It was dark. I couldn't feel or see anything, couldn't hear anything other than my breathing, and I didn't appear to be anywhere. I just was, but at the same time, wasn’t.
"Whoa," Jason said into my speakers. We had suits on, but I couldn't see my helmet. Well, I couldn’t see anything without light.
"When are we?" Aaron asked. I couldn't tell where anyone else was, as the world before stars was as dark as a black hole.
"Just before the light from the blooming of the first star can reach us," Robert said. "I've positioned us so that we're in a circle equidistant around it."
First, there was a point in the center of a now visible cloud. It twinkled, bigger and bigger as the hydrogen around it ignited and fused, forming the first helium nuclei in our universe. The immense gravity of the object pulled on everything around it, and though I was at least a few light minutes away from the center, I could feel the increasing gravity.
And I was falling.
"Hey dude," Cole said. "I think we're getting pulled in."
I could see things now. I could see my space suit, but in the pull of the first star, it still weighed almost nothing. The others were still too far away for me to see.
"I can fix it," Aaron said. Suddenly, the gravity of the star disappeared. He smoothed the curve of spacetime surrounding us.
"Smooth," I said. "For all of us?"
"Yeah," Aaron said. "It's hard, but I'm holding on."
"Why did you bring us here?" Jack asked.
"Everything has a beginning," Robert said. "And likewise, everything has an end."
"Thank you," I said. "Thank you for coming to your senses, Bobby. There is one more thing for you to show us."
"Yes," Robert said. "One last stop." Suddenly, we were no longer near the beginning of time. A lone star followed a decaying orbit around a massive gravitational anomaly. There were no other stars in the sky. This was the last star falling into a black hole.
"This is the end, isn't it?" Joey whispered.
"Yes, the end of all light in our universe," Aaron said.
"It's beautiful," Robert whispered. The outer layers of hydrogen in the star flung out and joined the depths of the black hole.
"It's so depressing, so crushing," Cole almost laughed. "Why?"
"Everything, even light ends. Only nothing prevails," I said. "And thus, the person who receives the speed of light is the only person who has no reason to change it at all."
And that would be Robert, Shadow said.
"What? That doesn't even make any sense!" Aaron demanded.
"It will, after this," I assured. "Bobby, take us back to Mars, in our own time. We have one last piece of unfinished business."
"Cole and Aaron's duel," Jason said.
"But there was so much I would have done with that power!" Aaron said. "Robert, why not… use it?"
"The universe needs stability," Robert said. "I've shown you what you needed to see. Now, goodbye." He disappeared, leaving us to the end of light.
"This is the end," Cole whispered into the helmet radios. "This is the end of the game, the end of the fun. He's just going to leave us to die out here. Claire, you have to do something!"
"Give him time," I said. "Just give him a break. He's been through a lot."
"Yeah, time," Aaron scoffed. "We're stuck here, rotting at the end of light, at the mercy of his stupid emo phase. Not only does he have control of the speed of light, but we can't get out of here without him, and he just f'ing–"
Suddenly, we were back, each of us lying in our bunks on Mars. The sun was rising over the perpetual black sky, just as it was before we left. Robert's bunk was empty, though.
Aaron fumbled out of his bunk. "The f–"
"Did that just really just happen?" Jack asked. "That thing with the star, then the star and black hole, and all of that?"
"Yeah. Did you just give the most boss ability to the one person who won't mess with it just because of some stupid nonsense?" Aaron demanded, walking up to my bunk.
"That's the point. The universe needs stability," I said. "Cole, Aaron, are you two ready?" We got our lazy butts out of bed and circled together. "Is it time for your duel?"
"Are there any rules?" Cole asked.
"Is it team or individual?" Aaron asked.
"No rules, individual fight," I said. "Do it any way you want. Whatever damage you cause will be reversed afterward."
Um, I'm not doing that, my writer said. I'm not fixing this mess.
I paused. Wait, what do you mean you're not…?
And don’t you dare warn them, my writer added.
Wait! No, but he's going to die. Aren't you going to save him? I protested. You fixed all the other things! Why not this?
My writer didn't answer. I sighed, hoping my friends could forgive me. There is nothing more annoying than a lie that doesn't come true.
"Do you think Robert's going to come back and watch?" Jason asked, distracting me.
"Don't know. Does it matter?" Jack remarked.
"In your own time, boys!" I told our fighters. Despite knowing the outcome of this fight since the start, I was still eager to see the actual event.
Cole and Aaron walked to the center of the room and took their places. It was finally happening. No more skirmishes. No more frivolous injuries.
Thanks for holding them together for this, my writer said. It's going to be epic.
I smiled. I can't wait. 758Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aKsGhlEGI
