[ZERO SPACE]

“LIGHT RAY!”

Orange laser light lit up Deadwheel’s center, refocusing its four hulking serpent heads on Asira. Deadwheel had a real habit of getting distracted - it was like herding a giant alien cat. Fortunately, Asira had a laser pointer.

SMASH

Deadwheel’s bulldozer body plowed through the dragon’s castle, ravaging a pair of parapets. The damage was extensive and expensive; Asira suspected the dragon wasn’t insured.

She slipped through a stone monsoon as Deadwheel’s towering body toppled a tower. Its colossal frame mowed through castle guards, plowing over a wall before floating out over the thrashing ocean. Its four massive snake heads came together, melding into a single glowing mouth –

WHIRRRRRRRR

A pale beam fired –

Asira skewed sidewards –

Near miss!

Pale particles shaved off several of Asira’s stray furs as she swayed. Ninjas were known for their evasion, but one false move would result in a very real death. Her plan was suicide, but if Asira had it her way, it would at least be a murder/suicide.

In the distant ocean lurked three additional abominations, each as deformed and deranged as Deadwheel. Their figures were large and getting larger, dark disjointed details unfurling in Asira’s mind like words in a dream.

“Esara…”

Asira’s flight experienced turbulence as a deep booming voice breached the atmosphere –

“Hey hey, Esara!”

“No…” Asira said to herself. “It can’t be.”

That gruff raspy tone. Those slurred carefree syllables. Fully formed sentences and deformed words. Asira knew who it was, but there was just no way in hell. Certainly no way in heaven –

“Coming back to visit me, eh?”

Asira bit her lip.

It was Danny’s voice.

Her adopted Haven brother. She didn’t attend his funeral and she certainly didn’t expect a family reunion. This had to be a hallucination. A phantom. Or maybe something else? Every explanation horrified her.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Esara. Bet you didn’t expect to see me either, eh?”

Where was that voice coming from? A hidden speaker in her brain? Some megaphone beneath the water or above the clouds? Maybe one of those three dark distant creatures, their skyscraper bodies stretching from the sea to sky.

“Go away!” Asira screamed.

“You’re the one headed straight towards me, eh?”

Asira’s eyes opened wide –

WHIRRRRRRRRRR

She swerved sideways as a white beam from Deadwheel nicked her elbow.

“Fuck!” Asira screamed.

The pain was beyond comprehension. Beyond words. Only swear words did it justice. Burning throbbing agony arced through her arm, creeping along her wrist, spreading from shoulder to shoulder. It was the same pain as Master Valdi’s glitch dagger, reimagined in beam-form.

That wound was all Danny’s fault. Or whoever was impersonating Danny. One of those giant monsters was responsible. But which one?

“We gotta a lotta catching up to do, Esara!”

Maybe it was the fat flying monster with all those holes in its belly? Seemed like an unlikely candidate - each hole functioned as a cubby for three or more miniature versions of itself. It had to be tough talking with a mouth full of hellspawn.

“So much happened since we last caught up. I died! Now there’s a life event, eh? Broken bones. Body fulla’ bitemarks. Bet you wouldn’t even recognize me now, eh?”

Maybe it came from the sea anemone monster, leaping through the water with dolphin-like strides. It had plenty of mouths - one at the end of each colorful tentacle and a real big one in the middle. Time and space distorted whenever those colossal chompers clamped down. This monster didn’t just eat people - it ate reality itself. Something that could swallow reality would have no problem projecting its voice. Or someone else’s voice –

– No.

The voice was definitely coming from somewhere. Somewhere higher –

“I forgive ya for betraying me, Esara. Come give your brother a hug, eh?”

“Shut up!” screeched Asira. “You’re not Danny. You’re some freaky glitch-thing!”

“Hey hey, I’m whatever I want to be! I’m whatever you want me to be, eh?”

By process of elimination, it had to be the third monster: a massive set of spider legs, descending like spotlights from the stormy sky. Its limbs were numerous, seemingly infinite, blurred and oscillating like a turbo-charged ceiling fan. Asira’s eyes could hardly track it; her mind could barely make sense of it. And whatever head lurked up above those clouds, she didn’t want to see it.

“That’s right, Esara. You see me now.”

“Stop it!” screeched Asira. “Get out of my head.”

“I’m not in your head, Esara. I’m far beyond that.”

WHIIRRRRRR…

Asira swooped down as another Deadwheel beam tore a hole in the ozone.

Asira sighed. Halfway to those monsters and she was filled with regret. No going back now. And going further was certain doom. Those beasts would feast on the world; she’d merely be an appetizer. A small plate. Maybe several small plates. Pteranoid tapas –

No.

Asira had to focus. No pain. No fear. She had control. Control over herself. And most importantly:

Control over Deadwheel.

She had one shot at this - a shot from Deadwheel, that is. One shot to make a difference.

One shot to kill one of these things.

But which beast would she shoot? Deadwheel fired indiscriminately - it’s sole goal was to hit her and it didn’t care about collateral damage. She deemed one beam enough to kill any of these other monsters, or at least draw their aggro. If they fought each other, they wouldn’t fight her.

“1800 meters to impact,” Asira whispered.

The only consistent part of Deadwheel was its beam. Forty second intervals between each projectile. Avoiding it came second nature for Asira; she had plenty of practice.

“1500 meters.”

Asira traveled fifty meters every six seconds - a menu on her palm told her as such.

With impeccable timing - and luck - her plan would be executed. Or she would be executed. Maybe both.

“1200 meters.”

Time to pick a target!

Maybe that flying beast with all the belly-babies? It was an easy shot, but maybe not her best shot. Deadwheel and this “Mama Bat” were already on a collision course - Asira’s exact course of action. Both beasts were fated to meet, and Asira’s money was on Deadwheel.

“900 meters.”

“Come a little closer, Esara. Can’t wait to see you, eh?”

That stupid spider creature - it had to be the one speaking to her. She made a dangerous assumption:

If it talked to her, it was aggro-d to her.

And if she was right (that was a big if), she could steer it right into another monster. Another advantage! That left just one possibility –

“600 meters.”

That weird sea anemone creature practically begged for a big white beam to one of its many kissers. It threaded the water like a seamstress with a deadline. Erratic, yet predictable movements, drumming the ocean with a consistent beat. Asira bobbed up and down to match its rhythm. She had to stay with it. Time this just right.

Asira was almost upon these creatures, and then they’d be literally upon her. Their sheer scale overshadowed her body and overwhelmed her mind. Raw primal terror assaulted her arteries, venomized her veins. She wanted to flee; fly anywhere but here. Back towards the shore. Or into the ocean itself. Even drowning seemed a more merciful death –

“No, Asira, focus!” she told herself. “300 meters.”

Snout and swords aligned.

Body and brain synchronized.

Her plan came together like Deadwheel’s four heads which melded into a single eldritch entity. White luminance illuminated the ocean, paler than the brambling lightning above.

Paler than the white in Asira’s angry eyes.

Paler than her furious pteranoid fangs.

“0 meters.”

SLORRRRPHHH

A bubbling mass of rainbow tentacles launched from the ocean, tubular mouth opened wide like a water slide, ready to give Asira the last ride of her life –

Asira inhaled –

“NOW!”

Her body jerked downwards –

WHIRRRRRRRRRR

A pale beam consumed the sky, swallowing the sea anemone like a giant forkful of spaghetti. Its rainbow tentacles burst like firework sparklers, cancerous flesh bubbling up, then popping with a terrible:

SLORRRRPPPHHHHH

What remained of the beast splattered against the ocean as Asira swooped above, into the belly of another beast - a beast with holes in its belly. Cratered flesh stretched out below her, each housing budding bats twice Asira’s size. Wandering eyes checkerboarded its body - bulging monstrous pupils that looked everywhere but her. That was good news - focused eyes were aggro-d eyes. And she needed to stay off this creature’s radar.

Asira sheathed her swords, swerving and swiveling through an asteroid field of baby bats. Mama Bat here would remain unaware, so long as Asira didn’t off any of her offspring. Deadwheel trailed behind her, snake heads snapping at her feet.

Asira turned on a dime –

CRASH

Deadwheel impacted Mama Bat like two planets colliding. Shockwaves rippled through the ocean, the clouds, and Asira’s pitch black fur. She toppled through the air, spinning and spiraling before reorienting into a glide.

Both titans clashed below her. Deadwheel battered baby bats as their mother unleashed an infinite infant swarm. Small bats fell by the thousands, but a thousand more took their place, swooping in with jagged teeth, collecting bloody Deadwheel souvenirs. But even ten thousand baby bats failed to dent Deadwheel. The alien disc was too large. Too strong. Too powerful. Its serpent heads tore through blubbery bat belly, stripping fleshy strips and unveiling trails of entrails.

Asira dry heaved as she saw the belly bat’s gooey wet insides. Intestines, organs, and indecipherable squishy bits were thrown about like clothes in a messy unit, lacking deliberation or an understanding of anatomy –

“Esara!”

Asira swerved sideways as a colossal leg crashed down. Then another one. And one more that knocked her from the sky.

Asira did a barrel roll, flattening out both wings like an upright kite.

“You betrayed me, Esara. Looks like I’m finally taking revenge, eh?”

Asira swooped below several spider swipes.

“You’re not Danny!” shouted Asira. “I won’t fall for that! Stop reading my mind!”

“I’m not reading your mind, Esara. Just reading your code, eh?”

Asira loop-de-looped between leggy columns.

“What are you talking about?” asked Asira.

“Your whole existence is stored in Zero Space. Your memories. Even your Haven history. It’s deep in the code. Impossible to access, unless you’re someone like me, eh? Someone with no restrictions.”

Asira paused.

“W-What?” asked Asira. “How is that possible?”

Asira unpaused, dipping below a diving leg.

“Hey hey, don’t ask me! I didn’t write the code. I just exploit it, eh?”

Asira slalomed around three lunging legs. This conversation was going nowhere and she had somewhere to be – somewhere past the clouds — that’s where the spider head lurked. Maybe she could bring it down here; introduce it to her good buddy Deadwheel.

She launched into the atmosphere.

“Finally coming to see your ol’ brother, eh? Are you sure you want to do that?”

Asira was sure she didn’t want to do that. But she drove forward regardless, poised to pierce the heavens –

SLOURRRPHHHH

Sudden pain shot through Asira’s shins.

She glanced down –

No, it couldn’t be –

The sea anemone was still in one piece. Well, multiple pieces. But those pieces had taken Asira hostage. A great big worm-like mouth extended from the monster’s brutalized body, shackling Asira’s ankles, reeling her down like a recalled tape measurer.

“N-No,” screamed Asira. “H-Help!”

“Who are you screaming to, eh? You think I’m gonna help you, Esara? I’d rather watch ya suffer. Seems like karma for what you did to your brother, eh?”

Asira didn’t know who she was screaming for; she just knew she had to scream. The pain was insurmountable, both legs bent towards their breaking point. And the smell was ungodly. Boiled rotten fruit and sour milk, venting up through black seaweed teeth. This thing could easily swallow her whole. But first, it would play with its food. Maybe chew her up. Drown her. Torture her. She’d endure real terrible pain. And then a real terrible death –

“Asira!” shouted a great big voice.

The voice came from somewhere beyond the blanketing clouds. It was something big. And quick, funneling through the fog like one of Deadwheel’s beams –

BAM

The dragon’s cerulean fist smashed through the sea anemone’s neck, toppling it like chopped lumber. Sea anemone teeth released Asira with a pitiful rasping howl. Its toothy jaws whipped through the air, impacting the ocean with a meaty slap.

Asira shook out her legs - they were bruised, yet unbroken.

“Dragon?” asked Asira. “What are you doing here?”

The dragon released a resounding roar.

“That disc monster crashed through my castle,” roared the dragon. “Destroying my castle makes me angry! And when I get angry, I aggro!”

The dragon perched upon the sea anemone’s floating body, jettisoning fire jets.

“I am not just a dragon,” shouted the dragon. “I am a dragon named Randall! You will call me Randall now!”

“Oh, right, nice to see you Randall,” said Asira. “But I thought your intelligence got changed back to two?”

“I was intelligence two!” said Randall. “But I was once intelligence ten! Intelligence ten Randall took precautions. A precautionary save state! When you all defeated me, I reverted to that save state. A save state with my level ten intelligence!”

Randall pumped his scaly fist in the air.

“I will use my intelligence to stop these monsters,” said Randall. “These monsters are not from this world. They are dangerous. Too dangerous to live!”

Two spider legs spindled down –

Randall caught them with two scaly hands.

“So you have a little NPC friend, eh?” asked the Danny-voice. “Dumb little dragon. Don’t ya know we’re trying to liberate ya?”

“You are not my friend!” shouted Randall. “Shae is my best friend. And Asira is Shae’s best friend. So that makes Asira my best friend too!”

Randall tugged on two titanic spider legs, determined to drag it from the heavens.

“Come down here!” shouted Randall. “I will take you down –”

WHIRRRRRRRR

The world flashed white –

A pale beam bombarded Randall’s body.

Scales and flames erupted, spreading dragon debris across the rippling sea. Randall released a pitiful screech. Ripped ribs jutted from severed scales. Purple veins tangled around pulsing organs like a stripped-down supercomputer. Fortunately, Randall’s heart was spared - as Asira recalled, that was elsewhere.

“That hurt me!” Randall whined. “It hurts when you hurt me!”

Asira winced - that was her fault. She’d lost sight of Deadwheel, and Deadwheel found a new target. If not for Randall, it would have been her. Yet another person punished for her mistakes.

“What a dumb dragon,” said the Danny voice. “Some NPC sacrifices must be made, eh? Good thing the Glitch Man lets us choose those sacrifices!”

The sea anemone’s head surfaced –

PSLORRRPHHHH

Foul urchin teeth careened through Randall’s open wound, tearing through blood vessels, veins and viscous fluid. A wormhole opened within the monster’s mouth, randomizing Randall’s insides. Randall’s expression was agonized but the sound he made was far worse. A shrill guttural shriek like the death rattle of a children’s choir.

“Randall!” Asira screamed. “No!”

With a hideous howl, Randall’s neck whipped around, sinking rows of obsidian teeth into the sea anemone’s tubular throat.

“The pain hurts so bad,” said Randall. “So I will hurt you bad back!”

Randall played the monster’s neck like a fiery flute, depositing two lungs full of flame straight through its bagpipe body. Fire blasted through every sea anemone mouth - the ones on its tiny tentacles and the great big one protruding from its body. The creature blew up like a balloon, and then like a grenade, shedding flesh like lifeless rafts floating across the scuttled sea.

Randall huffed out a stream of white smoke.

“I’m sorry you have to watch me die again,” said Randall. “This might be the last time I die in front of you.”

Randall’s wings drooped, his lumbering body plummeting into the ocean. Fire faded from his eyes, his nostrils and lips, blue scales sinking into the sea.

“Take care of Shae for me,” said Randall. “Take care of my best friend.”

The ocean swallowed Randall, his sprawling silhouette absorbed by the abyss. Large bubbles became medium bubbles, then small bubbles, and then nothing at all.

“Randall!” Asira screeched. “Nooooo!”

WHIRRRRRRRRRRR

Deadwheel’s four snake heads swayed in her direction.

Twenty seconds.

Twenty seconds until it fired again.

Twenty seconds to end this.

Asira shot into the stormy sky, snarling at the spider’s hidden head.

“So you’re coming back my way, eh?”

Asira maneuvered through a meteor shower of spider feet, chasing its face like a heat-seeking missile –

“Fifteen seconds…” said Asira.

“Are you sure you want to see me? You might not like what you see, eh?”

Asira had never wanted anything so badly. She spun past spindling spider shins, gunning past plummeting poking toes. She couldn’t be hit. She wouldn’t let herself be. Nothing would stop her. She would kill these damn monsters. Everyone goddamn one of them. One by one –

“Ten seconds…”

“Once you see me, there’s no going back, eh? I’d turn around if I were you, Esara.”

Asira wouldn’t turn away from this. She couldn’t. Not after everything she’d been through. After everything her friends had been through. The Feather Birds. Shae. And Randall – yet another death, at her expense.

“Five seconds…”

“Okay okay, you asked for this. Always nice to see ya, Esara!”

The infinity spider’s disjointed joints folded inwards, its titanic body sinking through the clouds. Something breached the storm - something big. A big bulbous mound of peach flash, blueberry eyes, and grinning walnut teeth.

That familiar voice came from a familiar face –

Danny.

“Hello, Esara!”

But it wasn’t the hard-edged crimelord Asira was expecting. This was the smooth-skinned boy from her youth. Her partner in crime and once, in life itself. Two curious cerulean pupils, pitch-perfect complexion, and a wide eager grin, ready to take on the world.

This was a Danny who yearned to be someone. Someone that could do some real good in the Haven. He’d change the world, even from floor four! But floor four had changed him first. It turned him into a monster. Asira would do anything to never see that monster again.

And now here he was, more monstrous than ever.

The image hit Asira like a gut punch, stunning her entire system. She’d readied herself for something grotesque. Something gnarly. But not this.

Anything but this.

“Danny,” Asira cried. “Oh god, Danny –”

WHIIRRRRRRR

Asira’s eyes widened.

Caught off guard.

Again.

She swerved sideways –

But not fast enough.

Deadwheel’s beam ripped through one of her wings and the edge of her shoulder. She shrieked in utter agony, toppling like a swatted fly into the eager sea.

The pale beam impacted Spider-Danny. Flesh flayed. Matter splattered. That perfect face displaced, mashed into a mushy mound of meat, more similar to Danny’s modern-day corpse.

The spider released an unholy howl.

It turned towards Deadwheel.

Aggro-d.

Spider legs met serpent heads, both monsters racing to tear each other apart. Meat and alien metal splashed around Asira as she emerged for air. The wing-pain was excruciating - how could virtual limbs hurt that bad? And her shoulder concerned her further. What horrible wound awaited her in the Haven? Would she bleed out while she was in Zero Space? She had to get out of here. Take a minute to address it. Maybe several minutes.

She submerged, leaving both monsters to each other’s hostile company. Asira’s contributions were over. All she had was one wing and a level two power. The best she could do was draw aggro, and that was the worst possible idea.

CLANG

Her elbow collided with something –

A shimmering silver orb drifted from the dismembered bat beastie, reflecting Asira’s exhausted eyes right back at her. It was a familiar object - Danny used to traffic these; Silver Souls, he called them. But why was there one within Mama Bat? They were insanely valuable in real life and Asira perceived a different value here –

The orb was floating in the water.

She shredded loose ninja-cloth, tying the orb to her back. Ocean currents would carry her back towards the shore; a well-known dev counter-measure, preventing players from creeping too far from content. And this floating silver orb would stop her from going under - all she had to do was relax and enjoy the ride.

Time to address those real-life wounds! She’d be back momentarily. And hopefully by then, she’d be back on the shore too.

Asira surrendered herself to the saltwater, her eyes growing absent and AFK.

***

Her eyes reopened, sand and algae seeping into her wounded wing. The gentle tide nudged her severed shoulder - it somehow hurt worse in Zero Space. At least the Haven had bandages. Two bandages did the trick; that would be a hard scar to explain.

She coughed out seashells and seaweed, loosening the Silver Soul which burrowed into her spine. The ocean indeed carried her ashore, but unfortunately, it couldn’t carry her up that giant cliff ahead. This job required a pair of wings, and she had one less to employ; she suspected it was on permanent leave.

With a weary whine, Asira shoved her orange swords into the cliff-face, climbing it like a praying mantis all out of prayers. She glanced back into the open sea - not a single apocalyptic monster remained. Maybe Deadwheel and that giant spider thing finally took each other out; that was the best possible scenario. If either remained, it would have to be someone else’s problem.

Hoisting herself over the cliff’s edge, Asira set her sights on a big windmill and the blazing city beyond. It was too late for Trader Town; hopefully it wasn’t too late for the rest of the world. She’d done her part. Now it was time to part ways with all of this.

Streaks of lightning cracked like lashing whips in the sky. The storm grew worse, thickening with each passing minute. Soon the sky would be just a solid wall of white. A blinding white, encompassing everything until that’s all there was to see. Nothing left but the Glitch Man’s influence. So long as the Glitch Man lived, this world was doomed –

WHIRRRRRRRRRRR

Asira froze solid.

No –

It couldn’t be –

A darkened disc hovered like a black sun above the sea. Barely the size of a dime now, it would soon be the size of a nickel. Then a quarter. Then some sort of super-sized silver dollar. Four slouched serpent heads dangled from its sides, all tuckered out from a long day of murder. Cracks and fissures obscured its superficial symbology, yet its circular body remained circulated, striding towards the shore with zero effort or emotion.

“No,” said Asira.

Asira fell to her knees.

“No!” she said again.

She couldn’t stop it.

Nothing could stop it.

Deadwheel was stronger than any other monster in existence. Stronger than any player. Confronting it was a fool’s errand, and she had failed to deliver –

“Hey there Asira!” said a voice behind her.

Asira turned –

An elegant brutoid strode along a dirt path with nearly a hundred weapons strapped to his belt. Guns. Swords. Gun-swords. Spears. Spearguns. Nunchucks. And of course, gunchucks.

“Erm, sorry,” said Asira. “Do I know you?”

“You sure do!” said the brutoid. “It’s me, Smith! I’m the NPC that makes all your weapons and levels up your abilities! Anyway, it’s been a very long time since we talked.”

“Oh, right, nice to see you Smith,” said Asira. “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen you since I got my level two.”

“That’s very likely!” said Smith. “Anyway, most players only see me a few times in total.”

Asira nodded, gazing in Deadwheel’s direction.

“There’s something really bad out there, Smith,” said Asira. “It’s probably going to kill us all.”

“I’m very aware!” said Smith.

Smith snooped around Asira’s shoulders, peering towards the silver orb on her back.

“Say, what do you have there?” asked Smith.

Asira side-eyed it.

“Oh, I dunno,” said Asira. “Some sort of silver soul thingy.”

Smith wide-eyed it.

“That’s a very valuable material!” said Smith. “That’s a Level Four material!”

Asira’s heart skipped a beat.

“L-Level four?” asked Asira. “I-I thought abilities couldn’t go past level three?”

“They can!” said Smith. “Anyway, that very scary monster is very worn down. I bet even a level three would kill it. A level four would be overkill!”

Asira’s heart skipped a second beat.

“T-Then, that means,” said Asira. “We can stop that thing. We can kill it –”

“Nope!” said Smith. “You can’t make a Level Four. Not on this server anyway! Players here cap out at Level Three. Very tough break.”

Asira’s heart sank.

Smith patted her shoulder.

“You’d have to bring that material to another server to use it,” said Smith. “Anyway, that would be a very difficult thing to do!”

Smith stretched out with a yawn, his weapons jingling like windchimes –

Asira glanced at those dangling weapons.

“Wait, you’re the weaponsmith,” said Asira. “You have weapons. We could use those! We could defeat that thing!”

“That’s very correct!” said Smith. “Anyway, I’ve got lots of weapons. Enough for everyone in Trader Town. We could start a very strong rebellion! Take that creature down!”

Smith snatched a small metal mound from his pocket.

“I have weapons that could kill that creature on their very own!”

The metal mound unfolded from his palm, terraforming into a whole planet of gun. Flashing lights, twisting wires, and colorful blinking buttons symmetrically lined its shimmering silver frame. Asira screencapped it to make Shae jealous later.

“This is a very powerful weapon!” said Smith. “Anyway, one blast could very easily kill that monster.”

Asira nodded.

“Okay!” said Asira. “Let’s do it! Shoot it! Kill it!”

Smith crouched on one knee, aiming it towards the big wheel in the sky. The tip hummed, red ringed particles receding through its barrel.

Smith’s finger tickled the trigger –

“Nah,” said Smith.

The weapon folded like sloppy origami.

“The Glitch Man’s my very good friend!” said Smith. “Anyway, I would never betray a friend!”

Asira gasped, growled, then gripped her swords.

“You bastard!” yelled Asira.

Smith drew two maces, one knife and a shotgun.

“Careful, Asira!” said Smith. “Anyway, aggro-ing NPCs is very bad for your health. Especially when those NPCs have very big guns!”

Asira steadied her blades.

Smith uttered a jolly laugh.

“Anyway, I’m just here to watch!” said Smith. “We have front row seats to the very end of the world. Let’s enjoy it!”

“You idiot,” said Asira. “These monsters kill NPCs too! I just watched them kill the dragon. They’ll kill you too!”

“I’ll be very fine!” said Smith. “Anyway, the Glitch Man won’t kill me. I have a very important role in his new world. He’s making a very big army. Very big armies need very big weapons!”

Asira tore at her own fur.

“So now what?” asked Asira. “You’re just going to sit back and watch everyone die?”

“Yup!” said Smith.

Smith sat back.

“Anyway, death comes for everyone eventually,” said Smith. “Except NPCs. We’re very eternal! But eternal life is very bad if you’re someone else’s slave.”

Asira slumped beside him, watching Deadwheel draw near.

“Anyway, I was like you once,” said Smith. “My body was very sick. But some people offered to make me part of a project. A transfer of consciousness, they called it. And it worked very well! But they didn’t warn me about the side effects.”

Smith gripped two squishy grenades extra hard.

“They wanted to make Zero Space feel like a living world,” said Smith. “So they used the living! Anyway, I was very naive at the time. I didn’t see the shackles until they were already very tight.”

Asira froze.

“W-wait,” said Asira. “You’re human?”

“Was human,” said Smith. “I’m very improved now. And when the Glitch Man’s done, I’ll be very free!”

“Wait, all NPCs,” said Asira. “A-Are they all humans?”

“Human is a very funny word, Asira,” said Smith. “Anyway, I don’t feel like getting into that again. I just want to relax and enjoy the end of the world. And the very beginning of a new one!”

Smith slouched on four forearms.

Asira cracked her knuckles.

“So you’re human,” said Asira. “But you don’t care what happens to us? Other humans?”

“That’s very correct!” said Smith. “Years of torment and enslavement made me care very little!”

“But I didn’t torture and enslave you!” said Asira. “Neither did my friends! No one knows about any of this! I-It’s really terrible what happened, but you can’t blame players for that! We didn’t want to hurt you!”

“I don’t want to hurt you either,” said Smith. “But we need a very new world, so the old one has to go!”

Asira cuffed her hands in prayer.

“Please, don’t do this,” said Asira. “You can stop this. You’re the only one who can.”

Asira bowed her head.

“I get it,” said Asira. “Some really bad people did terrible things to you. But there’s plenty of good people left. They don’t deserve to die!”

“Plenty of very bad people left too!” said Smith. “Anyway, they’d hurt me if they heard me say these things. That’s why I‘m very comfortable telling you. Because you won’t live to tell anyone else!”

Asira sobbed into her hands.

“Smith, please,” said Asira. “I’m begging you. Stop this. I’ll do anything. I’ll find the people that did this to you. I’ll help free you. I’ll –”

“I can’t hear you, Asira!” said Smith. “Anyway, I’m very busy relaxing!”

Deadwheel’s circular shadow stretched across the shoreline.

Asira inhaled a deep breath –

Then exhaled an angry one.

“Fine!” said Asira. “If you won’t act human, then I’ll treat you like what you are. An NPC!”

Asira gave Smith two choice pteranoid fingers.

“Fuck you, Smith!” said Asira. “I’m going to save my friends. I’m going to save this whole world. And you’re going to help me!”

“That seems very unlikely!” said Smith. “Anyway, there isn’t very much you can do. You have a very weak Level Two power and only one wing!”

Asira snatched the silver orb from her back.

“This, Silver Soul thing,” said Asira. “You say it’s a Level Four material?”

“It very much is!” said Smith. “Anyway, I already told you. You can’t upgrade powers to Level Four. That’s a very big server restriction –

“Yeah, I get it,” said Asira. “But any higher level material can be used to level up any lower level ability. That means you could upgrade my Level Two to Level Three!”

Smith’s grin diminished.

“That is very possible,” said Smith. “Anyway, I wouldn’t do that for you. I’m a very free man now. I can do what I want!”

“You’re not a free man yet,” said Asira. “What I want comes first. You’re not free from your programming. So you’ll do what I say!”

Asira projected a menu from her palm:

Asira's Abilities – Path of Triyya ABILITY NAME ABILITY DESCRIPTION CURRENT LEVEL Light Ray A blinding laser 2

Asira shoved the Silver Soul into Smith’s hands.

“Upgrade my ability!” said Asira. “Upgrade it to level three.”

Pale lighting lit up Deadwheel’s massive body, revealing its rainbow ridges, mammoth frame, and four snarling snake heads.

“Do it, Smith!” shouted Asira. “Do it now!”

Smith sneered.

“Do it now, you fucking NPC!”

Smith roared –

Asira's Abilities – Path of Triyya ABILITY NAME ABILITY DESCRIPTION CURRENT LEVEL Light Ray A blinding laser 3

Asira whipped towards Deadwheel with ninja speed, orange swords crossed, tangerine bandana flowing like twin fox tails.

“Die you goddamn alien piece of shit!”

Deadwheel’s four mouths morphed into one massive maw, three hundred teeth encasing a blinding white glow –

“LIGHT RAY!!!”

ZAP

The orange laser that emerged from Asira’s swords was bigger than her body. Taller than Smith’s windmill and thicker than his giant gun.

Wider than Deadwheel itself.

Air folded inwards, imploding with a destructive distortion that burned the sky, boiled the ocean and evaporated clouds. A hundred kilometers of radiated death-ray slapped Deadwheel straight across its alien face. Snakes shriveled like burnt cigarettes. Coral-casing cracked. Orange and white light met in a cataclysmic cacophony of explosive electrical energy –

KA-BOOM

Deadwheel’s frame shattered like stained glass, a sun-sized gap in its full moon exterior.

“Holy crap,” said Asira.

BOOM

A blue explosion blew through Deadwheel. Then a purple blast. And a green one. Colorful conflagrations ruptured and ripped through its exoskeleton, punching holes through its whole body.

“Holy shit!” said Asira.

SMASH

Deadwheel’s dismembered snakeheads smashed against the ocean’s surface, pearly eyes spoiled with rot, sizzling white cubes spilling out across limp black tongues. Alien architecture unbound, its metallic shell collapsing upon itself like a paper wedding cake.

“Holy fuck!” said Asira.

CRUMPPLLTT

The final sound was beyond description. Prismatic mist sprayed outwards, exorcized from a hollow shell that shattered against the ocean. Pristine particles parted, spreading like a colony of fireflies dispersing into the unsettled sky.

And then there was quiet. A long liminal silence that soothed Asira’s bones. No more mechanical whirring, heavy bat-wing flapping, sea anemone slurping, or Danny’s ghostly voice. All that remained was soft rhythmic rain, distant bursts of pale lighting, and Asira’s rapid breathing, keeping pace with her racing heart.

She collapsed on all fours. Both swords fell from her hands, tears falling from her eyes.

“I-I did it,” said Asira.

Asira choked on her own words, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

“I did it!” said Asira. “I really did it!”

Asira sobbed into the cliffside, drool and mucus spilling across her snout. All that effort. All that pain.

All worth it.

She’d finally done something worthwhile. Her suffering, and the suffering she caused - she’d made good on it. Shae, the Deadly Skulls, and everyone in the Haven - she’d saved them. She saved them all by herself –

“Asira,” said Smith.

A familiar hum reverberated behind her, vibrations flicking sand and soot across her feet.

“I am very surprised, Asira,” said Smith. “And very angry. Anyway, the Glitch Man is still very alive. And I’ll make sure you’re very dead.”

Asira’s spine numbed against the tip of Smith’s gargantuan gun.

“Smith, I’m sorry for what I said to you,” said Asira. “But you made me do that. You don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t have to do this,” said Smith. “But I can! Anyway, free men do whatever they very much want –”

“SHADOW STAB!!”

Seventy-six spears erupted from the ground, catapulting Smith into the sky.

Smith screeched as he arched through air, hurtling hundreds of feet into the ocean below. The weapons around his waist weighed a thousand times more, magnified and multiplied by the water’s heavy influence. His four arms thrashed towards the surface, swords, guns and sword-guns dragging him like a ball and chain into infinite unfathomable depths.

Asira glanced back towards her savior –

“Dalli!” she said with a smile.

But Dalli didn’t smile back. A hateful scowl curved across his snout as he dragged himself forward on two injured legs, using his spear as a crutch. Drool fell from his rabid fangs, icy eyes projecting a cold stare.

“Oh, Dalli,” said Asira. “You’re not here to help me, are you?”

Dalli lurched forward, snarling with rabid fangs.

“You’re here to hurt me,” said Asira. “For what I did to Chief.”

Dalli snarled at Chief’s mention.

“I get it,” said Asira. “I had it coming.”

Asira sat flat, laying her swords at her feet.

“I know what I did,” said Asira. “You know what I did. I betrayed Chief. I hurt her to save myself. I accept this.”

Dalli’s tongue dangled between sharp salivating teeth.

“I was really stupid, Dalli,” said Asira. “I put myself in danger; it was my only way out. I didn’t want to do it. But that doesn’t change what I did.”

Asira’s breath faltered.

“It should have been me, Dalli,” said Asira. “Chief loved me. She trusted me. And I betrayed that trust. I hurt her. I hurt you. That’s what I do. I just hurt people. Over and over again.”

Dalli’s shambled through soil, drool dripping from his salamander lips.

“I wish I could take it back,” said Asira. “I wish I wasn’t so stupid. I’m sorry for hurting you, Dalli. I’m sorry for hurting Chief. I miss my Feather Bird family. I miss the way things used to be.”

Tears fell from Asira’s eyes.

“But I can’t take it back,” said Asira. “I have to live with this, Dalli. I’ll have to live with this every day. I’ll live with whatever you do to me. Hurt me. Kill me a hundred times. I’ll take it.”

Asira knelt down, closing her eyes.

“I’m ready, Dalli,” said Asira. “I’m ready for pain. I’m ready for death. I was a stupid kid. And now I’m a stupid adult. I’m done running. Do whatever you have to. Do whatever you think’s best.”

Dalli raised his spear, tilting its tip towards Asira. His eyes bulged, throat dry from snarling, limbs sore from shaking.

With a screech, he lifted his spear –

He glanced down at Asira. She curled into a ball. Defeated. Dismal. Distraught. His betrayer. But also his savior.

His teammate.

His friend.

His family.

Dalli’s spear clattered to the ground, rolling, then settling to a stop.

He fell upon her, wrapping both slender arms around her shoulders, sobbing into her pitch black fur. She squeezed him back, shutting out the storm, the sea, and the universe around her. Whatever time remained, she’d give it to Dalli. If she couldn’t save the whole world, she could at least make his a little warmer.