Crystalline Universe: Team Fortress 2/ Overwatch

The dead leaves floated steadily down the stream of water that flowed toward the drain in the middle of the road. The rain played a sad and melancholic melody as they tapped against the graveyard of rides that used to bring joy. Kady sat motionlessly on the creaky and rusty swing that bȧrėly managed to hold her weight while water dripped from her soaked and messy golden hair.

The silence was broken as Kady stood up and walked emotionlessly around the decrepit park. The world around her was her creation but not in her control.

"Imagine being hunted by the devil of your dreams while living in your nightmare. No, it is worse. This is a dream world where nothing makes sense. This is the fabric of an ability where you can live through your worst memories a thousand times. This is a realistic simulation that translates the unreal into reality. This is a world of fiction where you can die in real life. This is my reality, my fiction and my pain. I'm cold, afraid and lost. Should I keep on going? Who am I kidding... I have no one to ask this question but myself; the only person without an answer. For how much longer will I still be in denial? "

Wrote Kady in the little electronic journal she took from that mysterious chamber.

She looked up at the sky; her tears, indistinguishable from the rainwater on her face.

[Kady] - "How can I find the courage to fight without you, Gio? It was so sudden and so unexpected. I'm such a disappointment... After all the hope you entrusted in me, I'm still a scared coward. "

Kady dragged her feet on the wet ground and stared at the puddle of water in front of her. She looked at her reflection and noticed how broken she looked. She breathed deeply and let herself drop into the puddle of water where she was transported deep inside an ocean. For almost a minute, Kady floated motionlessly through the sea's depths.

The water gave her the impression of flying through the clouds with a sense of freedom that healed her tormented soul. Moments have passed before Kady suddenly opened her eyes and transported herself back inside the amusement park. She took a few deep breaths of air and squeezed the water out of her hair.

Kady looked at the park, hoping it will be good as new but nothing has changed since her departure. The place still is a graveyard without any human presence.

[Kady] - "I must confront him eventually... I want this place to be the way it used to be. "

Kady connected her fist against the ground and closed her eyes. The sound emitted from the rain slowly faded into silence as Kady focused her mind on the nearest memory where she can jump to.

[Kady] - "Defeat doesn't come when you fail, it comes when you give up. "

The crystal on Kady's ċhėst glowed with a bright blue light that ignited the shadow cast by her body on the floor.

[Kady] - "Again! "

The floor beneath her abruptly gave away to wooden floors while the environment around her shifted and bend to become the interior of a spacious chamber.

[Kady] - "What the... "

She looked around her and realized the place to be room from the mansion Gio first took her in. She carefully opened the door and scanned the long hallway that lead downstairs. After making sure that no one is there, she stepped out of the room and walked quietly across the hall before stopping in front of the bathroom.

Although Gio warned her against finding out what was behind the door, curiosity got the better of her as she reached her hand toward the handle. Just before touching the handle, Kady jumped back as a blood-curdling scream pierced through the air from inside the bathroom. To her horror, blood spilled out from under the door toward her feet. Kady froze in place but she was soon forced to make a run for it when the blood started to crawl up her legs.

A sharp pain passed through her abdomen as the cursed blood kept crawling up her thɨġhs. In a panic, she made a random jump through the wall but her luck turned out to be the worst that day. After exiting through a wall, she came face to with an enraged Mike who was frantically looking for her for the past few days.

Kady's reaction was quick as she made a rapid jump through the floor beneath her but Mike's ability managed to cut a deep scar on her left cheek. She appeared on the other side in the middle of her wedding ceremony with Krafton and ran through the crowd of attendees. Mike appeared through the ground right behind her but just before he could attack her, Kady made another blind jump through a table.

This time, she popped out of the top of a catering cart into a man holding a plate full of high-percentage liquors. .

[Liverpool] - "What the bloody hell? Are ye lookin' for trouble, lad? "

Liverpool raised his plate and swung it in Kady's way but she extended her wrist knife and cut the plate in half. Kady pointed the blade at Liverpool's throat.

[Kady] - "Back off or I'll cut your throat open! "

A figure suddenly jumped on her from behind and kicked her away from Liverpool. Kady crashed into some tables but she was able to quickly get up only to have a wrist knife pointed at her nose.

[Kadyn] - "Leave the old man alone! "

Kady couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at her identical copy in front of her.

[Kady] - "I don't have the time for this! Move away! "

Kady exchanged a few knife blows against Kadyn before being swiftly defeated with the tip of Kadyn's blade inside her neck.

[Kadyn] - "Move once and I'll slice your head off your neck! "

The point of the blade caused a few droplets of Kady's blood to run onto Kadyn's arm.

[Kady] - "You must be Kadyn! You need to listen to me! I'm in grave danger! "

Kadyn pushed the blade further into Kady's neck and gazed at her with suspicion.

[Kadyn] - "How did you bloody know my name? "

[Kady] - "Your husband, Mike, is trying to kill me! Please, Kadyn, let me go! "

[Kadyn] - "Mike? But he is... "

Kadyn glitched and the world around Kady started to break. Kady looked at the empty table behind Kadyn and noticed the empty seat where Mike was supposed to sit as this is probably a date with Kadyn from Mike's memory.

[Kady] - "Where is he? A nice version of him must be somewhere here. "

Through a glitch that shattered part of this memory, the present-day Mike suddenly appeared in that seat. In a panic, Kady jumped back and made another random jump through the floor but she somehow crashed into the carpet.

Mike got up from his seat and used his ability to disintegrate everyone in his path including Kadyn and Liverpool. Kady, while Mike approached her, tried desperately to phase through the floor.

[Kady] - " I'm so tired...*breathes* I need to focus... I need to focus on the jump. "

Before Mike's punch could reach her body, Kady phased through the ground to another place. In real life, both her and Mike's bodies were asleep inside Mike's office as her crystal trapped their minds inside the dream dimension. Kady's right hand in real life suddenly burst into pieces.

Kady exited from a wall inside an Allied aircraft carrier with a bleeding right hand. Mike might have missed her but his ability managed to hit her right hand before she made it through the wall. She avoid the patrols and moved inside one of the dorm rooms. After making sure the doors are well barricaded, Kady sat on the ground and let the emotions she held run free.

She cried and cried, both from the shock of what she just experienced and from how miserable and helpless she felt in this world. Suddenly, a hand touched her wound and wrapped it in bandages.

[Kadyn] - "Hey, who are you? What happened to you? "

Kady backed up against the wall upon hearing Kadyn's voice.

[Kadyn] - "No need to be afraid! I'm only here to help. "

[Kady] - "I'm fine... I just need some time alone, if you don't mind. "

[Kadyn] - "Sure! Just let me finish bandaging your wounds first. "

Kady was too tired to care as she slowly drifted into a deep sleep. The past few days were truly a rollercoaster of emotions for her.

Sometimes later, Kady slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she was in a comfy bed inside the room she hid in.

[Kadyn] - "So? You are finally awake? "

[Kady] - "Yeah... thank you. I have to get going! "

[Kadyn] - "Hold on! Going where? Also, why do you look exactly like me? "

[Kady] - "We are probably from the same batch of demi-humans. "

[Kadyn] - "Same batch huh... This is very improbable. We should have some differences but our voices and features all seem to match. "

[Kady] - "I don't remember too much about my past. Maybe they thought you were successful and made me a clone of you or something, I don't know... "

[Kadyn] - "That's interesting... Also, how did you end up like this? "

[Kady] - "I was hunted by Mike... "

Kady tried to take back what she just said but it was too late.

[Kadyn] - "Mike? Mike is trying to kill you? "

Kady closed her eyes and prepared for Mike to be suddenly teleported here like back in the restaurant. But after a minute, nothing happened.

[Kady] - "Oh god... focus, focus on the jump! "

[Kadyn] - "Hey! I think you are safe! "

[Kady] - "Huh? "

[Kadyn] - "I checked on him. He is currently in his passive personality; McArthur. "

[Kady] - "Who is McArthur? "

[Kadyn] - "One of Mike's split personalities. The other who is trying to kill is called The mad man but Mike is mostly passive when he is McArthur. "

[Kady] - "He has split personalities? "

[Kadyn] - "Yeah... before he was wounded in battle, he was my boyfriend. But after he lost his memory and mind, he became this unmovable burden in my life. It's been some time now but I'm still trying to care for him because I know he will come back, I know there will be a way to bring him back. "

[Kady] - "What is going on... this makes no sense. Gio never told me this. What if Mike is currently The mad man? I need to find some answers. "

Kady stood up from her bed and placed her hands against the wall.

[Kadyn] - "What are you doing? "

[Kady] - "Thank you! Thank you for your help! I need to find the truth about this whole affair. I need to know everything if I want to defeat Mike. "

[Kadyn] - "Why do you want to defeat Mike? The mad man is evil! Mike is not evil! "

[Kady] - "I need answers! I don't want to ȧssume anything before I find the truth. "

Kady looked at the wall in front of her and remembered how dangerous it is to jump back into the unknown. After everything that happened, she no longer trust her power. After much hesitation, Kady closed the portal and sat back down beside Kadyn with a defeated look on her face.

She can't keep going like this. Mike will eventually kill her before she can get anything done. She's again back to square one. Again lost and scared like she was at the abandoned amusement park. All the confidence she acquired so far, gone, along with the last of her hopes.

To be continued...

Next Chapter: [The first clue]