The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 3 / 6

“ROARRRRR!”

“What was that?!” Bobby cried out, looking around.

Over the past few minutes, buildings around them had collapsed in on themselves, and debris had scattered all across the city, making it even harder and harder to traverse. Samuel was starting to stress out. They needed to find some way to tamper with Dan Walker’s implant to destroy the illusion they were in, but there was no way they’d stand a chance against that titan.

“We’ll just have to keep running for now,” Samuel thought. He looked around, and then his heart dropped.

“Wait a minute. Where’s Tiffany?!”

“Ahhh, dead end!” Simon shouted as they came to a halt. A building had fallen down, blocking the path and causing rubble to pile up all around the area. The others backed away slowly, a little afraid and nervous.

“What do we do now-” Rick shouted. Sunny gasped, and pointed behind Simon.

“Simon, look out, behind you!”

It was too late. A raptor that was infected with the purple veins jumped out from the depths and pounced on Simon, slashing and tearing apart Simon’s body. Simon let out a howl as he outstretched his arm, requesting assistance. Bobby let out a cry and kicked at the raptor attacking him, and Gary shot at the raptor, killing it.

“Simon, are you okay?” Bobby asked, holding Simon up. Simon groaned, and nodded weakly.

“Yeah, it got a few good hits on me though… I don’t think I can move that well. Ouch,” Simon noticed.

Alan turned around, and he turned white.

“We’ve got company lads.”

The friends turned around and saw a large horde of corrupted dinosaurs approaching them slowly, snapping their jaws and letting out vicious roars. Everyone drew their weapons, but they knew they were highly outmatched.

Paul clenched his fists.

“What do we do now Samuel?” Nova asked, worried. Afraid.

Samuel’s head hung low.

He didn’t know what to do.

“I don’t know,” Samuel shouted, “I DON’T KNOW!”

Paul stepped forward. His eyes were closed. A moment of uncertainty hung in the air. His implant ceased to glow. Yet, some form of powerful aura hung around him.

Something resonates within the depths of Paul’s soul.

“I thought that anyone capable of love was capable of changing for the better,” Paul claimed.

Bump bump bump bump bump.

“But clearly, I was wrong. Clearly I underestimated the evil of this world. Clearly I underestimated… Nobody deserves a second chance. I should’ve helped John. Maybe then he would have lived. Maybe then… I would not have to live with this regret. The regret that I couldn’t tell him that he was a great friend. He was my best friend.”

Paul opened his eyes. They were filled with tears. Not sad tears, but happy ones.

“But maybe… with this LOVE that my friends have, I can bring John back!”

Paul felt the love of all those around him bubble within his own heart, and with all the might he could, he shoved his hand into the air, and grasped at a wisp in the air. Then, he shoved it to the ground, and a white flash filled the air.

SHOOM!

Boom.

The light faded away from everyone’s eyes.

And standing in the midst of the chaos was John.

“Hey guys!” John shouted, “Glad to be back!”

John’s stomach was ripped open, guts and entrails spilling out. He didn’t really seem to care though. Paul’s eyes were spilling white, crackling with lightning. He furrowed his brow in worry.

“John! Does that hurt?! Do you need a medical brew?”

“Eh, I’m fine. What do you need help with?”

“Well we do need to deal with these dinosaurs…”

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

John rushed forward and placed his palm on one of the corrupted rexes. In an instant, the rex’s eyes lit up, and it turned around, roaring at the rest of the corrupted dinosaurs. John rushed forward and continued taming dinosaur after dinosaur.

“Woah. Paul’s doing a lot of work,” Ian murmured under his breath.

“I didn’t know he had it in him,” Carlos replied.

“John! Wait for me!” Paul cried out, running after him. Paul squinted his eyes when he noticed that John had fallen asleep standing up.

“JOHN! You can’t just fall asleep right now!” Paul scolded him, “We have a battle to fight right now!”

“Paul, you know that taming these dinosaurs takes up my energy! That energy brew only lasted so long!” John retorted, “Besides these guys are really tough. I can feel the hate coursing through their veins when I touch them-”

“John, I just brought you back to life, you can’t slack off now!”

“I’m sorry I’m not meeting up your expectations, PAUL, you’re not even helping me!”

“Grrr, JOHN! That’s not an excuse whatsoever! You know I can’t fight that well!” Paul screamed, holding onto his longsword tightly, “I swear, if that lady June were here right now, she’d have killed all of these dinosaurs already! And take care of that titan!”

Paul scratches his chin, as if an idea suddenly came to him.

“Well… I suppose I could just do…”

Paul grasped at the air again, grabbing another wisp. This one was fiery and hot to the touch.

“THIS!”

Paul slammed the wisp into the ground, and another white light flashed in the air. In an instant, another figure appeared within the midst. One with flowing orange-brown hair, and a body that was muscular and toned. A woman wearing flak armor and carrying a trident made out of pure flame.

The Crimson Crusader: June, joins the battle!

“I’ll kill all of you!” June shouted, waving her other fist in the air, “I love Ben very much!”

“June! Help me kill these foul beasts, John here is slacking off!” Paul shouted at her. June scowled at him.

“Since when did you get so rowdy?”

“Since now! Now, help me kill these monkeys!” Paul screamed. June grumbled, but then a grin flashed across her face.

“I like that spirit. Let’s do this!”

June waved her hand and fire immediately sprouted out from the ground, coating the dinosaurs in flames. The dinosaurs roared and ran around frantically, bumping into each other and crashing into buildings, crushing their skulls. Paul let out a maniacal laugh and rushed forward into the fire.

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!” Paul laughed, raising his sword into the air and slashing and slicing at the dinosaurs’ legs. He let out a scream and jumped up into the air onto a corrupted wyvern that was flying away, stabbing his sword into the foul creature’s head.

John looked on a bit, before shrugging.

“Uh, nyeh.”

~

“That girl is dead, I suppose,” the King Titan boomed, “I should go for the others-”

BUM BUM. BUM BUM.

CRASH!

A small figure burst from the debris of the sanctuary city. Tiffany. The King Titan’s eyes widened as Tiffany went flying full throttle at the beast of a machine. The King Titan snarled and pointed his finger at Tiffany. Reality began to warp once again, and his implant’s purple orb began to glow as cuts and slashes burst through reality toward her.

SLASH SLASH SLASH!

The first slash hit Tiffany right on the shoulder. The cut went right into the bone, and she let out a groan as she stumbled backwards. The next two slashes went flying into her legs, cutting them off. Tiffany let out another groan, but propelled her body upwards flinging the decapitated limbs toward the King Titan’s eyes.

The King Titan couldn’t evade in time. He didn’t expect Tiffany to do something like this. The limbs struck both of his eyes, and the King Titan let out a roar as his eyes began to water and his vision began to wane. The King Titan stumbled backwards, grasping at his eyes and rubbing them ferociously. Unbeknownst to the beast, however, Tiffany was already adapting to the King Titan’s cuts and slashes.

Tiffany opened her mouth, coughing out a ton of blood. She looked down at the stubs of her legs, and concentrated hard.

BUMP BUMP!

Her heart shifted within her chest, and she felt the remnants of the medical brew that Carlos had fed her return to life. Some of it was still in her system. If she adapted, she would be able to use it with utmost efficiency. Just a drop would be enough to grow back a limb-

Tiffany’s two legs grew back, and the wounds around her body disappeared. Tiffany’s head jerked forward, and she continued to fly at the King Titan. She raised her fist, and spikes made of bone shot out like claws. Once she approached the King Titan, she dived straight into his chest.

KACRACK!

The King Titan let out another roar of pain as Tiffany dived right into his body, tearing through flesh and bone, until Tiffany eventually reached his inner systems. Purple veins were sprawled out everywhere, enclosing a beating heart that was glowing purple.

BUM BUM! BUM BUM! BUM BUM! BUM BUM!

Tiffany let out a chuckle, and dived forward at the heart. Before she could, turrets and guns manifested around her, firing at her. More of the slashes that the King Titan had created within the reality around them also began to manifest, cutting at Tiffany’s body and creating wound after wound.

Tiffany let out a groan as the first few bullets struck her in the leg, but with a gasp, she felt her skin turn rock hard. Metal rock hard. The rest of the bullets that came her way ricochet off of her and struck the King Titan’s organs, causing further pain and damage for him.

Two slashes cut her on the hip and arm, but as Tiffany’s eyes adjusted to the new environment around her, she noticed the slashes would unravel the air around her. With this new discovery, she would use her bone claws to slash away at the air and propel the slashes away from her.

Not a single one of the King Titan’s attacks were hitting her.

And with a push, Tiffany landed onto the belly of the King Titan and began to make her way to the heart, slowly but surely. Completely invulnerable to the King Titan, she pushed her way through slash after slash, bullet after bullet, until she reached the King Titan’s corrupted heart. She stared at the heart for a moment. The wind around her blew her hair around violently, making it harder to see and harder to stand.

“For Andres,” Tiffany murmured.

She raised her fist, and with a thundering punch, stabbed the King Titan’s heart.

“ROARRRRR!”

The King Titan went tumbling, the slashes stopping and the turrets melting away. Tiffany flew up and then dived out of the King Titan’s body.

With a thundering crash, the King Titan collapsed onto the ground.

The King Titan was dead.

And a human in a white suit and blue baseball cap shot out once more.

Tiffany dived down to attack him, but Dan Walker teleported away.

All around them, reality was starting to shimmer.

~

There were dead dinosaurs everywhere.

A strange purple liquid pooled around the area. Everyone looked around in awe at the bloodshed. And the chaos that had ensued. Fire was spreading everywhere.

Paul, John, and June stood side to side, smiling.

They had taken care of the corrupted creatures.

“We did it gang,” John said with a wink, “We got ‘em all.”

“Paul, you weren’t so bad after all,” June laughed, “I made the right call working with you.”

Paul’s gaze lowered to the ground. Melancholic. And sad. John continued to speak.

“It’s a shame, really,” John sighed, “John would have been proud if he were here to witness it.”

“What? We both know that I didn’t come along after I stayed behind to fight those dinosaurs off.”

“Who knows what I’d really be doing if I was here for real.”

“I’m sorry… constellations.”

The two figures faded away, and Paul’s arms slumped down to his side.

“They weren’t real,” Paul thought, the white light in his eyes gone, like an illusion, “I couldn’t stand the thought of… committing this bloodshed. I did it for their sake. But would this have been what John wanted? What Ian wanted? Carlos, or Ben? Jane? I’m starting to have second thoughts.”

Paul looked up at the night sky. He could still hear John’s screams ring in his ears. No matter how much he tried to shove the thought away, he couldn’t help but admit it. John was dead. And there was no more opportunity for second chances.

In the midst of the turmoil stood a figure in white. Dan Walker looked around, slightly impressed by the bloodshed the innocent Paul had created. He was curious, to say the least.

Paul’s memory returned to when he had first met that wise woman. That wise woman who claimed to know Ben. She seemed to be looking at something in the sky. Or perhaps, someone? Paul felt tears well in his eyes.

“If someone is watching. Why can’t they help?” Paul asked himself, “Are we really forced to fight alone?”

Paul looked back down at the ground. He noticed Dan Walker getting closer. He didn’t care.

He just wanted his friend back.

“A big part of me is still stupid enough to believe you can change!” Paul shouted out to Dan Walker. Dan Walker paused, his steps faltering for just a split second. Paul’s implant began to glow. Dan Walker felt his heart tremble at his grace.

“My friends all want you dead. And a part of me wants you dead too. But I don’t think my friends want me to be that way. I don’t think the people watching do,” Paul whispered, “Even after everything you did, I still can’t bring myself to kill you. Please… make the right decision.”

Wind blew in the air.

Everyone had their weapons down, waiting for Dan Walker to make a move. Samuel eyed his implant. It seemed dim. Reality was shimmering around them. Just one strike to the orb could be enough to return them all to the starlit sanctuary and cancel the Attribute Amplification.

A smirk grew on Dan Walker’s face.

“Why would I want to do that?”

Dan Walker raised his hand in the air…

But that was when Neddy grabbed Bobby’s hammer, dashed forward, and smashed the blunt side of the head onto Dan Walker’s implant.

And in an instant, everything warped in on itself. All the buildings, bodies, and the bloodshed that surrounded them got sucked into the orb of Dan Walker’s implant, and Dan Walker let out a howl of pain. Everyone looked around to see the starlit sanctuary coming back into view.

Anguish. The pain. It was all too much for Dan. With a cry, he collapsed onto his knees, clutching onto his wrist tightly. The constellations were coming back into view, sparkling intensely at the sight of the man’s groveling. The others just looked on in horror at the sight unfolding. Nobody moved an inch.

A part of Samuel wanted him to just step forward and kill him right then and there.

But he wanted to see him suffer.

What happened next shocked them even further.

Dan Walker’s skin began getting sucked into the implant’s orb. The blood, the bones, the organs were all being ripped to shreds. Atomized, turned to dust, leaving no trace behind. Dan Walker’s eyes darted up at the scholars, tears in his eyes. Nobody stepped forward to help him.

This was the man responsible for all of their deaths.

“Please. Save me,” Dan Walker begged, “Please! I didn’t mean it. I didn’t I swear I didn’t. I didn’t, please please please, make it stop, make it stop-”

He was gone.

“Nobody deserved to die,” Ruby whispered, closing her eyes. She thought of Aurora. A tear rolled down her cheek.

If only she were here to witness this.

Alas, Dan Walker was dead. There was nothing left of him. All that remained was the indestructible implant on the ground, which still glowed purple. The others stared for a moment. Nobody cheered. Nobody celebrated. They were exhausted. They were ready to go home. They were ready to return to their own lives.

Samuel looked up at the ceiling of the Starlit Sanctuary. There was a giant red orb implanted at the top. It wasn’t glowing. That was their way home.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?” Samuel asked aloud.

Nova stepped up to Samuel’s side.

“Maybe there’s something linked up to the orb that makes it activate,” she suggested. Neddy stepped forward.

“I… saw a console a while back, near the entrance of the door. Maybe that’s it?”

“That’s definitely going to help,” Ruby replied, “Let’s go check it out.”

“Gladly.”

The two walked up to the door that led into the starlit sanctuary, leaving Samuel and Nova to look up at the red orb by themselves. The others were solemn and silent. They still couldn’t believe that they had done it. They had defeated Dan Walker.

Neddy and Ruby walked up to the entrance, but immediately noticed that the door was closed. Neddy scratched his chin.

“How are we going to get past this door?” Ruby asked. She sighed, “If only Tiffany were here to help.”

“Yeah, you need something?” Tiffany asked as she suddenly appeared behind them. The two let out squeals and jumped into the air, looking behind them.

“Jumpscare alert, jeez, when were you here?” Neddy questioned curiously.

“I’ve been here this whole time,” Tiffany revealed, a bit annoyed that nobody noticed her return, “I was taking down that titan that appeared. I managed to kill it.”

“Ohhh, that’s why Dan Walker came out of nowhere after Paul killed all those dinosaurs by himself. It’s because you killed the titan,” Ruby realized. Tiffany raised her eyebrow.

“Paul did what now?”

“It’s a long story. Paul just kind of… went on a rampage. Anyway, can you help us get past this door?” Neddy requested from Tiffany. Tiffany nodded, stepping forward and cracking her knuckles.

“Sure thing. This should be a piece of cake.”

Tiffany pulled her fist back and then slammed it hard into the metal. The impact of the punch was so strong that the door bent. Tiffany kept slamming her fist into the door, until eventually the door burst open.

“There you go. Go on now.”

Neddy and Ruby both thanked Tiffany for her work, and then stepped through the hole in the door. To the right of them was a console made of the same metal as the rest of the starlit sanctuary. There were blue lines of code on the screen. Neddy walked up to the console and placed both of his hands on the keyboard attached. Ruby hovered behind him, watching carefully at what he’d do next.

“Oh boy. I’ve seen this before in my computer science class,” Neddy murmured under his breath.

“Really?” Ruby asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. This is like Coding 101. Hey, what if I just…” Neddy began to type some lines of code into the console, and then clicked the enter button.

SHOOM!

Reality crackled next to Neddy’s hand, and then a sandwich manifested in his hands. He looked at it in awe, holding it up to the sky.

“Woah. Look at that-”

Ruby snatched the sandwich out of Neddy’s hands, and Neddy let out a squeal.

“Hey! Give that back!” Neddy moaned, “I’m hungry.”

“We’re trying to find a way back home, not start a buffet! Come on, you're the only one who knows how to do all this coding shtick,” Ruby said.

“Yeah, true, but I need that sandwich alright? It’ll help me work better,” Neddy sneered. Ruby sighed, and then reluctantly handed the sandwich back to Neddy.

“Fine. Here you go. Just give me one too, alright?”

Neddy grabbed the sandwich gently out of her hands. He looked at it for a bit, before finally splitting it in half with his hands. He handed the other half back over to Ruby. Ruby looked at the sandwich half as if it were a baby. She looked back up at Neddy with big eyes.

“Thanks Neddy,” Ruby whispered. A smirk grew on her lips. She waved the sandwich around.

“Hey. You could’ve just spawned in another sandwich. Why go through all this trouble?”

“Oh,” Neddy replied, a bright shade of red washed over his cheeks, “Well. Uh. I thought it’d be cute? I DON’T KNOW RUBY! I’M STILL NEW TO THIS BOYFRIEND STUFF. Even though we’re technically not official yet. But STILL! This is like, stuff that happens in a rom-com, you know?”

Ruby stared into Neddy’s eyes for a bit. She felt herself grow red too.

She slugged Neddy on the shoulder, and he let out a yelp. Then she began to laugh.

“Just get back to work nerd,” Ruby giggled.

“Okay okay, I will!” Neddy replied. He looked back at the blue lines of the console and began typing away. But he couldn’t help but take a few quick glances back at Ruby, who was munching away at her sandwich.

“What?” Ruby asked.

“Nothing,” Neddy replied, looking back. He took a bite out of his sandwich and swallowed the rest of it down with ease. He felt satiated now. In stomach, but not in heart. Neddy took a quick glance back at Ruby’s swirling black hair with red streaks, and the cute glasses on her nose that made her brown eyes even bigger than they looked. Ruby squinted her eyes. Then a sly smile stretched on her lips and she stepped up toward Neddy, leaning forward and kissing him on the lips.

The two closed their eyes and took in the moment. Neddy stepped away from the console and wrapped his arms around her waist, and Ruby caressed Neddy’s hair, pushing his long bangs away from his forehead.

The two slowly pulled away from each other, looking into each others’ eyes with goofy smiles plastered on their faces.

“That was great,” Neddy smiled, pulling Ruby in close.

“That’s only our second kiss too,” Ruby whispered to him. Neddy raised his eyebrows in quick succession.

“Want to make it a third time?”

“Third time’s the charm,” Ruby laughed. The two closed their eyes and leaned in again.

“HEY!” a voice suddenly interrupted them.

The two became startled, pulling away from each other and turning to face the door. They blinked their eyes and stood with their arms by their sides, taking quick glances at each other.

Ben was standing at the door with an annoyed look on his face.

“PDA much?” Ben asked, “Do that crap later when we get out of here. We’re trying to get out of here!”

“Sorry Ben!” Neddy chuckled, “Jeez, when’d you get this grumpy?”

“Since now. Just get to it…”

Ben pulled away, and Neddy let go of Ruby, returning back to the console.

“I should get back to this and figure out how to activate that red orb,” Neddy decided, typing away at the keyboard.

“Fair enough. I’ll wait,” Ruby said, watching over Neddy’s shoulder curiously.

Neddy continued to type away at the keyboard. A few more minutes of typing, and his eyes sparkled. It seemed he had found a few lines of code connected to the red orb hooked up at the top of the starlit sanctuary.

“Take a look at this… I think I just need to execute the order and then we should be good to go.”

Neddy typed a few more lines of code and then pressed the enter button. Neddy’s eyebrow raised at the following lines that were produced.

“Users with implants will not be teleported. Initiate sequence?”

“What?! This is stupid, we got teleported even though we had implants in that cave!” Ruby shouted at the console. Neddy grumbled and began to rub his forehead.

“Great. What now?”

Ruby shifted backwards, rubbing his chin.

“I guess we could ask Samuel if he wants to go down home himself. Then we can figure the rest out, like how we can remove these implants.”

Neddy walked away from the console and peeked out the door. Everyone was murmuring amongst themselves at the battle that had ensued. Samuel had picked up Dan Walker’s implant and was inspecting it carefully.

“Hey Samuel!” Neddy called out.

Samuel looked back.

“You wanna get out of here first? Console will only let us teleport people without implants. Maybe you want to go home first.”

Samuel shook his head.

“Nah. I’ll wait until all of us get out of here.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Neddy returned to the clutches of the console, staring at the screen tightly, considering his next move. Ruby stared at the screen quietly before interjecting a suggestion.

“If you can add items, then could you delete them?”

Neddy’s eyes sparkled.

“I mean, probably. I’m just trying to figure out the item ID for this implant. It’s not a regular item, you know? Ah, here it is!” Neddy shouted in joy.

Neddy typed a few more lines of code and pressed the enter button.

The console beeped violently.

“ERROR. IMPLANTS CANNOT BE ERASED. IMAGINARY MATTER CANNOT BE ERASED.”

“What?! What does that even mean?” Neddy asked, banging his hands onto the sides of the console. Ruby’s hair gently drifted along the cold air of the observatory.

“If we can’t remove them… then can’t we move them somewhere else?”

“But where? I don’t think it could be that easy!”

Ruby looked out the door. Landon’s body was propped up against a pillar, lifeless and cold. His eyes were closed, and he wasn’t breathing. Nobody was watching over him. He had been sitting there since the beginning of the battle.

“It’s a bit unorthodox but,” Ruby was interrupted by Neddy, who seemed to understand what she was implying.

“I suppose that’s the only choice we have. But what then? Just remove the implants manually over and over until we get everyone’s out?”

Ruby scratched her chin, pondering and thinking to herself. Then an idea came to her.

“Hey, you know how back there it said that the implant contained just a tad bit of ‘essence’ from Dan Walker’s implant? Like, the reason our implants are even capable of giving us abilities.”

Neddy nodded.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“What if the essence is the imaginary mass itself, but the metal that contains it isn’t? If we just separate the metal and the essence, then we can remove the implants that way!”

Neddy’s eyes sparkled again, and he frantically typed more lines of code onto the console.

“If what you’re saying is correct, then if we just find the sub-part of the implant which is the metal containing the essence, we can remove it…” Neddy stopped typing for a moment, and then looked down on his own implant.

“You’re a genius, Ruby!”

Neddy lifted his finger to press the enter button, but Ruby quickly stopped him.

“Wait wait wait!” Ruby shouted, grabbing him by the wrist. Neddy looked back at her dumbfounded.

“What is it?” Neddy asked goofily.

“What if this hurts you?! We don’t know what will happen afterwards! We should ask for volunteers-”

“Nahhhh, it won’t do a thing, trust me! Besides we have that cool chef Carlos’ medical brews to save the day if things go awry,” Neddy argued, taking his other hand and prying Ruby’s off his wrist.

CLICK!

Neddy pressed the enter button, and then afterwards a list of names came up, all familiar and recognizable to them. They were the names of the students of Terran High. The names were sorted alphabetically. Interestingly enough, it listed everyone’s name, alive and deceased. Neddy supposed that he could remove the implants of anyone down below who didn’t make it out alive, but he didn’t see the need to.

“Alrighty, here’s my name,” Neddy muttered, scrolling down only a little bit. He clicked the enter button, and then afterwards he felt a giant pain in his left wrist.

“Youch!” Neddy yelled, clutching his wrist.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked, stepping forward with a hint of worry.

Moments later, the metal on Neddy’s implant twisted and distorted, before finally disappearing from reality. Ruby gasped, and Neddy looked on in awe at his left wrist. He took his right thumb and pressed it against his left wrist. He didn’t feel anything. All that remained was some purple essence that revolved around his wrist, but Neddy couldn’t even feel it.

His implant was gone.

“It works,” Ruby whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief.

Neddy grinned. Hope was back. He stepped forward and continued to type more lines of code into the console, the speed of his typing growing at an exponential rate.

“Just one step in the right direction. I just need to get rid of this essence, since it’s still a part of the implant, and I can do it by transferring it into Landon’s implant…”

Neddy clicked the enter button again, and the purple essence swirling around his wrist shriveled away, bolting across the air like an arrow. Neddy and Ruby watched as the purple essence entered Landon’s implant, settling in and disappearing from their sight. Neddy looked back down at his wrist. For once, things felt normal. Right.

“You did it Neddy. You managed to remove the implant! Now we just need to do it with everyone else and then we can get out of here.”

Neddy smiled back, and then a sly smirk grew on his lips.

“No. WE did it,” Neddy replied.

Ruby groaned, facepalming.

“I knew you would say that,” Ruby groaned, “Why do you have to be so corny?”

Neddy shrugged.

“Well, think about it like this. I wouldn’t have been able to remove that implant without your ideas.”

“I suppose that’s true. But you’re the one who did all the coding! I don’t even know what half of this means!” Ruby laughed.

“We did it together, Ruby. That’s what happened. Now let’s go tell the others and then we can get out of here-”

RUMBLE.

The observatory station rumbled again. Tremors filled the arena, and Neddy and Ruby let out a “woah!”. Neddy peeked out past the door to see what was happening. Everyone else had fallen to the ground, and were struggling to get up due to the shaking of the observatory station.

Dan Walker’s implant was rising into the air.

“Hey, what's going on in there!” Neddy shouted, running into the room. His eyes bulged at the sight of the implant. The implant seemed to be growing in size, and its power radiated throughout the starlit sanctuary like waves on the beach. The orb flickered and shimmered, before finally it grew to an exponential size. Now the implant was at least thrice a human’s size. It floated off the ground, its size and power sheer.

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 7 / 7

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the last chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

Carlos' Ending

The sound of sizzling meat on a pan rose into the air, carrying a waft of goodness into the wind that was hard to replicate between anyone else. Distinct Mexican music played in the background. It was so quiet in his restaurant, but Carlos didn’t mind. It was only his first few days after all.

Carlos could sense that the meat was finished. He turned the stove off and then poured the meat into a tortilla. Carlos reached for the shredded cheddar cheese and poured it inside as well. Then, he poured in some beans and rice. Carlos hummed a tune to himself as he wrapped the tortilla up into the form of a burrito, squishing all of the ingredients together in a delicious goodness. The cheese was slowly beginning to melt.

Carlos plopped the burrito onto a paper plate. Then he lifted the plate off the counter and headed off into the dining area. All of the tables were empty. Despite that, there was another plate on a two-seater table with a burrito as well.

“Hey John, I’m back,” Carlos said as he took a seat at the table.

There was no response. Carlos eyed his burrito hungrily and then picked it up. He took a bite out of it and immediately his mouth exploded with flavor. Carlos let out a moan of satisfaction. His food tasted so amazing. It didn’t even seem like his cooking.

For a moment, Carlos recalled the words that Paul had told him. His food was made with love. Was that how he could love something that he once despised? Perhaps so.

Carlos finished the rest of his burrito. He got up from his seat. John’s burrito still remained untouched.

“See you around John. I hope you enjoy it.”

Carlos left through the front glass door, and he swung the Open sign attached to it to Closed. Just another day with barely no customers. Carlos didn’t mind though. He enjoyed the silence. It let him reflect in peace, even though it got lonely at times. His friends couldn’t stay. That was okay. He could always visit.

Carlos looked back for a moment. There was a big bite on the burrito on the table.

Carlos looked away. Then, he walked off into the bustling crowd of the city, with no purpose in mind except to wander.

~~~~~~~

Ian and Patricia's Ending

“Let’s go get some ice cream,” Patricia suggested as they stepped out of the movie theater doors. Ian nodded in agreement. The air was soft compared to the roughness of the Western States. Ian liked it. He loved the atmosphere here. Everything seemed so nice. Nobody was against him. Nobody was violent. He could be himself.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Ian grinned. He eyed Patricia’s hand for a moment. Then, he took it. Patricia blushed. Ian did too. They didn’t really mind though. Nobody really cared about the fact. They were just another couple in the millions that dotted the world. They were ordinary, yet their pasts were extraordinary. They were so grateful they made it out alive.

The two walked to a nearby ice cream shop that was owned by an old lady. It was the best in Star City, according to Patricia. Yet nobody really visited.

The two entered the shop and a little bell rang. The little lady looked up for a moment. Her glasses fit onto her nose and she looked fragile yet so sweet. Ian felt bad for her. She should’ve been walking around enjoying the sights instead of working. It reminded him of his grandma, who was always working for him back in the Western States. Ian decided that one day he’d bring her and the rest of his family to Star City.

“Hey Patricia. The usual?” the old lady asked with a smile. Patricia nodded.

“Yeah. What do you want Ian?”

Ian scratched his chin.

“I’ll take a mint chocolate chip,” Ian added onto the order. Patricia raised her eyebrow at him in suspicion.

“Didn’t you hate that flavor?” she asked with a smirk. Ian shrugged, trying his best to look clueless.

“No clue what you’re talking about. You must be forgetful.”

Patricia giggled to herself. A slight smile tugged at Ian’s lips. The old lady smiled at the two. She seemed to be reminiscing. She reached for the ice cream within the counter and scooped out two cones for them. She took the wafered cones and handed them to the two, who grabbed them eagerly.

“That’ll be five dollars,” the old lady whispered. Ian dug in his pocket and pulled out a few bucks and gave it to her. She promptly put it in the cash register, and then the two waved goodbye.

Ian and Patricia ended up sitting on a bench together that looked out at a lone, empty yet expansive valley away from Star City. The two ate their ice cream in peace looking out at the cattle roaming below.

Ian’s right hand was next to Patricia’s.

His hand twitched for a moment, and he looked down at her hand. He wanted to hold it so bad…

But then he decided against it.

Ian decided to just enjoy the view with her. He didn’t need to hold hands with her, or envelop in a long, nice kiss to enjoy the moment. Her presence was all that mattered to him. And Ian had a feeling that Patricia felt the same way.

~~~~~~~

Paul's Ending

“PAUL. WOULD YOU LIKE A BOWL OF MAC AND CHEESE?” a robotic voice asked. A robot made of scraps and junk parts rolled into the room carrying a big bowl of pasta drenched in cheese.

Paul was sitting on a table, crafting something with his tools. Paul looked back and waved hello.

“Yes, Junk-Me! I would like a bowl, thank you very much,” Paul said.

The robot rolled over and set the bowl down on Paul’s table. It was still steaming hot, so Paul decided to wait a bit so it would cool down. Junk-Me waited patiently for Paul’s next command.

It had been quite a while since he had escaped the ARKs. Ever since then he’d been living on his own in a lone town somewhere in the United Republic. The remaining government had offered all the scholars compensation checks, and many of them decided they wanted to live close to each other, but Paul decided against it.

The less he thought about his past mistakes, the more he’d feel at peace.

“SIR, WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?”

Paul closed his eyes. He had started working on his robotics campaign to take his mind off of things. That was the neat thing about robots. They didn’t feel anything. Paul knew that he couldn’t make mistakes with him.

“You can walk Snowy Mole. Stay safe though, okay? And don’t give him too many treats.”

Junk-Me beeped, and then rolled away compliantly. Paul could hear the sound of pattering footsteps of Snowy Mole, and then the front door swung open and slammed shut. Paul was still tinkering with a weird device. He had used it the past few years ever since…

Suddenly, the device beeped, and a hologram manifested from it. Paul gasped, and he smiled happily.

It was a hologram of John.

“Hey Paul. How’s it going?” John asked, a bit woodenly.

“It’s been going great John!” Paul said happily.

“Oh. That’s good to hear. Hey, how are the others so far?”

Paul squinted his eyes sadly. His expression became sullen.

“I don’t know. Carlos didn't answer, and he didn’t want to stay here. Ian moved away with that girl to Iceland, and Ben… I don’t even know where he is anymore. It’s as if he’s dead too.”

“Awesome! I’m really glad that they’re all doing alright. I guess we’re friends ‘till the very end huh? Heh heh,” John chuckled. John checked his watch, “Listen dude, I gotta go. Busy stuff. Gotta take care of the pets. In pet heaven. Uh. Yeah. Sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

The hologram shut off. Paul picked the device up and got up from his seat. Then, he walked over to a drawer, opened it up, and then placed it inside gently. He closed the drawer, and then trudged over to his bed, laying down and letting the clutches of drowsiness take him away to his dreams.

Paul stared at the ceiling. The hologram’s words still radiated in his ear everyday. The same words, over and over.

Would he ever be able to replicate that feeling? That feeling that John was really back with him? During that fight with the former President of this nation?

Paul closed his eyes.

He didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he was right.

John could never come back.

~~~~~~~

Alan's Ending

It was a dark, gloomy night in the cemetery.

A chill ran down the spine of Alan as he walked up to the two gravestones. Both were unusually clean compared to the rest of the burial sites. Alan’s footsteps were silent, yet the earth sank like a quick sand each step he took. The fear Alan once had in his heart now faded for each day he visited.

Spirits of the damned called out to him, begging for forgiveness. Alan lifted his hands, granting repentance to each one.

And then, he reached the two gravestones.

He crouched down. Then he reached for his backpack and took out two flowers. One’s bulb was filled with the serene blue, and another with the violent yet heartful red.

“Rest in peace, Esmeralda and Jerry,” Alan whispered.

Alan turned around, looking at more gravestones that littered the cemetery. The golden cross necklace that hung around Alan’s neck glimmered.

Just a few hundred more to go.

~~~~~~~

Tiffany's Ending

A pen furiously scribbled on the lines of paper.

Then, the pen was set down on the table.

The words, “The End” were dotted at the end of the page.

Tiffany lifted the paper up to inspect it. In the presence of the stars in this high-rise office, they seemed to beam in approval. But Tiffany wasn’t looking for their approval. She was searching for Andres’, who was watching from up above.

“I hope you like it,” Tiffany whispered, a spark of hope in her eyes, “And I hope you’re okay with the name change.”

Tiffany set the paper down.

Originally, the story was meant to be named ‘John’s Adventure’.

But Tiffany had decided to rename it to ‘Andres’ Adventure’.

She thought the name was much more fitting.

Andres could go on those adventures with her like they planned. Forever and ever.

They could have gotten their happy ending.

Tiffany got up from her seat. She took a glass of energy brew, which sloshed around in the glass as she took it with her to drink. She looked out the window, and into the Capital below.

It was definitely a different sight than Star City. Things seemed different, yet the stars seemed so dimmer at the same time. The walls separating the Inner City and the Outer City stuck out like sore thumbs, and the lone, empty offices of the former President’s agents still radiated pain and grief within Tiffany’s lungs.

Tiffany downed the energy brew down, and then set the glass on the table. She adjusted her suit collar, and then walked out of her office.

She had a lot of work to do as the new president.

~~~~~~~

Sam's Ending

Sam sat at the dining table, waiting patiently. The half-heart silver locket Warren gave to her still remained in her hands. She hadn’t let it go ever since she returned home to Star City.

The house seemed so quiet and empty without Samuel. It had felt like that the first few weeks he was gone, but this time was different. There was the feeling of something more lost.

The table she sat at had four seats at all times. One for Wren, one for Samuel, one for her…

And one for Warren.

Sam really wanted to try again with him. She thought about all the good memories with him. And the bad. And then she felt her heart swirl into an indescribable mess.

At least Samuel would be returning home soon, though. If there was one thing Warren wanted out of this, it was Samuel’s safety. And her’s. She heard news of the scholars returning home, miraculously. Even though Warren never returned that night, somehow things ended up working out in the end.

A knock rang out on the door, and Sam’s ears perked up. Was that him?

Sam rushed up from her seat and over to the door, where she opened it quickly. A woman was waiting at the door, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Sam almost didn’t recognize her. She was Samuel’s best friend, Nova. His only friend.

She’d come over every often, which made Sam a little happy for her son. It reminded her of Warren. The girl was energetic and playful. The polar opposite of Samuel. Samuel always smiled when she was around. For a moment, Warren’s ways subsided within him. At least when she was around.

But she seemed so tired now.

And Samuel was nowhere in sight.

“Hey!” Sam said, still a bit cheerful, yet blissfully naive, “Nova, right? How are you?”

Nova didn’t say a word. She ignored her question, and hit Sam with the hard news immediately.

“Samuel’s dead.”

Nova reached for the door and closed it gently, leaving Sam to grieve on her own.

Sam stepped away.

She reached for her gun.

~~~~~~~

Neddy and Ruby's Ending

“Mooooo!” a cow groaned from the pens of the barn. Ruby was shoveling away at manure, clearing out the debris with a nose plug attached to her nose. She wore a cowgirl hat atop her head, and her red-black hair was tied up in a ponytail as always.

As she finished her work, she wiped the sweat off her brow and dropped the shovel to the ground. She looked off at the horizon. The sun was dipping down into the night. Her work was done for the day.

Ruby walked back to her ranch house and then stepped inside the cool air conditioning. She kicked her boots off and set them near the door. The smell of grilled meat hung in the air. Ruby took a slight whiff and then her stomach grumbled. Today, Neddy was on house duty. The two frequently switched roles in the house after Neddy tripped and fell in a pile of… stuff. Afterwards, Neddy decided that doing stuff outside of the house was ‘boring’, and he wanted to cook.

Ruby walked into the dining room - kitchen combo, where Neddy was setting up the special sandwiches they made every Friday. A bunch of different types of berries squished in between two patties of steak. The most delicious sandwich the two had ever made!

“Hey Rubes! How was work outside?” Neddy asked, a bit curious. He set up the second sandwich and took the two plates to the dining table. He was wearing an apron that was covered in stains.

Neddy set the two plates on the table and took a seat next to Ruby. Ruby scratched her head.

“Eh. As usual. Today they loaded a fat one though…”

“Okay maybe we shouldn’t talk about this… Yet.”

The two chuckled, and then lifted their sandwiches up and began to dig in. As Ruby finished up her first bite, she glanced over at Neddy’s finger. A golden ring slipped on. Just like her own. She found the idea inconceivable. They were true fiances now, after all that!

Eventually, the two finished up their sandwiches, and Ruby rubbed her stomach in approval.

“That was good. Maybe you should cook every day,” Ruby teased. Neddy laughed boisterously.

“Sure. Sure…”

Neddy got up from his seat, cracking his neck and putting his hands in his pockets comfortably. He was wearing a white polo shirt and black sweatpants. His hair was brushed back with wax, and his acne was gone. He seemed more muscular too. Ruby blushed at the sight of him. He looked stunning. Still, there was some charm in his past version, the dorky nerd who knew everything about dinosaurs and computers.

“Rubes, I was thinking we should go out sometime. We’ve been cooped up here for so long. And we need guests for our wedding,” Neddy pointed out. Ruby blushed harder. Neddy smirked at the sight. Ruby put her hand over her mouth.

“OMG, stop,” Ruby whispered. She didn’t know he could be such a flirt.

“I’m just saying!” Neddy said defensively, raising his hands in surrender, “We could go on a road trip. Go around and catch up with old buds. It’d be fun. Plus we have the money from the compensation checks. And I think that’s what Samuel would want. For us to be united, not divided.”

Ruby’s eyes faltered at the mention of his name.

It had always chilled her that nobody seemed to care about him after his passing, when in the end it was him that saved their lives.

“He would want that,” Ruby said. Then she looked up, “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Right now?”

“Right now! We’ll ask someone to take care of the animals. For now it’s us time though,” Ruby said sinisterly, grabbing onto Neddy’s hand roughly. Neddy’s eyes widened in shock, but the sly look returned to his face.

“Okay okay! We’re going, we’re going. We’re taking the truck, right?”

“Of course silly!”

The door shut. And then the ranch was silent once more.

~~~~~~~

Cousins' Ending

“Here we are,” Franklin whispered to himself, as he looked at the quartz house in anticipation. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. One year and a half since he and his big brother had been gone, leaving on such short notice. How would the others react now that he was back?

Franklin looked around. This time he’d be going alone.

Franklin stepped up to the door, a bit hesitant, before lifting his hand and knocking on it.

BUMP BUMP BUMP!

For a moment, there was silence, but then the door swung open.

A girl younger than Franklin answered the door, her expression bored and tired. But the sight of Franklin reignited the playful, energetic spark that once was. Her long black hair swayed in the wind outside, revealing the few gray hairs that each of them had. Emma excitedly turned around and called out to the others.

“Guys, Franklin’s here!”

The chatter of the cousins instantly filled the room, and Franklin heard thumping against the marble ground as the four others came rushing to the front door to greet Franklin.

“Yooo, Franklin!” Connor cheered with a loud laugh. He leaned forward and pulled Franklin in by the shirt, and they closed the door behind him.

“Franklin! There you are, we’ve been waiting for you all night! What took you so long?” Jeffrey asked, putting his hands on his hips. Tanya was sucking on a lollipop, and she took it out so she could speak.

“You can’t leave us hanging like that!”

Little Kayla nodded in agreement. Even the moody Little Kayla had a fire in her eyes that wouldn’t die out.

“Things have been so boring without you two,” Little Kayla stated, looking at the others for approval. Connor raised his eyebrow.

“What, do I not bring fun with my awesome personality?”

Little Kayla whacked Connor on the head, and he let out a yelp.

“Hey! What was that for?”

Little Kayla rolled her eyes, and then turned to Franklin. Emma spoke up.

“Our parents told us about you and Big Brother moving. Way after that party a year ago,” Emma explained, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because I didn’t know!” Franklin retorted, a bit offended, “I was just as upset as you guys!”

Franklin reached into his pocket and pulled out the ancient coin his father had given him that ill-fated day, and began to fiddle around with it. He felt the good fortune flowing through his veins. His charms had worked, in a way. Or was that just good luck? Wait a minute…

“Big Brother knew though. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me,” Franklin muttered, a bit sad. He blinked his eyes for a moment. Tanya looked around for a moment, then shrugged.

“Where is Big Brother?”

“Yeah, where is he?” Connor asked, plopping down on the couch.

For a moment, Franklin thought about the text Big Brother had sent to the family group chat. After it was confirmed the scholars, or at least, what were left of them, survived.

“I’m alive. Not coming back home yet though. Be back. Stay safe, don’t come looking for me.”

Franklin found the text bizarre, yet he didn’t mind. He’d be coming back. Right?

Franklin wondered if his parents ever told the others about what happened to Terran High. Probably not. Franklin thought about how Big Brother never told him about them moving. And he thought about his words, when they left for the United Republic.

“I’ll be in college by then. You’ll be back, but… the others probably won’t either. Their parents grow busier, and so do they. I’m sorry, Franklin.”

Was it really true? Perhaps. Did it mean Franklin had to be all hopeless about it? No. They could still meet up! If not in person, then on call!

It made Franklin wonder where Big Brother had gone through. Was he going to college now? Was he going on vacation? Maybe he just wanted to stay with those friends he always hung out for a little bit. He might not visit for a long time.

Still, Franklin didn’t want to disappoint his cousins.

“Yeah, he’s just busy this weekend. I bet he’ll come next,” Franklin lied, feeling a bit clammy. The others just stood silent for a moment, before murmuring to each other in general acceptance.

“That’s fine. We can always wait. We have all the time in the world,” Connor shared his thoughts. The others had the same idea. Franklin breathed a sigh of relief. This would work out, for now.

“Soooo, what should we do now?” Jeffrey asked.

“Hmm, how about a classic Hide and Seek?” Little Kayla suggested. Connor gagged.

“Come on, that’s so boring! We already played that last time!”

“Hate to break it to you genius but last time was a year ago!” Little Kayla snorted. Before Connor could counter, Franklin’s father barged into the living room. He was carrying a box.

“Hey! I got a present now that you’re all here! There was a note on it saying that it was for all six of you, specifically!” Father exclaimed as he came to a halt. He walked up to them, and the others gasped and walked up to him.

“Oooh, what is it?” Emma wondered.

“Who’s it from?” Jeffrey asked, curious as always. Father squinted his eyes.

“Yeah, that's the thing I don’t know. It’s not from me. It’s from someone else. Who? I don’t know. The note here said that ‘they would know who sent it’. I’m not you guys though. So, yeah. Anyway… here. Take it.”

Father dropped the box onto the coffee table, then waved goodbye, heading out the living room door and to the outside where most of the adults hung out. Everyone crowded around the table to try and get a closer look at the note.

“What does the note say?” Little Kayla asked, observing from a far distance. Tanya looked at it. The handwriting was unusually neat.

“To: Franklin, Emma, Jeffrey, Connor, Little Kayla, and Tanya. Thanks for everything. You’re the BEST! I just wanted to let you all know to never let your dreams die, and to always chase that adventurous itch! You never know where life will take you, so spend your time wisely. And remember: don’t forget your roots!”

“Your best friend, - KM.”

“KM? Who the HECK is that?” Connor asked, raised eyebrows and all.

“I dunno. I thought you’d know,” Emma replied dumbfounded. Franklin squinted his eyes. Was it Big Brother? No, probably not. The handwriting was too neat. Franklin felt as if he recognized the initials, but nothing clicked in his head. Alas, he gave up.

“Who the heck cares about the person who gave it to us? I hope there’s treats inside, open it up!” Franklin shouted.

Emma gingerly reached forward and pulled the lid off of the box.

Inside the box sat six sparkling, dazzling heart lockets. Everyone let out gasps as they stared inside. Each one was made of a different gem, and each one had an engraving on it for their names. They were interlinked with an iron chain that was hard to the touch. It was almost as if it were indestructible.

“It’s so pretty!” Little Kayla cooed, bringing her locket up. Her’s was a bright orange. Tanya put the green one on, and smiled happily. It fit her perfectly. Connor’s looked at his with a mixture of disgust and intrigue. But as he put the yellow heart locket on, he sighed, as if it brought him peace.

“Man this is nice!”

Jeffrey had a magenta one, and Emma had a navy blue one. The two put theirs on as well, until finally Franklin’s was the only one left in the box. A light, cyan blue.

Franklin took the locket gently. He looked at his reflection. He had grown so much.

Carefully, he took the iron chain and wrapped it around his neck. He felt all of the luck in his heart triple. It was as if the lockets enhanced his power. The power he had gained on that day. The day they all traveled to a world of dreams.

Franklin scratched his chin for a moment. The lockets gave him an idea.

If time was his enemy, then what if they…

“This might seem like a crazy idea, but,” Franklin suggested, “What if we go back to the dream world? Big Brother isn’t here. We can go without having to worry about having him remember! And we know time doesn’t pass that much there. As long as we don’t stay for too long, we’ll be golden! What do you say guys?”

The others pondered for a moment. They didn’t seem against the idea. In fact, they were all for it.

“I mean I’d love to go. Hell it’d be fun beating up bad guys again as always,” Connor said, “But how do we even go back? We know only we could only go because of Big Brother-”

Just then, the world around them began to crackle. Reality began to distort, glitches bending at the whim. The others looked around with gasps, and then their eyes widened. They knew what was going to happen.

As a blue swirling mass swallowed them, Franklin grinned ear to ear.

“Looks like our wish came true.”

Then, it was over.

And they were gone.

~~~~~~~

Nova's Ending

Clank. Clank. Clank.

After reaching the top of the stairs, she swung the door open.

CREEAAAK.

The metal door opened.

The sound of cars honking filled the air. The lights of Star City never drowned out the glow of the stars in the night sky. And the lingering explosion of the island in the sky. A place over heaven, destroyed. Was it ever possible? Nova did not know. Samuel liked it. Yet at the same time, he didn’t. She understood why. She couldn’t dwell on the thought.

The building’s roof had no railing.

Nova walked up to the edge. Then she sat down, looking off into the horizon.

If only there was a way to turn things back to how they were.

She thought about the past few days. The questioning. Then, everyone parting ways. The loneliness that followed. Nobody seemed to mind that Samuel was dead. He was just another tool in the shed. A stranger in a group of close friends. Except for her.

He was her best friend.

Would there ever be solace for her? She would never know.

She had nobody left.

Nova thought about the ill-fated day. How Samuel just wanted to move on from his life. He never really got to experience it to the fullest. She never wanted to move on from the clutches of innocent childhood. Why couldn’t they have swapped places?

Nova looked up at the stars, and the explosion again. It looked like a nebula. In a way, the island had brought its own stars down so that everyone could enjoy. How long would it last, before fading into oblivion? Before everyone who had passed, passed? Nova wasn’t sure.

Nova once heard somewhere that people don’t really die after death. They only die after their names have been forgotten. A lot of people had experienced this ‘true death’. Even before they really did pass. It was sad. Nova wished she could have done something about this fate.

How many times would Samuel’s name be uttered after this?

And everyone else who had died?

Nova got up from the edge of the building. She slowly stepped away, feeling a sinking feeling in her heart. She took a glance at the stars one last time. Night was fading once more. The sun rose from the east, and the explosion was disappearing.

Nova walked back down the stairs, closing the door behind her.

And at that moment, she made a promise to herself.

“Don’t forget.”

~~~~~~

CREDITS

Thank you, dear reader, for making it all the way to the end of this book. The end of The Arks: Over Heaven. It really was a wonderful journey with those who had been here since the beginning of its production, I don’t think I will experience something like this ever again. Alas, this is the end of the story. There will be no sequel for TAOH, so cherish it as is. There are prequels but they aren't ASE related so you probably wouldn’t want to read them anyway. So that’s it, that’s the end of the story. Once again thank you for reading all the way, I’m truly grateful and it takes quite a bit of willpower to read 100 chapters of content. If you somehow read this story without knowing about the Achatina Fanfic Community… Please check it out. There are a lot of cool people there, writers and readers alike. You’ll find a story you like. May fortune and good grace be on your side, constellation, always. This is Ben signing out.

~

Reader List:

These readers read the story. Cool!

Lynx

MrDemonRealz

Saturn

Anonymous Megalodon Reader

~

Cool Reader List:

These readers read for quite a while. Super cool!

MrGhostGamer

Wyvernian

Moon Tales Girl

OMEGA09

The Nazgûl

~

Super Awesome Amazing Cool Spectacular Readers:

These readers are my biggest fans! Thanks so much for the support over the past year! Y’all are awesome writers too!

Sylveevee - Biggest June fan of all time until she killed Arthur… Thanks for reading! I always cracked up when I killed June off in the dumb hypothetical battles and you started raging!

PrimalApex - Craziest theories of all time who somehow figured everything out. Your insight was always so fun to read. Thanks for reading!

SunnyFox57 - My first ever fan! Read since the very beginning (pretty much) and also had the funnest reactions especially when I kiled off Skyler and Aurora. Thanks for reading!

Moon - My first ever reader. Thanks for pretty much building the community up to where it is now and for accepting all writers! Also thanks for drawing the prototype trailer for TAOH 100 even though it never ended up being used. Thanks for being an awesome person in general. Thanks for reading!

~

Misc:

“The Council” - Thanks for helping write Neddy and Ruby’s first kiss! Probably my favorite romance scene ever.

“Victory” - Thanks for being cool and supportive!

“DG Co.” Thanks for also being cool and supportive! Also thanks to Growl for giving me time in class to work on TAOH Chapter 100! (Huge lifesaver).

“Five” - Thanks for being an excellent teacher and kick starting my writing journey! You’re the best!

“Graham” - Thanks for being behind jt all, and also early support in early drafts! You’re a great tutor!

“Mom, John Pork, and Unc” - Thanks for being a great loving family.

“Six Cuzz” - Thanks for being cool and also being cool cousins. Woot woot!

“Enzo” - ENZO

And finally…

████ - Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for your wisdom, your words, the energy you brought every time we talked. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to surpass my limit. You’re the basis of all of my stories. One day, I will make it up to you for the promises I broke. Remain who you are. Don’t let anyone drag you down. Please, if you’re reading this somehow. Don’t let your effort be in vain.

~

Inspirations

TAOH was inspired by a multitude of stories. Here’s a comprehensive list of all of them.

The Obelisk - by Moon

The Riddles of the Phoenixes (Series) - by SunnyFox57

Undertale - by Toby Fox

Dusttrust - by DillyWolf

Jujutsu Kaisen - by Gege Akutami

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure - by Hirohiko Araki

And of course,

ARK: Survival Evolved / Ascended - by Studio Wildcard,

Special thanks to Dan Leveille for creating the Dododex to begin with!

~

Soundtracks

TAOH was also inspired by a lot of soundtracks. Some chapters are also titled after said soundtracks. These soundtracks sound good too, take a listen if you wish: most are instrumental / electronic though.

Unizone’s Distrust Trailer Theme - by Synth Mints

Sacrifices for Success - by Cytatious

Reminiscence - by Alminum the Squeal

Time Paradox - by Juora

Feeling of Despair - by KnuckleDuster

Psychosis - by nik2656 / Nickolas

In Vain - by NyxTheShield

Funeral - by Plawerian

Broken Facade - by NyxTheShield

Infernum - by Nebula (Original by Stellaricity) (Alternate by Elem, & FBI)

Do or Die - by nik2656 / Nickolas (Alternate by Plawerian)

Reverie - by Irony

Judgement Day - by Booster

Slaughter in the Spotlight - by BenyiC03, nik2656 / Nickolas, & PJ Cobi

Long Elevator - by Francis, & Ari (Original by Toby Fox)

Royal Scientist - by Booster

Scarlet Rage - by Epic (Original by Synth Mints)

Finality - by nik2656 / Nickolas

Silence. Introspection. - by Saknol / David

Ultimatum - by Segasonic101 (Original by PilotRedSun)

Inferno Combusts (Part 2) - by MC-Hooray

ARK’s amazing soundtrack was also composed by Gareth Coker. Very talented and excellent composer!

~

Lyrical Songs

Some chapters reference lyrical songs. These are all very cool. Listen if you want.

Tripping on Love - by Ashley Collins

Vandalize (Clean Version) - by ONE OK ROCK

Silly Billy - by Churgney Gurgney, & Divide

Careless Whispers - by George Michael

~

This is the end of the story. What more is there to uncover?

…

If you feel as if you have completed this story. You should go. There’s nothing left for you to see.

If you feel as if this story isn’t over yet, find me in ACHATINA. You will find the last chapter there.

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 6 / 6

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the last chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

Samuel's Ending

The music seemed so loud.

Samuel looked around for a moment. He was in some large mansion of sorts, and there was chatter all around him. His eyes darted around. There were people all around him, each one dressed in black graduation robes. Samuel felt dizzy at the sight. It reminded him of his graduation ceremony, the one he never got to have.

He never really got to live his life, did he?

Samuel couldn’t think straight. He rubbed his head thoroughly, feeling a headache coming in. It wasn’t until he bumped into someone familiar that he realized he was wearing a white graduation robe.

“Hey dude, watch where you’re going!” an angry voice snarled. Samuel looked up and saw a mean looking guy with two others standing by his side. As they caught a glance of who he was though, they turned white and stepped back.

“Oh… it’s you, I’m so sorry!” Lil Jack apologized, “It won’t happen again, I swear!”

He bowed down respectfully, and his goons Mikey and Larry followed.

“Yeah, sorry for trying to whip you that one time… err, what’s your name again?”

“Samuel,” Samuel answered, a bit amused yet relieved at the sight of the three. Their deaths hadn’t particularly bothered Samuel at first, but seeing them made him feel really guilty. His gaze lowered on Larry. Larry had surrendered, but despite that Samuel still killed him.

“Hey, Larry, right?” Samuel said. Larry looked up slowly and nodded.

“I’m sorry too. For killing you. That was… unwarranted,” Samuel apologized, looking at the ground guiltily, “I guess I was scared back then. I thought maybe you had it out for me too.”

“I-It’s okay. Really. I hope we can be friends.”

Samuel smiled as the three walked away. If those three were dead, then… maybe he could find her somewhere in this crowd.

Samuel pushed past the crowd. As he did, he realized that he knew all of their names. The revelation startled him, yet comforted him at the same time. They must have all passed from the ARK.

Samuel looked around. Tables lined the walls, each one filled with an assortment of snacks and drinks. Samuel felt thirsty, so he decided to get some punch. He deviated from his goal and headed to the table, grabbing a paper cup and pouring some punch from a big jar of red punch. He could hear a distinct conversation close to him.

“So. How many guys are you gonna talk to tonight?” a gruff voice asked. Samuel turned his head to see a group of four sitting next to the wall, observing the crowd keenly. There was an overweight guy in the middle, a chubby girl sitting next to him, and then Samuel could recognize a cheerleader, Kaitlyn, sitting next to the overweight guy, and a girl with blue hair sitting next to the chubby girl.

Kaitlyn shrugged, and shook her head.

“None. They don’t interest me anymore. You’re friends. That’s all I ever wanted…”

The chubby girl blushed.

“R-Really Kaitlyn?”

“Yeah. Really, Nicole,” Kaitlyn smiled back.

“Wow. Did you hit your head on something? Cause that didn’t sound like you,” the blue-haired girl giggled.

“Shut up Ellie,” Kaitlyn frowned.

The only guy of the group rose from the ground, and he cracked his knuckles and neck. He looked down at the others, and nodded his head to the left.

“Let’s get out of here and find a more quiet place. I’m sick of the noise.”

“The only thing you should find is a gym, Gerald,” Ellie snickered as she followed suit.

“That’s really ironic coming from you…”

“What?! How dare you!”

Samuel smiled at the interaction. He didn’t personally know them, but they seemed like fun. After gulping down all of the fruit punch in the cup, he tossed it away and decided to delve further into the crowd of graduates to try and find who he was looking for.

As he pushed past more and more people, he could spot two guys hovering near the corner, their arms crossed and their heads bowed down. Samuel knew that they were Nate and Jake, even though he had never met them.

Two girls were dancing in the crowd, meanwhile, near the middle. They seemed to be in high spirits and were enjoying the environment around them. One was quite muscular and large, the other was skinnier yet just as jubilant. That was Layla and Lizzy. A guy with curly hair was also dancing alongside them, pumping his fists in the air and swaying his hips side to side. It was Landon. A brooding, gentle-looking man watched on silently with a smile. Arthur.

Samuel smiled at the sight of the man having a good time. He didn’t want to bother him, since he didn’t personally know him. Samuel and Arthur locked eyes for a moment. The two stared at each other for a bit. Samuel’s gaze averted, but he waved goodbye as he left the area.

“It would be better if he doesn’t see me,” Samuel thought as he eventually saw a bar in the corner with a variety of glass bottled drinks. A strong, sturdy man was at the counter cleaning a glass. When Samuel approached the bar, he began to speak.

“Now what drink would you like-”

As he looked up though, he gasped. He placed the glass and rag on the counter and placed his hands on the wooden counter with wide eyes, inspecting Samuel carefully.

“Samuel!” Andres shouted, “What are you doing here?!”

“Uh, I’m not sure, to be honest,” Samuel replied, looking around uneasily, “It’s nice seeing you here though.”

“Yeah. It’s actually been pretty chill though. Everyone here is nice, surprisingly. I wish Tiffany were around though. Then we’d be able to talk about the direction of our story,” Andres wished, a little sad, “I think I saw her somewhere in that crowd… but I haven’t seen her since.”

Andres turned around, took the glass bottle, and dipped it in a large pot filled with a blue liquid. He pulled it out and then placed it on the wooden counter happily.

“Want a drink?” Andres asked.

Samuel eyed the drink for a moment. He decided to take a sip. He grabbed the bottle, brought it to his lips, and then swallowed a few ounces of the energy brew. It tasted sweet. Really sweet. Samuel felt surprised at the taste.

“Like it?”

Samuel nodded. He felt pleased at the new experience.

After all, how long had it been since he had been able to taste?

“It was great, actually,” Samuel’s eyes squinted, a bit disappointed with himself, “Hey, listen, I’m sorry about what happened back then. Tiffany blamed herself for you, but it was really my fault. I’m sorry…”

“Hey, it’s alright, okay? We’re all here and that’s all that matters,” Andres told him, “It’s not your fault. I saw that woman’s implant glowing. I think if it wasn’t you that started the fight, it would have been me.”

Samuel didn’t respond. He still felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. Like sins crawling down his back.

“So what are you here for?” Andres questioned curiously.

“I’m looking for someone,” Samuel answered honestly. Andres smirked.

“I think I know who you’re talking about. I don’t know where she’s at, personally, but someone did want to meet with you…”

Andres looked to the left and a girl with long black hair that was a few inches shorter than Samuel came barreling toward him with a smile on her face.

“Samuel!” the girl cried out. Samuel’s eyes widened.

“Wren?”

The girl leaped at Samuel and wrapped her arms around him. Samuel went tumbling to the ground, and they both laughed. The two got up from the ground, patting the dust off their graduation robes.

“It’s been so long,” Samuel said, as he felt tears blur his eyes.

“It has been,” Wren replied, looking around carefully, “I don’t know anyone here. Well, not like it mattered. You know Dad didn’t care about much of that, he just wanted us to be successful and graduate without any trouble.”

“That’s fine. There’s a lot of people that are fun to talk to. Like Andres,” Samuel replied, taking a quick glance at him. Andres smiled happily.

“Thanks Samuel!”

Wren cleared her throat, and Samuel turned to face her again.

“It was nice catching up with you. You’ve grown a lot,” Wren said, looking him up and down, “Last time we met you were like, this tall.”

Wren put her hand near to where her stomach was. Then, she turned around and waved goodbye.

“Seeya!”

Wren ran off, and Samuel smiled. Who else would he meet-

“Hey son.”

Samuel turned around to see a man wearing a police uniform standing awkwardly behind him, his hair hidden away in a police hat. Samuel felt his heart throb.

“Hey Dad,” Samuel said simply.

Warren looked down for a moment, before he knelt down and hugged him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you son,” Warren apologized. Samuel felt tears drip down onto his right shoulder. Warren continued, “I’m sorry for being a bad dad. I’m sorry Samuel…”

Samuel hugged Warren back. He didn’t know how to feel. He recalled Dan Walker’s words. Without Warren’s story, Samuel would have been killed the moment he stepped into the Starlit Sanctuary. In a way, he did save his life.

“It’s okay Dad,” Samuel replied, “My other friends are safe. That’s all that matters. And we’re here together.”

Warren smiled. He let go of Samuel and stood up, saluting him softly.

“I’ll see you around kiddo. I have some fights to break up, since I’m an officer now for some reason.”

Warren walked off, and Samuel waved goodbye to Andres. Samuel went back into the crowd to find who he was looking for.

By now though, the crowd was already beginning to dissipate. The music had changed, and now it was slow and relaxed. The party had come to a halt, and the dance floor had become reserved with the slow-dancing couples who never got the chance to fulfill their futures.

Samuel could spot a man wearing a straw hat in the corner sipping an energy brew. It was John. He looked up and waved at Samuel. He seemed especially lonely, yet satisfied with his fate.

Another woman with orange-brown hair was hovering near the corner of the room, whispering something to herself. There were goosebumps on her arms and she twitched every few seconds. Samuel recognized her as June. She looked cold.

Finally, a tough-looking man with a buzz cut was fiddling with his fingers, especially out of place because he was wearing a black suit. He looked up, and Samuel met his gaze. Bob said nothing, and looked back down at his hands. Samuel decided it would be best to leave him alone.

Samuel looked away but it was then he bumped into the second person of the night.

The man he had bumped into was muscular and sturdy, just like Andres, yet he wasn’t as tall or large. Samuel looked to see a man with brushed back tidy black hair, and a tall muscular woman. The man stepped back, and then nodded his head toward him.

“Sorry about that Samuel,” Jerry apologized. Samuel squinted his eyes.

“Wait, Jerry?!”

“Yeah. It’s me. Kind of crazy how things change huh?” Jerry smiled. He turned and nodded his head toward the woman.

“This is Esmeralda.”

“Hey Samuel. I’ve heard lots about you. Jerry noticed that you didn’t have a mark,” Esmeralda noted, “That’s cool. I’m glad you chose not to use it.”

Samuel figured she was talking about the implant. He scratched the back of his head uneasily.

“Yeah, about that,” Samuel said. He looked back at the two. It was so weird seeing Jerry as a normal functioning human being. The time he saw him he didn’t even look human.

“So what changed?” Samuel asked, a bit curious. Jerry shrugged.

“I’m not so sure. I think it had something to do with Alan. He put a bit of sense into me, I suppose. I was wrong. I think I was just really upset about everything, but now that I’m reunited with Esmeralda, I don’t really have to freak out huh?”

As Jerry spoke, Samuel noticed that his golden tooth was gone. Samuel felt a sense of relief because of it, for some reason.

“Uh, this is awkward,” Jerry laughed, “But I think I’m going to go now. I wanna dance with her. I’ll see you around Samuel.”

Jerry and Esmeralda walked off, leaving Samuel to watch in with intrigue. Samuel smiled at the sight. He turned away, and decided to keep looking for Aurora.

Samuel’s eyes scanned the room. He couldn’t spot her anywhere in the crowd. He’d know she was there because of her bright, blue eyes and her sparkling brown hair.

Samuel then noticed there was a hallway leading somewhere else. He decided to take it. He walked down the hallway and there were multiple rooms branching out to bedrooms, bathrooms, and balconies. On one of the balconies, a white-haired woman looked out at the stars in the night sky. The woman chuckled, and then looked back down below.

Samuel decided to take a detour to visit Skyler. He opened the glass screen door and walked into the outside balcony. The air was chill, and the wind was soft. The stars twinkled in the night sky, eager. Samuel walked up to the railing next to Skyler.

“I know what happened to you. That was a brave thing to do,” Samuel told her. Skyler didn’t turn her head, but nodded in agreement.

“I wanted to keep them safe, after all that happened. A part of me wanted to stay alive. But, I knew that giving up my life for them would be the right thing,” Skyler smiled. Skyler didn’t comment about Samuel’s state. She seemed to be reminiscing. Samuel looked down the railing and saw clouds upon clouds. He couldn’t see past them, but he imagined that the Earth was waiting below.

“You and I aren’t so different you know,” Samuel said.

Skyler’s face didn’t change at his words. She nodded softly.

“I guess so.”

Samuel said goodbye, left the railing, and returned to the warm comfort of the mansion. He closed the glass screen door behind him and continued down the hallway. It was then he heard chatter coming from one of the bedrooms, and he peeked inside to see a group of four playing cards.

“Okay, Loki, do you have a five?” a toned, bronze woman asked with a hand of cards in her hand.

“No Chloe, go fish,” Loki smirked back. Chloe groaned and picked a card off the middle pile. One of the guys with parted black hair looked out nervously at Samuel. That was Brad. Another girl with magenta hair was petting a dog. Sophie.

“Uh, Loki, someone’s staring at us,” Brad murmured, a bit apprehensive. Loki and Chloe looked up, and then Loki’s eyes sparkled as his eyes landed on Samuel.

“Hey Samuel! Long time no see! Well it’s only been like a few days, but still. It felt like eternity. How have you been? Wanna join us?”

Samuel ignored the first question.

“I think I’m good. Thanks for asking though. Some other time?”

“Oh okay. Well I’ll see you around!”

Samuel waved goodbye to the group and continued walking down the hallway. He heard more chatter coming from the bedrooms. He took a quick peek inside. There were seven children screaming and yelling, and it seemed they were engaging in a pillow fight. Samuel couldn’t recognize any of them, but he noticed that the oldest of the bunch had a scar on his left eye just like Mr. Mo. The realization came to Samuel only after he reached the end of the hallway.

There was a large room waiting for him. A glass dome hung at the ceiling, illuminating the inside with moonlight. A large glass pane showed the rest of the night sky, and a tomb of sorts lay in the middle. Standing near the tomb was a woman wearing white graduation robes. Her body was turned away from Samuel, facing the night sky.

“Aurora,” Samuel called out.

The woman turned around. She seemed surprised at first, but then a smile grew on her face.

“Samuel.”

Samuel stepped forward. His heart hammered against his chest.

“Are you ready?” Aurora asked, ushering her hand to the tomb.

The tomb seemed to be glowing with some sort of power. It had a purple orb embedded inside, which seemed to radiate with the same power as Dan Walker’s implant. Samuel looked at Aurora, a bit confused.

“We aren’t even going to have a talk?”

Aurora looked up at the glass dome. She smiled.

“I wish we could. But then you’d just miss me more, I think, once you’re gone.”

“What do you mean once you’re gone? I thought I was dead? Why else would I see you and everyone else here?!” Samuel questioned, slightly offended by her nonchalance toward his arrival.

“It’s not your time,” Aurora gently said, “I don’t want you to die. You still have a life to live. I never did, Samuel. My life was doomed the moment I listened to Borealis. You still have so much to do. And Nova… you can’t forget about her, can you?”

“Why can’t you go into the tomb?!” Samuel asked, waving his hand at it, “What’s stopping you, if the tomb is going to wake one of us up?”

“Samuel. The only reason why you’re being given this chance is because YOU have the implant. You have the power to bring yourself back. So please, give yourself another chance,” Aurora begged him with sad eyes, “Please don’t let your effort be in vain. We will meet again, I promise.”

Samuel looked away. He didn’t want to leave this place. Everything seemed so right. Everyone seemed so happy.

At last, he decided to enter the tomb.

Samuel walked up to the tomb, and then climbed inside, lying down as if it were some sort of bed. The tomb was coursing with energy, like the imaginary matter that the imaginary rifle was made of. It was made of the same futuristic metal as the starlit sanctuary. Samuel looked up. The stars were silent. Still, Samuel could see constellations upon constellations in Aurora’s eyes.

“Before I go… How was Borealis? If he’s even here?” Samuel asked, his eyes looking into Aurora’s. An unreadable look crossed her face.

“Fine. I met him first thing I got here, actually. He understood. After our talk, I never saw him again. I suppose he didn’t have a purpose outside of our lives back down on Earth,” Aurora answered, a bit gloomy, “Enough talk. Goodbye…”

Aurora walked to the side of the tomb, took the cover, and then slammed it down, covering the tomb in a blanket of darkness. Samuel couldn’t see, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. He could hear his heartbeat all around him.

And then he woke up.

~

Samuel awoke to the sound of silence. It was unusually cold. He could feel hard metal below him. He sat up and looked around. He was still at the Starlit Sanctuary. There were red lights blaring in the distance, and a robotic voice was screaming something.

“CODE RED! CODE RED!”

Samuel stood up from the ground. He could feel the implant still embedded in his wrist. And as he looked around, he realized that everybody was gone. Samuel’s eyes widened.

“What happened?” Samuel asked himself, “Did they leave without me? No, that’s not possible. Neddy would have transferred my implant to Landon’s body or something. The teleporter must have activated on its own after Dan Walker’s death.”

Samuel didn’t like the blaring in the background. Something told him that the Starlit Sanctuary would blow to bits soon. He rushed over to the door, where the console was located, but as he ran past, he couldn’t find it anywhere.

The console was gone.

“Where is it?! Where is it?!” Samuel asked, frantically looking around. Samuel turned white as he recalled the battle with the Overseer. Neddy and Ruby had come out to distract the Overseer at some point, yet Samuel was still gaining implant attributes. Had Neddy done something with the console?

Samuel could hear a countdown in the background.

And it was then he realized there was nothing he could do.

His arms dangled meaninglessly by his side. Slowly, he treaded to the glass pane of the starlit sanctuary. And he stared out down at the Earth, where he should’ve been.

He thought about Nova. Her laugh, and her smile. Samuel didn’t want to die now. He clenched his fists and banged his fists into the glass.

THUMP! THUMP! Thump!

Thump.

Samuel’s efforts ceased. There was no point in struggling.

Samuel stepped away from the glass, and he took a deep breath.

“TEN! NINE! EIGHT!”

Samuel thought about the vision, or dream he had after destroying the Overseer. Had it been real, or just a part of his imagination?

“SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!”

Samuel closed his eyes. He felt another tear roll down his cheek.

Would the others even care?

“FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!”

Samuel looked away in acceptance.

And it was over in just a split-second.

~~~~~~~

Bobby and Simon's Ending

“Hyahh!”

Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

Bobby let out a sigh of relief, wiping his brow of sweat and dropping his hammer to the ground as the last nail was inserted into the piece of wood. Simon picked up a load of rubbish on the ground and then dropped it in their portable dumpster.

“Whew, that was some nice work!” Simon called out as he walked back to Bobby. As the two collided, they fistbumped, and then they looked at what they had built.

It was a large ranch house. It was pretty big, and it had taken a lot of blueprints, planning, and overall grit just to put it together. It was around two stories high and made of wood and stone. There was a large fence surrounding the perimeter and even more space in the back for animals as well as a barn.

Neddy and Ruby had specifically requested for it, and who could say no to a friend?

Regardless, their work is done now.

“So. Where to now?” Bobby asked as they walked back to their pickup truck. Simon scratched his chin for a moment.

“Let’s go get some food at Carlos’,” Simon suggested. Bobby licked his lips at the mention of his name.

“Ooooh, that sounds good.”

The two got in their truck. Simon looked out the window at the ranch house. This would be the last time they’d see that couple, at least in a while. Simon didn’t know what was next for him. He had decided to go into bodybuilding, while Bobby would enter the construction business and hopefully rise to the ranks one day. It had been an incredible journey. He wished Skyler were here to witness this.

“Hey, are you ready? Or am I going to have to drive?” Bobby asked, nudging his arm. Simon nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

Simon placed his foot on the acceleration pedal, and their truck zoomed off into the sunset.

~~~~~~~

Rick and Calem's Ending

“The wolves all bowed their heads toward their fallen sister in respect. In the end he had given up his life to save the others, but they would never let his memory be forgotten. Never,” Calem read. Rick’s eyes were wide in surprise as Calem read off the pages of the book. The two brothers were sitting under the shade of a large oak tree next to their humble home, and they were reading the stories of one of the Terran High students. Apparently he was an excellent writer, yet he never joined the Book Club. It was a bit odd to Rick, but Nova wanted to distribute the book among the former Book Club members, for some reason.

“Okay, Nova was right, that was a great story!” Rick commented. Then, he fell silent. The last few sentences reminded Rick of somebody.

Rick still missed Skyler. He considered himself the closest to her. She was so much fun to read with, and reading the lines of the story really put a mark on his heart. Rick frowned.

Calem didn’t say anything either. As Rick took a glance at him, he also seemed to be thinking about something. Or rather, someone. Rick didn’t know who. But he knew not to question as Calem chose not to question him.

The two brothers just looked out at the rising sun, not saying a word to one another. They had both lost good friends, despite it all.

Still, they couldn’t help but look at each other and smile.

At least they had each other.

~~~~~~~

Paige and Chris' Ending

Paint splattered on a canvas, guided by the gentle brushes of the brush. Red, blue, and green all blended together in a beautiful landscape filled with trees, rivers, and mountains in the background. A waterfall echoed in the distance, its sound radiating in the walls of the workshop.

A few more paintings were hung up on the walls, each one with a story to tell. There was a muscular woman with a hearty smile, and a skinny girl with a shy look on her face.

Paige studied the canvas for a moment, before dipping her brush in the white paint, and then created a circular motion near the top, building the moon in its place.

Paige smiled at the canvas for a moment. Then, she took her brush and created numerous dots across the night sky to form a constellation. A constellation that resembled that of a human. Her memory would live on.

“And I’m done,” Paige took the canvas and then lifted it off the easel, turning around and walking over to a painting that had a small group of people standing together, each one vastly different from the other. She placed the painting above, and then stepped away, inspecting it with her hands on her hips.

Just then, the door to the workshop opened and Paige heard the squawk of a bird. Paige turned her head to see a tall boy with a dark tan and brown hair enter the workshop with a leashed dodo in hand.

The dodo squawked happily at the sight of Paige and began to pull at the leash. Chris tugged back, letting out a chuckle as it struggled.

“Hey, chill out!” Chris laughed. He leaned and crouched forward and unhooked the leash, and the dodo rushed forward toward Paige, squawking and chirping happily. Paige smiled at the sight of the bird.

“Hey there! You guys decided to visit me?”

“Yeah. We decided to drop by. I just took him to get his shots at the vet. Err, HER shots at the vest. Turns out she was a girl all along. And I finally decided on a name for her,” Chris said, looking around at the paintings scattered about the wall. He noticed the painting of the Book Club members. He didn’t say a word.

“So what are you going to name her?” Paige asked, raising her eyebrow.

Chris smiled.

“Sky.”

Paige crouched down and pet Sky on the head, and she let out a happy chirp. Paige looked up at Chris.

“That’s a great name, Chris.”

Paige took a deep breath, looking down at Sky with a soft smile.

“It’s a great name…”

~~~~~~~

Sunny and Gary's Ending

“GAME OVER,” the voice blared from the computer.

Gary frowned, annoyed at his loss. He took his headset off and placed it on the desk contemptuously. He got up from his seat and cracked his knuckles. Maybe it was time for a break.

Gary left the confines of his room and ventured out to the kitchen to grab himself a snack. He opened the fridge and grabbed some hot peppers. He closed the fridge door, popped the container lid off, and then dropped some peppers into his mouth and began to chew. The spice immediately burst into his mouth like an open fire, but he didn’t mind. He enjoyed the flame.

Gary heard distant buzzing, and he looked to the right to see a fly buzzing around near the stove. He snatched a flyswatter and then smacked the fly with all of his might. The fly was squashed onto the silver top of the fridge.

Gary swallowed down the last remnants of the hot peppers, and then grabbed a napkin to clean up the fly. He squished the fly up and then tossed it in the nearby trash can. Gary was bored, to say the least. He had been stuck on a boss fight for the past few days and he couldn’t figure out how to counter it. He decided that he needed a break to get his mind off of things. Perhaps a good read would help.

Gary walked to the second floor of the house, where Sunny resided, and then knocked on her bedroom door.

“Hey mind if I come in?”

There was no answer.

Gary squinted his eyes.

“I want a good read. Got any good suggestions? I’ve already read all your stuff so…”

There was still no response. At this point, Gary was really annoyed. He decided to enter anyway. He opened the door up, which was unlocked, but as he peered inside nobody was inside. There wasn’t a trace of Sunny left. All Gary saw was a laptop stationed on her desk which was still on. Probably her current book she was working on.

“Huh. Did she go out somewhere? Thought she would say something… Nevermind,” Gary decided. He closed the door gently and headed back downstairs. The thought of stories brought him back to that Book Club he had been in so long ago, and the friends he had made. He wondered how they were doing now. He hadn’t heard from them in so long.

“I hope they’re doing okay,” Gary thought meekly.

Something told him they were doing fine, though.

~

Why was she here?

Sunny stared out at the crowd of characters she had once written. Each one was murmuring amongst each other, pointing and staring at her in awe. She couldn’t help but watch, nor did she have any words to say. The medallion that hung around her neck which manifested when she entered this world seemed so heavy and suffocating. Sunny had a distant, unreadable look on her face.

Eventually the crowd began to dissipate. Nobody said a word as they left. But still, Sunny felt a bit better about herself. She wouldn’t have to worry about the fate she befell on her characters.

Only a man and a woman remained in the crowd. The man had a shy look on his face, yet his gentlemanly nature kept him close to the woman’s arm. The woman was sweet, yet curious about the surrounding environment. The woman had a medallion around her neck that didn’t glow.

Why were they here? How had she come here? She wasn’t sure. That blue portal that appeared and took her here came out of nowhere, but she didn’t question it.

Sunny recalled the good times she had put them through. And the bad. Unlike the president, at least she had given them a good life. All lives had their ups and downs. And in the end Sunny cared.

Emma and Andrew faded away. Sunny smiled, and turned away, happy.

There was a large, white heavenly door waiting for her behind her. Sunny walked up to the door. She felt the urge to open it, for she had a feeling that this was the door back home to the real world. As she approached the door, her medallion transformed into a key. Sunny took the key gingerly and then inserted it into the door, twisting and turning until eventually the door cracked open to reveal nothing but a bright white light. Sunny placed the key in her pocket, and looked back one last time at the empty stage below her. She could still hear their voices.

Sunny turned away and stepped inside the light, back into the real world.

Finally, she could come to peace with what she had done.

~~~~~~~

Jack's Ending

Jack hummed a hopeful tune as he was reorganizing things in his home. He brushed and sweeped at the floors, trying his best to make things tidy and neat for his son’s return.

Just a few weeks ago, he had heard the news of the ARK exploding and the scholars returning home, or at least, what was left of them. Many of them were taken into custody for questioning (which Jack found absurd), but today was the day they’d all be released and sent back home. Soon, Jack would be reunited with his son Jack Jr!

Jack sweeped the last bit of dust into the brushpan and then tipped it into the trash can, pouring everything inside. Jack looked back at the house around him. Everything looked sparkling clean. Wondrous! Now all that was left would be to dispose of the weapons that were stored away in the glass cabinet. He wouldn’t be a bad influence on his son any longer.

As Jack approached the glass cabinet, he heard a knock on his door, and his heart leaped. That must’ve been him!

Jack quickly turned away. That would be for later. He rushed to the door and opened it up, but he was not greeted with the sight of his long lost son. He was greeted with the sight of a police officer.

For a moment, Jack thought that this man was someone else. That someone else who had given up his life for his own. That Warren Justice, The Judge. Jack felt a heavy feeling in his heart at the thought. He never came back that night. He couldn’t fathom how Sam felt after all of that. Jack wondered how the others were doing. Calem was a nice guy. He hoped that his little brother survived. So was Son, who he loved to bug. Maybe Son would be less grumpy once he got to be back with his nephew. Still, Jack knew that that might not be the case.

“H-Hello officer?” Jack said. The police officer bowed.

“Morning mister. I have bad news to bring to you.”

Jack turned white.

“Oh.”

Jack slammed the door on the officer’s face. He already knew what he was going to say. And he couldn’t bear it. What was it all for?

Jack’s lip quivered, and his chin shook as tears fell from his eyes. His little boy was gone. Gone forever.

~~~~~~~

Son's Ending

The sound of a mouse clicking filled the room. The roar of a dinosaur echoed inside, and the sound of gunfire. Grunts from a human character filled the room.

“Come on, come on,” Son moaned.

Son killed another Tyrannosaurus with his rifle. The Tyrannosaurus fell to the ground, and the larger beast that lay trapped within some comically large gate sniffed at the corpse and roared in approval. An interface appeared for Son to type the name of the creature in, and Son let out a cheer and pumped his fist in the air.

“Finally! Let’s go, I tamed this damn thing!” Son exclaimed happily.

His dog, Enzo, who was sleeping peacefully, jumped up from his bed and barked at Son angrily. Son looked back at Enzo, muttering an apology.

“My bad Enzo. I’ll walk you right now to make it up, how’s that?”

Enzo smiled in approval. He got up from his bed and raced off to the living room.

Son rolled his office chair back and stared at the screen in triumph. He had finally done it. After months and weeks of trying to tame the infamous Carcharodontosaurus, he had done it. He had tamed it after wasting thousands of resources. And he had done it without the help of his nephews, who typically did all of the heavy work for him.

“I’m sure the boys will be pleased,” Son smiled, as he got up from the seat.

He looked at the prompt for a moment. What should he name him?

Son pondered for a moment. He thought about the reason why he was here. Then, he leaned forward and typed the name in the box.

“Warren.”

Son confirmed the name, and the Carcharodontosaurus roared happily. Son smiled again, turning around and heading out the door to walk the mighty Enzo.

~~~~~~~

I changed my mind. There's seven parts now.

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 5 / 6

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the lasr chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

It was a strange forest. Dark trees, golden fireflies, and owls hooting in the distance. It was night time. Stars twinkled in the night sky. Nebulae and swirling milky mists lingered among the clouds. It was a beautiful sight, for sure. Perhaps even more beautiful than the ARK.

Ben felt a sense of nostalgia looking up at the sky. It had been quite a few years since he had been in this forest. The trials he had been forced through in this dream world were cruel, but he had learned so much. Ben understood why he had wanted to forget about this place. He would have kept returning, and one day he would never have come back to his true home. He was grateful that the past version of himself had decided to go through with that decision. Otherwise, he would have never grown to appreciate her.

Ben began to tread past the forest and into the grassy plains. He could spot that lone castle in the distance, thirteen stories high with large stone walls blocking intruders. And the witches and the knights… the true obstacles. They wouldn’t be here though. Ben understood it was merely a memory.

Eventually, he reached the castle. There was a large drawbridge connecting the castle to the rest of the land. Ben crossed it slowly, his hands in his jacket pockets. It was only then that he realized he was wearing star-littered pajamas, a white shirt, and a thin black jacket.

“Been a while since I wore this outfit,” Ben thought gloomily.

Ben made it to the front gates of the castle, and as he entered he was greeted with the sight of large tables scattered about, akin to a school cafeteria. On the contrary the tables were all made of stone. And it was quiet and empty. A red carpet in the middle leading to a set of stairs which ascended to the upper floors.

Ben walked on the red carpet, and then his foot landed in a pool of dried-up blood. Ben lifted his slipper, and then he chuckled at the sight.

Ben ignored the stairs and instead opted for a large hallway that would lead to the outside. As he approached the hallway, however, he noticed that the hallway had been barricaded up with wooden planks and the sort. There was a note taped to the front plank.

“Meet me on the thirteenth floor. - KM”

Ben scoffed at the note.

“I’ve got no choice. Might as well, huh?”

Ben walked back to the stairs and then ascended them. He felt a chill run down his spine as he walked past numerous living facilities, each one as empty and still as the dining hall below. These had been where all the students were meant to live. But were they really ‘living’?

“I’m glad I did something about it though,” Ben thought with a smirk.

Getting to the thirteenth floor didn’t take too long. Five minutes later, Ben paused, and then looked out at the living facility. There was a crackling fireplace, its rays of light carrying along the drift of the wind and prickling Ben’s skin. There was a ping pong table and a pool table a few steps away. Doorways lead to the bedrooms and mini-kitchens.

Sitting next to the fireplace was a coffee table, and a chessboard lay atop it. Someone who looked exactly like Ben sat on the couch, his back turned to him. He wore the exact same outfit and had the exact same hairstyle. Ben opened his mouth to speak, but he was quickly stopped. The figure raised and waved his hand.

“Let’s play,” the relaxed voice echoed along the walls.

Ben asked no questions. He walked past the couch and then took a seat near the fireplace, on the ground. The Key Master smirked. His swirling black voids were at its peak. They seemed to cover his entire face.

“You’ll have white pieces. I’ll have black.”

Ben didn’t object. He moved one of his pawns forward. The Key Master moved his knight out. The game continued for a bit, until both the Key Master and Ben traded bishops.

“So you’ve gotten yourself into more trouble huh?” the Key Master asked. He castled his king queenside.

“Yeah. He cut my arm off with his cheap tricks. Now you put me here again and I have to deal with you again,” Ben retorted. Ben moved his pawn forward to attack a knight.

“Hey. You’ve been getting yourself into more and more of these situations ever since you landed on this ARK. What a shame, huh? If only you hadn’t moved here none of this would have happened-”

“I already know it was you. You gave Dan Walker the blueprints for that teleporter and you gave him the Element.”

The Key Master shrugged.

“What can I say? Just an ordinary day in making you remember your roots.”

“Shut up. You know my reasons were valid. You just couldn’t accept your defeat!”

“There’s no such thing as defeat until you can kill me,” the Key Master snarled with gritted teeth, “And I hate to break it to you but you can’t kill me.”

The Key Master moved his knight, forking the king and queen. Ben grimaced.

“Why did you even do all of that?! You’re just doing what you advocated against. What makes you you? You’re just making yourself suffer more-”

“It’s all for the greater good,” the Key Master smiled, “Once everything is over, then I won’t have to suffer anymore. That’s the neat part. All the actions I do will be reverted once and for all. The consequences become nil. What I don’t understand is why you don’t like my plan.”

Ben studied the chess board for a moment. Then, he simply just moved his bishop that was on the other side of the board and captured the Key Master’s knight. The Key Master scoffed. Then, he smiled.

“If you can checkmate me, I’ll bring you back to life. Like I always do. This isn’t really your story now is it? It’s Samuel’s. So… I have to help you all of the time now.”

“And what if you checkmate me?” Ben asked. He moved his pawn forward. A wall of pawns had been formed now. And Ben only had a bishop and a queen left to move freely. His rooks were trapped, and his knights were captured.

“Then I’ll just let you die.”

“What if I don’t accept your offer?”

“Then you’ll die either way? Come on, I thought you were smarter than this.”

Ben sighed. Then, he lifted his hand to shake.

“Deal.”

The Key Master lifted his hand and shook Ben’s hand.

“Okay. Amazing. Because you… are about to lose.”

The Key Master moved his free rook and captured Ben’s queen. Ben moved his bishop to attack the rook, but then the Key Master simply countered by capturing with a pawn. Ben’s defense was falling apart, and the Key Master knew this. The Key Master grinned.

“Gotten rusty?”

Ben didn’t say a word, but he let a bead of sweat fall down his forehead. He moved his king to the left, cornering it.

“And… that’s checkmate in one move,” the Key Master grinned, moving his queen forward to attack the king. Ben looked up for a moment, and a smile grew on his face. Now it was the Key Master’s turn to be shocked.

“W-What’s so funny?”

Ben began to holler, and the Key Master squinted his eyes, annoyed. It was then he realized his mistake.

“I tricked you,” Ben explained, “I know I can’t beat you. In chess, and in reality. That’s why I settled for a stalemate. I gave up all of my pieces so that I could delude you into thinking you’ve won. You let your guard down. And then you made this silly mistake.”

Ben waved his hand to show the board.

“I’ve used your own tricks against you.”

The Key Master leaned back into the couch. He seemed somewhat proud at what Ben had done.

“Well. If it’s a stalemate, then it’s a draw. You want to live, but I want you to remember. So we’ll compromise…”

“What do you mean by that?” Ben asked, confrontational.

“You’ll see with due time. For now, know that you’ll live. You followed my contract so you must listen. No matter what.”

The Key Master held his hand out, and a silver key manifested. He leaned forward, and then inserted the key into Ben’s brain.

~

Rays of light casted down onto the blacktop of Terran High. They were bright, yet gentle. Birds chirped in the distance. Flowers bloomed. It was so quiet, yet so chilling and haunting. It didn’t feel right to be here. At least, that’s what Nova thought.

Nova sat up and looked around for a moment. Everyone was slowly beginning to get up from the ground, rubbing their foreheads, and getting used to their surroundings. Nova wanted to do a head count, but her head was throbbing so badly she couldn’t afford to.

Nova sat up from the ground. She felt really disoriented. There was a weird buzzing noise in her ear, and it wouldn’t go away. Her eyes set upon the large stage that Aurora and Mr. Ma once stood upon to give their speeches. They were supposed to live normal lives. All of them.

Not everyone was back, though, Nova knew that. Andres wasn’t back. Neither was Aurora, or Mr. Ma. Loki and his friends, Skyler, Landon, John, and Ben. And neither were everyone else that they did not know of.

In the end, only about twenty of them remained.

Nova looked up at the sky. A lone star sparkled in the distance, slowly fading away as the day settled in. Nova sighed. That was the ARK. Despite everything they had gone through, Nova couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholic staring at it.

Nova had learned a lot from her time there.

“It’s over,” Nova thought.

The others were silent. They slowly began to return to their senses, yet they didn’t seem thrilled. Or excited. They had made it, yet at what cost? What lives had been lost at the expense of someone’s entertainment? A smile that was present on Nova’s face began to fade.

“Well, that was something,” Ben groaned as he got up from the ground, patting his right arm. Paul suddenly rushed in and hugged him tightly.

“Ben, you’re okay!” Paul cried.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I am,” Ben replied, “Still don’t know how. I’d prefer not to question it though. I’ve had enough mystery for the rest of my life.”

Carlos walked up to him, and then held his arms out. Ian followed suit.

“Come on, let’s bring it in.”

The four initiated in a group hug, not daring to let go. Snowy Mole snorted next to them, feeling left out of the gang.

Sunny and Gary looked at each other for a moment. And then Rick and Chris walked up, and so did Bobby and Simon. The six of them all pressed their heads against one another, thanking each other that they had made it out alive.

Paige smiled at the sight, and looked at Patricia. The two friends engaged in an embrace, their eyes shut tight and their bodies squeezing against one another.

Alan and Tiffany looked at the ongoing group hugs, and as they looked at each other they decided to just do a friendly fistbump. They had both lost the people they had cared about. There was nobody to celebrate with.

Finally, Neddy and Ruby looked into each other’s eyes, and then clasped hands.

“My wish came true,” Neddy whispered under his breath with a smile, “Our wish came true!”

The two laughed, and then began to bounce around happily.

Maybe everything would be okay. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all, despite all they had been through. They still had each other. They still had their family awaiting their arrival. They still had hope. Hope for a brighter future.

But as Nova looked on at the dissipating scholars, and as everyone began to fade away from her eyes, she could tell that somebody was missing. The only person that she had really cared about. The only person she wished would return home safely.

Nova fell to her knees. She put her hands to her face, and she felt her heart ache. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t everyone have made it out safely? Why couldn’t they have a real happy ending?

Her best friend was gone, in a place over heaven. She looked up at the fading night sky, and could see a luscious explosion filled with red, green, and blue in the lone star’s place. There was no denying it.

Samuel was dead.

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 4 / 6

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the last chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

“AH, YOU’RE IDIOTS. ALL OF YOU ARE,” Dan Walker’s distorted voice echoed throughout the corridor from the implant, “PERHAPS I SHOULD THANK YOU. IF YOU HADN’T TOUCHED THAT CONSOLE YOU WOULD NOT HAVE AWAKENED ME. BUT NOW HERE I AM.”

“Neddy, what the hell did you do with the console?!” Nova shouted at him.

“Nothing! All I did was remove my implant, I was gonna tell you guys so we could get out of here!”

“THAT CONSOLE IS LINKED TO THIS IMPLANT. EVERYTIME YOU RUN A COMMAND, YOU ACCESS MY POWER. YOU ACCESS MY IMPLANT,” Dan Walker’s voice boomed, “AND THAT WILL END IN YOUR DOOM. FOR I AM NOW AN OVERSEER, AN OVERSEER OF THIS WORLD.”

“Oh great, thanks a lot Neddy,” Simon groaned.

“Shut up, we can take him down easily. His implant is fragile, remember? I can just do… this!” Neddy reached for his spear and then hurled it at the Overseer.

Before the spear could even hit the Overseer though, it froze in midair, almost as if it were being slowed down. Neddy’s eyes widened, and the Overseer’s voice laughed.

“INFINITY. IT’S AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT. BUT I HAVE CREATED IT. I HAVE CREATED INFINITE SPACE BETWEEN YOU AND ME. YOU CAN NEVER REACH ME, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. YOU WILL NEVER KILL ME. NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOUR DOOM.”

The Overseer glowed, and then with an explosion, purple energy shot out throughout the starlit sanctuary. Everyone who had implants were barely starting to get up, but the waves caused them to shriek in pain and fall to the ground. All except Samuel managed to stand up.

Samuel rushed over to Neddy, looking back at the Overseer to make sure he wasn’t firing up an attack. Samuel looked back at Neddy and placed his shoulders on Neddy.

“Neddy, I have an idea, but I’m going to need your help,” Samuel said.

“What is it?!” Neddy asked.

“You know how Loki’s power is to absorb other attributes?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well…”

“You want me to transfer all of our implants to YOU?! But he’ll get you with the shockwave!” Neddy protested, “Besides, we can just transfer it to Landon’s body-”

“Just do it, okay?! I have a plan but there’s no time to explain!”

Neddy backed off from Samuel, nodding slowly.

“Okay. I’ll do it. You just distract it, okay?”

“Will do. Good luck, okay?”

Neddy rushed back through the door and to the console, where Ruby was waiting with worry.

“What’s going on out there?!” Ruby asked in a panic.

“It’s Dan. We accidentally awoke him. Now he’s possessing the implant and he just sent everyone with an implant into a shockwave,” Neddy quickly explained. He rushed up to the console and began to mash some lines of code in.

“So what now?! Should I go out there and help?” Ruby asked. Neddy shook his head.

“No. You stay here. I need your attribute for something.”

~

The Overseer chuckled as Samuel stood off against him once more.

“Ready for a rematch?!” Samuel taunted him.

“OH. OF COURSE, MY DEAR SAMUEL. I’M READY TO PURGE YOU ONCE AND ALL,” the Overseer roared, “I DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT GETTING YOUR STORY ANYMORE. YOU’RE JUST A PUNY LITTLE MOSQUITO WHO REFUSES TO LEAVE ME ALONE.”

“It’s a good thing that even mosquitos are capable of killing humans,” Samuel sneered.

“HOW ABOUT YOU SHUT UP AND TAKE THIS LASER FOR ME-”

The Overseer’s orb glowed, and then a huge atomic beam made of hot plasma shot out. Samuel let out a squeal and weaved to the left right as his orb began to glow. Samuel turned to see the beam burning into one the metal pillar, before it finally shot out and stopped right at the glass. The huge atomic beam slowly began to move toward Samuel, and Samuel realized that the Overseer was rotating.

“Shoot!” Samuel swore, looking at the door. If the laser reached there, it would cut right through Neddy and the console. Their plan would be foiled otherwise.

Samuel noticed the laser separating into multiple tiny ones. There was no way he’d be able to dodge by jumping over them or going underneath. He had to think of something…

Just then, Samuel felt a sharp pain pierce his wrist. He let out a gasp as he looked down at his left wrist. An implant was implanted right inside. Samuel noticed the implant humming.

“I must have gotten Neddy’s attribute,” Samuel thought, looking at Landon’s body, “And I must have gotten his too. If that’s the case, then can I…”

Samuel briefly remembered Landon in the fight against Jerry. He had some sort of voodoo attribute. It worked on the physical body, but how would he use it against the Overseer, who was nothing but an implant?”

“Perhaps I just need to…”

SLASH!

Samuel felt an invisible cut slash at the implant, and then he could hear the Overseer howl in pain. Samuel’s implant was cut in half, and he tried to create another cut on the implant, but realized he couldn’t.

“Great. Looks like I lost the attribute,” Samuel thought, “Without an operative implant I won’t be able to use it.”

Samuel looked up at the Overseer. A large gash was located, cutting straight through the metal but leaving the purple orb intact. At least the Overseer had stopped producing a hot laser.

“Still, now that I have the implant I have to be careful of the purple energy that he shoots out,” Samuel thought, “Still that leaves the others room to attack… and figure something out.”

Samuel felt more attributes flow into his brain, and he looked down to realize that Neddy had replaced his implant with a new one. The implant hummed once more, and this time his brain felt more alert. The hairs on his arm ruffled, and his hair began to glow a slight orange. Samuel looked to his right to see Gary and Chris rise from the ground. They seemed to be unaffected by the shockwaves now. Sunny rose afterwards.

“Samuel!” Gary called out to him, rushing over. The other two followed suit, “What’s the game plan now?”

“We need to distract him,” Samuel explained, “One way or the other.”

Sunny nodded, her eyes darting to the implant in his left wrist.

“What about you though? With that implant he can easily stun you.”

“See, that’s where you all come in,” Samuel planned, “I need your help avoiding his energy bursts. I noticed something crucial… it can’t pass through solid objects. I need you to cover me so that I don’t get stunned. Other than that though, attacking him will be difficult. He’s created some sort of barrier so we can’t hurt him, and the only way we can do that is through Landon’s voodoo attribute…”

“Okay. I understand,” Chris decided. His eyes darted over to the console. He knew that Neddy and Ruby were there doing their console magic, “I’ll relay information between you and Neddy and Ruby. Does that sound good?”

“That’ll be helpful, yes,” Samuel replied.

The Overseer glowed once more, its orb shining brightly. Signals began to fire into Samuel’s brain, warning him to move, and his hairs stood on end as warm air blasted out into the cold starlit sanctuary.

“He’s firing a beam, move!” Samuel cried out.

The three began to clamber away as the Overseer fired another hot beam at the survivors. The three jumped and rolled out of the way of the beam attack. Samuel gritted his teeth, and then pressed his back up against the glass window.

With that, he became shrouded in invisibility.

The Overseer scoffed.

“HOW SAD. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE THINGS SO DIFFICULT FOR ME?”

Samuel refrain himself from speaking a word. He noticed Sunny and Gary sneaking up toward their friends, blending in with the crowd. The Overseer seemed too focused on attacking Samuel to notice that Sunny and Gary were digging through Simon’s backpack and grabbing an array of materials. Samuel saw Sunny pull out a mirror. Snowy Mole and Chris’ dodo, who had remained relatively quiet throughout the fight, groaned and buckled at the fierce pull of the shockwaves. They would be out of commission for the fight. For now, at least. Not until Neddy and Ruby found out a way to get rid of it.

~

“So what’s this secret plan of yours going to be?” Ruby asked as Neddy frantically typed away at the keyboard on the console.

“Well first of all,” Neddy commented, “We need to be out there helping. One way or another. The more out there to put pressure on him, the less likely he’s going to win.”

“So how are you going to do that? We need to be here to run the console-”

As soon as Neddy pressed the enter button, the console shrunken down, warped, and then snugly fit onto Neddy’s arm. It was like a metal sleeve, and the keyboard was located on the right of the metal sleeve, with the screen near the top.

“I’ll do that, and then…” Neddy continued to mash buttons, pressed the enter button, and then afterwards looked out past the door.

Ben, Tiffany, and Alan were the next ones to rise from the ground. Alan cracked his knuckles.

“Oh you’re in big trouble now,” Alan snarled.

Samuel clenched his fists, and his muscles began to grow at an exponential rate. His eyes became bloodshot, and vines encircled his body. The Overseer shot out another purple shockwave, but the vines protected Samuel from the shock. Neddy pumped his fist in the air.

“That part of the plan worked!” Neddy cheered, “Now that Samuel can take care of himself, I can free the rest of our friends easily.”

CLICK CLICK CLICK!

SHOOM!

Within half a minute, Neddy managed to free the rest of the friends from the clutches of the Overseer. Now everyone was dancing around, twirling and avoiding the hot laser beams that the Overseer shot out of its body in a futile attempt to kill them. As the Overseer shot a beam at Samuel, Sunny came in out of nowhere and then redirected the beam with a mirror toward the Overseer. The beam almost hit the Overseer, but the Overseer cut off its fire before it could.

Carlos’ eyes widened at this.

“Hey, aren’t we unable to hit it because of the barrier it has or whatever?!” Carlos questioned.

“Yeah, you’re right. That is kind of weird,” Patricia stated.

“Maybe it can hurt itself,” Paige suggested.

“That’s all we need to do everyone! Redirect the attack toward the Overseer,” Bobby realized. Rick twirled his knife around, and then threw it at the Overseer. The knife slowed down as it was about to hit the Overseer, and then clattered to the ground.

Perhaps they were correct.

“YOU THINK YOU KNOW MY WEAKNESS? THAT REALLY IS FUNNY. I HAVE NO WEAKNESS FOOLS,” the Overseer glowed.

“Just because you don’t know your own weaknesses like the bum you are doesn’t mean you don’t have any!” Ian shouted with his fist raised in the air.

The Overseer rumbled, and with a sudden attack, hot laser beams shot out all throughout its body, cutting across the starlit sanctuary like a knife with butter. Most of the people managed to dodge out of the way with ease.

Ben, who was near the front of the starlit sanctuary, weaved out of the way of a laser. He sighed, looking on ahead at the Overseer with sweat pouring down his forehead.

“Close call-”

The laser that he had dodged then promptly came down and then cut right through his right arm.

~

Neddy and Ruby rushed into the starlit sanctuary, and it was then they noticed Ben’s body lying on the ground not too far away.

“Oh shoot-” Neddy gasped as he saw the sight. The two rushed over to him. His eyes were closed, and blood was pouring from his lips. He looked up at the ceiling weakly, as his body was doused in a pool of blood. His eyes wandered to the two who stood above him.

“I KNEW I HAD TO GET RID OF YOU FIRST. IT’S ONLY FITTING FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE BOOK I SO DEARLY LOVED TO BE SLAIN UNDER MY HAND. I SUPPOSE LASERS IN THIS CASE. BUT YOU GET WHAT I MEAN,” the Overseer cackled, “YOU NEVER DESERVED A HAPPY ENDING BEN. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME.”

“What is he even talking about?!” Ruby whispered to him. Despite not knowing him too well the sight was making them teary-eyed. He seemed quite jubilant the day they met.

“I have no idea,” Ben muttered, “Listen… I think I know how to kill him. It’s like fire against fire. I think.”

“Ben! No no no no!” Paul cried out as he rushed over to Ben. He knelt down and looked down at him, his eyes filling with tears, “You can’t die on me. Not yet. Please.”

“I’m afraid it’s the end of the line for me,” Ben whispered, looking up at the ceiling again.

CLUMP.

Ian and Carlos landed next to him, taking a kneel. Ian nudged Carlos on the shoulder.

“Come on, give him the medical brews,” Ian barked.

“I gave the last one to Tiffany,” Carlos insisted. Ian grabbed him by the collar.

“You what?!”

Carlos opened his mouth to speak, but Neddy merely reached for his console and then typed some lines of code into it. Then, a bottle with a red liquid manifested in Neddy’s hand.

“Come on, drink up,” Neddy told him, bringing the bottle to his lips.

Ben weakly opened his mouth, and he downed the liquid in a few seconds.

Regardless, the effects didn’t seem to be kicking in.

“It’s not working,” Paul yelled, “WHY ISN’T IT WORKING?!”

“It’s not infused with Carlos’ attribute,” Ian realized, turning white.

“Come on guys. Just get back to fighting. The others need you. I’m dead,” Ben muttered, “Just give up. Please. I did.”

“But… I don’t wanna-” Paul choked, as he felt tears stream down his face, “I don’t want you to die! I won’t let you! I’ll tell Samuel right now to make a medical brew, I’ll tell him!”

Ben closed his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“No it’s not,” Paul said, exasperated. Ian put a hand gently on Paul’s arm. Paul jerked away from him.

“Don’t touch me!”

“We need to help the others,” Ian told him, “We can mourn later-”

“HOW COULD YOU NOT CARE?!” Paul shouted, “You didn’t care when John died, and now you don’t care that Ben is dying right now! You never cared, you never cared at all! None of you care!”

“I do care!” Ian shouted back. His eyes were getting watery, “I’m trying my best, okay? I’m TRYING! I’m trying my best to cry but I can’t! You have to believe me!”

“Guys, please, can we calm down here-” Carlos was interrupted by Ian, who shoved him hard.

“Just shut up dude! You wasted your medical brew on someone we didn’t even know, and now Ben can’t-”

Neddy knew that they needed to solve their problems on their own. He slowly backed away, dragging Ruby along with him. Neddy reached for the console on his arm again, when suddenly Chris manifested in front of him.

“Neddy!” Chris shouted. Neddy jumped, startled.

“Yo, what is it?” Neddy asked.

“Did you see what happened to the Overseer?” Chris asked, his eyes darting back and forth. The Overseer seemed to be firing lasers at the others in an attempt to kill them, whilst spikes shot out from the ground. They seemed to be protecting Samuel.

“No, not really. I was busy turning this console into a portable one,” Neddy answered.

“Well, it seems to me that the Overseer’s infinity can be bypassed with its own attacks,” Chris explained. Neddy’s eyes sparkled.

“You don’t say, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Neddy scratched his chin for a moment. The walls were closing in. He had originally thought of a plan involving Ruby’s attribute, but it sounded too costly and risky. They could focus more on using Landon’s attribute to slash and eventually destroy the Overseer.

“But, if ‘imaginary matter’ exists, then can I use it to create a weapon capable of bypassing infinite space? An imaginary weapon that could bypass ANYTHING.”

Obviously, the console would not be able to create such a thing. It was only capable of creating ‘real’ matter. Reality.

But Ruby… She could craft ANYTHING.

“Maybe she can craft imaginary matter,” Neddy thought, turning to Ruby. He spoke aloud, “Ruby, you know there’s a reason why I chose to keep your implant. You’re the only person I can trust to be able to carry out this task.”

“What do you need me to do?” Ruby asked, curious, and somewhat excited.

Neddy took a deep breath.

“I need you to make imaginary matter.”

~

Samuel clenched his fists tightly. A laser came right his way, and with unexpected speed he did a backflip and landed safely away from the laser. A spike almost struck him in the leg, but vines encircled the spike and brought it down. He could feel his heart hammer against his chest like drum beats.

BUM BUM BUM! BUM BUM BUM!

Tiffany and Alan were to his left, while Rick and Patricia were to his right. They had helped shield him from most of the purple energy shockwaves, but they were beginning to get exhausted from the lasers.

“JUST STOP RESISTING ALREADY,” the Overseer boomed. The stars outside the glass pane sparkled brightly, cheering the survivors on. The Overseer’s voice echoed once more, “CAN’T YOU SEE? THIS ISN’T LIKE HIS STORY. YOU CAN’T WIN. THE CONSTELLATIONS CAN’T HELP YOU NOW.”

Nova gritted her teeth, at the other side of the starlit sanctuary with Sunny and Gary. She was sweating a storm.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” Nova gasped, “But I do know one thing. We WILL win. Because we have each other, while you have no one on your side.”

Samuel glanced to the left. Ruby seemed to be crafting something. It was purple in color, yet was bright and didn’t seem to fit in the world. It was similar to the purple orb implanted in the Overseer.

While Nova distracted the Overseer with her words, Samuel eyed Ruby carefully, and then noticed that she was crafting some sort of gun! It was a long, slender rifle made of a purple essence similar to the shockwaves the Overseer sent out.

Chris suddenly manifested behind Samuel, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Samuel!” Chris shouted.

“Woah! What is it?!” Samuel asked in a hurry.

“Neddy told me to tell you that he’s going to craft an imaginary weapon,” Chris gasped for air, “With it we should be able to destroy the Overseer. The problem is… it’ll take a while for Ruby to make it. Around five minutes. We need to make sure she isn’t harmed whatsoever until then.”

“Got it. I’ll try my best,” Samuel said, looking ahead at the Overseer. Nova would eventually run out of things to say. The Overseer had thought it had won, it could afford to taunt them as much as it wanted. Little did it know that their plan would result in its demise. Samuel couldn’t let the Overseer figure it out, no matter what.

For just a split second, Samuel recalled the implants. How they were made. What they were made of.

“All of the implants combined should share the same amount of essence as my own,” the text claimed.

And it was then an idea struck Samuel.

Samuel grabbed Chris before he could camouflage with the rest of the starlit sanctuary.

“Wait,” Samuel told him, “Tell Neddy to give me ALL of the implant attributes, from everyone dead and alive.”

Chris’ eyes widened for a bit, but he nodded.

“Will do.”

Chris turned invisible, and moments later, Samuel felt his mind tingle. Samuel’s implant began to glow immensely. He felt his blood boil, his head felt lighter, and fire coursed through his heart. He could feel his strength grow, and poison claws shot out of his knuckles.

The Overseer let out a chuckle, and then the metal around Nova warped and bended, pulling her down onto the floor. Metal wrapped around her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

“THAT’S ENOUGH TALK FROM YOU, NOW IT’S TIME I-”

The Overseer suddenly floated into the air, and was then slammed into the ground. The Overseer let out a howl as cracks and chips were left on the tip of its structure. A blue flame sprouted from the Overseer and Samuel’s left hand.

“I have Loki’s telekinesis,” Samuel realized. Samuel clenched his fists, and blood shot out of the Overseer. The Overseer continued to cry out in pain. The blood was suspended in midair.

“And Jerry’s blood manipulation.”

Fire shot out from the ground, and while the flames couldn’t touch the Overseer, it trapped the Overseer from moving around any further. Samuel smiled happily. They had gotten the edge once again. The power of creativity burst through Samuel like waves. Samuel felt as if he could do more with this power. This ‘essence’.

“Maybe… I can bring them back,” Samuel thought, melancholic. His frown transformed into a smile, and then, as the realization came crashing down on him. He COULD bring them back.

“Like this,” Samuel thought.

He concentrated on everything he knew about her. Every single little detail was engraved in his memory, never leaving his mind. Everything she had gone through, everything she had cried about, laughed about. Her long, wavy brown hair, and her contagious smile. The white robes that covered her body while she stood so proudly on that stage.

And then, reality in front of him began to crackle. He felt life twirl in his fingertips, and it shot out into the world, and with a big bang, a white light flashed across the room.

Glitches shot out across the room, reality was turning unstable from the presence of a new creator. Regardless, Samuel’s plan had worked. His idea had come to fruition.

Standing in front of him was Aurora.

“I’m not afraid to die anymore,” Aurora said. White blobs seemed to cover her eyes and face like a parasite. Samuel couldn’t believe his eyes. He stepped up to Aurora.

“You’re alive,” Samuel cried, tears coming forth from his eyes.

Aurora didn’t say anything.

“I’m not afraid to die anymore,” she repeated. Samuel’s eyes wavered.

“She might not be fully back,” Samuel thought, “But please… I hope you’re watching.”

Samuel could feel more life course down his fingertips. He thought of everyone that had perished. Everyone who had fallen to the hands of Dan Walker. Samuel clenched his fists, and reality continued to crackle around them. Everyone around him stared in awe at the sight. Even the Overseer was silent, speechless from Samuel’s power. His might. The love coursed through his veins, and with closed eyes more figures manifested in the starlit sanctuary, their faces covered in white blobs similar to Aurora’s.

Andres crackled next to Tiffany, and her lip quivered as Andres stepped forward, his fists raised once again. A grim smile was still plastered on his face.

“Tiffany, you’ve gotta snap out of it. Come on, we need your help! You’re the strongest out of all of us,” Andres cheered.

Loki and the one he called Chloe also manifested next to Samuel, their grins turned to glares.

“I’m sorry,” Loki apologized, his voice shaky, “For killing your friend.”

“We should-” Chloe paused, and spoke again, “We should-”

“We should all be burning in hell,” Jerry finished off, appearing behind the two of him with a sadistic grin. Sophie and Brad turned up to their sides, their fists clenched, but oddly silent.

Samuel concentrated further, and more lost souls began to sparkle, dotting the starlit sanctuary with hundreds and hundreds of people. He could feel Warren’s cold yet comforting voice echo in his ear behind him, and his hand on his shoulder.

“You can do it.”

Another hand

“I’ll give them all a second chance,” Samuel thought, opening his eyes, “ALL OF THEM!”

“NO, NO, NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS! YOU CAN’T JUST… JUST BRING THEM BACK!” the Overseer howled, “HOW COULD YOU- GRAHHHHHHH! JUST DIE ALREADY!”

The Overseer shot out giant beams of hot light out, but the lost souls stood their ground, and despite hitting them physically, nothing happened to them. They seemed tickled more than anything.

“DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!”

The beams grew stronger, and Samuel shielded his eyes. The lost souls sparkled like stars in the night sky, and he smiled at the sight. They were winning. They were winning!

“Dan…” a familiar, gruff voice called out.

“...HUH?”

“Why can’t you just leave it behind?”

Bob stepped forward, getting closer to the Overseer’s infinite space. Samuel squinted his eyes, and he noticed that Alan was behind him, pushing him closer and closer to the Overseer. Alan opened his mouth.

“I just want things to be how they were…”

The laser that the Overseer was shooting out began to glower. The light diminished, and the Overseer’s voice crackled.

“I-I DON’T KNOW,” the Overseer answered, “I DON’T KNOW WHY I DID IT.”

“Please,” Alan begged, “Please save me…”

The Overseer’s laser beam turned off. The orb inside flickered for just a moment.

“I’M SO SO SORRY BOB. I DIDN’T MEAN IT TO BE THIS WAY. I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW MUCH STRENGTH IT TOOK TO MOVE ON,” Dan Walker apologized, “MAYBE THAT’S WHY I STOOPED SO LOW? MAYBE ALL I NEEDED TO DO WAS-”

KABOOM!

A huge shockwave was sent throughout the entire starlit sanctuary, causing all of them to topple down to the ground. The lost souls flickered briefly, but returned back to life as Samuel’s implant glowed purple. Samuel gritted his teeth and looked at Neddy and Ruby. Ruby was holding onto a longneck rifle made of a purple energy similar to the one that the Overseer would send shockwaves out of. The rifle seemed to be glowing with power.

“Woah,” Neddy gasped, “Y-you did it! Now we just need to get this to Samuel-”

Metal warped up from the ground and toward the gun, grabbed it, and then pulled it into the floor. Ruby let out a screech as she was dragged down. Neddy let out a yelp of surprise, holding onto Ruby’s hips and pulling her up.

“OH shoot, hold on, hold on!” Neddy cried out.

“DAMN IT. I WAS FOOLED,” the Overseer glowed. Neddy’s eyes widened, and instinctively he reached for his console and typed some lines of code into the keyboard. He mashed the enter button, and it was then that the Overseer sent lines of spikes rushing up to kill everyone that was currently alive.

SHING!

CLANK!

As the spikes made contact, they bent and distorted out of shape. In fact, nobody was hurt. Everyone looked in awe as they didn’t even feel a scratch on their bodies. Neddy chuckled.

“Ha! It worked! So it is just like a game!” Neddy cheered, “Modifying the defense stats to 999,999. Neat!”

“WHAT?!” the Overseer howled, “THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! IMPOSSIBLE!”

Ruby took the imaginary rifle and gave it to Neddy.

“Get it to him!” Ruby told him.

“Will do. Stay safe,” Neddy said. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and was about to rush over to Samuel when metal bars rose from the ground, trapping him and Ruby from going anywhere.

“OH NO YOU DON’T.”

Sunny ran up to the bars and banged on them, holding her hand out for Neddy to give it to her.

“I got you,” Sunny said. Neddy handed the rifle over to her and then she threw it as hard as she could at Samuel. Samuel lifted his hands up to catch them, but then a metal pillar came flying in to block its path.

CLANG!

The imaginary rifle clattered to the ground, and then the Overseer cackled as it prepared a laser blast to incinerate the gun. The Overseer’s purple orb glowed, and then a hot laser shot out to destroy the weapon.

SHOOM!

Bobby and Simon rushed in, and it was then Bobby slammed his hammer into the ground. A large metal wall manifested, blocking the beam from going any further. Bobby noticed the metal melting and nudged Simon.

“Quick, pick it up!” Bobby told him. Simon snatched the gun, and the wall broke, sending the bits flying everywhere. A metal fragment went flying at Simon’s eye, but Paige came rushing in and whacked the fragment away.

“Woah, that was close,” Simon gasped, “Thanks Paige!”

“No problem,” Paige replied.

The laser beam began to dissipate, and they looked on to see dozens of lost souls blocking the way. The Overseer growled and roared in frustration as it pushed further and further past the lost souls. But they didn’t budge.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY ANTS,” the Overseer screamed.

Simon looked on at Samuel. Now was his chance. He began to make a run for it toward him. He was at the other side of the starlit sanctuary.

Suddenly, a piece of metal jutted out of the floor, causing Simon to trip and fall to the ground. Simon dropped the imaginary rifle in the process, and it clattered away a few feet from him. Simon heard a whirring noise, and he looked above to see an attack drone manifest and drop down to the floor to pick up the rifle. It snatched it with its claw hands and then went flying over to the Overseer, when a gunshot rang out throughout the starlit sanctuary.

BANG!

The attack drone went flying to the ground, and it collapsed into a heap of metal scraps and wire. Simon looked to his left to see Gary had shot the drone down. He gave him a thumbs up, and Patricia ran in and snatched the gun up from the ground, hugging it close to her body like a football player huddling the ball.

“Go go go go go,” Patricia murmured under her breath.

The metal on the floor began to warp and bend once more, and then a dozen humanoid figures made of metal got into a fighting stance. Patricia paused in her steps, and she took a step back as they began to charge at her.

WHAM! BAM!

A bunch of the humanoid creatures were sent flying and tumbling to the ground. It was Alan, Tiffany, and Rick! The three of them were doing their best to fight off the humanoids, and the distraction made them redirect their attention to the three of them.

“GO!” Tiffany screamed at her.

Patricia nodded her thanks at them, and then began to make a rush for it to Samuel. He was standing still, sweat pouring down his forehead as he concentrated on the lost souls.

She was around ten feet away from him when a huge laser came flying in out of nowhere. She let out a gasp and dived out of the way, looking to her right to see that the Overseer was pulsating wildly. It had redirected its attention to the rifle, knowing now where it was.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!”

Metal bars rose from the ground, trapping Patricia in a 1x1 space with nothing but the rifle by her side. She let out a scream for help, banging her shoulder into the bars. The hot laser got closer and closer…

WHAM!

The bars suddenly broke, and Patricia looked to see that Ian had smashed the bars of the cage. Music seemed to be radiating from his body. Ian grabbed Patricia, and then jumped out of the way.

“Thank you for saving me-” Patricia let out a grunt as Ian landed on the ground. Patricia was still holding onto the rifle tight. Ian was sweating profusely, before Carlos and Paul rushed in. Carlos was holding a bottle with a blue liquid inside.

“There’s no time for thanks,” Carlos said. Paul nodded softly. His face was still wet with tears. Carlos lifted the bottle up.

“A lost soul who was really buff and kind-looking gave me the recipe, and I managed to make it just in time. One of us can drink it and you should be able to run long enough to get to Samuel-”

Paul grabbed the bottle and yanked it out of Carlos’ hand, popped the cap off, and then chugged the whole thing like no tomorrow. As soon as he swallowed it all down, he immediately began to look jittery.

“I-I’ll do it,” Paul stuttered.

Wordlessly, Patricia gave Paul the rifle, and then Paul made a mad dash for Samuel. He was so fast and his strides were so great it almost looked like he was flying. For a moment, the fighting stopped as everyone looked on in awe as Paul sprinted full speed toward Samuel.

“Come on Paul!” John shouted, the white blobs on his face intensifying, “You can do it!”

“We believe in you!” June yelled out to him. He looked at the lost souls and smiled at the sight.

“Thanks…” Paul thought.

Paul looked onward at the goal. Almost there.

Paul took a step forward…

And tripped.

Paul let out a gasp, and so did everyone else as he went tumbling to the ground. The rifle went clattering toward the glass pane, near where the constellations were watching. The constellations all began to sparkle wildly. Distressed.

Nobody was close enough to grab the rifle.

“PFFT. HILARIOUS,” the Overseer giggled, “HILARIOUS! YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT ME? ONE OF YOU WOULD MESS UP EVENTUALLY.”

The Overseer’s metal hands came rushing in from the ground to snatch the rifle.

“TOO BAD. I WIN.”

And it was then a squawk rang out throughout the starlit sanctuary.

A dodo came flying in, flapping its wings wildly as it landed next to the rifle. It let out a squawk, looking around at the spectators, before finally it pecked the metal hands that were trying to grab at the rifle.

“HEY!” the Overseer howled, “GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!”

And then, Snowy Mole came waltzing in, fervor in his eyes. And a rumbling in his stomach. As he looked down at the hand, he opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of vomit onto the metal.

“EWWWWW. THAT IS NASTY! NASTY! DO YOU HEAR ME SCUM?! NASTY- WAIT, WHERE IS THE RIFLE?!” the Overseer realized. The imaginary rifle had seemingly disappeared from where it dropped.

“Right over here, wise guy,” Samuel said.

The Overseer turned to see Samuel pointing the imaginary rifle directly at him. The purple rifle glowed, increasing its power by the second. Chris was standing next to him, waving at the Overseer with a grin. He had camouflaged just in time, and with Chris’ dodo and Snowy Mole’s distraction, had managed to get the rifle away in time without being noticed. Chris winked, and then turned invisible. Samuel closed one of his eyes, aiming down the barrel. His implant began to crackle, and the gun began to hum with so much power that it rang throughout the metal corridors of the observatory. The Overseer could only look on, as Samuel put his finger to the trigger.

Neddy smiled wildly at the sight from his cage, and typed in one last command into the console. Neddy smashed the enter button, and immediately power surged throughout Samuel’s body.

Samuel smiled.

He could hear his friends’ laughter, the good times they had gone through. And the bad times.

In the end it wasn’t so bad. Without the ARKs, Samuel wouldn’t have been who he was today. In this current moment. Someone who made a difference. Someone who was… good.

“Eh. Sparing him would be lame though. That stuff only happens in the books,” Samuel thought, “Zero.”

He pulled the trigger.

And as the bullet hit the Overseer, the Overseer instantly began to evaporate from reality. Dan Walker let out a screech, and all that was left was the purple orb that had been responsible for all of their hardships. Everything happened so fast that it was unperceivable by the others, because as soon as the Overseer was erased from reality, the large red orb above them popped out into view, glowed, and then shot its beams of green, blue, and red light down onto the scholars.

And then, everything turned to black.

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 2 / 6

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and had a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the last chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

It was dark.

Stars twinkled all around them, like he was in a void.

Alan’s body felt like it was floating.

He wasn’t wearing the red cloth armor he had for the past two months or so.

He was wearing a simple red t-shirt and cargo shorts.

“This is the outfit I usually wear to school,” Alan thought, looking around, “Where exactly am I? The afterlife? Heaven? Oh boy… Did I just die?! Aw man… that sucks.”

Alan didn’t know why, but he felt oddly at peace. He wasn’t too upset that this was his end, but at the same time he felt disappointed he couldn’t do more. He sighed, curling up into a ball.

“I hope they got this handled without me.”

Suddenly, the stars around him began to flicker.

And then a boy flickered into sight in front of him.

Alan stood up, his body still floating in the milky void. The boy was also floating too. He had long, thick black hair in the form of a ponytail and a thick bang that hung near the side of his forehead. He wore a thin blue jacket and a white shirt and cargo shorts as well.

“Hey there,” the boy said, waving his hand.

“Uh, hello?” Alan asked, “Who in the world are you?”

“I’m Fred,” the boy replied, “And you’re Alan.”

“Okay… care to explain what this is?”

“I would if I knew what it was.”

“Oh. So you don’t know either. Nice. Absolutely amazing.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Fred explained, “We’re in our soul.”

“So you do know-” Alan replied, “Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘our soul’?”

“Do you know about the President’s secret agents? The ones with the colored suits who are always sticking around his side?” Fred asked.

“Yeah. I do.”

“I’m one of them.”

Alan’s eyes widened in shock. He put his hands on his head.

“Mindblown.”

“I’m being very serious here!” Fred shouted back, a little annoyed. He sighed, “Whatever. Point is, I was the blue one. The light blue one, I mean. Basically I was his right-hand man and… I did some bad things.”

“Truth be told I’m also his nephew.”

“Whaaaaat?! The President has family?”

“Yes. He even had a wife and child at one point.”

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah. I know. I find it unbelievable sometimes too. I was good friends with his son. His name was Danny. You might know him as Mr. Mo.”

“Mr. Mo? That guy’s older than Dan Walker though!”

“Looks can be deceiving. Danny’s younger than you think,” Fred chuckled, a smile growing on his face. The smile shifted to a frown. Fred’s eyes darted up.

“Your time here isn’t over yet.”

Fred walked forward and pressed his hand on Alan’s shoulder.

“Listen to me closely… When the time is right, do whatever it takes to make Dan Walker remember. And once he regrets then he can truly be defeated,” Fred told Alan, “My time here was never meant to be. I am ready to join my cousins. But you still have a duty with your friends.”

The void around them came crashing down on them.

“Good luck, Alan,” Fred said, “You’ll need it.”

~

Alan let out a gasp as he felt himself awaken.

His heart was still pounding through his chest.

Yet, something was different about him.

Before he could realize, he heard someone gasp to his right. He turned to see Tiffany with her mouth agape and her hands coming to cover her mouth.

“Alan! You’re- you’re alright!” she cried out.

“I guess I am…” Alan replied, getting up from the ground.

What had happened?

“I got stabbed in the heart by a spike,” Alan recalled, “And then I’m here.”

“Alan what happened to your face? You look a little off,” Tiffany questioned.

“What do you mean by that?” Alan asked, looking down at the shiny metal ground. He looked the same as he did last time.

“Nevermind… Look we have to-”

SHOOM!

KIYAHHHHHHH!

The two turned to see Dan Walker had transformed into a humongous spider twice the size of a Rex. It was the Broodmother. Dan Walker stepped forward, its legs scattering and searching for prey. It let out a gaseous burp and webs spewed out onto the ground, making it stickier and slippier. The Book Club quickly retreated, their eyes wide in horror and traumatic memories returning to their heads.

“Ah crap-” Samuel shouted, turning to face the others by his side, “What do we do?”

Nova stepped forward.

“I got this handled.”

A flash of white light passed through the air, and before the Broodmother’s path was a big black gorilla the same size as the Broodmother: the Megapithecus. Nova let out a roar and pounded her fists on her chest. Unlike the sturdy, robust Broodmother, the Megapithecus was versatile and strong.

Dan Walker would stand no chance.

Nova rushed forward and slammed her giant gorilla fist into the abdomen of the spider, and the Broodmother was instantly pummeled downward into the hard metal of the starlit sanctuary. Nova let out a roar and smashed the spider, and as the guts and spider juice flew into the air, Dan Walker came out of the mess covered in green.

“Goddamn brat!” Dan Walker shouted, standing up and brushing the ooze off of his body. Nova looked down and let out a roar, raising her fists to pummel down onto Dan Walker when flesh and bone gathered around him and accumulated into another giant beast…

Within the starlit sanctuary, a dragon manifested, and it Set Fire to the Sky. Nova let out a howl as it shrouded her body in a hot heat. Unlike the dragon that Ben and the others had fought at the red obelisk, this dragon was around the same size if not smaller than Nova.

With a howl, Nova lunged her right hand forward and grabbed Dan by the throat, pressing down and choking him like no tomorrow. Dan let out a fierce scream of retaliation and flailed its long arms, trying its best to grasp at Nova, but Nova merely lifted the dragon into the air, and with a deafening boom, slammed him into the ground.

KABOOM!

The impact of the slam was so strong it caused tremors within the starlit sanctuary. The corridor began to shake and the glass that looked out on space cracked. Bobby noticed this and gasped.

“Simon, quick! Give me the duct tape-”

“Okay okay chill chill!” Simon shouted back, grabbing his backpack and digging through it like a maniac. Simon let out a groan of irritation as he pulled out a dead dodo.

“Where is the duct tape?” Simon asked, tossing the dead dodo to the side, “Gosh darn it- Oh hey, look, my sword!”

Simon pulled a short sword out with a blade as sharp as shards. Bobby punched Simon on the shoulder.

“Ow!”

“Hey, I need the duct tape!” Bobby shouted, looking at the glass. The cracks were growing dangerously large.

“Yes I know and I’m looking for it… HERE IT IS! Here, here, here!” Simon yelled desperately, fumbling with the roll of tape before handing it over to Bobby. Bobby took the tape and pulled on the loose end.

RIIIP!

Bobby dashed over to the glass pane, took out his hammer, and then tapped on the window lightly with the duct tape in hand.

DING!

The cracks instantly disappeared, and the roll of tape in his hands disappeared. Bobby let out a sigh.

“Whew. That was a close call.”

ROARRRR!

KAPOW!

BOOOOM!

KASPLAT!

Blood spewed out onto the ground once more, and Dan Walker let out an exasperated scream at the fact that he had been wounded once more. Nova let out a victorious roar, pounding on her fried and flamed chests with all her might. Samuel and the others let out a cheer as Dan Walker struggled to come to his senses.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Ruby cried.

“Go Nova go!” Neddy cheered, pumping his fists in the air.

Dan quickly retaliated with a bite to the neck. Nova let out a cry of pain as Dan’s jaws chomped down onto Nova’s arm, and Dan pulled on her so hard she went tumbling to the ground.

BOOM!

Shockwaves continued to fill the starlit sanctuary. By now it was getting clear that Dan Walker would just keep tanking attacks left and right, no matter how strong one was.

“He’s just going to keep healing until all of us are dead,” Ian thought, looking at his implant, “Maybe… maybe if we can kill him before he can heal, then we’ll win. Maybe if we kill him fast enough he can’t heal himself in time!”

Ian’s implant began to glow.

“That means…”

“I’ll have to do this.”

Ian bashed his fists together. Purple ゴゴゴゴ signs floated off his body, and musical symbols began to manifest in the air. Ian gritted his teeth.

“ATTRIBUTE AMPLIFICATION!” Ian shouted, “CONCERT FOR THE UNDEAD!”

Musical symbols clashed, a large mystical, circular zone was laid out underneath him. Thirteen skeletons appeared in the mix, carrying trombones, trumpets, flutes, clarinets, drums and triangles.

Dan Walker seemed too distracted by Nova to notice what Ian was doing.

Ian grinned, and turned to face Patricia who was in the Amplification with him.

“Same game plan as last time?” Patricia asked.

“Same game plan as last time,” Ian replied smugly.

Then, the two danced.

~

KABOOM!

POW!

Nova let out a groan as she was pushed into a pillar. She was getting exhausted, but Dan Walker was showing no signs of fatigue. It certainly was hard fighting against someone who had the power to create whatever he desired.

“Damn it… I wish the others could help, but they can’t. I’m the only one with the strength to do so,” Nova thought, her eyes darting to her friends. They had tried their best to act as support for Nova through ranged weapons and trying to distract Dan, but Dan was no beast. Dan knew what he was doing. Somewhat.

But then, a man and woman came out of nowhere and punched Dan so hard that he went flying toward the wall.

POW!

The dragon Dan was possessing let out a roar, and blood spurted out of its lips. Its wings folded in, weak and brittle. Ian and Patricia were standing on the ground, their bodies glowing green and musical instruments blaring out into the void. The two looked at each other, and then Ian winked.

“Let’s do this.”

The two held each other’s hands, and Patricia began to twirl. Ian was lifted off of the ground, and as Patricia spun round and round, Ian began to laugh with joy. As Patricia’s body spun and faced Dan, she let go of him.

Ian went flying toward him, arms flailing and legs kicking at the air, but as Dan lifted his dragon head up to face him, Ian regained balance and shoved his shoe out.

“RRAGHHHHHHH!”

SPLAT!

The dragon’s jaw was immediately kicked inside out, golden ichor flowed down onto the ground, as the dragon slumped forward, its head a mess. A human groan came from inside the dragon, and then Dan Walker shot out onto the bloody mess on the ground. He looked bruised and battered. He didn’t look like he was getting up any time soon.

“Did- did we do it?” Ian asked. Patricia ran up to Ian, inspecting him carefully.

“You okay Ian?” Patricia asked, pinching his face.

“Yes- OUCH! Yeah I am, yeah. Not a single scratch on this chiseled body,” Ian chuckled. Patricia laughed back, hugging him tightly.

“I’m glad. I threw you quite hard there. Sorry about that.”

“Well… that was part of the plan, am I not right?”

Dan Walker didn’t get up.

“Ha. Ha ha!” Paul laughed, “You two did it! You defeated Dan Walker!”

Everyone let out a cheer and gathered around Ian and Patricia, giving them compliments and thanking them for their work.

“Man, it’s finally over,” Samuel sighed, looking down at the ground, “Thanks you two.”

Nova trodded up to the group, and then transformed back into a human. She walked up to Ian and Patricia and gave them both fist bumps.

“Thank you two, I thought I was toast there,” she giggled.

“Yeah you did great!” Alan shouted gleefully. Carlos glanced at him, his eyes wide in shock. He shook his head, deciding not to question it.

“Guys… We couldn’t have done it without you,” Ian told them, “WE defeated Dan Walker. All of us.”

“Together we stopped Dan Walker,” Patricia stated simply.

“With the power of friendship?” Paul asked curiously.

“With the power of friendship,” Ian answered.

“WOO HOO!” everyone cheered, laughing as they did.

The group had been through a lot. That was for sure. They had lost a lot of friends. They had been forced to kill. They had been forced to survive and Evolve on an island, only for the sake of a flawed story.

But now they would finally be able to return home-

Rumble.

“Hey what was that?” Ben asked, looking around confused. Neddy scratched the back of his head.

“Not sure,” Neddy said, “Maybe we’ll just get teleported back?”

Samuel opened his mouth to speak, but the dragon body they had slain began to fade away, sinking into the ground like water on a rag. And a human rose from the bloodshed.

Dan Walker rose to his two feet, his hands placed together as if he were praying. He had his eyes closed. For a moment, time seemed to come to a halt. The constellations outside the starlit sanctuary were silent.

“What’s he doing?” Ruby asked, her voice cracking.

“He’s praying, I think,” Sunny replied.

Dan Walker’s implant began to glow.

Samuel gasped.

“NO! He’s activating his Attribute Amplification! Somebody stop him-”

“ATTRIBUTE AMPLIFICATION!” Dan Walker announced, “THE ARKS: OVER HEAVEN!”

In an instant, everything began to twist and turn on itself.

The world around them flickered back and forth, until the metallic, cold and dark environment around them shifted to a dead landscape and a futuristic-looking city filled with overgrowth. Wind passed by the group as they looked around, confused and scared.

“What happened? Where are we?” Neddy asked.

A tumbleweed drifted by.

They all looked up at the night sky. The moon lay above, broken into a million pieces. The constellations were fading away. A hundred dots were scattered about above, each one twinkling like stars. Were they ARKs?

The city’s buildings were tall. The metal was coursing with a strange energy, and holograms buzzed on and off within the inner depths of the city. In the distance, in the wasteland, were strange black veins glowing purple.

“Are we back on Earth?” Nova asked, dumbfounded and afraid.

She whipped around.

“No. I don’t think so. Otherwise, that beam would have hit us and we would have blacked out. I think this is some sort of hyper-realistic illusion. Perhaps a complete world that Dan himself created,” Samuel hypothesized. He turned to Tiffany and Rick.

“Anything around here ring a bell? Is this a part of Dan’s book?”

The two shook heads.

“No. The main characters in the story ever only reached it to the dead ARK before the story was left off unfinished-”

BOOM!

The earth around them began to shake and rumble.

And then they looked up and saw a shooting star pass by.

“Hey, look guys! Up above!” Neddy cried out.

Alan squinted his eyes.

“What, do you want us to make a wish? Now’s not the time we need to find out how to get back-” Ruby was interrupted by Alan.

“The shooting star is getting closer.”

Before anyone had time to react, the large meteor struck the ground so hard that the buildings scattered about the sanctuary city collapsed in on itself. The ground rumbled, and everyone began to cough as dust flew into the air, clouding their vision.

“What the hell was that?!” Patricia shouted, taking a step back.

Two purple eyes glowed ominously in the fog.

And then the eyes rose.

Everyone looked up, awestruck and terrified at the same time.

Another purple glow emanated, this one closer to the ground. It looked like a purple orb.

“Dan?” Gary asked, sweat pouring down his face.

“Dan,” Carlos replied, dropping his frying pan to the ground.

The fog cleared, revealing a behemoth of a creature. It stood on its two legs, like a human, yet so much more monstrous. Giant spines ran down its back, each one glowing purple, and its arms were muscular and ripped. A large tail the size of a building swished around.

The titan’s chest was reverberating purple, as if it was its blood.

Implanted within the titan’s wrist was an implant of its own, an implant with a purple orb.

The titan chuckled a bit, purple fog shot out of its nostrils and mouth.

“I did not want to bring it down to this, my ATTRIBUTE AMPLIFICATION,” the King Titan, AKA, Dan Walker, snarled, “This is intensive on my implant after all. But… I know you cannot defeat me. No matter what.”

The King Titan lifted his hands into the air, as if he were calling down on something. More shooting stars came into view. Everyone immediately knew they were meteors. The survivors all screamed, and they began to run into and through the city to avoid the meteors.

BAM! KABOOM!

The meteors hit the ground hard, sending shockwaves running throughout the city. People were thrown off balance, tripping and stumbling over one another as they fled. Even Alan, the strongest of their ranks, did not dare to attack back.

Only one figure remained in the dust, facing off against the King Titan.

“AH HA HA HA HA HA!” the King Titan laughed, “If it isn’t one of my only readers! You know if you asked nicely, I would have let you go too.”

Tiffany did not retort any remarks. She merely crouched down, and then jumped up into the air. Wings sprouted from her back, and she flew at the King Titan full force and slammed her foot into his chest.

BOOM!

The King Titan gasped, and he went flying backwards. The King Titan fell onto his back, causing dust and sand to fly into the air. The King Titan gripped at the ground, skidding to a halt. He looked up and saw Tiffany floating in the air, her wings flapping softly, the noise overpowered by her heartbeat. The King Titan groaned, getting up from the ground.

“I really shouldn’t have given you that ability,” the King Titan sneered, “Whatever. DIE.”

The King Titan snapped his fingers, and the purple veins sprawled out across the ground, forming weird nodes the size of dinosaurs. Tiffany looked down for a bit, and then looked back up at the King Titan with a glare. The King Titan smiled, pointing his finger at Tiffany.

SLASH SLASH SLASH!

Tiffany let out a gasp, as giant gashes and cuts suddenly appeared all across her body. The King Titan chuckled as he continued sending slashes and cuts toward Tiffany.

SLASH SLASH SLASH!

The last slash sent Tiffany sending backwards into a building.

CRASH.

The building went toppling down, crashing into another building, which crashed into another building. A domino effect was created, sending buildings tumbling and falling onto one another.

The city was falling.

The King Titan let out an amused snort, looking down at the minions he had created. Giganotosaurus and Tyrannosaurus shot out from the ground, infected and covered with the purple veins. They roared and rushed forward into the city, searching for prey.

“This ends now.”

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 100: Over Heaven

Part 1 / 6

Original Post Date: Oct 7, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Oviraptor. This is the last chapter of TAOH. Please do not read this first if you haven't read the rest of the story.

~

The constellations sparkle in the night sky.

Two figures stand off in a starlit sanctuary, their hearts racing, and each one with a clear goal in mind.

One wishes to return home with his loved ones.

One wishes to finish his story once and for all.

Thus, a battle over heaven…

Commences.

~

Samuel did not want to give Dan Walker a chance to attack him. No chance at all.

“After everything he’s done…” Samuel thought, gritting his teeth, “No dice.”

Samuel equipped his spear and dashed forward with tremendous speed. He jabbed it quickly at Dan Walker’s stomach, and Dan Walker dodged backwards, his eyes wide in shock. Then his shock transformed into rage, as he glared with contempt at his adversary. It was as if he didn’t expect him to fight back against him.

“Boy. You’re making a big mistake,” Dan Walker growled back, pointing a finger gun at him. Samuel squinted his eyes.

Behind them, Gary, who still remained shocked, felt his mind erupt ablaze as danger signaled to him. Samuel would be hurt if he didn’t move out of the way.

“SAMUEL DODGE!”

BAM!

A bullet flew out of Dan Walker’s finger, but not before Samuel took Gary’s warning and dodged to the side, his hairs standing on end and his heart beating even faster as it did. Dan Walker glared again at the fact that Samuel had dodged his attack.

Samuel smirked, and stepped forward, jabbing his spear at Dan Walker again. Dan Walker quickly stepped to the side and clenched his right fist, sending it straight toward Samuel’s cheek.

Samuel raised his arms and shielded his face.

KABOOM!

Dan Walker’s punch was so powerful that shockwaves were sent out throughout the starlit sanctuary. The constellations sparkled more at the awe-inspiring sight, almost like cameras snapping pictures away at a celebrity. Metal pillars began to transpire out of the ground and toward the ceiling. The door they had gone through closed, and the orb in Dan Walker’s implant continued to grow.

“You’re fast I’ll admit,” Dan Walker taunted him, “But you’ll make a mistake eventually. You’ll die eventually.”

“I highly doubt it,” Samuel snapped back coolly, “If it’s taking this much effort to kill a guy who doesn’t even have an implant then I think I’ll have no trouble killing you right here and now.”

Before Dan Walker could quip back, Samuel reached his head back and slammed it right into Dan Walker’s forehead. Dan Walker let out a cry of pain as he stumbled backwards, clutching his forehead. Taking advantage, Samuel took his spear and drove it with all of his might into his chest.

SHINK!

Dan Walker let out a gasp of pain, and golden ichor instantly shot out of his lips and onto the spear. He grasped at it weakly, and Samuel grinned as he dug it further and further into his flesh. He could hear his heartbeat.

BUM BUM. BUM BUM. BUM BUM. BUM BUM.

“You are pathetic,” Samuel sneered, “But now they can rest easy knowing that you’re dead.”

Dan Walker closed his eyes.

“I suppose I should accept my fate, scholar.”

Then he began to giggle like a little kid. With no warning whatsoever, Dan Walker snapped the spear in half and then gave Samuel an absolute haymaker of a punch.

WHAM!

Samuel was sent flying into one of the pillars, and he let out a grunt as the air in his lungs left his body. Dan Walker teleported forward and grabbed him by the throat, pressing him against the pillar and choking him as he looked into his eyes.

Samuel gagged, grabbing at Dan Walker’s wrists and trying to pry them off his neck, but he wouldn’t budge. Dan Walker’s strength was overwhelming. Dan grinned at the sight, golden blood still trickling down his chin.

“Did you really think you could kill me that easily?” Dan Walker hissed, “You’re an idiot. You’re just a mortal. I’m a GOD. You can’t kill gods.”

“You’re no god. Gods don’t use tools to achieve omnipotence. They’re BORN like that,” Samuel countered, closing his eyes and trying to drown out the pain.

“That’s a sad way to live life. To play the role you’re determined with. Don’t you think so?”

“There’s a difference between working toward being a doctor and working toward being a bad person…”

“SHUT UP!” Dan Walker shouted, bringing Samuel’s skull to his knees.

BAM.

Samuel felt his ears ring, his head throb, and his vision blur. Dan Walker held Samuel up into the air and then tossed him to the other side of the starlit sanctuary. Samuel went tumbling, his body rolling and his head hitting the ground numerous times.

BUMP.

Samuel’s body eventually hit the glass pane, and Samuel let out another gasp of pain as it jolted all across his body. His bones ached, his muscles hurt, and his head felt like hell. He looked out past the glass and at the stars. It was as if they were cheering him on, yet they could do nothing to assist him.

“Don’t bother praying. It’s not like his stories,” Dan Walker’s voice rang throughout the sanctuary. Dan Walker slammed his foot against Samuel’s head, and it bounced off the metal.

CLANG.

“To be frank, the ending of his story always felt cliche to me,” Dan Walker revealed, “Constellations that were just us readers all along, using our influence to give those poor souls a good ending… That’s so boring. They’re just fictional characters, am I right?”

“What are you on about?” Samuel moaned.

“What I’m saying is that… these constellations really shouldn’t care about you all,” Dan Walker confided, “I’m giving them a good story. Hell without me, you all wouldn’t be here right? It feels like they’re so ungrateful.”

“This isn’t a fictional story, if you didn’t know,” Samuel retorted, “This is the real world, you’re just a psychopath. A psychopath that doesn’t care about life. You kill and take but never give-”

CLANG.

Samuel’s head banged against the metal again, and he could feel his ears ring so hard that he began to see stars. Dan Walker crouched down, inspecting Samuel carefully.

“You’re a very boring character,” Dan Walker spat, “Did you know that? Nobody likes you. Why bother even trying to fight me? Nobody appreciated you, not until you decided to do all this. You know they call you a monster. A sociopath who takes for himself. You’re no better than me bro. That’s why I don’t understand… You’re supposed to be that selfish manipulative loser or whatever they call you that does whatever is best for him and his friends. Why didn’t you just take up my offer?”

“Because it isn’t the right thing…”

“Right thing this right thing that,” Dan Walker chuckled, “Take it from me kid. Being selfless doesn’t get you anywhere. Just do whatever you want. Nobody will appreciate you either way.”

Dan Walker pointed his finger gun at Samuel’s head.

“Enough stalling. I think this is a good ending… For me, at least. The good guys don’t always win, if you didn’t know. So. Any last words?”

Samuel’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“Go to hell.”

Dan Walker smirked.

“Good enough for me.”

~

Patricia watched on, her eyes wide in horror, yet her expression chillingly calm due to her attribute. She knew that Samuel didn’t stand a chance against an omnipotent god, but to see him beat up and defeated so quickly left a mark on her soul. She wanted to help, but she couldn’t with her body stunned and her implant forcing her to take a kneel.

“I have to get him to release me, or someone else,” Patricia thought, “Maybe if we put enough pressure on him… He can’t get the advantage on us.”

Despite the electricity and pain unraveling throughout her organs and bones, she took a stand. She opened her mouth and called out to the two. By now, Dan Walker already had Samuel at his mercy.

“WAIT!” she cried out.

Dan Walker’s head turned to her, unamused.

“What is it?” he asked impatiently.

Patricia briefly remembered her friends, who had died some way or the other on the island.

Lizzy and Layla.

She shut her eyes as the haunting memory of Lizzy being burnt alive flashed by her once more. What Layla had said to get them all off the hook was wrong. But in the end, it was the only way they survived.

“If I want Samuel to survive… No, all of us… I need the President to think that I’ll be on his side,” Patricia thought.

So with that, she shouted,

“Mr. President! If you release me and Paige, I’ll do whatever you want!”

Paige seemed absolutely horrified by her words, and everyone else seemed just as surprised. The pain kept them from saying anything though. Patricia looked back at Paige. She knew what she felt in the moment.

But as Paige looked into Patricia’s eyes, she seemed to understand what she was planning. She looked back down at the ground, pretending to be disappointed in her.

Dan Walker seemed amused by her statement.

“Is that so…” he grinned, “Well then. Here you go.”

Dan Walker snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the shock was lifted from Patricia! She let out a gasp as the electricity left her body and her implant stopped pulsating. She looked at her hands for a bit, and Dan Walker teleported right in front of her face.

“So. You’ll do anything, right?” Dan Walker asked. His eyes wandered amongst the crowd of survivors that knelt before them. Each one quivered under the might of the protocol. They were powerless.

Then, Dan Walker’s eyes pierced a man with a black leather jacket and blue jeans.

Ian.

Dan Walker held his palm out, and his implant began to glow. A small pistol manifested in his hand, and he handed it over to Patricia. She grasped it gently, her hand wrapping around the handle and her index finger moving to the trigger. She knew exactly what Dan Walker wanted her to do.

“Kill that guy over there,” Dan Walker said, “Then I’ll let you and… ‘Paige’ go.”

Patricia could feel her heart pump against her chest. She put a poker face on, her expression unchanging. It was hard for the others to tell if she would genuinely kill him. Paul looked at her, tears in his eyes.

“Please… Don’t do it,” he managed to utter under his breath, “Please… Please…”

Patricia closed her eyes.

And then in a split second, whipped around and pulled the trigger on Dan Walker.

BAM!

The bullet struck Dan Walker right in the throat. Golden ichor spewed out of his neck like a fountain, drenching the metal floor in a sickly gold. He grasped at his throat, and his suit became stained and coated in blood. Dan Walker’s eyes seemed to bulge out its sockets, and he could barely stand because his legs were shaking.

“Damn… Damn brat!”

Patricia aimed the pistol at him again and fired at him until she ran out of bullets.

BAM BAM BAM!

The three other bullets hit him in the legs and stomach, and golden ichor continued to flow down onto the ground. He gasped some more for air, and his wounds slowly began to heal. Patricia observed this and rushed in to attack.

Patricia gave two quick jabs with her fists, and then launched the weight of her calf into his side.

WHAM!

Dan Walker let out another groan as he clutched his side, stumbling backwards and shutting his eyes. Patricia readied herself once more and continued to attack him relentlessly.

A flurry of fists hit Dan Walker in the face, and by now Dan Walker was already beginning to tire out. As Patricia smiled at the progress she was making, she was caught off guard as Dan caught her fist by the wrist.

“ENOUGH!” Dan Walker screamed, twisting it hard. Patricia gritted her teeth and tried pulling away, but his grip was too tight. Patricia’s eyes sparkled in excitement though as a blur flashed by and hit Dan in the face.

WHACK!

Dan Walker let go of Patricia and jolted to the side. Samuel had rushed in to assist Patricia just in time. Samuel looked at Patricia, and she looked back at him. They both nodded at each other, knowing what they needed to do.

In record time the two dashed forward and began to land hit after hit on Dan Walker’s body. Everytime Dan Walker healed his wounds, Samuel would punch him in the face or Patricia would kick him in the ribs. Regardless, Dan Walker had no chance to defend himself from their relentless attacks.

“You can’t kill me no matter how hard you try,” Dan Walker huffed, out of breath and exhausted, “GIVE UP.”

“Never,” Samuel snarled, grabbing Dan Walker by the left wrist and pushing him up against the metal pillar.

For a moment, a jolt of fear ran across Dan Walker’s face.

Paige’s eyes widened.

“Did he… Could it be that his implant is his weak spot?” Paige thought, “It must be. It is the source of his power.”

Paige shouted,

“Samuel! Patricia! If you find a way to destroy Dan Walker’s implant, then I think he’ll stop healing!”

Samuel turned back,

“I don’t think that’s possible. He’ll just correct his implant to how it is before we can get any sufficient damage to him!”

Dan Walker took advantage of Samuel’s distraction and tried to bash his forehead into Samuel’s, but Samuel swiftly jerked his head back, avoiding Dan’s counter. Samuel slammed his foot into Dan Walker’s stomach and he let out a groan as he was catapulted into the pillar, causing the starlit sanctuary to rumble.

Samuel grasped Dan Walker’s wrist once again and inspected his implant.

His implant was made of a dark metal, seemingly pulsating with a strange blue energy. And implanted within the center was a bright purple orb which pulsated with life. And the power of creation.

But what interested Samuel the most was the fact that the orb had a dent in it.

“Maybe his implant can be tampered with,” Samuel thought.

Dan Walker pulled away from Samuel’s grip, but Patricia quickly rushed in behind him and kicked him in the back with all of her might, causing him to tumble and trip to the ground. Samuel flipped Dan over onto his back, lifted his foot, and then smashed it into his implant with all the energy he could muster up.

CRACK!

KABOOM!

In an instant, the purple orb’s color flickered away and another shockwave filled the arena, making Samuel and Patricia stumble backwards. Patricia’s head jolted behind her and she could see the others slowly rise from the ground, the shock and stun that once filled their bodies now gone with Dan Walker’s implant inactive.

“Woah,” Bobby said, looking at his hands in disbelief.

Tiffany let out a glare and took no time charging forward to attack, along with a majority of the others present. As Dan Walker got up from the ground, Alan swiped his hatchet at Dan’s neck and nearly took his head off. Dan ducked to the ground, but was met with a boot to the face by Paige.

WHAM!

Blood spouted from his nostrils and he was sent flying backwards into Tiffany, who had flown behind him and grabbed him by the hair. Tiffany rose into the air and then slammed his face into the ground.

BAM!

Tiffany let go of Dan Walker and Ben’s vines ensnared Dan Walker, lifting him into the air and preventing him from moving anywhere. Dan Walker tried to push past the plants, but with his implant inactive he stood no chance. Neddy rushes in with his spear and plunges it into Dan’s calf, and Gary raised his revolver and shot his heart.

Dan Walker began to cough, and he vomited a huge stream of blood onto the metal floor. Samuel stormed over to Dan Walker and then grabbed him by the throat, squeezing tightly and lifting his fist in the air.

“It’s time we end this here and now!” Samuel declared.

Dan Walker grabbed Samuel by the wrist, trying his absolute best to pry him off. Samuel didn’t budge an inch, holding on as if his life depended on it.

“Don’t you understand…” Dan Walker coughed, “I’m your only way out of here!”

“What-”

The orb in Dan Walker’s implant came back to life.

And with a scream, everyone was pushed back by some invisible force and launched toward the glass pane. Tumbling like ants, Dan Walker’s body instantly began to heal, the golden ichor clearing away from his body and fading away like an eraser removing pencil marks on a piece of paper. A grin grew on Dan’s body, and he began to float into the air.

“WHAT?!” Ruby shouted, aiming her crossbow at Dan’s face, “I thought Samuel destroyed your implant! How are you doing all of this?”

“Idiots. Did you really think that you could destroy my implant so easily? I’ve taken precautions,” Dan Walker snarled, “The minute timeframe assures that the system always comes back online as soon as possible. You’ll never kill me in time before the implant becomes active.”

“Damn it,” Neddy swore. He turned to Samuel, “How are we gonna get him now?”

Samuel clenched his fists, looking up at Dan Walker. He’d just fly off the ground until then…

“Tiffany or Nova, can either of you get up there and get him?” Samuel asked. The two of them nodded.

“We can,” they answered simultaneously.

Tiffany’s heartbeat echoed into the air, and she took to the skies. A white light flashed through the sky and Nova transformed into an Argentavis. Nova followed suit.

The two charged at Dan Walker, but Dan Walker merely waved his hand, and the metal on the starlit sanctuary’s ceiling shifted and distorted, transforming into flying drones with guns attached to them. They fired bullets at the two, hitting Nova and Tiffany in the wings. Tiffany let out a gasp of pain, retracting her wings and falling to the ground, while Nova was forced to transform back into a human.

Everyone looked up in awe as the metal that made up the ceiling slowly began to bend and break off, transforming into the drones that had shot at Tiffany and Nova. They began to fly around Dan Walker like bees swarming honey, and Dan Walker’s grin grew further.

“Let’s see how well you fare against this!” Dan Walker yelled triumphantly. He pointed his finger at the crowd of survivors and the attack drones immediately began to fire away.

PEW PEW PEW PEW!

Bullets whizzed and zipped around the starlit sanctuary, and everyone dodged and ran for cover behind the metal pillars.

“Gosh that came out of nowhere!” Rick shouted, turning to Gary, “Can’t you do something about this?”

Gary nodded.

“Don’t worry. I got this. I’ve trained my whole ghost gamer life for this…” Gary replied with a smirk. He peeked his revolver past the pillars and began to fire back at the attack drones.

BAM BAM BAM!

The drones slowly began falling down onto the ground, exploding into millions of pieces and leaving strange blue orbs of energy behind onto the ground, pulsating with power and technological might.

In just a matter of seconds, all of the attack drones had been disposed of. Gary blew on the barrel of his revolver, and smoke poured out of the barrel. He slapped the gun and ejected the bullet casings, placing in a new batch of bullets.

“That was easy, now we got rid of his aerial advantage!” Sunny shouted, turning to the others, “Now we just need to bring him down-”

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The pillars that surrounded the starlit sanctuary began to mold and transform, just like the ceiling, and then they transformed into strange units with black underbellies and shells made of a white iron plating. They beeped and clicked, and rolled over beneath Dan Walker like rollie pollies. The units halted, and then legs and blades extended from their bodies, facing away from Dan Walker and protecting their creator.

“What the…” Nova said, squinting her eyes.

“How long did it take this guy to come up with that idea?” Rick asked, clutching his knife tightly. Chris stepped forward, and his dodo stood by his side with a squawk.

“Probably a long time,” Chris suggested.

“I’d think he’d create them beforehand otherwise,” Sunny stated, blasting heat all over the room and keeping them warm from the cold.

Rick looked back and forth at the others, who were waiting for one of their members to make a move against Dan.

“If we all attack him without stopping… maybe we can prevent him from getting any more ideas to use against us,” Rick proposed. The others nodded and drew their weapons. Paige held onto her club tightly and Rick flipped his knife around his fingers.

“We’ll clear out those weird bug things, you guys take care of Dan,” Paige told them.

The two charged forward into the crowd of defense units, and immediately the defense units turned toward them and began to slash and jab at Paige and Rick with their blades. The two weaved in between the blades, and some of the defense units accidentally hit each other, causing them to turn on one another. The rest of the defense units that were still on Paige and Rick’s tail were disposed of quickly.

WHACK!

SLAM!

Paige would slam her club hard into a defense unit, causing it to be propelled toward Rick who would stab the defense unit with his knife. The two, slowly but surely, managed to clear through the crowd of defense units with ease.

Dan Walker looked around in horror. In just a matter of seconds, the five minutes it had taken him to come up with the idea of the attack drones and defense units had been unraveled. Before he could ponder or think any longer, Alan and Tiffany rushed in for an attack.

Alan swung his metal hatchet at Dan’s ribs, and spikes made of bone protruding out of Tiffany’s knuckles pierced him in the throat. Dan let out a howl of pain as the two continued to launch deadly attack after deadly attack on his body. Dan Walker’s implant began to glow, and with a deafening blow debris from the ceiling came crashing down onto the starlit sanctuary’s floor.

KABOOM!

KAKRASH!

The metal was molded and transformed into more defense units, however they were even larger than the last ones and there were far more of them. Tiffany and Alan quickly retreated and regrouped with the others.

“More of them?” Ruby scoffed.

“He’ll just keep making more and more of them,” Neddy decided, “We need a more permanent way to deal with them-”

Ben stepped forward, his implant glowing, and then focused his concentration toward the defense units. The metal flooring beneath them began to crack, and hundreds of vines shot out of the ground and coiled around the defense units, squeezing tightly and crushing them into scraps.

Dan Walker audibly swore under his breath, and waved his hand again, making the ceiling above them distort and bend. Ben looked up at the ceiling and vines quickly shot out from the ceiling as well, wrapping around and keeping the metal from changing shape any more.

As Ben looked up at the ceiling, Dan immediately charged at him with a raised fist and a glare on his face.

“You damn brat!”

Dan swung his fist at Ben, who had taken the full force of his attack and was launched backwards. Dan teleported forward and raised his foot to slam into Ben, but as he swung it down at his head, a flash of orange passed by, and a knife struck Dan in the leg.

Dan let out another howl of pain, and Ben looked up and quickly manifested a myriad of vines to tangle around Dan’s leg and pull him away. Ben landed on his two feet, skidding to a halt, and Sunny quickly ran up beside him. Dan Walker chuckled at the sight.

“Well well well… two authors against one,” Dan sneered, pulling the knife out of his calf, “I’ll have you know that I’m the better one by far!”

Sunny smirked at his claim,

“Last time I checked I actually finished my story and you didn’t.”

“You’re all so bitter over what I did, which is funny considering you do the same to your characters, no?” Dan Walker snickered, “What makes you two any better than me?”

“The difference is that it’s a fictional story, they’re not real people, unlike us,” Sunny snapped back, in disbelief at what Dan Walker said.

“Oh you wouldn’t know… And I guess you’ll never know once I kill you.”

Ben stepped forward and punched Dan right in the gut.

“OOF!” Dan cried, coughing violently.

“Say that again. I dare you.”

“Heh heh heh… And if it isn’t my favorite character of all,” Dan Walker gushed mockingly, “You know it’s quite interesting. Considering your background and all that I’d assume you’d make a better main character than that Samuel ever would be.”

“You treat life like a story when it really isn’t,” Ben blurted back, “We all lived relatively normal lives until YOU came in and ruined it all.”

“Sure. Sure thing,” Dan giggled, “I mean your family never should have had enough money to move here to the United Republic. And to be truthful I never would have figured out how to make the teleporters without some help… ever wonder that maybe there are other people out there responsible for this mess?”

Ben slammed his fist into his cheek again, making his head jerk to the side.

“You can’t even take accountability. How shameful-”

Dan Walker let out a scream of rage and tore himself from his prison, landing onto the ground and kicking at Ben with all of his might.

POW!

Ben was sent flying away, and Sunny rushed in to attack Dan. Dan retaliated with a punch to the gut.

BOOM!

Both writers were sent flying away, and as Dan Walker was about to float into the air, the squawk of a dodo rang out throughout the sanctuary, and Chris’ dodo waddled up to Dan Walker and bit onto his pants with its beak.

“Hey what the-” Dan Walker hollered in surprise, “What are you doing?”

Chris’ dodo flapped its wings and pulled Dan Walker down (surprisingly), and Snowy Mole ran up to them and got into a crouching position, leaving a special ‘gift’ for Dan Walker on the floor. Dan Walker’s foot smooshed all over it and he let out a shriek of fear, shaking away the bodily waste from his polished dress shoes.

“HOW DARE YOU?! You foul, disgusting beast!” Dan Walker squealed, dropping to the ground and smearing his shoe over the metal ground, “I should have never given you creatures the ability to do that-”

KACRACK!

SLASH!

“YOUCH!” Dan Walker cried, as metal dug right into his chest. Alan was standing in front of him, his eyes bloodshot red and his hatchet inserted deep into his chest. Alan dug deeper and deeper into him and Dan Walker wept and moaned as golden ichor gushed out like a waterfall.

“Here’s Alan,” Alan muttered, drool running down his lips. Alan let go of his axe and bit down onto Dan Walker’s shoulder like a zombie, tearing off chunks of his suit and flesh and swallowing and lapping on blood like a monstrous dog. Dan Walker let out a gasp of pain, and his implant began to glow once more.

The same invisible force that had pushed them back at times was forced onto Alan once more, and he was pushed away forcefully. Alan went tumbling in the sanctuary like a leaf, but as soon as he landed back on his feet he went rushing back at Dan.

Dan’s implant glowed again, but before he could push Alan back telepathically, Tiffany grabbed onto his wrist and twisted his arm back. Dan yelped in pain, and his implant stopped glowing.

Dan looked back at Tiffany, his eyes narrowing in triumph.

“If it isn’t one of my only readers… You know I would have let you go too if you just asked nicely,” Dan said, “I expected you and Ben would be the only two alive by now.”

“You killed Andres,” Tiffany snarled. Sharp bone spikes shot out of her knuckles and she shoved them into Dan’s left wrist.

SHINK!

Dan Walker let out a shout of pain as blood poured onto Tiffany’s knuckles, and Alan rushed in with his hatchet and swung it into his hip. More ichor gushed out onto the ground.

“Why’d you do it?” Alan demanded to know, his eyes welling with tears, “Why’d you send Bob down there? If he was your friend…”

Dan Walker became amused at his words. He rolled his eyes, and clenched his fists.

“Lives are expendable.”

Dan Walker let out a battle cry, and suddenly spikes shot out of the ground and pierced the two attackers in the heart. It came so quickly and suddenly that they couldn’t react in time. They looked down in horror at the ground, blood dripping from their lips, and then were tossed to the side by the invisible force.

Tumble.

A grin grew on Dan Walker’s face, and he began to rise into the air once more.

“Once you learn that, then you become the strongest,” Dan Walker explained, “Once you learn that Fred… Once you learn that then you can truly become a god.”

Alan looked up at Dan Walker, his vision waning.

For a moment, there was a different look in his eyes. One of guilt and regret. One of self-pity and self-hate.

“I should have never told you about it,” Alan muttered, his voice oddly different, “I’m sorry Kiara… I’m sorry…”

~

Carlos looked on at the two mortally wounded individuals. He rushed over to Tiffany first, sliding toward the ground and reaching for a medical brew on his belt.

“Don’t worry. I got you-”

Carlos grasped only one end of the neck of a glass bottle. Carlos looked down, and his eyes widened in horror.

He only had one brew left.

“Damn it,” Carlos cursed to himself, “DAMN IT! Landon must have used the last one…”

He looked up at Dan Walker. His eyes were rolled back, and his hair was breezing by from a non-existent wind. He could see reality gather and contort around him, transforming him into the body of something large and monstrous. Something green.

There wasn’t much time left.

Carlos looked on at the others, who seemed to be planning their next move. Ruby raised his crossbow and shot an arrow at him, but the arrow paused midair and merely dropped to the ground. Gary was next, shooting his pistol at him, but the bullet also froze in midair. There seemed to be no hope of bringing him down.

“Bobby, why don’t you build up to him and we can all attack him at once?” Neddy asked him. Bobby shook his head.

“I shouldn’t. Simon’s already running low on resources and he’ll just destroy the buildings…”

Carlos’ head jerked back to Tiffany and Alan. Everyone else was too hyper-focused on Dan Walker to notice that the two were badly hurt. He would have to save one of them. But who?

“I haven’t known either of them for long,” Carlos thought, his eyes darting back and forth, “So the decision can’t be biased. I have to choose the one strongest enough to help us fight him.”

Tiffany was a strong combatant, for sure. She had the ability to adapt to whatever she pleased, however…

Alan was even more powerful. He was the only one who managed to kill Jerry, someone who bested them all in combat. Someone who was considered unbeatable.

So then, he knew who to save.

“I’m sorry girl,” Carlos apologized, feeling his heart twist and turn, “I really am.”

Carlos dashed over to Alan, red bottled liquid at the ready. He popped the cork open immediately, and then brought the bottle to his lips…

But then Alan reached his hand up and grabbed Carlos by the wrist.

“What are you doing?!” Carlos asked, “You know this’ll save you-”

Alan shook his head.

“Not me. Her.”

“But you’re the only one who can-”

“Not me. Or I break.”

Carlos’ eyes wallowed with tears.

“Dude… That’s so so so so sweet of you. I’m so sorry…”

“Later.”

Carlos left Alan’s body and dashed over to Tiffany.

~

Tiffany’s body felt lighter.

She could see the stars more clearly.

“Is this really it?” she thought, her mind closing in on itself, “Is this the end for me?”

She could hear Andres’ voice on the other side. Waiting. Calling on her name. Tiffany smiled at the thought.

A bright white light waited at the end of a dark, dark tunnel.

It smelled like sugar at the end.

Andres’ voice beckoned for her to join him.

Tiffany stepped forward.

But with a sudden jolt, she was launched out of the vision.

Tiffany let out a gasp as the world around her shattered, and she felt herself back on the hard metal of the Starlit Sanctuary once again. The stars sparkled in the distance, clicking and beeping in delight. Or perhaps, disappointment?

Tiffany didn’t know.

She could see Carlos looking down at her, a medical brew in his hand. She knew he had saved him.

Tiffany immediately sat up.

“What about Alan? He’s safe too, right?”

Carlos looked down in shame.

“He chose to give you the brew.”

Tiffany felt sick to the stomach, suddenly.

“What?”

ben thx for puting my name out there

PS.saturn

If l get to 1500 likes I will add the boss to mobile.

He stole my chick fil a sauce, I have to eliminate the guardians to reach him

Lore: An Artificial intelligence designed to control what happens where drops land where Dino’s evolve aboard the ark, Due to a malfunction to a homodeus controlling the overseer the malfunction caused the overseer to continuously test the survivors on the ark (that’s why the overseer attacks you when u enter his lair. Please up)

Long, long ago, chaos ruled the Ark. Seven tribes were at war. Eventually, the tribes made alliances, formed boundaries, and were at peace. One day, each of the tribes sent forth their greatest warriors, and they set out on a quest: too climb down the throat of the volcano, and discover its mysteries. They fought through the tek cave, facing beasts of many kinds, when at last, they reached the Overseer. They fought valiantly, until only one warrior from each tribe remained. They fought together, and finally, the Overseer fell. But the Overseer was what had created the land, what kept balance, what kept peace, and without him, the Ark fell apart...

150 Years Later

Two fisher men went through the river in their boat. " No fish." One of them said. " Makes you wonder where they all went." The other one wasn't paying attention. He was looking at the water, or more, what was in it. Ceolocanths and other fish littered the water. They were dead. And so was the Ark.

the end of the game.

but how did you get too this point…

ark is a beautiful game. from punching dodos to shooting rexes with rockets. its full of a good game that you would want to play.

it keeps you on edge and when you fall you get back up and chuck stuff at what you really really hate.

day 1: you start out getting basic stuff. after a while you build a basic shack.

day 2: you go and tame your self 2 dilos 3 dodos and a parasaur.

day 3 and so on…

see ark is a game where you can befriend dinos and fight bosses or go and get good gear. its the game ive been looking for and i found it.

me and my sister are nearly killing ourself if we didn’t have tames.

you have to have tames. from getting metal to doing caves with your tek raptor you need them, there a great part of this beautiful game.

this is the game we love. -with love: oogabooga

if you think we need bosses in ark mobile

So here's a story. I wanted to defeat the overseer without an army so I had 1 of some good carnivores and a dodo and a big monke. THE DODO SERIVED AND THE GIGA DID NOT! A LEVEL 350 DODO SERIVED THE ALFA OVERSEEAR AND A LEVEL 100 GIGA DID NOT! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

ARK

Survival Evolved

Prologue: The Prophecy

When the rising sun shall dawn

The songs of war shall drum

If man does not survive

Then to the eye we’ll all succumb

At the fist of Megapithicus

At the fang of the Broodmother

The great burning wings of fire

Shall fall to the one chosen survivor

When all hope seems lost

And times are most dark

It falls to one, lone man

To save the mighty ARK

— The Wyvern King

Feeding it a dilo baby's

Wild

To

escape this creature you need a Dino which is an it

I was fighting gamma overseerwith 15 rexes in the arena i got the oversser to half and 10 rexes dead quarter health 1 rex left and we won

Rip 14rexs

Riddles of the Phoenixes series

The War of the Phoenixes.

Chapter seven: News.

Far, far away from the Shadow phoenix kingdom….

A woman with short auburn hair, tanned skin with brown freckles on her face and chocolate brown eyes, and was wearing metal Tek armor walks through a camp. A camp of soldiers. Her soldiers. She marched up to her small cabin that they had built for her and entered. A table stood in the middle of the room, a map spread across it. A soldier stood in front of it. He had black curly hair, a black beard, and dark tanned skin and also wore Tek armor. (All the soldiers in her camp did) He straightened whenever he saw her and gave a short bow. “General Owen.” She said. The soldier nodded. “Yes ma’am?” General Owen asked. “I think you know the news?” His commander asked. “Yes ma’am. Our scouts have heard the news that Prince Tom of the Shadow Phoenixes is attacking kingdoms now. Am I right, ma’am?” General Owen asked. She nodded.

“Yes. Unfortunately our data is a little behind due to the fact that we have been secluded from the rest of the world. We have to stop him.” She said. General Owen raised one eyebrow. “So what do we do?” He asked. His commander smiled grimly. “We get ready to attack as soon as the time is right. We will take most the army, but leave some soldiers to protect the women and children.” She said. “Are you ready General Owen?” General Owen nodded and patted his sword. “I’m ready my lady. We would all be honored to ride into battle with you, our Warrior Queen.” He said. The Warrior Queen nodded. “Then prepare for war. We have a long one in front of us.”

-SunnyFox57

Survivors: Book 1, the Island (read the full thing on Wattpad, username AberrantJackieJackal)

"Get back! He is our son, you can't have him!" The bright green dragon screamed. The diamond appeared to roll its large eye as it disintegrated, reforming into the shape of a larger dragon. Not the same type of dragon as Bernie, no. A much more powerful beast stood before them. "What is this witchcraft?!" The dragon screamed again. The diamond, which was also a dragon now, slammed him aside. "Daddy!" Bernie called out. He was only two years old, but he knew good from bad. And this was certainly not good. "Take Bernie and Go! I'll hold this monster off!" His dad yelled to his mom. She took Bernie and ran. He didn't like that. He wanted his dad to be safe! The diamond found them and formed into a large spider this time. "You can't escape fate." It mocked as it yanked Bernie away. "Mommy!" He cried out, desperately trying to free himself. The large Tek spider shot a web, pinning Bernie's mom to the wall. "You shall stay until you free yourself, or until you starve. Whatever comes first." The diamond said. "Who do you think you are?!" The mother dragon yelled. The Tek spider's mouth curved into a smile. "Fool. I am the alpha guardian of this universe. I am the Overseer." Bernie's last memories of those days were pained screaming, from both him and his mom as he was dragged off into only guardians knew where.