"How? Why?" She asked, not understanding what Mortuus had said. It didn't make sense to her. How was this 'hero' a killer? By all means, Mortuus was a hero to the town of Crater Hollow and its people. Even if he wasn't your standard hero, he certainly had the qualities of one.
Mortuus sighed and took another hit. Explaining how he had failed to save the father of his former lover was not something that came quickly to him. "He lost himself in his quest for revenge, Kassandra... Much like you have." He coughed out through bouts of smoke.
Tears formed on the edges of her eyes as he said that, her voice trembling with anger. "You don't understand me!" she screamed, her eyes sparked with electrical rage as she overpronounced the "don't." The lights around them flickered and cracked in response to her anger.
She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him, her sparking hands burning his skin and searing his bandages onto his flesh like melted wax on a glass window. "YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THE VILLAIN FOR SHOWING MERCY!!" She shouted, sparks flying from her mouth with each word. Each tear that fell from her eyes sizzled and hissed into smoke as it made contact.
She tossed him to the ground like a worthless sack of potatoes and turned back to the power substation. With an intense blast of electrical surges from her hands, the station's grid went insane. The metal creaked and bent as it melted into itself, and wires hissed into the air like snakes.
All around them, charges were shooting outward like hands reaching for the heavens. Mortuus sat up; his neck scorched black from her electric grip. It was a devastatingly powerful grip despite her petite frame. It wasn't her power that was a threat to him but her strength.
"Get up! Get up!" He shouted at himself in his head. The charges were surging through him with painful bolts. He gripped his revolver tightly as he winced through the pain. Mortuus knew it had at least one shot, and that would have to suffice.
With a single shot, he hit her leg and sent her toppling to the ground as he stood. Mortuus quickly ran and slid on his knees to catch her from the fall. He looked up, and tears formed as her limp form rested in his arms.
He was too late to stop her. The grid was completely overloaded and had exploded into a fiery mechanical mess. Kassandra had done what she intended to from the very start. He sighed as he parted the hair from her eyes. The shot had managed to overload her own powers on her. It hadn't killed her, but she wasn't waking anytime soon.
He sat there on his knees with Kassandra in his arms. He was thinking about what to do with her. A typical cell wouldn't hold her, but killing her wasn't the answer. "Do you recall your awakening?" Death asked as if somehow sensing Mortuus's moral dilemma.
He thought for a second. He did remember- The large tank, the faded flooding memories, the annoying little one-foot-tall robot. The solution was in front of his eyes all along. Maybe he couldn't kill Kassandra, but freezing her in time was a better solution. One day in the future, he might be able to find a cure for her.
With a heavy heart, he made his way to the bunker, his thoughts racing. It always felt like the universe was testing him. Pushing him to the edge of his morals and letting him hang from them by a thread so small it was almost nonexistent.
He walked silently, Death beside him in equal silence. Neither spoke, not that words could explain the feelings Mortuus felt. Even Death knew when words of advice weren't necessary.
As he neared the bunker's entrance, he felt a lump in his throat. This place, with its barren walls and broken glass, was Kassandra's beginning and her end. This one building was every bit as important to her as it was to Mortuus- The very thing that connected every victim of PROJECT MORTUUS.
Mortuus stood in front of the bunker with Kassandra in his arms. She wasn't a demon, nor was she an archangel. She was an angel, though. In truth, she was a guardian angel who simply cared enough to end the suffering. Her only genuine mistake was caring too much.
He entered the bunker and walked in silence to the main room. There, in the broken room, was a tank. He set Kassandra down on a table as she slowly came to, "W-where am I?" she questioned while holding her head. Everything was so fuzzy, and she felt so disoriented.
Mortuus held her hand in his as he spoke softly, reassuringly. "You're going to be okay, Kassandra." Mortuus turned to the tank and pressed some buttons. With a low hum, the old machine rumbled to life. This was the best choice, even if it was hard.
He helped her to her feet and into the machine. She was still too disoriented to protest as he laid her to rest inside the machine. Death slowly rose from the ground. Mortuus sighed, noticing him, "What fortune cookie bullshit do you have now?"
"The world might never understand your reasoning, Child." Death said as he leaned against his scythe, "Are you ready for the consequences, Mortuus?"
Mortuus looked at Kassandra in the tank; she was unusually calm about it, as if she, too, knew this was what had to happen. He sighed and looked at the controls. "I'm certain of my choice..." He sighed, "I don't need the world to understand my choice for me to know it's the right one."
He turned a dial to a faded number ten and pressed a button, the machine hissing and gears turning. Slowly, the viewing window began to be clouded with frost as the inside of the chamber got colder and colder.
Kassandra looked out of the window as it froze over. Her last thoughts would have shocked Mortuus if she had spoken. "Thank you, Mortuus... Savior clouded in mystery and wrapped in understanding..."
Mortuus checked the temperature gauge, and the needle was stabilizing at negative thirty degrees Celsius. A consistent wavering of the needle indicated that it was functioning correctly. Mortuus sighed and spoke softly, "Morality is a sin of the conscious mind."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUV61hfC8X
