Supremacy Games

1946  A Broken Shell.

"Queen Ai, put him in a medical pod right now and start the process of revitalizing his mind." Suddenly, Empress Emily's voice echoed in the living room.

Queen Ai kicked off the command right away by translocating Felix into a medical pod similar to the one he was using in the real world.

Then, she started adjusting some sliders and pushing different types of materials within the liquid pool in both environments.

The moment the liquids mixed up, Felix's twisted and tensed expression eased up, his protruding veins deflating slowly...

She added this protocol after realizing that once a candidate loses their mind, the seven celestial hearts wouldn't hesitate to disqualify them.

"This should keep him in check after he wakes up." Empress Emily said calmly, addressing the gathering of the ten SGRulers.

Felix's return was quite expected by Empress Emily and the ten SGRulers as they knew that he was about to throw himself into the wolves.

This meant the data was going to be extremely valuable even if he failed the trials.

After all, the worlds they were entering were 100% simulated to their reality, which meant, that if the three celestials found some mysterious dimension or such treasures, there was a high chance of them existing in their universe.

While it was unlikely that Felix bring back such information, they had nothing to lose in snooping around.

"Tsk, he almost lost his mind and failed the trial for real."

"It must be for a good reason, let's see what he has gone through."

Empress Emily ensured that Felix's data wouldn't be shared with the other candidates, but this didn't apply to the ten rulers.

However, she made sure that none of them would dare share the data without her permission.

As she played the memories after Queen Ai went through them all and edited only the highlighted points, the rulers focused intently on them.

However, the expected data related to the universe's mysteries made no appearence. Instead, the room was left silent except for the flickering sounds of the holographic feed...

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one spoke as their widened slightly petrified eyes were affixed on the screen, watching as Felix went through all sorts of experiments regardless of the results..

As they watched this horror show, most of the rulers' reactions were a mix of restrained horror and thinly veiled discomfort.

After the last scene of Felix's eyes closing on to the three celestial irritated expressions appeared, the screen turned black, and deadly silence took the stage.

It was soon broken by Empress Emily.

"This is all, dismissed."

After she left them, the rulers glanced at each other with quite different expressions, each one thinking of a different thing.

"He is bound to lose his mind after this. Even if he didn't, I doubt he will have the guts to continue with the trials."

"I think so too...Not even villains deserve such a treatment, yet, for an innocent boy to go through it, it's bound to do some serious damage mentally."

"As expected, becoming a universe's awareness is a mere fantasy coated in thorns."

...

Just like the ten rulers had anticipated, Felix's situation was far from good.

He remained in an artificially provoked coma for more than a month and when he woke up, the light in his eyes was never the same...

Felix Maxwell? Venom Doctor? None of them could stand up before the new broken version of Felix.

A version that spent thousands of years in agony, a version that never knew the touch of love, a version that never experienced anything worth living for...Most dangerously, a version that was full of hatred towards himself.

"Based on your look, it doesn't seem like you plan on stopping?" Empress Emily came as soon as Felix woke up.

"Stopping? Such thought never crossed my mind." Felix replied vaguely while wearing his clothes at a moderate pace.

He seemed like he was totally normal, but Empress Emily knew that he was nothing but that.

However, as a member of the metal race, emotions always alluded to her, making her quite interested about how such a trauma hadn't affected his resolve negatively...Being as straightforward, she didn't hesitate to ask him.

Felix paused for a moment and turned to stare at her holographic presence. Then, he responded calmly, "This is my life now...There is no going back."

"I see..." Empress Emily understood him immediately.

All of Felix's personalities in the universes he visited were merged under one banner, a broken banner.

They understood that the bridge of returning to their delightful but stressful life with their family was totally burnt over.

Now, he could either use the knowledge he obtained to carry on forward until the very end or stop here and remain as this shattered abused version...A version that was simply impossible to heal through unconventional ways.

"This means you might need to deal with the three celestials again, and again, and again..." Empress Emily reminded calmly.

Felix lowered his head and uttered icyly, "I am betting on it."

...

A few hours later...

Under the warm rays of the sun bathing over the park, children's laughter rippled through the air like a melody.

Felix sat on a worn wooden bench, his hands clutched tightly as he watched his son dart through the grass with the other kids.

The boy's laughter was pure and unburdened, it somehow felt alien to Felix's ears.

His gaze lingered on his son, but there was a hollowness in his eyes, a void that even the playful scene before him couldn't fill...

 His posture was stiff as he was crucified to the bench, attracting many weirded-out eyeballs.

Beside him, Asna sat quietly, stealing worried glances at him.

Her brows furrowed, and the smile she had worn for their son began to falter. She could see it, the emptiness in his husband's stare.

 It wasn't just the man she loved sitting beside her. It was someone slipping away, piece by piece...

Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Felix, look at me." She requested with a slight crack in her voice.

"Hmm?" As Felix slowly turned to her, she couldn't help but gasp softly...The man she had known, the man who once radiated life and love, was a now shadow of himself. Tears welled in her eyes as she gripped his arm, her voice breaking...She finally couldn't stay quiet about his 'secret mission'.

"How can anything you're doing be worth this? Worth what you're losing? Look at us, at him!"

She gestured to their son, who was laughing with the other children, oblivious to the storm brewing behind him. Felix's throat tightened, and his emotions conflicted heavily. He wanted to speak, to offer some answer, some reassurance, but the words wouldn't come.

That's because he didn't believe in them...

All he could do was lower his head and retain his silence, burying himself deeper into the void.

Seeing this, tears streamed down her face even harder as she shook his arm, seemingly hoping to awaken the lost version.

"You're slipping away, Felix. I can feel it. And I'm scared...Sob...Scared that one day, I'll wake up and you'll be gone, not just from us, but from yourself..." Felix's hands trembled as he reached for hers. He took hold of her hand, masking the turmoil brewing within his heart.

"I'm doing this for us," He murmured, but even he didn't believe it fully. Asna pulled away, her voice rising angrily, and anguished.

"No, Felix. You're doing this for something else, something that's taking you away from the life we built, the family we are! How could you!"

Her sobs turned into a full-fledged outcry, resounding across the park and attracting everyone's attention.

When everyone noticed that it was Asna, the quiet elegant jewel of the Maxwell family, they were taken by surprise.

Some had already taken their phones out and started filming her outbursts, knowing that it would go viral in an instant. Yet, Asna couldn't care less about anyone's looks.

She removed Felix's hand away and stood up with a chilly expression. Then, she went and picked up Niko against his protests to play more.

As she walked away towards their car, she turned around and sent one last telepathic message.

'I will always believe and love you, but I can never forgive myself if I stood still and watched my dearest husband self-destruct right before my eyes.'

'Once you are ready to tell me what's going on, you will find me at my father's home with Niko.'