The Villain

There were two ancient prophecies. A prophecy told of a person who would gain so much power he could blot out the sun in a stroke if he tried. It was said that his ego would be so huge it would cast a shadow over whole kingdoms. Another prophecy told of a hero of humble origins, who would rise in a time of desperation and bring hope. Over time these two ancient predictions merged together and created a prophecy that foretold the coming of a powerful tyrant full of ego and a humble hero who will end his regime and bring forth a light of hope.

I wasn't born into an age of turmoil. I grew up in a small city, living my life there peacefully, never planning to leave until the war took everything from me. It was a daft war no matter how you looked at it, two kingdoms tearing each other apart because of petty land disputes. I would've mourned and moved on to rebuild my home if they didn't reveal how corrupted, powerless, inefficient our kingdom, our King was. Money was wasted on unnecessary luxuries, nobles buying out officials to turn the other cheek when a few villagers disappeared, the incredibly complex chain of command that lead to a near crippling in our army. The war ended, the invasion was repelled, but the damage was done, and every day and night the people would gather under the palace, demanding the head of the King served to them on a silver platter. So I left my birthplace and traveled to the capital to join the demanding masses. One way or the other, I was persuaded into a band of rebels, growing in size slowly and biding their time to strike. Their leader was... nothing if barbaric, powerful only in brute strength, submission only through intimidation. He planned to raid and assault cities, forcing the King to his knees by leaving a trail of destruction and death in his wake. It wasn't going to work with what we have now, I knew it, and I had bigger ideas. To effectively end the current king's rule, one must first have absolute control over the overwhelming masses. An armed revolution was of course inevitable in the long run, but it must be thought out and well executed, not an action easily done like raiding a nearby village. I wasn't a natural born speaker, but I knew enough to convey my ideas to the people, to amass support. Soon I started to convince people that following a mindless brute without a plan isn't the best idea. And then one day, he was unsurprisingly left for dead and succumbed to his wounds during an attack he launched at a nearby town. 

As the person people already have faith in, it didn't take much for me to assume control of this band of rebels. growing steadily but still mostly peasants and workers. Even an idiot knows it'd take a lot more than that to stage a coup. So I reached out to the guards of a few towns I'd frequent during my travels. Already quite familiar with some, I started to ask questions about their professions as the kingdom's guards. Their answers didn't surprise me and night after night I was regaled by tales of rampant corruption and supervisors who issued orders that went through so many levels of procedure only to inform the lower classed guards of incredibly menial tasks. In these tales I recognized a familiar discontent. A discontent I would gladly exploit for the sake of my ideals, and the people. After a period of time I had a considerable amount of support from disgruntled civil servants. I find myself at quite a high position, one that I wouldn't have thought of having when I was still that farm boy a few years ago. And soon I decided the revolution would finally start. A revolution that was set in motion and fueled by years and years of discontent and justified anger against the current king. 

Opposition was thin until we breached the capital, most of the people sharing our sentiment towards the king and the layers it took an order to go across prevented the guards still adamant in holding the current king as the just ruler from doing anything worthwhile. Weeks went by in a siege between the military forces and the so called "agitators" I represented. We were stuck in a stalemate. We had insufficient power to forcefully storm the palace and the military's regulations prevented them from introducing more effective ordnance into the siege. Late into the game a parley was proposed and I had a personal conference with the commander of the military. Decisions were made quick and half an hour later I had his full support in my movement on the condition that he keeps his place as the highest level of command within the military. Quite a miracle, I'd often think to myself to this day whenever I remember this event. But the gears of revolution turned and in less than a month I marched into the throne room, right in front of a kneeling king. His personal guards fought to the bitter end, but ten men against a hundred was hardly a fight. The king was at the people's mercy, and although I objected having him immediately executed, a silver platter was soon paraded throughout the capital city with the king's head placed on top. 

First thing I did as the new king was have the military commander put on house arrest. As much of an ungrateful person I would look like, it wasn't hard to see how he wanted to maintain his inefficient system within the army to lessen his work. Such counter-intuitive behavior is certainly discouraged under my watch and such a system was dissolved shortly after my rushed coronation. I proposed a more transparent command in the military that ended with myself as the commander. Corruption was also discouraged within my system and all known roots would be pulled out and terminated, no matter their efforts in aiding me during my days as a revolutionary. After a more efficient and less frustrating system was set up, I set out to improve the production among the peasants and after combined efforts our kingdom was a prosperous one within five years of the revolt. Now noticing our prosperity, nearby kingdoms of course wanted to have us. I turned my sights to the nearest kingdom and proposed an alliance against the invasion efforts of an empire nearby. Within two years an alliance among three kingdoms was set and a war waged between us and this empire. The empire was crushed under five years, and the remaining two kingdoms that formed an initial alliance also became part of my system and newly created empire after some aggressive persuasion shortly after.

The empire settled in afterwards, remaining a reasonably powerful empire without having too much problems with its infrastructure. Afterwards I started to have thoughts of consolidating my power over the people, who were to be honest, a lot more orderly than before. These thoughts also occurred after thinking about attaining power to discourage other empires from making attempts at disrupting my system. Hearing of ancient artifacts of power, I personally led expeditions and excavations in hopes of recovering these vessels of power. Soon afterwards trouble would spring up among kingdoms under my control and I find myself using increasingly barbaric methods to keep my vassals in line. The very methods I denounced, submission through intimidation, the use of force, all of these were becoming daily occurrences. Later on it evolved into strategic assassinations against those who sought to disrupt the system I have created. A necessary evil, I convinced myself. A necessary evil in order to keep the world I've created right.

It would be a few years after that before news of a "people's hero" reached my ears. A young man and a band of companions "liberating" one town after the other from my "corrupt and unjust control".  As the person whose early efforts focused on exterminating the roots of corruption, such accusations enraged me. These were not merely accusations, these were venom, venom that spread among my system like a disease, slowly destroying what I have created.

And the very serpent that has been spouting these venom now stands before me, all the world's evil condensed into one single being. He is not just a young man with a sword, he is an evil that I must exterminate to maintain law and order.

"So ends your corrupt rule, emperor." Suppressed anger could scarcely be heard in his voice.

"And what have I done exactly warrants such an extravagant visit from the people's hero?" I remained seated on my throne, refusing to give up the serenity I'd feel when contemplating alone on my throne.

"Corruption, unjust, suffering. The pain you've caused to the people will all be paid back today." The anger was now quite clearly embedded in his words.

"And what do you know of corruption? What do you know of governing an empire? Corruption was the first thing I have exterminated and have continued to monitor throughout these years." Corruption, as far as my knowledge goes, was quite well suppressed, and I have heard nothing of unjust officials acting on my behalf. "And of the pain I've caused to the people, I shall pay. Yes, but have you thought of the families of the guards and soldiers you've slaughtered on your way here? Men and women defending a just ideal and a lawful society? Would you have to pay back for the suffering you've caused?"

"They were...They were as evil as you are, weren't they?" A hint of wavering and uncertainty, followed by loud shouting. "You're wrong. I'll prove it! They were no good, just like you!" He advanced towards me, sword now unsheathed and quite ready to cut me down.

I stood up from the silver throne I've sat by all these years, and picked up the sword besides my throne. "So be it, boy. Obstruct prosperity if you wish so."

He charged at me, I dodged his strike. Another vertical swipe, I parried and broke away, gaining distance. He charged again, I tried countering. And the last thing I felt before collapsing was the sensation of my sword breaking and cold steel striking into my flesh.

Red filled my vision as I fell into a pool of my own blood. I coughed up some as well. Images and sounds all blurred. I could see him standing in front of me, yelling something I couldn't make out. An eternity seemed to pass before he raised his sword and struck again. Today will be the day evil triumphed over good, thoughts like these left me with a sense of regret and hate as the blade fell, and I never felt anything again.

There was an ancient prophecy. The prophecy of a madman that took the life of a wise emperor and took control, crashing the empire into the ground and undid what the wise man tried to do his whole life as order crumbled. All was not well.

Diary

I wonder what it would feel like.

Slitting your parents' throat. Murdering them with a kitchen knife.

I would probably break down.

I probably already did break down.

Ah. It's my favourite song. It's playing again. Mom, Dad, do you hear it?

It's fine if you can't, you can continue sleeping, it's a Sunday, right?

Mom, look at you, did you forget to wipe your mouth again? It's all red and it's coming out.

Ah. Some of it is on me. That's not a good thing, right? I should go wash it and put it in the laundry.



Mom, it's already noon. I finished my homework. Is lunch done yet? Wake up. Wake up.  What? You can't move because your legs are in the bathtub? Should I go take it for you?

I wonder how I'll explain this to other people. The bathroom's all red, even though I told the decorator I liked purple more. Hm, whatever, it's not like my friends are allowed to visit.


Ah... Mom? Dad? Are you okay? Can you talk? What happened? Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Even if your arms aren't there you can still move, right? Mom? Dad? Hey, say something. I have school tomorrow, right? Dad, I...I want you to drive me to school, is that alright? Mom? I want...I want to eat pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, is that fine for you? Hey, hey, say something, please?

I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry.

How did it come to this?

I...I don't know.



...........................I wonder what it would feel like.

To stab yourself.

Watch the guts spill out and all.

I'd probably cry, a lot.

......Why do I hear myself screaming?

Eh? Why is there blood on the floor?

Is it mine?

Why am I the only one screaming?



I...I wonder what it would feel like.

To die.








*Disclaimer* *Warning* : This is a work of pure fiction. Blame it on my lack of interests aside from reading, sleeping and watching TV.

Author's Note: I haven't written like this before, especially on a...special subject like this. Monologues in someone's mind, do they play out like this? I'm trying to grasp the idea of a monologue, pardon me.

Travel.

I stepped off the bus, expecting the ever-present hot gust of Nevada and the sand underneath my feet. Instead, I was greeted by a cold breeze and the feeling of hard concrete under my boots. Taking my eyes away from my camera, I found myself facing a jungle of gray, with a hint of silver, it was a concrete jungle in every literal sense.

I looked around as I traversed the strange landscape, taking pictures of trees with steel beams for trunks and concrete leaves, intriguing animals with a concrete body and steel limbs and small shrubs made from bricks. As I walked, I found a small feline concrete animal following me, its emerald eyes glinting as it observed me. The landscape around me gradually shifting into a more bizarre and natural setting, with the dazzling metal trees replaced by bizarre blue trees and the gray creatures replaced by animals with strange colours and features. I ventured further, marveling at the bright and clashing colours of the jungle and the fantastic creatures lurking within. Passing a sea of red,  I looked on as the crimson waves splashed against the black rocks and the yellow fishes swam between the rocks with unimaginable agility. 

I looked around, scouring for an exit to this strange new world whilst taking in its unnatural but breathtaking beauty. Red lions with a purple mane and two mouths, flying books with eyes on its binds, porcupine with glass spikes, and the ever present gray cat that was following me. These were the intriguing and intricate creatures that no one would've thought to exist, and yet they do. I picked up the unexpectedly light concrete cat and gently placed it on my shoulder as I continued my search for an exit back to my world.

I always wanted something that was extraordinary, something that pulled me out of my daily by force. Now that I got what I wished for, I find myself strangely at peace, with a lot less panicking that I thought. With that thought in my mind, I crossed into a pitch black world, the only source of light being the small, twinkling stars amongst the dark sky. 

Everything was black. Trees, bushes, grass, animals, all black. They seemed curious, but remained in the background, blending in and observing with their sparkling blue eyes. Taking out my torch, I carefully trudged through the landscape, hoping traps aren't a thing in this world. Walking further, I saw a glint of light, and a familiar hot gust followed right after. I started running, ignoring the pain as the cat clung onto my shoulder with its claws. I felt the warm gust, the sand in my mouth, and I could finally see the desert of Nevada. For just this once, I am happy to return to my ordinary. I leaped, hoping for the warm embrace of my normal life. But instead, I fell. I could see the strange concrete cat falling with me, it's ominous but soothing emerald eyes staring at me with infinite curiousity. That was the last thing I saw before plunging into the darkness.

I woke up after what felt like an eternity, welcomed by the soft mattress of the bed from my hotel. It was a dream, I told myself. As much as I would want to believe it was all real, it was but a dream.

And then I heard a strange, almost metallic mewl coming from my right. And then I felt the sharp pain on my shoulder, as if a cat with glass claws had scratched me.

I widened my eyes, and looked to my right.

The Sorcerer

"Let me ask you again, mister. What's your name?"

He stayed silent for a brief moment, pondering. After a few seconds, he spoke. The smooth, friendly voice that came out of his throat not quite matching his intimidating appearance.

"My name is Clive. Don't bother asking me for my last name because I can't remember it, or maybe it's because I don't use it anymore. It's just Clive. As a bonus, let me tell you that yes, I have experienced plenty of things including but not limited to battling a three headed dragon that breathes acid and babysitting a baby werewolf but locked up in a police station in a universe where George Bush was never president is a first. If you could kindly show me the exit back to where I came from I will be very grateful." He said, checking a watch-like device on his shackled wrists as he did so.

"Sir, he wouldn't let us take off his mask. We think it's stuck to his face via some technology or something. It's not coming off." the sweating police officer reported as he emerged behind an unnervingly calm Clive.

The detective at the other end of the table leaned in, his piercing brown eyes staring at Clive's helmet, "Look, Clive. I don't care what you've done, but I want to know why you are found besides two of my men, dead on the ground with several bullet wounds on them? Heck, we even found a gun on you. You're going away along with that fancy hat of yours if we match it to the bullets."

"Alright, officer. I already told you I didn't kill them. It was the freaky guy with the glowing black arm and pumpkin on his head. That's the guy you should be looking for." Clive replied, completely convinced that what he just said is the truth.

"Let's say you didn't kill them, huh? Let's say that pumpkin head you just described actually shot my men. It still doesn't explain why you're running around town dressed like a character out of a sci-fi movie. What's with the helmet anyway? What're trying to hide, hmm?" The detective maintained his distance, not breaking eye contact with the reflective visors of the helmet.

"Alright, it's almost time so I might as well leave you with this before I leave." Clive leaned in, attempting to move his hands to a more comfortable position. "You know, who doesn't like feeling like a galactic evil overlord when you're hoisting someone in the air and sucking the air out of their lungs with your mind? It feels great, especially when you feel like an evil galactic overlord. You've seen that movie right? The one with the glowing swords and the giant planet of death that shoots laser and stuff." Clive leaned back once he stopped speaking.

"You think you're gonna break out of here, freak? I'm gonna have you locked up and you'll never see the dark side of yours, pal." He gestured for the officers to take Clive to the cell, standing up and taking the files with him.

Clive sighed, snapping his fingers. The shackles on his wrists and his ankles snapped, and he stood up, stretching his arms in the process. The two officers behind them stood there, shocked by what just happened before them, as did the detective who just questioned him.


"Oh, don't look so surprised. You're making me blush." Clive said, snapping his fingers. The officer to his left bent over in pain and flew back, hitting the wall with a large thud. The two officers behind him broke out of the shock, reaching for their batons to attack him.

Clive ducked and spun, splaying his palms, summoning a strong current of air and hoisted both of them in the air and sent them flying against the other wall of the room. The door opened, revealing an officer with a pistol aimed at Clive. Clive turned to him and sent a him back into a wall with a surge of compressed air, knocking him off his feet. He pushed away the table with a small gust of wind, and grabbed the detective, and levitated him into mid-air, smirking.
"I wouldn't mind doing this over and over again, you know? I mean yeah I belong to a unit where we're supposed to do this to supernatural beings but hey, this is cool too." He said lightheartedly, casually beginning to choke the detective.

The detective coughed, "you… freak. Y…you won't… get away… with… this…" He began to lose conscious, but he grit his teeth, radiating defiance.

"Oh, but I already have." He chuckled, letting the detective go and leaving him on the ground, gasping for air. "Oh, and just for the giggles, here." He fixed his black coat and cleared his throat, "I find your lack of faith… disturbing." Clive said, his voice unusually deep.

The sorcerer left the interrogation room, picking up his notebook on the way. As he stepped outside, he noticed the night sky, casually murmuring to himself about how long the whole ordeal took. He took out his antique pocket watch and checked the time, smiling inside his helmet. He then took out his notebook, telling himself he should prepare the way back to where he came from.

Opening the portal, he first saw the familiar grocery store of the desolate town he was in approximately six hours ago. He walked through the portal, once again fiddling with the watch like device on his wrist. "…..Hello? Clive? Do you copy?"

The sorcerer smiled again, "Yep, loud and clear, just got back from a world where George Bush Jr. was never president. I'll tell you all about it, just get Steve here ASAP. I'm stuck in a ghost town and I need a way back, so tell the Dullahan to make it quick because I could really use some lunch."

Wrath: Prologue

-1894, somewhere between Heaven and Hell-

The door opened, and two men walked in. The one at the front was a middle aged man, with neat white hair and sparkling silver eyes, wearing a crisp grey suit. The one who was following him was a younger man, who looked about 30. He had swept back hair, a clean-shaven face and brown eyes. They sat down, opposite two other men, both in black suits.

The middle aged man spoke, with a heavy expression on his face, "The War has brought a lot of casualties to both sides, no?"

The older man opposite to him leaned back, sighing. "It would seem that way. What are you here for?"

The young man next to the man in the grey suit took out a scroll from his briefcase, handing it to the two men across the table. "We propose a peace treaty. Of course, it will have to be on our terms. As you can see, in exchange for the armistice, you are to demilitarise your borders for the next 2 centuries, reduce your army by 15% and well..." he sighed, looking at the smiling man next to him, "...we will obtain the rights to own 50% of the dragon population currently in your kingdom."

The other man across the table took off his spectacles and started to wipe them, "Are these all your terms? How... lenient."

The middle aged man leaned forwards, not noticing the disapproving young man next to him,  "Of course, I do have a reputation to uphold. And concerning the dragons," his grin grew a little wider, "We'll have the special Hell-only breeds. You know, the wyverns and the lot. It'd look nice in the garden."

The man opposite him shook his head and sighed, "Right. Of course. We'll gladly sign the treaty if that is all-" His sentence was cut off midway by the young man next to the grinning old man.

"Wait, I propose one more term." He leaned in, both hands on the table. "Both of our people, no matter from the Divine Dominion or from Hell, are to avoid conflict of any sort and a wall will be built along the borders."

A sly smile appeared on the other man's face. He spoke, with a caustic tone, "Very well, Yeshua. We shall accept the terms."

The young man he called Yeshua leaned closer, taking out a pen from his pocket. "Please, do call me Jesus, I'm used to being called that." He handed the two men the pen, smiling. "Satan, please sign here. You too Lucifer, if you don't mind."

Satan fixed his tie, and took the pen, swiftly signing the scroll. Lucifer took the pen as well, signing the paper with an annoyed look on his face. The remaining two signed the treaty as well, handing it to the Arbiter after they finished.

"As the Arbiter between the Divine Dominion and Hell, I declare the Purgatory Treaty to be in effect." The Arbiter said, the room resounding with its hollow voice.

"Father, your thoughts?" Jesus asked as they left the room, leaving the two troubled demons in the room.

"Oh I suppose it's a victory for us, until some idiot breaks the treaty a century or two later. Trust me, it's not foolproof." His father replied with an exasperated tone.

Jesus sighed, "what happens then?" he asked, glancing back at the Arbiter, entering its "office".

"We find someone to deal with it. We don't have to get our hands dirty, you know. All we have to do, is to sit back and relax in The Tower, and make someone resolve the thing for us when it happens." His Father replied, rather lightheartedly.

"So, what about it? Any thoughts?" Lucifer asked back in the courtroom, admiring the architecture.

"Someone's going to screw up and break the treaty, that's what I think. And if that happens I suppose we can negotiate with the Old Man, maybe taking some of our borders back, or something." Satan answered, gathering his belongings.

"Is that it? It's all in good fun to you, huh?" Lucifer stood up, asking the devil again.

"I don't have that much say. We all know how it'll go down if we try this again, too many have died for our little game, Lucy." He replied, making for the door towards Hell.

"What now?" Lucifer asked, raising his eyebrow, visibly annoyed by his nickname.

"Now? We wait."

<The Purgatory Treaty, signed September 3rd, 1894>

Controversy

Let's take a break from the busy life of the city, get a cup of your favourite drink, sit down, and contemplate about current events. Doesn't hurt to deviate from your daily routine and move those gears in your mind a little, does it? Go on, I'm waiting.

Day 70 something of Occupying Central. The hot topic of all the people in the grand and hectic city of Hong Kong. Was it justified? Yes, anything can be if you try hard enough. Did the police do anything wrong? They might, given the over use of force everyone talks about. Did the students do anything wrong? Personally, it's not all their fault.

If I had to pick out a word to describe the people who conceived this idea, it would either be pioneering or idealistic. Let's face it, yes it's a good thing to work out ideas and oppose the government we have now, but I do have to say you might be too idealistic. Look, it's the bloody PRC. The Great Party aren't going to take any from you just because you blocked the major economy districts of a small harbour city. Life goes on, all quiet. They're just going to develop another city with more docile citizens and hope it works out. They're not going to fret just because a small city is blocked by a bunch of students. It might not be a welcomed opinion but face it, when has life ever been kind on those not born into power or lucky enough to grasp it?

The police? Cut them some slack. True, at first I did believe they were just doing their jobs, but it does seem they're a little bit too "passionate" in "fulfilling their duties". I mean, come on, you're going to beat up an innocent bystander just because you haven't slept for like 72 hours and is trying to follow orders?  Eh, don't take my word for it, I'm completely biased.

Now, onto the second topic I'd like to talk about.

Hitler. The bad guy of the bloody hell of an event that is World War II. True, he may have been an asshole to the Jews, but you do have to admit he was quit a man. Let's rewind the tape to a little bit before WWII and sometime after WWI. Hitler rose to power, and guess what he did to the country's crumbling economics? He fixed it. He made the crumbling economy recover, annexed a butt load of territories belonging to ethnic Germans, and he was an alright guy to his own people. Of course, we can't overlook the fact that his aggressive foreign policies and actions caused a lot of trouble (read: WWII), we still can't deny his excellent decisions regarding his own country and his skills to manipulate the crowd.

I'm not all for the whole "Hitler did nothing wrong" or the "Communist Party rules!" stuff, but some of what I have said here can contribute to playing Devil's Advocate, and should you want to explore these ideas further please do it in your own time.

And lastly, I am not here to start an argument of why Occupying Central is a thing or how big of a prick Hitler and his shorts were, I'm just here to express controversy. To (hopefully) express that it is rather impossible to have an entire society to agree with each other's thoughts. Life would be a bore otherwise, don't you think?

I wish you a scary spooky Halloween

(It's a day late here I know I'm sorry)

It was 2 in the morning. Raymond walked to his car, preparing to go home.

The sky seemed unusually dark. Sure it was 2 in the morning, but there was something different in the dark, something sinister. Raymond sighed as he drove.

As he left his car he saw a light in his room. It was unusual and he was sure he locked the door. He walked up to the door of his house and sure enough, the door was locked. A slightly spooked Raymond unlocked the door, and walked inside the dark, unlit house.

He turned on the lights and put down his bag by the door way and slowly made his way up. The door to his room was closed, extremely unusual for a man who lives alone. He opened the door, the lights were off in his room.

As he walked inside the room and turned on the lights he heard a faint chuckle, maybe even a smirk. He turned around, there was no one.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Raymond asked, ignoring everything he learned from watching horror movies. 

There was no reply aside from a laugh. 

The laugh continued and Raymond could feel the sudden drop in temperature. The laughs got louder and more audible, and Raymond started to trace the source.

It was coming from his closet.

Slowly, he opened the closet.His mother is staring at her tablet, watching cat videos on the Internet.

His mother died two years ago.