Changed: Outbreak

Chapter 23: Temporary immortality

[Scott's pov]

"I know you're in there, Lui. You just have to wake up! Don't let this Malware take you over." I shouted before running forward with the red blade held on my right paw. The Malware then holds on the office desk of the Lieutenant, and all of a sudden another pair of arms appeared out of the Malware. The Malware tossed the office desk at me with his four arms to which I got hit by it. The impact flew me back to the door of the office with the weight of the office desk weighing me down the floor.

I then felt my shoulders being pinned to the door, and I looked up to see that the Malware is already standing in front of me on top of the office desk. "Look at you being a no match to me. I have to commemorate that Doctor of yours for creating this host for me. I remember him and I forming a truce. I wonder if this is all of his work to keep that truce alive. I kept him alive to study my growth, and in return he resurrected me to further study my existence. Isn't it fascinating to have someone work for you?"

"...My goal however, still stands strong. Along with the portion of the knowledge that the artifact showed me, I will be able to summon the one and only Cosmic Worm that I have been trying to make a deal with. I want immortality, and you won't be hindering my plans any longer." The Malware stated before landing a couple of punches on my visor with his free arms. Each landing blows cracking my visor and damaging my visual feed. I can't move. If he keeps this going, I'll end up being blind until I get my visor replaced.

Eventually the Malware stopped, and my visor suffered massive damage to work properly. My visuals are malfunctioning. Static and visual glitches occur often, and my left view of my visual doesn't seem to work anymore. It's just black, and my remaining visual glitches from the correct colors to occasional black and white, sometimes red. "This should b-b-be enough to inca- citate you." My auditory feed appears to be damaged as well. I can receive inputs, but there are gaps to the audio being received and decoded for my system to catch up. "I doubt your doc- able to fix you. Don't interfere, and- will receive a glo- us death."

The Malware steps off the office desk, letting go of me before turning around to hold the artifact up in the air. The artifact then levitates, and so does the Malware. I then hear the Malware chant a series of incomprehensible words, and the artifact began to glow. Without hesitating, I used my remaining energy to slice the office desk into two with my red blade before immediately charging towards the Malware. I stabbed the Malware on it's back, driving the red blade deep into his back. The Malware however, didn't flinch, and he swiped me away from him with his tail.

I fell on the floor. With a swift motion, he wrapped his tail around the handle of the knife and removed the it from his back before stabbing my right leg with the red blade. My leg stings and burns in pain, and I can't help but groan. I can't even get up to stop the Malware from performing some kind of ritual. The Malware continues to chant indescribable words, unaffected by the wound on his back. All of a sudden, the tower keeping the office of the Lieutenant shook, and everything went black.

[Lui's pov]

I opened my eyes and I found myself in a dark place. Darkness surrounds me and my view, limiting my perception to view ahead of me. I only see the void, and I can feel the cold breeze brush against my fur. Why am I back here? This is the dream state thing the failsafe is talking about, but it feels different. My foot paws do not feel any surface to land on, as if I'm suspended in space. I looked below and I am indeed right, I am floating. There isn't a single land in the vicinity, and I am left to float along with the wind.

Where am I? Why am I here? What did I got myself into? All these questions race through my head in confusion. Bits of pieces of memories began to flow into my head as I try to make something out of it. The memories aren't mine, and are more likely to be of someone else's. There's the vision of Scott and a Protogen fighting off against someone, and I appear to be in the perspective of the enemy. Prima appears to be the name of the ally of Scott, and Prima's body is melting and dripping. The goo turns from his fur color into the color red, similar to mine.

The perspective switches to Prima's, and I can clearly see the opponent they're up against. It's a large Protogen, and it appears to be... Malware? It has horns on protruding from it's visor, and the visor facial expression appears to be different from a normal Protogen. The perspective switched once again from another view, and this time it might be from Scott's. The vision shows the passing of Malware and Prima.

"Lui, you are the resurrection of Prima and Malware. You are the body of the rivalry of the two. The forgotten hatred towards your own kind, and the greed for power and immortality of the other. You were made as a last resort to contain the horrors of transfurrmation, and prevent the Malware from achieving immortality. However, the winds have changed direction, and the cycle of Malware's return and defeat will be broken. The Malware has achieved temporary immortality from your body, and will threaten me with it. The Malware will use you to acquire immortality from me as a Cosmic being. Unfortunately, I can't destroy the planet you and your friends are currently standing on. I don't want to murder any more innocent living beings..."

"... The Malware has found a loop hole into his cycle of return and defeat from an information he has acquired from one of the artifacts scattered around the mortal plane, the same artifact that you have in possession of right now. I am forced to vanish him from the mortal plane, but anyone vanished from the mortal plane by a Cosmic being will become a Cosmic being themselves, and will acquire true immortality after a week--"

"Unless," I interfered, as if I already know who is talking and who I am talking to. "You let the Malware take control of you. This Malware has the ability to take control over minds through the dream state. He is able to take control of Scott, Prima, and me from the dream state. You have to let it inside of your mind, repress it with your Cosmic abilities enough to buy me some time to find a way to purge the Malware from your mind..."

"...I will be needing an extra pair of paws on this mission."