We're all in this virtual space together.

You stand tall, and take in your surroundings. Same four walls. Same coding. You look to your left, and see a pathway has opened. You walk towards it, hesitantly at first, but then sprinting. You never seem to get closer to the pathway, though.

You frown in thought. The shield of the man who used to be your friend begins to glow and you hold it in front of you. The room becomes illuminated, though the light seems to be confined to the air touching you, as if it were protecting you. With your new boundary, you step forward and actually feel as though you are closer to the doorway in the coding now. A few more steps and you are through it. You look around and see there are three pathways leading off from this room.

What do you do?

Myos found himself sprawled on the floor, an aching in his cheek as he looked up at the other, towering over him with a sneer on his face and crimson on his fist. The red head touched his own face lightly, feeling the warm liquid also present there. He was bleeding. Zeke had punched him in the face - a surprising twist for once.

“You were having an attack or something,” Zeke said simply with a shrug of his shoulders, taking off his now bloodstained gloves, careful to remove the treasured silver ring beforehand. The ravenette tapped his heel on the solid ground, looking around him to the four different pathways that were their options. A crimson one that looked to be textured with what you hoped wasn’t strange viscera that Achernar had stormed down, a plush pink one that matched the ship’s interior that Razzy had ventured through, and a pale lime one filled to the brim with circuits that Amaya had slunk down. The only option left was a solid gold path gilded with finery, which just screamed end game to Myos. “So, team leader, what’s the plan?” Zeke sneered.

Myos ran his fingers through his disheveled bangs, completely ignoring as they flopped against his blood spattered face. Damn, that smarted. Myos wondered how hard the other man had hit him, checking by rolling his tongue through his mouth to see if any teeth were broken or chipped. One tooth seemed lose, but he had no idea if it was like that before. Zeke cleared his throat with an obvious intonation, and Myos perked his head back up, just remembering he had been asked a question. “We go after them, right?”

Zeke quirked his eyebrow into a perfect checkmark. “Do we? They left us. Why would they come back,” the man scoffed, and straightened his sleeveless jacket.

“They’re still our friends, and our teammates. You don’t leave your party in the middle of a raid,” Myos explained, fingers absentmindedly drifting to the star outline on his neck, as they were so oft prone to do. No matter what, they would be able to resolve whatever had happened between them. Whatever tricks this labyrinth played on all of them, they would get through it. They just needed a leader, a hero; someone to pull them out of their funk like Zeke had done for him.

“They left us, why don’t we return the favor,” Zeke said, still not convinced.

Myos shook his head, catching his large headphones before they fell off. “That’s not how this team works. Besides, we don’t know what’s through that hallway. It could be just the Empress, or it could be a zillion guards. We may need all the help we can get for what’s to come,” he persuaded. “A general is nothing without his army,” the copper haired man laughed, flicking the pin on the other’s chest that rested atop the star tattoo. It made him chuckle, such opposing symbols so close to each other.

“Fine,” Zeke sighed, waving the other’s hand off in good humor, a small smile actually gracing his lips. “Who are we chasing after first?”

Myos looked down all the hallways again, finally moving to stand in front of the green one. It didn’t seem that dangerous, just wires and circuits. “I think Amaya is our best bet, she can help us convince the others.”

“She always did have a way of calming everyone down,” Zeke agreed with a sigh, coming to stand beside the shorter man. “Lead the way, hero,” the stocky man said with a sarcastic bite, to which the other responded by shoving his middle finger in the taller man’s face.

“Stay close, sidekick,” Myos laughed, stepping into the technology filled unknown.