Cyberspace; The Ultimus Collection

Chapter 22, Man Behind the Mask

The battle was officially over. Daniel and Vincent laid on the ground, both beaten and broken, although Daniel was much worse for wear. Daniel struggled to catch his breath while Vincent struggled to wake himself up. He sat up, groaned, and rubbed his eyes before putting one hand on his head and the other on the ground to stabilize him.

"Ugh... what happened?" 

"It's over, it's finally over." Daniel panted.

"What's over?" Vincent asked. He put his hand on his face and a sudden realization washed over him. He quickly looked all around him before sighting his mask on the ground beside him. "My mask! I need m-my... mask..." Vincent's panic quickly oozed into a haunting calm. "I can think clearly again. Was I... lashing out?"

"Oh no. I'm covered in all these cuts because I fell into a cactus farm on my way over here. What the hell do you think?!" Daniel said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry."

"Hm?"

"It's... the mask. I'm sure of it! It's the mask that makes me do these things!"

"Well, if that's the case." Daniel managed to prop himself up and stepped up to the mask. "Why don't we go ahead and take care of things, permanently."  Daniel crushed the mask underneath his foot, shattering it into thousands of tiny plastic pieces. The two noticed a shift in the atmosphere. An aura as left the space, an aura that one could only assume came from the mask. "Now, Vincent, talk to me. Tell me everything."

"I don't know how much I can tell you. Every time I put on that mask my mind becomes hazy. I can barely remember what I have done, or what I'm doing. It's only when I take the mask off that I slowly start to recall everything. The things I've done. The people I've hurt. And the sadness of my own existence."

"Then why put it back on in the first place?"

"It's like it called to me. I'd take it off, but soon after it would beckon me back to it. I've tried not to give in to it, but it always wins."

"So, it's like it's possessed?"

"Exactly."

"Well, I think I've got a pretty good idea of by what." Daniel couldn't help but recall back to when he was made a guardian. His encounter with Crysalis, the god of change. "Look that doesn't matter right now. I'm here to make things right." Hearing those words sent Vincent back into a panic. He threw his head back, laying back on the cold stone. His eyes began to tear up.

"Go on, do what you need to do. I'll accept it with quiet dignity, or at least with what dignity I have left. Just get it over with, jail me, execute me, I don't care! Whatever it is, I deserve it!" Vincent closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate. He heard rustling and shimmying next to him, and then a soft touch upon his face. He opened his eyes in confusion and looked next to him. And there he saw Daniel, lying next to him, offering a tissue. 

"I'm not here to do any of that Vincent, I just want to have a heart to heart." Vincent took the tissue from Daniel and wiped his eyes. "Please, tell me everything."

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you end up like this?"

"It's... a long story. One too painful for me to recite fully." Vincent sighed. "Look, one day the public turned on me. Society hated me. The other guardians and I, we tried to reason with them, we tried to explain the situation, but by then the damage had already been done. They had forgotten about me and had cast me aside to rot. So, I left. I left the city and began to wonder the world, aimless and hopeless. Eventually I planned to take my revenge, I planned to show them the monster the perceived me as. I made the mask and started to get to work. But every time I put on that mask, I felt as if I had lost a little bit of myself. I had started to forget myself, the same way they all had forgotten me. I'm sure you know the rest."

"Vincent we can put all of that behind. We can get you the help you deserve. I'm sure if we really put our backs into it, we can set the record straight. You'll probably have to do time for your crimes, but we can help you through it." Daniel began to ramble on and on about Vincent, but he was tuned out. Vincent looked up at the sky and began to reminisce. About his past, his friends, his actions, his life. And it was in that reflection that he had made a decision. Vincent knew what he had to do. 

"Daniel." Vincent sat up, and Daniel stopped. "It's alright, I don't need your help. I can take care of things on my own." Daniel sat up with him and followed him as he stood.

"Are you sure? Vincent, we can help you. We can be there for you. We can do whatever you need us to do."

"No, I'm beyond help. I've gone past the point of no return. I must live with what I've done. I appreciate your concern. I appreciate you trying to do what's right. But these are my own demons, and I need to tackle them myself, alone. I'm sorry Daniel, for everything." Vincent walked over to the edge of the castle and jumped. 

"Vincent!" Daniel ran over to see if he was alright, and to his surprise, he was. Vincent didn't look hurt, not physically anyway. He walked over to the edge of the woods, ready to disappear once again. But before he did, he turned back to look at Daniel. Without any word or effort, he smiled at him, and turned back to walk into the unknown. Daniel sighed, accepting what he has to do, at least for now. He sat on the wall's edge, feet dangling off the side. Daniel looked towards the horizon and watched the sun rise on a new day, on a new chapter, on a new era of his life.