Prologue:

          Everything has a center. Every truth. Every untruth. Every universe. Every empty space. As the center expands new kinds of existences are brought into existence. Then that new existence creates another, and a ripple effect explodes across the planes around the center making it bigger than it was at the start. Giving it more definition and divination spreading it further and further along. It spreads so far that none would believe that it could ever possibly stop spreading. They would say it could never reach its’ peak. However, everything has an unraveling. Every truth. Every untruth. Every universe….

    Destiny opens his eyes as he brings his recurring thoughts to a close. He rubs his hands along the smooth surface of his solid gold throne. It had seemed like only yesterday that he’d carved it out of matter after he watched the universe being created. How promising it seemed, and how everything seemed to fit together so perfectly.

    He was sent to this post to ensure that everything would survive until the Great One returned. However nothing had gone according to plan. There was one mistake that had not been accounted for, humankind. No matter how hard he tried he could not get them to see the importance of the big picture, they just kept destroying every good thing. The Great One had made it perfectly clear that everything was to have free will and a choice. Destiny wondered if the Great One had known that in the end no one would make the right choice. Destiny furrowed his eyebrows and tightened his grip on the throne. Not one person. He had one last chance to help them make it right. One chance to save everything that had been entrusted to him.

    “Terra!” Destiny instantly bristled as he always did when he felt the presence of another being near coming near. He could hear the sound of footsteps edging nearer and nearer to him. He turned to see the epitome of earthly creation. Her brown hair, beige skin, and black eyes always gave him a sense warmth and comfort as if he were at home in his mother’s bosom. Her sharp features changed from a blank expression to a small grin. Destiny sensed that she’d read his thoughts. He recalled that she never really could keep to herself.

    “What is it that you have need of Master?” She curtsied and bowed her head so that Destiny could no longer see her expression. He stood up.

    “It is time.” He clenched his left fist. When he looked back at her she was staring at him, the smile no longer on her face. Her expression is now grim.

    “It cannot be. There must be some kind of mistake. It has only just started!” He held his right hand up to silence her. It pained him to do so, but this was no time for either of them to lose their composure.

    “There is a way to save them before they wipe out everything. I want you to give them something.” He watched a little hope appeared on her face. He hated that it had to come to this. He did not want to cause any harm then necessary. The thing he hated most of all was how fast the new found hope that appeared on Terra’s would disappear. It was its destiny.

“I need you to give them something. I also need you to make sure that it lives to a mature age. Nothing must be allowed to harm it.” Terra stared at him for a short moment before asking the question that he had known she would eventually ask.

    “What exactly are you asking me to give them?” Destiny opened his left hand that he had left clenched for so long. He watched as the hope on her face faded away as he knew it would.

    “I want you to give them darkness.”

18 Years Later

2029

    Fin Esili sat alone in a restaurant miles away from reality. A ten page essay on why one shouldn’t think God is real due in Philosophy, and a five page essay on why one should think Chemical Engineering is the most prestigious major ever due in Chemistry tomorrow yet he hadn’t even started. A waitress with pretty green eyes in a classically short maid outfit walked past him for the third time. Fin knew that she was hoping that he would change his mind and go to another restaurant before she was forced to actually take his order, but he had his own ideas for the evening.

    “Excuse me.” Fin paused when he noticed her giving him the stink eye daring him to continue his sentence.

    “What do you want?” Her tone couldn’t be anymore demeaning.

    “Can I have a coffee? Black please.” She didn’t even grace him with an answer before writing it down and heading to the counter mumbling about where he could stick his coffee. Fin ignored her and went back to the task at hand. He looked at the blank page that would have to become his philosophy paper, and thought about how Socrates and Aristotle would have written on why they thought God didn’t exist. He didn’t like what he came up with. Socrates would have answered with more questions, and Aristotle would have went on and on about something that had nothing to do with the subject.

     He sighed and went about typing it as well as he could. About two hours later he finished with a grunt. He saved it and turned off his laptop having decided that he could write his chemistry essay before 2:00 PM the next day. He rose finishing his coffee shooting the waitress a nod and quickly turning away before he caught her stink eye. His phone rings as he unlocks his car.

    “Who is it?” He asks.

    “Mom,” says his phone.

    “Decline phone call.” He opened his door hoping his mom would understand his need to get home and get sleep until the morning. He already had enough problems to deal with without her nagging him about washing his hands to avoid the widespread Ebola. A disease that basically shut down the liver and kidneys causing one to bleed from the inside. It was now in pretty much all the U.S which had been frantically looking for a cure for the past fifteen years.

Fin arrives at his apartment five minutes later, same as any other day. Before he gets to the door there is another phone call.

“Who is it?” He asks the phone impatiently reaching for his keys.

“Darren,” says the phone. He wondered what his best friend wanted this late at night. He was probably drunk at some party and needed a ride home.

“Answer.” Almost immediately he heard his friend speed talking about something that Fin should know, but he didn’t sound high or drunk.

“Slow down Darren what are you trying to say?” His friend went silent for a moment, and Fin could audibly here him take a deep breathe. This guy.

“Dude, Angelica is looking incredibly finesse. Why aren’t you over here trying to talk to her?”

“Dude do you even know the correct meaning of ‘finesse?’ He tightened his jacket because it had dropped twenty degrees since he had gotten out of his car. He opened his apartment door quickly, and took a seat on his favorite Lazy Boy chair.

“Come on Fino it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that she asked about you.” Fin stretched his legs as he took the news in, and wrinkled his nose at the name his friend gave him when they first met in second grade. Fin had known, and been in strong like, with Angelica Dunn ever since they had an amazing conversation in his Honors English class on the first day of college. This had been a month earlier, and they had hardly spoken a word to each other since. Maybe this was his chance.

“Where are you?” All I could hear was the sound of his loud laughter as I grabbed my keys and, once again, stepped into the cold night.

“We’re in the Karma Lounge near the university man. I’ll hold her for you, but you better hurry up!” He hangs up just when Fin is putting his keys into the ignition. He didn’t have time to worry about how he was supposed to get into a party that was 21+, but he knew that he if Darren could pull it off he could. Fin had adventure on his mind, and it almost made it worth coming all the way to New York University to get his Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He made a quick turn left, and then kept straight a few miles before his destination was in site. He could see the lights and hear the music before he even hit the parking lot. He made a mental note to always bring earplugs next time he came to a big party.

He got out of the car and put his keys into his pocket, and approached the entrance slowly. There was still a long line of people standing in a line waiting to get in. How had they managed to get into here again? Wanting to see if there was another way in, he went around the building. Sure enough there was a small piece of paper with his name on it near the back of the building. Fin snatched it off in irritation.

“That idiot!” He whispered harshly as a snow flurry hit him from his left side, but he had to hand to his best friend he always had his back. For that, Fin was grateful. He opened the door and was instantly hit by the smell of strong liquor and alcohol. He pulled his phone out.

“How may I help you Fin Esilis?” Trying to avoid all the drunk, dancers he ducked into a corner.

“Text Darren asking ‘Where are you?’”

“Right away.” Fin realized too late that the text was not needed, his friend had already spotted him.

“Hey Fino! You finally made it!” They bumped fists. Darren Shan, yes named after the famous horror author, stood in his normal attire. A varsity jacket, light blue jeans, and a black sweater underneath. His good looks made up for his insensitivity in a way that seemed very unfair to Fin.

“Sorry it took so long. I got caught in traffic.” I looked at the beautiful five-foot eight goddess that stood next to him. She wore a short black dress long enough to not be inappropriate, but tight enough to show that she had something underneath. She flipped her unnatural blonde hair as her hazel eyes watched him in a way that he could not explain. Was she glad to see him?

“Hey Fin.”

“Hey Angelica it’s good see you again.” Before time could allow there to be an awkward silence after, Darren came to the rescue.

“Dude aren’t you gonna ask how we got in?” Fin didn’t know if Darren would ever find out how grateful he was for his little interruption.

“Through the backdoor?”

“No through the- no wait you’re right! Way to catch on man!” He held up his fist up for a bump, and Fin did not deny him. He turned to Angelica.

“Angelica I didn’t know you came to places like this. Are parties your thing?” She smiles and shakes her head. That smile made it worth the rushed drive through the snow, and coming all the way to New York from southern Indiana.

“No, I was just here with some friends, but as soon as we snuck in they disappeared. That’s when Darren here came to the rescue.” Darren holds up his hands.

“No thank you necessary, just doing my job.” We all laugh at the bad joke. Then from seemingly nowhere Darren’s crazy beautiful girlfriend, Danny, comes and drags him onto the dance floor.

“Nice seeing you fin!” She yelled before disappearing into the crowd.

“You too Danny!” Fin replied knowing that she probably wouldn’t hear it, and then he turns to Angelica knowing what his next move would be. He held one of his hands out toward her.

“Since we’re both here we should have some fun. Want to dance?” The big grin on her face showed that she did. She took his hand and they went onto the dance floor. The next few hours went by in a blur of fun and excitement while the night got later and later. Fin turned down every invitation given to him for partaking in alcohol. He couldn’t stand the thought of the stuff. He was brought back to reality by another phone call.

“I’ll be right back, I have a call.” They all patted him on the back as he left the club the way he had come in. “Who is it?” He asked as he stepped into the cold. Immediately he knew that something was wrong. He had only felt like this when something was going to go completely wrong. He decided to ignore.

“Unknown,” the phone told him. He leaned against the door. That was strange. There were only the few select people that he gave his phone number, yet now someone he didn’t know had it. He rolled his eyes. Darren probably let someone take it when Fin wasn’t with him.

“Answer.” He would tell them that they had the wrong number, and to not call him again.

“Fin Esili.” Fin dropped his phone. He was sure the voice had come from the phone, but he felt like it had come from all around him. He could have sworn that he felt the ground vibrate as well. That couldn’t be. He had to get himself together. None of those suggestions were possible explanations. They were impossible. He shook the last few moments off, and picked up his phone.

“Whoever this is you have the wrong number. Don’t call back.” He hung it up and went back inside where everyone was waiting for him. Angelica looked at him.“What’s wrong? You look sort of pale.” Fin shook his head.

“It’s nothing like that. It’s just freezing cold out. Do you feel that Darren?” Darren looked at him like he was the biggest cockroach he had ever seen. “Never mind. I think I’m going to head out, I’m not feeling too well.” He wasn’t lying. Whatever happened out there had left him with a very distinct nauseating feeling.

“Do you need someone to drive you home?” Angelica asked with a very concerned look on her face. Fin’s heart almost popped out of his mouth it was beating so hard. Say Yes! His mind practically yelled at him.

“No I think I’ll be fine. I just feel a little dizzy.” Fin almost slapped himself for turning down a blatant offer that could possibly lead to her spending the night. She still looked concerned. He forced a smile. “I’ll be fine. It’s hardly even a drive from here.” Fin really hated himself right now, and he assumed that Darren knew this as well because of the pitiful look he was giving him. This felt like the beginning of the end of a good night except Fin didn’t want it to end. He said his goodbyes as he hurried out of the backdoor of the lounge. As soon as the door clicked closed he was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. He was up in a second ready to defend him self. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but he didn’t like being pushed around either.

“What’s the big idea?” He said in his best tough guy voice, but he wasn’t expecting to see what he saw there in front of him. There was a woman around six feet tall with a build that would have put any female wrestler to shame. She had light brown skin, and black eyes that seemed to look through him. She was very beautiful, but he couldn’t decide what age range she was in. She had some type of timeless thing going on. She had black hair and was dressed in a skirt with a golden tint, and a white blouse that seemed like it belonged in the 1950s. She also wore a long, black cloak with a hood. She looked somewhere between a diva and a warrior queen, but there was something about her that made him feel comfortable. She held out her hand and a knife appeared from nowhere. Fin backed away like his life depended on it, and it did in the literal sense.

“Be still child, I will not hurt you no matter how much I want to.” Fin stared at her, slowly lowering his guard making a small mental note of where to run if things started getting even more crazy looking.

“What are you?” He asked, his voice shaking way more than he wanted it to. The woman made a knife appear from nothing! Now Fin wasn’t a big expert on magic tricks, but he knew enough to see that what she just did couldn’t have been one. He was moments away from panicking and running away like a little girl.

“My name is Terra. I am the overseer of Earthly creation, and I have come for you Fin Esilis.”

Now Fin knew two things for sure. One, this diva, or Terra person was out of her blanking mind! “Overseer of Earthly creation”, she had to have gone bonkers. Two, he had to get out of here before he was killed, or worse, before he caught what she had. He had to think of a way to get out of here with his life and his sanity. He knew without a doubt that he would have to use words to do it. He stared at the knife that she now held so keenly by her side. Somehow he knew that she knew how to use it. He decided to ask as many questions as he could to get her relaxed so he could find a way to escape.

“What do you mean? What do you want from me?” She grabbed him by the shirt quicker than he could blink, and lifted him a foot in the air. She had a disgusted sneer on her face. It made Fin sick to his stomach. No one had ever looked at him that way.

“Do you think I am a fool mortal? I can read your mind as well as I could cut your throat. Oh, just so you know, if I had things my way I would have cut your throat before the day you were born.” She took her knife and put it to his throat. “I could do it right now. It would be so easy, and only a few people would miss you.” Fear shot through Fin’s whole being, but at the same time he felt outraged at this woman.

Who did she think she was? Why would she hate him so much? He had never seen her face in his life, and yet she wanted to cut his throat. He had to focus on getting out of this alive. He had no idea who or what this woman was, but he knew she would like him better dead with his blood flowing then alive. He was shaking now. From head to toe, and he couldn’t stop it if he wanted to. He felt ashamed, but he had never been so scared in his life. Terra laughed. It was loud and spiteful, and her eyes said that she was enjoying every moment of this.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked, trying hard not to choke on his words. She threw him to the ground again. She took something black from her pocket, and held it out for him to see. He instantly froze, the shiver that had taken him over moments before extinguished. She had a black flame in her hand, and she slowly started to walk toward him. He backed away, and tried to turn to get and run away. That’s how he thought it would turn out, and it’s probably how it should have went down. However, something cold started to crawl through his body. It felt like super glue had been injected through his body. He couldn’t move an inch.

“Don’t struggle. I cannot kill you but if you make this any harder than it has to be, I’ll make this the worst experience that you’ve ever had in your life. Don’t struggle.” He stood there unable to move, unable to speak, and barely breathing. What was about to happen to him? When he looked again her face was so close to her they were almost touching. Then she forced the flame she had in her hand down his throat. He gagged and choked as the flame burned his throat, and felt his vision blur. He was losing his consciousness fast; either that or he was dying the horrible death he had been promised. His whole life flashed before his eyes, and one regret made itself bigger than any one of his memories. Angelica’s smile as he danced with her, and the conversation they had before he left in a rush. If only he had gotten a kiss from her, or at least told her that he loved her. Death had made everything so clear in his mind, and he almost smiled at the irony of it before he shut his eyes one more time.

...

He woke to the sound of voices around him. He was sitting on an old fashioned wooden chair. He tried to move, and found that his hands were chained to the arms of the chair. He looked forward and a scream almost escaped from his parched throat. There was another him sitting opposite of him was another him. He had the same curly black hair, same sharp features that he’d gotten from his dad, but there were differences between the two Fins. The Fin in front of him had golden eyes instead of the green, and his skin was completely pale like he was terminally ill or something. The most disturbing thing of all was that he had an evil sneer on his face. Fin had never looked at anyone like that in his life, especially not himself. The man in front of him couldn’t be him. He was about to say as much before he realized he couldn’t. His throat still felt something from when that crazy woman stuck some kind of flame into his throat.

“I wouldn’t think those things if I were you, she can read minds.” Fin shouldn’t have been surprised since she had read his mine moments before he blacked out. “Just imagine that the pain is gone and it will be. You should be able to heal yourself now.” Fin looked at his other him like he was nuts, but he didn’t question him. If you can’t trust yourself who can you trust? The other Fin laughed loudly. “Who would have thought that I had such a sense of humor, just heal yourself Fin.” Fin closed his eyes and focused on how his throat felt when it was healed, before any of this even happened. It didn’t work at first, and he was about to give up when something cool and refreshing started to fill up his throat until he thought he might stop breathing.

“Don’t put too much in there!” Shouted the other him obviously concerned. The other Fin frowned at him. “Don’t endanger yourself. If you die I die, and then everyone else dies. Fin didn’t even want to know what that meant, but he managed to control whatever was happening subconsciously. “Better?” Asked the other him.

“Better,” he said.

“I suppose you have an enormous amount of questions for me don’t you?” Fin answered immediately.

“You are correct, but first of all who are you? Oh, and don’t say you’re me.” The other Fin chuckled.

“I am you. I’m just another form of you made of the darkness that was forced down your throat.” Fin’s mind conjured up another ten questions from that one answer, but he had to get back to the main focus.

“Do you know what’s going on?” The other Fin wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Unfortunately, I do. I was put inside of you so that we could fuse together, and bring the world into another era of darkness.” Then seeing the panic on Fin’s face he continued in a softer voice more soothing voice. “It may look bad, but if there isn’t another era of darkness than humankind will destroy itself along with everything else in the universe. That would be… unsatisfactory, so Destiny sent Terra here to choose someone and she chose you…or us.” Fin went deep into thought before he asked his next question.

“Why does she hate me so much? Not to sound paranoid or anything, but she threatened to kill me twice the first time we met.”

“Terra is the overseer of Earthly Creation. There is nothing else she’d rather not see then the Earth and the people on it suffering tremendously for a huge amount of time. She knows this has to be done. She just doesn’t like it.” This was all too much for Fin to take in. He was supposed to cause the suffering of every other being? He started shaking again.

“I can’t do that. I can’t believe anything you say. This can’t be real. It can’t be.” He looked into his lap, sweat starting to pour down his face.

“Are you that weak? Will you let humankind destroy itself then without any hope? Do not think you are wrong because you are to bring a new dark age about. In the end you’ll be saving

All of humankind.” After a few moments he was finally able to stop shaking, but he couldn’t keep the tremor out of his voice.

“Where are we now? Why are we chained up here?” The other Fin shook his head.

“I thought you would have known. We are inside of you or your conscious to be more specific. This is where we will fuse together. Terra should be here momentarily.” Fin immediately started to struggle with his bindings. “What are you doing?” Asked his other self.

“I am not going to sit here while that psycho comes back, and does who knows what else to me! I have to find a way out of here?” The other Fin remained silent while he struggled with the chains on the chair. After five minutes he gave up, and almost immediately Terra came in.

“You done trying to escape from here Scum?” He was starting to get ticked off at her.

“You know my name.” He said keeping his voice calm. He didn’t want her pulling out that knife again. She gave him a cruel smile and pulled out her knife. He shrunk back, and she laughed out loud.

“I can’t hurt you anymore than I already have Scum. Not until you do what you’re supposed to do. I came here to tell you that the others have been waiting for you.” Fin looked at the other Fin expecting him to explain. He merely shrugged. Terra grabbed his face brought it back toward her, and smacked him. Hard. He had never been hit so hard. Not in any fight he could think of. He immediately felt his face start to feel swollen. “Pay attention to me when I am talking, you no longer have rights here.” He looked back at her with the most hateful stare he could manage. She smiled back.

“What do you mean ‘others’?” She stared at him, amused at his confused expression.

“You weren’t the only one that I gave the present Scum, but you are the strongest and will become their leader. You will be the one that takes over.” A dark look passed over her face before you snapped her fingers. Both of restraints that held Fin’s hands disappeared. He was free. He looked up to see that the other Fin was free as well.

“It’s time for you two to fuse together.” The other Fin looked at the real him and smiled. A second later he disappeared as if he had never been there.

“Where did he go?” Fin looked at Terra for confirmation, but she was gone. A voice suddenly filled his head.

“I will always be inside of you Fin. I am your new darkness, together we’ll bring the world into a new era of darkness changing the world forever.” Fin got up and as soon as he blinked he was outside of the club as if he had never gone anywhere. Like none of that had ever happened. He couldn’t remember how he got home, but as soon as he hit his pillow he was asleep. It had felt like years since he had been in his own apartment, and it that was all he could think before he finally fell asleep.

...

The next day Fin woke up, got ready for class, finished his second paper; he pushed what happened the previous night to the back of his head. He tried to excuse it all out as some kind of illusion, or maybe some kind of hallucination that was a result of how sick he was last night.

“Fino! Hello, is anyone there? Fin!” Fin opened his eyes to see his best friend concerned face looking down at him. “You okay man? You’ve been spacing out like that all day.” Fin looked at him hoping that there wasn’t any emotion in his face. He knew he couldn’t tell Darren about what he saw last night. His friend would send him back to his parent’s house in a straitjacket.

“I’m just feeling a little tired from yesterday I guess. What happened after I left?” He asked trying to change the subject, and Darren’s whole expression changed letting Fin know that his tactic worked.

“Angelica was totally worried about you man! She kept wanting to follow you home, but you had to be an idiot. I don’t care if I had bonking Ebola, she would have still been coming home!” Fin groaned at his friend’s bad attempt at a joke, and his girlfriend looked at him like she wanted to fry him in oil. Fin tried for a save.

“I know man. I don’t know what happened to me. It felt like I was going to lose my lunch. I had to get out of there.” Darren shook his head, and then lightened up when Danny got up from her seat and took his hand leading him away from the table. Fin sighed. He knew his friend was happy Darren had a girlfriend, but he was tires of them going off to make out together well he sat alone feeling like a loser.

“Or maybe you are upset because you do not have a significant other.” Fin almost dropped out of his chair. Why was he contacting him while he was in public? He had just started to accept that whatever happened last night was a simple hallucination.

“I am not an illusion or fabrication of your imagination!” The other Fin did not seem to like being called a hallucination. He continued in a gruff version of Fin’s voice. “I talked to you to warn you that there are others that are like us here in this room.” Fin began to look around the cafeteria almost ready to bolt out of there. He forced himself to calm down. They had been through the same things that he had. Surely he could find somebody to talk to about this with other then…himself.

“Am I not fun enough to talk to like your idiot friend?” Fin was outraged. No one called his idiot friend an idiot except him. He wondered if any of the others knew any more than he did, and what they thought about bringing the world into an era of darkness. Were they okay with being part of the doom crew? The other Fin laughed in his head.

“You are a funny man Fin. All you’ve done since we met is tint everything with a touch of humor. I shall enjoy ruling the world with you as my partner.” He sensed a feeling of anxiety come from inside of him. Could it have been the other Fin? “Beware, one of them attempts to approach you.” Fin looked up to see a dark-haired girl with blue eyes and a fair face staring back at him. He stood up.

“Are you-“

“Follow me.” She commanded grabbing his hand. He followed her uncertainly as they made their way to a much more private abiding on the roof of one of the university buildings. Fin was irritated and tired from the walk. What did she have to tell him that was so important that she had to bring him all the way up here? He started to ask as much, but she held up her hand willing him to stay silent.

“I have something to show you.” She stared at him and seemed to be lost in thought.

“Well…what is it? What do you want to show me?” He wanted to ask a thousand more questions, but it would have been rude to interrupt just then. Fin watched as she held out her hand and a flame appeared in her palm. Fin backed away from her.

“How are you doing that? He asked his voice showing signs of panic.

“I don’t know.” She answered quickly as if trying not to scare him off.

“Listen to her. Hear her out. She may be of use to you in the future.” Whispered the other Fin inside of his head. The fire extinguished in her hand, and she walked toward Fin.

“Does this mean that she came to see you last night too?” Fin asked. She nodded in an almost imperceptible manner.

“The other Dexter Droite claims that you will be the leader when we all take over. You don’t look like much.” Fin was outraged. Again. After all that’s happened to her all she could think about was his world conquest qualifications.

“Who cares about that? Has she told you how many more of us are like this?” She didn’t miss a beat.

“There are thousands of us all over, but we won’t all come together until the war starts.” Fin started to panic.

“War! War against who?”

“Mankind.” Fin ran his hand through his hair. Was she serious?

“Very, and the war won’t be that far off either. In fact, one of the many attacks that are supposed to signal that it is near will happen-“Boom! A huge explosion came from one of the other university buildings.

“We have to get out here. I’ll fill you in on what I know on the way.” Fin didn’t need to be told twice. They raced down the stairs as if their lives depended on it.

“So what is all of this?” He could no longer keep his normal compsure. It was all getting to him. He felt like he was going crazy.

“Some of the others have started the attacks to signal that a war is near.” Fin forced the door opened and they ran with what had to be hundreds of students that were rushing out of the doors.

“What does that even mean?” She shot him a murderous look.

“You’re a chemical engineering major, and you can’t even understand a simple thing like that?” Fin frowned.

‘”How do you-“, she interrupted him.

“It means that we’re putting ourselves on the map as a people. In a few months, they’ll be ready to fight back, but for now we’ll be able to get ahead.”

“We’re supposed to battle all of mankind? You’re crazy I can’t even battle my fear of heights!” She rolled her eyes.

“This is the leader of the new dark age!” She shouted with a mocking tone.

“Hey, I didn’t ask for any of this.” Fin looked for a way out, but before he could find one Dexter, whoever she called herself, had gotten a chair and thrown it through a window.

“Come on!” He couldn’t argue with a way out of his impending doom. He ran toward her with a ferocity that he never felt before. They jumped out and ran for downtown, but not before seeing a glimpse of what had happened to New York City. Most of the city was thrown into chaos. Skyscrapers were falling into mass heaps of concrete and rubble. Both of the newly built twin towers were already gone. Just a giant heap of flames. Traffic was no better than anything else, and it didn’t help that students were running everywhere in panic.

“Don’t dawdle Fin! If we don’t find a way out of here we’re going to be killed like everyone else.” Fin struggled to keep up with her. Man she was fast. Either that or he was slow.

“How are we supposed to get out of here, and where are we going to?” She looked back him.

“You sure ask a lot of questions. Don’t worry about it and hurry up you’re falling behind!” He kept his mouth shut planning to barrage her with questions later on. They ran through the streets of New York City which got worse every block they got. Fin was now covered in sweat from how much running he was doing. In high school he quit track after failing at running a two mile. His past self would have been proud.

“We’re here,” Dexter said bringing his thoughts to a close. Fin looked at her with pity. They were standing in front of a cement wall in a dark alley.

“Dede, I know this is all hard to take in, but...” I gestured to the wall hoping she would see sense. At first she looked at me with a confused expression on her face. Then it was replaced by anger and irritation.

“Shut-up Dark Spawn and do not call me Dede.” She quickly stuck her hand forward and her whole arm went through the wall. She looked at Fin with a smug smile. He shook his head and put his hand through without further hesitation.

“I guess I am going to have start getting used to this type of thing. Sorry about thinking you were crazy. Should we go on three?” That got him a smile.

“You’re still Dark Spawn,” was all she said before she let the concrete wall take all of her. In the midst of the world as he knew it falling apart, Fin was glad he had made some type of friend that he could relate to.

He stepped through the concrete curtain anticipating some kind of magical castle. He stepped through with his mouth wide, and immediately closed it when he saw what it actually was. He tried as hard as he could to hide the disappointment from his face. It was actually another corner in the dark alley that was ten by ten feet long and wide. The floor was a layer of dirt and garbage. Roughly fifteen people of all ages stood in front of him. There were five girls and ten boys. He looked at them and they looked at him. A boy that was around fifteen scowled him.

“This is supposed to be our leader. He looks like a wimp!” So much for first impressions. Dexter ignored him.

“Everyone. Fin. Fin Everyone.” Fin waved awkwardly. He didn’t know what to say. They met on the day the biggest city in the U.S was being torn to smithereens.

“This is all so bonkers,” he whispered shaking his head. “Is someone going to explain what is going on out there? I feel like… I don’t know, I’m missing the part where everyone decided to join in on the ending the world thing. How do you all even know each other?” They just stared at him. Dexter answered for them.

“We were all gathered together to meet Mother Terra. She gave us her blessing with a smile. Where did she take you?”

“So this is the “Doom Crew” eh? Things just keep getting more interesting.” Fin sighed as he silently agreed with the voice inside the head. Things were getting interesting.