Chapter 20 (Part 4): Will Make The Whole World Blind

"Cruelty has a human heart…terror the human form divine."

William Blake

Everyone stared at Savior, as he retracted the Shimmer strand he had used as a whip to get everyone's attention. His eyes were cold and harsh.

Silence.

"Brother Savior! We are joyous that you have arrived, at last! A more gracious host you could not be!" Dunagan said.

"Welcome!" said the ASP member closest to Savior, as he approached. "Let us…"

Savior's fist slammed into the ASP's members face, as he flew back several feet, his nose and lips gushing blood. The crowd was shocked into silence again.

"Brother? BROTHER?" Savior hissed. "You mean THIS?" he snarled as he pulled one of the pamphlets bearing his image with Cyborg's on it. "You see this photo of a moment of camaraderie, and you dare say it makes me one of YOU?"

"Brother Savior…" Dunagan said.

"I AM NO BROTHER OF YOURS!!!!!!!!!!!" Noel roared. "You people are sick! You are more subhuman then any of the so-called "lesser races" could ever try to be! You take laws, and religion, and freedom of speech, glorious constructs we should all be accorded, and you perverted them into blind, ugly, vicious little things! You kill in the name of God and claim it is what he wants. God would spit on you if he could, but since he's not here, I'll gladly do it for him." Savior said, and spat on the floor.

The crowd was starting to get angry, as it began to sink it that Savior wasn't on their side. He was with the other Titans, including the one they had just been planning to burn at the stake, or cross.

Dunagan's face grew purple with fury.

"SO! YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO YOUR KIND AS WELL! YOU HAVE…"

The Shimmer slashed out, slamming into Dunagan's face and throwing him backwards. He hit the ASP member with the blowtorch, knocking the man over as he dropped the cutting heat tool, causing it to turn off.

"Shut up. Being in your very presence sickens me." Savior growled. "I've seen what your kind does. The pride of the Aryan race? The vanguard of the new world order? Fuck no. You're a bunch of bullying, pathetic, stupid IRRELEVANT sacks of flesh that look like men and talk like men. But you're not men. You're slime. A brother of yours? I would rather be burnt as black as coal."

"ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Dunagan roared, as he got back up. "DEMON SAVIOR! YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO US AND YOUR KIND! YOU WILL BE BURNT WITH YOUR NIGGER FRIEND!"

"I'm not a traitor. I'm a human being. I'm clean of blood. I'm a man. And I am currently flipping the emergency reboot switch in Cyborg's head while you brain dead rednecks glare and get ready to attack me." Savior said.

Everyone paused.

And then with a roar, Cyborg came back to life, courtesy of a Shimmer strand Noel had slipped around and behind the ASP while he had been doing his little speech. A quick flex of his arms snapped the ropes like they were nothing, and Dunagan screamed as Cyborg lifted him up and threw him as hard as he could. He landed amongst the fuel and gasoline canisters, knocking them over. With a snarl, the unnamed giant ASP member raised the EMP cannon he had kept nearby and aimed it at Cyborg.

A Shimmer strand snatched it out of his hand and folded it in half, which was then smashed across the faces of three of the ASP men.

The small room erupted into pandemonium as the ASP attempted to fight back, but there were too many in too small a space. Cyborg grabbed two and slammed their skulls together, grabbed another and literally threw him into the ceiling, and then he backed up as his arm converted into his autocannon mode and he opened fire.

With, as it turned out, rubber bullets, tearing through the ranks of the men. Savior threw up a shield to block Cyborg's barrage and then sprang it out at the end of a Shimmer line as it turned into a ball shape and swung around his head like a mace.

"CYBORG! I'LL HANDLE THESE FUCKS! YOU GET DUNAGAN!" Savior yelled, and then coiled himself off the ground and launched himself into another group in a fury of whipping Shimmer strands. Cyborg saw that Dunagan was indeed gone, out a now open window. Cyborg just ran through the wall, his shoulder smashing a hole through the wooden barricade. He saw Dunagan fleeing into the building at the end of the compound: the church. He took off after him.

Savior sprang out more Shimmer lines, grabbing one of the ASP men and bringing him forward into a leaping thrust kick. Savior fell to the ground and did a strange disco-dance esque move as he spun around via and with the Shimmer, knocking down every ASP member near him.

Some of the ASP members had finally gotten guns out and begun shooting, but Savior pulled himself up and threw himself against the wall, bouncing off it via the Shimmer and into the body of one of the shooters. More shot at him, but all they hit were their fellows as Savior ping-ponged all over the room.

A smell filled his nostrils. Fuel. He landed, and realized the ground beneath him was slippery. He glanced over at the pile of gasoline cans.

And then his eyes fell on one of the smaller ASP members, who had grabbed up the blowtorch and was trying to relight it.

"Wait! NO YOU IDIOT! GASOLINE FUMES ARE AS…!" Savior yelled.

Sparks began to fly from the torch. Savior gave up and ran for it, throwing himself out through the nearest window.

Apparently some of the ASP members had gotten the message, as they were pouring out the door.

Two seconds later, the meeting hall exploded in a gigantic fireball, throwing Savior across the entire compound.

The door slammed open, and Cyborg walked in.

The church was fairly simple: two rows of pews, six each. A small alter at the front, and a large cross behind it.

Cyborg felt bad about taking the fight to here. But if there was a God, Cyborg was pretty sure he'd understand.

"Dunagan!" he yelled, walking forward, keeping his eyes open for any movement. "It's over!"

"NEVER!"

Cyborg's lone eye widened, and he turned and looked up as Dunagan hurled himself from the small perch above the door. How he had managed to get up there, Cyborg didn't know, as he tried to get his cannon up.

As Dunagan landed on his chest. Cyborg was forced backwards and down, landing, as Dunagan aimed the gun at his face.

The sound of the gunshot rang through the church.

The ASP members were trying to pick themselves up when one had a Shimmer strand lash around his ankle and hurl him into a wall.

"Why is it that the so called champions of the white race are always the worst examples of it?" Savior said, as he walked up to a man with a very flat face. "YOU! WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR CHIN!" he yelled, and smashed his fist into his face before he could answer.

A high wind had whipped up, fanning the flames of the destroyed meeting hall, and sparks began to fly and land on the other buildings. They started to burn too, as Savior leapt into the air and came down on the face of another, larger ASP member, smashing him into the ground.

"The armory's on fire!" A frantic shout came. "Get the guns!"

A group of ASP men ran for the wooden armory. Savior got there first, as he tore the roof off the building and flipped it over him, bringing it down on the men. He then tossed the smoldering roof across the compound and, forming a giant shovel with the Shimmer, scooped up a huge hunk of dry dirt and dumped it all over the building and boxes so they wouldn't burn easily. He wanted as much evidence against these men as possible (and hopefully he wasn't contaminating too much of it, but being set on fire would contaminate it worse).

Gunshots came from behind him. A Shimmer shield sprang up instinctively, protecting its host, and Savior turned, throwing out more strands that disarmed his attackers.

Faced with a superior foe, some of the ASP did what bullies naturally do and ran for it.

They got as far as a few feet out of the gate.

Where they were greeted by a redheaded teenager in jeans and a red shirt.

"Going somewhere?" Katherine "Spitfire" Doe said, and brought her hand up to her face as she breathed a long burst of flame at the men, driving them back, keeping them from running.

But they came forward again, this time joined by more. Spitfire blew more fire at them, trying her best to singe them without actually lighting them on fire. As much as they deserved it, Savior had wanted them alive for trial. And by now, he and her and her sister had been through a lot, and she owed him.

But there were just so many, even as Savior furiously fought on within, and the compound, Spitfire's attacks fueling the blaze, continued to burn and fall down.

The gunshot rang through the room, as Dunagan cocked back the trigger to fire again.

Cyborg's hand closed over his, crushing the gun and all his fingers as Dunagan screamed.

"Shoulda aimed for the flesh." Cyborg growled, a bullet buried two inches into his metal skull, as he jerked his head up and rammed it into Dunagan's face.

Dunagan staggered back, and Cyborg kicked him in the shin, and then slammed the back of his head with a knife-edge chop. Dunagan fell, and spying his gun, he crawled over. A sonic blast blew the gun away when it was but a foot from him, also causing Dunagan to rear up. Cyborg grabbed him by the back of his outfit and threw him over the pews, hitting the wall with a crunch.

Groaning, Dunagan tried to get up as Cyborg walked over. He seized Dunagan by his shoulder and leg, lifting him up, and then he ran, ramming Dunagan through the wooden arm support at the end of the pew as Dunagan screamed in pain. Cyborg rammed him through the middle support and the support at the other end before he dropped him. Dunagan tried to get up and took a full power sonic blast to the chest, throwing him backwards, smashing through the alter at the front and reducing it to kindling before he slammed into the cross and bounced off of it, falling on his face.

Cyborg calmly walked forward.

And flaming embers landed on the roof, and the church began to burn.

Katherine didn't know what to do. The battle inside was growing more frenzied, and more and more people were trying to run. And now they were bringing guns. But she had to…

A loud pop sounded just before she felt something whiz by her head. With a shock, she realized it was a bullet, and she instinctively dove for cover.

Yelling in fear, anger, some success, and other things, the men poured out. More shots came Katherine's way as she tried to stop them. She ducked behind cover again, glad she had left her sister behind.

"Go! GO!" The lead man, who we recognize as Earl Cade, yelled as the men charged.

And then a laser bolt exploded near their feet. The men stopped.

"No one uses the Troika." Gizmo said as he floated down, as Jinx and Mammoth appeared behind him. "Especially not a bunch of racist fucks!"

And Katherine stared as the Troika tore into the escapees, Gizmo blasting and shocking them, Jinx hexing and kicking them, and Mammoth just pretty much crushing them underfoot.

"But we paid you!" one of them wailed.

Gizmo blasted him, and as his comrades mopped up the few remaining retreatees, he reached into his outfit and pulled out a wad of bills.

"Payment returned." Gizmo said, throwing the bills. The wind caught them and carried them into the flame.

"But…we're on the same side!"

Gizmo kicked the ASP man in the face, knocking him out.

"Not yours."

Inside, unaware Gizmo was redeeming himself for his part in this, Savior was thrashing everything that was moving and wore green. He smashed and whipped, drawing blood and breaking bones, trying to pay all these men back for their crimes.

"I know you all think…" Savior said as he leapt and did a spinning twirl move that smashed through four more ASP members. "That this place would be the next glorious shrine to your fucking cracker convention, but let me tell you this: as long as I live and draw breath, your breed are not welcome in or anywhere near Jump City!"

He threw some more members of the ASP into the walls, which were smoking and on the verge of burning. All the buildings by now were going up in flames, the heat sweeping around Savior, flames dancing around him.

And he saw him.

The giant, unnamed member. The Whipper. Holding the whip he had used on Travis Green and Latrisha Dryce. The two stared each other down.

The man, with a roar, cocked back his arm, his speed incredible, his aim great as he lashed the whip at Savior.

The Shimmer intercepted it in mid-air, slicing it right down the middle, the blade cutting the whip clean in half and slicing off the Whipper's fingers. He screamed, blood gouting from his hand.

"This is my city. My people. It is off limits to all of you goose-stepping motherfuckers. If I had my way, every hatemongering piece of shit on this planet who thinks he's God's chosen just because of his color would be strongly encouraged to get the fuck off of it."

And the Shimmer lashed out, a myriad of whips, lashing and tearing the skin from the Whipper, cutting him straight to the bone, blood spraying as he screamed from the assault.

The whips finally stopped, and the man crumbled to the ground. Moaning, he tried to drag himself away from Savior, who approached, her eyes alight with rage.

"You think yourself a man? You're not even an animal. At least an animal, when backed into a corner, would fight back with instinctual added ferocity. But no. Your kind doesn't do that. Instead you reveal the cowardice that is the true core of your being. Yet you still call yourself a man…"

And the Shimmer flew down, wrapping around the Whipper and throwing him up and behind Savior. Savior stepped forward as the man fell past his back, thrusting his arm behind him, the Shimmer lancing out and slamming into the man, sending him into a bone-breaking tumble across the compound before he came to a stop, royally messed up but still alive.

"Any man who judges another by the color of his skin isn't worthy to be called one." Savior finished.

A loud crunching noise caught his attention. But it wasn't another attacker. Savior had thrashed every single ASP member who had dared fight him, and had dared to consider him one of them.

Had dared to think he had invited them here.

Rather, it was one of the burning buildings collapsing in on itself. All the buildings were doing that now, except the armory, where the fire was having trouble getting started due to all the dirt on it. Savior looked around, and he saw that the church was now awash in flames, ready to cave in as well.

"Victor." He said, and digging the Shimmer strands into the ground, he threw himself into the air.

Victor approached Dunagan, the leader of the ASP, the one who had conceived of and ordered the plan that had led to the death of his girlfriend, not to mention the innocent Travis Green. A man who wanted to bath the whole planet in blood to save it.

"Murderer." He hissed, as his arm converted into his autocannon. And this time, he had live ammo.

Dunagan offered no resistance as Cyborg reached down and grabbed him, hoisting him up and aiming his cannon at his head.

And then with a loud crashing noise, part of the roof caved in. Cyborg jerked in surprise, and then Savior fell into the room, the Shimmer keeping the flaming wood away from him. Though why he couldn't have just come in the front door…

Savior landed, rolled, flipped, and landed ten feet from Cyborg. The two locked eyes.

Savior looked at Dunagan, dangling from Cyborg's grip, Cyborg's gun pressed against his head. He looked back at Cyborg, crossing his arms.

A pause.

"I was never here." Savior said.

Cyborg didn't reply. But he knew what Noel meant. He would let Cyborg do what he chose, and not breath a word. He would keep any secret Cyborg wanted to his grave.

Cyborg turned back to Dunagan, the rage burning through him.

Savior stared with emotionless eyes.

And then with a snarl, Cyborg threw Dunagan back down.

"I don't want to dirty my bullets." He said.

His arm converted back to normal, as Cyborg looked at the man who had murdered Latrisha. A man he had dearly wanted to pay back in kind. An eye for an eye.

But in the end, he would not. He would not become his enemy.

"As you wish." Savior said, as he nodded, ever so slightly. Showing that even after all Victor had been through; he had stuck to the higher road. Such strength greatly impressed Noel. "I'll finish up here. Go get Latrisha."

Cyborg nodded, and then he turned his back on Dunagan and walked out, ignoring the fiery roof, the burning walls, the flaming pews around him. He did not look back.

Savior walked over as Dunagan, who was finally coming too, glared at Noel with baleful eyes.

"Traitor." He hissed.

"It's over Dunagan. You fucked up. You overextended yourself and overgambled. You won't be able to worm your way out of this one. You'll be spending the rest of your life in jail."

"You think its OVER?" Dunagan hissed. "You think you've accomplished anything? You think you can stop us? So you ran us out of here. So you arrest us. So what? We're EVERYWHERE! We're in your churches and your schools! We're in your armies and your police forces! We're the skinheads in Portland! We're the KKK in Corpus Christi! Stopping me won't change anything! The new order is coming! All inferior races will be expunged! Along with you and your robo-nigger and all your traitorous friends, DEMON!"

"Wrong." Noel said. "This whole tragic mess shows it."

A piece of flaming wood fell near Savior. He didn't seem to notice.

"I gave this some thought Dunagan. Why did you come here? Because you thought I was an ally? That I would aid you in setting up a stronghold to prepare for the upcoming race war? No. You had no way of being sure that that picture truly mirrored how I felt. There was too much risk. But you came here anyway. Why? Because you're desperate. You may not even know it, but you're desperate. You're starting to realize it isn't the 1930's any more. You're starting to realize that grabbing black people off the street and hanging them from the nearest tree will give you a life sentence instead of the applause of your fellows. You're starting to realize that more and more of the so-called lesser races are working their asses off to get places and getting there. You're starting to realize that more and more people are waking up and not looking upon others as inferior just because of their skin. We still have a long journey, but your kind, your breed, it is passing. It's going into the garbage can of history, where it belongs. I do not know who will inherit the Earth, but I know it will not be you."

Noel turned, ready to leave. He'd clear the way so Dunagan could get out. Dunagan couldn't run anywhere, and Noel didn't want to touch him. He was worried he'd catch something.

"And I think that somewhere in that twisted pit you call a soul, you realize it too."

The gunshot rang through the church again.

Savior stopped. Blinked. As Dunagan, smiling through bloody, broken teeth, rose up, holding the second gun he had hidden on his person. Behind him, the cross had finally caught fire, illuminating him with a demonic light.

"We are not going into the garbage can. We are going to the kingdom of God. Over your carcass." Dunagan said, as blood spilled from his mouth, looking at the hole in Noel's jacket, waiting for him to fall.

He didn't.

"And with one move, you expose the true…rotten heart…of it all…" Noel said.

And then a Shimmer strand poked out through the hole, carrying the bent bullet. Dunagan gaped as the white line dumped the bullet on the floor, having caught the projectile as soon as it had entered Noel's body, giving him only a minor flesh wound. He'd shot too close to the spine. That was the base of the Shimmer, and above any other part of Noel's body, it protected that part of its host ferociously, to the point of a near sixth sense level.

Noel turned back to face Dunagan, his face grave.

"This isn't about skin color. This isn't about demons or traitors or new world orders or the will of God. This is about justifying your existence. And in the end, you can't. So you destroy others instead, projecting your own flaws onto others and scapegoating them to satisfy your inferiority complex. All your ranting and preaching and prophesying isn't worth the paper it's printed on. In the end, you hate others because you can't stand your worthless self. You really want to fix your problem? Aim that gun at your head."

"DIE DEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Dunagan bellowed.

He fired.

The Shimmer whipped up in front of Savior, blocking his shot.

And Dunagan staggered backward from the recoil, his injured body unable to keep its balance.

His back struck the burning cross.

And his clothes, soaked with gasoline when Cyborg had thrown him into the canisters, and having somehow avoided any other spark or flame until now, ignited.

Noel watched as Dunagan screamed, the flames flowing over him, covering him, consuming him. And he turned away as Dunagan danced and thrashed and wailed.

"OH GOD! HELP ME! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!" he howled.

Noel looked back over his shoulder.

"Why?" he asked.

And he turned away.

A thunderous crack suddenly sounded above Dunagan, and despite his agony he looked up as the thick slabs of wood making up the church's roof finally caved in, a giant beam pointing down and them plummeting straight at him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The beam crashed down on him, and then a hail of others, burying Dunagan under the flaming wood, a one-way ticket straight to hell.

And Savior threw back his head and roared.

"CAN I GET A HALLELUIAH, MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And he leapt out the church door, as the building collapsed around him.

The devil had claimed his own.

The fire was mostly out by the time Robin and the others arrived, still in suits from their supposed tickets to the Producers. Police cars and ambulances and fire trucks were everywhere.

"My god…" Robin said, as he was what was left of the ASP camp.

"Guys."

Robin turned to look at Savior, who had come up from their side.

"Savior! What happened here?"

"The bad thing you hoped wouldn't." Savior replied. "Not that I can blame you…it was pretty well planned…"

"Hey Savior, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a road trip." Gauntlet said.

"I was. We had turned around from the direction we were going and heading the other way. We were just passing Jump City when I got the call. Thank god I did, I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't got here…especially after you told me what had happened Robin."

"What?" Robin said. Savior turned back to him.

"You called me Robin. Told me about the hate group and how they had me on the propaganda. How they thought I invited them here via that picture. What I don't know is why it took you so long for you to get here."

"Savior, I never called you."

"What?"

"Savior, the reason it took us so long to get here is that our communicators went down and we only found out after we switched to the police band."

"But Robin, it was your voice. You called me."

"Savior, honestly, I didn't!"

And he hadn't. It had been Gizmo, using a hacked phone number and a voice alteration device. By now, the Troika had faded into the woods, heading back home, just wanting to forget this whole ugly incident.

"Still, it was nice to be the good guy for once." Mammoth had said.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not make a habit of it." Gizmo has replied, though even he had to admit, he felt like he had done the right thing. It was a nice feeling. It'd fade quickly, but for now it was nice.

"ASP was planning something big. The cops are still pulling out evidence…but…dammit…" Savior said, shaking his head.

And then a car moved, and the Titans finally saw Cyborg, hunched over a covered gurney, weeping quietly.

"Oh no…oh no…please no…" Starfire said.

"They caught Latrisha. They murdered her. But don't worry. They'll all pay for it…all of them…" Savior said, trying to keep his own eyes from tearing up and only partially succeeding.

"…We failed…oh god we failed again…" Robin said, burying his face in his hands.

"No…no Robin. We didn't fail. We tried to do the right thing within society's law, which these fucks perverted and twisted for their own use. You, I, we all had the best of intentions…" Noel trailed off. He didn't finish his sentence.

But don't forget what the road to hell is paved with.

"And so, we release our child to God, and his grace, and his plan, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The priest finished.

The black-clad crowd was silence except for the low sound of weeping, and an occasionally loud nose blowing, which was mostly Starfire. All the Titans were there, dressed again in their finest, and the many people who had come for Latrisha's funeral.

Cyborg stood at the front, and after her father, he tossed dirt on the coffin as it was lowered down. He glanced briefly at the couple, and Latrisha's crying younger sister and red-eyed older brother.

At least they didn't blame him, Cyborg thought. That would have made the pain unbearable. They blamed the ASP, who had done this, and done it with joy.

And who were now cannibalizing themselves from within. With Dunagan dead, the group had all turned on each other, each trying to avoid some punishment. But the case was too strong. After years of carefully covering everything up, the ASP's brazen actions in Jump City had given the police a cornucopia of evidence. As well as the murder weapons (though the police were annoyed about the destruction of the whip), the police had also found tons of hate literature, carefully hidden by the floating box during the first search, and all sorts of illegal weapons, including some extremely high tech ones. What had not been told to the press was that each one had seemingly been designed and programmed to take out a certain Titan. And there had been one for everyone except Savior. For obvious reasons. Now that they were pinned down, many victims of the ASP's previous actions were finally coming forward. The legal proceedings would drag on for years, but in the end it looked like everyone involved was going to get some serious jail time.

But in the end, that barely mattered. It wouldn't bring back all their victims, or undo the scars of the ones that still lived. In the end, Latrisha was still dead.

The service was ended. The Titans all consoled Cyborg. The only one missing was Noel, who hadn't shown up. Or so it seemed. Slowly, the crowd drifted away, leaving Cyborg to watch as they covered her coffin with earth.

Noel was, as mentioned, not in the crowd, but Cyborg had seen him, He had a feeling he would be there.

And eventually he was, walking up to Cyborg's side.

"Victor." He said. Cyborg just nodded.

For a moment, the two just looked at the headstone. It was a lovely day. Too lovely for something like this.

"I would extend you my sympathies, but you've probably had enough of that. But they are there. Rather…Vic…I do not want to do this, but this whole tragedy reminds of human failing…and thinking that…I need to ask you some questions."

Cyborg didn't reply.

"If you don't want me to, I understand. I just feel it may…"

"You can ask them." Cyborg said.

Noel swallowed and sighed. He braced himself: he wouldn't be surprised if any of these made Victor attack him.

"Cyborg, she's at peace now. But she died horribly, at the hands of horrible men. Can you live with that?"

Cyborg did not reply for a while. His eyes grew hard, and his jaw clenched, and his lone eye burned at the injustices of the world.

But in the end, he nodded.

"I knew you could. You're strong. But…I…"

"Ask."

"Cyborg, she died at the hands of white men who thought they had every right to do what they did. The greatest curse of such men is that they can infect you, taint you with their hatred. Victor…can you live your life without hating us in return?"

This answer was quicker.

"No. Never." Cyborg said. "It would be dishonoring her memory."

"Good…now the last one…" Noel said, and sighed again. Then he turned away.

"Cyborg, in a way, I am responsible for this."

Cyborg looked at Noel's back.

"It was my picture that provided some inspiration. In a way, I'm why they came here. I'm why Latrisha was murdered…can you live with that possibility? If not, I'll leave the Titans. You have seniority and I shouldn't stay if there was a rift between us that could endanger…"

"Noel…" Victor said, putting a hand on Noel's shoulder. Noel turned around. "I could no more blame you for this then I could hate you for having white skin."

Silence again, and then Noel closed his eyes.

"You have more humanity in your little finger then any of those people could have in a hundred lifetimes Victor."

"I know…that's why it hurts so much." Victor replied quietly.

The two stood in front of the grave for another few seconds, and then they turned and left, surrounded by the sounds of birdsong.

The sun shone brightly on the headstone.

LATRISHA DRYCE

1987-2004

REMEMBERED FOR WHO SHE WAS FOREVER

The End

Who knows what the destiny of the human race is? Will this so-called race war come to pass, in an attempt by people to wipe out "inferior" others? Will humanity finally learn to get along? Or will we be forced to separate ourselves into groups, unable to trust the "others", letting our animal isolation and survival instinct rule our rational brains?

Who knows? The future is forever in shadow.

But for all that groups like the ASP and their breed say and do, supposedly in the name of righteousness…I will say two things.

The genetic difference between a white man, a black man, a Chinese woman, a Hindu child, an Eskimo fisherman, and you and I…is approximately nothing at all. There is no such thing as racial purity. In our design, our surfaces may be different but the core structure is all the same.

And second…

There are two types of people in this world.

The Righteous Who Think They Are Sinners.

And the Sinners Who Think They Are Righteous.

So…in the end…which one are you?