Netherworld of Endless Sweets0

Thousands of Overlords exist across the infinite universes, each reigning through terror and might in their own personal Overworlds..  They are driven by endless hungers for power, love, and fame, which often leads them to form fragile alliances with their contemporaries in order to achieve their lofty goals., drawing everyone possible in their complicated plans for glorys.  At the core of these struggles lie relics of unspeakable might, MacGuffins sealed away to prevent overzealous and under-intelligent Overlords from ripping through the fabrics of time and space in their journeys for the top.  With these relics in hand it is possible to obtain immeasurable might and godlike abilities, though such objects come with particularly nasty side effects.

Not so long ago the Sacred Tome laid in the center of one of such struggles, destroyed by the mighty, muscly, and all around badass Overlord Zetta as he tried to unlock it's powerful prophecies.  The Sacred Tome, a veritable mystical Swiss Army Knife, could grant wishes, tell ones future, and hold all existence together, making it attractive to all Overlords.  Yet for these same incredible reasons only the strongest and most foolhardy pursued it.  Of course only one Overlord could reach it, the overpowered, overleveled Zetta, who quickly perused its pages.  Upon discovering the words held in its pages Zetta was not happy to read the book's declaration that his own moronic hubris would be the downfall of his Netherworld and annihilated the book out of anger.  

The book was quite correct, as seconds after its destruction his realm began to crumble and collapse, unable to exist without the Sacred Tome to hold it in place.  To save his realm from certain destruction Zetta bound his soul to the Sacred Tome, which, while preserving his realm, left it far smaller and weaker than ever, and himself completely helpless.  In order to restore his world to it's former glory he created legions of nameless, insignificant minions to retake them in the name to Zetta.

Yet while he traded in his mobility, strength, and all around manliness by binding himself to the tome he gained all of it's reality bending and world-crafting powers, yet due to his new form he could not use them.  To tap into these abilities Zetta begrudgingly seeked the assistance of his powerful contemporaries, fellow Overlords who whiled their time away in and near his Netherworld..  He sought assistance from the triple Dark Lord Valvoga, the fraudulent oracle Pram, and the once mighty dragon overlord Babylon.  

Of course, no plan by any Overlord can go without its difficulties, and he soon found himself getting some unneeded help from his closest rival, Alexander the god of destruction, Seedle, the Overlord of the Underworld, his former student the beautiful Lady Salome, and from the foolish and egotistic King Drake. The presence of a young girl named Trenia in the realm of the Overlords further complicated his efforts to restore his former glory, an occurrence downright bizarre given the inability of anyone but Overlords to appear and survive in their mana intensive realm.  

Each Overlord fought for their own interests, whether to return Zetta to normal or to destroy him, as the secrets involving Salome and Zetta's mysterious past, Trenia's identity and her connection to the Sacred Tome, and Seedle's plan for revenge all became apparent.  Yet against all odds, carried to victory by his minions, he ultimately won in his journey for the status quo, even managing to come to terms with his love for Salome by averting her certain death from Mana loss.  With his Netherworld restored everything had returned to as normal as they possibly could for the badass Overlord and his realm, with the Sacred Tome once again occupied by Trenia, the spirit of the Sacred Tome.

The young girl, however, was growing restless.  She had tasted the freedom offered by the incredible world outside of her book and was experiencing an unmatchable case of cabin fever.  It was her cosmic duty to remain in this book, and shirking her duty to leave the book for leisure would result in another cataclysm that could reduce all existence to space dust.  If she wanted to get out she'd need someone to take her place, and after all of the troubles surrounding the Sacred Tome she imagined few would be foolish enough to attempt anything within it for the next few millenniums.    She was ripped from her introspection when a shadowy figure appeared at the entrance to the hidden library, announcing itself loudly with a hearty guffaw.  Normally a visitor in the Forbidden Library was rare, with strong demonic security usually enough to repel any intruders.  Zetta, however, had slaughtered most of the guards when he stormed the library, leaving it much easier to enter with little resistance.  

“Ah, that was quite easy!  There was no resistance at all!  I guess I'm a bit too late for the welcoming party!”  The figure walked closer, approaching Trenia's prison pages as she watched cautiously.  “But I won't complain!”

“Oh?”  She thought to herself, pleasantly startled by this mystery visitor.  “And who could this be?”

“They all laugh at me, saying that I'm the weakest, the dumbest, a colossal screw up!”  A bright red cape fluttered behind the figure as he entered the glowing realm of the forbidden library, his lion-like body, strong physique, and red crown now visible to Trenia in the otherworldly library.  It was none other than the cowardly, foolish King Drake, the joke of the Overlords.  Fallen from grace when he lost his first Netherworld, King Drake tried his hardest to save face and salvage his reputation, failing each time.  He knew that he would need to do something incredible to earn the respect of the Overlords, and he believed he found the means to his ends.  He would succeed where Zetta had failed and harness the limitless might of the Sacred Tome, exercising great care not to make the same mistakes as Zetta.

“Come just a bit closer!  You might be just who I needed”  Trenia chuckled to herself as she watched King Drake check left and right to see if the close was clear.

“I've toiled so long to take my place as the strongest Overlord, but I was doing it the hard way!”  He gloated to no one in particular, furtively reaching for the book.  “I just need to make a wish with this book and I'll be the Overlord of Overlords! It can't be too tough to do something like that, right?  I'm King Drake!  I'm sure I have enough Mana for this!”  His head swelled as he could smell what he believed to be the elusive scent of victory.  With one wish  from this book he could earn the untold respect he felt that he deserved.

“Silly silly Drake!”  Trenia was charmed by the naivete of Drake. “You don't even have enough Mana to wish for a sandwich!  But I still think you'll be very useful for me!”  The Sacred Tome flew open before Drake could reach it.

“Whoa!”  Drake backed up some, snapping his hands away from the book.  “This book opened without me even touching it!  It has to be something special!  I bet it's inviting me to make the best wish ever!”  Drake dug into a pocket hidden in his cape and produced a small Prinny shaped pen, shaking it in his fingers and chuckling to himself.  “Let's see, what should I wish for?  Should I wish for all the other Overlords who mock me to be transformed into Prinnies?  Or maybe I should wish for the power to make things explode just by looking at them!  I could even wish for a Netherworld made entirely of gold!”  He sighed to himself.  “Choosing is so difficult!”  He muttered, ready to write down his wish.  “That's why I'm just going to wish for everything in the universe instead!  Keep it simple, stupid!”  His pen touched the luminescent pages of the Sacred Tome, and before he could scrawl in the first “E” in “Everything” the light of the pages poured out of the book, engulfing him before the shine covered up the Sacred Tome and flooded the rest of the library.   The light ultimately began to dim from its solar level of albedo until two figures were once again visible in the library.  

“What was that light!”  Shouted King Drake, his eyes slowly adjusting as a blurry shape stood in front of him.  Drake tried to thrash about and regain his senses but his whole body felt numb and motionless, unable to anything but move his eyes and nose.

“I hate to have to do this to you,” the shape in front of him lilted, its features all indiscernible to Drake's eyes.  “But I was just getting tired of being stuck in that boring book!  There's a whole world out there for me to explore!”  The owner of the voice turned around and started skipping out of the library, two large trails of teal hair bouncing as the young girl vacated the library leaving Drake alone.  “But at least you'll get a lot of attention stuck in here!  Bye bye!”

“What in the world?”  Drake blinked, his eyes still aching from the light, unable to raise his arms.  Had he walked into a trap, incapacitated by that mysterious young girl who just ran out from the library.  His point of view was much lower now, perhaps because he had been knocked down during his moment of blindness, assaulted when he least expected it, and he was still too weak to stand up.  “That must've been one of Zetta's or Pram's or Alexander's minions here to make me look like a dumbass!  No one makes a fool of King Drake the Third and lives to tell of it!  No one!”  He shouted, his voice reverberating through the empty library.  

Unbeknownst to him, in the short time frame in which the library was engulfed with light, Trenia, the spirit of the book, had swapped places with him, escaping to the corporeal world while locking away King Drake in the Sacred Tome's binding.  The Sacred Tome took on a brown shade, the beastly face of King Drake protruding from its cover as he raved loudly, still unaware of his new form.  

“I'll have my revenge, I tell you!  My revenge!”  King Drake yelled to his mysterious attacker, his voice going unheard in the barren library.  Trenia was already playfully trotting out the library blissfully, stopping just outside as a ponderous look came across her face.  “Huh, but I can't have fun just yet!  I need to find a way to make sure I can stay out here forever!”  She stated to herself, tapping her foot.  “I know!  I'll hatch up a nice scheme!  And I know just who to talk to!”