Author's Note: Seems like FFN is currently having some issues with automatically removing fine-text formatting, but it looks like I can edit it in manually so this chapter should be adjusted now. I'll put Act 2 Chapter 26 back out once I fix the issues there, as I some bits might be unclear otherwise.
"You haven't changed at all since last I saw you, McEnroe…" The woman mumbled. "That's an insult, by the way."
"Who-" I speak too loudly, and I cough in pain as my wound flares up. "Do I know you…?"
"You do not, not how I am today… But I know you, and the hatred inside of me has been seeping for millennia, waiting for this moment… You will suffer."
"God, that's the second time someone I've met before has been weirdly cryptic about where I've known them from." I chuckle to myself, despite my pain. "You'd ought to try and be a bit less like Phone Girl."
Ignoring me spitefully, the woman looks down at her lackey. "Good job, Quandary. You've done well to buy time."
"Of course, Miss Tsunami… I had faith that you would return for me."
"It seems that you misunderstand." Tsunami sighs. "I did not come here for you."
"What do you-"
Without a moment of hesitation, Tsunami throws her roped scythe down on Quandary. The blade punctures straight through her chest, and blood immediately recoils up her throat. Only a small grunt comes out of Quandary's mouth, and she sits motionless.
"What…" Shock and betrayal line her quiet voice between heavy breaths. "Why…"
Wordlessly, Tsunami flicks the rope back, releasing Quandary as she is flung toward the sinkhole. Motionless, she falls and falls until she is just a small speck of nothingness in the gaping void.
The faint sound of a thud can be heard, and the central light shines.
3 FRAGMENTS REMAINING
All I can do is sit in place, speechless.
I hear the screams of countless people, running away in fear of what they just bore witness to. The tumbling of feet, tripping and sprinting, the footsteps are everywhere.
Among it all, I just sit in place with the woman towering above me.
"I am saving you for last, McEnroe… I want to see your suffering firsthand." Tsunami looks down on me, chuckling to herself.
"Who the hell are you!? What did I even do!" I can't help but raise my voice and yell, which ensues in some heavy coughing after the flare of pain that ensues.
"Oh, you'll soon learn who I am," The woman cackles, "You'll learn after you lie on the bodies of everyone you love. Once I take everything away from you, just as you did for me."
I struggle to stand up. "I don't need to recognize you to know that you deserved whatever I did to you… You'll pay for this"
The woman raises her scythe-blade once again. "You won't make me pay without your legs."
In a blur, she throws her blade down at me. I do not have a moment to react.
But in that very moment, a second blur emerges and tackles Tsunami to the ground.
"Back off!"
The blond man looks down at me with just as much contempt as the woman did. "I am the one who will kill Xavier!"
From the ground, Tsunami can only mumble one thing. "Tyler."
…
It all happened in a blur.
Quandary is gone.
And it's all my fault.
I crumple onto the ground, and start hyperventilating.
I should have just died. I should have just died. I should have done anything.
Quandary is dead, and even if she tried to kill me she was still my friend. It doesn't matter how close we were, she is gone and there is nothing I can do about it.
And now so, so, so many people will follow. All because of my boss.
She's in the cryosleep tank, can I cut off her life support? No, she'll forcefully get ejected if I disturb the environment in any way. I'd get killed before I could even get to her body. What can I do at this point? Even if I had realized earlier, what could I have done? That woman is a monster…
I slump over in my seat, unable to do anything but continue to watch the sim. Watch as Tsunami and Tyler fight over the right to kill Xavier like animals to their next meal. Two vengeful souls…
I have an idea of why Tyler would resent him, but I have to wonder what Xavier's relation to Tsunami actually is. She claims that she has a history with him, but he clearly doesn't recognize her. I think Tsunami mentioned something about waiting for millennia…? If she's really been alive that long, I wonder if she has simply changed so much that she has become unrecognizable.
But if that were the case, wouldn't Xavier need to have been alive for that long as well? That doesn't quite add up.
Before I can think much further on the topic, I hear a buzz indicating that there is someone trying to contact this room's phone extension. That's strange, this room was meant to be hidden. How could someone know its extension…?
Regardless, that notion is just a small inkling of thought in my mind as I pick up the phone.
"Wyatt Williams."
I shudder as an unfamiliar voice greets me. "Who are you?"
"I'm here to help. Now, if you want to take down a demigod today you'll need to follow my instructions exactly."
