[ WP ] `` Give up your cause , hero . Join me on ﻿the side of evil , and we can rule together . '' `` Okay . ''

The three of us swayed gently in the summer air, floating 1200 feet above the shining metropolis. Myself, my nemesis, and a vial of chemicals that if shattered would disperse poison into the clouds and rain acid upon the city. Their skyscrapers would melt as easily as their flesh and bones, but I had no intention of using it. My concoction could kill even higher beings such as myself. Besides, I never saw mass destruction as an effective means to changing the world for the better. Fear tactics are for mortals. 
 
 `` Give up your cause, hero!'' I proclaimed. `` Join me on the side of evil, and we can rule together. You and I have fought this war for thousands of years, a war which will only lead to more bloodshed and loss.'' 
 
 He said not a word. His eyes were empty. 
 
 `` We're equals, you and I. We both seek the same thing. A better world. But I would keep on fighting, letting these innocent beings die in the crossfire. Over and over again. I would sacrifice the ones you try to protect. I would make the dark decision. And this --'' 
 
 `` Okay.'' 
 
 My fingers twitched. The vial, suspended in the air, leaned ever so slightly over before I regained my psychic grasp on it. 
 
 He sat down on the clear, blue sky, a purple ball of energy dancing in his palm as he stared inquisitively into it. 
 
 `` I know you're right,'' he mused. `` I've got much too big of an ego to fully admit it, but it is true. Fighting is pointless. Death has to be avoided. And you've got far too much leverage on me for me to ever come out on top. So tell me. What kind of world do you want?'' 
 
 His eyes shifted back and forth, following the dancing energy as is cartwheeled from fingertip to fingertip. I noticed then that his eyes were n't empty; they were tired. He had been losing from the start, but battle after battle he grasped onto his silly morals and carried the loss of millions of lives. And as the war wages on, his burden grows heavier, his eyes grow weaker, and his conscience tips closer towards my own. 
 
 `` You know what I want,'' I said. 
 
 `` Yeah, a better world, right? Well, me too!'' He tossed away the ball of energy and stood up, glowing with passion. `` But how do you expect to get to this'better world' when you're slaughtering everyone? People who do n't even know we exist? How do you justify that being good in any way?'' 
 
 `` You mistake me. I never claimed to be good. I made the dark decision that the world needs starvation before salvation. The weeds must be permanently uprooted before the garden can prosper.'' 
 
 I extended my arm out towards him. `` You ca n't save everyone. The best you can do is to cut your losses. That's the best *we* can do.'' 
 
 His glow fades, replaced by a soft murmur of resignation. Far below us, the city buzzes about its own business. He stares at the steel towers, the horde of humans obsessed with electronics and gossip and gluttony. 
 
 `` Promise me one thing,'' he whispers. `` If you have to do anything... drastic, you will do so without causing any suffering.'' 
 
 I smirked. Of course I could n't guarantee that. `` I swear upon my maker,'' I replied. He nodded and floated towards me to accept the handshake. 
 
 I knew something was wrong. Before his eyes suddenly burned with purpose. Before he flew towards the vial, snatching it from the air and away from my clutches. Before he tackled me, shattered the vial in his hands and held me tight. Before I screamed in agony as the poison burrowed into my skin, corroding my body down right to the bone. I knew something was wrong, but I did nothing. And I never found out why. 
 
 I struggled to break free of his hold, but the pain was far too immense. I no longer had lungs to scream with. He flew higher and higher, passing the atmosphere. He grinned at me. For a moment, the corner of his smile twitched as the poison ripped through his flesh and into his muscles and his nerves. 
 
 `` You chose the path of evil because you thought the end justified the means. You'd stop at nothing to sacrifice half the world as long as the other half rises up into a utopia. But you'd never sacrifice yourself.'' 
 
 His face was half-melted off. As I peered into his bright eyes, I felt nothing but agony and fear.
