Chapter 1

"Ready or not, here I come!"

I swing my fists toward the wall of the building, the bricks and concrete no match for my sheer strength.

"Good work, brother, you're doing great." Felix calls from the balcony above. He whips around and doges a few cascading bricks.

I laugh. Life is like that. I wreck, Felix fixes, I then get tossed off the side of the building, repeat. I used to get mad at this, but now, as they say, 'one game at a time', right?

I climb up the side of the building, smashing a few windows and walls as I passed. The player outside guides Felix down to repair the damage that I have caused.

"Ralph, seriously?!" Felix asks as hops down from the upper floors, huffing. "This is tiring me out!"

"Come on, it's the 38th level after all. The second to last. How easy would you want it to be?" I reply as I leap to the next windowsill and wreck some more.

As superior as my wrecking skills are, they are no match to the player's quickness, and before I know it, I am lying face down in the mud puddle again.

"Get up, Ralph, it's the 39th level." Felix calls.

The 39th level.

Something I haven't heard of in quite a while.

I've heard quite a long while ago that when a player managed to reach the last level, and win, something special would occur.

For the months that happened afterward, not one player came even CLOSE to the 30th level, let alone beat the game. The words slowly faded within the dust cloud of smashing bricks and rapid footfalls in the years that followed…until now.

"Oh, come on." I say, rubbing my head with one oversized finger. "What will happen then? A bonus level? A new character? PUH-LEASE. This only happens to new and shiny games out there, not old folks like us."

"You're calling yourself old?!" Felix laughs with a chuckle. Then he hops away.

I fight to wipe the grin away from my face. Yeah, I'm old, so what? I'm still standing.

I raise my fists and yell "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!" And with that, the 39th level started.

I leap back into action, slamming my huge fists on every surface I can find. Felix whoops above me, while the Nicelanders scream and hug in terror while they witness the swirling storm of bricks and fury around them.

"Almost…there!" Felix calls. Seeing he has repaired most of my damage, I quickly go and smash a few more windows. 'Man, this player is so good!' I think, 'maybe she does stand a fighting chance against-'

I lose my footing on a loose edge, and I gasp as I fall backwards, barely holding on to the ledge. Felix sees his chance and goes up the fix the rest of the windows. Before long, the Niceland Building is looking as new as it could be.

Felix has won.

I climb up to the roof beside him, and give him a pat, or more like a painful slap, with my strength, on his shoulder. "Nice work, Felix."

"Aww, gee thanks." Felix replies while rubbing his shoulder. I feel myself being lifted up by the Nicelanders, and being tossed off the building.

After I landed, I lifted my head, just quick enough to glance at a wall of digits and letters scrolling across the screen, blocking the light from outside the game.

A kill-screen. I realize. I heard before that some games like Pac-Man had kill-screens to signify the end of the game, but…to be honest; it's not that special really.

"Well, whatdaya know." I say to myself as I stand and scrub the mud off my overalls. "Hey Felix, you wanna celebrate? I mean, it's the last level and all, and…"

I stop, as I see Felix pointing to a space behind me. I whirl around, seeing nothing. Oh wait, no, a random mass of flickering green pixels floating in midair.

I stand, transfixed, as the pixels pulsed with energy, and changed, slowly forming a being before my eyes.

The pixels shift and pulse, giving in more detail to the being every second. From what I can see, it is a human, about my size and everything.

At long last, the pixels stop flickering, and Felix, the Nicelanders, who at last ventured out of their homes, and I gaze upon the being before.

Then I let out a gasp, we all did, and then their eyes dart to me, to the being, then back to me again.

For the new being looks completely like myself.

From the square jaw, the bulky body, to the oversized hands and feet, there is no doubting that winning the game had unlocked a being like me. Short for two brown strands of hair that flopped over his left forehead, and clad in a green plaid shirt with dark blue overalls, you couldn't tell me from him.

My lookalike opens his eyes. They are the greenest I have seen, playful and sparkling with mischief.

"Hello Ralph," he says, in a voice slightly higher than mine, "my name is RJ."

He stops for a moment, shifting his footing, then continues,

"I am believed to be your brother."