“X! Who did you call?” Murgul asked as X walked back into the room.

  “I got us help,” X replied in his typical, cold tone. “Please welcome Dr. Micheal Roberts, and his assistant Mitchell. They’re here to help us. They are us.”

  A man in a white coat walked in. He had a stethoscope around his neck and spectacles on his nose. A man walked in behind him, with a sword sheathed to his belt. They both looked just like Micheal, albeit the man in the coat was older. The man in the coat pushed his glasses up to his eyes before kneeling next to Mikayla’s body. She convulsed briefly and energy continued crackling along her body.

  “All of you, call me Dr. Roberts. It’s much less confusing,” the man said, “X, what happened to her?”

  “She tried to use The Shogun’s portal to travel to a destroyed realm. She was reckless,” X replied.

  Myriil picked up his sword to not interfere with the doctor’s work.

  “Hmm. I can see energy crackling along her physical body, but there is energy zipping about within her spirit as well. I will see what we can do,” he said.

  “Do you think you can do anything about the Prime?” Murgul asked.

  The doctor looked at Micheal briefly before replying, “There is nothing I can do for him. You must find a cure on your own.”

  “That’s a shame,” Myriil said.

  “Anyway. Mitchell! Stab the young woman!” Dr. Roberts shouted.

  “On it!” Mitchell replied.

  Mai gasped. “Don’t stab Mikayla!” she shouted.

  Everyone turned to look at her. It even seemed that Mikayla and Micheal managed to roll over and face her.

  “What? Did you all assume that I couldn’t speak?” Mai said, being much louder than her usual self.

  Everyone stayed quiet until the doctor spoke.

  “I assure you, no harm will befall Mikayla when she gets stabbed. The Angelic Blade heals instead of harms,” he said shortly before Mitchell plunged the blade into Mikayla’s abdomen.

  A golden glow began pouring out of the sword, spreading to cover Mikayla’s body.

  “The sword does still leave a scar,” Mitchell said.

  Mike cracked his knuckles to get everyone’s attention. “We still need to find the cure for Micheal’s realmwalking sickness,” he stated.

  “You’re right,” X said. “Do you know where we could find something like that?”

  “I do not,” Dr. Roberts stated.

  “Hmm. I think I have an idea,” X said: “Mike, Myriil, come with me. We’re going somewhere that might be able to help Micheal. Mai, come if you want.”

  X left the room, with Mike and Myriil following him out.

  “Mitchell, I believe that is enough. We can go now,” Dr. Roberts said.

  Mikayla began to stir, slowly. She sat up, before coughing a little into a closed fist.

  “Mai? Where is everyone?” Mikayla asked.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Young woman, be careful in the future. You could have killed yourself. You won’t be fit to travel for a short while. I’ll be back in three days to check on you,” Dr. Roberts said.

  “Who are you?” Mikayla asked.

  “I’m Dr. Micheal Roberts,” he replied, “I’m you, and her, and that guy in the corner too. My assistant here is Mitchell.”

  “Um, okay,” Mikayla said.

  Dr. Roberts pushed his glasses up. When he finished, a bright light flashed and he and Mitchell had disappeared. Mai stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Mikayla asked.

  “I’m going with X,” Mai replied in her typical soft tone.

  “Where is X going?” Mikayla asked.

  “To help Micheal,” Mai responded.

  Mai left the room to find X, Mike, and Myriil sitting on some decorative stones.

  X stood up. “Let’s go.”

  X disappeared as his body converted into golden ones and zeros. Myriil’s body froze into a blue shell before shattering into snowy powder which quickly disappeared. Thousands of golden slashes appeared before her eyes before she disappeared from the surface of Shogun Noryki.

  * * *

  Mai appeared in the void. She hadn’t been here many times, as she didn’t exactly enjoy traveling. X was also nearby, along with Myriil. Mike burst forth for the glass orb that represented Shogun Noryki just after she arrived. He somersaulted perpetually, unable to stop himself.

  “Alright. Follow me,” X said.

  X began floating through the space between realms. He moved slowly as if he was waiting for something. Myriil began to follow X and pushed Mike along in the right direction. Mai started floating shortly after.

  X led them past dozens of crystals of varying shapes and colors. She saw a few other realmwalkers going about their lives. She noticed Howard entering one of the realm crystals, but he didn’t notice her. X suddenly stopped moving in front of one of the crystals.

  “This is the one,” he told everyone. Then he touched it, and he disappeared.

  “Ooh! Look at this!” a man said. He sat in a desk chair, but all of his machines were absent from the room.

  “What is it?” the man next to him asked. He wore a golden suit and had a giant eyeball in place of his head.

  “My tests are leaving that spot they’ve been holed up in! Oh! The Shadow Core took one of them as well! You should be more excited, this is good for business,” the first man replied. He gesticulated wildly when he spoke, his robotic arm flying wildly.

  “Why is that good for business? Your test subjects barely ever die! You hardly ever give me anything to mass produce,” the man in the golden suit said.

  “That just proves that the longevity function works!” he said as he threw his arms up in the air. “I’m fulfilling my purpose by creating all of these artifacts, I don’t particularly care about business.”

  “That’s my problem!” the man shouted angrily. “You fulfill yourself because you are The Blacksmith! I am The Businessman! I need business!”

  “If Subject #4748 has his way, your purpose won’t matter!” The Blacksmith giggled before beginning to cackle maniacally. “He wants to control EVERYTHING!” his voice boomed before his cackling continued.

  A sword popped into existence midair, beginning to fall before The Businessman caught it. The Blacksmith turned around.

  “You want to fight, aye? Let’s fight,” he said. A blacksmithing hammer materialized in his hand. He reached his arm up and gently hit a gong.

  “You cheat with your armies!” The Businessman shouted before he charged at the Blacksmith.

  He swung his arm up to block The Businessman’s sword. It barely made a dent. The Blacksmith swung his hammer into The Businessman’s ribs. He cried out in pain as he was launched into the wall. Blood dripped onto his suit. The Businessman rushed The Blacksmith before thrusting his sword toward The Blacksmith’s flesh arm. The Blacksmith materialized an iron ingot over his arm and the sword scraped against it. The ingot fell to the ground as The Blacksmith and The Businessman faced each other, waiting for the other to make their move.

  The Businessman looked down at his golden suit. “You ruined my suit.”

  He began to make another charge but The Blacksmith swung his arm and hammer diagonally up in front of him. The Businessman had enough time to look over before he was hit in the face with a pillar of rock. The Businessman went flying again, this time making a crater in the wall. The massive eye he had for a head was bleeding profusely, and he lay on the ground in defeat.

  “You should know that you cannot beat a lord in their own realm. I am god here. You are nothing,” The Blacksmith spat a black glob at The Businessman.

  “I know,” The Businessman managed to groan out before disappearing in a shower of golden coins.

  “Hmph,” he murmured before shouting out, “X-X-98! X-X-99! You were both wrong! The Businessman will never help us! NEVER.”

  The Blacksmith flopped into his chair with his arms crossed like a child who had finished throwing a temper tantrum.