[ZERO SPACE]

A towering Lanzer held still, with Zydan still held.

“Well, giant QA Tester?” asked Zydan. “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to hurt me more?”

Lanzer’s lumbering head loomed in the clouds, staring into space.

“Did you go AFK?” asked Zydan. “What is even happening here?”

Zydan kicked free, knocking Lanzer back with both brutoid heels. Lanzer toppled like a chopped tree, forming a brand new location: Sunlight Canyon.

The earth shook, then steadied as Zydan rolled across the roof.

“This has indeed been a long strange day,” said Zydan.

Light rain escalated into a monstrous monsoon. Asira umbrellaed Shae with her remaining wing. Bowman hid within his hood. Auron pulled his sailor cap down. Dane just stood there, letting water wash over his blank black eyes.

“Five of you left,” said Zydan. “Let’s reduce that number to zero, shall we?”

Zydan sucked in a long deep breath –

“ASSET BROWSE: DRAGON FIRE!!!” shouted Zydan.

Zydan expelled a rank gust of condensation.

“Wait,” said Zydan. “What is this?”

Zydan plucked at his palm.

“All my moves,” said Zydan. “They’re gone. It’s all gone!”

An empty holographic menu flickered in Zydan’s fidgeting hand.

“This can’t be!” said Zydan. “Every enemy, empty! Lanzer, what did you do?”

Dane poked Shae with a finger.

“We should kill him now,” said Dane.

“Yeah,” said Shae. “PIERCING SHOT!!!”

BANG

A planet-sized bullet eclipsed Zydan, dragging him across jagged cobblestone and grating his flesh like shredded cheese. Unable to pierce Zydan’s reinforced boss-body, the vast bullet vaporized, searing his skin with slicing silver slivers.

Zydan

Zydan struggled to stand; he settled for a sit.

“No!” said Zydan. “I-I can’t lose.”

His blue cloak absorbed heavy rainwater, anchoring him to the ground. Blood streamed through holes in his clothes. Six bright blue eyes flickered like lightbulbs at the end of their life.

“C-Can I –”

Zydan’s eyes widened –

“C-Can I really lose?”

“May you,” said Bowman. “And yes, you may.”

Zydan fists slammed against the ground. Rainwater bounced and rolled across his rugged flesh.

“No,” said Zydan. “I won’t lose. I-I can’t lose. I worked too hard for this. There can only be one Zero Space god!”

“Yeah, and it’s not gonna be you,” said Shae. “Besides, I thought there were like, five Zero Space gods or something –”

Dane poked Shae’s shoulder.

“Hit him again,” said Dane.

“I can’t,” said Shae. “I’m out of SP.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” said Asira.

“Nope,” said Shae. “That shit goes fast.”

Zydan crawled to his feet, spewing out a gallon of guts.

“Give it up, Zydan,” said Shae. “You lose.”

“I-I won’t lose to you, Shae,” said Zydan.

“Damn straight!” said Shae. “You’ll lose to all of us. This is my team. We’re the Deadly Skulls. Best damn guild on the server.”

Shae spun both pistols.

“Doesn’t matter what you throw at us,” said Shae. “We’ll always find a way.”

Zydan’s wide eyes settled on a glowing icon in his palm.

“Always find a way, indeed,” said Zydan.

Zydan grew a grisly grin.

“Your wretched QA Tester ally deleted all the NPC ability packages,” said Zydan. “But he missed a few.”

Zydan clenched his palm menu.

“Certain older abilities were stored in a different folder, under a legacy file type,” said Zydan. “They belong to some friends of yours.”

Zydan beamed with chessboard teeth.

“The Wizard Twins,” said Zydan.

Four out of five Deadly Skulls gasped. Dane just stared at him.

“No,” said Asira. “You couldn’t possibly –”

“Indeed I could!” said Zydan. “Allow me to demonstrate: ASSET BROWSE!”

Raindrops boiled upon impact with Zydan’s flesh, dispersing into bubbling moisture. Magma mounds molded around his feet, hot lava leaking from pore to floor. A fiery lion’s mane smothered his smoldering shoulders. Snakes of flame slinked across his wrists.

“Say hello to an old friend,” said Zydan. “The fire wizard!”

Shae yawned.

“Who cares?” asked Shae. “We beat these fuckers once. We can do it again.”

“You beat them when they were wizards,” said Zydan. “But not when those wizards were me!”

Flame spouted from Zydan’s snout.

“ASSET BROWSE: FIRE JET!”

Zydan fired fire –

Shae slid below, firing back –

Zydan

“ASSET BROWSE: METEOR MASH!!!”

Zydan dove towards Dane, body ablaze –

Dane sidestepped with a sidekick –

Zydan

“ASSET BROWSE: FIREBALL!!!”

Bowman orbited by fiery orbs, returning a volley of arrows.

Zydan

Zydan stumbled away, plucking projectiles from his ribs.

“I-I don’t understand,” said Zydan. “How are you all still alive?”

“I told you,” said Shae. “We’ll counter anything you throw at us.”

Shae spun his pistols.

“Everyone left is fast enough to dodge all your slow ass moves,” said Shae. “We’re just that damn good.”

Zydan licked blood from his lips.

“Not all of you are,” said Zydan.

He eyed Auron who idled in the corner, slurping his sucker and whistling an inconspicuous tune.

“Say goodbye to your final healer,” said Zydan. “ASSET BROWSE: FIRE SWOOP!!!”

Zydan flew forward with a fistful of flame –

Auron flipped sideways, splitting open Zydan’s head with his heel.

Zydan

Zydan crashed against cobblestone, cradling his crunched cranium.

“W-Wait,” said Zydan. “W-What was that?”

“My foot,” said Auron.

Auron’s other foot swung into his skull.

Zydan

“I-I don’t understand,” said Zydan.

“Meh, everyone assumes I can’t fight, because I’m a healer,” said Auron. “How do you think I outlasted those other two healers?”

One heel rose into Zydan’s groin, and a second into his jaw.

Zydan

“Eh, I can fight alright,” said Auron. “I just don’t like doing it.”

A spinning kick sent Zydan sprawling.

Zydan

Auron plopped the lollipop back into his mouth.

“You want to live in Zero Space, you gotta know how to fight,” said Auron. “That’s just the rules. Eh, pretty sure you made those rules.”

Zydan spat out bloody black goo. His panicked pupils bounced between Shae, Asira, Bowman, Auron and Dane, each breath coarse and hoarse.

“No, this isn’t over!” shouted Zydan. “Not yet!”

Zydan projected his palm menu.

“The fire wizard had one last move,” said Zydan. “ASSET BROWSE: TORNADO FORM!!”

Zydan’s insides and outsides vaporized. His body bent like a rubber glove, reaching up to inhale ghostly clouds. Blue flesh blackened into a howling whirlwind, rooted on the tower’s roof. It twirled like a gnarled spindling top, twisting down from the big black sky.

“Holy shit,” said Shae, gripping his jacket and shades. “Holy fucking shit –”

Auron clenched his lollipop between his teeth.

“Eh, we’re screwed,” said Auron.

Dane poked Shae’s shoulder.

“What do we do?” said Dane.

“I have no fucking idea,” said Shae.

Bowman swiped at his airbourne arrows.

“I told you all to watch the replays!” shouted Bowman. “Master Valdi beat this with a Black Wave. Hit it with a level three!”

“I’m out of SP,” said Shae.

Bowman groaned.

“Great,” said Bowman. “Then we’re dead!”

The tornado tore through the tower floor, reeling in the Deadly Skulls.

“Indeed!” said the tornado. “It’s over Feather Birds. Or, Deadly Skulls - whatever you call yourselves now!”

The tower teetered beneath the tornado’s ethereal weight.

“A last ditch ploy, successfully deployed,” said the tornado. “Zero Space’s mightiest monster, controlled by Zero Space’s mightiest mind –”

Asira stepped forward, stalking the tornado like a hungry tick inspecting a leg. She drew both swords, growling with animalistic fervor - this was hardly the largest monster she’d faced today.

The tornado cackled, crackling with lightning.

“What are you going to do, pathetic pteranoid?” asked the tornado. “You can’t blind a tornado!”

“You’re the one that’s blind, Zydan!” yelled Asira.

Asira crossed both blades. Black fur inflated like an electrified raccoon. Twin suns shone in her eyes. Her orange ninja outfit grew oversaturated like a neon nova.

The tornado gasped –

“LIGHT RAY!!!”

ZAP

Earth-encompassing energy erupted from Asira’s swords. Shae, Bowman, Dane and Auron shielded their eyes, but the tornado had no eyes to shield, nor hands to shield them with. Its windy maw swallowed the beam whole, battering its belly with thirty thousand liters of lacerating laser light. The drilling beam tunneled through funnel until it dragged out a screeching brutoid core.

Zydan slapped against the ground like a soggy dish rag. Tornado winds sputtered out, growing slow, faint, then non-existent.

Zydan

Zydan sat up and spat up. Blood, bile and bits of cobblestone dribbled down his lips, all six eyes dull and dark.

“N-No,” said Zydan. “H-How?”

“A level three,” said Asira. “Hidden information. It’s a ninja thing!”

“Hold up,” said Shae. “When the hell did you get that?”

“Again –” said Bowman. “Watch the replays.”

Zydan rolled onto his side, bruised, battered and beaten. His arms struggled to move and his legs struggled to move him. Each breath emerged as a whistling gasp. Blue flesh glistened with blood, sweat and tears.

“N-No,” said Zydan. “I-I can’t lose. Gods are immortal.”

“Disagree,” said Bowman. “Even gods have HP.”

Zydan prodded his own palm.

“The Fire Wizard is useless,” said Zydan. “Wretched, slow predictable moves.”

Shae stomped a puddle by Zydan’s head.

“Zydan, give it up,” said Shae. “For real. You took this way too far.”

Zydan tore through his palm menu, drawing blood.

“T-The Goblin Wizard –” said Zydan. “Also useless! All his moves derive from the Goblin King. And the Goblin King’s moves are gone!”

Asira wrung rainwater from her fur.

“Please Zydan,” said Asira. “We beat you. No more.”

Auron sucked his sucker.

“Meh, enough is enough,” said Auron. “Let’s end this already. I really have to pee –”

Zydan’s hand lit up – a green glowing name projected from his palm, reflected in all six eyes.

One last grin slithered across his lips.

“There is a third wizard,” said Zydan.

Shae froze.

“Hold up,” said Shae. “No, Zydan. Not that one –”

“You don’t mean –” Asira started. “The glitched one?”

“Indeed!” Zydan said.

“Zydan!” said Dane. “Enough!”

Dane shoved Shae and Asira aside.

“Zydan, I’m an enforcer,” said Dane. “I’m investigating the connection between glitches and the static.”

Asira and Auron gasped. Shae pretended to gasp.

“You’ve already done so much harm to the Haven,” said Dane. “I am aware of your many transgressions. Don’t add this to the list.”

Dane’s blank demonoid eyes bore into Zydan.

“Glitch energy is dangerous,” said Dane. “This isn’t a game. This is serious. You risk real harm to yourself and everyone else.”

“You’re wrong, enforcer,” said Zydan. “It is just a game.”

Zydan convulsed with laughter.

“Zero Space is made from the Haven,” said Zydan. “The Haven’s made from Zero Space. It’s all just one big game. And you’re playing, whether you want to or not.”

Zydan grinned with his last few fangs.

“I don’t lose games, enforcer,” said Zydan. “I make them.”

Bowman pushed past Dane –

“No!” shouted Bowman. “Stop him! Burn him down –”

Shae raised both pistols, Asira both swords, Dane both fists –

Zydan grinned.

“ASSET BROWSE!!!”

***

&n^!!..~m 4%u;6’a~m?q 4%u;&n.’w?q+qr..%u;2=+qr2=+qr‘]\w>..+qr&n..d#_..

w>+qr2=‘]\~m 4%u;%u;2=?q“p` 42=‘]\..oOO2=33.’woOO2=33w>+qr2=6’a~m“p,..

5yY?q....+qr&n..+qr%u;?qw> 4oOO?q~moOO..2=?q~m.’w+qr%u;^!!w>- loOO`..2=“p,w>+qr5yYw>+qr- l.’w&n..%u;&n~m+qr..oOO

***

2=“k$+qrw>2=Mn@ 4~m~m“p,..%u;.’w`8)v?q~m- l^!!w>oOO‘]\~m- l`.’w&n..?q

2=%u;2=?q“p,8)v.... 4w>+qr5yYoOO`?q..2=%u;5yY~m~moOO..33.’w- l`oOO2=‘]\?q~moOOoOO^!!w>oOO‘]\~m 4%u;8)v 4..oOO^!!

6’aw>&n^!!&n?q..- l33 4w>+qr5yY8)vw>oOO&noOO^!!..&n~m~m“p,2=+qr~m&n^!!..?qoOOw>`~m8)v‘]\~m8)v8)v....

***

2=&n..?q?qw>33 4....+qr..?q5yYd#_8)v 4~m6’a..%u;&n^!!?q~m.’w5yY^!!“k$d#_%u;2=+qroOOe 9..w>+qroOO^!!..+qr~m6’aoOO&n~m~m%u;2=&n eleven feet tall. Zydan’s body rippled with white cubes which scurried in and out of his flesh like a frenzied insect hive. Pale rings of rippling light fissured through his figure, staining his sapphire flesh ivory white.

“Yes,” said Zydan. “Yes!”

“No!” shouted Bowman. “Kill him now! Kill him now!”

Shae and Bowman unleashed bullets and arrows.

Asira and Dane swung swords and fists.

Zydan

Some blows landed. Others passed right through. A few entered an ethereal plane, affecting both nothing and everything simultaneously.

“Holy shit,” said Shae. “Zydan, what the hell did you just do?”

“He’s going to kill us,” said Asira. “He’s really going to kill us.”

“Zydan!” yelled Bowman. “You’re out of your damn mind!”

Zydan drifted above the ground, shedding cubic flakes of flesh. Pale veins pulsed, aflame with fiery inflammation. White skin gleamed with even whiter blood cells.

“T-This power,” said Zydan. “I-It’s incredible.”

Zydan’s teeth turned, spun and swapped positions.

“This is true power,” said Zydan. “This is the true power of a god!”

Zydan snapped to Dane’s position.

“I’ve never been fond of enforcers,” said Zydan.

Snowy energy flowed through Zydan’s fluctuating fingertips.

“Here’s something for you, enforcer,” said Zydan. “Thank you for your service.”

Dane stood stoic.

“Shae, I’m leaving,” said Dane. “We’ll be in touch.”

Dane AFK-d. His demonoid eyes grew dark, shoulders slouched, legs limp –

“Dane!” shouted Shae. “Nooo –”

%u;w>....+qr8)v~m?q‘]\..?q

Zydan’s palm napalm detonated Dane. Scraps of plain t-shirt, blue jeans and brown demonoid flesh bombarded the battlefield and every other field in Zero Space.

&n..2=- l~m+qr..&n^!!..%u;..2=%u; 4d#_oOO“p,.’w 4 4oOO

oOO^!!2=.. 42=+qr“k$..?q .’w- lw> 2=oOOw>?q2= ‘]\^!!w>..8)v 332=+qr%u;..?q %u;2= 4 4w> %u;2=+qr5yY..?q8)v2=‘]\..869 33~m6’a- l2=+qr 6’a2=5yY5yY..?q [42=+qr“k$~m &n2=- l33w>..+qr 2=.’w?q~m+qr `2=?q`..?q “p,..“k$“k$ 4.. 33..“k$

&n..2=- l&n6’a~m“k$..?q~moOO`2=‘]\..5yY~m%u;oOO

“k$d#_%u;2=+qr --- --- ---

“No, Dane!” cried Asira.

Zydan’s neck cranked towards Asira, cubic drool drooping from jumbled jaws.

“Your turn, pteranoid,” said Zydan.

“Asira!” Shae screeched.

Asira froze in place. She had plenty of practice avoiding oversized death beams, but that was back in her two-wing days. With one wing, she was a sitting pteranoid duck.

“S-Shae,” said Asira.

Zydan’s arm multiplied - a hundred hands, growing fast and glowing bright –

^!!.’w5yY..33..2=- l

Bowman blitzed into Asira’s side –

A huge white beam tore through the tower. Shae and Auron dove in opposite directions as lethal light nuked the night sky.

Asira laid on the ground; Bowman laid on Asira. Smokey white cubes drained from Bowman’s charred robe, forming a pale pool below his sandals.

“B-Bowman,” said Asira. “You saved me. Are you hurt?”

“No,” said Bowman. “That was a calculated risk. My calculations were correct.”

“Y-You just risked your life for me,” Asira said.

“You’re a level three player,” said Bowman. “If we survive, we’ll need you.”

Zydan’s muscles inflated and contorted into eldritch balloon animals.

“Yes,” said Zydan. “I feel the power going through me. It’s building. It’s still building!”

“Zydan, for fuck’s sake,” said Shae. “Knock it off!”

“I-I can’t,” said Zydan. “No, I won’t!”

Auron edged to the tower’s edge. With one trembling hand, he fished his lollipop from a puddle, reeling it towards his mouth –

A fuzzy hand launched from below, latching onto Auron’s sailor suit.

“Eh, what the hell?” asked Auron.

The hand tore Auron from the tower like an old band-aid. A fluffy arm seized his shoulders, strapping him in place.

“Parper?” asked Auron. “Eh, you’re as cowardly as me!”

Parper smirked, black scarf flowing from his shoulders. He held Auron with one hand. The other fist gripped a dagger, wedged in the tower wall.

“Congratulations, Auron,” said Parper. “You’ve somehow survived until the end of the battle.”

“Eh, battle ain’t over yet,” said Auron.

“Typical Auron,” said Parper. “Never thinking more than one step ahead. Glitch energy burns bright. But if not properly maintained, it burns out. Shae and the others may not survive. But if we remain hidden, we just may.”

Auron slurped his sucker.

“Eh, Parper, you’re acting stranger than usual,” said Auron.

“I always presumed this Blue Path thing to be a myth,” said Parper. “But if it is a reality, it’s imperative that you survive. Should we travel through, we’ll need a healer.”

Parper ruffled Auron’s sailor cap.

“Despite your lack of effort, you’re more competent than you let on,” said Parper. “You managed to secure the Dragon Song from that island after all. When I said you could be my Raid Captain someday, I meant it.”

Auron’s lollipop left his lips, plummeting into the misty abyss below.

“M-Master Valdi?” asked Auron.

Parper brushed his black scarf aside to reveal a large wound on his neck, stitched up and scabbed over.

“That’s correct,” said Parper. “I implore you to stay loyal. And for now, stay silent!”

Shae fled to the tower’s edge, dodging left and right around pale beams.

“Zydan,” said Shae. “For real. Stop this shit. Come on!”

Shae slid beneath bursting white cubes.

“I will not deny this power,” said Zydan. “This is the true power of a god.”

Shae flipped over one beam, landing split-legged below another.

“This power is beyond level three,” said Zydan. “Beyond level four.”

Shae sprung into a handspring, arching above a milky beam stream.

“It’s an infinite power!” said Zydan. “I can feel it growing. Expanding inside me!”

Zydan snagged Shae mid-spin, hoisting him into the air with one hand.

“Shae!” screamed Asira.

Asira tore across the ground –

Bowman tackled her, straddling her shoulders.

“S-Stop!” shouted Asira. “Shae –”

“You can’t help him,” said Bowman. “We can’t help him.”

Shae kicked Zydan's twenty arms thirty times. Seventy fingers squeezed his throat. This wasn’t Zero Space strangulation - this was real. He wouldn’t last three minutes; he’d be lucky to last one minute.

Zydan’s laughter echoed through Zero Space, vibrating the walls of virtual reality.

“I can go so much further,” said Zydan. “So much further than this.”

Shae grasped Zydan’s palms, gasping for air.

“How far can I go?” asked Zydan.

Zydan’s glossy eyes glossed over. For a moment, Shae assumed he was AFK. But then those pulsing pupils settled back on him, peering past his flesh, past his mind, and into somewhere far beyond –

“Y-Yes,” said Zydan. “Yes, I see you!”

[THE HAVEN]

Jay thrashed in his chair, squeaking and shrieking.

Bander and Janzo peered up from their shared bed.

“What the hell is up with that idiot?” asked Bander.

“I don’t know,” said Janzo.

“What do we do?” asked Bander.

“I don’t know,” said Janzo.

Jay clawed at his headset, his scrawny human neck compressed –

[ZERO SPACE]

– by two brutoid palms.

“Shae,” said Zydan.

[THE HAVEN]

Jay reached within his headset, taking hold of two hands–

Real hands.

Real brutoid flesh.

[ZERO SPACE]

“Jay,” said Zydan.

[THE HAVEN]

Jay kicked the underside of his desk. He struck his monitor, slapped a bag of chips –

“Jay,” said Zydan.

[ZERO SPACE]

Jay gazed upon the tower. There stood Asira, Bowman and Shae, statuesque on a circular rooftop, strands of rain frozen like a fossilized meteor shower.

Zydan’s grinning skull erupted like a fist a through paper. Gnarled horns. Fiery eyes. Gleaming teeth –

“Jay!” said Zydan.

Zydan reached up –

[THE HAVEN]

– straight through Jay’s headset. Brutoid hands seized Jay’s human throat. Sour breath assaulted Jay’s nostrils. Pale squares leapt onto Jay’s body, itching like army ants marching across his flesh.

“I will kill you, Jay!” roared Zydan.

Jay’s fingers curled into a fist. Thumb out, just like Janzo taught him –

Just like Anton taught him.

“C-Control,” said Jay.

Jay peered into those bulbous blue brutoid pupils.

“Control,” Jay said. “I have it. You don’t.”

Control.

Zero Space –

And the Haven.

They were one in the same.

Jay.

Shae.

One and the same.

Control.

Real strength –

Beyond the confines of any reality.

“This is my world,” said Jay.

Jay’s arm pulled back –

“Get the fuck out.”

Jay plunged his fist through Zydan’s face.

All Jay’s power –

His pain –

His strength –

His will –

His rage –

– all of it deposited through Jay’s digits, doing a number on Zydan’s skull.

SMASH

Zydan relinquished Jay. His six eyes bounced like a pouch full of marbles. White saliva gushed into an inky black spray. Pale veins detached like loose electrical wires,

Zydan ricocheted through Jay’s headset –

[ZERO SPACE]

— Bounced across cobblestone —

[THE HAVEN]

— Crashed through Jay’s desk –

[ZERO SPACE]

– Tumbled off the tower –

[THE HAVEN]

– Rolled across smooth tile –

[ZERO SPACE]

– Into complete darkness –

[ 5yY~m%u;oOO`2=‘]\.. ]

And then Zydan landed somewhere else entirely.

Illegible letters lit the abstract sky. This place was shapeless. Formless. Timeless. All numbers were imaginary. All colors, complementary. Ultra-violet visual violence. Complete aural anarchy.

Zydan’s body bent and spiraled at nauseating degrees. He spilt his guts. His gut split wide open. Guts didn’t matter anymore - guts were a human construct, and he was more than human now –

More than a brutoid –

He was Zero Space itself.

Just a rogue program, awaiting execution. Limbs moved without command. Bodily functions activated. Fluorescent flesh unraveled like curtains of light, unveiling a dancing troupe of organs. Zydan watched it all - felt it all - but remained powerless to stop it. His arm became an airplane, his legs sprouted leaves, and his face unfolded into stained glass moth wings.

Zydan screamed. Such intolerable pain. And itching! Peaks of euphoria. Valleys of despair. His imagination ran free - day-dreams became day-realities. Each new memory generated a handcrafted hell, tailored just for him. DD’s grinning corpse formed in every corner of his eye. The purple barrier surrounding the Haven now surrounded him, static monsters scraping at its walls.

Shae drifted by, giving him the finger. Coder Joe chunks sprayed across him like a warm meat shower - eyeballs, fingers and multiple mouths - all laughing and eviscerating. Lanzer’s pirahnoid form surfed on Lanzer’s human form. A hundred dead developers dropped around him. Their jaws dangled, flesh mangled.

Zydan couldn’t remove his headset. There was no headset. There was no head. There was no he. Only code. Strips of numbers stripped him clean, digesting him into the belly of a cannibalistic computer organism –

And then –

It all stopped.

Ravenous code scattered like corpse flies from Zydan’s mutilated husk. What remained drifted through a sea of scrambled text strings, unable to move. Unable to speak. His single bloated bloodied eye peered out towards what he assumed to be five figures, floating above him with misshapen silhouettes.

A metallic shape loomed above Zydan, centipede body slanted like a leaning tower. Bits of scrap, flesh and fingernails composed its aluminum frame, surrounding a heat lamp heart, pulsing with a neon fluorescent glow. At its peak presided a horrific face, eyes dug out, void-like mouth agape in an endless scream.

ZAYDER

“Look at this one,” said Zayder. “This one shouldn’t be here. This one did a very bad thing.”

Three huge serpentine heads lurched low, snorting hot breath across Zydan’s paralyzed frame. One head had glasses, another a monocle, and the last wore a pomp little hat.

TRIYYA

“Is he someone of stature?” Triyya’s three heads asked simultaneously. “A king of his server? Perhaps a god, of some sort?”

Another entity lacked any sort of concrete form. It wasn’t a man, a monster, or even an object. It was a symbol - a crescent moon mask with a wide smile and several sinister eyes.

ONAR

“Not a god,” said Onar. “Just a person. Covered in glitch. We should remove it from him.”

“Allow me –”

A black and white dragonoid floated forward, both palms damp with fiery perspiration. Frozen electricity formed astral snowflakes below his feet as he placed a dim finger upon Zydan’s disfigured figure, setting it aglow –

White cubes drained from Zydan’s body. Torn flesh terraformed back into a bulky blue brutoid, complete with a flowing cloak and six terrified eyes. Pale glitch energy evaporated into the atmosphere, parting into atomic particles, then fading from existence.

XIETER

“There, I’ve remade him,” said Xieter. “Now, allow me to destroy him. He’s seen us. We can’t let him live.”

A puppoid in a poncho dismissed Xieter with a gentle wave of his wrist. He adjusted his sunglasses, flashing Zydan a wide sunny smile.

LEDGESS

“He can live,” said Ledgess. “No one will believe him anyway. He may not even believe himself!”

Ledgess placed a warm hand on Zydan’s shoulder.

“This poor soul has been through a lot,” said Ledgess. “Let’s send him back!”

Ledgess waved his gentle paw –

Zydan suddenly zipped back through Zero Space in zero time. His body stretched. Squashed. Warped. Distorted. Thickened. Thinned. Blurred. Churned. Tangled up in text strings. Numbers numbed him. Symbols crashed. Light, darkness and those five divine shapes swirled into an infinite blur, clumping into a cosmic cataclysmic cacophony –

[THE HAVEN]

Zydan catapulted from his computer chair, tumbling across cold hard tile. His headset ripped free, tearing out a patch of oily black hair. Both eyes dilated with a ghostly fluorescent glow. Frigid air warmed his shoulders as he inhaled his own unwashed odor - he was back in his tiny sanctuary unit, safe and sound.

He attempted a single step –

Then he immediately vomited the only meal he’d eaten in days. Everything spun: his hands. The floor. His desk. The door. Four claustrophobic metal walls closed in around him. The ceiling reached down to crush him. He mumbled. Rambled. Scratched his skin raw. Both eyes bounced around his surroundings, struggling to piece together his confounding reality.

Nothing made sense anymore.

None of it.

That place –

Those five entities –

Zydan wasn’t a god. He was less than a person. Barely a speck of dust adrift in an indifferent universe beyond his understanding.

He had no words.

No feelings.

No thoughts.

Only screams.

So many screams.

Zydan screamed.

And he screamed.

Until his throat was raw and bloodied.

And then he screamed some more.

[ZERO SPACE]

Shae forced himself to stand, wringing rainwater from his jacket. Below lay Zydan, limp, lifeless, and crumpled into a neat little brutoid ball. A thousand invisible wounds tattooed Zydan’s flesh. Lashes and lacerations. Burns and bruises. There were certain marks that Shae struggled to interpret. But he didn’t need an explanation. All he needed was right in front of him:

Zydan

Shae snorted.

It was a loud embarrassing snort, accompanied by an awkward smile - the same goofy kid grin he reserved for special occasions: sparring with his big brother Anton. Cuddling up with Asira. Bickering with Bander. His friends and his family – they helped him make it all the way here.

He made it.

He finally made it.

Shae’s muscles retired. He fell forward –

– Into Asira’s arms.

“Shae,” said Asira. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” said Shae. “I-I just need a minute.”

Bowman supported his shoulders.

“What just happened?” asked Bowman.

“Honestly?” asked Shae. “I have no fucking idea.”

Auron and Parper emerged from the mist. Auron wrung water from his sailor cap, Parper from his black scarf.

“What the hell?” asked Shae. “Where have you two been?”

“In hiding, I’m afraid,” said Parper.

“Eh, me too,” said Auron. “Ran out of SP. Sorry about that.”

Shae palmed his forehead.

“Fucking useless,” said Shae.

“I always have been,” said Parper.

“Eh, ease up,” said Auron. “At least I healed you all a bunch.”

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

Shae paused, stumbling to the tower’s edge –

A restless sea of players churned below, spreading out to the server’s edges. Sunlight Forest, Trader Town, Guild Mountains - fully occupied by cheering dragonoids. Screaming brutoids. Hollering magicoids. Leggoids. Armoroids. Magicoids. Every Zero Space race raced to occupy each inch of Zero Space, cheering and chanting –

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

Shae grinned, stepping to the tower’s edge.

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

“Hell yeah!” screamed Shae. “Say our name!”

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

“Say our name!”

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

“Say our fucking name!”

“Deadly Skulls! Deadly Skulls!”

“Shae –” said Asira. “Look!”

Baby blue light shimmered in Shae’s pupils. A sapphire orb orbited in place, vibrant and vibrating with a meditative hum. Wind and rain funneled through its ethereal exterior, inviting them into a place where few adventurers had ventured before –

The Blue Path.

Bowman flicked his fingers through it.

“This is it then,” said Bowman. “Didn’t expect it to actually be blue.”

Auron straightened out his sailor uniform.

“Meh,” said Auron. “I expected it to be bigger.”

Parper presented a paw to Shae.

“After you, dear leader,” said Parper.

“Hold up,” said Shae. “One sec –”

Shae leapt into Asira, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. Asira uprooted him with an enthusiastic squeeze –

[THE HAVEN]

Esara slapped off Jay’s headset, replicating their Zero Space embrace.

“Oomph,” said Jay. “Okay, so like, Zydan’s dead, but we should probably stay in the game.”

“I didn’t want to kiss you as a pteranoid,” said Esara.

Esara kissed Jay on the lips. Jay blinked twice, then kissed her back twice as hard.

“Get a unit, nerds,” said Bander.

Bander leapt off a sofa, nearly bowling them over with a hug.

“Holy shit, you guys,” said Bander. “You actually did it.”

Janzo hoisted the trio into the air with an all encompassing hug.

“Uh huh,” said Janzo.

“Ooph, get off me,” said Jay. “Guys, get off!”

Jay squirmed his way to freedom.

“We’ll party later,” said Shae. “Let me just wrap this up.”

Jay kicked his headset into his hands.

“And hey,” said Jay.

Esara, Bander and Janzo turned towards him.

“I love you guys,” said Jay. “For real.”

Esara grinned.

Bander smirked.

“I love you too,” said Janzo.

Jay flashed his goofy kid grin, then plugged himself back in –

[ZERO SPACE]

Shae marched towards the Blue Path, twirling both pistols.

“Alright then,” said Shae. “On to the next thing!”

He gestured them all forward –

Asira.

Bowman.

Auron.

And Parper.

This was Shae’s crew.

Here he was –

Savior of Zero Space.

Brother of Anton.

Guild Captain of the Deadly Skulls.

He plunged into the Blue Path, basking in its brilliant blue light.

It was time to take his place in Zero Space history.

The same place where all great journeys began –

The first step.

THE END