RING!
RING!
The phone rang into John's ear as he held it up to his head.
RING! RING!
Maybe I should just hang up.
It's not like she actually meant it when she gave John her number. It was just empty kindness.
'
She probably gave John the number of a scam call center.
RING! RING!
John took the phone off his ear. That's right. He'd hang up. He would subject himself to the pain of knowing she lied to him. John would let that kindness stay pure.
"Who is this?"
The phone was back on John's ear.
"...…"
"Who is this?"
John tried to speak. But nothing came out. The concrete block was back and in his throat. It hurt.
"Okay. I'm going to hang——"
Words surged out of John's mouth like a tidal wave.
"John."
"John? As in the warrior John?"
John nodded
...…
"Hello? Are you there."
"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y YES!" John yelled
"Are you okay? You sound a little spacy." John's heart thumped in his chest like a drumbeat.
ARE YOU OKAY!?!?!?!?!
It was a question that John had been asked a thousand times and a thousand times before that. Are you okay? Are you fine? Are you alive?
Every time he ate. Every time, he stared through the day. A kind soul would ask.
Are you okay?
John was a man who lived for the easy way. So he took the easy answer.
YES!
I'm tottaly fine.
There's nothing wrong.
It's been right all along.
I'm the invincible kind.
But I want to die.
A word pooled in John's throat. The pressure built and built.
"..."
Until it geyser through the silence like a volcano.
"No"
"Where are you."
"...…"
Aria didn't say anything. She waited for John to speak.
After a few minutes, words against shot to John's lips.
"I'm in the mechanoid empire."
"Can you get me flight permits?"
"...…."
After a few minutes, pause.
"Yes."
"How soon."
There was no pause when John next spoke.
"Instantly," John said
"Okay. I'm coming. Meet me at the airport."
John's heart fluttered in his chest.
The heroes aren't supposed to help the villains.
Why was someone helping him like this? Someone he had only ever shown a bad impression of. Someone who had every reason to hate him. How was this possible?
John texted the chief of air travel. John had all the major officials of the Mechanoid empire on his phone mostly so they could call him for martial assistance if they needed to. But he could message them, too.
John got a response in only a few minutes.
They had sent her the permits.
John left his mansion and hailed a self-driving car. He told his dragons to stay at the house.
How long will it take her to get there? John could be waiting in the airport for hours
.
…
...
...…
...
John sat on the airport runway. He was just far enough to the side that none of the planes would hit him. He thought of waiting inside the airport. But John didn't want to spend all that time and energy walking to the plane. While also having to deal with his least favourite thing in the world.
People.
John sat and waited at the airport runway for about two hours. It was strangely calming for John. He would just sit there and watch the planes fly by. And the chant was very slow for some reason.
~MURDERER.... MONSTER..... MURDERER...… MONSTER~
The pauses were so peaceful to John.
He shouldn't have felt peaceful, though. He'd just killed a man a few hours ago.
He'd done more than kill one man. He was a serial killer.
SINISNISNSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSINSIN!
John's face lost all expressions, and his eyes became glassy.
You commit a crime I shall not utter!
YOU!
End the lives of others!
SIMPLY TO SIN FOR ANOTHER DAY!
And commit evil in another way.
UNWORTHY FLESH!
John heard a sound that he couldn't hear.
His mind trembled.
"HEY!"
POP
The sensation popped like a bubble. And then John was back in reality.
Standing above John was a woman with a wisp of a double chin and an irate look on her face.
"I fly all the way to get here, and you just ignore me and stare at the ground?!?!?!?! How is that fair!?!?!?!" Aria yelled
John looked up at her.
"S...…."
The concrete block was still firmly wedged in John's throat.
But he still managed to push a word through.
"Sorry."
Aria continued to glare.
She stuck her nose up.
"Alright. You're forgiven." Aria said
John smiled slightly.
John pulled himself to his feet.
"Can...….. Can you take me somewhere? I........"
John paused for a few minutes and just looked at the ground.
"I don't want to be here," John said
Aria smiled.
"Sure. There's actually a great place I can show you." Aria said
John smiled.
"Sure. Let's go."
John followed Aria back onto her plane.
She got the plane started, and she was flying in just a few minutes.
John was sitting in one of the comfortable seats of the private plane. He was awkwardly looking at the ground as the plane moved.
"So. How's life been?" Aria asked once the plane had stabilized.
John turned his head up to look at Aria. She was still sitting in her pilot's seat. She was looking off into the horizon as she flew.
"Well... I'm rich now. I'm working as a warrior for the mechanoid empire. And they're paying me a billion a year in salary."
John's breath left his body as the plane swerved downwards.
"SHIT REALLY! JESUS! AND I THOUGHT I WAS WELL OFF!" Aria screamed
She quickly brought the plane back into equilibrium.
John smiled.
"Yeah. The money's nice." John said
Why am I managing to speak all of the sudden? What's going on?
"Any other interesting things happen?" Aria asked
"Ummmmmm. I can't say. What about you?"
"I found an airport that had been abandoned because of the war. I took a lot of the damaged planes from there and fixed them up. I hired some pilots to fly the plane. I'm loaning them out to the government because they don't have enough to evacuate people. It's been making me some good money." Aria said
John smiled.
"You gotta love that wartime stimulus," John said
Aria nodded.
"Yup. You gotta love it."
The plane started to pull down.
"Well. It looks like we're here." Said Aria
John raised his brow
"Already?" John asked
Aria smiled
"Time flies when you're having fun."