First-round election results are pointing to a run-off battle between the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate and a veteran of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime for Egypt's presidency.
The divisive showdown dismayed many Egyptians who fear either one means an end to any democratic gains produced by last year's uprising.
More than a year after protesters demanding democracy toppled Mubarak, the face-off between the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi and former air force chief and prime minister Ahmed Shafiq looked like a throwback to the days of his regime - a rivalry between a military-rooted strongman promising a firm hand to ensure stability and Islamists vowing to implement religious law.
"The worst possible scenario," said Ahmed Khairy, spokesman for the Free Egyptians Party, one of the secular, liberal parties that emerged last year.
Speaking to the Al-Ahram daily, he described Mr Morsi as an "Islamic fascist" and Mr Shafiq as a "military fascist".
He said he did know which candidate to endorse in the June 16 and 17 election decider. Many Egyptians face the same dilemma, with no figure representing a middle path of reforming a corrupt police state without lurching onto the divisive path of strict implementation of Islamic law.
The head-to-head match between Mr Morsi and Mr Shafiq will probably be a heated one. Each has diehard supporters but is also loathed by significant sectors of the population.
The first round race, held on Wednesday and Thursday, turned out close. By last night, counts from stations around the country reported by the state news agency gave Mr Morsi 25.3% and Mr Shafiq 24.9%, with less than 100,000 votes between them.
A large chunk of the vote - more than 40% - went to candidates who were seen as more in the spirit of the revolution that toppled Mubarak, that is neither from the Brotherhood nor from the so-called "feloul" or "remnants" of the old autocratic regime.
In particular, those votes went to left-winger Hamdeen Sabahi, who narrowly came in third in a surprisingly strong showing of 21.5%, and a moderate Islamist who broke with the Brotherhood, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh.
The Brotherhood, which already dominates parliament and hopes the presidency can seal its rise to power, scrambled to try to draw the revolution vote to its side. It invited other candidates and revolutionary groups to meet today to "save the nation and the revolution" ahead of an expected fierce race.
The Brotherhood probably faces a tough task. Over the past six months it has disillusioned many of those figures with plays for power that left its would-be allies feeling betrayed and deepened the Brotherhood's reputation as domineering and arrogant.
"Egypt is going through a truly historic transformation," senior Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian said. "We hope the run-off is more heated, more clear and more representative of the spirit of the January 25 revolution."
Mr Shafiq's camp was making a similar appeal.
"We know the Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution from the youth," said Mr Shafiq's spokesman, Ahmed Sarhan.
"Our programme is about the future. The Muslim Brotherhood is about an Islamic empire. That is not what (the youth groups) called for."
The breakdown of the first-round voting provided multiple surprises.
Mr Shafiq's strong showing would have been inconceivable a year ago amid the public's anti-regime fervour. He was Mubarak's last prime minister and himself forced out of office by protests several weeks after his former boss was ousted.
A former air force commander and personal friend of Mubarak, he campaigned overtly as an "anti-revolution" candidate in the presidential election, criticising the protesters.
He still inspires venom from many who believe he will preserve the Mubarak-style autocracy and has been met at public appearances by protesters throwing shoes.
But his rise underlines the frustration with the revolution felt by many Egyptians. The past 15 months have seen continuous chaos, with a shipwrecked economy, a breakdown in public services, increasing crime and persistent protests that turned into bloody riots. That has left many craving stability.