Part Ten: Shatter

Rated: T

(A direct continuance of Part Nine: Silver)

Kevin stared after her when he suddenly felt, with dread, the previously cold metal being warmed by his hand. Almost in an incredulous trance-like daze he opened his palm to see the ring.

As clichéd as it sounded the world literally went cold for him, it felt as if he had suddenly been gutted by a very blunt and very hot blade, as though he was both drowning and burning alive at the same time. It felt as if a thousand tiny blades were slowly and methodically skinning him alive. He wanted to vomit; he did.

As he crouched, hands on his knees, bent over, he heard Ben run up, demanding, "What's going on?"

He couldn't string the words together; he couldn't even put the words together in his mind. His chest wouldn't, couldn't, expand; his lungs were refusing air as the rest of his organs shriveled and turned to ash.

He had been so sure they would make it, so sure. They knew the future right? They were supposed to get hitched, set up house together and raise a pack of troublemakers while living in what amounted to a private zoo…he just didn't understand, he couldn't understand. What had gone wrong…what had he done wrong? What had he done so badly that it made her turn her back on everything they already had and everything they were going to have?

Fire burned through his veins and he knew what was happening but couldn't summon the strength to fight it. Why should he? His life wasn't worth anything anymore; he had nothing, no one to fight for. He was alone again and it was worse this time for he had tasted true happiness.

Distantly he heard the mortals screaming, most likely running away in blind panic, as he began to grow; he heard Ben fall back, swearing, "Holy sh—!"

The fire trickled over his body as his clothes tore and fell to pieces. He went blind for a moment as his face realigned to make room for two more eyes, also twisting an existing eye to the side. His bones cracked and grew, shrunk and groaned. Blood spurted as two canine arms ripped from his abdomen. His left arm hardened into living crystal while his right melted into living magma. Insect wings tore from his shoulder blades as his legs morphed, his feet curling into balls.

Soon it was over; he was a monster again and he found he didn't care. The ring had fallen away from him, still glinting irreverently in the now brighter light.

Almost comically, the hulking beast fell onto his buttocks and looked numbly at the world around him. It was so happy and peaceful. Why couldn't he be happy; why couldn't he be with the one he loved?

Once upon a time, seemingly so long ago, these injustices would have enraged him. It was understandable; life had taken so much from him, because of things he could barely understand at the times and so he had every right to be angry. And it had happened once again. But now he was just exhausted. Not only physically, not only mentally, but at the most basic level of consciousness he was tired. Of life.

Besides apparently he wasn't meant to play the game. Everything he tried his hand at eventually went south for him and anyone, anything, involved. Business, love, sport, everything.

"Benji." He rumbled, shocking his friend, "I need you to do me a personal favor…"

"Yeah sure…" the human brunette said, nodding.

"Kill me." It was a very simple request and Ben was the Big Damn Hero of whatever they were in and Big Damn Heroes were obligated by moral contractual obligation to help friends and strangers in any way they could.

"Uh… any particular reason?" Ben asked, stalling for time as he tried to figure out how to fix this.

"Life sucks, Gwen left me; I ruin everything I even think about. I'm tired." This was delivered unenthusiastically.

"And why did she leave you?" Ben demanded.

The monster shrugged, "Dunno. Can't figure it out. Doesn't matter does it? I'm not good enough, ergo I wanna die."

"Alright," Ben seemingly agreed, "let me go psyche myself up for it kay?" he slumped off to the men's room, went into a stall, locked the door and then hurriedly dialed for Gwen.

----

She was writing a living will, dividing up her possessions amongst her friends and family. She had already packed her spellbooks and magic instruments into her footlocker. Her parents had done as she thought they would and had contacted Verdona.

Her cell phone rang and she jumped to grab it as it was the emergency ringtone.

"What's going on?!" she demanded, belting up.

"Kevin wants me to kill him!"

Her eyes widened, dropping the phone to the floor. Without realizing it she flew out the window, diffusing from one side of the glass to the other and streaked to Mr. Smoothy's. She found him sitting there, staring at the sky with an almost endearingly perplexed look.

Her hood was up, casting her face into shadows.

"Kev." she called softly and he snapped to stare down at her, "Kev, what's wrong?" her voice was gentle and comforting; she had worked him though some pretty dire straits using just such a voice.

"What did I do wrong?" he pled and her heart splintered into ashes, "Please, I'll fix it."

"You did nothing, Kev," she assured him, "it's me…I'm not good enough anymore…"

"Why?"

She bit her lip but lowered her hood anyway, revealing her almost completely white hair. "I'm turning into Charmcaster and if I do you'll hate me."

"No, I won't. I could never hate you Gwen…" his voice too was soft.

"You will. One morning you'll wake up next to Charmcaster and you'll hate me for it," she shook her head, averting her eyes, "My parents are making me go to Anodine anyways so…"

"You aren't leaving because of something as stupid as hair-color," he rumbled, "I'm not losing you because of your hair color. It's a stupid reason to break things off. I don't care what or who you look like…"

He bent over to push himself onto his feet, feet and legs that by all logic should not have been able to carry his immense mass, and walk over to pick her up in the soft canine arms.

"I'm not losing you." He rumbled again, cradling her against his chest, keeping his two upper arms hanging at his sides so as they wouldn't crush her by accident, "We won't get married but I'm not losing you for anything."

"Kev…don't do this…"

"No Gwen! I AM NOT LOSING YOU!"

She nodded, whispering, "But you need to go back to being you."

He nodded and set her down, closing all four eyes and concentrating. He began to shrink and soften and become human once more. He fell forward as he morphed; she caught him before he hit the dirt, wrapping a cloth of manna around his waist to prevent anything from showing as his clothes were completely gone. She pulled off her own cloak once he was completely human and wrapped it around him. He shivered as though feverish, while his body got its' internal homeostasis back, as he lay against her. She was sitting in a meditative position and his head and shoulders lay in her lap, resting against her abdomen.

"I'm so sorry Kev," she apologized in anguish but he gave her a shaky smirk, saying through chatting teeth, "'S okay. I f-for-forgive you. G-g-goddamn, th-is p-p-part s-s-sucks!"

She chuckled sadly, nodding her agreement. He broke out in a cold sweat but said, "I'm h-hun-hungry," which was a good sign that the readjustment period was nearly over. She summoned to them her nearly untouched smoothie and had him drink it.

After that she helped him to the car, into the backseat, while Ben drove.

"You b-better be careful Benji."

The Tennysons rolled their eyes in unison. He could have been dying and he would still worry about his car.