THE SHADOWVERSE

Ultimatum, Part II

Titan released his grip on Dustin, Sam, and Johnny. Instead of floating above the burnt soil, they were pinned in place on the ground. Titan kept the rest held aloft. With single movement of his arm, Titan dragged Dustin over to his empty hand.

"We have a winner. What a superb warrior you are, Dustin Jones."

Not a word escaped from Dustin's mouth. "No! Get your hands off of him!" Sam cried. "Don't you touch him!"

"Titan, please! Don't do this!" Johnny begged. "She . . . they are innocent. Take me instead."

"Actually, I won't. I will not kill them both, but you will have to choose. So, who will it be? The wife of Timothy Sparks and mother of a hero? Or your best friend? A difficult choice this is."

"Sam, listen to me. You know what I said," Dustin cried. "I love you man."

"No, don't say that! Come on Johnny! Do something!"

"I don't know what to do." He froze, as if time had stopped. Turning his head, he saw The Shadowforce floating off the ground, locked in their invisible prison. The scene turned dark as he watched Sam crying helplessly, in slow motion, and Titan holding his mother and best friend triumphantly in his clutches. Coming back to reality, time sped up once again. "I do not know what I must do, but I know one thing. I will not play this game of yours. You want to prove that in their hour of need, humans will commit the worst atrocities. But I will not play."

"You are very wise, Sparks. But you must understand what that will mean."

"If you touch him, just be aware you are already dead. You're dead!" Sam screamed.

"I hoped such measures would not be necessary," Titan replied, his voice deepening.

Johnny cried. "Titan, I beg you. Take me instead! Please!"

"You are quoting Sonovan Lung, Sparks. When I killed his wife, Aiko, he begged me to do the same—to take him instead. How alike the two of you are!" he spat scornfully, turning to Sonovan. "Incredible!"

Johnny glanced at Sam, who was in severe distress. "Please. I don't care. Just take me," Sam replied.

"A man cannot be broken, unless he is kept alive and the thing that he cherishes most is taken from him," Titan growled.

"I will kill you!" Sam screamed, his tears flying through the air with every squirm.

"So be it," Titan replied coolly.

"I love you, buddy," Dustin gasped.

Nothing in their lives could have prepared them for this. Titan snapped his fingers and Irene was killed instantly. Johnny saw her body fall in slow motion. The moment extended into an eternity. Then, Titan casually speared Dustin in the chest with a blade, choosing to watch the hero die slowly, in pain.

"No!" screamed Sam in horror. The others could not even speak, their mouths locked shut and squirming in their places. "No! Dustin!"

"Mom! Dustin!" screamed Johnny. "What have you done?!"

"That which is necessary. Equilibrium."

Johnny and Sam sank to their knees.

Coughing up blood, Dustin gripped the handle of the blade protruding from his chest. "Hurricane . . . is what I have become," he muttered, painfully. Titan furrowed his brow, unsure of the words he spoke. He was about to lay the finishing blow to his neck when something extraordinary happened.

Dustin's anger outweighed his pain, as he realized the end was near. Easing the knife out of his chest, Dustin stood up, a bloody hole gaping in his heart. "I will be your downfall." At that very second, Ooris accumulated around him, swirling in every direction. His eye color disappeared, giving way to a pure, glowing white, while his body shifted to black.