A Gift From God (?)

Note: I do not own WHR or M: TG

The alleyway seemed to go on forever. The eternal darkness between Nagira's setup and an apartment building seemed to go on forever. One couldn't easily distinguish the lonely shadow that sheltered within this sanctuary. Nobody who passed the office gave a damn about the teenage girl who they couldn't see in the first place.

She sat on a garbage can, looking back through her life. She was here. The only place where she found any form of concealment from THEM. Everybody hated her face. Hated her body. Hated her soul.

Her black attire should have pretty much told this depression, but it hid the fact she was rather pretty. Her brown hair and brown eyes made a feel of strength. But her eyes now had a look of sorrow. Her head was low, a monument for being the individual.

She thought back… people always picking on her… but also on others… she cared for her brethren. She hated the way man was a virus, full of greed and destroying everything in his path. She always tried to end it when she could. Protests… psshhh! They helped the cause, but they always failed…like todays on stopping war.

Give Americans something to think about before tapping more resources, she thought. Maybe they had heard. The news broadcast had been directly to them. But, police and their stupidity went ahead and dismantled the peace gathering. What do I do now? Intervening so many times… why did a righteous cause always end in FAILURE.

As thoughts ran through her mind, she didn't notice the foul odor of corruption. This one had thrown his earnings onto that table and shouted, "Deal me in!" Obviously, a card game that one bets everything will screw around with a guy's mind if he losses. He raged at himself in silence, walking down that dark path. Then he saw something that he could take his rage on: a girl. Sure, whores were fun, but this was free. He took out a switch and flicked the blade out.

The girl had not cry out in surprise or fear when knife touched her throat. Instead, she welcomed it. Maybe it would release her from this retched world. Or not. "Strip." The word hit her like a bullet. Why was the world so debauched?

The man was quite pissed at her gesture. Why doesn't she do anything, he wondered. He pressed the knife in a bit more. "Just kill me. I don't care anymore." What the hell was wrong with this girl? At least a bit of action before going…

She felt herself being thrown from the perch. The ground was cold from having no light to comfort it. The highlighting scent of alcohol she could smell clearly now, as it blew in her face, withdrew, and then repeated. There is no god if such deeds existed.

The asshole stared into those brown eyes, filled with nothing but sorrow. Whatever! This should make my day, he thought as he undid her belt, cutting it with blade. He went ahead and restrained her by clutching her neck. Nothing could stop the pleasure from starting!

Such a nice last thought, wouldn't you say? The girl looked up to see the man's hand. It was decaying! He dropped the switch and grabbed his wrist. Excruciating pain! It was a horrid sight. The rotting started at the palms, slowly liquefying the skin, layer by layer, killing individual cells. Even as gunk dripped away, it corroded more. What was left drifted away in the form of dust. She could clearly see muscle now, red and moving. Sickened, the girl thrashed her way out of grasp. Watching in horror, she saw that the rot was quickening. Within a few seconds, the hand was gone and only skeletal remains were left.

No, it didn't stop there. The sounds of agony began as he realized it wouldn't end. It traveled up the arm, then finally to the torso where the real fun could begin. So many organs… muscle were good, but these other things held together life! So many choices… where to? The stomach… boom! Explosion… spreading debris everywhere… still inside body, though. Kill next? Lungs! Only one at first to prolong the amusement! Joy! Alveoli rupturing… causing those lovely pops like bubble wrap except thousand fold in quantity! Quite entertaining! Oh, screw this bastard! He MUST FUCKING PAY! The heart… its beat bores… rhythmically… that is how death shall be tracked…each pump a spreading of annihilation… excellent… DIE NOW!

Screams could be heard outside of the alleyway. People looked down the darkness, wondering what in god's name could cause such a ruckus. Nagira was the first to go down the path. What he saw wasn't a pretty sight. A corpse… looked like it was almost completely rotted away. Only the extremities seemed to be intact. He closed his eyes; they watered at the smell of the foul odor. Opening them, he got an even bigger shock. The corpse had nothing left on the head! Who or what had done such a thing? Was it a craft? If it was, Nagira thought, then god have mercy on us… this was possibly the worst death anyone could endure. He left the alleyway… maybe he could calm the crowd outside before they got suspicious…

The girl finally reached home, soaked from head to toe in perspiration. She was frustrated in that she had to hold her pants up the whole way What the bloody hell was going on! She walked to her room, brushing a plant with her hand on the way. It only took her a split second to realize the feel of mush. She stared at the plant… it disintegrated. … What in god's name was fucking going on? There were quite a few plants in the house… she decided to experiment. She went and touched a plant… nothing.

What the hell! Maybe if I concentrate, she thought. Maybe if I focus energy to my hand... she closed her eyes. Upon opening them, she was rewarded with another plant that ceased to live. The fear, anger, sorrow that filled her while on that can turned to cheer. She remembered something like this… it was in a game her brother had. Magic: The Gathering, was it? Her older brother a short while ago had let her look through his deck. "What's this card," she had asked. "It looks like a goth, like me." Her brother replied, "Oh, that? Well, that's my win condition, Phage the Untouchable. She's pretty hot if you ask me. Anyways, there's a story about her. She has this power: whatever she touches that's living or used to be alive rots into nothing. Neat power, eh? She touches an opponents creature, it dies, the opponent, they lose the game. Cool, eh? Won me quite a few games…"

She mused at this thought. She now stared at her reflection in the mirror. She could probably do the same hairstyle… make her hair look like demon horns. She could…make all those undeserving pay! She could make all those bastards pay for their sins! She could make the earth as God had wanted it… no evil! Now… she pictured herself as Phage… no. She would become Phage. No. She was Phage… a sense of hope built up inside her. "My name is Phage! Arbiter of God!"