I step outside the lab, and look toward the sky. Its reddish hue is accompanied by rising smoke from the spreading fires, leaving just one thing to behold. The earth tremors as the massive, boisterous singularity, Shiva, draws ever closer.


    "It won''t be long now," I mutter to myself as my ears perk up at the sound of footsteps. "Looks like I have some fans that won’t let me get there easily…" A crowd of people appear from the street, and quickly surround me.


    "You''re the one causing this world to go to ruin, aren''t you?" a woman shouts from the crowd.


    "I forgot about the millions of normal people that received my memories," I mumble to myself, eyeing the area with a grimace. "Thanks for the parting gift, Director."


    I clench my fist, searching for a nearby vine. However, as I do, a sharp pain shoots down my arm, and my nose begins dripping blood. "Tuning without Aku... means normalizing everything, it seems."


    I take a deep breath in and out, and break into a sprint toward the thinnest part of the mob. The bat-wielding aggressors lunge at me, but swing at nothing as I deftly evade them, continuing without looking back.


    I turn down what remains of the main road, looking to retrace my steps to where I last left the girls. However, another mob blocks my path, and forces me in the opposite direction. Several other crowds appear from the surrounding forest, and join in a large-scale pursuit.


    The mob chases me to what was once Shibuya Crossing, where an even greater crowd turns their attention to me. I find myself standing in the middle of the paved road, now cracked and weathered, in between two armies of people I once called NPC''s.


    I tune out their shouts, and calm my breathing. "You two are here, aren''t you?" I call out across the crowd.


    "Hey, jackass," Mary''s voice rings from deep within the crowd. "Got a plan to get out of this? We''ve done everything we can to avoid using our powers, but I don''t think we have any other option now."


    "Yeah, I have just one," I answer, straining to talk over the mob. "Mirei, can you sing for us?"


    "What makes you think we can try something we’ve already done?" Mirei answers sharply. "Think of something original! Have Mary strip or something!"


    "How about I offer you as a sacrifice, Princess Apocalypse?"


    "It''s Apocalyptic Princess, you ice queen!"


    "The other way sounds better!" Mary and myself rebut in unison.


    "Why don''t the two of you get a room?" Mirei quips, her voice cracking.


    "What did you say?" Mary fires back, clearly flustered. As the two continue shouting at each other, I focus on my vines, fighting through debilitating pain as I control them out of sight. Within seconds, they''re dragging an enormous grandfather piano into the street. The crowd scatters, allowing the piano to slide to the place I heard Mirei’s voice.


    "You were serious?" She cries in annoyance. "I''ve already proven myself, so why don''t you use your all-powerful tuning, since Aku is gone?"


    "Because we won''t win over the people that way," I answer confidently, keeping my distance from the surrounding mob. "Play something, would you? I''ll take it from there."


    I force my way through the crowd, toward her voice. After a moment, a sharp note resounds through the crowd. Shortly after, Mirei''s frail voice begins swinging from one melodic note to another, reciting the lyrics of "Flightbound".


    I spot the piano, where Mirei is sitting. Mary stands in front of the piano, gritting her teeth at the mob, who seem to be taken captive by Mirei''s performance.


    "Listen to me, everyone," I yell, leaping atop the piano as Mirei continues to play. "I understand your fear now. I started off in this world overly wary of you. I thought you were abnormal, unpredictable, and volatile. I saw you as enemies without any reason. Now I know the truth. It''s my thinking that was abnormal. I misunderstood you at your core. You''re completely normal. You''re fearful because your world is in danger, which makes you just as real as the versions of yourselves from which you gained your memories."


    The crowd, now completely subdued, seems to be hanging on my every word while Mirei plays and Mary stands by, nodding at me with a smirk.


    "You''ve seen my memories, which means you understand much about this world and what is at stake,” I continue. "Please understand, I don''t mean to try and coax you into trusting me. You should continue seeing me as a threat to your world, because I may prove to be one. But, right now, I can assure you, I want nothing more than to work alongside you. Right now, there are hundreds of cultists burning what remains of this city. They aim to welcome the coming threat and let it erase civilization here, leaving only the world itself. They have attached themselves to me, but I myself have no reason to watch humanity die in this world. So, please, regardless of how you feel about me, about us, I ask that you come with us and prevent these people from hurting this world any further! And then, as one unified force, we will stand against the coming threat!"


    The attentive crowd begins to stir, and before long, cheers spread throughout. Gradually, the crowd begins to shift in the direction of the forest.


    "I thought it wouldn''t be this easy," Mary cries amidst the uproar. "Why are we so close together if we aren''t on the same wavelength?"


    "We might be closer than we previously thought," I answer with a smile. "But go ahead and try punching me if you think we''re already there."


    "I''ll save it," she grunts, glaring at the crowd passing by.


    "What’s next?" Mirei asks, folding her arms bashfully.


    "Carry the Princess!" someone shouts, sparking more cheers. Dozens of people swarm around the piano, picking it up along with the leather seat Mirei sits atop.


    "What?" she cries, her facial features in utter frenzy. "Don''t tell me I''m going to have to play more!"


    "You catching the ride or not?" I call out to Mary, who grimaces as she hesitantly steps onto the piano alongside me. As the crowd tows us away, the piano rocks to the side. I stagger backwards toward Mary, who glares daggers at me in response. However, before my momentum brings us together, something forces our paths apart. As if running into some sort of static bubble, I bounce away, much to Mary''s relief.


    "See?" I ask, regaining my balance atop the piano. "Not there yet."


    "What''s your plan then?" Mary responds, bending her knees to keep her balance. "How will you bring our wavelengths together?"


    "What would you say if I told you I hadn''t actually figured that out yet?" I answer with a cheeky grin.


    "I''d say you''re an idiot," she responds, before turning her glance to Mirei, whose clinging to the piano desperately. "Am I the only one that''s given this any thought?"


    "I told you I was thinking about it!" Mirei screeches back, not even trying to mask her discomfort. "I''m sorry I don''t know how to form my thoughts into speech as well as JC can!"


    "It''s only a step above performing in front of a crowd," I reply with a wink, which she answers with a dramatic frown.


    "Also, how are you planning on getting to Shiva before it wipes out the world?" Mary asks, staring at the smoke-screened horizon. "If we follow the model in Mirei''s world, that''s the place we need to be in order to win. That''s where Aku is, after all."


    "You''re exactly right," I answer, staring at the hellish sky which harbors the incoming destruction. "I don''t know how we''ll get there, but I have a feeling this world of mine holds the answer."


    "A typical non-answer from you," Mary answers, clicking her tongue.


    "By the way," I say, ignoring her disdainful look. "How did you know doing that to Aku would make him return to Shiva? And where did you get that thing? I think you mentioned something after you attacked me, but the experience of dying seems to have bogged up my memory."


    "I''m not telling you anything, and I''m not going to apologize," she fires back. "You''ve killed us in far worse ways, and countless times, haven''t you? Besides, that worked out in your favor."


    "Oh, I''m not complaining," I assure her, waving my hand. "In fact, I''ll thank you for your help. Though I suppose someone else gave you the idea. And it obviously wasn''t Aku or the Director. I have to say, I really don''t like the idea of yet another person manipulating things behind the scenes."


    "Just assuming it wasn''t my idea, then, huh," she mutters under her breath.


    "What''s that?" I ask, processing her mumbled words.


    "Nothing," she hisses, refusing to look at me. "Look, we''re at the scene of the crime."


    The forest opens up before us, revealing a large residential area enshrined by vines and covered in flames. Dozens of cultists are rushing around the fires, emptying red canisters as they run.


    "Let''s see what you''ve got, girls," I exclaim as I reawaken my greater senses. My vines spring to life all around the area, and begin incapacitating the arsonists in quick succession.


    Mary summons a great downpour, leaving Mirei to freeze the water as it falls. They focus first on the ground, attacking the fire at the base of the homes and stopping its spread between them. My vines, having been seared by flames, freeze along with many cultists.


    The dwindling of the fires serves as the starting pistol for the mob, as hordes of them swarm on the cultists that managed to avoid the freeze.


    "A little ice stopped your vines?" Mary asks with her brow furrowed as she steps down from the piano, her bare white feet crushing the grass underneath them.


    "Just conserving some energy," I respond with a smirk, sniffing to stop the trickling blood.


    "Uh-huh," she responds flatly, continuing past the remaining mob toward the fires she’s dousing.


    "JC, there''s more of them coming," Mirie exclaims from the piano''s bench, pointing at the forest west of the residential scramble. A large group of white-clad, knife-wielding cultists emerge from the woods and swiftly descend on the advancing mob. A melee ensues, forcing those around us to join the battle.


    "Can''t you handle this?" Mary shouts back, some thirty yards apart from me and the melee. "Or do you really need to conserve that badly?"


    "I guess you two aren''t going to be on board with letting them kill each other, if that''s what we''re rallying our wavelengths on, huh?"


    "Do you really need to ask?" Mirei answers sternly, remaining seated with intense focus on icing the fires. "The regular people are even pulling victims out of buildings. By your own logic, we should protect everyone and bring them together, shouldn''t we?"


    "I can''t argue with that," I declare with a light sigh as I step down into the grass. "When you trusted my guidance in your world with that same thinking. If only you’d trust me that much, now."


    "Show me you''ve earned it," she responds, a slight smirk breaking over her bared teeth.


    Flashing a smirk of my own, I jump into the fray, running past Mary and diving into the battle. Using only my hands, I disarm one combatant after another, passing swiftly through the crowd. I face little resistance from the untrained civilians, but find myself running in circles as the combatants simply grab the discarded weapons off the ground. Eventually, I begin taking blows to the head and body. Still, I refuse to use any vines, and continue disarming and knocking down fighters on both sides. Gradually, I manage to incapacitate many of them, rendering them unconscious or unable to stand. However, my own body wares down with each passing second, which allows a cultist to my hit my head with a bat. I fall to my knees, where I''m swarmed by several cultists who attempt to hold me down.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "We’re on your side!" one of the men cries. “Please, let us prepare the world for its salvation, so that you can do your part without worrying about the earth''s destruction!" He wraps his hands around my throat, and squeezes. Due to the weight of the bodies piled on top of me, pinning my arms, I struggle to fight off the choke.


    Just as my consciousness begins to waver, a crushing force blows through the pile I''m at the bottom of. The powerful rush of water scatters the bodies, leaving me to stagger to my feet amid the flood as it turns into a thick layer of ice, rooting me and all the others to the earth. Gasping for breath, I look toward Mary, who stands in the grassy flat just in front of the inflamed houses, alone.


    Before I can crack a smile to show her I''m fine, I notice someone emerge from a fiery house, making a beeline for the girl whose attention is drawn to me. The man, bearing down on Mary with a knife in his hand, suddenly stops in his tracks when a gunshot resounds, leaving the earth in front of him splintered. Some twenty yards behind Mary, the man, donning a black suit that matches his rifle, waves forward more suits, who quickly tackle the cultist.


    More cultists emerge from the smoke and flames, running after Mary. They are met by even more suits, whose blue fedoras are unmistakable. Mary stares in shock, hands trembling as she watches the men subdue the cultists alongside the black suits.


    "Mirei, you…" just as the words come out of my mouth, a beautiful melody steals my attention. The fragile girl sits at the piano, striking down on the keys as precise and passionate as I''ve ever seen. Three black suits stand around the piano, but most of them have headed in Mary''s direction.


    As her voice belts out in unison with her sharp chords, an icy mist flows from the piano toward the fire, expanding and washing over the engulfed houses. Mary, drawn by the song like me, breaks her trance and refocuses on dousing the fires.


    Skirmishes continue to break out over the area, but most of the melee combatants are still frozen in place with me. The girls continue to put the fires out as the song continues, until the flames are nearly gone. The smoke dissipates from the sky as the fires are stamped out, and Mirei''s song comes to an end. The sun reveals itself, and begins melting the ice.


    I quickly break free, staggering to retain my footing as I gaze in awe at the sky, which reveals something other than the sun and the incoming Shiva. In the northern forest which I’d escaped from, a tree taller than any skyscraper grows toward the singularity, winding and curving as it draws closer to the great star. As if trying to mimic it, countless trees around it grow toward the sky, stretching out like arms.


    "No wonder I tied myself down there…" I mutter under my breath with a chuckle. Everyone still conscious seems to be taken in by the sight, while I realize something as the ice around me turns to vapor. I turn back to Mirei, whose figure wilts like a flower as if all the energy suddenly left her. Just as she catches her head in her hands, a man emerges from the forest several yards behind her, pointing a pistol at her back.


    The gunshot pierces the air sharply, and sparks a monotonous reverb as it finds its home. Mirei shrieks as she skids across the grass while the piano''s bench rolls to a stop behind her, a lone vine attached to one of its legs.


    The piano, harboring a hole on its surface, lifts off the ground from its back end. Several vines pull the piano in one vicious movement, sending it on a direct course toward the man that I know as the Professor.


    The bulky instrument smashes into the man, throwing him onto the ground and crashing into the trees behind him.


    "Everyone, it''s time to let us handle things," I call out, turning the heads of hundreds of people as blood runs from my nose over my lips. "You cultists see now that your faith in nature has paid off in these trees that may protect the earth. There is no need to burn anything else. And no need for anybody else to fight. Just watch us face the coming threat on behalf of all of you! Watch me win and protect this world!"


    I burst into a sprint, cheers at my back as I head in the direction of the towering tree without looking back. Using my head start on the girls to my advantage, I scale the forest''s downhill slope in little time. As I expected, the giant tree lies just behind the place I broke free from.


    In the place I was stuck, however, a hooded man stands tall, arms folded patiently. He slowly lifts the hood of his cloak, revealing a black beret atop a messy head of hair.


    "You made it, Jean-Cathal."


    "Killian…" I mutter, dumbstruck. "What on earth are you doing here?"


    "Why are we all here?" he replies, stifling a chuckle. "Everything is an inevitability, isn''t it?"


    "Not you," I fire back, narrowing my gaze on him. "You weren’t here in a single one of the previous iterations. So, how, of all times, did you manage to make it here for this one?"


    "You know, it''s really something that you can analyze that barrage of memories so thoroughly," he says, smiling. "I was fed your memories with the rest of the NPC''s, but I could not even begin to articulate the history of previous worlds, just that they existed."


    "It was you that broke into Laplace, wasn''t it?" I continue pressing, not letting my guard down. "You took information on Aku, and gave that information to Mary and Mirei, didn''t you?"


    "Yes, I did," he answers with a polite nod. "Though, it was Mary who had the idea to get rid of Aku, so all I did was the legwork."


    "When did you meet with them?" I ask, my tone growing more aggressive.


    "The only two times you and Aku weren''t around," he says, letting a chuckle slip. "I had to do quite a lot of watching and waiting; I''m shocked you never noticed me, even with all your vines. You''ve gotten rusty since you left my care, haven''t you?"


    "Of course," I respond in a lighter tone. "Because I was utterly defeated by the power of inevitability that you spoke of. The Shibutani utilizing Laplace''s information… that power you respected was more terrifying than you ever imagined."


    "Oh, I know that now," he mutters, his smiling face going pale. "To think, I felt like my life was over once the Shibutani stopped giving us missions using Laplace''s predictions. I never expected to find more purpose than ever after that…"


    "That means," I exclaim, "you were the one that saved me that night when those Irish bandits had me cornered, weren''t you? And you were the one that brought Kaspar Reid to Japan, and told him to wait for me. All so that he could have his memories brought to this world’s version of him, who was also in Japan. You''ve been supporting me from the shadows, in both worlds. After all, Mary only worked with me because of her father''s appearance, with his real memories. It was a shot in the dark for me, but how could you have possibly known?"


    "I did a lot of digging," he replies, smirking. "A lot of research on this top-secret project of yours. Still, it was only a theory that getting his memories here, along with mine, would help you."


    "And how did you do it?" I ask. "How did you get him and yourself registered by the PC Booster? Worldbeaters shouldn''t have allowed your identities in the system."


    "Oh, come on, Jean-Cathal," he laughs in response. "It wouldn''t be the first time I manufactured an identity. It wasn''t difficult to get involved in the mass registering they were doing, either."


    "But Laplace should have prevented you… you''re a complete miscalculation not only from my perspective, but the Director''s, and Aku''s."


    "That''s true," he replies, chuckling lightly. "I''d imagine this was a one in a billion chance. I''m sure that in all the other past worlds, I failed to get here. Perhaps something about this iteration is different. Something to do with you, and your intentions."


    "Your implying my actions in the last showing had an impact on this world and the real one from the beginning, even though I just experienced that showing an hour ago?" I pose, smirking heartily at him. "Sounds a bit paradoxical, doesn''t it?"


    "Inevitabilities, Jean-Cathal," he answers with a shrug.


    "Right," I mutter, taking a step toward him. "Which compels me to ask, if you believe in the one in a billion chance that this world is the one that will succeed, then why is it that you are blocking my path?"


    "That''s simple," he mutters, glancing at the shriveled vines on the ground where I''d been imprisoned. "Because I don''t think you should win. And I''m going to kill you to prove it."


    A thunderous roar resounds from the darkening sky, and a furious rumble courses through the forest. However, I do not take my eyes off the man whose expression conveys a calm intent to kill, an expression I''ve seen many times before.


    I stay my eyes even as my ears perk to the sound of leaves being crushed underfoot behind me. Mary and Mirei run past me before coming to a stop, their hands on their knees as they catch their breath, silently watching me and Killian face off.


    "Go on up, ladies," Killian says, breaking the long silence. "Take advantage of my noble stand." He smiles the same goofy smile I saw countless times as a teenager, but never once takes his eyes off of me.


    Mirei nods and makes for the giant tree, while Mary hangs back.


    "See you at the top," she mumbles, before following Mirei. The two look upward, and then at one another. Mary moves first, summoning a bolt of lightning from her hand. As the lightning makes contact with the earth, Mary is shot upward as if blasted from a cannon. Mirei sprouts long, clawed limbs of ice from her arms. She clings onto the tree''s surface, and begins climbing it like an animal.


    Before long, the girls are out of my periphery, allowing me to focus my senses solely on the man in front of me. "You think I''m weak?" I ask, careful not to move a muscle.


    "I''ve watched you grow weaker here," he says, also making sure to remain still. "I just watched you naively go about thinking you could solve this world''s dilemma without killing anyone. And if your blade is so dull and lacking in resolve, I think it is my duty as your mentor to end this game of yours, before you actually make this your last chance and blow it."


    "If you die here, that will be the end of this version of you," I answer in a solemn tone. "You know that, right? So, why stake that on this idiotic gamble to test my strength?"


    "If you really are worried about whether or not this version of me will be living in a world you should be forsaking, then you prove my point," he chides, stricter than I''ve ever heard him.


    "Perhaps I simply don’t want to kill the man who raised me," I mutter, finally letting my gaze sink to the earth.


    "Then it is too late for you," he declares in a dissatisfied, monotone voice. Before the words finish leaving his mouth, however, I shift my gaze back upward, and raise my hand just under eye-level.


    As I expected, he had launched a projectile even while speaking in monotone. His eyes go wide as he realizes I had been prepared, just as the small, sharp-edged bottle cap cuts into my open palm.


    Right when it cuts my flesh, sloshing blood into the air, I snap my palm closed over it. In the same motion, I shift the cap, wedging it between my curled index finger and the pit of my thumb.


    Before Killian can pull his throwing arm back, I flick the cap at him with even more ferocity. The sharp projectile strikes him right through his throat, and comes out the other side, leaving him to spray blook like a busted pipe.


    Killian staggers back, grasping his throat to curb the massive blood loss. Finally, he falls, pale faced, backwards into the enormous tree. His back slowly slides down the bark, and he sits with his knees bent, holding his throat while fighting to breathe. I slowly walk toward him, and stop beside his pathetic figure. He looks at me with eyes that seem ready for the release, despite his body instinctively fighting to live.


    "You shouldn''t have worried for me," I mutter under my breath as I avert my eyes. "Despite how weak I’ve become, I’ve always been careful not to let my blade dull. All so that I could continue doing the dirty work that must be done so that the world can sleep peacefully in ignorance... just as I promised you."


    "Win, Jean-Cathal," he wheezes, hardly able to get the words out. "And do not… forsake your dreams, for your sense of duty, like you will here. Find purpose… dream... and live."


    "Thank you, Kill," I mutter in response, brushing my bloodied palm over his forehead and shutting his eyes.


    Without taking another look at him, I produce a thicket of vines, and propel myself up the tree at a blistering pace despite excruciating pain, using nearby trees as well as branches of the sky-high tree. Eventually, I climb higher than any other tree, and continue ascending up the tower amidst the chaotic purple-toned sky. With one last thrust, I reach the top, where I roll over a solid, flat edge, coughing blood.


    Unlike the top of any tree I''ve ever seen, the surface remains flat, and thick with green grass all over the circular platform. I stand to my feet despite the pain coursing through my body, and find no one around. Nothing but crushing winds and the incoming singularity surround me. However, an eerie whisper reaches my ear as I stare at the descending star.


    "What plan have you been hiding deep inside your heart, JC?" Mirei''s soft voice cuts through the wind, as if she is speaking from the wind itself.


    "You don''t really intend to forsake us, do you?" Mary''s voice joins in amongst the slashing winds.


    "I do, and I will," I answer to seemingly no one, blood seeping through my gnashed teeth.


    "But what do you want?" Mirei cries, her voice growing closer as the winds whirl around me like a transparent tornado.


    "What does living mean to you, JC?" Mary adds with conviction. “How do you want to live, and with who?"


    "You should know that, already," I mutter, pushing back on the suffocating winds with what little strength I can summon.


    "We won''t know unless you tell us!" Mary shouts, her voice growing ever closer even as the winds blow harder.


    "Then… tell me what you two want," I demand, outstretching my hands to try and summon vines, to no avail. "What are your true desires? What dream would you make into reality?"


    "A perfect world," Mirei answers, her voice so close I can feel her breath on my cheek.


    "If we had any power, we would be the greediest people that ever lived," Mary adds, her warm voice brushing against my ear.


    "But a perfect world would mean that the three of us…" I mutter, my body losing its strength.


    "That we could all live and be together," Mirei whispers softly.


    "That we could remain by each other''s side," Mary whispers simultaneously as the girls'' tear-strewn faces appear above me.


    The wind ceases in that moment, and the girls fall from above, wrapping their arms around my neck as their bodies crash into mine. I manage to keep my feet and hold us up. Suddenly, however, I feel their lips on either of my cheeks, and my knees give way as their bare feet touch the grass.


    As they land, their arms unwind from my neck. Before I can catch myself from falling, my cheeks are met by another force. This time, both of them plant their fists into my face, smashing me down and flattening me on the grassy surface. My face slams against the grass, diverting its green blades.


    The wind blows once more, but with much less force. Unable to move my head, I watch as the wind disturbs the blades of grass and changes them from their steadfast green. One side of a blade bares a bright pink, while the other is painted in a deep ocean blue. Another blade is green on one side and pink on the other, and yet another is green and blue. Each blade is surrounded by the other two variants, turned over repeatedly by the calm wind to create a whimsically revolving field of color.


    The star in the sky charges down at us, clearing out any remaining clouds as six bright orange lights, shaped like great long arms, extend from a place far higher than we can see. The six arms begin a downward ark, tearing through the atmosphere itself.


    "It''s here," Mirei mutters as she stands to my right, shielding her eyes from the overbearing light above.


    "Looks like we can fight it together now," Mary remarks from my left, narrowing her gaze as she bares her teeth.


    "That''s right," I declare, clutching the multicolored grass as I rise to my feet. "You both stayed strong through it all. You''ve outdone me, and shattered my chance at an overwhelming victory. So, as you wish, let''s finish this… together."