As Veck was engulfed in green flames and Wuklen disappeared from sight, he found himself alone, face-to-face with his supposed death.
It's finally happening. This way of dying is almost perfect. Hopefully, I won't collide with anyone on the way down.
He was burning, yet strangely indifferent.
Is his barrier still up?
Veck glanced at his arm, watching it resist the flames.
"Please, world… kill me. I have no reason left to continue." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "I'll certainly die on the impact."
"Thank you, insanity… and at the same time, fuck you." He insulted calmly as he closed his eyes in zen.
But, noticing the change in environment, he opened those eyelids of his.
Veck, teleported, drifted weightlessly through a luminous green bubble realm. Verdant shades stretched endlessly, casting a gentle glow much like the warmth of a quiet summer day. He felt neither chill nor warmth, only a soothing neutrality, like the comfort of a perfectly climate-controlled room.
His body was visible to his eye, yet it moved without his command.
Normally, without the power of teleportation, he'd be hurtling toward a fatal, splattering end.
But this was no frantic rush, rather, a subtle, uncontrollable drift in safety.
Caught in a slow, inevitable current beyond his will, his mind was certianly aware.
"Are you kidding me? Dammnit! It was the perfect exit... where the hell am I? This can't be death... Wuklen is up to something." He spoke confused as he could speak but not move his limbs.
Veck drifted weightlessly through a luminous green bubble realm. Verdant shades stretched endlessly, casting a gentle glow much like the warmth of a quiet summer day. He felt neither chill nor warmth, only a soothing neutrality, like the comforting stillness of a perfectly climate-controlled room.
I guess this my life now. I'll turn even more insane in a few minutes.
Veck had "accepted" this rather fast... but he knew, this was merely a coping mechanism.
It was that, he didn't want to process the horror this situation could be.
A few seconds passed.
A cold, unfamiliar voice echoed through the green void, proclaiming, "Vernillion." Directly after, a bubble detached itself from the shimmering space and hurtled toward Veck.
The bubble was vast, precise, and in seconds it enveloped him entirely.
Without warning, Veck was teleported and dropped hard from a ten-foot ceiling onto a cold steel floor.
Around him, graffiti sprawled across grimy walls, animals, cryptic quotes, even a strange symbol resembling a Marijuana symbol, repeated dozens of times. The steel was tarnished, as if the place hadn't been cleaned in years, yet the trash was suspiciously absent, almost as if neglect had become the intended aesthetic.
He fell through a portal as corporeal as his body, and when he hit the floor… a thudding pain shot through him.
His protective barrier was gone.
Thank god... I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever.
Oh well, onto to killing myself again.
Annoyed, Veck rose and looked up to see a hallway ahead bathed in harsh fluorescent lights and alive with sound. Screams echoed, men's and women's voices tangled in a chaotic chorus, English dominating the roar.
"Kill him! Rip his arm off! You have the strength! Don't win by some technicality, we came here to see someone die!" a manic voice bellowed.
Another voice cut through, less frantic but no less intense.
"Yeah… they're going to kill each other anyway. Why shouldn't it be flashy?" A man said in a mixture of women and other men screaming in unison.
Veck's gaze found a path leading toward the light.
No real choice but to walk it. I hope to find a sharp weapon to finish the job reality had failed to do.
And so, he stepped through the corridor and into the arena.
Before him, in a clear octagonal cage, two human men levitated off the ground, exchanging punishing blows by fists and kicks, ground combat entwined with aerial assaults.
Veck watched intently.
Watching superhumans fights would be a nice last experience.
Veck was an avid UFC fan, and so, he recognized the brutal artistry unfolding.
But what happened next, what he witnessed in those fleeting seconds, would forever alter the trajectory of Veck Starkens existence.