The sixth and seventh rounds were nothing special. The sixth round threw two mega-sized beetles which Walker recognized from when he was providing food for the Scorpions, only thirty times larger. None of his entities had any issues killing them both quickly, and Phil was fully healed by the end of the round. They didn't know this by asking him of course, but his eyes seemed clear and free of pain. The seventh round spat another Warclaw out, but this one was a little larger and more muscular than the previous second-round attacker. In the break between the seventh and eighth rounds, Walker asked Rimi a question that was bothering him.

"Rimi, why isn't Phil smarter? I know we designed the Monster System to allow the kernel to attach to their minds, but Phil seems just as dumb as any other Scorpion you can find. I mean, he's a little more strategic than a basic Scorpion from Earth, and he knows how to use his magic, but I wouldn't necessarily call him smart."

"Hrmm." He said, tapping his paws together. "Good question, let me check." He pulled up his screen and stared for a few moments. Scratching the bottom of his chin, he looked at Walker before saying, "Phil has only recently reached tier four. He needs a few year's time for the magic to inundate his mind and solidify the increase in active magical connections. He can also get a quick boost by killing other monsters and absorbing their kernels to speed up the process. Take a look at Chomp." Walker looked over at the Golden Battlefrog. It was currently trying to bite the fish-like tower it protected, but the system rebuffed him and he fell flat. Chomp replied with an angry doot from the ground. "Do you see his skin?"

"Of course."

"That is not an ability. Chomp likes the look. While you were writing in your journal."

"Holy Scripture." Walked replied automatically.

"Ok then, while you were writing in the Holy Scripture, I was taking my time watching all the monsters in Symphony. That Battlefrog is not naturally golden. He likes to roll in a special type of flower every day to gain the yellow pigment you see covering it. It has already reached the full potential of tier four and branched into the fifth tier. I think your Alpha ability is a little similar to the Monster System. It is not an instant increase in strength, speed, and intelligence, but a build-up over time. Eventually, with both tier five and the alpha ability, I fully expect him to reach sapience."

"Holy crap, really? He is definitely smarter than any frog from my homeworld. Did you know that he tried to trap me in the Crater back on Symphony? He realized he couldn't hurt me, so he just wanted to block my way out."

Virgil looked at him, "Is that true?"

"I've never lied to you bud."

"Then that does indeed show a heightened intelligence. It sounds almost spiteful."

"My babies all grown up." Walker said with a fake tear as he continued to watch Chomp fail at biting his tower.

"Not quite." Rimi interjected. "I believe that it is spiteful, or angry, because there is a feeling deep within that something is missing. It doesn't know what it is looking for, and that may cause it to lash out."

"You are speaking of the territory system?" Virgil asked.

"Ah." Walker replied in realization.

"Yes. I know it is not something that you want to focus on right away Walker, but if you advance time again, you will have a umm...what's the word for a lot of things happening at once." He asked.

"Cascading." Virgil supplied.

"Yep! You will have a cascading problem as more Monsters reach tier five. As the assistant assigned to the Monster System, I wanted to make sure you knew that."

"That's just what I asked for Rimi, thank you." Walker said, pinching his cheek affectionately. He didn't know why he did it, or why Rimi looked so shocked, but it felt right in the moment and he was already moving past it. They talked about nothing for a few moments and Rimi would randomly laugh at Chomp's frustration with the Tower not letting him eat it. Looking at the fish, Walker began reminiscing about surfing and how much he missed it. He started a conversation with Virgil about tides and what they would need to do to create waves, when the portals changed color from gray to purple.

"What do you think the colors mean?"

"It could be nothing, or it could be everything." Virgil replied. "Often though, the protocol does like to give hints about what is to come. The previous third wave was the mimic if I recall correctly."

Rimi raised a hand, "Why does that matter?"

"If the protocol is indeed following a pattern in the rounds, then as the eighth round, it is the second time a third wave is arriving."

"Okay." Rimi replied benignly as they waited for the next attacker.

What stepped out of the portal was even more unexpected than the mimic. It was a long glossy worm with teeth. Walker couldn't tell the size from where he was, as after it first exited the portal it it immediately burrowed into the ground. He watched the Guardian take a stance he would expect a seasoned boxer to have, one foot forward, body angled, and both paws held in fists and near its face. Phil was completely oblivious, still scuttling around his tower happily, but Chomp took quick action.

The moment the worm went underground in his path, he glowed a brownish-purple color and then disappeared into the earth right along with it, a hole appearing where he used to be. Only a few seconds passed while they watched, Walker unknowingly holding his breath, before the golden Battelfrog popped out of the ground. In his hand was the worm, and there appeared to be a small, relatively speaking, bitemark on his shoulder. His other hand glowed with magic and became covered in rock before he began punching the worm, bracing it against his other arm. After just two punches, all that was left of the attacker was flesh broken into mushy pieces before it faded away. Walker started to breathe normally again.

"I thought it was over. So that's what an Earthmover can do." He said.

"Yep!" Rimi replied with excitement. "Anywhere there is dirt and rock, Chomp can use it however he wants. He seems to have found a space attunement and mixed it with Earth."

"Where would he even find space magic on Symphony?" Walker asked, a new mystery arriving before him.

"That is an excellent question." Virgil said. "But you missed the Guardians fight."

"Damn it! Did it use super cool magic?" Walker asked with an internal fury at himself.

"It did just that." Virgil replied pointing at the Guardian's area. Pieces of the ground were torn out in giant clumps, but the Guardian was already back in its Tree. If Walker wasn't mistaken the large squirrel was glaring at him.

"I think he's pissed I didn't watch." Walker said.

"Perhaps." Was all Virgil said back.

The Scorpion's battle was easy to foresee. The Worm came out of the ground and tried to take a bite, but couldn't get through Phil's carapace. It made no sounds as it died while Phil’s venom tore it apart from the inside. When it disappeared, Phil hissed once before going back to its doomed-to-fail mating ritual.

“That was a little anticlimactic if I’m being honest.” Walker said after a moment. “I felt like we would’ve had a tougher time.”

“I believe complaining about not struggling is a good way to make sure that the protocol throws you a curveball, to use your homeworld’s expression.” Virgil said in a serious voice.

“True.”

They waited for a couple of minutes before the announcement came.

 

Round 8 Complete.

Tower strength for Creator Ccratch: 50/60/100

Tower health for Creator Ccratch: 85/100/100

Tower strength for Creator Dante: 100/95/0

Tower health for Creator Dante: 100/100/100

- - -

“Huh.” Walker said after reading it quickly, “I didn’t expect the opposing Creator’s entities to fail the worm. Is that their weakness? Things that go underground?”

"Who knows." Rimi replied. "I just hold hope that this boss isn't as hard as the last one was, but I'm also excited to see what comes out!"

Walker couldn't help but laugh, "What do you think they're going to do? Make the follow-up bosses easier?" He laughed again just at the thought of the protocol giving them an easier boss. "No, it'll be harder. We've just gotta have faith."

Rimi and Virgil nodded together as they waited, then the portal changed color to a vibrant green. A large bear-like creature holding a sword jumped out, already screaming, and then ran down the pathway for each tower. All three of Walker's Entities dealt with them immediately and the round was over. Neither side lost health or tower strength.

"I'm still not complaining here." Walker said, looking at the sky to make sure anyone watching could see him. "But....just...what?"

"I think I have figured out the rotations." Virgil said.

"Great! What is it? We have ten minutes until the next round anyway." Walker responded.

"The first round within each five-round sequence holds one of your entities. The second round holds one of the opposing Creator's. The third is a random entity from any of the Creators within this rendition of the alpha protocol. The fourth is an empowered version of a random Creator, with yours being the first. The creature that just came out is called a Flameborg. They have a small population within the third rendition, and my shared knowledge of Creators in the 4th says that there are two in this one. That leaves the boss round, which I believe will be unique in each instance."

"So, the first two are setup as our entities, the third is random, the fourth is a random strengthened form of a Creator, and the 5th is an overpowered boss."

"Yes." Virgil said, nodding. "that is indeed correct."

"So why did a Warclaw come out in the second and seventh rounds? I mean, that's a pretty basic entity to come out twice." Walker asked.

"Remember when I told you they were quite stupid? There is your proof. I believe they have only made more Warclaws like themselves. What is even more interesting is that his platform is empty. Crratch is not an elevated lifeform when it comes to intelligence, so the system is required to provide an advanced assistant. Where is it?"

They all looked over and noticed the lack of anyone else on the platform. Crratch noticed them looking at him and shook a bunched-up insect hand at them before pointing to his own ass.

"Still fuckin rude." Walker quietly commented.

"Indeed. I believe Crratch fired his advanced assistant because he felt that he could do it all himself. Hubris and stupidity are a dangerous combination. It can take you far in a battle, but in this instance, he is doomed to fail."

"Plus!" Rimi added, "Your monsters are super powerful!"

Virgil nodded in agreement, "It is surprising how well-rounded they are. You would think, upon first looking at The Monster System and the entities affected by it, that they are weak. But the self-healing, the general improvements to intelligence, strength, speed, and the controlled evolutions, have all come together to create a balance in each entity. They are not The Slicers..."

"Slicers" Walker countered quickly.

"Whatever. They are not like our big mistake, as they still maintain a natural equilibrium with their environments. They grew up in a comfortable environment, and for many of them, had companions or siblings. It is very important for animals to have a social system to rely upon."

Walker sighed, "That's an excellent point. I don't like you saying it was our mistake by the way, really, it was mine and the protocols. I haven't thought of it in awhile. Do you know what the Slicer is doing?"

"It has escaped."

"Fuck me." Walker stopped talking and immediately looked around, but then remembered that Zeus was still back on his tiny planet in stasis. He relaxed and said, "Has it fucked up anything lately?"

"No, oddly enough it is just out there, floating around. My greatest worry is that it has become sapient."

"Mmmm, yah. That'd probably be the end of this universe."

"Perhaps."

An announcement appeared, showing the start of round 10.

 

Boss Round!

Defeat the Junior Planeteater and gain the rewards!

 

"Fuckin what? A Planeteater?"

"That is not good." Was the only response Vigil gave.

They watched as the portal increased in size in jerky and sporadic fits, almost as if it was being forced to tear itself further open against its will. The color shifted from its standard hazy gray to a mixture of blood red and black, before a ripping sound could be heard and it doubled in size again. Walker held his breath as a large lipless mouth with clear white teeth exited the portal. Its face was stuck in a grin, as if it was happy to have arrived where potential food could be found so easily. After the moving mouth came out, the rest of the creature followed, showing a tube-like shape to its body, ending in a bulbous sack that jiggled as it moved. There were no eyes, no nose or chin, just a frozen grin attached to a fleshy capsule at the end. Its skin seemed cracked and dry, colored in shades of gray, as if it held a natural state of camouflage. Looking at it gave only one answer to its purpose; to feed.

Walker looked over at their best hope to defeat the creature. The Guardian's body began to glow in its now-standard pale magic, covering the whole of its furry form as it leaped and soared toward the attacker. It landed in balance and didn't move any closer to the planeteater, keeping a safe distance away. If Walker had to guess as to the expression on the large Squirrel's face, he'd say it was pensive about what it was seeing.

Chomp did something similar, its advanced intelligence appearing as instead of rushing at the monster as it had always done in the past, it began to use its magic to build a wall between them. Great mounds of dirt were cleaved from the earth, the monster stacking layers of it in the form of a blockade. Any moisture that remained was removed by his magic, hardening the packed wall as the Battlefrog strained to build a defense.

Walker looked at his Scorpion, hoping he was also preparing himself but knowing he would be wrong. To his dismay and within his expectations, Phil just kept pacing around his scorpion love with his claws in the air.

"God damn it Phil." Walker said, slapping a hand to his face in exasperation.

"He really loves it." Rimi replied with a smile.

"He's just super horny." Walker shot back.

The large-mouthed monstrosity pushed toward Phil first, floating through the air in some unrecognized manner, while the other two copies stayed and studied their opponents. Just the fact that the Planeteater had paused and not moved made Walker believe this was a fully thinking creature, and that worried him. It couldn't see and didn't have a nose, so the way it sensed its prety and attacked had to be based purely on tasting the air. Like a snake in waiting.

"We got a smart one." Walker said quietly as the creature of horror reached Phil.

The Scorpion didn't even have a chance. The moment the planeteater reached an undetermined range, its bulbous body bunched into itself tightly, before stretching back out until it was twice its normal length. The speed of the attack was both incredible and frightening in equal measure. Phil had instinctively paused for a moment, almost as if in the realization of something terrible happening, before he was bitten cleanly in two with a loud snapping noise. His formerly tough carapace had provided little to no help in his defense. As the Scorpion died, he too faded to rainbow sparkles. The Junior Planeteater continued to smile as it began to take large bites out of the Scorpion tower. In only seconds the tower was destroyed, and a portal opened in its place. The monster happily moved to wherever its next meal could be found.

"I think that was always going to happen." Walker said mournfully.

Virgil nodded. "Yes, it did seem that way. If Phil had a little more time to adjust to Tier four, he would've done much better. I am more curious where the Junior Planeteater went."

"Hopefully we never find out." Walker replied, as he refocused on the other two paths. The Guardian and his opponent were locked in a staredown, albeit only one had eyes. The albino squirrel stood in a loose and ready position, waiting for the planeteater to make its move, while it continued to sit there and grin in return.

The Battlefrog and his adversary were currently locked in a defensive battle, with Chomp constantly making new walls and the planeteater attempting to quickly eat its way through the obstacles in its path. Pieces of broken earth and dirt littered the Battlefrog's arena as it too was in a form of stalemate with its opponent. The first standoff to change was naturally the Guardian.

In a blindingly fast move, it lit a hint of magic onto one clawed finger and began to slash at its opponent in the distance. It had to be fifty yards away, yet the magic traveled the distance in a blink. The planeteater tried to move its body but its size worked against it, as the pure magic cut into and sliced pieces off of it in a burst of power. The monster's wounds revealed a porous internal structure, unlike anything Walker had ever seen. It's flesh held great pockets of emptiness, dark and unfilled holes that reminded him of a sponge. Every so often he could see what looked like a spinning disc rotating around the inside of its body on a predesigned track. The planeteater opened its mouth wide in a soundless scream and began twitching its body in rapid movements. Walker could see some of the Guardian's attacks strike and rebound off of its teeth, leaving craters in the walls and ground around it, but some still reached their mark.

Chipper, not to be outdone by its opponent's speed, paused for a moment as a glow covered a finger on his other hand. The battling Squirrel increased the tempo of his movements, and started to make great slashing gestures while dual-wielding his magic. The planeteater couldn't recover from the changed fighting style, and after one desperate attempt at rushing the Guardian, collapsed into pieces before fading away. Chipper took a knee as his chest heaved from the intense fight. Walker nodded in respect to his skill and efforts, before checking in on the last competition. That's when he froze.

There were two planeteaters.

"What the fuck!"

"It appears that when one entity fails, the remainder of the opponents are brought upon the last defenders." Virgil observed.

"Yep!" Rimi said, still cheery despite the dire situation. "But look! Chomp is still going!"

And so he was, Walker saw. The Battlefrog had changed tactics as well. Instead of simple rock walls being thrown up, he was building spiked walls and zipping from place to place before the Planeteaters could reach him, dooting the whole time in challenge to their attacks. Every time a planeteater attempted to bunch itself in preparation for a fast attack, Chomp would move and place a spiked wall in its place. Already, Walker could see multiple spikes impaling the mouthed creatures as they futilely attempted to reach him. The defender made them so frustrated, that only a few minutes after Walker started watching, one took a bite at the other. This began a frenzy of sibling, or perhaps cloned, attacks while their true opponent provided a dooted sountrack in the background. Chomp continued to move, and as they were distracted still, began shooting great earthen spikes from the ground into his opponents. After just a few bites and earthen spikes, both planeteaters were a mess, and the golden Battlefrog cleaned them up quickly.

"Well, we still have two." Walker said after the two last monsters faded away. He gave a thumbs up to Chomp and the Guardian, but neither looked at him or responded in any way as they were both breathing heavily in recovery.

"Do you have plans for what you will do after this is over?" Virgil asked.

"No, not yet. I guess I'm waiting to see the rewards, plus I get to pick an ability when we win, right?"

"Just so. I also appreciate that you stated, when, right there. That shows positive thinking and a belief that you and your entities will get through this."

He shrugged, "No point in sitting on the failures of the past. I backslid for a moment when we talked about the Slicer, that's all. Plus, I have faith in my guys. "

Walker couldn't see it, but the Guardian looked at him just then with a tilt of his head.

A few more minutes went by before the announcement came.

Round 10 Complete.

Rewards Increased.

 

The Junior Planeteater has been defeated by all entities.

Tower strength for Creator Ccratch: x/x/80

Tower health for Creator Ccratch: x/x/100

Tower strength for Creator Dante: 100/95/x

Tower health for Creator Dante: 100/100/x

- - -

Completion of the tenth round grants Creator's a choice of rewards.

Walker's overlay lit up.

 

Congratulations Dante! Your entities completed the tenth round of the second battle!

Please choose from the below rewards. You may only choose one.

You have two minutes to decide.

 

1. Remove all afflictions plaguing your entities and heal them.

2. Return one of your fallen entities to the battle.

3. Provide your entities with armor adapted for their use.

4. Gain 75 years in temporal resources.

 

Walker had an extra minute, but he didn't need the full time allottment. He tried not to think or get excited about what had happened with Crratch's entities, and just focused on the rewards.

Walker looked over his choices again, and decided he didn't need to heal his people as they would heal naturally on their own. Resurrecting Phil was sadly a no-go. The Scorpion wasn't built for this scenario and would likely not survive round fifteen, let alone the rounds that came before it. It was a sad truth that the horny arthropod was not coming back to the second battle. Walker was, however, a little stuck on the last two options.

The third option gave armor to his defenders, and he'd never really thought of doing that, if he was being honest with himself. Giant Squirrel armor? It just hadn't connected with him before. The temporal resources would be a boon, to be sure, but giving his guys some armor to help protect them and keep them in this battle was more important in his long-term thinking. He thought on it a little more, and as the timer ticked down, made his choice.

Chipper and Chomp both froze in place as a silvery light appeared and fell from the sky. Both were stuck in place, likely held by the protocol itself in some kind of stasis, as the object approached them at great speed before slowing down at chest level. Part of the light stretched out and touched their chests, then began to glue itself to their skin as it spread over the entirety of their bodies. When it stopped, the Battlefrog and Guardian stumbled as they were released. They were both now encased in a light gray substance that bent and moved with them, not hindering their movement in the slightest.

Chomp slapped one hand against his chest, and a loud slamming sound echoe'd out. The armor covering him rippled from the pressure but stayed in place. He dooted once then hopped around like normal.

Chipper tried pulling on it, not enjoying the alien material glued to his body. After several minutes, when it wouldn't come off no matter what he tried, the albino squirrel gave up and sat down on his tower's branch, awaiting the next battle.

"You went with the armor this time I see. Did losing Phil shake your confidence?" Virgil asked.

"No, I just don't see any issues in helping the two C's get through this round. Right now, they're the cornerstones of our survival. The first rewards only gave me the chance to use abilities that I don't believe would help them a ton here. Maybe empowerment, but still. It's survival that matters the most."

"Yayyy, keep them alive! Keep them alive!" Rimi said, pumping a fist into the air. In hearing that, Chipper actually waved at them in a friendly fashion. When he spotted it, he told the other two and they all waved in return, Walker and Rimi smiling. Crratch across the distance shook a fist at them, likely in an attempt to get them to stop celebrating while he lost the last round in big fashion.

"So it looks like we're one-up on our competition." Walker said after a moment.

"That is what it seems." Virgil said, with a small hidden smile flashing across his face for a moment. "If the next rounds are extra difficult, it is likely only the Guardian will survive."

"Maybe, but I think Chomp has more to show us."

They talked for a bit of time about what they would do after the battle ended, the Milestone system coming up often as it was a lynchpin to Walker's ambitions with Symphony, before the portal opened and three mini-manticores made their appearance. They were twice as large as the ones Walker had placed on Symphony.

"Here we go."