Unas flew right back into his hand after Ace had dropped him. He was never going to leave, never abandon him, believing he was his new father.

Get revenge for what she has done!

“I can’t do this, my wife-”

You would let this monster live just so you could get a few more minutes with her? You have repeated these days, over and over, just for your father! This is no different!

Mary Sue’s eyes glowed and she prepared herself once again for combat. “I won’t let you hurt him,” she screamed. “He’s still a kid!”

Ace was surprised by her words. What Mary Sue lacked in morals she made up for in maternal instinct. Seeing Ace’s distress just made her notice the age gap between them. She was almost 25 years older than him, at 46, and she saw nothing but a confused child, abandoned and afraid.

He, however, was frozen in fear as Deceit returned to get what she thought was hers. In Deceit’s mind, she saw Mary Sue as simply a woman who stood in her way of all the pleasures she thought she was entitled.

I promised Tyreceus that I would protect you, Unas grumbled. Why do you fight me?

Mary Sue picked up a nearby car and threw it at her, spinning like a frisbee. Deceit jumped into the air and shielded her face with her forearms. She burst through the car as bones ejected from her arms, motor oil, and parts flying past her.

She didn’t stop moving, as she saw that Mary Sue was now without armor and knew with one hit at full power she could defeat the strongest woman alive.

She will die if you do nothing, Unas pleaded. You will let the woman who has saved you twice because of your childhood dreams?

“ No,” Ace replied. “ Never. She saved me…. Even though she didn’t want to.”

Out of the ground came forth more of the whirring bone worms, and Deceit was going straight for the kill. Mary Sue covered Ace, shielding him from the gravel that flew out, striking her back.

Rivulets of blood streamed down her back, small rocks stuck inside her.

“Run Acheus,” Mary Sue pleaded. “Get away before she kills you!”

She will not kill you, she's toying with you. Use that to your advantage!

“I can’t hurt Ibis! She’s all I have.”

Ibis will never return. If she does, how long until the demon overpowers her?

All the monsters burrowed into the ground, and Deceit slid to a halt.

“This is your last chance, bitch,” she boomed. “Leave now and you have a chance at pretending that you’re still stronger than everyone else.”

Ace fell to the ground on his knees and cried. His tears were hot and painful, and he finally accepted that he could not change his father’s death. Like the heroes of Greek myths and legends, he had to give up something to gain another, and he could never have it all.

“If I kill her will Ibis be okay,” Ace asked.

She will finally be put to rest. That is all I can promise.

The ground underneath Mary Sue and Ace shook, and he heaved harder. Mary Sue held onto him and consoled him.

“I won’t let her hurt you,” Mary Sue promised. “I won’t”.

“I miss my wife,” Ace sobbed.

His tears were no longer there, but instead steam evaporated from his face. His entire body was enveloped in flames and Mary Sue was in awe as they didn’t hurt.

The monsters burst through the ground, but the strength of Ace’s pain and regrets burned them on impact. He cried harder than he ever had in his life, hating that he couldn’t go back.

He couldn’t go back to being a child when everything was simpler when everything made sense. Mary Sue and Ace fell into the hole that the worms had burrowed, and Deceit stared down, waiting for something to happen.

“Come out,” she roared.

Nothing happened, and Deceit assumed that they had run away.

Ace came bursting out the hole, fire at his feet, and Mary Sue hung onto him. They landed on the ground, rolling on the street, as Ace didn’t know how to use his new power very well.  He stood to his feet, his long hair on fire, draping down his back like a cape. His shirt was burnt off, as were his shoes, and the lower half of his pants.

“You’re abusive,” Ace said, his eyes black as coal. “You never loved me.”

Deceit’s entire body shook as she truly felt fear for the first time in thousands of years. He slowly walked through the debris, going around the shards of glass and jagged rocks.

“You’re the only one that’s really lied to me,” he sobbed.

The flames on his head now roared bigger and brighter.

“I, it, it was for your own good,” Deceit screeched. “It was never that bad!”

With every step, he took the asphalt underneath his feet melted, and stuck to the underside of his feet. He gripped the sword’s handle tighter and it sprouted flames. They were not red, but pure white, the hottest kind of flames there could be, his anger and pain deeper than the ocean itself.

“We’re breaking up,” Ace screamed.

He said the words, knowing that her obsession with him made them the worst words she could ever hear. For the first time in her life, Deceit cried real tears of sadness, not crocodile tears.

Ace wasn’t moved. He smiled, and large white incisors popped out. Black ghastly tears came out of her eyes and she screamed, unable to handle that he, for the first time ever, after thousands of repeats, was leaving her.“I’m going to kill you. You can never leave me!”

Mary Sue watched in horror as what she believed was a weak child was now a monster. From the way he stood to the facial expressions he made, Ace was no longer there.

Mary Sue would never touch the sword ever again.

“Can you bring back my father,” Ace asked Deceit. “Can you un-rape me? That’s the only way this can be better.”

Deceit did not try to run. She was throwing a tantrum, like an angry child. Her toy had been taken from her, she refused to go in time out or apologize, and worst of all she was angry because she got caught.  She screamed and cried as black tar came out of her face, and Ace screamed right back at her.

“Enough!”

Ace was no longer afraid of his abuser. He wanted to live.

“I’ve had enough!”

Fire encircled them, trapping her in a radius of a few buildings.

“You can’t hurt me anymore!”

Ace ran towards her and raised his sword, but he stopped. A burst of colors, a giant rainbow pushed up into the sky. He fell face first, and Mary Sue laughed nervously, knowing that they had won.

“They’re coming,” Mary Sue shouted. “All of them!”