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"Oh?" Wifies lifted an eyebrow, "So you have seen him. I was beginning to worry I'd stumbled onto the wrong server."
Parrots eyes widened as he stumbled back from the potion counter, hitting a few empty bottles and making them rattle in the stands. His hands shakily went for his sword, leveling it in front of him like a physical barrier from- from him.
"Wow," he whistled, hands pushed into the pockets of his white coat, cocking his head as he walked further into the potion shop. "This clone must have done some damage? You look terrified- ah, what did you say your name was?"
Parrot gulped, his free hand attempting to write out a message on his communicator. If Theo was still near Capital City, the message would go through. It had to go through.
"Silent; I like that," Wifies deadpanned, looking around the shop as he got closer and closer. A single hand lazily traced the wood of the spruce counter, smirking at Parrot's abject horror. "But, I would like to know if you've seen my little... Project."
Parrot found his lips dry as he licked them, taking a deep breath to force out words. "W- Wifies, I don't know how you came back but-"
Wifies snapped his fingers, smiling as the pieces seemed to click. "Oh! I'm dead, aren't I? It only makes sense that the clone didn't last long."
"Clone?" Parrot forced out, sending a quick "help." to Theo. He needed someone. Wifies being in front of him and alive, oh god, he's alive- it was just too much to handle. The player in front of him was different than in Paragon: more unhinged, more... Deadly. The usual hoodie was present but conflicted with a stark white lab coat, trailing down to just above his calves. Wifies’ usual smirk lacked was painted on his face, but the emotion just didn’t seem to reach his eyes.
"Yes, the thing you obviously have a history with," Wifies gestured at his pointed sword, leaning forward on the counter to level his face with the tip of it. "He died then?"
"I killed him," Parrot said, sounding too unsure even to himself. He thought he had killed Wifies. But, then again, Wifies was standing right in front of him, a devilish smile painted on his lips. It was hard to believe a dead man stood before him.
The other player scoffed: "That can't be right."
"Why not?" Parrot shot back, anger pooling deep in his gut underneath the fear. He killed Wifies, so- who was this person, Not Wifies to tell him that he didn't? Parrot had spent sleepless nights going over each and every moment in that large, white room; thinking over what he could have done to save the both of them. He had grappled with the guilt of killing his best friend, and the knowledge that his friend died alone and disillusioned. Parrot didn't save Wifies: he killed him.
"You look too scared," Wifies shrugged, finger trailing the edge of the blade Parrot still shakily held. It dug into the sharp sides just enough for a thin pink line to form, not drawing blood but not leaving unscathed.
Parrot's face twisted, holding the sword steadier as his frustration upped. "How would you know?"
"Because I've killed hundreds of those clones. I’ll level with you Parrot-” Wifies popped the ‘p’ for emphasis, “-in the state of development he was in? Not very easy to kill. Your clone probably didn't die unless he wanted to," he said aimlessly, looking bored now. "In reality, you didn't kill him: he chose to die."
"No, no- I-" Parrot paused, thinking about the room where Wifies had kept the both of them. Each of them standing on pressure plates, rigged to go off if someone stepped off. Both of them would have died.
Wifies planned to die the entire time. He had that basement built as the last, final way of keeping Parrot and he must have known it would come to that. Wifies knew that Parrot wouldn't be happy with those obsidian walls and he knew that Parrot would try to escape and he knew that Parrot would have stepped off that plate, even if it meant death. The only thing he didn't account for was Parrot going back for the spyglass.
Unless he did? Did Wifies know? Did he rig the final game between them to always end with Parrot getting out alive?
The only possible answer is that Wifies was always planning to die. Whether or not Parrot went with him was the variable.
"I can hear the gears turning in your head," Wifies huffed, rolling his eyes and stepping away from the counter. Parrot had long dropped the sword, not even hearing it clatter through the fog in his mind. "I'm smart, so he's smart. Whatever choices you think you had, I hope it soothes you to know that you didn't. He-" Wifies paused, "I would have made it so."
"He- he couldn't have been..." Parrot trailed off, holding his shaking hands together like it would stop the tremors.
"You know, you looked pretty intelligent at first, but you're starting to annoy me," he frowned at Parrot. "Yes, he's a clone. He escaped my facility, among others, and I've only just now gotten to hunt this one down. But- obviously my job was taken."
Parrot shook his head, pressing forward to lean his hands on the counter. "How would- How do I know you aren't lying?"
Wifies shrugged, spinning on his heel to look around the shop aimlessly, acting as if he hadn’t turned Parrot’s whole world on its face.
Like ice cold water, something dawned on Parrot.
“You-” he paused, backing into the corner, “-you said my name earlier.”
Parrot watched Wifies pause where he had been facing away. Slowly, agonizingly, Wifies turned to him. The smile that had been playing on the players face was gone, long long gone. It was replaced by an emotionless straight line and cold, dead eyes. With a start, Parrot realised his sword was still on the ground.
“A slip of the tongue,” Wifies admitted hollowly, stepping just a little closer again. Parrot’s throat tightened as he felt the buzz of his communicator in his pocket. “I usually don’t make those types of mistakes, Parrot.”
Instead of reaching for the sword, Parrot trusted that Theo would be there in time.
“How do you know my name?” he asked, forcing his voice to sound strong and fearless. Whether it worked (or if it didn’t), Wifies made no reaction, just tilting his head curiously. It was the same mannerism that Parrot had watched his Wifies do thousands of times, this time pasted on an expressionless mannequin. “Tell me now.”
Wifies stepped closer again, back to his position in front of the counter. “Was it your spyglass or mine?”
“What?” Parrot blinked, caught off guard by the question.
Serious as ever, Wifies didn’t even blink as he asked him again: “Was it yours? Or mine?”
“I gave it to him.”
With horror, Parrot watched as Wifies took something small and charred out of his pristine coat. It didn’t matter the condition, however, because Parrot could recognize it from miles away. The detailed carvings of feathers and wind still caught in the light, as damaged as they were. He couldn’t see it, but he knew his name was engraved on the bottom.
“Where did you get that?” Parrot blinked at him, anger and sadness fighting in him.
Wifies’ expression turned mirthful again. “Where else? It was the only thing lying in the rubble. Actually, there’s no way the spyglass should have survived, so I can only assume I was covering it when I died-”
“Shut up.” Parrot cut him off, seething. This wasn’t his Wifies. He didn’t know that they had gone through- what his Wifies had done. How dare he act like Wifies’ death was some think to be joked at? Parrot had stayed up every single night replaying what he could have changed and now the mirror image of his nightmares stood in front of him, how the hell is that fair?!
“Struck a nerve,” Wifies raised an eyebrow, setting it on the counter and watching Parrot’s fingers twitch. “You can have it-” he pushed it forward so it rolled on the wood, “-I’m done with this place. No matter how…” Wifies squinted his eyes. “Interesting. How interesting this all is.”
“Then you can get going now,” Parrot commanded, not even recognizing the harshness in his tone. He needed this Not Wifies out of his shop and out of his life. “My friend is going to be here any minute.”
“Aren’t I your friend?” Wifies asked, already knowing the answer.
The avian looked back at him with disgust. “You? Never. Wifies?” Parrot paused. “Yeah.”
Wifies blinked back at him, unmoving for a few seconds before letting out a chuckle. Then, as if he wasn’t being weird enough, the player burst out into a full laugh, something that was so familiar to Parrot but so foreign in such circumstances. Wiping the non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes, Wifies walked backwards with a smile. As he reached the door frame, he let a single hand reach around it.
“If it’s any consolation, I can see why Wifies liked you,” he winked, turning around and walking down the path to Market Street. Parrot watched him for as long as he could, waiting until the white coat was gone to even blink. The words slowly sunk in as the stress from the past few minutes passed through him all at once. His shaky hands found the stool that sat at the bar and sat, not trusting his legs.
What Wifies said was- it wasn’t consolation. It was one last manipulation tactic, he was sure. But- at the same time, Parrot really, really hoped Wifies was telling the truth- whoever that Wifies was.
The whole interaction felt like a bad dream. Did he hallucinate all of that?
“Yo,” Theo’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. His brows were furrowed behind the sunglasses. “Was that Wifies?”