The End

It didn’t take long for Ito to notice the intruder. In fact, it was pretty hard to ignore someone repeatedly throwing cars at the building you’re in.

He peered out of a hole in the side of the skyscraper.

“Please go away. You can kill me after midnight tonight”

Jesse launched a tractor trailer at him after giving him the finger. Ito retreated into the building and covered his ears. It was getting loud again, and he could feel the shards of glass in his fingers. It wouldn’t hurt to try and remove the one that was bothering him.

Ito heard someone walking around. It couldn’t be Jesse.The footsteps drew nearer. He had to understand, he would understand.

A large hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He yelped like a kitten and found himself flying through the air. His bones shattered once again, reformed, and then again after he fell from the ceiling. Bits of glass flew from his mouth as he tried to regain his breath.

“What does it matter to you?”

“You’re lying. I’ve told you before. There’s no way-”

“The gods are fickle, Jesse!”

He stopped. Jesse glowered at him and raised his right hand.

“Ah, some of them are, I mean. Not all, of course, sorry”

“None of the gods are fickle, you piece of shit. Weak? Yes. Idiots? Also yes. But not fickle”

He dashed at Ito, who dodged out of the way and flung three shards of glass at Jesse. They did nothing other than draw a bit of blood. If only, he thought, it had been Zaza instead. She would have been strong enough.

Jesse’s hands were shaking a bit. It was becoming increasingly clear that Ito was not merely stalling for time. His intent was to get him to leave. He tried to think of every god he had encountered. There wasn’t a single one that could benefit from the absence of humans in an area. In fact, most gods enjoyed the company of humans, one way or another.

“Ito, if I promise to leave afterwards, would you allow me to kill you?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Anything you want, just please keep everyone out of-”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, as he found his head had been severed from his body. Before it even hit the ground, glass fibers sprouted from the stump of his neck and reached out to his head. Jesse grabbed the tubes and ripped them in half, but with no success. They continued to grow, and eventually they reconnected Ito’s body.

“Ah, sorry. Sorry, please try again, sorry”

Jesse began to pummel Ito in the face, over and over again, until his head was nothing more than a bloody mess on the ground. He noticed his hands were getting cut each time.

“What’s the point of agreeing to die if you keep regenerating?”

Ito raised a shaking hand, but Jesse didn’t relent his attacks.

***

Isaac sat down on top of the tractor trailer and wiped his forehead.

“Let’s take a break, okay?”

Fuyu poked his head out.

“Got it”

The angels hadn’t stopped appearing. America had gotten the worst of it, although they did have a few more competent deciders than Japan.

“You want me to see if your sister is doing okay? She’s with Em, so she should be fine, but you never know…”

Fuyu shook his head.

“I don’t want to think about that right now”

“Fair enough”

An angel spotted them from afar and began sprinting towards the duo. Isaac reached for his scythe. The angel was suddenly flung to the side, demolishing a small bakery with a panda statue outside.

Jack landed next to Isaac.

“What are you doing, man?”

Isaac shrugged. The angel picked itself off the ground and shook the rubble from its pure white body. Jack launched himself at the angel and punched it squarely in the face, which shattered upon impact.

Fuyu hugged his arms and looked at his feet, while Isaac took out a brush and began combing his hair.

“Take this seriously, okay? People are dying!”

The brush snagged on a tangle in Isaac’s hair. He let out a small yelp.

“I know. That’s why I’m taking a break. If I slip up cause I’m tired and die, I can’t help anyone”

“Than stop acting so non-chalant about it”

Isaac didn’t respond, and finished brushing his hair. It was looking pretty good today.

***

Ito flew out of the window, finding that he fell much faster than he had thought. About halfway down, the realization that he had no way to break his fall set in, and he could only wait for his inevitable impact.

He wasn’t quite sure where he went wrong. While it would be easy to blame Jesse, who had caused most of his problems thus far, he felt that really he should have been able to beat him. But he wasn’t even close. He hadn’t landed a single good hit, and even if he had, it wouldn’t have done much. In the end, it was his fault. It was his fault for being weak, as usual. A weak, sniveling, awkward nerd who couldn’t even help his own sister.

He wondered where Zaza was now. He had made sure to drink all the sap in one go, so there was no way she could have gotten any. Knowing her, she would probably find some more somewhere else.

Part of him wished their mother had really sent her to that camp. Then she would at least be a passive, safe sheep. 

His brain splattered across the pavement.

***

When Ito gained his senses again, it was pitch black. He began to pick himself up, but a heavy hand slammed his head against the concrete.

“It’s 11:58, Ito”

“Please”

His stomach felt awful, worse than the glass shards stuck in his face. He wished he could move his arms.

“You screwed up. I don’t know what plan you had, but it’s over”

“If we run now, we can make it Jesse”

There was no chance of them making it, even Jesse wasn’t that fast.

“Stop talking or I’ll bash your head in again”

He wished Jesse would bash in his head again.

“Jesse-”