The arena was eerily still, like the calm before the storm. Fate stood across from me, his form shrouded in the endless swirl of time and uncertainty. His presence alone bent the fabric of reality, and I could feel the weight of destiny pressing against me. Every fiber of my being screamed to move, to fight, to do something. But I was frozen.

Fate stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his mask a swirling vortex of shifting patterns and symbols. The winds around us howled as time itself seemed to hold its breath.

“You know,” Fate’s voice came, cool and detached, like he was narrating some grand cosmic tale, “you’ve been playing into my hands this whole time, Serpentine. Every step you’ve taken, every word you’ve said – it’s all been a part of the plan.”

I clenched my fists, the weight of his words sinking deep into my gut. “So, what’s the deal? A betrayal? This was all set up from the start?”

Fate’s mask shimmered again, but this time, there was a hint of something beneath the calm. “You think I’m betraying you? No, Serpentine. This has always been about balance. About control. You’ve been a tool in this story, whether you realized it or not.”

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Wait a second…” I said slowly, my mind scrambling to make sense of it. “You mean this whole time… the fights, the plans, the way everything’s fallen into place for me to make it this far? It’s all staged?”

Fate didn't reply.

"...and what about the things before that? The heist? The fights? My ascension?"

Fate stayed silent for a few moments, before he finally spoke, his voice now a low murmur, his words like a heavy sigh. “Not staged – designed.” He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You were never meant to escape the Natural World, Serpentine. You were always supposed to take the fall.”

I blinked, my heart racing. “You’ve been setting me up? The whole time?”

Fate’s tone shifted, becoming more satisfied, almost smug. “Yes. You see, you’ve never been the hero of this story. You’re simply the catalyst for what comes next. And your role? Well, you’re about to see.”

It felt as a sound of thunder echoed in my mind, silencing all other thoughts. A sense of heat pooled in my ears and behind my eyelids, as my breathing started to get ragged. I could hear my heart in my temples.

Fate had been pulling the strings this whole time, guiding me along a path, playing with my every move, just so I could reach this point.

Did... did I ever make a decision that was truly my own?

“Why the hell would you want me to get this far?” I spat, struggling to fight the cold, overwhelming sense of betrayal gnawing at my insides. “What’s the point of all of this? For a power trip? Some cosmic ego boost?”

Fate turned slightly, his mask shimmering as though considering my words. “It’s not about power, Serpentine. It’s about restoring order. The Wheel must turn. The universe must follow the path that is set for it. Everything – including you – has its place.”

My eyes narrowed. “So I’m just a pawn. A piece in your cosmic game.”

Fate didn’t flinch. His voice dropped to an almost chilling whisper, “That’s exactly it. You were never meant to win, Serpentine. I just needed to see if you could play the part well enough.”

I stared at him, every ounce of me trembling with rage. A deep, burning anger stirred within me – the kind that made me want to tear Fate apart, piece by piece. But no matter how much fury coursed through me, I couldn’t shake the suffocating truth: Fate wasn’t lying. The meticulous orchestration of my journey, the traps disguised as choices, the suspiciously convenient coincidences – it all added up.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I said, my voice hoarse. “Toying with me. Watching me scramble around like some lab rat in your cosmic maze.”

Fate’s mask shimmered, the shifting patterns forming an almost imperceptible grin. “It’s not enjoyment, Serpentine. It’s a necessity. You think this is personal, but it’s not. I’m simply ensuring the universe stays on its designated path.”

The audacity of his words stung. “What about my path? What about my choices? Or was free will just a cruel illusion you dangled in front of me?”

Fate’s voice carried a tone of finality, like the tolling of a bell. “Free will is a luxury you were never meant to have.”

Those words cut deeper than I cared to admit. All this time, I had fought to carve out my own place in this chaos, to rise above the madness of the Wheel. But it was all a façade to Fate – a cosmic joke, with me as the punchline.

The arena began to shift. The once-solid ground beneath my feet turned into a swirling mass of light and shadow. The walls of reality stretched and warped, pulling the scene into a kaleidoscope of impossible colors. It was as if the very fabric of existence was being unraveled by Fate’s presence.

“You think this changes anything?” I shouted in desperation and denial, my voice echoing into the void. “You think you’ve won because you can manipulate the rules? Newsflash, buddy – I don’t play by the rules. I make my own.”

Fate tilted his head, the patterns on his mask rippling like disturbed water. “And that, Serpentine, is precisely why you were chosen. You defy. You resist. You disrupt. But every act of rebellion, every fight against the current, only strengthens the design.”

I gritted my teeth. “Then maybe it’s time to break the design.”

Fate didn’t respond. Instead, he raised his hand. The arena trembled violently, and a deafening crack split the air. Shards of time and space spiraled around us, each fragment reflecting a different version of reality – a thousand possible outcomes to this moment.

A thousand possible outcomes where I lost.

The pressure intensified. It felt like the weight of an entire universe was pressing down on my shoulders, threatening to crush me into nothingness. My knees buckled, but I refused to fall.

“I don’t care what your stupid Wheel says,” I growled, forcing myself to stand upright. “You don’t control me.”

Fate’s mask gleamed ominously. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

The shards of reality converged, forming a massive tapestry that loomed over us. Like strings in a harp, each click incited another, a melody of fate dancing with the pulse of the cosmos. 

I glanced at the tapestry, then back at Fate. “Let me guess – this is the part where you unleash some overpowered cosmic attack and I heroically resist it, only to end up right where you want me.”

Fate chuckled – a rare, unsettling sound. “Close, but not quite. This is the part where I remind you of your true purpose.”

And then, it happened.

The air crackled with energy as Fate’s voice rang out, clear and commanding. “Serpentine, your journey has never been about victory. It has always been about... promotion.”

"...what?"

Fate’s tone became almost patronizing, as if explaining something to a particularly dense child. “The Kickstarter campaign, Serpentine. You thought you were fighting for your freedom, for control of your destiny. But in reality, you’ve been playing a role – a marketing tool for the campaign.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you telling me... all of this... was just to plug a campaign?”

Fate nodded solemnly. “Exactly. You may have the budget, but that is only temporary. We are bound to get it back – it is our fate. And so, your struggles, your victories, your betrayals – it was all designed to build hype. To generate interest. To secure funding for the Wheel of Faith’s grand future."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. The sheer absurdity of it all threatened to break my mind. “You mean to tell me I’ve been risking my life, battling cosmic entities, and defying the very laws of existence... for advertising?”

Fate’s mask shimmered again, the patterns forming what I could only describe as a smug grin. “And you’ve done a remarkable job.”

A wave of outrage surged through me. “You manipulative, self-righteous son of a–"

Before I could finish, Fate snapped his fingers, and the tapestry hummed roared to life. The strings sang in quick succession, and the combined, cosmic wave of sound was beyond anything I could have imagined. The force of it knocked me off my feet, and I felt myself being pulled into the vortex.

“You’ve served your purpose, Serpentine,” Fate said, his voice fading into the chaos. “Now, it’s time for the next phase.”

I barely had time to react before Fate acted. The air around me shattered like glass. Time itself seemed to fracture, splintering into a thousand different realities, each one more horrifying than the last. The pressure built so fast, it was as if the entire universe was collapsing in on me.

A brilliant flash of light filled the arena, and for a split second, I could feel myself disintegrating – my body pulled apart by the force of Fate’s power.

And then, I squeaked.

The attack hit me harder than anything I had ever felt. It was as though the entire universe had decided to crush me all at once.

And just like that, everything went black. But not before a final neon sign appeared, hovering above my broken form.

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