Running Out of Time with You Part Six
They stayed together that night, not moving, simply holding each other on the couch. But when the morning dawned, there was a knocking on the door and they had to break apart. Dan went to answer and found Linkara on the other side.
“Though I’d find you here,” Linkara said. “Magical Boys are easy to track, especially when one has so much pent-up magic.” He looked to 90s Kid. “Are you ready?”
90s Kid nodded. “I’ve made my choice.”
“Please,” Dan said. “Can I come? I promise I won’t stop him, but…I can help fight.”
Linkara sighed. “Fine,” he said. “But I’ll hold you to that.”
Dan nodded. “I’ve accepted it now,” he said.
They went to the place and took their positions, 90s Kid on the ground, Linkara and Dan waiting above him. The streets were still, as though everyone else had already been erased.
And it came, ever-changing and monstrous as always. Linkara nodded to Dan, and they leaped down, transforming as they went.
They fought it. They blasted it with magic, and it threw them with its tentacles. It was the same fight that Dan had seen and fought a thousand times before, and this time, there was no changing it. So he did his duty. He weakened the Entity from the outside, made it easier for 90s Kid to get to it.
“90s Kid, now!”
Dan didn’t try to stop him. He simply watched 90s Kid run into the Entity and be consumed by it.
“One!”
Dan closed his eyes and aimed his gun.
“Two!”
It was going to be okay, it had to be okay, he had promised not to change it this time, but maybe it would be different…
“THREE!”
Dan fired his gun, shooting magical energy at the Entity. Linkara did as well, a beam of white light hitting the other side. And from within, a blast of green more powerful than ever shown through. Dan could barely look at it, it was so bright. The Entity screamed louder than ever before as it broke apart and dissolved. Dan looked down. He wouldn’t see 90s Kid die again…
“90s Kid!”
Dan opened his eyes to see Linkara running over, jumping up and catching 90s Kid’s body. It hadn’t been consumed by magic…maybe this time…
Dan ran toward them as Linkara carried 90s Kid down and laid him on the ground. Dan threw himself down beside him and clutched his hand. “Kid! Kid, please…wake up…”
Slowly, 90s Kid’s eyes opened. “Dan?” he whispered.
“Kid, you made it!” Dan was smiling. “You’re alive!”
“Dan…no.”
Dan’s smile fell. “What do you mean?”
90s Kid’s breathing was harsh and ragged. “I didn’t die right away,” 90s Kid said. “But…I’m so weak…I don’t think I have any magic left…”
Dan looked to Linkara. “What does he mean?”
“He means that his energy is gone,” Linkara said. “And he’s right…there’s only enough magic left to take him when he dies.”
“But…”
Linkara shook his head. “You did well, 90s Kid,” he said gently. “You beat it.”
90s Kid smiled. “I know.” He looked to Dan. “I’m sorry, dude. But I’m not going to last much longer.”
“No,” Dan said. “I have a wish left, I can still save you…”
“Don’t,” 90s Kid said. “This is my fate…this is my choice.” He closed his eyes. “I love you, Dan. But please…let go.”
Dan began to sob, clutching 90s Kid’s hand tighter. “I love you, Kid,” he said, as 90s Kid’s breath stopped and the magic washed over his body.
Linkara stood beside Dan. “Do you know what happens when a Magical Boy dies?” Linkara asked. “Where they go once the magic consumes them?”
Dan shook his head.
“They become part of their strongest virtue,” Linkara said. “They are folded into the universe, strengthening all that is good in it. Some become hope, or knowledge, or courage…for 90s Kid, that virtue was love.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He hasn’t left you, Dan.” Linkara knelt next to him. “He’s still there, in the grief you feel for him…and he’ll always be here. In every heart that beats faster when it looks in someone else’s eyes, in every laugh that a couple shares, in every tear that is shed for loss…in every mother who holds her baby for the first time, in every first kiss and every long friendship, he’ll be there. And he will never really die, because there will always be love in this world. Even when there’s darkness, even when people hurt each other, there’s so much love.”
Dan nodded. “Thank you,” he said. He picked up his watch. “But…I still can’t be away from him.”
“Dan, don’t!”
“I’m not going to,” he said. “I wish that I can stay with 90s Kid forever, as a part of that love.”
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