I Chose to Become a Villain After Regressing

From the great depths of space, it could be heard from lightyears away — Mother Earth crying out for help; tears of lava flowed down her face, and her hair that used to be a vivacious green that formed the forests on the planet had down been burned into ashes.

Her oceans were drained to the last drop, and her soil turned infertile. She was no longer the beauty that was the miracle child of her galaxy she once was just a mere two decades ago; she was now a lesser version that the other planets no longer envied from afar.

All alone in the emptiness of space, she cried out in agony and sorrow.

Her children were all gone: from the smallest fish in the sea that swam in her ocean to the largest mammal that stomped across her land. All of them ceased to exist.

Well — except for her final child.

Orion Suzuki, simply known by his deceased close friends and peers as "Fox" was Mother Earth's last child standing.

Dancing along the edge of the rocks that surrounded and created a traversable pathway on the coast of the lava streams.

Making his way through all the fiery bubble pops, his tired black eyes, which had a galaxy of stars within them, scurried back and forth searching for one last miracle. Just by looking, you could taste on the tip of your tongue the bitterness in his eyes.

.

.

.

Once I laid my feet upon a giant boulder that was slowly being engulfed by the pool of Hell water below it, I stopped.

Attached to my waist using a rope made from the twisted metal was a broken helmet that looked foreign or even alien. Although the glass was shattered, there were signs of it once donning an eye-shield visor that glimmered rainbows.

Concave holes that resembled bullets, dents from blunt weapons or even fists, and scratches from blades were splattered about on the helmet; it had served its main purpose of protecting the head as best as it could've.

Why did I still keep around this used and now useless helmet?

All around the metallic surface area of the helmet were markings; just like the grains of sand in my shoes, these markings were worn out. They were signatures and hundreds of them were signed on the helmet, each one having its unique colors and style to them.

But they did all share one thing in common which was that they were all written in an absurdly small size, barely readable without squinting; this was to ensure that there was room for the next person.

When each person signed their name onto the helmet, they knew deep down this might be the last evidence of their existence so they had to respect everyone else and give them the chance to leave a mark that'll last beyond their lifespan as well.

Looking down at my gloves turning brown from rust, I decided I no longer needed them. Pushing two buttons on my wrist, one by one they popped off.

"Clank."

"Clank."

They both hit the ground.

"It's over," I sighed. "There's no more danger left in this world. No danger... and no hope."

Compared to the rest of my body which still had that youthful energy, my voice was deceivingly tired.

What I said was a small white lie; there did remain one final danger in the world but it would take me so long to kill it that both it and I would die by the rising red ocean before either of us dropped dead so I didn't consider it to even be a danger, just an immovable object.

"There's no more need for this suit."

Pushing my middle finger twice on where my heart was then my thumb, the suit I was wearing began to open up. It resembled a spacesuit if it was designed for galactic warfare rather than survival in space.

My boots shot out hooks from their soles and planted themselves tightly into the boulder, keeping the entire suit standing upright as I walked out.

It was like I had popped out of a cocoon.

"When's the last time I've gotten a good look at you buddy?" I asked the suit, smirking as I tapped it on the shoulder pad. "See you in the afterlife, my dear friend."

Despite its resemblance to the human body, it stood in place lifeless.

It was now a scarecrow, the final one on Earth.

You served your purpose. And you did it well.

Walking to the edge of the boulder, I stood over a lava geyser ready to blow and spew out nature's deadliest flames at any moment.

Rummaging through the inner pocket of my jacket, I pulled out what I was looking for. Opening the lid of the pack of cigarettes, there was only one final stick remaining.

"Five years. Five damn years I've been saving this vile thing," I shook my head in disbelief.

What a waste of time.

It should've been smoked a long time ago but I had kept it in the safest spot on my body in hopes of one day sharing it with someone else; whoever that may have been.

All that carefulness for no reason. Ha.

Just as I anticipated, the geyser sneezed thunderously and shot out enough lava into the air to burn down an entire rural town.

"Ka...boom," I muttered.

Standing there with the cigarette firmly in between my fingers, I let a singular speck of flame that flew in my direction touch the very tip, lighting it.

Placing it in my mouth, I took a puff of tobacco I hadn't inhaled since I graduated high school.

"Disgusting," I smirked.

I wished I could say that I enjoyed this final treat to myself but I hated the taste and effects of smoking cigarettes; I just didn't want this last remnant of human creation to go to waste, even if it was disgusting.

I also wanted to reminisce on my final year of high school where I tried many things to change from the nerdy loser that I was to anything else including smoking, drinking, going to parties, and selling my morals to fit in with my peers.

When the geyser finally stopped spewing lava everywhere, I had finished inhaling the last bit of tobacco into my lungs.

Flicking the butt of the cigarette into the fiery pool below, I walked back to my suit and detached a bag that was hanging from its back.

Opening it up, there were many personal belongings in it: a golden necklace gifted to me by my father, a ticket to a concert I never got to go to because the apocalypse arrived the week before, a flash drive that contained all of my favorite movies and shows, my old pair of glasses I no longer needed to wear to see, and lastly — a notebook.

Leaving my scarecrow suit behind, I hopped from rock to rock until I found myself a flat boulder with a part that extended upwards into a wall where I could sit and rest my back.

"Lucky find," I said.

Sitting down, I opened up the notebook.

Starting from the very front, one page at a time, I read out loud to myself every single thing that I had written down over the years; each line on every page consisted of a few words — names.

Each time I flipped to the next page, I gave myself a minute to pause and take a deep breath; the further along I got into the notebook, the longer these moments of contemplation got.

"Phew," I breathed deeply, rubbing my eyes.

Skipping over thirty empty pages, I reached the final page which had only two names written down; instead of one per line, this was the first time that two names were written side by side.

Below those names, filling up the rest of the page, was a portrait of a woman holding a little boy in her arms.

I opened my mouth but unlike the other names, I was unable to say these two out loud. I simply mumbled it silently into my ears, not allowing the universe to hear these names ever again as they didn't deserve it. It was solely for me and my aching heart.

For an hour, I remained stuck on that final page. I kept repeating the names in my head while admiring the portrait which took me weeks to complete; I could still vividly hear the cries the little boy made if he wasn't allowed to roam about every few minutes into the portrait sessions.

Those cries were annoying then but now — to hear them one last time would be worth more than life itself; no price could be placed on it and there wasn't anything I wasn't willing to give.

"I've missed you so much, baby boy," I said with a little whimper, giving his face on the portrait a little kiss.

With a tear in my eye, I whispered, "I've missed you as well." before resting my head against the lady in the portrait.

Placing the worn-down helmet by my side, I closed the notebook and grasped it tightly.

Tired of searching, tired of looking for a miracle that I knew didn't exist — I determined right then and there that...

It's my time to go. Time to give up.

Laying the book against my chest and placing my hand on the helmet, I closed my eyes, waiting patiently for the ending I'd been preventing for so long.

"The end of it all will not be today, my child," said a Godly voice.

The power behind the voice was powerful enough to shake the very core of the Earth.

Instantly, memories of the past invaded my mind.

"I'm trying to sleep here," I groaned as I subconsciously looked up into the sky; there was no one up there but I imagined that the voice had to be watching from above.

"Why now?" I asked.

Weirdly enough, in the recent years, the voice had completely disappeared. It was the reason why I had so much motivation to keep going forward. 

I was the chosen one.

I was the one that God trusted to save his beloved mankind from Doomsday.

Now you decide to speak. I've called out to you a million times and nothing. Now?

I didn't know whether to chuckle at the twisted joke of false hope that God was trying to give me.

"Over five years and you pull off this bullshit just when I'm heading to sleep. Well... fuck you. I don't care."

If it was me from a few hours ago, maybe I would've stood up to investigate what the voice was trying to tell me but after going through the names of those that were no longer here on the living plane, I had come to peace with my heartaches.

No longer did I care to extend my long-depleted lifespan with pure willpower.

Rolling up my left sleeve, I looked down at my wristwatch which displayed the number [1] in a blue holographic light.

This watch was unique to Doomsday and helped keep track of how many heartbeats were being captured by the watch simultaneously.

It took less than a second but for me, it felt like an eternity as I watched the [1] flick upward to be replaced by a big [0].

What a cruel joke from the universe. Hahahaha... haha... ha.

The world was allowing me to witness the evidence of my death before it even occurred.

Even down to the very end, I kept my grasp on the notebook — not a single finger willing to let go of the pages like a deceased pharaoh protecting his riches inside their tomb.

"...Hah."

With my last exhale, a bright white light flashed over me, and with every single name I had read, the people they belonged to appeared in front of me; some of them were sprinting my way, and others jogged, walked, or just stood there from afar, perfectly capturing the personality of each person.

The final two names were all that was left for me to reunite with.

As my final breath dissipated into the wild, they appeared before me. Reaching forward with a smile, I grabbed both their hands and began walking toward the bright light ahead of me.

My eyes that stared down at my watch began to turn grey as the galaxy of stars within them died alongside me. As though the souls of those I lost were telling me that it was finally time for me to rest after all these years, my eyelids closed by themselves.