The air in Junkheap's summoning arena was a rancid cocktail of sweat, scorched mana, and the kind of cheap incense that made your eyes water and your dreams give up.
Finn Caldwell stood dead-center in the cracked stone circle, his patched boots squeaking against the grit, his apron still dusted with flour from Slurp Haven's morning rush.
Around him, a crowd of teens and their shiny new Familiars—dragons with scales like polished rubies, griffins preening like runway models, and one smug unicorn whose mane sparkled like it was auditioning for a shampoo ad—watched him with the glee of vultures circling a dying cow.
At eighteen, two years late for the Summoning Codex's mandatory ritual thanks to Junkheap's backlog of losers, this was supposed to be his moment. The day the multiverse decided he was more than a noodle-slinging nobody from the ass-end of Glintara.
"Finn Caldwell, step forward!" Elder Grum's voice scraped like a rusty cleaver, his beard sagging like it was trying to escape his face.
The old summoner stood on a rickety platform, clutching a mana crystal that flickered like it was one bad day from quitting.
Finn shuffled forward, heart hammering like he'd chugged a triple-shot mana latte. He'd practiced the Codex's incantation every night over bubbling pots of miso broth, whispering the ancient words while dodging Jane's sentient ladle, Spoonifer, which had a habit of whacking him for over-salting the soup.
This had to work. A decent Familiar—hell, even a Common-tier wolf—could get him out of Junkheap's greasy slums and into a Shard where the air didn't smell like shit.
He raised his hands, the crowd's snickers buzzing like flies. "Codex of Glintara, bind my soul to a Familiar worthy of my path," he muttered, the words feeling dumber out loud than they had in his head.
The circle glowed, mana swirling like a cosmic smoothie blender gone rogue. Sparks crackled, the air hummed, and Finn's pulse spiked with hope. A flash blinded him, followed by a wet, pathetic plop.
The crowd went silent for half a heartbeat. Then it erupted.
"A slime?" some kid with a phoenix Familiar screeched, doubling over. The phoenix squawked, spitting embers that singed Finn's apron. Laughter rolled through the arena, a tidal wave of mockery.
Finn blinked through the mana haze, his stomach sinking like a bad batch of dough. There, quivering in the circle, was a lime-green blob the size of a grapefruit, jiggling like it was drunk on joy and bad decisions. Its surface rippled, forming two googly eyes that blinked at him.
Finn's face burned hotter than the Abyss Shard's lava pits. A slime. A Trash-tier Familiar. The Codex's equivalent of handing him a "You Tried" sticker and kicking him in the shins. He could already hear the taunts at school tomorrow, the same kids who'd mocked his patched clothes and noodle-stained hands now armed with fresh ammo.
The slime burped, a wet gurgle that smelled like sour mana, then spoke. Its voice was like a hyperactive influencer mainlining energy drinks, all syrupy enthusiasm and zero chill.
"Yo, bestie! I'm Gloppity-Gloo, and we're about to SLAY this multiverse! Let's get that glow-up started!" It bounced, splattering Finn's apron with sticky green goo that clung like a bad breakup.
The crowd howled, some kid choking so hard he fell off his chair. Finn pinched his nose, muttering, "Kill me now. Just do it."
Gloppity-Gloo jiggled indignantly. "Rude! I'm a vibe, not a death sentence. Bet we could go viral if you weren't giving, like, soggy noodle energy." It rolled closer, leaving a slimy trail on the stone. Finn stepped back, his boots sticking to the goo.
Great. Now he'd need to scrub his only pair.
Elder Grum cleared his throat, his beard twitching like it was plotting mutiny. "Finn Caldwell, the Codex has spoken. Your Familiar is… Gloppity-Gloo, a slime of… unique potential." The crowd's laughter drowned out his last words. "Return tomorrow for your Codex ranking."
Finn didn't bother responding. He turned, head down, and trudged out of the arena, Gloppity-Gloo bouncing after him like a hyperactive puppy. The jeers followed him all the way to the rusty gates, where Junkheap's neon signs flickered, casting their sickly glow over piles of scrap and mana-leaking pipes. He could feel the slime's eyes on his back, probably plotting to livestream his misery.
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Slurp Haven was Finn's sanctuary, a cramped noodle shop wedged between a pawn shop and a mana crystal refinery that smelled like burnt charcoal. The air inside was thick with the steamy aroma of miso broth and ginger, a balm for Finn's battered ego.
He slumped behind the counter, stirring a bubbling pot, while Gloppity-Gloo oozed across the wooden surface, leaving a trail of sparkly goo that looked suspiciously like glitter.
"Fam, check this loser making soup!" Gloppity-Gloo chirped, its body morphing into a crude approximation of a phone screen, complete with glowing "SlimeTok" notifications.
"Smash that subscribe button for chaos and vibes!" Its voice echoed with the kind of unearned confidence Finn could only dream of.
Jane, the shop's owner, cackled from her stool in the corner, her gray hair tied in a messy bun that looked like it was staging a breakout. Her Familiar, a sentient ladle named Spoonifer, hummed an off-key battle hymn, bobbing in the air like it was conducting an invisible orchestra.
"Lighten up, Finn," Jane said, tossing him a jar of chilli flakes that nearly hit his head. "Slimes are versatile. Ever tried deep-frying one?"
"I'm not eating my Familiar," Finn grumbled, scrubbing goo off the counter with a rag that was more holes than fabric. "I just want to survive the month without being Junkheap's punchline."
Gloppity-Gloo jiggled, its googly eyes narrowing. "Rude! I'm a whole mood, not a punchline. Bet I could go viral if you weren't giving such buzzkill energy."
It rolled toward a dusty crate in the corner, where Finn kept his "souvenirs" from Junkheap's scrap piles—a cracked mana crystal, a bent Aether Ship key, and a walnut-sized rock that glowed faintly, like it was embarrassed to be there. He'd found it last week, half-buried in a pile of junk, and kept it because it looked vaguely valuable.
Before Finn could yell, "Stop!" the slime engulfed the rock with a wet slurp, its body quivering like it was chugging a mana smoothie.
"Ooh, spicy!" Gloppity-Gloo squealed, glowing brighter than the Metroplex Shard's neon skyline. Finn lunged, knocking over a stack of bowls, but it was too late. The slime exploded—not in a gross way, thank the gods, but in a burst of light and sparkles that rattled the shop's windows.
When the glow faded, Finn's jaw hit the floor. Standing where Gloppity-Gloo had been was a six-foot-tall woman with curves that could derail an Aether Ship, neon-green hair that shimmered like a cosmic aurora, and eyes that sparkled like a disco ball on overdrive.
Her dress—if you could call it that—was a flowing, semi-transparent thing made of liquid light, clinging to her like it was in love. The air hummed with mana, and SlimeTok notifications flooded in, a holographic screen hovering beside her: 10K viewers. 50K. 1M.
"OH MY GODS, I'M GORGEOUS!" Gloppity-Gloo squealed, striking a pose that could've crashed the multiverse's servers.
"Finn, bestie, we're trending, baby! This is the glow-up of the century!"Finn's ladle slipped from his hand, splashing broth on his boots.
"What the actual hell?" he croaked, his brain short-circuiting. The slime—his Trash-tier slime—was now a goddess who looked like she'd stepped out of a cosmic fashion magazine. The shop's mana crystal flickered, casting eerie shadows, and Spoonifer's humming hit a fever pitch, like it was auditioning for a war anthem.
Jane hopped off her stool, her eyes sharp as she squinted at Gloppity-Gloo.
"Well, damn," she said, scratching her bun. "That's no ordinary slime. What'd you feed it, kid?"
"That rock!" Finn snapped, pointing at the empty crate. "It was just some junk I found! I didn't know it was—"
He froze, the words catching in his throat. The rock. The faint glow. The way it'd hummed when he'd picked it up. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Was that a Nexus Relic?"
Gloppity-Gloo twirled, her hair sending sparkles across the room. "A what now? All I know is I'm serving looks and clout. Chat's going wild! Two million viewers and counting!"
Before Finn could process this, the shop's door exploded inward, splinters flying like shrapnel from a mana grenade. A seven-foot-tall man strode in, his obsidian horns gleaming under the flickering lights, his tailored suit screaming "I own this Shard and your soul." His eyes, red as molten lava, locked onto Gloppity-Gloo with the intensity of a predator spotting dinner.
Behind him, a lava wyrm the size of a small bus growled, its scales glowing like embers, a collar around its neck jangling with a tag that read "Snookums."
"Greetings, mortals," the man purred, his voice smooth as velvet and twice as dangerous. "I am Zaltharion Varkoth, Demon King of the Abyss Shard. And you, radiant one"—he swept a bow toward Gloppity-Gloo, who struck another pose—"are my destined bride."
Finn's ladle hit the floor, broth splashing everywhere. Gloppity-Gloo gasped, her holographic SlimeTok screen buzzing with comments:
User ChaosCake: MARRY HIM!
User NoodleLord: RUN, FINN!
She tilted her head, neon hair spilling over one shoulder. "Chat, is this a red flag or a glow-up? Vote now!"
Snookums roared, shaking the shop's walls. Finn's knees wobbled, the weight of the multiverse crashing onto his shoulders. He was eighteen, not a hero. He just wanted to make noodles, not deal with a Trash-tier slime turned influencer goddess and a Demon King proposing marriage in his shop.
Jane leaned in, her voice low. "Kid, that was the Heart of Gloppity you fed her. A Nexus Relic. The Celestial Bureaucracy's gonna come knocking, and they don't play nice."
Finn's stomach churned like a bad batch of mana broth. "Great. So the gods are after us too?"
Zal grinned, showing teeth like polished obsidian. "The Bureaucracy will bow to my bride's radiance. But we must depart for the Abyss Shard at once. The wedding awaits."
Gloppity-Gloo struck another pose, her dress shimmering. "Chat, should we bounce? Smash that poll!"
The SlimeTok screen glowed, comments flooding in:
User VoidMuncher: GLOPPITY QUEEN!
User SpiceFiend: FINN, DO SOMETHING!
Finn grabbed a cleaver from the counter, half-tempted to chop his way out of this nightmare. His heart pounded, his hands slick with sweat and broth. Junkheap was a cesspool, but this was next-level chaos. A slime turned multiversal influencer, a Demon King with a crush, and a Nexus Relic that could probably end the world. He wasn't built for this. He wasn't built for any of this.
"Everybody shut up!" he snapped, his voice cracking. "Nobody's getting married, nobody's going to the Abyss, and nobody's livestreaming my life until I get some damn answers!"
The shop went quiet, except for the hiss of the broth and Snookums's low growl. Zal raised an eyebrow. Gloppity-Gloo pouted, her SlimeTok screen flickering. Jane smirked, Spoonifer bobbing like it was enjoying the show.
And then the mana crystal above them exploded, plunging Slurp Haven into darkness.
*******
AN:- SlimeTok: An interdimensional social media platform where Familiars and summoners post livestreams, memes, and challenges.