I Hate Systems

"Wasn't that universe blocked off from us?" Hazen said in surprise.

"Yeah, but I know the method to open the pathway." Compass Carburettor said in confidence, "And I'm way stronger than a Grade 1 System. With Lore and Tell-Tale, I can break through the blockade and create a path…"

Right as he spoke, the passage was successfully established when suddenly, a fearsome shout resounded aloud, "Who is it?"

Keuk!

Hazen's mind collapsed instantly, forcing him to faint from the shout, his last thought being, 'This is just like Mystique's screech.'

Urgh!

Compass Carburettor grunted in pain, struggling to keep himself sane as the trillions of minds forming him seemed to be diverging.

Originally, they were like clay, the base material being his original mental faculties. And depending on the life it led in the dreamland, it was shaped accordingly. But at their core, all the clays were the same.

But now, the mysterious shout seemed to be trying to change the very nature of these clays, 'That would mess up my situation and make me no different from a Genre Representative.'

He hurriedly shouted, "Phantom, it's me, Compass!"

"Compass? Who the fuck is that…ah," There was suddenly silence from the other side before a snort resounded, "You're a freaking mess."

"Yes, I understand." Compass Carburettor nodded as he pointed at Hazen, "My daughter became a System now. I need your help to equip Hazen with a weapon to revert her back."

"You're the only one with the means to achieve it."

There was silence for a while before six jet-black tentacles jutted out of the portal and grabbed Compass Carburettor by the face as a sinister sound resounded, every syllable of which stabbed into his mind, tethering him on the verge of insanity, "Why should I help you?"

'He's completely different from back then.' Compass Carburettor frowned, only sensing irritation from the other side.

"It has been a long time since back then. You're a refined idiot if you still assume I'll be the same." The voice from the other side snapped.

Boom!

The six jet-black tentacles suddenly slipped in their hold as the laws of the dump yard took action, maintaining the Immiscibility of the place.

This was the reason Compass Carburettor condensed the portal here, for it was the safest bet when facing an expert of the mind.

"Seems you can read my thoughts too," Compass Carburettor muttered.

"…" There was just silence for a minute before slowly, the voice muttered, "There's an entity that represents madness here? Mystique, huh?"

"That's interesting."

Compass Carburettor was genuinely shocked in response, eyes widening as he asked, "How much…did you read from my memories?"

"Well, not much. Anyway," The portal began to close as the voice spoke slowly, "Don't disturb me. I have zero intentions to involve with the affairs of your universe. If you want to save your daughter, cripple the System World. Without a world to belong to, the Systems would just diverge out."

"Even that brat next to you will be able to do something by then." The portal was about to close when suddenly, intense energy burst out of Compass Carburettor as Lore and Tell-Tale functioned to the limit, extracting an ethereal projection from himself.

The projection resembled a caterpillar that had a cigar in its mouth. Staring at it, Compass Carburettor frowned, "You said you didn't have any intentions to involve with my mess. Then, what's this?"

The caterpillar stared at him and let out a cheerful smile, "By opening the portal again, you connected my universe to this multiverse. I'm just taking advantage of your power to position my universe better within Mystique's domain. My world is currently more dangerous than all his worlds. So, we'll have to go into a deep slumber. Don't you dare disturb us again."

The caterpillar exploded as the voice vanished, "By the way, don't address me as Phantom. That's just my title. I go by the name of Jyorta,"

"Jyorta Bone."

Boom!

The portal exploded as Compass Carburettor grunted from the impact, frowning as he intended to condense another portal, only seeing it fail, "He's here in this multiverse now, but in that short duration, he figured out all the means to hide from everyone, including me."

"Keuk!" Hazen woke up in a hurry at the explosion and stared around in a fluster, "Did he leave?"

"Yeah, after knowing everything that happened until now from my memories." Compass Carburettor stated slowly, "The mind is one terrifying aspect of power."

"I couldn't even withstand his shout." Hazen sighed as he stared at Compass Carburettor, "How did you withstand all that…"

"That's the thing," Compass Carburettor smiled as blood leaked out of his orifices, "I didn't."

"Compass!" Hazen shouted in a hurry when Compass Carburettor collapsed, bleeding profusely as every single cell of his body seemed to gain individuality as they tried to break free from him. Genetically, he was changing.

Lore activated in response and hurriedly negated the changes, but it would take a while before he makes a recovery.

While gasping, Compass Carburettor muttered, "If your original Lore wasn't the Harbinger of Serenity but something that allowed you to exercise all your powers and develop in the mind path…"

He stared at the point in space where the portal was before, "You would have reached his height."

"I'm sorry," Hazen bowed in disappointment, regret evident in his expression, "I wouldn't have lost my family if I wasn't as I was."

"It's not your fault alone. It's my fault too." Saying so, Compass Carburettor closed his eyes and focused on recovery, "Now, we just need to do what we can. That's all."

"What do we do now that Phantom refused to help us?" Hazen asked.

"He didn't support us, but still offered a solution." Compass Carburettor smiled as his eyes glinted, "The reason the Systems are as they are is all thanks to the System World. As long as we destroy it, the inherent disposition of Systems towards Zaira would vanish. With that, we'll be able to treat Stencil and the rest."

"With your power added to mine, we can erase the point in their timeline when they became a System." Compass Carburettor spoke.

"That's easier said than done," Hazen retorted, "The foundation of the current System World currently equals a quarter of the multiverse itself. It's impossible for us to destroy it."

"Not from the outside, but," Compass Carburettor let out a smirk, "We can cause it to implode. For that, we have an expert on our side."

…

"Oh my baby, you're so cute!" A mother beamed in joy as her son began to take his baby steps. If one stared at the baby's facial features, it would be a replica of Compass Carburettor from young.