And so it was that the mortals crossed the bounds of reality and arrived at the land of dreams. A place where peace and tranquillity unite to embrace eternity. A dimension where the bringers of death relish in their motionless repose. And yet, all was silent as the living trespassers stood before this lifeless army.

“What the hell is going on?” Titus breathed, resisting the urge to touch the monstrous mannequins. He wanted nothing more than to release his fury on these demons for attacking his people.

But if they came to life at the same time, there was no way anyone would be getting out of this unscathed.

“We are in grave danger, that’s what. This ‘cloud’ exists on a different plane of reality; the magic here is different,” Orpheus muttered. “Felix disappeared the moment we entered this place too. Someone or something else must be pulling the strings.”

Titus turned his attention to the girl staring blankly into space.

“Hey, your brother just went missing.” He prodded her. “Aren’t you even the least bit concerned?”

Marcia ignored him and shuffled off into the darkness.

“Oi, don’t run off on your own, girl!” Titus chased after her, only to find her about a hundred metres ahead of him in less than five seconds.

What the hell? She wasn’t running; how’d she get there so fast?

Energy surged through his body as he broke into a sprint, catching up with Marcia in a millisecond. Orpheus’ footsteps were no longer audible, but he didn’t have time to bother about that for now. Something had been wrong with Marcia ever since they left her parents’ house.

“Everything I lost… Everything I lost…”

Titus pulled her shoulder to turn her around. His body tensed up as he unconsciously took a step back. The woman’s eyes were glowing pink as though she had activated her power, but her body was rocking back and forth like she was in some sort of trance.

“Everything I lost…” she continued muttering, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

“Hey… Wake up, girl!” The man shook her roughly to no avail. “What the fuck is happening?”

Brother…

“Lucia?” Titus swung around with his fists clenched, but the frozen Unendings around him remained still. “Argh, it can’t be real… Get out of my head!”

He fell to his knees, smashing his head against the ground repeatedly to get rid of his deceased sister’s voice.

“This place is fucked up! We gotta get out of here, girl!” Titus turned back to reach for Marcia, but his fingers only closed on thin air. He breathed heavily, staring at the empty space where she was. Something breathed down his neck. He spun around—

“Fuck!” Titus yelled, jerking his body from the sharpened fingers millimetres away from his head.

The Unendings had somehow gotten out of their place without a sound and were frozen mid-attack. Titus threw a powerful punch, blasting the lunging crowd of monsters away. They clattered on the floor, still frozen in their horrifying poses.

“Caesar! Orpheus Caesar!” Green electricity crackled around him as he began to sprint around the rows of Unendings at nearly the speed of sound. “Where are you?”

Brother, why didn’t you help me?

Titus crashed into a wall, leaving a human-shaped dent on the blackened metallic surface. He got back up and shook his head groggily.

“Get out of my head, you coward!” he yelled at nothing in particular. “Stop your mind tricks and fight me like a man!”

Metal extended from his helmet to protect his mind, but an invisible force shattered it. Titus staggered in shock.

Something grabbed his ankle.

He yelped in shock. A bloodied man was holding onto his feet while dragging his body forward. Long slashes ravaged his face, and his body was missing from the waist down.

“You… could’ve saved us…” the man groaned, blood gurgling in his voice. “Why…? Why didn’t you save us?!”

Pink light flashed around Titus as a familiar excruciating pain hit his body.

~ ~ ~

“Guh!”

The world spun into a blur as concrete smashed into his lower back. His body froze midair before the invisible force flung it downwards. Iron filled his mouth as he pushed his body from the cracked ground. It was hopeless. It was all too difficult.

He craned his head, only to see his comrade struggling helplessly against the pink bindings around his waist.

“No—”

Blood coated the floor as the man’s body was torn in half with ease.

Titus screamed in agony, pushing himself back to his feet immediately. “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

A small shockwave cracked the ground further as he leapt towards the hovering psychic, raw hate possessing his gaze. Power pooled in his fist as he swung it forward.

The psychic’s eyes glinted, and he was sent crashing back down with a single slap.

Titus groaned as his armour frantically reinforced the deep cracks around it. There was no way he could win this. Felix Pagonis’ power had grown exponentially since they last fought, far beyond the boundaries of measurement.

“Tsk tsk tsk… How many times must I teach you the same lesson?” Felix descended gently, walking towards him. “If you can’t kill me, don’t WASTE MY TIME!”

Metal screeched as the telekinetic force crushed Titus’ armour. He screamed in pain, his entire body trembling as the pressure twisted his limbs to their limit. Felix wrung his hands, and Titus’ right arm was torn from his body.

“Ah… so it’s just empty armour, huh? And here I thought you somehow managed to regenerate your body.” Felix dropped the man nonchalantly. “How very pathetic. Boring, boring, BORING! Is there nobody here who can challenge me? How many more people must I kill?!”

“You are a sick man…” Titus coughed, looking away from the huge shadow who was finally in position. “And we’re going to put you out of your misery.”

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“We?”

The hidden figure showed itself, leaping down from a parapet. Felix flinched as the human-shaped amethyst landed on his back, raising a thick syringe over its head before plunging it into the back of his neck.

“What the— Get off me!”

Felix growled in irritation, flinging the obsidian stone away. Titus caught his sister and set her on the ground gently.

“You alright, Lucia?”

“Never better, brother.” The humanoid amethyst cracked a grin, looking on as Felix writhed in agony. “Let’s kill this son of a bitch properly this time.”

No sooner had she finished her sentence than another powerful psionic blast knocked them off their feet. Titus staggered back, struggling to regain his balance. He gasped in surprise.

That wasn’t enough to take him down?

“What the fuck… did you do to me?!” Felix stumbled around as though he was drunk. “I can’t see straight…”

“Bee poison,” Lucia announced confidently. “To be exact, the poison of a thousand bees is surging through your veins now. How anticlimactic… The world’s most powerful Esper, brought down by mere bugs.”

Flashes of yellow whizzed through the air, and a few more syringes plugged themselves into Felix’s body. The man roared in indignation, falling to his knees.

“We’ve got plenty more where this comes from.” Titus kept his gun aimed at Felix. “The rebellion came prepared, Felix Pagonis. Your reign of terror is over.”

“Could it be…?” Felix muttered to himself. “Hahaha… Hahahaha… AHAHAHAHA! FINALLY!”

A huge column of pink left his fingers as the Esper swept his hand. Titus leapt out of the way as the psionic beam tore straight through the wall.

“Kill me! KILL ME!” The look in Felix’s eyes was wild. Whether or not it was because of the poison or it was because he had just plain lost his mind, Titus did not bother to contemplate.

With a primal roar, Titus plunged his hand straight through Felix’s chest. He was blasted away almost immediately.

The man rolled to his feet, casting a grim gaze at his foe. The hole in Felix’s chest was already rapidly sealing up. Not that he didn’t already expect that to happen, but it was still disappointing that the poison was yet enough to slow down the psychic’s regeneration.

Titus aimed carefully and fired more shots. Thankfully, Felix didn’t dodge them. The cyborg did not let up, punching the air repeatedly as mini tornados began to emerge from the shockwaves created.

A hailstorm of rubble flew in his direction without warning, and Iron Angel burst off the ground. Concrete crashed against walls as Titus darted around, using the surrounding walls as leverage to leap from. The psychic might have been fighting off the poison at the same time, but his accuracy was certainly not waning as quickly as Titus was hoping.

Iron Angel landed just as a flash of pink flew in his direction. Titus’ eyes widened in shock. It was too late to dodge this attack. It was all over—

“Not my brother, arsehole…”

“Lucia!” Titus screamed as his sister’s crystal form slowly transformed back into a blood-stained woman. Lucia gasped as Felix yanked his hand back, retracting the psionic spear still plunged in her torso.

“No, stop!” the man yelled desperately as his sister hovered in the air, blood spilling from her mouth. “Please!”

Felix looked over to him languidly as a sadistic smile crept along his face.

“Ah… you care about her,” the dictator commented. “There it is… There’s that fear. You’d do anything to save her, wouldn’t you?”

Titus fell to his knees as Felix visibly tightened his grip around Lucia’s neck.

“NO! Please, please, please. Oh gods, no… Please stop!” he begged. “I’ll call off the attack! I’ll surrender! Don’t! Please, I’m begging you! Let her go, let her go!”

Felix’s grin grew wider—

And then he dropped dead, foam gurgling at his mouth.

“Lucia!” Titus rushed to his sister, cradling her in his arms.

“I’ve been stabbed before.” Lucia heaved as a small smile began to form on her face. “I’ll be just fine. Rejoice, brother. Our suffering is over… Our suffering is—”

~ ~ ~

No. That’s not what happened.

“Get… out of my head…” Titus clutched his head, his surroundings flitting back and forth between his memory and his present. “Don’t… lie to me.”

That can be your fate. You just need to give in.

The man roared, slamming his fists on the ground.

Eternal bliss will be yours. You just need to let go of your past.

“No! I will not…”

Don’t you want to be with your sister again? Don’t you want your people to experience happiness again?

“I do…” Titus faltered as his body relaxed slightly. “I want that… more than anything. The world shouldn’t have to suffer because of one man…”

We can give it to you. Heaven awaits you. Your sister awaits you on the other side. All you have to do is give up your flesh. Just let it go…

Golden light flashed before the man’s eyes as he sank to his knees, feeling the powerful sense of bliss overwhelm him.

We can change your fate, Titus Angelo.

Visions flooded his brain as time seemed to reverse in his memories. His comrades, all alive and well again. His family, enjoying a hearty meal together. His country, prospering and peaceful under the leadership of a benevolent government.

“No… we can’t change fate, no matter how much we want to.” Power energised him as the fog in his mind seemed to recoil in pain. “This is my world. This is my life. She died so that I could win. They died so I could live. Nothing can change that!”

The man gasped as a pink wisp expelled itself from his mouth. It drifted in the air as though it was some kind of sentient smoke, before infusing into the motionless Unendings. The monsters twitched as they slowly came to life.

Titus lunged towards them.

~ ~ ~

Lucia’s neck snapped with a sickening crunch.

“Sister…” Titus trembled, watching helplessly as her body dropped to the ground with an undignified plop. Time seemed to stand still. The world seemed to stand still.

He was standing, still.

“Pity, but this is the only way.” Felix’s voice barely registered through the blood rushing in Titus’ ears. There seemed to be a hint of sadness and regret in his voice, but Titus had to be mistaken.

There was no way this psychopath felt remorse for all that he had destroyed. There was no way this monster knew pain and loss.

Titus slowly lifted his head, only to see Felix suddenly on his knees, writhing in pain. Confusion struck him until he noticed the yellow liquid leaking from the hole in Lucia’s chest. Realisation dawned on the man.

His sister had baited Felix. Lucia had injected her own bloodstream with bee poison, which was absorbed into Felix’s body when his psionic spear pierced through her chest.

That silly girl bet her life on this gamble, and he would be damned if he didn’t make it count.

Titus raised his pistol again, determination focusing his gaze. He squeezed the trigger hard, emptying the rest of the poison reserves into the twitching psychic. Felix’s body spasmed with every shot as Titus walked cautiously towards him.

Iron Angel stepped to the side and avoided the blackened blood sprayed in his direction. Felix Pagonis collapsed again, haemorrhaging from every orifice now. The psychic was crawling painfully on the ground, so Titus put a foot on his body to stop him from moving.

“Finally. Thank you…” Felix sputtered, choking on his own blood. “What are you… waiting for? Finish it.”

“With pleasure.”

Brain matter exploded as Titus brought his fist down on Felix’s head.