Angel Nightwalker knew that if she ever managed to get back to the past, she'd never want to see the color green again.
Sickly green pods with black web-like etchings clung to the landscape like warts. She'd almost be able to ignore them if it weren't for the monsters surrounding them-from Fusion spawns with their red eyes and black, pointy mouths to the Shocktanglers, floating bundles of cables waiting to fry any victim unfortunate enough to wander into their path. Of course, Angel happened to be lucky enough to watch as someone was electrocuted before Flora was able to lay the pain, saving the victim before they could die.
But what was Angel doing? Standing there like an idiot while Flora stole all the glory. It was all about her, the prodigy, the one who knows what she's doing, the only one who could babysit her. Ugh.
She hated it. At least they had separate rooms during their stay at the ruined KND treehouse. She lived in Tech Square in downtown, so she was unaware of what their organization even was. It was probably something stupid, in her opinion. All of Hoagie's (I'm not calling him by some codename, does it look like I wanna embarrass myself?) inventions look like shit you'd make out of trash. I mean, they work, but I can call them stupid if I want. She thought about a number of things as she tossed and turned in her bed.
Tired of lazing about her room, she decided to go on a walk around Sector V. Going outside, she already saw a few soldiers crowding around Hoagie, reporting to him on the conditions of the infected zones and surrounding areas. She took the bridge that was opposite of him, so he wouldn't stop her and get Flora to follow her around.
The grass underneath was colored an unhealthy shade. Good luck finding a plant that didn't look slightly fucked up here. They even had to grow all their vegetables in controlled environments after death from consuming infected food proved that even the soil couldn't be trusted. She heard that someone attempted to grow carrots in Candy Cove-then they turned into monsters and started to attack people.
The pavement on the sidewalks was cracked, with the bigger fractures hastily filled with cement, indicated by their lighter color. Small globs of fusion matter clung to the grass surrounding the suburban housing. They were all empty, windows broken in and creepy red eyes staring from deep in the darkness. She didn't stick around there long.
She decided to walk towards Hero Square. Gazing down at the ground in order to avoid the green, haunting sky, she watched as the grass was replaced with white tile. Looking upwards, she saw the holograms that represented what people saw as great heroes.
Dexter stood proud, and an image of him pleading for her to run for the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. while he stayed behind flashed in her memory. He said he would be fine.
He lied.
Ben watched over the soldiers who flitted to and fro. His hologram, anyway. He died when Tech Square collapsed. A part of her wondered that maybe if he hadn't stayed behind after finding her, he would have lived.
The others, she didn't recognize at all. Apparently the blue blob and the guy with a sock on his head were friends of Eduardo and Eddy respectively, but she doesn't….understand on the same level that the others do. How could she mourn people she never met? Why should I care so much? Why does everyone expect me to care?
She sighed. Tired, tired, tired. Everything was too much. The idea that she was bearing the hopes of the entire world, that the lives of everyone were on her shoulders-why do people tell her that? Is it supposed to make her feel better? All proud and mighty, like the images before her?
She couldn't take it. Walking out of Hero Square, she climbed the short hills, charred black and lifeless. Over those peaks laid desolation. A bright green sea of glowing fusion matter that extended farther than the eye could see. Even past the darkness of the horizon. It was all nothingness. The fate that awaited everyone here faced them here day after day. Eventually, everything would end up there. Even if they sent her back, that would only give a splinter of the timeline a chance to fight back. Everyone here was damned either way.
"Angel!"
She tried to turn and felt someone shove her in the back. Before she could even see their face, she lost her footing, tumbling down into the sea below.
She couldn't even scream. The noxious smell reach her nostrils. Staring from atop the hills were a pair of red eyes, glaring at her like they despised her very being.
So she fell. Into the nothingness she always feared.