Dr. Zavelo paused. Truly, this was not it. What he currently saw and smelt and heard and touched wasn't the universe he was promised. No… it was blank, white, as empty as the universe he had just destroyed to gain access to a new one. He expected to be greeted by the fanfare of cosmos and fires, and hear the distant, yet resounding afterglows of the suns and starts around him. He expected celestial bodies, black holes; binary star systems; nebulae of various magnificent colors to whirl around him, but no…
Nothing. He saw, and had, absolutely nothing.
He scratched his head for a second, as the highest beings themselves still need to satisfy their itches. He stood… or floated, whatever, in that point of space for a while, contemplating what to do.
He tested his powers to see if they would work here. Thinking hard, he opened his palm and out came a small fire. He closed it and it disappeared. Ah, he said, I have control. I might as well destroy this one and move on to another. Perhaps I'll be more lucky this time. He closed his eyes shut, and focused, drawing on every expanse of this universe. He reached across and down until he felt the corners of it, and began to pull it inwards, towards himself.
Somehow, somewhere, he may have started to wonder how he was able to do such great things, but he quickly brushed it aside. One part of religion always centered around blind faith, not thinking too hard, in fear that if you do, the magic won't work. A placebo for the soul. So, for the fear and safety of his god-hood, he forgot all about trying to think about how one is a god.
He can feel the universe become smaller, and all of the energy condense and pressurize. He could feel pure power enter his body as he breathed.
"Stop! What are you doing!?"
…
Dr. Zavelo stopped… and turned around.
…
In front of him was… a person. A person who looked all the more confused with every eye-blink. This person looked young, maybe thirty years of age. He had a few wrinkles but still looked new. He wore a labcoat, like Zavelo, and had a scar running from his left forearm to his hand.
He looked at Zavelo, half-afraid, and half-surprised, from the expressions of his face. The two men stared at each other, trying to get a clue as to what the other was, and why he was in the same fate as themselves. For a while, they spoke of nothing, and the entire universe was quiet. Dr. Zavelo let go of his hold on the universe, and it began to expand again, taking in lost space at an admirably fast rate.
As the stranger felt the last of the lost space become filled by the blankness of the universe again, he spoke. Who are you? Why are you here?
Dr. Zavelo replied. My name is Dr. Zavelo, and I have become a god. He looked at the man, semi-perplexed yet irritated. Who are you?
The stranger felt insulted, but he hid it aside, and spoke. I am Researcher Glen, and I have become a god, too.
Dr. Zavelo's eye twitched, ever so slightly. It would further complicate his agenda with the knowledge that there was someone like him. And, what was more annoying… what if there were more? Was this a fixed deal? Perhaps I can phase him out of existence. While the strange man fell silent, as his new comrade did, he could feel a wave of nothingness tear him apart, and break into his bones.
The man fell over, half-gurgling, as the wave concentrated on the neck, and choked it. The force moved to the rest of his body, and the protons and electrons of his body changed charges over and over again. All the while as it happened, immense amounts of energy and matter fumed out of his body, and scattered across the empty space.
His brain felt like several grooved, spiraling needles were being pushed deeper, and his body was offset by this charge of electricity that shut down and restarted his organs. His eyes boiled, and his mind simply gave up and burst, setting the Big Bang into motion.
The strange man, Glen, died out, and his body dissipated into the first nebulae.
Dr. Zavelo felt good. He cherished the sensation of taking a life, and the added bonus was the creation of all other life as we know it. Furthermore, he felt stronger as he killed the man. He felt energy come out of the dead god and enter his being, imbuing his body with the strength of two deities. This fed him a great deal, and he felt sated. The sustenance of gods depends on the deaths of the others.
Fulfilling.
He looked at the new, fledgling universe being born around him. For a while, he admired the beauty.
A sensation loomed over his mind, and soon ingratiated itself into every part of his body. It was a sensation of disgust and terror and pain. It was excruciating. Gnashing his teeth together, he heard a voice.
I am not dead, Dr. Zavelo, nor will I ever be.
