The world beneath us slid sideways as a huge crash shook the room. Our island knocked into something else. One moment I was running along fine, terrified but stable, then shoulder met wall and face greeted brick. Teeth cried out in pain as copper flavor coated my tongue.

It hit me, in that jarring second, exactly what was going on. If this world really had stretched thin to keep together, then in the weak spots was a program eating away at everything. Releasing the linchpin, as Yates called it, must have revealed a rotten core full of squirmy worms, or in this case [World Eater]s.

Shadows crawled around the courtyard. Tiny creatures were spawning around us, crawling out of seams that cracked along like broken glass along walls. Smoky essences from a mass of [World Eater]s started combating everything else.

Dusk kept barfing out bits of broken fireballs. Wraith’s body faded in and out of sight slashing at bigger creatures. The house of horrors tried to defend itself. Every object turned into a creature with teeth and eyes then attacked the [World Eater]s pouring out.

I simply did my best to run. [Awareness Heightening] refused to kick in. My heartbeat thudded loudly and still got buried under all the other screeches. Bats, books, bookshelves, couches, and pale hairy women with stringy arms all went by in a rush.

The earth shuddered around as we slid to the right. My face once again met solid object and attempted to roll. The usual grace from combat skills, hours of dance, and mental acuity had all vanished. Everything nearby twisted at wrong angles. Xin groaned in my arm. I prayed that we hadn’t hit the wall too hard.

Part of a building sat upright. Arms were pulled out of it like a photo manipulation project gone wrong. The largest fist I had ever seen flew overhead and smashed into the structure and sent pieces flying. Book bats hovered around it try to tear off small pieces of shadow. A second arm landed into the ground near us and pulled back in bricks, monsters, and a tree without even caring.

“Never!” a caw came from overhead. “Never! Never! Never!”

Dusk had been bounding ahead to keep our path clear. I saw the edge of this island linking into another one. The gravestones from before were only a few broken ledges away.

“Dammit!” The ground behind us kept rumbling. Pieces of the moon were flaking away. “Dusk! I need a way out!”

“Beware brother!” Wraith’s form appeared ahead in a [Blink]. Large arms locked upon a human-sized man made of shadow.

“Oh, Voices.” I spun around, screening Xin’s body from the human shaped [World Eater]. That brief moment showed me what was truly behind us.

It was insanely giant and beyond the scope of anything we had fought before. The giant man of shadow which had spawned from Yates’ deathbed could have probably wrestled down a [Leviathan] with its bare hands. Even if my weapons were working, fighting one that big would have been like a gnat trying to single-handedly murder a cow.

“Oh no.” I huffed while changing directions. “No. No. No!”

I had to keep my wife safe. Xin’s body bounced unevenly and I almost lost grip a multitude of times. Parts of the house kept fighting back [World Eater]s. Dusk's balls of fire worked and he blasted them ahead.

The edge between islands loomed. I leapt from one rock to another, praying the virtual world would be kind enough and work as intended. One jump went okay. The second came close to failure, and by the third running leap my feet were out of position and I was sputtering forward. Rocks crumbled under my weight. I tightened both hands to Xin’s body and had the absurd thought to throw her upwards.

We fell. I watched the cliff top grow further away while the sound of a roaring ocean grew closer. I looked around as gravity pulled us down. The water below seemed so much further away than normal. It gave me time to be extra terrified.

The descent halted as I slammed into something hard. A deep rumble hit my ears, “Hold on to your pitchforks!”

“They’re not pitchforks!” I scrambled to keep ahold of Xin as the world spun again. The status of my weapons felt like a moot point. Neither weapon showed signs of transforming right. The interface didn’t stay up long enough for [Blink] to activate. We were running on fumes and needed rest.

My wife’s face twisted. One of her eyes struggled to open as Wraith lifted us up. His huge arms were wrapped around us both while enormous wings of blackness struggled. For a moment, I wondered if this was how Xin felt when we hugged.

“Babe! Wake up!” I shouted.

“Gee.” Xin’s body moved slightly as she groaned. I took a rapid breath and tried not to let her slip toward the ocean.

Above me, giant wings blocked out the moonlight. Our bodies nearly crashed into the cliff. I lifted one leg and tried to keep us from smashing into the rocks.

“Brother! I can’t hold on forever!”

The graveyard island edge came into view. These damned islands were like giant platforms sticking out of the ocean below. Dusk was within sight, spitting fire an undead [World Eater]. I tried to catch my breath as we dropped a few feet. The shadow of Wraith’s wing broke down the middle as a tear appeared.

“Arggh!” the huge demon yelled. His rumble vibrated right through me. Our ascent turned into a sudden tilt as leather ripped. He threw us toward the surface.

I didn’t have time to figure out Wraith. Xin’s body was starting to move. She struggled to get free during the worst time. “Xin!”

We landed poorly. The world spun in circles as we tumbled. My ARC interface started connecting properly and screens flickered rapidly. I tried to activate an ability but couldn’t stop myself from crashing.

Xin went sliding. A box flickered in proudly displaying how bad this hurt.

Kissed the Ground Hard.

Fall Damage Reduced!

Total Health Remaining: 70%

There were messages with different colors and sizes, fonts all over. It felt like the world had started to explode now that my character came back in line with the rest of the ARC network. I waved an arm through the message boxes and a multitude of them popped away like soap bubbles.

“Babe!” Both feet scrambled to get purchase while the island crumbled around us. Dusk’s ears laid back as he growled at something.

Thorny: HOLY SHIT. UNCLE GRANT, WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?!

Awesome Jr.: Is anyone else seeing this?

SweetPea: Is that real? Can they do that?

Shazam: Yes. Expected mayhem.

Knees scraped along the dirt. My wife’s arm moved weakly. Rocks littered her face. I hurt like hell despite the sudden reappearance of video game elements. She had to be okay, but I still felt unsure about this borderline existence between a video game character and some reincarnated digital person.

“Gee.” Xin groaned as I lifted her again.

I looked up and scanned the area. Monsters were all over. The graveyard tombstones were being chewed on by smaller [World Eater]s that looked like rats, or maybe feral cats. Some nearby had locked eyes with me. Dusk threw out two fireballs into them. Their bodies crisped into golden and white flakes then faded. Portions of the tombstone charred and more creatures looked our way.

“Babe, we have to go.” My knee hurt as we stumbled forward. “We have to keep moving. The world’s falling apart and I need to get you back to Haven Valley.”

Wraith blinked into view nearby. Even half broken he kept fighting. Clawed fingers tore at every monster within range. Between my two companions, tons of monsters died but more kept pouring out of cracks. We were losing ground.

The earth started tilting even more as our grave island crashed into another one. We were like domino stacks across the ocean. I braced myself against a tombstone as flat ground turned into a slippery slope. Ghost spirits that haunted graves started screaming. Their bodies turned oddly real as they charged at [World Eater]s.

“What’s happening?!” I yelled to no one.

Dusk chirped then kept moving forward. I slipped down after the [Messenger's Pet] while trying to keep Xin from crashing into objects. Broken graves and monsters passed by me in a rush. Balls of fire caught other enemies. A sinister looking [World Eater] made of bugs squished under my [Gait of Bowman] as we slid. Cold smoke sent numbness up leg.

“Without wings you’re very difficult to keep alive,” Wraith commented as we hustled. He looked downright terrible and hadn’t recovered from the earlier combat.

“I’ll find a pair next time!” I shouted while stumbling across the island's top. There next island over looked to be filled with half formed statues.

“At least you are more robust,” he spoke. His rumble sounded unsteady and even the happiness that wormed its way into my head felt tired.

Thorny: LOOK! There’s a super hero! They’re flying and everything! OMG, I love this game!

SweetPea: Did anyone else see that event message?

Awesome Jr.: This is awesome.

Shadow: Super power ninja murdering people at the border. He has clones. I’m going to interrogate him and learn this skill.

Shazam: OMW

We reached the edge of this island and leapt straight to the next one. Cracks were continuously forming around us and they only grew more intense. The creatures coming out looked stranger. Four floating brains with small metal limbs pulled themselves up. They started attacking [World Eater]s with laser beams.

[Blink] managed to trigger again and I swung myself around to look at the scene behind us. An absolutely huge monster looked more intent on beating up every single bit of digital existence around it. It went after both [World Eater]s and bits of the virtual world.

Our island kept sliding across the water. Yates really meant it when he compared this to a bubble. It felt like we were being yanked toward an unknown destination, or riding a land mass as a surfboard. Only we were on a tidal wave busy trying to eat itself.

Dusk was leaping by. An army of wiggling tentacle covered rats chased after him. He spun around a statue and hissed. His chest lifted for heavy breathes. My connection flared long enough to try an ability. I started shouting the stupid [Lithium] chant without a care of who listened.

“Mechanical God of the Underworld, lend me your ear!” I shouted loudly. Xin groaned instead but I kept going. “Gathered are these forgotten souls, grant me leave to release them to a final task before crossing the veil! Empower the Messenger’s Pet!”

Lights spun out from my head. Dozens of small gray looking energy bits slammed into the [Messenger's Pet]. Dusk fell to one side as a [World Eater] landed upon his wings. He squawked and flapped around curling end over end until the creature slipped right off a cliff toward the waters below.

“Dusk!” I shouted. Would he make it back? There was no time to check, two dozen more smoky beasts leapt at Wraith and I. Their only distinctive feature was that form of loose shadow and how normal pieces of the landscape disappeared as they ate away at random objects.

[Blink] went off and I managed to get a few more yards of safety before the ARC interface flickered again. Wraith appeared next to me.

“Do you know how to escape brother?” he asked as we ran.

“I’m not your brother, Wraith.” If I was going to fail this universe, I wanted to do it with a clear conscious. “Not really, he died because I wasn’t good enough to stop Requiem.”

Our path rapidly approached an unstable land bridge between islands. There was a dock in the far distance. Moored to it sat our boat. I needed to get over there but we couldn’t possibly have enough time. That looked like the only escape route aside from trying to use Requiem’s shortcut. Given the broken state of the moon and my vague knowledge, that path sounded even more dangerous.

The bridge between this island and the next was the worst yet. It crumpled as we stepped across. I tried to get Xin to a better position but failed. My arms ached fiercely from running while holding her.

“When you strip away all the clothes, the trappings of spirit made mortal, what is left? That part is what I am brother with, not some pile of meat.” Wraith’s voice barely showed signs of fatigue. Only his body looked worn. He took the jumps after me.

“I don’t understand,” I said. The distraction helped me a little bit. I needed to distance myself from this insanity and try to remember that everything around me was only a very real virtual reality. Were it not for Xin’s existence, I might have been able to feel excitement.

Instead the stakes were too real. The ocean below looked terrifying. Huge chunks of rock were crumbling away. The moon looked like a quarter of it had been sucked into a vortex behind us. I had no idea what might be eating it. Maybe it was a fancy hourglass.

I slipped on a crumbling part of dirt. [Blink] triggered and I felt myself being yanked sideways as the ARC interface flickered again.

“Choice, Hermes.” Wraith [Blink]ed ahead of me and grabbed us again. He kept speaking while we lifted over the edge onto our fourth island in the chain. “Choice is all that we are. You chose to ask the Voices for a brother when you were weak and small, and I chose to say yes.”

I set Xin down for a moment then tried to breathe. We had been running for minutes, but it felt like years. Dusk’s enlarged form shot by breathing a row of fire at enemies. Other creatures fell out of the sky toward him and a battle ensued. My attempts at [Empowering] the [Messenger’s Pet] had only made his scale of combat larger.

“We were not born brothers, we became them. I thank you for that gift,” Wraith said.

Focusing grew increasing hard. My heartbeat raced. A dull thudding in my ears drowned out most other noises. I could barely make out the demon's rumbling voice. The dirt around us crackled slower. I had no goddamn clue how to get out of this besides more running.

I took time to undo my belt. Both weapons were still enclosed correctly. They were slid to one side while the binding wrapped around Xin’s body. I managed to get ahold of player inventory long enough to pull out rope and tie us together. This was not how I wanted to be next to my wife, but she could argue later.

Wraith stared off at the half broken land bridge behind us. His eyes glowed and steam hissed out. Rain drops hit his exposed shoulders which further obscured the area.

My sight followed his lead. Our brief minute of peace would end soon. An army of creatures were pouring across the land bridge and this island showed no signs of finding another to collide with.

“If you survive to meet the Voice of Lust again, tell her I would have visited upon her a night to remember. Can you do that for me brother?” he said.

“What are you doing?” My eyebrows wrinkled together as I stood up. Xin’s body felt heavy and my knees hurt. Our new position freed up one arm but I used the other to keep hold of her in case the rope failed.

“It’s simple, one of us must stand here so that the other can escape. You are my younger brother, it is my duty.”

“No.” My head shook quickly. I had no idea how else to respond to that statement. For a demon, he was amazingly chivalrous. I also didn’t like the idea of NPCs, any of them, dying for me. It had happened with Treasure and Jeeves, and nearly broke me. There were no more uses for [NPC Conspiracy] left, and I doubted they could help much at this stage anyway.

“Go.” He waved at me with one giant paw. “Go, brother!”

I had seen horror movies before where a horde of creatures attacked the protagonists. This looked like one of those zombie nightmares, only instead of half rotted creatures in various states of decay chattering at people, we had a wall of hazy looking people that would delete our virtual existences.

It terrified me. I glanced backward to try and guage the distance to that far dock. It was easily a mile across freezing waters. The ARC feedback would probably drown me well before that, even with double [Blink]s. I looked at Wraith. My mouth rambled away as we shuffled backward.

“You have to survive! Trust me, Mezo will happily take you up on your offer, but only if you survive!” I shouted then started chanting again. My head stared up as the words spilled out. [Mechanical Hades Crown] had enough souls for two more [Empowerments], and if Wraith was going to stand his ground, I planned on giving him both.

“Mechanical God of the Underworld, lend me your ear! Gathered are these forgotten souls, grant me leave to release them to a final task before crossing the veil! Empower my brother, Wraith!”

Bolts spun out of the crown and brightened the entire area. The essence, or whatever it truly was which made this ability work, looked reluctant to enter into Wraith. His face glowed, and the normal happiness inside my head was almost surprised.

They circled, then slammed into the Wraith. He bent over as if in pain. Then cracks formed along his legs, slowly moving red glowed out from between the black portions. His leg size increased rapidly along with the rest of Wraith’s body. The demon became giant of lava and shadow. The horns on his head curled into wicked points and even the broken stump glowed fiercely.

“Hahaha, haha!” Wraith sounded half mad with delight. The vibration of his amused rumble caused Xin to groan. I felt that weird sensation of happiness crawl across my body and goose bumps surfaced everywhere.

The huge demon leapt across the crumbling bridge in two agile bounds. His arm grabbed onto the ledge and brought it down. Our path back to Yates’ island no longer existed, not that I intended to go back. Wraith lifted his arms and curled claws into the oncoming horde.

My eyebrows tightened together. A hundred thoughts raced through my brain questioning which course of action might be best. Could I have empowered myself? Or our [Blink] abilities? Maybe I could have hit Dusk again to make him even larger. I chanted the spell again, softer this time. Wraith would need it.

He curled again and grew even larger. His body was easily on par with the first [World Eater] I had fought, but nowhere near the one in the distance. Still, we had very few options. I hoped the [Empowerment] would last him long enough to fight back those monsters then escape.

“You, shall, not, pass!” he screamed across the way. I almost laughed but couldn’t quite bring myself to let his happiness infect me to such a degree. “Go!” he turned and yelled in my direction. Lava spilled outward as his huge form rumbled the words. “Fly, you fool!”

My head shook but I turned anyway and started running. Behind me, the sound of crashing could be heard. I ignored the heavy feeling and tried to pretend it was only the weight of Xin’s body tied to mine. Dusk soared out in the distance somewhere.

“Help Wraith!” I shouted, in hopes that he could hit and run against a few of the monsters. How long could a powerful demon of this world last against an endless horde of creatures able to delete programs?

In half a minute’s time, I stood at the island's edge. Wraith’s form faded in and out on the prior island. The cracks which had been rapidly forming slowed their destruction as the demon fought. [World Eater]s kept pouring out, only they focused on the giant made of fire and ash.

I spun around looking for an escape route. Wraith’s body blazed in the distance. The heat reached me even this far away. Xin hung limply despite the attempted rousing of her consciousness. Dusk performed a strafing run upon beasts hounding the demon, but it amounted to almost nothing. Little creature were climbing up Wraith’s thick legs and I could see holes appearing.

“I don’t know if we can get out of this,” I said. “I’m sorry, babe, I just don’t know.” My heart thudded fast as Wraith’s form fell under the onslaught. Smoky [World Eater]s obscured the foggy demon and they started blending together. Red light of his lava form started to fade. Their purpose completed the mob of monsters started leaping into the water toward us. Cracks formed as more of them spawned on this side.

I turned then got ready to jump. I wouldn’t die being indecisive, Xin’s heart lay elsewhere as Yates had said. All that mattered was getting further away until she returned to functionality.

Metal clanked as something alien appeared in front of me. Smooth edges and bars all attached to chains. I stared at the object as Dusk cried out. Huge wings beat by.

“Grab on!” Two different vocal tones came from above me. One tired, and the other sweet. My memory tickled with the idea of what that meant.

Above me a giant ship hovered. Its engines flared with blue pulses. The vehicle bobbed midair with metal rungs hanging off the end. Hope sent a surge of energy up my spine and made me smile.

“Treasure!” I shouted upon seeing the gold and silver female hanging out a side door. Her smooth metal shell waved at me.

“Come on, Hermes!” the [Mechanoid] yelled.

Another thin [Mechanoid] stood over her shoulder. His colors were a rusty metal mixed with gold. I waved back.

The island started tipping and I panicked. Now wasn’t the time for a confused and delightful reunion.

“Hang on, babe!” My belt slipped and threatened to lose the woman. Our island was crumbling. I had no idea where Wraith or Dusk were, but this was a way out for us.

Xin’s weak grip around my neck tensed briefly. I took that as what little acknowledgement she could muster and leapt for the dangling ladder. My arm jerked as I tried to hang on to us and the life line. Treasure’s ship bobbed then started flying off immediately. I saw Dusk alight in the doorway before we really picked up speed.

“Ngh,” my wife grunted.

I got both feet on the bottom rung then started to lift myself awkwardly. Jeeves and Treasure met me at the top, their bodies were weaker than I expected. Eventually they managed to get Xin and I hoisted into the main hull.

My body crawled through the doorway and toward the room's center. The straps tying Xin to me were loosened as I tried to check her for damage. There were red marks where the rope had pulled too tightly. Her face looked terrible. I had no means to heal her with.

“Welcome aboard, Hermes. It’s been a long time,” Treasure said.

“Thank you,” I said and felt touched enough to repeat myself mindlessly. “Thank you.”

Dusk’s form had returned to the extremely small size, suffering rebound from the [Empowerment] ability. His face pressed against mine in reassurance.

I tried to keep myself together. Tears rolled down both sides of my face and I couldn’t stop them. My fingers tried to wipe them away but only lingered on the rough patch of teardrop scales that had come with Dusk’s [Blessing].

Event Scenario [Worlds Collide] triggered!

As the event comes to a close players will be given the chance to see which world is more powerful! Beware, player versus player reward systems encourage combat between users!

Skills are being adjusted to match a merged setting. Ability names may change. Players who have characters in both realms may see an increase in abilities as stats merge.

My eyes scanned the text slowly a few times before the shaking kicked in. Yates had tried to warn me that everything would turn to chaos. Here I was in a former fantasy world, flying in a giant spaceship that had probably been partially funded by my contribution points. The others were fighting heroes, or with them back near [Haven Valley].

I walked to the empty pilot's seat and found it responded to my touch. Sure enough, this was a new version of the [Wayfarer’s Hope]. I looked up in hopes that the [Wayfarer Seven] or [Wayfarer Eight] might be nearby. How would the Advance Online world handle this event? Did entire races check out? Maybe they were already stored and shuffled off.

Thorny: Oh my god, I’m going to play that hero game next. That old woman is flying! FLYING!

Awesome Jr.: This is going to get messy isn’t it?

Hermes: You have no idea.

Xin’s body gradually came to. I waited for her eyes to open before letting my exhaustion shine through. She managed to smile tiredly at me and I babbled in her ear for a few seconds. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] flew onward as my ARC connection drifted off. Real life needs were calling, and now might be the only peaceful moment left before the end.

Reality asserted itself as the virtual fell away. My heartbeat kept a fast pace and the ARC sheets were lined with sweat. Message lights sat against the walls telling me what time it was, how many messages had been received, and tomorrow’s weather.

Dryness made me swallow while fingers pressed against the fifteen-minute countdown. Recent events played through once more. That demon had called me brother then stayed behind in order to keep Xin and me alive. The idea that a digital creature I barely knew had held me in such regard, to the point of self-sacrifice, made me sick. They wouldn’t be the last to die as [Worlds Collide] went onward.

I ran to the bathroom and threw up the contents of my stomach. The recent events left me weak, hungry, sore and worried for the future. At least the overall idea felt simple enough. All I needed to do was get Xin through the doorway, prevent any [World Eater]s from passing by, and keep myself logged into the ARC until the virtual reality finished collapsing.