The Measure of A Man

"I had always heard that as you die, your life flashed before your eyes. I now know that ain't true, but you know that don't ya, old man. Maybe it's cause of how I'm dying', but I got plenty of time to reflect. Survival first, you preached. Hell you died of old age. A rare thing in these times. Live to spread hope you said, 'cause hope is humanity's last chance - so you and your kooky Collective friends claimed. Looks like nobody will get hope from me. But I get to watch Gotham squirm. Ha! Gotham, you may as well just lie here, and bask in the particulate rain. It keeps your mind off of other things."

Leonard trudged on into the desert. His lanky legs cutting labored strides across the sand. With the hand he still owned, he felt his face. It felt like old shoe leather, and very little sweat graced his brow.

GOTHAM IS HERE, LEN. JUST TAKE A QUICK BREAK AND RELAX. GOTHAM WILL BE IN CONTROL SOON SO WHY NOT GIVE UP?

Leonard shook his head vigorously. It seemed to temporarily drive out the insidious thoughts. "I need George." He croaked over cracked lips. Leonard squeezed his Junker staff. "George, can help me."

He thought he was so smart when he sweet talked the villagers out of the "magic box." Some Junker had unearthed it. Not to long after, the brainer had flipped out and was put down. Leonard smiled wryly. That should have been a tip off. Not a soul in that village knew what they really had, but Leonard knew. The box hummed with power. He could feel the powerful tech spirit trapped within. Probably a gun spirit, since it had called him across the desert, seeking his taint, pulling Leonard closer.

"You said I would taint if I wasn't careful. I just thought you were trying to scare me. What did I know from fear huh? So, here I am at your prewar workplace. The student following his teacher's path - twice now. I got George running your particle accelerator. Even after all these years he had no problems. Apparently it's just a big appliance to him, like the world's largest fridge. Ha . I remembered that you used ghost rock in the accelerator. Said you were determining the fundamental particles composing the soul? Soul Quantum Mechanics, eh? Crazy stuff, old man."

George was not happy. George, his brave little toaster spirit, had stuck with him through thick and thin. Even when Leonard grew heavy with the taint, George stuck around, though the gun spirits terrified the little appliance. He pleaded with Leonard to leave the metallic box alone, but Leonard was determined to set the enclosed spirit free. With a shout of triumph, Leonard gave the box one last twist. Then he heard the voice.

HELLO LEN. GOTHAM'S BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.

It was a gun spirit, alright. An incredibly powerful and exceedingly egotistical one. Leonard was enthralled. Somehow he knew that this spirit was not just any old AK-47. Its sheer power terrified and excited him.

YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT YET, LEN? GOTHAM IS THE DESTROYER, THE REAPER OF MILLIONS OF SOULS. THE COLLECTIVE CAGED GOTHAM FOR A VERY GOOD REASON. GOTHM IS THE CITY BUSTER THAT DESTROYED NEW YORK CITY.

Leonard's heart sank, and he loosened his grip on the box, loathe to touch the spirit's prison. But the box did not fall. As he watched the spirit constructed metallic feelers that dove into his skin. It injected its cancerous influence throughout Leonard's blood, drilling and anchoring in bone, hewing sinew, turning Leonard's body against itself.

FIRST THE BODY THEN THE SOUL, LEN. GOTHAM EATS YOUR SOUL NEXT

"I'm not a total failure! I mean, I thought I was when George told me the actual particles were fired into a vacuum. I could no more take Gotham in there than fly him to the moon. But little Georgie boy told me of a room where a portion of the particle stream is redirected. Imagine my surprise when I walk in, and there on the wall is a picture of you. George figured it out. Other "regular" particle accelerators had rooms like this one, for cancer patients. The heavy irradiated particles destroyed the malignant cells invading their body. But you used ghost rock particles. You destroyed malignant souls in here, didn't you?"

For almost two full days Leonard locked wills with his possessor. Leonard had freed a wanton force of destruction, that was possessing his body. He knew that he was a dead man. The only question was could he stop Gotham before others died too. With one last effort, Leonard collected himself, and stood to walk south into the Texas desert. I was all he could do to put one foot in front of the next. Each step was scaling a mountain. But he knew where he was headed now.

"So old man, I recon' you are going to destroy two more souls. Me, and Gotham. Ol' Gotham here can't do anything about it 'cause it aint a weapon, is it? Just like George said. Oops, there went my skin. I just kinda slid off my leg. Quit squirmin' Goth... . Oh shit, blood. Man this hurts. I'll see ya soon old man. I just don't wanna hear any crap about what I did wrong, OK. Deal? Deal.

    FROM: George
    TO: Tale Listserv via Junker net
    SUBJ: RE: No More Heroes

I disagree. I worked with a true Hero, who gave his life to rid the world of a great evil. He died alone and scared, but he died a hero.

His name was Leonard, and he had his problems, but .....