Chapter 40: End Game

**Dictator Jimmy turns to face the newcomers, brushing a few strands of hair out of his line of vision**

DICTATOR: You should have listened to my warning back in the cell, Libby. It wasn’t wise to let him out. This will not end well.

**Future Sheen nudges Future Libby aside, and she steps back toward the doorway. He faces Dictator Jimmy across the burnt, scarred tiles, clenching and unclenching his clawed hand threateningly**

FUTURE SHEEN: Give it up, Jimmy. I’m stronger than you’ll ever be. I can run three times faster than a normal person and jump twice as high; I can rip a metal door off its hinges and chuck it clean across the hall. You know what I can do to a human body, because you designed me to do it.

**With a hair-raising chuckle, Sheen’s tone changes completely; he hunches forward and his lips curl into a slasher smile**

FUTURE SHEEN: Well, what goes around comes around, you sick son of a bitch. You want a monster? You’ve got one. I’m going to chase you down, rip you open, chew up your raw insides and then spit out the pieces.

**DJ’s countenance remains implacable, but Future Libby cringes**

FUTURE LIBBY: Sheen…

FUTURE SHEEN: (sternly) Stay out of this, Libby. Don’t get in the way – he’ll just take advantage of your compassion.

DICTATOR: An astute observation. I will take advantage of her.

**Future Sheen, who doesn’t miss this double entendre, lurches forward and snarls**

FUTURE SHEEN: Stay away from her!

DICTATOR: Ooh. Awfully touchy, aren’t we?

FUTURE SHEEN: (raving) Touchy? What do you mean, touchy? How else would I be, after being locked in that hellhole for a decade? You sick, depraved son of a…We’d all be better off if I cut you in half where you stand!

**He charges toward his old friend, drawing his mutated hand back in preparation for a cutting swipe. Dictator Jimmy merely crosses his arms and, with a look of boredom, utters a single voice command**

DICTATOR: Execute Override, Program 21-12.

**Future Sheen’s left eye lights up from within, casting a red glow on his cheek bone and shadows onto his jaw. He swerves to the right, grabbing at the left side of his face, then staggers a few more steps before coming to a dead stand-still. His biceps tremble, straining, as if he were held in place by an invisible barrier. The Dictator walks toward him**

DICTATOR: As if it would be that easy…

**Dictator Jimmy draws back his arm and delivers a diagonal strike across Sheen’s face, knocking him to his knees**

FUTURE LIBBY: No!

**Dictator Jimmy hits him again, sending him toppling to the ground, where he lies unblinkingly, like a deactivated machine. Future Libby darts forward with a disheartened cry, but stops short when the Dictator lets out a scornful laugh**

DICTATOR: Did you honestly think I would create a volatile super-soldier without designing a fail-safe? Did you really think that I would grant Sheen superhuman strength, torment him for the better part of ten years, and then give him the opportunity to escape, unless I was absolutely assured of my own safety? I’m frankly shocked by your lack of clear reasoning.

FUTURE LIBBY: Leave him alone! I’ll – I’ll fight you myself!

DICTATOR: Good idea. Let’s see how far that gets you, shall we?

**He kicks Sheen to the side, then advances toward Future Libby, who extends her palms and locks into a defensive stance. Before he can attack, however, a wall of jade fire shoots between them, cutting him off**

AURORA: (standing) I swear to God, if you touch her…

**Dictator Jimmy slowly tilts his head toward her, his profile backlit by the ghostly green flames**

DICTATOR: You’ve still got some fight left in you?

AURORA: You better believe I do. What are you waiting for? Hit me with your best shot, you piece of crap.

**His gaze travels over his three opponents with disinterested calculation, as a player might look upon a set of game pieces. Having come to a decision, he walks toward Aurora, raising his arm as he does so**

DICTATOR: I no longer need to ‘hit you with my best shot’…
**She goes on the defensive as he nears her, crouching like a cornered animal**

DICTATOR: You see, I have a new toy…

**Behind him, Future Sheen re-animates, pulled aloft as if by strings – his arms dangle limply and his mouth hangs open, a lusus naturae with crooked shoulders and glowing, feral eyes**

AURORA: What in God’s name…?

DICTATOR: Let’s see how you think on your feet…

**He pushes his hand through the air, extending his palm toward her**

DICTATOR: Re-direct 21-12. Target: Aurora…

**Like a trick of light, Sheen pivots, sprints, and pins Aurora against the wall, all in the course of a few seconds. He grasps her neck tightly with his left hand, his razor-sharp nails pricking the skin just above her jugular vein. Her toes dangle several feet above the floor – she squirms and claws at his arm, choking and gasping for breath**

FUTURE LIBBY: (shrieking) Sheen! What are you doing?!

**Future Sheen doesn’t seem conscious of the drama playing out around him. He merely stares into Aurora’s face, teeth bared in a snarl, a killer instinct blazing in his left eye. Aurora, for her part, wholly ignores him – she scowls instead at Dictator Jimmy, even as her fingers pry at Future Sheen’s iron grip**

AURORA: (struggling for air) C-coward. C-can’t even…kill me yourself…

DICTATOR: (smiling) I have always been a firm believer in the merits of delegation…

**Future Libby takes advantage of their exchange to scramble to Sheen’s side – she grabs hold of his free arm, but her attempts to tug him away meet with no success. Seeing that Future Libby’s pleas are falling on deaf ears, Aurora sends a river of green light rippling down toward Sheen’s arm. Just before the blaze reaches his skin, Future Libby cries out**

FUTURE LIBBY: No Aurora, don’t hurt him!

AURORA: (choking) Uchhh…Well what…do you expect…me to do…

FUTURE LIBBY: Give me a chance to reason with him.

DICTATOR: Reason? He can’t be reasoned with.

FUTURE LIBBY: You wanna bet?

AURORA: Libby…you better…know what you’re doing…

**Future Libby merely glares pointedly at Dictator Jimmy, then goes right back to tugging on Sheen’s arm**

FUTURE LIBBY: Leave Aurora alone, Sheen! Remember why we came here. She’s not the one who did this to you!

DICTATOR: Oh, is that so? Because it seems to me that she is precisely the one who did this to you.

**He takes a few steps closer to the trio, lowering his voice as he does**

DICTATOR: Remember, back on the ship those first couple of months? It was rough, wasn’t it? Just you, Carl, and Libby, trying to cope with a world that was falling apart at the seams. You tried to make things easier for her – you cracked jokes, and snuck her extra bits of food, and held her hand when I pulled one trigger after another – but she didn’t care about any of that, did she? All Libby could think about was Cindy, stuck back on Earth.

**Future Sheen growls, tightening his grip on Aurora**

DICTATOR: It’s Cindy’s fault – it’s Aurora’s fault – that Libby was taken away from you. And you’re the one who’s suffered for it, forced to endure experiment after experiment, sequestered away in the dark for unbearable lengths of time. Well now it’s happening again. As soon as Libby got out of the cell, what was the first thing she wanted to do? I’d be willing to bet a substantial sum that it was “find Aurora”. So you see? Libby still cares about her more than she cares about you.

FUTURE LIBBY: Don’t listen to him, Sheen. I DO care about you! I crossed billions of miles of space to find you! Please, just put her down, or something really bad's gonna happen...

**For a moment, Future Sheen’s eyes seem to clear, and his grip slackens enough for his captive to at least breathe again**

DICTATOR: You see? There she goes again, protecting Aurora. And it doesn’t even make any sense. If it weren’t for Aurora, none of this would have happened. She was the one that made me like this. If it hadn’t been for her immaturity, her jealousy, our lives would have ended up very different.

FUTURE LIBBY: Don’t listen to him, Sheen. He’s manipulatin’ you. He’s just like…like…a little devil on your shoulder! Well I’m your shoulder angel, so please listen to what I have to say. Sure, Aurora made some mistakes in the past, but we need to focus on what’s happening now. We have a chance to set things right again!

**Dictator Jimmy makes a sound somewhere between a contemptuous scoff and a chuckle**

DICTATOR: Oh, that’s cute. But you are naïve indeed if you think that I’m the only devil in this picture. You truly don’t understand what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you? You’re playing a game where you don’t know all the rules. He’s twisted, warped, ruined – a killing machine that can’t even control who his victims are. Sheen knows what I’m talking about. He remembers our clinical trials, when he ripped apart whatever or whoever I told him to. You remember, don’t you Sheen?

**Future Sheen hangs his head, eyes pressed shut. Dictator Jimmy grins triumphantly**

DICTATOR: That’s what I thought. I know you’ve tried to convince yourself – “if I can just escape, if I can just try hard enough, I can overcome this. I can be with Libby and the others again and everything will work out”. Well, you can only delude yourself so much. You know what you are, Sheen. Even if you were to defeat me, even if you were to get off this planet, it wouldn’t change what’s inside you. All it would take is one moment’s lapse in restraint, and she’d be dead – you could even kill her in your sleep. Face it: no matter how much you wish otherwise, she’d be better off without you.

**Libby takes a step closer to him**

FUTURE LIBBY: He’s wrong. I wouldn’t be better off without you. And I don’t believe a word he’s told me about you. You’re not a monster, and you can break his hold over you. You just need to focus all your willpower. You can do it, concentrate!

DICTATOR JIMMY: Yes, concentrate. You’ll wake up a bit more, but you still won’t be able to control your physical motions. Go on, try it – see how it feels to be fully cognizant while paralyzed inside your own body.

**Future Sheen thrashes back and forth a few times, but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot peel his fingers away from Aurora’s throat**

FUTURE SHEEN: (gasping) He’s…right… Libby, you should. Should get out. While… FUTURE LIBBY: Fight harder!

FUTURE SHEEN: Please. I am going. Going to…kill. Kill her. Can’t stop…

**Future Libby looks up at him abruptly, as Tuyen’s advice once again fills her mind. She reaches down and takes his free hand in hers, and then slowly guides it up toward her neck**

FUTURE LIBBY: I’m puttin’ myself out on a limb here, and you gotta return the favor. Okay? See, look…

**She uncurls his fingers and wraps each one around her throat, then lets her arm drop. She meets his eyes without the slightest hint of trepidation**

FUTURE LIBBY: I feel…no fear.

**Future Sheen gapes at her. After a moment he pulls his hand away from Future Libby’s neck and breathes out her name**

FUTURE SHEEN: Libby…

**If her short-lived breakthrough upsets him, Dictator Jimmy gives no sign of it. Instead, he breaks the silence that follows with a light, resigned sigh**

DICTATOR: What a shame. I was looking forward to killing you myself, but…

How does that saying go again? “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I’ll remember, involve me and I’ll understand?” Well, I have a lesson that will pander to even your learning curve, Libby.

**He nods his head in Sheen’s direction**

DICTATOR: Re-direct 21-12. Target: Libby…

**In an instant, Future Sheen drops Aurora. She falls to her knees, gasping for breath, and Dictator Jimmy doesn’t waste a single second – before she can recover, he grabs her by the shoulders and rams her against the wall. Meanwhile, Future Sheen turns on Future Libby, his red eye aglow**

FUTURE LIBBY: Sheen, I –AHHH!

**Future Sheen strikes Libby with the back of his hand. She falls backward, landing a few feet away on the floor. Shaking from surprise and fright, she touches the base of her nose and examines her fingertips. They are sticky with blood. She looks up at him, mouth agape**

FUTURE LIBBY: (shocked) You…you hit me!

DICTATOR: Of course he hit you, and he will continue to do so until I tell him to stop. That’s all there is to it.

**Future Sheen looks down at his target without recognizing her – like a zombie, he mindlessly moves forward to deliver the next blow. Seeing his intent, Aurora knees Dictator Jimmy in the stomach and then knocks him out of the way. Acting quickly, she somersaults forward and kicks Future Sheen’s legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. Aurora vaults in between him and Future Libby and encircles the two of them in a tornado of protective green fire**

AURORA: Libby, are you OK?

FUTURE LIBBY: (pulling herself off the floor) I don’t understand… Tuyen said that if I…if I…

AURORA: Don’t trust, Libby, act! You have to see the situation for what it is!

**Aurora adds another layer of flames to the ring, and the shield soars higher**

AURORA: We only have a couple more seconds. I have to think of a plan...

FUTURE LIBBY: Whaddya mean, ‘think of a plan’? I don’t understand, Aurora! Why haven’t you used the you-know-what yet?! This fight is too much for you. You look like you’ve been beaten to within an inch of your life!

AURORA: (flatly) I know, but there’s nothing I can do. The vial broke before I could get here, Libby. Smashed against the duct wall.

FUTURE LIBBY: (stunned) It…broke?!

**Aurora nods slowly**

AURORA: I’m not going to sugarcoat things for you. We’re in serious trouble here. There’s no way you can beat Sheen, and I can’t protect you from him and fight off Jimmy at the same time.

**Future Libby sways a little, suddenly lightheaded, and Aurora catches her by the arm**

FUTURE LIBBY: I…I can’t believe this is happenin’…

AURORA: It doesn’t look good, I know.

FUTURE LIBBY: What…what do we do now?

AURORA: We wait for backup. And in the meantime, we fight.

FUTURE LIBBY: You just said yourself that we’re no match for them!

AURORA: You got a better idea?

**The flames begin to wither, and Aurora and Future Libby lean against one another, tired, injured, and emotionally drained. As the green light grows dimmer, they can make out two human-shaped shadows looming ominously beyond the curtain of fire. The silhouettes creep forward, growing larger and darker as they approach. Dictator Jimmy and Future Sheen morph through the blaze at last, closing in like wolves on their prey**

AURORA: Look out!

**Future Sheen springs toward Libby, and Aurora hurls herself into the air, drop-kicking him in the stomach with both feet. He tumbles backward, and Aurora hits the floor**

AURORA: Run, Li –!

**Dictator Jimmy grabs Aurora from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling it tight. Caught in perhaps the worst possible position from which to escape a stranglehold, Aurora fights back with every last ounce of her strength. Future Libby recognizes her friend’s danger and rushes forward to help – only to be blocked by Future Sheen, who has already recovered from Aurora’s maneuver**

FUTURE LIBBY: Stop it, Sheen! You’re helpin’ him win!

**Future Sheen slashes out at her with his left hand, cutting her across the collarbone. Shreds of golden fabric fall to earth like autumn leaves, and Future Libby drops slowly to her knees, clutching a bandaged hand to the wound. Lifting her fingers, she looks down to see a rapidly spreading red stain. With the sight of blood comes an awakening, a realization unlike any she has ever felt**

FUTURE LIBBY: (dazed) You’re…you’re really goin’ to kill me, aren’t you?

**In answer, he hits her again, and she falls forward onto her hands**

FUTURE LIBBY: You can’t kill me. I can’t let it end this way. What’ll happen to you when you wake up and realize what you’ve done? What’ll happen to Aurora if I’m not around to help her?

**She grabs hold of his leg and buries her face against it**

FUTURE LIBBY: Please…please don’t kill me…

**A few feet away, Aurora, unable to break free from Dictator Jimmy’s hold, ceases her wriggling and instead shoots a fireball straight up at the ceiling. A waterfall of concrete, drywall, and fractured piping comes crashing down, forcing Dictator Jimmy to roll to one side to evade the falling rubble. Aurora, free at last from his grasp, rolls in the other direction**

AURORA: (belting out the command) Execute Override, Program 21-12! Redirect 21-12: Target, Jimmy!

**The Dictator stands, calmly brushing dust and small debris off his clothing**

DICTATOR: You memorized my code words? Very clever. Unfortunately for you, those commands only work when I say them.

**She grits her teeth, and he smiles pleasantly**

DICTATOR: You can’t save your friend, Aurora. It would be in your best interests to just forget about her and focus on fighting me.

AURORA: Like hell I will! Is there any limit to how low you’re willing to stoop? What a freaking typical villain tactic, you hoser!

**Aurora whirls to face Future Sheen, who is pulling Future Libby up off the ground by the back of her dress**

AURORA: Open your eyes and see who you’re attacking, Sheen!! Is your head screwed on backward? Get with the program, you freak! Wake! Up!

**She pitches two fireballs at the back of his head, and they fly low, hitting him between the shoulder blades. The impact knocks him to the floor, and Future Libby takes the opportunity to scramble away**

AURORA: Wake up, you stupid knuckle-dragger!

**She hits him with three more bolts, and he draws his knees up to his chest, little plumes of smoke rising from his wounds**

AURORA: I’ll keep this up until your skin turns to charcoal if I have to! You may have superhuman strength and one heck of a freakish mutant arm, but you don’t have Jimmy’s healing capabilities. When I burn you, you stay burnt. Your single-mindedness makes you vulnerable – as long as you’re intent on attacking only Libby, I can easily beat you!

**She draws her arm back to fire another shot, but before she can, Dictator Jimmy blindsides her and grabs her by the wrist**

DICTATOR: …And as long as you’re intent on protecting Libby, I can easily beat you. It works both ways.

**He yanks Aurora towards him, and she instinctively pulls back. At the last moment he releases her arm and shoves her away with both hands, turning her inertia against her. She lurches backward, and only years of training prevent her from completely losing her footing and falling to the ground**

AURORA: Son of a –

DICTATOR: Better concentrate on defending yourself, Aurora…

**She cries out and barrels toward him, one arm drawn back to throw a punch. He intercepts her attack, catching her about the waist and using her momentum to flip her off her feet and into the air. Aurora is cast head-over-heels in a 360 degree arc, and yet she somehow manages to retain enough coordination to stick the landing and come out standing squarely on both feet. Mere seconds after this elegant display of acrobatics, she hooks around and wallops him in the spine**

AURORA: Suck that!!

**Dictator Jimmy falls down onto his side. She kicks him over, and then steps on his back; he goes rigid with pain as she crunches his vertebrae under her heel**

AURORA: I hope that hurts!

**Indigo flames shoot up all around him, and Aurora hastily withdraws – but not quickly enough. Seared by the heat, she is forced to dodge to her left, bringing her out in front of Dictator Jimmy. He grips her leg and pulls her down beside him into the lake of blue fire, where he climbs on top of her and grabs her by the shoulders. She throws him off, and they tumble over one another, desperately wrestling to gain the upper hand**

AURORA: Uchh…let go!

**He forces her to the ground again, pinning her arms over her head and bearing down on her with the full force of his body weight**

AURORA: Get off get off get off GET OFF!

**She locks her legs around him and uses her lower body strength to flip him onto his back. Aurora raises her arms up over her head and brings both fists smashing down. He throws up a glowing forearm to shield his face, then grabs her by the throat. She does the same to him, and they strain against one another, grimacing with the effort**

DICTATOR: (choking slightly) I don't know about you, Aurora, but this seems like a lose-lose situation to me...

AURORA: Shut the hell up!

**A small distance away, Future Sheen comes out of his stupor at last and flops over onto his stomach. He rests his weight on one forearm, holding his face in his other hand**

FUTURE SHEEN: Ooowwww… my head! Jeez, what happened?

FUTURE LIBBY: (hesitantly) S-Sheen? Is that…you?

**Future Sheen groans and draws his knees up under him, still holding his throbbing head**

FUTURE SHEEN: Tsssss…Ya, ya it’s me…ugh…

**Exhaling in relief, Future Libby rushes forward to help him up. The second she comes within range, however, Future Sheen takes another swipe at her – he misses by half an inch, and Future Libby skitters backward. Sheen looks down at his own hand, taken by surprise**

FUTURE SHEEN: What the…? Why did I just…?

**He spots the red stain on her chest and breaks off. His mouth trembles slightly, and his stricken expression speaks volumes**

FUTURE SHEEN: Libby, y-you’re bleeding!

**She touches a hand to the bloodstain, and he asks the obvious question in a tense, uneven whisper**

FUTURE SHEEN: Did I…did I do that?

FUTURE LIBBY: Ya, you did, and if you don’t get a hold of yourself, you’re gonna keep doin’ it.

**He dives forward and catches her by the left sandal. She jerks her leg away, and the strap breaks off in his hand. He looks down at it, eyes wide**

FUTURE SHEEN: I can’t…I can’t control my body. Libby! You’ve got to get away from me!

FUTURE LIBBY: Do you honestly think I can outrun you? If you don’t figure out some way to check yourself, you’re gonna kill me!

**He twists from side to side like a reptile, crawling forward on all fours. His red eye grows bright again, and he looks up at her with a carnivorous smile**

FUTURE SHEEN: Heh heh…I’m going to catch you, pretty, pretty… I’m going to get you…

**She backs away, appalled**

FUTURE SHEEN: W- what am I saying? Agh! Snap out of it!

**He draws himself up off the ground, and Future Libby retreats**

FUTURE LIBBY: Stay away from me…

FUTURE SHEEN: Hhhhhh…I can smell your blood…

**She turns and runs, and Future Sheen springs after her. He tackles her from behind, and she crashes to the floor, losing a shoe and skinning her knee in the process. He grabs her by the arms and throws her onto her back, but before he can get any further, another one of Aurora’s emerald streamers impacts him between the shoulder blades. Future Sheen falls over, wincing**

AURORA: Keep your hands off her, damn it!

**Aurora, who has managed to get up again, turns away from her own fight and yells irrationally to Future Libby**

AURORA: Do whatever it takes, Libby! Don’t be afraid to hurt him. Kill him if you have to! Just don’t let him kill you – don’t go down without a fight!

**Dictator Jimmy capitalizes on her momentary inattention and uses it to bring her down. He slams his heel into her lower back, and Aurora’s whole world breaks apart with a deafening crack; stunned, she tips over at an angle, crashing to earth like a doomed porcelain vase. Mid-fall, he kicks her a second time, and she is propelled horizontally, tumbling and sliding across the tile before coming to a rest several feet away. For a long time she remains motionless, lying in a heap on the floor. Finally she manages to prop herself up on one arm…but despite her best efforts, she cannot get up**

DICTATOR: (walking over to her) What did I tell you, Aurora?

**She collapses again, coughing, and he kicks her once more, contemptuously this time**

DICTATOR: You’re not even trying.

**She curls up into a ball, shuddering**

AURORA: AHH! GOD that hurts!

**He kicks her repeatedly in the abdomen, his face blank**

DICTATOR: That’s right. It does.

**He bends over and, grabbing her under both arms, hauls her up**

DICTATOR: I wonder how many of your ribs I can break…

**He throws her down again, dashing her body against the floor. Her vision flashes to white and, for the second time that day, she feels herself slipping toward unconsciousness. Aurora’s thoughts come in disjointed, dreamy waves as he continues to throttle her – she waits for her fury to kick in and conjure up a protective cocoon, but her instincts don’t come to her rescue. Instead, she remains where she is, watching with little comprehension as Future Sheen rises fitfully, little tendrils of smoke still coiling off his skin**

FUTURE SHEEN: Oh no…

**His arm yanks him forward, and he stumbles along behind it, tugging and squirming as if grappling with an invisible foe. Fully conscious now, Future Sheen experiences the enormity of his own out-of-body horror; he limps toward Future Libby, half-stooped over, like a corpse moving at the behest of a necromancer**

FUTURE SHEEN: (begging) Please!…not again…

**His sinews strain, dragging him on. Future Sheen’s perception thrums in and out of focus like a plucked rubber band. One second, he rides wild on a current of primordial excitement; the next, his entire being recoils, revolted by his monstrous impulses. Caught between the two forces, he squeezes his eyes shut in one last-ditch effort to regain control over his actions**

FUTURE SHEEN: If I can’t see her, I can’t hurt her…

**He lurches forward involuntarily, catching Future Libby by the tear in her dress. In that instant his lids fly open, and their eyes lock: his tortured and panic-stricken, hers wide and filled with fear. An eternity seems to pass as he grabs her by the neck and flings her down onto the ground**

FUTURE SHEEN: (frantic) No!! STOP! STOP IT!! Don’t hurt her!

**Future Libby rolls over and makes a break for it, but he throws himself onto her back, pinning her down with his knee**

FUTURE LIBBY: Aaaaah!!

FUTURE SHEEN: (anguished) Oh God, make it stop! I don’t want to do this to her! After everything I've been through for her, all those years in the dark...the dark wasn't supposed to follow me out!

**He hunches over her, tears stinging his eyes. They run down his cheeks and splash onto her clothes, ominously attracting his attention to something else entirely: he watches on, helpless, as his own gaze travels down the silver zipper which runs the length of her dress. He turns his head away and shouts hoarsely**

FUTURE SHEEN: Goddamn it Jimmy!

**Dictator Jimmy takes a break from kicking Aurora to throw a snide comment his way**

DICTATOR: Don’t blame me for your current predicament, Sheen. You were the one who brought Libby into harm’s way by coming here. You knew perfectly well what could happen, and yet you still chose to lead her right into the heart of the fight. If you ask me, it was pure selfishness on your part. You wanted revenge, didn’t you? And you were willing to risk her life in order to get it…

FUTURE SHEEN: Shut up!!

DICTATOR: (turning away) With pleasure. I’m growing quite tired of this damsel-in-distress routine. Either finish her off, or finish yourself off instead. I’ve made my point, and now I’m done with the both of you.

**Leaving them to their own devices, he grabs Aurora by the hair and drags her to her feet. She doesn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain, but when their gazes meet, her eyes are watering involuntarily**

DICTATOR: Now where were we, Aurora?
**She spits out more blood**

AURORA: As I recall, I was just waiting for the opportunity to do THIS –

**She punches him in the throat, and he staggers away, clutching at his damaged windpipe. He takes heaving, raspy breaths, and the skeletal lines which crisscross his suit bob up and down on his chest. Within moments, his healing ability kicks in, and the corners of his mouth twitch upward into a sneer**

DICTATOR: Impressive, Aurora. If it weren’t for my technology, that last strike could have proved fatal. Crushing your enemy’s trachea? A brutal and effective maneuver.

**Aurora’s breathing comes in ragged gasps, and she holds her ribcage, trembling with overexertion**

AURORA: Thanks. I aim to please.

**Despite her jocular words, it is clear that Aurora is rapidly nearing the end of her rope. Lines of blood stream down her left arm from a gash on her shoulder, and yellow and purple bruises color her face**

AURORA: I’m no anatomist, Neutron, but I know I’m in deep trouble right now. My body can’t handle much more of this. If I take too many more direct hits, I’ll be out of commission for sure.

DICTATOR: And you’re telling me this why?

AURORA: Just thought I’d rob you of the satisfaction of telling me yourself.

DICTATOR: On the contrary. I am pleased to hear you admit it.

**She takes another swing at him, and he dodges to his left, bringing him within a few feet of the pile of ceiling rubble, which separates Aurora and Dictator Jimmy's fight from Libby and Future Sheen's**

FUTURE SHEEN: (babbling) Libby, I am so sorry…please…please don’t hate me. I'm going to do something horrible to you, but I want you to know that it isn't me, I don't mean it...God, I'm sorry...

**Future Libby, shaking like a leaf, somehow manages to maintain enough composure to try a new approach**

FUTURE LIBBY: I'm sorry too! If you hadn't defied Jimmy by sending me back to Earth all those years ago, none of this would have happened to you.

FUTURE SHEEN: (grabbing his head) AH! Don't say that! I don't want to be angry at you too! Let me at least have one person in my life who I don't want to see ripped to shreds!

**Still trembling, Future Libby continues**

FUTURE LIBBY: My point is, I never had a chance to say thank you. What you did...it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen anyone do. You risked your life to save me, and not a day has gone by since that I haven't thought about that fact.

FUTURE SHEEN: (distraught) ) What does it matter? It's all going to come to nothing! I always told myself that things would get better, SOMEDAY things would get better...and now, THIS? Is this really what the future has in store for me? Losing my mind and murdering the one person I've been waiting for? Damn it all! I gave up everything for you, Libby, lost everything, lost myself even, and I thought you'd be able to give some of it back...but now I'm going to lose you, too! How could he do this to me? How could ALL OF YOU do this to me?!

FUTURE LIBBY: (coaxing) Sheen, listen carefully. I’m no Rocky, but the monks at least taught me how to dodge an average punch. I know you can’t stop, but if you can just slow yourself down…just to the speed and strength of a normal human…I might be able to do somethin’.

FUTURE SHEEN: I’m trying, I’m trying!

FUTURE LIBBY: Did you really endure ten years of misery for it to end like this? Try harder! Everythin’ depends on it!

**Calling upon every ounce of muscle and willpower he possesses, Future Sheen concentrates on slowing his breathing and heartbeat. This time, when he grabs her about the waist and slings her onto her back, he ignores his guilt, and instead devotes all his energy into visualizing himself shifting into a lower gear**

FUTURE SHEEN: (eyes still closed) I think it’s working!

FUTURE LIBBY: Oh yeah? Good.

**She delivers a swift, hard kick straight to his groin. Caught completely off guard, he doubles over in dumbstruck agony. She speedily crawls out from under him and, stumbling to her feet, races over to the field of fallen debris. Selecting a sturdy steel plate from amid the wreckage, she turns back to Future Sheen just as he is getting up**

FUTURE LIBBY: Sheen, I’m really sorry about this, but…

**She wallops him across the face with the sheet of metal. He collapses, knocked unconscious, and she lowers the improvised weapon, breathing hard**

FUTURE LIBBY: I…I did it?… I can’t believe it. Haha, I did it!

**Her euphoria fades as the adrenaline rush retreats. She sinks back down into corporeality, and the welts, burns, and lacerations which zigzag her body finally take their toll. Exhausted from the traumatic fight and from her numerous injuries, her legs buckle under her. She falls to her knees on the floor beside him, smiling through the haze of pain and fatigue**

FUTURE LIBBY: (whispering) Did you see, Aurora?…I won…

**For a moment she sits there, posed in her tattered dress like a broken doll. Nauseous from the smoke and the smell of her own blood, her vision begins to blur. Finally, her eyelids flicker shut, and she gently flops down into a neat little pile beside Future Sheen**

AURORA: Libby?

**Dictator Jimmy watches this all in silence, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly**

DICTATOR: Well. Wasn’t that a serendipitous outcome to their fight…

**Aurora whirls back to face him, a look of fierce triumph on her scratched and dirtied face**

AURORA: She beat him! Haha, she really did it! You hear that? She beat him!! And she didn’t do it with any of that power of love crap. She knocked his lights out with a freaking chunk of metal! Hahaha!

**She stumbles slightly, her laugh growing wilder. He shrugs**

DICTATOR: Doesn’t really matter either way. That entire drama was merely a small footnote to tonight’s main attraction. Am I right?

**Aurora’s laugh turns into a coughing fit. She rests her hands on her knees, struggling to breathe**

AURORA: (rasping) Heh…hhh…let’s not lie to each other anymore, OK? We both know how this fight is going to end. But you know what? I’m not angry anymore. Hell, you could kill me right now, and I’d die happy, just from having seen that look on your face when Libby thwacked Sheen over the head.

**Aurora winces as a shooting pain races across her abdomen**

AURORA: Bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you? Your perfect killing machine, defeated by a five-foot four-inch fighter in a miniskirt….

**Aurora’s left leg begins to tremble violently, and she trails off, gritting her teeth. She grabs hold of it to prevent it from giving out, but only succeeds in spreading the malady to the rest of her overtaxed muscles. Growing weaker by the moment, her entire body shakes with exhaustion, as she struggles to draw in one shallow breath after another**

AURORA: Keh…hhh…damn it…

DICTATOR: Aurora.

**Dictator Jimmy crosses the short distance between them and comes to a stop directly in front of her, standing with his hands at his sides. Through sheer defiance alone, she forces herself to straighten and look him square in the eye. For a long moment they stand thusly, face to face and eye to eye, without saying anything**

DICTATOR: Well…looks like this is it.

**He clasps his hands behind his back and starts off in a slow, steady circle around her. Aurora refuses to budge – tipped slightly to one side, she clutches her bloodied arm, beads of sweat running down her face. Simply remaining upright is a monumental endeavor, but she clings tenaciously to this last shred of pride. He continues pacing, now within her field of vision, now outside of it again, and she watches him with the steely eyes of a soldier**

DICTATOR: I will be the first to admit the magnitude of your accomplishment, Aurora. While you have ultimately failed in your goal, this is the closest I have ever come to dying. You overcame my global defense system, infiltrated my underwater base, survived countless pitfalls, defeated a legion of robotic soldiers, and made it all the way into the main control room before finally failing. I applaud your commendable efforts.

**His praise is laden with a cruel and subtle mockery, and she looks on him with disgust**

AURORA: Spare me the bloody pleasantries, Neutron. You can gloat on your own time.

**He disappears from her sight again, and a pattern of slow, rhythmic footsteps fill the void. He circles round and re-appears on her other side, an amused expression on his face**

DICTATOR: Not to dampen your spirits, but I don’t think you have much say in the matter.

**She follows him with her eyes, seething internally. In a desperate bid to stall for time, she pulls out the last weapon in her arsenal**

AURORA: Tch. Keep it up, buddy. You think you have me all figured out…my plan all figured out…but you’re wrong. I didn’t come here for the reason you think. You see, Neutron, there’s something you don’t know about. I have an ace in the hole.

DICTATOR: Oh, is that so?

AURORA: That’s right. You may have beaten me this round, but it doesn’t matter. Even if you were to shoot me, and Libby, and Sheen – heck, every single member of the rebel alliance – right this instant, you would still lose in the end.

DICTATOR: Is this some sort of morality monologue? About how good will always triumph over evil, or some such nonsense?

AURORA: Please. Don’t insult my intelligence. I’m talking about an actual tactical advantage – one that you couldn’t have possibly accounted for.

**He concludes his pacing where he began, directly in front of her**

DICTATOR: You’re bluffing.

AURORA: What’d be the use in that? It won’t help me get out of what’s coming.

DICTATOR: That’s right. It won’t. This is it for you, Aurora. You think the last ten years have been a nightmare? They’re nothing compared to what I’m going to do to you once we’ve left this room. You will beg me for mercy, but I will show none. Only after I have broken you in every possible way will I kill you.

AURORA: Kill me. I don’t care. Torture me, rip me open, tear me limb from limb…do whatever you want. Some recent experiences have made me realize: it doesn’t matter. We could live a million lives in a million universes, and what would it amount to? Only a million lives, out of an infinite number. You and me, you and me, endlessly repeated, over and over and over again forever. What’s one life, when you know that?

DICTATOR: (turning his back to her) You’re beginning to sound like quite the Nietzsche wannabe, Aurora. But I’ll tell you right now – you won’t find refuge in nihilism. That’s the great paradox of pain; you can’t escape it by saying that it is meaningless. Pain gives meaning to meaninglessness.

AURORA: I’m not waxing philosophical, Neutron. You’re just not paying attention to the clues I’m giving you, and it’s going to make it that much sweeter when you see for yourself what I was talking about.

**He snaps around, his voice tense and quick**

DICTATOR: The only thing I’m going to see, Aurora, is you. You, as I torture you, strip you of your humanity, make you beg for your life like an animal. I want to witness the moment when you reach that black epiphany, when you finally realize that in the end, there is no dignity or bravery in the face of death. There is only misery and ruin, as you wait for the gaping mindlessness of the universe to swallow you whole.

**He seizes her chin, and she winces a little**

DICTATOR: There is nothing left for you Aurora, understand? No hope, no future. No heaven or hell. Just me.

**He moves in closer, and the conversation assumes a whole new tone**

DICTATOR: Just me…

**Completely drained of energy, Aurora slumps forward, and her head lands on his shoulder. He takes hold of her arms to steady her, and there is a long pause**

AURORA: (quietly) You and I are pretty warped, aren’t we Neutron?

**When he speaks at last, his voice is gentle and devoid of derision**

DICTATOR: Yes. We are.

AURORA: Why do you suppose that is? Why did it have to come to this? I always knew it would, but…why?

**There is another moment of silence**

DICTATOR: Because…it’s what we both want.

**Taken aback by the tone of his voice, Aurora repeats the strange statement**

AURORA: What we want?

DICTATOR: Yes. Your whole life you’ve been struggling to determine whether you were truly to blame for what happened to me. This fight – you weren’t seeking revenge, you were seeking the answer to that question. The truth is…deep down, you wanted to lose. You wanted me to hurt you. In the deepest, darkest corners of your psyche, you want me to punish you for what you did. It’s a strange catharsis, but it’s the only thing that will free you from your own bitterness and guilt.

**In the long silence that follows, Aurora fights a growing compulsion to surrender, to give in to him and let it all be over with. In the end she settles on a compromise, and instead acknowledges the strange irony that overshadows all their interactions**

AURORA: Heh. It’s funny, isn’t it, that the only person who truly understands me is the same person who’s going to kill me?

DICTATOR: I suppose it is.

AURORA: And you? What do you want?

DICTATOR: Me? I want the same thing I’ve always wanted.

AURORA: (wearily) You already have everything you want, Neutron.

DICTATOR: Not quite.

**He touches her cheek, and she shivers**

AURORA: Listen, before you take me away from here, there’s just one other thing I want. One minor concession, that’s all. Lord knows I’ve never asked for a favor from you before, but just this once…

**She never gets a chance to finish her sentence, for at that exact moment, something else catches her attention. On the other side of the room she spots Cindy, who is gawking at her from within the hole in the control room wall. After a moment, the other kids pop out alongside her, and Sheen waves excitedly to Aurora. Cindy smacks him aside before pulling out the antidote and gesturing at it wildly. Aurora interprets this visual cue to mean something along the lines of “what the hell are you doing?” and, in an instant, she re-formulates her plan of action. Without betraying what has transpired, Aurora lets her eyes trail over Dictator Jimmy’s face, and she repeats her last words in a murmur**

AURORA: …just this once…

**Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulls him into a tight embrace. He stiffens at first, but then slowly relaxes into it, sliding his hands up her back and into her hair**

DICTATOR: (whispering) The concession?

**She tightens her hold, covertly motioning for the kids to approach. They stealthily pick their way across the chamber, with Cindy in the lead. Aurora beckons for them to walk faster, disguising the movement by twining her fingers in his hair. The thrill of the moment washes over her, and for a moment she has the sensation of being outside history – one by one, she watches all the players as they move to their appointed places on the stage. She drinks in the heady rush of clinging to an already-conquered foe, a foe as yet oblivious to his fate. Heart pumping furiously, she whispers into his ear**

AURORA: I want you to look behind you.

**He turns his head and peers back over his shoulder. He sees the kids approaching from a short distance away, and Aurora has the satisfaction of watching his eyes widen. Before he can react, she clamps both her arms around him and converts every last remaining ounce of energy and emotion into raw firepower. A tower of flames consumes them both, swirling round in a cyclonic pyre. Aurora pushes him back, then roundhouse kicks him in the face, and he stumbles to one side, stunned and badly burned. Cindy recognizes her opportunity and goes for it. She darts forward away from the others, holding the antidote aloft in one hand**

CINDY: Hey Aurora, think fast!

**She flings the vial with all her might, and it sails across the room in a high arc, turning slow circles through the air as it travels upward toward its zenith. It catches the light like a crystal, and the seconds seem to drag into hours as it sparkles and glimmers its way back down to earth. Aurora sweeps it out of the air and, in one unbroken motion, flings her arm downward, redirecting the vial at the floor**

AURORA: Say hello to my ace in the hole!

**It bursts, releasing a fine mist which diffuses and rises to engulf the newly healed Dictator. He hacks as the tiny droplets enter his lungs**

DICTATOR: An airborne agent?

**Blood begins to trickle from his nose, and he staggers a little, choking on the vapor. He coughs violently, and perspiration gathers on his suddenly-ashen skin. Despite this undignified physical reaction, his expression never loses its confidence. Half bent over, he looks up at Aurora from under strands of sweat-slicked hair**

DICTATOR: I don’t know what you’re planning or what’s going on, but I can assure you, it will not work. Neither chemical nor biological warfare will harm me. If it’s an airborne toxin, my suit will heal me, and if it’s a pathogen, my immune system will fight it off. It’s a strange byproduct of the megalomanium – my immune system is…is…

**His cough grows increasingly frenetic, and for the first time, his eyes betray a hint of concern**

DICTATOR: What’s…why isn’t…

**He doubles over, hacking so loudly that the kids wince at the sound**

DICTATOR: (looking at the floor) I don’t understand…why am I still coughing?

AURORA: It’s because the stuff you just breathed in wasn’t a toxin or a pathogen, Neutron – it was something else. Something you never could have prepared for in a million years.

**Bleary-eyed and struggling for breath, he looks back and forth between her and the kids, unable to make sense of the situation**

DICTATOR: What are those? Holograms? A shapeshifting species? Or is this aerosol hallucinogenic?

AURORA: None of the above. You're not seeing things, and this isn't some sort of trick. They are exactly who you think they are.

**He drops to one knee, rasping horribly, his arms wrapped round his stomach. Tremors run up and down his body, his hands and leg muscles quake. Beads of sweat drip down his chin as his failing vision stretches and blurs his surroundings into meaningless blotches of color. Having not seen what he did to Aurora during their fight, the kids feel a twinge of sympathy for him**

DICTATOR: What is happening to me? If it wasn't a pathogen or a poison, then what on earth did I just breathe in!?

**Aurora drops the bomb without a smidgen of ceremony**

AURORA: It's an antidote to the megalomanium.

**He repeats her words dumbly, drawing out the syllables**

DICTATOR: An…tidote?

AURORA: That’s right. It’s going to put you out for a little while, Neutron. And then when you wake up, you’ll be cured.

DICTATOR: You...

**He loses his balance and falls over onto his side, but still stares up at her with strained, bewildered eyes**

DICTATOR: You…

AURORA: 'Me' nothing. You miscalculated, Neutron. You assumed that I was here to kill you, and thus tailored your response to meet that specific threat. But that was never my intention. My goal was not to destroy you, but to save you.

DICTATOR: Save me? But I...I don't...

**His head lolls forward. Fighting with everything he has to stay awake, he crawls a forward a couple of feet, though he can no longer speak. The inevitable is not far off, however, and the antidote at last overpowers him.. His eyes roll up into his skull, and he goes limp, collapsing into an unconscious heap at Aurora's feet. She stares down at him in silence for a long while before making her final pronouncement**

AURORA: End game, Neutron.

**Seeing that the danger has passed, Cindy runs over to the fallen Dictator, while Aurora limps a few steps away and slumps down into a sitting position**

CINDY: (examining him) Are you sure he was supposed to pass out after inhaling the antidote? I thought Jimmy said that the only reason he'd lose consciousness was if the antidote was too strong, and he was slipping into a coma!

**She pauses**

CINDY: ...And, on another note, what the heck were you two doing when we came in here, anyway?

**Aurora shudders as sharp pains race through her core**

AURORA: ...uuuugh...

**She curls forward and spits up blood, which spatters on the floor between her outstretched legs, and Cindy realizes that the person she should really be worrying about is her future self**

CINDY: (darting forward) Holy crap, are you all right? Ugh, what am I saying? Of course you're not all right – look at you! You're throwing up blood for God's sake!

AURORA: Yeah, I'm in pretty rough shape...

**Libby, who by this point has noticed the room's other slumbering occupants, can no longer contain her curiosity**

LIBBY: (apprehensively) Listen, Aurora, I know you're kind of in dire straits yourself right now, but would you mind tellin' me why me and older Sheen are all bashed up and lyin' face-down on the floor?

AURORA: They'll be fine. They're just unconscious. Sheen got a little too friendly for his own good, so Libby gave him a sheet-metal sandwich...heh heh heh...

**Aurora's chuckle turns into a cough, and she flops onto her back. Exhausted, she stares up at the ceiling, lying on her pillow of matted, golden hair**

CINDY: And what about you, Aurora? Are you even going to be able to move around after receiving that many injuries?

AURORA: Don't worry about me. My suit's nothing like Neutron's, but it does have some healing capability. It just...operates a bit differently, that's all. I need to concentrate on resting for awhile. It's OK...

**She exhales the last two words, closing her eyes as she does so. The room falls silent, and the kids shuffle uneasily. When they finally strike up a conversation again, they instinctively speak in whispers**

CARL: So...what do we do now?

**Libby takes a seat, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her hands**

LIBBY: I don't know about you guys, but I'm dead tired. I'm gonna chill right here until Jimmy and skinny Carl get back with Goddard.

CARL: (cringing) But...there's blood on the floor!

LIBBY: There's none where I am. Come on over.

**Reluctantly he obliges, and the two of them huddle together for comfort in the middle of the scarred, charred room. Cindy continues watching Aurora while Sheen, who has been awkwardly standing off by himself, works up the courage to approach his future self. He regards the sleeping man somberly, with an unusually reflective mien**

SHEEN: Is that really me? I mean, I'm a total dreamboat and everything, but I look...I don't know, scary.

**He averts his eyes and, in doing so, spots something on the ground. Frowning, he bends and picks up a small white object**

SHEEN: (examining it) What the heck? Is this...a tooth?

**He shows it to Cindy, and she frantically waves it away**

CINDY: Eww, Sheen, put that down!

**Unswayed by her reaction, he turns to Aurora**

SHEEN: (displaying the tooth) Hey babe, this yours?

CINDY: Sheen!

SHEEN: Whaaat? I'm just asking! If it's not hers, I wanna keep it as a souvenir.

CINDY: Ugh, what is the matter with you?! You can't just waltz out onto a battlefield, pick up someone's tooth, and ask to keep it! God, you are SUCH a freak!

**To their astonishment, Aurora begins to laugh. It starts off as a slow, weak chuckle, then slowly builds into a ringing peal of genuine mirth**

CINDY: (putting her hands on her hips) Great. Now you've sent her into hysterics.

**Still laughing, Aurora drapes a wrist over her eyes**

AURORA: Unbelievable. You guys are ridiculous. You have absolutely no sense of propriety whatsoever.

**She releases a long sigh and lets her arm drop back onto the floor**

AURORA: I could learn a thing or two from you...

**Somehow, this leaves Cindy and Sheen feeling very awkward, and after an unsure pause they leave Aurora's side and join Libby and Carl. Clustered together, and trying not to look too closely at the bloodstains, pieces of shredded cloth, and other debris which litter the ground, the four of them wait in silence for Jimmy and Future Carl to return. Emptied of the sounds of vengeance, the chamber becomes like a room in the dead of night. Future Libby and Future Sheen sleep peacefully, their breaths rising and falling in unison, while Dictator Jimmy dozes under the blank slate of insentience, all malevolence drained away. Aurora stares skyward, and the uncharacteristic look of serenity on her face gives her a strange kind of beauty. A soft glow seems to hang around her smudged, bruised face and her tangled hair. And, when she smiles wistfully to herself a few moments later, it is with the gentle sadness of one remembering a life well-lived – though nobody sees her as she shuts her eyes and drifts off into a cold and pallid silence...**