Space. Something we will never truly understand. Something so vast we could never see all of it. And like space, there is another thing we can never truly
understand. War. A clash between civilizations, for one purpose or another.
And it just so happens there has been a war raging, up in space, for thousands upon thousands of years, maybe even since the dawn of time. Two alliances
of planets, both fighting for control, both believing they will be better leaders of an entire universe. The two leaders are great, accomplished warriors. They
are fearless kings, ready to draw their swords in the face of any enemy. They do not fear death as we know it, as they cannot truly die, but rather they are
tied to a physical form, a suit of armor. And while they are still powerful, they can still be destroyed. These two kings are The Ham Man, the 9
novemnonagintillion years old chosen champion of Planet Hammonia, and The Beef Man, the 13 billion years old chosen champion of Planet Beefalus.
During their conflict, they battled over an incredibly technologically advanced planet known as Palareuda. This planet became a point of importance
because of their greatest space travel device; the Zalgondomus, which could travel all the way to the planet Torkula 5, which is 10 entire galaxies away, in just
3 days. After a year's worth of conflict, the Palareudans declared their planet to be a neutral area, threatening to completely destroy either side if they
choose to attack Palareuda once more. Now it's used mainly for diplomatic relations, as most planets are able to arrive there incredibly quickly.
And during this time of peace on Palareuda, The Ham Man took many diplomatic trips, including ones with The Beef Man. Of course, The Beef Man never
accepted these proposals.
On what would be July 15th, 1432 on Earth, The Ham Man took another trip to Palareuda. As usual, he was greeted with the kindness of the Palareudans. One
thing that the chosen champions keep a secret is that the Palareudans treat their guests with the best service in the whole universe. On this day, The Ham
Man sat in the Ozek garden, his favorite of all of them. The grass there seemed so much more green, the animals more lively, the whole thing was so much
more vibrant than any other place he had seen. But as he watched the magnificent sight, he received a call from one of his greatest allies and oldest friends;
Big Tim, the president of The Big Club.
Of course he answered the call, what kind of a king would he be to turn away such an acquaintance. He opened the conversation with his usual speech,
even a little small talk. But Big Tim had to shut this down quickly, interrupting The Ham Man with terrifying words. “A world-eater has appeared near Torkula
5.” A world-eater, a terrifying spherical monster that consumes planets to gain strength, while hiding itself as a planet.
There was no time to waste. The Ham Man knows too well how dangerous a world-eater can be, especially when the food it’s closest by is the Torkula
system. As soon as he could, he asked the Palareudans to borrow the Zalgondomus to stop this. After an hour of thinking, they agreed. And so The Ham
Man began his journey towards Torkula 5.
And it was a long 2 days on that Zalgondomus, left with his own thoughts and the few accommodations that the Palareudans left on the ship. His only
solace, his one comforter, was the stars he could see through the windows. It felt to him like he could practically count them all.
On the second night of his trip, he tossed and turned in his bed, failing to fall asleep for hours and hours. For 4 hours he went without his much needed rest.
It was those 4 hours until he was given a dream, or better put, his nightmare. He was dropped into a world, a world he had never seen before.
The walls around him seemed uneven, unnatural, built like a cage, and made of what seemed like flesh, pulsing and twitching as if alive. From behind him, he
could hear a blood-curdling screech, followed by frantic footsteps. He jolted around to see what was behind him. It looked as if it were a man, malnourished
nearly to the bone, its skin torn off, as was with its arms. And even though it was charging at him, angry, blood-thirsty, he could see in its eyes that it was
scared. He had no time to react though, as soon as he turned to face it he was struck by the thing, forced to the ground. It continued to try and attack him,
aimlessly gnawing its teeth at him, desperate. He tried to strike it with his fist, and for a moment it fell off of him. But once that moment passed, it was right
back on top of him. Another blow, and it continued to try and chew at his helmet, this time unphased. Seeing it as the final option, The Ham Man gathered
all his strength. He grabbed the creature by the neck, and with all the might in the world, he threw it head-first against the wall, a loud crack of its skull as its
life went out. He had to take a moment to catch his breath afterwards. He felt tired, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. But that could only be caused by
one thing; he has an actual body again. “What could this be?” he wondered, “what world am I imprisoned in?”
And just as this thought went through his mind, he awoke to the sounds of crashing, banging, screams from the crew members of the Zalgondomus. He
turned to look outside his window, and strangely, the ship had stopped. “Why would we be stopped?” he questioned, knowing the answer is one he will not
want to hear. But to know this himself, he looked lower through the window, and saw what planet they were above; Planet Exodus, home of the family of
death themselves. As reality was sinking in, the main pilot of the Zalgondomus was flung through his room's door. What followed him through was one of
death's soldiers, as tall and pale as ever, and its eyes as black as coal. The merciless thing waltzed into the room, ignoring The Ham Man as he picked up the
pilot once more. The pilot, well versed in death's ways, forced his eyes closed so as to not fall victim to the soldier of death. But the soldier, smarter than it
looked, took his other hand, its nails sharpened, and cut off the pilot's eyelid, forcing him to stare into its own eye. His life was cut short instantly.
The Ham Man grabbed his great sword from the side of his bed and leaped at the soldier, but its hardened skin resisted the sharp end. But The Ham Man
did not give up just yet, he kicked the soldier’s leg, sending it falling into the knee of his armor, knocking the thing out cold. The hive mind of soldiers didn’t
let this go, though. Knowing The Ham Man was awake now, 4 soldiers were sent into his room, carrying him away. No matter how hard he tried to fight them
off, they wouldn’t budge. They carried him all the way to the airlock of the ship, tossing him in and locking the door. He banged on the glass with all his
might, trying to force it to break, but it was too strong. Just as he tried for his fourth time, he was sent out the airlock and into the cold of space. After a brief
moment of floating, he was carried down to the planet by one of death’s transport ships. As he was taken, once he was far enough away, the Zalgondomus
was demolished by an explosion.
Once the transport ship finally landed, he was immediately carried into the capital building of Planet Exodus, the house of death. There he was forced to his
knees in front of the throne. Sat on the throne, king Death himself sat. A dark smile grew on his white face as he rose up from his seat.
“Ah, yes, the mighty ‘Ham Man’ has been defeated, brought down to me.”
“I have been defeated by no one, Death, for I cannot be defeated.”
“And there's that ego of yours, coming back once more. Did it ever occur to you that you might be a narcissist, ‘Ham Man’?” He made sure to put emphasis
on that name, mockingly, tauntingly.
“It was only through your honorless drones that I was forced here. Nothing more.”
“Foolish Ham Man. You thought you could escape me? No one can outrun death. Not even you.” He turns towards the side hall, beckoning as he calls out
“Grymme, come here! I have a surprise for you.” A young girl hesitantly peaks her head out from behind the wall before slowly stepping out into the throne
room. “Seeing as you are my heir, and you haven’t even gotten your first kill yet, I think this is an excellent time to initiate you. All you have to do is drain the
soul from him.”
But she doesn’t come any closer. She shakes her head, refusing her fathers demands. This angers him. He turns around and frustratedly yells out
“Grymme, do not disobey me! This is your throne as much as it is mine! Some day I must pass onto the next world, to join Arkire at the top of his tower, and
on that day you will be forced to take my crown!” He closes in on her, making sure he towers over her. “What kind of a Death are you if you cannot take a
life? A defective one. If you will not kill him, go back to your room!” He points towards the side wall as he says this, and she runs off, terrified. With this, he
walks back over to The Ham Man.
“If she will not do it, then I will.” After those words left his mouth, he stuck out his hand towards The Ham Man. He lifted his arm, and as he did, The Ham Man
lifted too. His armor started to shake as the king took his soul out of the armor. Suddenly, the armor falls apart, showing that his soul has been taken.
It must have been many years until he landed, dazed and confused, puzzled and scared. He had carried his armor through to the other side, but his control
over it is far worse. He still manages to rise from the ground. And as he observes his surroundings, he sees the same flesh-like texture on the ground, and on
the walls too, the same prison he was trapped in before. He looked around, frantic, trying to find anything familiar, anything safe, anything pure, but there
was nothing. There was nothing but this cage of flesh. Once he got a chance to calm down, he finally took some time to take in what’s around him. He saw,
in the distance, something massive. It too was made of this flesh, its shape was even more unnatural than the rest of the world. It had to be about the size of
14 planets stacked on top of each other. It wasn’t frightening to him, nor was it beautiful. It was just some kind of mesmerizing.
And once he could take his eyes off of it, he noticed someone standing in front of him. A girl. She was turned away from him, staring at that towering entity
too. He called out to her “Hello? Who are you-” and she turned around to face him. It was Grymme, the daughter of King Death. “Grymme, what am I doing
here? Where am I?” He interrogated her. “I’m so sorry, The Ham Man. I’m sorry for what my father has done to you.”
“You have yet to answer my question. What am I doing here?”
“He killed you, Ham Man. He took your soul from your armor.”
She paused for a moment, questioning if she should tell him the truth. Finally, she answers.
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stormborns
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