I barely caught a glimpse of past-Macquoid’s gloves fold back as he made his way to the middle of the road.

“Don’t worry, Paragon,” he said, and I was once again surprised by how he sounded. He was younger, brighter. He was a hero. “Stand back, everyone! Things are about to get messy,”

The creature, Mimas, got up as Macquoid finished talking. It staggered slightly, but it still stood. Its tentacles grew once more, this time covering its whole body, barring its face, and seeping out of it like dozens of arms.

“I think you should step back too, young man,” said Paragon, getting into a battle ready position once more. “This creature is nothing to scoff at.”

“Of course. But it’s not the creature I’m going to help you with.”

He was looking at Sofie now, and Paragon stole a glance at her as well. He scoffed but before he could say anything, a few of Mimas’ tentacles shot out, covering his forearms. Once again he used his eye beams to blast him back, taking off to meet him soon after.

They both fought like beasts, with massive strikes that shook the ground with their awesome might. Mimas managed to get the upper hand at one point, grabbing Paragon’s leg while he was mid air, and throwing him to a nearby building.

In contrast, Sofie and Macquoid mostly circled each other. He lunged out to grab her, but she always managed to dodge him. She never attacked though. Just dodged and blocked whatever he threw at her.

“You can leave, you know,” said Sofie. She spoke quietly, but I could still hear her perfectly for some reason. “The Houses of Doom don’t have any quarrel with smallfry heroes like you.”

Although his back was still to us, I knew that Macquoid smirked at that.

“Moros is the name,” he said, stepping back now. “And unlike Paragon, I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you.”

“Ah, a man who knows his opponents. Too bad it won’t save you.”

Sofie was the one to lunge this time, but it was a feint. She telegraphed the knife in her right hand but, from where I was standing, I could barely make out a small dagger in her left, headed straight for Macquoid’s abdomen.

And then, Sofie fell.

Macquoid held out his right arm. He was holding her knife by the blade, blood dripping from it. And then it shattered.

“Ooh, I do like you, Moros,” said Sofie seductively. He kneeled over her form, getting right into her personal space.

“I’m a married man, lady. That won’t work on me.”

“Won’t it?”

Suddenly I remembered one of my nightmares. Where I was married to Birgit. Where every warm feeling I ever had for her or got from her was long gone. Of him taking over my body so they could have their stupid little reunion.

I remembered everything he would grow to be.

“You’re a monster.”

Present Macquoid looked down.

The ground shook once more. Mimas lay down on the road, not too far from Sofie and Macquoid. It was bruised, covered in blood, and all but one of his legs were completely mangled.

Paragon, covered in blood, floated high above it, looking down at everyone.

“I had to be.” He pointed at Paragon. “To stop him.”

“You can’t hide from me,” I said, getting uncomfortable close to him. “You enjoyed every awful, depraved thing you did. Every person you killed. The power, the smell of their homes, their lives, before you ended them with a single touch!”

“You know nothing!” He was yelling now. The city had faded away, and we were back to the flower field. He tried to walk away from me, but I followed. “You think I was happy?”

“You-”

“I did what you so fear. I let loose,” he said, grabbing his chest so hard I was almost convinced he would rip his own heart out. “I stopped trying to be an insignificant hero. I ruined my marriage.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I-I-I ruined my life! I could kill gods and at the end of the day I was nothing. I died in a hospital I barely managed to drag myself to. Nobody mourned me. Nobody cried for me!”

We were in a hospital room then. Macquoid was resting there, wearing an oxygen mask and hospital gown. Charles wasn’t there. Sofie wasn’t there. Once again I felt a pang of sadness. Surprisingly I was also angry, but not at him. At the other two. Every fear I had, every nightmare I had was on display.

He was completely alone.

“And then-And then, one day I woke up, and I was you. I was Alexander Adamos.” He tried to touch his past self’s head, but it only phased through. “Until I wasn’t. Until your heart stopped while we were fighting that meathead and we saw my old memories. Eventually I was completely separated from you. And then Sofie was there. And Paragon was free. I could-I would fight for my old life. Do it correctly.”

I honestly didn’t know what to think at that point. Some deep part of me felt sorry for him. Felt that he deserved a second chance. He had become a villain, a pure villain, but if I deserved a second chance after what I did to Maria, then why didn’t he?

Of course he also did much worse than me. He was a hitman who had already lived his life. And who was to say he wouldn’t go back to that if given the chance? But even if he didn’t I couldn’t give up either.

My life was worth just as much as his.

“Let go, Alex,” he said quietly. “I have enough self awareness to know that what I’m asking is horrible but I-I don’t know what else to do.”

He was lost. Completely lost. And I saw myself there once again.

Myself.

I clenched my fists.

Maybe that was it. I always tried to push a part of me down. Keep everything buried. But what if I didn’t? What if I accepted it? Accepted Macquoid? It sounded nonsensical even in my head, but why should there be a divide?

We were both the same person. One body. One mind. It was a freak accident that had separated us. And only if we both accepted each other we would feel complete. We could, at one point in our lives, be happy.

He ended up pushing any desire to do good, to be a hero, to help people, away. I ended up pushing every negative thought down, thinking that even the slightest misstep would lead to me being a monster.

“We both have to let go,” I said to him. I extended my hand. “We’re one man. If one’s missing we’re not complete. Even the awful, unspeakable parts. Even the heroic parts. It just…it feels right. But you didn’t need me to say that, did you?”

He looked down at my hand.

“Two lives,” he said, sounding contemplative. “It’ll be messy. What about Paragon? What about Charles?”

“Screw them. They’re both monsters. Charles let you die. As for the rest–we’ll figure it out. We’ll do our best. That’s all we can do.” A part of me believed what I was saying. Another was horrified. But we didn’t have another choice–not if we wanted a chance at happiness. I knew that, and I was sure he did too.

“Fine.” He shook my hand. “Under one condition.”

“Which is?”

“Sofie lives.”

I nodded.

Suddenly we were surrounded by petals once more.

Jacob’s full life flashed through my eyes.

Both the parts that were similar, but also the parts that were different.

I met friends I hadn’t even heard of, and saw myself sharing the most intimate secrets I didn’t know I had with them.

I met my wife, lived a full life with her. We fought. Screamed. Cheated on each other.

I killed and killed and killed.

And I died.

And I was alone.

Pain. Fear. Anger. A dozen emotions whirled through my pain. I tried to pull out. I tried to run away, but I didn’t. I kept going.

I kept going throughout my own life

Meeting Iraklis.

Hurting Maria.

Being completely alone at school for months. Me and Iraklis hanging out with our classmates although I knew they hated me.

And then I met Jensen and Birgit.

Jensen… I saw him young. I saw him conspiring with Charles. They were close. Had been for years. Him finding me wasn’t an accident. It couldn’t have been one. It was all part of some overarching scheme.

I was surrounded by the emotions once more.

And then I met Birgit. And I got into Atlantis.

And then I was awake.

I was breathing heavily.

I was back in the dark room, my hands covered in the large metal cylinders. I took a deep breath. It felt different. The air was the same but my movements were different. They felt different.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been in a room like this. They had caught me once, right after I’d killed a corrupt politician who was supporting Paragon. Charles had to bail me out through a shell corporation so they wouldn’t know that the dean of Atlantis was involved.

And when I was child. Both times.

I supposed my having all these memories was proof that this worked.

The door opened, and Kent Smith walked in once more.

“What’s your name?” he asked, sitting opposite to me.

“Alex,” I said automatically. I felt a faint sound of agreement deep within my head. I was Alexander, but I was also Jacob.

He looked sceptical. “Why is Alpha Surge your favourite hero? Don’t worry, no one else will hear this. It’ll say…private.”

I took a deep breath.

“He saved a man from suicide,” I said. Even mentioning it was enough to make me a little emotional, even now. “It kept me going after everything that had happened.”

He nodded at that.

“Good. Bad news is you’ve been in here for a few hours, so we’ll need an alibi. Meet me at your training field the day after tomorrow at six am sharp. There’s a lot we have to do.”