The driver pulled up to an empty lot fronted by a buckling concrete sidewalk. Dale and I got out of the car to stand before a field of grass and weeds that had replaced where my childhood home had been. The landscape had been recently tended by whoever owned the land, most likely to avoid city fines. A rickety fence stood at the back of the property. Behind it, I remembered there being a concrete slab that Dad would park our only vehicle, a van.

The trunk was always full of drywall tools and the seats were covered in dust that permanently stained it. Selena and I used to fight in the back seat until my little brother, Diego, was born. He was a fussy kid, prone to tantrums, and we didn’t want to add to our parent’s stress, so we agreed to stop arguing. Mom would still buckle him between us, she said it was to ‘separate us just in case’.

“Stay here.” I told Dale, who nodded. I approached the fence and hesitantly pushed open the sagging gate that dangled on rusty hinges. Tires, a torn-up mattress, and various other trash was strewn about the slab; people had started using it as a make shift dump. Atop a stack of tires, sat Selena.

“Jesus.” She smiled. “I knew you’d get my hints.” I’d only noticed the one on the news, but I didn’t correct her.

“Yeah.” I replied, unsure how else to respond. After all this time, here she was, and I was speechless. None of the questions I had for her seemed important anymore. All I could do was approach her with tears in my eyes. She inspected me and her gaze settled on my missing hand with concern, but the expression disappeared quickly. For the first time in a decade, I was able to hug my family.

It was a long hug. I was worried that if I let go, I’d lose her again, but eventually we parted. I inspected her face. She looked a lot like my mom, but Selena was about 50lbs lighter and looked 10 years younger. My vision was blurred by a stream of tears. I was about to speak, but when she looked into my eyes. She pushed me away and jumped back.

“Who are you?” She snarled.

“I – Selena, it’s me. Jesus.” I said reaching out.

“You’re not my brother.” She replied. “Who are you? Did she send you to kill me?”

“I don’t understand. Selena – It’s me.” I tried, getting closer.

“You’re not him!” She shouted with rage. “I can see it in your eyes.” What could she see? Was I that different from our childhood? Could she see what I’d become; what I’d done? I realized my eyes were still black, was that what she saw? How could she know about that? Was what Jascia said true? Was she involved in all of this somehow? So many questions ran through my mind, but Selena looked on the verge of running.

“Wait.” I pleaded. Not wanting to scare her off like a movie cliché without getting a chance to explain. I took a few steps back, took a deep breath and dropped my shoulders. “Just – wait. I’ll explain everything.” She heeded my words, but stood motionless but alert.

It was too long a tale to start at the beginning, so I recounted the events from my stint in prison, lacking my usual storytelling flair. Her fear changed to suspicion, and something else, when I got to the parts about magic powers. She was my sister and I wanted her to trust me. I wanted her to get to know the present me, not just the me from the past.

“So, you absorbed this guy, Poison, and now he’s trapped in your soul and you don’t know how to get him out.” Selena summarized curiously.

“Exactly.” I said. “I’ll figure it out eventually, but for now, I’m not too worried about it.”

“I have one question.” She said.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Why didn’t you stab the guy instead of cutting off your hand?”

“I – look, it was a high stress situation. If you were there, you’d understand.” She smirked in response to my pout.

“Ok, ok.” She said with a placating gesture. “Magic powers, huh?” She bit her thumbnail as if debating something, but the expression disappeared. What was that? There was a lot that I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to press, for fear that she’d flee. I still needed answers and had to know why and how she was involved with Jascia’s escape. I decided to ease into it and work from there.

“Why did you run when I saw you at my apartment?” I asked. She gave me a you’re-really-that-stupid? face.

“Uhh…Isn’t it obvious? You were getting arrested.” She said. “Did you want me to make a scene? ‘That’s my brother, you can’t arrest him! He didn’t do nothin’ wrong. He has rights!” She mocked with a voice to go with it. Actually, that made a lot of sense.

“Yeah…” I replied sheepishly, averting my gaze. “I guess that would have been pretty dumb.” Not knowing what else to say, we both just kind of stood there. As the silence drew on, a somber mood fell on us, and Selena broke the silence.

“I wish Mom, Dad, and Diego were here.” She said. “I can’t believe they’re gone.” My heart broke as my guilt overwhelmed me.

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure if she knew what really happened. I wanted to tell her, to lighten the burden I carried; to reassure me that it wasn’t my fault, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more. I’d just gotten her back. What if the truth made her hate me? I couldn’t face that.

“Where have you been all this time?” I asked, changing the topic. She crossed her arms and looked away. “I looked for you, you know.” A pained expression appeared on her face.

“I – can’t tell you.” She replied.

“10 years. You’ve been gone 10 years, and you can’t tell me?” I asked. The fury I’d been holding all this time exploded out of me in an instant.

“You wouldn’t understand.” She replied without conviction.

“Then explain it to me.” I combatted.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s for your protection.” I stared at her in disbelief.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” I replied, astonished. “I just told you that I fought monsters with magical powers and you say you can’t tell me and it’s for my protection? C’mon, how cliché can you be? You know how this is going to go, right? You say, ‘it’s for your protection’, then I say something like, ‘the death it is’, and you’ll go, ‘don’t get involved’, and I’ll say, ‘I’m already involved’, then you’ll warn me to leave it alone and walk away all menacingly. Obviously, I won’t and by not telling me, I have to run all over town trying to figure it out when you could have just told me in the beginning. In the end, I find out anyway and you’re probably going to be the one to tell me during your death scene.” She watched me during my entire rant and smirked.

“You remind me of dad.” She commented, still smiling. “He was always so funny.” I threw my hands up in frustration.

“Don’t do that.” I said. “You’re changing the subject to avoid telling me why you were gone.”

“You know what? You’re right.” She shot, her own anger flaring. “I’m not going to tell you. Listen to your older sister for once. Go back to running your business and stay out of it.” I clenched my teeth, it felt like we were kids again.

“I can’t stay – ” I paused, setting aside my emotions. “How do you know I have a business?” Her shoulders relaxed.

“I saw your billboard.” She replied simply.

“Oh yeah?” I smiled. “What did you think?”

“It’s awesome, I love it.” She smiled back.

“Really?!” I exclaimed.

“No.” Her face fell flat. “It’s dumb.”

“What?” I asked. “I don’t get it, how can everyone hate it? It’s amazing! Clearly, none of you can appreciate my brilliance.”

“The way you grin and thumbs up – it's creepy. How did you even come up with that? Besides, nobody looks at billboards anymore.” She explained. “Why don’t you make a cat video? Everybody loves cat videos.”

“I don’t want to make cat videos.” I crossed my arms petulantly.

A loud crash sounded from the street that made us both jump. I tried to look through the fence, but it was a six-foot-tall privacy fence and I wasn’t six feet tall. Rushing toward the gate, I looked back to Selena.

“Stay here.” I commanded, and started to leave, but turned back again. “Don’t even think about running away as soon as I go out there. I will be back and if you’re gone, I’m going to be as mad as the grim reaper after someone cheats death.” She rolled her eyes and plopped down onto the stack of tires. I eyed her and she made an are-you-going-to-go-or-what gesture toward the gate. I nodded and ran into the yard.

A massive concrete spike rose through the middle of my ride. Atom stood on the roof of the vehicle with one hand resting on the pillar. He had an evil grin on his face.

“C’mon, man.” I exasperated. “What’s your deal with impaling stuff?”

He was still wearing traffic cone orange, and I realized I was too. I should have changed out of my own tattered garb when I was at Shawn’s. He probably had a dapper suit with wingtip shoes I could have worn. Although, I bet the battle-tested prison clothes made me look savage like a Viking. A sudden realization struck me and I frantically surveyed for Dale.

“Don’t worry, your man is fine.” He assured. “Aren’t you curious how I managed to survive the poison?”

“First off, he’s not my man. Secondly, no. You obviously used your powers.” I said. He pursed his lips. “Just give Dale back and go away.”

“No!” He shouted in a sudden burst of anger. I thought it was a little out of line, so I gave him a placating, chill-man-I-didn’t-mean-to-upset-you gesture. “You killed three of my men and now you’re going to suffer.”

“Look. As I told you guys before, I’ve had a real day of the dead.” I explained. “Don’t you get it? You’re the villain and you’re going to lose. I’m going to find out where you’re keeping Dale, rescue him, and you’re going to die in the conflict.” I explained. “Then, your buddy, Bullseye, is going to survive with a scar over one eye and show up in the sequel with a limp.” Atom stared at me in disbelief. Every time I went through this spiel everyone gave me the same look and it was starting to annoy me. “Let’s just skip all that. Give back my friend and you get to live.” He collected himself and his smile returned.

“I don’t think so. How about we make a trade?” He said. “You give me the woman you were just talking to and I give you back your friend.” Why would he want Selena I wondered, but the thought was replaced by frustration.

“Why did you have to go and say that?” I complained. “Of course, I’m not going to make a trade and now she’s probably gone because of you. What’s more, why would I make that deal? You’d just show up with some rando wearing Dale’s clothes and a bag on his head. You know what? I’m done playing around.”

I was going to rush him, take him down with brute force or poison, and trade him for Dale. The second-in-command was never as smart as the leader after all. Channeling energy into my legs, I made to pounce, but when my feet left the ground, and I only jumped a few feet. I held the pose for a few moments, then looked down at my legs. They weren’t suffused with power.

“What was that?” Atom asked with an eyebrow raised. With frustrated realization, I closed my eyes. As I suspected, a swirling mess of black energy was wandering around aimlessly through my legs. Apparently, Poison’s ability didn’t include all the perks that came with being a normal mage. I shook with anger.

“You guys are so annoying!” I shouted in exasperation.

“I – ” Atom said.

“You and your buddy Poison are really killing my vibe, man.”

“Wait – what? He’s still alive?” Atom said hopeful, breaking character.

“Yes, he’s still alive.” I said between clenched teeth. “And he’s mucking up my powers.” An interesting thought crossed my mind. “Actually, I have a great idea. Here’s a deal for you: give me Dale back and you can have Poison back. It’s a win-win.”

Atom considered this and I nodded as if it would influence his decision. He mulled it over as if trying to piece together a plan to betray me. I interrupted his planning.

“You know it’s a good deal, stop trying to think up some way to mess it up.” He watched me suspiciously.

“I suppose it would be a good trade.” He said reluctantly. “But he’ll need a body to inhabit.”

“Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “I’m not going to do your dirty work. I’ll put his soul in you and you can figure it out from there.” He pondered.

“Ok…How would we go about doing that?” He asked.

“How should I know? You’re the body stealers.” I said.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true.” He nodded. “Alright, deal.”

“Great.” I replied.

“Bullseye, bring him out!” Atom called. From behind the neighbor’s house, Bullseye led Dale toward the impaled vehicle with a knife at his back.

“Hey Jesse.” Dale waved, unperturbed by the situation.

“Hey Dale.” I responded, then looked to Atom. “Really? He was just over there?” I motioned. Atom shrugged.

When Bullseye and Dale stopped next to the car, my friend’s bulk hid most of his captor’s form, except for the hints of orange fabric visible through the gap in Dale’s legs. My face betrayed my disappointment.

“You couldn’t have just overpowered the guy and taken the knife?” I asked Dale.

“I didn’t know who these guys were and I didn’t feel like getting stabbed. This is a rough part of town, Jesse.” He explained. I shook my head with disdain and redirected my attention to Atom.

“Wait a second – so you put a spike through our ride just for effect? That’s messed up.” I said.

“Yeah, man. Not cool, not cool.” Dale added.

“Wait – where’s Jeeves?” I asked.

“He was in the car, when…” Dale said. All of our faces slowly changed to horror, even Atom’s. To our relief, the passenger side window rolled down, and our driver waved at me.

“Holy death, Jeeves.” I praised. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Master Gil.” He replied. Master Gil, kind of like Master Wayne, I could get used to that.

“Wow, I’m impressed you’re still in there. That’s some dedication.” I praised.

“I aim to please, sir.” He replied.

“Right on. Keep Jeeves’ing, Jeeves.” I replied and shook away my thoughts.

“My name’s – ” He started, but I dismissed him with a wave.

“Whatever – Atom, you ready to do this thing?” He acquiesced by climbing off the car’s roof. It would have been cooler if he jumped down, but I wasn’t going to tell him how to do his thing.

“Let go of Dale, and I’ll push Poison into Atom.” I said to Bullseye.

“No. We do it at the same time.” Bullseye replied.

“For the sake of dying, I want this guy out of me as much as you want him back.” I said. “Just let him go and you can have him.” Bullseye and Atom exchanged looks. Atom shrugged.

Dale was released and he walked into the yard. I approached Atom and reached out to him impatiently. I was about to use my stumpy arm, but caught myself before anyone noticed. I grasped my tormentor's forearm with my hand, and entered his soul.

As before, we were in a lab with Atom sitting behind a desk. This time, however, he had his chin resting in his hand, bored.

“Well?” He asked. “Where is he?”

“I’m going to give him to you, but you don’t want him just out and about making a slime trail in your lab, do you?” I asked, approaching his desk. He bit his cheek in thought. I wasn’t sure if aliens had teeth, but that was the expression he made.

“I suppose not.” He replied.

“Alright then, where do you want me to put him?” I asked looking around as I stopped next to him. He got out of his seat and looked around the room as well. When he started to conjure another human specimen tube, I grabbed his arm and ran back the way I’d come. We flailed wildly as I ran through the barrier of his soul and into mine. I stopped next to the black roiling pond, and let go of Atom; he plopped to the ground at its edge.

“What did you just do?!” He panted. I gestured to the glowing black mass.

“Here he is. Now you can have him back.” I said. Atom looked between me and the pool that swirled and bubbled. It exuded screams that echoed as if they were on the far end of a long tunnel. Atom’s mouth dropped open.

“What have you done to him?” He asked in astonished horror. I shrugged.

“Don’t blame me, he did it to himself.” I explained. “Now, if you’d kindly take him, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I don’t – how?” He asked.

“I have no idea.” I threw my hands up. “Maybe just reach in there and pull him out? I don’t know.” Atom looked at me then back at the pool. He took a deep breath and reached his hand down.

Before either of us knew what happened, the black mass shot up and enveloped Atom’s upper-half. It dragged him in like an alligator grabbing an animal drinking from a lake. Atom surfaced gasping, frantically trying to keep his head above the darkness. I watched, slack-jawed as he was dragged down like a drowning swimmer trying to escape a kraken.

His screams joined that of Poison’s as the pool flashed then dimmed. The edges of the black pond expanded a couple feet and I took a step back. The bubbles that randomly broke the surface of the watery energy were joined by spikes that shot out just as randomly. I continued staring in disbelief before finally speaking.

“Well, that was messed up.” A moment later, I stood on the sidewalk letting go of Atom’s forearm. His body fell limply to the pavement.

“Oops.” I said. Bullseye and Dale shared shocked expressions.

“I did not see that coming.” Dale said. “Nice double-cross.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” I defended. “It just kind of happened.”

“What have you done?” Bullseye asked still in a state of shock. I looked toward him, but waggled my body in a round-about way.

“Well – you see. I may have just eaten his soul too.” I replied.

“C’mon, man. That’s cold, even for you. You can’t just go around eating people’s souls like that.” Dale admonished.

“I didn’t mean to! It was an accident.” I defended further.

“Sure, his soul just accidentally fell into your mouth.” Dale gave me a disappointed expression. Our banter was cut short by Bullseye’s scream.

“Y-you killed him. You killed all of them.” He staggered back trying to distance himself from me. “Y-you’re a monster!”

“I’m not – ” I tried to reach out.

“Stay away from me!” He yelled, with true fear in his voice. I froze. I’d killed two of his friends and sucked the souls out of the other two. What else could he think? To him I was a monster.

In fact, he wasn’t even the first person to call me that today. The devil, a demon, a monster; that’s what people have been calling me all day. Actually, it’s what people have been calling me most of my life. How could they all be wrong? Maybe I really was what they said I was.

My identity crisis was interrupted when a knife hurdled toward me. I stepped back and shielded my face on instinct, but the new ability in my arsenal showed itself. A concrete spike shot up from the ground to block the projectile. Unfortunately, it didn’t make a difference, the knife curved around the obstacle and hit me center mass. Both my arms and my jaw dropped in surprise. I looked down at the handle sticking out of my chest, then over to Dale who appeared just as shocked as I was.

His expression hardened just before I started to fall backward. I was out before I hit the ground.