Eric was sitting on the hood of the Vista Cruiser. The events of last evening still replaying in his mind. He's been sitting on the car for most of the night, since he woke up from his nightmare.

*Nightmare*

He watched as Intellects body pulled itself off of the pipes and stumbled its way to Eric. Eric looked into the clouded, dead eyes. The near fatal wounds on its head still dripping with blood. Multiple large holes on its torso with blood and pieces of organs coming out. It placed a cold, pale hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.

"You killed me. You're a monster, no one will ever treat you the same again. You will forever be haunted by this moment."

"No! No, I'm not a monster!" Eric screamed back.

"You killed me; you'll kill again. No matter how hard you try, this will never go away. You started a plague on your soul. Without a cure...It will consume you. There is no stopping it."

*Real life*

Eric looked at his hands. Only a few hours ago a man's blood stained them. His hands started to shake as he once again had the memory replay. He only could give a thousand-yard stare as his dad walked up to him. Red knew what his son was thinking, it was the same thing almost all of his war buddies had all those years ago, it was same thing he thought about for almost a decade after his first kill in the war. Did I really just take a man's life? Over time it got easier to accept, but this was Eric's first, and hopefully last, kill. Red knew this would be hard for him to accept. He placed his hand on Eric's shoulder and Eric looked up.

"Eric, you shouldn't feel ashamed."

"Dad, I... I killed a man. How do I not feel ashamed? How do I not feel confused? Angry? Disappointed? How... do I not feel like a monster?" Eric said as he looked to the ground.

"Eric, I know how you feel. I know it's hard to accept. The thought of taking someone's life, it's not easy to get over. However; when you remember why you did it, it helps."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was in the same boat as you after the war. I was a mess. I couldn't sleep, eat, or even do something as simple as blink without those images crawling in my mind. But over time I realized, that if I hadn't taken their lives, they would've taken the lives of everyone I cared about. If you didn't do what needed to be done, your mother, your friends... Donna, would've been killed."

Eric looked at his dad and smiled.

"Thanks, dad."

Eric went inside and down to the basement. Red smiled, he knew Eric wouldn't get over it completely, but it was a good start.

And thus, we have come to the end... Is what I would say if this was the end. As you know, heroes don't just have one villain, Eric has a lot more coming. See you soon.