My surroundings twisted and churned. Black water solidifying and churning at the same time. Droplets going from fluid parts of a whole to tiny daggers of boiling obsidian. Biting and clawing at my skin and piercing even deeper still into my bones.

It was agony, bright and red and hot. Suffocating and paralyzing as those icicles back in the Shifter training Instance had been. But the pain now was deeper than that pain had been. It came in from all sides, not just physical, but metaphysical as well. The Intruders that made up the surreal landscape breying in despair and rejection. Clawing at me to snuff out my life.

"Stop!" The voice roared through each and every droplet. Liquid or otherwise.

"You don't know what you're doing!"

He was wrong in that. I knew exactly what I was doing.

I knew exactly what this deed might bring.

I knew.

I knew.

I knew and I still did it anyway. I would not be dissuaded. Not at this point.

My counterpart had it easy, in a sense. He'd already lost everything. Absolutely everything.

Which meant that sitting down and letting time fly by may as well have been second nature to him. After all, who cared if another human world went to the dogs? Or more likely, the bloody gnomes? What were a few more billion human deaths compared to the devastation he himself had wrought?

I wasn't like that though. Call it luck, call it skill, call it the alignment of star-charts or my own cheating nature after seeing so many possible futures in the cobweb. I had gambled and won. Once and twice. And now, here on the precipice of my third great gamble, a single moment of failure could mean a human world, a whole Earth in some dimension, lost forever.

For them, those people that I may or may not know, I'd be willing to damn myself further, if it meant having one more ace up my sleeve.

'My own little contingency for Singing Metals is probably going to pan out.' I told myself again. 'Probably. But there's no guarantee that it will. And honestly, why would I leave such a monumentally apocalyptic card on the table right when I need all the help I can get? It's ridiculous is what it is. Complete hogwash. Why, I would never.'

I continued to fall as the grasping hands struggled to keep up. The droplets of black, tar-like Psy trailing further and further behind.

"Stop!" The universe beyond the veil roared and I got a distinct feeling that this command was so potent it may very well have reverberated across the whole of Pandemonium. If this unreal realm had an end, then surely the Intruders at said end must have heard it.

My own body tensed. The compulsion of a will so much greater than my own bidding me to obey. To abandon my plans and all my goals. All my fruitless schemes.

"Stop!" The command came again. "You must not leave with that! YOU MUST NOT!"

There was absolutely no doubt in my mind now.

I was wrong.

I had to obey.

What I wanted did not matter.

Nothing mattered.

I had to obey.

There was nothing beyond the obedience and…

And then another force pulled in the opposite direction.

A sea of bright red and vibrant purples coalescing into hands beneath me. At the other end of the tunnel. Pulling me closer to my destination.

"Oh come now sir. That is simply unsportsmanlike." A sea of endless voiced tittered. All sounding like me, but with the casual cadence the Drake often used.

"Let our dear friend here make his own choices why don't you. It is the least we can do, as sporting hosts."

The hands brushed up against me and washed away the command. Making it so my mind was my own again.

The blackness roared and clawed at the edges of its prison, but the pull from below did not give way. I swirled and fell. Flowing, drowning, in a sea that was as unfamiliar to me as the previous one had been.

I lost track of time in that endless abyss. A week might have passed. Or half a second. It was impossible for me to tell. I was there and I was back home and I was back in my dorm room with the walls spinning as if they too were laughing at me. I was with Steve after rescuing him in the watering hole all those months before and I was with Randall as we crossed paths for the first time. I was following the trail of those golden threads. Following the call of [Precognition].

Feeling them pull me up by the limbs and joints like a puppet. Feeling the unseen hand pulling my strings. My hand. My strings. My willful ignorance.

I felt the memories flooding back and the echo of the Drake. Drowning as much as I was right now in a sea of thoughts and memories.

I surfaced.

I clawed my way onto a beach made up of small, white grains of sand.

I retched.

Feeling my arms giving way, despite the new combined abilities and the no doubt many levels in Enhancer and Shifter the previous beating had earned me.

I blinked, but only got a few grains of sand in my eyes for my trouble. The cells in my eyes expelled the waste promptly though and I was soon able to look up.

Above me, the sky was clear and sunny. A beautiful blue that shone like a tapestry of sapphires. What few clouds there were had been dyed white and were so thin and poofy that they appeared hand-drawn instead of natural.

I felt the warmth of the unreal sun of this place and sighed as the gentle feeling revitalized my corporeal form, as well as my spirit. The golden rays feeling like the calming embrace of my mom as they enveloped me.

It felt, nice.

Not quite as nice as my own Lakeside Estate, but nice.

Welcoming like a party filled with friends.

'Speaking of friends.' I thought suddenly. 'Is that Henry I hear in the distance? Him and Vince and Luigi?'

Probably not. Probably just Intruders meant to look like them. But still, their inclusion in this new place said much and more about my new host.

"Yo dude!" A voice called out next to me.

"That was WILD bruh! I never woulda guessed you'd have the stones to try that! Kudos to you my fellow Telepath!"

I retched some more and looked up to see…

To see…

Me.

With a tanned body and wearing nothing but Buddy as a pair of white swimming trunks.

"Please tell me you didn't genocide the planet." I begged.

"Nah man. I'm cool." He assured me. Pulling a cocktail out of a storage ring and giving it a sip through a straw.

"But be careful if you decide to go further bruh. There's no telling where you'll end up. Word to the wise. If you see a place with a bunch of tall marble buildings with our face on them, make sure you say 'Heil Sully!' to the guys around you. They're all Intruders anyway, but they get real upset if you don't say it."

He continued sipping. While I continued to stare up at him.

"You… you're kidding. Right?"

"Nope." He clarified. "The us in that potential timeline didn't activate his powers that night. Refused to. Mom and dad managed to squeeze him into one of the lockers in the shelter before they bit the bullet. The crabs focused on eating the whole lot of people there until the heroes arrived. Grandpa Gus died of a heart attack upon hearing the news and that guy got adopted by some strange folks. Gave him all kinds of ideas about unity and tradition and eugenics and the need for a firm hand in government and all that."

I felt my mouth dropping to the sands in horror.

The casual me kept on talking.

"He only got into engineering after being rejected from art school. Though he still did make GOZO in the end. Or at least, he made a variation of GOZO. You see, our gadget was focused on observation. His was focused on tying C4 to the drones and flying them into the houses of people he and his new family didn't like."

He chuckled, while my mouth only dropped further.

"He did that while working on a film with his best pals. Something to do with gypsies. Nothing kind. I believe his motto was 'If art school says nein! Europe will be mein!' hahaha!"

He slapped his knee and took another sip of his drink.

"Aaah. But for real though. Watch the fuck out for that guy. He really did take over Europe and the whole world and he really doesn't have our sense of humor for some reason. I don't think he'd take kindly to this…"

He waved down at me.

"Whole, us not being the real deal, business. In fact, something tells me he'd be real upset to see you. I mean, more upset than he is right now."

"No need for that warning." I said with gusto. Getting up and dusting off my suit. "I've honestly gotten more out of this trip than I'd dared dream of. I think I'll call it quits after this round."

"Good call compadre!" He assured me. Taking yet another slurp. This time making all sorts of noises as he polished off the last of the cup. Then he burped.

He didn't need to. He was as much or more of a Shifter as I was. But he did it anyway.

"Though you will miss out on a lot of fun stuff. You know there's one of us out there with kids? Like, not from Dusty like me or most others. Like, he made friends with this girl in elementary school and married her right out of high-school. Got a whole family and everything."

"That sounds lovely." I said whilst looking around to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting for me.

"What's her name? Maybe I know her."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Nah. You and I know her, but we don't really know her. If you catch my meaning."

"No." I told him bluntly. "I do not catch your meaning."

He shrugged.

"Her name was Eunice. She'd recently moved to the neighbourhood and…"

"Stop." I commanded. Putting a hand to my face. "Yes. Yes I know Eunice. Or, I recall her at least. She was one of that creep's victims. The Ice-cream truck pervert the Tall Man dragged off to Pandemonium for trying to kidnap Henry and his sister."

I shook my head.

"But, that makes no sense. She died, or well, went missing as far as the public knew, before that night."

"That counterpart awakened powers before that night." My new self informed me. "And only unlocked part of them. Went on this whole mystery adventure with Henry to save her life. Even made the news!"

I blinked. Slowly.

And then I massaged my temple.

"Wow. That sounds like a lovely old time. I'm sure he'd be awesome to talk to." I said at last.

"He would be. He'd love you." Surfer dude Sully assured me.

"And I'm certain I'd love him just as much. Unfortunately, I have got a little bit on my plate right now and I've got what I wanted. Plus Interest. While I'd love to meet more friendly versions of myself, I really do have to get going now before I run into Fuhrer Sully or worse."

He chuckled.

"Can you believe there's versions out there who are worse than Fuhrer Sully?"

"I can." I told him. "I'm fairly sure I just met one."

"Nah fam. That guy is great company." Surfer Sully waved me off. "You just caught him on a bad day. What with you stealing more than you were supposed to and turning yourself into a universal nuke and all that. But he's not really evil. If anything he's more of a victim than any of us ever were. I don't think it's fair to judge him for that."

He withdrew another drink. One that was peach-colored and began sipping from this one as well.

"Now Leatherface Sully, he's all kinds of fucked up. Like, even Fuhrer Sully doesn't wanna hang out with him."

I stared at my counterpart. Hard.

"Are you pulling my leg?"

"Nah." He inclined his head. "Sadly, I'm not. He's got a very similar story to Fuhrer Sully, only he got picked up by some real bad people. Like, cool-aid and corporal punishment type people. Nasty, nasty cult out of Ohio. He had more scars than Boris and Charlie combined before he turned 10."

I winced.

"Strange thing is, he completely bought into it. Started believing he deserved all of it. That he was unclean. That other people were unclean." He shuddered.

So did I. Despite myself.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass meeting those other versions of me." I said again.

"Like I said dude, good idea! Will save you a LOT of trouble. I only said it was a shame that you'd be missing out on so much neat stuff."

"I'll survive." I said offhandedly.

"Yeah. I guess you will." He agreed. Then he finished off his current drink in one long gulp before looking back at me.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to stay a while?"

I looked back to him. Unsure.

"Well, I can't really open the way myself." I reminded him. "I got the last guy to open the way before we connected. Still don't know how he fell for that. But I had a feeling it was worth taking the risk. He didn't seem too well-versed in human interaction."

"No he did not." He agreed. "Though I gotta say dude, I like that guy. And I'm not sure how I feel about you snatching that fucking thing off of him."

He made an expression. As if he'd suddenly downed a spoonful of vinegar.

"He was telling you not to do it for a reason. You lose control over it even once and…"

"It will be fine." I interrupted. "Besides, it isn't as if I'll have it forever."

He squinted.

"What do you mean dude?"

"I mean that it's an extra ability at 99 with a corresponding title. While my current level in Telepath, or rather, the amount of Psy I'm getting, hasn't changed. Those ability points came from nowhere essentially. It completely breaks the System and I don't even have a full handle on how it works. Like, it feels like it might slip out of my mind."

He blinked at me.

"Dude. You're stupid."

"Maybe ill-informed and hopeful." I corrected. "But I wouldn't say stupid."

"Nah dude. You're stupid." He insisted. "Hazimon told you bro. Same as me. Ya can't take away someone's powers. Just supress them. And even then, only so much. You know you're lying."

"Weeeell. Yeah. But still, the points coming out of nowhere…"

"Are coming from a Divine." He followed up. "Soon as you hit that status, it don't matter how many ability points you have. Any ability goes right up to the limit. It doesn't matter if they're combined or not. Or whatever else."

"Nice to know." I told him. "But I am not a Divine. Yet. So, who knows? Now, about the total Psy from the Title…"

"Don't matter at all. The Divines have infinite Psy out here on this side. It only gets limited in the normal, material world. Yours will change as soon as you leave here." He barreled on. "Though it looks like you're already getting the bonus from the Enhancer side."

He caressed his stubble-ridden chin.

"Yeah, even I can tell you're keeping those. But they're not at 99. Which is odd. They're… well they're at a high level, but not as high as your Telepath abilities. Must be cause they fit into the System better. Or, well, into your mortal mind better. It's a bit hard to tell. I never went through this. Though, I guess I never went through anything in truth."

He shrugged once more.

"Gotta say man. That sucks all kinds of ass. I got kids I'll never see again. Or, I don't. Cause they were never real. I don't know which is worse dude. I'm depressing myself more and more the more I talk."

I cringed. Feeling how that might be a bit of a bummer.

"Sorry."

"Nah man. It is what it is. I'm not mad or anything. Just kinda bummed. You're not at fault."

He sighed.

"If anything, I should probably be kissing you right now. I mean, sure. You're not exactly me. Not nearly as handsome or laid-back. But you're not goose-stepping your way across Pandemonium. And you're not Leatherface Sully. Which is always a bonus."

"So, you're basically saying that I'm good enough?" I asked. "Not the best, but far from the worst?"

"Well I didn't say it like that man!" He complained. "You're making me sound like an ass! I was just commenting on how my hot wife will have to settle for second best! That's all! I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything!"

I arched one of my eyebrows and looked past him. To the many, many, MANY beachside bars lining the coast. And from there, to the grand Malibu-style mansion jutting off the nearby cliff like a fist of shining glass and marble reaching for the heavens.

"Riiiight." I managed after a few seconds.

Then I shook my head.

"Okay. Whatever. I'm dealing with a lot right now. I don't have the time or patience to get offended or do anything about it. Point is, I got two more Tier 10 combined abilities under my belt. Which brings me up to three. The three that I need."

I went over the absorbed memories again.

"It should be [Solomon's Adamantine Fortitude X] which is composed of [Enhanced Constitution], [Enhanced Toughness], [Enhanced Recovery], [Enhanced Stamina], [Sudden Constitution], [Sudden Toughness], [Sudden Recovery], [Slashing Resistance], [Piercing Resistance] and [Blunt Resistance]. Then [Solomon's Incorruptible Body X] from our mutual genocidal friend. Which is made up of [Enhanced Digestion], [Enhanced Circulation], [Enhanced Immune Response], [Neurotoxin Resistance], [Cytotoxin Resistance], [Enterotoxin Resistance], [Hemotoxin Resistance], [Viral Resistance], [Parasitic Resistance] and [Radiation Resistance]."

"That's not going to come in useful by the way." Surfer Sully quipped. "It's a bit redundant once you've got one or two Shifter abilities that do more or less the same. The Shifter abilities are better too. The Enhancer abilities will resist the stuff before your Shifter side reverses course, but you're such a strong Shifter with so much Psy by now that any toxin dangerous enough to be a threat would only serve as training. Kinda like having two sets of walls for your house. Only the outer wall is thinner and lets the air through."

"You make it sound as if the ability is bad." I countered.

"Not at all man. Most people out there would faint seeing that sort of stuff. But the Dragon won't. He doesn't use toxins."

He stopped.

"I suppose if another Shifter Master that did use toxins attacked you, you'd kill them even more easily. So there's that. But it won't be useful for much else."

He walked around me. The sun hitting his tan skin head on.

"Though I'm much more interested in the last one."

I had to agree.

"[Solomon's Corrupting Influence X]. Made up of [Sleep Resistance], [Psychoactive Resistance], [Paralysis Resistance], [Psionic Resistance], [Enhanced Memory], [Enhanced Learning], [Enhanced Processing], [Enhanced Balance], [Enhanced Training] and finally, [Berserk]."

"That's a nasty combo dude." Surfer me noted. His mouth turning into a grimace. "It doesn't cause you to go [Berserk]."

"Yeah." I confirmed. "It makes anyone trying to mess with my mental faculties go [Berserk]. While the Title makes them vulnerable to a direct Telepathic counterattack."

"Again, that's nasty bruh. You shouldn't go around letting that loose. You could kill someone."

"I was actually kinda hoping to kill someone." I clarified. "Not the Dragon of course. He's much more of a rip-your-still-beating-heart-out kinda guy."

I sighed.

"But hey. If Silent Sully could kill a Divine on the material plane, why not me?"

"Dude." He went on. "This is sick."

"I don't know if you mean that as a compliment."

"No, I don't. I mean this is a sick thing you're preparing to do. If you lose control of that power, even for a second, then you'll be the one genociding universes. I mean, shit dude. Even Leatherface Sully didn't go that far."

"Well excuse me for trying to save humanity my guy." I retorted. A bit bitter about the way he was judging me, despite presumably knowing better.

"How did you deal with Hazimon then?"

He smiled then. An impish grin that made his perfect white teeth reflect the sunlight.

"That's the beautiful part my grumpy friend. I didn't."

"Oh." I said calmly. "You're uh… not going to go on about how I should spare the Dragon and try to find a workaround, right?"

"Nah." He waved me off. "I get that it'd become a problem. You can't really stop what's happening without his side taking some MAJOR losses. Emphasis on MAJOR. Forget Hazimon, he's a small fry in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, you'll eventually have to kill him. But he's not the one you should be worried about. Now Singing Metals though. She's a whole other story."

He shook his head and I saw that he had a ponytail for the first time.

"She won't be stopped quite so easily. Nor will she ever quit unless she is defeated directly. Several times over. How are you going to manage that?"

He raised a hand to stop me, while he withdrew yet another drink with the other.

"No. Don't imagine that will work. I've read your mind. It's a good idea. Ingenious even. But you can't go around pretending it will work. There's a good chance she'll just barrel through for the sake of her own principles. That's just the kind of gal she is. You can't go around making those kinds of assumptions."

"Exactly why I need to have more aces up my sleeve." I clarified. "How exactly am I supposed to prepare for fighting a Divine, someone who's running around with all 99s in every ability, if I don't have a few backup plans in place?"

"Nah. That's fair man." Surfer Sully retorted. "I suppose I can't fault you for being power-hungry and kinda stupid."

I noted that he sounded rather insincere as he said this.

I further noted how casually he was carrying himself after all that we had discussed.

"I can't help but notice how little you seem to care about this whole issue." I said casually.

"Nah man. I care a whole lot. But I have mixed feelings you see." He responded. Now walking away. Raising a single finger as he went.

"On the one hand, I love humanity and I want you to win. Obviously." He whirled about to make a 'Duh!' face. Before turning around once more.

"But on the other hand, me and Hazimon were pals once. Not that he liked me mind you. He thought I was absolutely insufferable. But I never boosted anyone until after I left the Tutorial, so he had no reason to pester me. Since he never found out. And, I kinda like the guy. Not gonna lie. He had this wise mentor type vibe all over him and he wasn't a hypocrite. Anytime he gave me advice, it was because he was following it already. He really cared, you know?"

I followed behind him. Moving towards the massive mansion in the distance.

"Can I count on your help?" I asked. Cutting to the chase.

"Oh?" He retorted. Not slowing down or turning around as he snickered.

"And here I was under the impression that you had it all figured out and that you were going to go on and kill everybody."

"It is a backup plan." I corrected. "Not like I'm hoping I'll get to use it. Which leads to my next point."

"That I'm fairly normal for one of us and that you'd like to borrow my power pretty please?"

"I don't know if I would add in the pretty please." I added. "But yes. I assume you've got at least one more combined ability I could pilfer. And I'm not in the kind of situation where I can be all that selective."

He laughed out loud.

"Says the guy who just stole a level 99 ability from a version of himself here in the very heart of Pandemonium! Dude! You're hilarious!"

He sped up, whistling a tune I half recognized.

"Wait, isn't that…?"

"Henry's song? Yeah." He chortled. "Dude, can you believe he taped that music video of himself? Ha! Talk about self awareness! Am I right?"

"Why are you bringing that up now?" I asked him. "I thought we were discussing something serious."

"Oh we totally are." He clarified. "But I can never stomach these kinds of decisions right away my dude. I need time to clear my head. Get into the groove and feel things out, so to speak."

He suddenly did a hop and caught a Frisbee with his finger. Sending it back before his feet hit the ground.

"After all, I have to cope with not existing anymore. And that kind of thought hurts."

I was about to say something apologetic, when he caught me off-guard.

"Besides, you still have a lot to learn kiddo. I can't believe I was ever this naïve."

I stopped.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing much." He went on. "Just musing on how quickly you came to trust me and open up about your plans and your current abilities. When you didn't do anything of the sort with the last two."

He laughed, as a chill crept up my spine.

"I mean, damn! With Silent Sully, you even managed to block off most of his probing before you ran away with the goods! Mind you, he's only ever been a one trick pony, but still! That kind of deception takes skill! We are not easy to lie to after all."

He turned his face towards me again and donned an impish grin.

"Yet here you are, telling me everything about what your plans are and what goodies you've nabbed! Giving away a lot of those hidden cards of yours. Now, why do you think that is?"

I didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"You…already would have known." I reasoned. Now coming to terms with my lack of caution. "But you're right. I had no idea how much you knew. I let my guard down."

I sighed.

"Presence ability?" I asked him.

"Yuppers." He confirmed. "Same as yours in fact. Only I'm clearly more adept at using it!"

He chuckled merrily to himself and then went back towards the trail leading up to the colossal glass and marble abomination atop the cliff.

"So come along pal! I'll show you a few tricks and tips you haven't yet picked up! Or, capitalized on. Look dude, point is, you haven't been using your powers to their fullest potential. Come with me and I'll show you why I'm always the life of the party!"

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