“Ahhhh, you fuck, you fucking bastard, you fucking shot me!”
“You’re gods damn right I did. Your dumb ass refused to listen. This is trip seven for me, asshole. And every time, it’s your punk ass that gets us killed.”
The General ran into the room, spooling up his power as he came. I raised my hands, “Penguin.”
The General stopped cold, “I gave you the code?”
"Yup. This is trip seven. Last time, you ordered Streak here to stay behind. It almost worked, but he flew off the handle when he saw Damage lose his head, literally, and pulled the exact same shit instead of letting things play out and let me get better intel on the fight.
This time, I figure we’ve got a few hours before he heals enough to be a problem. More if I shoot him in the other knee too."
“Let’s not go that far.”
“Not that far, you gave him the code so he could shoot me? You’re both assholes, fuck both of you!”
So I shot him in the head.
“Sorry, General, this has been a bad day. Let’s just get to the fight and I’ll off myself if we get it handled, come back and figure out a way to do this without doing that.”
“It wouldn’t bother me so much if you didn’t seem happy about it.”
“Hey, you haven’t been dealing with this prick for eight hours on repeat, you might be a bit happy if you had.”
The alarm started blaring, and we ran for the transport room…
“Ahhhh, you fuck, you fucking bastard, you fucking shot me!”
“You’re gods damn right I did. Your dumb ass refused to listen. This is trip ten for me, asshole. And every time I didn’t, it’s your punk ass that gets us killed.”
The General ran into the room, spooling up his power as he came. I raised my hands, “Penguin.”
The General stopped cold, “I gave you the code?”
"Yup. This is trip ten. Sixth time, you ordered Streak here to stay behind. It almost worked, but he flew off the handle when he saw Damage lose his head, literally, and pulled the exact same shit instead of letting things play out and let me get better intel on the fight.
Shooting him has gotten us almost there, and I think we can make this the last trip."
I considered just shooting him in the head again, but if we did win the fight, the General would just make me come back.
“Streak, the last few times, I shot you in the fucking face so I wouldn’t have to deal with you. That’s what it took to keep us from dying. Are you going to play nice and not say something stupid that gets you shot in the face again, and let us handle the fight without you?”
“You shot me in the face?”
“Damn skippy. Three times so far. Wanna make it four?”
“You are such a prick.”
“Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that, and I keep keeping you from dying permanently, so who’s the bigger prick here? Just shut up, heal, and stay ready in case we need you for the finish, yeah?”
“Well, now that we figured out what to do, if you ask reeaaaly sweet, and give me something that will convince you to keep your ass at base until you’re called, I can shoot myself and use it.”
“Your codes are fucking stupid.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the only one that thinks that, and you’re the only one that got injured today. So, you’re stupid. Fine, whatever. But maybe think up a code in case you decide to wear your ass on your shoulders again.”
“You smug fuck, we did fine before you came along. We’d do fine without you, too, even if we died.”
“You know, you said that once before. Then, five hours later you were begging me to shoot myself so that Lady Rain wouldn’t have to live with her face burnt all to hell. And I fucking did it, James, I ate a fucking bullet so that your now ex could walk around with a normal face.”
“How do I know that’s true? You could make up anything you wanted.”
“Why? Why fuck with you with lies? The truth is so much harder for you to take. James. Jamie, if I was that kind of person, why am I even here? I could be rich beyond anyone’s dreams with this ‘power’. I’m just a guy when it’s fight time. No speed, no super strength, no mind manipulation, just the ability to die and come back. But I’m here, with you, beside you, and this paranoid bullshit is what I get? Come the fuck on, man.”
"Dude, I…
I don’t fucking know man, I’m sorry. But your shit is crazy. You just show up, all ‘come with me if you want to live’ mysterious and shit, and then we win. All we can see is now. And it’s crazy. We trust you, I trust you, but it’s frustrating, and it makes me crazy too. You’re magic, you’re living luck as far as I can see, but you say it’s you flipping back in time, and that’s harder to deal with.
You get that, right? That if you said you were seeing the future, or reading probabilities or something, it wouldn’t fuck with me the same."
“Why would it matter?”
"Dude, if you’re saying to do something because the other way didn’t work, it means we fucked up. Something one of us did got somebody killed. Not something we might do, if you were just psychic. Something we did, something where we got ourselves, or one of our friends, or a civilian, killed. Or, apparently, maimed and scarred.
That’s heavy. Yeah, you die for it, you see all the deaths, but you get to fucking fix it. Us? We’re fuck-ups that you have to fix."
“That’s bullshit Jamie. You guys did do fine before I came along. But nobody can fight what we fight forever, perfectly. You aren’t fuck-ups, you’re fucking heroes, putting your bodies, your lives on the line. All I do is give you cushion. That should be my fucking call name ‘the human insurance policy’.”
“I mean, you did shoot Quake in the balls today. That was pretty damn heroic if you ask me.”
“He’s gonna kill me if he gets out of jail.”
“Nah, he’ll try, and then you’ll come back and fuck him up even worse.”
“Jesus, Jamie, if any of those fucks ever figure out how it works, we are beyond fucked.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. You don’t even know how it really works, just that you restart the day from when you woke up. Maybe there’s other ways your power can protect you. For all you know, if it’s bad enough, you might wake up years in the past, because that’s what it would take to survive it.”
I kinda want to, because it’s still in my head, but I don’t know if it needs continuing. It might make it fall apart because it works with that as an ending.
No, it’s actually pretty popular. Although nothing today is as mainstream as things used to be.
If you liked Worm, you might enjoy Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (if you haven’t read it already). It has some real similarities to Worm, including an unreliable narrator who is very intelligent, but can also be arrogant and impulsive. I’d also classify them both as “hard fantasy.”
You can find it at hpmor.com if you’re interested.
I got lucky and the prompt inspired me fully. That’s pretty rare, normally I just get an idea and then have to really work at it to get something readable. This was pure stream of consciousness.
“Ahhhh, you fuck, you fucking bastard, you fucking shot me!”
“You’re gods damn right I did. Your dumb ass refused to listen. This is trip seven for me, asshole. And every time, it’s your punk ass that gets us killed.”
The General ran into the room, spooling up his power as he came. I raised my hands, “Penguin.”
The General stopped cold, “I gave you the code?”
"Yup. This is trip seven. Last time, you ordered Streak here to stay behind. It almost worked, but he flew off the handle when he saw Damage lose his head, literally, and pulled the exact same shit instead of letting things play out and let me get better intel on the fight.
This time, I figure we’ve got a few hours before he heals enough to be a problem. More if I shoot him in the other knee too."
“Let’s not go that far.”
“Not that far, you gave him the code so he could shoot me? You’re both assholes, fuck both of you!”
So I shot him in the head.
“Sorry, General, this has been a bad day. Let’s just get to the fight and I’ll off myself if we get it handled, come back and figure out a way to do this without doing that.”
“It wouldn’t bother me so much if you didn’t seem happy about it.”
“Hey, you haven’t been dealing with this prick for eight hours on repeat, you might be a bit happy if you had.”
The alarm started blaring, and we ran for the transport room…
“Ahhhh, you fuck, you fucking bastard, you fucking shot me!”
“You’re gods damn right I did. Your dumb ass refused to listen. This is trip ten for me, asshole. And every time I didn’t, it’s your punk ass that gets us killed.”
The General ran into the room, spooling up his power as he came. I raised my hands, “Penguin.”
The General stopped cold, “I gave you the code?”
"Yup. This is trip ten. Sixth time, you ordered Streak here to stay behind. It almost worked, but he flew off the handle when he saw Damage lose his head, literally, and pulled the exact same shit instead of letting things play out and let me get better intel on the fight.
Shooting him has gotten us almost there, and I think we can make this the last trip."
I considered just shooting him in the head again, but if we did win the fight, the General would just make me come back.
“Streak, the last few times, I shot you in the fucking face so I wouldn’t have to deal with you. That’s what it took to keep us from dying. Are you going to play nice and not say something stupid that gets you shot in the face again, and let us handle the fight without you?”
“You shot me in the face?”
“Damn skippy. Three times so far. Wanna make it four?”
“You are such a prick.”
“Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that, and I keep keeping you from dying permanently, so who’s the bigger prick here? Just shut up, heal, and stay ready in case we need you for the finish, yeah?”
“Fuck you.”
And the alarm hit…
“How’s the knee?”
“It fucking hurts.”
“Well, now that we figured out what to do, if you ask reeaaaly sweet, and give me something that will convince you to keep your ass at base until you’re called, I can shoot myself and use it.”
“Your codes are fucking stupid.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the only one that thinks that, and you’re the only one that got injured today. So, you’re stupid. Fine, whatever. But maybe think up a code in case you decide to wear your ass on your shoulders again.”
“You smug fuck, we did fine before you came along. We’d do fine without you, too, even if we died.”
“You know, you said that once before. Then, five hours later you were begging me to shoot myself so that Lady Rain wouldn’t have to live with her face burnt all to hell. And I fucking did it, James, I ate a fucking bullet so that your now ex could walk around with a normal face.”
“How do I know that’s true? You could make up anything you wanted.”
“Why? Why fuck with you with lies? The truth is so much harder for you to take. James. Jamie, if I was that kind of person, why am I even here? I could be rich beyond anyone’s dreams with this ‘power’. I’m just a guy when it’s fight time. No speed, no super strength, no mind manipulation, just the ability to die and come back. But I’m here, with you, beside you, and this paranoid bullshit is what I get? Come the fuck on, man.”
"Dude, I…
I don’t fucking know man, I’m sorry. But your shit is crazy. You just show up, all ‘come with me if you want to live’ mysterious and shit, and then we win. All we can see is now. And it’s crazy. We trust you, I trust you, but it’s frustrating, and it makes me crazy too. You’re magic, you’re living luck as far as I can see, but you say it’s you flipping back in time, and that’s harder to deal with.
You get that, right? That if you said you were seeing the future, or reading probabilities or something, it wouldn’t fuck with me the same."
“Why would it matter?”
"Dude, if you’re saying to do something because the other way didn’t work, it means we fucked up. Something one of us did got somebody killed. Not something we might do, if you were just psychic. Something we did, something where we got ourselves, or one of our friends, or a civilian, killed. Or, apparently, maimed and scarred.
That’s heavy. Yeah, you die for it, you see all the deaths, but you get to fucking fix it. Us? We’re fuck-ups that you have to fix."
“That’s bullshit Jamie. You guys did do fine before I came along. But nobody can fight what we fight forever, perfectly. You aren’t fuck-ups, you’re fucking heroes, putting your bodies, your lives on the line. All I do is give you cushion. That should be my fucking call name ‘the human insurance policy’.”
“I mean, you did shoot Quake in the balls today. That was pretty damn heroic if you ask me.”
“He’s gonna kill me if he gets out of jail.”
“Nah, he’ll try, and then you’ll come back and fuck him up even worse.”
“Jesus, Jamie, if any of those fucks ever figure out how it works, we are beyond fucked.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. You don’t even know how it really works, just that you restart the day from when you woke up. Maybe there’s other ways your power can protect you. For all you know, if it’s bad enough, you might wake up years in the past, because that’s what it would take to survive it.”
“Jamie, don’t. Don’t even say that.”
ALERT ALERT, PLANETARY THREAT INCOMING
“Streak, this is Eternus, our new member. He’s a time manipulator of sorts.”
“Good to know, General. How’s it hanging, Eternus?”
Not fucking good, Jamie, not fucking good.
“Oh, I guess it’s hanging fine enough. We’ll have to see what the future holds.”
Again.
this is good shit right here. I’d read a sequel
My kid has been telling me the same thing.
I kinda want to, because it’s still in my head, but I don’t know if it needs continuing. It might make it fall apart because it works with that as an ending.
I have to say, this is the best writing prompt reply I’ve seen since I got on lemmy.
Well damn! Thank you!
Bravo, that was excellent! That felt like Worm
That’s pretty damn high praise
It really did! I would absolutely read a whole book of that! (Or dozens of them, if the length of Worm is any indication)
Haha, it’s crazy finding another fan in the wild, it always felt like a small audience, but nope! 👋
No, it’s actually pretty popular. Although nothing today is as mainstream as things used to be.
If you liked Worm, you might enjoy Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (if you haven’t read it already). It has some real similarities to Worm, including an unreliable narrator who is very intelligent, but can also be arrogant and impulsive. I’d also classify them both as “hard fantasy.”
You can find it at hpmor.com if you’re interested.
Man that was such a good read.
Well done
Thanks :)
Ngl, I’m proud of this one. Even made my family listen to me read it lol
That was a great read. Is it from something?
My head.
I got lucky and the prompt inspired me fully. That’s pretty rare, normally I just get an idea and then have to really work at it to get something readable. This was pure stream of consciousness.
I’m legit proud of it.