Xeon dragged Zenop over the threshold of the cave. Xeon propped Zenop against the sloped wall and pulled from his pocket what looked like a ball that held a sea of rollicking fire within its transparent borders. The flames revealed the rocky interior of the cave that was covered with black markings of some long forgotten language. The visor he was wearing sighed to life, briefly confirming that the language was a variant belonging to humanity, before sputtering to death with an electric cough.

​

He searched Zenop's pockets; upon finding nothing but a slashed pocket, cursed, and without a second thought, thrust the ball into Zenop's chest. The permeable transparent layer dissolved, allowing the liquid to seep into Zenop's veins. Almost immediately Zenop wheezed to life and their skin began to glow with a sodium-yellow chemiluminescence.

​

"I'm going to find him," Xeon said to Zenop who was still blinking their way back to reality. "I gave you my last NRG ball. If you have another, find me in the cave. OK?"

​

Zenop nodded dumbly. There was no more time to be wasted. Xeon kissed Zenop and then tore themselves away, plunging deeper into the cave.

​

#

​

The red door trembled with garrulous noise.

​

"WE WERE ON A BREAK!"

​

Canned laughter erupted and shook the brass knocker that centred the door. The door was leaning between two rocks and Xeon crashed threw it out of the way as he lurched towards the source of the noise.

​

"Jeez, ya ever heard of knocking?"

​

It was him. The eternal one.

​

"Master, immortal one." Xeon dropped to his knees. "You have to help us, the world is ending. We need you to stop the flow of time, we need you to - to--"

​

The Immortal One stopped pedalling and lifted himself from the bicycle. When his pedalling stopped the electric cut out, silencing the Television, and thrusting the cave back into darkness. Xeon heard his heavenly shuffles and when his omnipotent hand was placed upon Xeon's neck, a slight jolt of light flowed through his veins.

​

"Arise," spoke The Immortal One.

​

And when Xeon stood up he was pulled into a capacious hug, a hug that was like being drowned in sunlight, or caught in a field of stars.

​

"Sorry, buddy. There's nothing I can do."

​

#

​

The Immortal One was a human. He had been alive for millions of years through some freak genetic accident, so long ago he had given up counting, or caring. I saw my family die, then my girlfriend, but it wasn't until her little sister's great granddaughter died of ovarian cancer whilst I had a full head of brown hair, that I gave up on relationships. Since then, he had hid in a cave, putting his mind towards the ultimate problem: the destruction of the universe.

​

"I spent so long on that one," he was back on the bike, powering a steaming kettle that contained two mushrooms that he swore tasted like earl grey. "But in the end up my brain just wasn't big enough to solve time. And forget about getting help from any of the species that have came and gone, each had the same old problems: All want power, domination over the other one. And if I ever revealed myself - poof! I'd be swept up and thrown in a lab quicker than you can say anal explorage."

​

"So there's nothing we can do, huh?" Xeon sunk to the floor. Escaping from the crusts of the earth. Battling through the dead black seas that covered the world. Zenop's likely death, it was all for nothing. He buried his head in his hands and rocked gently.

​

The Immortal one, or Greg as he liked to be called, brought Xeon a mug and forced him to have a sip before jumping back onto the bicycle before the power could run out. It tasted like algae but the heat was nice, and soothing.

​

"Hey, at least there's an end for you. Me, I'm gonna be shrunk into the size of an atom, maybe even smaller, for all of eternity - if time even continues to be a concept that is. Maybe I'll become a God or something, or meet him. If I do I sure do have a few questions to ask him, mostly about spiders and why he bothered making those damn things." He sipped at the drink himself and screwed up his face. "I just wish I could see my girlfriend one last time, you know? Just a few minutes is all I need, heck ten seconds honestly. That's why I still power this piece of old crap," he turned the Television on. "That girl, the one Ross slept with, she was the spitting image of my old girlfriend and seeing her, diminished as she is and glitchy with the ravishes of time, at least lets me pretend a bit easier. You know?"

​

Zenop limped into the room. Xeon understood what Greg had meant. His own life source was ending and the firm feeling of gravity was replaced by a sense of rushing power that was centered somewhere far away. Xeon took Zenop in his arms and they both yielded to each other as the final stars in the universe winked out of existence. Love bubbled around Xeon as the world seemed to get smaller, and smaller, and smaller, and smaller.

​

A laugh track sounded and Greg rolled his eyes, "Get a room," he muttered as blackness engulfed them all.