Ephemeral

The exhilarating feeling of driving a sports car for the first time—the sense of speed and blood pumping. Does she know me that well, or is it one of her strategies to manipulate me? At this junction, it mattered little. 

I drove around like a little kid who got a new toy. It wasn't far-fetched. I was someone with ambitions... who thought I would hardly achieve them. I would be happy as long as Lana and I lived normal lives. We had a rough start; a normal life was as much as we could hope. Now that I think about it, as I drove down the streets of Manhattan. At that time, I would have considered a Honda Civic 1998, my dream car.

'Me? I don't know... anything that rolls on four wheels~'

That was Lana's answer; we discussed the topic in the back of the corner shop during our rest.

I drove and drove, enjoyed myself and tried not to think too much. Throughout the whole process, Emma remained silent; she just looked at me. I didn't know her expression, but I felt her gaze. I finally stopped at the street opposite the building where my apartment was.

"That was something else," I said with a smile, holding the steering wheel perhaps a bit too tightly.

"Why are you always like this?" Emma asked me with a sombre voice.

"What do you mean?" I looked back and looked at her, but she didn't look happy for some reason. What did I do?

She sighed, released her seat belt and straddled me on the driving seat, holding both my cheeks. Her movement made me feel nice, but there was concern in her eyes.

"Whenever someone does something for you or gifts you something. Whenever I do anything to make you happy, you struggle to accept it. Why are you sad? I don't need to read your mind to tell." she frowned.

"It's just things... I never expected ever to have something like this, so it was kind of shocking, that's all. Thank you for worrying and thank you for the gift, really".

Her brows softened, and she kissed me once, twice...

"You're lying".

"..."

"Who is Lana?".

"..."

I didn't answer; I just looked at her, wondering how she even knew that name if she couldn't read my mind.

"You often mention her when we're sleeping", She answered as if she knew what I was thinking just by my expression, "I don't care who you sleep around with or who you have feelings for. But this Lana has left a deep scar in your mind, I don't like that".

"It is not something I can just say... she's no longer around; that's all I will say for now"

"I see..." Her thumb rubbed my cheek, "Can't I replace her?".

"You can't... and you shouldn't even try. It is not fair for you either" I frowned, holding both her wrists. Emma tends to be a bit extremist when it comes to some things. 

She sounded unhappy with that answer, "It is not about what you think. It is about what's possible".

Her hand lifted up my chin and she kissed me again, this time more intensely. Her hand slid down my chest, gripping my crotch as we kissed; I also held both her butt cheeks tightly, in a trance. 

"You should have parked somewhere a bit more concealed~ it doesn't matter... no one can see outside" Emma kissed my neck; I groaned and found my hands sliding into her skirt.

We have been sleeping together in the same room for a while, sometimes even naked, but we haven't gone past that threshold. It seemed that the barrier was going to be broken tonight. Or so I thought. 

"At the very least, I hope you're happy when you're with me. With you, I feel like I can conquer the world, Ray" she said amidst her naughty kisses, lowering my sipper, "Will you conquer it with me?".

"Ridiculous, conquer the world? That's not what we're here for"

I looked past her, the reflection in the windshield.

I saw him standing there, and the world around me suddenly turned cold. Emma didn't stop, she couldn't feel it, she couldn't see him. It was all in my mind.

That charcoal pitch-black version of myself in that wasteland, fighting for survival amidst nothingness.

"You're here to TURN IT TO NOTHINGNESS, DESTROY IT".

Emma's caresses didn't cease, but I couldn't focus on them, and my grasp on her delicate body grew dull.

"What are you all happy for? The emptier you are... the stronger you are. Filling up the void like you have... are you surrendering power? becoming weaker...?".

"I don't-"

"Time for a wake-up call, Ray".

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK!*

The world went back to normal; I heard someone knocking on the glass, and Emma's hands stopped as we both looked to the side to see what was going on.

"Get out of the car!"

"Oh, look at them... getting it on right in the middle of the avenue. Are you deaf? We said get out of the car!?"

They knocked their guns against it to emphasise the danger. Three armed one to the right, two to the left side of the car. When I saw their faces, it was as if I could recognise them. That night in New York when everything was taken away. I recalled how I was shot, how Lana was almost abused... they looked at Emma with the same filthy eyes. 

"So bothersome, this is why I hate New York, ugh..." Emma groaned; she would probably take care of them easily with her telepathy. But something took over me as if I had transmigrated back to that exact moment. I wore casual, refined attire, and Lana wore a dress.

If I had this power back then... what would I have done? How things would have changed?

"I will kill them before they kill me".

I didn't even look at them; my eyes looked pitch-black in the mirror reflection, and all I saw was blood spilling on the glass, windshield, and all over the car. Next, a nauseous flavour invaded my tongue. 

"Mutants, they're mutants!"

"Ray, why-"

*PA!*

*PA!*

*PA!*

Shots were fired; I pushed Emma away and felt several stings on my chest; she transformed into her diamond form.

"HAAAAA!!"

Another shower of blood followed by a scream so loud that surely more than a couple of eyes are now looking at this scene from the vicinity. I focused, and something happened. I was trying to create a ball of void in their brains when I miscalculated. It could have been an error, but I know very well it wasn't. 

The ball was not pitch-black in colour as usual, and it was not the size of a baseball anymore. It was crimson-red, the size of a basketball. 

The man's whole head disappeared, and blood started splurging out like it was raining before he collapsed, followed by his goon. Three of them in less than a minute, there was so much blood everywhere that we almost couldn't see outside of the vehicle. 

*cough!*

I, too, coughed blood and looked at my shirt, where there were several pitch-black bloody spots.

"Shit! Those bitches! Ray, are you okay?!" Emma cursed out loud; she opened the door of the car and saw me sitting there with my shirt all bloodied. I felt a huge urge to vomit; this horrible test in my tongue just wouldn't go away. 

I opened the door, but it was jammed because of the corpses on the other side, so I had to force it. 

"Ugh, fuck..."

I don't understand why it hurt so much. Wounds would have never hurt like this!

There was so much blood on the floor that it was like a river.

"Someone call the police!" I heard someone shout from the buildings on top. When I looked out our apartment window, Veronica and Annie were there looking at us before they stepped back, possibly rushing down.

I felt dizzy. 

"Ray, Ray!"

Before I stumbled on myself, Emma held me.

"Ray, you're bleeding too much! What's wrong with your regeneration!?"

"I... don't know..."

Before my consciousness faded and I succumbed, the world turned black and white again. The shouts mumbled; whatever Emma was telling me felt distorted.

One of the headless bleeding corpses... turned towards me. A pitch-black head manifested with white eyes and teeth, laughing at my wounds. 

"This is how you become when you fill-up the void, Ray. 'Nothing' is way more powerful than 'Anything' that exists. This weak version of you won't beat the Multiversal Brawl".

"Who are you!?" I screamed. I couldn't hear Emma's voice, but she was hectic 'who are you talking with' I could almost hear.

The corpse didn't stand up, but that silhouette of darkness manifested with pitch-black horrid tentacles standing in front of me. Towering like a gargantuan being.

"Who else could I be? I am you. The you that's angry, the you that loves Lana, the you that wants to massacre Oblivion to the core and destroy this world right after. The you that has lived for millions of years in nothingness, I'm the you that lost everything that night".

He then walked into me, and his voice resonated in my head before the world regained its normalcy. 

"I AM THE YOU THAT'S STRONGER THAN YOU".