Chapter 26: The Victor

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Arthur swallowed hard. He found himself glancing nervously between the man and the board, not sure which should concern him more. The man, who stared back at Arthur with steely confidence and dead eyes, or the board, which predicted at the moment a rather grim outcome to this deathly game. Both felt a bit overwhelming at the present time, so the point man resolved to look at neither, averting his eyes to the ground instead.

He remembered the scenario that Nathaniel described, if only vaguely at first. It was an early contract job; back when Arthur had picked the first team he could find who didn't reject him or try to kill him outright. He had known they were monsters. Just the way they talked about past jobs was enough to tell him that. But they had respected Arthur enough to work with him, and that was enough for the young point man.

The job too had seemed suitable enough. No apparent strings attached, just a simple in and out deal. After all, neither team had been told that it was a contest.

The moment Arthur had worked out what was really going on inside the dreamscape; he had known they were going to lose. In fact, by the time his team first encountered the other extraction team; they were already on their way out, information in tow.

So the point man did what he always did. What he was hired to do.

He divided his team, the forger and architect staying behind to distract their opponents on the 3rd level, while he and the extractor went back to the previous. Finding the team's unconscious bodies had been easy enough, as had pulling the trigger on the only one who hadn't been shot by Arthur's team a level down. However, the last team member, the one who should have been watching the bodies, was never found.

It was the architect. A man who's face Arthur never saw. And, after making it out of the dreamscape, never thought he'd see.

Until today that is.

Unsteadily, Arthur tried to return his attention to the game at hand. Almost subconsciously, he found himself moving a piece. He was too shaken to contemplate whether the move was good or not.

"I suggest you make an effort to stay focused," Nathaniel spoke calmly, obviously noting Arthur's distress. Casually, he moved forward another one of his pieces. Arthur felt a surge of relief to see that the man did not claim another white piece in the process.

"I'm…I'm sorry." The point man felt himself saying, his throat dry.

Nathaniel shook his head, not looking at him. "It's a little late for that."

Arthur ignored him. "But surely there's something else I can do. Anything please, just take her out of the picture."

"Since when do I start doing favors for you?" Nathaniel scoffed, the softness present in his voice not a moment before suddenly vanishing. "All the shit I went through, and you have the nerve to plead me for another way? No, there's no turning back now."

Silence fell heavy upon the room following the man's statement, as Nathaniel paused to allow his words to sink in. Arthur again avoided looking at the man, staring sightlessly at the game board instead. He allowed his mind to become intent on the small ridges left by the pieces, arranged in their senseless little pattern. He knew how they all moved, but he had no clue what he was doing.

He was going to lose. Ariadne was going to die.

And all because of the missing architect from so many years ago.

Suddenly Arthur felt empty. It was like a hole was opening in his chest, growing slowly to consume him from inside out. His racing mind was stilling, his fear and anger and determination all gone. He was done. He didn't think about fighting to save Ari anymore. In his mind, she was already lost.

He couldn't think about how far he'd come, how he and the team had fought their way through 3 different games, and flew around the entire world just to get to this point. He was consumed with fear, and regret. So much regret.

A small fraction of it was for Nathaniel. And the first game which had determined this entire series of events. But most of it was for Ari. And everything he could have done to save her.

All of the doubts that had been plaguing these past 2 weeks came flooding back to him. And he wasn't sure he could fight them back again. Not with defeat right in front of him.

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No.

No.

NO.

He wouldn't.

He'd come too far. Way too far to be defeated by doubt. Especially at the last possible moment. He'd fought the fear of failure for too long to turn tail at the possibility of it. How many times had he and the team almost broken down before? How many times had they manipulated into turning on each other, had the tension practically eaten them alive?

But more importantly, how many times had they overcome it? Every time. Without fail.

Arthur was no fool. He knew that there was still a very high probability that he was going to lose. That he was going to have to face Ari one last time, just to watch her die in front of him. Just like Nathaniel had planned right from the very beginning. But he wasn't going to give up early because of fear. Because if there was one thing he knew about games, about every game ever played, it was that the victor is not determined from the very start. There is no guarantee of win or loss, no matter the players. In the span of a game, no matter if it lasts weeks, days, hours, or minutes, anything could happen.

Even miracles.

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Arthur smirked, blinking once. Then he raised his eyes to meet Nathaniel's, who was understandably surprised to see the point man's shift in mood.

"Sorry, you're right." The point man apologized, shifting in his chair to sit up straight.

"I'm right?" Nathaniel echoed, clearly lost, and caught off-guard by Arthur's sudden shift in mood.

"There's no turning back. For either of us."

"But what reason would I have for turning back?" Nathaniel pressed, suddenly agitated, and not entirely without fear. "The past holds nothing for me."

"Exactly." Arthur's smirk deepened. "It's all we can do as humans to keep moving forward. Even when the world turns against us. It's one of our greatest traits, our resilience. Our drive to just keep… moving." Arthur slid a piece forward.

Nathaniel, staggered by the movement, struggled to gather his wits. Prematurely, fearfully, he moved a piece forward.

Boom. Arthur toppled it with a quick, sure movement.

He moved again.

Boom, yet again a black piece fell.

Soon the board was a rapid flurry of moves and captures. Arthur moving with cool concentration, Nathanial struggling to match with feigned confidence and risky plays. White and black pieces alike clattered off the board, first a pawn, then a rook, then a bishop, then 2 more pawns, then a queen. Arthur was at the same time acutely aware of every move, and unaware of it all. It was a strange feeling, to live so fully on the edge of failure and victory like this. He couldn't say he enjoyed it, but he mastered it.

"Check," Nathanial piped up suddenly, not without a bit of uncertainty. Mildly surprised, Arthur surveyed the board. He'd been so offensive in his movements that he'd almost forgotten to defend his own king at all. The point man felt almost embarrassed upon realizing such, but more thankful realizing that he still had an out.

Obediently, he moved his king out of the check. Nathaniel's retaliation came almost immediately. "Check, again."

Arthur frowned, drawing his attention closely to the corner of the board containing his king. Though he still had an out to the check, he had a bad feeling about the whole scenario. Again, he moved his king to safety.

Again, Nathaniel's retaliation was immediate; though this time he could not immediately gain a check. A quick analysis of the board, however, showed that his next move would end in another check- no. Arthur scanned the board again. No, a checkmate.

Nathanial seemed to have realized this too, because a small grin began sliding its way back onto his face, and he glanced over at Arthur belittlingly. "Is there a problem, Arthur?"

Go to hell. Arthur mentally snapped, trying to refocus his attention on the matter at hand. It was clear that the game would be decided depending on how well Arthur played his next move. He could always move his king in anticipation for the checkmate, though Arthur was sure that would only delay the outcome, not change it. He could use his last remaining rook to shield the king from the attack. Yet that would just lose him a rook, and then his king at a later date.

No, Arthur reasoned, running wouldn't help him here. He needed a move.

Just one move. A game changing move.

And then he found it. An opening, so small and so incredibly lucky that it literally floored the point man. It was so unlikely, so easily missable. In his early state of mind, Arthur was sure he would have glanced right over it. Yet now, when he needed it, he didn't.

And it was all thanks to a well-placed pawn, and a bishop Nathaniel had forgot to capture. Slowly, hardly believing the move himself, Arthur slid the piece into place.

"Checkmate."

"Impossible." Nathanial didn't hesitate in his reply, though it took him a full two seconds to tear his eyes away from Arthur's king (and his intended victory) to look at his own king. When he did, his eyes immediately widened. Yet Arthur saw him check it over. Then check it over again. Then check the validity of Arthur's last move. Then check the entire playthrough of the game.

This was done frantically on the Nathanial's part, and the point man could clearly see the denial and anger in his eyes.

"I've-

"NO!" Nathanial shouted, his eyes wide. "You couldn't have, it's not possible it's not… You couldn't."

"It's over Nathanial." Arthur said with a note of finality, standing up.

"But- but I had you. The whole game, I had you. You had no chance- there was no chance-

Suddenly, Arthur found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Shit-" the point man took a quick step back, not nearly enough to be out of range, but just enough for him to focus on the fact that it was indeed a gun that he was staring at.

"There was no way you could have one. I made this game, the whole thing, unwinnable. Nobody- no team could be that perfect." Nathanial was visibly shaking, his voice unsteady and his pupils huge.

"Nathanial you promised. Remember what you said? You said if I won, you'd set her free, you'd turn yourself in!" Arthur found himself shouting, trying to get through to the man, and almost trying to reassure himself of the promise.

The man didn't seem to hear him. "It was unwinnable! She told me it was unwinnable!"

"She-?"

"You couldn't! You didn't!"

And then everything went black.

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A/N: Oh god I'm so excited I'm gonna throw up. I'll probably be writing the next chapter immediately after you see this one posted, so expect the next update to be really soon.

Thanks for the support! The end is nigh!