ATEE: Partners in Crime *Me (That Guy) and Alex64*

[Alex64]

Stumbling forward, the cat whirled around, enraged.
"Wh-- You! You're not even supposed to be here!"

 

[That Guy]

"Hmph." Rex drew back, re-readied his sword, and lunged forwards again, cutting effortlessly through the air as he advanced. "Good thing nobody told me that."

 

[Alex64]

The cat leapt away from his blade, darkness surrounding himself.
"Ghh... Looks like luck favors you this time. But you will die by my hand. I swear it!"
And with that, the shadows dissipated, and he was gone.

 

[That Guy]

Megan relaxed immediately, as he vanished-- perhaps by too much. She fell forwards, but Rex caught her, having at least the courtesy of laying her down gently, then crouching beside her.

"How..?" She cursed herself internally, both for pursuing the most predictable line of questioning, and for being so weak, still, as to not even finish a coherent thought aloud. "And...why..?"
"I don't know what the exact consequences are of being killed in here..." He folded his arms and looked away, wearing an air of impatience, "but you have the answers to far too many of my questions for me to let you die now."
"Like...Like what?" She took deep, calculated breaths as she waited for him to reply. If he wanted her to talk, she was going to damn well talk, and to hell with the consequences of that last 'battle', if it could even be called that.
"Alright, here's the obvious one: who even are you? ...And, yes, I do mean for that to carry all the baggage it sounds like it would."
"I already told you, didn't I?" Ooh, a full sentence without having to pause for breath. This was going well. "...Megan. Megan Prower."
Rex's eyes lit up at her surname, or so it looked from where she was currently lying.
"Then I assume the name Midnight means something to you..?"
She looked at him askance.
"Yes..? He's my dad."
"Then why haven't I heard of you before today?" he shot back, almost too quickly.
"Wh-- what kind of a question is that?!"
"He's my father. If I had another sister, I'd like to think he'd at least have the balls to tell me."

Megan sat up and opened her mouth to retort, but found her mind veering off in another direction entirely.
"...If Midnight's your father, why are you a bird?"
This caught him entirely off-guard. He hid his surprised expression with a facepalm.
"Iesus Christos, y-you can't just ask someone why they're a bird..!" He cleared his throat. "...Because my mother is a sparrow, too. Obviously."
"But...I've never seen Dad so much as speak to a bird before."
Rex's face sat expressionless for a moment, then he started to stand, offering her a hand to help her to her feet, which she accepted.
"...And...you're sure you're real?" he asked, at last. The question struck Megan dumb.
"Yes. Today might have been the biggest crock of shit I've had to live through in a while, but it hasn't driven me to total existential despair just yet."
"Then...If you know someone who answers to 'Wes', tell him my father still misses him."

He turned, and started to walk away.
"Wait, you're just...leaving?!"
"I've got a lot of things I need to think about."
"But...Hey, I could seriously use your help! I almost died just now, and I feel like things aren't going to get any better for me anytime soon..!"
"Heh." Yes, even from this distance, that was quite clearly a smirk. "If you're any child of my father's-- in whatever reality you exist in-- you'll be fine."
"But..!"

Too late. He had already disappeared.

 

[Alex64]

She would be left alone for a moment before Jake's voice called from behind her, "Meg! You alright?"

 

[That Guy]

"Fine...for now." She turned slowly, still wary. "...I saw Rex again."

 

[Alex64]

"Oh yeah?" Leonel asked, approaching her. "What'd he have to say?"

 

[That Guy]

"A lot more questions than answers, if I'm honest." She inclined her head. "...He did have a message for some "Wes", though, but that part's totally lost on me."

 

[Alex64]

"That'll be for me, then. What's the message?"

 

[That Guy]

"That his father...still misses you..?" She shrugged. "...If that means anything to you at all."

 

[Alex64]

"Heh... So he still remembers me after almost twenty years... Thanks."

 

[That Guy]

"I'll, uh...be sure to let the real you know when I get out of here, too. Speaking of..!" She turned on her heels, as if knowing where to go, until she realised that she didn't. "...What now?"

 

[Alex64]

Another ripple in space appeared then, although something seemed... off, this time, though it wasn't clear why.

 

[That Guy]

Her expression took a turn for the stony. She didn't have to understand; she could just feel what this meant.
"...I see. About damn time."

 

[Alex64]

Sans seemed pensive to see this.
"well, do what you have to do. im sure you can beat her."

 

[That Guy]

She gave a slow but defiant smile.
"...What, you're not going to see me off with a terrible pun?"

 

[Alex64]

"sorry. haven't got the heart for it right now."

 

[That Guy]

"...Good enough."
And with that, she turned to accept whatever the rift had in store for her.

 

[Alex64]

In a flash of white, everything changed; the sky turned yellow, the mountains in the distance reappeared but had large holes taken out of them, and the trees took a more angular, sinister appearance.
"Greetings," a familiar voice echoed. "You've come a long way, haven't you?"
The branch of the trees ahead of her parted, as if beckoning her forward.

 

[That Guy]

Opting to wear a profound scowl, she complied. A part of her, a very vocal part of her, wanted to say something, to object, to lash out, to make it quite clear she wasn't intimidated, but-- no. She was going to rise above that. It wasn't worth suffering the satisfaction.