Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 332 GEMINI

Everything was black. No feelings assaulted me in the darkness. I was nothing. No shred of a semblance of a body. I was part of the nothingness. It felt like I drifted for an eternity. Part of the void as I disappeared into the ether that was death as everything did at some point in their life. Then, out of nowhere, the world filled with a screen. 

I had picked the skill at random after losing my last Challenge. No hands to click it I thought Yes. There was no reason not to. As the screen disappeared, a white light shined in the distance. The light increased until it filled my vision, causing my world to flood with something new. With a blink my vision was overloaded with other colors as I took a step. Looking down I had a body again. 

Blinking over and over the memories began to flood in. The death, destruction, pain, and anguish washed over me like the worst shower imaginable. My eyes wide, I focused on nothing as it all came into focus over long seconds. Looking around, I was in the midst of a sea of kids. All wearing similar uniforms. I was lost for a moment, fearful I was dreaming. But as I looked around I realized something, I remembered this. 

It was my first day at Havrion Academy. People that had died in my arms walked past. Their faces younger now, I knew all of them. I remembered this all so vividly. So long ago I had been at this exact point. A pop-up appeared. 

With a frown I wasn’t sure what that meant, so I dismissed the window. About to bring up my status screen I stopped as I heard a familiar person. 

“What the fuck?” A voice asked. I wanted to agree with them but turned to see a mirror image version of myself. Frowning, I thought I was seeing a mirage for a moment or maybe a mirror. The person next to me was exactly like me in every way. Same dark hair, haunted look in their eyes, and everything.

“Who are you?” I asked, confused. I racked my brain trying to remember if I had a twin in this world. It was always a possibility that I never thought of, but it was possible.

“Weston,” the man said.

“No, I’m…” I said and brought up my Status Screen.

Most of my skills were gone. Including half of my Challenger Slots. “What the fuck?” I asked. 

“What the double fuck?” My twin asked. He too was staring straight ahead, almost as if he…

“Do you have a status screen?” I asked. 

“Of course, I-” He stopped as our eyes locked. Understanding coming to us we smiled as one, both saying, “World Escape.” 

—

I appeared in the middle of the Manhwa Hall and next to me was my doppelganger. “What the fuck!” We said as one as we stepped back from one another. He wore the same clothes as I did. The school uniform everyone was supposed to wear for the entrance exams for Havrion Academy.  

“Do you remember the dragon?” I asked with a dry throat. 

“Yeah, it just happened. So what? We have the same memories?” He asked. I nodded, believing so. “What number am I think-” 

“Seven,” I said. He nodded, allowing me to truly believe we had the same mind. “Wait, wait, every challenger slot I lost. Did you gain?” I asked. 

“You mean the one’s I lost?” The other Weston asked. “Holy shit-Holy shit.” His hands went up to his head as he held his temples. A smile split his face as he laughed. “I have World Lasting Physique, Dead Man Walking, Gemini, Handicap, Status Screen, and World Escape too. Do you have any idea what this means?!” 

“I do,” I said, growing more excited. Finally the opportunity was upon me-we- us. We were no longer so restricted. We could do so much more now. “We could make like Scoob and the gang and split up.”

“Exactly. We tried to open two doors with the shadow clones so long ago, but…” he walked to one of the doors and I walked to the opposite. As we tried to open them we received a notification. 

“Holy shit. That’s more than we got last time,” I said.

“Right?!” Other me said growing more excited. Nothing happened or budged when the shadow clone tried a door. And if I opened it and they stepped through, then the door wouldn’t shut. It was just a black expanse. 

“I really think we can do it,” he said.

“I think it might work too,” I admitted. 

“It would,” a voice said. We turned to see L appear in the room. The bored man looked between us. Bags under his eyes he moved to the Returner’s Magic World door. Studying the door as if he could see something we couldn’t. He grumbled as he moved this way and that, studying the plain slab of wood. Looking at the door from different angles as we watched him. 

“Fucking manhwa. Always with the reborn crap,” L said. “I should have been watching more closely. I didn’t think it would proc.” The other Weston and I shared a look. It appeared there were times the Moderator really wasn’t watching. That was good to know. For now though, we needed answers.

“Excuse me, Moderator. What is going on?” I asked. 

He examined the door more, then turned to us. “I think you can surmise what happened. Do you really want to waste a question on that?”

“Kind of,” I said, my other self nodded. “I assume this has something to do with the Gemini skill and being reborn.” 

L let out a long bored sigh. “That and other things,” he admitted. “The Gemini skill is quite rare. I really didn’t think you would pick it. What? You thought it would empower your shadow clones?” I nodded. “Yeah no. Gemini is a Death Skill.” I waited for him to go on. 

“Fine, be boring, don’t ask,” he grumbled. “Death skills are skills that activate upon death. They usually don’t come into play until the 3rd season. When people have a few different ways of resurrecting under their belt. But you have reached that stage early. Earlier than I thought you would. Gemini is a Tier 4 skill, that when you die, you will be split into twins if you are brought back to life. Your Dead Man Walking skill also played a little part in this whole debacle as well.” He let out a defeated sigh.  

I looked at him confused. He sighed again. “Dead Man Walking. One of it’s many uses is to ignore death-restricted skills. Basically you are already considered dead. So skills that only undead and vampires can use, become open to you. Gemini would have required your death to allow you to split. But Dead Man Walking, dying, and being “reborn” caused it to activate sooner than expected…” Nôv(el)B\\jnn

I remembered dying in the last World. But being reborn was a stretch. I was starting to remember more about the story, and I wasn’t too sure how the original MC went back in time. He died too and got his memories from the future, but I didn’t think being reborn was what happened. Maybe whatever brought my memories back was the same as the canon. I didn’t know since I never finished the story. But I pushed it out of my mind as I asked the real question of the Moderator. 

“So we can go to 2 Halls at once?” I asked.

“Yes,” L said, still bored. “Or, I can offer you compensation.” He looked between us. “What do you say? 3 Challenger Slots. Just give up the Gemini skill.” I looked at my twin. We shook our heads in unison. L sighed. “What about a Passive Skill Challenger Slot?”

“What?” I asked, my twin reacting the same way. 

“That’s right. Your precious World Lasting Physique could become your challenger slot. I can’t give it to you, but I can give you 3 free Challenger Slots and tell you the secret to getting a Passive Skill Challenger Slot.” 

I was tempted with that offer. “But…” I said.

“Too good to be true,” my twin finished. We nodded, in agreement that if we gave up this opportunity we would probably regret it. We had an idea on how to get the World Lasting Physique anyway. 

“Fine,” L said. “Two more questions, that’s all you’re allotted. Then I’m out of here to patch the terminology this stupid world uses.” 

“Uh,” I said, unsure. I had forgotten he counted questions.

“Can we reabsorb into one another?” My other self asked. 

“Currently…no. I’ll…help you with that.” He waved his hands in our directions. I didn’t feel anything but he stopped and said, “There, just hold one another’s hands and you can become one,” L said, bored. “But be warned, if you do, you can’t split again and your Gemini skill will disappear. It is a one-time-use skill.” I felt like maybe he tricked us by making it so all we had to do was touch, but was still too lost to care.

We nodded, understanding a little better. I struggled to come up with a good question. I blurted the first thing that came to mind. “And we will absorb the skills of the other when we do fuse back together?”

“Yes,” L said. “And because you have Memory Meld, you get all the memories too. Quite the boon you received this time, Weston. I really thought you had given up. Mikhail was becoming a fan favorite after your little breakdown. But maybe you really can turn it around.” He moved to snap his fingers but hesitated. “You really should have asked me what happens if one of you dies. Maybe you lose the skills.” With a snap he was gone.

My clone and I locked eyes. “He is fucking with us,” I said.

“Yeah,” my clone said. But both of us were a little worried by the comment. What would happen if one of us died? We ignored it for now as we began to talk and plan. 

—

I summoned Hancock. She looked from me to me, confused. “What the hell?!” She yelled. It took time but we caught her up with everything that had happened to us since entering the last world. 

“That’s…great?” Hancock asked, confused. 

“It is,” I said. “Easton-er sorry. That’s what we are referring to him as.” My clone waved. We had both wanted to be Weston. But that was too confusing. We decided that whoever won in rock-paper-scissors would be Weston. But since we shared the same memories, we chose the same thing every time. Then we tried guessing numbers, which again was a draw. We ended by doing a staring contest. Which ended in my victory. “Easton is going to leave the Manhwa hall.” 

“I’m sorry…” Hancock said, looking between us. “I am still very lost. I barely got any memories from the last world before you brought me here. Why are you leaving?” She asked Easton. 

“I-We have always sort of felt rushed in these worlds,” I admitted, pointing at he and I. “We only had 5 years to defeat as many worlds as possible. Now…we potentially have 10 years. He can go to a Hall, train, and we can do the same. We can meet back up when the 5 years are done. Become one person again and be ready for our next challenge.” 

Our true plan was to try to upgrade the Gemini skill so we could split and recombine when we wanted to. We had talked in codes to one another, not willing to say what we wanted aloud. Since the Moderator listened to most everything, we didn’t doubt he would try to keep such a skill away from us. Especially since he offered so much to keep us from it. 

“That’s…confusing. Will I go with both of you?” She asked. 

“No, just me,” I said. “He doesn’t have you as a summon. Our summons were split between us.”

“I have Nibi,” Easton said. “And half of his abilities.” 

“So you’re weaker now?” Hancock asked. 

“Yeah. We will have to figure it out,” I admitted. “But you should be able to reawaken Nen in me.”

“What about chakra?” She asked Easton.

“I don’t have chakra, or the Chikyugi,” he admitted. “I don’t want to risk touching you. He and I could fuse back together again. And it’s not like we are up for some gay action.” 

“But we could have sex,” Hancock said, perking up. “With both of you. I could have sex with you both.” She took on a more than excited gaze as she looked between the two of us. “I mean…for chakra.”

“Yeah…don’t think either of us wants that,” I said.

“I love you babe, but sorry,” Easton said. 

“You’re so boring,” Hancock mumbled, her shoulders dropping. “Fine, what now?” She asked when she recovered a little.

Easton pulled a piece of paper out of his Inventory. “I am going to write on a piece of paper which doors I have been to. You two need to stay away from them. We don’t want to accidentally touch, and if you go into a world I’ve been in, who knows where the story will be?”

“Shouldn’t my other selves be in all of the worlds you go to?” Hancock asked. 

“Yes, I will try to make contact with them,” Easton admitted. “So when we are 1 again, you and I should already know one another.” 

“Perfect. You have my permission to have sex with me,” Hancock said, as if making a decree. 

Easton and I barked a laugh. Shaking our heads, we locked eyes. Studying one another for a while. “I don’t think there is anything else,” I said. “Where will you go?”

“Comics probably. If I go to Books I will leave the paper in the Junction room,” Easton said. 

“Smart,” I said with a nod. I was about to shake his hand, but thought better of it. I waved. He waved as well. Kissing Hancock on the cheek he walked out of the room. 

“Are you sure walking into a new Hall will work?” She asked. 

“Not 100%, but the Moderator said we could. L was pissed we got this skill, so it has to be good,” I said. “I told Easton we would spend 1 day in a world. If he is outside the door when we get out, we will just fuse back together.” 

“Which door?” She asked. 

I pointed back to Returner’s Magic Should Be Special. “I was hoping to dig into this world a little more,” I said.

“Good,” Hancock admitted. “I am still rather confused about this whole thing and would like to finish what we started.” 

“I agree.” I stared at the exit to the room for a moment. A part of me envied Easton. His freedom and opportunities. Then again he was off to comics. Who knew what kind of crap he would have to put up with. 

I was actually kind of happy to be with Hancock. Since I had the Chikyugi I was horny all the time. With her I didn’t need to worry about not being able to empty my balls. And besides, I did love her. I had a lot to figure out in the Manhwa Hall with her yet, but I felt we would have plenty of time to get a feel for one another in the coming years. 

“I’m sorry, dear,” I said, walking up to her. “Let’s go back to this new world. I think I could use some fun with you.”

“Good.” She said, smiling down at me. “Tell me about this world. Do you have a woman that can join us in the bedroom already?”

“Oh not right now, but I have some ideas,” I said as I turned us back into the door. “If not we can go check out a smut world and release some steam.” 

“Deal,” she said with a smile as she grabbed my hand. Holding it we stepped into the door once more. “You should see the me in this world. I have a really cool magic trick that allows….”