//------------------------------// // Fade to Black // Story: As the World Falls Down // by HudsonHawk //------------------------------// "Seasons pass but time stands still Rivers flow and always will Nights are long and days endure The pain inside must have a cure And the reason for the call Is the heart is vulnerable The special night has set the stage To release that hateful rage..." -Gordean Simpson, "Fade to Black" It was only when Silver got to his locker that he realized something. "Son of a bitch." In his haste to get away from Sunset, he left his Maltin's movie guide back in the library... the one she had tossed aside to get his attention. "Can't believe this, it's always when you want to hurry out of here..." Throwing his stuff in his open locker, he slammed it angrily before spinning around and turbo-walking back to the library, fuming. "Stupid Sunset. Evil wench thinks she can say 'sorry' and everything's better?" Silver muttered under his breath, his hands balled into fists. "Thinks she can bat those gorgeous eyes and everything's better? Gah! If she weren't a girl... oh, who am I kidding, I still wouldn't do anything. Such a stupid, spineless, fat waste... but she won't win... I won't let her... I'll never let her win..." Silver was so caught up in his thoughts and his angry muttering that he didn't see the girl round the corner until the pair collided with each other as Silver rounded it as well. "OOF!" Silver and the girl were both caught off balance. Silver fell on his ass, his glasses flying off and skidding down the hallway. The girl, an eighth-grader, hit the ground as well, her backpack skidding across the floor. "What da hell?" The girl said, a strong New York accent in her voice. "Goddammit..." Silver growled as he crawled on his hands and knees, looking for his glasses. The girl, blowing her low-hanging bangs out of her eyes, got to her feet. As Silver felt around for his glasses in a blind panic, she walked over and picked up Silver's glasses, then handed them to him. "Here ya go, big fella." She said. Silver snatched his glasses back angrily and put them on. He then whirled around to look at the freckled face of the eighth-grader. "Why the hell didn't you watch where you were going?" Silver snapped at the girl. "Me? Why didn't ya watch where you were going, tubbo?" The girl snapped back. "Maybe if you got yourself a damned decent haircut, maybe you'd be able to actually see your surroundings!" The girl blew her bangs out of her eyes again. "And maybe if... wait, do I know youse?" "What's it to you?" Silver snapped. "I got the strange feelin' I've seen ya before..." The girl said, in thought. "Well, you're currently in my way, so please move the hell out of it." Silver snapped, motioning for her to do just that. "What's yer problem?" The girl asked, annoyance and a bit of concern coming in. "My problem..." Silver started, "...is that I need to get somewhere and YOU are in my way. So please MOVE!" Silver shoved her aside and started walking. He only got a few feet before she moved right back in front of him, glaring daggers. "I ain't movin' until youse tell me what ya problem is." The girl said, arms folded and feet planted firmly in front of Silver. "You want to know what my problem is?" Silver started. "My problem is punks like you thinking you can just say sorry and suddenly everything's fine! You can't fool anyone into thinking you're decent! Once a bully, always a bully!" Babs' face fell, a look of utter hurt crossing it. "Hey, c'mon! I ain't like that no more!" She yelled, trying to conceal the hurt in her voice. "Bullshit! Don't try being all friendly now! Your kind doesn't deserve friends!" The hurt was starting to seep into her voice now. Tears were starting to streak down her face. "That . . . that ain't true. You're just bein' mean-" "Well, that's the way it is. People are mean. You gotta toughen up. The world is a cruel place." "The boy's gotta toughen up. The world is a cruel place." Silver stopped. His face turned from one of anger to utter horror. "Oh, god..." He said to himself. Babs had an insult readied, but stopped once she saw Silver's horrified face. "What did I just say?" Silver asked, the horror evident in his voice. "Ya got a hearin' problem-" Babs angrily started. Silver grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her, his face and voice frantic. "WHAT DID I SAY?" Silver shouted. All of the anger in Babs turned to fear... fear of what the potentially crazy guy could do to her. She decided to give him what he wanted. "Ya told me to toughen up, 'cause the world's a cruel place." Babs said. Silver released her and recoiled in horror. He looked away from her. "Oh, God... oh, Jesus Christ..." Silver said, his voice trembling along with his body. "What's wrong wit' ya?" Babs asked, all anger now replaced with genuine curiosity. Silver looked back at her. His cheeks were slick with tears, his eyes free of anger, replaced with sheer regret. "...forgive me..." was all he could utter before he ran away from her and down the hall. That moment... that moment his tear-streaked eyes looked into hers was when Babs knew. She knew that look all too well. It was the look of a man who was going to... "Aw, shit..." Babs thought. "WAIT! HOLD UP!" Babs shouted as she ran after him. Luckily for Silver, the boys' bathroom was empty. Then again, it was after school hours, so it should have been expected. But Silver's mind wasn't on trivial things like that right now. Silver slid down the nearest wall and sat on the ground, what he said earlier running through his mind, along with the horrifying realization that came with it. He had become... him... He hated his uncle. He hated the way he belittled him. He hated the way he treated others. He hated all the hurtful things he had said to him for all those years... and despite his hatred, despite his resolve to never act like him, to never be like him... he still became him. "Congratulations, boy." Silver got to his feet, shaking in fear. Looking around, he saw his uncle in the mirror, chuckling softly. "It's about goddamned time you got it. People are bastards, every single one of them." "Except you, of course." Silver replied. "Of course." Uncle replied. "I was just trying to be nice enough to prepare you for that fact." "By belittling me? By mocking me? By treating your own sister like crap?" Silver said, his fear giving way to anger. "Of course." Uncle replied. "Sometimes, you can't trust your own family. They'll hurt you in the end, too..." Silver had enough. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" Uncle recoiled in surprise. "You spent sixteen years putting me down, belittling me, mocking me, and you're trying to tell me that you did it to make me like you?" "Yes, boy." Uncle said. "Now you get it. The world isn't all sunshine and lollipops and people won't always be your friend. They'll turn on you if it's to their benefit. That Sunset gal should have taught you that. I was trying to prepare you for that fact of life, that it's a cruel place." "I hate you." Silver hissed. "I hate you. I don't believe for a minute you did any of what you did to prepare me for anything." Silver glared daggers at his uncle. "You did it for your amusement. For all your high and mighty posturing, you're just a bully. YOU'RE NOTHING! YOU'RE SHIT!" "Really?" Uncle said, a smug grin crossing his face. "Guess what? With how you treated that girl, you're just like me now. Don't deny that for a few moments you felt great tearing that girl down. You're no different." Silver looked away in shame. "You're wrong... I'm not like you..." "You told her the world is a cruel place. I taught you well. You're just like me, boy..." Silver reached into his pocket and felt his uncle's knife. Pulling it out, he flicked it open. "I'd rather die than become you." Silver held the knife over his radial artery, and mentally prepared himself with one sentence, repeated... "The evil ends with me... That's when the door flew open to reveal Sunset Shimmer. She took one look at Silver and a look of sheer horror crossed her face. "SILVER, NO!" Sunset shouted as she started toward him. Ordinarily, starting towards someone carrying a pocket knife, blade open, would be a bad idea. However, luck was on Sunset's side today: startled from the sudden yelling, Silver's hand fumbled, causing him to let go of the knife. It skittered across the floor, landing at the feet of Babs Seed, who had been behind Sunset. When Silver started for his knife, Sunset sprang into action. Grabbing him by the waist, she got behind him and twisted his arms over one another, pinning them to his sides, putting Silver in a basket hold. "Sorry Silver, but this is for your own good." Sunset said. Silver struggled to break free, but no matter how he thrashed or shook, Sunset's grip stayed firm. "What the hell? Let me go!" Silver shouted. "Let me die!" "Babs! The knife..." Sunset started, but the girl was way ahead of her. She picked it up and flicked it closed, then ran for the nearest stall. That was when Silver got in a lucky shot. He stomped his foot down on Sunset's as hard as he could. "OW!" Recoiling in pain, Sunset let go of Silver. Wasting no time, Silver ran toward the stall that Babs had run to. "Give me the knife!" Silver yelled. A splash and a flush was the only reply. Silver arrived to see Babs standing in front of the toilet. He grabbed her round the waist and pulled her, kicking and flailing, out of the stall and ran back in to see... "NO!" ...his uncle's knife finishing its trip down the toilet, disappearing down the drain. Silver fell to his knees and stuck his hand into the bowl in a desperate attempt to retrieve his means of ending it all, but it was all for naught. As the sound of the flushing toilet died down, all that could be heard was the heavy breathing of Sunset and Babs as the adrenaline wore off... and the soft weeping of the broken shell of a boy in the stall in front of them. Silver had removed his arm from the toilet, and his front half lay atop the bowl, as if he was going to vomit. However, all that was heard was soft weeping. With Babs behind her, Sunset moved toward Silver. As she neared the stall door, he softly asked through sobs... "Why didn't you let me die?" Silver weakly got to his feet and turned around as his sobs subsided. His eyes were red-tinged and wet. His cheeks were red and stained with tears. "Why? Why couldn't you let me die?" He took a few steps, enough to get out of the stall, then fell to his knees as a fresh wave of despair hit. The sobs returned full force. It was then that Sunset knelt beside him and took his hand. While he didn't grip it back, she gave it a gentle squeeze. "I didn't let you die, Silver..." Sunset started, "...because I didn't want you to. I never wanted you to die." She wrapped her other arm around him and held him. "I want you to live, Silver." She started to rock him gently as she maneuvered his head to her shoulder. "I want you to be happy." Babs came in from the side, and hugged Silver as well. "Shh... shh... let it out, Silver..." "Why?" A weary Silver asked. "Why what?" Sunset asked, looking down to see Silver looking up, a mixture of sadness and genuine curiosity. "Why... why do you want to help a nothing like me?" "Because..." Sunset started, "...six girls showed me what I was... and I don't want to be that anymore. I want to try and fix what I've broke. I want to help because someone believes in me to do good." Silver rested his head back on her shoulder. Sunset began to run her hand through his scruffy hair as she continued. "It's our successes and our failures that make us who we are, Silver. Never forget that. The lowest points in your life can lead to the highest points. And right now, I helped stop a guy from taking his life. I'm going to help him pick himself up and try again, because I believe in him." Sunset was surprised to feel Silver's fingers intertwine with hers. She then felt his arm go around her back and hug her weakly. It was then that Silver Screen realized that the Sunset Shimmer holding him... comforting him... urging him to live... was indeed the same Sunset Shimmer who was a major league bully before the Fall Formal. It was then that he realized that, despite what he thought and said, she truly had changed. "I... I..." "Silver, what?" Silver's voice was but a humbled whisper. "I... I'm sorry... Sunset..." Silver squeezed the hand of his former bully. "I'm sorry, too, Silver... shh... you're going to be okay, big guy..." The arm Silver had around Sunset moved. Babs moved off for just enough time for It to go around her and pull her into the hug as well. At that moment, there was no animosity over what had passed... no resentment, no anger... ...just pure, unadulterated compassion between three troubled souls.