Gregory's eyes lingered on us. He scoffed. "You always have a knack for humor especially when you are at your wit's end. I will say this one last time: stand down or face my wrath."

I stepped forward ripping more of my white dress. I messed up my hair a bit. "Suck on my dick, puta! That's never gonna happen!"

Leo stepped beside me. "What he said! Without the whole dick-sucking thing..."

"Right. Do you have a cloaca or a beak?" I asked my turtle friend with a smirk.

Leo let out a loud groan. "I can't believe you ask me that. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised."

"You love me too much to hate me", I commented.

The slider softly smiled. "Yeah... I do..."

I blinked. What was that about? He didn't mean it, did he?

"Oy! Heads up!" Warren warned. A large hand was coming for us. We separated. I summoned my shadow limbs. I stretched my arms to a floating island. I landed on the rock. I saw Leo floating a few meters away carrying Warren.

Cuddles hugged around my neck but did not choke me. Craig wasn't pleased. "Why fight your destiny?!" the villain hollered. "Everything will be perfect once you accept the changes!"

"Fuck that!" I yelled. "This place ain't our home! And you don't have a say in our destiny!"

"He's right!" Leo floated close by. "We have a say in where our paths lead. So what Beauty rejected you and chose the Beast! Big deal! You're a conceited jerk who thinks he's above everyone around him!"

"Ha! You're doing all this for a pity party? How pathetic are you!" I mocked the author.

"Silence! I will not be mocked by children!" Gregory said he tried swatting Leo like he's a pesky fly.

I growled. "Cuddles hang on", I ordered, to which Mrs. Cuddles happily obliged. I felt the shadows enveloped my legs. I jumped from rock to rock. As soon as I was close, I extended my shadow arms and threw a large boulder to Greg's face.

He didn't like that. I used my extended limb to hang onto a boulder nearby; I gave the bad guy a middle finger as I stuck out my tongue. He sneered at me. Cuddles laughed at my cheekiness.

Out of aggression, Gregory lifted his arm; bright, golden feathers flew out of his worn-out paper hand. I swung over to another rock, barely missing those feathers. One scraped my cheek. It sizzled on my skin. I landed on a rock. Seeing a flurry of feathers flying toward me, I extended my arms again and grabbed two boulders using them to block the projectiles.

A feather went through the blockage. It sunk into my shoulder. It felt like someone stuck a hot poker in there. I heard a yell at the east side. I dared a peek. Leo was fighting his own battle keeping Warren on his shoulder. A flock of shadow monsters with wings kept flying over to Leo. He slashed each one coming. Even at a distance, he was getting exhausted, but Leo was too stubborn to go down. I smiled at his dedication. I should keep going, too! We're too close to back down now!

An armada of projectiles flew toward my way. "Get off, Cuddles. I need to fight head on", I told the rabbit.

"Yes, Master!" she chirped, "Show Big Meanie Greggy your discord!"

Oh, I intend to. I jumped from rock to rock dodging feather to feather. Most of them tore through my dress and some scratched my skin. I threw one boulder at his face. He pushed it aside, but I lunged at his face punching him. I repeated it over and over again. I thought I had an edge until I was grabbed by a paper mâché hand. I winced as I was squeezed tightly.

"Merrill!" I saw Leo flying quickly with blazing swords.

No!

"Leo, get back!" I warned, but it was too late. The slider was grabbed too.

We struggled in Greg's grasp. I was getting weaker. I didn't know why. I was probably exhausted, but I knew Gregory was draining me. He's probably doing the same to Leo.

"I admired your tenacity", Greg said while draining us dry, "It is too bad your efforts were meaningless."

I was thrown off like an unwanted Christmas sweater. I roughly landed on a barren floating rock. I hissed hearing my bones crack. My limbs didn't want to move. Leo joined me in the same state. The light surrounding him was flickering. I tried to summon more shadows; a wisp of dark mist circled my fingers. We were reaching our limits. I reached my hand over to Leo's. Our fingertips touched briefly.

Leo's eyes met mine. "I don't want to stay here..." he said, weakly, "...I know we can pull through..."

I want to believe that so badly, but... "I don't think we can, Lee", I honestly said, "...we could barely stand... hell, I couldn't lift my middle finger to flip Craig off." Fuck. It was getting hard to speak. "I hate to say it... but we lost..." Did I forget to mention that I hate losing? Admitting defeat was the biggest pain I had to endure. "Gregory... won..."

The slider eagerly reached my hand tugging it firmly. "...we can't give up... not when we're so close... you're too stubborn to quit, anyway..."

I returned the tight gesture. "Lee... look at the facts... Gregory's got both our powers and ours are running out. Let's face it... we're out of time..."

Leo struggled to sit up while clutching my hand. His eyes were tired but held that fiery hope. "We can't just lie here! We have to... to..."

I sat up quickly. "Damn it, Leo! Face the facts! We lost! I can't feel any powers left! I'm drained! Capute! No tiene nada! I know you're just as drained as I am... I hate this as much as you do..."

Leo bit his lower lip. He knew what I said was true. "...we were so close... so close to going home... I thought we had it..."

I pulled the turtle for a hug. "I know... I hate losing to the smug bastard, too."

A loud, evil laugh ruined our moment. Fuck you, Craig! "Such sad faces! What happened to your famous gungho attitude? I thought I would get to experience your "power of these cashews". Should have known you was all talk and no act."

I growled. "The joke is "the power of these nuts! If you're going to spit my words in my face, at least say them right, pendejo!"

Lee held me in place. "Merrill, stop antagonizing the giant papier mâché guy."

"It was fun while it lasted, but this is your demise!" Greg proclaimed, bringing his giant fist down on us. I brought Leo close, hoping to shield him from the impact. I waited for the pain, but nothing came. I looked up to see a barrier surrounding us. I noticed the combination of gold and black. Was this from us? "What is the meaning of this?!"

I looked at Leo who was marveling at the sudden protection. "Remember what I said before big boi got here?" I asked Leo.

"About giving up?" Leo asked back.

"Forget all that shit. I lied."

The slider playfully rolled his eyes. "Good thing your confidence is back. When we get home, remind me to say I told you so."

With an eye roll as well, I stood up and held my hand to my friend. "One last dance?" I asked with a smile.

Leo smiled and took it. "I would love to." I pulled him up and wrapped an arm around his waist.

We're going home. The barrier surrounding us was a sign. A sign to end this once and for all! Despite our fingers not fitting together, we interlocked; we made it work. Even with our minimum powers, they swirled around our palms dancing with glee. I locked eyes with Leo. He has seen it too as he became closer. His dark eyes brightened with hope.

We looked at Greg's scrunched face. "How is this possible?! You should not have power! Not you, me! I control this world! I have your powers! Why do you insist on continuing to fight? You have nothing! Nothing!"

Leo smirked at the exclamation. "Someone is throwing a temper tantrum."

"What a sad excuse of a man", I quipped. "He's crying crocodile tears."

"Such a sore loser."

"ENOUGH!" The giant man brought his hand onto us.

We jumped up and landed on another land. I twirled my friend in a small circle. His feet trailed across the ground. The line he drew became golden as swords sprung from the ground. Leo decided to pull a bold move and switched positions; he grabbed me and twisted around so he was over towering me. I smirked. I liked the change. Leo returned a smirk.

I brushed my fingertips over my shadow. It spread across my wider; multiple shadows appeared. They approached the swords; each one grabbed a sword despite the brightness hurting them. They lunged at Gregory as the giant summoned swords of his own.

Leo and I danced on our little rock. We switched leads every minute, but we synchronized our steps even without music. We focused on not only our dancing but also on our combined energy to create something big. Gregory managed to defeat the shadows. We faced Gregory who looked annoyed at our little display. We were back-to-back.

"Had enough, bitch?" I asked, mockingly.

"Please. Your tricks have been downgraded", Greg replied, "I was prepared for a more spectacular display."

Leo gripped my hand. "You heard the man. He wants a "spectacular display". Should we give it to him?" I could hear the turtle's cheeky smirk from behind me.

"I think we should, mi amigo", I replied.

We stomped in unison focusing on the last strength we had. Together we created a golem fused with our mystic energies. It was half dark and half light. The look of shock on Gregory's face made my fucking day!

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The mastermind threw a punch out only for our golem to grab it like it was nothing. It threw a punch of its own causing the man stumbled back. "THIS CANNOT BE!"

"It is! This is adios to your lil' fairytale!" I yelled. We raised our entwined hands up.

"FYI, Craig, you're not worth the male lead anyway!" Leo said to the villain.

Our golem headbutted Gregory hard enough for the giant to crack. The cracks expanded and scattered throughout his body. He exploded into bits and pieces. His body fell onto our little island.

Leo and I congratulated each other by hugging it out! We finally won! Hell yeah! Now it's time to go home! I couldn't wait to binge-watch Overlord; Lord Ainz is calling my name! Okay, he's not but I secretly wanted him to.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. We were still in the pocket dimension with the fallen bad guy.

"I don't get it", Leo said, "Should we be home by now? Why are we still here?"

"I don't know, Lee. I'm just in the dark as you are", I said.

A black hole appeared above our heads. It sucked up the landscapes and everything in its path. The hole grew bigger with each suck.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled. "Why is there a fucking black hole? Everything should be back to normal!" Gregory released a weak chuckle even with his body breaking and disappearing. I grabbed his neck. "What's funny, jackass? You lost!"

"How naïve you two are. Adorable you are together", Gregory said but coughed.

I tightened my grip. "Get to the point, dipshit."

"I was never the controller, the author, the mastermind, or whatever you thought of me. I was a vessel for the book. The book held more power than I could grasp. It was displeased with the outcome... the ending was not to its satisfaction... everything will be reversed..." he released another weak chuckle. "The story might change. Your memories might be erased. Despite your efforts, you have lost. I admired your tenacities. It is too bad we will not see each other again..." his body disintegrated into ashes blowing into the vortex.

The debris grew stronger. The gusto was strong enough to lift us. Leo was lifted farther. I quickly grabbed his hand as I summoned a little ounce of mystique energy to form dark claws and sink them into the ground. I held my friend close. Leo held onto me with all his strength. I felt my heels leaving my feet. Eh, never liked those shoes anyway. I cringed feeling my nails sliding off the land inch by inch. I looked over to Leo. Our eyes locked. Without uttering a word, we basked in each other's comfort.

We dread it would be our last encounter. We hugged tightly waiting for our doom.

~Lady Ai~

I finally got it! After waiting for so long, I finally got my hands on the book! I, Warren Stone, won! God, that felt good. I dropped the book with glee. Lady Luck had a soft spot for lil' ol' me! After the two lovebirds' final attack, Gregory and the book were defused. Gregory landed in a beaten state on a lone, small island. As for the book, it landed right in my arms.

...okay! Full disclosure, the book landed ON me, squishing my tiny body! In theory, it technically DID fall into my arms. Which victory handed to me on a silver platter!

Or rather, a hard-covered book.

I flopped the heavy book with a thud. It opened to a middle section as the writing pulsed like a heartbeat. I pulled out a discarded feather Leo disposed of as a projectile. I could be a god! I have all the power here!

I was separated from the rabbit, but I didn't care! She was annoying to deal with! Well... it's better than being alone and talking to myself. But her manners are more aggravating than a toddler's!

No more distractions! It's now or never! I can control everything here!

"MASTER!" I looked up to see the light blue rabbit getting sucked into the black hole. Okay. I write in the book. Everything will be back to normal, per se. If I write in this book, I will be the author; the god of this world. My eyes trailed to a boulder away from the sucking vortex. The two lovebirds were clutching onto each other with their dear life. Merrill was holding onto the rock. His claws were slipping inch by inch.

I looked at my reflection on the golden feather. I could change everything with just a few sentences. I could put myself as the hero. To be respected and loved by everyone here! I could be like Gregory... without the craziness.

Or maybe...

I pricked the tip of the feather into my tiny hand drawing blood. I started writing in the book before the words disappeared.

A bright light escaped from the black hole covering everything in sight.