I made my way through the wreckage, cars upturned skyscrapers turned to rubble and ash and there standing above it all, that damned hero with a smirk resting upon his face. Bending down I lift a small rock getting a feel for its weight I focus energy into my hand, and as the air crackled with life I threw the rock with all my strength and right before it hits the cause of all this destruction an armored angel dove in front of it the rock crushing its skull and leaving a massive dent in its helmet as it fell to the earth lifeless. The hero turned and lowered himself to the ground before me.
"why hello there old friend, are you ready to finally end this hellish war that you brought upon this peaceful civilization", with a wave of his arms he gestured to the ruins of the city to the bodies that caked the streets and the rivers of blood that flowed at our very feet "all this and for what a silly idea such as freedom, when everyone else knows humans deserve nothing more but to worship those stronger than them".
"I swear all you damned heros do is preach about your strength and crush the dreams of those you dub lesser, and frankly i could give less of a shit" I took a step forward cracked my knuckles and channeled all my energy and shot out my fist landing a devastating punch clean in his jaw " but here's the thing about strength for you and your shitty gods" i grabbed him by his collar with one hand and pulled my fist back for another punch and showed his a grin "there's always someone stronger", but this time as i went to punch him i felt something slam into my gut sending me flying back about two feet charging at him again i found a fist waiting for me but i stood my ground this time as we traded blow for blow each punch stronger than the last causing shockwave after shockwave that flattened the city and such a high amount of energy that besides us everything was turned to ash when we finally stopped to catch our breath we were now standing in the middle of a desert coated with a layer of glass he turned towards me raising his hand i could feel his hate as spears of pure light flew toards me only to be devoured by my shadow as it rose out of the ground.
"Well well well are you finally getting serious you little shit, fine so will I" he stretched out his arms as a massive magic seal glowed in the sky and countless spears of light descended, clasping my hands together I muttered the incantation cradle of shadow and the moment it was complete my shadow expanded like a sea of pure darkness tendrils struck out enveloping the spears devouring them and adding them to my strength, but while I was focusing on that I forgot about the hero. He came charging slamming a hammer made of light into my stomach spinning it over his head with me still on it before slamming me into the ground.
"Now maybe you'll finally learn your rightful place", he lifted the hammer as its shape changed into that of a blade " beneath me as he shoved the blade in and through my chest lifting me with it a grin covered his face while a wild look took over his eyes as my vision began to fade I once again reached deep into myself reaching my hand out a spear of darkness came flying from my shadow severing the heros' arm allowing me to jump back and make some distance releasing the spear back into the shadows I called on its true form.
" come leviathan devourer of worlds" and once again a spear was in my hand this one with a long jagged blade that curved up at the tip its black handle was bound in blue and white cloth with writing on them, probably seals long broken but as I readied myself so did he as he reached out for a blade and one did descend from the heavens a bright golden blade with wings that made up the crossguard once we were armed we charged at each other losing sight of the rest of the world as we brought our blades down looking back I saw his arm was gone but this time it was rotting away into nothing but looking down I saw I had a blade stuck in my chest feeling my knees buckle I fell back so I could stare at the sky which was when he came over grabbing my spear and his sword he spoke one last time.
" truth be told I didn't want to do this to you or your nation but know that those who anger the gods will always face their wrath". As the words left his lips I felt myself fade into nothingness.
The bus's brakes screeched to a halt as it pulled up to its stop, I turned off the movie on my phone, putting it away, and shoved my headphones in my pocket. I got off the bus, taking a deep breath. I looked around immediately, recognizing the college campus I used to go to before I dropped out. I made my way across the campus until I noticed a multistoried building with lights of every color shooting through its windows and the music was loud enough that I thought it could wake the dead I made it to the building as the sun lowered itself behind the trees which meant the party was about to kick off once I was inside I found myself a nice little corner settling in I pulled out a brown paper sack opening it I watched as the college kids began to roll in those who recognized me came over to say hello with a benjamin and I returned their greeting with one of two things a plastic baggie full of the devil's lettuce or a handful of his lettuce wraps and sent them on their way after about two hours i was all out so i threw the bag somewhere in the room stood up and made my way out of the building counting the cash as i made my way. I hadn't made it two steps and counted up to four hundred when three dudes in varsity jackets came storming out of the house.
" hey jackass, that crap you gave us was worthless we aren't even a little high"
" Now gentlemen I can assure you my product is of the highest quality so if you want some more you'll have to wait until I can get some more". But it wasn't even as soon as I had gotten a word out that a punch came flying my way I ducked to the side returning it with a Superman punch to his jaw sending him staggering back but while I was distracted his two friends ran behind me and grabbed my arms while he regained his composure and stalked towards me his eyes were full of anger and hate pulling a set of rings from his pockets he covered his hands in them before going to town. After a few minutes, he pulled his fist back, slamming it into my jaw which sent me sprawling across the lawn as he and his goons began stomping me out. Once they had their fill they went back into the party allowing me to stand up spitting out some blood that had built up in my mouth. I made my way to the nearest bus stop wiping the grass off my clothes and out of my black hair. The moment I sat down on the bus and it pulled away I grabbed my phone and dialed a number.
" Hello"
" yeah did you get everything we need"
"Yeah I did ill leak it when you give the order"
" do it and then get the hell out of dodge" Hanging up I leaned my head against the head of the seat allowing myself to get a cat nap in. When I woke up the bus had stopped right outside an abandoned apartment complex. I got out and made my way in and up stopping at the fourth floor. I opened one of the apartments revealing a sleeping bag, room heater, electric lamp, and a mini fridge.
"Home sweet home", I said aloud before making my way over climbing into the sleeping bag, and then turning off the lamp.
As the sun was preparing to rise I climbed out of my sleeping bag and got dressed slipping on some black cargo pants that had leather straps dangling from the belt loops, followed by a simple black t-shirt, and my usual combat boots then I tried to tackle my hair its usual messy self once again didn't agree with my brush giving up on it I grabbed my wallet and phone and left my apartment. Making my way back to campus I entered the journalism building. I made my way to my desk pulling my laptop out of its drawer. I got started on my oh-so-lovingly titled report fall of the jocks. I found myself working straight through the day sending it in for review and publishing as the sun fell behind the skyscrapers. I put away all my tools and left and no sooner had I crossed campus than I felt a punch, but only for a split second as everything cut to black.
When I awoke I could taste blood in my mouth trying to move I found myself dangling off the ground my hands bound by chains to nearby walls allowing my eyes to adjust I looked around. I was on a construction site with nothing around me besides a barrel full of trash and pieces of rebar with a fire burning within it looking down. I saw the young men that jumped me yesterday but this time four other men in suits accompanied them.
" Well lookie here the asshole awakens"
" wh-where am I"
"Since you got us kicked off campus me and my buddies here decided to go into my uncle's business, and guess who our first target is", as he said these words he pulled a pair of brass knuckles out of his back pocket and slid them onto his fingers as I realized what he meant my stomach dropped right before it was filled with a sharp pain as the knuckles rammed into me " you guessed it, shithead, its payback time". The next few minutes which felt like they dragged on forever as each person took turns using me as a punching bag, tasing me, and cutting me with knives and shards of glass I almost died then and there. But then they unwrapped the chains and let me fall to the earth I had no strength left in my body as they held me up the man with the knuckles grabbed a piece of rebar out of the flaming barrel, it was burning red hot as he twirled it in the air a smile crept across his face.
" I wonder what it's like to kill someone. Would you mind if I experimented on you" As he stalked towards me he raised it and brought it slicing across my face leaving a nasty mark over my right eye and raised it again this time even with my chest before slowly piercing it through my chest, and with a grin he tore it out. I felt the blood leaving my body. As my vision went in and out I saw a figure cloaked in shadows approaching us faster than anything I had ever seen and grabbed two of the men slamming their skulls together with a sickening crack dropping them to the ground which caused everyone to turn and face him.
"Who the hell ar-" he moved with a speed that wasn't human grabbing him and throwing him clear over my head slamming into the wall behind me before a fourth man could get him he grabbed his head and spun it all the way around with a snap but he still wasn't finished he grabbed an i-beam and threw it at the two that were standing nearby crushing them instantly.
"Listen here you goth reject I'm gonna kick your ass' ' the last one charged him with the rebar completely whiffing the attack which allowed the man to sink his hands into his collar bone using brute strength he tore him apart throwing the two halves in opposite directions. Finally, he made his way to me, bending down he uttered one sentence in a voice that was mournful and apologetic.
" Now is not your time to die as there is still much you have to offer" Before I felt a tingling sensation on my neck as I felt a feeling of euphoria. My vision faded and I died.