Outcome

Earth *%#2

1st and 2nd Outcome Boundary

Unknown street 11.30 PM

Once lively streets were now quiet. The red light from the traffic pole shimmered on a small puddle that had formed on the road.

Squelch, splash.

A completely black shoe, mirroring the subtle chaos around, brushed against a small puddle, distorting the reflection of the red sky.

The owner of the shoe moved his feet slowly, advancing forward. His rhythm of walking reflected his state of mind, and his eyes moved to a child barely 10 years old.

The child's legs were crushed under the upturned car, but despite the situation, the child's fingers were twitching.

The man walked towards the child.

Footsteps echoed softly.

Tap-tap,

Tap-tap, Tap-tap,

Twitch,

A sudden twitch.

Twitch.

The child, barely alive, heard steps approaching. His fingers started twitching, matching the footsteps.

Twitch-twitch.

The footsteps halted near the child, trapped under the car. His left eye opened with difficulty, and blood from the right eye mixed into the puddle of blood below.

When the child's gaze met the man's, a tear escaped. His trembling words carried a heavy tone of sadness, pain, and despair.

"Hel....p."

Blood spilled from the child's mouth. Witnessing it all, the man continued to stare at the child emotionlessly, as if he were looking at... nothing.

After continuing to stare at the child, who was weeping and groaning, the man's hands moved and reached his waist, grabbing a hilt.

With a "shing" sound, a sword was revealed—purely made, transparent blue, a beautiful weapon.

However, as the owner grabbed the hilt, with a "swoosh" sound, the blade traced a blue trajectory, illuminating the surroundings in blue. Anyone who looked at the sword and witnessed the swing would have said the same thing.

'Beautiful.'

But the beautiful swing was deceptive; it did nothing but separate the child's head from his body.

The man sheathed his sword and averted his gaze, as if what he had done wasn't worth mentioning. His eyes wandered to his surroundings, filled with people going about their lives.

A man in a white hoodie stared at his mobile, indifferent to the busy road. A married lady played with her child in her arms, waiting for the light to turn green.

A group of teenagers walked home after school.

A kid happily blew bubbles.

Two friends shared laughter.

Two couples strolled hand in hand.

A street performer strummed a guitar in a corner.

Yet, just like the water distortion in a puddle, a part of the lively scene warped. A black shadow rose from the distorted image of the road, revealing a man with black hair and green eyes standing in the spot. His hands were behind his back, and he wore a black coat, seamlessly connecting the darkness to his attire.

The man with green eyes looked at the man with the sheathed sword. Moving his gaze away, he observed his surroundings and then returned his attention to the sword-wielding man. Opening his mouth, he asked, "How is it?"

The question, filled with curiosity and something else, went unanswered for a while.

Silence.

The man then opened his mouth, responding to the question or perhaps addressing something else—it wasn't clear at the moment.

"Not sure."

A clear voice resonated and continued,

"But the sides."

"I can understand them."

A young girl, no more than ten, approached with a rose in hand. She extended the flower towards him, uttering something. Strangely, the voice wasn't conveyed.

The man, seemingly unfazed by the peculiarity, accepted the rose. After handing it over, the girl returned to her mother's side, clasping her mother's hand.

Both mother and daughter beamed, glancing in his direction. The girl waved her hand, seemingly bidding goodbye, and they departed with her mother on the opposite side of the street.

The man's eyes lingered at the spot where the mother and daughter were standing. His gaze then moved from that spot to his hand, holding the rose. He raised the rose in front of his eyes, as if observing it.

"What did the kid say?"

A voice slithered from behind, the words of the man in the black coat cutting through the air. The rose, caught in his gaze, withered, its petals turning dark and scattering in the eerie wind.

"You won't answer."

A heavy silence settled.

"You could have saved the child, Lucas Silvermoon."

The man with the sheathed sword, Lucas Silvermoon, replied with an unsettling calm.

"Which one... adversary?"

"Which was it... umm, Ah! The kid crushed by the car one," Lucas Adversary said with a serious voice, though a sly smirk played across his face.

"He wasn't to be saved," Lucas responded, his back turned.

"What do you mean? His eyes were pleading, weren't they?"

"No."

"They weren't."

"They were saying something else..."

Lucas spoke with a chill in his voice as he smoothly pulled out his sword.

Screech.

The sound echoed, setting the stage for a showdown as Lucas got his blade ready. His words were direct, "Enough talk. Let's finish this. I'm ready to go now."

"Come."

"Sinister Shade."

As the name escaped Lucas's lips, the surroundings began to flicker, and shadows started to weave their presence in the midst of it. Sinister Shade, the man in the black coat, stretched a smile into an unusual grin and said, "'Sinister Shade, you are the only one who can say that name, Lucas," in a serious tone.

He shifted his gaze from Lucas and looked at the mysterious expanse that Lucas had created.

Two outcomes played out - one where laughter echoed freely, the other a desolate land where human bodies were all too common, or rather, finding a living human was impossible. Despite being the architect of this devastation, an anomaly in Sinister's destructive path stood apparent.

'Lucas Silvermoon.'

Standing at the boundary of these two outcomes, Lucas pointed his sword at me, with an emotionless face.

'It's ironic. Despite destroying and taking every life, I failed to gain anything,' Sinister thought.

"You know you will die here, don't you, Lucas?"

"I know, but I've completed my objective. Now the world will be safe in the second outcome." For the first time, Lucas smiled—a smile brimming with relief.

After saying that, Lucas disappeared from his spot. A quick vanish, and he faced Sinister. The sword flashed, but Sinister deflected. Lucas kicked, Sinister punched. Fingers aimed at eyes, but Sinister blocked and countered. Kidney hit, Lucas flipped, kicked Sinister's chin. No pause.

Sinister grabbed the kick, slammed Lucas. Boom. The ground shook.

The impact created a crater, yet Lucas, without a hint of pain, half-rolled to his right. Swiftly, he positioned his sword diagonally and kicked Sinister's leg from the

front, sending him falling directly onto the tip of the sword.

Sinister, displaying acrobatic finesse, turned his body to the left, delivering a mid-air elbow blow to Lucas's chest. Lucas coughed up blood.

"It was fun playing with you. But I am currently suppressing my powers to your level," Sinister said, standing up and grabbing Lucas's neck, lifting him into the air.

"I... am... not... done," Lucas said with difficulty, his face emotionless. He kicked the chest of Sinister, sending him flying through several buildings.

Lucas vanished and reappeared where Sinister landed. A kick soared, but Lucas, agile, formed an X with his hands above his head. The kick connected, Lucas's left knee sank, but he swiftly grabbed Sinister's leg, executing a 360-degree swing that sent Sinister hurtling through the air.

Lucas reappeared directly above Sinister, swinging his fist towards Sinister's face. Sinister countered by punching Lucas's shoulder joint, dislocating it. He then seized Lucas by the neck, twisted his body, and forcefully collided with a building, scraping Lucas's head against the ground.

Sinister looked at the bloodied Lucas before him without uttering a moan, staring directly at him.

"Tsk."

Sinister stepped on Lucas, grabbing Lucas's left hand. Two broken fingers were ruthlessly ripped apart and thrown away.

"Let's see how much you can endure, Lucas," Sinister said, grabbing the next hand and forcibly pulling it out, making the blood burst out like a fountain. Despite the agony, not a single sound escaped Lucas's lips.

Grit.

Sinister gritted his teeth and said, "Are you going to fight with the last of your limbs?"

Lucas disappeared and reappeared at the back of Sinister and kicked the nape of Sinister, making him buried in the wall.

'That's the plan,' Lucas said and grabbed at his side where his left hand used to be, and a green light escaped from his palm, closing the ripped side, stopping the blood.

Boom.

With a boom, Sinister reappeared in front of Lucas, grabbed Lucas's right hand, and cleanly cut it.

"Hahahaha, stop one wound, I will give you another. Let's see how many limbs will be left by the end of this battle," Sinister said while his hand was flying through the air. Lucas bent down instantly and stuck his left leg out and rotated fast, kicking the leg of Sinister, making him fall to the side.

Lucas jumped in the air and landed on Sinister's head, burying his head in the ground, making the ground crack. Then Lucas kicked at the side of Sinister, making his figure break through the wall and land outside of the building. After making the wound stop bleeding, he walked out.

Seeing Sinister standing like fighting was nothing but amusement for him and grinning, looking at him.

In the next moment, Sinister disappeared and punched Lucas's face, sending it backward. He then grabbed Lucas's hair and banged his head against his knees.

As Lucas's vision shook, Sinister kicked his abdomen, launching his body through the air like a cannonball. Sinister kicked the ground, soaring through the air to where Lucas had vanished.

A car hurtled toward Sinister; with a wave of his hand, it was cleanly cut in half. Dozens of vehicles flew through the air as Lucas kept appearing and disappearing, kicking the cars toward Sinister.

Sinister swiftly cut the cars, each kick propelling him faster. In mid-air, he grabbed a car door handle, ripping it apart and hurling the car door at Lucas. Lucas countered by kicking the approaching car door back at Sinister, who ducked and approached like a missile.

Sinister threw a punch, met by Lucas's roundhouse kick. Sinister twisted, attempting to block the kick mid-air. Lucas's kick connected with Sinister's hand, scraping his body against the hard concrete road. In the next moment, Sinister disappeared and reappeared in front of Lucas, piercing his stomach with his hand and headbutting Lucas, sending him crashing to the ground.

Then Sinister lifted his leg, crushing both of Lucas's legs. He grabbed him by the mouth, lifting his mangled body in the air and stared at Lucas's face. Only to see those still emotionless blood-red eyes staring back at him.

'Tsk, he is broken.'

Bite.

Crunch.

The sound distracted Sinister's thoughts as he looked at Lucas biting his hand with his mouth.

"Heh, fighting till the last limb, huh?" Sinister chuckled and said, "My name is Malachi Darkthorn," with a swift motion, Lucas's head detached from his body.

Thud.

His remaining body hit the ground with a thud sound.

Sinister grabbed Lucas's head which was still biting his hand despite Lucas dying and crushed it.

The next moment, Sinister disappeared and reappeared again at the start of the battle scene, looking at the second outcome, people going on with their lives.

"Who was the kid?" Sinister thought aloud and disappeared, leaving the strange scene.