Aftermath

*Aftermath* is the eleventh and final chapter (in this case, *Episode*) of Deathmatch. It is preceded by Champion.

## Synopsis

The Participant awakens on yet another alien world, a more populated refuelling world, The Overwatch leaving him with his Magnum and a single bullet. Beginning to show symptoms of PTSD, The Participant repeatedly attempts to convince himself to commit suicide by his lone bullet, but the notion of wasting Mylan's sacrifice stops him every time. He eventually finds a job in a mine, and spirals deeper into depression.

A year later, The Participant is drowning his sorrows in a bar, when a mysterious stranger buys him a drink. The Participant is shocked to recognize the stranger as Mylan, having changed her appearance as well as somehow surviving her apparent suicide. The Participant leads Mylan to the shack that he has called home for over a year, and she tells him the story of her miraculous return.

During her captivity, Maruta had already injected Mylan with the chemical compound that was intended to fool the bands into registering it's wearer as dead, but never had to chance to activate it. Mylan had overheard him musing that a jolt of electricity might work, and so she used her modified energy pistol to shoot herself with a short electric current. Mylan then told The Participant that she couldn't risk The Overwatch not believing her scheme, so she kept him in the dark to elicit a genuine reaction.

Mylan had woken up on a pile of bodies in a cargo hold of a spacecraft, which after escaping via escape pod, she came to realize Grendan's ultimate plan- to have him and Maruta fake their deaths, and then take over whatever technology The Overwatch used to clean up the bodies, and use it against them. Mylan then congratulates The Participant on having likely saved the universe. Mylan eventually found her way to this refuelling world, where she heard rumors of an alien matching The Participant's description living.

Before the two can leave together, The Participant asks Mylan if she really meant what she had said about him deserving to live more than she did. Mylan remorsefully reveals that she was forced into accepting morally distressing jobs early in her mercenary career, and that she wasn't sure she would survive her plan to fake her death. The Participant tries to console her, telling her that she's not a bad person, and then absent-mindedly confessing his love for her. Mylan tries to brush it off, but The Participant easily sees through her façade, and convinces her that he really meant it. Mylan, relaxing, admits that she likes him too. The story ends with The Participant and Mylan in each other's arms, together again at last.

## Behind the Scenes

Asylum's original plan for Mylan's reaction to The Participant's accidental confession was for her to break down in a stammering mess, only for The Participant to pull her in close and kiss her. Asylum eventually decided against it, feeling that a characteristic reaction from Mylan would be her punching him in the face, and ruining the happy ending. This is somewhat alluded to in Asylum's take on a kissing meme on deviantART. Ref=https://taotd.deviantart.com/art/Kiss-Me-Meme-Mylan-The-Participant-493556071

## External Links

* The Kiss Me Meme, ft. The Participant and Mylan- https://taotd.deviantart.com/art/Kiss-Me-Meme-Mylan-The-Participant-493556071