Short Story #10 - The End

10 Short Stories Challenge from a friend: She picks the topic/genre, I write it in one day.

--- Mirror Universe ---

Roland Zazu had been hearing the voices whisper to him from a young age. At first, as any child might, he figured everyone had some entity inside his head advising him what to do, sometimes even demanding. As he got older he quickly realized this was not the case. Roland Zazu, in Roland’s own egomaniacal opinion, must be pretty special.

The devil spoke to Roland.

The Prince of Darkness informed him on many fronts, leading him toward others of his kind. At thirty-nine years old Roland was the head of his own coven with nearly two thousand members spread across America and almost two hundred more in Europe and Asia. Ain’t the internet grand? Their goal: Destroy the world. Only by the death of every human being currently alive can Satan fulfill his destiny. This Roland knew as fact.

Thus, he’d been planning in the name of Lucifer to do what he and his followers were about to undertake for his entire life. Roland had read science and mathematics texts with the eagerness and enthusiasm that most kids put into comic books. It never came easy for him, but he studied day and night to get the grades to go to the best college in the field of pharmacology and chemistry. He forewent any semblance of a social life to spend time in labs mixing chemicals and compounds and graduated top of his class.

Roland was recruited by all the major pharmaceutical companies. He chose Dow Chemical because it was not only the largest chemical producer in America with a history that was nearly as infamous as his lord and master’s, but it was one of the few remaining companies that still had access to enriched uranium-238 which Roland could use to make plutonium-239, a material that was integral to his secret work for Satan. Once hired he turned his attention to creating the instruments that would allow him to achieve his master plan. It took nearly fifteen years and at many times he was almost exposed for a plethora of reasons. But, he persevered and used that time to grow his army. Turned out, Roland was not the only person Lucifer spoke to. What he assumed might be the most difficult portion of the plan actually turned out to be the easiest. At first he had to search for like-minded individuals discretely. He might find one or two that he could trust in a single year. As things progressed, Satanists began coming out of the woodworks. The Devil told him which ones could be trusted and which ones should be thrown to the wayside.

The plan was simple: tiny nuclear warheads smuggled into thousands of points across the world and detonated simultaneously.

Lucifer had explained the situation clearly. The world as he knew it was merely an illusion; a mirror of the true reality. People were basically a network of consciousness propagating this deception. Only by destroying those creating this delusion could it be broken. Yet if even a single soul survived Satan would continue to be trapped in this awful reality where he was relegated to the horrid lower dimensions of hell. But, of course it was alright to do this. Since this land was false, when true reality was restored no one there would even know about what had happened on this phony one. No one would know about it, but Roland would be the hero of all heros. It would all be worth it when Roland could finally live in a world where Satan ruled and God was thrown down. A land that thrived on cold hard merciless evil. In this new realm, he, Roland Zazu would flourish; even if he didn’t know what had allowed him to live in such a utopia.

All his agents were in place at all points of the compass across the globe. Each had built his weapon by assembling the parts Roland had sent slowly over years and years. Plutonium was shipped through the mail in such minute amounts so as to render it untraceable. In ten years every Satanist horded up quite a lot this way. Now every bomb was ready. None had been detected. The day was finally at hand. At precisely seven oh six in the morning Greenwich Mean Time everyone would detonate his weapon. The explosions themselves would only cause the first wave of deaths. It was the poison clouds created, known in lay terms as fallout, that would finish the job. There would be so many of them none would be able to escape.

There was really only one thing that could spoil victory and that was if some of his people chose not to discharge their missiles. If it was but one or two, this wouldn’t interfere with the destruction caused, however if it was like a hundred or more who got cold feet at the last moment then it could allow for tiny isolated pockets of survivors. Roland had hand picked his bombardiers with the aid of his dark lord and he trusted these people implicitly to do their jobs. Still, with the forces of good in the land able to challenge his mission, one simply never knew what could happen.

He glanced at the clock on the night table stand. Roland’s bomb was the largest of the lot. He’d constructed it in his bedroom and intended to cause it to explode while relaxing in his bed. It was seven oh four in England and just after one o’clock in the morning where he lived in Michigan. In two minutes either Roland would wake up knowing that his mission was a success or he’d be visiting his lord and master in a very hot and horrible place.

As the number flipped to one oh five doubt crept into his mind for the first time. Mirror universe indeed! What sort of ridiculous notion was that? What if he was wrong? What if the voice in his mind was schizophrenia and not a supreme being? What if he was about to take the lives of millions of innocent people with his blast and almost six billion with the efforts of his lifetime of work? How could he do such a terrible thing, even if it was the right thing to do? Did he really have it in him to be a mass murderer? Babies. Toddlers. Innocents. Elderly. Women. Loving couples. People who haven’t yet had an opportunity at life.

And Satan spoke to him, as he was certain the Prince of Darkness must be whispering to all the bombers at that instant. Don’t go soft on me now! Remember all that I’ve told you! None of this is real! It’s a mirror world! An illusion! But, what if, Roland began. No! Believe me. I haven’t lied to you once. You must do this thing. My destiny must be fulfilled. And what of me, asked Roland. I’ve told you already; you’ll be a hero. The greatest hero ever. But, I won’t know, Roland pleaded, give me my memory. Let me at least remember what I’ve done. Look, Roland, said Lucifer inside his head in a tone he’d never heard his master use before, if you don’t follow through on our plan one thing will be certain; you won’t have to worry about not remembering what you haven’t done because for the rest of eternity I will never, ever let you forget!

7:06 GMT. Nearly twenty-two hundred small nuclear explosions blasted through every major city on the planet Earth. As many mushroom clouds formed above these blasts and slowly they spread out, overlapping each other and forming a solid poisonous dome that encompassed the world.


The gate clanged open and in he trod; exhausted, but satisfied. As he strolled through the hall he was greeted by hundreds of pats on the back. Good job, said most. Welcome home, exclaimed others. One wisecracker shook his hand and winked, sure took you long enough. He took it all gracefully, full of the dignity imbued in one of his elite station.

The doors at the end of the hall parted and on he went, alone now, into the grandest chamber of them all. The throne was a whirl of motion. It would drive any and all who saw it insane, but he merely stopped before it and knelt, waiting. This wasn’t the first time he’d been there, but he sure hoped it was the last.

Metatron spoke, but it was clear who he was speaking for, “I see you have returned at last, my child.”

“Yes, father”, replied Lucifer.

“Have you accomplished the goal I set for you? Are those foul humans finally eradicated from my kingdom?”

“They are, father.”

“And did you follow the rules I set for you with this task?” asked Metatron.

“I did father.”

Each of these questions and answers was part of the ritual. They had enacted it exactly thus many times before.

“All the rules I set for this task?”

The Lord always repeated himself like that and it always caused Lucifer, child of the dawn, to fall silent and wonder. Had he unknowingly broken a rule? Certainly not. He’d been through his so many times with so many failures. This one was done right. This time he had succeeded.

“I did father”, he confirmed, completing his part of the ritual. Now began the test.


The Orphanim which made up the throne whirled. Lucifer could hear the Seraphim shouting out repeatedly, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. All the Earth is filled with his Glory.” The piercing light that Seraphiel emitted was blinding, causing Lucifer to look away. The four faced Cherubim gazed silently with wings covered in eyes. Lucifer waited.

Finally Metatron spoke again. “There was a human named Roland Zazu.”

It wasn’t a question, but Lucifer answered, “Yes.”

“You lied to him.”

“No father.” Here it came. His final test. But, Lucifer was certain that he had committed no errors. This time would be different.

“You told him that if he did as you asked, he would live in a land where I was thrown down and you ruled”, said Metatron.

“No father”, said Lucifer, “I told him of the mirror world in half truths. He inferred such consequences for his actions on his own.”

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. All the Earth is filled with his Glory”, sang the Seraphim while Lucifer awaited his judgment.

“Half truths are the same as lies. You have failed!”

“No!” But Lucifer knew there was nothing he could do. The pain of his father’s decision had already gripped him both emotionally and physically. He would be sent to yet another mirror universe to once again accomplish his task of eradicating the pesky humans according to the guidelines established for him. You can be sure this time there would be neither lying nor half truths. He couldn’t stand to have to do this again. Yet, only after he had served his fathers will properly would he be allowed to live peacefully in heaven once more. Lucifer had no idea why his father hated these mortals so, but...


The Cherubim where still there when he glanced up. They were different ones, but they looked exactly the same as those which guarded the throne. These watched over the tree of knowledge. Lucifer sighed. There was nothing to it except to attempt to do God’s will… Yet again… In yet another mirror world. There were so few humans at the beginning. If only he could eradicate them now instead of waiting for them to multiply. But, alas, he must follow the Lord’s Commands.

Well, the first step was easy at least. At the moment the only two humans alive were pure and as immortal as he was. It all began with their fall from grace. Lucifer slithered away from the apple tree toward Eve who was sound asleep beside her husband. He would make sure she had a doozy of a dream tonight.


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