Chef in the Apocalypse

Tony’s face remained blank as Jayce continued to spout these hypothetical scenario’s. A big part of him wanted to deny these things, but for some reason it felt as if there was some truth behind the claims.

Such was the thing when people’s whole worldview is questioned. Luckily for Tony, he had only been in the Apocalypse for almost a year now.

Jayce on the other hand had lived through it for almost 11 years by the time he had reached these conclusions. It had taken him far longer to reverse his opinions that had been drilled into him for so long.

Therefore, he could understand the older man’s reactions. So instead of forcing him to accept these thoughts, he merely let his words stew, continuing to prepare the meal.

***

A single set of footsteps echoed throughout the hall, accompanied by the fluttering of shadows painted on the walls by a dim light. A man wearing a mask and a cloak that danced behind him moved forward with purpose.

His even gait and upright posture spoke of his strength and confidence which seemed to emanate from his very being. Yet this was merely from the outside, were it not for the fact that there were eyes on him at this moment, he would not be behaving so cordially.

Adjusting his tophat, Rubick walked towards the end of the hall to where a large teleportation array was situated. There were two guards either side, both wearing identical black masks and holding a shining spear.

The two guards straightened up at the sight of him, there was a dangerous feeling coming from this man in front of them. At usual times, they often made use of their position to posture against visitors, yet they wisely decided not to do so in this situation.

"Send me to Earth." Rubick stated, his voice barely above a whisper. Yet the tone felt as if the owner was using all of his self control in order to stay civil.

Feeling their lives being at risk, the guard on the left did his best to stay calm and entered the coordinates into the array. He then bowed and gestured for the guest to enter, averting his gaze.

Without a word, Rubick entered the array and disappeared from sight, leaving the two guards to let out a sigh of relief. Now that the danger had passed, they fell to their knees, their bodies feeling like jelly.

"W-What the hell was that about?" The guard on the right asked, feeling a cold sweat form on his back.

"That was Rubick who is in charge of Earth. I heard that the Lord’s summoned him regarding the next trial."

"It must not have gone well..."

Meanwhile, Rubick appeared on Earth in the next moment, in the middle of a forest. It was currently pitch black, with only the sound of insects chirping and the rustling of the trees from the cold wind to keep him company.

Suddenly a furious roar sounded, followed by the sound of trees being snapped in half. The ground quaked as something charged in the man’s direction who had entered its territory unannounced.

The trees parted, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the ferocious monster that had set its eyes on him. A giant ape that was almost 20 meters tall bounded over, its long limbs were covered in muscles, and its face was contorted in fury.

It balled its hand into a fist and sent its powerful arm down, wanting to crush the invader into meat paste. The hammer fist swatted down with immense power, causing the air pressure in the surroundings to increase tenfold.

Rubick turned around, seeing the fist hurtling towards him, yet he made no move.

’Tch. F*ck off you ant."

The fist landed on the tiny human, causing the earth to sink in and the surroundings to crumble. Trees in the surroundings uprooted from the force, making it seem as if a meteorite had landed in the forest.

Seeing that its enemy had been crushed into meat paste, the giant ape scoffed and went to return back to its home. Yet when it tried to remove its fist, it felt as if something was preventing it from moving.

It let out a low grunt, using more and more strength to try and remove the fist, yet it was unable to. It was then that the monster finally felt something was wrong.

CRACK CRACK

"UGHHHH" The ape let out a wretched groan, feeling the bones within its fist contorting and breaking apart. It stared with wide pained eyes as its fist folded once, twice and three times, slowly moving up its long arm.

It was as if its body was a piece of origami paper, folding in on itself, slowly making its way up the monsters arm. Screams of agony turned into moans of pain, until the only remaining noise was the breaking of bones and dripping of blood on the forest floor.

The once 20 meter tall Ape had been folded upon itself hundreds of times, turning into a small cube which floated down into Rubick’s hand. He looked at the cube for a moment and then crushed it between his fingers.

After shaking the blood off his hands, Rubick flourished his sleeve, causing the fabric of space to open. Without another word, he stepped through the open space, appearing on the other side.

What appeared in front of him was an empty theater hall with around 100 seats and an old stage up front. This was where he had gathered the supporters the last couple of times, and where he would gather them again next time.

Rubick walked down the aisle, having calmed down a little after venting his anger on the large ape. He sat down in the front row and leaned back a little before removing his mask.

"Those bastards..." Rubick gripped his fist, a sense of helplessness overcoming him. He did not have the authority to disregard their words, he could only hope that their decisions would not play out the way they wanted.

After all, he was just another pawn in this system.

"I wonder how he’s doing?" he muttered.