"Mmm… huh? Mom! You're alive!" Eveline's voice stirred. "Wait, I'm awake, but Ethan's still out… half-conscious, maybe? Gotta wake him up… ugh, so frustrating I can't touch him!"
"Enough, Eveline! Move aside!" Mia's voice cut through. "Ethan! Come on, Ethan, wake up!"
"Mom… can you actually see me?" Eveline asked.
"…What are you talking about?" Mia deflected.
"Oh, come on, we're totally talking now! Wait… have you been able to see me this whole time?"
Mia fell silent.
"Gotcha!" Eveline teased.
"…I'm sorry," Mia admitted. "Ethan, please wake up."
"He's just knocked out. He'll wake up soon—I did, so he's not far behind," Eveline said.
I stirred, the dialogue with the original Eveline—now welcomed as family—fading as a familiar, beloved voice pulled me back. My eyes opened to a metal ceiling. Turning, I saw Mia.
"Mia…!?" I gasped.
"Thank God, you're awake," she said, relief washing over her.
"Told you he was just out cold," Eveline chimed in. "I woke up first, so I knew he'd be right behind me."
"Chris rescued me," Mia explained. "He told me about Rose… and everything you've been through."
As Mia spoke, I noticed Eveline—her lingering consciousness now merged with the original, looking slightly older. My jaw dropped. Why were Mia and Eveline chatting like it was nothing?
"Oh, yeah, Mia could see me the whole time," Eveline said. "Pretty mean, pretending she couldn't, right?"
"That true…?" I asked.
"I said I'm sorry!" Mia snapped. "The Eveline I knew was cruel and cocky."
"I'm still me," Eveline retorted. "No more, no less."
A hint of hostility flickered in Mia's eyes, met by Eveline's pout. This Eveline, fused with her original self, couldn't deny her past… but still.
"Mia," I said firmly. "I've accepted Eveline as my daughter. I want you to accept her too. She's not the evil Eveline from before."
"Evil Eveline? Rude much?" Eveline huffed.
"She's right," Mia conceded. "The old Eveline wasn't this… fun."
"Fun? What's that supposed to mean?" Eveline grumbled.
Eveline puffed out her cheeks, and Mia and I exchanged a glance, laughing. No words needed—Mia had spent three years with this Eveline, and whatever fear or hatred she'd held had faded. How could anyone stay mad at this goofy kid?
"Ethan, I can hear you! 'Goofy kid' is harsh!" Eveline protested.
"Mia's okay with you, so it's fine," I teased. "If you weren't a goofy kid, she wouldn't have accepted you. Neither would I."
"That's awful!" Eveline whined.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mia asked, catching us as we moved to leave.
Dawn was breaking. Miranda was likely preparing to revive Rose as her daughter. We had to hurry.
"I'm going to save Rose," I said. "I can't leave it to Chris alone."
"I want us all—Rose, you, me, and Eveline—to be together," Mia pleaded. "But I don't want you doing anything reckless."
"…Did you know I was already dead?" I asked quietly.
"I suspected you were… special," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean you have to risk everything. Please, understand."
"I can't promise that," I said.
Pushing past Mia's protests, I stepped outside—into a helicopter. Before me loomed the grotesque fungal tree, its tentacles locked in combat with a clunky, junk-forged titan. That had to be Heisenberg. I steeled myself.
"Why?" Mia cried. "You're just a civilian! Even with Eveline's power, you don't have to fight!"
"I do," I said. "I'm a father. Eveline, let's go."
"Got it! Time to show off my upgraded powers!" Eveline declared.
Ignoring Mia's pleas, I leaped, my legs morphing into Quick Molded limbs. My arms shifted too, clinging to the back of Heisenberg's colossal form as I climbed.
"Going from below's probably the proper way, but…" Eveline said.
"This is faster! Let's do this!" I roared.
Heisenberg's crane-like arms seized fungal tentacles, shredding them against his turbine head. I clung on, nearly thrown by the vibrations, and reached the caterpillar-like body.
"Ethan? That you?" Heisenberg called. "Take this!"
"Thanks, Heisenberg!" I shouted.
I sprinted across the uneven surface, grabbing a protruding handle—Heisenberg's hammer. Gripping it with my molded left hand, I leaped from the tip, latching onto a branch-like protrusion with my Quick Molded limbs. Below, at the ritual site, Chris and Hound Wolf battled a grotesque Miranda, her arms and fingers unnaturally elongated, her demeanor off.
"Chris!" I yelled, diving down.
"Ethan!?" Chris shouted.
"Ethan…!?" Miranda hissed.
I swung the hammer full force, smashing Miranda's mold-covered face and sending her reeling. I joined Chris's team as he grabbed me.
"Why the hell are you here?" he demanded.
"To save Rose, obviously!" I snapped. "Where is she? Don't tell me—"
"She failed to revive her daughter," Chris said. "She's losing power and trying to absorb Rose to fight back."
"All that big talk, and she screwed it up…" Eveline muttered.
"So, we take down Miranda's sorry ass, right?" I said. "Cover me—I'm taking point!"
"Stop, Ethan! Damn it, Hound Wolf, provide support!" Chris ordered.
Clutching Heisenberg's hammer, I charged. Miranda spread her wings to escape, but Chris's team shot her down. As she fell, I swung the hammer upward with all my strength, then hammered relentlessly, careful not to send her flying.
"Guh, ah, gah, you bastard!" Miranda snarled.
"That's for me, Eveline, Rose, Mia, Elena, Ingrid, and Heisenberg," I said. "Oh, and Donna, Moreau, Dimitrescu, Cassandra, Bela, Daniela… so just take it."
"And Elena's dad, Luiza, Anton, Roxana, and all the other villagers she sacrificed," Eveline added.
"Don't mock me!" Miranda roared.
"Oh, she can see me because she absorbed Rose," Eveline noted.
"Don't let her touch Ethan!" Chris shouted.
Miranda's mold tentacles lashed out, but Hound Wolf's gunfire kept them at bay. Trusting their cover, I swung the hammer relentlessly.
"It's futile!" Miranda spat. "My body won't break under mere steel!"
"Then how about something harder?" I countered.
"When it comes to hardness, I've got the edge now!" Eveline boasted.
Fused with her original self, Eveline's powers had grown. The hammer, coated in mold, grew larger, its blackened surface sprouting spikes. I swung it with both molded arms, driving it like a stake into Miranda's chest.
"GUAAAH!?" Miranda screamed. "Impossible! How can a defective E-type mold surpass the true fungal root's strength!?"
"Focus it all in one spot, and it's tougher than anything!" Eveline explained. "Two minds make it possible!"
"Strength isn't everything," I said. "Call my daughter a failure all you want—how you use power matters. And one more thing… how dare you call my daughter defective!"
"Gah!?" Miranda gasped.
I poured more force into the spiked hammer, tearing her chest open like a gutted fish. The black mold within churned my stomach, but I drove my molded right arm into her torso.
"Eveline! Can you find her?" I asked.
"Hold on, I'm spreading filaments… Got her, Ethan!" Eveline replied.
"No! Stop! You can't take Eva from me!" Miranda shrieked.
She raised her arms to strike, but Hound Wolf's gunfire stopped her. She lunged to bite, but I countered with a Molded Gigant headbutt.
"She's not Eva!" I roared. "Her name is… Rosemary Winters!"
"Ethan and Mia's daughter!" Eveline added.
I reverted my head, supporting Miranda's staggering form with my left arm. With my right, I yanked with all my strength.
"I'm taking our Rose back!" I declared.
"No, no, stop!" Miranda wailed.
My right arm pulled free, clutching Rose's tiny body. It was rough, but she was safe. I moved to rejoin Chris, but Miranda wasn't done. Her wings morphed into grotesque, elongated arms, reaching for us.
"I won't let you escape!" she screamed.
"Damn it!" I grunted.
She grabbed my torso. The hammer was gone, and with Rose in my arms, I couldn't fight back. Chris's team hesitated, unable to shoot without risking us.
"If my power's unstable, I'll take you and Rose together, Ethan!" Miranda snarled.
All seemed lost. Then, the hammer—freed by Eveline's mold—flew from behind, smashing Miranda's skull and soaring past. Hound Wolf surrounded us protectively as something burst through the fungal wall: Heisenberg's turbine head.
"Escape now!" he bellowed.
"But Miranda—!" I protested.
"I'll finish her!" Heisenberg said. "Chris, get them out!"
Chris nodded, his team escorting me and Rose along Heisenberg's caterpillar-like body to the helicopter. Reuniting with Mia, the chopper lifted off, revealing a staggering sight.
"This'll end her!" Heisenberg roared.
Confirming we'd boarded, Heisenberg dismantled his giant form. Every scrap and Soldat floated, then hurtled at the fungal root like missiles. Miranda, charging toward us, was pierced by flying drills and pinned to the collapsing tree.
"Your unbreakable hardness?" Heisenberg taunted. "Like Eveline said, focus it in one spot, and nothing's indestructible!"
"You… Heisenberg!" Miranda wailed. "If you'd died, Eva would be alive! It's your fault! I'll never forgive you!"
"Nice怨嗟, Miranda," Heisenberg sneered. "Makes my day. I could use a drink. Sturm, send her to hell!"
"You, you, YOU!" Miranda screamed.
Sturm's overheating flamethrower engulfed Miranda, incinerating her completely. Sturm exploded, its limits reached.
"Sturm… sorry I couldn't perfect you," Heisenberg said somberly. "But I'll join you soon…"
Noticing Heisenberg's intent to die, I ignored Chris's protests, flung open the hatch, and saw his surprised face.
"What's your plan, Ethan?" he asked. "Tell Chris to get clear and detonate the bombs!"
"You're not dying!" I shouted. "You're our savior! I won't let you go, Heisenberg! Come with us!"
"Madao!" Eveline called. "Live free with us!"
We pleaded desperately. Heisenberg had torn Rose apart, but his plan saved her from becoming Miranda's daughter. He was our savior—our friend. I couldn't watch another ally die.
"…That doesn't sound half bad," Heisenberg said, grinning dandily.
He forged a staircase from scattered junk, sprinting up to the chopper. Closing the hatch with his powers, he laughed, earning a wry smile from Chris.
"Dying after gaining freedom? No way, Heisenberg," I said.
"Exactly! We're friends now!" Eveline added.
"Alright, alright, my bad," Heisenberg chuckled. "But Chris, I'm done serving anyone."
"Fair enough," Chris replied. "But I've got a proposal. We're storming BSAA headquarters—they've been using B.O.W. soldiers. If they know you're alive, they'll come for you. Join us."
"Sounds like my kind of fight," Heisenberg said. "Ethan, you in?"
"They endangered Mia and Rose," I said. "Count me in."
"Chris can't stop me either!" Eveline declared.
"Ethan, Eveline, you'll give me a heart attack…" Chris groaned.
And so, Heisenberg, our newfound comrade, survived.
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