"…Lace?"
said felt
He took a cautious step forward. The Lace in front of him still smiled, motionless, while the bodies behind her slowly liquefied into flesh and rot.
Zed's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. His voice cut through the thickening dread.
"They aren't real… are they?" His eyes scanned the grotesque remains. "The originals are dead."
"Miss Kate," Floris stepped forward, her voice trembling, "it's me… Floris. You know me, I'm—"
"Silence!" Miss Kate's voice rang like thunder. Her expression twisted with rage and sorrow. "You're the reason the ritual failed!"
Behind her, her twisted illusion of family Jarg, the child…Lace began to melt.
"No… no, no!" she gasped, voice breaking. "I'm absolute in my world—" Her hands trembled, glowing with power as she tried to rebuild them, clawing at the air. "I don't understand. I HAVE the power…hundreds of humans' worth so why… why can't I have my family?!" Her voice cracked, turning desperate. "Why must everything be taken from me?!"
The corpses nailed to the walls behind her finally crumbled, flesh sloughing off bone as their weight gave way.
"Miss Kate…" Floris whispered.
Miss Kate's eyes flared with wrath, locking onto her. "YOU!" she screamed. "You're a tool! You had ONE purpose and even that you couldn't fulfill!"
Floris flinched, her heart breaking. "I…"
"You're useless! You're worthless! You're—"
"Enough." Zed's blade at her neck in an instant, his voice cold. "Whatever breakdown you're having doesn't concern me. What does…" he leaned in "…is why you're dragging us down with you."
With a scream, Kate swiped at him, claws aimed for his face. Zed moved just in time, but she tackled him, slamming his face into the wall. A pulse of toxic energy surged through her fingers into his arm.
Zed howled, collapsing to the floor. "AHHHHH—!"
"Zed!" Felt shouted.
"Don't bother," Miss Kate hissed, stepping over him. "He'll be dead in seconds."
Floris gripped her head, chaos blurring her thoughts. "Why is this happening…" she whispered. Visions of Kate's kind face flashed before her eyes. The woman who raised me… who brushed my hair… who sang to me... this isn't her.
"I see," Felt muttered.
-
Flashback… In a dark cave
"I hate monsters," Zed said quietly, sitting against the cave wall. "But helping you feels… right."
Felt stared into the dim firelight. "Then stay faithful to your beliefs. But not all monsters are what you think."
Zed laughed bitterly. "Every part of me wants to kill you. And yet… I can't. I just can't die to a monster."
"I get it," Felt said with a sigh. "You still don't trust me. I don't blame you. Honestly, I don't trust myself either. I am a monster, after all."
Zed stood. "But one thing's for sure…we'll survive long enough to kill the Monster King."
He raised a fist.
Felt smirked. "Right."
Fist bump.
-
Lightning crackled at Felt's heels. "I'll make this quick," he said, eyes like storms. "Floris watch over Zed. If anything happens to him…"
He turned slowly.
"…I will kill you."
Floris froze, then knelt beside Zed, trembling, tending to his wound.
Felt moved in a flash, he struck Miss Kate with a devastating uppercut. She burst through the ceiling, tumbling into the air.
"WHY YOU—!"
She stabilized midair, but Felt followed. He grabbed her mouth mid-sentence and hurled her downward. She crashed into the dirt, cratering the floor.
Miss Kate rose slowly, blood-streaked and furious. "Forget sparing you—I don't care what the Entity said!"
She raised her hands. A massive ball of sand formed above her.
"I'LL END YOU RIGHT HERE!"
-
Back below
Floris gasped, hands shaking. "What do I do…"
She tore a strip of cloth from her shirt and tied it tightly around Zed's arm. "This should slow the spread…" She sucked the poison from the wound, spitting out the bitter fluid. Again. Again. And again until she could no longer taste it.
Zed groaned. "F…Floris…?"
-
"I'll just ask," Felt said calmly, dodging another blast. "Why is Floris important? Or rather why was she?"
"Her psychic power….that's all" Miss Kate spat, firing again.
Felt ducked, sprinting in. "Figured. Next question who is the Unknown Entity?"
Her eyes darkened.
"Don't ask me that."
Suddenly, the gravity intensified.
Floris screamed, barely able to stay upright. Zed was pinned to the ground, eyes wide in shock.
"What's… happening?"
Felt grunted, knees buckling. "What are you doing?!"
"This is our difference in power," Kate said coldly. "You cannot beat me."
Felt stood tall. "Really? That's the best you've got?" A smirk formed. "Disappointed."
Her eyes widened.
"That means…" he clenched his fists, "…I don't need to take you seriously."
Lightning surged. "If you won't answer" He licked his lips, "I'll just kill you."
They launched forward fists collided.
Kate's thoughts spun wildly. (He's faster… stronger… did he get stronger mid-fight?!)
Sand dragged Felt down but he spun out, a bolt of lightning firing from his feet.
"I WON'T LET YOU DEFY MY WORLD!" Kate screamed.
The sky split a lightning beam fired down on Felt.
He took it head-on.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Then he laughed.
"More… gimme more!!"
Kate snarled and charged. Felt did the same. They clashed, tearing through her dimension in blinding speed, blow for blow. But gradually… Felt grew faster.
(He's evolving mid-fight?! Who IS this child?!)
"RAAAHHH!" Felt roared, ripping off her arm and slamming her with it.
Kate regenerated instantly.
"I am the GOD of this world. You are vermin!"
Sand engulfed her, forming a towering sand titan.
"You're no match!"
Felt scoffed. "God, creator whatever you call yourself…" He dashed.
"It doesn't matter to me."
Kate's monstrous fist launched. Felt's fist met it.
"I'll defeat you right here and now!"
Their fists clashed, unleashing a shockwave.
Felt's body surged
Kate's armor cracked.
"No! I WON'T LOSE!"
But the power overwhelmed her.
Her body cracked..splintered…then tore apart.
She was cut in half, falling in smoking pieces.
(Regenerate… regenerate… WHY CAN'T I REGENERATE?!)
Floris gasped and ran toward her.
"Miss Kate!"
Kate's eyes flooded with tears as her form began to fade.
"…I lost."
-
Flashback.
"MONSTER!" Jarg screamed. "YOU'RE A MONSTER!"
"No… it's me…"
Their child cried behind her.
Then…blood.
Kate's hands, soaked.
Jarg…dead.
The realization hit. She had killed him.
She was never pregnant.
A monster cannot reproduce.
A monster… cannot love.
-
(I killed the man I loved… because I had no control. I… I was never meant to love. I'll die alone… alone…)
"…Alone…"
"It's okay…"
Floris wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm here."
"Leave me," Kate wept. "I don't need your pity…"
"Miss Kate… Mother… I love you."
Images rushed through her fading mind—teatime laughter, lullabies, warmth… joy.
Tears ran freely down Kate's cheeks.
(Someone… loved me. Not as a master. Not as a tool. But… truly. Genuinely.)
"…Thank you"
She faded away, arms almost reaching around Floris in a final, broken hug.
Floris sat there, holding air and silence.
Her hair danced in the wind.
"…No…thank you," she whispered.
"I'll never forget you."