It was hopeless.

He had fucked up. He had utterly, irrevocably fucked everything up. Orpheus had won. His world was going to remain dead. Marcia’s fate was still unknown. And he had made this whole bloody trip all for nothing.

If he still had hands, he would’ve broken them punching something hard over and over again. He wanted to hurt someone, and he knew who. But he was a pointless target for his frustration. He didn’t fight back, he couldn’t scream.

He didn’t exist. Not anymore.

But another part of him wept for him to stay still, to repent for all his mistakes in silence. As much as he didn’t mean to, it was still his fault that Orpheus was tortured in hell for eighteen years. These were the consequences of his actions, no matter how much he regretted them.

Felix’s anger at himself fizzled out like a firecracker in the rain. This was no time to whine and wail about his circumstances. Marcia still needed him to stand up and pull her out of the quagmire he put her in. He still needed to save himself. He still needed to save him.

Screw it all.

He’d have his penance after saving those he could. He’d come back to this place if he had to, after he’d smoothened his footprints on the multiverse. Then he’d settle his debt with his ex and end the pain once and for all.

Felix churned his body uncomfortably, feeling the nothingness stick to him like a wet shirt. Orpheus’ revenge plan was executed almost to perfection, but it was exceedingly simple. And because of that, he had failed to consider several things.

The man focused his attention on the tiny crack in this liminal space. It was too small for him to squeeze through, since his soul was not as thin as Orpheus’ back then. But he didn’t need to push himself in.

Not when there was something on the other end that he could use to pull himself out.

Exhaustion flooded Felix as he focused harder, grasping for the tiny aspect of his existence imprinted on the glowing flower. He concentrated even harder, feeling his psychic connection to the Euphrosyne Flower strengthening with every passing moment. He was so close…

I have you.

A pink point of light flashed in the nothingness as Felix pulled hard on the only tether connecting himself to the living world. It blinked a few more times, before soaring through the crack like water being sucked up through a straw.

Light spun around the man as impossibly complicated patterns danced around him. Mutters buzzed all around; they were practically blaring in his ears, although he somehow still wasn’t able to make out a single word. Felix would’ve screamed if it wasn’t for the fact that he still had no mouth.

The buzzing in his soul intensified as he felt himself lock onto a certain target. It was impossible to see where he was headed, considering he was probably travelling through some kind of celestial dimensional tunnel back to the living world. The colourful choreography of lights quickly meshed themselves into a single bright tunnel of white light as Felix felt the pull on his soul intensify sharply.

And then there was darkness.

~ ~ ~

Felix couldn’t open his eyes this time, nor could he even move his head. Everything felt cramped for some reason. There was a soft, scraping noise as he willed his body to move, only to realise that he could not feel his muscles at all. He felt extremely weak, although his power was clearly still intact. And so the man focused his mind again, using his telekinesis to move his body instead.

Wood crashed around him as he made his arms punched upwards. Or at least, that’s what his telekinetic senses had to tell him. He had somehow lost his sight, hearing, and smell at the same time. A small sense of understanding sparked into his mind as he recalled where he had placed the Euphrosyne Flower. Could it be…?

Felix’s hands grasped the air where his head should be, but there was nothing. Bones scraped against each other as his fingers met each other.

By the gods…

He was possessing the body of Dictator Felix Pagonis.

Felix focused his power on his body, letting it take the form of biokinesis. His strength gradually returned to him as waves of psionic energy washed over his rotting remains. A tingly feeling pricked against his bones, flesh sprouting over them.

He felt a lot stronger this time as if his power had doubled. His own power must have been piled on top of Dictator Pagonis’ own power. The familiar surroundings of the Building of Magick Archives greeted him as his sense of sight finally returned to him.

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“And thus, I am returned…” Felix muttered to himself, examining his new body. Not like there was much of a physical difference, though. Apart from the fact that he was three years younger, everything else about his body was identical to his usual self.

Footsteps echoed, and the man swung around immediately.

“F— Felix Pagonis?”

He broke into a wide smile. He never thought he’d be glad to see this man, but the relief he felt was undeniable.

“Titus, thank the gods you’re unharmed—”

“Zombie!” Titus jabbed a finger at him in horror, his eyes darting furiously between Felix and the broken casket behind. “Have you come back from the dead to seek revenge? I won’t let you!”

Metal whirred as Titus got into a combat stance.

“I have lost enough friends today!” he yelled. “You want to hurt my people? You have to go through me!”

“Woah, woah! I’m not who you think I am!” Felix sputtered. “I’m Felix Pagonis!”

Titus stared at him blankly, keeping his fists raised.

“B— But I’m not your Felix Pagonis,” Felix blurted, only then realising how ridiculous he had just sounded. “I’m just borrowing his body!”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“I…” Felix’s mind worked furiously, before settling for a very stretched reference. “You ruined a perfectly good shirt.”

Metal retracted from the cyborg’s head, revealing a very shocked-looking face behind. Titus walked forward hesitantly, his eyes scanning Felix’s body up and down.

“What happened to you— What happened?” he asked.

Felix cast his eyes downward and recounted everything that took place after Orpheus had forcibly sent Titus back to his own world. Thankfully, Titus remained quiet throughout the trip down his memory lane, which gave Felix some space to sort out his thoughts as well.

“So what now?” Titus asked. “Are you going to confront Orpheus? Because that didn’t exactly work out the last time.”

Felix shook his head. “If there’s something I learnt through this journey, it’s that some things are best left as they are. All I want to do is fix my own mistakes. My grievances with Orpheus. Marcia’s world. Your world.”

“My world?”

Felix closed his eyes, feeling his telepathy spread across the entire country. Unlike himself, Dictator Pagonis’ power developed more in favour towards telepathy instead of telekinesis, which probably explained why he was able to brainwash his country.

And he already knew what he wanted to do.

The psychic grunted as he simultaneously lifted the mind programming from the billions of minds he had just touched. He staggered slightly, supporting himself against a nearby wall.

“Tis’ done…” he panted slightly.

“What did you do?” Titus stared at him, wide-eyed. Felix ignored him for the moment, projecting his mind into the psychically attuned central guard system.

“Heed my order, all guards of the region,” Felix announced to the technomagick robots. “Persecution of rebels is no longer necessary. All citizens of Surone are to be treated with utmost care and respect from now on.”

The man closed his eyes with a small smile on his lips. “Just… fixed everything… ‘Other Me’ has done wrong in this world.”

Titus froze for a moment before rushing out to look over the helipad. Felix didn’t follow him out; his telepathy was strong enough to tell him what happened. People looking at each other in slight confusion as their repressed memories returned to them, the technomagick guards starting to tear down their checkpoints which no longer served any purpose…

The era of Dictator Felix Pagonis was finally over.

“W— Why did you…” Titus still had a thorough look of disbelief on his face. “This isn’t your world. You could’ve just left us to our fate… Why?”

“For those I can yet save, I will do this much.” Felix smiled wryly. “It isn’t a lot, but I hope I have sowed the seeds of rebirth for your world.”

He glanced at the Multiverse Positioning System sitting conspicuously in the centre of the room. Thankfully, the portal they opened was still open, which saved Felix the headache of figuring out how to look for his sister.

He began to walk towards it—

“Felix, wait up.”

Felix turned back and shook his head. “Where I must go, you need not follow. Your people need Iron Angel more than ever now. Protect them. Thank you for all you’ve done, Titus Angelo. I’m glad to have met you in this world.”

The two men paused for a brief moment, before clasping their hands together in a firm handshake.

“And thank you, Felix Pagonis,” Titus said firmly. “For showing me hope in this desolate world. You are a good man and a true hero. Take care… friend.”

“Likewise.” Felix gave the man one last smile.

And he stepped into the portal.