The mustachioed man swings his heavy weighted chain about, bludgeoning to death yet another rabid cultist. But as one falls, several more take his place. They emerge from the ever burning fires of Baiji, skin scarred and cracked from the heat, eyes aglow with murderous intensity.

"Yeah! And I thought we would be able to take it easy today." Delacroix taunts the advancing lunatics, "You doing OK back there, Cynthia?"

"Never better, Kristof." Cynthia Boggs sighs as she squares off against a ragged looking man dual wielding machetes, "Its not boring with you around, that's for sure."

The ragged man snarls, whirling about both machetes at lightning speed. Boggs simply takes a step forward and unloads with a simple right hook, her knuckles shattering both blades and smashing into her opponent's jaw. Before the ragged man can collapse, Boggs catches him by the collar and leans into the man, turning him into a human shield. The ragged man judders as several assault rifles open up, tearing his back apart.

"To arms brothers!" Barkhant yells, aiming his sniper rifle at Delacroix, "Drive the heretics back!"

The sniper drops to a knee and a scarlet flash emanates from the barrel of his rifle. Delacroix merely laughs heartily at the danger, throwing his chain outward with abandon. The chain, an artifact grade weapon in reality, extends with fresh links forming as it flies toward Barkhant. With a twist of his hand, Delacroix loops the end of the chain around Barkhant's rifle and with a firm yank, easily pulls the weapon away.

"You're really not as good as you think you are." Delacroix tuts as he leaps high into the air, lashing out with the chain.

Earsplitting impacts rip the ground apart, sending cultists flying in its wake. Barkhant is thrown about like a ragdoll, landing in one of the furrows carved by Delacoix's attack. The sniper tries to get back up, but the pain from several broken bones is too much for him. Blood bubbles up through Barkhant's lips and he slides bonelessly into the dirt, completely defeated. The rest of the cultists flow backward like the retreating tide, eager to escape the monster confronting them.

"A single blow is all it took?" Delacroix shakes his head, "This blessed fire might not be all that amazing after all."

"Easy for you to say." Boggs stands next to Delacroix, panting from the stifling heat, "Not everyone is as powerful as you, Kristof."

Before Delacroix can answer, a robed figure emerges from the derelict refinery that looms over the ocean of fire. Several more men and women huddle behind the robed figure, looking nervously at the pair of interlopers.

"Who dares stand against the great work?" the robed figure booms, voice muffled by the keffiyeh wrapped around his face.

"Aga Khan I presume?" Delacroix smirks cockily, "Kristof Delacroix at your service."

"And why have you attacked us?" Aga Khan demands, "We have never wronged you or Phoenix Guild."

"Here's the thing," Delacroix stretches his back, "I like this world. Not a big fan of it burning to the ground. So when I heard what you're trying to do, well, I decided to pay you guys a visit."

"The Fire of Baiji is eternal." Aga Khan roars and with a wave of his hand, the flames leap even higher, "Destruction, purification and rebirth. Through this process, all will be able achieve ascension."

"Not from what I heard." Delacroix grins, "And I've got good teachers on the subject."

"What would you know about -" Aga Khan suddenly stops himself as realization dawns, "The blasphemers from the Sensorium sent you here, didn't they?"

"Guilty as charged." Delacroix nods, "So are you going to dismantle your operation or am I going to have to do it for you?"

"They know nothing!" Aga Khan snaps, "The Sensorium waits for their Rightly Guided, while the Occulted One already stirs in the shadows! Paradise belongs to the Brotherhood, not them!"

"Not from where I'm standing, pal." Delacroix scoffs.

"Show no fear! Cast yourselves into the flames!" Aga Khan directs the people cowering behind him, "Cleanse yourselves to cleanse this filthy world!"

Without hesitation, rows of men and women throw themselves off the refinery, plunging into the sea of fire. Howls of pain fill the air as the Fire of Baiji sear the skin from their bones.

"You crazy fuck." Delacroix breathes.

"We don't need to explain ourselves to anyone." Aga Khan declares as he leaps from his perch as well, "Especially a dog of the Sensorium!"

Aga Khan's entire body erupts like a blazing star as his descends straight at Delacroix. Before the Grandmaster can react, Aga Khan hits the ground with a massive explosion, the shock wave strong enough to force Boggs to her knees.

"Kristof!" Boggs coughs, dirt getting into her throat.

The cloud of dust clears, revealing Aga Khan's fist wrapped up in Delacroix's chain. The chief cultist struggles to break free, dragging Delacroix about with a single arm.

"Cynthia, get back!" Delacroix shouts, "You can't handle this guy!"

Delacroix twists his body hard while slackening the chain, throwing Aga Khan off. Before the chief cultist can recover, Delacroix's chain snaps out like a snake, hitting Aga Khan squarely in the chest. This time, the blow sends Aga Khan flying off his feet and disappearing into the rapidly encroaching flames.

"DIE!" the fire churns and like a great vortex rushes forward to meet Delacroix. Standing in the middle of the flames is Aga Khan himself, resplendent in the fullness of his power.

The fire cuts Boggs off from Delacroix and she staggers away, eager to escape. As more and more of the flames gather around Delacroix and Aga Khan like a twisted cocoon, the heat of the unending ocean of fire recedes to more bearable levels. As a safe path through the ocean opens up, Boggs quickly take advantage and dashes to safety.

The heat haze settles over everything and in the background Boggs can hear the din of Delacroix and Aga Khan clashing. Skeletal figures, burned to the bone, swim through the fire around Boggs, rushing to assist Aga Khan in his fight. Coughing from the smoke, Boggs keeps moving forward, all sense of direction lost.

"Homewrecker!"

A shout breaks Boggs's concentration. With no landmark to orient herself to, Boggs begins moving toward the voice.

"Bitch!"

Through the flickering flames, Boggs catches a glimpse of a pair of women struggling. Gritting her teeth, Boggs steels her bravery to perform a rescue.

"Hang on!" Boggs barks as loud as she is able, "Help is on the way!"

"Slut!" one of the women lunges forward, stabbing the other with a knife.

"Damn it!" Boggs snaps as she sprints through the fire, the murderer disappearing into the smoke. As the corpse topples backward, head lolling, Boggs's eyes widen with horror.

Two people.

One face.

And the Fire of Baiji wipes everything away.

.......

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

Boggs sinks deeper into the sheets, ignoring the narration running in her head. If only she could just stay in the Bar indefinitely. But much like how separating Alex from the gun would make him sick, Boggs could not stay away from her marital home for too long. A week was the longest she could avoid coming back here. Anything longer than that and her health would begin to decline at a dangerously fast rate.

her husband the truth. Even now, Cynthia's true love faithfully waits and her heart yearns to be with

And that meant putting up with the narration trying to move forward. Boggs had learned how to deal with it for more than a decade though.

him, no matter the cost. Was it wrong to love another when he already had a significant other? Love could never be wrong, that was why Cynthia was prepared to elope

There's a saying, if you don't do anything long enough, the problem will eventually go away. Boggs's husband starts puttering about outside as she settles in to wait. Her heart starts to pound, demanding that she do what she's here to do. Boggs grabs at the sheets, throttling a tiny scream welling up in her throat.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

The narration was repeating itself, the current was stagnating. Just a little more. Boggs just needed to hold on for a few more minutes. Her legs spasm uncontrollably and she bites down hard on the pillow.

Resist. Boggs had to resist. Or everything would be lost.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

Boggs had vague recollections about being another person, living another life. In that life, she was a office lady big into trashy romance novels and gay porn. One day, she was run over by a truck

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

meeting an extremely messy end. Boggs recalled her former life after her certain death experience at the hands of the Primal Ape. And for some reason, the plot of a trashy novel her previous self had read mirrored this current world. It made no sense and Boggs had given up trying to look further into it.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

All novels had an end. So the best way to avoid that end would be to just stop reading. Simple really. At first Boggs would just ignore the narrative rattling in her head. But whenever she ignored it, a compulsion would build, eventually forcing Boggs down the predetermined path.

Like now.

That meant Boggs needed to get creative. Necessity is the mother of invention. And for Boggs, there's no greater necessity than staying alive. Defying her fated end.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

So Boggs set up her bar. Bar Boggs had no counterpart in the novel and whenever Boggs was inside, the narrative and its attendant compulsion would immediately vanish. Boggs had stepped out of the plot, so to speak. The narrative would be put on hold until she returned to more familiar ground.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

The one time Boggs stayed away from home longer than a week, she abruptly collapsed in the bar and was rushed to hospital. The doctors told Boggs that she somehow had spontaneously developed anemia. The world was pushing back. Trouble was knocking at her door.

Boggs fought the ocean and almost drowned.

So Boggs alternated between staying at the Bar and home, managing to keep things in check. Like she had told Mann, you don't fight the current. You let it stagnate.

Cynthia realized that she could not continue living this lie. Her heart belonged to another and it was high time to do the right thing. That meant telling

A painful, cold numbness spreads across Boggs's body. Sweat soaks the sheets as Boggs barely stops herself from losing control of her bladder.

There's the noise of the main door shutting as Boggs's husband heads to work.

Cynth

Oh, its over already? Took long enough. And so Cynthia Boggs earns the right to keep living.

It was getting worse though. Cynthia Boggs sighs and shuts her eyes.

Though that's a problem for another day.