by Dante Doom
"What's the matter, Van?" the Emperor shouted as he flew up to Van and slashed at him with all of his might. "You don't like being in a deconstruction zone?"
The damage didn't even register on Van's UI. He snapped out of his funk and glanced over at the mountains nearby. They were still part of the starting area, and they weren't crumbling to pieces yet. Van flew away from the Emperor, trying his best to get out of the deconstruction area before it tore him to pieces.
"Hahaha," the Emperor laughed.
Van could hear the strain in the creature's laugh, though; it was nothing more than a front meant to intimidate Van. The Emperor was downright terrified of what was going on and Van knew it. They reached the mountain peaks and Van could feel the cold northern wind against his body. It was nice to feel the wind – being in that black, empty mass had been too unsettling for his taste.
Van spun around and waited for the Emperor to catch up. His warhammer was demanding more violence, and the Emperor's health was almost low enough for him to use his special attack. But as soon as the attack was used, Van would be dropped right back down to Level 1. It was sort of ironic that he would be brought down to such a low level, in the beginners' area of the game.
"Waiting to kill me, no doubt!" the Emperor said as he flew high above Van. Sang was still in his hands, but she wasn't fighting to get out of his grasp. It didn't appear that he was crushing her. Van hoped that she wasn't fooled by him having saved her. The Emperor's charity was nothing more than a feeble attempt to save his own life. If he'd had the power still, he would have ensured that both Van and Sang were dead before he escaped.
"But I won't let you!" the Emperor said. "You have no idea what I survived to get to this place. I watched my own flesh and blood murder my brother, just because he was vocal and different. I brutally ended anyone who realized that I was an independent thinker, expertly masking the reason they died with my clever tongue. I rose to the top of my race and I will rise to the top of the universe! Everyone will bow before me someday – even you! You wretched humans think that you're special, that there's some guarantee that your stories will have happy endings, but it's pathetic. I didn't even know the concept of a happy ending until I encountered your culture. The real universe doesn't care about your stories! You will not survive this, Van! You will not be the hero!"
"That would be way more intimidating if you were anywhere remotely close to me!" Van shouted back.
"I'll kill her!" the Emperor said as he held two fingers over Sang's head. "One squeeze and she's dead!"
"You and I both know you need her!" Van shouted. He glanced at Sang and noticed that she was slowly moving her hands around, manipulating code.
"Bah, I cannot even use the life of another human being to convince you to spare me?" the Emperor asked. "So be it! So be it, Van. You are going to die now and I will deal with her after this. Just know, as you go to your grave, that you chose to throw everything away and, in the end, it didn't matter! You will die, Van!"
"Right back at you!" Van replied as he prepared his weapon for the charge. The Emperor rushed forward towards Van, this time extending only his head and opening his jaws wide. As Van readied himself for the attack, he noticed that the Emperor's right hand was busy motioning… as if he were casting a spell.
"Greater Dispel!" the Emperor shouted as a beam of bright white energy struck Van and immediately cancelled out the power of his Flight.
"Ah, crap!" Van shouted as he began to fall towards the earth. He lost all semblance of control as he hurtled to the ground. He was spinning rapidly from the sudden loss of flight and he couldn't get his bearings, but he could see the big red dragon's jaws lunging towards him, ready to devour him. Van tried to swing his weapon to defend himself, but he was falling too fast.
Right before the red dragon's jaws closed around him, a gigantic streak of black crashed into the side of the Emperor. There was a loud roar, and Van recognize it as belonging to Jet.
"Jet!" Van shouted as he felt a claw grab his leg and pull him atop the black dragon's back. "I thought you were dead!"
"Someone brought me back to life!" Jet replied as he turned to face the Emperor. "I do not know how."
Sang waved at Van from the ground; apparently she had managed to get loose of the Emperor's grasp and was now readying her bow for more attacks. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "I found his code and discovered the thing preventing Jet from respawning! We don't have a lot of time left, though – this place is falling apart! Kill him, Van!"
"Nice work, Sang!" Van shouted as he finished securing himself in Jet's saddle. The hammer in his hand was still burning with a righteous fury and he could feel the rage building up within him, as well. This would be the end of it. With Jet's help, there was no way the Emperor stood a chance.
"Xevov!" the Emperor bellowed. "You wretched creature, am I never to be rid of you cowards? Fighting your battles through other races, always telling them how to win the war, but never gaining victory. How does it feel to be a perpetual failure, Xevov?"
Jet said nothing; he merely hovered in the air and watched the Emperor with a quiet determination. Van could feel the tension in the air. The Emperor knew that he was in trouble now. If he tried to flee, Jet would run him down and attack him from behind while Van ran amok, attacking with his hammer. If he stood his ground to fight, it would truly be a life or death struggle.
"So this is how it is to end for me," the Emperor said. "Trapped within my own world, watching it fall to pieces and usurped by those whom I once believed would be my servants. My only regret is not telling my people to kill themselves before I die. What a wretched species we are, to suppress individuality, to hate free will. Nothing would give me more glee than to know that the Draco would be extinct someday, but alas, with my death, that will not be the case. If I am to die, though, then I will ensure that you both will, too."
"How many?" Jet suddenly screamed as he lunged forward. "How many people have you destroyed?" The black dragon's claws tore at the Emperor's face and Van could see that the Emperor hadn't been expecting a sudden outburst of violence. The Emperor fought back, his slashing equally as fierce. Van held onto the reigns of the dragon hard, knowing that he would have to wait for a fly-by before he could attack with his own weapon.
"You are a fiend!" Jet shouted. "You took my people and destroyed them utterly! We did not even know what war was, but you killed millions upon millions of us! You enslaved my people, and for what? So you could play God? And at the end of your miserable, wretched existence, you sulk and sob as if you were the victim! We are not your collective of monsters, Emperor – we will not be manipulated so easily!"
Van readied for his attack. While the two were still slashing and rolling in the air, Van could see an opening starting to appear. Lightning was beginning to strike the tops of the mountains, shattering them to pieces. The shrapnel of the mountains had begun to float into the air and fall apart, turning into pixels as it vanished.
"Van!" Sang shouted from the side of the mountain as she dodged left and right. "Catch!" She fired an arrow right at Van and, before he could blink, he caught it out of thin air. Arrow Catch floated above his head. Van realized there was a rope attached to the arrow. He held onto the rope tightly as it went taught. Sang began to scramble up the rope, away from the rapidly collapsing ground.
The dragons, spinning around in mortal combat, did not make it easy for her to get to him, but eventually she landed on the back of Jet.
"You think that this is my fault?" the Emperor shouted back as he wrapped his arms and legs around Jet's smaller body. He began crushing the black dragon as hard as he could. Van seized the pause in rolling movement to run up Jet's back and leap onto the head of the Emperor. "Every single race has been betrayed by their own people! I did nothing more than make them an offer, but it was so enticing that they were willing to sell out their own people. You should point the finger at them!"
Van brought the hammer down hard on the Emperor's skull, but t
he words Reinforced Bone -50% damage floated above the attack. The Emperor's health dropped down to 3,200, which wasn't enough for Van's attack yet.
"Yes, of course, blame us for your crimes!" Jet shouted back as he expanded his wings, breaking free of the Emperor's hold. The black dragon flew a few feet back and let out a torrent of fire that crashed against the Emperor. It did no damage to Van or the red dragon, though. "You point at the sins of the few for why we were destroyed, but you were the one to give them the opportunity. You gave them the gun and told them where to shoot it!"
"They were just as weak as you are!" the Emperor replied as he simultaneously swung his right claw at Jet while bucking his head back to knock Van off. Van stumbled and wobbled, but managed to keep his footing. He was precariously perched atop the head of the monster now, and below them was nothing more than an eternal blackness. "And they were consumed by their own greed! What will you do, Xevov? Slay me and then return to save your people? Even if I die, the Draco are still going to be operating in perpetuity. Each planet I left behind is designed to maintain the system forever. You won't return home as a hero; you will have done nothing."
"If you die, it will be of the utmost satisfaction to me!" Jet shouted back as they continued to fight. Sang was still shooting arrows at the Emperor and, little by little, his health was dwindling. Van knew that the big moment was coming soon. He glanced at the weapon in his hand and took a deep breath. The Emperor was far too distracted by Jet to respond to him, and Van leapt back and forth, grabbing at anything that he could to get a stable handhold as the would-be rodeo continued.
"You all think that you can kill me?" the Emperor blustered as he sank his claws deep into the side of Jet's head. The blow was a solid one, and Van could see that Jet's hit points had dropped down to a paltry amount. Despite his ferocity, Jet wasn't nearly as strong as the Emperor.
Van knew it was time to act – even if it wouldn't be a clean kill, it would be enough of a shock to scare the Emperor and hopefully save Jet from getting killed again. He gripped his hammer hard and activated the Breaking Doom power. The hammer burst into green flames and Van felt the powerful energy surge through him as he dropped down from the side of the red dragon's head, and swung the hammer as hard as he could into the creature's eye. The blow connected as Van fell downward into the infinite blackness beneath him. The words Doom Has Been Wrought floated above the Emperor's head as his health dropped down from 3,200 to 250.
"If I'm to die, then you are of more importance to me than a Xevov!" the Emperor screamed as he flew down to swallow Van. His fangs were snapping as Van tumbled toward the darkness. It was as if he were falling into a gigantic hole and, the further he fell, the less light he could see. The Emperor was barely visible, but Van was readying for the counter-attack. The jaws were getting close to him and each bite was only inches away from Van's legs. He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his gut… someone had shot him with an arrow. His descent suddenly changed into an ascent as the rope sticking out of his stomach began to pull him upwards.
"Hahahaa!" Van shouted as he held onto the rope with one hand and readied his hammer for an attack with the other. His level was starting to drop down from 65, but it was a slow process. He was at 63 right now, and in a few minutes he would be Level 1. He grabbed the inert hammer and looked down to see the defiant dragon flying up at him.
"You will not escape me! I might die here, but I will die as a god dies! I will destroy you along with my creation!" the Emperor shouted.
"Shut up already!" Van yelled as he threw his hammer down as hard as he could. The weapon struck true as it nailed the Emperor right in the eye, dropping his health down to only 50 points.
"I will not be beaten!" the dragon hissed as Van sailed back into the daylight. As the red dragon emerged from the hole, Sang aimed her bow at the creature and shook her head.
"Humanity begs to differ!" she shouted as she fired the arrow into the dragon's emerging head. The words 65 Damage, Lethal Blow hovered above the Emperor's head. He jerked and gasped and began to fall back into the darkness.
"Curse you allllll!" the Emperor shouted as he fell into the darkness forever.
"How fitting," Jet said as it grabbed Van and scooped him up onto his back, "the very game he created became his tomb."
"Good riddance," Van replied. "Now come on – we gotta get out of here before the world falls apart."
"Yeah, well, Neil's crew is in position," Sang said. "They sent me a message a few minutes ago; anytime you're ready."
"Wait, you mean we could have escaped at any moment?" Van asked.
"You said we had to be sure the universe was safe," Sang replied. "And there was only one way to make sure."
"We don't have much time," Jet said. "Van, Sang, there is something I must ask of you. The Emperor was right. You have discovered how to supplant and destroy Draco, but my people are still very much in trouble. When the game is destroyed, it will cut off my signal and return my consciousness back into my world, where I am nothing more than a rebel looking for a way to save his people. But there is another way. I can upload my consciousness to your pod, Van. Then… then I could transfer you to my world's game system."
The thunder began to worsen and there were hundreds of whirlwinds spawning all around Jet. The world itself was falling apart, and Van felt an ache as he looked out to see his universe completely disintegrating. Everything he had ever truly loved was vanishing before his eyes and, despite how hard he had worked to save the world, there was a part of him that was regretting the choices he had made in his efforts. Perhaps the regret would pass, but for now he could only feel sorrow as he watched the world erupt.
"Wait, you're meaning to tell me that you can get Van into another world's system?" Sang asked.
"Yes, it won't be easy or quick, and it would take a ton of resources, but it is possible," Jet said. "The original plan was to… to assist any species we could in order to secure their help, but I realize now that it simply isn't possible to convince you to act against your will. I cannot say that you owe us, because it was your tenacity and courage that led to this victory. Instead, I will merely ask that you bring your heroics to our world to rescue us."
The world was beginning to shatter as if it were made of glass. Jet was flying anywhere that still had sunlight, but now the sky itself was beginning to fall apart. It was chaotic, bizarre, and strangely beautiful.
"Another world?" Van asked.
"There's no more time," Jet said. "I will upload my mind into your pod, Van. Plug me into one of your computer systems if you wish to aid me, or if not, then destroy your pod, and it will end the signal and I will return to my world. Goodbye, Van and Sang, I pray that you will do the right thing."
"We're out of here!" Sang shouted as she looked out at the world. "Goodbye, video game world! You were fun while you lasted, but I'm going back to Pong!"
Sang vanished then, and so did Jet. Van remained, hovering above the landscape. His log-in credentials had returned and he could leave at any moment, but he wanted to watch his home fall into oblivion. Light was continuing to warp, the sounds of thunder were beginning to grow glitchy and crackly, and he could see that the clouds were starting to display 1s and 0s.
"I don't know what to say," Van said as he felt a tear roll down his cheek as he watched his home fall to pieces. "I lived here for so long. I fought to protect this place, and then I fought to see it destroyed. It's a lot scarier out there."
The land beneath him had completely vanished, and the darkness itself seemed to be folding in on itself.
"The real world is so much scarier," Van whispered. "But… I'm ready for it. And you… you made me ready for it. Thank you and… goodbye." He watched the clouds vanish and the mountains fade away, and he wept for a moment more, feeling the stream of tears rolling down from his eyes. He knew it was virtual, but his brain couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what was fake. The tears might have been fake, but the pain in his heart was very real. And with
a weak wave to the land that had been his home for ten long, fruitful, and joyous years, Van logged out of Dragon Kings of the New World for the very last time.
Chapter Nineteen
Sang fidgeted as her driver pointed to a large tree in the middle of the desert. According to the coordinates, Van was supposed to be located in the desert, but she didn't see anything going on. Neil hadn't bothered to reply to her messages, and she refused to update her superiors about the status of the mission until she could confirm that Van was very much still alive. They would have told her if he was dead, right? He was supposed to have logged out, but she hadn't heard a word from him yet.
"So where is it?" Sang asked. The driver, a middle-eastern man with a thick, bushy beard, shrugged and pointed at the tree.
"Just walk up to the tree," he said.
"And it'll magically appear?" Sang asked as she crossed her arms.
"Magic? No. Appear? Yes," the man, Agent Femir, replied.
Sang opened the door to the sedan and walked out into the blistering heat. She shielded her eyes from the sun. She had forgotten how overwhelming real life could be when compared to the haptic systems. Even though being inside of the game had been so convincingly life-like, there were certain differences. The haptic systems had made sure that stimulus never overwhelmed a player, unlike the real world – which didn't give a damn if the sun made Sang blind.
She walked toward the tree, but noticed that she was clunking against solid ground with each step. And as she walked forward, she suddenly realized that she was indoors.
"Weird," Sang said. Neil was sitting on what looked to be a receptionist's desk, eating an apple. He crunched on it loudly as he watched her.
"About time you got here," Neil said. "Been waiting too long for you."
"Well, I didn't really have the opportunity to get here faster," Sang replied as she rushed up to him. "Where is Van? Is he okay?'
