Falling Inside The Black

Part 8

Dark flexed his fist, stilling feeling a good amount of Anti's energy in himself.  Smirking to himself, Dark creaked his neck and started confidently strolling over to Anti's body.  This new power was very appealing.  If even Anti's charges at full power couldn't kill him... did that mean he was practically invincible?  Kneeling down beside Anti's body, he placed two fingers to Anti's throat.  A heart beat.  A little slow, but there.  Raising his hand up to brush away the green bangs from Anti's eyes, Dark whispered to him softly.  "I guess you have more value then I had originally thought".  Slipping his arms under Anti's body, Dark roughly hefted Anti up into his arms.  Someone was bound to come investigate the large clearing of splintered trees.  He'd have to take Anti some where safe, until he woke up.  Dark carried Anti back out of the woods to the road, stopping when he noticed the car. 

The illusion Anti had put on it must have worn off when Anti collapsed.  Dark was tempted to walk back to Mark's house... but the idea of getting stopped because he was carrying Anti deterred him.  Setting Anti down, Dark strolled over to Matt's dead body.  He made quick work of tossing it into the woods, but nothing more.  If someone found him, then so be it.  Dark's bigger concern was the car.  Strolling up to the smashed car, Dark sighed heavily.  What could he do with it?  He could brake it down... but that didn't really solve anything.  Just gave him more pieces to dispose of.  Dark rested his hands against the car, trying to think of something.  Anything.  The car was still alright... it just had a smashed hood and a flat tire.  There was a spare tire in the back... but with a smashed engine what was the point of fixing it?  A loud metallic pop, drew Dark's attention to the hood.  As he watched perplexed, he realized the car was... fixing itself?

Dark took his hands off the car and the car stopped repairing itself.  Staring down suddenly at his hands, he slowly reached out again to touch the car.  This time his fingers tingled and little purplish black sparks began to dance over the car.  A technopath?  Raising an eyebrow, he gawked at himself.  Mark had tried to become an engineer... was it possible he had absorbed something from that knowledge unintentionally?  Using up some of the energy that he still had from Anti, Dark focused his attention on the car.  The car jerked and bounced under his palm as the pieces molded back together seamlessly.  The only things that didn't repair itself were the glass windows, headlights, and the tire.  Dark didn't really care about the headlights or glass, but scuffed loudly at the dreary task of fixing a tire.  It just felt so below him to do. 

Anti sat up... he was surrounded in pitch blackness.  What had happened to him?  The last thing he remembered was hitting Dark with a supercharged blast.  It all went fuzzy after that.  He had never used that much energy before... had he killed himself?  Standing up and glanced around, Anti jumped in surprise at the full length mirror propped up next to him.  The longer he looked at it the more he felt his blood run cold.  That wasn't his reflection.  Anti took a small step back away from the mirror.  The man in the mirror... was Jack.  Jack stared back at him with... sorrow?  Pity, maybe?  He wouldn't stand for that!  Jack was the weak one!  Straightening up defiantly, Anti yelled at the mirror bitterly.  "Don't look at me like that! I killed you"!  Jack slowly stepped out of the mirror, answering Anti casually.  "No, Anti. You didn't. You can't kill my soul without killing yourself. For I am you, and you are me". 

Anti shook his head in disbelief, snapping back sharply.  "NO! I'm not you! I'm not weak"!  Jack reached out to touch his shoulder, but Anti jumped back away from him with a sneer.  Jack didn't lower his hand, continuing to walk slowly toward Anti as he calmly told him.  "Anti, I'm sorry. You are everything I rejected about myself. I pushed you away... but you've got to listen to me now. Dark is using you. If you don't stop him, he's going to destroy everything you care about".  Anti continued to back away from Jack, yelling out angrily.  "I don't care about anything! You saw to that! Why should I listen to you"!  Jack gestured around them, gently telling Anti.  "This. Dark will spread like a plague to every corner of the globe. He'll shroud the world in darkness and anyone left will only be there because Dark finds them amusing".  Anti stopped backing away to take in the surroundings.  If he stared hard enough into the darkness, he could see wilted trees and ashy ground where grass used to be.  Everything was drained of life.  Dead or dying.

A gentle hand touched his cheek and Anti flinched, trying to recoil from it.  Dark had hit him there... he was blind there.  Jack's hand felt like ice, but against his burning skin... it felt nice.  Jack leaned in to stare into Anti's good eye, as he softly told Anti in a comforting voice.  "When you went inside him, this is what I saw. Anti... He's going to use you to take control of it all.  Then when he's sitting comfortably on his throne... He's going to kill you".  Anti swatted Jack's hand away, bitterly telling Jack.  "You'll say anything to trick me. I'm not falling for it".  Jack clasped his hands together and his voice became fragile as he pleaded back.  "Anti, please! You have to trust me! You're the only one who can stop Dark! I know you don't want the world to end like this! I know how to stop him, but I can't do it without you"!  Anti backed away from Jack shaking his head as he answered sourly.  "No. Dark isn't like that. He loves me". 

Jack started to run toward him as the black surroundings started to rush past Anti's body.  His voice starting to fade into the black abyss as he yelled out to Anti desperately.  "Anti, don't do this! He's blinded you"!  Anti turned away from Jack, telling him confidently.  "I'm not weak. I don't need you to look out for me. You know nothing".  Anti jerked upright, finding himself in a bedroom?  Sitting cross-legged in a large chair in the corner of the room was Darkiplier.  He had dressed up from the last time he saw him.  Wearing a fine grey suit and swirling a red liquid around in a clear glass that he was holding.  Dark flashed him a small smile from the corner of his mouth, before asking him in a way that was darkly sweet.  "Sleep well"?  To Be Continued...