It began with a rushing feeling, like when you start a deep fall on a roller coaster, then a tunnel of shifting light, followed by a shape in the distance quickly rushing towards me. A few moments later I felt like I was slowing down only to lurch forward into a short push onto a smooth stone floor. It took me a moment to regain my balance, and I heard the sound of someone next to me failing to do so.

Looking around I found my team and I were in a stone room about the same size as our HOMEs. The wall behind us held a large archway made up of glyphs I didn’t recognize that were slowly fading from a blue glow to the same color as the rest of the stone. Opposite that was another archway, this time made of stone with a large double door within. I offered a hand to the teammate who had fallen, Jacob, and used it to regain his footing with a brief thanks. He was dressed in a set of black slacks, a white long sleeved button down, and a grey vest; perfect for going downtown for a business trip, maybe not so great for a battlefield. The siblings were also present, dressed in combat boots, tactical khakis, and black t-shirts; Jerome’s had a popular rock band logo on his. Arya was dressed similar to me in denim pants, sturdy boots, and a t-shirt.

My vision however was a bit different; I had a grey, semi-translucent, bar in the lower right side of my view. When I focused on it I saw Energy 100% appear in it as it became more opaque.

Jerome’s voice interrupted the silence, “That was a rush, reminds me of an old sci-fi show though.”

Jacob spoke up, his voice a little shaky, “Only so many ways to do a portal mechanic, that one was probably the simplest.”

Arya said, “Guess we are in here wearing civvies.”

As we all focused on her she clarified, “I put on my costume before coming here, but arrived wearing this.”

I nodded and spoke, “Savira did say this was supposed to be the intro scenario for launch. It would explain why we wouldn’t have our costumes yet. Before we head out though, do we want to discuss what we can do?”

Rebecca nodded and said, “Probably a good idea, who knows what pot we dropped into. I’m an ice user: armor, weapons, and blasts.”

Nodding my thanks for her starting, “Kinetic controller here. I can do shields, armor, enhanced speed and strength, thrown projectiles, and a 360 degree sensory trick.”

Jerome asked, “How did you end up with so many tricks?”

Rebecca answered for me, “He limited himself to kinetics like I did for ice. I hadn’t thought about kinetic energy actually. Remember how my ice limitation let me have multiple objects I could start out creating with my technique?”

He nodded and then said, “Right, forgot about that. I went with the power spike rather than the spread so I didn’t see it as much. Enhanced defense and strength for me, I can crank up my density to the point where tank shells bounce off and throw the tank at another one.”

Arya shook her head, “Not quite how I would have put it, but from the looks of what you picked you might be able to also reduce your density also and phase through objects.”

I smirked a bit as everyone looked at her. Sighing she said, “I’m a telepath type. I have mental communication techniques and an ability to read powers. Think of the power reading technique as a scanner or identification technique.”

Jacob said, “Like I said at the café, I’m a tech user. I have a few different gadgets I can make, but I was informed that takes time. I also have a single low grade spike that lets me conjure single handed items, including simple weapons; this will give me some combat ability when I run out of gadgets since most of my other techniques have a one-time use limitation.”

“Any limitations on the weapon creation?” I asked.

“The quality or material of the object is the same tier as the power, so in this case just Tier one and I have to have a blueprint of the item. I received three blueprints for it. Two of them are tools while the third is a handgun and corresponding magazine. I believe the handgun is a 9mm pistol that I have to conjure new magazines for to reload,” he answered

Jerome spoke up, “I don’t mean to sound rude, but do you know how to shoot a gun?”

Jacob waggled his hand and answered, “Yes and no; I have played multiple virtual shooters so my hand eye coordination should be okay. Dealing with recoil however may be a bit of a challenge for me. It’s why I selected a simple pistol for the weapon; while I may not be able to fire quickly I should hit what I aim at.”

Rebecca spoke up, “Let’s get going then. Rome and Alex on point, Jacob and Arya next, and I’m tail-end Charlie.”

I raised a hand and said, “Hold up, does anyone else see that bar in the lower right of your vision?”

Everyone nodded and Rebecca said, “I also have a couple of boxes with weapon options above it.”

Jacob said, “Me too, I’m guessing those are the blueprints I can use with my creation technique.”

“Right, so before we go through the door maybe we should test how much that bar drops when you use your techniques? We can’t see our power descriptions,” I said before trailing off and looking at Arya.

She smiled and said, “I can though. My reading technique has a cost of about 5% of my energy each time I use it to read your status, but affects everything in my field of vision and stays until I dismiss it and can be minimized or time passes. The battle reading technique I used on you reserves 10% of my energy, while my mental link reserves 5% per person linked.”

A quick examination of everyone and we learned the costs in the energy for each of us. The weapon creation techniques used 5% of their energy, mana in Rebecca’s case, and reserved it while the weapon was out. My enhancement and armor both reserved 25% of my energy, while Jerome’s enhanced density scaled in reserve cost depending on how dense he made himself. My kinetic projectile was odd though, with a 0.1% to 1% cost, which I assumed meant it depended on either ammunition or velocity. My kinetic bastion listed a 5% reserve to use it, but also a variable cost I would have to figure out later, while my radar sense used reserved 10% energy. We also restored about 1% of our energy per ten seconds, while Rebecca restored 0.5% every three seconds.

After a quick bit of mental math I realized I would need to decide between fighting up close and personal with the enhanced body or at range with the kinetic projectile during fights because I couldn’t sustain both for a long period of time.

After we took a moment to let our energy restore I activated my armor and my radar sense and said, “Now we can get to it.”

Jerome and I each pushed on one of the doors. After a slight resistance, and the squeal of rusty hinges, the doors opened to reveal a throne room reminiscent of medieval castles save for one glaring difference. Half the room, what once would have lead to a courtyard, was missing; jagged edges of walls and floor showed where the building had been ripped asunder or blown outwards. The remains of a tattered carpet led to a throne of tarnished bronze, the backrest of which was shaped into an upright infinity symbol. The opening in the wall showed the view of a star filled void and there was a sound coming from that direction of wind rushing across vast distances.

“You’re early or maybe late, definitely not on time though,” said an aged, but still rich, male voice.

My head whipped around to see an old bald man with a trimmed grey mustache and beard step out from behind the throne. I was instantly on guard due to the fact that I saw an icon above my energy bar that showed my radar sense was running, but this man wasn’t registering in it. He stood tall, with a toned physique, in a red toga and leather sandals. His hands were clasped behind his back as he slowly stepped towards us while saying, “Calm your selves champions, I am the proverbial welcoming committee. Welcome to the Castle at the End of Time.”

Arya spoke up, her agitation clear in her voice, “Pretty grandiose of a name for a ruin, don’t you think?”

His chuckle was warm and gentle as he answered, “Even the end of time can fall to its passage. I am Malchior, the castellan of the keep. I believe you are the heroes called to aid another realm in its upcoming time of need?”

“That’s the theory as we understand it,” Jerome responded, his body tensing as I could feel his technique activating with my own ability.

“There may be a bit of a complication with that,” Malchior said, “You see, transit between worlds requires passing through this realm as you exit your own world. It seems you were deposited here as the passageway was severed when the castle fell and the council was captured”

“The council?” Jacob asked.

Malchior nodded and said, “The rulers of death, time, and fate run this realm and control the passages between. It is hard to define how long ago it happened, but the castle was attacked and they were separated from their sources of power. This left many passageways uncontrolled, bringing a multitude of problems to this realm and others.”

Rebecca interrupted, “How is it hard to define how long ago this happened?”

My theory was confirmed as Malchior answered, “This is the End of Time young lady, and it doesn’t exist here as it does in your realm. That means I can’t define the passage to you as you would comprehend it.”

“Oh,” was her softly spoken response.

“Now; as one of your world’s keepers has informed me that you have been granted special abilities in the hope of aiding another world could I impose upon you to aid us as well?” Malchior asked.

“What do you need?” I asked.

Malchior walked to the edge of the ruined wall and motioned to something unseen below while saying, “This is a small realm, and should the rulers here be taken from it, by death or travel, the powers they controlled would be passed to the regent for the realms defense and operation until a new lord or lady is chosen. This means they are still here somewhere. I would ask that you search for them, and free them from whatever holds them.”

I moved to the edge of the ruined castle and looked down on a massive city of anachronism. Thatched cottages ran along roads next to modern apartments, a futuristic skyscraper merged with an industrial era blimp landing port, and gas lanterns lined roads with modern traffic lights. The ground was covered in a low hanging mist with sudden swirls showing hidden motion throughout the city. When I moved my view away from a section it would change when I returned my gaze.

Jacob spoke up, “With everything shifting it will be hard to find anyone.”

The old man’s somber tone replied, “I have enough power still to hold the realm to a single state, but in so doing those that attacked will know I am up to something. You will not have long to find the castle’s true owners.”

I interjected with, “I thought there wasn’t any time here.”

His rich laugh spoke volumes as he said, “Quite right, so you should have long enough. Now, will you help us?”

I looked to my companions, who all nodded at me, and I said, “Sounds like fun, we’ll do it.”

Malchior nodded and pointed to a set of double doors near the tear in the castle, “That door will take you to the city below.”