The Destiny Issue
Quick as a Flash - Week 13
Fact and Fiction
Hello readers and thank you for your patience as I worked out what I wanted to do with this issue!
I was certainly caught off guard when it came time to close the poll that determined what the flash fiction piece would be about. Since this poll came out prior to the influx of new people joining us, I expected low participation, and that’s fine. What I failed to anticipate is that the four of you that voted wouldn’t agree on one of the questions, thus creating a four-way tie!
Usually, I would just go ahead and serve as a tie-breaker, but part of generating these prompts is giving you all the opportunity to challenge me to write something unusual. So challenge accepted! Each of the four you that voted are getting what you want.
What’s that? This story is going to be chaotic? Yes. Yes, it is. So please enjoy the Destiny issue!
Don’t forget to vote! I can’t promise I’ll do this every time. 😅
I’ll see you all again on April 12th.
The Sparks
Post-Modern Billionaire Romance
It was foretold that she would marry a tech billionaire. Days passed in anticipation of Musk, Zuckerberg, or Gates showing up at her door, flowers in hand.
But imagine her surprise when a swarm of sentient nanomachines, each worth over 1 million USD, showed up as her blind date.
Keep an Eye on This One
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough—”
“‘—to become the villain.’ We all know the quote, Raj.”
“Uh, I was going to say ‘to fade into obscurity.’ What’s this about becoming a villain, Jeff? Is there something I should know?”
“I thought you were quoting a movie!”
So Close...
I toss a handful of magic powder into the fire, and it bursts, turning from a red-hot to a molten-blue. At its core, I see the lotto numbers: 15 42 25 06—
The tip of my nose burns, and I realize I’ve leaned in far too close. I withdraw, but it’s too late. The numbers are gone.
Prompt
Fingers wriggled out of the dirt, clawing at the remaining soil, sifting enough for their owner to exhume himself from his grave. He had things to do. People to see. He wouldn’t allow silly things like Death and Afterlife to keep him from fulfilling his appointments.
Fight Me
He said he would kill me via trial by combat. The joke’s on him. I have guards and assassins. He has an attitude and a rusty sword. But when he stood by my bed one night, his robes battle-tattered and hot, bloodied steel in his hands, I knew then that I had seriously effed up.
The Flash
The Phoenix Prophecy
“Son of Will, I slay you so that you may usher in the last of the foul deities that stole my family from me!”
Dante Wilson screamed and rolled out of bed just before a giant sword cleaved it in half. He looked at his attacker and saw a Conan, the Barbarian-styled male power fantasy lifting his sword to strike again. “What the hell! Who are you?”
“Do not play dumb!”
Another slash that Dante barely ducked under. The top half of a lamp clattered to the ground. “Hey, this is leased furniture!”
"The phoenix shall rise again, and we will have a battle that will result in her true death, even if it means turning this world to ash! She cannot hide in the house of Hades any longer!"
Dante back-crawled toward the door. “Your beef has nothing to do with me!”
Another swing, and this time Dante was too slow to react. He flinched, but the only thing he sensed was a loud pop and a grunt of pain. He opened his eyes and saw that "Conan" was splayed out on the remnants of his bed, groaning. Standing over him was a human figure that had to be ninety-percent metal and wires. Arcs of static bounced around his palms.
“You’re safe now, phoenix-borne.”
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. More phoenix nonsense. "Thanks for the save, but can you tell me what's happening?"
The metal man’s eyebrow, the hairy one, rose. “You don’t know?” Without looking, he raised his hand again and hit the barbarian with another energy blast. Conan leaned back, unconscious. “I came from the future for you to save us.”
"The future? What, you time traveled here?" he asked sarcastically. But one long look at all the places where flesh met metal had him reevaluating. "Oh god, you're from the future."
“A future riddled with a disease threatening to end all life. So little of my original body remains that I am now immune and can treat others, but I’m only one man. I need you to summon the phoenix so that she can annihilate the illness’s cause.”
Dante sighed. It was a family tradition to be named after the city you were born in. His mother was Phoebe Phoenix Jones. His middle name was Denver. His older brother had the misfortune of being Albuquerque. “You’re mistaken.”
The ground shook, and the lines of a pentagram burned themselves onto the floor. With a flash of light, a purple-robed figure appeared. He dropped his hood, revealing a twenty-something with a pointed beard and scarlet eyes. “I’ve come for the phoenix-borne.”
“Take a number,” Dante muttered. “Do you need me dead or alive?”
The cyborg repositioned himself between the other two. “I offer protection as part of the deal.”
The robed man pursed his lips. “I don’t know you, buddy, but you need to step aside. That guy has an appointment with Mr. Stabby.” He pulled from its sheath a twisted dagger. “Unless—Did the Wings of Fire put you up to this? I told them I didn’t need a partner. I can summon their Messiah by myself.”
“Killing me won’t—”
“The boy is mine to protect. The prophecy says forging a deal with the phoenix-borne will summon the savior to eradicate the plague.”
The robed freak rolled his eyes. “Get your eyes checked. The prophecy says you have to deal with the phoenix-borne. As in rub him out. And if by plague, you mean the scourge that is humanity, then I guess you and the Wings are in agreement. Personally, I think this phoenix is a level three demon at best, and everyone will be disappointed. Still, I don't turn down an easy paycheck."
Dante stepped toward the door, but the cyborg turned and aimed at him. “Is this true?”
“Shouldn’t you know? I never planned to ‘usher in’ anything!”
“The files I downloaded were, admittedly, corrupted. I had to piece a lot of it together myself.”
Ugh.
Dante turned to run out the door, only to ram face-first into someone's cold, ticking chest. He stepped back and gazed up at an Amazon-esque figure clad in boots, breeches, an open jacket with epaulets, and a pirate hat. Her face and exposed torso were fully metallic with dozens of spinning gears.
“Let me guess. I must die so the phoenix can make steampunk cool again?”
“I want an age of anarchy and survival of the fittest, which my crew and I will rule,” she said, drawing a flintlock pistol.
“Metal,” Dante said approvingly. He didn’t even care where this one came from.
“You all must leave! He is mine to slay!” Conan yelled, now awake again.
“Sorry, beefcake. I signed for this one in blood. He’s mine.”
“I have reviewed the files and found the error. I am afraid I must be the one to finish him.”
“You men and your sword-measuring. Just hold him so I can get a clear shot.”
Surrounded and with nowhere to go, Dante closed his eyes and awaited death.
It never came. Dante opened his eyes and saw the barbarian's broadsword had gone through him and sliced into the cyborg's metal core that served as a heart. For his part, the cyborg barely stood, his palm shaking from sending an energy blast that had phased through Dante and knocked the clockwork pirate's head clean off. The rest of her body stood in place, the smoking gun in her hand pointing at a bleeding demon hunter. Said hunter was crawling to retrieve the magic dagger he had thrown at Dante, but it had gone through and stabbed the barbarian, who was now a pile of ash. Within seconds the hunter bled out, and the cyborg's lights faded.
Through some sort of miracle, Dante survived!
A hot light flashed before him and took the shape of a small bird.
"Dante. I am the phoenix, and you owe me your life. Together, we shall bring about a new age of my choosing."
Dammit.
Generated prompt: An unforgiving god-slayer, a life-giving cyborg, a freelance demonologist, and a clockwork reaver all want to unleash divine wrath.
Here is the link to the results. As you can see, nobody wanted me to include the eldritch abomination known as the “toothy torturer.” It’s probably for the best.
Who was your favorite out of the four that did make the cut? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The life giving cyborg was my favorite, even though he died, he was a protector.
The Conan styled God Slayer was portrayed well. In my head I heard Arnold's (more Terminator styled) voice saying, "Do not play dumb"!