1 A Bad Time.

Eduardo was closing up shop by wiping the counters, checking the toilet for the casual disregard of humanity, and looking for Goblins in the freezer, the usual Friday night.

But then a strange man walked in.

Not Meth or H-strange, but it was definitely "revolver under the counter" time.

He had on a stained black hoodie with a pair of hole filled shorts and Nike's so old that the child that made them might actually have died from old age.

Eduardo just put on his best "customer face" and greeted the man, "How can I help you Sir?"

The man completely ignored Eddy and walked up to the counter with a glazed look pouring over his face.

Eddy couldn't help but panic slightly and his left hand went down to the holster.

A harsh grumble could be heard from the man, "Give..me..your...soul, mortal."

Eduardo stared at the ghoulish man and spoke, "Is there like a cosplay convention in town?"

The man simply turned his head sideways, indicating he did not know or understand the question.

Eduardo sat there and traded gazes with the man, noting that his skin was pale but clearly the guy had a girlfriend that was a makeup artist, the work was excellent. The shading was perfect, it was so UN-lifelike.

A minute passed them by.

"So, are you going to shop or get gas?" Eduardo had a look of exhaustion on his face at this point and was trying to get out of this situation without it getting...weird.

The ghoulish man slammed his hand down on the counter and demanded once more, "GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!!!"

Eduardo just sighed, "This is pretty weird man. Like. Please leave."

The ghoul looked confused once more and was looking down at his little laser pointer.

"Why is this not working?" Asked the ghoul.

"Look man, your little green laser IS working, just please leave." Eduardo was so done with this.

The man stared into Eduardo's eyes and had a look of fear, but he pulled the laser pointer out and shone it directly into his eyes.

Eddy grabbed the gun and cocked the hammer as he moved backwards, this man was ON something.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" He held the pistol at the ground and made it clear that the man was no longer welcome in his shop after assaulting him.

The laser momentarily blinded him and he couldn't see very well but the man was taking his sweet time as he walked around the counter.

"YO!" Eddy called to him, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

"No." The ghoulish cosplayer was still moving towards him.

Eddy backed up and nearly tripped over his father's stool and pile of junk that he kept behind the cash register.

The blotchy center of Eddy's vision wasn't returning but he could see the man approach with malice from his peripheral vision.

Eddy pulled the gun upward and pulled the trigger.

~CRACK~

A loud sound rang out after the gun fired, bone splintered from the man walking at him.

The fresh and exposed bone marrow was bright pink and red as it bled all over the floor.

Eddy fired all 6 shots at the thing, each one leaving a physical scar across the man's body, but it did not stop.

"What the fuck..." Eddy was flabbergasted at the man. He could literally SEE the pumping of the aorta.

"How-" Eddy was cut off as the man rushed forward for the last step and grabbed his throat without delay. The strength was perfectly overwhelming.

The green light began to glow as Eddy fought for his breath and kicked the man's lower limbs.

The ghoul leaned into Eddy and said once more, "GIVE. ME. YOUR. SOUL."

But.

Once again, nothing happened.

The PCP'd dude was living in his grand delusion and it gave Eduardo the chance to break the grip on his throat.

He swung his hands upward and smashed into the ghoulish man's arms. They appeared to be bending the wrong way, but the strength was still there.

'What the fuck?'

He pulled on the hand and tried to squirm out but the man stood frozen and was seemingly vacant inside.

Then a bright flash went off.

Both men were shielding their eyes and the ghoul let Eduardo go in panic.

The ghoul spoke, "NO, NO, NO, NO, HOW!!!" As it began to press its hands together for some sort of energy attack.

Eddy was barely standing as the blinding light mixed with the deafening loudness of the gun and he couldn't figure out which way was up.

His ears pounded and the capillaries in his eyeballs were visible to him, as a matter of fact, he could see through his own eyelids and he could see the bones of his own hand.

Green energy exploded and Eduardo felt a tugging. (Not like that, you perv.)

The center of his chest was, moving?

He felt it being pulled out of him and he felt a wash of panic run over him, "NO!" then he clamped down instinctively.

The green energy exploded and sent the shop's walls outward in every direction.

Eddy felt his body disintegrate then it stopped. His thoughts were much slower but he could see the exposed and burning nerve endings poking out from where his arms just were.

The white flame coming from his bones were blinding in a new way, and the black iron of his blood was becoming spikes.

It.

Was a moment of agony.

An infinite moment.

'End it. Please.'

'Hello?'

'Anyone, anything?'

After Eddy's 5th count to 100 million, he started to get bored of the pain.

A small "POP" sound was heard and it hurt much less.

'That is SO much better.' He exhaled, in his mind.

It was the little things in that moment.

The way the tiles were installed wrong when he was a kid. He could see the pattern clashing. It was meant to flow, but his dad said to not worry about the big arrow on the back of them.

To be fair, you would never really notice. Unless you were staring at it for a few years...straight.

Then.

In the middle of his 69th count to 1 billion seconds, he noticed a being walking around.

"Sir, we have your report." A voice spoke, and then another being appeared out of nowhere.

The subordinate appeared to be in silver armor that was incredibly intricate, but Eddy could see the faulty strength of the armor's spikes, they had rolling edges. Weak to impacts.

The one in golden armor though? It had perfectly crafted armor, or as far as Eddy could tell.

His thoughts were interrupted by the booming voice, "Hmm, I see. Have you recaptured this God's Core of Divinity?"

The subordinate shook his head and then nodded, "Well, Sir? It seems to be bound to this mortal."

The silver man pointed at Eddy and the golden man vanished.

A loud crack could be heard.

The booming voice shouted, "YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE ORDER."

Then Eduardo's vision faded to black.