Lucid Dreaming

Null was back in the vibrant world as before.

The feeling of emptiness was back and more prominent than ever before.

'So shiny.' Null's mind was preoccupied with the thought.

A dazzling golden light shone brightly before him.

The shimmering glow was breathtaking, and it put Null at ease.

So much so in fact that he could not help but direct his entire focus onto it.

The light made him smile as he sensed a strange familiarity along with it.

'I know this color! And this feeling... it's all too recognizable.'

An uncomfortable sense of dread filled Null's being as he looked down at his baby hands.

The smile on his face grew as he saw two pitch black hands.

'Ouch!'

Null felt his left eye and noticed it was warm.

'Am I... crying?' Null was bemused.

All he knew was that his head felt groggy in this new world.

It was like he was fighting for control over his own body.

'Hungry.'

A silent whisper seemed to enter his ears as his focus shifted back towards the golden light.

'I want it. You want it. It will be ours if you just take it. How nice would that be Null?'

'Null? Who is that?'

The smiling monster child was emanating an inverse of the original cosmic aura.

The void that was usually residing obediently within Null had taken over and with it, new thought could take hold.

Inside of the void, Null's normal self lie sprawled in the empty space as he dreamt of a vibrant world.

'That's not normal. Where did Theef and the pauper go?'

It was like he was having the worst hangover as Null tried frantically to remember what he was just doing.

But as if there were a fog hiding the illusive memories, he could not for the life of him remember what was and what wasn't.

'The colors!'

Inside his dream, he was standing before two lights.

Hiding within the blinding golden light was a pink blur with two short whiskers and specks of colors dotting its pure light.

'I know them! That means I've seen these two before. Maybe they can help me?'

Step.

'WOAH! What did that to me!'

The clumsy child tripped over himself as he now headed closer to the two lights.

'Pretty.' The child could not help but reach for the shiny golden light with both hands.

It was like a baby who was just learning to walk was now scrambling happily towards a mother's warm embrace.

Only, this child was dangerous.

Upon reaching a certain distance, two spiraling vortexes suffused the tiny palms, threatening to devour the vulnerable lights.

That was when some of the tuned-out sounds reached him.

It was like the pretty color was telling him it was alright to devour itself as it had already accepted its fate.

'Well, I guess I do feel a bit starved.' The monster's smile grew increasingly terrifying.

It was as if his mouth wanted to be the only feature of his face, so it expanded its territory ever so slightly in attempt to rid itself of the other facial features.

Warm blood now dripped from both eyes.

"I know this feeling."

'Gasp! Who said that!'

The monster baby twirled itself around to find no other things in its domain besides its snacks.

'Whatever. Time to eat!'

'No.'

'You don't have a say in the matter it would seem.'

'Is that so?'

Whilst Null was dreaming inside of the void, he had felt he had an unconscious connection between the being he was speaking to.

Despite the grogginess in his mind, he figured it wouldn't be too hard to take down something gaining control of his body.

'Stop.'

He thought and so he did.

'NO! Let me go right now!' The pitch-black skin of the monster wriggled in defiance.

"Null is he... who defies the creator. I am Null."

'You're a parasite!'

'Void.'

'Void?'

'All shall be encompassed by an endless Void.' Null thought back to the magic hobo of old.

As his thoughts gradually grew clearer and clearer, Null felt gears shifting as more pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit in place.

The shifty black skin on his figure was immediately released from his body.

It coalesced and coagulated, eventually forming into a cute looking alien baby covered in oil-like, pitch-black skin.

'I'm free?'

"You're free, but you can't devour without my say. That which is Null is free from the void. Empty your body and mind and become my Void."

Null reached his tiny hand towards his newest brother, "Together, Null and Void will defy the creator."

Void sat on his baby bottom, pondering the recruitment offer.

"I want that one." 

He said, pointing to Barter's Ruler.

'Is that guy still kneeling? Sheesh! I wonder what his past was like?' 

Null giggled to himself but contained such thoughts and set them aside for now.

"He's not food, alright?" Null scratched his scalp in thought.

He looked to the golden light reminiscent of a certain ruler turned pauper.

"Maybe there's something I can do to fix that hunger of yours."

He beckoned Void to himself with a wave and said, "Open wide."

The newborn creature obediently did so and was elated to find a fulfilling feeling spread throughout his person.

"What is that stuff? It's so tasty!" Void was immediately perky upon obtaining a source of food.

"It's the stuff that's probably the reason why you feel so starved around him. I'll call it 'Ruler's greed.'"

"Ruler's greed? I want more!" 

The little monster hastily scrambled to Null's feet completely unguarded.

'What exactly is this little guy, hehe?' Null was easily entertained by this 'little brother' of his.

 As he went to draw in more spiritual energy in order to do so, Null was dumbfounded.

The vortex that should have been inside of him was now missing.

It didn't take much to figure out the reason as to why.

Null looked to the baby at his feet and trembled at the possibility of mutiny.

Therefore, he showed no signs of distress as he continued conversing with Void in the vibrant world.

"Y'know, I could teach you how to help me make some if you'd like?"

Bait tossed; the patient fisherman waited for a catch.

'Really?!'

"Of course! Who do you think your big brother is?"

"Brother?"

"That's right. We're brothers born from nothing. You know exactly what I mean, right?"

'Maybe? My head gets kind of fuzzy when it comes to those things.'

Null jotted that note down without hesitation as he prepared himself to discover a way to utilize his newest mishap.

"Just take my hand and I'll take the lead for now. I'll call you back when we have the chance to hang out again."

'Sure!'

And with that, another never before seen being was introduced to the universe.

All within Null's control, Void seeped back inside Null's hand and settled in his previous spot, spinning as violently as ever.

'Sick!'

Null then proceeded to gather in a swarm of spiritual energy within the vortex.

'Now that that's been settled, how exactly am I supposed to feed him while he's like this?'

The thought remained unanswered as Null opened his eyes as if he had been asleep the whole time.

The world was normal again; there were no more vibrant colors blinding his vision.

Only two shuddering figures lie huddling against each other in fear of the baby before them.

As they discovered a change in the monstrous form of the child, both Theef and the newly transcended Barter's Ruler both sighed in relief.

'I thought I was going to be eaten for a second there,' the thought plagued both of them.

They wanted to invite their friend to join their manly hugging session, but they were still quaking at the thought of what just happened.

...

At first, it was Theef who realized the issue with Null.

When he switched back to his chimera form, Theef quickly realized that he was nothing before the smiling devil child.

One touch and it was over for any foolish enough to traverse the endless void.

With that in mind, Theef quickly tried his last resort: the Transcendent Pauper.

However, who would have thought that the mighty ruler now lost all semblance of his previous intensity?

He now bore the meekness of an impoverished man.

'Don't tell me I have to take his precious coin from him again so soon!'

Theef was about to shit himself at the thought of being the reason behind the demise of the trio.

'If only I hadn't tried to look cool in front of Null!'

Theef hugged the ruler with his back turned to the void baby, 'If there's at least the slightest chance you make it, fine by me if I go.'

But there was no going of the sort.

Theef felt the gentle pat of the humble pauper and cautiously peeked his eyes at his figure.

"He has come to grace us Theef. Let us accept his gracious offer and become part of the system. It is the way it was meant to be."

'FUCK! This dude's lost it too!'

Theef was freaking out as he separated himself from the suicidal fool.

"What kind of transcendent are you?! Aren't you supposed to fight for your life or something?

Ding!

The pauper reached in his pants pocket and flicked a coin to which Theef promptly caught.

"Go get 'im tiger." Barter's Ruler simply stayed kneeled on his golden section of the ship.

Although he seemingly did not mind becoming one with Null, Barter's Ruler still had dreams of his own to realize.

If he was to make it out alive, then he figured Theef would be best suited to make sure of it.

After all, Theef now stood shoulder to shoulder with Null and himself; if he couldn't do it, neither could the pauper.