Piyo 4
Ag felt a hard metal point placed at his temple. He grinned outwardly but his mind raced. Who was this? Which one got away, who was audacious enough to chase him down and hold him up like this? Surely anyone who came after him would also know better than to bet on their own reaction speeds compared to a superhuman’s. A thin voice called out to answer his question.
“You’ve got a dumb smile on your face, have you forgotten about me already? Are you trying to be polite, pretending you know who you’re dealing with? Those bullet wounds in your throat look like they healed up well, did you forget who gave them to you?”
The scene replayed in Ag’s mind. He’d been sent to hunt down a detective who was threatening intelligence assets, but he’d gotten unlucky.
Piyo hung above him, his cheeks emaciated but rosy, flush with emotion. He’d changed physically and mentally several times now, more than anyone could imagine he felt, yet his goal hadn’t changed in half a decade. Restore some innocence to this world. Restore some purity to himself.
Ag searched his mind. If this was that detective, his reflexes may not win. He fell back to what felt like the next best defense mechanism. He probed to see if Piyo still had a heart to abuse.
“You’re only here for me because you hate something you see in yourself. I’m just what you’re projecting onto, killing me will add murder to your conscience on top of whatever’s already there. You had to chase me down to a ruin in the middle of the desert when you had your own soul to work on at home. There’s nobody left for me to hurt out here. You can still live your life out as a better man in a remaining village somewhere. You don’t need to die out here like me.”
Ag very slowly turned around to see Piyo’s reaction. Now a new one was smiling and the other was losing his cool.
Piyo kept the gun steady.
“I can’t deny it, what you’re accusing me of is true. I hate you because you’re what I never wanted to be aware of in my own head, forcing it to the forefront. The truth is that I want to destroy that thing in my head, and whenever I think about you, I want you dead too. That’s hypocritical, isn’t it?
“But the truth is, I want to die too. We’ve both done things that deserve capital punishment, and everyone wants what they deserve, don’t they? Any workman wants his wages, and it’s a sin to deny them to him. My life means nothing to me. You really are an animal if yours still means something to you.”
Piyo gripped the gun tighter. He breathed in and out. Self control, don’t fumble, not now. Not now.
Ag’s mind was rushing now. How could he save himself? What defense did he have? If he could catch Piyo off guard maybe a physical retaliation could still work, but he couldn’t be certain. He had to keep living.
Undeterred though, he kept the gun steady and kept talking. He was like an officer reading a criminal his rights and charges. It had to be done or else it was just a killing, but his man clearly didn’t worry about high civilization like he did. Piyo watched him closely.
“Anyone with any hope left hates evil, wants what’s dissipated to be destroyed. Now someone’s come to make good on it. You had your time to destroy it in your own life, half a decade. Now I’m here to clean it up for you. I’m not a hypocrite though, I’m doing myself next, but I’ll have a future after that. This is the end for you.
“That’s what kept me alive so long in the desert over those long years. You still had to have your life headed off in the same manner that you lived, and I had to find a fallow patch of earth to fertilize. We’re both going to die but I still have a future. You’ve reached the fullness of your life, and I will excise every vestige of you. You’re going to decay and be forgotten out here, humanity finally rid of you, justice a little richer for the trouble.”
Ag reached around and attempted to force Piyo down, but instead he was blown over by a strike to his jaw and he was back on the ground, face up, staring up the barrel.
“If there was anything left to be salvaged, you’d accept this situation with some grace. Maybe you’d save your life anyway. Such a shame.”
Piyo pulled the trigger.