“Well that was not a friendly welcome!”
The creature struggled, then stopped, realising that nothing would budge him. Black, inky chains tugged at his arms and legs, pulling them tight. More chains around his neck and stomach kept him from moving at all.
“I was hoping for a hello or something!”
It was obvious what had trapped the creature. A staff-holding yellow and black thing was staring at it, as if it had just pissed all over the carpet. Speaking of carpets, the ground was a shiny gold colour, but the chains holding it stretched off into nothing.
“Are you, uh, gonna say anything?”
The yellow thing tutted, then sighed.
“What are you?”
“What are YOU?” the creature smiled. “You like yellow, I see! I assume you’re in charge around here?”
The yellow being tutted again. “No, I’m here to stop people coming into this universe uninvited.”
“So you’re like… what’s your name?”
“I am Arkadin, the Lord of the Dead.”
The critter smiled. “You can call me Tim. You going to let me down?”
Arkadin shook his head. “Nope. Not until you tell me what you are. And even then, I probably still won’t let you down.”
“Why?” Tim asked.
“The last time a stranger got in, there were mass extinctions across the universe.”
“You’re the Lord of the Dead, you could just bring it all back to life though.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Not here at least.”
“Why not?”
“You need there to be a body to revive it.”
Tim blinked. “Oh. Good point. Can’t have body-less souls running around now, can we? Saw that happen once, was a big bloody mess. I got out of there as soon as I could. I mean that sorta thing can work, you know? But you need some sort of physical link!”
“I wouldn’t know. Are you going to tell me what you are?”
“Ah, nah. I’m having fun chatting with you! You the only god here?” Tim paused. “I assume you’re a god, right?”
“I don’t like calling myself that, but yes, I am.”
“Makes you seem too powerful, right?”
“Yeah.”
Tim smirked. “Yeah, I was like that once. Not for death though. Pretty sure I was a god of life or something. Then there was a thing and things went a bit dark and… Well… It… Was a long time ago…”
“You’re a Corruption, aren’t you?” Arkadin didn’t seem scared, but he was definitely pointing that staff of his in Tim’s direction. “A well-disguised one, but a Corruption nonetheless.”
Tim couldn’t do much but sigh. “Yeah… It’s not like I want to be a Corruption though. I didn’t ask for this. Wandering around the space between universes, like some sort of massive, sentient space cancer. It ain’t fun, I tell you that. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want to wander. I don’t eat anything either. Don’t really need to. Been trying to convince some others… wait…” Tim sighed again. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
Arkadin hesitated. “You haven’t killed anyone?”
“No. I can’t bring myself to do it. I saw my universe get torn apart and devoured. I felt myself get corrupted. Couldn’t bring myself to do that to others.”
“Well, Tim…” Arkadin shrugged. “I think I’m going to have to let you go. You haven’t hurt anyone. I would be a hypocrite to harm you.”
Tim’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“On two conditions. One, you never set foot in this universe again. Two, you continue never hurting anyone and trying to convince other Corruptions to not be evil cunts.”
Tim smiled as the chained loosened. “I can do that. I promise I will.”
A black portal opened up next to Tim, giving him a way out.
“Thank you, Arkadin!” Tim grinned as he disappeared. “Thank you for not killing me!”
Arkadin simply waved. “Look after yourself, Tim.”