I decided to deal with the fissure first, so I held the crystal tight and filled the ground’s gaping maw with that red crystal, essentially making a new street where the old one was torn apart. The giant swordsman cut apart a few more buildings. The crystal in my hand stopped vibrating when the sword cut through the last building in its path. Something was definitely wrong here. Looking down, my crystal had started to dig into my palm. No blood was coming out, so I left it where it was.
Looking around, I saw people pointing at me and screaming, then running away. How were there this many people in Denver all of a sudden, anyway? A man on a megaphone was shouting, I realized, and started paying attention to the voice.
“Stand down, whatever you are! What’s left of the military will destroy you!” the mayor of Denver shouted.
“Sir, I’ll help you!” I shouted in return.
The world got smaller around me; I found myself as tall as the skyscrapers. In my hand was a sword made of the crystal. I could feel a hole in my forehead, but when I put my fingers to it, I felt sharp gemstone. “This cannot be!”
I was struck in the leg by an explosion. I looked down and saw a tank, just like a toy, firing at me. Irritated, I roared, “Let me think!” and brought the sword down onto the armored vehicle, which crunched beneath my might. “I am the salvation of this world! I will destroy that shadow!”
The mayor called out again. “You are the shadow, you beast! We will put you down!”
All I could do was scream wordlessly. I swung the sword around, throwing it and finding it in my hand again. The city was destroyed in moments by this rampage, and I sat in the ruins, weeping, trying to pull the crystal from my head and destroy the sword. I tried to rend my own flesh, bleed out, but there was nothing. What was I? Was there any humanity left, or was I just a vehicle for the crystal?
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