Mere Mortal

"Huh? Are there cars in Hell?"

The distant hum of cars echoed through the empty streets, punctuated by the occasional gust of wind that sent chills down his spine.

Then he raised his head and saw from afar the dim glow of streetlights casting long shadows across the pavement, creating a surreal atmosphere.

Rodrigo blinked, trying to shake off the grogginess of shock and surprise, his senses alert to every sound and movement in the night.

Above, the stars twinkled faintly through the veil of city lights, offering a glimpse of serenity amidst the urban chaos.

With a deep breath, Rodrigo pushed himself up from the cold ground, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Beside him was the gun he used to kill himself, or maybe he was hallucinating. He could remember pressing the trigger, but how come he's still here?

As he turned to the side, he saw tons of his own blood right where he stood up. He could feel the dampness of his clothes; it must have been his blood.

He touched his head and his jaw, but there was no hole to be found. "Where then did this blood come from? Or am I already dead and now a ghost?" He wondered.

"Naaaa, I have to do this again!" he said and picked up the gun once more.

Luckily, it was still loaded. He held the gun close to his head, took a deep breath, and blew his brains out. He blacked out at that instance, but before his body could touch the ground, he regained consciousness and felt with his hand.

"What the fuck? I can't die or what?" he trembled, frustration thick in his voice. He stood up with the gun in his hand and aimed for his head again.

Just as he was about to press the trigger, he heard the same voice in his head saying, "What do you think you're doing? Trying to kill yourself?"

Rodrigo was silent, not knowing what to say at that moment.

"You can't kill yourself with mortal weapons when I'm still inside you. You need magic to do that," the voice said.

"What? Who are you?" Rodrigo asked, his voice trembling.

"Just say I'm a bad guy who broke out of prison," the voice said simply.

"Prison?"

"Not the prison you know, the prison from above!"

Rodrigo chuckled lightly before saying, "I'm crazy, I'm mad, I'm now talking to myself!" He began tapping his head as if trying to wake it up.

"Stop what you're doing. You can only inflict harm on yourself, but you can't die. Not when I'm inside you."

"Then how do I get you out?" Rodrigo asked.

"The box you flung away, but that depends on if I find another vessel," the voice replied.

"When you say vessel, you mean another human, right?" Rodrigo questioned.

"Uh-hmm," the voice affirmed.

"I can get one for you, ten of you like," Rodrigo said as he began rushing towards where he remembered flinging the box, into a nearby lake.

He dived into the water and began swimming, looking for the box. He didn't really care about breathing in air.

Once the air in his lungs was exhausted, he would pass out, only to wake up a few seconds later and continue searching without the need for air. He continued this cycle, but he couldn't find anything.

Suddenly, he felt the ground shaking violently for two seconds but stopped abruptly. "Huh? What was that?" he thought.

"Let's go check this out!"

*********

"Mortals, mere mortals," Pizzaro, a spirit in the body of a mortal, said, kicking already dead men on the ground and laughing.

He had red crimson eyes with raven black short hair.

Numerous cars were on fire beside him, some even toppled over.

"You monster! Take that!" A man, most likely a police officer with a gun, fired towards Pizzaro numerous times, but his bullets were not effective. They couldn't even penetrate his skin, let alone injure him.

"How pathetic!" Pizzaro said, raising his hand.

Within a split second, the man with the gun was pulled towards him like a magnet, and Pizzaro grabbed his neck.

Before the man could make a sound, Pizzaro crushed his neck, breaking every bone and cartilage. Blood flowed profusely from his head and neck.

A woman screamed as she witnessed this, her voice trembling.

"Scared already? Uhhh, what a pity!" Pizzaro approached her and noticed she had a child with her. The child could barely say a word; he was terrified.

"Please, sir, do not harm the child, please!" she pleaded.

Pizzaro laughed and playfully roared at the child, causing him to begin crying. His mom began consoling him. "Don't cry, it's going to be okay!"

"It's going to be okay? Why are you lying to him? Yo, mate, you're going to die. Your mom is going to die, and everyone else you know."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Rodrigo said, appearing from behind.

Pizzaro turned, surprised by the sudden intrusion. "Just having some fun!" As he said this, his eyes returned to their normal black color and he stared at Rodrigo.

"Okay, playtime is over. Get back home!" Rodrigo said firmly.

"That aura... That can't be Pizzaro, can it?" The voice in Rodrigo's head questioned.

"Is he also a spirit?" Rodrigo asked.

"I think so," the voice responded.

As Rodrigo raised his head, Pizzaro was standing next to him with a smile on his face. He grabbed Rodrigo's neck and said, "Have you ever seen this?" As he said those words, his eyes turned red.

"That's Pizzaro. Allow me to take over and have some fun!" The voice in Rodrigo's head suggested.

"How about I show you something better?" As Rodrigo said those words, his brown eyes turned blue with a few patterns in them.

As Pizzaro stared into those eyes, his own widened in shock. "L... L... Lord Pentaro?"