Pitch Episode 45: The End
#58 of Pitch
This is the final chapter in the series "Pitch," but it's not the end of the story. When this chapter has a minimum of 200 reads, or 50 votes, or 25 comments, or 75 faves, I will officially start the next series that takes place in the same world. Any of the characters, from Wes to Santa Claus, could potentially get their own series next, but I want to see that Pitch has gotten some love before we move on.
I knew if I involved Velmer, he would more than likely kill my double. He was next door, but for the sake of avoiding casualties, I went in alone. Danger was in the wrong, but he was worth saving.
When I got home, I burst through the front door with a mirror in one hand and Velmer's tiny ray gun in my other.
"Danger!" I yelled through the house.
He was there. Pages from his grimoire were all over the floor. He must have been looking for a specific spell.
"Danger!" I yelled again as I stutter-stepped my way through the house.
"If you won't save us, then I'll end it now," he finally answered me as I arrived at our bedroom door.
I used the ray gun to shoot the door open before stepping inside. Better to use excessive force than getting caught in a trap.
Danger stood with one spell in his right hand and another in his left. He held them up to where I could see. Behind his back, Riz was still trapped in the clear containment pod.
"I'll make this easy, merge with me, or I burn us all like I did Scribe," he said.
"How do you know he's coming back? If you burnt his pages, how can you be sure?" I asked.
"He will, but regardless of the librarian, I can't go on much longer," he argued.
"You put so much effort into changing my mind, why didn't you come up with a way to save yourself?" I said while I held the mirror in my hand, ready to smash with my other.
"You think I haven't tried? Do you think I wanted to do all of this? Nothing I do is enough to save me. I wasn't meant to last," he raved.
"Then do better," I yelled.
"Fuck you," he replied.
"I'm sorry you're afraid, I'm sorry you were hurt, I'm sorry I can't help you," I apologized, and I meant it, but words fell short.
Who could say what anyone would do to save their own life?
"But you'll help her, won't you? You won't let anyone die, neither of us wants that," Danger argued with shaking hands and paranoid demeanor.
"So, you won't kill her either?" I suggested with his own logic.
"I will if it means saving myself," Danger corrected me as the room began to swirl with boiling tension.
"Then we aren't the same anymore," I said.
"You think I'm the bad guy because I don't want to die, but you're not willing to put away your pride to save a life, two lives," he antagonized me.
Could I break the mirror before he spoke? Even if I could, there was no telling what kind of accident it would trigger. Chances were pointing toward a bad break for everyone in the room.
"Choose, save us, or we all burn," he exclaimed.
He was hesitating. If he were so ready to end it all, why did he humor me with a conversation knowing I'd use it to look for a way to stop him? We both fell silent but that blood boiling stress never diminished.
"Why didn't you do this at the theater?" I asked as I lowered my make shift weapon.
"Choose," he repeated with his spell pages held in the air.
"Why didn't you do this at the theater?" I asked again.
He wouldn't let his guard down. He didn't trust me, and rightfully so.
I dropped my weapons and kicked them to the middle of the floor.
He didn't show signs of following my lead for a while. It was hard to say how long a moment might have lasted when every second felt like forever moving at the speed of light. Eventually, he lowered his shoulders.
"I didn't want to hurt mom and dad," he said.
I thought so, but I wasn't sure until he said it. Danger wouldn't look me in the eye. It wasn't smart on his part. It gave me a chance to charge, but I stayed honest.
"Will everyone go back to normal when you're gone?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered quickly.
We both knew what I was going to do by then. There was no way around it. How could I live with my self if I did anything else?
"Choose," he said again.
"I hate you," I said like a fact.
"I am you," he replied with equal expression.