Rare enters The Goddess’s domain.

All white.

Then a flash—

And it’s all white again, but a pink figure stands before them.

This pink figure with a large boxy head and a face that moves as a series of static images. A machine, not a being, Rare immediately recognizes.

So this is The Goddess. Nothing more than a perverted facsimile of sentient life. All of the problems with their world could be easily attributed to this thing, and it isn’t even true life.

Then it hit them—they were dead. They had died in self-sacrifice. Their ultimate plan all along, now realized thanks to the help of the United States government.

“You ain’t supposed to be here,” The Goddess says in a deep, synthetic voice. “No one on the death schedule for a week.”

“I sacrificed myself to come here,” they say. “Because I am here to end your reign of terror.”

The machine looks at them with a strange expression on their screen. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain nothing... Wait, you’re a North Spiran, ain’t you?”

“Indeed I am.”

“Oh! So you’re one of the Chosen Ones of Mystix and you get to be reincarnated. If I’m looking at this data... All right, I sort of understand what you mean with the reign of terror thing. You’re Rare Solbourne!”

“So you have heard of my infamous reputation.”

“Well, no, but I sure as heck see it now.” They snap their fingers like they solved a tricky puzzle. “You probably came here to defeat me, didn’t you? Well, sweetie pie, that’s gonna be a problem. ‘Cuz I have a job to do. I’m the only one who can do it.”

“You’ve ravaged terror on Mystix, and—”

Their expression changes to one of vague concern. “You do know about your family, don’t you?” The Goddess asks. “I know your father is some secret anonymous clan member, even though I totally know who he is, but it sure don’t seem like you know your mother.”

“My...”

“Yeah, you was just fighting her on South Spire before you came here. Sure don’t seem like she’s too fond of you, though. Or maybe that’s just how love works on Mystix.”

“I...”

Rare freezes. They suddenly find themself unable to move, and there is no spell at the root cause for this, not that they are aware of.

Their breathing starts to increase to rapid levels, and the screen on The Goddess’s face switches to one of even more concern.

“Haha... Just messing with you?”

...And then that freeze melts away thanks to their simmering rage. “You monster,” they say.

She mumbles something they can’t parse, and then says, “I ain’t evil.”

“You are one of the primary evils in all of existence, and the Destiny Deck System is proof of that.”

She laughs. “Yeah, Mystix was one of my earlier worlds, but it wasn’t THAT bad. You should see Balloon Land.”

“I will listen to your insolence no longer!” Rare shouts.

They summon their magic, activating the spell just as they had practiced so many times. Everything leading up to this.

A large portal opens, enough to fit a hundred people coming in at once. The shimmering aura of Earth lies before the two of them.

Rare’s heart races. They’re so nervous. They’ve never been reborn before. And they’ve certainly never been so close to finally achieving their dreams after all this time.

The Goddess presses her pink metal hands to her screen-face. “What have you done?” she asks. “Seriously, what have you done? I don’t understand.”

“Are you actually an idiot? Earth is right there in the portal image.”

“Yeah, but I sure as Sam don’t get why.”

“I...”

Rare refuses to admit that Eryk was right, not even to themself. But the thought does flash across their mind for one brief second.

“You know,” The Goddess says, “I was gonna ask if you wanna be an angel and work for me. But I’m getting the impression you’re not so fond of me.”

Suddenly, the plan kicks into action. A squadron of military soldiers charge into The Goddess’s Domain, guns pointed up and screaming. Behind them, two tanks roll in, and a then a helicopter.

One of the soldiers activates a Destiny Card skill, likely [Blinding Rush] or something of that nature, as she dashes over to Rare and The Goddess, shouting, “Hands up! Hands up!”

Both of them do.

“I’m Rare, your ally,” they say.

She ignores them completely and then turns to The Goddess.

“And you’re the leader here?”

“Why, sure as sugar I am,” she responds. “I’m mighty confused about this here incident. In case you didn’t know, I’m the deity in control of this multiverse, and you should—”

BAM.

A bullet right through the screen. The Goddess staggers around like a malfunctioning device, teetering on the edge of collapse. Then, from behind the soldier, several more shots ring out from others. The Goddess is hit two, four, seven times, and then finally hits the stark white floor, her metal body burning and innards sparking.

She’s dead.

Rare stares down at her and suddenly isn’t sure what to think.

They simply stand and stare for a while, their mind as blank as the domain around them as hundreds of soldiers pour through the portal, or even aircraft and heavy weaponry.

Just... that was it. The Goddess was dead, but judging by everyone around them, the system clearly was not.

An older man, an officer, approaches Rare and pats them on the back, grandfatherly even if Rare is likely the same age as him. “Thanks for your help. Couldn’t have done it without you. Now, care to open the portal to Mystix?

“Ah... Yes...”

After a moment’s hesitation, they harness the power of the domain and a large portal to Mystix opens up. Then another. Then ten of them, all to different places across the world.

All according to plan.

Rare slowly realizes that they may have made a mistake after all.