Chapter Text
The entire sky was stained a dark, ominous red. The clouds had vanished completely, and the rolling green fields of Mondstadt had lost their vibrant color, washed out by the crimson hue bleeding from overhead.
"I don't sense them," Venti called back, his divine wings flapping furiously as he hovered high in the air. "It's something far worse, I believe!"
Zhongli used his Geo powers to snap stone platforms into existence, leaping from one to the next to gain altitude. Nahida flew right alongside Venti, propelled by her own Archon abilities, though she struggled to match the Anemo Archon's frantic speed.
The massive, dark anomaly loomed in the sky just ahead of them, crackling with a volatile, pitch-black energy. The three Archons didn't hesitate for a single second, pressing their advance straight toward it.
The dark creature slowly rotated in mid-air, its gaze locking onto the approaching gods. "This world should possess high-dimensional energy... yet for some reason, it does not," it muttered. It remained hovering in place, casually watching the deities close the distance.
"I would have taken this world to my liking," the creature continued, its voice echoing with cold disdain. "But none of my plans work. Ever."
It raised a hand just as Venti surged forward with a fierce, determined expression. "And it's all the fault of that wretched, blue-haired Holder from Sub-7. You three will pay for it!"
With a violent motion, the creature thrust its hand forward. A massive blast of dark force slammed directly into Venti's chest.
"GAH?!" The breath left him all at once. His body spun backward through the air, wings scrabbling for leverage in the air, before gravity won out and he plummeted.
From the side, an amber formation erupted into existence. Zhongli vaulted off it and launched himself at the creature, one hand already gathering energy for a platform to come crashing down onto the monster — but the creature didn't even glance at him. It swept one arm sideways.
The raw force blasted the Geo Archon backward, sending him crashing hard into one of his own floating platforms. "gHAA!" Zhongli roared in pain, tumbling off the edge and free-falling toward the ground.
The dark creature shifted its focus to Nahida. The small Archon stood her ground on one of the remaining floating platforms Zhongli had left behind.
"Give up," the dark creature commanded, aiming its arm and unleashing a piercing beam of dark energy.
Nahida narrowed her eyes. In a flash of green light, she zipped to an platform nearby just as the beam obliterated her original foothold into flying chunks of rock.
The creature growled, instantly firing another beam at the Dendro Archon. Once again, she swiftly teleported to another platform.
Furious, the dark creature bared its glowing white teeth. "Would you fucking keep—!!"
Thwack!
Something struck the creature squarely in the back. "AHH!" it grunted, stumbling forward and nearly losing its balance. It was an arrow, crackling with Anemo energy.
Venti had gotten his flying back under control, circled wide, and come up behind the creature without a sound. "You flying little—" The creature reached back for the arrow, distracted — and that was all Zhongli needed. The geo archon was already back up, already moving. A massive amber platform tore through the air, slamming it into the enemy.
"AHHhhaAAA!" the monster shrieked. Losing its footing, it plummeted from the sky and slammed heavily into the grass below, leaving a deep crater in the ground as dirt and shattered flora erupted everywhere.
"Get down there! Don't let it get back up!" Zhongli commanded.
Venti dove toward the ground at breakneck speed. "And don't let it get to my city!"
They were just outside Windrise. Mondstadt sat less than a mile away. The creature seemed to have painted the whole planet red with that sky, but otherwise — the city was still standing. They just had to keep it that way, and keep this creature contained.
The dark creature slowly dragged itself out of the crater. "You're not the only strong things in this universe," it hissed. "This world will be mine to destroy. And when I'm done with this one I will got back to Sub-7, and destroy it. I am finished collecting energy. If I cannot claim it humanely, I will make everything and everyone suffer!"
Zhongli sprinted down his floating platforms, launching a rapid volley of stone and amber chunks. The dark creature dodged the first. Then the second. But the third caught it right in the chest.
"ArRRG!" It spun. "I MUSTN'T FAIL!" There was something raw in the voice now — desperate, worn thin. Exhausted. Like it had been fighting longer and harder than anyone here could imagine, and it still wasn't enough. "I am not like the other one!"
"What even is this thing?!" Venti yelled. He circled the anomaly at high speed as it lunged at him. Venti ducked and dove, weaving through the air while trying to land precise arrow shots. Realizing the battle was growing too chaotic, Venti decided to unleash his true divine authority. He pushed outward with a massive, invisible blast of Anemo pressure, throwing the creature back.
Venti grimaced; he knew the attack should have been devastating. But he hadn't used his Archon powers like this in centuries, and he was horribly rusty. Without his Gnosis, relying entirely on a fraction of power stored within a fake Vision, he was operating far below full strength.
Zhongli was pushing himself just as hard, but without his own Gnosis, every massive construct felt like an uphill battle.
"I'm starting to regret giving mine away," Zhongli muttered, heaving another chunk of amber.
Activating her powers, Nahida summoned a massive vine of leaves that whipped through the air, binding the dark creature just as it charged toward Venti.
"Wh—"
Before the monster could finish its thought, Nahida violently yanked the vine downward. The creature was dragged from the sky, crashing into the earth and forming a second crater right next to the first.
Meanwhile, Oliver was still safely enclosed inside the compact amber and stone fortress Venti had ordered Zhongli to build. He was breathing heavily in the cramped darkness, feeling utterly helpless. He couldn't help but notice the Archons' grand, godly attire—Zhongli's pristine white hood and Venti's stunning, midriff-bearing outfit. True to Venti's earlier teasing prediction, the human couldn't help but find it incredibly hot.
But Oliver shook his head, forcing his mind back to reality. The entire world of Teyvat was in mortal peril, the Archons were struggling, and he was stuck sitting on the sidelines.
"I want to help..." he muttered to himself. He peered through the narrow cracks in the amber casing, watching the battle unfold. "I want to—"
He pressed closer to the cracks in the stone and watched Venti take a hit, then watched Zhongli drop an entire platform onto the creature's head, sending it down to the ground, forming a third crater. "I need to do something—"
Zap
Oliver blinked. Suddenly, his hands felt heavy.
He looked down and gasped, immediately dropping the object onto the grass. It was a sword.
Oliver stared at the weapon, then looked back through the cracks at the three gods fighting the anomaly. He remembered being able to manifest this exact sword when the Pyro Slimes had attacked him earlier. He remembered how it had just... happened, without him really deciding anything.
Maybe this was his time to shine.
~~~~~~
"This thing just won't let up!" Venti shouted, narrowly dodging another dark blast.
"Keep your footing! We have triumphed over far worse than this," Zhongli replied calmly, launching another chunk of amber.
The dark creature raised its arms out to its sides, hovering just above the ground. "All of you fictional characters need to give up. I am getting bored. Only a Holder of a dimension or the wielder of a Keyblade can kill me. You all possess neither. So, surrender."
"W-what is it doing?!" Venti cried out.
"This universe will be mine. All of it."
Suddenly, the world around them began to glitch. The ground, the air, and the red sky started fracturing into shimmering, floating strings of numbers and code.
"Zhongli, think of something!" Nahida shouted from atop an amber structure.
"I am at a loss," Zhongli admitted, his stoic demeanor finally cracking. "Our elemental powers cannot kill it."
"We could try banishing it to another realm!" Venti suggested.
"With the sheer scope of its power, it would likely corrupt the Abyss itself," Zhongli countered.
"You two have fought worse than this!" Nahida pushed.
"Nahida, the entire landscape is glitching out!" Venti panicked, spinning around in mid-air to look toward the horizon, at the city of Mondstadt. "Oh no... my nation!" A look of pure fury washed over the bard's face. "I will not let this wretch ruin what I have built, nor the rest of Teyvat!"
Venti aimed both hands at the earth. "Zhongli, Nahida, stand back! Because this god is going to shift the tectonic plates!"
"Venti, do not!" Zhongli bellowed, reaching out a hand to stop him. "You do not have your Gnosis! You will destroy yourself!"
Before anyone could move, a distorted rift tore open near the creature, drawing everyone's attention. The Archons stood paralyzed, completely out of options. The monster couldn't be killed; it could only be knocked down temporarily, and that was it.
Suddenly, the amber casing shattered.
Oliver stepped out into the open, his fingers tightly gripped around the hilt of his sword. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing or how a human was supposed to fight a sky-faring cosmic anomaly, but a strange, burning sensation was stirring deep within his chest. It felt exactly like it did this morning with the slimes. Things had just happened.
So, he didn't think. He just aimed his sword straight at the sky.
A brilliant beam of pure fire erupted from the blade, tearing through the air. The dark creature never saw it coming—it hadn't sensed Oliver at all. The fiery beam blasted directly into its back.
"Huh!?" Nahida gasped.
Venti's eyes went wide. He looked down at the ground and saw his boyfriend standing there, weapon in hand. The bard's heart practically stopped.
"OLIVER!" Every ounce of fear Venti had ever felt came out in that one word. "Get back in the casing! Right now! Get back inside!"
"He's armed?" Zhongli asked. "He can fight?"
"He needs to return to safety immediately," Nahida insisted.
The dark creature had stumbled from the blast, its concentration breaking. The digital glitching throughout the environment abruptly ceased, leaving the world stable once more. Its eyes narrowed into slits. With a terrifying burst of speed, it dived straight for Oliver.
"OLLIE!" Venti plummeted after it, his wings beating a million times a minute. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
As Venti drew close, the creature casually backhanded the air, sending a wave of force that knocked the Anemo Archon completely off balance. The monster landed heavily, its fists slamming into the dirt right at Oliver's feet.
Slowly, the dark creature stood up to its full height. "You're not from this world," it remarked, stepping closer to the trembling human. "I sense no universal connection to you to this world. In fact, I don't even sense a living soul. It's as if you're a machine." It paused, studying him. "Perhaps you're like Mark... No. You're that man I met. You're connected to an avatar."
The dark creature balled its hands into tight fists. "What did I say about messing with my plans?"
As the monster loomed over him, Oliver's vision began to glitch out. He tried to hold his ground. He tried to aim the sword. But his entire body felt like it was overheating, and the world around him started to violently distort and tear.
"Ahh—ahh—" He tried to scream, but only static, broken noises escaped his throat as his perspective began to unravel.
"Oliver!"
He could still hear Venti's voice, but it sounded distant, garbled, and metallic—like everything connecting him to this reality was fading away.
Then, suddenly:
AVATAR OFFLINE
~~~~~
Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
~~~~~~
Oliver woke up with a violent jolt.
"VENTI!" he screamed. He frantically looked around the room, the lights were on. His chest was heaving as his mind raced to catch up. Above him, the main monitor of the transfer chair was flickering wildly, emitting a harsh, glitchy static.
"W-Woah, are you okay!?"
Oliver spun his head around and saw August sitting on the floor by the door, holding a container of instant ramen. Oliver was too busy panicking to care. He swallowed hard, tentatively lifting his left arm.
It moved perfectly. He moved his right. He looked down at his limbs and realized the mechanical constraints were completely retracted.
"Wait, when did those open?" August asked, quickly setting his food aside and rushing over to the chair. "I was sitting here the whole time. Did it just do that on its own? You must have gotten my note. Did you do what I said?"
"N-No, no, no, I have to go back!" Oliver yelled, frantically trying to adjust himself. "I HAVE TO GET BACK!!"
August's eyes went wide. "Get back? W-What? What happened?!"
"They're in DANGER! I have to go back right now!" Oliver shouted, grabbing August's arm. "Put the clamps back on! Come on, hurry it up! Boot the machine back on!"
August just stood there, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to process the panic. "I — I don't understand what's—"
"There's some kind of dark creature in there! Not even the Archons can handle it!" Oliver explained frantically. "I haven't even finished playing all of Genshin Impact, but I know for a fact that thing is not supposed to be in the game! I need to go back and help them!"
"A dark creature..." August blinked, his expression turning grave. "I... I saw a dark creature back in the world I was sent to."
But Oliver was too spun out to listen. "Okay, cool. Just send me back!"
"O-Okay, but listen to me! Please!" August quickly turned to a laptop that was sitting on a side table next to Oliver's transfer chair. Oliver was so much in a panic, he hadn't even noticed that was there.
"It was a game I was sent into as well. Grounded was the name of the game. A game where you play one of four teens who have been shrunk down to the size of an insect. I became friends with one of the characters, Pete. Pete and I came across a dark creature once, I am not sure if it's the same one you're talking about, but if it is, you have to be careful!" August tapped the trackpad to wake the screen. "This is how I sent you that note. I managed to hardwire my laptop directly into the transfer chair's main override. I can actually alter your avatar's data from here. And I'm going to do exactly that. I'm making you invincible. You're in Genshin Impact, right? I'll just code in all the elements and max out every single stat. It's total overkill, but you need to be overkill to kill that thing."
August's fingers flew across the keyboard, typing at a blinding speed. Oliver could only watch as endless rows of code went across the screen.
"Jesus Christ..." August muttered, shaking his head. "Your avatar's source code has a ridiculous amount of bugs. What the fuck is this?" He continued to type furiously.
"Okay... done. Done!" He slid his fingers along the mouse pad, and clicked something.
August closed the laptop and looked Oliver dead in the eyes. "I can see why you're risking it to save them. These aren't just fictional characters, Oliver. These are real dimensions filled with real people. I already promised Pete back in Grounded that I'd find a way back to him one day."
"Go and protect them, and show that dark monster a thing or two about plot armor,"
Oliver nodded firmly, leaning back into the headrest and closing his eyes.
~~~~~
Begin send back.
System reboot commencing.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
~~~~~~