Ch 17. He just felt like it.

As expected, the war was not going their way.

The resistance was losing badly.

He was flying using a piece of marble modified by Mori.

Tiberiu: "The only thing I have to remind me of her at a time like this."

Looking down, all he could see were dead bodies. Allies, enemies, didn't matter, looking at them, he could see one thing clearly.

Tiberiu: "They are all humans."

There was no regret in his voice when he said that, there was no emotion. Why? Because everyone he cared about was safe.

He made sure of that since the night before. He took advantage of the unconditional trust they all had in him, and he gave his personal squad the wrong location. All he had to do was wake up early and get out of there before everyone else.

Tiberiu: "That was probably the best choice I have made for as long as I can remember."

By the time everyone realized what he had done, it was already too late.

The whole fight only took a couple of hours. In only a couple of hours he ended up flying above what seemed like hell on earth.

But his plan was proceeding smoothly. He could see the thing appearing and disappearing on the ground. It was following him.

Tiberiu: "I knew it had the hots for me."

The thing had also succeeded in its goal, it had obtained a human body that it could use.

Tiberiu: "Picking Taro out of all the people must have been on purpose. The wounds on him are not even healed. There is even a scar around his neck."

But by now, even picking a familiar face was of no use. He was determined to end it there and then.

He landed in the middle of the field and waited. Not long after, he saw the familiar face of his old hero. It did not attack, the advantage was clearly on the side of the alien, but curiosity got the best of it.

Tiberiu: "Sorry, I have a wife."

Alien: "What is that supposed to mean?"

Tiberiu: "...Nothing...My jokes just don't seem to work lately."

Saying that, he made his weird weapon into a stick and attacked.

Tiberiu: "This may be old-fashioned, but as I said, if it is Taro, I feel like I can take him."

While the alien still had slight control over time, the unarmed human body that he had did not offer a lot of options. So all it could do was move through time and try to find a moment to strike.

Of course, even with a weak body, it still could not be touched.

This was not a fight that Tiberiu could easily win. They had been going back and forth for at least ten minutes, and he was the only one getting hurt.

Yet, the smile on his face just wouldn't fade. He was losing this fight, but a fight was not the way he intended to win this war.

While looking around, the alien finally noticed the open field they were fighting on was burning. The fire was coming from every direction and was approaching fast.

Tiberiu: "Took you a while. Now even going back in time won't help you, this fire has been burning for a while.

This was the plan, far away from the fighting grounds, the resistance set up a fire, it had been already burning by the time they got there. Nothing could be seen over the tall flames.

Alien: "So that is your plan, hero? To leave me here burning while you fly away back to safety?"

Tiberiu: "Kinda lame, huh? Then again. I don't know if the fault lies with me for laying this anticlimactic death for you or with you for being so obsessed with me that you arrogantly followed me here alone and unarmed. What were you even thinking?

Alien: "Right...what even was on my mind, I wonder."

The next second, the alien teleported and grabbed the stick from Tiberiu. He was getting caught off guard more and more often.

Tiberiu: "Look who is panicking. That stick only listens to me, we made sure of it."

Alien: "I see."

While the fire was getting closer and closer, they kept fighting. There seemed to be no escape for either of them. But Tiberiu kept slowing down.

The alien created an opening again. It threw the stick back to the person it started to admire as a hero.

Tiberiu caught the stick, and when he looked back at the body of his old friend, all he could see was a parasite flying towards him.

It got him. The parasite entered the body of the hero and took flight right as the fire engulfed the place they were standing on.

Yet, for some reason, it could not take control completely. And the voice that was talking was still that of Tiberiu. He was laughing.

While he laughed, the body they now shared fell to the ground.

Tiberiu: "For a researcher, you are pretty dumb when it comes to this, you know? Or is it arrogance?"

It looked like he could hear and respond to the alien inside him.

Tiberiu: "Poison, dumbass... when I saw there is no way I can win a 1-on-1 with you."

Tiberiu: "So that's how you run through time? Too bad! Seems you can't run far back enough! Your loss!"

That's exactly what it was. That's exactly what he wasted. He didn't look for a way to win, he just wanted his enemy to lose. And he got to see his wish fulfilled.

The small parasite, in a fit of despair, got out of his body, but there was nothing around. For kilometers, all there was was burned grass.

The thing just shriveled and dried up.

...

...

...

While he was just waiting there to die. A random guy he met in a river sat beside him.

River guy: "A play can't end without the leading actor giving us his last words."

Leading actor: "I see, so you've picked it up."

...

Leading actor: "So... What are you really?"

River guy: "If I told you I was just a passerby, would you believe me?"

Leading actor: "At this point, I gain nothing by doubting you."

...

There was not much those two had to talk about, but leaving the man who gave up his tomorrow alone in his final moments... you just don't do that.

River guy: "So...did you fulfill it? Your goal."

Leading actor: "Who knows? Maybe, for a day."

River guy: "I see... so what about tomorrow?"

Leading actor: "Huh?"

River guy: "Come on...just because you won't be here doesn't mean the world stops for all of us. The world just lost its God. You won the war started on a whim. You got your revenge, but what about the other reasons? The people close to you will move towards a new, dangerous, unstable life. They will do it their way. They won't be controlled by a weird parasite. Don't you look forward to that?"

Leading actor: "Haha...Yeah...I guess...I do..."

He closed his eyes. You could see him among the ashes, his back on a still warm boulder. There was no smile on his face, that is not how people die. Yet he seemed calm.

...

His witness stayed there for a bit, and when the silence had been going on for some time, he got up.

Leading actor: "Don't you dare touch them. I will come back to haunt you."

River guy: "Hm?"

Leading actor: "My girls."

River guy: "Hahaha. They can't be somebody's girl if that somebody is dead... I got it...I have the impression you really would come back for me if I did."

River guy: "Do you regret it?"

Leading actor: "What is there to regret? I have only done what I wanted. All the mistakes. All the hard times. Those things made me the guy I am now. And I will die because I chose to. There is not a single thing I could regret."

Leading actor: "I do hope they don't regret, though... I know Andra will look down on me for this...but it's not like she had a choice in picking her brother. Mori, on the other hand... she had the choice of not falling for the guy who never wanted to live this life... she had the choice of not getting stuck with his kid... we didn't even decide on a name... yet I am just leaving them here with the very "gift" I am finally getting rid of. I hope she doesn't regret this."

River guy: "I take it you wanted to die for a long time?"

Leading actor: "I wonder...all I can say is, I didn't really like living. Selfish, right?"

River guy: "The guy who sacrificed himself has actually just been selfishly following his gut on every step? Hah, I wonder..."

Leading actor: "Or who knows, maybe I just wanted to pretend being a hero, to make up for what I started. That would be a cooler way to be remembered."

...

The boulder was the only thing still keeping his body warm. It was time for the guy he met in a river to rest.

River guy: "One last thing. What is the name I should write here? What is your name?"

Leading actor: "What do you mean... didn't my name slip up some years ago? ... I thought that trope was long dead."

River guy didn't reply. He left. On the way back, he saw the others rush towards the battle zone. He just watched them from a distance.

The story of the selfish guy sometimes believed to be a hero came to an end. All that was left were the memories of him. For however long those would linger around.