Death has always been such a touchy subject for many. The thought of ceasing to exist- not having the ability to think or know that you are dead. The cold, unnerving feeling of isolation and the fear of death is said to be the reason so many live life to the fullest. That the fear of death and the unknown gives meaning to the life that one lives.

That was not the case for Daniel O'Malley.

The mystery of death seemed so trivial, so mind numbing, yet the simplicity of it seemed like a welcome release to the hell that he seemed trapped in. No, he did not want to die himself, but if it was necessary for him to die to escape, he would gladly do so. Eight years of the same, albeit slightly different, actions and people. Nothing changed, and the end result always had death welcoming Daniel's friend. Was it even a friendship now since he was pulling the strings the entire time? Perfected lies and alibis have almost given Daniel a way out of this never ending failure, and nothing he seemed to do worked.

Daniel looked down at his friend with a blank look on his face. There was no need to feel remorse or guilt anymore. This death was just as the same as the others. Blood staining the martyr's skin with his black and red costume hiding the amount of blood loss. Gasping breath, the shaking hands, and the tears running down the boy's face were just the same as the last time. Why bother comforting him if he will die in a few minutes? Those few minutes are too valuable to waste on a dying boy who failed to listen to him.

"Daniel...I-"he sputtered, "it hurts. I...don't..."

Daniel took a few steps away, then stopped. For some reason, he could not just walk away from this- even after all this time. He supposed it was the morals that somehow survived this long, but he knew that, eventually, that he would be able to crush those morals in order to get what mattered done. But, for now, the feelings that still remained kept him grounded to the cement that was underneath his feet.

"Yami, you failed. You are dying, and the city is destroyed. Nothing you can do will stop the inevitable from happening. Give up."Daniel said, his hands in his pockets.

The gasping and coughing must have been an attempt for the hero to try and speak. To fight. However, the act of speaking seemed to be too much for the dying boy. And, after a short two minutes, the world was silent, and Daniel was able to walk away from the body.

Civilians were hiding under the debris, and it was no surprise to Daniel that the people of the city were silent, but that was something that he did not care about anymore. It happened every time anyway. Why wonder about a predictable behavior that a group of people engage in when he had more pressing matters? He walked towards the center of the battle zone, and he watched as the mastermind of his torture ordered his lackies to do some meaningless tasks. Once they spotted him, however, the leader just smiled.

Shinigami's silhouette was menacing, and the drab, gray destruction just made the tone of his actions even more dramatic. His outfit was something that Yami often commented on- the boy was a fan of history and culture, he remembered. The black and red kimono and the white kitsune mask made his followers call him a demon of the night, and his abilities just added to the fear aspect. His ashy lips just smiled as he saw Daniel walk forward, and no words needed to be exchanged. Everything that could have been said had already been said. For everything that Daniel knew, it always seemed that this man was always ten steps ahead. He was just toying with him, and Daniel was over it years ago. With one press of a button, Daniel knew that the final battle would begin. As if it was not difficult before, he was now out of time.

"So, is this the last time? I had a feeling it was running out of juice, Ogimos. It has been an interesting eight years, hasn't it?"Shinigami said running his hand across a fallen pillar. "I'm glad we had this working relationship."

Daniel just pulled out the small metal box that resembled a calculator. However, instead of many buttons for number, a simple dial sat in the center. Turning the dial counter-clockwise, he felt the familiar tug in his chest as the device started to activate.

"Yeah, we are fucking family at this point, but it ends this time. I am tired of your shit, and I will make sure anyone won't be able to do this again."

"That, Ogimos, is why-"

Daniel heard this before, so it did not matter when he was cut off as Daniel suddenly appeared in a small kitchen in front of a chocolate cake. He looked up to see the all to familiar faces of family members and friends. However, the most important one came running through the door with a small gift wrapped in notebook paper.

"Sorry I'm late- my car ran out of gas, and I, uh, did I miss the song? "the future hero rambled on, and Daniel quickly looked at calendar that he knew his mother always hung next to the fridge. Another year to prevent everything. The last chance.

"Anyway, I didn't know what to get you, but I hope you like it." the boy handed Daniel the poorly wrapped gift after the cake was served.

He did not need to unwrap it to know what it was. A simple notebook with a painted cover. Pastel flowers were the border, and two birds were in the center: a dove and a crow. However, he tore the paper off of the book, and feigned surprise.

"You see, I remembered that your favorite animal was a crow, and I thought since you were always writing down things it would be something you would like."

"Thank you for getting this for me, Alex, but there was no need. Just don't die on me, and my birthday will be great." Daniel said.

Because in exactly one year, Daniel knew that his best friend would, most likely, be killed. And that would cause the entire city to fall apart.