Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself to fight the unkillable, invincible, unstoppable, immortal creature that threatened to wipe out the balance of his Universe. As he entered the darkness, he could see her eyes fixed on him, bright blue, beckoning to him. As he began the fight, he turned and saw her mouth speaking, but all he could hear was in his mind. "Foolish boy, this is your last opportunity," the voice spoke. As she said that, her lips formed the words into an image. And he could see in his mind's eye her image speaking to him. A wave of regret washed over him as he saw himself fighting her. As his heart broke, he felt as if the very air itself was weeping. It was all over and Quiggly was on the brink of giving up. "Don't you understand? This is your last opportunity. The time for your fight is now. You can't just wait around, hoping she gets tired of destroying people, and maybe someday, somehow, she will come to you and you can fight. But there is never an end to your pain. Take this chance and finish her now." Quiggly felt her power wash over him. It was indescribable. As she took control of him, he knew he could not win, but even so, he fought to defend himself. This was his fate, and no matter what, he would fight to the end to save his Universe. At the last possible second, he was able to break the spell and break free, just in time, so he could use his own strength to defeat the creature. Quiggly knew the creature could never be killed, even by him, but he didn't care. She would die. He was determined, no matter what he would not lose. With all his strength, he lifted his metal claw, just as she slammed into him. Together they fell into the grass, landing upon her. The thing had been beaten, but not destroyed. She lay there still. Unmoving. "Quiggly," Quiggly looked into the sky, so he could speak to the Universe, "You have failed. This is the second time. Kill me, now." The Universe answered, "No. Your punishment is not done." Quiggly turned his head toward the ground. "Kill me. I don't want to live in a Universe where people like that are still around. I can't live in a Universe where evil is everywhere." "Quiggly, your punishment is not done. You were given a second chance to kill her. I know the Universe does not want you to live in this pain." "But I can't go on living like this. You can fix things, right? I can't stand to live in a Universe where all the people are hurting and crying." "No. This is part of your punishment. Take it. There is nothing you can do about it. This is the end of your punishment. You will never return to Earth, so I will not have the pleasure of seeing you again." "But..." "This is all that I can do for you. It is in your hands now, it is your choice." "NO!" Quiggly felt his heart breaking, the world ended, and everything went black. Once again he had failed. With the dark vision, still lingering in his mind, Quiggly knew he could not continue. "I can't go on living like this." "I am sorry." "I can't kill her." "She is not a woman to be killed, but to be defeated." "That is just it. I can't be beaten. Even now, I can't end her." "What is your plan, sir?" "I don't know. I just know I can't live like this. But I do know she must die. She must be defeated. This is the only way." "Quiggly, do not speak of defeat. This is the Universe's punishment to you. Not yours. Your punishment is that you are not allowed to kill her. You can't kill her. You gave up your chance and now, this must be your punishment. I have delivered your message. Now I must leave you. This is the Universe's own punishment to you. "But I can't live in a Universe where people like her still exist." "You are a man, you cannot change the world. You must endure. This is your punishment. It is not your fault." "What is my punishment?" "You will be granted two more opportunities to kill her." "What? Two more? Why not just let me get it over with?" "I am sorry. If you are not defeated, you will die for this crime. Only she can determine if you are victorious. She is the only one to make that call." "How am I supposed to do that?" "You must find another victim and you must convince him to kill her. But no one ever wins. The Universe does not allow for an eternal winner. It is always a loser." "But you said that I have a chance." "Yes, you have a chance, but it is a long shot, the odds are against you. Many will be unsuccessful." "How many people do I get?" "That depends on the person." "What do you mean, how many people?" "There are different categories of people. People who are already defeated, people who are strong in nature and power, and people who are willing to fight. Your chances are a fraction of each of these categories." "I see. Well that's not very good." "Sometimes those who are defeated will fight. It is in their nature." "Really? How about all those people who you said are strong and power." "Usually, you can only use the powers you have, but sometimes when they can be used they are only usable for the person fighting, not the person being defeated. Just like you, you could not break those chains." "But there has to be someone who could break her curse, right? There has to be someone who can break this curse." "You have spoken to her. No one can defeat the curse. No one can break her power. She will defeat you." "But I've got to be able to do it. There is no other way." "You must think positively and you must have faith." "Faith? Faith is another thing? I don't want to." "I know it is hard, but you must." "I don't understand. If I can't do it, what is faith?" "For you, it is believing that you will survive." "Okay, then what does that have to do with not being able to get rid of my problem?" "You are already on a quest to get rid of her. Faith is just believing you will succeed." "Faith doesn't work for me. But you said she will defeat me. So how can faith work in that case?" "First off, you must focus on the fact that there is always a chance. Faith is to believe the Universe is watching and listening. It is to have faith and knowing your will be done." "I don't want to do it. What's the point? It will never work." "That's what you must think. You must put up with the bad days. When you don't succeed, what will you have to be able to do it?" "I don't know." "Then you will go through the same bad days. When you get rejected, how will you succeed?" "I don't know." "Then you will have nothing to say if someone rejects you. You will have nothing to rely on. You will be alone. You will be in pain." "I guess you're right. Faith is believing that the Universe will help me." "Then trust me, and hope. If you believe in yourself, you must learn faith." "But can I really do it?" "If you are patient, you will find a way." "Ok." "Remember, faith is believing you will be victorious. When you use that, she will be defeated." "I will try." "Then it will be your choice to believe or not to believe. But it is your choice." "I have one question. Why can't you just tell me what I have to do?" "I cannot. It is your choice. The Universe would be nothing but chaos if it were to inform everyone on how to live. This is the Universe's punishment to you. You must not know how to get rid of her. The punishment of letting her be is your punishment." "No, you said I had two more chances. That gives me three chances. I am only doing this once and you said it would take time to even get one opportunity." "I know. The Universe has granted you two more opportunities. After that, you have to deal with the pain of defeat. You will not learn to overcome the challenge and fight the loss that life