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One Last Eternity Artificial thunder sounded through the room. A guy, his hair and eyes light brown and his face not quite Asian, had a gun pointed at the chest of a tall, thin Chinese boy. The trigger of the handgun--the same handgun that Steve had fought with during the day the Dark Fiend of Fire first emerged--was compressed. "Vince! No!" Stephanie screamed, tears running down her face. A speck of blood splashed over his shirt. Vincent Zeng froze in mid-air for but an instant, then fell forward onto the ground. Stephanie struggled against the ropes that bound her, trying to escape, trying to save Vince if that were at all possible. "Don't bother," Steve Lin said, still pointing the gun at Vince. "He's not dead yet." Stephanie froze, unsure of what that remark meant. Steve simply walked up to Vince's lifeless body, still pointing the gun at him. Steve stood right above Vince, pointing the gun down at his head. A moment later, Vince's eyes open, his pupils burning with hellish flame. A wave of fire pulsed down his body. Vince's clothes and skin melded to form the black hide. His hair became red, long, and tangled. Vince quickly twisted and rolled out of the way, just as Steve's gun fired and missed. As Vince did a backward roll to regain his composure, Steve hopped to a safe distance. "I knew it!" he shouted. "I knew it! At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but after I saw you on TV, I knew it had to be you!" "TV..." Vince said to himself. Then, he remembered. He saw in his mind a videotape of himself--as the Dark Fiend of Fire--running through Trioustan Forest. He recalled the voices. "This just in. A strange creature was sighted at the Trioustan Forest. The only person who saw this creature first hand was Trioustan Sophomore Diana Kilsberg." "I was running for the Cross Country meet, and suddenly, I see this big black monster running into the forest. I was so scared, I couldn't move for a minute, and by that time, a bunch of other people had caught up to me." "Also, a security camera were able to get this quick shot of this alleged monster." A thunderous clap that was the gunshot brought Vince back to the present. Vince quickly dodged. Steve fired again. Vince dodged. Again and again, Steve fired, while again and again, Vince hopped back and forth, dodging the lead projectiles. Then, on one of his hops, Vince tossed off a couple handfuls of fireballs. Steve quickly dove to the side. "One little handgun probably won't be enough," Steve said as he ran toward the corner of the room. As Stephanie sat, tense, on one side of the room, Steve put his handgun into a crate and pulled out a shotgun. CLICK! BAM! As soon as Vince heard the shattering sound of the shotgun, he dove to his right side as a storm of metal shards flew by him. A gaping hole appeared on one of the walls. Steve pumped out the empty shell and fired again. Vince made a second desperate dive to avoid the shotgun fire. Steve fired eight more shots as Vince dodged the shotgun splatter, being only slightly grazed by the last shot. Steve pumped and pointed the shotgun at Vince. He pulled the trigger. Vince began his roll, but there was nothing to dodge. The shotgun made a click, but no explosive expulsion of bullets. "Damn! Empty!" Steve swore. As Steve frantically pulled ammunition from his pocket, Vince calmly walked up. No sooner had Steve placed a single shell into the compartment had Vince grabbed the shotgun. Vince hands glowed red, and the shotgun began to burn. Then, the shotgun was cast aside, hitting the floor near the door. There, the gunpowder in the one shell exploded, ripping the shotgun open, rendering it useless. Steve had a countenance of panic on his face. He made a mad rush for his crate and pulled out not one, but two handguns. "If I can't hit you with one gun, I'll use two," Steve screamed. Steve began firing his pair of pistols madly, trying to hit Vince, who merely jumped, rolled, twisted and turned to avoid the bullets. Going into one roll, Vince had his hands tucked in close. Coming out of a roll, Vince threw a handful of fireballs at Steve, who jumped out of the way, getting only the side of his face singed. Vince then did a trick jump, reaching the ceiling, then kicking off to rebound downward at Steve. Steve pointed his gun, but before he could fire, Vince body slammed him. Steve frantically climbed to his feet and ran to the opposite corner of the room. "I can't hit you by aiming at you," Steve said with a tinge of arrogance in his voice. "But what if I aim at something else." With that, Steve pointed both his guns at Stephanie and fired. Stephanie closed her eyes, screaming. When she opened them again, she was alive. Vince had dived in front of her and shielded her with his own body. Steve fired a few more at Vince. "No! Vince!" Stephanie cried. "Stephanie..." Vince said quietly, weakly. "Time to die, Vince!" Steve yelled as he walked over to Vince, pointing the guns at his head. "No!" Steph screamed. "No! No! No! No! No! No! No! NO!!!" The rope snapped, and Stephanie, newly freed, jumped in front of Vince. "Stephanie..." Vince said. "Please, don't..." "How did you...?" Steve asked, shocked. "Because I love him," Stephanie responded. "And I'll do anything to protect him." "How sweet," Steve replied, a sadistic smile appearing on your face. "Well, the first thing you're going to do is DIE!!!" Then, he pointed the handgun on his right at Stephanie's forehead. "Stephanie," Vince said with more energy. Suddenly, the door came open. A squadron of police officers ran into the room, their guns pointed. "Don't move!" one of the officers shouted. Steve looked at the officer. Despite the pain, Vince gave a swift kick through Stephanie's legs, under her skirt, at Steve, tripping him. At the same time, a Mystic entered the room. Vince climbed to his feet and gave Steph a gentle shove. "Get to those cops," Vince said. "They'll protect you." "All--all right," Stephanie said as she delicately ran toward the police. In the meantime, several cops surrounded the fallen Steve while a few more picked him up and handcuffed him. At the same time, a Mystic and two cops approached Vince. "That one," the Mystic said. "The Holy ritual led us to this one. The Dark Fiend of Fire. He's also the human Vincent Zeng, senior at Trioustan High School." The Mystic and the two cops lined up, trying to trap Vince. Vince assumed a fighting stance, but he was knocked off balance by a brightly glowing bolt of energy. Then, one bullet lodged itself in Vince's shoulder, another in his thigh. Vince let his left leg go limp, throwing himself into a roll. Particles of flame coalesced around Vince's fist, and as he came out of the roll, he threw his kinetic energy into the wall. The wall came crumbling down in a roar of fire and dust. Vince, now outside of the confined building, ran with all his might as fast as he could as far as he could. Behind him, he could hear the police shooting at him. He could hear the crackle of magic as the Mystic created a projectile from the Holy energy. Vince ran and never looked back. In rained heavily that night. Alice sat on Vincent's bed, looking at something on TV. In disgust, she grabbed the remote and turned it off. "Alice," came a voice from the window. Alice looked to see the Dark Fiend of Fire, opening the window and climbing into his room. As he came in, the fires swirled around him, and he reverted to the human Vincent Zeng. "Vince!" she cried frantically. "It's on TV. Everybody's seen it!" A pause. Then, more slowly, "You're the Dark Fiend of Fire. The cops are after you. Alliatus wants you dead." Another pause. Alice began to cry. "I'm sorry, Vince. I'm sorry for calling you a monster that day. I didn't know." "It's okay," Vince replied as he put his arm around his sobbing sister and held her close. "What are you going to do now?" she asked. "I'm not sure," Vince replied. "But I think I'll have to run away, leave Trioustan." "Leave Trioustan?" Alice asked. "Yeah," Vince replied. "It's not safe for me here anymore." He released his sister. "Goodbye, Alice." "Goodbye, Vince," Alice said. Then, a flashfire, and the Dark Fiend of Fire jumped out the window. After sitting on the bed for a few moments to gather herself, Alice walked to the window and closed it. "Robert!" the Dark Fiend of Fire shouted into a window. A half-Asian, half-white guy opened the window and let Vince in. Inside, the flames subsided and Vince was human again. "Good to see you, Vince," Robert said. "Robert, you knew what I was from the first day, didn't you?" Vince said. "Yeah," Robert replied. "You said my name, and I knew." "And you protected me from Julia when she confronted me," Vince said. "Yeah," Robert replied. "That's what friends are for." "Thank you, Robert," Vince said. "Thanks for everything. You've been a good friend, but I'm going to half to leave Trioustan." "Yeah, I understand," Robert replied. "Cops chasing you, religious fanatics after you. Yeah, you're best bet is to run away, disappear." "I'll be leaving tonight," Vince said. "That makes sense," Robert replied. "Goodbye. Try and keep in touch, man, even if you're on the run." "I'll try," Vince said as a flash of fire swept by him again. The Dark Fiend of Fire said, "Goodbye." Then, he was out the window. "Just one more visit to make," Vince thought. "But this one will be the most important, and the hardest." The Dark Fiend of Fire climbed up a roof, the rain still pouring all around him. He moved to a window, hesitated, and lightly tapped. Vince saw some movement inside. Then, a silhouette of a figure came and opened the window for him. "Vince!" Stephanie quietly shouted in surprise. "You got away!" A pause. "Well, come on in." Vince jumped into Stephanie's room. Inside, he let the flames cover his body. His black hide separated into flesh and cloth again. The red and tangled became black and well-formed hair again. "Vince! You're soaking wet," Stephanie shouted. "Let me get you something to dry you off. Maybe you can borrow some clothes from my dad. They might--" "Stephanie, haven’t you heard?" Vince asked. "About what?" Stephanie responded with a question. "They're after me," Vince said simply. "Oh," Stephanie said. "The government, Alliatus, they want you...dead." A pause. "Everyone already knows," Vince said. "I can't stay here in Trioustan anymore. I'm a Dark Fiend, a monster. I'm cursed with the Dark Fiend Energy, evil by default. All I can do is hunt down the other six Dark Fiends, so that we can't bring chaos to the world. That way, I can use my power for good, and then, it'll be permanent goodbye to the world." "Vince," Stephanie pleaded. "Vince, you're not evil. You're kind, caring, loving. You're a good person. You protected my sister from the Hybrid Alliance. You rescued me from Steve Lin. You were ready to sacrifice your life to save mine. No, you're not evil." "Stephanie, I'm a Dark Fiend," Vince replied. "A weapon of mass destruction, that's all I am, nothing more. I'm sorry, but I have to leave Trioustan." Stephanie tried to stop him, "But Vince--" "Stephanie, please," Vince pleaded. "I don't want to bring chaos to Trioustan, suffering or pain to Trioustan. That's why I have to go." Stephanie was crying. Her tears soaked her face. "I understand," she said. "I don't like it, but I understand." "Stephanie, I'm sorry," Vince said. Vince gently grabbed Stephanie's face and gently lifted it towards him. He looked into her eyes, and she looked into his. Then, he kissed her, a kissed filled with all the passion he could muster. As he pulled back, he whispered the words, "I love you." Then, he held her. He held Stephanie and couldn't let go. The only sound heard was the patter of the rain outside, rain that made it seem as if nature herself were crying. After what seemed like eternity, the couple's last eternity, they parted. As Vince headed for the window, Stephanie quickly pulled something out of her purse. "Wait," she said. "Vince, please take this." She handed Vince a small rectangular piece of plastic. "Use it to buy whatever supplies you'll need, and I'll pay the bills for you." She hesitated a moment. "I know this sounds very un-girlfriendish of me, but try not to buy anything too expensive. I don't have all that good a job." "Don't worry," Vince replied. "I won't." Vince dropped the card into his pocket. Then, the flames came back. Vince's flesh was now hide. "Goodbye...Stephanie..." "Goodbye...Vincent..." "Don't forget me..." "I would never forget you..." "I'll always love you, Steph..." "I'll always love you, too, Vince..." The Dark Fiend of Fire, stoic as he was supposed to be, couldn't help but feel saddened by this display of emotion. A single tear flowed down his face from his eye. Vince slowly walked away and climbed out the window. Then, he was gone. Stephanie walked up to the window. She stuck her head out her window to watch Vince run off in the distance. Then, an even greater outburst of tears came forth as the rain caressed her, much like how Vince used to pat her on the head. |