After meeting with several of the more influential members of the Elves and the Doppelgangers hiding in the City, Chris managed to arrange a meeting between the two sides to discuss cooperation. Both sides were firmly on the side of 'fuck the Elf King', but they weren't exactly on board with the whole 'let's tell all the humans we've been sneaking around their city for years' bit. Which, you know, Chris got. The idea of humanity discovering their infiltration was pretty much a nightmare scenario on both sides, since if humanity decided to reject them, they were screwed. Plus there was all the suspicion that humans would direct at each other, causing untold amounts of chaos and strife… pretty much everyone agreed that revealing themselves could go horribly, horribly wrong. What Chris had to convince them of was that things would go horribly, horribly wrong if they didn't reveal themselves.

"Are you sure about this?" Jo asked nervously as she, Dichonius, and Chris arrived at a nondescript location, covered in heavy cloaks.

"As sure as I can be." Chris shrugged. "Also, you do realize these cloaks make us look more suspicious than if we'd just shown up, right? We can all shapeshift. We could have just changed what we looked like and walked in like normal people."

"That's the point." Jo explained. "We can all shapeshift! How are we supposed to tell who's who unless we make it obvious? The only way to tell the difference between us and random people off the street are the cloaks. Unless we don't try to hide our identities, in which case, what's the point in having a secret meeting? We might as well meet in someone's office."

"I've met in several people's offices. It wasn't that big a deal." Chris retorted.

"One person is a lot different than a couple dozen." Jo countered.

"Yeah, yeah." Chris grumbled, pulling at his cloak. "This thing is just annoying."

"You get used to it." Dichonius commented with a shrug, opening the door for them.

"Well, if this meeting goes the way I'd like it to, hopefully I won't have to." Chris replied as they entered.

They walked through a few winding hallways and down a set of stairs before arriving in what looked like a large, empty storage room. Several other cloaked figures were there, mingling in a hushed manner as they waited for everyone to arrive. The Elves and the Doppelgangers still weren't exactly comfortable with each other, so they split the room with only a few people crossing between, but they weren't fighting or anything, so Chris counted it as a win. Everyone he'd talked to seemed to be on board with cooperating, so he wasn't that worried, but the two sides had been fighting for years. He wouldn't have been surprised if someone held a grudge. The three of them moved off into their own little corner as they waited for the rest to arrive.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Elves and Doppelgangers could be in the same room together, intent on cooperating." Dichonius muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's almost surreal." Jo agreed.

"Well, it was either this or die trying to fight the Elf King alone…" Chris commented. "They didn't really have much choice."

"True." Jo sighed. "I just hope it lasts… so many unions of necessity fall apart the moment everything goes back to normal."

"We'll at least have shown them it's possible." Dichonius replied, reaching out to grab her hand. "Hopefully that's enough."

A few more people trickled in over the next few minutes, before one of the cloaked figures stepped forward and let out a small cough. "I believe everyone has arrived, so we shall get started." The figure spoke in a voice that Chris was pretty sure was Trent's. "As you all know, due to the… dalliances of two of our number, a certain individual has been born that represents a credible threat to the Elf King and his throne. Furthermore, this individual revealed himself in a manner that allowed certain individuals loyal to the Elf King to send word before anyone could stop them, meaning the Elf King knows of his existence, and will do everything in his power to remove said threat. I believe everyone in this room agrees that we cannot allow that to happen." A chorus of agreement echoed out, ranging from grudging to emphatic. Everyone wanted to screw over the Elf King, but not everyone was exactly happy they were essentially being forced to.

From the Doppelganger side, another person stepped forward. "As you all know, we are not currently in a position to face the Elf King in any way, shape, or form." Chris thought this one might be a Doppelganger named Melinda. "However, the individual who caused all this believes he has a solution. As long as he is given enough ability energy, he believes he can help uplift young Doppelgangers to the level of cultivators! We have a few candidates who are ready to reach the physical peak during their next mutation, and if what he says is true, they'll reach the peak of Omega-tier as well! We could have as many as half a dozen cultivators by next month!" There was a round of applause at that, along with a few cheers, mostly from the Doppelganger side.

"However, we still have to be careful." Possibly Trent interjected. "If the Elf King learns we have cultivators, then he'll send his cultivators after us. Cultivators much older and more powerful than our half dozen. They should be used sparingly, only when it is absolutely necessary, or when they can ensure no evidence of their existence gets out. Which means the majority of the time, the fighting will fall to us. We need time for our cultivators to grow, and for more to rise. We need to reach the point where the Elf King doesn't dare to send his cultivators into the Maze, for fear of what will happen to them!" Another round of applause rang out, though it was slightly more subdued. If they were going to be fighting the Elf King's forces, there was a good chance a lot of them would die. But if the other option was rolling over and letting the Elf King do whatever he wanted, then they were more than willing to take that risk.

With that, a few other cloaked figures stepped forward to contribute to specific strategies. A few groups volunteered to head to the upper levels of the Maze to collect the necessary ability cores, while others discussed the various choke points within the Maze they'd need to defend or block, and a few even offered to scout the surface for the Elf King's army. Both sides seemed fully committed, earnestly discussing different plans and strategies, when Chris coughed to grab everyone's attention.

"I'm not going to pretend to have any major military insight, but I believe you're all ignoring a sizable weakness that the Elf King can, and will take advantage of if we let him." He began. "I've already brought this up with a few of you, but if we insist on trying to fight this war without the support of humanity, I believe we are destined to lose."

"The problem is, humanity won't accept us." Trent replied in a bitter tone. "Not after we've lied to them for so many years. If we're destined to lose without their support… then we're simply destined to lose. But I refuse to give up so easily, so I hope you're wrong."

Chris sighed. "Look, guys, I get that humans can be… well, they suck sometimes, but you need to at least give them a chance. Tell them your side of the story before someone else takes the opportunity away from you. Sure, things might go badly if you come clean, but if you let outside forces control the narrative, then things just will go badly, no might about it. And if things are already going to go badly, would you rather it go badly now, or when you're in the middle of a war?"

"Why are you so certain something will go wrong?" Someone Chris didn't know from the crowd asked. "We've been hiding our existence from humanity for years now, and they've never suspected a thing!"

"But during that time, you were never at war!" Chris growled. "Look, what do you think is going to happen when Elves start popping up in the Maze? Do you think humanity isn't going to get suspicious? Do you think they'll just fight them for no reason? No! They're going to try and talk! To get information! And what do you think the Elf King will tell them? That there's an infestation in the City, and he's coming to rip it out. And then humanity will be on his side. Do you really want that?"

"Why would the humans believe anything the Elf King says? Why would they trust invaders over people they've fought and bled with for years?" The same person retorted.

"Because they did!" Chris exclaimed. "Ah, fuck it." He waved his hand and Alexander appeared. "Hey, can you tell these guys what happened in the game and why you're here? They're giving me a headache."

Alexander blinked, looking around the room at the group of people who seemed just as surprised to see him and he was to see them. "Uh… I- sure?" He stammered, taking a moment to compose himself. "Um, hi, my name is Alexander, and I'm from a place called Earth. On Earth, we have this game called 'The Maze' which is a deep dive VR game that tells the story of the last remnants of humanity struggling to survive in an underground city under a gigantic Maze. In the game…" He glanced at Chris. "Uh, well, he, or at least a version of him, picked a fight with the Elf King and started a war that led to the deaths of a significant portion of humanity."

"Tell them about the purge." Chris interjected.

"Oh, uh, well, after the Elves invaded, one of the Families, the Monteiths, revealed that the Elves weren't here for humanity, but for the Doppelgangers that had infiltrated the City. It- it was horrible. People just started fighting each other, claiming this person or that person was a Doppelganger, and people were right often enough that it just kept going! More people died from false accusations than from the war itself!" Alexander explained.

"See?" Chris stepped forward. "If we wait for the Elf King to out you, it won't just hurt you. It'll hurt humanity as well! If you out yourselves, make it clear who is or isn't a Doppelganger, then at least humanity won't turn on itself. And if we have to run… Well, we were probably going to have to do that anyway."

"Wait, wait, hold on." Trent interjected. "You're getting all this from a game?!?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, a game from another world." Chris shrugged. "And he got reincarnated here with specific instructions to stop all this from happening, so I'm pretty sure the odds of it being true are better than the odds of it being not. Plus, like, logically, it makes sense, doesn't it? That's why you're scared of the humans finding out. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you think about it."

"Right, that's why you guys can't fight the Elf King!" Alexander interjected. "It just- it ruins everything! Just- just give him whatever he wants. Resisting just isn't worth the cost!"

"Oh, buddy." Chris patted him on the shoulder, wincing slightly. "We figured out we kinda have to fight the Elf King… see, if he gets his hands on my ability, it's going to cause so many problems. Like, immortal, enslaved army problems. Like totalitarian overlord type problems. It just can't be allowed." Several people nodded in agreement.

Alexander looked at him, wide-eyed. "But- but you promised…" He muttered. "If you just surrender, everyone will be safe!"

"If I surrender, everyone will be enslaved." Chris retorted.

"No- just- no, no, NO!" Alexander screamed, pulling at his hair in distress.

"Hey, just calm down, we can-" Chris attempted to pacify him, before cutting off as he felt something rip inside him.

*

"Fuck!" Chris cursed, flinching at the pain that echoed through his very being. "What the hell was-" Chris froze. "Uh… where am I-yeesh!" Chris flinched away from the thing sitting to his right. It was covered in some grotesque mixture of skin, fur, and… carapace? which did nothing to make the unholy mishmash of a menagerie of different creatures more appealing. There were claws, more limbs than Chris wanted to count, fangs and mandibles, multiple sets of eyes… all of which seemed to be closed as the strange creature remained inert. Unconscious. Hopefully.

Chris got up from his… throne? Why was he on a throne? Chris froze as the throne suddenly shifted into a simple chair, then a stool, then an entire couch, then a toilet for some reason, before settling on a comfortable looking recliner. "Huh…" He glanced over at the creature. It also had a throne. As did the other two beings in the room, a weird half-man half-woman on his left and… a surprisingly normal looking dude across from him. "Well, that's nice." Chris nodded, before pausing and looking down at himself to make sure he looked normal. Hands and arms were fine, legs, torso… everything was good up until he reached the top of his head and he cursed. "Damn horns!" The same seven horns that plagued all his transformations were present here too, and he couldn't seem to get rid of them. "Bah!" Chris growled, waving his hand dismissively. Whatever. They were just horns.

Chris turned to observe more of the room, not that there was much to observe. It was just the four thrones and four doors. His throne, and what he was assuming was his door because it was the same color, was white. The woman-man's throne and door were red, the dude's were black, while the creature's were… some kind of sickly greenish-gray. "Well, that makes sense." Chris muttered. "Just a whole sort of creepy vibe going on over there."

He turned to the white door, wiggling the handle and clicking his tongue. "Locked." He walked over to the red door, and it was the same thing. Same with the black and sickly doors. "Huh." Chris grunted, before shrugging and going to open a portal… except nothing happened. All of the sudden Chris's eyes sharpened as he finally paid attention to the rest of his selves. They were… stopped. Frozen in time. His other self was still staring at a distraught Alexander who… was no longer connected to his world. Which meant people could disconnect. "It just hurts like a bitch." Chris muttered.

Chris looked around some more before letting out a sigh. "Well. This isn't good." He was essentially trapped in here with these three. Unless he could break down a door, but something was telling him that wasn't likely. And if time was passing so slowly that his other selves felt frozen… "This really isn't good." Chris groaned, collapsing into his new recliner. He tapped his finger on the arm rest, staring at the other three figures. "Maybe I can kill myself? Would that work?" He wondered, before glancing at the creature. "Or maybe I could get you to do it for me." He chuckled slightly.

Chris paused at that thought. "Actually, could I wake these guys up?" He considered it for a moment. "Well, if I'm waking anyone up, it's gonna be you." He pointed at the normal looking dude in the black throne.

He got up, walked over to the man and grabbed his shoulder to try and shake him awake, but the moment he touched his shoulder, he felt a strange connection form between him and… the man's other selves. A connection he could use. He grabbed a hold of it and… the man's eyes popped open inches away from his own. "Can I help you?"