Faust vs David: Sympathy for the Devil Mix

The ancient wall showed its resilience surviving the end of days. Though meteors have destroyed fractions of the stone barricade. The Great Wall of China was still, for the most part, whole. Faust was impressed. He stood on top of the many towers where the signal fires were kept. The wind was blowing harshly this day, but Faust was locked in thought.

Who will be my first victim? Surely someone worthy of this task.

The ghostly magpie that chose to bring him back to life was perched on Faust's shoulder. Its face bore a blank stare, traveling down the wall. Faust gazed in its direction causally glancing over the hundreds of tourists lying dead among the wall's road.

So many dead, and yet I'm alive. I wasn't a good soul, even I know I don't deserve to be brought back to life. I'm sure there was some family man or soldier that deserved another chance... and yet I'm  alive.

Faust's inner monologue was stopped short by a whisper from the magpie, “Pigeon. The Pigeon's chosen approaches.”

Faust was taken back by the wispy magpie speaking. He was about to remark, but his attention was caught by a shadowy lone figure, timidly walking up the pathway. Faust squinted his eyes to adjust his view.

The assassin frowned as the boy came into sight. An adolescence with a dark bloody shirt over a sweatshirt, and dusty shorts. A dirty red scarf whipped around his neck in the wind.

Faust scowled at the magpie, “A child? I'm suppose to kill a child?”

The magpie tilted its head to the question, “You are to kill the other challengers. You've murdered many before, why so hesitant now?”

Faust gritted his teeth and held silent. He has murdered many before, both men and women., but never children. However, he still wanted to watch this world end, the satisfaction that it could have been saved and he was the ultimate opposition to rescuing the masses. No doubt many children would die. This was a reality he would need to deal with.

Faust ushered the bird off his shoulder, “Wait here.”

Dropping from the tower, Faust slowly approached the boy. His hands rested in his pockets as he took a calm demeanor towards his opponent. The boy had a stressed look on his face, his eyes glinted with fear. He stopped short of Faust. “W-who are you?”

Faust cracked a loose grin, “Are you alone here, what happened to your parents?”

The boy grimaced in emotional pain. The reality of never seeing his family again caught him like a fist to the gut. “M-my family? My friends, they're all gone!”

Faust crouched on one knee to see the boy at his level. “Come now, it will be alright, nothing will hurt you way out here. I'm Faust, what's your name?”

The boy's expression still looked fearful, but he answered Faust's question, “David, David Benjamin.”

“Well David,” Faust came around the boy and put a hand on his shoulder, his other arm hidden behind his back, “Were you a tourist, what are you doing in China?”

David started to feel more comfortable, this stranger seemed friendly enough. Maybe he was just lost and alone, like him. “I'm looking for someone. I have to...”

“You have to...what, David?” Faust slowly tightened his grip on David's shoulder as he slid a dagger down his sleeve and into his other hand.

David looked into Faust's cold eyes. “I have to-”

David was cut off as a sky blue-tinted ghostly bird appeared on David's shoulder. It chirped frantically, “David! This is your opponent, don't trust him!”

David looked stunned, as Faust's collected smile turned into a murderous scowl. Faust was too quick for the surprised boy, a knife drove into David's shoulder, blood squirted into the air. Faust released his grip on David and kicked the child to the ground. A second knife slipped down Faust's sleeve into his free hand.

David groaned in pain, tightly holding his bloody wound. His eyes frantically widened as he took in the situation. Scrambling to get up, a series of thoughts careened in his mind like an unstoppable train.

RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN!

Faust watched as David took off as if the Devil himself was after him. He chuckled to himself. At first killing a child seemed like an impossible task, but now, he could see a little sport in it. Giving David a little leeway, Faust took off in a brisk trot. He could see the boy heading off into another tower, like the one behind him.

Entering inside the shadowy tower, he slowly began to walk up the stairs. He could hear the kid's breathing above him. Faust grinned a crooked smile, “You know, David, I was just about your age when I was trained to be an assassin...”

David hugged his knees on top of the tower. Faust's words haunted the air. He knew the maniac would be near him in minutes. He had to focus and find a way to end him. Reaching into pocket he pulled a bloody shank out and fumbled with it. As he was looking at it, traumatic memories flushed out any thoughts of Faust, as he remembered being killed by those men when the world was ending. He had a chance to make it all up. He had a chance to save the world. The only way all that was going to happen is if he stopped being a coward and defeated Faust!

Faust reached the top of the tower, ending his story. Looking around, he noted that David wasn't here. Faust ran to the side of the tower to see if the kid jumped off. No such luck. It was if he vanished! As he turned around in bewilderment, a rushing David came barreling at him, brandishing a pointed metal shard.

David caught him off guard hiding above the doorway. He plummeted the shank into Faust's stomach. The blood spurted out like a fountain as he unsheathed the shard from his opponent's gut. David breathed heavily, the adrenaline shook his hands.

Faust was furious. He patted his wound and quivered as he looked at the crimson blood. “So, you like to play with knives?” he snorted.

David backed up as Faust supported himself on the ledge getting up. David held out his shank poised to defend. Faust roared as he jumped at David, slapping the shank from David's grip. With a frustrated bloody hand, Faust cuffed the boy's throat and hefted him off his feet.

David gasped for air as Faust tightened his grip around his neck. Tears streamed down his eyes as he struggled. Faust's face was in distaste for the life he had in his grasp. He took a knife from a holster in his jacket and spun it wildly in his hand, “I'm not here to die again. The world needs saving, and I'll make damn sure its not saved by you!”

A quick thrust under David's ribs and through his lung ended David's life in a heartbeat. His body fell limp as Faust dropped him on the ground. Faust looked as the magpie faded into reality and perched on Faust's shoulder. “It is over, Pigeon is now yours. You are wounded, allow me to heal you.”

Faust looked astonished, as his wound closed up. The magpie pecked at the vial around Faust's neck. A misty form ascended from David's lifeless body and sucked into Faust's vial. Faust inspected the vial as he looked at the faint glow trapped inside the necklace. “Now what?”

The magpie tilted its head and responded, “We wait.”

End