When Anisa felt the blinding light settle, she was standing on a rooftop… a familiar one from their hometown. The sun had nearly set and the first stars were starting to appear in the sky. And there at the edge of the railing was Shawn. His hair was long enough to reach the middle of his lower back, the jacket he was wearing faded and worn bearing the crest of the Cosmic Patrol on its back. Streaks of grey were scattered through his once dusty blonde hair. He sighed as he continued to look out at the setting sun. “Ani… you need to go back. I have this all worked out.”
Anisa scoffed, “You turned the whole fucking galaxy into your own personal play with me as the main character… the funny part is I don’t remember auditioning.” She walked over to the railing to watch the sunset with him, looking over and seeing the age on his face. Even his blind eye seemed to have only grown worse from the stress.
He chuckled at her words and teased, “Oh, come on. You are better suited for it than I ever was. You have that grit and determination that makes everyone want to root you on.” He stared into the distance and said weakly, “It’s almost over… and then everyone can move on with their lives.”
Anisa nodded and said firmly, “Yep… so when you are done catching your breath, we can go back and finish this.”
Shawn laughed at her as if an old man laughing at a child’s optimism. “Ani, that’s not… Look, I’ve done all I can.” He sighed, the hope dying in his eyes a little as if pretending to be wisdom, “Thirty years… and that’s just the parts I can measure. A job I didn’t ask for and wasn’t even built for. When I was young I made so many mistakes.” Anisa wanted to weigh in, but it was better this way. Better to let him get it out of his system. “I remember all of them, Ani. Every person I couldn’t save. Every villain I killed. Every line I crossed and every scar left on my soul.” He looked over to the brand Permiso left on his arm and said more darkly, “And everything I sacrificed to make this moment happen. I don’t even know if I can feel pain anymore. I can’t remember the last time I was actually afraid for my life instead of demanding people try and end it. It wasn’t even fun after awhile. The luster faded and when I went home each day…” He trailed off, the sun setting further as he spoke. Eventually he said, “So… I think this is where I get off.”
Anisa nodded, not missing his intent, but noticeably stepping past it in her tone. “Yep. And you can go on a great big vacation and retirement tour when we get you home.” He rolled his eyes and she snapped at him for the first time. “Don’t you try and pull this shit on me! We worked our asses off to make this happen! Gina-”
He snapped back, his age fading some as he growled, “Gina will be fine! She’s moved on before! It’s not like she will remember me anyway once I’m done!” And it was in this moment he realized he had given his real intent away… and Anisa narrowed her eyes at him, her jaw setting. And as the light left his eyes and his smile became less reflective and more haunted he said without restraint, “Ani… billions have died at my hands. Some of them twice over. I’ve hurt every single person I’ve ever cared about… I’ve stood at my own grave more times than any sane man should… been turned into everything under the sun. I’ve fought black fucking holes with nothing but grit and a death wish. So, Maybe… just maybe… back the fuck up… and let me fade away.”
She reached over and grabbed him by the collar, the edge in her eyes not dulling, “Yeah. Make the case of wanting to stay dead to the woman you saved responsible for a death toll much the same as yours… Make your sob story to the one person-”
“Who should understand! You saw what things were like back then, Ani-”
She shouted in his face, “And I saw one person remind everyone that when you give a damn about something you fight for it! Who spent an ENTIRE DECADE fighting a universe he didn’t understand just to keep a promise!!”
He shouted back at her, teeth setting as his body tensed, “A promise I was forced to break!”
She laughed derisively, “And yet, here I am! Here to drag your sorry ass back home.”
He scoffed dismissively, “You aren’t even her. Just a phantom I made to soothe my conscience.”
She laughed quietly at him, clearly as though he had said something naive and cute. But she wouldn’t tell him about all that. Because what brought her here didn’t matter. What mattered was simple. “I’m the Anisa you saved. You are the Shawn that saved me. That’s all that matters. And I don’t know about you but there is only one of me.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
He grabbed her arm and quickly threw her across the rooftop. She couldn’t be sure but she could swear she could see the years melting off of him and the sky growing ever so slightly brighter and forming a glow behind him. He stood in his makeshift Peek-a-boo boxing stance and said firmly, “This isn’t a debate, Ani. I know what I need to do. I’m going to save you all from the curse of me. I won’t be playing this time because once I win, you won’t remember any of this.”
Ani laughed before relaxing her shoulders and preparing for his best shot in her own way, “Unfortunately for you, I have a promise to keep. No matter what, I’m not going to let you give up on yourself… and if I have to kick your ass until you get it through your head that you gave up having a say on this a long time ago.”
His advance was faster than she was expecting, his first explosive uppercut just barely missing her chin as she tried to flip away, his follow-up just barely missing her as he steps in to keep her close. As he drove for a right hook, she hooked under his arm and tried to lock in an arm bar and choke like before. Pulling open his guard she was surprised at how easily he kept his elbow crooked, only for him to run directly at the railing of the roof and bash her back against it. Turning quickly and without rest, he slammed her into the hard stone of the roof.
Of course it wasn’t any easier on his body than it was on hers, but as he raised a punch aimed for her throat, she realized the problem. Breaking the hold and rolling out of the way of his strike, she leapt to her feet elegantly as she tried to drink in the situation. He massaged his shoulder some and said coldly, “Get cold feet? Because I’ve yet to meet the person that can hold me down.”
She wanted to call him out, but he was right. She wouldn’t be able to choke him out this time. Still, failure wasn’t an option. She relaxed her stance once more as she saw him winding himself up for another assault, hiding all but his eyes behind his guard as he closed in once more. She waited for it. She could feel every beat of her heart as she watched him in slow motion. He was waiting for her. Waiting to see if she would dodge or attack. Even as he rolled to the side, it was an obvious bait. Dodging a phantom kick he was hoping to pull out of her reflexes. One she could even feel her body wanting to throw as if pulled into the gravity of the dance he was leading. Instead she held her breath for a moment longer, rolling to the balls of her feet as she readied for the moment. As he began to unleash another powerful haymaker, she could practically see the sheer force forming around his movements. As if the air itself was flinching to the punch. But she didn’t falter. Leaning towards the punch and weaving its path between her head and elbow, she grabbed him by the neck and tried to sweep his leg to force him to the ground. His response was swift but sloppy as he tried to change the course of his blow from a haymaker to an elbow to the back of her head. A strike that his own overwhelming force had drawn him too far out of form to start without a huge window for her to lean her head forward and out of the way. As his elbow sailed past her, she felt his other leg kick up, using it’s power to turn her leg sweep into a back flip as he landed some distance away.
She couldn’t help but smirk at him, watching as he tightened his guard, his eyes growing more cautious. She teased, “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you weren’t going to hold back anymore. If that punch had landed you would have taken my head clean off.”
He narrowed his eyes in annoyance and Anisa could feel it in the air, the once setting sun a little brighter behind him. That one move had done what it needed to. She just needed to remember who he was. A man who dedicates himself to every action he takes with everything he has but always without consideration to himself. A man who puts himself on the line every time he steps out. All she had to do was close the door behind him once he had. She knew he would adapt, but she knew his nature. All she had to do was wait for those doors to open before she pulled him out of that shell.
