"What did the hell did you do!?" Sam cried as he launched forward, throwing himself on top of Medusa's corpse as if to prevent her from suffering further attacks. Although the bullet wound was small leaving most of her face untouched, there was a gruesome exit wound on the back of her head that disfigured her skull and unfortunately for Sam, he was able to see everything clearly.
"I killed the shapeshifter." Uriel muttered, his hands still shaking from the adrenaline, it was his first time firing a gun. If he didn't know better he might have thought it was a lucky shot, but luck had never been a part of his life.
"You fucking didn't! That was the real one!" Sam glared with bloodshot eyes at the other Medusa, the one standing right next to Uriel.
Atomic and Luna, who were now in the same room as everyone in the commercial building they previously ransacked, didn't know exactly what had just happened and limited themselves to see how things unraveled.
"She was the shapeshifter, Medusa had been with me the whole time! She even wore off a piece of her armor!" Uriel replied.
"Our Medusa did so too! Did you really think we would have been so stupid as to come look for you if we weren't sure that she was the real one!?" Sam said teary eyed.
"I'm not saying you're stupid, but... Luna's cellphone died, It was proof that your Medusa was the fake one."
"Then how do you explain this, Uh!?" Sam took out his cellphone and it was still impossible to turn it on, evidencing the presence of a cryptid nearby.
When Atomic saw that, he quickly pounced on Medusa, pinning her on the ground.
"Kill her, now!" He shouted.
"No, wait! I'm the real one, I swear! Please don't do this." Medusa yelled as she struggled to free herself, but despite being of the same rank, Atomic was way stronger than her.
"That's what the fake Medusa would say!" Atomic grunted.
"Calm down!" Uriel said pointing the gun directly over Sam's head. It was far from an ideal situation, but holding Sam hostage was the only thing he could come up with to calm Atomic.
"You-" Sam's voice was silenced when the still hot metallic tip of the gun touched his forehead. Atomic was left with no choice but to let Medusa go.
"You are going to regret this." Said Atomic as his hands started to shine in a bright white light, not a trace of his previous 'geeky' appearance showed as his face was tense and menacing.
"I said calm down and hear me out before doing anything rash." Uriel made his revolver disappear into his trait.
"Before doing anything rash you say!? You just killed a girl! You killed your own friend!" Atomic yelled.
"There's no way that one is real and I can prove it, all we need to do is wait until it vanishes and drops a flux orb." Uriel calmly explained, showing his empty hands in a sign of peace.
Although the sight of someone that looked exactly like Medusa dead in the floor was shocking to say the least, Uriel was so certain the real one was the girl standing next to him and he didn't let it bother him too much.
That wasn't the case for Sam, though.
'Poor guy, he has a big crush on her. Something like this will mess him up completely.' Uriel thought inwardly, pitying his friend. The same friend he just threatened with a gun, that is to say.
"If what you say is true and the corpse vanishes, everything will be alright. But what if it doesn't?" Luna asked, seemingly unfazed by the hostile situation they were in.
"Then, I think it's better if Atomic restrains Medusa's movement anyway... just in case." Said Uriel after pondering Luna's words.
Medusa wasn't happy with this arrangement, but she complied nonetheless to prevent further misunderstandings or any sort of dangerous situations. Atomic clasped her arms behind her back leaving her completely defenseless.
"Don't worry Medusa, everything will be solved as soon as that thing disappears." Uriel said holding a confident smile that lasted about two minutes when Sam finally broke the silence.
"Dude, she's not vanishing." Sam muttered, his hands and armor were dripping blood as he continued to hold the body in the odd chance that it could actually be the real Medusa.
"Just give it a little more time." Uriel replied doing his best impression of a confident person, but in truth he was starting to have second thoughts.
'What if I shot the real one? Am I a murderer now?' His very sanity was on the verge of collapse. Many dark thoughts started taking form, just the possibility that he could have actually killed his friend was starting to weigh heavy on his mind.
Minutes felt like hours as everyone watched the limp corpse Sam was holding on his arms go cold. Even the stoic Luna was showing signs of anxiousness as she fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes lost in thought.
"She's really not vanishing..." Luna too didn't want to admit that Uriel had made a mistake, but the more time passed, the more evident it was that the corpse didn't belong to a cryptid.
"You're out of luck monster!" Atomic's hands gleamed in white bright light again, burning through Medusa's armor as if it was made of wax, briefly blinding everyone in the process.
Medusa gritted her teeth and turned around, kicking the geeky student right in his crotch.
"She's escaping, catch her!" Atomic yelped as he bent over in pain, but even Sam had been blinded by the bright light coming out from his hands due to Atomic's aspect that acted like a flashbang.
As soon as they gathered themselves, the group went after the runaway Medusa believing her to be the cryptid, leaving Uriel behind with the corpse and the guilt of being the direct responsible for her demise.
Uriel was in a sour mood, his own mind played against him, but he knew in his heart that the whole group's survival depended on whether they were able to catch the shapeshifter or not. Shaking his head, he ran behind the group managing at the exact moment as Atomic cornered Medusa.
Because of the darkness and the soaring pain she was experiencing, she didn't get too far and was easily caught by the group of students.
Atomic activated his trait again, only this time he wasn't going to lower his guard, not even for a second. He clenched his fists and placed them at the height of his hips, then dashed forward at an incredible speed.
Medusa was hit on the face, a deep burn crossing her cheek, but she wasn't an inexperienced fighter. With the help of her martial arts training she countered with a high kick on the face, sending Atomic to fly across the room. She then ran away with the intention to pass in between Luna and Sam who were blocking her way.
Luna attempted to punch her, but her speed and technique were nothing compared to Medusa who easily dodged the strike. Sam was still in shock, leaving him unable to lift a finger against someone who looked like the 'girl of his dreams'.
Her intention was to go back to the room where the other Medusa was lying on the floor and try to somehow escape to the outside, but then, the clicking sound of a revolver being cocked stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't move or I shoot." Uriel said, his voice cold like murder.
"You wouldn't do it, I'm the real one and you know it." Medusa confidently replied.
"Maybe, but if you don't stop running you won't leave me any choice."
"Didn't you see that guy!? He attacked me! He was about to kill me, it hurts! It really hurts, I won't stay and be treated like a punching bag. Just let me go, I promise I won't bother any of you anymore... I just want to go home." A single tear fell from her eye, directly onto the burning wound on her cheek causing her to twitch in pain.
"I'm sorry, but you need to stay put." Uriel insisted.
"Then you leave me no choice either. Please don't hate me..." Medusa whispered the last part as her eyes shone brightly in the shadows.