The Shadows Within

A quick story i worked on for a while, then put off and finished recently. Nothing amazing, but i like the message at the end.

The end of the world came quicker than anyone ever expected. It came without warning, no big explosion, no giant war or natural disaster. It just happened. They came out of nowhere and in a matter of hours, everything was gone. Anything alive was dead, plants, animals, humans, all of it. Cities lay in ruin, entire forests still blazing. And we five stood there and watched. For we were the only ones left. My name Is Damian Fox, and i am one of the last few surviving humans. I stand in an abandoned hotel with my freinds, Neo, Jane, Brittney, And Lars. We’re just kids, ranging in age from 15 to 18. And we are the only hope humanity has left. Crap. Guess humanity is pretty screwed. Lets have a little look at humanity's last hope, shall we?

    First is me, the emotionally unstable 18 year-old somehow the leader of this rag-tag group of kids, i stand a whopping 5’4” and am a tad out of shape to say the least. Next is my close friend Neo, who’s just an inch taller and doesn't say much. He’s very loyal, but keeps everything in, and is kinda monotone. After him is my girlfriend Jane, about two inches shorter than me, and feistier than a mexican bull, but just as passionate and caring. I’d do anything to keep her safe, and i know she feels the same about me. Next is Brit and Lars, an inseparable couple practically attached at the hip. Brit is about the same height as Jane, but Lars is easily the tallest in the group, topping off at 6’1”. Jane and Neo are both 15, Lars is my age and Brit is 17. And we’re the last humans left, for whatever reason.

And what is it we’re up against you ask? An endless horde of what i can only describe as monsters or demons. They’re only about as tall as a five year old toddlers, but are unmistakably inhuman. Their eyes are a blazing red, and i mean completely red. No pupils, no irises, just two balls of red that stare right through your soul. Their skin is a deep purple, and they are almost completely featureless. Their thin arms and legs both end in three razor sharp claws, and their unnaturally large mouths are filled to the brim with pure white fangs. So how did such tiny little monsters destroy the entire world in a matter of hours? Numbers. For every one of the things the military killed, there were ten thousand more. And they were fast, quicker than we could follow. They appeared out of nowhere and like a swarm of locusts, demolished everything in their path. No one knows why, no one knows how. No one really had the time to ask, they were too busy dying. So why are five kids the only ones left? Thats what we want to know.

“Damian, what the hell do we do now? We’re running out of food, and theres no way in hell im going out there with those...things.” Ah Lars, always the optimist. But he was right, we couldn’t live off of hotel waffles forever. So, of course, it was up to me to find the answer. “Well lars, unless theres secretly a supermarket hidden in one of these rooms, the only way we’re going to get supplies is out there. Now these things haven’t killed us yet, and they won’t come in this hotel. I doubt thats because they’re afraid of bad room service. There has to be something that deters them. If we can find out what it is, we can go outside and get supplies.” Lars sighed deeply and looked out the window. They were everywhere, crawling around, breaking things and looking for something to kill. For whatever reason, all of us were able to escape them when no one else could. When they got close, they’d run around us. it was like they didn’t see us, or didn’t want to. But we were still wary to go outside, since now we were the only things left alive on the planet, they might not be so picky. “Well what do you think it is then, Damian?” Brit asked, walking over to Lars and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Damned if i know. But Lars is right, much as i hate to admit it. I know theres an old food processing plant a few blocks away from here. they might have some product stocked in a warehouse we can use. Its not far...but there’s still alot between it and us.” Neo stood up from the chair he was sitting in and walked to the center of the lobby we were standing in, looking very serious as always. “Then we’ll go. Me and Damian. We’ll run through and bring back whatever we can.” Jane jumped up at this, and declared quite loudly, “Oh no! None of your hero crap Neo. If we’re going, we’re all going. We stay together. No matter what.” Neo’s only response was a huff and a sideways glance at Jane. “Fine then, we’re all going. Me and neo will take the front, the girls will stay in the center, Lars will watch our back. They ain’t killed us yet, right?” Lars whirled around, and angry look on his face. “Oh sure, not yet. But what if they do when we step outside. We cant outrun them, and we have no weapons. What exactly is your plan, hm?” I walked over and looked Lars straight in the eye. “Look, we either go out there and possibly get supplies, or get eaten. Or, we can stay in here and starve. Which would you rather do?” Another famous Lars sigh. He nodded and we took formation. What else could we do? Sometimes, you just have to take risks.

The automatic doors opened, and we walked slowly outside. Every creature in the area stopped what they were doing and stared right at us. “What now genius?” Lars whispered from the back. “Wait for my signal, then we make a run for it.” Lars began to speak up, presumably to remind me how much faster they were, but a stern glare stopped his reply. I held my hand up, and counted down from my fingers: Three..Two...ONE! We bolted towards the old warehouse where the stock was held, only a few blocks down the road. The creatures began to mobilize, scuttling along the rooftops alongside us, following. Something was strange though, they should’ve easily been able to overtake us, yet the way they were following it seemed like they were just a step behind us the whole way. Somehow we made it inside the stockroom safely, slamming the large doors behind us. The lights came on above us with a loud clang, and we turned around to see boxes upon boxes covered in company labels and shipping stickers. “Thanks for hitting the lights, told you we’d make it in.” I said, looking around trying to find the most convenient boxes to grab. I was interrupted as Lars tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “Damian..no one touched a lightswitch.” I whipped around and stared at him wide-eyed. “Then...who?” Just then, the lights flickered and went steady again. We all looked up, and were taken aback by what we saw floating above us. Seemingly standing on air, with its arms crossed, was one of the monsters, but this one was different. It was at least 7 feet tall, and had a light purple V shape on its forehead. The entire V was filled in with the same light purple, and the color spread to the back of its head. He slowly levitated down in front of us, wearing a smug look on his face.

“Hehe, so you finally made it. I was wondering what was taking you so long. Did my children scare you? my bad.” He spoke with a sharp, biting sarcasm, and almost seemed amused at our very existence. “Who the hell are you!? What the hell’s going on around here?!” I shouted, unsure of what else to do. He chuckled and walked over, cupping my face in one three-clawed hand. I wanted to move, but i couldnt. I dont know if it was fear, or some kind of power he had, but for whatever reason, all i could do is stand there and watch. “All in good time my dear Damian. And before you ask, YES I know your name. Please try to save all pointless and rhetorical questions until the end of my monologue, kay?” He turned around and walked to the center of the room with his hands behind his back, the same snide grin on his face again. He turned around to face us, and placed his hands on his hips. “Now then, I’m not going to kill you. Not yet anyway. Not at all if you play nicely. No, im here to give you a gift. You see, you all lived because you each have a little shadow of your own. I’m going to help you see those shadows to their fullest potential. Just like I was. You see, my dear children, I am a physical manifestation of mankind’s darkness. I am the demon in the heart of man. And I’m damn tired of it.” His expression changed, his red eyes now glared at us, and he walked towards our still frozen bodies with force in every step. “Humanity became so enveloped in their darkness, it consumed them. Serves them right. That is why I exist. And with every human I killed, i took their darkness and turned it into a few thousand of those little critters.” He pointed to the large windows that lined the sides of the warehouse, where hundreds of the little creatures were scuttling and climbing across. His demeanor changed again, and he chuckled, his smile returning. “You’d be surprised how many of those you can make with a single human soul. Then again, humans are a lot darker than people realize these days. But, we’re getting off track. You five are different, something about you just makes me all tingly. So im going to unlock your shadow, and see what happens. Lets have some fun, shall we?!” With that he walked over and placed one hand on my chest and another on my forehead. He stared straight through my eyes with those great red orbs, and it felt like my body was on fire. He removed his hands and watched as i collapsed to the floor, curled up in a ball. “DAMIAN! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” Jane yelled, trying her hardest to move away as the creature placed his hands in the same place on her. It was no use, and soon, he had each of us on the floor, cringing in pain. One by one, we all blacked out.

When we awoke, we were in the hotel lobby again. We were all lying on the floor, and around us were ten boxes of supplies from the stockroom. Enough to last us for years. “Ugh, what the hell happened?” Lars said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes furiously. “I dont know, but my back is killing me.” Brit said, still lying flat on her back. Me and Jane sat up in front of each other, and just laughed. “Well hi there stranger” She said through a laugh. “Hi yourself.” i said smiling. “Hey, wheres Neo?” I said, suddenly serious. “Over here. And you all should get up and have a look at yourselves.” He said in a monotone voice sitting in his usual chair. He always was quick to recover. He sat there staring at something in his lap. I looked closer and saw it was a long curved sword, the same deep purple color as the creatures. “Neo...where did you get that..” He looked up and let out a small laugh for the first time in a long time. “You think thats something? Take a look at your arms.” My arms, what was he..my god. I looked down at my hands to see them covered in the same purple. They were like large gloves that went up my forearms, and ended in jagged cuffs. My fists were twice the size they usually were, and each finger was ended in a claw just like theirs. At least I still had all ten. “What the hell...so that really did happen? This is our ‘unlocked shadows’?” Neo said nothing and just looked back to the blade in his lap. I looked across to Jane and saw what looked like a deep purple tattoo of flames all along her arms. It almost seemed to glow and pulse, as if the flames were real. Jane looked at her arms, and when she turned her hand over, a small purple fireball appeared in her hand.She shouted and shook her hand out till it went away. “What the hell was that!? Was I on fire just now?!” Brit sat up and looked over confused. “What do you mean fire? Like...actual fire?” Jane glared at her, and snapped, “No! They were made out of paper! Yes real…” she stopped mid-sarcastic rant and her jaw dropped. “B..Brit...you have..wings.” Brit jumped up and began spinning around like a dog chasing its tail, trying to see. Finally, she got frustrated and stamped her foot on the ground. As she did, a pair of large purple bat-like wings unfurled from behind her with a loud whoosh. Lars was still on the floor, rubbing his eyes like mad. She ran over to him, at started jumping up and down. “Lars! Lars! Look! I have wings! Look!” Slowly he lowered his hands and looked up at her, blinking. We all stopped and stared, and Brit’s wings curled up behind her as she took a step back. “What? Why’d everyone get quiet? And why does everything look...different?” His eyes were the same red orbs that they had. Jane handed him a small mirror from her purse, and said nothing. He took the mirror and just stared at it for a moment. “This can’t be right. Is this some kind of trick? Cause I’m not laughing!” I walked over and lowered the mirror from his face. He looked at my thick purple hand, then up at me. There seemed to be a sadness in his big red eyes. “This isn’t a joke...is it?” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Whatever he did..this is the result. He must have infused us with part of the same energy he used to make the little monsters.” Lars just stared at me, and for the first time it seemed as though he was really looking for the answers in my eyes.

“So we’re just assuming it’s a ‘he’ now?” Jane spoke up from the floor, looking over at me. “Well it didn’t exactly sound like a woman Jane. And it’s easier than saying ‘it’ all the time. That doesn't matter now. What matters is trying to figure out these...powers, so we don't accidentally destroy the place.” Lars stood up and glared at me with his blazing red eyes. “Use them! We should be trying to get rid of them! This isn’t natural Damian! This is wrong!” And for the first time, I turned and backhanded Lars. My new hands sent him straight into the wall, and onto his behind. “You don’t think I know that Lars?! But  what choice do I have?! Jane has fire coming out of her fingers! Do you want our only home to burn down because we cant control this?! Theres no guarantee they wont try to kill us now! We only lived because HE wanted us to! And he clearly stated he’d have no problem killing us if it didnt go the way he wanted. You saw what he could do! None of us could move a muscle, you honestly think he couldn't kill us all in an instant?! We play along till we can figure out what's going on. End of story.” Lars sat there holding his face, while Brit, who had rushed to his side as soon as i hit him, looked up at me in disbelief. The whole room was quiet and all eyes were on me. Neo finally stood up and broke the silence. “Damian is right. We have to learn how to control this before we get hurt. Once we know how to use them, maybe we can use them to force him to take it back. Lars, you were the one who was complaining that we didnt have a way to defend ourselves. Well now we do.” He slid the sword into what seemed to be an invisible scabbard on his back, and walked out of the lobby. Slowly we all slinked off to our rooms, to try and deal with what had happened.

I later found myself in the hotel’s gym, practicing my punches with my new hands. I had already broken four sandbags, and was running out of things to hit. Then Lars walked in. Perfect timing. “Damian i think we should tal-” His words were interrupted by a sandbag as it flew at his head, broken off its suspending rope. Without even a second thought he ducked under it flawlessly, like he had seen it coming before it even happened. “What the hell Damian!?” I chuckled a little and walked over, picking up the sandbag like it was a feather. “Sorry Lars, thats the fifth one of these I’ve busted today. Didn’t expect you to come in. Nice dodge though.” He stared me down for a moment with those blazing red eyes, then sat down on a leg machine and sighed that famous Lars sigh. “Look Damian, we need to talk. These eyes...if they really are the same as his...I know how he found us. I can see everything Damian. If i sit there and focus i can see everything. The entire world. Anyplace, no matter how far, even if I’ve never been there or don't know what i'm looking at, I can see it.” He sat there staring at his hands, maybe staring at some far off place. “Well thats great! If you can see everything, you can find him. you can see where he’s hiding, we can go in there and make him turn us back!” Lars sat quiet for a moment. I wasn’t sure what to do or say. He just sat there, his eyes staring off into god knows what. “Damian. I saw it. The whole world. Our homes. All of it. Gone. He really did destroy everything. I thought...maybe somewhere there might be others like us. We’re the only  things left on the planet Damian. Just us..” He buried his head in his hands and closed his eyes tight, as if he was trying to force away all the things he’d seen. I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find him Lars. We’ll find him and we’ll make this right. We’ll fix this.” Lars stood up and brushed my hand away. Without a word he slowly made his way towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes glowing a sad, dim red. “Theres nothing left to fix, Damian.” And with that he walked away.

Obviously i wasn’t going to get anywhere with Lars. I walked out of the gym to go see how the others were progressing. Jane was out by the pool, practicing her control over the flames she could create. When I walked in she was Juggling three purple fireballs in her hands, grinning widely. She motioned for me to come over when she saw me in the doorway. “Hey Damian, check this out!” She caught the three fireballs in her hands, and rolled them together like a snowball, then shot the whole thing into the pool. The water burst upwards in a small explosion, and steam rose as it settled. “Pretty cool, huh? I can shoot fire! Those little critters wont know what hit ‘em.” She smiled at me and twirled a small flame around her finger. “Good. We’re going to need something big to help with those numbers they have. See if you cant make one bigger. But, uh, try not to burn the place down dear.” I said with a playful wink. She tossed a purple spark towards me and smiled. “No promises.”

Next i went to the lobby to check on Neo and Brit. Already being well trained in swordplay, Neo offered to help Brit learn how to fly. From the sound of things, she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet. As I walked into the lobby i heard a loud crash and saw Brit lying in what used to be one of the wooden chairs from the lounge. “Ow...I almost had it that time though!” Neo tapped his blade on the floor and shouted “Again!” He was a regular mister miyagi, he got one shiny sword and already he’s acting like an old japanese samurai teaching his students. “How’s it going in here?” I yelled from a safe distance. “Not too bad.” Brit said, Brushing of the splinters of left-over lounge chair. I watched as she climbed up on the table and lept off, spreading her wings. With a few good flaps she was up in the air and circling Neo like a vulture. Neo tapped his sword on the ground again and shouted up to her, “Now, lets try that landing again!” I watched as she folded her wings behind her, and plummeted face-first into the floor. “Ow” I couldnt help it, and broke out into a fit of laughter. Neo turned to me and a small smile formed on one side of his face. The closest you’ll ever get to him actually laughing. When I finally calmed down, i walked over and helped her off the floor, where she had decided to stay for the time being because her face hurt too much. “You know Brit, most animals dont just fold up their wings and dive bomb the floor with their face. They usually keep them open and glide down slowly. Just for future reference.” She put an ice pack up to her face that Neo had handed her and laughed a little. “Good to know.”

“Oh and by the way, i need you to talk to Lars for me. Turns out those eyes of his could find the location of the wonderful little critter who did this to us. But he’s too busy having a mental breakdown to handle it. I need you to talk him into it so we can get this over with. Think you can convince him?” She stood up and folded her wings behind her, sighing. “If its hard on him i really don’t want to force him. But at the same time its the only way to make it go away. And if it’s gone, it won’t be so hard on him, right? I’ll see what i can do.” And with that she walked off to find Lars. If anyone could get him to stop whining and help out, it was her. For the next few hours, me and Neo tried to come up with different battle plans for different situations. We didn’t want to be caught by surprise and without a plan, so we did our best to cover every possible scenario. Suddenly, Brit bolted into the room, almost skidding to a stop in front of us. “Brit, what’s wrong?” She looked scared, and her body was shaking. “It’s..its Lars..” I rolled my eyes and stood up. Of course its Lars. Its always Lars. We ran to his room and found him curled up on the floor shaking.

“Lars, what the hell’s going on? What happened?” Slowly he sat up and stared at me, his whole body trembling, his full red eyes seemingly on the verge of tears. “You wanted me..to look for him. Well...I did. I saw him. And he saw me. When i found him, he was sitting in the amazon just...watching it burn. But then he turned, and looked dead at me. And he smiled. I don't know how, but he knew i was looking at him. He knows our..powers have developed. And he’s coming back. He knows where we are and he’s coming back and it’s all because YOU had to know!” He grabbed his knees and began rocking back and forth. I never thought Lars would be the first to lose it. Always thought it would be me. Funny how life works i guess. Brit and Neo were staring at me, waiting for the order of what to do next. I sighed quietly to myself, then brushed it away. “Look, this could be a good thing. He’s coming to us. Means we don't have to go and find him. We take him on our turf, our way. Brit, go to the pool and tell Jane what happened. Tell her to be ready to fight. Neo, you’re with me, we’re going to try and fortify the front door as best we can. theres no doubt he’ll be bringing an army. And Lars. Try to pick yourself up off the floor and be useful, will ya?” With that, we all spread out to do what needed to be done. Except Lars of course, who stayed in his room and was useless like usual. Whatever. I didnt have time to deal with him right now, I had bigger fish to fry.

We waited in the lobby for hours, just waiting for him to show up. We stared at that door for I don't know how long. But he never showed. Maybe he was just playing games with us. Lars, seeming to have finally collected himself, walked into the room and sat down on the couch next to Brit. He proceeded to act like he hadn’t just been blubbering on the floor the last few hours, and began to talk about our enemies position. At least he was being useful finally. “Turns out, even though their fast, its still taking them a little to get here. It seems like they're holding back, waiting for him to tell them its ok to keep moving. They keep stopping so he can gather more. I thinks he’s getting them all. Its just one big mass of moving purple and red now. They’ll be here soon. A day at the most. Most likely by morning.” I stood up and began to pace back and forth. “Well, we can either rest now, and hope he doesn't get here till morning. Or we can wait up. We’ll be tired and not at our best, but at least there's less of a chance he’d get the drop on us. What do you guys think?” Neo stood up first, not surprisingly. “You all sleep. Me and Damian will take watch. We’ll work in turns.” Everyone looked at each other and waited for my reply. “Alright. sounds good. I’m assuming you want to take first watch Neo?” He looked at me and smiled, “Naturally. All of you get some rest now. I’ll alert you if he arrives.” And so we all went off to our separate rooms while Neo stood at the end of the hallway facing the lobby, waiting and watching.

Some time passed and i awoke, dreams of being overtaken by those monsters was making it hard to sleep. I walked out to find Neo standing just as tall as when he started his watch. Sometimes I wonder if that boy has ever slept at all. I found him leaning on the hilt of his sword, looking straight ahead at the lobby door that had chairs and pots piled in front of it. “You know, those are going to be completely useless if they do come through the front. Those doors slide sideways.” That side smirk came on his face again, and i could tell he found this as amusing as I did. “Yes, but its the thought that counts. Come to share the watch with me, old friend?” I patted him on the back and leaned on the wall next to him. “Yea something like that. You know, you say ‘old friend’ like we’re thousands of years old. Guess it does feel that way sometimes, huh?” He said nothing and just nodded. Sometimes I think if i could see into Neo’s mind, I’d be blown away by what i found. And sometimes i think its just empty up there and filled with the soul of some old dead soldier. Who knows with Neo.

We stood there and watched the door for awhile. It was beginning to get to the point where I didn't think he was really coming. That was, until i heard the scuttling in the hallway. Neo whipped around, and before i could tell what was happening he had cut one’s head clean off. It then disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. “Well, guess we know we can kill them.” I said watching as the smoke dissipated in the air. Neo gave me a stern look that was telling me to stop standing around and get the others. I ran through the hallway, banging on each door as i passed. Everyone jumped out as quick as they could and assembled in the hallway. I didn’t have to say anything, as soon as i woke them up, they knew. And it didn’t take long for the proof to come scurrying around the corner either. At least twenty or thirty of them, coming from the back of the hallway. We should’ve known they wouldn't use the front door.

“Jane, Neo, with me! Brit, take Lars back into the room and keep him safe, we’re gunna need his eyes.” Brit dragged Lars back into her room and locked the door. I hoped they would be ok on their own, but I knew Lars would see anything coming for them before it came and Brit could get him out of there. Me and Neo charged headfirst into the coming swarm, Slashing and slamming the little monsters into smoke, while Jane provided firepower from behind us. I’d never admit it to any of them, but i was actually having fun. Smashing these little critters with the force of my bare hands was exciting, it was a rush, and I liked it. The fight was a blur of claws and fangs, purples and reds, and I lost sight of Neo and Jane. But judging by the fireballs raining down next to me, it was easy to figure they were still around. I threw punch after punch, slamming the little monsters right into smoke with every hit. By the time we made it through the horde, i found myself feeling oddly disappointed. I wanted to keep fighting, I wanted more of them to hit. “Damian, we have to grab Lars and Brit and get moving, more are on their way.” Looks like I was going to get my wish after all. “Alright Neo, you grab them, ill stay here and fend off whatever comes down the pike till you guys are clear of here.” Neo stopped and grabbed my shoulder, looking more serious than usual. “We’re not leaving without you Damian. Don’t even think about it.” I laughed and nodded. He was right, someone had to lead. And it sure as hell wasn’t going to be Lars. Guess I had a job to do. We grabbed Lars and Brit and headed for the main lobby. Of course when we reached the door, we realized we had forgotten about our little blockade. I didn’t waste any time, And pounded my fist straight into the center of the pile. It collapsed and the doors slid open as we rushed outside. That was a mistake. We were surrounded by hungry grinning fangs. The wave of purple spread out for what seemed like miles in every direction.

“Well. Crap.” Judging by the looks on everyone's face, they agreed with my statement. We were pretty screwed. Till mister big boots himself parted the purple sea and walked forward laughing. Now we were really screwed. “I must admit, you’ve done better than I expected. Your inner shadows are developing nicely. Now we get to start seeing who you really are. Oh, this is so exciting, don’t you think? I know, lets make a little wager. You survive my horde for, oh, let's say twenty minutes. You live, i’ll leave and come back later. You die, well I think thats rather self explanatory, don’t you?” Without giving us a chance to reply, he walked back into the sea of purple and it closed up again. “Guess we don't have much of a choice, huh?” I said to no one. And with that, the swarm closed in on us. I started wailing on as many of the critters as i could, trying to take out three or more with one hit. I couldn't waste time fighting one on one. Jane was really helping out with her fire, blasting ten to fifteen of them with each hit. And Neo was doing surprisingly well, I’ve never seen him move so fast before. He was slicing through them quicker than I could follow. Maybe he got a little more than just a shiny sword. Heh, just like Neo to have his talent be the only one we can't see, just like everything else about him. Brit stayed behind us and shielded Lars with her wings, they seemed to be rather good as shields, the little monsters just bounced right off of them. That would be good to remember for later.

After awhile, i got lost in the fighting, smashing heads left and right. I’d never felt so much adrenaline in my whole life, and I loved every minute of it. I was starting to lose track of time, but it felt like forever. Twenty minutes was longer than I thought it would be. I started to get overwhelmed, the little cretins started piling on me, and soon i was lost under a pile of them. I was starting to get pissed, i hate being pinned. They started biting and scratching, but i was too hyped up on adrenaline to notice the pain. I couldnt take it anymore, I stood up, and threw them off of me with one motion. From the outside, the pile seemed to explode outward, and i stood in the middle, roaring at the top of my lungs. “THATS IT! I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!!” I locked my hands together and raised my fists high above my head, then slammed them back into the ground. The concrete around me shattered and all of the creatures within a twenty feet radius were sent flying into the buildings and street lamps around us, exploding into puffs of smoke as they hit. Jane looked over at me wide-eyed. “Well. That was effective.” I looked over at her and laughed. “Yea, I suppose it was, huh?” Slowly the horde began to slink away. We did our best to take out any stragglers who took too long to leave, hoping it’d be one less to deal with later. It seemed our twenty minutes was up.

As the horde disappeared over the horizon, the boss came back into view, smiling devilishly. “Congratulations. You actually survived. That was quite the trick there Damian, i hope to see more ingenuity like that from the rest of you. I’ll be back in one week. You have till then to perfect your skills. And when i come back, if you’re not ready, I’ll kill you where you stand without a second thought. This time we play for keeps kiddies.” He laughed and disappeared into thin air almost as quickly as he appeared. Everyone turned and looked at me, still standing in the center of the smashed concrete. “Well, you heard the man. Let’s get training.” Lars walked out from Brit’s wings and glared at me with his burning red eyes. “Oh, so now we’re taking orders from him? I thought you were our so-called leader.” He said with copious amounts of sarcasm and spite. I sighed and walked over to him, placing a large purple hand on his shoulder. “Look Lars, I'm gunna make this easy for you. We either get ready for the coming assault in one week. OR, we can sit around and cry and get killed. Don’t be stupid Lars, we don't have a choice here.” He knew I was right, and that pissed him off even more. He roughly knocked my hand off his shoulder, and walked back into the hotel taking Brit with him. Jane looked at me and shrugged, and I took her back into the hotel. As we walked through the doors, I noticed Neo wasn’t inside. “Hey, i think Neo’s still out there. I’m gunna go check on him, ok hun?” She smiled and nodded, gave me a kiss, then walked back to our room.

I walked out to find neo standing in the same spot he had been, staring off into space. I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, and he didn't move a muscle. i thought at first he was frozen until he began to speak, “You know Damian, as much as he may be an annoyance, Lars may have a point. This whole time we’ve been playing into his hands. How do you know he didn't want us to win today? I know we don't have a choice, but it’s something to keep in mind.” He turned to me and sheathed his sword, and i noticed that there was a sadness behind his eyes that i had never seen before. “Neo...what’s wrong?” He closed his eyes tight and looked down, as if holding back tears. “Damian, are we doing the right thing? Would our parents be proud of what we’ve become? I’ve always been ok with being alone, but this is so much different. I’m not alone because its the path i've chosen anymore. Now im alone because there just isnt anyone else. Even if we win next week, even if we kill every last one of those things and turn back to normal, what then? We can’t repopulate the earth with just the five of us, Damian.”

I didn't know what to say to him. He was right, I had been playing this day to day, acting like we were saving the world. But what world was there left to save? It was just us, us five kids. What could we really do? No, screw that. I’m not going to get caught up in that depression. I lifted Neo’s face and looked him dead in the eye, saying “Neo, we’re going to figure this out. We’re going to win, and we’re going to make him tell us how to fix everything. And if he doesn’t, we’ll find our own way. If we can stand our own against him, we can certainly find a way to fix this.” He smiled at me and nodded, standing tall again and walking towards the door. “Oh, and Neo? I know your parents would be very proud of the man you’ve become.” He looked over his shoulder at me, smiling, as a single tear ran down his cheek. He wiped his face and walked inside, and left me standing in the street where he had been. I looked up at the night sky and watched the stars. For a world so torn and broken, the sky still seemed so clear. I thought that if the stars could keep shining through the endless dark of space, why can’t we do the same? I walked back inside with a smile and a new, burning hope, that maybe we could make this work afterall.

Over the next week, we all trained as hard as we could, and did our best to better understand and control our powers. The more we trained, the more powerful we became, and the more prominent the shadows became. Neo’s sword had now become two, which he could somehow force back into one large claymore, and then split again. Brits wings had grown, and she also sprouted a tail with a bladed tip. She was very happy to be able do more then just act as a human shield. Jane’s flames had crawled all the way up her arms, and she took to wearing tank tops to avoid burning off her sleeves. She was now able to shoot continuous streams of purple flame, and could even control its direction. As for me, the shadows had worked their way up to my shoulders, and my body was becoming large and muscular. I was beginning to look more like a gorilla than a human, if it weren't for the two curved purple horns that had sprouted from the front of my forehead. I suppose I had the most visible change, but my power had also increased tremendously. Having broken every sandbag and exercise machine in the hotel’s gym, I had taken to pummeling old buildings into the ground to hone my muscles. And Lars, well he was the only one not doing anything to train. Though to be honest i don't know how you train seeing things anyway. Regardless, as soon as he noticed training was causing our shadows to change he refused to take part in it. He’s been sitting in his room sulking since tuesday. It was now friday afternoon, which meant we only had one more day till they came back for us. This time though, we would be ready and waiting. I hope.

That day  passed quickly, as it was filled with plans for how to best defend ourselves. In the end though, all the plans came down to the same thing. He had more numbers than we did, and eventually they would surround us. We decided we’d just figure it out as we went, as that had seemed to work in our favor thus far. We all gathered in the lobby and sat there, waiting. There was no point going out there, we knew they’d come to us, and Lars had already seen them closing in, numbers even greater than before. Apparently He’d left a few thousand behind the last time around. Lucky us. Within a few minutes we could hear it, a great rumbling sound like an earthquake. The sound of hundreds of thousands of little monsters charging to our doorstep. As the sound grew louder I stood and looked at all of them, to deliver what would likely be my last words. “You all know whats coming. You all know what we have to do. You all know how likely it is that we wont make it. So i wont bother with any of that. All I want to say, is that if i go out, im glad im going down fighting. And im glad im doing it with all of you by my side.” Neo then stood and grind widely. “Screw that dying thing. We’re going to win this and fix everything, just like you said, Damian.” One by one, they all stood and nodded in agreement, even Lars, to my surprise. I smiled back at them and almost shed a tear. “Well then, Lets go save the world.”

Moments later they came, like a flood of purple and red, causing the front doors to explode and shower glass and metal everywhere. We wasted no time in fighting back. Neo had merged his swords into a claymore and was cutting down ten or twenty in a single swing. Brit and Lars worked together, him riding on her back and directing her as she swooped down and cut them down from the air. Me and Jane stood next to each other at the front of the fight, Trying to clear a path outside to keep ourselves from getting cornered. I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of being surrounded either, but it was better than being shoved against the wall like a couple of rats in a cage. Jane held both hands forward and cleared a path, acting as a living flame thrower, smoke filling the air. Once it was clear enough for me to step outside, i started to run towards the center, barreling through with my shoulder forward like a football player. Once i got halfway through the crowd, claws and fangs tugging at my clothes, I leapt high into the air and came back down in the center of the crowd with my fists together, causing a huge eruption and sending hundreds of them flying in all directions and cracking the ground beneath me. The others quickly joined me in my selfmade crater, and we stood in a circle as the hoard slowly got back to their feet. Here was our arena, the battlefield for our-no, not ours, for humanity's last stand.

We fought on and on for what seemed like hours, and we were beginning to tire. There was no sign of even a dent in their numbers, and they just keep coming. Oddly, their boss was nowhere to be found. It was strange to have us thrown into the fray like this without a visit from his smug face. No sarcastic comments, no threats or speeches. Just monsters. It was frightening in a way, as if maybe he felt he didn't even have to be here because he was so sure he’d win. And maybe he was right. As i looked around i saw that somehow we had all gotten separated and the creatures were surrounding each one of us. I couldnt stand it, it felt like being pinned. And i hate being pinned. I could feel the anger welling up inside of me, It almost felt as if it was going to spew out. Wait, maybe thats me thats going to spew. I started to feel something burning making its way up my throat, and no matter how hard i tried to push it down it moved forward anyway. I fell to my knees, hands braced against the ground about to hurl. That’s when it happened. I looked up at the last second as the burning force pushed my mouth open, and shot straight forward in the form of what i can only describe as a huge purple laser. It cut a line through the hoard miles long, and everyone stopped to look at me. Guess even they were as surprised as i was. Then i grinned wide, and pushed the power up through my stomach again. I could tell this was going to be the power that tipped the scales. This is how we we’re going to win.

As the monsters began to fill in the hole i had blown through their ranks, I drove my fists into the ground to stabilize myself as the power reached the top of my throat. Through the burning I managed to get out two words before releasing another huge blast of energy. “Oblivion...CANNON!” Boom. Another line cut through purple mass. I could see Jane shaking her head as she resumed her fight, the shock finally wearing off of everyone. I could hear Lars shout across the battlefield, “Did you really just name your face laser?! This isnt some saturday morning cartoon you know!” I looked over to him and laughed to myself. “You’re one to talk! When did you start shooting lasers out of your eyes!?” “Since now!” Sure enough, somehow Lars was shooting thin red beams from his eyes, blasting the monsters in short bursts. I readied myself to fire again when out of the blue, the monsters froze in their tracks. I looked up to see him, floating above the battlefield a scowl on his face, and he spoke in a harsh tone. “You’re taking the fun out of this you know. You’re supposed to be dying. But if you’re not going to play fair, then neither am I.” Suddenly the little monsters began to explode into puffs of smoke that slowly began to swirl around beneath him. He inhaled deeply, and the smoke from all of the little ones poured into his gaping maw. It was then that i noticed he was growing, the more of the smaller ones he inhaled, the larger he got. By the end of it the entire hoard had been inhaled and he towered over the few remaining skyscrapers. He looked down at us and spoke with a booming voice that seemed to cause the very ground to shake. “I’ve let this go on long enough. Now its time to end you. And with you, the rest of your pitiful race.”

He lifted his huge foot up and brought it down over Brit and Lars, who quickly flew out from beneath them. Neo and i charged forward, trying to hurt him somehow, pounding on his giant foot while Jane shot a stream of fire at his knees. We were like insects trying to take down elephant. And just like that, the tides turned again. Booming laughter filled the air like thunder, and i turned just in time to see a huge foot flying towards me. I’m not sure how many buildings i flew threw, but it was well over ten city blocks. I was just surprised to be alive. As i peeled myself from the rubble, i could see him dancing around and stomping on the ground, having himself a grand old time. He was enjoying this. And why should i expect any less of him by now? I noticed a small speck circling his head, as a thin red line shot forth from it, hitting the side of its cheek. Lars and brit, it had to be them hoping that maybe if they could hit the head it would matter. He made it clear very quickly that it made no difference, swatting them from the air like flies.

“NO!” I screamed to no one in particular. I may have survived that kick, but there was no telling if they could survive a hit like that. For all i knew, he had already stomped Neo and Jane into the dirt by now too. No, not Jane, anything but that. All of them, my only family, and i could only sit here and watch them be slaughtered by this giant. “no..no! NO!!” I slammed my fists into the earth and let loose another Oblivion Cannon. It hit him in the side and actually cause him to stagger. He looked towards my direction and glared, roaring. That’s right, come to me. Forget about them, focus on me. I hoped maybe i could draw his attention long enough that they could run away if they were still alive. Though i doubt any of them would run now, not even Lars. I steeled my resolve and fired off another shot as he ran towards me. It hit him straight in the face, but he charged through it, stumbling only a little as it hit. As he grew closer, i pulled my hands up and brought a large chunk of the ground up with me. I spun and whipped it at his ankle, causing him to trip.His giant head landed inches away from my face and he glared at me. His booming voice felt like a gale wind at such close range, “You think you’ve still got a chance? You cant beat me with my own power! I was born of the very power you use now to try to end me. You cannot beat shadow with more shadow!”

It was then that it clicked. He was right, we couldnt fight the darkness with the darkness. But we had something else, something that kept us alive when everyone else fell. Our hope, our Light. A new feeling welled up in my chest, not a burning like fire, but like that of cold. Like the burning of an icy wind. As my heart beat louder, the icy flame pumped throughout my body. I leaned down and looked into his huge empty red eye, and smiled. “You’re right. But we’ve got something you don’t have. All humans have shadow in their hearts, that much is true. But what they also have, is Light. Our light balances our shadow. That is what makes us human. That is what makes us strong.” He stared at me looking confused, almost concerned. As his huge hands came down and he stood, i took a single step back and looked straight up at him. The cold feeling had overtaken my whole body, and a crown of white flame appeared around my head. The tides were changing again, for the last time. I put my arms out to my sides, and within moments I grew to his size, looking him straight in the eye and grinning.   

“No! This isnt right! You cant do that!” He began to scream, a mix of fear and rage filling his voice. I pulled my arm back, and decked him clear in the mouth. “Apparently. I can.” He staggered back, hand on his face. He looked up at me and roared, tackling me with all his might. We wrestled in the the city, toppling buildings and crushing anything left in the streets. Finally i got the upper hand, and threw him off of my, finally getting a chance to stand. We both looked at each other for a single moment, then through our fists forward. Our arms grazed past each other, and we both hit each other at the same time. “Face it human, you’re out matched!” His words were fierce but his eyes looked scared. “You might want  to check again, seeing as how my fist is in your face currently.” I laughed and kicked him back, watching as he staggered and almost fell over a toppled building. He charged at me again, this time his claws were out. Guess he got tired of the fistfight. I ducked under his claws and ran my shoulder into his stomach, flipping him over my shoulder. His claws scraped down my back as he fell with a crash, dust and debris coming up from where he had fallen.

He quickly flipped to his feet and roared again, baring his huge fangs. This was it, time to end it. Here and now Damian, no turning back. I slammed an open palm straight into his forehead, and closed my hand around his head. I did my best to ignore his claws as he dug them into my arm. I grabbed his bottom jaw with my free hand, fighting to keep him from closing his mouth around my hand. I pulled his mouth open as wide as i can, and looked down into the swirling mass of shadows within his gaping maw. “It ends now.” The burning from before mixed with the fiery cold within me and swelled inside me, moving up into my throat. One last time, i have to. “Oblivion Cannon: Ragnarock’s End!” With that, i open my mouth and spewed a beam of purple surrounded by white lighting directly into his throat. His body began to expand as he flailed wildly in a pointless attempt to stop the inevitable. He finally burst like a balloon into a raining cloud of what looked like black snow.

In the distance i saw a small figure moving towards me through the flurry of black. as it drew closer, i saw that it was Brit, Lars and Neo sitting on her back, Jane following behind them by using bursts of flame like jets. As they drew closer, i could hear them shouting and calling to me. “Damian! That was amazing! How did you do that?!” I laughed and held out my hand, where they all landed safely. I brought them up to my face and grinned, and they smiled back, looking in awe at what i had become, and the strange black snow that fell around us. “So whats with the black snow?” Lars looked up and asked. “I figured that out just now. Its the shadow he tore from all the humans he killed. But i think if we add a little light to them, we can turn them back into regular human souls, and bring everyone back.” I held up my hand, and touched a single flake with the tip of my finger. A bright light shone, and it turned into a swirling ball of black and white, like yin and yang. Brit looked at it in awe. “How’d you do that!?” she asked. “Easy, i just gave it a little light. You can all do it. Just like he unlocked our Shadows, I found out how to unlock our Light. I can do it for all of you, and we can bring everyone back! Everyone form a line.” Slightly confused, they formed a line, Lars and Neo first followed by Brit and Jane. I Started on the other end of the line with Jane, placing a single fingertip on her forehead gently. A bright light shone, and her hair became a bright white flame, the flames on her arms remaining purple. She looked at her hands confused, and looked up at me. “Why didn't my arms turn back? I don't understand.”

I smiled and looked at them, finally the whole thing becoming crystal clear to me. “Its simple, humans are made of a balance of dark and light. When our darkness began to overpower our light, it manifested as the being in order to try and tip the world into darkness. As humans it is our duty to keep the order, and as the most balanced individuals left our light kept us from being killed along with everyone else. The light wont destroy your shadows. It will complete them. We are now the keepers of the balance between shadow and light. Jane, you are the cleansing flame, that which can destroy but also cleanse the field so that something new may grow.” I looked to Brit and touched her forehead in the same way. The light shone again and her leathery purple wings became white feathered wings, but her bladed tail remained. “You, Brit are the winged guardian, she who brings protection or death from above.”  Next was Neo, as the light flashed, A shining suit of armor formed around him. “Neo, you are the soldier of order. He who cuts down any side who grows too powerful and is ever vigilant.” Lastly I came to Lars, As the light shone, His left eye became a pure light blue, while the right remained red. “And Lars, you are the Seer of truth. He who watches both sides, to forewarn of another catastrophe such as this, so that it may be avoided.” They all looked at each other, finally beginning to understand, then looked to me. “Then what does that make you?” Neo said calmly. I grinned wide as i placed them down on the top of one of the few remaining buildings. “I am the leviathan of balance, the last line of defense should the scales tip over again. Now come my friends, we have a world to rebuild.”

The End.