I approach the blackened grass where Luke and Dylan fought to the death just days ago. There are noticeably fewer trees than last time. They probably fell and were removed after the fire. The forest is much less dense in the area now, making anyone in it a perfect target for a sniper.

Rachel should be coming from the direction of the nearest road. Dylan is positioned behind some trees on the edge of the clearing on the opposite side. For Rachel to see Dylan, she’d have to circle all the way around. Simon and Sarah are also waiting with Dylan for now. If necessary, it isn’t a far run for Simon to join the fray.

As for Sarah?

I tried to convince her to wait at the abandoned school building, but she insisted on watching the fight.

“Hey… you’re early,” A girl walks through the trees to greet me. Her long bangs cover her eyes as she stares at the ground.

Sarah.

She speaks in a weak tone. The voice of someone who’s grandma recently passed. That’s the story she’s going with, after all.

“What’s wrong, Sarah?”

My heart speeds up and I feel my palms sweating coldly. She won’t notice I’m nervous, will she? One wrong step and she’ll attack me without hesitation.

Feigning as much nonchalance as possible, I walk up to her and position myself directly beside her.

“It’s just that… I’ve been really depressed lately and I wanted to talk to you about it,” her voice shakes as though she’s about to cry. Her face is impossible to read with her bangs covering most of it, but her shaking shoulders tell the whole story. The sight makes me unconsciously relax my tense muscles.

She’s too good at acting.

I almost feel bad watching this display, knowing I’m the one deceiving her. What a wretched feeling, knowing that the person in front of me is about to be blasted to pieces, but being unable to share.

“Are you alright?” I look down at her.

“No… No! I’m not. It’s all too much for me,” her choked up voice devolves into a quiet whisper, unable to muster anything more. Tears stream from her eyes as silent sobs escape her mouth. She turns around and squats to the ground in order to avoid eye contact. Her arms work desperately to wipe the tears off of her face.

“Hey… it’ll be alright. I’m here for you,” I comfort her as I step forward.

Suddenly, a bright light flashes from the corner of my eye, immediately followed by the deep rumble of an explosion, reminiscent of thunder.

A laser tears through Sarah’s torso, completely cutting a chunk out from her left abdomen. The skin surrounding the hole is melted into a charcoal paste emanating vaporized blood. Boiling blood and liquid flesh bubble out of the wound like a fountain.

For a moment, I’m horrified. The sight sends a chill straight down my spine.

A delayed torrent of intensely heated wind blows passed my face, snapping me out of the momentary confusion.

She had me fooled even though I knew it was Rachel! I was about to go pat her on the back! I’d have been killed!

Still… that sight is something truly horrifying. Why’d it have to be Sarah’s face too?

Though more importantly, it was Rachel’s torso that exploded.

Dylan missed.

The hole in her chest begins to contort and morph. The boiling blood rolls back into the wound in defiance of gravity as the melted flesh begins to contort back into its original shape.

Instead of continuing to watch in awe, I turn and run towards Simon. At the same time, Simon leaves his spot in the woods and runs to me.

We’ll meet in the middle.

Horrible gurgling sounds echo from behind me. The sounds of flesh and blood melding and sloshing around. It’s a symphony of the grotesque. The noises begin to gain on me.

She can still run while healing that injury!?

I can’t help but glance over my shoulder. A mistake I’m sure to regret. Not that it’ll get me caught, but I’ll be subjected to the sight.

The upper-body of Sarah runs at me with incredible speed, propped up by grossly bent and twisted legs like an animal’s. Sarah’s jaw rests open while leaking scarlet blood. Her upper-body is bent backwards, seemingly unable to keep up with the pace of those monstrous legs. One of the thing’s arms stretches out towards me with long, razor-like nails. The arm moves like a snake with no bone to limit its free movement. After extending enough that its nails reach just passed me, it lines up with my neck almost like a scythe.

Nauseated, I quickly face forward to see Simon just in front of me. Unable to react in time, he easily pushes me to the floor.

Fallen onto my back, I get a clear view of what happens above me.

Fingernail scythes swung where my neck had been just moments ago, though now it was Simon’s neck that took the blow. The blade was stopped midway into his neck.

Simon’s body heals faster than the razor cuts. If he hadn’t pushed me to the ground, my head would’ve rolled. Instead, he is simply thrown to the side by the force. His body is flung directly into a tree with a thud.

Finally, a power comparable to adrenaline surges through my muscles.

I slam the ground with both my arms and legs, launching back onto my feet.

The thing’s arm is still hovering just a few feet away, so I leap towards it and grab it without hesitation. Planting my feet into the ground, I grip it with both hands, tight enough to bend steel. Though, much like Simon’s healing, I’m unable to destroy the arm with just that. It is only crushed to about a third of its size where my hands grabbed. It shakes violently back and forth in an attempt to escape my grip, to no avail.

The crackling of its shattered muscles vibrates through my hands and into my own arms, sickeningly. With a heave, I yank the monster towards me. This time it offers no resistance as it is removed from the ground and flies towards me helplessly. Throughout it all, she doesn’t make a noise. No sign of pain is produced.

I let go of the arm with my right hand.

For the sake of protecting Simon, Dylan, and Sarah, I grit my teeth as I thrust my fist into Sarah’s distorted face.

The thing launches back like it’s weightless. My strength surprises me every time.

Simon runs back to me from the woods, scratching his neck where he got hit. He still feels every ounce of pain.

“Are you alright, Simon?”

“Of course. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

I smirk and look forward, re-focusing on the battle.

The creature stands back up, head completely uninjured.

In Sarah’s voice with blood in her mouth, “Simon? You’re back so soon? So you can heal yourself after all… or did you gain a new perspective after our last encounter?”

He screams furiously as he runs in towards the thing and attempts to punch it.

Immediately, an elongated arm bats him to the side. He’s launched back into the woods.

“You’re as useless now as you were back then,” she sighs.

How frustrating that must be. He’s the only one who’s already lost something to Rachel. He lost Christina. Yet, he’s unable to do a thing about it. All he can do is rely on me, the one who tried to kill him.

Using my power, still boosted with the intent to save Simon, I jump into the air towards the abomination. The jump has a high arc, so I’m falling almost straight onto its head.

Both of its arms shrink back to normal size in seconds and suddenly gain a large heap of muscle mass. It’s less that they shrunk, they compacted down. The arms hardly even look human anymore. They’re pads of muscle and flesh.

My gravity aided punch is easily blocked. Even with my full strength, the sheer amount of mass in her arms negates any damage. Although, as expected, she falls to her knees because of the force pushing down. Only her arms gained muscle, so her legs can’t keep up anymore.

Normally, a jump attack from above is completely pointless. It carries the force of gravity, but it’s slow and leaves you vulnerable. In this case, however, her guard has completely shifted upwards.

My fist planted firmly into one of the flesh pads, it morphs around my hand, completely enveloping it. Tugging does nothing, I’m stuck.

Suddenly, a flash of light followed by an explosion blast through the area.

The lower half of her face is turned into dust, but not her brain.

She falls to the floor and I tear my fist out from her grasp. My hand is covered in warm blood and muscle tissue.

I land on the floor on my side and tumble a couple feet. After scrambling back up, I put my eyes back on the monster to analyze the damage. Needless to say, there is none. It has already finished healing.

Simon is able to run back to my side and we face off with Rachel once again.

Rachel still has Sarah’s face on. It’s making me uneasy.

“Sorry, can you change your face? You know, back to normal?” I ask.

“My apologies,” Sarah’s voice shifts gradually into Rachel’s. “Sometimes I forget I was even shifted.”

Nasty.

Her face shifts back and so does her body. Her arms and legs return to normal too. With shoulder length brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, she smiles as though seeing old college pals for the first time in years. Oddly, it looks like she might be a little shorter than she used to be.

“I see that you have Dylan hidden back there in the woods. Why doesn’t he fight in person? I’m sure he’d fare better than you and Simon.”

Because Simon’s an asshole.

“No. He’s too good for you. You wouldn’t stand a chance,” I taunt.

“I see. Well, he’s still more worrying than you are, even from so far away.”

Her legs bubble, gradually gaining as much muscle as her arms had. I take a fighting stance in turn. Her legs compress into a spring made of muscle, suddenly launching towards where Dylan is shooting from.

Shit.

I respond with my own leap towards Dylan as soon as I notice. We’re both the same speed, but had a head start.

If Dylan dies then we’re all toast.

The air heats up as Dylan flies out of the trees, carried by a spear of flame. He has a wrap around his stomach, but he powers through the pain. He doesn’t launch away in retreat, but head on in a frontal assault.

Sprouting another two arms, Rachel makes a wall of flesh around her head. Her boneless arms twirl and twist up around her face like a wall.

Dylan stops propelling himself with fire and makes a large explosion on Rachel’s arms immediately after contact. They tear apart revealing her face, but she’s unharmed.

Rachel’s momentum is lost due to the explosion and begins to fall onto the ground. Her body makes a huge thud as she smashes into the floor.

I can’t change my direction in mid air like Dylan can, so I helplessly fly towards the woods.

Actually, how do I land?

I frantically try to think of a way, but when I get too close to the floor, I use the rest of my power to stomp the floor as hard as possible with my feet.

The strength negates the fall mostly, but my legs still hurt and I fall face first onto the grass.

“Hey Sarah.” I casually greet after my atrocious landing.

“Hey…” She holds her hands close to her chest gently.

Well, I need to get back into the fight!

I start running as fast as I can towards them, though that is only the speed of an average high school boy. No longer protecting anyone, my strength has faded entirely.

As I approach, Dylan flies around Rachel with explosions. He torches her from every angle, leaving her no opportunity to fight back.

Her four arms are still wrapped around her head, but she can’t take them off or he’ll kill her. She can’t even see in this state.

She’s completely tied up! We can win!

Of course, that’d be far too easy.

A hundred slits suddenly appear across the arm wall around her head. In unison, they tear open revealing numerous eyeballs. Their irises vary in color across the entire spectrum.

They dart around frantically searching for Dylan, which doesn’t take more than a second. After one sees him, they all rotate in his direction, gathering the depth of his exact aerial location.

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Like missiles having locked onto their target, the arms unwrap, still covered in eyes, and fly straight towards Dylan’s neck.

Caught off guard, he blasts himself backwards and lands near me. The arms stop pursuing immediately.

Somewhere along the way, Simon had run past their fight and he stops beside me as well. At this point, Simon and I are out of breath.

“This isn’t working,” Simon squeeks out between breaths.

“It’ll work,” Dylan insists. “All we have to do is keep this up. She’s tough, but we’re tougher!”

Although I don’t know if we are actually stronger, I have no choice but to keep trying. Giving up now will solve nothing.

Simon is the first to run towards Rachel. He knows that he needs to be hit so I can keep fighting.

Rachel’s four arms face towards us, still covered in eyes.

“It’s hard to see like this,” she mutters absent-mindedly as she slowly walks towards Simon.

On queue, the eyes blink, and are consumed by flesh.

Simon runs in close with a battle cry and lands a solid punch on Rachel, although it is a punch that an eighth grader would throw. His goal isn’t damage though.

Wait, how’d he get in so close? Shouldn’t Rachel have knocked him away?

She simply stands still while Simon hits her again. She doesn’t even flinch.

“I was correct…” She thinks aloud. “Attack me, Allen. Or can’t you? You’ve only attacked after Simon so far, and he knows he can’t hurt me. Add your personality to that mix and I think I know your Delusion.”

It’s not a delusion! Although, yes, it’s a Delusion.

Dang it! I can’t attack. This only proves her theory. Simon really is useless now! If she continues ignoring him, then I’m useless too. Dylan can’t do this on his own.

“Ha! That’s too funny. Hilarious. Pathetic. You can’t even attack me unless you’re protecting your friends? How stupid and childish of an ability can you possibly have? I never would’ve thought you were such a kid. Look how puny your justice is now! I stole Luke’s gem! I killed Christina and kidnapped Sarah! Just give up. There’s nothing you can do. I just need to kill you, then Dylan, then Simon. I’ll get to Kyle later. I’ve already won. Make this easier for both of us.”

Damn! How’s she so smart!?

A person like her… She uses her Delusion and intelligence for evil. A villain like her shouldn’t be allowed even a trial! She deserves the death penalty.

Softly, I begin to feel my strength return.

I see.

I understand it now.

I’m not useless after all.

My ‘Delusion’ isn’t to protect the weak. It’s not to help those in danger.

This is the power that will allow me to become the hero that I’ve always wanted to be. Heroes do protect others, but they also do something much more crucial. My hero, my ideal human, the perfect being… I am the judge, the jury, and executioner!

Heroes don’t just fight for other people or for humanity, they fight to protect justice!

Rachel simply existing is an injustice all on its own. For that reason…

With my new understanding of my own power, I kick off the ground in a blinding leap towards Rachel.

I feel stronger than I was before. Before, I was about equal with Rachel.

Now…

Caught off guard, two of Rachel’s arms bend in a cross to protect her face, but that’s not what I’m aiming for.

Grass and dirt is torn from the ground as I plant my heels into it to stop my momentum just in front of her arms. I crouch down and land a solid upper cut on her stomach, launching her skyward. My fist briefly penetrates her abdomen, covering it in blood once again. A large hole is left where my fist hit. It doesn’t go all the way through, but the surrounding damage makes it appear as though she was hit by a car. As she continues to ascend, blood rains down from the air.

“Come, Dylan!”

I jump towards her in the air, meeting her about halfway into the tree tops and leaving footprints pressed into the earth with sheer force.

Dylan blasts himself towards the ground under me. Simon runs out of the danger, no longer necessary.

Clutching my hands together in a hammer, I slam Rachel straight towards the ground, towards Dylan. Three of her arms attempt to block, but are splattered into bloody rain.

As she falls, she swings her last arm at me. I can’t dodge, but I simply hit it away with my full strength, squishing it to pieces.

While I fall, I have no choice but to let Dylan take care of the final blow. Dylan’s as mad as I am after her dissing me, so his power is strengthened as well.

The heat in the air disperses suddenly as a white ball forms between his palms.

Rachel falls helplessly as Dylan charges his attack.

She can’t possibly survive this. No matter how much she shapeshifts to reinforce her defense, flesh is flesh, and flesh will boil and vaporize.

It’s over.

Dylan yells a familiar line as he dishes the final blow.

“I’m sorry!” He points the miniature star at… “L-Luke…”

The inferno in his hands vanishes as the body of Luke falls towards Dylan. He reaches both his arms out to catch Luke, and they hit the floor together.

A look of realization appears on his face. The unbridled fury in his eyes swears to reduce that monster’s entire body to atoms, but that time will never come.

The look of realization that had turned into anger has now become pain.

Luke’s arm lies straight through Dylan’s chest. Fresh, scarlet, blood soaks both of them.

The light leaves Dylan’s eyes as they close for the last time.

Luke tears his arm out of Dylan’s heart and mutters indifferently, “That was a close one.”

“MONSTER!!!” I scream without regard to my throat. The word tears through my neck like a speeding train, cutting into my vocal cords.

I feel a pain that can’t be described in words. Not physical. No.

I kick the ground at an angle to soften my blow while simultaneously launching towards Rachel. A small crater is left where my foot stepped for only a brief moment.

Before I can reach, Luke slowly holds up a glass gem that starts to shine with every color of the rainbow.

She obtained her fifth gem.

My heart sinks in a second realization of what that meant.

He’s really dead.

Luke’s face blurs through my tears, but I blink them away.

One of that creature’s arms intercepts me, it puffs large with muscle, even more than last time.

I swat it as hard as I can to make a path to that monster’s head.

I can only think one thought.

“Die.”

Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.

Ten times. Fifty times. One hundred times.

For Christina. For Sarah. For Dylan.

Die!

The arm is torn into ribbons of blood and muscle fiber and Rachel is pushed backwards, away from Dylan’s body. Still, she stays standing.

Four more arms protrude from around her.

They all have more muscle than even Dylan had. It’s not the grotesque amount, it’s still a natural degree.

My foot meets the ground again, so I kick off once more to renew my momentum, creating a second crater.

From behind me I hear loud sobbing, Sarah runs towards the body of Dylan.

I can only assume that Simon is watching close by. I doubt he ran, but he has no part in the fight anymore.

Rachel’s four arms all fly towards me. Two attack my sides while the others stay in front.

I back hand the two in front with both my arms, but the other two connect good blows to my chest and shoulder.

With slightly different elevation, the force on the two sides of my body flips me in circles like a frisbee. The amount of muscle on those arms is deceiving. The muscles themselves are much more dense now.

Spinning uncontrollably, a third punch lands on my unprotected stomach. It follows through completely, almost carrying me through the air. The air from my lungs is forcefully expelled making it impossible to breathe.

After seconds of being pushed through the air, my back connects with a tree as the fist continues to push me into it. I feel my organs compress as the lack of oxygen makes the world around me continue to spin.

The hideous arm retracts, leaving me to slide off of the tree and fall to the ground.

I’m useless.

Even though she’s the pinnacle of evil… I can’t do a thing about it.

Some hero I am. Even now that I’ve gained strength and understood it better…

I’m weak.

I curse my weakness with every ounce of my being.

Strength.

I need strength. If only I were stronger, then things wouldn’t have had to turn out this way!

Rachel walks towards me slowly and casually as her arms retract. She bubbles and morphs, folds back into her normal appearance again. The shift is noticeably faster than it used to be as well. Oddly, she seems taller than usual and her hair is black. It’s not right.

“That was a fun fight. Thanks for the good time,” she continues with her unnatural smile.

Sarah stands up in front of me and yells through tears, “Stop!”

***

“I already told you, I can’t. I don’t want to kill you, Sarah. Killing is wrong. And I don’t have to. Just step out of the way.”

“Me and you are similar,” My voice is shaky and my vision blurred through tears. Dylan has been killed and I want to cry. Rachel, the murderer is right in front of me and I desperately want to kill her. “We’re embarrassed to be ourselves. Or, at least, I was. I understand you now. I’ve never met Rachel. Not once in my life. You know, I was like you. I’m shy and people interpret that as hostility. I cut myself off from people because they were a hassle. They don’t get me. They can’t. But, Allen showed me that although people can’t understand, they can accept.”

“What are you on about?”

I continue undeterred, “You hide who you are behind a mask, because you can’t be understood, right? You must have a very different view of the world than I do. You say things like, ‘killing is wrong,’ not because you believe it, but because you want to believe it. You must be hated because of how different you are, right? It’s only natural to want to fit in, I understand that. I relate to you. Still, what could you want so bad that you’d put all of this effort in for?”

“You wouldn’t get it!”

“But I can accept it! I can help you get what you want without killing. I’ll help you.”

“No. You can’t help me get this.”

“I’m sure I can. I already have a guess as to what you want so bad,” I stop and wipe my eyes. “Do you want to become someone else?”

“…”

“Do you want to be reborn as someone new?”

“…”

“You can’t accept who you are because nobody else will. So do you want to truly become someone society will accept?”

Rachel looks on in silence, angrily. Neither denying nor attacking.

“So it’s true then. You’re a person whose morals don’t align with the normal. You don’t see a problem with killing and lying. I’m sure that you don’t see a lot of other things that I do. But, you see plenty of things that I don’t as well, I’m sure. That’s who you are. You aren’t the same as everyone else.”

“No! I am the same! I always have been! Killing is wrong! I know that! It’s obvious! Killing is evil!”

“Do you believe that?”

“Of course!”

“Does Rachel?”

“That’s who I am!”

“Why lie? I already know! You don’t have to be the same! It isn’t a crime to be different! Even if society scoffs at you, you shouldn’t hide yourself like this!”

The color in Rachel’s skin begins to fade away. It lightens and dries out. She covers her face with her hands, hiding behind yet another layer.

“You’re wrong! I’m the same as everyone else! Anyone who is alright with killing should just die themselves! They’re evil! Because- Because… killing is wrong!”

The horribly twisted person, human, known as Rachel falls to her knees and her skin continues to lighten and dry.

Human.

Not a creature, abomination, or monster.

Just a human.

I understand it all clearly. I’ve felt similar to her before. Instead of putting on a mask, I avoided people, I was invisible.

Rachel has been shifting her whole life. She pretends to be someone she isn’t so that everyone accepts her. Outside, she’s smart, funny, and calm. Inside, she’s constantly at odds with the person she’s pretending to be. I doubt even her parents know who she is. Rachel can say she’s someone else and pretend all she wants, but deep down, she’s still Rachel. She still doesn’t have qualms with killing and only pretends to appease her constant need to be ‘normal.’ She only let me live for that reason. She let me live so that she could say, “I’m normal. See? I dislike killing!” She even pretends to be someone else by herself, even when she’s all alone. The true her can never show up. It’s alive, but hiding deep deep within her mind. Like her body, maybe it’s been so long that she’s forgotten who Rachel is? Her mask is stuck to her face. It is her face. She can’t stop lying.

Soon tears roll down as her skin dries out and shrivels up.

Then she makes her decision.

“That’s not me! It isn’t me! That’s not who I am! Rachel is- I am- a person who’s fun, calm, smart, beautiful, kind, observant, sweet, caring, helpful, cheerful, friendly, confident, patient, honest- I’m perfect!”

Rachel’s skin begins to resemble birch wood starting at her toes and her fingers, moving up her body.

Her toes stretch into roots and dig into the earth. Her arms grow out and spit off into branches. Her body stretches up far into the air.

Soon, her torso is a large tree trunk. It’s twice as wide as the biggest tree here. Her head goes above the canopy and her hair extends into branches.

Slowly, her face turns to wood as well.

In front of me stands Rachel, a large birch tree in a forest of only oak. She has no leaves, despite being mid-spring. The tree has what looks like a face carved into it just below the canopy of the forest.

From the sky, five glass gems fall down from the branches. Completely clear.

Rachel died.

Her brain has become wooden through and through, and with that she can no longer think. She’s dead.

I walk forwards and pick up the glass. It doesn’t glow. I’m still not deluded.

Simon walks up to me at a distance. He makes sure to leave a gap so that I know he won’t snatch the gems away.

“Why… why did she kill herself like that?”

“I think that,” I pause, lost in thought.

Yes. I know why.

I guess that Delusions can kill you too.

She must’ve known how confused she was. She knew that being confronted, she had to confess. If she didn’t tell the truth, the fact that her outward persona wasn’t her true self, then she’d become something else entirely. Her Delusion should be strong enough with five gems to start altering reality in a more conscious way. I guess at the same time, the overflowing power also begins to react in a more unconscious way. By insisting that she wasn’t Rachel, her Delusion acted.

Her Delusion became so powerful that her own twisted and confused mind killed her. Her inner ‘true’ self knew that it was there. It knew that everything was a lie, but she wouldn’t admit it. You could say that-

“She’d rather climb up a tree and lie than stand on the ground and be herself.”

“Oh… That’s…”

Sickening. Especially because I’ve felt exactly like her. To deny myself, to deny my own personality and individuality because I was afraid others wouldn’t like me.

Still, what a fool, for her to die like that after coming so far. Her own undoing was her inability to tell the truth. Her inability to be herself.

I wonder what would’ve come of her if she’d met someone like Allen was to me.

I wonder what would’ve come of me if I hadn’t met Allen…

I’d surely have stayed as inhuman as Rachel.

Delusions really do cost your humanity, I guess.

And then, after getting all of the mysteries and thoughts out of the way, I cried.

I couldn’t hold it back any longer. The tears streamed down my face and I wept. Dylan was killed. I’ll never get him back. He was funny and he’d stand up for me. He was so kind and gentle despite his quick fuse. I wish I would’ve trusted him with knowing about Luke’s gem. He had the right to know, but I was suspicious of him. I regret it.

I regret so many things. It’s too late to change any of it though. I wish I had been nicer to Dylan. I wish I would’ve hung out with him more. I wish I would’ve been closer to him.

He was my second friend in such a long time… We didn’t know each other for long, but it hurts.

An arm falls around my shoulder. Allen sits down next to me, tears in his eyes.

A pain rises in my heart and I continue to bawl my eyes out.