Not Another Good Guy

I was falling. At least, that's what it felt like. I could see nothing but white and feel nothing but the weightlessness of dropping. It wasn't a bad feeling, it was actually quite relaxing. I let myself hang in the air and allowed myself to indulge in the bliss of nothingness for as long as I could.

I knew it was a dream. I also knew that this dream had some sort of purpose, and my moment of peace would come to an end. As if triggered by the thought, the falling sensation began to fade and a white void stretched out before me. Off in the distance, I could see something moving towards me at an absolutely ridiculous speed. Before I could consider what to do, it dropped into existence a short distance away from me. I couldn't believe what I saw until it stood upright and looked me in the eyes.

Before me stood another man. He was about six and a half feet tall, just a little bit taller than me. His hair was a radiant blonde that seemed to glow in the sunlight that had suddenly appeared from nowhere and everywhere. His eyes, an electric blue shade, glared at me with a ferocity that actually felt like it might be burning me. His figure demanded respect by its very presence, and it was impossible not to feel the power emanating from him.

"Thomas! How dare you betray us! Had everything we done meant nothing to you?"

My jaw flapped around for a moment before I could respond. "I-I-I don't- I'm not-"

"Save your breath, demon! Thanks to you, the world is lost and I am only a shade. I have waited over two thousand years, searching for you so that I may have my revenge. I will not be denied my vengeance!"

"Stop this madness, Aubade."

Both of us jumped in surprise as the voice resonated throughout the dream world my mind was in. The man, who I now assumed to be named Aubade, looked around wildly for the voice.

"I'm not over there. I'm not over there either. Cut it out, I'm not even on the same plane of existence right now. You won't find me."

"Who are you, and how do you know me!?" Aubade yelled.

"We've never had the pleasure of meeting before, but I doubt we would have gotten along well back then. You do know of me, just as I know of you. Our mutual ally here has a hand in that."

"He is no ally of mine! Thomas has wrought hatred and evil all across the world, and I am here to put an end to his reign!"

That name. It was important, infinitely so. My head was throbbing as the word swirled around my mind, threatening to overwhelm me in pain before I could discern its meaning.

"I am here to kill my student."

Then it happened. I remembered. Nothing specific, nothing monumental, nothing really relevant to the current situation. It was so small, but it meant absolutely everything.

And then, I was.

A name. My name. As insignificant as it sounded, the simple knowledge of my name gave me a sense of completeness. I may have lost everything, but at least I knew who I was again. I was Thomas.

"Kill your student? Good thing he isn't your student."

"What?"

"Look deeper, look closer, look wider. See inside what the surface hides. Feel within what the heart knows true. See the man upon whom hope rides."

Aubade continued to glare at me as his eyes searched me for any hint of an answer for whatever odd riddle the voice had given.

"Please," I said, still slightly shocked by all that had just happened, "I don't know what you are talking about."

He glared at me for a moment longer before relaxing slightly. "Your words speak true. Yet, I am certain you are him that I seek. Spirit, you seem to know what this is all about. Explain."

"I think you already know. You suspect who I am, and your suspicions are correct. I am here to right the wrongs of the past and to aid the broken man as best I can."

"I... I see." Aubade replied. "Thomas-"

"I've been trying to keep that name from him. Hopefully to prevent him from regaining any memories. It seems a bit too late for that. Oh well. No harm, no foul."

"Regaining memories? Whatever do you... No way."

"Yes way. Do you see now?" he said with a smug tone.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Will someone tell me what the heck is going on here?"

Ignoring me, they continued. "I see what you mean, Spirit. I think I understand now. As much as I had not wished for events to conspire this way, this is not a bad way for things to be. Now the world can be healed, and we can move forward from the past."

Suddenly, Aubade started laughing. "I came here looking for a great final battle to right the wrongs of the past. I guess this is just one more unexpected turn among many."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Aubade, but you're running out of time. He will move on to other dreams soon."

"Unfortunate, but I suppose it was inevitable. Spirit, I wish to know the details of this plan of yours. My knowledge of your world may be limited, but I can still give my advice before I go."

"Am I invisible or something?" I said.

"I would be honored to receive any wisdom you may offer. Here is my plan."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the shimmer of a spell wove itself around Aubade, and he nodded a few times. Whatever those two were doing, it annoyed me to no end to be left out like this.

"I am impressed, Spirit. This plan is so intricate that it puts the greatest plots of Eris to shame. I have little advice that you need. You have changed much in time, and so has Thomas. You need to trust my student. He is more capable than you give him credit for. He cannot handle everything yet, but the time is approaching when he will be required to. Guide his memory on the right path, and your plan will not fail.

"Thomas," he said, finally turning to address me. "You may not have the memories yet, but eventually you will. Always remember that you were my prize pupil throughout the ages. You are the greatest student I ever had, and it saddens me that I cannot be there to guide you to your ascension. The path will be long and arduous, but patience and caution will not fail you."

The world shifted for a moment, and my vision flickered oddly. I tried to speak, but my body would no longer respond.

"Our time here is at an end. I'm sorry that I could not give you more than this."

"You've done more than enough to help us already, Spirit. I am eternally grateful to you for this."

My vision blacked completely and everything sounded distant as the dream began slipping away faster and faster.

"Thomas! Someday, we will speak again. For now, I must return to my brother. Oh, Nocturne will be so excited to hear this!"

"I understand that you have many questions. Your confusion and frustration is well placed, but you need to be patient. I will do my best to, as your teacher said, put more trust in you. This will not be easy, but if you wish to right the wrongs of the past then you have no other choice."

After what seemed to be a moment's hesitation, he spoke again.

"I suppose I should allow you to dream of the past again. Think of it as a show of trust. Although I'm not quite certain if this is more of a blessing or a curse, I will interfere less in your memories. Now, let's dream, shall we?"

I had been stuck in Colorado Springs for a week. Joy and Charity used to share an apartment here, but that was years ago. I was a fool not to consider that they might have moved out during that time. The good news was that it had been easy to get the name and phone number of the landlord, who probably had some idea as to where they had moved to. The bad news was that the landlord just so happened to be out on vacation for an unknown time and couldn't be contacted.

I sighed and leaned back in the driver's seat of my truck, then crossed another address off the list I had put together of probable places for them to go. I only had to look for apartments between a Party City store and a homeless shelter or the like. Joy and Charity were never far away from either of those.

I rolled up the list and tossed it into the passenger seat. I needed to go and get some food. I had recently been going to the same group of fast food places, but I needed something more than just cheeseburgers and fries for every meal. I settled on swinging by a grocery store to get some things for a simple sandwich.

I put my keys into the ignition and turned. Then I heard a sound you don't want to hear when starting an engine.

Silence.

I pulled the keys out and groaned in annoyance. I pulled the lever to pop open the hood, then got out to check the engine. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was wrong with the damn thing. I wasn't a mechanic. It made me wish I had read that book on engineering before-

I clenched my fists and discontinued that train of thought. I couldn't afford to stop and reminisce. I had a job to do.

I put on my backpack and made the walk to the store, leaving my truck behind. It was disappointing that it had broken down, but it wouldn't be too difficult to steal another. I thought about what kind of car I should get this time as I entered the store. Maybe a sports car? No, sports cars draw too much attention. Whatever I got needed good gas mileage; I had a lot of traveling to do. Getting to Honor and Love would be a long journey. It would be easier to fly, but taking an airplane was another point of reference to track me by. Eventually the police would catch on to me, and I didn't want to make it easy to track me down.

"TOMMY!"

"What the-"

The words had barely left my lips before I was wrapped in a full body flying tackle hug.

"Omigosh Tommy it's been so long how are you where have you been we missed you!"

"Can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry!" she said, relaxing her death grip slightly. "I just got so excited that I couldn't control myself!"

"It's nice to see you too, Abby," I manage to say.

"You should totally come have dinner with me and Janice! It'll be tons of fun!"

"But-"

"No buts! C'mon!" she yelled, grabbing me and running out of the store. There was a quick blur of motion, and I found myself buckled in a car seat upside down as Abby started the engine. I righted myself after making sure that I was still in one piece, then gave Abby a reassuring smile as she looked at me funny.

"You look different, Tommy. You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just been a long week," I said.

"Huh. No wonder you look so down in the dumps. Somebody needs a cheering up! OOOOHHHHH-"

Of course she would have to burst into song.

As the car ride went on, I realized two things. First, that I couldn't kill her while she was driving the car. I'm not suicidal. Second, that I was quickly becoming suicidal as her singing continued.

Finally, we stopped in front of a small apartment building and Abby hopped out before skipping to the door. I followed after a moment's hesitation. I knew that I needed to do this now while it was just me and her. She was practically bouncing in place as she opened the door and ushered me inside.

I kept looking for a good place as we walked down a hallway towards the staircase. There was a camera in this hallway, so it wouldn't be possible to take her out right now. Then I pushed open the door to the stairs and caught a lucky break. There were no other people, no security cameras, and a janitor's closet was right next to me.

With her pushing me forward, I didn't have time to start gathering power for my element. I was going to have to be quick and rely entirely on my own strength. As we passed by the door to the closet, I sprung into action.

My elbow swung backwards and landed with a satisfying crack, followed by a spinning kick to the gut. She was knocked to the floor with the breathe knocked out of her, and I took advantage of her moment of weakness. I closed my hands around her windpipe and shoved open the janitor's closet, dragging her inside. She struggled for a good amount of time, but never stood a chance. The Element of Joy was never good at fighting to begin with, so she simply did not have the strength or knowledge to stop me.

After her twitching ceased, I snapped her neck and took her ring. The Element of Joy went in the box along with Truth, and I grabbed a room key from Abby.

I closed the door to the janitors closet and made sure that my own element was secured around my neck as I began gathering power. I climbed the stairs to the next floor and made my way down the hallway. 2E, the key had read. I knocked on the corresponding door and waited. After a few moments, the door opened.

"Thomas! I'm glad you finally decided to come and visit us. Come on in, Abby should be here soon. She'll be so excited to see you!"

"Thanks, Janice," I said as I closed the door behind me.

"No problem. Are you feeling alright?"

"Just fine, why?" Hate.

"You look... different. Almost like-" Her eyes narrowed, and I knew that my ruse was over.

I quickly threw a punch to her throat, preventing her from yelling for help. I followed through with a few quick jabs and a powerful shove. She hit the floor hard, but quickly recovered and leaped to her feet. Instead of attacking me directly, she lashed out at the light switch and threw the room into darkness.

I stood still for a moment, listening for any movement. Charity had always been an element that was adept with subtlety, so it made sense that her fighting style would play to her strengths. Out of the quiet came a small sound, enough to alert me to the fist that swung directly over my head as I ducked under the blow. I lashed out in the direction it came from, but only succeeded in ramming my fist into something heavy and strong.

I could feel a sufficient amount of hate power running through me, but that power was useless if I couldn't see. I took off my left shoe and tossed it somewhere over to my right to buy myself some time for my plan. kill.

I pulled a match out of my shoe and focused intently on the match head. Instead of allowing the hate to flow through me, I sent all the energy into the tiny object in my hand. I focused harder and harder until I heard another sound from where I had thrown the shoe. I focused sharply for a brief moment, preparing myself for the next part. I threw the match on the ground directly in front of me and released all the energy at once.

A massive fireball erupted in front of me, scorching the room and flooding the world with brightness. Just a few feet to the right of me stood Janice, rubbing her eyes and recoiling from the heat. It took a moment of thought and a fraction of my willpower to move the inferno, and I flung it directly at her.

The screams and smoke was sure to alert the entire neighborhood as to my actions, but at this point I didn't care. Even without the hate actively running through me, I was feeling euphoric from power. Something about the screams of a dying human in flames was so pleasing to hear. A crackling crescendo of flesh mixed with coughing and screaming was like music to my ears.

It wouldn't do to have her burn to death, however. I wanted her blood to spill on my own hands. With a snap of my fingers, the flame split and latched itself onto random sections of the room before beginning to spread. I drew my knife and walked over to Janice's barely moving form. The charring was a work of art, the black and the blood mixing together to form a beautiful symphony of suffering with me as the conductor. I let my knife trail along her stomach, up to the neck. She tried to scream, but could only cough and whimper. It was somewhat disappointing. I had hoped for more of that wondrous song before her end. Oh well.

I pulled sharply upwards and listened to the gurgling of death. It wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be, probably due to the burning on her vocal chords. It didn't really matter, I had the entire planet to practice on. I pulled the ring off her delightfully mutilated corpse and snapped my fingers once more, allowing the flames to wash over the entire apartment. I stood among the flames for a few moments, admiring the way that they cleansed the world as they consumed it. As the door collapsed, I took my leave of the inferno and calmly made my way back to the janitor's closet in the stairwell. Abby was still there, and so were her car keys.

After admiring the burning building for some time, I began driving to the Northwest. I had a long drive to reach Vancouver, where I could find Esme, the Element of Love. The only problem I could foresee in the future was dealing with Ernest, the Element of Honor. He didn't have a single place he called home, opting instead to roam the world at a whim.

Bored after a bit of driving without anything happening, I turned on the radio.

"-caught in the blaze, but officials say the number could be even higher. The fire has proven to be uncontainable as all efforts to stop it have been unsuccessful."

I shut off the radio before pulling to the side of the road and slamming on the brakes, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. I pushed open the door and practically fell out onto my hands and knees on the side of the road.

"What have I done?" I asked myself. I grabbed my element, yanked it off my head, and threw it on the ground. The black crystal embedded on it seemed to glow and pulse with a life of its own.

"What have I done?" I repeated. Looking back, I couldn't believe what I had become. It seemed so far off from who I was. It was just wrong.

Maybe... maybe it isn't too late. It was an idea I hadn't considered before. Maybe I can stop this now, before it gets even worse. I can't reverse what I've already done, but that doesn't mean I have to keep going this way. As my hope grew, I noticed a subtle difference in my element. The crystal, previously black, was now clear.

Maybe there is hope.

The crystal gleamed a bright white now. I felt whole again, like all this time I had been missing some essential part of me. I experienced a clarity of thought and of mind that I hadn't felt before. I was the Element of Light. I was going to right my wrongs and lead the world to a better future.

And then doubts began to rise again. But it's too late already. I've already started down this path. I have no other choice. I'm lost to hate, and there is no return.

The crystal darkened again, much like my thoughts. Is it really so bad? This amount of power can't be all that bad, can it? Why shouldn't the world bow to me?

I put the element back on my neck. Now the crystal was as black as my soul, a font of pure evil and hatred. I wasn't even human anymore. All traces of the good and pure in me was gone, never to return.

I was the Element of Darkness. The world was mine, and those who stood in my way would die.