Chapter 81

DREAMS COLLIDE (CONTINUED)

The Queen of Hearts stood within her cylindrical barrier, examining the creature across from her with undisguised fascination. The arena stretched out between them: platforms of crystallized starlight floating in an endless void, each one refracting light into impossible patterns.

Her opponent was decidedly not human. Four arms arranged in perfect symmetry, skin that seemed carved from shifting crystal, and eyes that...

She blinked.

The eyes existed in too many places at once, as if observing from angles her three-dimensional perspective couldn’t fully process.

—

[COMBAT TRIAL PARAMETERS]

Arena: The Fractured Cosmos

Valerie Sinclair of The Royals versus Vel’thanis of the Four Minds

Objective: Steal your enemy’s power from their mind and kill the enemy Dreamer

Preparation Phase: 00:05:00

—

You face us with such confidence, a voice bloomed directly in her mind, bypassing her ears entirely. The System’s translation overlaid it a moment later, but she ignored the echo. The direct touch was far more interesting.

“Telepathy,” she murmured, delighted. “How perfect.”

You sought this, as did we, Vel’thanis observed. Its mental voice carried harmonics, as if multiple minds spoke in careful synchronization. The System shaped this meeting from our desires.

“Clever things, aren’t you?” The Queen tilted her head. “Yes, I seek mastery over thoughts. Your kind of power specifically.”

Why?

“Because minds are such fascinating, beautiful things. And I do so enjoy understanding how they work.” She smiled pleasantly. “Though I suspect yours might be more resilient than most. Four Minds, was it? A collective consciousness?”

The alien’s form shifted slightly, crystal skin catching light differently. We are four who became one. Unity through conscious choice, not force. We seek the power to shape our emotions into permanent agreement.

“How progressive. I would assume most hive minds tend toward one lording over the others.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “Tell me, does death of the body mean death of the mind, or would your consciousness persist in some fashion?”

You research death often?

“I research power. Death is simply where most power ultimately leads.”

She’d pushed for something beyond the System’s examples, following breadcrumbs Benny had left in his ravings. And here stood her reward: an alien telepath from a universe that shouldn’t exist yet.

The Queen considered what she knew. The System matched opponents across realities, not within them. The first invasion had brought humans and saurians from other Earths. The System’s own messages indicated only Earth variants were affected. Yet here stood something decidedly not of Earth.

Which meant new realities were emerging. Or being created. Or had always existed in response to events that hadn’t happened yet.

The timeline was too convenient to ignore. Grimnir had rescued alien subjects mere days ago. Aliens who’d gained access to the System through torture and experimentation. Aliens who would likely be returned home eventually and spread the Dream like seeds on stellar winds.

But that dispersal hadn’t happened yet. They were still recovering on Earth.

“So the effect precedes the cause,” she mused aloud, watching Vel’thanis tilt its head at her words. “Grimnir sets in motion what has already occurred. The System creates realities based on futures that haven’t arrived.”

The alien’s mental presence pressed against her thoughts again, probing. She let it taste the edges of her mind, already cataloguing the texture of its psychic signature. When she claimed this power, she’d want to understand its shape.

“Poor Benny,” she continued conversationally. “Seeing time sideways must have been maddening. No wonder he waited for death to take him.”

***

Maximilian stood within his barrier, assessing the saurian across the volcanic arena with professional interest. Obsidian platforms rose from pools of lava, heat shimmer making the air dance between them.

The saurian was magnificent. Forty feet from snout to tail, scales that caught the molten light like black mirrors. The sail had evolved into something approaching wing membranes, stretched between elongated spine ridges. The skull had lengthened, teeth recurved.

It was almost a dragon.

—

[COMBAT TRIAL PARAMETERS]

Arena: The Molten Throne

Maximilian de Castillo of the Throne of Scales versus Skar-Vathos the Flame Tyrant

Objective: Claim your enemy’s power and kill the enemy Dreamer

Preparation Phase: 00:05:00

—

“Little mammal,” Skar-Vathos rumbled, his voice like grinding stone. “You smell of fear-sweat already. The heat bothers you.”

Maximilian didn’t acknowledge the words, materializing a length of chain to test in the ambient temperature.

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“I have burned warriors of your kind to ash,” the saurian continued. “Melted their weapons, boiled their blood. You are soft. Weak. Your thin skin will blister and peel.”

He’d done his research. Invoking his father’s name to access AEGIS’s classified invasion records had left a bitter taste, but pride was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Not when progress was at stake.

“Do you not speak, mammal? Or do you already know your death approaches?”

The files had revealed something crucial. The Saurian Hybrid-form reward was clearly adapted for human use, reshaped from something originally incompatible. But the real power wasn’t the form itself. It was some kind of evolutionary adaptation.

Maximilian adjusted the chain’s composition, testing his Control amidst the overpowering heat. His barriers were already more versatile than his uncle’s, if not as powerful. His chains could accomplish everything he needed with proper mastery.

“I will enjoy crushing your bones between my teeth,” Skar-Vathos promised. “Your marrow will season my victory.”

But his dragons... they remained static. Conjurations of his Dream and Will, powerful but unchanging.

“Evolutionary adaptation,” he muttered, watching Skar-Vathos stretch its near-wings. “Not for me. For them.”

The saurian paused, confused by the non sequitur. “You speak nonsense, mammal.”

Dragons that could grow. Adapt. Evolve beyond their conjured limitations. That would make him more than just another conjurer with delusions of grandeur. That would make him the Dragon Lord in truth.

“Perhaps the heat has already addled your mind,” Skar-Vathos suggested, lowering into a predatory crouch within his barrier.

The chain dissolved and reformed with better thermal resistance. First, he had to claim the power.

***

Julia floated within her barrier, feet lifting gently from the platform beneath. The arena spread out around them: spires of ice rising from clouds, wind currents visible as ribbons of silver light weaving between the structures. A dancer’s stage made of sky and storm.

Her opponent stood across from her, still human for the moment. A woman, perhaps thirty, with wild hair that already seemed to move independent of any breeze.

—

[COMBAT TRIAL PARAMETERS]

Arena: The Storm Cathedral

Julia Delvane of the Throne of Scales versus Kestra of the Eternal Tempest

Objective: Claim your enemy’s power and kill the enemy Dreamer

Preparation Phase: 00:05:00

—

She’d followed Maximilian’s advice, pushing for what she truly wanted rather than accepting the System’s limited menu. And now she faced exactly what she’d requested.

The woman began to change. Wind and ice spiraled around her in a double helix pattern, each element feeding the other. Her form grew translucent, flesh becoming vapor and frost, solid one moment and dispersed the next. Beautifully terrifying.

Julia closed her eyes, centering herself.

Maximilian would be fine. He always was. Her own victory was certain; she hadn’t really struggled in a fight since reaching Tier 2.

Alex crossed her mind briefly. She almost laughed. Of course Alex would be fine. The man had turned not losing into an art form. He’d probably find some way to make his opponent defeat themselves.

Cash, though...

She worried about him. He’d throw himself at whatever came without thinking, without planning. Just raw determination and questionable judgment. At least Raelene had stayed behind, though Draven declining had been surprising. She’d expected him to chase the power, but maybe Raelene’s caution had rubbed off.

Julia opened her eyes.

Across from her, Kestra had become something barely human. A living storm contained in a vaguely feminine shape, ice and wind braided together, straining against the barrier with primal fury.

Julia smiled and let frost spread across her palms. She was ready.

***

Frank sat on the bed in Matt’s guest room, the package resting on his lap. He’d told Helena he needed to use the bathroom, but he’d come here. His hands trembled slightly as he pulled at the tape.

Nobody should have known where they were. They’d been so careful.

Inside was a simple wooden box, unmarked and unremarkable. He lifted the lid slowly, as if something might jump out.

Inside were two vials nestled in velvet cushioning, filled with liquid gold that almost appeared alive. He stared at them for a long moment, knowing exactly what they were without needing to be told. He’d avoided it when it started, knowing his family needed a father and a husband, not a hero or a dead man. Years later, when it was just he and Helena, he’d convinced himself he didn’t want it.

With a vial of possibility within easy reach, he realized just how fragile that lie was.

A folded letter lay beneath them. He pulled it free and unfolded it carefully. The handwriting made him freeze. Spencer.

Franky,

Hope this finds you well. Thanks for looking after my baby cousin. I’ve checked in once or twice, but I’ve had to keep moving. They’re still after me, and I won’t drag any of you back into that mess.

But you’re out of time, brother. Watch what’s happening. Really watch. Things are about to change in ways that make the System’s phase one invasion look like a warm-up act.

Fear is the Dream killer. Always has been. Time to take the plunge.

I included two vials. I know you’d never leave Helena behind, and honestly, the world needs more people like both of you to have power. People who’ll use it right.

Don’t use them yet, though. Wait. Watch the show. You’ll know the moment when inspiration comes. Trust me on that.

Stay safe, stay smart. And when the time comes, don’t hesitate.

Spencer

P.S. As always, I don’t mean to be cryptic. You know how it is with my powers. Reveal the Path. Know the Path. Walk the Path.

P.P.S. Alexander will forgive you.

Frank read the last line multiple times, not understanding what he’d need to be forgiven for. Spencer had always been a real pain in the ass, and that was before he joined Augustus in the experimental power program and awakened something that had the military, AEGIS, and the UEG hunting him as if their lives depended on it. Something to do with pathways.

Then he looked at the vials again. Two choices. Spencer had known him well enough to know he’d never chase power if it meant leaving Helena behind as merely human.

If they would even take the chance.

A soft ping echoed in his mind.

“Frank!” Helena’s voice carried urgent alarm from the living room. “Frank, you need to see this!”

“Coming!” he shouted back. He snapped the box shut, hesitated for a heartbeat, then tucked it under his arm as he headed for the door.

Whatever was happening, Spencer had known it was coming. And he’d given them a choice.

The question was whether they’d be brave enough to take it.

***

[SYSTEM LOCAL GALACTIC BROADCAST]

Attention all sapient beings within Earth_1’s local galactic region.

The System now extends beyond the sapients of Earth. This message reaches every inhabited world, every station, every consciousness capable of comprehension within this galaxy.

The First Multiversal Solo Combat Challenge has commenced.

9,846 participants from across all cultivated realities now fight for power, survival, and the evolution of their Dreams.

All beings may now witness these conflicts through the System interface with full viewing controls or any available display or holographic projector.

All sapients within broadcast range may now begin awakening their Dreams.

Awakening pathways include immediate stimulation via enhanced serum (Currently exclusive to Earth_1) and natural manifestation through prolonged Dreamer exposure (Proximity to awakened individuals will eventually trigger personal awakening).

Restrictions apply: The System will not permit awakening in any being who has not reached their species’ recognized threshold of maturity. A Dream requires understanding of choice and consequence.

Continue the Dream.