SLAP.

  A younger Beatle falls to the ground, crying in anguish.

  His father covered his mouth, and the back of his hand had blood all over it. He cries, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

  Beatle wakes up to see his father crying, sobbing on the phone, and self-loathing, stating he might have injured the young boy…

  Today… Beatle opens the door, then flops on the grounds of the throneroom. “Hey… Let’s watch Soul later, Billy…” he gasped.

  Billy runs to him. “DAD!!!“ She begins to cry, hugging her dying father. “What happened?”

  “I’m fine… Blood ain’t mine, love…” he wheezed.

  “What did they make you do?” she asked, eyes quivering in horror.

  “Everything…” he coughed in disgusting, bleeding anguish. “I tried speaking with them. I really did, love. I did. But then they wanted to kill me. Really did. I wanted to redeem them, but I’m damned sure they’re in Hell now.” Beatle fell into her arms, with his body visibly smaller than her now. “I never understood that lesson. The Parable of the Fish. I never..,” he gasped.

  “Dad… You KNOW what it means,” she said, brushing his hair.

  “I know it’s about life…”

  “But you never found how it applied to you…” Billy smiled, tearily hugging her father’s head.

  “Yeah… I’m a fish that is older than the old fish…” wheezed Beatle. “I wanted the ocean. I still don’t understand why the water ain’t the ocean.”

  “You wanted life, Dad. It’s as simple as that.”

  “I still don’t get the difference,” he wheezed. “We place all our excrement in the ocean, right? Is pee part of that? What is that if the ocean is supposed to be life and so is water, huh? Piss is supposed to be gratitude?”

  “Dad…” sighed Billy, scolding Beatle. “Gramps?” asked Billy. “This is why you were being weird, huh?”

  “Your father will be okay, love,” said the voice. “I just didn’t want to tell you because I wanted you not to worry… Your father will be fine.”

  “Dad… I’m so, so sorry this happened to you.”

  “I’m a terrible piece of shit… I’m terrible for killing them. All of them.”

  “Dad. You were only tryna save your skin.“

  “My skin doesn’t matter… What matters is everyone I know and love is safe!” he boomed.

  “Dad… Please give a damn about yourself…” She shook her head and bounced her foot. “C’mon… Let’s-...”

  Suddenly, Billy senses screaming outside, and suddenly, Death Leopard crashes into the building, landing before them.

  “Hey, guys! Did ya miss me?” smiled Death Leopard.

  Billy backs away and stumbles softly. “Ah!” she gasped.

  “Aw, what’s wrong, Beatle?” Death Leopard arrogantly leaves his own suit. “Remember when Anna used to say how I’d totally beat you in a fight? Let’s prove that postulate further, shall we?” he smirked with that overconfident look in his eyes.

  Beatle halts Billy, telling her to back off.

  “Dad, I can do this. My accuracy has enhanced since the Splooge thing happened!” she yelled. “I practiced darts since I was 13!”

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  Beatle just shook his head.

  Billy sighs. “Dad. Lemme fight for you.”

  Beatle kept shaking his head.

  Billy sighs and backs off.

  Beatle wheezed, standing right back up. “Your sick and twisted plans won’t work, Death Leopard. There is a time to rise, and there is a time to fall.”

  “Then FALL!!!” Death Leopard tackles and beats Beatle over and over.

  Death Leopard dodges and weaves away from Beatle’s slower punches, even masterfully using Muay Thai punches and kicks to beat Beatle down.

  “Dad! Stop holding back!” yelled Billy.

  “Ha! She thinks you’re holding back! Fuckin’ bitch!” Death Leopard kicks him to the ground, somersaults, and hammers his heel into the back of Beatle’s head. “This is your true self, Beatle! A Human who got ahead of himself!”

  Beatle crawls away in pain.

  Death Leopard laughs. “Dude! You’re so pathetic! Watcha gonna-?”

  Beatle tosses the tile shard from earlier, striking Death Leopard’s leg as he screams in pain and spin-kicks Beatle to the ground.

  Death Leopard punches Beatle over and over, but Beatle flips him around and hammers his fists at Death Leopard.

  “Muay Thai vs FMA, BITCH! HAHAHAHA!!!” laughed Death Leopard. “FMA ain’t REAL!!!” Death Leopard flips him over and hammers his fists at his face, but Beatle weaves sideways and throws a very heavy punch into Death Leopard’s face, knocking his teeth out.

  Beatle stands up. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”

  “You’ve hurt us YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!!!” Death Leopard jumps and dropkicks him outside of the palace walls, toward the revene next to the palace walls.

  Beatle hangs off the cliff, wheezing in anguish.

  Death Leopard smiles, grabbing a knife.

  Beatle tries to stan,d but Death Leopard kicks him and flips him to the ground, pinning him down as he prepares to stab Beatle.

  “Long live the saint king…” smiled Death Leopard.

  Suddenly, the tile shard is shot back in the back of Death Leopard, as Billy roars and slams it harder into his back.

  Beatle roars. “BILLY!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

  Death Leopard swung right…

  and she fell off the cliff…

  Beatle tries to grab her and fly but he can’t… and she fell into the fog below…

  Death Leopard’s eyes widen. “That was an accident. I don’t kill children.”

  Beatle’s nose twitches.

  Beatle stands back up, pacing around Death Leopard and snarling at him.

  Death Leopard is significantly taller than Beatle, 6 feet tall, while Beatle stood 5’7.

  Death Leopard backs away. “Hey. Easy.”

  Death Leopard throws several Muay Thai punches at Beatle, who masterfully blocks all his strikes.

  The voice speaks. “Beatle! STOP!!!”

  Beatle weaves away from Death Leopard’s strikes and beats him over and over again.

  “BEATLE!!! NO!!!” yelled the voice.

  Beatle just won’t listen, grabbing Death Leopard by the neck and beating his face over and over and dropping him after the last punch.

  “800 years I trained just to be your equal…” coughed Beatle. “Meanwhile, you trained all your skills in high school…” Beatle grabs him by the collar and beats him to the ground, bones cracking and crunching as Beatle fractured his arm again.

  “Beatle. Stop… She’s okay,” said the voice.

  Beatle stops. “I don’t care. He nearly got my baby killed.”

  The voice sighs. “Then do it…”

  Beatle smacks Death Leopard over and over, blood splattering all out from his face.

  Flashes of his childhood immediately appear.

  Beatle stops, one more strike, and Death Leopard will die from Beatle’s strongest punch. Death Leopard, with his face mangled and bruised, just stared back at Beatle in fear.

  Beatle gulps, dropping his hand and punching the ground next to his face.

  Death Leopard coughs up some blood and cries. “Why?”

  Beatle’s nose quivers. “Because I fight… for autonomy, dignity, and equity of all living things…” he broke down. “I don’t believe you, Dad. She’s dead, isn’t she?”

  The Voice sighed, and went silent.

  Beatle roars in anger, letting Death Leopard go and trying to jump off, only to be stopped by Death Leopard’s hand. Death Leopard shuddered in pain.

  “Don’t… Am… Sorry…” he wheezed.

  Beatle drops his hand and sits down next to the heavily injured Death Leopard. “Fuckin’ piss…” said Beatle, before breakin’ down into tears. “Tears fall in the… in the ocean, too…” he smiled, crying.

  In the distant cliffs below, Billy is revealed to be covered in snow, before being pulled up by a strange woman in all black with gigantic moving white eyes. The woman had giant retractable wings on her back.

  She sighs, speaking to the child. “Have you seen Beatle Saint King?”

  Billy slowly heals upon hearing her voice, gasping alive. “Who are you?”

  “They call me Black Sabbath. I’m a friend of your father’s,” said Black Sabbath.