“You son of a bitch,” Lindsey spat at him. “I should have killed you back at the start.

Klein cocked his head and looked like he had just won the lottery. “Yeah, you should’ve. You wouldn’t have been able to, but you should have. Shame. I should have killed you then too, but I didn’t! Imagine the generosity I had to demonstrate in saving the life of the person that I thought Andrew here liked. And! Get this! He didn’t even like you!” He laughed a wild sound. “He liked the white hair chick who met her end with a mallet. Ahhh I wished I could have gotten that hit myself. But I’ll take issuing the order.”

“I will never forgive you,” I said.

“But Andrew, look at how things worked out!” He held out his arms. “The three amigos are back! Even if one of us is missing an arm!”

“The three amigos were never a thing. It was every player and then there was you.”

“Maybe so! But playing pretend every once in a while is fun, no? Like how I let you get so close with your little scheme here? You really think I didn’t notice that interference the first time Jennifer entered this game? I could have refused her entry the second I noticed her breaking in.

“Why didn’t you?”

“You still don’t get it? I needed you to come here,” he motioned with his hands. “You lost the girl who was going to carry you to the end. You needed someone who would help pull your ass out of the sadness you had—a sadness I fully could not even begin to understand mind you. But lo and behold came your redemption with the first girlfriend and the long scorned sister! It was so perfect, even I couldn’t have orchestrated it!”

“She’s not my girlfriend, and I grew on my own accord,” I said.

“Potayto Potahto. It’s just like I told you from the start.”

“Jay! I’d really appreciate a helping hand here!” I called up.

“Oh he can’t hear you.” Klein said, his face shifting to Jack Adata. “I’ve shut him out. “It isn’t interesting if both sides cheat.”

“It isn’t far if only one side does, either.”

“That is the part where I point out your stupidity—for thinking I’d play fair.” He pointed on each syllable.

Lindsey fell to the ground beside me, her eyes went lifeless.

“LINDSEY!” I called out.

“AND--” Jay’s voice cut in, and instantly I realized Lindsey’s body started to vanish—as if it never existed. I looked up to Jack. “Oh, shut him out, you said?”

“What?!” He barked, his composure broken, if just for a moment. “No matter. You were what mattered anyway.”

I shook my head, standing to my feet. “Oh no, she mattered a whole lot to you. It completed this whole thing for you perfectly, didn’t it? Put a whole nice bow on it? What were you going to do—kill her and laugh over my newfound depression?”

His lip snarled as he took a step toward me. “I’m done joking with you.”

“You never were joking. You never were anything but a maniac,” I said, bringing Flintlocke up and firing a round.

The bullet and gun vanished from my hand faster than I could fire it. I looked down as the weight simply left my hand.

“Trying to use weapons in my own mind against me. Like trying to suffocate the ocean with a garden hose,” he laughed.

“I’d piss in the fucking ocean just so you can taste a little bit of humility,” I said through bared teeth.

Klein held up his arms in defense, “Woah there, what’s up buddy? A bit of a frayed knot there? Oh, I’m afraid not.”

“Oh go fuck yourself.” I said.

“It seems you still haven’t learned your lesson.” He sighed, placing his arms back to his side. “It’s a shame I’m in love with teaching it. Unfortunately, this isn’t the right...atmosphere for this kind of lesson. I can understand you wanting to fight in some groggy ship, but I’m not the biggest fan. I’m up for a little...” he blinked and suddenly we were suspended above the earth on a single flat glass pane. “atmosphere.”

I yelped as I fell on my ass on the glass pane. Looking around I saw the infinite cosmos surrounding us as the lights and colors expanded as far as the eye could see.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“I see I’ve caught you off guard. I like to go for grandeur, and it is here that I will ask you one question, Andrew. If your answer is within an acceptable parameter then you won’t have to worry about anything else for the rest of your life. However, if your answer is unsatisfactory—well, then and only then will I kill you and let your body here float among the infinite vastness.”

“Oh, how kind of you,” I said.

He looked at me, confused. “I will give you a choice—it is entirely within your realm of control. Is that not kind? I’ve always given you the choice. I’ve pulled heaven through hell to give you this choice.”

“If the choice is to join you then you can forget it. I’m not teaming up with a megalomaniac.”

“Team up?” He started to laugh. “I can’t believe you consider yourself anywhere near an equal...I have to say you are much funnier than your father. No, that was not my question.”

“Then what is it?”

“I wish to inhabit your body. You can keep your consciousness—it’d be the minority, of course, that is a necessity, but you would remain alive. You would get to experience all of this world and the real world’s pleasures. Anything you wanted could be yours. All at no effort to yourself!”

“That is by far the worst sales pitch I’ve ever heard.”

Jack shrugged. “I’m a scientist more than a salesman. You can’t say that I didn’t try. Ah well, so your answer then, is no?”

“Yes.”

“Unfortunate.”

“Did you honestly believe I’d say yes?”

“You wouldn’t believe the kind of people that’d say yes when their backs are at death’s door. Even the purest of heroes eventually break. You’re no pure hero yourself.”

“No, but I’m the hero who is going to kick your ass and put an end to your bullshit.”

“Not the first person to say it. Not the first to fail,” he smiled. He took out a ring of keystones from under his coat. They all shined brilliantly on the ring. “It’s a wonder what can be done when you control all the powers of the universe,” he marveled.

“How do you have them?”

“I assumed you could have figured that out,” he said. “I wanted them, and so they came. It is that simple.”

“That’s...” I gritted my teeth.

“Not fair? You’re not the first to say that either, Andrew. Face it. Everything you have said and done, will say and will do, has been done, said, and tried before. You’re far from the first, and you shall end up like all the rest.”

Fuck. What do I do in this situation? I”m royally fucked.

No you’re not.

My mental eyes opened wide and I was looking out through Jay’s eyes back in the Republic Plaza. I don’t know how I knew they were his or that’s where he was, but I just knew. I felt a reassuring feeling deep inside my core.

You have Radical-9 flowing through your system. He brought you where you are because he’s scared of you—he’s scared of all of you. You all pose the risk of dethroning him from his kingdom he’s built up. He wanted to take over you because he thinks that you could be stronger than he is.

Use that against him.

I blinked and was looking back at Jack. He must have noticed a change just as I had as his look wasn’t as cocky as it was when I left him. I stood back up and looked at him dead in the eyes. I felt a sort of magnetism underneath my skin and boiling in my blood. I thought back to every single person I had seen die in this awful, terrible world. Of all the pain and chaos sewn by this one...pathetic...man. I knew in a single instant that nothing that I did in this world could ever kill Jack. He wasn’t connected to Elysium in the way that the rest of us were. If I mustered up all my strength and obliterated him here—should that be possible—then he’d be just like Jen and pop back in. Nothing would change. Maybe...he’s baiting that from me. Maybe that’s how he wins. If he kills me my blood is still warm. Maybe…

Use it against him.

There is something that I can do. I thought of each and every player in this game and I closed my eyes. I thought of ejecting them one by one—I felt around like a giant hand in my mind—scooping them up and holding them tight. Breaking the helmets of every single player that still remained in this game. I smiled when I felt that hand close over the last person.

“What...did you do?” Jack asked.

“You baited me into hating you.” I said. “You knew I was infected with Radical-9—probably guessed I had the ability to see things. Probably guessed that I might awaken into a new power when my life was on the line. That’s what happened to you, right? You were on death’s door and look what happened. A new man.”

“How do you know that?”

“You thought that by baiting me you’d get your fresh body—without the attached consciousness. Because you knew you could take over me at anytime you wanted, but if my consciousness existed within it you were scared I could take you over.”

“I am not scared of anything!”

“You were terrified. So you lead me here so you could break me to my last legs—literally and figuratively so you could have everything that you wanted.” I started to shake my head, “But I won’t let you. I released all the other players. Just like that. It was easy.”

“No! This isn’t how it is supposed to be! Leave my work ALONE!”

He rushed me, but he faced a wall. He pushed against it and made some leeway—he was making quick work of it, but I could tell he didn’t expect there to be a wall in the first place. “YOU SON OF A BITCH COME HERE.”

“I’m leaving, Jack. I know I can’t kill you here.” I said. “I’ve been against killing from the very start—you knew that. You tried to exploit it, but guess what? You’re going to get what you want. I’m only going to kill one more person. And it’s going to be you.”

“YOU ARE DOING NOTHING BUT FEEDING ON THE SLUGS OF THE EARTH!” Jack roared.

“Good-bye Jack.” I said, seeing the world around me vanish into a dew drop.

I know about Megan.

She was an accident.