'Your choice is made John Finnie, you choose death!' The huge demon roared so loud the rubble beneath their feet rumbled and moved.

Fire spewed from its mouth. Sem threw John aside. The ground where they stood a moment before bubbled and cracked as the monster relented its attack.

'No!' A strong voice shouted from the shadows. 'I choose life, I've always chosen life. It's a choice you cannot take from me you ugly fucking murderous bastard.' Out of the dust and haze another John walked. He wore a military style urban uniform, cropped hair, two large scars marring the sides of his face. Sem appeared at his side, cat suit clad and sporting two very large and dangerous looking handguns, her sword sheathed on her back.

The monster took a step back. 'This cannot be, you're J--'

A rapid burst of fire took its arm off. 'I can be what the fuck I want,' said the scarred John and shot again. A hole the size of a car appeared in its belly. For a second John saw clean through it, then smoke obscured his view. Two-Gunned Sem ran straight toward the building to their left, without missing a step she ran vertically up the wall and fired, taking chunks of the massive demon away with each shot.

Scarred John turned and spoke. 'John! Get out of here kid, get the first photo. It's our only hope. This devil is too strong for you. Go, go now!'

The scarred John put another burst of pulse rounds into the great demon, knocking it back twenty feet. But the demon rejuvenated fast, its arm already reattached.

Semila grabbed John and dragged him down the road. Screams of the dying filled the air, pleas for help assaulted them at every turn. Half the torso of a man blocked their path as they ran forward, it was clear by the blood trail he had dragged his legless body as far as he could.

'No Sem,' John shouted as he pulled away from her.

'John! What the fuck? Let's go, come on you heard your sexy scarred self!' Sem pleaded, dragged him further away. Another burst of pulse rounds echoed through the thick dust and smoke, followed by an earth shattering roar.

John grabbed her jaw. 'Don't you see Sem? I run every time. I must do, how else do I survive to come back as all these other versions of myself? How else could I keep coming back unless I ran each time?' He kissed her on the cheek. 'It's time to face my demons Sem, they have haunted me for too many years now. Go get me that photo and we'll end this for good. Okay?'

Sem blinked away her tears. 'I'm supposed to guard you John, that's my job.'

John smiled, his heart filled with love. 'Your job right now is to guard the world Sem, now go...please.' He moved a strand of Sem's hair from her face. Without a word she turned and ran into the smoke, leaving nothing but swirls of dust where she'd stood.

Pulse rifle shots and brain shattering screaming brought him back to the present. John looked down at the sword in his hand. 'All of a sudden this doesn't seem like a good idea,' he said out loud.

He took a few steps and faltered as a glorious light bathed him. From the churning white clouds stepped an angel, and John felt hope.

'My daughter asked me to help you.' Gabriel smiled and shrugged. 'To be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to this.' He nodded at John and turned on his heels, running towards the action.

John ran after him. 'Got to be crazy John, crazy as a shit house rat! Everyone is running away, but noooo not you.' Huff. 'No...you got to run to catch up to an angel...' huff. '...with nothing but a sword...' huff, huff. '...got to exercise more in the future...'

Rounding the corner, he saw two of himself fighting at Gabriel's side. Scarred John blasted the smaller demons to dust with Double-Gun Sem standing over him, shooting any stragglers. John Two danced hypnotically with his sword, twirled and parried the huge demon's blows. For a second John's chest swelled with pride. That was him. Him. He struggled to believe it but adjusted his grip on the sword anyway and headed in.

Gabriel meanwhile went for the straight forward approach. With a shout, he ran up the demon's back ripping chunks of it off with his sword and hands, but as quick as they hurt it, the demon healed itself. Grabbing hold of Gabriel, the demon roared and launched him forty feet into a building wall. The crack sickened John, but the archangel leapt to his feet like lightning, ran full pelt at the hulking monster. Both punched out at the same time and their fists connected. The blast wave swept all from their feet. John shook his head, his ears rang, his head throbbed with his back, nausea threatened to spill his measly breakfast.

A hand appeared in front of his face. 'Here kid, take my hand, let's get you to your feet.'

John looked on astonished. 'You're...'

'Yeah,' said the old man. 'I'm you, we all are. You have to run kid, this is a no win fight here. If you die, we all die.' Old John pointed around and John's jaw dropped. One John had a bionic arm, hurling rocks with as much speed and precision as Scarred John's rifle, another had double swords and was joining in with John Two, making a blade barrier of death to anything that got too close. Another was firing black spheres from his hands, disintegrating anything that got past the rest. Others were there all joining in the fight, and now the huge demon was rising again.

Old Man John cleared his throat. 'If you die son, we all die. You have to go.' He smiled. 'Save one, save us all,' he said.

John shrugged him away. 'No, that's not what it means. I am meant to save the world, not myself.' His voice squeaked at the end.

Old John snorted. 'Bah! Horseshit! We never found out what it really meant. We saved ourselves to beat this abomination you see before you. Now go!'

John stood his ground. 'I'd rather fucking die! Do you hear me? I'd rather fucking die than run again. Did you hear that Anubis? You're going to have to take me today!'

Momentarily all the Johns stopped fighting and looked towards the two Johns talking. 'Death!' shouted the old man. 'Of course, the sneaky old bastard!'

It came to John in a blinding flash. The time in his box, when Grimsol came disguised as Michael he said, 'This is your soul, and I have never encountered one like it. It has taken me fifteen of your years to get inside, and only then because I made an unbreakable promise to one who should not take sides.'

'One who should not take sides!' Old and Young John said together. 'Death!'

A steely look came over Old John's face. 'You need to run me through with that big sword in your hands John, I need to die. Death will come, he cannot stop himself.'

John shook his head, all feeling went from his hands as Old John put the blade near his belly. 'I'm too frail to do it kid, it has to be you. If you do it, you could save us all.' A sad look crossed his face and John's hands trembled. He recalled Grimsol, in the form of Michael, trying to convince John to stab himself in the black box. Was this the answer? Or some trick? Time slowed, his heartbeats drowning the noise of the fight, and at last he chose.

He pushed as he closed his eyes, the sword cut, grated through bones, sliced through organs. Old Man John groaned a little, collapsed around the sword.

As Old Man John's blood leaked to the pavement, Death appeared, knelt down before Old John and grabbed his hands. 'My only friend in all the world, what has happened?' A tenderness John had thought Death incapable of softened Death's features. Old Man John pointed to John and Death turned.

'I happened you son of a bitch.' And with that John dived on him, a particularly dark photo in his grip. In a blink they stood in a dark room, the same one John had been trapped in for seventeen years.

Death looked around. 'Hmmm,' he said, 'haven't been here for a while, but I know your secrets John and I think I'll be leaving now.' Death went to walk through the wall but bounced off it as if it were iron.

'It's my soul Anubis,' John groaned, 'and you aint getting out of here till I say. So take a seat.' A chair like the first one John had sat in when he awoke in the box appeared. At last he understood what his life meant, why he had never truly been in control until this moment.

Death raised an eyebrow as the sword tip touched his throat.

'And tell me just what the fuck that Devil thing promised you,' John sneered, twisted the sword tip so a trickle of blood escaped Death's throat.

Death's eyes widened. Then he laughed, to John's chagrin. 'You think you can kill me?'

In an instant John's box became transparent. He looked around at the frozen faces of panicked pedestrians, dying and snarling demons, the great beast, Future Semila. 'You know this sword is an angel killer,' John said, 'and you've fucked with me so long I should kill you ten times over. Now' --John's hands tensed on the hilt, and he spoke through his teeth-- 'take a fucking seat before I slice you open.'

Something changed in Death's eyes, a hint less morgue-grey, a tad blacker. 'Alright...' he stuck his hands in the air and backed slowly to the chair. 'Okay, I surrender Johnnie.'

'Don't you fucking call me that. We're not friends.' John spat at the tar underfoot and stood over Death. How could he have done this? All this time John had thought Death was helping him. Though he sometimes acted like a douche, he had thought, at least, that Death cared. Now he saw through the act, it had been foolish to think one who should not choose sides would choose to save the one man who had tilted the balance of nature into chaos. Still he couldn't quench the feelings of betrayal washing over him. 'Tell me why, Death,' he choked as tears rolled down his face. Charlie was there in his mind, running on green grass, squealing with joy. Jumping behind him, pigtails bouncing as he said, 'come on Pooh, bouncing is fun.'

The smirk left Death's features. 'Why?' he sat forward, met John's eyes.

'I'll tell you why. To end it. Everything. The endless stream of suffering that surmises my existence. This demon before you is called Belial, second in power only to the great Dark One who will one day come to earth for his reckoning with the Heavenly Prince. And yes, he is one of few beings who can end my existence by taking my place. Which is why...' Death sat back and laughed as he folded his arms.

'Well, that's why you shouldn't kill me. Unless you want to be Death?'

John wasn't sure what he'd expected, but this hadn't been on the list. 'You... you want to die?' His brow creased. 'So why did you sit then? I could have killed you!'

'And I would have condemned my dearest friend to an eternity of soul collecting, watching lives end, being forever the darkness people fear. No John, I can't do that to you.'

'Fuck, Death, do you think ending the world will help?' John shouted as he pointed at Belial, frozen mid roar, mid slash. 'Imagine this fucker with your power. He will destroy us.' John was sure his face was red as he screamed, but he couldn't hold the fury in. 'You'd end everything for your own selfish gain!'

John wanted Death to get up, to scream back, he wanted a reason to fist the guy, but Death didn't oblige. A pensive look crossed his face and his eyes looked hollow. After a long pause, John heaving in between until his heart rate calmed, Death spoke.

'Is it so selfish John? What would you do if it was you? Would you watch those you love die, carry them to their final destination? Would you then take countless souls on similar paths? Think of the few you have lost. Charlie. Tom. Your Dad. Marty. Semila. Would you lose them again, except this time be the one who takes them beyond this reality forever?'

John didn't know how to answer. Thoughts of Tom's last breaths in his lap, blood-soaked, warred with thoughts of that car smashing into Dad, his body landing with a sickening thud. And that photo of the little girl, all cut up hanging from a ceiling. Could he see those things for an eternity?

No, he could not even imagine losing Semila again. Or Marty, much less watching thousands die each day. And Charlie? He would do anything to save her...but that didn't justify throwing it all to shit like Death had done. There had to be another way. 'Shit,' he cursed, turning and pacing, the sword tight in his grip.

'Fuck,' he spat. Slapped his forehead. 'Think John.'

'So you see why I did this?'

'No Death. No...' John's pacing slowed. 'That's where you and I are different. I can't kill the world because I'm tired of my job. And neither should you' --He pointed the sword Death's way-- 'and I refuse to kill you. Besides, I thought you said there are few beings who can take your place. I doubt I'm one.'

'Then you're wrong. Think about it,' Death said. 'You're an anomaly. A game changer. One who should not take sides. That's you, except you interfere with the fate of the world to give the ones you choose life, while I am stuck dragging people into death following every letter of what is written in the Book of Life. I am trapped, and you are free' --he paused-- 'and I want to be free too.'

John tilted his head, sword tip resting on the scorched rubble. 'And you want this enough to condemn us all to this Belial? No Death, there has to be another way. I will make another way. Maybe someone can take your place. Someone besides me or Belial. Someone who wouldn't use your power to destroy the world...' John trailed off as the perfect candidate floated into his mind.

© Steve Ford and Joy Cronjé 2018