Chapter 61: What should I do?!
Chapter 61: What should I do?!
The older version of Arnold looked at Arnold with a charming and bewitching smile and said, "You ready to gain unimaginable powers?"
Arnold was slightly surprised, but did not show it on his face as he calmly nodded and said, "Yes."
The older version of Arnold grinned deviously and said, "But. you have to pass a test first. Don't worry, it won't be too hard."
Looking at his expression, Arnold instinctively knew that the test was not going to be in any manner 'easy'. But he did not feel that having a test to get the powers was unfair in any way. He knew how the world worked. No pain, no gain. There was absolutely no free meal in any world.
Frankly speaking, knowing that there was a test made him feel more at ease. He did not believe in getting in anything too easily, and thus he had started to get anxious that he was not eligible to receive the powers when he felt no pain whatsoever after getting stabbed by the king with the injectable.
Now that he knew that there was a test, it made him feel more calm. He decided that he would do his best in the so called 'test' and get the powers at any cost.
After all those thoughts passed through Arnold's head, he slowly nodded his head and said, "Okay."
The older version of Arnold laughed madly and said, "Good! Don't worry, I'll make it a very memorable experience for you."
A chill passed through his spine, listening to what the older version of Arnold said. The sentence he said made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
The older version of Arnold slowly started dissipating. Before he completely disappeared, he said three words with a deadly smile spread on his face.
"Kill without thinking."
Arnold understood what the test must be. He would probably be required to kill a lot of people. Arnold grinned with relief. Killing people wasn't a big deal for him. He cracked his knuckles one by one as he prepared himself.
Suddenly, the bright and sunny grasslands disappeared as darkness enveloped him once again. He did not know why, but he felt an intense urge to close his eyes. Arnold thought that closing his eyes might be a trigger for the test to start and thus complied with the urge and closed his eyes.
Arnold closed his eyes and prepared himself mentally to see something scary as soon as he opened his eyes. He would probably be on a battlefield filled with knights ready to kill him. Or it might also be possible that he would be transported into a street filled with commoners and be ordered to kill them all.
After all, it was the incarnation of evil who gave him the powers. Anything was possible. He didn't mind if he had to kill commoners. It would be much easier than killing fully trained knights.
He opened his eyes, ready for intense battles, but what awaited him was a stark contrast of his expectations.
He layed on the floor of a hut. His hut.
He looked at the empty hut that had a peaceful aura to it. Tiny rays of sunlight were entering the hut, giving it a picturesque look.
Arnold looked at his surroundings with confusion. Where are the hordes of people he had to kill? Arnold yawned and got up. He felt a sense of calm when he looked at the hut.
He sauntered outside of the hut, while half expecting people to suddenly jump out of nowhere. But what he saw made his heart lurch into his throat. His siblings were playing tag with his father. His father?! B- but
He suddenly remembered the words of the older version of Arnold.
"Kill without thinking."
His throat went dry as he suddenly understood the implications of the sentence that he had stated.
Suddenly, a voice declared in his head, "The test is simple. I have transported you into an alternate multiverse where your father is still alive. You have two options. Kill all four of them and you will gain powers. Or, give up on the test. You can live with your father and your other three siblings happily forever after."
Arnold's throat was completely parched as he looked at his family playing happily in front of him.
Tears filled his eyes as he saw his father. The same father that he missed so much The same father whose loss made him into this psychopath.
He also remembered the Ethan, Kara and Maxine of his world. The ones that had accompanied him through so many tough times Kara, who wiped his tears and consoled him when he was crying after finding out about his father's death, even though she was overwhelmed by sadness herself.
Ethan, who took an attack from a monster which was going to attack Arnold even though he did not need to.
Maxine, who had given up food many times even when he was starving so that he, Ethan and Kara could eat
Arnold could not just abandon them all because he could now have a perfect life.
But then again, he couldn't kill the perfect and happy family in front of him. According to the older version of himself, they were all real, and he was in another world, or 'multiverse' as he called it. Even though the people in front of him may not be his family, they still looked like his family.
Who was he trying to trick? He really, really just wanted to leave everything behind and live with this happy family in front of him. But he wouldn't. He didn't want to abandon his old family either.
Authors note:
This chapter has been rewritten. All comments for it are for the previous version of this chapter. Please wait patiently as I rewrite the next chapters too.
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