The fridge was cold.
Timeport tried to ignore it, but as he got ready to jump out of the fridge, he found it was getting harder and harder to move. The cold was speeding up the drying of the blood, he realized. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms, trying to get his mobility back to normal. Dried flakes of blood floated to rest on the packages of bread scattered around the floor.
"Come on," Quota said outside. It's almost time, Timeport thought. "Pick already."
Timeport got ready. He quickly thought about what he was planning to do. You'll enjoy this, Quota.
He heard Quota laugh. "I thought you'd try that."
Timeport knew his cue, and he opened the fridge door and walked out, deliberately not teleporting. "All yours, Timeport," Quota said, gesturing at the two vanillas.
Timeport grinned at Quota. "Thank you, Quota." He turned slowly to look at the vanilla man. "Disappointing, that, eh?" he said, pointing at the gun. The man, realizing that Timeport was waiting for a response, nodded nervously.
"Here," he said, tossing a bullet to the man. Quota had given them to Timeport when he'd emptied his gun after Timeport had told him he'd need them. The man dodged out of the way, and the bullet clinked on the ground.
Timeport laughed. "It's a real, non-explosive bullet. I promise." He pointed his battle-axe at the man. "Pick it up." Nervously, the man did so. "Good. Now you actually have a bullet."--Quota snickered at this--"So go ahead. Shoot one of us."
Shaking, the man loaded it into the gun. The magazine made a satisfying click as he put it back into the handle of the pistol. The man raised it and held it in between Quota and Timeport as if he was having a hard time deciding. He started to point it to Quota.
Timeport thought that would happen. "Need help deciding?" he said, looking sarcastically sympathetically at the man. "Here. Let me help." Stepping forward, he raised his battle axe, then dropped the head of it onto the floor.
The woman didn't even scream as her head was disconnected from her body.
Blood squirted over the once-white tiles. Timeport pushed the head with his foot. It rolled across the floor and came to a rest by bumping against the man's foot.
Timeport looked back at the man. There was pain in his eyes, even better pain than if Timeport had cut off his arm. Pain, fear, sadness, but, most of all, anger. His arm shaking, he pointed the gun at Timeport's head and shot.
Timeport was with God before his body hit the ground. As he looked up at the star, he heard that sweet voice in his head. I have chosen well.
Timeport smiled at the remark. "Have I done well?"
Later, Timeport would swear that he saw God smile back. Yes, my child, you have done well indeed....
Timeport returned to life.
He didn't move. He could only hope that Quota had kept the man from running. As he scanned what he could see of the room, it didn't even look like the man had noticed that Timeport's body wasn't by the woman's anymore, but now behind him. Quietly, Timeport teleported himself upright, then raised his hands in the air, waggling his fingers.
He teleported to just behind the man and clamped him on the shoulders. The man would have jumped if Timeport hadn't been pressing down too hard.
Timeport moved his head so his mouth was almost on the man's ear and whispered two words.
"Wrong choice."
He teleported sideways just slightly, taking the man's shirt with him. His head rolled onto the ground, cut off by his own sleeve.
Timeport held the body upright and pointed his chin out over the headless neck and grinned maliciously at Quota.
"What's next?"