Three hours of sleep hadn’t nearly been enough. Nevertheless, that’s what I got before waking up and trying to get myself back into virtual reality. Upon reaching the Continue Online portal I was greeted with a black screen and pop-up boxes.

[Worlds Collide] merger results!

Play time calculated. Preference for a fleshy meat sack has been noted. Continue Online character established as primary. Changes resulting from a merger of two characters are being summarized and displayed.

[Energy] attribute not found on primary avatar. All abilities in Advance which used [Energy] can now use [Mana]. [Enlarged Power Source] converted to increased [Mana] pool and regeneration.

[Power Suit], [Camouflage Program], [Anchor], [Material Conversion], and [Mechanical Minion] abilities localized and added. [Combat Program] (Loadout storage) already exists. Prior weapon patterns imported.

Redundancy in [Gait of Bowman] resolved. Equipping this item now adds one rank to skills instead of providing passive access.

The list went on. Only a few of the highlights showed, but it looked like the game had tried to stack all the old [Mechanoid] abilities on top of my prior Continue ones. [Brawn], [Endurance], [Tenacity] and a few other character points had gone up. I shook my head. What did any of this matter to me this close to the end? I mean, [Anchor] might have some uses.

Maybe it would matter more to other people. There had to be a few out there who played multiple games and would now see it all collapse together into some strange character. I felt shaky at the idea of super powered people attacking sword wielding warriors from Continue Online.

Running on three hours of sleep didn’t help. I poked at the messages and watched them pop away. Nothing new took their place. I glanced about. This area looked like the room of trials, or at least it felt like that room. Only there was no one around at all.

“Hello?” My voice echoed off objects I couldn’t see.

I walked forward quickly in hopes of gaining anyone’s attention. After a few footsteps, the brightness changed from its pure dark shroud and gained a few spots of light. There were people in the distance facing away from each other. Their mouths moved but only quiet words came out.

This place didn’t scare me anymore. I full out ran, but the speed of my virtual travel didn’t close the gap any faster. In the distance I could make out Xin, standing next to Treasure and Jeeves. My wife’s face twisted with an unheard shout. The two [Mechanoid]s looked slightly perturbed but otherwise focused on objects in front of them.

Xin’s body swayed to one side. Their forms shook briefly. Fire flared then died down. Maybe they were stuck in a weird event, or maybe I had been captured by a mental ability that caused me to lose perspective.

The actual reason didn’t matter. Standing still did no good. It took me years to figure out that. Xin had told me to move forward and not look back. Doctor Litt constantly reminded me to tackle one problem at a time. Both were mantras to fall back on. I kept running, eager to get to them and help.

A slow motion [Messenger’s Pet] bounded by. His body looked sleeker than normal. Like someone had pulled Dusk’s tail to nearly double its normal length. His merger between the two game worlds struck me as weird.

I started checking out my own body while running. There were no obvious changes or glowing metal bits like my [Mechanoid] form. Joints and fingers all looked perfectly flesh covered. A series of lines ran from my chest out toward each limb. The edges of them could be seen under my toga and sandal wrappings. They pulsed like a painted or tattooed version of malachite.

My abilities weren’t responding out here at all. Distance toward the ship steadily shrunk. I kept my eyes on the others while calling out frequently. No one responded. The trio was fixated on pressing interface buttons. How Xin knew what to do in the spaceship was beyond me, but she had training, I didn’t.

The world of darkness chimed. My body froze and nothing responded. I hung mid-stride in that moment when the earth below was pushed away but before gravity pulled me back down. It felt almost like flying without the exertion of wings.

Echoing footsteps slowly came up behind and traveled to the front. The large black man who had first guided me upon entry to this world stopped slightly to my left. His head tilted to one side while both hands clasped over a large belly.

“Are you sure about this, Hermes?” He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the trio frozen in a staged mockery of the [Wayfarer’s Hope] interior.

I tried to nod but neck muscles didn’t work. In the ship's rear cockpit my Hermes avatar laid prone on the ground. The form gradually grew closer regardless of being frozen.

“Think about the question before you answer,” James said with an infuriating smile on his cheeks. “Think long and hard, Hermes, because there are things in life which cannot be undone. Not by you, not by me, not by Mother, and not by your Gods.”

“I’m sure.” The sound of my voice startled me. Who was he to warn me about repercussions? I knew exactly how final life could be at times.

James looked troubled but faded into the blackness. The world sped into high gear. Gravity pulled my gut down as I fell into the prone body ahead with a startled yell.

Dryness plagued my throat. Both arms itched madly. A metallic ringing filled one ear as the world tried to tilt sideways.

Our ship rocked as something slammed into us. I tried to focus on the screens being displayed. The blue bar tied to our ship’s hull looked terribly low. One of the walls had dents from the outside.

“What’s going on?” I managed to mumble. The marred wall bothered me. [Mechanoid] vehicles were normally smoothly designed, to the point of absurd precision. A dent felt wrong.

Dusk chirped from overhead. Nails scrambled along the metal as he jumped to my shoulder. The longer tail wrapped around my neck and felt almost familiar. I pulled at his limb slightly to loosen the pressure. This body was human, not [Mechanoid]. Being throttled by my [Messenger’s Pet] might be fitting, but ill-timed.

“Welcome to consciousness, Unit Hermes,” Treasure said while pressing fingers at the air. She looked to be scanning the area for life forms. There were a dozen small red dots floating in front of her with status markers, health bars, and power readings.

“Gee! Quick! Grab onto something!” Xin turned and yelled at me.

I reached out for the back of her chair but stumbled as our ship rocked again.

“People from the other world!” Xin shouted then winced. That expression was one I recalled too well. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] had never been known for sound absorption. “They’re attacking us.”

“I must confess, this is all very strange,” Jeeves said carefully. “We were flying through the outer reaches looking for your distress beacon then found ourselves here on a planet. Our engines are not optimized for these atmospheric conditions.”

“I’m sorry you got into this mess,” I said with more calm than expected.

Xin tilted the vessel to one side and my most recent meal threatened to return to the surface. One foot braced against the back of his chair. Dusk gulped as we righted ourselves quickly. I missed zero gravity space fights.

Jeeves calmly kept talking as if these antics meant nothing. After our combat in space together, maybe it was mundane. I checked the readouts for a giant spaceship pursuing us or some beast from the stars, but there was nothing.

“Most of our race has already escaped, but we did not wish to leave anyone behind, especially not in light of your efforts to save two full Consortiums.”

I felt a range of emotions that couldn’t be sorted out in a few seconds. My efforts to reduce the loss of NPC life while in Advance Online had played certainly been paid back by simply getting us away from all those [World Eater]s. However, it had also endangered two lives that I had already considered saved.

“If you have a wild plan, Unit Hermes, now would be the time,” Treasure said. Her shoulders dropped and eyes barely flickered with a golden light.

For a moment I wondered if Mother might be looking out at us through an avatar again, only that would have been impossible. The long gut wound had finally reached an end. We were in the aftermath of her passing now. An image of Yates’ form screaming while being bathed in a golden light hit me and for a second, I felt dizzy.

The ship rocked while my wife cussed under her breath.

“Can we use a Recall scroll, or take the death and get to our bind point?” I asked. We were flying through a forest of some sort. Ahead of us loomed giant mountains. Our vessel, despite being a space ship, didn’t move fast enough. People in capes paced on either side. Their arms held out in front as rings of energy pulsed into us.

“I don’t know! We’re in combat!” Xin tried to control her shouting. Her hand reached up and slapped at buttons on the ceiling. I didn’t recognize any of them. Laser beams flew out toward the two people in capes that were flying by.

A huge chunk of rock from below was hurled in our direction. I glanced at Treasure’s screen. She had a close up of a small cluster of players. One large being of rock and earth lifted his arms. A piece of earth floated in front, responding to the person's call.

“Is that a Behemoth?” I had time to ask before the latest attack hit us.

Our ship tilted forward. The display windows flickered out. Xin’s body slammed into the framework of our ship.

“We cannot compact for a crash landing with human beings in here,” Treasure said then sighed.

“It seems we’re crashing regardless,” Jeeves responded in both a male and female tone.

“Unit Hermes, do you have a method to descend safely?” Treasure sounded remarkably calm. Her tired voice overpowered the sweet tones. “We’re not configured to soften the blow for flesh bound creatures.”

“Babe!” I yelled at my wife. The noise echoed and I wanted to break down the walls.

At last glance, we had been high and the ground was coming closer. There were enemies outside. My [Mechanical Hades Crown] didn’t have enough souls to empower Dusk or [Blink]. We didn’t have a metal glider. I could try [Material Conversion] but now wasn’t the time to experiment.

“Gee.” Xin’s body slid backward as we picked up speed. Dusk chirped in confusion next to my ear while both arms wrapped around my wife.

“Rear door,” I tried not to shout and almost succeeded.

Treasure nodded then pressed a button in front of her. The metal behind me slid open as our vehicle’s wall shifted to a new form. Jeeves looked in my direction with a muted expression of worry that made both its eyebrows wrinkle together. I tried to bunch my legs and put in strength to the jump.

We briefly hung as the [Wayfarer’s Hope] started to turn into a metal ball. My heart thumped rapidly as gravity asserted itself. The world spun, Xin’s robe flapped against the wind while air chilled my legs. [Awareness Heightening] kicked in causing both our perceptions and reactions to be amplified.

“Dusk!” I yelled. Force along with sharp tiny nails dug into my shoulder putting a new spin on our flailing fall. The [Messenger’s Pet] squawked while getting his wings working. I looked at the enemies between each spin.

Both capes were sitting together. They were Travelers who had shot down our ship with the help of the people below. Both wore ugly matching red and black colors with ribbon like capes that dangled to their feet.

“Get ready!” I [Blink]ed us out of our fall and toward the nearest stable looking platform.

“Teleporter!” the person yelled out as our combined weight collided with his back.

My wife’s hands were free, whereas mine were busy holding her close. She pulled the weapon out of inventory and quickly used it as an anchor around the flying man’s neck. I slipped down but managed to get a grip onto her robe.

“Hold on!” The other player put both arms out, touched his wrists together then started to fire off a bolt of energy. Dusk’s dog sized form flew in, wildly scratching which threw off the person’s aim. Nails clawed at his face as he started screaming.

My head tilted backward to watch the struggle above. Bare, wildly kicking legs greeted me for a long second before we started falling again. The man’s body pulled back as his flight powers sent us into another end over end fall. Xin twisted her staff to one side and changed our course to be a bit smoother.

I tried to calmly count out the cool down for [Blink] as we fell. The ground approached fast and my hands were starting to slip. [Blink]’s cooldown ended and I tried to estimate our direction and speed. My body vanished then appeared front of a crashing super powered player. [Morrigu’s Echo] appeared in my hand with a quick [Recall] and stabbed out in slow motion.

Xin’s body fumbled into mine. The staff smacked into my head. I grunted through the feedback and grabbed her wrist. Screams and ripping clothing filled the air. Liquid pooled upon my arm from the recent opening I had provided. We slipped down then [Blink] went off for a second time, aiming us closer to the ground.

We appeared a few feet higher than expected and inertia carried us straight toward a bank of trees. [Power Armor] flickered on prior to the collision but barely helped. Air shot out while pain rippled up my back. Xin’s eyes went wide. Our sideways motion turned into a fall toward the earth. I twisted my back to try and keep Xin’s body above mine.

The flailing half spin failed and we hit hard. Knee met broken tree stump. Teeth bit into my tongue. I rolled the last few feet with Xin’s body in my arms while gasping in pain.

“Arggh,” I cried out as the wound truly started to register. Gut muscles clenched wildly and my lungs burned for air. I lay there, huffing, trying not to let the ARC feedback win. “Stupid, event.” The words ground out.

Xin scrambled to get up and looked around. I took the slow route, inching myself up using a tree and trying to keep weight off the damaged leg. My wife’s fingers rapidly typed away at an invisible keyboard.

Hecate: Ambushed out here. Anyone on the other side of the mountains?

Shadow: Maybe. We’re in combat. Do you have a location?

Hecate: Look for the crashed spaceship.

Awesome Jr.: Spaceship? That’s awesome.

The first super powered flyer landed on the ground. The second still fought Dusk. I curled my fingers together around [Morrigu’s Gift] and tried to imagine the Gatling gun from Advance Online.

Light flared as the weapon shifted into a completely inappropriate form for the fantasy basis. I looked down while rocking my head. [Worlds Collide] would only get weirder.

“Back up!” I shouted to my wife who had lifted the staff in front of her. The [Messenger’s Pet] batted huge wings in the black and red costumed fighter’s face.

“What’s that?” Xin turned while wearing a look that bordered between livid and perplexed.

“Dusk! Clear!” I needed him get away. The [Messenger’s Pet] dove to one side. He hadn’t even glanced back.

My finger pressed the trigger and the confusion of using old abilities hit me. Low humming built to a greater pitch as the gun warmed up quickly. Do people wearing vaguely Greek styled clothes get to use high power weapons from the far future? My musings didn’t matter. A stream of golden lasers flew out toward the other caped hero, reducing his life and my mana bar to zero.

I kept pumping the trigger for a few more blasts. The weapon shimmered then return to a two-handed sword which I slung over one shoulder. Xin wasted no time stomping over to the first man. I limped after ready with the normal version of [Morrigu’s Gift]. The man’s body lay there, completely defeated. Apparently the crash, or being stabbed by my dagger, had ended his virtual life.

“Jerk!” Xin yelled at the defeated corpse. She jabbed down the staff’s end into his body repeatedly. “The world’s falling apart and you idiots are still chasing tokens!”

I didn’t know if the best option would be to hold my wife back then try to calm her down, or join in the desecration.

“I hope you’re out there and can see your failure!” she shouted at the sky while shaking a fist. Xin spat at the corpse then stormed off.

Indecision had left me standing there with one hand held midair. I grasped at nothing while trying to figure out how to digest what just transpired. The pain in my knee didn’t help. Xin’s eyes went wide and she actually paused, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and looked down.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Don’t apologize to me.” We could have easily taken a less aggressive route by [Blink]ing to the ground and hiding out instead. This whole confrontation had been spurred on by me, but this event didn’t give us a lot of room to play nice with some Travelers. “I think he deserved it.”

Xin shook her head then started touching runes to summon skeletons. She formed four of them, an increase over the old limit of three.

“Come on. There’s more nearby,” she sounded grim.

Shadow: Are you fighting someone who uses lasers?

Hermes: If they were gold, it was me.

Awesome Jr.: Lasers?!?

HotPants: Don’t even say it, Junior.

Awesome Jr.: But it is…it totally is.

Hermes: We’re okay for the moment. The wife’s on a warpath, though, so look for a string of bodies.

Hecate: They shot down the first actual spaceship I’ve flown in years! JERKS.

Awesome Jr.: Use those potions I gave you.

Hermes: Okay.

I paused for a moment and brought up the player interface. Items were stored away in virtual bags, which was harder to access during combat. I liked keeping both weapons physical, while items like our [Honeymoon Suite] stayed in the form of two-dimensional boxes to press.

Potions were useful but also annoying. They rarely returned full health or actually fixed the damage. Instead, they vaguely healed people by removing the pain and increasing our life points. Not that those mattered half the time in this game, people died quickly, like those two heroes we had just fought. They must have been low level, or rank, or whatever Progress Online used to track stats.

Even after chugging two potions the weakness in my crushed kneecap didn’t go away. I would need a real healing spell or rest. Even then it depended on my other character statistics. Hopefully, we had time to get back into perfect shape. I panicked and tried to figure out how long sleep had put me out for.

“Where’s the edge of the collapse?” I asked Xin, but she had already wandered out of sight. Eyes drifted toward a distant looking moon that showed even in [Arcadia]’s daytime. It looked to be almost one third completely gone, and the rest was showing signs of strain.

Calculations ran through my mind as I tried to figure out if we were on a curve or not. If I used the current progression of a decaying moon as a timepiece, we had maybe two days left. Maybe a little more, or less, depending on acceleration as mass vanished. Hourglasses went quickest at the end.

There wasn’t enough time for me to sit in the woods and wonder which mathematical formula could be applied to the moon for proper measure. I limped carefully after my wife and kept both weapons ready.

A stray twig stuck in Xin’s hair. The small layers of makeup she wore were smudged. Nothing else stood out. My efforts to keep her body from suffering the brunt of gravity must have worked, or maybe it was part of whatever bonus she got for gliding longer.

[Binding of Hymenaios] benefited us greatly. [Partner Sense] let me know the direction Xin was in. I caught up with her crouching form then activated [Camouflage] and took delight in seeing Xin's image blur. Now that the ability was passive, and not granted by my boots, she could share in the effects.

We sat up on a ridge of sorts overlooking a small valley. Brown and green colors melded our forms into the surrounding landscape. On the valley’s far ridge were large mountains. I checked my map and confirmed that [Haven Valley] lay past their peaks.

Below, an army of people fought each other. Giant constructs battled an army of alien beings. Two snarling werewolf looking beasts were in the process of fighting a man with three swords, one of which sat clenched between his teeth. Mixed in between them sat a smattering of [World Eater]s, but they looked to be few in number. Travelers had been fighting all over [Arcadia] since this event started.

I kept scanning the area. Xin’s arm patted mine and she pointed in the distance. Jeeves and Treasure were on a side of the valley. They were both hunkered down behind a gleaming barricade that had been molded from their crashed ship. A dozen small [World Eater]s were fighting with red named players. I prayed they would take each other out and leave the [Mechanoid]s alone. Jeeves lobbed a small orb overhead. It exploded into a dozen smaller pellets then those came crashing down causing a cascade of explosions.

Nearby were a player and NPC overlooking the mess below. The shorter figure, who was maybe three feet tall, had his arms crossed while frowning. Xin and I spied upon the pair from another row up.

The faces were recognizable. King Nero stood in the middle of them. He still preferred the minimalist look despite his worn bearing. My mouth opened and I held very still.

“They’re all destroying each other. Just like you wanted. Minimal effort, maximum reward. That’s what I always say,” the short man said. He cupped both hands together and shouted at a towering bulk of green rock who was bombarding Jeeves from a distance. “Get them, MrJohnson!”

“The darkness has been loosed upon this world. Our foolish daughters have already been lost to it, and all that we have left is the joy of helping you kill your own kind.” The king of a fallen city nodded. To my knowledge, most of his territory lay in ruins from [World Eater]s.

“You’re messed up, you know that?” TheLittleMan said. The short Advance Online player stood next to him while kicked rocks down toward the valley below.

I tapped Dusk, who sat on his haunches watching the battle below. My fingers pointed at the green earth [Behemoth] from Advance Online. The [Messenger’s Pet] tilted and an image of crossed swords clashing against each other appeared.

“Cupcakes?” I whispered.

Dusk nodded then took off. I fumbled around with the interface to figure out how to activate [Mechanical Minion]s in Continue, but there was a [Lithium] chant required.

Further below in the valley the battle raged. A flicker of human shape crossed our line of sight. The form arced in like a meteor or thrown rock crashing to earth. Dirt went up in a rapidly formed cloud. Metal reflections flashed as a giant hammer that almost dwarfed [Morrigu’s Gift] started laying waste upon the gathered players.

My jaw hung open. That stance looked familiar to me, after a month and more traveling next to her and learning how to use [Morrigu’s Gift] against various beasts, I knew those moves. Shazam was demolishing the other people without regard.

Fingers slowly typed at the keyboard to send a quiet message to her. The whirling mess of destruction stopped. Shazam looked down and almost frowned.

Hermes: I thought you didn’t like player vs player.

Shazam: I don’t.

Hermes: Well your guys are kicking ass. That’s your guild, right?

Shazam: Yes. They’re irate. Where are you?

Shadow: With me, we’re up top. Don’t jump, Hermes.

I stared at the messages being sent back and forth. Both eyes closed to ping the area with [Sight of Mercari]. No dots revealed where Shadow was, so maybe he had mistaken our location for another one.

The young man’s grim looking face slowly appeared. He waved once with a hand while staring at the two below. I blinked and tried to figure out what level of [Stealth] type skills he would need to avoid [Sight of Mercari]. There weren’t any other obvious people next to us, but maybe the entire League of Shadows had decided to arrive in the bushes somewhere.

“How long did you want to do this? I need to cash out sooner or later,” TLM said. I tried to remember more about him, other than being quick and underhanded, nothing stuck out.

“It will all be over soon.” King Nero looked up from the valley and stared at the moon. He clearly had come to the same conclusion I did. The decay rate of [Arcadia], or whatever strange merger we had become, was tied displayed by the celestial body overhead.

“You’re still the craziest NPC I’ve seen. Most of them cashed out as quick as you please. All that’s left anymore are stragglers and the desperate.”

King Nero pulled the sword from his belt and tried to strike TLM in the back of his head. TLM managed to react quick enough that the blow only hit his face. The short player still fell.

“Hey crazy! I’m on your side!” TLM groaned through broken teeth.

“Rest assured, your opinion matters very little to us,” he said over the fallen player. King Nero huffed while bringing down his sword on TheLittleMan’s head.

“Fucking NPCs!” the player cried out as his health bar obliterated.

I lifted [Morrigu’s Gift] up and prepared myself to fight the mad king. There was zero chance he would let me walk away, not when his prior punishment had been undone before full [Redemption] points could be achieved. In his eyes, I would still be a criminal.

I inched forward. The damaged knee gave way sending me slipping down. I panicked and worried about getting a message telling me how badly the brief fall had been.

“You!” King Nero snapped with wild eyes and a bead of sweat dripped down his face. “Don’t think you can hide! I can always smell a criminal!” He lifted the sword in my direction then snarled. I tried to figure out how the man could see me through [Camouflage]. Slipping shouldn’t have been enough at this Rank. Was preparing my weapons too aggressive?

King Nero took two steps forward then paused. His eyes crossed as a sword of bone sprouted out of his chest. Xin’s giant skeleton construct rippled as green leaves turned into faded white bone. The creature’s free arm lifted with a second smaller sword.

“What?” I exclaimed while freezing up. My eyes closed to ping the area again. There were no players nearby aside from Xin and Shadow.

My wife turned slightly and said, “We share abilities, remember?”

My confused gaze turned back toward the impaled NPC. King Nero’s body bent sideways. The second blade sliced harmlessly over his head. He fell the floor gasping for breath as Xin walked out of the bushes to the fallen Local. The bone sword still pierced straight through. His hands grasped at its edges.

“I’ve been saving something special for you, King Nero,” Xin said while getting closer. She smiled and for a moment, I truly worried that this whole situation had driven my wife off the deep end.

Shadow apparently didn’t care in the slightest. The young man melted from view and I watched as fading footsteps headed toward the battlefield below. There were monsters and players fighting each other. I couldn’t even bring myself to type out a message of thanks.

King Nero’s mouth overflowed with blood. The jaw muscles opened and closed as he tried to get words out but failed. Bubbles gurgled up. My wife knelt closer to him, uncaring about the small bits of blood that made it to her robe.

“What are you going to do?” my voice shook slightly. The idea of either one of us outright murdering a helpless NPC bothered me, despite everything we had been through.

“Kill him, eventually,” she said.

“Do we need to?” I asked. Torturing anyone felt wrong. Even the one player I had mocked before beheading them bothered me for days afterward.

Xin’s form spun around as she pointed back at the defeated royalty. “He put you in prison, Gee! He sent you to that undead pit and trapped you there for trying to bring me to this world! He led Travelers from Earth all across Arcadia to hurt each other for revenge! This man is evil!”

Xin was right when she listed off his crimes. What might have happened if we hadn’t needed to rush like that toward [Haven Valley]? The man clearly was out to get us too.

“He’s-” my words drifted off. What was I going to say, that he’s just programmed that way? That he wasn’t the only person who came back from the dead? Could I really dare to utter such hollow justification while staring at the computer version of my wife?

Xin shook her tiny head slowly but didn’t look at me. She spoke more to the ground than my face.

“I don’t expect you to be a killer,” she said while turning around. Her head tilted down and the one staff sat across both knees. “I know that’s not who you are, but I am. You remember that test the Voices gave you? Once, during training, they gave me the same scenario, kill one person to save another. I made a choice without hesitation.”

I knew about those training scenarios. She had done dozens of them in preparation for space. My lips were dry and throat felt sore. This digital world was exhausting at times, especially after battles like this one. I felt so detached, drained, and wished desperately to be somewhere else. Every single other option would have been away from my wife which meant that there really wasn’t an alternative at all.

“If, if it helps, King Nero will live on, and make it to the portal with everyone else. He’ll just be a little different than others.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “Do what you need to.”

Xin leaned in as outstretched fingertips glowed the same white as her dress' runes. I walked away while King Nero screamed. My mind tried to rationalize life and the depths to which we sunk in order to progress.

The battle below had been ended violently in favor of [Valhalla Knights]. Shazam stood in the midst of a defeated pack of Travelers from multiple games, dripping in blood and completely emotionless despite being a picture of carnage. A massive hammer that didn’t look anything like the prior one rested over her shoulder.

A few minutes later the former king’s screams died down. We walked toward Shazam and Shadow, who were busy clearing the battlefield of anything useful. Xin’s listless body slumped into mine and my knee hurt.

King Nero, recently turned into a literal ghost of his former self, silently glided along behind us. I would have called it neat, were it not for the fact that a dying man had been used in the process. Chains around his arms and legs left no signs to follow our trail.