The Goldfish Problem
Thursday.
Marc lays on the ground, motionless, on the grassy patch several feet below. You immediately lean over the windowsill, worried. Even though Khonshu's suit had healing properties, a concussion wasn't exactly something it could fix. You squinted. Watching as he stands up, dusting himself off. You continue observing him.
Wait. Marc wouldn't act so confused like he just woke up out of nowhere.
" ...Shit. Khonshu, tell me you've got one of your fancy masks with you right now. "
--
...Where was he? How did he even get here? He lowered his hand, the windowsill now empty, before he felt something heavy in his pocket.
Reaching inside, he pulled out a gold scarab. It gleamed with hieroglyphs engraved on its wings. Steven examines it, even more questions popping up in his brain until he feels a certain presence behind him. It feels large, intimidating, with an aura so threatening he feels almost suffocated and he has to turn around to see just who or what is standing behind him and oh bollocks, what if it's a-
He turns around only to see grass and empty air.
He spots the windowsill, seeing a near-bald man and a masked stranger peering down at him. He can see the stranger's eyes widen before immediately ducking down out of sight.
" Hellooo.... "
Steven waves to the man, just as confused as he is, before another man, this time younger and having ginger hair, sees Steven and raises his gun, yelling. The near-bald man from before is suddenly dragged down into what seems to be a scuffle. However, it doesn't seem to phase the ginger-haired man. Instead, he takes aim.
" No, no no no! Please! "
Too late. Bullets hit the ground and Steven is frozen for a mere fraction of a second, terrified, before a booming voice tells him,
" Don't just stand there, run! "
He scrambles for his life and he swears he can feel bullets whizzing past him. 'This has got to be a dream.' is the only thought running laps around his mind as he sprints for his dear life.
You grab the gun from the younger man, smacking him upside the head before leaping out the windowsill to follow Steven.
The wind rushes through your hair before Khonshu cushions your fall with a gust of wind, and you mutter a quick thanks to him before running after Steven. You take care of the pair shooting at him from the hill, and knock out the third sending a message to Harrow's other goons.
The walkie-talkie erupts in static as it hits the floor along with it's owner's body. A gruff 'Message received, over.' was the walkie-talkie's final words, before you stomped it to pieces.
You groan. Too late. Now they all knew where Steven was.
--
Steven enters the town, trying to blend in with the people around him, pulling up his hood even though it only adds to his suspiciousness. Bells toll. He doesn't notice the masked figure following him from the rooftops.
As he walks further into the little village, he joins a crowd of people. Upon following them, he realises the crowd is all heading toward the same place, marching like mindless soldiers. Creepy, he thinks. As the crowd approaches a fountain, he spots a man in their midst. One that seemed to stand out more than the rest.
The man held a cane, and as he approached, the people bowed to him in respect. Steven watched, curiousity piqued, as the man ambled to the front of the crowd, standing at the steps of the fountain.
He broke into a speech, preaching about a 'darkness' that lived inside everyone's hearts. Steven moved closer, interested to see what this was all about. His heart beat against his chest loudly.
Who was he? What did he know? Perhaps this man could help Steven.
You watch worriedly as Steven pushes further into the crowd, noticing the armed men closing in on him. You try to think of a solution, but all of them involve either mass murder, or your cover being blown. You sigh, the hot breath fanning over your own face as it funneled out of the mask you wore.
Khonshu stands beside you, observing quietly. You look to him, asking for his input.
" There is nothing we can do. The fool has brought the scarab straight to Harrow. "
He says as Steven is singled out and approached by Harrow.
" Let's hope Marc is smart enough to do something. "
--
" I strongly encourage you to return that. "
The man says, his tone graver than before. Steven, with his hand outstretched, tries his hardest to open his fingers, but it was like something was clamping them shut, almost as if someone else was in control. He glances at Harrow, trying to explain himself, prying the golden beetle out of his closed fist and offering it on an open palm.
Only to swing the very same palm a whole 180 degrees away from the man, who seemed to be getting angrier. Steven could spot the men around him getting closer out of the corner of his eye. He grins sheepishly, trying once again to give the now angry man the scarab.
...Which was then thwarted by his legs suddenly walking on their own, away from the man.
You hide a chuckle at the sight, and start making your move. Marc would front soon, you hoped. Leaping to another rooftop, you saw Harrow's men grabbing Steven, trying to hold him still.
Hold on. Steven's eyes were rolling back into his head, or at least, that was what you could see from here.
You take this chance to jump down and land on a car, the metal crushing underneath the impact. Looking up, you meet eyes with none other than Marc.
" About time, Marc! "
You yell as you knee someone in the gut and throw them into someone else. The two of you make short work of the men, exchanging a few words all the while.
But hey, things get boring when they go smoothly, right? And here comes Steven.
--
Steven reopens his eyes, confused. He stood in the midst of numeral corpses, his right hand feeling unnaturally warm and sticky.
Oh. Oh god. I-is that fresh blood? Steven swallows, trying not to hurl. He looks around. What just happened?
He sees the men from earlier looking at him, and he raises his already raised hands higher, stuttering out an apology, before he starts walking in the opposite direction.
His small steps turn into running for the nearest vehicle. In his haste, he doesn't spot you crouched behind a car, avoiding his line of sight.
--
A car chase definitely wasn't how you were expecting this to go. You slammed your foot on the acceleration, trying to catch up to the cupcake van where Steven was, while at the same time trying to remain unseen.
Yeah. Thanks Khonshu. Couldn't have gone any better.
The dead body of the unfortunate henchman slumps left and right as you swerve recklessly, dodging shots from the cars behind you that were packed full of more men with guns.
You shot at the car in front of you with your free hand. This was getting dangerous. A bullet whizzes past, leaving a gaping hole in the windshield.
--
A horrified yell escapes Steven's mouth as he drops the gun, hearing it clatter to the floor.
He looks back.
Another corpse. This time the gunshot wound glaring at him, fresh blood spilling out. The body leans backward, before falling out of a van, causing the cars behind to swerve out of the way, including you.
" Wake up Marc! If he loses the scarab I'll kill all of you. "
" I don't understand what's happening! "
Steven cries out. Just who was Marc? Who was talking to him? This was all so confusing, a while ago he was just reading about the Ennead, and now he's here in a bloody cupcake van driving down a winding expressway and being chased by men with guns, of all things!
No, this has got to be a dream, it has to be! He repeats in his head. No way this is real, anytime now and I'll wake up and everything'll be fine, this is all just some silly dream-
" Truck, stupid! "
" W-what? "
" TRUCK! "
--
" Oh, FUCK! "
Eyes widened, you yell, scrambling to keep your hand on the steering wheel, kicking the corpse that had kept you company out of the space where the car door used to be. You swerved dangerously, your foot pressing on the brakes like your life depended on it, because it did.
Steven manages to swerve past the truck, but you weren't so lucky. You stare in horror as the truck leans closer and closer over you, the logs waiting to topple.
Until they didn't.
Out of nowhere, a gust of wind as strong as a hurricane blows against the truck, effectively keeping it in place long enough for you to clamber out of the car.
The other men who were driving behind you were long gone, but at least you were still alive.
Letting out a breath you didn't know you were holding, you dusted yourself off. Khonshu absentmindedly picks out a splinter from your hair.
" Thanks, Khonkhon. I suppose it's all up to Marc now. "
Leaning over the rickety metal railing of the road, you can see Steven - or was it Marc now? It was too far away to tell - driving the van backwards.
Life wasn't done making the both of you suffer though. Not too far away, you spotted the logs from earlier careening down the steep slop of the mountain, and towards the cupcake van, where Steven and Marc were.
You squint, trying to see what was going on, when you hear Khonshu say in disbelief,
" Did he just throw the gun? "
--
" I don't know what I'm doing! "
Steven yells back to wherever the voice came from. He tries to turn the car back forward, only for the engine to sputter out and die, leaving him with the giant cupcake that's toppled off the van and onto the road in front of him.
Meanwhile on the hill, hundreds of feet above him, but you're trying desperately to get to Marc and Steven before the logs do. You're sliding down the grassy slope on a detached car door, because god forbid you jump down a high spot again. And by god I mean Khonshu, of course.
The remaining goons overtake the cupcake van, blocking off any possible chance for escape.
You can see what seems to be Steven through the driver's window. The men step out of the car and approach him, guns raised.
Steven has his hands up, realising there was no way out. He hoped desperately that all this was a dream, that he would wake up, and Gus would be there, and he'd be able to see you at work...
Just as the mercenaries chasing him were about to pull the trigger, a loud rumbling shook the ground, announcing the arrival of several thousand pounds of bark and twigs. Steven flinches as the men are whacked and absolutely wiped out by the logs, but he doesn't feel particularly relieved.
Because the logs didn't seem to stop there.
The very last thing Steven sees was a figure dashing towards him.
And he blacks out once more.