Chapter
3 – When Giving Everything is Necessary
The sight before me is no surprise
to me in the slightest. I’ve arrived at the secretive facility hidden in a farm
where the superhuman formula I’ve made to use on the world. Everything is
falling apart, and everyone is evacuating as the facility explodes from within.
The very ground erupts in flames and caves in, catching and killing some of the
retreating researchers and guards. I stop and stand at the entrance of the
facility, hoping against hope that Evangeline will walk out, but after waiting
a few minutes and seeing no one else leave, I walk into the facility.
Inside, much of the facility is
destroyed, on fire, and collapsing in on itself. The bodies of its inhabitants
and its test subjects are dead or will be in seconds. What a waste. Would it be
strange for me to say that this feels like seeing my own home be destroyed? Part
of me wants to save what’s left, but I know that doing so would serve no
purpose other than keeping trinkets from a life I’ve sworn off, so I walk past
everything like an inconsiderate parent. Even as I walk to the facility’s dispersal
center, I keep hoping to see Evangeline, and my foolish hopes keep getting
dashed with every passing second.
Entering the dispersal center, I
see Evangeline uselessly working at failing machines that soon break and
explode in her face. Dead bodies lay around her broken capsules with the
superhuman formula and more broken computers and machinery, which were all
vital to her goal. As she reels from the explosions, Evangeline turns to me, angrier
than ever.
She charges at me, I catch her
attack, and she yells at me, “You’ve ruined everything!”
“If you didn’t have tunnel vision,
you’d see that before you activated the dispersal plan. Like I’ve said before,
make sure your enemy won’t be able to fight back before the fight begins,” I
say.
“I thought I had it all figured
out! The formulas and plan were perfect and logical. As you’ve said before,
figure out the complexities because the simplicities are a waste of time.”
More of the facility explodes,
making the floor fall out from under us. Evangeline and I immediately get back up
to fighting. I counter a flurry of attacks and then pin her to a wall with one
hand.
“That was our primary flaw. We missed
the forest for the trees. Realizing my thinking was flawed at a basic level was
what changed me. I keep wondering to myself how I could’ve missed the fact that
the faith based on suffering and love is the true one still baffles me. Through
it, I saw the simple but endless value of human life, and that evil seeds will
inevitably bear spoiled fruit.”
“So, what are you going to do now?
Your life’s work is destroyed. Are you going to kill me to wipe the slate
clean?”
“I estimated that you had about
seven minutes to repent before the facility kills us. You still have time to
change and save your life. It only takes a single decision made within a
second.”
Evangeline looks at me and then struggles
out of my grasp to continue our clash.
“I won’t die! I refuse to! I’ll
kill you, survive this, and begin again to make my dream of a better world come
true without you!”
I leap up and slam Evangeline into
the floor, sending us into the deepest depths of the facility, where the most
horrifying research was done.
“No, you won’t. Give up now, and
you may at least save your soul.”
“I don’t care about that! All I want
to do is become the greatest hero in the world and save it from itself! I’m
going to be greater than you ever were.”
We continue our clash as more of
the facility falls around us. I think of the many things I could say to
Evangeline, but I know that every one of my arguments wouldn’t have worked on
me if I were in her position. In this moment, I realize that there’s no more
hope for her, so I take the fight seriously, push my body to its limits, and knock
off Evangeline’s head. I then plunge my hand into her chest to break her heart
and the many other organs that make her regenerate. With the last bit of my
legacy dead, I sit in the fires consuming us to make sure that she doesn’t come
back.
As the facility falls on us, I take
off my sunglasses, hold the remains of Evangeline’s, and I reflect on my life
and see nothing worth remembering. I don’t want to remember the promise I made
to my parents or the poor people I’ve helped. The memory of far succeeding in
school and work was all for nothing, not even being given honors by the founder
of the Coronamento Corporation to do as I pleased. None of it is worth
remembering or writing into any history book, like I once wanted. Instead, I
should be forgotten, except I also don’t want to be. Lord, remember me when you
come into your kingdom.
The last of the facility falls on
me, burying me and knocking me out. I awaken not long after with the ruins of
the remains on me. Evangeline’s body is ashes, and yet, I feel fine enough to
move the debris on me. I’d rather have died, but seeing as how I’m living, I’d
rather not die like this, so I claw my way out of the debris and punch and kick
my way out of the destroyed facility into a sunny day. Somehow I’m alive, even
though I expected and wanted to die. It was a foolish idea, just like my others,
so this should be no surprise to me.
Why wouldn’t it have ended like
this? I feel a single tear fall from my eyes, and an unintentional smile forms
on my face, which I quickly wipe away. What do I do now? I could continue being
a vigilante, punishing evil, or I could settle down and live a simple life. I’ve
already done enough damage trying to fix the world, after all. I guess, just
like everything, I’ll pray on it and see what God decides. Walking away into a new
day, a new life, I hope to receive an answer soon, no matter what it may be,
because whatever He decides will be better than whatever I can come up with.
The End
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