Chapter Text
The Tower
The elevator creaked as it ascended, its metal frame groaning.
Niko stood, holding the sun in his hands, his eyes closed as he waited for the elevator to reach the top.
As it finally stopped, the doors slid open to reveal a small room.
Niko opened his eyes, seeing only a single spot for the sun to be placed was present.
“So this is where the sun belongs…” A very tired Niko said aloud, looking around the small lantern room as he walked to the centre.
It has been a long journey to get there, but here he was.
Staring at where the sun should go, Niko realises that this is the end of his long journey.
“If I put the sun in here, we'll be able to save the world, right?” He asked his guide, or God, hoping they were listening.
“...but if I want to go home…” Niko continued, voice cracking as he tried to fathom what he could do in a situation like this, "I'll have to… break it?”
Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at the sun, its warm light feeling cold as it reflected off his eyes, “Oh….”
“....God?” Niko whimpered, his voice barely above a whisper, “What should I…. do?”
As Niko waited for an answer, he felt the air around him change suddenly. The area in front of him became a portal, glowing with an intense crimson light that cut a jagged hole in the space around it.
“What the?!?!” Nikos voice rose as he fell through the portal.
Parker’s room
“Uhhh… I don't remember seeing anything about a red portal in the game…” Parker said, looking at his laptop with wide eyes.
“Maybe it's a new ending… yeah,” Parker sighed, and stood up, stretching, “What time is it? I should probably go to bed…” Parker turned around, looking at his bed.
His bed was… less than tidy. It was halfway made, with clean clothes scattered about, and a large pile of comic books on the floor next to it.
On the top of his doorframe, a banner for what looked to be a college named “NYU” hung, forgotten and slightly crooked.
Parker looked over to his mirror, his long, unkempt hair tied back in a messy bun, and his brown eyes staring back at him. He was of average height, with a lean build that showed more time spent indoors than out. His skin was a nice shade of tan, with a few freckles on his nose and cheeks, though he hated them. On his right hand, a small scar ran across his knuckles, a souvenir from his time at home.
His window let in the cool night air, and moonlight seeped in as he looked at his dingy alarm clock.
“12:27!?” Parker exclaimed, “I've been playing that game for 8 hours!?” Parker yelled and ran to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and washing his face.
“Shit shit shit shit, I got work in like… 10 hours!” Parker groaned, looking in the mirror, only to see bloodshot eyes and a messy head of hair.
“My boss is gonna kill me,” Parker sighed, before going back to his room.
Locking the door behind him, Parker crawled into bed, pulling the covers. His eyes were heavy, and his body ached from sitting for so long. His gaze slowly turned to his laptop, still open on the desk.
“I mean… I gotta check if there's anything else,” Parker mumbled, getting up, “It has to be a new ending, right?”
Making his way to the desk, Parker clicked on Discord and opened the Oneshot Discord server. There, he asked the community if anyone had seen anything about a red portal in their game.
Most people responded with confusion, saying they had never seen anything like it before.
“Well… guess I just got a bug or something,” Parker sighed, closing the laptop.
He crawled back into bed and slowly began closing his eyes.
Soon, his breathing slowed, and he drifted off to sleep.
…
A nice, calming sleep.
…
Nothing bad could happen.
…
THUD
Parker sprang up, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked around the room.
His comic books looked ok, and his laptop was still on the desk. His alarm clock now read 2:30, which meant he had been asleep for over two hours.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Parker slowly got up, his eyes scanning the room for anything, “Is someone trying to rob me— I got nothing valuable…” Parker mumbled, his voice shaking.
“Ow… my head…” A small, familiar voice groaned from the ground, causing Parker to look down.
Parker froze as he saw the small, cat-eared child curled up on the ground, holding his head, “N-NIko?”
The child looked up at Parker, a dazed expression on his face, "Huh? How do you know my name?" he asked, “Are you another prophet person?”
Parker stared at Niko, his mind struggling to process the impossible sight before him.
Niko, in his world?
It couldn't be possible, not in the slightest.
“Oh… this is a dream…” Parker concluded, rubbing his eyes.
He looked back down at Niko, then back to his bed, then back to Niko, “I'm gonna go back to sleep now…” Parker said, turning away and falling onto his bed, pulling the covers over his head.