More time passed as Max and Everly continued their journey. This time the abyss took the shape of an endless highway for them to walk upon, which Everly found reminiscent of the roads in many post-apocalyptic action movies that she’d seen over the years. Something that George Miller might have directed.
On either side of them were the ravaged remnants of destroyed vehicles left to rust beneath the sun. Driverless wreckages that looked like they’d been retooled for combat and then been used in the losing side of a serious battle. Max thought it was quite interesting and had been cracking endless jokes in a bad Australian accent until Everly had forced him to stop.
As they continued onward towards their goal, they passed the time with conversation and gradually grew to know each other better. Although Everly was impatient to finally end her quest, the time they spent on their meandering walk proved to be invaluable because it not only allowed her body to gradually recover from the healing she received from Max, but it also allowed the bond they shared as weapon and wielder to strengthen as well.
Whether they would acknowledge it or not, the pair of them suited each other. Within weeks of meeting, it was as though they’d known each other for years. Everly burned with arrogant purpose and grandiose self-regard while Max simply wanted to burn things. The various primordial demons that crossed their path, thinking the pair of travelers to be easy prey, quickly grew to regret their urges.
However, just because Max and Everly had grown closer didn’t mean they shared the same opinions. They frequently argued loudly over anything and everything that crossed their minds. Movies, songs, women, comic books, no topic was safe from their quarreling. If the subject of conversation was something they felt especially passionate about, then it could quickly escalate into a physical confrontation and even the occasional attempted murder, although the latter happened rarely. They did frequently wound each other, though. But those brief moments of rage-fueled bloodlust would just as quickly turn into long minutes of hysterical laughter.
It was a strange friendship they’d developed, but it was also a genuine one. And a first for either of them. Max, by his very nature, derived enjoyment from the suffering of others, whether it happened intentionally or incidentally. He respected nothing. He cared for no one. And yet, with Everly, he found a surprisingly deep well of camaraderie. She reminded him of days gone by with his younger brother, when they’d been inseparable and thick as thieves. Back before Matthew had turned on him and gone his own way, leaving him alone to find his way in the world.
It was a good feeling. Even if it did remind Max of how much he wanted to torture his self-righteous sibling with something sharp and pointy. To watch his mind break from sleep deprivation and pain before ending his life. But that was just how it went with family. Didn’t everyone occasionally want to turn their annoying little brother into a messy fingerpainting? That was just life.
For her part, Everly was quite convinced that Max was insane, and not functionally insane either. He didn’t have a plan for anything; he was mercurial and lived entirely in the moment with no idea of what tomorrow would bring. To an organized and controlling personality like hers, it was obvious that he needed guidance and direction. Essentially, he was no different from anyone else in the world. His life would improve immeasurably if he just shut the hell up and did whatever she told him. He was strongly resistant to this viewpoint, but Everly knew she’d win him over eventually.
Either that or she’d simply batter down his resistance until he couldn’t fight back anymore. Whichever one, really. It was all good.
“It just doesn’t matter to me,” Everly said one particularly dark night on the road. The evening's conversation had shifted to their opinions on how to best make use of the system. Max relied on it for everything, but Everly discovered over time that she really didn’t care for it at all.
“What’s your issue with it, anyway?” he asked her. “It’s what gives us the edge in this life. You should take advantage of it as much as you can.”
“Nope. Hard disagree from me,” she replied. “I don’t want to base my decision making on a fear-based principle. What’s the point of that? It’ll make me weaker, not stronger.”
“What do you mean by a fear-based principle?” asked Max.
“Isn’t that what a leveling system actually is?” replied Everly. “An easy-to-use means of risk-assessment to guide all your choices? This guy has three levels above me; I should go grind. That monster over there is an elite, I should form a party before fighting it. There are too many enemies over here, I might run out of magic before I can kill them all. Game mechanics are bullshit, Max. They’re more about avoidance of failure than they are about seeking victory. My spreadsheet has bigger numbers therefore my kung fu is the strongest! Frankly, I find the concept contemptable.”
“What’s wrong with wanting to win? I love winning. Knowing that I’m a higher level than the meat I want to mince up makes it easierfor me to have some fun,” said Max.
“Max, we’re talking about fear of failure above all else,” Everly replied. “People are crippled by it. Winning is fun, but life gets boring if it’s always easy. But that doesn’t matter to people who live like they’ll die the moment they lose at something.”
“Hmmm,” Max said loudly. “That’s soooo interesting.”
“What?” Everly said. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
“You’re hyper-competitive to the point of being annoying,” said Max bluntly. “Kind of feels like your beliefs are mired in juuust a little bit of self-serving hypocrisy.”
“Shut up, you’re an idiot, you’re completely wrong,” snapped Everly.
“If you say so,” Max snickered.
“I’m just saying that only cowards crave certainty,” Everly said. “Wanting to know ahead of time that you won’t lose removes everything that makes things fun. The principal of uncertainty is the very spice of life!”
“If you want a challenge, just fight someone the same level as you,” Max said.
“That’s still the same as participating in the farce,” Everly said stubbornly. “I might be blonde but I’m not goldilocks. I don’t want a bowl of porridge that’s just right.”
“We’re just talking about picking your moments, kid,” Max said with a roll of his eyes.
“That’s right. Picking my moments, not following the brain-dead prompts of some omniscient blue screen,” Everly said with a frown.
“Yours is blue? Mine’s red,” said Max. “Maybe you can customize your colors? Check under options.”
“Oh, just shut up for a second and listen,” said Everly. “This so-called system might seem like a path of freedom to you, but if you really think about it, it’s just another set of rules and limitations. Select this skill so you can do this. Pick this bonus so you can do that. It’s just the illusion of choice. You might think you’re exercising free will but so long as you play within the established ruleset, then you’ll never be in control of your own life. Hell, you’ll never be anything more than a player in a game that someone else is running.”
“It’s been convincingly argued before that free will is an illusion,” Max said. “That everything we’ll ever do in the future is predicated on the choices we’ve made earlier in life. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase; past is precedent?”
“Sounds like an excuse that people use to deny parole to a prisoner,” Everly scoffed.
“If you care about an orderly society than recidivism has to be a concern," said Max with the sort of false sincerity often used by those who like to play devil's advocate because it annoys other people. "If an official shows mercy to a prisoner who then commits another crime, the people who granted him his authority will blame him for it.”
“See what a mess it all is?” replied Everly. “The convict was forced to take the criminal class because he didn’t meet the requirements for an easier one. Maybe his character sheet was lacking in the necessary stats because he couldn’t afford the training that he’d need to improve himself. The official on the other hand was assigned the politician role. It seems easier on the outside but he’s beholden to public perception so now he can’t use his abilities justly, and if he wants to maintain his position, he can only maintain the status quo, with no hope of improving society.”
“Maybe the prisoner took the criminal class because it suited his personality,” said Max. “Maybe one day he woke up and decided he wanted to break some shit; to act out in defiance of the world?”
“And maybe the official picked his class because he decided that it was the best way to make his own life easier?” suggested Everly. “Maybe he wanted to feel the rush of pleasure that comes from sitting in judgement over another person’s life? Or maybe he wanted bribes? Maybe he wanted to cash in on the easy money that comes with the facilitation of a prison industrial complex? Isn’t it interesting how at the highest and lowest levels, evil people are naturally attracted to the established roles that society has prepared for them?”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“Well, a crook’s natural inclinations do lean towards a general desire to fuck over as many people as possible,” said Max with some authority on the subject.
“Understandable. But if they’re not doing it out of a desire to transcend the system, then they’re still just mice in the maze like all the other meaningless little rodents,” said Everly. “As long as a system of any kind exists, all their decisions are meaningless.”
“Yeah, hard disagree from me, blondie,” Max said. “You talk a lofty game, I’ll give you that, but that doesn’t change the fact that you do have a status screen. That means you’re a player the same as everyone else, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.”
“No,” Everly said. “It just means this system thinks I am. It means the forces working behind the scenes of this reality want me to believe that I have no choice other than to play along. But in doing so, it made me aware of its existence.”
Max began to laugh wickedly at her words. “And what exactly does that mean? You gonna pick a fight with the rulebook?”
“Nah, I’ve got a better idea than that,” Everly smirked. “I’m going to kill whoever created this system and hijack it for myself.”
Max laughed even harder at that. Then he paused when he realized she wasn’t joking. Then he just stared at her. Finally, he said something he had only ever said on extremely rare occasions when no other words would truly suffice: “Everly, are you fucking insane?”
“No, sweetie,” she said with a smile. “What I am is ambitious.”
Max had a differing opinion but decided in that moment that it would be safer to keep it to himself.
Eventually, they reached the end of their journey. The conclusion was so abrupt and anticlimactic that they both felt greatly disappointed by it. Once they reached the end of the highway, instead of another temple, or a massive gateway, or even a simple boss fight, what they were rewarded with was the most cliché looking portal from a budget conscious science-fiction production imaginable.
It was a circle in the air that led into a city. It was so traditional looking that Max was instantly distrustful of it.
“This can’t seriously be it,” he said. “Where’s the extravagance? Where are the hordes of slavering fiends and their hulking overlords? Is this really all this place amounted too? A long walk and a strut through an open window? I’m not gonna lie, kid. I expected better.”
“Maybe they ran out of ideas,” Everly said. “You have to admit, we’ve been steamrolling our way through this place. Maybe they never bothered sprucing up the final level because there was no point since no one ever got this far before?”
“You know, that sounds extremely believable,” replied Max. “God, that sort of reasoning is so mundane though! Whatever happened to bringing your A-game to work? Are the architects of creation just a bunch of quiet quitters?”
“Well, you don’t design a successful game by basing it around the elite one percent who finish the content faster than everyone else,” said Everly. “You design it for the slovenly ninety-nine percent who take forever to do everything. You and I are clearly outliers.”
“So, it’s not that whoever set this whole thing up isn’t a willfully lazy piece of trash,” said Max. “We’re just that damn good?”
“Something can be two things at once,” said Everly.
“I guess,” Max said. “I just wish something a little more fun would happen, y’know? This just feels like bog standard aimless wandering at this point. It feels like nothing cool has happened in ages.”
Five minutes later after the pair of them stepped through the portal and reunited with Eris, Max was beside himself with rapturous glee, as he happily watched a gigantic clam monster that closely resembled a man wearing a foam costume, smash its way through a city, leaving chaos and screaming citizens fleeing in the wake of its rampage.
“I take it back; I take it all back!” Max said after dropping blissfully to his knees and raising his arms in praise to the sky. “We have discovered PARADISE!”
“Eris, I’m going to need an easy-to-understand explanation that avoids any pointless elaboration and just skips to the part where I learn why my elementals are living out an awesome Super Sentai fantasy while I’ve been busy risking my life searching for them in this godless void.”
“Whoa!” cut in Max. “Can I just say thank you for emphasizing that this is a Super Sentai thing and not Power Rangers? They’re two very distinct brands and it really would have grated on me if you called it that.”
“Good to know,” Everly nodded before turning back to Eris. “Anyway, you were about to explain why you and Titania are playing Power Rangers?”
“Aww,” said Max unhappily.
“It’s not that we’re playing, Everly. This is a kind of mental maze,” Eris said. “A self-perpetuating labyrinth of dreams that constantly resets itself whenever my sister is on the verge of reawakening. An imprisonment created by the greater elementals themselves in order to keep us from returning to your side.”
“The greater elementals?” Everly asked with a scowl. “Those so-called gods? Why would they want to keep us apart?”
“They fear your ascendency, great Everly,” said Eris with a scowl of her own. “It ordinarily takes countless centuries for elementals to accumulate the level of power that Titania and I possess. Our swift growth is of course due to your guidance and training. The old ones believe that we’re a threat to their dominance of the world.”
“Meh, makes sense. We are a threat to their dominance,” replied Everly. “I’m actually flattered that they’ve gone to these lengths to hinder me. That’s called showing respect, Eris. And I appreciate it.”
“Of course, my elders are right to fear you, Everly. You are the rising star in the darkness of the void! All eyes are drawn to your distant but beautiful light!” said Eris proudly. “Your radiance is everything!”
“Oh, I’ve missed your shameless fawning,” Everly blushed as she kissed Eris happily on both cheeks.
“Wow, you’ve really got this one house trained, huh?” smirked Max as he watched their exchange while wearing an amused expression. “Female friendship is tough to get a read on.”
“Have you ever tried being friends with a woman?” Everly asked him.
“The one I buried alive, yeah,” he replied.
“What came between you?”
“About twelve feet of soil,” he said. “That’s around four meters if you’re Canadian.”
“I’m not,” she said.
“Then yeah, about twelve feet of soil.”
“Everly, who is this man?” Eris asked as she stared at Max with undisguised hostility. “Something about him feels…wrong. Unnatural.”
“Eris, I’m a necromancer,” Everly said. “Just how twisted would someone else have to be in order for you to think that in comparison to me, there’s something unnatural about them?”
“I don’t trust him,” Eris said stubbornly. “He’s not one of us.”
“Good. Don’t. He isn’t,” replied Everly. “But he is my tool, so I expect you not to harm him.”
“I’ll do anything for your sake, Everly,” Eris said fervently.
“And that had better include doing everything I command,” Everly said firmly. “Seriously! We just reunited! Let’s not fall back into old patterns.”
“Oh, cool! Mecha!” shouted Max excitedly as he pointed at a shining four-legged mechanical titan that came barreling down the road to crash into the giant clam. “Oof! Direct hit!” he said happily as the clam went down.
“Is that Titania?” asked Everly.
“She’s piloting it, yes,” said Eris in a chagrined voice.
“What is that?” Everly asked. “Is it a bull? No, the horns are too wide. Is that a moose? Why’s her mech a giant moose?”
“It’s a Bull Moose,” Eris said reluctantly. “But for special combat situations it transforms into a more humanoid figure!”
“Really? I mean, that’s cool and everything, but why start out as a moose to begin with? That feels like a really weird selection,” opined Everly.
“Is this set in Canada or something?” Max asked. “They got mooses all over the place up there,” he added, deliberately mispronouncing the word.
“No! The story for this scenario is set in Southern California,” Eris said crossly.
“California by way of Toronto, right?” Max said with a sly grin. “You know how they like to cut production costs by shooting up north. That’s basically how the CW kept itself in existence for twenty odd years!”
“NO,” Eris insisted forcefully. “If anything, it’s probably New Zealand. Everyone around here has that strange accent you hear when someone’s deliberately trying to sound American. It’s very off-putting, you can’t mistake it.”
“There aren’t any moose in New Zealand, though,” Max said.
“There actually are. They were introduced in the early twentieth century,” said Everly. “I saw it on Jeopardy once.”
“Ken Jennings is a very well-informed man,” Eris said with a nod.
“Oh, yeah. Easily the best player of all time,” Max said with a nod of his own.
“Ken Jennings used to play Jeopardy?” Everly asked in amazement.
“Uh, yes?” Max replied. “Dude had a seventy-four-game win streak. He’s a legend. The greatest game show player of all time.”
“Wow, that’s probably how he got the hosting job,” Everly said thoughtfully.
“Uh, Alex Trebek is the host of Jeopardy, dummy,” Max said scathingly.
“You were locked in that temple longer than you know, bud. Alex Trebek died like years ago,” Everly said. “It was really sad. Even I was bummed out over it.”
“He’s dead? Seriously? Aww!” lamented Max. “I loved that guy. Best host of anything, ever.”
“And unlike the Power Rangers, he was a genuine Canadian original,” said Everly.
“Wow. It’s like everything comes full circle,” Max said reverently.
“Anyway, let’s wake up Titania and get out of here,” Everly said. “I want to sleep in my real body tonight. Maybe eat some Ice cream with a German name. I don’t care who makes it, it’ll still be delicious. Germans are great at everything. Don’t make any World War II jokes, Max.”
“Sorry, I thought you were setting me up for a one-liner.”
“I was not. I just really want some Hagen Daz.”
“I apologize Everly, but we can’t just take Titania,” said Eris with a bowed head.
“Why not?” sighed Everly. “Please don’t say there’s a complication.”
“Unfortunately, there is a complication,” said Eris.
“That’s exactly what I didn’t want to hear!” whined Everly. “What’s wrong now?”
“The instant this scenario is concluded, it’s going to shift into something else entirely,” Eris said. “The bastards won’t let my sister wake up!”
“Can’t you do something about it yourself?” asked Everly. “What’s keeping you from snapping Titania out of it?”
“I’ve tried, Everly. Many, many times,” Eris said bitterly. “But the safeguards the ancients left in place make it impossible for me to get through to her. I’m just not strong enough on my own to reach her mind.”
“Hey, stop,” Everly said as she threw an arm around her. “No feeling bad about yourself without my consent, okay? Whatever you can’t accomplish on your own, we’ll find a way to achieve together,”
“Of course, mistress,” Eris said as she leaned into Everly’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for showing such weakness. I’m just so tired of this. I want to go home. I want us all to go home.”
“Don’t worry, teammate! We’ll either succeed or die trying!” Max said as he joined in on the hug. “Uh, what did you say your name was again?”
“Stop touching me, you imbecilic toad,” Eris snapped as she pushed Max away.
“Ow! Hey! Everly, the new girl didn’t use her words!” complained Max. “I’ve been assaulted!”
“Okay, I can see myself quickly growing to hate this,” Everly muttered to herself.
“Do I have a bruise? I have a bruise, don’t I? I’m saaaad now!” Max cried while Eris glared at him and began squeezing her hands into tight fists.
“Just stop, already!” ordered Everly. “This is going to be easy, all right? Just trust me.”
Five minutes later, in the thick of a midnight forest, the three of them were running for their lives, desperately trying to keep ahead of a chainsaw wielding maniac who was dressed in outdated hockey apparel.
“I liked it better when it was like Power Rangers,” huffed Max.
“Stop complaining to Everly, you spineless little trout!” shouted Eris.
“I’m not worried. I can totally fix this,” Everly said mostly to herself.
“Choo-choo-choo-ee-ee-ee-ah-ah-ah!” whispered the chainsaw wielding psychopath.