, and the petri dish full of sand.

"Get down!"

The effects were catastrophic. Violent winds carried both surging waters and a sandy tempest. Alex threw down the branch item, hoping for it to be a ladder or some sort of defence item. But all that appeared was a normal branch.

She slid down the trunk, her hands and legs bruising badly with her movements. She raced to the trunk of the tree Niel was on. He was not even halfway down.

"Jump," Alex yelled.

The claps of thunder roared across the beats of rain, but the intensity of her voice reached him. He didn't even hesitate, letting go of the tree and plummeting to the ground. Alex caught him and threw him on her shoulder, then ran towards the gate.

The ferocity of what was behind them wouldn't just kill the monsters, it was likely to obliterate them as well.

Blitzing blots of lightning struck down like unforgiving judgment on a sea of blood, rain and sand. An eerie rainbow contrasted with the eerie scene, illuminating the grotesque visuals with a splendour of lights. 

Alex carried Niel across the forest, her speed moderate to conserve her stamina. The rushing waves behind her brought no anxiety but for Niel who could see the bloody sands and mangled corpses, there was no ease of heart, yet he did not panic. 

An inconspicuous branch had long since disappeared beneath the waves. It shone brightly, quickly expanding, forming more and more branches that were thicker, longer and yet none bore witness to it. As it expanded, the surrounding chaos wrestled against its rapid growth, a motley of destructive elements crashing against the growing structure. The shape of a sphere barely formed before bowing to the combined elements of nature. 

Yet, it rose again, growing thicker, stronger, more complex. A massive prison firm enough to stand against nature.

"Alex, look!" 

She slowed down, surprised to see most of the raging storm barely contained in a sphere of irregular, interconnected tree branches. Yet, the sounds of clashing elements and roaring forces remained prominent, ringing loudly in the sky.

The trees, the dark clouds, the grass, the dead beasts, and the sand — half of the land was barren. The horrors they had witnessed left it desolate. Yet, the other side of the laboratory remained almost untouched, standing still. 

It was as if the disasters brought about by the item each had a range — a strict set of parameters for the destruction they could ensue.

Alex did not drop Niel, instead, she ran closer to the gate, standing directly in front of the swirling darkness. Only then did she release him. She envisioned the last item appearing on her palm. A miniature sun, spherical, in shape and an intense reddish-white, its rays coming to life from the unactivated item.

"Haven't you done enough?" Niel was exasperated, a prominent expression of dismay on his face. Alex said nothing. She threw the 'Supernova ' into the sky, pushed Niel into the darkness and strolled into the darkness herself.

She did not look back, she didn't need to. It was called Supernova for a reason.

This time there were no remains, no after-effects, everything was just—gone.

Even if she could not see it, the utter silence engulfing what was once noisy unrestrained chaos brought a familiar warmth into her heart, reminding her of the vow she had sworn to fulfill—even if it killed her.