Medusa | Novella

|5|

"Let me out of here," I demanded immediately, panic swelling as my mind raced. Fredrick's still outside. Sinclaire—Romeo—I need to warn everyone, now.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Crocodile replied, his voice infuriatingly calm. "For your own good."

For my own good? I laughed bitterly as anger finally bubbled to the surface. "Open this fucking door," I snarled, my patience long gone.

He didn't move. He didn't even flinch. He simply stood there, as if I wasn't a threat, as if I was trapped by his will alone.

"So be it," I spat, my voice cold. "You were meant to die by my hand anyway."

And I moved. Fast.

The rage that had been simmering beneath the surface ignited, my pupils narrowing into dangerous slits, my locs coming to life, writhing like serpents as I rushed him. HE stood still as if he didn't realise how close he was to death.

But then his body shifted, dissolving into a cloud of sand just as I was about to strike. My hand sliced through the air where he should have been, and I stumbled, regaining my balance in the centre of the room.

He reappeared a few feet away, leaning casually against his desk as if nothing had happened. "You'll have to do better than that," Crocodile said, his smirk widening.

"That's fine with me."  He had the power to turn his body into sand at will. He could manipulate it, control it. This would end quickly.

I lunged at him again, faster this time, aiming for his throat, but once again his form dissolved into a swirling mass of sand, slipping between my fingers. I swore, spinning on my heels to keep track of him. The room was too small to give him any significant distance, but it was still enough to keep me off balance.

"You can't kill what you can't touch," Crocodile taunted, his voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Crocodile reappeared again, materialising across the room near the aquarium, his red eyes gleaming with amusement. "You really thought you could come here and take me down with brute force? You're out of your depth, Medusa."

Without a word, I made my move, sprinting towards the aquarium. Crocodile, quick to catch on, shifted into his sand form, swirling around me in a violent whirlwind. The force of it nearly knocked me off my feet, but I pressed on, throwing myself forward.

"You think you can get away?" His voice came from all directions, the sandstorm encircling me like a predator. "There's nowhere to run."

I wasn't running. I was going to flood this place.

I reached the glass of the aquarium, and with a swift, powerful strike, I smashed my elbow into the thick glass. It cracked but didn't shatter. Another hit, harder this time, sent fractures spreading across the surface. The water churned behind it, the crocodiles inside sensing the impending destruction.

Just as I pulled back to strike again, Crocodile made his move. He swept forward, his body reforming beside me. His arm shot out, slashing at me.

Instinctively, I flinched, bracing for the sharp sting of pain. But... nothing.

The sand twisted around me, brushing past my skin like a harsh wind, but there was no real force behind it. Crocodile's attacks weren't landing the way they should have. The sandstorm he conjured was relentless, but as it lashed out at me, it only seemed to graze my skin, barely leaving a mark. I stood my ground, confused, but my brain quickly caught up.

He's not hurting me.

I looked at him like he was crazy. Was he really fighting me right now without the intent to hurt me? All to keep me here for longer? 

I ignored the next wave of sand that lashed at my back and raised my elbow again, slamming it into the weakened glass. More cracks appeared, the pressure building behind it.

Crocodile materialised for a moment, grabbing at my arm, but the grip was weak, easily shaken off. I met his eyes, and the frustration in them was unmistakable.

"What's wrong?" I taunted. Thought I could guess what was wrong.

"You damned girl, why can't you just listen."

"Why should I do that? Why should I let my family all die? Huh!? Why!?" I was mad, did he really expect me to just be ok with whatever the world government was doing?

Without waiting for a response, I drove my elbow into the glass one last time. 

The room flooded instantly, water gushing in from all sides, filling every corner. The crocodiles poured out along with it, their massive bodies thrashing as they were released from their prison.

I coughed, sputtering as I struggled to stand, my clothes soaked, but I had no time to recover. Crocodile materialised again, but this time, something was different. His body, once fluid and invincible in its sandy form, was now weighed down by the water. His sand had turned to thick, heavy mud, and he could barely move.

I smirked, wiping the water from my face. "Looks like the tables have turned," I said, my voice low, a challenge hidden within.

Crocodile's eyes flickered with something unreadable as he steadied himself. "Why do you insist on saving them?" he asked, his voice rasping through the room. "You know if you go out there, you will die."

So what?

"Let me die if I must!" I snapped, fire burning through my veins. "How do you expect me to live without them?" The reality was beginning to set in—really set in. I had been talking about retiring, about freedom, but the idea of the entire organisation just ceasing to exist? That had never even crossed my mind. And now it was happening. And I was trapped here with this bastard.

Crocodile's eyes stayed locked on mine. "No, you don't understand," he said, his voice steady, but there was something darker beneath the surface. "The one who asked me to set this bounty... was Sinclaire."

My world shattered.

"What?" I croaked in disbelief, the word barely passing my lips. My pulse was deafening in my ears as Crocodile reverted to his fully human form, standing tall despite the weight of the water.

"He asked me to take 100 billion beli and set a mission on his behalf... to bring you here."

I could feel my heart stop, disbelief washing over me like a tidal wave. Sinclaire? This had all been part of his plan? My legs felt weak as the ground beneath me seemed to vanish, the weight of betrayal crushing me.