Author's Note

Alright, people! New story! Make sure to tell me what you think! Oh yeah, and Trigger Warning for this chapter. I claim no responsibility now that I have warned you.

How it all ended...

I sighed as I looked at two graves, I still couldn't believe they were gone. 20 years and my parents' deaths still hung over me like a storm cloud. A storm cloud brimming with electricity, just waiting for something to trigger a thunder strike on my head. All it would need is one spark, one tiny jolt and it would make a bolt to connect with the ground through me.

Ah, I did it again it seems. I got wrapped up in a metaphor. I hate when that happens.

With another sigh and a nod, I placed the flowers I had brought upon the base of their tombstones.

"Mom, Dad," I said as I gently lowered myself to one knee, "I've come to see you two again. Though, this might be the last time."

The graveyard was silent, not even the songbirds were singing as I continued on.

"I've been given an offer. One that I just can't refuse. If I make it to where I'm going, then I probably won't come back very often, if I do at all."

Once more there was silence, nothing but the wind blowing through the changing autumn trees.

"I wish I could refuse, but there is literally nothing left for me here but you two. And I know that eventually, I will have to move on. I can't stay in a place with so many bad memories lingering about."

I shook my head slightly; trying to clear not only my mind, but also the tears in my eyes. Some men might try to blame the cold wind for making their eyes water, but I was willing to be honest with myself. This is hard, I won't deny it.

"I guess this is goodbye. But before I go, I just want you both to know that I love you. You were my role models in life, my anchors in any bad situation. Between me and the rest of the cold, cruel world, you two stood like a wall of steel. And now, even in death, I can still look at you two and know that you went out fighting. So to both of you, I say this with regret. I am leaving. Hopefully, even if something happens, I'll get to see the both of you."

I stood up straight, took off some of the dog tags that I wore, and put them on the stone between the graves. Returning them to their rightful owners.

With a final salute, I turned and walked away.

I drove back to my home, wondering how I got myself into this mess. I knew that what I was being offered was impossible, but at the same time, it couldn't be anything but true.

Pulling into my garage, I left the key in the ignition. And then I went into the house to pick up the final piece of the puzzle. He had already gathered most of the materials necessary, but the last item we needed to do this was in my possession. It had been since I was ten. All I had to do was grab it, put it in a bag, and then bring it with me to meet my partner.

Why do I get the feeling that this was going to be harder than it seemed?

I have the item, I'm in my car, and my car is in the parking lot of my destination. Why he would want to meet here of all places is beyond me. I mean, if we're going to do this, I would prefer it if I didn't have to do it in a crowded place like a comic convention.

Well, what can you do? I ain't gonna say no to this offer. I know it's impossible, but like my dad always said:

"You miss every shot that you don't take, and every shot you miss is one you regret." I quoted with a sigh. Well, time to face the music I guess.

I wandered the hotel for a bit, looking for any sign of him, I was almost ready to give up. Then I entered the merchant room and saw him.

He was manning a booth. The booth held all sorts of props and other paraphernalia. All of them were shockingly accurate. His brown hair was barely peeking out from under a white hood, which was attached to the vest he was wearing. Ruby red eyes peeked out from a face that seemed slightly sunken, covered in pale white skin. He was thin, almost unhealthily so, but if you were to look closer you would see the tensing and loosening of extremely tightly coiled muscles as he moved. A mouth with long canines and a few teeth that were much more subtly sharpened was shown as he talked with and smiled at his various customers.

I took a deep breath. This was it. Once I approached there would be no return. I looked out the window at the city skyline. Was it really worth it? Should I really do this? If I turned around right now, just walked back to my car, I could drive home and simply forget that any of this happened. Then I noticed my reflection in the said window.

A man in his late fifties looked back at me, green eyes pondering. A white head of hair that was already falling out in the front that looked like it hadn't been combed in days sat atop my skull. My stomach hung over my jeans like a muffin top for a good four inches.

I sighed. It looks like I have nothing to lose. After all, there really is nothing left for me here.

With a firm nod to my reflection, I turned and approached the booth.

As I approached, he looked up. No doubt he sensed my presence.

"Ah! There you are, mate! You are the one who placed that special order, aren't you?" He said with a subtle wink at me.

"Yep, that was me. Did you get the stuff I asked for?" I said with a fake smile.

"Right on! Yeah, I did, sorry to make you pick it up here. I insisted on bringing it myself since we were coming out this way anyway, but the boss wouldn't let me make a trip out to your house since it was so far off the path." He explained with a sigh, "Anyway, your stuff's in the truck out back, I'll bring you to it. Hey, Murphy!" He said to the other person running the stall. "Keep an eye on things for me, will you? I gotta show this dude out to pick up his order.

The other vendor was easily recognized as the merchant from Resident Evil 4. He looked up from his magazine with eyes crinkled from smiling.

"Sure thing, buddy. Don't take too long though." He said as he stood up and stretched.

With that, he signaled for me to follow him, and we walked into the back toward the loading area.

"So," I started once we were out of earshot, "That Murphy fellow, was he really...?" I left the question hanging, knowing he would connect the dots.

"Yessiree! That was indeed the being you're thinking of." He said with a smirk, "I'll bet you wanna know why he does what he does right?"

"Definitely, is he just cruel? Or is there a method to his madness?" I asked, honestly curious about why The Merchant sent so many people away like he did.

"Oh, there's a reason, a very good one at that." He said, his face becoming serious, "The truth is, by sending them away, he is actually saving their lives."

"What?!?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah. See, what most people don't know, is that void dwellers can pass freely between Heaven and Hell." He began, as we reached a metal door with a card reader. He swiped his card and the door started to slowly crawl open.

"To us, they're nothing more than another dimension." He continued, as the door was sliding at a snail's pace. "However, some void dwellers get the job of taking people to wherever they belong after they pass and end up in the void. If they don't, the soul goes mad and becomes a monster much like a hollow from Bleach, only much more dangerous."

Finally, the door opened all the way, revealing an elevator, which we got into.

"In order to help these dwellers, they are given the ability to look at souls directly." He kept going as he pressed the button for the garage, "Now, this next bit is a bit of a tangent. Some souls are born into the wrong universe. That's as simple as I can make it for you." The doors were shutting at the same speed they opened.

"To be more specific, they are born in one universe, but resonate VERY strongly with another." The doors were still closing. "Now, this is a very bad thing. Because when a universe picks this kind of thing up, it treats it like an immune system does a disease. It tries to remove it." The doors finally shut, and the elevator started moving, though it was still slow enough that I could barely feel the movement.

"Unfortunately, like the immune system, it thinks the only way to remove said soul is to destroy it." The elevator was only halfway past the floor. "Another job of the void reapers; is to find souls like this and send them to the universe they resonate with. If they don't then the soul is killed. Murphy saw this happen once."

The elevator was in full view of the next floor down, thus it was fully illuminated. And as such, I could clearly see the terrifying expression on his face.

"Once was enough. Murphy decided to wait a bit to displace the kid. He waited too long. He watched the kid get hit by a car in slow motion." He shook his head. "It made Murphy decide to work as hard as he could to make sure the souls went where they belonged. Since then, he hasn't missed a single one."

I stood there in shock, unable to comprehend this. The Merchant...was saving lives...It was a shock. Suddenly, the elevator sped up slightly, enough to where it was on par with a normal elevator.

"What just happened?" I asked in surprise.

"I dispersed the time dilation field we were in." He said with a smirk. "What? Did you really think that the elevator was designed to be that slow? That's just ridiculous!"

I was once again flabbergasted. I was actually in a TDF. How the hell is that even-?!

My thoughts were interrupted by the elevator reaching the garage. The place was pretty much empty, except for one lone truck in the middle.

"Go on." He said, shoving me out the door. I walked to the truck, very uncertain of myself.

He came up and unhitched the shutter door to the back of the truck. Inside was a shelf with Three items,

The first was a plain looking sword with a jagged handguard, Zeltrech's Jewel Sword. The next was a striped shirt in green and dark green, the same shirt that Spiderman's foe, The Sandman wore. Finally, was what seemed to be half of a helmet with horns and an open front, Just like Ulquiorra Cifer's.

I sighed, knowing what was coming next, as He reached into my bag and pulled out a gray metal case. Turning the three dials to the correct numbers before opening it, and pulling out my gun that my father gave me as a kid to learn how to shoot. A .22 hunting rifle that I never bothered to learn the make or model of.

"You know, most people would be freaking out right now." He said, running through the safety checks on the gun.

"Yeah well, I was considering suicide before this if things didn't get much better," I said with a sigh. "I guess this still counts though, doesn't it, dude? After all, I'm still killing myself, aren't I?" I said with a smirk.

"I guess it does."My other self laughed as he loaded the bullet. "I wish we could displace you like we normally do, but since the items I gave you are so powerful, It needs that extra push to make it work." The bolt was locked in place and he was about to take aim.

"Now you can either turn around and see me fire, or just let it happen from behind, which one do you want?" He asked.

I looked at him and smirked, "Are you kidding? It wouldn't be me if I didn't face my problem head on, would it?" I asked.

"Should've known..." He muttered, reloading the round and taking aim at my forehead. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

And with that, the trigger was pulled.