Two Sides of the Same Coin

Jack felt his mind race. He felt his magic surging. Going in and out. This feeling... Like everything had been leading to this very moment. That it was all for not. The forest. The monsters. The friends. The training. Learning. Watching movies together. Going on that mission with Vlad. There could be so much more. So many more. He could have made so many more friends. He could have learned so much more about magic. So many more adventures. So many more friends. Friends. He could have fought so many more monsters. He could have saved so many more people. All for what? All for not. All for one goal. All for what. His mother's death? Who killed her? Was it a monster? Was it a human? A Sorcerer? Why did he join the Magic Force in the first place? Was he forced to? Was he pushed into it by Red, all because she wanted him on her squad, or was it because he liked her, the way she looked, the way she smelled, the way she talked? Maybe he had a little crush. Or maybe for not. Or maybe he liked someone else. Maybe he liked Emma. Emma. Emma. Jack liked Emma. Emma liked Jack. That romance. That love between them. Hidden in their minds. How would they fall in love? How could it advance? Was it going to end in sadness. All for this setup. This Work Talk. This fake date. The triangle between Red and Emma. If only there was more time. More time. More time. More time. More time... But I'm out of time. I don't have any more time. My time ran up years ago. I've been living off scraps, running from it all. The pain. The remorse. The feeling she gave me. What she did to me. I loved her, but did she love me? Sofia? Sofia? Sofia! I needed answers so bad back then. But why did it end up like this? How did I end up here? Spending my days cutting wood. Killing monsters. When was my life so miserable? Being dead, locked up, lost in a catastrophe of monsters, madness, men, and magic. Monsters. Madness. Men. Magic. It was obvious. It was set up since the start. Since I first heard him tell me her name. Since I blacked out. Since I... Since I met Red. Since then. Talking to you. In my head. Why did you never come out? Why did you never come out? Why did I suffer? Why did I fake my smile?

"Because I wanted to be you Jack." (Jack)

Frankenstein stood up from the soft thin grass. He looked off into the distance. He looked at Jack. Not at Jack. At someone else. The other Jack.

His Yin.

"It's good to see you again Mars." (Frankenstein)

Mars looked up in disappointment. He looked at Frankenstein's face. The slashes and stitches. The mismatched parts and pieces. He was disappointed in what had happened to him, what he had done to himself.

"Paul, it's good to see you again." (Mars)

"I don't go by Paul anymore. I go by Frankenstein now." (Frankenstein)

Mars turned. He looked down at Red then back up at Frankenstein.

He had a slightly deeper voice.

"You woke me early, Paul." (Mars)

"Haha! Always as serious as ever. But this is not time to be serious." (Frankenstein)

Frankenstein turned serious.

"I've got all the ingredients. Everything is set up perfectly. And this place. The amount of death, the magic, her..." (Frankenstein)

He looked down at Red.

"We could use this woman, use her extraordinary magic to fuel you." (Frankenstein)

He held up the vials of demon blood.

"And we have-" (Frankenstein)

"No." (Mars)

"But..." (Frankenstein)

Mars sat up. His green eyes slightly dimmed.

"No is no. That is final. I am not breaking the promise I made to her. And neither should you... I know how much you care about her, but she died for a reason. And waking me up again, early, is not ok." (Mars)

"But..." (Frankenstein)

Mars stood up.

"This world... Everything on it... It will all disappear one day." (Mars)

"But Mars..." (Frankenstein)

"The end will come, and I or we will have to face it head-on. We do not have time to play games." (Mars)

He slowly leaned over, picking up Red and throwing her over his shoulder.

"But Mars... She will be able to-" (Frankenstein)

"No means no." (Mars)

Frankenstein turned angry. His hatred pouring out.

He mumbled to himself.

"I have to play the villain. I have to play the villain." (Frankenstein)

Mars carried Red away. Frankenstein followed.

They walked down the city streets.

"Stop following me." (Mars)

"I will not. My plan is perfect! Either you come with me now or I take you by force." (Frankenstein)

They kept walking. Through the bloodied city. Past the countless monster corpses. They walked like they were the only two people in the world.

As people screamed out for help. Dying life all around them. As Sorcerers descended onto the landscape around them.

Hundreds across the sky.

"I don't have much time, Mars. It's now or never. Either you join me or I will kill all of Jack's friends." (Frankenstein)

He followed five feet behind.

"No means no. Jack is happy and I must slumber." (Mars)

Suddenly a Third-Class Sorcerer ran out onto the street with a long staff.

"You two stop!" (Third-Class Sorcerer, Squad Red, Tim)

He pointed at Mars and Frankenstein. He looked closer at the person Mars was carrying.

"Is that... Captain Red!" (Tim)

Mars looked at the woman he was carrying. He walked over to the scared Sorcerer, placing her on the ground next to him.

"Here you can have her." (Mars)

Frankenstein took another step.

"Burning Flame!" (Tim)

He shot out a blazing ball of fire, trying to hit Frankenstein.

Mars looked unimpressed.

"What was that?" (Mars)

"You-you-yo... Your magic..." (Tim)

He looked at Frankenstein. His magic leaking out. The sinister nature spreading across the empty air.

Frankenstein smirked. He increased his sinister presence.

Mars looked at him annoyed.

"Stop. You are scaring him, Paul." (Mars)

Frankenstein started to laugh. He pointed out his hand. His fingers crossed.

"Mutate Addition!" (Frankenstein)

He pointed his crossed fingers at Tim. The magic flowing out. Like an invisible jetstream.

Suddenly Tim started to fall back. Exploding out into a blobby mess of fat.

"Paul I said stop...." (Mars)

Frankenstein didn't stop. He kept attacking, kept turning the human into a monster, all to piss of Mars, to make him join his side.

Mars sighed. He walked up to the screaming, morphing Tim.

He held out his hand. He opened his eyes.

"Yang!" (Mars)

Tim immediately turned back to normal. Everything, his whole body was normal again. Like nothing had happened in the first place.

"Wha..." (Tim)

He threw up all over the place.

Mars turned back around. His face just a little bit more pissed off.

"Stop this Paul." (Mars)

"I'm the villain now. Either you join me, or you will see the world die, and all of Jack's friends. They will die as well." (Frankenstein)

Mars turned with a slightly pissed face. His right eye black, his left eye white. He held out his hands.

He stepped up with a very monotone tone.

"Do you want to fight me so bad?" (Mars)

"I do. I've wanted to fight you so bad. So so bad. This whole time. I wanted to punch you. But it didn't feel right back then, but now... Now I'll get the taste of your defeat. And my absolute, ultimate, perfect, victory!" (Frankenstein)

"Fine... You've dug your own grave, Paul... You've dug your own grave..." (Mars)

They both stepped up. Their god-like powers. Their presence. Their unknown pasts clashing, colliding, the pain, the misery, they stared straight into eachother souls.

Frankenstein crossed his fingers.

Mars held out his two hands.

They both chanted at the same time.

"Yin and Yang!" (Mars)

"Mutate Addition!" (Frankenstein)

Suddenly everything felt off. Mars stopped his advancements. He turned around to soft footsteps echoing behind him.

Frankenstein stopped his attack as well, he sighed in boredom, at the person standing behind Mars.

Her scarred face.

"Jack?" (Emma)