A/N: Oh no, an Ellimist and Crayak chapter. Break out the thesaurus. ; P

ELLIMIST

Crayak and I floated over the golden fabric of space-time. No illusions, none of the filters that were necessary for mortal eyes. What we looked upon the pure substance of our galaxy. The galaxy that it appeared we no longer ruled.

Above the fabric were the anomalous threads, blatantly disobeying the laws of the universe. Crayak and I had attempted everything possible to make them bow to reality. We even formed a temporary alliance. But in the end, it was reality that was forced to bow.

We warped space, twisted time, and bent rules until they screamed. The end result was another timeline, the disbelief suspension stretched threadbare, and reality left clinging to the anomalies by a thread.

I gave them a planet. A place of origin for these freaks of time and space that came from nowhere. Crayak gave them the ability to shape shift at will, binding these otherwise bodiless creatures to a body, without restricting them to one species. Before this impressive piece of genetic engineering, they would just pop into being as any creature in known existence, and sometimes unknown.

It was a very frustrating experience. Omnipotent beings are used to getting their own way, and when we don't it can very trying.

Other things were happening to the galaxy, things outside of my realm of understanding and control. The collective intelligence and memories of the galaxy as a whole changed frequently, sometimes dropping dangerously close to zero. At unpredictable times, holes would open in space-time and swallow up some of our former pawns, only to spit them back out some random amount of time later. We were both keeping an eye out for the eminent return of Jake, Cassie, and Tobias, who had fallen through one sometime earlier.

Needless to say, Crayak and I were not happy with the Ary-Oos. We were reduced to mere spectators in our own game; almost all of our power was being channeled into the timeline to keep it from collapsing.

WHY DO HUMANS HAVE SO MANY WAYS TO HURT THEMSELVES? Crayak commented, as the human named Jessie jumped over the railing.

I SUPPOSE THE REASON IS SOMEWHERE IN THEIR EVOLUTION. I answered, as the potential animorph fell towards her doom. I sighed resignedly. THIS WILL BE THE THIRD ONE SHE'S KILLED THIS WEEK.

WE REALLY SHOULD DO SOMETHING, SHOULDN'T WE? Crayak said idly. He knew as well as I did that we could do nothing.

Instead, I looked to my – right, for lack of a better word. Kneeling protectively over a corner of space-time was Crayak's crony, Drode.

DRODE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I snapped. I never have, nor will I ever, like that creature. He obeys Crayak only out of fear, which means his loyalty is questionable. Besides, his voice grates on my nerves.

"Nothing, Master." He said, standing up and rubbing his foot over the corner. "Do you require my services?"

NO. JUST FIND SOMETHING TO DO BESIDES LUKRING AROUND.

ELLIMIST. Crayak said. It was not yelled, or said louder than usual, but something in his voice made me turn around.

I was only fast enough to catch a glimpse. An anomalous thread fell, and was swallowed up in reality for a moment, before springing back up to float above reality again. A brief victory, but a very costly one. For in an instance, there was a pinpoint of impossible energy. A dot of concentrated chaos.

THIS IS NOT GOOD. Crayak said. I silently agreed, bracing myself, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. The pinpoint of energy blew outwards, and even at our rapid timerate it seemed to move at almost realtime. It slammed into our carefully arranged events. Dozens of threads were engulfed in the explosion, and they didn't darken or dim, they disappeared. The other threads that were connected to them started flailing wildly, and began unraveling themselves. Dozens of galaxies slid through, the planets rolling around the edge like so many marbles, then dropping through, lost forever. It was a hole, thousands of times larger than a Sario Rip. A hole in the fabric of the universe.

I gaped, at a lost for words. Struggling, and failing, to come to terms with the fact that there was a hole, a hole, in my galaxy.

THE ARY-OOS MUST BE CONTAINED. Crayak said. I looked and saw that he was right, reality was slipping away from them.

The rules were bent as far as they could be bent without being broken. And if the rules had to be changed to make them obey, then control was only an illusion. In other words, we were powerless to stop them.

All Sue was about to break loose.