Arthur Cross, 22 years old, tied the knot of his left shoe and paused. Thought of dissent entered his mind. Thought of what freedom truly meant, and whether it was worth living if you were just going to do a job teaching twelve-year-olds science. If this perpetual cycle of recycled knowledge was truly worth propagating and continuing.

  Then, the glitchy alarm on his phone rang, and he came back down to Earth. A man who could not have an alarm that did not glitch did not deserve to be a philosopher of any kind.

  Who else was going to teach the kids, after all? Who else was going to make them better people and give them better lives? Who else was going to lead them to the future? Who else was going to go and flirt with the cute English teacher, Celia? Who else was going to make sure the kids felt excited to learn something new every day?

  Arthur Cross.

  That’s who.

  What a hero.

  He stood up, took a deep breath, and picked up his sling bag. His purple shirt was looking as smart as ever, and the new bangs he had gotten yesterday fit his face perfectly. No amount of pessimism could break him today. He was going to go get some money and finally muster up the courage to confess to Celia.

  And secure some kids’ futures, too. Of course.

  Walking to the door, he made sure he got the keys, his wallet, his phone, his earbuds, and his hair serum. Nothing else left to do but go and catch the bus. It would be here any minute now.

  He opened the door with a bright smile on his face, ready to face a new day!

  “Yo, Arthur, what’s up? I was about to ring the bell!”

  A man with ruffled hair, sunglasses, and a crooked smile stood in the doorway. Wearing a black suit with a loose white shirt and a barely tied tie, he spread his arms and threw them at Arthur’s shoulder, giving him a good shake.

  “What’s up, man? How are you?”

  Arthur quickly locked his eyes on the man’s face. Not a lot of time left, he thought. Primary school, middle school, high school, university, that one café, that one movie theatre, the short time he worked as a content writer…nothing? He could muster up no connection to the face at all.

  But surely, he knew what he was doing. Arthur must have forgotten.

  “Ah…yes! Hello. How…are you?”

  Pushing his hands off, Arthur held tight and gave him a tight shake with a forced smile.

  The man flashed his pearly white teeth and chuckled, “Now, that’s a man. I know you don’t know me, but I like the trust you got in people. You took one look, and you knew an upstanding man, yeah?”

  “Y…yeah?”

  “Yeah. Hell yeah. Good man, Arthur. Now, hear me out. What’s that bag for? We don’t have all that time, alright? Come on. We need to get moving.”

  “Moving…?”

  “Yes, that’s what I like to hear. We’re moving, we’re grooving, we’re at the top! Hell yeah! Now, come on. The assassins will be here soon.”

  “Assa..ssins?”

  He adjusted his glasses and looked at the man once more. Who was this? Was he sure he was here for the right Arthur Cross? Arthur Cross, 22 years old, science teacher at Middling High?

  “Yeah, they were after me, but I threw them off. You’ve got, like…a horrible public transit system out here. It’s gonna take them a while to get here. But trust me, they will…”

  “No, no. I think you are confused.” Arthur finally found his voice and decided that enough was enough, “I am Arthur Cross, 22 years old, science teacher at Middling High. There are no assassins after me.”

  “Yeah, well…” The man sighed and wrapped his arm around Arthur’s shoulder, pulling him forward. Slowly, he got him out of the apartment and took him towards the grimy window that looked out of the 26-floor apartment, “I was saying the same thing right about two weeks ago, but now I have survived fifteen different assassination attempts. So, you know, it’s for the best. We really need you to get it together.”

  The man gave him a pat on the back and opened the window.

  What was he doing? They were on the twenty-second floor. The wind was quite strong and brought dirt with it. Cleaning the floors of the shared corridor was going to be painful this evening.

  “Look, sir. I don’t even know your name, and I am getting late for my class.”

  Arthur decided to ignore the man and move towards the elevators. A man who required immediate mental medical attention was not worth sacrificing his bus for. If he missed this, he would have to take the one after. He would still make it, of course, but at the cost of not being able to talk to Celia first thing in the morning.

  “Yo, yo, yo. Where are you going? You wanna die?”

  “Just…get some help, sir. I can give you a good number if you want.”

  “Yeah, I am sure you know some very good shrinks very personally, alright? Arthur, we do not have the time. They’ll be here. As for my name…that might get complicated. You can call me Elle for now.”

  That made Arthur stop.

  “Elle?” He looked back at the man.

  “Yes, Arthur. I am Elle. How about that? You know my name, alright? Now, wrap up this little game about being late for class and get over here. Dee’s waiting.”

  “Dee? Who is Dee, sir?”

  Skill Activation

  Enlargement

  A cloud of concrete dust speckled with small shards of bricks and paint obscured Arthur’s view. Shockwaves pushed him to the side, smashing him against the wall, rattling every bone in his body. His glasses flew off his face, but he never heard them hit the floor.

  “I really didn’t want to say it, but I did tell you so!”

  Elle grabbed Arthur’s collar and crouched into the window, jumping out to the small ledge right below it. Still inside the building, Arthur coughed and got the debris out of his mouth as the fog of dust cleared.

  There was no apartment anymore. No building, in fact.

  In front of him was a glorious view of the entire city below him. Standing on the little bit of floor that was still standing, he finally felt the gravity of the situation hit him. An abnormally large fist flying in the air recoiled, and a man appeared, floating in the sky. Or rather, hovering – with a jetpack.

  A hulking beast of a man, to whom the fist belonged. It had gone back to its original position now. Hovering beside him was a woman with long white hair, similarly wearing a jetpack. Both of them had masks on, but Arthur could not make out much beyond that, given that he did not have his glasses anymore.

  “Assassins? Alright. Now, jump!”

  Elle gave his body a jerk and pulled him off the ledge, falling downwards. A loud shriek escaped Arthur as his body squeezed through the window and fell down with the stranger who had just protected him.

  Skill Activation

  Atomic Resonance

  The floor he had just been on suddenly shattered into a million pieces. A thick blade-like apparition appeared in the air for a second and vanished.

  And right before he could close his eyes and accept his death, Arthur felt his back hit something hard. He stopped falling, and could look up straight now. The entire building was crumbling, falling down in small pieces. Through the debris, the jetpack-wearing assassins appeared once more and started to get closer to him,

  “This…is Dee! Dee, this is the new Arthur!”

  “Nice to meet you, new Arthur!”

  A loud, gruff, way too deep voice boomed through the sky.

  Arthur sat up and adjusted his sling bag before looking at what he had landed on. Massive blue scales, a large tail waving in front of him, and the sounds of humongous wings flapping in the sky on both sides of him. He turned to look at the dragon’s head, which was covered in a weird pattern of ice-like crystals in the form of a crown.

  “We are…on a dragon…”

  “Yes, I know, man. It’s insane, it’s crazy, you can’t believe it. I’ve heard it all, and I’ve said it all before. All right? For now, I’m gonna need you to lie down so I can give you your parasite. Come on. One more time, you gotta trust us.”

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  “Wha-”

  A blast of air suddenly hit Arthur, as if his body had only just gotten used to the fact that they were flying through the air at high speeds. He looked back and noticed the assassins were still following them. The woman had a long, thin sword in her hands. She only held it by her side, probably waiting until she could get close enough to swing.

  Elle’s hand pulled on his collar once more and made him turn forward once more.

  “You are on a dragon flying through the city you were about to go to work in. Do you trust me?”

  “Y-yes? I mean, I don’t really have an option, since the other group just blasted my apartment to oblivion!?”

  “Well, that too, I guess.”

  “Elle!” The dragon roared, “Quick! I’ll open the portal as soon as he’s ready.”

  “What portal?” Arthur asked, holding onto the scales for support, still looking back to make sure the attackers did not get too close.

  “Alright, this is gonna sound insane. But again, you are on a drago-”

  “Flying through the city I was about to go to work at, yes! I got that. What is happening?”

  Elle took a deep breath and put his arms on Arthur’s shoulders once.

  “I will say this once, and all of it is true. I want absolutely zero cross-questioning about whether what I said was true or not. Got that?”

  Arthur gulped, “That guy just blew up my entire building!”

  “Fair enough, you trust quick.” The man nodded, keeping his grip on Arthur up even as Dee the dragon took a sharp turn to barely avoid a skyscraper, “I am from a different universe. Dee here is also from a different universe. Like, different from mine.”

  “Al…right?”

  At this point, he was willing to believe that Celia was going to propose to him the moment he walked into school today.

  “Good. Keeping up. Now, we used to be as normal as you, alright? Or well, as normal as we could be. But then another Arthur, from a completely different universe, went and made some very, very dangerous people very, very angry. And now, they’re after you. And us. All of us.”

  “All of…us? Wait, what do you mean us?”

  “Arthur, I am you.” Elle nodded, “Dee is also you. We are you from different universes, and you are us from this particular universe. And this dangerous man is after all of us to take revenge. He swore a blood pact that he would wipe our trace from the multiverse, alright? Now, I need to put a parasite in your brain. It is what…allows for powers to exist.”

  “A parasite…will give me powers? To help me survive against the dangerous man from another universe who is out to kill me, because another version of me from his universe pissed him off?”

  “Well, it does sound insane when you put it like that.”

  “How does it NOT sound insane?”

  Dee roared and whistled, pushing his legs off the edges of a billboard in the sky. Boosting off, he continued flapping.

  “Dodge!”

  Elle pulled Arthur down, covering his body with his own.

  Skill Activation

  Atomic Resonance

  Dee rolled his entire body through the air, and a massive explosion shook the sky. Once Elle let go of his body, Arthur looked back to see the woman shake the sword once more. Had she just used it somehow?

  Then, as smoke filled the corner of his vision, he saw one of the skyscrapers he had gotten so used to. Up in flames, the top half had been sliced clean off and was falling downwards. Screams from panicked people in the street reached all the way to the clouds, causing his ears to ring with anguish.

  “Two options, Arthur!” Elle pulled him close once more, taking his attention, “We can take you to another universe for a day or two, and then put you back here. It won’t guarantee your safety, but it will shake them off for a while. Years, maybe. There are hundreds and thousands of universes, and they will not care about checking this one again. Maybe not until you’re already dead.”

  “And the second option includes the parasite?”

  The man reached into the crown formation on Dee’s head and took out a glass vial from it. Inside was a microscopic lifeform trying to wriggle and move.

  “Yes.” Elle confirmed, “This is a parasite. We are not yet sure what it is, but it comes from another universe as well. And for some reason, when you consume them, you gain powers. If you get those powers, you become dangerous. They will hunt you down. Just like me, and just like Dee over here. But that means you will also stand a chance to help us take this bastard down once and for all.”

  “Elle!” Dee interrupted the conversation, “Enlargement should be off-cooldown any time now. We need to leave!”

  “What does he mean?” Arthur asked.

  “It’s…the powers that guy has. The one who destroyed your building. I do not have time to explain the particulars to you. But hear me out, quickly.” Elle put the vial in Arthur’s hands and a hand on his shoulder, “You can have six different types of powers. And all of them will help you right now in one way or another. Because you’re gonna need help. Your own, most of all.”

  “Wh-what?”

  “We need to go, Arthur. I can’t afford to put Dee’s life in danger. He’s the only one of us who can open portals.”

  “Wait, but…what do you mean? Why? Why would I take this? You can keep it!”

  “Arthur!” Elle looked straight into his eyes, “I’ve lived a bad life, Arthur. All of us have. Hundreds of universes I’ve visited, and not a single one of us has had good luck. We fucking suck, as a general concept of a person. But we’re alive, dammit! Now, you can keep that, go back to your life, and live with it. Or you can come with us, and stop this bastard who thinks he has the right to wipe every sign of my existence!”

  For some reason, Celia’s face flashed in Arthur’s mind. Her dry replies to him, trying to make a move on her. Her mostly pitiful responses to his every question he asked. He knew he would never get her. She was far too good for him.

  But we’re alive, dammit!

  Arthur tightened his grip around the vial.

  “Do I just…eat it?”

  Elle smiled and gave him a quick pat on his chest, “Yeah, just eat it.”

  Arthur nodded.

  “I mean, I am not sure. I am just…asking. I’m still thinking.”

  “Are…you stupid?” Elle frowned, “Man, what do you mean? Make a decision now!”

  Skill Activation

  Enlargement

  “He already did, Elle! And you, just eat it before you fall!”

  Dee screamed at the top of his lungs, rotating his body a complete one-eighty degrees. Elle immediately let go of Arthur’s body in shock, unsure of what the dragon was doing.

  As he fell through the sky, Arthur looked up at a warp appearing in the sky. A bending of the entire atmosphere, right in front of the dragon’s body. A massive fist, almost the size of the building he had lived in, extended from the male assassin’s body and made its way to them. Right before it could hit, however, Dee’s body made its way through the portal and disappeared.

  The fist, still in path, hit another skyscraper. Tearing through the glass and concrete, it started another fire as the building collapsed.

  Arthur popped open the cap of the vial and quickly put its contents into his mouth.

  Closing his eyes and putting his hands on his mouth, he wondered why he made this decision. What possessed him to do something so stupid? Just a moment of the same na?ve ideals he needed to crush every morning? Just because Elle said a single line that touched his heart?

  What a loser.

  Celia would disapprove. She would not be very proud. He was probably not even going to see her again. Especially not if this thing didn’t work on time and he just died.

  System Host Connected

  Green text appeared directly in front of his eyes, as if a biological part of his body.

  Data Recovery

  10%

  The number shot up quickly – 20, then 40, straight to 80, and then finally 100.

  Ideal Module Selected

  Time Module

  What was happening? Why was this happening? He felt…stupid. He felt alone. He wanted to go back to work. Right? He wanted to…

  Not really…

  HUD Loading

  8%

  He was excited. His heart felt like it was beating. Like he could actually confess to Celia right now. Like this is what he had been waiting for his entire life.

  It felt like freedom.

  HUD Loaded

  An entire video-game-like interface appeared in front of his eyes. Everything from a health and stamina bar to a quest-like interface telling him what he needed to do next. He blinked, but it didn’t vanish. It was real. Very real.

  “Oh my god.”

  It hit him. The realization hit him. It was real.

  This was happening.

  Immediate Mortal Danger Detected

  Activating Survival Skill

  “Survival sk-?”

  He didn’t have time to speak beyond that. The moment he slightly turned his head to see how close to the street he had gotten, he was already inches away from the pavement.

  His body splattered on the ground.

  _____________

  Arthur Cross, 22 years old, tied the knot of his left shoe and paused. Was…that a dream?

  His body felt real, his shoe felt real. He was very much sitting on the sofa that he was so used to. But then…what was all that? What had just happened?

  The bell rang.

  He jolted up to his feet and ran to the door, opening it at once.

  “Elle!”

  “Elle? Who might that be?”

  The man on the other side was not Elle. No, not at all.

  It was a man the same age as him. His hair, greyish-white. Below his head, he was wearing armor. Proper medieval era armor that shone in the sun shining from the window behind him. His hand was held on the hilt of a sword at his waist.

  “I am Sir Arthur Cross.” The man at the door said, “Are you also Arthur Cross?”

  His view glitched, and green text appeared once more.

  Name, Age, Health, Stamina, Skill Equipped, Current Goal, Settings.

  The game-like interface took shape before him once more.

  DOES NOT contain any benefits for this story. This is a passion project and I do not intend to monetize it!