Fragmented Echoes. Chapter 1: Undeground Hell

Act 3: Promised Land.Part 2: Re-Vision

I turn back, pointing both guns at my uninvited enemy. A sanitised Octoling, dressed in torn, dirty rags just like the other Traitors. He casually stands and looks at me, waiting for my move. I pull the trigger, but he teleports to the side and dodges the shot.

"It's pointless, V3. I'm an immortal monster. You are just another one of Tartar's victims, and there are no respawn points here. If you die, it's a permanent "you're welcome" from your older self."

W-wha? I lower my guns in a moment of confusion, but immediately shake my head and rush forward, shooting at him. He takes the barrage of ink in his face like it was nothing and teleports away when I get close. I turn around, waiting for his attack. In the meantime, I just scream.

"My old self?! V3?! Я не понял. Who the fuck are you and what kind of weed are you smoking?! Share that shit, I could use something to get me out of this hell."

He teleports in and charges at me. I start to shoot, slowly moving back, but he reaches my position in moments grabs my hands with an iron grip, moving them aside. His cold, emotionless face stares at me like a mirror. The bleeding eyes and ears don't help. And no matter what I try, I can't free myself from his grip. He talks slowly.

"It's not weed or any other drug. The name's Richard Streletskiy, test subject number 10008 v2. Or V2 for short. Nice to meet me again after that time with test chamber and CQ Cumber. I told my brothers and sisters that I'll kill you. But it looks like it's in our fate to be nothing more than failures..."

The fuck..? Test subject number 10008 v2? And I'm V3....wait, wha...

He loosens his grip and kicks me to the ground, but my backpack is strong enough to take the impact. My guns are still working, so I continue my attempt to shoot him down. Tough scumbag... and quick as diarrhea when you rush to work. Argh! Why won't he just stand quietly around? He's not even trying to kill me like everything else in this damn place!

He swings his hand and throws an ink projectile at me. I barely dodge the shot, but it explodes behind me and hit me... just a bit. Still, it hurts!

"You're not speaking much after I revealed the ground-shaking truth. I was expecting a different reaction. Nothing to say?"

I grin for a moment and smile weakly, taking the fighting stance.

"Oh, I got things to say. Lots of things to say. Come on, green guy. I'll show you how to get a discharge without being an athlete! First lesson is free!"

I charge in, shooting in bursts and dodging his long-range attacks. Unlike me he doesn't have an octo form nor an ink-tank, yet he tosses ink like... ah, gotta move! I don't have time for any references!

"You missed the punch line."

Does this brute have the audacity to correct me?! Ух, сука....I use my octo form to jump over him and transform back into a humanoid, showering him with ink in the process, before kicking his back with my foot. After that he teleports away as I speak.

"It's professional humor! Speaking of which - two languages and bad jokes are not enough to describe just how BAD the electricity is in this shithole!"

His back tentacles start to grow and he teleports closer to me, using them as whips. I have to stop shooting and retreat instead, refilling my ink and listening to him as he lectures.

"Ugh. Don't remind me of that high-voltage cable meltdown problem that inevitable comes up every time he does something in sector B. And that was pretty often. If you don't remember, I can refresh your memory real quick, V3."