MEMELAND

Several hours earlier...

Andre hit the ground face first.

Hard.

For a few moments he simply lay there.

Motionless.

Then he slowly raised his head.

"Ow."

He spat sewer water.

Then looked upward.

Far above him was the open manhole.

A tiny circle of light.

Andre stared at it.

Then stared some more.

"...That red-haired bitch."

He stood up.

Cracked his neck.

And immediately noticed something moving nearby.

Two glowing eyes.

Then another.

Then another.

Andre squinted.

The creatures slowly emerged from the water.

Alligators.

Big ones.

Ugly ones.

One hissed at him.

Andre stared.

The alligator stared back.

Several seconds passed.

Then Andre pointed.

"You."

The alligator blinked.

"You scared me."

The alligator lunged.

Andre punched it in the face.

The creature immediately collapsed.

Its friends looked at it.

Then looked at Andre.

Then collectively decided this was no longer worth the effort.

They retreated into the water.

Andre nodded proudly.

"That's right."

"Know your place."

His victory lasted approximately ten seconds.

Then he remembered he was stuck in a sewer.

"Ah."

Andre searched for a way out.

Eventually he found an old maintenance ladder beneath another manhole.

Hope returned.

He grabbed the first rung.

It snapped.

He grabbed the second.

It snapped too.

He climbed anyway.

Halfway up—

The entire ladder detached from the wall.

Andre fell.

The ladder fell.

Everything fell.

A loud splash echoed through the tunnel.

Andre slowly stood up.

Again.

Covered in sewer water.

Again.

"...Definitely her fault."

With no other options, he started walking.

The tunnels twisted endlessly.

Left.

Right.

More left.

Somehow another right.

At one point he became convinced the sewer itself was moving.

Then his stomach growled.

Andre stopped.

He sniffed the air.

Food.

His eyes widened.

Food.

Actual food.

Following the scent, he eventually discovered a hidden room.

Crates.

Supplies.

Weapons.

Food.

Lots of food.

Andre looked around.

Nobody.

He immediately grabbed a loaf of bread.

Then another.

Then a piece of dried meat.

Then another.

Then another.

A voice suddenly spoke behind him.

"What are you doing?"

Andre froze.

Slowly turned around.

Several hooded figures stood at the doorway.

Nobody spoke.

The cultists looked at Andre.

Andre looked at the food.

Then back at the cultists.

Then back at the food.

"...I'm stealing your lunch."

The fight started immediately.

Andre threw the bread.

The bread did absolutely nothing.

Then he threw a chair.

That worked much better.

Several cultists crashed into a wall.

The rest charged him.

Andre punched one.

Kicked another.

Headbutted a third.

Then someone shouted,

"GET HIM!"

Andre looked around.

There were way more of them than before.

"Fair enough."

He ran.

The chase lasted much longer than Andre would ever admit.

Every tunnel seemed to lead to another group of cultists.

Every turn somehow contained another alligator.

At one point a cultist lost a strange pouch from his belt.

An alligator immediately attacked him.

Andre watched in confusion.

Then continued running.

Eventually he found himself cornered inside a larger chamber.

Three cultists blocked one side.

Two more blocked another.

Several alligators emerged from the water.

Andre sighed.

"Well."

He cracked his knuckles.

"I had a good run."

One cultist pointed.

"Kill him."

Andre grinned.

"Try it."

The battle erupted.

A cultist swung a blade.

Andre ducked.

An alligator lunged.

Andre sidestepped.

The alligator crashed directly into the cultist.

Both screamed.

Andre laughed.

Another cultist charged.

Andre grabbed him.

Then used him as a shield.

The unfortunate man was immediately tackled by an alligator.

Chaos spread through the chamber.

Cultists.

Alligators.

Water.

Blood.

Screaming.

Andre somehow made everything worse.

Which, strangely enough, was making things better for him.

A cultist swung from behind.

Andre turned.

Caught the strike.

Punched the man into the water.

An alligator immediately accepted the free meal.

Andre stared.

"...I'm starting to like these guys."

Then—

A familiar voice echoed through the tunnel.

"Andre!"

Andre blinked.

For a moment he thought he imagined it.

Then he heard it again.

"Andre!"

His face lit up.

"No way."

The cultists turned toward the source of the voice.

At the entrance of the chamber stood Kai.

Beside him—

A very exhausted Eric.

Andre grinned.

Then pointed dramatically.

"Took you long enough."

The cultists slowly turned toward the newcomers.

And suddenly Kai realized he had arrived just in time.