AFL5 Gift

     There was a world that existed between worlds where the normal laws of physics or reality itself no longer applied, rocks the size of continents would always float about in a lazy manner, either staying in one place indefinitely or slowly moving to some unknown destination. The sky was a deep purple in color, but yet, the sky was everywhere, no matter how far up one person would go, there would be no end in sight. It was an endless violet abyss whose stability was unstable to say the least, other worlds would often tear a hole into this dimension through portals. Rifts in dimensions that would sometimes have denizens from other realities find themselves suddenly sucked into this forsaken place. One such being was patrolling the edge of one of the floating continents, looking for some way to escape this endless prison, it's name was Irony, the deity of irony as it's name would suggest. It had a simplistic humanoid body, but it appeared to be made of a blue goo that had an inky constitution to it, it wore a simple brown rag wrapped around it's neck and chest. But the most distinguishing feature of it was it's face, it wore a smooth iron mask that resembled a bird's beak and was adorned by two bizarre looking black and white stripped horns on the top. Two green glowing eyes peered out of it's metal facade, they brimmed with gentle curiosity and awkward shyness.

     Last thing Irony could remember before being sucked into here was winning the AFL tournament, but that felt like days ago and the fact that he was lost didn't help his disposition on this predicament he now finds himself in. He peered over the edge again to see if there was possible chance of escaping, but there was is an endless purple abyss. He decided to try his luck back inland as he elongated his legs for long distance travel, they stretched dozens of feet into the air until it looked like he had towering stilts for legs. Irony took large strides over the barren rocky surface, looking for anything that might help him escape this place, but to no avail as all he could see was nothing but grey plains as far as the eye could see. Irony hanged his head in despair and started to move in another direction when he started to feel vibrations underneath his feet. He looked down as the ground below him started to crack and crumble, caving in and turning into a hole that swallowed Irony up as he fell down into it's dark depths. As the dust settled, Irony was buried under a pile of rocks, though he was able to push them aside with ease as the rocks felt surprisingly light for their size. As Irony shook his head, he tried to gather his wits to gain an understanding on what just happened and remembered falling into a hole in the ground. Irony looked around his surroundings, there were a multitude of cave tunnels running underneath the ground, they glistened and shined under the violet light of the sky that the hole now provided. The rock itself was unnaturally smooth and black and the tunnels seemed to have been carved out artificially rather than naturally. One of the tunnels seemed different from the others, it seemed to beckon to Irony, calling him to come towards it.

     Irony's instincts screamed at him, telling him to go back through the hole and take his search somewhere else, but his body seemed to be on autopilot, moving precariously towards the cave. As soon as he entered it, his entire body vibrated with fear, there was something in there, something bad, the very air itself seemed to be colder then the rest of the area and the feeling of dread that was coursing through his mind seemed to grow the deeper in he went. As deep in as Irony is, he was surprised that it wasn't completely pitch black in there, in fact, the cave was giving off some sort of soft blue light and what appeared to be ice covering the walls. The ice itself seemed to be alive somehow, like it was reaching for Irony and trying to strangle him, Irony just shook his head, trying not to let his imagination get the better of him as he continued his trek deeper into the tunnel. After what seemed like hours, Irony tripped over something, as he straightened himself out and looked at what he had stumbled over, his look of minor annoyance quickly turned into horror as he saw a frozen corpse of what appeared to be a human male. Anyone who may have known the man at one point wouldn't be able to recognize him now. He appeared to have died a horrific death as his face and eyes were gone, leaving a skinned face with a look of absolute horror left on his contorted face, his hands were shielding the rest of his body and what appeared to be stab wounds peppered all over his frozen carcass, this human didn't die peacefully. Irony jumped back onto his feet and backed away when he bumps into something behind him, he turned his head slowly and jumped back with fear as it was another corpse hanging on the ceiling by it's feet. Irony was losing his mind just by seeing this, his mind trying to keep a loose grasp on what was happening before him, he stumbled backwards and suddenly found himself in what appeared to be a large chamber where a vast network of tunnels led into it. Multitudes of frozen corpses were piled up on the side or hung up on the ceilings as their frozen blood was splattered all over the place.

     Irony just couldn't believe what he saw, there was something down here preying on whoever stumbled into this area and he didn't want to find out what it was either. As he started to make a beeline for the exit, ice shot up from nowhere and blocked his path, completely sealing up the area. Irony panicked and started to flee towards the one of the other tunnels, only to his dismay find that they were blocked with ice as well. "Why leave just yet my humble guest, me and my friends were hoping for some new company to show up and we'd be awfully disappointed if you were to leave without letting us become properly acquainted first" a sinister voice called out from within the chamber. Irony's body went stiff with horror upon hearing that voice, it sounded soothing with a metallic tone in it, yet it also had a very subtle hint of sinister underneath that cool voice that sent shivers down Irony's back. The frozen body that was placed precariously in the center of the chamber suddenly started shake and crack as the figure inside started to move around, eventually causing the ice to explode violently as the being freed itself. The sense of dead that Irony was now feeling washed over in waves as this new figure had it's back turned to him, but quickly noticed the cowering deity and turned to face him. It was the same size and shape as a slightly tall human as far as Irony could tell since it's body was completely covered in a black hooded cloak. It's hands that peeked out of the ends of it's sleeve were completely metallic and grey, it's fingers were more akin to claws as they fidgeted up and down with it's palm that had a curious glowing blue orb embedded into it. Most of it's face was hidden underneath the darkness casted by it's hood aside from it's two glowing blue eyes brimming with bloodlust and it's mouth who's teeth looked like someone had replaced it with knives instead, his sickeningly sharp teeth slid perfectly into place with each other and look like they could rip through flesh with ease while complimenting it's brimming smile.

     "My name is Malice and you have had the fortune of............" it pauses for a second "stumbleling onto my humble abode" Malice said with disturbing enthusiasm. "Tell me, what's your name?" Malice asked with interest, Irony wasn't able to speak, but didn't want to either, for some reason, he felt angry, like he wanted to cut it's heart out, if it had one and show it to Malice's face just so he could wipe that smirk off of it's face. This startled Irony since he was never a violent person himself but something about this creature named Malice seemed to be affecting him somehow, like it's very presence was somehow making him more violent. Irony failed to notice that Malice was suddenly right next to him, it's creepy smile never wavering as it stared at Irony like it was some kind of intriguing animal. Irony jumped back and hastily decided to throw a punch at Malice, it's fist becoming enlarged, hoping to deter Malice. It landed squarely with Malice's face, his head rocked back a little from the impact, but he didn't budge from his spot, that smile staying plastered on it's demented face. "Well somebody is certainly being feisty.............. good, it be boring if you didn't put up a fight" Malice said with glee in it's voice. Malice's hands started to glow a menacing blue, he then made a simple yet mesmerizing gesture with his hand, Irony suddenly felt his left arm grow cold and looked in despair as his entire limb was suddenly frozen solid with ice. "This is already getting easier then I expect it would be, guess I raised my hopes up all for nothing" said Malice, disappointment was heavy in his voice. Irony's right arm suddenly turned into an axe and loped of his frozen left arm, it fell to the floor and shattered into several large ice chunks. Irony suddenly grew back his left arm, his eyes now brimming with confidence as he ready's himself for another round. Malice ignored Irony and picked up one of the frozen chunks that was Irony's left arm, he examined it for a few seconds when he suddenly reared his head back, his mouth enlarged and elongated as he shoved the frozen goo into his gullet. Irony couldn't help but look at what just happened with disgust as Malice chewed it up like it was some kind of delicious morsel.

     Malice then noisily gulped it down and stared into the air for a few seconds when his eyes started to glow brighter and filled with a terrifying realization. "So your a deity huh? Tell me, how sad is it that you've been abandoned by the very people who were suppose to worship you and give you sacrifices but now are completely self reliant? You're no deity, just a snieveling pile of goo who had the gall to call himself one!" Malice yelled, throwing a punch at Irony, causing a piece of his mask to crack as he was knocked down. Malice stood over him, his smile still the same as always, but his eyes were filled with outrage. He picked up Irony by the scruff of his brown rag and started to beat him in the mask mercilessly. "Why didn't you punish those mortals while you still had the chance? Why didn't you enforce your will on them? Why didn't you and your cohorts just wipe them out? If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a deity without a backbone! Like my lord Darkseeker, he may have been destroyed, but I will continue on his work as soon as I leave this wretched place, I'm teach them all that his legacy doesn't just go out with a whimper! But look on the bright side Irony, we'll have each others company until you die or I'm able to leave, that's what I call a win win in my situation!" cackled Malice as he delivered one final blow to Irony. Malice then loosened his grip on Irony, the deity was barely able to stand on his hands as his weakened eyes looked at Malice with exhaustion. "You know what, I've never felt this riled up before, I'm just going to kill you now for the hell of it!" Malice yelled. Irony closed his eyes as Malice raised his hand into the air and brought it crashing down to meet Irony's face, but was stopped in his tracks as a brilliant flash of light filled the room and suddenly sent Malice flying backwards and crashing into a wall. As Malice tried to gather his wits, a portal opened before them, but found that Irony was hlafway through the portal by the time he realized what was going on. Malice let out a loud screech as he made a mad dash for the portal, only for it to dissapear right in front of his face. Malice just stood there, his eyes filled with outrage, having been denied his quarry and teaching that so called deity a lesson, but he quickly snapped out of it and his voice sounded all cheery all of a sudden. "All good things come in time, I look forward to our next encounter................. Irony." Malice merely stared at the ceiling, he'll wait for eternity if he has too.