To Thaw a Lost Heart

Acceptance of Fate

Note: I've been running on caffeine-fueled life that I forgot I didn't upload anything last weekend.

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Victorious META staggers dragging her feet, barely able to walk straight, back to her usual hideout. Again and again, she escapes the vengeful grasp of a former friend. The only difference right now is that she's not unscathed. The freezing properties prevent her wounds from healing on their own and even prickle her inside.

"You're still alive after all" Hunter META leans by a nearby wall
"I got lucky she wore herself out from healing her fatal injuries. If I didn't land a fatal blow before that clash, I might have lost my head"

Victorious META rubs her neck, mockingly laughing at herself. For someone who has done nothing but flee once the situation goes against her, Victorious META doesn't take her life or death seriously half of the time.

"That shocked enough in bringing the old Tirpitz back. Kind of like waking up from a falling dream, right?" Hunter META shrugs her shoulders
"At best, it only scarred her. The one person she thinks she can trust had been going against her and ends up stabbing her"
"You're more upset you couldn't suppress the normal Tirpitz and purge unnecessary memories"
"I wanted to remove any form of resistance from the normal version......and effectively leave it vacant for my Tirpitz to occupy"

As the wounds worsen due to Tirpitz META's power lingering effect, Victorious META summons the fragment to absorb some of the prickling ice stopping her wounds from closing.

"I thought you wanted to save both of them" Renown META walks in
"I do. The Tirpitz of this timeline wasn't supposed to live....." Victorious META sits on a pile of boxed scraps
"Clinically dead" Hunter META straightens herself
"Exactly. Tirpitz META was only revived in this vessel because that Tirpitz died for a few seconds. What I did was extend her life"

Until now, Victorious META sees her actions as appropriate in a horrible situation but she's well aware it's not "just". She never excuses herself as some form of savior and seeks gratitude. Someone like her is just desperate to achieve her struggling wish.

"The only way for Tirpitz META to be fully revived is by sacrificing someone for it. Even if it costs my life, I will make sure she will be alive again" Victorious META looks them straight in the eyes
"Wouldn't the META one be miserable in the end? You will revive her in the body of another Tirpitz who will die in the process and she will be stuck in this timeline" Hunter META marches in front of her
"This is the only way for her to have a fresh start. She can do as she wishes after she gets rid of me" Victorious META faintly smiles
"You want to be killed by the friend you both betrayed and murdered" Repulse META scratches her head
"Isn't that an ending we all expect? We all know my selfishness will be my undoing"
"For the love of - if you want to seal your fate that badly, why didn't you stand and let her kill you?" Repulse META puffs up her chest
"It's not done yet. Until I can integrate them, I have to live a little longer"

Victorious META gently rubs her left eye badly wounded by Tirpitz META. It initially left a deep cut that destroyed her eye, but the fragment in her possession emits a faint light. The dried blood disintegrates in thin air and the gaping wound reconnects the skin.

"Tirpitz is resisting, so it's a matter of a tug-of-war between their two egos" Victorious META grunts
"Can't they just coexist?" Repulse META walks towards her
"It's not that easy, Repulse. There could only be one person in the driver's seat. That's how it works, isn't it?" Renown META furrows her eyebrows
"Exactly. You can't have two egos in one body. Their personalities are contradicting each other and cause friction with each clash"