I know.

170 floors.

The weirdness was starting to get more and more out of hand with every floor we climbed.

180 floors.

So much of the ground had disappeared into the void that we had to hop between the few bits that were left.

185 floors.

Every new floor felt more and more like she was taunting us. The ways the halls were falling apart seemed too deliberate to be random, each one becoming harder and harder to traverse than the last.

“For someone who seemed so adamant on fighting me, she’s trying her damn best to stop me from getting to her,” I moaned.

“She wants you worn out before you even get to her, the bitch,” said Fuji, a few steps behind me. “It was obvious from the get-go that we couldn’t expect her to play fair.”

“This is probably also Space’s doing. Even as far back as I remember, he always liked his underhanded tricks,” added Time.

We reached the end of the 188th hallway and began up the half-empty staircase to floor 189.

“You said the plan is to recombine you and your brother, right? How exactly is that even gonna work?” I asked.

“When he and I come into direct contact, for a moment we can use some limited amount of each other’s powers. Like Space and Time are starting to function as one again, I guess,” answered Time. “I’m thinking that, if one of us overpowers the other, we can force a recombination.”

“What, so you don’t even know for sure?” asked Fujiko as we hopped between the tiny bits of floor still left to stand on.

“Sorry, best I can do. The only way to win is to take Space out of the equation, for good. And I’ve got no other ideas as to how to do that.”

“So, what, I’m gonna need to keep Aki distracted while you deal with Space?” I asked.

“Actually, you might have to deal with her alone. I have no idea how long my fight with Space will last. Sorry, but you’re gonna have to try and take her on without my help.”

We reached the base of the stairs for floor 190.

“Shit… even without fighting her I can tell she’s strong…” I said, reaching the top of the stairs and finding floor 190 surprisingly put-together. So much so that I could simply run across it instead of playing hopscotch.

“I could feel it too. But you’ve improved a lot recently. It’s gonna take everything you’ve got, but I really think you can win this.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be a great fight. I’m kinda sad I won’t get to see it.”

Fujiko’s voice came from far further back than it had before. I stopped dead and turned to face her. She was halfway down the hallway behind me, putting her hand up in front of her. She almost looked like she was miming an invisible wall.

“Fuji?” I started tentatively walking towards her.

“Looks like Aki’s thrown up a barrier to stop me going any further. Guess this is where my journey ends, heh.”

I reached out towards her. My hand passed straight through the apparent wall separating us, but Fuji pushed and still was unable to move.

Dammit… dammit all… right here at the end, she was gonna separate us by force. Ryou. Nabiki. Now Fuji too. She was gonna take everything I loved from me before even meeting me face to face. That bitch.

I felt anger begin to well up inside me as I looked at the woman with whom I should have been able to spend my life. The woman Aki was now threatening to take away from me forever.

…but I knew that’s exactly what she wanted. And I couldn’t get her what she wanted.

I looked Fuji in the eye.

“...I wouldn’t have made it this far without you, y’know.”

“I know.”

“My time with you was the most fun I’ve ever had.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

For a moment, we fell into a silence, our eyes locked, a sad smile on her face.

The next, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her.

God, how long had it been since I’d done that? It was exactly as I remembered. She was exactly how I remembered her. I hadn’t realised just how much I missed being with her like this.

And now it was about to be taken away from me again.

“Toki…” she said, pulling just slightly back. “You crying?”

“Of course I’m crying, asshole. I just got you back and now I’m gonna lose you again.”

“What, you got that little faith in me?” She stepped backwards and unsheathed the sword from her back. “You’re gonna cut that bitch down where she stands, and when you come back down those stairs, I’m gonna be waiting for ya, on a mountain of the bodies of every bastard that tries to stop me, you got that?”

“Haaah… my knight in blood-soaked armour…”

“Knight? Nah, you know what I really am. Let your princess do the heavy lifting, yeah?”

“Isn’t the princess the one that’s supposed to be saved?”

“Maybe sometimes. But this princess…” she said, holding her sword above her head, “ain’t some damsel in distress.”

Every bulb on the floor went out at once. The only source of light was the electricity pouring into her sword, which crackled and glowed with lightning. The flickering light splashed onto her face, half covered by her golden helmet.

“God, I am so attracted to you…”

“Well, you’ll get the rest of our lives to act on that when you put your sword through that bitch’s chest and retire with me.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“I know you will. Now go, get moving. Sooner we kill the bastards that dragged us here, the sooner we can make it a reality.”

“...don’t die, Fuji.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” She turned to face the stairwell, where our enemies would almost certainly appear soon. “I don’t plan on it.”

I turned away from the woman I loved, and began the final climb to kill the woman I hated.