William felt like a prisoner- No. A roommate in an apartment. Except his roommate held the keys to every single cupboard in his place and only left him a couch to lie on. His consciousness was hazy, as though he had been having three healthy meals of sleeping pills everyday.
He stood up to the hulking presence. Metaphorically speaking, at least. He was formless, a mean spirit cowering in the presence of the oppressive waves thrashing around the place. The core of William’s consciousness was a small blue dot struggling to stay afloat in a sea of red, but it burned brightly in willful defiance. He had equal rights to this place and he’d be damned if he’d let some stranger take it from him.
“You’re still conscious?” the presence spoke. “Even with my powers amplified… Blue aura mutates really are on another level.”
“I won’t let you hurt my loved ones anymore,” William hissed. He could not recognise his own voice, but he knew somehow that it belonged to him.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Zacharias’ voice almost sounded gentle. “But that is beneath us now. Together, we will be this world’s new god. A benevolent god. We can fix this world. I know that’s what you want too.”
“And deny all the mutates a chance to return to their human selves? No, not like this. My friends are going to shut you down.”
“But they already have. Didn’t you see?”
A small section of the wave parted, allowing William a glimpse into the present through his eyes. It was pure chaos. People were scattered below him, running from what looked like a sentient flash flood pouring out from his sides. His mini versions of the source machine were strewn all over, their ground anchors ripped from the ground. Zacharias’ body floated along casually beside the source machine, blackened from what William could only assume was a nasty electric shock. The blue light dimmed a little; his plan had utterly failed.
“He’s not stopping! How’s that possible? We killed Zacharias!”
“I don’t know- ARGH! Shit, that’s gonna leave a mark. We gotta get our residents out of here before he drowns them all!”
“I can’t keep him frozen for long! He keeps overpowering me!”
“I can’t shut his mind down either! The electrical signals in his brain are firing too fast!”
“I have won, Doctor Toh. My consciousness is now part of you.” The current pulsed around him. “Once the enhanced are out of the way, we’ll finally proceed to rule over the rest of the mutates.”
“I don’t consent.”
William lashed out, sending spikes of himself at his surroundings. The waves swirled angrily, as if cringing from his attacks. Its pressure increased, and he felt like air was being sucked out from his non-existent lungs.
Like hell I’ll let you drown me.
His surroundings crackled with energy, and William shot through the sea, taking the form of an energy bolt. Zacharias’ being recoiled with the aftershock, flashing intermittently and retreating from him. And then, William spotted it-
His core.
He dived back into the churning waves, wading through the sea of blood red trying its best to push him off his path. William focused forward at the pulsing red sphere in the middle of the turbulence it was creating. A blue light pulsed brightly, shining through the murky liquid as he concentrated all his energy. William struck hard.
The attack sent tremors through his mind and the tide retreated into its red core, which seemed to be trembling in apparent pain. A dulled pain pricked his mind as well; it seemed to have come from his knees. A fresh wave of physical exhaustion hit him as he breathed the singed air.
“William, is that you?” a worried voice called out. William looked up to see the love of his life running towards him, but he raised a hand in warning.
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“Wait! I… I can’t hold him off for long!” he yelled, acutely aware of the foreign red core in his brain quickly regaining its strength. He looked at the broken glass around the source machine, shattered from the havoc his body was wreaking.
Naked electricity danced around the thick beam of light generated within the machine. A better chance couldn’t present itself now; this was his only shot, and he had to take it. William’s eyes drifted to Victor, whose own met them with a mixture of understanding and reluctance.
“I have to do this,” his voice cracked with strain as he felt a trickle of water rolling down his face.
“Marianne, I… I’m sorry.” He got up to his feet unsteadily, contemplating for a moment. William ran forward and hugged her tightly for the last time.
“I love you. No matter what happens, that will never change,” he whispered in her ears. “Promise me you’ll stay safe when I’m gone, alright?”
“I love you too… I love you too…” she nodded her head vigorously. “I can’t let you go… I don’t wanna let you go…”
William’s vision blurred for a moment as he felt Zacharias begin to fight for control over his mind once again. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head in pain.
“AARGH!” he screamed, forcing his will to focus on the present. It worked, but he knew he only had a matter of seconds left. It was now or never. William took off as fast as he could, sprinting towards the source machine. His hand stretched out, reaching for the electricity crackling all around it-
STOP!
Zacharias’ voice bellowed, and William found himself back in his own mind again. The sea was weaker this time, and its currents rippled with the force of a mere river this time. The invading presence now only had enough energy to halt William’s body and force it into a kneeling position right in front of the machine.
“If you do this, you will cease to exist!” Zacharias’ voice sounded desperate, slightly frightened even. “You’ll never see your family again!”
“Yes, but they will be alive and safe from you. And that is more than what I can wish for.” The blue glow radiated brighter than ever as William felt his control slowly return to his body. “My life for my world. It’s a good bargain.”
His consciousness exploded with power, forcing the sea to retreat back into its red core again. William’s eyes hardened with determination as he leapt off the floor into the source machine.
I’ve finally fulfilled my promise to you, Amber.
He closed his eyes serenely, feeling the sting of the first crackle of electricity touch his skin.
Goodbye, everybody.
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It took most of Victor’s physical strength to hold Marianne back from running after William, and it took all of his emotional strength not to run into the blast himself. The source machine exploded a brief moment later, and Victor felt a shock wave sweep over his head. His senses screamed in warning as millions of metal fragments burst outwards from the explosion.
Victor raised a hand as his eyes glowed fiercely, stopping all of them dead in their tracks right before they hit him and his residents. Thank god none of those were organic material. He heaved a sigh of relief. It was over.
Victor looked at the destroyed source machine as pain tugged as his heart. It’s over. Tears started to blur his vision, but a small movement caught his eyes. His heart leapt, and he found himself running towards the wreckage. Could it be…?
Marianne’s shriek of joy was the loudest among everyone. She fell to her knees and reached out to hug the slightly trembling man but fell right through him. William did not seem hurt, but something was wrong. Victor’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of his friend’s body seeming to blur in and out of focus as though it was glitching.
Victor stretched a hand hesitantly to touch him, only to have it be drenched as it went right through his shoulder. He froze in disbelief as William cracked an agonised smile at all of them before dispersing into water droplets.
A small clunk sounded as a deep blue gem fell to the ground in place of him.
“Darling…? DARLING!” Marianne began to scream hysterically again. “Where did you go?! Come back! COME BACK!”
A faint blue light blinked from the gem before fading away again. Victor’s mouth hung in awe as he realised what had happened. He picked up the gem and gave it to a very confused Marianne.
“Keep this. That’s all that’s left of him.”
Warm orange fingers of light crept along the rubble as the setting sun began to usher in the night. The enhanced mutates walked towards their residents slowly. The day was saved.
And the world was fixed.