Battle Universe

Time

Ugh, my head hurts...wait, I can feel pain, that means I'm not dead, right? Okay, I guess that's good. I should probably see where I am if I'm actually alive.

Matt opened his eyes to find himself lying on a comfortable bed that looked very familiar.

Because it was his bed.

And beside him was his wife, Amanda.

Matt couldn't help but wrap his arms around her, relief coursing through him. He was finally safe at home with his family, he could forget everything.

Except his arms passed through her.

"No." Matt breathed out, trying desperately to touch her. His hands kept passing through her instead.

"Thank God you're awake!"

Matt looked around in confusion, watching his bedroom and Amanda fade away. In reality, the room was sterile white like a hospital, only it had no furniture.

Matt found Bryan and Chad standing close by with large smiles on their faces.

"Guys!" Matt jumped up off of the floor and hugged them both, not caring that he wasn't home anymore. He wasn't alone, and his friends weren't dead.

"Listen, the only way we can leave is if Battle Universe wins." Bryan explained, his expression turning serious.

"So we're just stuck here until Connor, Gunner, Kevin Paul, and J-Fred beat this competition?" Matt frowned.

"Not only that, but Mike's here." Chad interjected.

"What?" Matt blurted.

"The referee? Doesn't he kinda look like Mike?" Bryan elaborated.

"But he has black hair and his voice is way lower. Besides, he wouldn't do this to us." Matt pointed out.

"Because the things running this competition put this device in his voice box that controls his voice and his muscles, and they changed his hair slightly to throw us off." Chad informed him.

"How did you even learn this?" Matt asked incredulously.

"When you're stuck here for about a day and some hours, you have plenty of time to figure things out." Chad sighed.

"That and because the people that brought us up here were talking about it when they brought Chad up." Bryan chimed in.

"Is there any way to see what's going on?" Matt looked around the room, hoping to see a tv or something.

"Yeah thankfully." Bryan gestured to a large window at one end of the room. Matt could see the competition arena far below them.

He could barely make out his friend's outlines standing beside the Florps. Apparently the Glabadons were all dead. Even though they were so far away, Matt could hear them perfectly.

"The one last challenge left is Capture the Flag. The rules are simple and obvious. Battle Universe is black and orange, Florps are purple. Begin!" Mike shot his golden pistol in the air.

Matt noticed that Bryan was constantly watching Kevin, as if worried that if he didn't watch over him he would die.

"How has he been?" Bryan asked without removing his gaze away from the spectacle occurring below.

Matt knew who he was talking about.

"Kevin....he tried killing himself to be back with you." Matt admitted.

"What?!?" Now Bryan looked away, his expression full of bewilderment.

"He said te veré pronto Bryancito before he shot himself in the head with his own gun." Matt added.

"I hope he doesn't do anything else stupid like that." Bryan sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

That was when Kevin appeared in the middle of the room.

"Good grief Kevin." Bryan shook his head, unable to stop a smile from forming on his face as he walked over to Kevin's unconscious body. He had several black laser scorches on his chest, his arms, and legs.

"He looks like he's been used as a human shield." Chad whistled in amazement.

"Ow...why do I still hurt if I'm supposed to be dead?" Kevin groaned in pain, groggily rubbing his eyes before sitting up and looking around.

He froze when he spotted Bryan standing by the window, his expression a mixture of confusion and joy when he stood up.

"And here I thought you'd be the first one here Kevincito." Bryan teased.

"What can I say, I'm just too awesome." Kevin smirked as he hugged Bryan tightly.

"Es bueno verte de nuevo hermano." Bryan patted Kevin on the shoulder.

"Mismo aquí hermano." Kevin retracted from Bryan's embrace, noticing Chad and Matt standing uncomfortably to the side.

"So what happened?" Matt gestured at Kevin's various wounds.

"I got the flag, then..." Kevin trailed off, staring down at his own wounds.

Gunner was the next person to appear.

"Well, I guess it's up to Paul, J-Fred, and Connor." Bryan mused.

"What happened?" Conor bolted awake, relaxing when he saw his friends.

Matt patiently explained everything he understood to Connor, trying but failing to make him less confused. In the end, Connor knew as much as Matt did, which wasn't much.

They watched the rest of the match go down, surprised by the ferocity of J-Fred's attacks.

He was the one that took the flag and won, Gunner and Paul defending him the entire time.

Suddenly the familiar bright white light encompassed Bryan, Kevin, Connor, and Matt.

Once the light was gone, they realized they were back at the real office as if nothing had happened.

J-Fred, Paul, Mike, and Gunner were there with them, tired, but glad to see their friends alive and to be back home.

Mike's voice was back to normal, and he could control his own actions much to his relief.

Thankfully none of the editors or camera crew were there, giving them to get back into the flow of things.

They never spoke of what happened during the Battle Between Universes since they weren't even sure if it really happened. They still had the laser guns as proof and kept them carefully hidden.

They continued on with normal life, updating Battle Universe regularly so they didn't panic the fans, even though it dredged up memories for them.

Eventually they all forgot about it, pushing it to the back of their minds. Yet the Florps and Glabadons didn't forget, and they certainly weren't ready to forgive.

It was only a matter of time.