Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex stared.

His mind sputtered to a complete halt. The information his eyes were feeding it just didn’t make sense. But there was no denying what was before him.

It was Teddy.

There absolutely no doubt about it. All the way down to the annoying ass electronic watch on his wrist, this was Teddy. It didn’t even look like he’d changed. His hair was well-kept as it had been before the apocalypse — his glasses perched just far enough down the bridge of his nose that they were positioned to be pushed back up in the right situation.

And, finally, it clicked.

“What the fuck?” Alex asked.

Teddy grinned. “Right? It feels like its been ages. You look different. In a good way. You’ve seen some shit, huh? We really need to catch up. It’s been—”

Alex lurched forward, his fist blurring through the air. It struck Teddy in the face — and passed right through. Alex stumbled, the momentum he’d gathered nearly sending him crashing right into the chair. He managed to catch himself, spinning as he took another look at his former friend.

Teddy was still sitting in the chair where he’d been a moment ago. He definitely hadn’t dodged. Alex was certain his fist should have connected. He clenched his teeth, extending a hand and flicking it through Teddy.

It passed clean through.

“You’re not even here,” Alex growled. Anger burned in his chest like a stoked coals. “You mother fucker. You pushed me into hell. I saved you, and you tried to kill me! And you don’t even have the goddamn decency to fucking meet me face to face?”

“Hey, now,” Teddy said, raising his hands before himself. “I think we’re being a little hasty. And, what, did you expect me to sit around and let you rock me in the face? That wasn’t a weak punch. It would have hurt.”

“That would have been the point,” Alex snarled. “What is your problem, man? You nearly fucking — no. You did. You tried to kill me.”

“I did not,” Teddy said. His hands lowered as his features turned serious. “I helped you. I’ve been helping you ever since the start of the Apocalypse. Think about it for a moment, Alex. Landing in the Mirrorlands was the best thing that happened to you.”

“You’re kidding me,” Alex said. His hands clenched into fists. “You’re going to try to take credit? For me surviving your murder attempt?”

“Was it really a murder attempt?” Teddy asked. “You got a class better than nearly anyone else’s. Got some badass monsters. Beat a Region Boss. Used the Mirorrlands to make a powerful town and scam the shit of a bunch of Outworlders. I’d say things are going pretty damn well for you.”

“You had fuck all to do with it, asshole,” Alex snarled. “You just pushed me into hell! Everything else was us. You know. The people that actually helped me fight and win, not the ones that screwed their friend over.”

“You do have some fantastic allies,” Teddy agreed. His gaze flicked to Claire. “Including this one. Cute. Where’d you meet her?”

Alex’s jaw clenched. “Don’t you even try to—”

“Don’t call me cute again,” Claire said flatly, her gaze going cold as she took a step toward him. “That’s only a complement when someone actually means it.”

Teddy’s lips curled upward in faint amusement. “Fair enough. Was I that obvious?”

“More than you think,” Claire replied.

Teddy grunted. “Damn. Well, something to work on. There’s always more. But look — the fact of the matter is that I’ve been helping both of you from the start. I even invited you to the Empty Court.”

“You told Absolution to try and kill me!” Alex exclaimed. “How the fuck is that helping?”

“Adversity builds power,” Teddy replied without a second of hesitation. “You needed someone dangerous enough to push you once you escaped the Mirrorlands. If you’d slacked off or gotten complacent, it would have spelled your death.”

“I think the apocalypse was more than enough reason to motivate me,” Alex said through clenched teeth. “You cannot possibly expect us to believe that you’re somehow on our side. You’re literally the cause of half our problems.”

“And where is Absolution, now?” Teddy asked. “Still causing you problems?”

Alex hesitated for a moment. “I — no. Stop that. Don’t try to twist shit around. The hell happened to you, man? You were never liked this.”

Teddy stared at him for a moment. Then he arched an eyebrow.

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Claire sent him a sidelong glance. “Are you sure?”

Alex’s lips thinned. “Okay. No. He’s always been an asshole. But not like this. He was a know-it-all. But the good kind! The helpful…”

Teddy’s eyebrow crept higher up his brow.

“Stop,” Alex said, thrusting his finger at Teddy.

“Please, continue,” Teddy said. “I’ve got time. So do you. This is a good area to chat. The Empty Court is quite an exclusive club, you know. It’s quite tough to get entry. You should probably thank whoever invited you.”

“I don’t know how you expect me to trust you in the slightest,” Alex said, throwing his hands up. “Especially when you can’t even be bothered to show up here in person. The least you can do for shoving me into hell is let me get a few good hits in.”

“I would really prefer not to,” Teddy said. He rubbed the back of his neck and flashed them a grin. “You’ve gotten pretty strong.”

Claire put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, but her eyes never left Teddy’s face. “If you’re claiming to have actually been helping Alex this whole while, then why don’t you say how? I’d love to hear an explanation as to why you think pushing someone into the Mirrorlands could possibly be a good thing in most circumstances. Are you really pretending you knew how all of this would turn out?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Half the things you mentioned are ones that could have gone horribly. If you say that you just had faith I’d somehow pull it off, I’m adding an extra ten punches to your list.”

“I have a list?” Teddy asked.

“Yes. And I’m charging interest.”

Teddy smirked. “Well. Fortunately, it has absolutely nothing to do with my faith in you. I mean, I did have some. But that wasn’t the reason.”

“What was, then?” Alex asked. “This aught to be rich.”

“I know the future,” Teddy said simply.

Alex and Claire stared at him.

“What?” Claire asked.

“Wow. There’s a load of bullshit,” Alex said. “You should have gone with the faith one.”

Teddy chuckled. “That would have been easier, wouldn’t it? But you came here for answers, and now you’re getting them. I know the future. Some of it, at least.”

“What number am I thinking of?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know it like that,” Teddy said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Not literally every single part of it. It’s more like I can tell broad strokes of what might happen. Like a glimpse into the what might be rather than a full picture of exactly what will.”

“Can you tell us about some big event that’s going to happen?” Claire asked. “Something that nobody could know about?”

“No,” Teddy said. “Because that would affect it. The future isn’t set. It’s just a sequence of very likely probabilities based on the current trajectory of… well, everything.”

“So you can’t say shit,” Alex said. “Very convincing. But it was somehow instrumental to the future for you to push me into the Mirrorlands before the apocalypse had even properly started. You sure got used to your new class quickly, huh?”

“Not at all,” Teddy said. “It was quite slow, actually. Took me nearly a week.”

“So well after you tried to murder me,” Alex finished.

“No,” Teddy said. “Well before, actually.”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about? Are you trying to say…”

“I got my class the same day that the System informed us of its approach,” Teddy said. He interlaced his fingers in his lap. “I had it a week before the apocalypse.”

Is this seriously the best explanation he could come up with?

But… so much of this makes no sense at all. I never understood why he tried to kill me. And I don’t understand anything else he was behind either. There’s no way he’s actually telling the truth, is there?

Alex’s jaw clenched. “So… what, you’re telling me you’ve been orchestrating everything from the start because you can see the future and need me powerful to save the world or some shit?”

Teddy threw his head back and laughed.

“No,” he said, still chuckling. “Not at all. The world has nothing to do with it. I helped you because I wanted to. Because I could. That’s really just about it.”

“And you never thought to tell me about any of this?” Alex asked. “We had a week before the end of the world. More than enough time for you to mention you had a class that showed you the future. Why not at least warn me? Why not let me pack some supplies or some shit?”

“Because that future was worse,” Teddy said. “You did better when it was just you. Always have. I just gave a few nudges to make sure that continued to be the case.”

Alex stared at him. Teddy was dead serious. He wasn’t laughing anymore. Somehow, he actually expected them to believe this.

It was so ridiculous that the mere idea of it felt like an insult.

But, at the same time, Alex couldn’t help but admit that a few things actually had seemed slightly convenient. And then there had been the message that Teddy had sent him, where it had felt as if he’d known exactly what Alex had been doing despite Finley assuring him that such a thing was impossible.

“How did you speak to me during that message? You said a moment ago you couldn’t predict specific things, but you were pretty spot on for that,” Alex said.

Teddy chuckled. “Some things are just much more likely than others.”

Alex grunted. “Why should I believe any of this?”

“Because we’re friends,” Teddy said simply.

None of them said a word for a few seconds.

Then Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And yet you don’t even show up in person. How am I supposed to believe a single damn word that comes out of your mouth? Maybe I do buy that you can somehow see the future. But I’m not so sure that I buy you being my friend.”

Teddy stared at him for a second. Then he adjusted his glasses.

“That hurt, Alex.”

“Good,” Alex said. “I meant it.”

There was another moment of silence. Then Teddy blew out a sigh.

“I never said I wasn’t here. You assumed that, and I didn’t correct you.”

“What, do you have an ability that lets you become intangible or something?” Alex asked.

“Something like that,” Teddy said.

“Prove it,” Alex said, extending his finger and letting it pass right through Teddy’s shoulder. He raised his hand pointedly. “Show me that you’re not full of shit for one thing. Then I’ll think about believing you.”

Teddy sighed. Then he nodded. “Fine. Go ahead. Try again.”

Alex held his hand out.

This time, it landed on Teddy’s shoulder as it was meant to.

He was actually there.

“Huh,” Alex said. “You weren’t lying.”

“I haven’t—”

There was a loud crack. Teddy’s head rocked back as Alex drove his fist up into his chin in a sharp uppercut. The chair pitched back, sending Teddy crashing to the ground in a flail of limbs and curses.

“You asshole!” Teddy exclaimed, scrambling back to his feet and grabbing his glasses from where they’d fallen to the ground. He shoved them back into place angrily. “What the hell is your problem? I was being vulnerable!”

“I know,” Alex said with a grin. That had felt good. Exactly how he’d pictured it feeling. “And now I believe you.”

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