Coming back felt... Odd. Like everything was out of sync. He had called this town home for years... but did he really belong here any more? His mother was gone... his college dreams shattered... All that was left here were a few friends...

And Polina... But was there still anything between them? Should he reach out and call her? Would she answer?

Could she really accept what he was?

Or could he change? For her?

And would it matter either way?

“She's probably better off without me... I'm a magnet for trouble... And I doubt getting the system was just random chance. Or some form of Cosmic altruism...”

“...there's always more to it, at least in stories and stuff...” Oliver muttered darkly as he drove aimlessly down half remembered streets. It had only been a month since he left... But, suddenly, it felt like a lifetime had passed. Everything was the same, yet everything was different.

It all felt... empty. And colder than he remembered.

He drove slowly past the University; a place where he thought he was starting his life... and the place where his old life ended. The gold letters of the sign, the pristine white columns that framed the entrance to the administrative building, the carefully tended grass and shrubs that spread throughout the campus... It all felt... hollow. Dark.

His once pleasant memories of this place were tarnished and ruined.

He wanted to blame Hardeman... but the man simply reacted to Oliver's own actions, even if he didn't actually know the full truth of it. But Oliver's actions were in response to Carl...

Could he have done things differently? Was there a way to deal with Carl without everything devolving so far? He could see a few... But all of them would have required him to give in. To toss away the life he knew at the whims of a spoiled asshole... And he wasn't willing to do that.

He just never expected everything to be destroyed anyway. And so easily. All it really took was an asshole with money to screw him over so badly...

But even when things got bad... He had Poli...

Had.

The steering wheel creaked under the impotent fury of Oliver's grip. He wanted to rage, to lash out. Not just at the Hardeman's- and they were far beyond reach now, though in different ways...

Why was his life so fucked? Was it some stupid anime logic? Because he got some weird ass system, was he now some 'fated hero'- or some other equally bullshit trope?

He couldn't even blame the system. His problems with Poli were entirely rooted in his own actions and he knew it. To him, they were all -mostly- reasonable. Hell, he imagine some people would even agree with him!

But Poli... Poli was good. She was so upright and honest and decent...

His mind searched for the right word, even as he took turns seemingly at random. His old trucked puttered along down another block before it finally came to him.

“Righteous... Like an angel of justice...”

“And I'm... the angel of death... It never would have worked, would it?” He sighed helplessly.

Maybe the system had set him on a path, he couldn't be sure. But the way he walked that path, and the actions he took, were all his.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The worst part... was that he didn't feel like he was wrong.

If he hadn't dealt with Carl... Permanently dealt with him... The asshole wouldn't have stopped. Every bit of trouble the guy stirred up was always smoothed over by his family. Bad grades? The school wouldn't kick him out; his family's donations were too large to risk offending them. When he got arrested for assault? He was out the next day...

And Oliver didn't doubt that Carl's attempts to kill him in that forest would have been brushed off just as easily. A few bribes and a lot of corruption and attempted murder would have been 'a harmless prank' or 'just some boys getting up to mischief'.

Oliver honestly felt that if he hadn't done something extreme... Carl would have killed him eventually. And probably gotten away with it. And that choice caused a cascade of actions...

The racists that burned down the church were a different story.

Logically, he knew that he didn't have to deal with them... But the investigation wasn't really making progress after weeks... And he knew that less than ten percent of arson cases are ever solved... And only one percent end with convictions...

A horrifying statistic. And an even more horrifying reality.

So... odds were that the assholes would get away with it. And probably do it again. He didn't have to get involved; he could have just gone home. But racism like that had always bothered him... And, since dating Poli, the very idea of her getting hurt just because of the color of her skin or where her parents came from was enough to drive him mad.

He knew, logically, that he had simply projected his own feelings- his own fears- onto the situation... But he couldn't just ignore it. So he made another choice.

And now... What did he have? He was fairly rich, by most standards. The amount of credits in his possession were enough to make him a millionaire, if converted. And he could easily get more...

He had powers that most people on the planet couldn't even imagine... but he knew that there were others with incredible powers. Maybe people. Definitely monsters- he doubted Eve was the only vampire on the planet.

He had even been to other planets and met aliens! He owned weapons and technologies that the governments of Earth would kill for!

He could even go on even more adventures. To other planets... And, eventually, other Universes...

But, in that moment, it all felt... empty.

And lonely...

----------------------------------------

Oliver looked around, only just realizing that he had stopped. It took him several seconds to understand where he was...

Without thinking, he had driven to Polina's house.

For several seconds, he just stared at the building in front of him. The rocking chairs on the porch where they would sit and talk were still there, though the small cactus that sat between them was gone- he knew that she moved it inside when the weather got cold.

The cracked stone in the walkway leading to the front door... They had talked about replacing it, but never got around to it with everything that was going on... But it wasn't there any more, replaced by a new one while he was gone- it stood out thanks to its slightly darker color, not having been worn by the sun and weather yet...

Such small things jumped out at him instantly. He was gone, but her life... kept moving forward...

“Maybe... She really is better off without me. She can have a normal life... Work a normal job... Date-” His words froze, stuck in his throat as he choked at the very thought. Imagining her... and someone else... Hurt worse than getting shot had...

Eyes burning with unshed tears, Oliver put the truck in gear and drove away.

He couldn't bear to think about it anymore... couldn't bear to think about her any more...

----------------------------------------

His vision blurred by tears and already turning onto another road, he didn't see when Polina stuck her head out the door and looked around.

“What's up, Poli?” Lyn's voiced echoed out from the living room.

Shaking her head slowly, Polina turned back into the house. “Nothing. Just... thought I heard a truck...”

Her voice dropped to a whisper as she shook hr head, not knowing that her friend could still hear her. “It sounded like Oli's...”

----------------------------------------

“My, my, those eyes like fire...” Oliver sang sadly to himself, feet idly kicking to keep the swing moving. Dark had long since fallen, and he couldn't see the park through the tears he refused to shed, but he knew it well. To most, it was just another kid's park... But, for him, it was where he went to get away... It was an important place to him...

“It's your favorite place, right?”

Oliver nearly fell out of the swing in surprise at the voice, even though he recognized it. Hurriedly wiping the tears from his eyes, he turned to look as Sweet T walked over to join him.

“That's what you told us, right?” Tyrone asked with a gentle smile, lowering himself carefully onto the old wooden seat of the swing. “It's where you go to get away... Though you never told us what you were getting away from.”

“Talk to me, Oli. What are you getting away from right now? And what can I do to help?”

For the first time that Sweet T could remember, the cold and indifferent face shifted... The 'Iceman', as so many called Oli, broke... And he could see tears in his friend's eyes...