Interlude 1c
Evron Grey
The dictionary defines evil as something or someone that is profoundly immoral, wicked, depraved, corrupt, degenerate, harmful or undesirable. An evil person seeks to harm others for it's own enjoyment. An evil person is malevolent towards others and does not care for their suffering. An evil person destroys the lives of others without regard for their well-being.
I am Evron Grey and I am evil.
Less than ten hours ago, I attacked a group of drunk gang members attempting to kill two black teens. I beat them bloody. I burnt others. A few unlucky ones ended up torn apart. A normal person...a good person would feel at least a shred of regret. Those men probably had families. I know one had a daughter. He told me about her while he begged me not to kill him. I couldn't really understand him through his tears but I'm pretty sure I understood what he meant to say. He thought it would make me show him mercy. He was right. I didn't kill him. The burns I gave him were punishment enough. Fun fact, Do you know humans taste like pork? I did, but apparently I forgot. Funny how small things like that can slip your mind.
I was still covered in their blood. Thankfully, it had dried off. I doubt Greg would be happy if I sat on his desk chair while covered in the blood of Nazis.
I wasn't even angry at them. I was mad at Nexus, the smug bastard...and I expressed that rage on targets that made themselves available.
I watched as Greg slept, unaware of my vigil. I didn't need to sleep anymore. I didn't need to eat. I didn't need to breathe. I was no longer human. If anything, I was closer to whatever type of being that Nexus was and I hated it. I did not regret the power it gave me. I hated what it had turned me into. I
I had told Greg that I wanted to help him save his world. I had lied to him. I cared about his world less than Nexus did meaning I could not care less if it exploded right now. There were infinite iterations of just this version of Greg's Earth. I did not want anything to do with this Earth. What I wanted was Greg.
It wasn't a sexual thing. I had a fiance. Even if I was attracted to men, I think I could do better than Greg. I needed Greg to keep me human. I had been surrounded by my friends for years. Most of them never realized that I never created Titanwatch to protect the world. I did it so they could protect the world from me. Only Anton and my Lia; beautiful, wonderful, Lia, knew how I really felt. They had been there to ground me, to keep me stable. I had changed when I had become what I was now.
As a human, I had Dissociative Identity Disorder and I had to deal with that along with the joy of growing up with Nexus in my head. After I had died and come back roughly a year later with my body irrevocably altered, Ascended being the term Nexus used, my Identities were no longer fragmented but had merged with me. At any provocation, I could be on a roaring rampage. At the smallest compliment, I could be preening myself in vanity. When pushed to far, I would make rather brutal choices.
I didn't want that. I wanted to be good for the sake of being good, like Paragon or Exemplar. It's ironic that I killed all the male heroes that I looked up to but things are funny that way. The only one left that I looked up to was Anton and he was my best friend. I missed my old self so much. If I could describe myself now, I'd say that I lacked humanity. My friends didn't realize that. They just thought I was harsher and more sadistic because of the fact that I died but that wasn't the whole truth. The normal inhibitions I used to have were gone. I could control my reactions but I no longer felt the desire to. Why should I lower myself to limit my behavior for simple humans? I was above that.
That! That right there. It was those types of thoughts that made me realize I needed Greg. He reminded me so much of my friends. He was just as awkward as Aren. If Greg wore glasses and had brown hair, I could swear that they were twins. It was people like Aren who I lived for. My friends were what grounded me. When I was around them, I was whole...calm...at peace. My thoughts were more focused. I was no longer controlled by my whims. I focused on the well-being of others...of them, rather than my own sadistic, prideful impulses. God, I wish I was as good as I pretended to be. I was a monster, no doubt about it. But I was a monster on a leash, much like Eldritch, now that I think about it. And like Eldritch, our friends kept us fro turning into unrecognizable, unstoppable monsters.
I had to make Greg need me. He had to be my friend. The main reason I Evolved him from human to metahuman because I knew he had to see me on some level as an equal. Greg liked me already but I could tell It was simple admiration Hero worship wasn't enough. That wasn't friendship. It would fade eventually. I could simply compel him to be my friend but that wouldn't be fair. I needed a friend who knew me as me. A friend that could keep me stable.
I didn't care what Greg did with this world after we took over. He could rule it like a king or he could simply leave with me and join me on Earth Grey. I didn't care. I knew when Greg would truly be a lifelong friend. It was one of my powers. One of my natural powers, not simply an offshoot of being whatever Nexus was. I could already feel the bond between us. If I wanted to, I could control his thought patterns without even trying, sculpting the path he would take for the rest of his life with a stray sentence. I didn't, of course. I could never willingly compel a friend. The moment I no longer had the ability to mold Greg's thought pattern, I would know we were friends till death. Until then, I would wait, doing my best to be the best friend he had ever had and will ever have.
What time is it? Huh...already 7:00. Greg's mom had left for work just thirty minutes ago. She had poked her head in the door to check on him and left just as quickly. Golden blonde hair down to her shoulders, glasses, and a slightly chubby frame. She was actually rather pretty. Then again, I always did like blondes.
A beam of sunlight from his window hits Greg's face and he begins to twitch. I sit up slowly and stare at him with renewed focus. I expected the process to knock him out for some time. I simply expected him to wake up much earlier. He opens his eyes and I see the gold light shining behind them, signifying the power he is still unaware of. He stood up and I spoke.
"How do you feel, Greg?"
I see him close his eyes and take a deep breath, a golden aura flaring around him for a single second before disappearing. Greg was silent for a time, enjoying the energizing burn of his new power. I watched as the Zirin in his bloodstream rushed through his body, energizing every cell and optimizing his body. He was weak now but I'd make him unstoppable.
"Fucking awesome!"
Greg was happy. That was good. I felt the unbridled joy coming from him and I was at peace. I would do everything in my power to make sure that as long as I was on this Earth, I wouldn't let myself lose control. Not to my rage, not to my pride, not to my logic, not to my happiness, and certainly not to my own darkness.