“Your interviewer today will be Samuel,” Toriel told Judd right after the tension between him and Lucas had boiled over.

Judd wasn’t terribly surprised by this news. After having been interviewed by Lucas thrice in a row, it made sense to Judd that the Lucario would want a break. Still…

Lucas is probably thinking about how best to retaliate against me for calling him a loser and sucker. Do I blame him? No. In fact, I hope the Good Lord can give me the strength I need to forgive him.

With that, another Lucario showed up in front of Judd and gestured for the young man to follow him to a vacant stump that had clearly once been a grand column in the Greco-Roman style. Then Judd sat down and the interview began.

“So,” Samuel stated, “it is a pleasure to meet you, Judd.”

“Likewise” Judd replied. It occurred to him that he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments, the one stating that thou shalt not lie, but sometimes sins were justified if they served a greater purpose.

“So tell me about your mission today. How did the yellow liquid taste?”

Judd cringed as he remembered the jolts the electric drink had sent cascading around his body. Literally every one of his blood vessels and veins had been shocked, and he’d prayed for it to end, for the torture felt interminable.

“It hurt,” Judd stated. “A lot. And I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Samuel frowned. “That is the purpose of this interview, is it not? Everything you say here will be completely confidential, and it’s not going to leave this space. I’ll swear it on…whatever you hold dear.”

When Judd remained silent, the Lucario continued. “Judd, if anything ever bothers you here, then you should tell us. Some would say that you have a duty to report, because if you’re experiencing discomfort, then it’s quite possible others are too.”

Quite frankly, the agony caused by that electric drink had paled in comparison to that of wondering what had just happened to Marie. Judd wasn’t even that fond of her - they’d worked together out of necessity, but that didn’t mean they liked each other. But he still hadn’t relished watching her suffer a panic attack.

Moreover, the fact that Lucas had dismissed Marie’s mental health as though it were totally inconsequential demonstrated, if nothing else, that he didn’t care about her well-being. (Some of the staff at Judd’s church back in Kansas would have said that panic attacks were evidence of demonic possession, which was one teaching that admittedly made Judd feel squeamish. But he still believed, because he had to.)

“Look, Judd,” Samuel continued, “all you have to do is tell me if you have any concerns, and I’ll make sure they are addressed.”

The Lucario appeared totally genuine, at least if you just went by his facial expression. But Judd felt certain this was just a ploy. It seemed more likely that if Judd reported how worried he was about how Lucas had treated Marie’s well-being, Samuel would just report Judd’s blabbing to his boss Toriel. Maybe she’d make some cosmetic concessions, but nothing would fundamentally change, and Lucas would still want to make Judd pay for the insult he’d landed.

In simpler terms, Judd saw no reason to complain to Samuel. “I have no concerns, sir.”

“Good. But you know that if there are issues, come to me and I’ll make sure that stops.”

You dirty little liar, Samuel.

“In any case,” the Lucario continued, “next question. Our footage from today’s Isekai mission shows that while you and Marie Emerson were disguising yourselves to enter Cameran Palace…”.

“Do you really know that?” Judd snapped.

Samuel glared at his interviewee. “Of course we do. How do you think we are able to score your performances?”

“Yeah, silly question.”

“While you and Marie were dressing up, Marie gave you a command that made you visibly uncomfortable. Could you talk about that for a bit?”

There’s no point lying. From what I remember, Lucario can sense aura or whatever it’s called, so he’ll be able to suss out whether what I say is, well, suspicious. And Samuel has power over me right now.

Judd sighed. “Marie told me to put on the pink dress and pretend to be Lady Ilene.”

Samuel nodded. “She did, apparently. And how did you feel about that?”

When he hesitated, the Lucario assured Judd once more that nothing left their interview if he didn’t want it to become public. This is just like confession, Judd reminded himself. If I could do it so many times in my good Christian life, I can do it in my afterlife.

“It felt pretty awkward, honestly,” Judd remarked. “It was, like, the most humiliating insult to my intelligence I could have imagined.”

“Judd, it’s common knowledge that you were a devout Christian in life -”.

“I still am!”

“ - and based on the culture wars in your United States, it seems that quite a few people of your faith are vocally against drag shows. Having to dress in what was effectively drag… did it feel wrong?”

“Yes!” Judd exclaimed. “It’s like graduating high school and then being made to repeat kindergarten!”

“Well, now that’s a little extreme, isn’t it?”

“No, it isn’t. Having to do that, to dress in a role that isn’t appropriate for how the Lord made me…it went against God’s word, you know. His plan. It went against who I am.”

“If you had to do that mission all over again,” Samuel asked, “would you do it the same way as today?”

“Maybe I’d try a bit harder to persuade Marie not to make me dress in drag” Judd retorted. Then, with a slightly calmer voice: “I guess we only missed out on six points, so I can’t complain too much.”

Samuel nodded, writing something down. Then he posed his next question.

“So you arrive back from the mission, and Marie immediately falls to the ground and starts shaking. It’s supposedly a panic attack. How does that make you feel?”

“I don’t know,” Judd stated.

Samuel raised one of his aura-sensing dreadlocks. “You don’t know?”

“I really don’t. I felt conflicted, because we’ve been fighting constantly in the cabin. But when Lucas dismissed her, and Mizar defended her, I must admit that I felt for her.”

“Oooh. Romance might be brewing in Cabin Gemini?”

Judd shook his head defensively. “No! We’re just friends, but honestly, we’re not even friends! Didn’t I just mention how much we bicker?”

“True.”

“I’m telling you, Samuel, I don’t know how you came up with the criteria for compatibility. I’d like to see that data. Because it certainly isn’t working out for us!”

The Lucario sighed. “I’ll have a word with Toriel about this, I promise.”

That was what Samuel said. However, what he did was something else entirely: He gave a rapid, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wink. It was much like a freeze frame joke in a TV show, only Samuel probably wasn’t joking at all.

Okay. So Samuel isn’t a good actor either. Can I even trust him during this interview?

Oh well, I’ve already said too much if he’s going to blab - I might as well go all the way!

“I have one final question for you, Judd. What did you think of Marie’s behavior during the mission?”

“You mean how she kept freezing up whenever there was a loud noise?” Judd responded. “Honestly, I didn’t think much about it. I tried not to think about it, because we had a job to do.”

“Very well,” Samuel responded. “You are free to leave this interview, though dinner is not going to be served for forty-five minutes.”

“Thank you,” Judd said. He was not really thanking Samuel for the interview, but rather for being allowed to leave. He’d spent all of ten minutes in the Lucario’s company and was already thoroughly humiliated.

“Thank you for the answers,” Samuel told him.

With that, Judd made his way back to the pavilion. As much as he hated to wait around the pavilion while some others might still be in their simulations, as much as he didn’t want to intrude, there just wasn’t enough time before dinner to justify returning to Cabin Gemini. Especially when there was nothing to do there.

Wait a minute - what was that plump, indigo shape behind one of the pillars?

It has to be Guildmistress Toriel. It has to be. Nobody else wears indigo here.

As Judd got closer, stepping as lightly as possible for the sake of stealth, he saw that Toriel held an appliance in her hand. A type of appliance he hadn’t seen in a long time - a wired telephone!

That’s weird. How could she possibly have reception here? And who would she be calling anyway?

Eavesdropping may have been a sin, but Judd decided he could let himself give in to the temptation just this once. He could pray for forgiveness later, but for now, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“Yes, Mr. Kipper, everything is going as planned” Toriel said softly into the phone. “They’ve all gone into their respective missions, and most of them have woken up after completing said missions.”

There was an unintelligible voice on the other end of the line. Judd couldn’t even tell if the speaker sounded male or female, old or young. Then Toriel spoke up again.

“The mean of the scores was 81. The standard deviation was 9. Yes, we’re calculating all those statistics to decide who is worthy.”

Who is WORTHY. She means “worthy” of remaining in Jet Force Isekai.

To Judd, that “W-word” carried a specific connotation. To Toriel, it seemed to mean that salvation from banishment came through works rather than through faith alone. And this idea made Judd trust the guildmistress just a little less.

“They’ll be ready pretty soon, Mr. Kipper,” Toriel insisted, her tone rising marginally. “You have to be patient. They’ll get there when they get there.”

What’s she talking about? Is she describing us like we’re toddlers who need to reach a developmental milestone? This feels just like having to wear that damn dress!

“No, no, I haven’t told them yet. It’s more fun not to tell them. I don’t think they want to know, anyway, until they do. But I’m going to drop the truth on them at the last second. Again, that’s the most satisfying way to do things.”

Okay. Now I REALLY want to know what Toriel means.

“Right, right, Mr. Kipper,” Toriel responded. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. But until then, your opinion only matters so much. So I’ll hang up right now - we will talk again tomorrow, okay? Bye.”

Judd watched with bated breath as Toriel placed the phone back in its box. The guildmistress then slowly turned around and came face to face with Judd!

His heart felt as though it were going to thump its way right out of his chest. Despite this, Judd’s blood ran cold. For all he knew, his memory was about to get sold to the moment Toriel stared at him.

The guildmistress’ expression was not necessarily one of anger - perhaps shock is the most accurate word here. But Toriel clearly hadn’t expected to catch Judd there, and she seemed as surprised as a kid caught with one hand in the cookie jar.

“What did you hear?” Toriel snapped.

“Nothing,” Judd insisted, though his tone hardly sounded like the sort that would convince anyone who already thought he’d heard something.

Indeed, the guildmistress shook her head. “You certainly don’t look like someone who didn’t witness anything of importance. I was on the phone, and the call’s contents were highly classified.”

“Why would you have a highly classified phone call out in the open?” Judd responded. Hey, I’m just asking the important questions, aren’t I?

“That is not important,” Toriel replied coldly. “In fact, it is totally irrelevant. This can remain between me and you, or I can make it a bigger issue.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Maybe” the guildmistress responded in a tone that clearly communicated a threat. She’d clearly abandoned all pretense of considering Judd her Child, not that he hadn’t considered it creepy and odd to begin with.

“Who is Mr. Kipper, anyway?” Judd responded. “A fish, like the one that’s in those Mario games? The only video games I was allowed to play as a kid?”

That clearly set Toriel off, and the guildmistress glared at Judd. “It does not matter. You aren’t supposed to know. And again, this can stay between the two of us.”

“Fine,” Judd said. “How can I keep it that way?”

“Head off to dinner - or back to your cabin - like a good boy and don’t bring this up ever again. As far as I’m concerned, this never happened. Do you understand?”

Judd nodded to show that he understood, but as he made his way to the picnic table at which he would consume his evening meal, he felt as though he had more questions than ever before.

It does not matter. But Toriel certainly acted like it was important that such information remained classified. If the secret was of no consequence, then why would she insist so much on it staying a secret?

Whatever. It’s none of my business. Just because I want to know something doesn’t mean I can’t. When I reach the Kingdom of Heaven, I’ll have every chance to ask God everything I’m curious about. Until then, I’ll remain in the dark.

As Judd sat down at an empty picnic table, he found himself silently praying. Nothing out of the ordinary, of course - he just asked the Good Lord to give him the tools he needed to reach His Kingdom.

I’m going to get there someday. All I need to do is keep the faith and keep excelling at these challenges - I mean, MISSIONS. But I suppose they are challenges, too.

The residents of Jet Force Isekai who hadn’t left the pavilion upon waking from their simulations started trickling back in eventually. During this time, Mizar ended up sitting next to Judd, putting his head in his hands after he did so.

“Thanks,” Judd stated.

Mizar raised an eyebrow. “What are you thanking me for?”

“Keeping me company. Without company, I’d have far too much time to think about how it started and how it’s going.”

Mizar sighed. “Welcome to my world, Judd. I’ve been here for over a year. In fact, closer to two years now. It’s January 2024 now, isn’t it?”

Judd thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I think so. It was that month when I died in the Rocky Mountains.”

“Then I’ve been here for about twenty months,” Mizar stated stoically. “I died climbing Mount Everest during the spring climbing season in 2022. There was an avalanche, as they say will only get more common with climate change, and I got the short end of the stick.”

“You seem pretty calm about having died in an avalanche” Judd observed aloud.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The other man shrugged. “You need to accept your fate eventually, I guess. It all happened so quickly, too - you can relate, right?”

Judd nodded. “I got mauled by a moose, and those creatures can run at like forty miles per hour.”

Mizar grimaced, probably envisioning the bloody pile that was Judd’s corpse back on Earth. “The point is, when the snow and ice started cascading down the mountain, I didn’t have much time to ponder my fate before it was all around me. And I got crushed pretty quickly - it wasn’t a slow suffocation like you hear about in the movies. Anyway, that was well over a year ago - May 2022, to be more precise.”

“So if my math is correct,” Judd said softly, “you’ve done over eighty missions since you arrived?”

“Yep,” Mizar stated. “Like I said, when you keep getting Isekai’d, you get used to it eventually. It seems your bunkmate hasn’t gotten used to it yet.”

A proverbial light-bulb went off in Judd’s head: Of course. That’s another thing I wanted to discuss with Mizar!

“Thank you” Judd mouthed.

Mizar frowned. “What are you thanking me for?”

“Thank you for defending Marie against what Lucas was saying. It can’t have been easy, but…”.

“...it’s what anyone would do” Mizar insisted. “Or at least, anyone with an ounce of decency. Don’t congratulate me too much, Judd.”

“Still.”

“Look, Judd, I appreciate it, but I don’t need God to tell me what’s right or wrong. And you don’t either - I can tell you know independently of your God that it’s always best to stand up for those who are suffering.”

“God taught me that, though” Judd stated automatically.

“Did He really?” Mizar responded quizzically. “The point is, Judd, if your main motivation for being a good person is that you want to be rewarded after you die, are you really a good person?”

Judd did not know how to answer that question. And that was a scary thought, like being on the edge of a bottomless pit and experiencing a call to the void that you were desperately trying not to comply with.

“Anyway,” Mizar continued in little more than a whisper, “you were also pretty brave, or at least brazen, when you called Lucas a loser and sucker.”

“Maybe” Judd sighed. “But he’s going to punish me later, isn’t he?”

Mizar nodded grimly. “Probably. In fact, almost assuredly. They don’t take insults lying down here. They’re not the benevolent overlords that you wanted.”

Judd shivered.

“I’m sure, too, that there’s something they aren’t telling us,” Mizar continued. “I don’t know what that something might be, but they’re keeping it a secret.”

It occurred to Judd that maybe he should tell Mizar about the phone call he’d witnessed Toriel making to an unknown entity named “Mr. Kipper.” If the other young man (who would not grow old) wanted confirmation that he was right, then Judd would be able to provide that.

But then Judd remembered Toriel’s threat to make his eavesdropping public information. It was too risky. Besides, what did Judd really know about the call? Other than Toriel’s words, he had no clue what they’d been discussing or even who Mr. Kipper was.

No. In the end, he saw no reason to inform Mizar of the call. Luckily, he didn’t need to ponder that decision for too long, because a cut of steak with a side of what resembled a Thai stir fry swiftly appeared on their plates.

Within seconds, Judd and Mizar were both eating with gusto. “Plenty of protein” Mizar stated with a satisfied smile as he wolfed down his greens.

Judd couldn’t help but concur. This was possibly the most delicious meal he’d eaten since arriving at Jet Force Isekai, and hearing Mizar’s ringing endorsement of it didn’t hurt matters at all.

Mizar, however, only approved of the main course. Once it was gone, each plate was swiftly adorned with a single slice of what looked like cheesecake with a raspberry sauce on top. At this, Mizar turned up his nose. “Why would they serve us this garbage?”

“I dunno, looks pretty delicious to me” Judd said, licking his lips.

“But cheesecake is, like, the worst thing for you when you’re an athlete. Or in general. No matter how amazing it tastes.”

“Have it your way,” Judd replied, rolling his eyes. “But I’m going to eat what I want, because I’m already dead. Does it really matter if I eat like shit from a nutritional standpoint?”

Unfortunately, Judd did not get a chance to enjoy his dessert, for his shoulder was swiftly tugged on by an unseen force.

“Get off me” Judd muttered, but the force did not do so. That’s when Judd looked up and saw that this force was the grip of one of his own bunkmates.

Sophie stared grimly at Judd. “We need to talk.”

Judd glared at Sophie. “What did I do wrong?”

“Not everything is about you, Judd!” Sophie exclaimed. “You need to stop thinking it is! The world wasn’t created for you, and neither is everything your fault!”

“Cool, so whose fault is this? And can I just eat dessert first?”

“No, you cannot” Sophie replied, stating it as though it were fact. “You and I are going to talk, as will Jessica and Marie.”

Well, as much as Sophie and I don’t get along, this is probably important. In fact, I’d say it’s ESPECIALLY important if she really thinks I need to be summoned for something like this.

Sophie led Judd over to one of the pillar stumps near the pavilion, rather similar to the ones used for the interviews. It was then that Judd saw what, precisely, the problem was.

Jessica stared at Sophie with what looked like petty rage, no pun intended. Meanwhile, Marie sat on the pillar stump, her head in her hands, a picture of emotional distress.

“That is the finest cheesecake I’ve ever seen!” Jessica complained. “It’s like the food you eat when you’re living the good life! And you had to take it from me, Sophie!”

Sophie narrowed her eyes. “You said I had to. That’s because, well, I needed to. This is more important than dessert. I’m sorry.”

“You’re not sorry at all, but okay” Jessica responded in a whiny tone.

“You’re right, actually. I’m not.”

“I don’t understand,” Judd said as he cast his glance between the arguing pair of Jessic and Sophie, as well as the weeping woman on the pillar stump. “What’s going on here?”

Sophie looked away from Jessica to give Judd a pitying glance, the sort that suggested: Oh, you sweet summer child. I’m sorry to destroy your innocence. Okay, not really.

“We’re trying to talk Marie away from the ledge” she muttered.

Judd frowned. “Away from the ledge? But we’re already dead; I don’t follow you.”

Jessica sighed. “She means, Judd, that Marie wants to quit. She told Sophie that she wanted to volunteer to be banished Elsewhere.”

“But she scored 94. I know this because I was her partner. She’d really throw away her spot in Jet Force Isekai for whoever came in third to last?”

Marie nodded in between quaking sobs. “They probably want to be here more than I do!”

Sophie gave Marie a back massage. “What the third-to-last place team wants doesn’t matter. If they scored too low today, they don’t deserve to be here anymore.”

“But that’s not fair!” Marie wailed.

“Life isn’t fair, Marie, and neither is the afterlife” Sophie replied in a tone probably trying (and failing) to soothe Marie. “I didn’t make the rules here. Just because I follow the rules doesn’t mean I agree with them. We’re all in this system.”

“But I can’t!” Marie exclaimed. “I can’t do it anymore!”

“Why can’t you?” Judd inquired in an effort to defuse this situation. “We just got an A in the mission. Or at least, in the A range. You’re very much capable of this.”

“You don’t understand,” Marie said softly between sobs. “If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you can’t understand.”

Jessica frowned at Marie, frustration evident in her eyes. “If you don’t tell us what’s wrong, how can you expect us to help you?”

Marie looked up from the ground and jabbed a finger in Jessica’s direction. “Are you trying to coax that information out of me? How dare you!”

Jessica held her hands in the air. “What? No! I’m just saying, it might help to get those words off your chest!”

“They’re personal,” Marie stated tearfully, “as are my reasons for leaving this place. I’m going to volunteer my name at the amphitheater tonight, and none of you can stop me.”

Judd realized something at that very moment. If Marie willingly threw her torch on the ground for Toriel to snuff, would Judd have to join her Elsewhere?

Maybe that’s what God wants me to do. Maybe I can show Marie mercy by putting her out of her misery, assuming she really wants out that badly.

But Judd spoke up anyway. He just wanted the answer.

“Marie,” he said testily, “for all I know, if you volunteer to be banished, I have to leave too, because I’m your partner.”

“No, you’re not!” Marie bellowed, sniffing.

“What do you mean? I worked with you to save that Sobble from Cameran Palace! We went through the electric maze together! I was your partner.”

Jessica frowned. “Does it really work that way? Would only Marie take the place of the person to be evicted, or would she and Judd both have to offer up their spots?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out,” Sophie grunted. She then turned to Marie. “Look, I can’t read your mind. I’m not Batwoman, I’m the Canadian.”

Marie snorted humorlessly. “I don’t think Batwoman can read minds.”

“I couldn’t care less about the Marvel universe. The point is, I’m only human, and if you don’t tell us what’s troubling you, we can’t possibly persuade you to stay. We won’t know what angle works.”

“That’s right,” Marie replied, “ because no angle will work. I’m dead set on it. You’re not going to see me here after tonight.”

Sophie gave Judd a side-eyed look, but defended him nonetheless. “And if it means Judd has to leave too?”

“Then I’m okay with that.”

“I know, but Judd may not be!” Jessica retorted in a moderately loud voice. “And are you really willing to force your decision on him?”

Judd stood on his tiptoes. “I can confirm that I’m not okay with leaving yet. If I get a high enough score to stay, I want to stay.”

Jessica glared at Marie. “Will you stand down, then?”

“Fine” Marie sobbed. “But I’ll make my final decision at the banishment ceremony. When does it start, anyway?”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “It’s probably going to start any minute now. We really should dip our torches in and get fire.”

That is exactly what the Cabin Gemini quartet did, hastily returning to the pavilion just in time to join the procession of Jet Force Isekai residents making their way to the amphitheater. If possible, Judd’s torch seemed even heavier, like he was the Titan Atlas holding the sky on his shoulders (not that Greek mythology was real - Jesus was the only true myth, the only one powerful enough to split history in two).

Once they’d reached the monochrome version of Red Rocks, Judd, Jessica, and Sophie all sat adjacent to Marie - Judd and Jessica were on either side, whereas Sophie sat just above her. They had sacrificed their desired distance from one another on the altar of ensuring Marie didn’t quit.

“Good evening, everyone,” Toriel announced. “I see that everyone has dipped their torches into the brazier and gotten fire. This is part of the ritual of the banishment ceremony, because fire represents your afterlife here. When your fire’s gone, so are you.”

It occurred to Judd that Toriel seemed to have used the same language almost verbatim to describe last week’s ceremony. Maybe there was something to that, maybe nothing, but Judd thought it odd nonetheless.

“Thank you all for helping the Pokémon on the surface of Planet Nexus through your missions today. You have no doubt exerted a positive impact on the world, and a major one at that. Although the difficulty of many missions today was elevated, it seems that most teams were able to achieve a solid score. The same, of course, cannot be said for those who will be banished tonight.

“I will now list the three soloists, partnerships, or teams that have scored the lowest in the weekly Isekai mission and will therefore be banished from these ruins. I will start from the lowest score and continue to the third-lowest.”

Again, that’s totally verbatim. It sounds so manufactured, but who am I to question it? A fool, that’s who!

Toriel named the first casualties of that night’s ceremony, a partnership consisting of a white-blonde woman and a dark-skinned man, both of whom shuffled nervously up to the snuffer when their torches were to be snuffed. After the guildmistress deployed her line The numbers have spoken, they were on their way elsewhere, and Judd’s heart rate quickened.

It’s only a few short minutes before we learn whether or not Marie’s actually going to follow through. We’ll also learn what “following through” entails.

Judd gripped his torch more tightly as the second-lowest scorers were identified, a trio who’d “earned” a score of 52. He pictured himself being told to grab his torch and stand before Toriel for it to be extinguished, only to then be thrust into the great unknown. Quite frankly, the prospect scared the hell out of him.

The trio obediently surrendered their torches, and with it, their tenures at Jet Force Isekai. With that, Judd firmly held his torch like it was the last lifeboat leaving the RMS Titanic. Yes, it was burning, but the fire tethered him to his afterlife as he knew it.

Toriel was about to reveal the names of the third-lowest team (another trio, this time scoring 57) when Marie sprang up as though her seat had been a trampoline.

“Yes?” Toriel stated. “You’d better not be disrupting the ceremony. Marie Emerson, you are safe tonight - you scored well over thirty points higher than this team!”

“I want to volunteer!”

Judd gulped. It’s the moment of truth. My Lord, please give Marie the common sense for her cooler side to prevail.

“Well then,” the guildmistress responded. “If you want out that badly, you can just set your torch right here, and I’ll snuff it for you.”

Well, nothing about what Toriel just said implies that I’d need to leave if Marie does. But maybe she’s about to drop it on me anyway.

“But!” Toriel continued, and Judd’s stomach dropped. “There is an important stipulation if you are to depart Jet Force Isekai voluntarily.”

“What is that stipulation?” Marie inquired, still bobbing up and down as though she couldn’t wait to get her torch snuffed. Sure enough, though, Toriel gave the answer Judd feared most.

“All quits are team quits, Marie Emerson” the guildmistress announced. “You are the only one who needs to want to leave, but if you are so determined to leave these ruins without failing a mission, your partner will also be banished. That’s something you must think about.”

Yes. It’s something to think about, indeed.

Judd clung even more tightly to his torch while reclining even further into the bench. This was hardly a comfortable position for his body to be in, but it at least seemed to tether him firmly to Jet Force Isekai rather than whatever came next.

Now his afterlife was hanging by a thread, and Marie was holding it. It didn’t matter how fervently Judd pleaded to stay - if Marie really wanted to be gone, there was only so much he could do about it.

“Don’t do it, Marie,” Judd pleaded with her.

Marie glared at Judd. “Don’t tell me what to do, ” she snarled. “Don’t tell me how to live my afterlife!”

“But this isn’t just about you!” Judd protested. “It’s about me too. And I really want to stay here - I earned it, after all, and so did you!”

“So what?”

“What do you mean, so what?” Judd retorted. “It isn’t right to force your way of life onto anyone else! I don’t know how you were raised, but I was taught to mind my own damn business!”

“Unless it relates to marrying whoever you want regardless of gender, or letting a woman access health care when she needs to, or…” Marie trailed off, clearly trying to think of a better example.

“Don’t say anything about my politics” Judd insisted. “You don’t know shit about how I voted.”

Lucas the Lucario, who stood near the entrance to the amphitheater at this time, snapped his claws. “You have two minutes to come to a decision” he stated firmly. “If a decision cannot be reached, we will stick with Marie Emerson’s expressed wish to leave Jet Force Isekai, thereby taking Judd Asgard with her on their journey Elsewhere.”

Judd’s lungs expanded and contracted, but it seemed impossible for them to get quite enough air. He had only two minutes to persuade Marie not to grab him and chuck both herself and Judd off a proverbial cliff.

“You can’t do this, Marie,” Judd told her breathlessly. “You just can’t.”

“Who says that?” Marie responded flippantly. “It’s a free country. Judd, you said so yourself. I can do whatever I want!”

Sophie cleared her throat. “I might not agree with Judd’s…ahem, religious beliefs, but he’s got a point there. Your life is your own to do as you want with it, and so is your afterlife.”

Arceus, I wish she’d just get to that point. I can practically picture that giant red timer counting down from 120!

“But your freedom to swing your arms ends at someone else’s face” Sophie continued. “That’s why I don’t like when religion is involved in politics, and why I’m very scared for America. Your afterlife is yours, but you don’t own Judd’s as well.”

Judd felt the seconds slipping away. Sophie was making her point eloquently; he’d give her that, even if he didn’t agree with her on the matter of God’s existence. He just wished she’d use a few less words.

Jessica spoke up finally. “You can’t go down now, Marie. Not without taking Judd with you. And as much as we fight, I don’t think you hate Judd enough to do this to him.”

Marie turned her head one way, then tilted it back and narrowed her eyes at Jessica. For a brief moment, Judd felt certain Marie was about to explode like a banshee, yelling I’m pissed!, or something similar. And that would be the final nail in his coffin, the end of any hope he had to remain here. To continue his quest to find the Good Lord’s Kingdom of Heaven as opposed to being at the mercy of others.

But then Marie said one word.

“Right.”

Toriel raised an eyebrow. “So, just so that we’re all clear here, you, Marie Emerson, will not volunteer to leave Jet Force Isekai after all?”

“That is correct,” Marie said with a sigh. She glanced at Judd as if to say, You owe me one. However, Judd didn’t care much about that look, because he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

We’re safe. I’m safe, at least for now.

“Very well,” Toriel announced. “Going forward, I would advise you not to interrupt me while I am about to name the banished party unless you truly intend to volunteer yourself as tribute.”

“Right,” Marie stated, giving Judd another look that suggested she’d truly been considering a premature exit from the ruined land they’d called home for the past week.

“In that case,” the guildmistress continued, “the third lowest score of today’s missions was 57, and it went to…”.

Judd tuned out the rest of the ceremony as his chest deflated. He could scarcely believe what had just transpired, but felt tempted to kiss the sweet ground. By the grace of God, he’d been able to talk Marie into staying.

Sophie didn’t seem to agree.

On the way back to Cabin Gemini following the ceremony’s conclusion, Sophie glared at Judd. In little more than an angry whisper, she told him this: “Well, you should really just take the W here.”

The pious young man (who would not grow old) narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because you kept Marie from getting her torch snuffed when she didn’t need to.”

Judd didn’t have the guts to admit that this had hardly been a selfless act of kindness. He hadn’t saved Marie because he particularly cared about her, but rather because if he failed to do so, he was going to swing for her irrationality. In much the same way that Jesus had suffered for his sins, Judd would suffer as a result of Marie’s mistakes. The only difference was that in the former situation, Jesus was given a choice. In Judd’s case, he’d have had none.

“Come on, Judd. You did something for yourself. You don’t have to give God credit for it.”

“Just because I don’t need to doesn’t mean I can’t. I give the Good Lord all the glory, because that’s just the person I am.”

Sophie rolled her eyes, spitting out her next sentence as though punching Judd with words. “How can it be that I’m telling you that you underestimate your own worth? God didn’t save your skin today, Judd - you did that for yourself!”

Well, yeah. I did it just for myself, not because I wanted to be chivalrous toward Marie.

When they arrived back at the cabin, Judd, Sophie, and Jessica went through their typical nighttime routine of using the toilet, brushing their teeth, etc. Nothing was very remarkable about that evening except for the fact that Marie sat cross-legged on her bed, leaning forward and clasping her fingers together as though in prayer.

That’s weird, Judd thought upon finishing his tooth-brushing session. I thought she wasn’t one for religion.

But it soon became clear that Marie wasn’t saying anything at all. Rather, she just sat there sobbing off and on, rocking back and forth as though unable to sit still.

“Thanks,” Judd told her.

What he was thanking Marie for, he didn’t know. Indeed, would you thank an arsonist for calling the fire department? Not likely.

I should probably thank God for the fact that I’m still here.

So Judd climbed onto his mattress and got to his knees. Then he bowed and began praying, this time making damn sure he wasn’t saying any of his words out loud.

My Lord, I would like to thank You for allowing Marie Emerson and I to survive another Isekai mission on the Pokémon planet Nexus. I know You created Earth, but here they apparently worship a false deity called Arceus. Did You create this planet, or did Arceus? Well, one day, when I can sit by Your side and ask You anything I want, I’ll be glad to know the answer.

I would also like to express my sincerest gratitude toward You for convincing Marie Emerson to stand down and not send herself and me Elsewhere. I’m not sure what they mean by Elsewhere, but I do not believe it is Your realm. Therefore, I am eternally thankful that You have kept me from going to such a wretched place.

Finally, one of my bunkmates, Sophie Frey, seems to think I shouldn’t give You credit for talking Marie back from the brink. But I believe she is flat-out wrong. You deserve all the credit and glory, always. You have given me my daily bread, and forgiven me for my sins. And while I do not know what You expect of me, I believe You are using me as a vessel for those who lack faith in You. Amen.

Once he’d finished those prayers, it occurred to Judd that maybe he shouldn’t have doubted God’s creation of Nexus. Hadn’t He molded the whole universe with His bare hands? But in any case, Judd’s eyelids were growing surprisingly heavy now that all the residual fear and stress from the day was fading.

He lay down in bed, rolling over in an effort to get comfortable. Jessica may have been the only Cabin Gemini resident to complain outwardly about the bed’s quality (or lack thereof), but that cot was as flat as a board. It was more rigid than the body of a patient with what those in Kansas called “brain flu.” Consequently, his back and neck were being remade in the image of the mattress: Stiff. But Judd knew the Lord was testing him, so until he met his maker, he just had to grin and bear it.

Last week, Judd had told Mizar that his country was the third-most important thing to him; the bronze medal, if you will. The silver went to Jesus. As far as the “gold medal” went, Judd felt almost as though he were cheating in his relationship with the Lord when he admitted that there was something Earthly he cared more about than going to his church and worshiping his God.

Unlike prayer, or memories of how much he adored the United States, the thing Judd treasured most of all could not be accessed from this place. Try as he might, he’d never be able to reach it again.

But that didn’t stop him from visiting it in his dreams.