“...Two suns...watching them both fighting...

  ...Two suns...Seeing them both dying...

  ...Two suns fighting...

  ...One’s abiding...”

  - Serj Tankian

  Together, Malcolm and Liam heard the rumble in the air. They looked up to see a wave of jets pouring overhead from the direction of the sea. There were hundreds, all streaming over the city and flying to the opposite horizon. Malcolm turned to watch the initial wave trail away and disappear where faint smoke clouds were visible in the morning light. Liam stepped over to Malcolm and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “...I JUST returned from the field and have been waiting on your ass.”

  Malcolm’s blooded mouth hung wide. “…They’re bombing the surrounding towns.”

  “The beauty of having two heads!” Liam boasted. “You get to know what I know; just as I’ve always known you.”

  Malcolm broke away to approach the building’s edge; he leaned over it and breathed deeply. “…What are you?”

  “I’m everything you aspire to be!” Liam gleamed.

  “I never asked for this!”

  Liam clicked his tongue. “Except you created me; from a time when you realized there was no being yourself. You tried to erase the memory of your first impression on Goodness…only the human brain don’t work that way. I was never gone, only blocked off, and with me came your conscience...”

  As Malcolm stammered speechlessly, Liam shrugged giddily. “...I’m your eyes when you’re asleep and the dream you thought you had. And I must say…I’m so sick of cleaning up after you.”

  “That’s it!? You’re my alter-ego?!”

  Liam shrugged. “More or less; though I'm the one who tries to be a good person...Only I must wake up to your ‘morbid depictions.”

  Malcolm was trembling. “…That wasn’t all me…”

  “Yes. Blame it on your ‘Carnal Beast.” Liam leaned in. “It’s as much you as you are me.”

  “Why didn’t you stop it?”

  Liam shook his head. “It’s not a thing I’m able to see any more than you are; it was always lurking in between us. I think it’s only driven by instinct: Your instinct.” Liam stepped forward. “You think it drove you to kill, when it’s all just a different side of you; repressed when you realized you couldn’t indulge it.”

  Malcolm felt shocked. “If...the Beast is me...I’m…guilty.”

  Liam bulged his eyes. “You’re responsible. You. Are not. An artist; you’re just a pretentious maniac…”

  Malcolm felt another headrush as he hyperventilated.

  “…Serial Killer…”

  Malcolm shoved Liam. “…NO, I’M NOT!”

  Liam had barely flinched. “You think loving a family absolves you?”

  “I stopped for them!”

  Liam faked a gasp. “Is a weening period supposed to fix what you already did? The lives your ‘artistic’ crimes ruined?”

  Malcolm shook his head. “I saved people! I’m where I am because of that!”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Liam fluttered his eyes with a smile. “Taking all the credit? You think you could pass a psych evaluation?”

  Malcolm winced. “I fit in with the-”

  Liam shook his head, disapprovingly. “You flunk college with an I.Q. over One-Eighty and never asked how you blended in so well with Basic Training? Someone had to get you through the starting gate.”

  Malcolm could feel his legs wobble. “T-those were my accomplishments...”

  Liam cocked his head. “Who do you think was texting Meryl leading up to her asking you out? I even tried to let you keep Clairet, only for you to shun her. Hence the reason I kept every previous girl a secret from you; you’re a fucking psycho!"

  “...I-I was a virgin before Meryl…”

  Liam waved his hand. “The serial banging in college was just my initial attempt to calm you! After that...I had to accept that you wouldn’t stop. I was scared for Meryl, and more so when she got pregnant, but I stayed in the back seat. She had no fucking idea who she married yet having that in your life was...Good. The violence became rarer. Then? You created something with her...and for a time you were the best father you could be.”

  Malcolm dropped his chin, and his eyes bulged. “…until that burglar picked my house…”

  Liam pursed his lips. “And you just couldn’t help yourself.”

  “…I would’ve stopped again…I love them.” Malcolm held back tears.

  “All that matters is that you didn’t stop. Meryl had to leave you when she saw you, and that became your excuse to start a new spree.” Liam squinted. “You think Connor is safe being raised by his murderous dad?”

  Malcolm clenched his other fist. “I’m still his dad…The World is Ending. What is my five-year-old son to do without his dad to keep him safe?!”

  Liam chuckled. “If this is an Apocalypse, all the more reason that boy needs to be raised by his mother…He’s not your son anymore, Malcolm; you’ll never see them again.”

  Malcolm shut his eyes as the migraine intensified; it failed to halt the tears. “…I’m a Serial Killer…” He looked at Liam, who stood with a grin as another squadron of jets rumbled above. “Tell me this is real...”

  Liam continued his grin, with confusion. “What?”

  Malcolm pulled the hammer of his pistol and pressed the barrel to his temple. “Tell me everything is real right now! Before I blow our head off!”

  Liam raised both his hands over. “Now, Malcolm…Listen to me. Fight Club is a movie! Pull that trigger, I don’t die; we all die!”

  Malcolm barked blood. “I’ll take my chances! Now tell me if all this is real!”

  Liam shook his head, “I’m just gonna take control. Like I did every time you’ve tried this.”

  “Why?!” Malcolm demanded. “You won’t save my victims, but you’ll stop me from putting a bullet through my brain!?”

  “Well Yea!” Liam took out a cigarette. “I fucking live there, you selfish asshole!” He lit the cigarette. “This is you smoking. Now hand me the gun already.”

  The gun shook against Malcolm’s head. “Why let me, instead of taking over?”

  Liam tapped his foot with his hands on his hips. “Like I said, I’m sick of cleaning up your mess. If that doesn’t answer your question, then yes. The Dead are reanimating, and your life lived is the truth…for all the ‘good’ that is.”

  Malcolm lowered the gun. “So why are you revealing yourself now of all times?”

  Liam shrugged. “You kind of exhausted my options. Besides, you became a commander. Someone had to stop you from ‘depicting’ shit on a mass scale.”

  Malcolm gave a pained chuckle. “Good fucking job! You haven't changed a thing!”

  Liam raised a finger. “You must be the change you want to see! Now, since you failed at that, I’m the next best thing.”

  “No…” Malcolm shook his head. “You’ve been a screaming monkey on my back since we met. But you failed to stop me, repeatedly. For every awful thing I’ve done since this started, more of my men survived. So, what good have you been?”

  Liam was face to face. “I am the mask you wear, Slasher. We’re it not for me, you’d never have had a family. You’d get caught, if not just to get your credit, and you’d never see the light of day again. You’re alive and free because of everything I’ve done. Now, once more, give me the gun. And preferably before someone comes investigating your first shot.”

  Malcolm’s eyes shriveled again. “...You bragged about stopping suicides before…”

  “And you entice it in people.”

  “You stopped…my suicides.”

  Liam’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “Over and over again.”

  “…You said, on the ship, that was your brother…”

  Liam nodded. “Look whose catching up with the plot.”

  Malcolm shuddered, “But you’re me…how can I be…”

  “Another funny thing about the human brain.” Liam interrupted. “We can’t conjure an original face. Every dream you’ve had has a face that you’ve seen before. And I…was you’re first impression on Goodness. But you didn’t want to remember me until now.” He shrugged. “Here I am; it’s been a long time.”

  Malcolm recoiled against the edge of the building, feeling hollow. “…We’re…I had a brother…”

  Liam placed a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder, stopping him from falling. “Hey buddy...” His smile was sincere. “I know this is scary, but I have to make you disappear now…it’s really for both of our sakes. Everything’s going to be okay.”