Inner Man Theatre

    Oh…

    Yeah…one more thing….

    “This was MY TEST!!!!  Do you know how many years I’ve waited, how many hollow victories I arranged for you to have over me and my little toys, just to see if you would cave to reality or not?!  All those days spent with Fiona and Shadow, your Asteroid Boy days, your Astro Bomber days…it was all methodically laid out, letting you think you’re the unbreakable hero stuck in this glass jar called the imagination.  Part of me is FURIOUS that you actually passed my test…and yet…part of me couldn’t be happier…because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about humanity…it is at the greatest moment of your success that your foulest demise waits in the shadows to devour your pathetic heart.”

    The mechanical mime Arion Jekel gives this revelation to AB, and all hope fades.  Sure, they’ve beaten him before…but was it all really a ploy?  Was Arion really the one who broke the Drawing Board?  Was he really behind Ultimax?  With this power, what is he truly capable of, and can he even be beaten?!

    “What interest do you have in me that you’d go through all this trouble?” AB asks.

    “I take joy out of torturing you and your precious System Director.  Ultimax was your equal.  I am the author’s.  Sure, I could have ended you at any time, but you may have noticed that the one thing I love more than killing the heroes…is turning them into villains.”  With this said, the mime fades into the darkness now surrounding the battlefield and gives an all-too-familiar mechanical laugh that is…hard to describe, hard to forget.

    As the kids look on, Paul moves in next to Gigi and whispers, “Don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”

    She thanks him and says, “I’ve got yours, too.”

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