Kate stared at the man, her eyes flashing defensively as she scrutinized him, suspecting he was a Segment agent. The stranger's face, though seemingly regular, sent chills down her spine, it was a mass of unsettling and ghastly insects. 

She couldn't believe her eyes. The stranger glanced at Kate, utterly perplexed, then saw her monstrous form, an otherworldly hybrid with eyes like deep-sea horrors and under the lips of rats, teeth like blades. He recoiled, yelling, "What are you? Some bluefin abom—" He paused, his initial fear replaced by a strange unease. "Or are you Neptune's attempt at a... street orgy?" he chuckled, the unexpected vulgarity tinged with dread. Kate's face contorted in confusion, offense, and disgust, emitting a small squeak. 

"Just asking," he muttered quickly, as if embarrassed. Kate couldn't decipher his expression, like his face, it was unnerving. It still gave her the creeps, crawling centipedes, wriggling worms, swarming ants, as if the stranger's face contained a swarm. Only his face and bangs were affected, not his ears or most of his hair. It could be Segment again, perhaps even one of the rumored three if Yolk were right. Still on guard, Kate demanded, "If you want any questions answered, even my name, you need to give me some information about yourself first."

Kate's rat tail snared the stranger, pulling him close to her misty breath. Her tone shifted with suspicion. "And if ANY of your questions are about this..." she said, her tone then turned to confusion as she held up the red Magerus. "Mage... Rust?" Then, her suspicion returned, her gaze locking onto the stranger with an icy threat. "Then your answer will be six feet under, buddy..." The stranger muttered something unintelligible. 

Unable to read his face, Kate, fearing she was choking him, dropped him. He fell, gasping, insect drool falling to the dirt. "That's... hot," he managed. Kate raised a baffled eyebrow, her mind racing. She considered telling him she wasn't interested in romance, hoping to avoid an awkward situation. 

Then, an idea struck her: she'd do what Hazzle always did—adopt a male persona. Snapping out of her thoughts, she spoke in a deeper, masculine voice. "I'm sorry, I'm not into... other guys..." Kate expected a relieved response, or at least a less awkward situation. Instead, the stranger scratched his head, sounding slightly disconcerted. "I mean, we could work it out, you..." 

His tone shifted, becoming guilt-ridden and fragile. "I... uh... happen to be experienced..." His words trailed off into abrupt mutters as if something was preventing him from speaking clearly. Kate stared, utterly bewildered that she'd made things worse. With a sigh of dread, her masculine tone fading, she asked, "Can you explain yourself... strange guy?"

The stranger brushed off the dirt as he stood. "Geu," he said. "Geu, the closest thing you'll ever see to a beehive butt-naked." He used his hands to emphasize his words. "Ready for a good time, without any of the stinging, of course." Geu attempted to chuckle several times, the sounds resembling either a poor imitation of laughter or the early signs of a stroke. Even more bewildered than before, Kate could only manage a dry response. 

This Geu wasn't a Segment agent or a rogue; just some random person who'd ended up on the island. She barely managed to say, "O-okay, Geu. Who are you working with?" Geu stopped his painful attempts at laughter. "No one. What did you take me for, the Inquisitors?" Surprised, Kate demanded, "Then what the hell happened to your face?" Geu's tone shifted to confusion.

 "Excuse me?" Kate replied, "Yeah, your face is..." She struggled to find a way to describe the hive-like appearance. "What's the word... moldy? Squiggly? Ghastly?" Geu sounded slightly offended. "Oh, how nice. I can't believe a blue, scaly rodent like you would hate me because of how I look." Kate's eyes widened. "What the hell are you talking about? I was trying..." Geu retorted, pointing at Kate. "You should be proud you think your face is better, Seawitch." Kate was baffled. 

"I wasn't talking about how you look... not exactly." Geu replied, "Now you're just making excuses. I can't believe people here are so out of touch..." Kate snapped, "I wasn't born here! I'm from near England!" Geu said passively aggressively, "I'm not surprised. Maybe even the Europeans question what defines as a witch. I'm playing your game now."

Kate, utterly dumbfounded, snapped a little. "You smell worse than a corpse! What I'm trying to talk about is YOUR face. It has issues." Geu grew increasingly flustered. "What issues, tap-dancer? Think I'm a noodle-eater, you bloody heavy potion drinker? Go back to another British piss-mark with your mum and dad!" Kate snapped back, "MY PARENTS ARE GONE!" Geu retorted, "Mine too, but judging by your whining, I don't care that mine are gone, while you probably cry about it!"

Kate snapped, her defensiveness flaring. "I was trying to talk this out but bring up my dead parents again and you can get the hell out of here," Geu responded, his eyes seeming to be shifting. "Nah, I need to rest. It takes almost a day for my energy to regenerate for another flight." The two walked back and forth, circling each other, their movements creating an uneven circle in the dirt, Kate leaving two trails with her tail. 

Her eyes locked on Geu, preparing to fight. "Okay, even if you're not one of my problems, you're becoming the worst thing I've had to deal with on this forsaken island," she warned. Geu, his eyes shifting, gave a bitter laugh. "The worst? You haven't seen the best of me. It's a shame we didn't..." He stopped, his attention drawn to something else. Silence fell as Kate's eyes followed his gaze. Geu then said to Kate, "Speaking of one of my best..." 

He pointed behind her, but Kate, suspecting a trick, didn't turn. "Is that your best? Even my past self, the one that got me into this mess, could do better," she taunted. Geu remained frozen, staring at something behind her, neither of them realizing what was happening. While Kate stayed on guard, Geu quickly broke the silence. "Besides this fight, uh, who are you?" Before Kate could answer, he added, "Blue trash, of course. There's some weird guy in the back, some stalker?" Kate's expression was flat and disappointed, but she remained alert. "You really can't trick me, Geu. If someone's behind me, describe them."

Geu leaned forward slightly. "A guy with a big arm from... well, and a mask. Looks like he's happy to see you, I guess?" Kate's eyes widened as she recognized the description. She quickly turned and saw the large, tumorous arm and the masked man with glowing yellow eyes—unmistakably Segment. She cursed silently, remembering Yolk's words: "The one with the big arm is the easiest." A wave of dread washed over her. The faint sound of screeching violins and a rough, gravelly voice filled the air as the Segment's normal arm rose. 

"You got me..." Segment's eyes shifted to Geu, who froze, silent and still, no longer engaged in his earlier quarrel. The air was thick with dread. "I can't believe a criminal like you has friends, Kate. In my perfect world, I never expected you to be the error, blaming another man for his different face." Segment chuckled slowly. Geu laughed awkwardly as Kate felt a pang of guilt.

"No... it's that his face..." Kate turned back to Geu, whose face was now visibly crawling with insects. "It's awful, with the spiders and flies..." Geu stopped laughing, understanding dawning on him. He realized Kate was right to criticize the bugs, not his skin tone. Segment squinted, his eyes turning purple. He said to Kate, "Really? All I see is..." Then he saw what Kate saw. He grunted, caught off guard but mostly disappointed. "I see. My mistakes are being used. Pathetic."

Kate and Geu were taken aback by Segment's words. His eyes returned to gold as he continued, "You pathetic fools, you've been using this mistake, this so-called Lukirum, that you and your entire race call a monarch's conquering pride. It was a blatant failure, a weapon that mocks a long-gone and weakened race. It wasn't even a weapon or an ability," 

Segment spat, sending chills down their spines. "It was just armor! I made better inventions, better materials, better discoveries, and yet your entire race uses this mess. Even I know it's unstable! It's either a one-time thing or an addiction, it could do better or worse, but the crash... it kills. It's a false sense of power for you pathetic fools, and all users will never be the same after it crashes... though I doubt that will happen to everyone. Every part of that so-called Lukirum is a bastard brother to me now. It made me like this, and in my world of perfection and progression, this mess will be just a footnote in history!" 

He declared, the words sounding like a political rant or otherworldly incantation. He took a breath. "I'll give you both a chance," Segment offered. "If you give me that bead of power, I'll grant you both your dreams, your desires, deepest or shallowest. And as for you, Kate, another choice: A or B. I'm feeling generous. A: We continue with the plan of perfection—never mind the weak perishing; I was... wasted, woke up with a throbbing headache from... gifts—or B: you have potential, the highest..." 

Kate started to say B again, but Geu stepped forward. Noticing this, Kate grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you doing?" Geu replied, "Well, guessing he made the weird ability you see so beautifully with the maggots and beetles..." Geu wiped his cheek, laughing like a fashion designer. "I'm taking my chances with this guy. I mean, desires and such... he's already sold me, Kate 'blue trash.'"

Confused, Kate looked directly at Geu, pulling him closer and whispering, "That guy gives off the vibe of a walking corpse, and you're not even questioning this? Have you ever seen him—" 

She trailed off, realizing something, her eyes flickering. "Oh, right." Then she continued, "But even so, bug-face, that guy led my only friend, a partner, a brother to me, to his death..." Tears welled in her eyes as memories surfaced. Segment asked, "Are you going to choose, Geu?" Geu replied casually, oblivious to Kate's distress, "Just wait, master of the baiters. I'm having a little chat." Segment simply said, "Right..." 

Kate pulled Geu back again. "LISTEN. What I have left of my only friend, the last living reminder of my parents and my friend, is gone, because he saved me one last time, turning me into this rodent!" Tears streamed down her face, which was now contorted in grief. Geu, finally understanding the gravity of the situation, asked aloud, "Does that mean you have a..." He trailed off, implying the question. Kate stopped crying abruptly and shook her head. 

Segment, having witnessed something that disturbed him, blinked rapidly, his expression a mix of distress and disbelief. He quickly broke the awkward silence. "Well, then it seems it's B, right, Kate?" His face was now filled with dread as Kate gave a thumbs-up. The conflicting emotions of disappointment, anger, and relief were something even he, a banished entity, hadn't expected to feel.

Segment took a stance, his eyes glowing gold. "Well then, I'd like to take that Magerus from you, Anderson." Kate stood up, wiping away her tears with a defiant air. "Well, Segment, you're not the worst person I've met on this island." Her tone shifted to determination. "With the power of two different strangers—both me, in the rotting skin of a thief, and this person..." 

Kate glanced beside her, expecting Geu to at least be present, but he was gone. She looked back and saw him waving from a distance. "What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled. Geu, far off, called back, "Observing." Kate cursed silently and took a deep breath. "With the power of a rematch, Segment. I've gotten stronger since our last encounter if you haven't noticed!" Her tail whipped the ground as she taunted him. They exchanged glances and then lunged at each other, landing with a ground-shaking thud. Segment grabbed Kate's face with his tumorous arm, as dense as rock, attempting to crush her skull. 

But Kate's tail wrapped around Segment's neck, and with a powerful jerk, she broke free of his grip. Segment quickly recovered and charged at Kate. She leaped over him, and he crashed through several trees, which fell like dominoes. As Segment stood and inhaled for a war cry, a sharp pain of unstable energy shot through him. He felt fragmented, like pixels and shapes, and it overwhelmed his physical abilities. "What..." His senses were so heightened that they felt like a mental burn. 

"This pain... it can only mean..." He looked at Kate, seeing feathers—Yolk's feathers. Segment was now vulnerable. Kate rushed forward and kicked him. He groaned. Geu then joined in. "What the hell are you doing here?" Kate demanded as she continued to kick Segment. "Helping," Geu replied. Kate looked baffled. "Helping?" Geu kicked Segment again and said casually, "Blue trash, you are... interesting, to say the least. Given our circumstances, I'm joining in, whether you like it or not." Kate twitched. "Interesting and a given name like 'blue trash' isn't a good way to show how you see me. You're just ignoring the fact you tried to side with Segment, you maggot-infested brainiac."

Geu rolled his eyes. "Because he made the Lukirum thing—the reason I could even get here in the first place." Geu continued bluntly as Kate tried to speak. "Plus, all the dreams and desires, with a magic man? Come on! You're not thinking straight." He added, "And before you start listing reasons why I shouldn't trust him, let me tell you that I, a walking hivemind, came back to your dump because... because..." 

Kate stared at him. "Because what?" Geu's tone became slightly vulnerable. "I don't like losing unique things..." He stopped kicking Segment. Kate stuttered, unsure what to say. "I—Why—Never mind..." She closed her eyes, turning away from Geu.

"Just know that I'm not the type for love." Geu quickly responded, "No, that's not what I meant. What I mean is, can I at least stay for a while?" Kate retorted, "You did say choking you was hot. What the hell did you mean by that?" 

Geu explained, "Hear me out, I have a thing for aquatic—" Kate interrupted, "What's a 'thing'?" But then, they both realized their surroundings had changed. Geu looked confused, while Kate felt utterly drained. 

Segment was gone, replaced by a frail old man, and Kate's makeshift shack was now the nearby village, with tribal men looking baffled and angry. Segment had used a teleportation escape, using the extra power he had left to watch from afar, clutching one of Yolk's feathers. Kate simply said to Geu, "Just so you know, I hate you." Geu replied casually, "I hate you too, blue trash."

TO BE CONTINUED