Path to the Apocalypse

Earth's reaction to the Azzans was… kind of lackluster, actually. Most people seemed convinced it was some sort of publicity stunt, something Matt faked to get people more interested in the game. Even the reporters who'd seen everything in person were questioning what they saw, wondering if Matt had hired some kind of master magician to pull it all off. And even if they did believe what they saw was real, they didn't want to risk their careers by pushing a story no one would believe. So… they played it off as a gag. Which was exactly what Beth wanted them to do.

“Are you sure about all this?” Chris asked skeptically. The two of them were scrolling through the various news articles while they cuddled in Chris's space, courtesy of the phones Matt had provided them.

Beth nodded. “Absolutely. If we'd made it clear that we actually were here, then all anyone would focus on would be us, not the game. We'd end up wasting time trying to convince people to help us. But now everyone thinks Matt is setting up some kind of event in the game, so that's what they're focusing on!”

Chris cocked his head. “Why didn't we just have Matt set up an event?”

“Because then it'd look like we were trying to hide something, which would have made the people who do figure out we exist suspicious.” Beth explained. “But by actually telling them we exist, we can point and say that we've never hidden anything, and it isn't our fault no one believed us. You displayed your abilities in front of a whole crowd of reporters. What more could they want? It isn't like you have the time to go around the country and personally demonstrate your abilities for everyone. You have a City to save!”

Chris scratched his head. “I guess that makes sense…”

Beth sighed. “Just trust me, alright? I'll deal with the politics. You focus on getting stronger so that if things do go wrong, hopefully- hopefully you'll be strong enough to do more than just harass the elves and the doppelgangers.”

“That I can do.” Chris agreed. “Speaking of, we should probably get going.”

“Right! It's time for you to mutate!” Beth agreed, jumping to her feet.

Chris opened a portal back to the City and the two made their way to the fourth floor, heading to Jo's company headquarters. Once they arrived, they were led to a small room where Salvador, Jo, and Jacobs were waiting. “Ah, there you are!” Jo smiled as they arrived.

Chris paused. “Are we late?”

“No, she's simply impatient.” Salvador waved dismissively. “You're perfectly on time.”

Jo shot Salvador a dirty look before refocusing on Chris. “In any case, we should get started. The sooner you get your ability energy back, the sooner we can develop countermeasures to whoever this shooter may be.”

Chris was ushered into an attached room, lined with lead and filled with as much ambient energy as possible. Jacobs gave him a box with a set of rarer materials they'd managed to get access to thanks to the higher focus of the government, which Chris quickly scanned before handing back. “Now, before you start, we have an idea we'd like you to try.” Salvador began as Jacobs left to make sure all his equipment was in place. “We want you to try and direct your mutation. Your other form should be sufficient for your physical capabilities, so instead we want you to focus on enhancing your mental capabilities.”

Chris nodded. “I can do that. Is that all?”

“For now, yes.” Salvador confirmed. “We have some things we'd like to discuss, but it can wait until after you start mutating.”

Chris shrugged. “If you say so.” He walked to the center of the room, focusing on enhancing his mental capabilities as he began the mutation process. A moment later, a portal opened and Chris waved them inside. “Shall we then?”

“Aaand we're back where we started.” Beth sighed as she walked in and fell onto the couch. “I should have just stayed here.”

“I mean, I appreciated your company on the lift?” Chris offered.

Beth hummed slightly. “I suppose that's worth it.” She muttered, giving him a small smile.

Chris smiled back, making some chairs for Salvador and Jo as he sat down next to her. “So, what did you want to talk about?” He asked the two, closing the portal behind them.

Jo glanced at Salvador. “Is there anyone else here?”

“No one.” Salvador replied. Chris had run the ethernet cable into his main space so the private space was back to being private.

Chris raised an eyebrow as Jo suddenly looked… nervous? “Are we talking about something confidential?”

“In a sense…” Salvador nodded. “If this discussion was overheard, it could be dangerous for all of us.”

“Is it about the shooter?” Beth asked curiously.

Salvador shook his head. “No, this has nothing to do with that.” He focused on Chris, staring him straight in the eye. “It's about your parents.”

Chris blinked. “Oh, you found out one of them was a slime?”

Salvador froze as Beth groaned, burying her face in her hands. “You- what?!?”

Chris cocked his head. “Not that then, huh?”

“No- I mean yes- I mean… how did you know?” Salvador stammered, looking very confused as Beth's head snapped up to stare at him incredulously.

“Oh, Jello told me.” Chris shrugged. “My essence, you know? Wait-”

“But no one can see your essence.” Salvador muttered almost to himself, frowning deeply. “And even if you could-”

“Hold on, how do you know one of my parents was a slime?” Chris asked, leaning forward to stare at Salvador intently.

Salvador blinked, hesitating for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Because I'm the slime. Though we prefer to be called doppelgangers, since we aren't very slimey after our first couple mutations.”

Chris just stared at him, his brain sort of skipping for a moment as Beth leapt to her feet. “You're-!” She began, tripping over her words at the physical impossibility of saying both ‘a doppelganger’ and ‘his parent’ at the same time, incapable of deciding which one deserved more outrage.

“Yes.” Salvador grimaced, not needing Beth to finish to know what she was asking. “Would you please allow me to explain?”

Beth looked ready to tear into him, but Chris lightly grabbed her arm, pulling her back onto the couch next to him. He waved to Salvador. “Please.” He agreed, the only thing betraying his mental state being a slight tightness in his voice. Beth contented herself with glaring at Salvador as she squeezed Chris's hand with both of hers.

“Let me start by saying the doppelgangers have been a part of the City for centuries now, and we mean it no harm.” Salvador began. “We simply wish to live our lives as best we can, just like anyone else, and the Maze provides an almost perfect environment for our young to develop in. We have just as much interest in maintaining it, and by extension the City, as you do.” He hesitated as the two of them continued to stare at him. “There is, however, a third force in the City, one which is more… apathetic towards the City and the Maze.”

Chris frowned. “The elves?”

Salvador stared at Chris incredulously. “How could you possibly know about the elves?!?”

“That is a secret.” Beth growled before Chris could answer.

Chris cocked his head. “Does it really matter if they know? It isn't like they could do anything with it. The only reason we aren't telling everyone is because then everyone would know they exist, and then boom, civil war.”

Beth sighed. “We can explain it later, if we find their explanation acceptable.” She turned to Salvador. “Continue.”

“Right… Yes, the other force is the elves.” Salvador continued, shaking his head slightly as he got back on track. “Our two peoples have been enemies since before the Demonic Advent, and hostilities between us have only increased since then. The Maze happens to span the borders of both our nations, so when the doppelgangers began infiltrating the City, the elves followed, if only to oppose us. Thankfully neither side has ever shown much interest in escalating that opposition into a true conflict, so the elves presence in the City has been largely benign. We spy on each other and occasionally an assassin will take out an opportune target, but for the majority of us, our focus is creating lives for ourselves. Most of us came here to escape the fighting on the surface, not to bring it down here.”

“You better start getting to a point soon.” Beth grumbled. “I care more about the fact that you abandoned my fiancé than some historical conflict with the elves.”

Jo flinched as Salvador grimaced. “The reason I had to explain the conflict is because it is integral to why we had to leave Chris. Because Chris, you aren't just the child of a doppelganger… you're also the child of an elf.”

Jo smiled weakly. “And I'm the elf.”

Chris blinked at her, before letting out a groan and clutching his head. “My brain hurts.”

Beth stared at the two wide-eyed. “But- but the two of you hate each other!”

Salvador chuckled slightly. “We have to put up that front to keep our allies from becoming suspicious. Though admittedly our relationship did begin rather… antagonistically.”

“You stabbed me.” Jo grumbled.

“And you disintegrated my arm.” Salvador retorted.

“Because you stabbed me.” Jo repeated.

Salvador shook his head. “Anyway, due to our positions, the two of us were forced to interact more than we initially would have preferred, and over time, our relationship… shifted, and one day we decided to run away together. We stole the identities of two poor souls who failed the Trial and started a life together. We knew there was always a chance we'd be pulled back into the conflict so we set up some contingencies, such as your mother taking on the identity of a Montero and the both of us joining the Scouts, but we never actually believed we'd have to make use of them. As I said, most of us down here are trying to escape the conflict, not perpetuate it. We assumed both sides would be more than content to simply let us disappear. It wouldn't even be the first time it happened.

“Unfortunately, we underestimated how much… significance your mother's brother placed on her. Once he learned of her disappearance, he sent his personal guard to find her or at least confirm her death, and by the time we learned of it, she was already pregnant. We did everything we could to evade detection, but eventually it became clear that we would be found, and- we had to make sure they wouldn't find you. So we faked our deaths, erased every scrap of connection that even might have led to you, and returned to our positions. There were some… tensions in the process, but once the royal guards were satisfied, no one else was particularly interested in causing us any trouble. We fell back into our old roles and now… here we are.” He spread his hands in an almost helpless gesture as he finished.

“But- hold on, if you two are his parents, then why isn't there a record of your disappearance?” Beth asked.

“Our positions are too valuable for our people to just let go of them, so they simply replaced us.” Jo explained. “Salvador's ‘ability’ is just the doppelgangers’ natural capability to sense energy and I only really use my ability for coreforging, so no one even noticed the switch.”

Beth paused. “Elves can shapeshift too?”

“No, but all the elves that live in the City have abilities that allow them too.” Jo smiled. “We wouldn't blend in very well if we couldn't.”

Beth flushed slightly. “That's- fair.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Chris frowned. “I assume most of the danger passed when the… wait, who is my uncle and why does he have royal guards?!?”

Jo coughed awkwardly. “My brother is the king of the elves.”

Beth's eyes widened. “You're a princess?!?”

“Technically, yes, but I've taken an oath to forfeit any claim I have to the throne! I still don't know why Jer'tunal wouldn't simply let me disappear!” Jo explained, her frustration clear in her tone. “If he would have just left us alone, then-” She choked slightly as she turned to Chris with tears in her eyes. “We never wanted to abandon you! We would have done anything to stay with you, but we couldn't let Jer'tunal find out about you! If he was that persistent in finding me, he never would have let a potential heir to the throne exist, even if they were a human with no ability! And now- If he discovers you now, with what you can do… I- I can't imagine what lengths he'll go to to get rid of you!”

Chris scratched his cheek. “Probably invade the City, if I had to guess…”

“You think-” Beth began, trailing off hesitantly.

Chris shrugged. “I mean, I can't be sure, but I see the dots and I can't help but connect them. The real question is how would he find out?”

“He shouldn't be able to.” Jo replied hesitantly. “But he probably doesn't have to. That's- that's the other thing we need to talk to you about.”

Chris blinked. “Other thing?”

Jo sighed. “So far, the doppelgangers and the elves have been content to ignore the City, because in the larger scheme of things, the City is irrelevant. The only aspect of the City that holds any value to the surface is your technology, and so far everyone has been content to let you develop it independently, simply copying whatever they take a liking too. However, once the surface learns of you… what you're capable of is unheard of, even on the surface. Both sides will want to turn you into a weapon to use against the other. Even without knowing you're a potential heir, Jer'tunal will want to take you purely to use against his enemies. And so will the doppelgangers. Either that, or they will see you as a threat they must extinguish before it grows out of their control.”

Chris frowned. “So we're fucked then. Everyone knows what I can do now, thanks to my duel with Daniel.”

Salvador nodded. “Yes. The doppelgangers and the elves are going to come for you. Our only hope is if you can become strong enough to resist them before they arrive. You have the advantage in that if you want to hide, there's little they can do to find you. If you have enough time to grow, you can become the very thing they fear! And then- then maybe you can end this conflict forever.”

Chris grimaced as he listened to Salvador, knowing that his other self had probably gotten the same exact message and gone about doing exactly that. He led the City into the Maze, using every bit of time he had to grab as much power as he could, before disappearing as the elves arrived, biding his time until the doppelgangers struck, then feeding on both sides to slowly grow his power even more until he could finally face them. Even now, Chris couldn't think of a good reason not to do the same exact thing. Sure, people would die, but it wasn't his fault. He wasn't the one invading. And letting either side use him as a weapon would just lead to more death. Sure, he might save humanity, but he didn't want to see the doppelgangers or the elves destroyed either. The best option would be to keep both sides relatively even until he had the strength to dominate them, stopping the war entirely. Exactly as his other self was doing.

Chris clicked his tongue. “I should have just pretended to be dead when my head exploded.”

Salvador let out a light chuckle. “That would have solved things. Though it probably would have been better to not reveal your abilities in the first place.”

Chris shook his head. “Even without the duel, my abilities were documented through the Ability Management Department. And there was no way Jacobs would do anything less than dig out everything I was capable of.”

Jo sighed. “That man is too good at his job sometimes.”

“Okay, okay, let's think.” Chris muttered. “Is there any other way to deal with this… because I've seen where this path goes, and it isn't pretty. Admittedly it might be the best option we have, but still, we should look for something better. What if I just disappear?”

“They'd still come to the City looking for you, but hold on.” Salvador stopped him. “Can you both finally explain how you know so much? I can maybe see how you could have figured out I was slime related, but you shouldn't have known anything about the doppelgangers and elves.”

Chris glanced at Beth, who frowned, crossing her arms. “They've claimed a lot, but they haven't done anything to prove they're your parents yet. Just because they've told us a crazy story doesn't mean it's a true crazy story.”

Salvador's expression twisted as he nodded in understanding. “This is why doppelgangers can sense essence. Otherwise we wouldn't even be able to trust ourselves.”

Chris paused. “Huh… Good idea.” He opened a portal and Jello dropped through with a surprised blurp, quickly shifting into her human form. “Who's that?” Chris asked, pointing at Salvador.

Jello blinked, turning towards Salvador, her eyes widening as she let out a squeal. “PROGENITOR!!!” She exclaimed as she launched herself into a stunned Salvador's chest.

Chris glanced at Beth. “How's that for proof?”

“How the hell did you find one of my progeny?!?” Salvador asked incredulously.

Chris shrugged. “Luck, I guess. She's literally the first slime I ran into during my Trial.”

Jo frowned at the slime in Salvador's lap. “That- is quite a coincidence.”

Chris nodded. “It was a very coincidental day. Same day I found Beth actually… and I literally arrived just in time to keep her from dying.”

“It does seem odd now that I think about it.” Beth muttered.

“Odd things happen sometimes.” Chris shrugged. “I mean, the fact that I even exist is odd.”

“True…” Beth agreed.

“So, should we tell them now?” Chris asked.

Beth sighed. “I don't know if we should, but I don't see why we shouldn't either.”

“Good enough.” Chris replied, turning back to his parents. “My space connected with another world with a video game that's a near perfect copy of our world, just two years in the future. It has a dude called the Conqueror who's probably me who led the City to push deeper into the Maze, then disappeared as the elves invaded, only reappearing once the doppelgangers showed up, harassing both sides to make sure neither one wins. The whole City is split between the two factions.”

Salvador blinked, then blinked again as he tried to process all that, Jo right there with him. “You learned about the doppelgangers and elves… in a video game.”

“A video game from a different world, yes.” Chris confirmed.

“Is it good?” Jo asked.

Salvador scowled at her. “Is that really important?!?”

“If someone made a video game about my life, I at least want it to be a good one!” Jo retorted, crossing her arms.

“It's the most popular game they have.” Chris offered.

“That doesn't mean anything.” Jo countered. “Lot's of popular things are crap. Like those stupid glasses with the tint? We live underground! Why would you ever need to wear something like that!?!”

“It's a virtual reality game, so it feels just like real life?” Beth suggested next.

Jo paused. “Okay, that's impressive, but that just means it's advanced, not necessarily that it's good. The question is if it's fun. I mean, that's the point of a game, isn't it? No matter how many bells and whistles you add, if it isn't fun, then it isn't a good game.”

Chris cocked his head. “I think it could be fun, but we've been kinda focused on figuring out how to stop the war, so we never really took the time to appreciate it.”

“It is kind of fun to fight without worrying about dying.” Beth commented, glancing at Chris. “Though… I don't suppose that's all that special for you.”

“Hey, dying is still an issue for me, it just isn't a permanent issue.” Chris retorted.

“I'm going to need to see for myself.” Jo muttered.

“Jo, we have larger concerns.” Salvador rolled his eyes, refocusing on Chris. “Did this game suggest any alternate solutions?”

Chris shook his head. “No. It seems the game version of me is doing exactly what you said, hiding and building up power until he can end it all at once. Which I don't necessarily disagree with, I'd just prefer to avoid war altogether, rather than settle for the best war we can get.”

Salvador nodded. “I can't say I disagree, I just can't see any way to actually do it.”

“What if- what if we ran?” Beth suggested.

“Where could we run to?” Salvador asked, shaking his head. “The City is already the best hiding place on Azza.”

“Right, on Azza.” Beth agreed. “But what if we weren't on Azza?”

Chris blinked as he got what she was suggesting. “That- seems like it'd cause a war itself. I don't think Earth would appreciate forty million people just deciding to come over.”

Beth nodded. “You're right, it'd take some work to make it happen, a lot of negotiating and-” she shuddered. “-politics. But right now, it's the only possible solution that even might not end in war.”

Chris considered it for a moment. “There's still the issue of the doppelgangers and elves already in the City.” He gestured to Jo and Salvador. “People aren't just going to be okay with what essentially amounts to enemy spies living among them, and given what we just learned, they aren't going to want to stay behind either.”

Beth grimaced. “It will be difficult, yes, but I still-”

“Oh, no, I agree, we should go for it, I'm just pointing out things we'll need to deal with.” Chris stopped her. He turned to Jo and Salvador. “You two agree too, right?”

“Why would this Earth be any safer than Azza?” Salvador asked skeptically. “Wouldn't the nations there be just as eager to use Chris as the ones here?”

Chris blinked. “Did we not mention that everyone on Earth is human and they don't have abilities?” Salvador's eyes widened. “Yeah, that's a pretty big point.”