"Dad?" I question.
"Yep. It's yours truly." He responds with a cheerful attitude. He begins to whistle, twiddling his thumbs, while rocking back and forth on his feet.
Even before he did that, I knew it wasn't really my father that I had to fight here.
"Yes, Shawn, it's our father. Do you think you have what it takes to overcome him and then face me?" Evil Shawn calls out.
"He means nothing to me. Of course, I can." I tell him.
Picking up my fallen katana, I cautiously approached the figure that looks like my father.
Although I maintained a calm look on my face, inside, my mind was starting to be plagued with uneasiness.
'He called this my hardest challenge yet, surely this wouldn't be so easy as just kill him and move on?'
As I near him, my guard raises, preparing for any tricks or surprise attacks.
Movement from my father makes me jump back away from him, raising my katana in defense, but I deadpan.
He raised his hand to wave at me, "Hello."
I start to feel ridiculous that I suspected him to be a boss in disguise, but maybe it was simpler than that.
Maybe Evil Shawn was thinking that I was incapable of killing an imaginary projection of my father.
This time, I casually approach my father and level my blade with his heart.
A memory flashes suddenly through my mind back to when he was actually trying to be a proper father.
Weeks prior to him flipping out trying to teach me the advanced math, he was still trying to build a relationship with me.
The orphanage I was at didn't have a playground or anything like that, so he took me to the park.
I could remember my uncontrollable joy as I raced from equipment to equipment trying out things for the first time.
Then the moment I tried out the swings. I wasn't tall or strong enough to be able to push myself, so he had to help me.
I was young and dumb then and thought that maybe my life was going to be fine.
Thinking on this, I experience a mixture of emotions, the main one sadness.
Little Shawn didn't deserve what happened to him. He was an innocent child whose only dream was finding a family that he could laugh and make memories with.
Despite being sickly and having the other children take things like food and toys that was his, he never stopped seeing the good in people.
In the end, as he laid in the dark alone from being neglected for so long, his final thought was happiness that he at least got adopted.
A tear went down my eye as I dwelled on these thoughts.
Gabriel was right about how the upper-class could just do as they pleased, with little disregard for those around them.
This guy had no business adopting a kid on a whim, then tossing them to the side when he was done with them.
He was scum, and it was about time that he got what was coming to him.
I push my blade forward towards his heart as another memory plays in my mind.
I was at the table, it was well past my bedtime, and there were books all around me as my father sat there with a disappointed look on his face, tapping the side of his head with a finger in frustration.
I was scared. I was desperately trying to hold back the tears as I knew it would make him more upset but whatever I did, just would make him madder anyway.
He sighs, straightening himself up as he does suddenly, which makes me flinch.
He notices and gives me another disapproving look before saying, "Let's give this one more try.
X equals three, and the value of both x and y equal fifteen. What is y?" He asks which sends me into despair.
I knew there were letters and numbers, but before tonight, I didn't even know that they could be together.
He tried to show me how to do this, but I didn't understand his explanation. This was his third time asking me question like this and I was growing scared with each wrong answer.
"F-f-five?" I guess wincing because I knew as soon as I said it, I knew it was the wrong answer.
There is silence between us for a couple of seconds as the only thing that can be heard is the constant ticking of a clock that echoes down the halls.
Then he snaps.
In a fit of rage, he flips the table, tossing all the books on the floor, as he rushes at me.
I scream in pure terror as he lifts me into the air, and levels me to his face.
"Why are you so useless? I couldn't have explained that any simpler and you just can't understand.
Ehtan wouldn't have been this dumb. YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE WHAT EHTAN SHOULD BE!"
He tosses me aside and I crash into the wall headfirst, making me see stars.
Dazed, with dizziness making my head feel like its swimming, I look to see two different images of my father standing looking at me as his shoulders move up and down from how hard he's breathing.
Turning away from me, he says, "Get out of my sight."
I slowly get up, not because of fear this time, but because each time I move, a wave of pain travels from the back of my head to my back.
As I climb the stairs with tears streaming down my eyes, I take a look back at my father to see him on the floor, crying just like me.
Still dazed, I make my way back to my room where I lay my head down on the pillow, which alleviates some pain, but when I lay my head in a certain position, the pain intensifies.
Touching the tender spot on my head lightly, I look at my hand in the dark to see a red spot on my fingers.
Wondering what it is, my vision goes black.
I recall this memory with anger, as I stab towards his heart faster. He makes no attempt to defend himself, continuing to smile and wave at me.
My blade easily pierces his heart and runs him through exiting out his back.
As I hold him, to keep him from escaping, his face is that of betrayal.
"Why?" He asks with a trail of blood sliding down his mouth.
"For Shawn." I say with hatred as I watch the life leave his eyes and I drop his dead body.
I wait for the feeling of satisfaction, knowing that even though it wasn't him, I could avenge the other Shawn.
But instead, I get a growing feeling of despair, anxiety, and anger. I don't know why, but these feelings start to make my very blood boil.
From the stands I hear, "Congratulations, that took you longer than your first opponent. Why did you struggle so?" Evil Shawn asks.
His words give rise to the negative emotions bothering me as I try to ignore them.
'I should feel relieved that I killed Shawns oppressor and possible killer. Am I dissatisfied because the real one still lives?'
I don't have any further time to dwell on these thoughts as Evil Shawn stands up.
"Well, now it's time to show you the difference between us."
With a flash of blue light, he erupts from the stands and appears before me.
Narrowing my eyes and raising my katana in defiance, anger permeates at the figure in front of me.
Letting the anger get the best of me, I take the initiative and charge at him.