Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 124: Deep Red Over Pristine White

"You invited me to face each other, didn't you?" Apollo had told us.

I swallowed hard in an admission of fear and nervousness.

My current fixation was cast upon what I could do to stop all of them. However, what could I do to convince them to opt for putting their guns down and a saner course of action? I needed to come up with something, and fast.

"True. My apologies," Agape replied with smugness. "I see this king is in a hurry to get defeated and killed tonight."

"I'm not gonna get defeated by a power-hungry queen. I always win. Always." Apollo was far from impressed.

"I might be power-hungry, but I'm much better than you, Apollo," Agape replied daringly. "You're gonna lose many clone lives as of today. I've already spread the mosquitoes that will pollute your entire DNA base in this facility."

The way Agape was holding the remote control, with all that tension accumulated on her hand and arm, told me she was aching to push that bloody button already. I couldn't let that happen.

"What will your dear supporters say when all their babies are born dead or with severe malformations?" she went on with slyness. "You're gonna lose their support! And you won't be able to bring more clones to this world, which means that the more clones I kill, the fewer soldiers you have got."

"Your dirty little tricks won't stop me," Apollo replied as if Agape's words meant nothing. "Their DNA will be able to bear your mosquitoes' viral load."

"You don't know that!"

"I do! I know everything! I control everything! You cannot defeat God!" he answered with arrogance.

"You're not a god! You're just a human being like the rest of us!" Agape complained. "And I will make you pay for all the blood of traditional humans you have spilt over the last forty years! We will have justice, like it or not!"

They were too focused on each other and their argument. It looked like I had lost my chance to win, to haggle, to save them from themselves, or however I would rephrase it. They were too deep into their feud. My non-violent approach would automatically fail then.

Nevertheless, Agape was about to lose as well. Her idea to poison the DNA base in the BioBank's basement and the growing foetuses in the rest of that facility wasn't giving her the upper hand. Apollo didn't look affected. Momo didn't look like that either.

"Do yourself a favour: don't lie to yourself." Apollo's voice and pose were too casual for my liking. It was as if he had an ace up his sleeve. "This war is about revenge and power, just like the Prevalence War. Not justice. In the end, you want the same things I want."

"Then, I guess we're not so different, you and I," Agape replied teasingly. "But I already knew that."

The look of disgust on Apollo's face soon turned to pride. That argument felt heavy on my soul. I desperately wanted to find a way out of that impasse.

Yes, I considered that situation an impasse: two pro-murder titans were aiming at each other with their guns, while all their minions and/or supporters were also aiming at the members of their opposing groups, waiting for the right moment to spring into action and kill as many enemies as possible. Witnessing that long argument only made all of us edgy, which might lead to being trigger-happy soon.

I couldn't allow that to happen. If only I could create a distraction, for instance, so that I could get my friends and my reluctant boss out of the BioBank unharmed!

"I agree with you, Apollo," Momo said looking meanly and suddenly aiming her gun at me. "This is about revenge. Let's not lie anymore and sate our thirst for it once and for all!"