//------------------------------//
// 4) Timeskipping 
// Story: TGMT: Exterminator 
// by AppleTank 
//------------------------------//

Velvet blinked. She was sitting in a room of darkness, yet she could see herself just fine. 

“This... is a decent representation of the Outside, cleared of... debris.” A thin, emancipated bipedal creature walked in from somewhere behind her. Bandages stained with black droplets covered its entire body. A tattered coat hung from its shoulders. Half of its face was obscured by a worn fishing hat. A moment later, she realized that this was the same voice Wireframe spoke with. He turned around a few steps in front of her and sat down on a invisible surface, steepling his fingers on another invisible surface.

“Is it always this dark?” Velvet asked, looking around.

Wireframe snapped his fingers. A bunch of points of lights flared up, looking like multi-colored stars. He pointed. “Universes.”

A purplish jewel floated into his palm. There was a tiny ink stain on it. “Yours.”

He waved his arms at the space around him. “This is where all our powers lie. We imagine.”

He flicked his fingers. A picture of a knife hovered over his palm. “We create.”

The knife solidified, and became real, falling into his grasp. “And we fight off those who feast so we have something to sustain us.”

“Wait, what?”

“When a tree falls when no one is there to hear it, we are there. Nobody notices. If someone causes a noticeable event-” he pointed behind him,”-it gets Exterminated.”

He clasped his hands. “Now, since you have technically more potential than I have at the moment, you can draw power faster from the Outside than I can.”

“Wait. If you can feed off of... universes... why do you need the Outside for energy?”

“Outsiders, well, most of them, in any case, are for all intents and purposes zombies. We have no life force of our own, and need to siphon up a bit of the energy inside your worlds to keep our form intact and stable.” He shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t need as much... in comparison to most.”

“Anyways,” he continued. “When we get out, I will need my arm back. You will still have a bit left on you. Focus on it, and on my mark, tear a hole. Gather its power, but avoid the points. I rather you not consume a universe by accident.” There’s enough of me already, he muttered. 

He continued, “You will know what form to take. Attack, and tear. It will be instinctive to you the moment you draw upon the energies of the Outside. I will guide you to him. My minor modifications to you earlier will allow you to have an easier time controlling it.”

“Okay,” she responded. After a moment, she added, “Have you ever failed before?”

He gave her a dark look. “That would be the end of reality. The correct question is what I had to give up for victory. I stopped counting both that and my age after my first million.” 

He looked off into space. “Get ready. It’s coming.” He shot a quick glance towards her. “Don’t be surprised if you don’t see much of anything when we get out. Somebody has to eat up the energy in the area first, hmm?”