Rubik

Chapter 9: Black and White Finish

There was a panic outside as Dylan sent out several of his disposable grunts outside and the others sprang into action. People were running in several directions and Dylan caused a riot outside. I shook my head and tried not to look, but I had to pull myself off the chair and forced myself to walk outside. Oliver was running past everyone and sliding everywhere, taking out the grunts like nothing. Oscar was launching his cards everywhere and Rachel was throwing the grunts through the shadows. Jeremy and Taylor were working side by side as they shielded each other from the gunfire and launched all kinds of projectiles at the grunts.

But they were outnumbered and I saw one of the grunts shoot Jeremy and Taylor through the heads, taking them out completely. Oscar tried to push them back, but they ganged up on him and took him down, beating him to death. Innocent people were getting caught in the crossfire, my friend was dead, and I couldn't watch it any longer. I pulled my cube out from my pocket and I slammed it against the ground with the orange side solved, sending a huge tremor around me. Everyone stumbled and fell and the fighting all stopped at once.

"Backing out on your part of the deal, Ray?" Dylan asked me. "Come on man, you were free to run."

"What's he talking about, Ray?" Oliver asked, but I didn't answer.

"Your little friend here sold you out to get a chance to get away from all this as well as his wife," Dylan told everyone and they all turned their attention to me.

"How could you do that...?" Rachel asked me, the pain in her voice enough to pierce my heart.

"You were letting innocent people get hurt, Dylan. I wasn't gonna let you continue after that," I told Dylan and walked to him.

"Collateral damage. You can't always help it Ray," Dylan said. "And for backing out on your deal, you're gonna have to suffer for that collateral damage. As well as the casualties of war."

"What are you talking abo--" Before I could finish the sentence, one of Dylan's grunts pulled gun to Rachel's back and pulled the trigger. I quickly turned my head and rushed to her side. "Rach! Rach, look at me! You're gonna be fine, we're gonna fix this." I said, stumbling across my words.

"You son of a bitch," Oliver said. "That was your friend! Your childhood friend!"

"So were you before you tried to kill me 10 years ago!" Dylan shouted.

"Rachel, we're gonna get you fixed, don't worry." I said, but she shook her head. Blood dripped to my legs and she lifted her hands. With her final breaths, she said nothing and struggled to pull her ring off, yanking it from her finger and letting it drop with her arms. I watched the ring drop and roll away, and I felt my heart shatter. "Dylan..." I said as I slowly stood up. Everyone looked at me and I lifted my cube, solving it completely. "I hope death was painful." I turned around and looked at him. "Because I'm gonna kill you again."

The earth shook beneath my feet, storm clouds rolled in, lightning struck, rain poured, fires sparked, vines grew from the cracks in the street, lava spewed from the core of the earth, the water pools forming turned to ice and cracked beneath my steps, the wind kicked up and pushed hard, and my eyes turned as white as snow as I burned a hole through Dylan's chest. Dylan took a step back and he blocked the light with his hand.

"Putting up a fight now, Ray?" Dylan asked and he chuckled. "Then let's fight." He swung his fist at me and threw me back, but I had the ground rise and stand me on my feet without me needing to move. He kicked me in the stomach and pulled out a sword from nowhere, slicing my legs, but the air pushed the sword back. The vines from the earth entrapped Dylan by wrapping around his legs and I burnt a mark into his head. He growled in pain and he shoved an arrow into my stomach. I stumbled back and pulled the arrow out, covering my stomach, but the wound closed up.

He charged at me, but I struck him in the face with the cube. I picked up a massive hurricane and a huge wave flooded the streets. I rode on a shell of ice as I chased Dylan while he struggled to stay above the water to breathe. The water was focused on Dylan alone, leaving everyone else alone. I dropped to the concrete floor and formed the water into a ball, with Dylan at the center. I froze it solid, then charged at it. I jumped up and shattered the ice, going to the center and slamming Dylan to the ground. As Dylan coughed, trying to breathe, I stood above him.

"Pretty impressive, Ray," He coughed out as he slowly stood up. He hunched over and laughed. "But we both know how this has to end, and we both know you won't kill me. You've never even killed a bug, or even stood up for yourself. I've taken everything from you, man, and I know you still won't kill me. So this game of ours won't ever end. I will always hunt you down, no matter where you go, no matter where you try to hide. I will always hunt you down until you're dead."

"Or until you're dead." I looked at Ray and smashed his nose in, knocking him down. I stood on top of him and used the cube to beat his face in until he was a bleeding mess. I burned his skin to a crisp and listened to him scream. "Let me put that out for you!" I shouted as I tried to drown him in a ball of water again. I held my cube up and shocked the water with an unending stream of lightning, frying the water and Dylan along with it. "Stay dead this time!!!" I shouted as I dropped everything. I dropped the cube, and all the elemental damage had disappeared. I slowly walked back to Oliver and he looked at me. "It's done..." I said as I walked past him. The both of us took our friends to our childhood forest and buried them by the river. We had a quiet funeral for them, and it was sad that no one would know what happened to them.

"I should kill you for what you did," Oliver said. I heard him sigh. "But we both have suffered enough. Especially from our past." He walked beside me. "What are you gonna do now?" He asked me. I stopped by Rachel's grave and I knelt down, pulling out a necklace I made with our rings and a piece of thread.I hung it at the corner of her grave.

"After what happened today, I have a lot to pay for. And I can't do it from a cell." I sighed. "I'll do it as someone else, though. Ray can't fix this mess. Ray can't make it up for what I've done today." I looked at my cube. "I'll do it as Rubik, and I'll just help wherever help is needed.

Oliver stood still and nodded. "I'll probably go into hiding, changing my name as well." He stayed quiet for a moment. "I had a Russian fried who said I reminded him of an Eagle. He had a Russian word for Eagle. Oriel, if I remember correctly. I'll probably adopt that." I nodded and sighed. We looked at each other. "This is goodbye, isn't it?" He asked.

"For now, at least." We shook hands and he looked down. "In another life, we don't have to deal with this. I'm still married to Rachel, and you're my brother-in-law." I sighed. "I'd love to for that to be real, and not this dilemma we're in. But so are the cards we're dealt, right?" I walked away from the site without another word and walked out of the forest, then out of the town, then just kept walking. The life I had before was gone, and I was never getting it back. I had to lead a new life with a new alias, and I thought Rubik had a chance to make an impact on the world.