The scene replayed over and over again in my head, the gagging, the fading strength. I had seen death before, but being the cause of it was another story, one could say they deserved it, that I shouldn't feel any remorse for what I did...But I felt it regardless.
"Thirty Minutes are up" My eyes opened, facing towards the ceiling like always. "Sadly Sam ain't come by, which means we're going out."
"Right..." I grabbed the rifle and used it to aid myself, my leg felt worse than it did before, but I had to walk, There weren't many choices in a place like this one.
"If we assume Sam is on this side of the building, then we better get going, we're thirty minutes behind her." Before I had high hopes that Sam was alive, but something in my head was trying to say otherwise, it was sickening, the same mind that was convinced she's around here somewhere, still alive, was now saying the opposite. "Hey" Loui snapped his fingers in my face. "'member what I told you, don't let what you're thinking take over."
"Sorry."
I went on ahead as Loui emptied the mug I didn't drink from, I assumed it was to cover where we were.
"We should have a good amount of time before the place shifts again" Loui stared down the hallway, the darkness affected him, but he acted like it wasn't there, like he could see past it. "You do a lot of thinking y'know?"
"huh?"
"Can just sense it, 'He's slowing his pace so we're at the same speed isn't he?' 'What's he so focused on?' That?"
"Erm...you're not fully wrong."
"Knew it, listen it ain't anything to worry about, why worry bout Sam when you do that enough to cover my worry as well?"
"Well I figured you weren't anyways."
"No, there's a lot of stuff going on at the moment, I don't exactly like focusing on one thought either."
"Why not?"
"Well, there's a healthy amount of thinking, then there's an obsession, being corrupted can make any thought an obsession, like now." Loui looked down at me. "Then again..." Just as quickly he turned his gaze to the hallway's darkness. "Having a hundred thoughts sorta prevents that, unless, you're obsessed with thoughts or something...probably." He scratched the back of his neck, I couldn't tell if he was trying to joke around or he was just actually giving his thoughts. As time went on, I could see Loui slowly getting more and more irritated "Geh, these hallways are pissing me off. It's always the same look."
"I'll take emptiness over fighting."
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"Huh..." Loui looked like he was thinking again. "Heads up" But his thoughts were quickly broken as a door opened. It was a singular guard, wielding a shotgun. Loui readied himself, raising his weapon again, until the lights completely shut off. I couldn't hear Loui, nor the guard, it was complete darkness and silence. I stood still, any noise could bring attention to where I was. After minutes passed, a single footstep approached...then another. Breath in...breath out...they would've shot me already if they could see me...if that's the case. I stayed as still as I could, the footsteps continued to approach and the minute it was even close, I swung my rifle down, hearing it make contact with something, I shoulder bashed them onto the ground. I kept my rifle ready near the noise, if I heard anything move I'd swing again, but instead of noise, a bright light lit up the hallway, I saw the face of the guard, it wasn't Loui, nor Sam, or even anyone I knew, so I slammed my rifle down again. The guard moved their arm in my way, forcing my rifle to hit their wrist instead. The flashlight broke out of their hand and rolled along the ground.
"Pink-haired girl, where is she?" Their gun was nowhere to be seen, but even so I kept the rifle ready.
"Like I know who the fuck that is!" I swung the rifle again, colliding it against their arm again.
"Don't give me that, she ran by here, I know it." I kicked their arm aside. The guard didn't respond. "Fine then, where are they watching us from? And don't give me any bullshit, the lights don't magically shut off on their own."
"I ain't giving in to some kid." I primed myself to swing the rifle again, but as I was raising my arm, the guard took out a knife and slashed forward, I could barely get out of its range. I walked backwards as the guard started to stand.
"Fine then." This wasn't an electric round, the rifle in my hands did damage, seizing the chance, I shot a round into their leg, sending them back onto the ground in pain.
"GODDAMNIT YOU PR-" In the middle of his shouting I rushed forward and swung the rifle down onto their face. I thought I'd have to swing again, yet the guard seemed to be out cold...not dead...yet, just knocked out.
"Loui!?" With the danger gone I recalled how I hadn't heard or seen Loui this entire time. I picked up the flashlight and started looking around, but I couldn't find him. "You've gotta be kidding me." The only thing I could do was continue forward, I could try going back now with all the stuff I had and prop open the door with the buttons, but that would mean dealing with that monster. Guess while we're here...The guard had a shotgun, the same version of mine, I of course didn't take it, the rifle and shotgun I had were bad enough, but I did empty it, taking the shells and loading it in my own shotgun after ejecting the purple round and putting it away.
The flashlight was much better than the lights below us, I could see farther and more than what they did, granted there was a downside, I could only see in one direction.
Walking and thinking, was all I did for a few minutes, 'what happened to Loui' 'Is Sam actually here or did I over analyze this sickle?'
Testing
-Kenneth
"Oh my God..." The words slipped out of my mouth as I saw the message. "The MEMP doesn't reach this exact spot..."
I see it!
-Lee
Finally...we're in the area you last were, do you have more info to go off of?
-Kenneth
Not really...but I know we're underground, can you use the map to see me?
-Lee
Hang on...
-Kenneth
Silence, darkness, I wanted his reading of where I was to be accurate, but I also wanted to know that the MEMP wasn't moved to reach me.
We see you
-Kenneth
How's the leg?
-Nicholai
The message I sent prior also talked about what I did to get out...to my surprise Nicholai seemed to be understanding about it.
Hurts to walk on, I wanted to use the rifle I have as a crutch but...
-Lee
I wanted to describe what happened, but even I didn't get it, Loui just vanished, not a single trace of where he was or went.
Sam's signal is also off like yours just was, we take it she's in there with you
-Kenneth
Two emotions countered each other, relieved, that we weren't searching for nothing, and worried, that she was by herself.
When can you get here?
-Lee
Twenty Minutes or so
-Kenneth
Then I'm going, the longer I delay the more chance
the other two are in harm's way
-Lee
We know full well when your mind is set, just don't get yourself killed
-Nicholai
The moment I took a step forward, the signal was lost, I wanted to open a portal and see if I could get to Sam or Loui, but there just wasn't any space for it. Gotta keep it going. I couldn't be more glad that the flashlight didn't break, the idea of walking through this all without being able to see anything was horrifying. I bet that thing from earlier can see in the dark too...that'd be my luck. The walls looked more rotted the further I went in, whatever it was built with had become discolored compared to the previous section, there were also gaps in the wall...course it led to nothing but darkness. Guess the walls are longer and wider than I thought...
"Mh?" Unlike every other door where they were hidden amongst the walls, there was one completely torn apart, whatever made the wall, was broken into a hundred pieces and strewn across the floor. I didn't go in, but instead peered into it. The room was almost fully coated in red, metal bars rested In the corner of the room, what worried me the most though, was the cage where those metal bars used to be, far bigger than a normal cage, it was practically hitting the ceiling. "You've gotta be messing with me..." It could have been the cage that held the creature from before, but something within me felt like it wasn't, it was something else, I was sure of it. I took a quick look around before bolting out of the room and rushing onward. My rapid footsteps echoed around the hallway all the while I had to see the same thing over and over again, the decaying walls, the barely visible floor. If it broke out recently...then I know it's nearby and away from Sam or wherever Loui ended up...but shutting off lights doesn't make me deaf, it already broke out a while ago. The halls felt like they never ended, if I was turning I didn't realize it, if it looped I couldn't notice. "This isn't doing anything..." I quickly came to a stop, the map showed that it couldn't be this long of a hallway, but it did show that the other sections were here, perhaps the rooms shifted, or perhaps..."The wall." I backtracked, as much as I could before I came across the hole in the wall again. Still complete darkness...But I knew that it couldn't be possible, the flashlight I had should've lit it up. "I got a signal nearby too..." I gazed at it, weighing my options before making a choice. "I have to..." I held my rifle and flashlight tightly before raising my leg and putting it into the hole, but suddenly, the hole grabbed on and pulled me in.
"Hell of a thing ain't it? It doesn't see the right things, right now it thinks we're like it." It was someone else's voice, similar to the one in my head, but now it wasn't, it was out there like it was in front of me.
"Take it the moving part is your doing?" My vision staticed before everything around me changed, no longer darkness, instead I saw what looked like the room of a hospital, this place before it became whatever nightmare it was now. The voices had no body though, not until the next man spoke.
"No, rather it seems to be a side effect of corruption."
"Ah, I'm surprised the specimen is still alive" Along with their bodies, a table with a small rodent appeared. "And this is safe?"
"Far from it, acting wrongly can have severe consequences, the depths didn't take too kindly of me taking some corruption either."
"Damn thing is alive?"
"Could be, or maybe it was the Corruptors coming my way to slaughter me."
"The shit you do I swear..." I wanted more to appear, their faces, what they looked like, if they had any emblem or whatever to appear, but it never did.
"We have ways to kill corrupted, don't be so uptight about it, and you know already, if I get corrupted-" The guy speaking raised his hand to the side of his head and mimicked a motion of him shooting himself, it was also where the vision vanished, and I appeared in a fully different section, the hospital, it looked somewhat off but, my intuition told me this wasn't the past, nor a vision, this was current time, day, and I was really here.
The lights were normal with not being on the ground anymore, and the halls were clean and lit correctly.
"Oh God..." I heard a voice behind me, I turned around and saw the CSF, Nicholai, and Kenneth standing there.
"You're in a lot worse condition than you said!" Nicholai was the first to approach me, more pissed of than I'd seen.
"What? I told you w-"
"Look at yourself" As if the CSF were following her orders, one of them brought over a mirror, and it was just like she said. My entire uniform was coated in blood, the leg I dislocated was bleeding, and purple veins were visible. "Could you not find an exit!?" The disgust in how I looked changed to confusion.
"What? I told you I was gonna look for Sam!" The CSF looked between each other.
"You gone fucking mental? We told you she was fine."
"Like hell you did! You said her signal was off!"
"I said she was f-" Nicholai stopped herself. "Arm"
"What?"
"Raise your arm." Nicholai didn't wait for me to listen, she forcibly took my arm and injected medication. "Look at the message again."
Sam's signal seems perfectly fine, we take it we can get to her soon
-Nicholai
The messages were slightly similar, but what it said was almost 100 percent different.
"I think your corruption is getting a lot worse than you think." I could tell Nicholai debated whether or not a second dose would be helpful.
"No...that place made it worse...I..." I looked down at my hands, like the rest of me they were stained in red. "I killed someone..." Or...was that also an illusion...was Loui even there? 'The Corruption made me think Loui was there...' Was my main thought...but if that was the case, and if Loui really was fake, then I killed more people than I thought...otherwise they would've killed me, I can't fake things I've never seen after all...but then that would have been the case with the vision
"Ay!" Nicholai tapped me in the shoulder., preventing a spiral of thoughts from forming in my head.
"You gotta believe me I-"
"We do." Kenneth spoke up. "We have no reason to doubt you, not only that but Corruption clearly has affected you before, it's not so far off to think it did all this."
"We should still search downstairs, we've heard reports about patients going missing here" One of the CSF soldiers suggested it.
"Agreed, Nicholai, Kenneth, take care" Without waiting for a reply, the CSF kept moving on. It protect me...yet harms me...it made me kill people...but it warped me out...I had understood why the hallway looped, or rather, how I know it was a loop, it did it so I took its path, saw the vision, but the main concern was why it did that. Immunity supposedly gives perks like the blood magic...does It also make Corurption more willing to help?
"Well...back on topic about all this, we can't check if Loui has a signal, we're not connected to him like you are." Although he said that, Kenneth still double checked on his HUD, but finding nothing, he shrugged it off and closed it. "But seeing as people were looking for him, I don't think he was just an illusion."
"What for?"
"Probably Teth stuff, the CSF and Guardians don't fully get along yet...for pretty obvious reasons."
"Right..."
"For now, let's focus on the major issue" Nicholai took another look at me. "My healing magic isn't exactly perfect yet, it'll be easier and better for me to fix you up normally.
"Stitches huh?"
"Look on the bright side, I made sure Sam's room and yours are nearby each other."
"So she did get hurt..."
"Correct" Kenneth tapped on a device on his wrist, after a moment Dave decloaked and joined us.
"Like you mentioned in your message, the robots...cyborgs went after Sam" Dave seemed confused with what to call them as well..
"I see...even if I didn't want to go you'd drag me anyways right?"
"Glad you understand, come on now" Nicholai would have dragged me had I not followed, Kenneth and Dave stayed behind for a moment too, looking at something before rejoining us later on. "By the way, we're in a magic zone again...case you wanna change out of all that."
"O-oh, I forgot about that." I snapped my fingers and returned to casual wear. "Eh...it sorta..."
"Your leg bleeds through the clothing? Yeah I see that..." What caused it to bleed?...Internally would make more sense, but I wasn't shot or stabbed... "Ah, guess there's no reason to walk in reality. Lee, can you manage?"
"Yeah, should be fine." I summoned Crescent, it worked perfectly again. I cut open the portal, its destination the hospital. "I should uh...get rid of the guns huh?"
"Just warp em away for now like you did with the knife during the trials." It was more draining to do so, but it was still possible, it seems the amount of stuff and the size of it mattered when putting it in the inventory. "Alright, in, in." Nicholai made her way behind me and started pushing.
"Hang on a moment!"
"I don't wanna carry a corpse, in." Whether I wanted to or not, I want into the portal, however the destination was different, I was in a hospital room instead of outside the building.
I'll be with you in a minute
-Nicholai
"Guess they're checking on Sam first." I took off Crescent and set them against the wall, before laying down on the bed. Back here again, might as well start keeping track. The blanket of the bed started to feel more heavy, when I looked down at it, I was reminded of my hands, I couldn't change out of my skin, and because of that I had to look at it. Killed someone...Every time I heard the phrase it felt like a stake was being stabbed into me more and more. A bright side of it all was that the voices and temptations had stopped, meaning that the place was the cause.
"Alright." The door to the room opened, Nicholai of course was there, but along with Kenneth, Kaz, and Sam...Sam though has a bandage covering the side of her head and covering her left eye. My worry must've been obvious because Sam almost instantly acted.
"No no! It's okay! Dave did this when we were still out there, my eye is fine!"
"Before you ask because I know you will." Nicholai was holding a clipboard as she walked over to me. "Dave was the one who applied medical attention to her, it was either wrap it around her whole head so it wouldn't cover the eye, but in the process it'd compress her head and be extremely uncomfortable, or have it just cover an eye, the eye one was also quicker."
"I see."
"Hold on! You're worrying about me but look at you."
"Hence why we're here, relax." Nicholai simply gazing in Sam's direction made her quiet down.
"Lee!" Kaz leapt onto the edge of the bed. "I got something to tell you when we get outside."
"Alright..."
"Ignoring that, do you feel any pain?" Nicholai waved her hand, motioning Kaz to get off the bed which we complied
"No..."
"Figured. From what you told us, you shouldn't have that cut, yet it's here regardless. Far as I can tell though, it's most likely that it came from Corruption."
"Well...I figured."
"Not what I mean, I don't think Corruption directly caused it, I think you did something that made it do this." It became clear that in her spare time she was looking into Corruption as much as she could, yet through it all she wasn't tired even one bit.
"So I messed up somewhere."
"Don't go blaming yourself." Kenneth shook his head. "We don't fully know what Corruption can do, blaming yourself for it doesn't make any sense." Nicholai continued to check things, I didn't know what most of them were for, but I trusted that she knew what she was doing.
"You seem to be fine again." Nicholai put the light back on the wall. "I'd say to take it easy...but-"
"Knowing me I won't?"
"No, actually. I can't say it because I don't think you can" I tried to predict what Nicholai would say, but I was wrong. "It seems when you're by yourself, Corruption tries to affect you, that or when you start thinking too much, we'll assume the rifle shot was from the facili-"
"Wait..."
"Hm?" Everyone seemed confused.
"Sam wasn't there...but I found her weapon."
"You sure it was mine?" Sam's question was genuine.
"Yeah...but if you weren't down there...then..." That facility took out magic, and DT stuff, the HUDs and weapon summing don't seem to fit the magic category, yet...thing is, if that's the case, then would I be able to summon Bravo Team's weapons if our bond is strong enough? If that's true, then was the other Lee down there? I relayed my thoughts to them, there was a pause, everyone gave it their own thought.
"Hm...maybe that's why your Corruption really peaked." For a moment I thought Nicholai's voice became more high pitched, but then I was surprised to realize it was Sam who said it. "I mean, maybe...well, it sounds dumb now that I think about it."
"Say it regardless" Nicholai glared at Sam.
"A-alright, so, let's assume this Lee is also corrupted, and that he's from the future, if corruption acts like a hivemind, then maybe that Lee's bloodlust is also transferring to our Lee due to the hivemind."
"Good idea Sam!" I raised my open hand, after a second of confusion she understood and gave me a high five.
"Let's assume that Sam's theory is correct, then that means so long as that other Lee is here, Lee will be prone to violent tendencies."
"But not to you all."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I doubt any Lee wants any of you dead."
"...Yeah, guess so." Nicholai looked out the window. "Far as I know there's not another Lee in this world except for that one...if you and Sam are right that is, which means he's going for you."
"So I can expect to die soon."
"What!?"
"He's not actually dying soon." One more, Nicholai glared in Sam's direction while she stood up. "Even if fighting this other Lee is a death sentence we'll still give it our all, putting it simply." Everyone, including Kaz looked my way, as though they agreed on something while I was waiting here. "We'll make sure we die before you"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Excuse me?" I wanted to say more, but Kenneth talked before I could.
"You can rewind, even if not accurately, then you have the coin as well, granted it's going to be painful as all hell. But we won't be dead forever, and think about it." There was a quick glint in Kenneth's eyes. "If we can find a way to make sure you only rewind specific stuff, we can make it so you rewind our bodies only, reviving us."
"More reasons I'm the leader huh?"
"Hehe, not what we thought when we agreed on that, but if that's how you see it." Sam scooped up Kaz off the floor.
"And you told me not to get used to it..." I shrugged off this whole thing, I would do my all to make sure there's never a chance for them to do that.
"So what next? We should probably decide together, because whatever you do on your own, tends to get you in trouble." As Nicholai spoke, Sam started spinning Kaz around in her arms.
"I'd say prepare for that other Lee, but I don't know what I can even do besides rewinding, the blood spears, and that flame sword stuff."
"Soooo?"
"Loui didn't mind training me...I can see if he can help all of us."
"So we have our plan for now."
"Hm?" Sam's spinning came to an end.
"We'll head to the Teth, knowing Loui though, it probably won't be straight forward."
"Never is..." After some silence Kenneth spoke up. "Sucks that me and Nicholai only really specialize as supports." For the first time in years, a sense of panic in Nicholai became obvious.
"Right, it does suck, healing is fine and all but it'd be nice to defend myself better."
"Nicholai" Sam crouched down at the edge of the bed and leaned on it, looking up to Nicholai. "You're not a good liar."
"Shoulda kicked you out the room."
"So, what is it!?" Kaz perched on the edge of the bed, beside Sam.
"Lee knows about it." Goddamn, threw me under the bus fast. "It's a...reaper thing, dunno, I just get this instinct and let it go, I feel exhausted after it and I can't use it for days after."
"Maybe we all have that then." Sam came up with another idea. "Lee has corruption, Nicholai has the reaper mode, wonder what me and Kenneth have!" Sam's eyes also glinted like Kenneth's before, but the glint for her was far more bright.
"I didn't start with corruption though."
"Come on, it's close enough."
"Ahhem." Before a discussion could begin, Nicholai cleared her throat. "You're good to go"
"What about my leg?" Nicholai looked at me.
"Are you really going to tend to it?"
"Well...if we train with Loui th-
"No, your answer is no, so I just jabbed something in your leg that the doctors here helped me make." In her hands, a box of Pocky appeared. "This is my payment for tending to you twice, be glad I'm not destroying your wallet." After she started to eat one, she realized she should probably explain what the drug was. "Right, so, it's a mix of a painkiller and an antibiotic, there's another thing in the mix but that's just to make sure you don't damage it by moving around often. Do not do something like that again unless it really is a last resort."
"Understood ma'am."
"Good" She went back to eating the Pocky. "Now get outta here, your blood soaked half the damn bed."
"Sorry..."
"You can be sorry by getting off the goddamn bed" I quickly got up and off the bed, joining up with Kenneth, Sam, and Kaz.
"Sorry again!"
"Crutch!" I grabbed Crescent and turned it to the crutch variant. "Swear how did you survive back then."
"I was a smart 5 year old."
"Smart huh? Didn't know we swapped the definitions around." Not wanting to bother her anymore, the four of us quickly left the room.
"So, Kaz, what did you have to tell me?" In response, Kaz climbed up to my shoulder.
"It's bad news"
"What?"
"Hm?" I was confused on why everyone questioned what Kaz said, until I realized I never told them where Kaz was from.
"Right...Kaz is well...from the future, however things seem to be different here."
"What!?"
"Cool!" Sam kept it optimistic, while Kenneth questioned the whole thing.
"Bewfor you say anything, I gotta say it...it's not bawd, bad news, but, I remember everyone having more abilities at this point."
"Lemme guess, Sam and I...well, I, didn't end up in that facility before."
"Right, the mission you accepted also didn't exist, I thought it was weird..."
"Well" Kenneth raised a hand to his chin. "That lines up to when the other Lee probably got to this world, meaning somehow, in some way, he altered things."
"I was thinking the same" I agreed with Kenneth, it was the most likely answer after all.
"Hey, I thought about something."
"Well Sam...we've all been thinking."
"You know what I meant Lee"
"Right right, sorry."
"Well, actually, I wanted to tell you in private."
"Oh the-
"We'll get outta your way." Kaz leapt over to Kenneth, landing perfectly on his shoulder. When she did land, Kenneth took that as a cue to go.
"I'll be at base, waiting till we go see Loui."
"Right, we shouldn't be long." I turned back around to Sam once they made some distance. "So, what's the matter?"
"Well, as the team's amazing therapist..." At first her eyes were gleaming with light, but it soon started to fade as the air around us became more depressing. "Um...if you don't wanna talk about it it's okay but from what the messages said and now, when you killed someone in the facility...you seemed a lot more distraught about that then when you killed someone you felt was like an old friend. Are you...okay with old friends dying?" I knew what she was really asking 'If I died would you react the same way?'
"I don't count mercy killing someone as killing them...the way they were...the agony they clearly were in, if any of you were suffering like that then yes, I would be okay with ending your misery if there's no other option, but only if there isn't. I'm not gonna feel bad about giving someone peace, the only thing I regret is that they couldn't apologize to the person they hoped I was. But regardless, I would rewind, rewind until I find away to make sure you all live."
"Heh...I told Nicholai you'd say that. Frankly I'm not okay with dying either, once was bad enough...but it's to give you a chance to rewind so...guess our plans allign...um..."
"What?"
"Sorry for asking about the whole killing thing, maybe you don't realize it yourself but...you're standing sorta...offish, that alone tells me talking about it is uncomfortable for you. I couldn't imagine doing that, hurting yourself to escape as well."
"Maybe I did the same when I was younger, even I'm amazed at how I lived, even though I told Nicholai it was just because I was a smart child...I don't really remember much of what happened those years ago."
"That too...forgotten memories, y'know." With a snap of her fingers, the mood changed "So long as you haven't forgotten about us."
"Baker, Cali, Leon, Alice, Sam, aka you, Kenneth, Nicholai, Kyle, Kayla, and Dave. I forget anyone?"
"Nope! At least not anyone who stuck around for long...why'd you name Leon and Alice first?"
"Dunno actually, I said Baker and Cali first for obvious reasons, I think I named them first because I got used to how I normally say your names in order, from the order I met you all, Sam, Nicholai, Kenneth, Kyle, Kayla, Dave"
"You said Kenneth before Nicholai the first time..."
"I'm lost then. Actually...a question for you."
"Hm!?" Sam was caught off guard.
"Your phobia of blood, it's been easing up lately." I figured since our missions were becoming like this, she would be overcoming her phobia, yet her response said otherwise.
"I've just...gotten better at ignoring it."
"Sam..."
"It's only been a week or so, I'd love if I could help out Nicholai more, or act like a nurse to you all so you'd be in less pain, but as of now, I don't really think I can. Hence!" She snapped her fingers again, I was about to question what she meant until I realized this whole time she's been gazing directly into my eyes. "I just don't look any lower and I won't notice it."
"Well, if it helps you, I'm not gonna force you to face your fears."
"You better not, making sure the team is mentally well is my job!" She casually saluted. "Right Lieutenant?"
"Heh, right, just make sure you keep yourself well too."
"Understood!" She finished the salute and began marching away.
"Hell was that about?" I nearly jumped as a voice spoke behind me, the tone was a dead giveaway it was Nicholai, turning around only confirmed I was right, she was leaning against the door frame, her outfit was completely different as well. "Nevermind that, just be sure you clean that outfit, last we need is Sam looking at the ceiling to avoid seeing all the blood on you."
"Does it come out that easily?" Nicholai nearly laughed, I couldn't tell if it was scary or surprising.
"No? 'specially with all you got on you? I said clean it, no part of that said it was easy."
"Ah...alright..." Nicholai let out a sigh.
"I'm gonna get back to work, let me know when you all head to Loui."
"Alright ma'am."
"I'm not gonna bother telling you to quit with that anymore." She went into the room, closing the door behind her. Alright, guess I better check If Loui is even available. I opened my HUD and messaged him, asking if he was free to teach us.
I don't see why not, ain't nothing really happening round here
give me a bit though, Teth took a hit
-Loui
Everything alright there?
-Lee
We'll manage, asteroid just came out of nowhere, recon couldn't see it
-Loui
Alright, take care then
-Lee
Same goes to you.
-Loui
Going back to base was the only option now, seeing that, I opened a portal to there and went in. Only a single foot touched the ground before someone called me.
"Lee" I turned over to the voice to find Kyle and two other people, at first I didn't recognize them, but it soon clicked.
"Teal and her mom, what're you two doing here?" Teal was still holding onto her sketchbook, yet through some intuition I could tell that wasn't why they were here.
"Well, we wanted to see how the plants were coming along, you all go on missions too so I was worried during that time something could happen to the flowers. Teal wanted to see you as well"
"Sam would appreciate that, but Sam typically has it handled, heh, she's not really good with tech, but if it helps her plants she'll become the best tech expert you've ever seen."
"I could tell, it's such a vibrant garden."
"Now" I walked over and crouched down to Teal's level. "What can I help you with Teal?"
"I-is...the CSF cool?"
"Uh...ah, why I joined them?" She nodded. "Well, I didn't rea-...mh, I wouldn't say they're cool or uncool, I joined for the sake of my friends."
"That's cool."
"If you say s-"
"Am I done here?" Kyle seems irritated with his arms crossed, alongside interrupting me.
"Yeah, you're good to go."
"-lright then" Kyle began to take out something as he left.
"Guess you two better get going as well rig-" The ground shook, instinctively we all went outside to see what happened. When we opened the door, Kyle was right there, reaching for the doorknob.
"Guess you felt it too." There was a cigarette in his mouth, he stepped aside and allowed us to see the cause, the hospital was in a blazing fire. "Bit of a coincidence it went off once you left."
"...Nicholai is in there...So many people probably are as well..."
"Well shit...not like you can just rush in there."
"Well...I might...be able to?"
"Fire magic, fire resistance, that your logic?"
"Yeah."
"Be my guest then"
"Can you watch the base for me?"
"Yeah yeah, get to it, I'll make sur-" The hospital exploded, the fire that had already been eating away at it had grown even more. "Jeez..." I couldn't tell if this was his normal reaction to things, or if he just couldn't show that he was worried. "There's no possible way..."
"Then I'll make one!" I brought Crescent to my hands, spinning the blade around till it faced my chest.
"WAIT!" I nearly dug it into my chest before I heard Raymond yelling in our direction. Instead of warping here, he seemed to have ran all the way. "You won't come back!"
"What?"
"Something is preventing resurrection, including the one from your coin."
"So he's here then" Raymond got confused before he realized who I was referring to.
"Right...we assume that's the case...we've been mentioning him alot so it was only a matter of time, from here on out, we call him CL, that way it sounds like we're speaking about something else."
"Won't talking about him as this moment give him our location?" Raymond quickly shook his head at Kyle's quesiton.
"Eaxura can't be located, that includes traits that can locate people talking about you, the most he gets is that we're in Eaxura, not where Eaxura is or where in Eaxura."
"So there's a traitor somewhere." I blurted it out, I didn't know if it was the slow rise in anger, or because it was the only thing I can think about. "If CL doesn't know where Eaxura is, then someone brought him here and told him where I was." Raymond thought for a moment.
"I think you're right, it's not unlikely someone still hates Corrupted even if I called them off."
"Kyle, I'm not saying it's you, but I need to know what you were taking out while leaving the base." Almost instantly, he took out the pack of cigarettes, it was completely identical to what I saw earlier.
"Good day when your bad habits prove you're in the clear."
"So what? I'm just meant to just let Nicholai die!?" I turned back to Raymond after clearing any suspicion amongst us.
"Lee, I don't mean to let any members of your team die, but if you think she can survive that!" He pointed behind him towards the inferno. "Then go ahead and die with anyone else in there."
"Damnit..." I held my head, my heart felt like it was pounding beyond what it should be. One hell right into the next... "I should have..."
"Should have what?"
"Nicholai wanted to check something...some bullet or whatever...but I never did, for all we know if CL does have another Crescent it could've been a shotgun shell like his."
"What's done is done, you can rewind once you learn how to control it better, for now we have to figure out what's next, where are Sam and Kenneth?" Raymond took out a cellphone and typed in a few numbers before putting it to his ear.
"I don't know...Kenneth and Kaz were leaving the hospital a while back, and Sam should've been just leaving a moment ago"
"Kaz..." Raymond seemed like he ignored everything but the name Kaz.
"What?"
"Nothing...just wonder what that cat knows."
"Raymond!" Even though the phone wasn't on speaker, we could hear the CFS yelling through.
"Soldier, you spot a pink-haired girl with a ponytail, and a blond boy with a cat on his shoulders near the hospital"
"Yeah actually, they got out a while before it exploded, Lieutenant Lee was there." Upon hearing my name, Raymond turned to me, I shook my head, letting him know that wasn't me.
"Did Lee follow them?"
"No, it looked like he was heading to their base"
"Shit! Listen, it's the other Lee"
"Wait...what!?"
"Inform everyone we can't stay in Eaxura, follow evacuation plans for each district, we'll hopefully regroup later on."
"Yes sir!"
"So where do we go?"
"Earth"
"Like he won't think about that."
"So long as we don't talk about him while we're there and call him by CL when we do, he won't find us, every earth in every world is different."
"Fine..." I slashed at the air with Crescent, opening a portal for them.
"A-are we following?" I had completely forgotten that Teal's mom and Teal herself were with us.
"Yeah...you'll be safe" It was hard, but I smiled at them. "Everyone in, I'll close it once you're all through." One by one they entered the portal, I did my best to bring them as close to the school as possible, and once they were all through, I closed it. "You can scold me later, but I'm not leaving Sam and Kenneth's lives to chance.
Instead of going the obvious way, I sprinted into the alley, trying my best to get to the hospital on foot.
"Sir" I nearly fired in the direction of the voice, but I was quickly reminded there's only one person I know with that robotic voice.
"Dave...you always find me huh?"
"It is my purpose to ensure that you're as safe as possible."
"Thanks...Hey, I need you to find Kenneth and Sam."
"Do you know of Miss Broker's location already?"
"She was in the hospital when it exploded..."
"...What is preventing her from being alive?"
"What?"
"I find it unlikely that a hospital with hundreds of thousands of people are lacking fire protection, perhaps only the exterior was effected."
"You want me to go in regardless? What happened to keeping me as safe as possible."
"Being helpless and lost is much more dangerous than fire can ever be, I can also clear the way."
"I don't think I can...even if we wanted too...Raymond has a point...surviving that...the explosion...at least the second one, came from within, have fire protection all you want...but explosives? On that scale? If Nicholai is dead too...I don't think I could handle seeing her corpse."
"That is understandable...truth be told, I can not sense her either, perhaps I merely hoped I was wrong." Sometimes it felt like Dave was more than just some advanced AI, like he was a human trapped in a drone's body. All I could do for now was grit my teeth, we may not have been on the best terms, but we weren't enemies either, dying in an explosion is a terrible way to go as well. "I am able to detect Sam and Kenneth, they are nearby." Dave started to lead the way. Nicholai...I can't die so I have no clue if there's something even beyond this, all I can do is hope you understand why I didn't go in...even if I went with the logic that having fire magic gave fire resistance, I didn't have much of it...and If I died...and then you died, Sam and Kenneth would be on their own, fending for themselves...the two people we both know can't fight on their own, they're supports after all...It's not that I hate you...I just made the only choice that I could. "Sir, we are approaching their location, however, I can sense a signal similar to yours." I came to a stop as someone began approaching from the end of the road. "Lee, the person approaching has a near identical signal, however, focusing on the signal messes with my system, I am unable to fully scan them without breaking myself, I suggest being as careful as possible."
"Course." I moved Crescent's sheath to my hip, and took it out once more.
"So you are real." Their voice sounded similar to my own, yet their tone suggested they were older. "I was starting to think that coin had gone to someone else." As he approached, I could see an eye patch on the same eye as mine...at least when I still wore one...,the main difference was that his was more official, a permanent one with a symbol similar to the CSF, but not quite. "Musta been told what happened, otherwise, you'd have stabbed yourself by now." He summoned his own version of Crescent, however I noticed three glowing circles at the hilt, Pink, Orange, and Yellow...Sam, Nicholai, Kenneth. "Hand it over, we both know you're not winning this, least then you can live longer."
"Bullshit, didn't give a chance when you bombed a hospital."
"Well, I could have made your death at least less painless." In a second, the other Lee manifested in front of me, there was no weapon throwing, no portal, only a purple streak from his original location to where he was now. I raised Crescent to defend myself, but while he swung his own Crescent, the pink light glowed even more, as the weapon changed into a weapon near identical to Sam's, the hook curved around my Crescent and cut into my face before he spun around and kicked me hard enough to have my feet scrape across the ground.
I raised my free hand and felt my cheek, it burned as I touched near the cut, the pain being similar to how my tolerance was as a human.
"Sir, I recommend retreating. I mean no offense to your capabilities, but this is not a fight you're winning."
"I'm not leaving without the others." I used the back of my free hand to wipe the blood off my face.
"I suggest listening to the bot, I gave it my all, and here we are." He turned the hook to show-off the colored orbs. "Then again." His weapon returned to Crescent. "That coin won't give me much if you're like this."
"The hell is that meant to mean?" The other Lee shook his head.
"You're already off the path" He fired a shell from Crescent, the pellets went away from the two of us. I started to walk backwards while keeping Crescent ready, our stances were different, I had a death grip on Crescent, while the other Lee seemed to have a lighter, one-handed grip. With every step back I took, he took two forward, slowly getting closer. "You know there are multiple timelines yes? Well, we don't exactly really fit into that, we're more, alternate realities." He twirled his Crescent around before it became a reverse grip. "You, Me, Yuna, Rhys, TK, we have a lot of different versions of us." The closer he got the more weaker I felt. "But they all end the same way." Out of nowhere, I coughed up purple blood, and eventually, I fell onto one knee, forced to use my sword to at least stay somewhat upright and not falling over. Once he was close enough, he crouched down to my level. "You were meant to meet Yuna by now, Bravo Team was meant to have more magic training while you and a few buddies went missing after the evac left you. But here you are, I'll hand it to you, you know some things more than the other versions of us...with an exception to me of course." He grabbed the wrist of my free hand and raised it up. "Synergy, Corruption...regardless you've completely gone against the order of things. How? Well maybe that's your trait? Actually...you'd be worth killing now then if that was the case...what do you think?" He already knew the answer, the way he talked and looked at me, it wasn't possible that he didn't know everything about us. "Y'know what...so much of our lives revolve around this coin." He took out a coin of his own, it wasn't rusted, if anything it was shiny. "Heads or tails?"
"What?"
"If you guess it right, I may be inclined to answer any question, after all I need you to keep going or you won't be worth killing."
"Heads."
"Final guess?" He didn't wait long for me to respond before tossing the coin in the air, it flipped multiple times before hitting the ground, spinning before it stopped, landing on heads. "I'll be damned. Alright then" He picked up his coin and pocketed it. "What'll it be?" The blood slowly dripping out of my mouth, and my entire body feeling like it's failing made thinking of a question difficult, especially one that's good. I came to realize that I didn't know anything really...I needed something to do to find answers...
"What do I do?"
"Well...That's a bit open ended" He thought for a while. "In New Min there's a machine, it can dig into your memories, the Bravo Team before yours used it on one of you to prove your innocence, but in your case, you can use it to dig into your memories, you'll find what to do next there." With nothing else to say, he stood up and started walking away. "Next time I show up, you better be ready, I don't wanna kill a defenseless cat"
"Wha-?" In a blink he was gone, no portal, just gone. "Bastard...Killed Nicholai for nothing..." I could barely even yell, my voice had degraded to a wheeze, it was then where I realized that the team bond must've made my immunity to Corruption stronger...with Nicholai, the medication must've been more effective...So she is dead...Not only had she been killed for no reason, not only was she killed just because of me, but I would need more medication to keep going...if it even worked anymore at all. "Get...up damnit..." I put immense pressure into my arms to help me stand. I need Dave's help...I n...need it...I tried calling out to Dave but nothing came out of my mouth, nothing but my breath. Dave wasn't even nearby anymore..."Nicholai..." After struggling, my voice finally returned. "I'm sorry..." Right as I finally gained the strength to stand up, I plummeted back onto the ground. I didn't black out, or rather, not in the normal sense, purple lines in my vision slowly grew until it was all I saw.
It was expected at this point, to return somewhere...either reawakening in the hospital, or a memory...
"Relax, it's just a scratch" A bandaged tightened just below my knee.
"Doesn't mean it hurts any less"
"Means you'll live though. Nurse should've been here doing this." Nicholai stood up and put away the stuff she took. "You should be fit to head back to class."
"Come on, just let me stay here a bit longer." She looked at me, there wasn't any malicious intent, instead she just sighed.
"You realize I came with you right? If I come back and you don't it'll look like I did a bad job."
"Maybe my injury Is just worse than it looks?" She continued looking at me with a blank gaze.
"The class is nearly over, you can handle 4 more minutes."
"Fiiiiine" I stood up from the chair, suddenly however, the bells rung. "See, I got out of it anyways"
"Not often they ring early though." She quickly looked out the windows, we were on the third floor, pretty high up from the ground.
"Storm, at least that's what I get from here." I couldn't see much from where I stood, however I could see heavy rain start to pour. Then the intercom came on, my guess was right, they were stopping school early because the storm was too much, didn't help that lightning strikes started to occur a few moments later. "Divine Intervention."
"Like you believe in a god."
"Let's just meet up with the others before we get separated." We left the room, students had started flooding the halls so they could leave.
"Ugh, can people be patient for one moment? It's just gonna take longer to get home if you all pile on each other." We were forced to stay put, going into the crowd wasn't a good idea, knowing Nicholai she'd just say that "If you were complaining about the pain earlier, getting it hit by all these people will make it worse"
"Yo!" From the crowd, Sam nearly threw herself in our direction, one of her feet slipped, causing her to hop on one foot until she was in the room with us. "Perfect recovery!" I started lightly clapping as she seemed proud of it. "Where's Ken?"
"I think his class is in another building."
"Lucky him" Nicholai was very much being sarcastic. "At least he'll get out sooner."
"With what bus?" There was a moment of silence(As quiet as you can get with a buncha kids around you).
"Shit how are we getting home." Nicholai took out her phone.
"My mom is already on the way!" Sam already had her phone out, she held it high above her head.
"She's alright with driving all four of us?" I leaned against the door frame, the horde of students had started to die out, but I wasn't going out there even with a lesser crowd.
"Well, you and I already get driven, and I don't think she minds Kenneth and Nicholai."
"Hard remembering there's more than one person like you" Sam didn't respond to that.
"Damnit...what kinda first day is this?" An older voice from the crowd spoke, the horde of students died down and now it was just stragglers and some teachers. We turned to focus on the voice, it was a younger man holding a briefcase, however his voice contradicted how he looked.
"Kai, hell're you doing?" Another staff member of the school walked over. "We're only sending the students home, we still got a meeting."
"My bad, figured with the whole army of students that some teachers were in the-" Somewhere along the way I zoned out. Kai...Kai...why does that sound familiar? I started staring at the teacher, trying to recall a long lost memory. Kai...Kai...Eventually it finally clicked, but that was the weird part...the name clicked because of Kai from Eaxura, yet if this was a memory why would I know that?
"Kah!" I was going to say his name, but my stomach began to burn, I held it and coughed into my free hand, it became stained with red.
"Lee!?" Nicholai rushed over and shook my shoulder while Sam called out to me.
"Hell're you coughing up purple for? You eat something you're not meant to!?" I looked at my hand, the red became purple.
"What the fuck..." It was like gaining sentience again.
"Are you alright?" Kai and the other staff member walked over.
"Oh, you're alive." I didn't even blink, nor did I black out, but in nearly a fraction of a second I was looking at a ceiling. I sat up and held onto my head. My heart sank as I recognized the way they spoke, even the room was familiar to me, the first day I woke up here, but something was different...no rather a major difference...when I first got brought back it was just Kai and me in the room, however, now Sam, Kenneth, and Nicholai were here too.
"Kai..."
"Ah, you do remember me, take a liking to your mentor that quickly? You remember your own name right?"
"Yeah...Lee An..." It was on the tip of my tongue, yet because I paused for just a second I forgot it. "An...I can't recall..." I took a better look at the room, I was in my CSF attire, however, the other's had their original outfits, without the additions they got. "How long have I been alive?"
"2 or so days, 3 or 4 if you count the one you were out for. Told Raymond you weren't ready, damn shame he's a dumbass" For a moment I thought Kai acted differently, and while he somewhat did, he was still the same for the most part. "Alright" He stood up from the seat he was on. "You know your boy is alive now, can we leave?"
"Yes, though he'd probably like to come with us, I doubt he'd be able to stand." The head pain, my inability to walk correctly right away, it was near identical to that day I was revived.
"Take care Lee!"
"Give us a call when you're good to go." Sam and Kenneth waved my way before the four left. Once again I was in a hospital bed on my own. I checked my HUD next to see everything.
"So I met Kyle and the other CSF already...we have our base...Teal and her Mom are marked so I met them too...Neal, the airfield...it's like I did everything in one day...and yet..." When I checked my mission tab it was empty, except for two missions I still needed to do, one that I recognized from before this, and a new one. "So I guess in this route I spent more time checking around Eaxura..." I laid back down and let out a breath. Normal people would be panicking right now I suppose...yet maybe because I was dying I'm calm now. I couldn't help but sigh again. "Guess we're starting again...goddamnit"