≪"Hey, what happened to that scheme you were yapping about?"≫
"Ugh, it's not going well at all," Eveline said. "Even Moreau's gone now."
Heisenberg's voice, probing about her earlier "evil plot," crackled through the TV. Eveline tried to dodge, but his tone dripped with suspicion.
≪"Your report… was it true?"≫
"What do you mean?" she asked.
≪"You said Dimitrescu got taken out by Ethan. I checked with the Duke—no crystallized corpses were sold. Ethan's got no reason to carry them around. Killing them without a trace? That's weird. Where'd you put Dimitrescu and the others?"≫
"…I hate perceptive best friends," Eveline muttered.
≪"Gah! What the—!?"≫
Eveline's fungal network, already creeping through Heisenberg's factory, ensnared him, beginning to consume him. Dissolving into liquid mold, she surged through the network to the factory. There, Heisenberg stood, puffing his final cigar, exuding melancholy. Seeing Eveline's physical form, he exhaled a heavy plume, his expression resigned.
"So that's it, huh?" he said. "A lonely kid goes all out and turns into a nutcase to rival Miranda. Why, Eveline? Dimitrescu, Moreau, whatever—but the sisters, Donna, me… we were tight, weren't we?"
"It started with not wanting you to die," Eveline said, eyes wild, breathing heavily, arms trembling. "But I wanted to be family with you all, my favorite people. I wanted to be stronger than Ethan, wanted you so bad, so bad, so bad… Karl, you look delicious."
Heisenberg sighed, tossing his cigar as Eveline's deranged intensity sank in.
"My bad for not noticing," he said. "I was too thrilled about you mastering the fungal network to see you were losing it. Damn it, no better than being Miranda's puppet… but better you than her, I guess?"
His face was all that remained free as the fungal network swallowed him, leaving him only curses to spit. Eveline, lost in ecstasy, barely registered him.
"Don't forget, bad kids always get what's coming," Heisenberg warned.
With that, Karl Heisenberg vanished from the village. Eveline rubbed her stomach, grinning.
"Haha, Heisenberg's smarts are soaking into me," she said. "Yeah, let's do it. I'll use all my power to make Ethan suffer. Letting him cruise this far was dumb! I'll torment him, break him, and mock him in the end!"
Ethan, uneasy but clutching Rose's flask, left the Beneviento estate. He fended off a Varcolac, encountered Moreau, snatched his flask, and fled. Pursued by Moreau's mutated fish form, Ethan drained the dam for a direct confrontation, reducing Moreau to a melted puddle.
His trials continued. Following Heisenberg's call, Ethan trekked to an empty stronghold for another flask. With all flasks secured, he headed to Heisenberg's factory, where Heisenberg proposed using Rose to kill Miranda. Ethan refused, was knocked down, and chased by Sturm and Soldats while navigating the factory. Amid the chaos, he found a strange document.
Eveline's been acting weird lately. Muttering nonsense, laughing at nothing, then crying. Emotionally unstable. I should report to Miranda, but if she knows I'm planning a rebellion, I'm screwed, so I'll keep quiet.
"What's this about Eveline acting strange, when they were so close?" Ethan muttered.
How'd it come to this? Right after she reported taking over the fungal network, this started. If Eveline, now one with the network, goes berserk, no one can stop her. Miranda'd die—great—but it could hit me too. Just in case, I'm building a self-propelled cannon immune to my powers. It's in the basement, where Eveline won't find it. She's like my best friend. If it comes to it, I'll take responsibility…
"Eveline is the fungal network? And a cannon in the basement… can it take her out?" Ethan wondered.
After defeating Sturm and reaching the surface, Heisenberg—now a metallic monstrosity—knocked Ethan back to the basement. There, he reunited with Chris, who revealed Mia was alive; the "Mia" killed was Miranda in disguise.
"So Chris didn't kill Mia…" Ethan said.
"Right," Chris said. "We'll handle Miranda. You escape. We'll save Rose."
"No, she's my daughter. I'll save her," Ethan said. "And it's not just Miranda—Eveline's out there."
"What? She's supposed to be dead!" Chris said.
"She's alive, bragging about an immortal body," Ethan said. "Heisenberg's notes said she became the fungal network. Know anything?"
"The fungal network's likely Eveline's core and Miranda's power source," Chris said. "We're planning to blow it up. I don't fully get her becoming the network, but fine. I'll rig this factory with explosives. You use that cannon to take out Heisenberg, then we meet up to kill Miranda. Can you do it?"
"Damn right," Ethan said. "Rose is mine to save!"
Ethan rode the self-propelled cannon to the surface, only to face an unbelievable sight: a masked woman—Mother Miranda—bound by black tendrils, surrounded by Eveline and everyone Ethan had faced.
"No matter how strong you are, without the fungal network, you're just a shapeshifting hag, Miranda," Eveline taunted.
"Forget your ritual, Mother Miranda," Dimitrescu said.
"Eveline says you're the only one not joining our family," Bela added.
"What should we do with her?" Cassandra asked.
"Suck her blood and make her a mummy?" Daniela suggested.
"Or show her happy illusions till she's a husk?" Donna said.
"Veeeee!" Angie squealed.
"How about an experiment—turn her into a grotesque monster, Mama?" Moreau said.
"Whatever we do, you're done here, Miranda," Heisenberg growled.
Eveline, Alcina Dimitrescu, Bela, Cassandra, Daniela, Donna Beneviento, Angie, Salvatore Moreau, Karl Heisenberg—they all swarmed the bound Miranda, slashing with bladed Molded arms, tearing with claws, devouring with split insects, conjuring illusions, scratching with small hands, spewing acid, and hammering with iron.
"Haha, aren't you lucky, Miranda? You got to see Eva!" Eveline jeered.
"Aaah, AAAAAH!" Miranda screamed.
"How's it feel, hearing 'I hate you' from her?" Eveline said. "Oh, can't talk anymore?"
Miranda's black tears flowed as the brutal lynching reduced her to calcified rubble. Eveline ripped out her heart, chewing it with relish. Ethan stood frozen at the horrific sight until Eveline noticed him, and all turned, wearing identical sinister grins.
"Hey, Ethan, you're early," Eveline said. "That's Karl's cannon? Think that'll stop me? Let's test it, Karl!"
"Got it, Eveline," Heisenberg said.
In an instant, everyone but Eveline and Heisenberg vanished. Scrap metal surged around Heisenberg, morphing him into a worm-like tank with arms. Eveline stood atop it, glaring down at Ethan.
"So, how was it?" she asked. "My grand adventure through the lake and factory!"
"What?" Ethan said.
"Moreau and Karl were already dead!" she said. "My puppets talked and attacked, tormenting you to bits! Was it fun? Was it fun!? But it was all my script! Thanks for the pointless effort!"
"Eveline…!" Ethan growled.
"Don't die here and take the easy way out!" she said. "I've got more acts planned!"
The giant Heisenberg raised its arm.
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