35(S3E9)- Z v S

35

(Season 3, Episode 9)

Z v S

There is a thin line between friends and enemies.  It only takes a small twist of someone's emotions, a slight shift in outlook and something beautiful can turn ugly.  While, as a friendship ages and changes over years and decades, this becomes more and more true because the friends have more and more information about each other, their situations and their mistakes.  No one can really hurt you like a friend can.

Scott and Zachariah were two friends standing on the brink of the abyss known as hatred.  They stood in a clearing of grey dust and dark, dead trees that seemed to mimic the evil of it all, though long dead.

"You are your stupid dreams."  Zachariah began to snare as he circled.  "Constantly trying to convince me we are more than just a couple of assholes...  It's pathetic."

Scott's face was hard and ferocious.  "It's better than just quitting, giving up and then whining about it later."

"Self-righteous bastard!"  Zachariah yelled and charged.

"Self-centered dirt bag!"  Scott yelled back and moved.

They collided a second later, both of them launching punches which passed each other’s hands by mere centimeters, before connecting with each other’s faces, seemingly at the same time.  They both staggered, but the seasoned father and martial artist was more adept at taking blows and shook off the punch first, pressing his advantage.  He moved in and grabbed the back of Zachariah's head, bringing it downward into his raising knee.

Zachariah took the blow and grunted.  Scott tried to maintain the grapple and bring his other knee up but Zachariah hook-punched the inside of Scott's left thigh with a knuckle extended.  Scott's leg cramped and he yowled slightly.  Zachariah brought the back of his head straight up into the underside of Scott's chin.

Scott's teeth rattled and he saw stars as he stumbled.  He was still trying to figure out how Zachariah had hit him when Zachariah rushed forward, leaping into the air with a skill he had never shown before.   He planted a double dropkick to Scott's chest, sending him backward through the air, again into the dust.

Scott was still coughing out dust when he saw Zachariah had kicked-up to his feet.  Scott shook his head, Zachariah had never been a fighter.  The guy could hold his own, but technique like this was beyond his skill.  Yet, here he was, pulling out high level moves.

Zachariah's face turned to a wicked grin as he saw the confusion in Scott's face.  "What?  Did you think you were just going to steam roll me with all that training?  Big surprise, you think you are better than everybody."

Scott brought himself to his feet, the pain and Zachariah's aggression had broken down his filters.  "You know what?  Maybe I think I'm better because I am.  You have been a dishwasher for ten years and you spent five of those in a relationship with someone else's girl."

Zachariah's smile faded and the anger returned.  Scott grinned, this time without joy.  "Sorry, buddy.  Facts are facts."

Zachariah screamed and charged, this time, Scott was ready.  Zachariah threw a hard and fast high-hooking punch at Scott's head.  Scott ducked it and landed three quick, hooking punches to Zachariah's exposed right side ribs.  Zachariah made a groan as the air was forced out of his lungs.  The blows forced Zachariah off balance and he stepped, cock-eyed to the left, exposing his back.

Scott could have finished it right there with a hard kick to the base of Zachariah's spine but that would have ended more than the fight.  Though filled with anger, Scott was not willing to resort to such a final solution.  Instead, he stepped in and roundhouse-kicked Zachariah to the left temple.

The blow sent him to the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.  "You caught me by surprise Zach, true.  But I have not even begun to kick your ass."

Zachariah roared and scrambled to his feet.  Scott only had a second to notice that, between the knee and the kick, no real damage had been done to his face.  Scott had not pulled his moves. Logic seemed to cut through the testosterone and rage.  Something wasn't right here.

"Dude, what the hell is going on?"  He asked, trying to calm the situation.

"This!" Zachariah was not hearing it and brought his right-hook into the side of Scott's head.  The blow caught him hard and Scott's knees buckled.  He had no time to get his hands up when the left struck him in the same manner.  He felt a tooth come loose and saw it go skipping into the dirt as he crashed to the earth.

"You are a quitter."  Zachariah said as he stepped toward Scott, who desperately tried to get his bearings.  "You checked out of life and got yourself a wife and a kid and a nine to five job so that you no longer had to think."

Zachariah grabbed Scott's throat and lifted him, with one hand, into the air with a strength that he had never had before.  "You killed yourself too... You just took the scenic route."

Scott gurgled for air as his oldest and best friend squeezed the life out of him.  He felt his wind pipe constricting and, for a second, he could swear he could taste the color blue.  He closed his eyes and felt his will to live begin to fade.

Scott found himself in front of a white, formless light floating there.  Slowly, a figure materialized out of the void.  It was his son, three years old with curly blonde hair and blue eyes.

The kid looked down at Scott and then frowned.  "Really?  You can't even picture him at twenty?  I have to come to you as a fucking three-year-old?"

Scott muttered the name of his son, confused.  The child shook his head.  "No, not really.  I'm actually a physical representation of the process of life.  I just appear as your son because, in a weird way, you worship him."

"What is going on?"  Scott asked the being.

"Well, you are about to have your throat crushed by your best friend."  The child explained.  "Also, side-note; really?  That guy?  Of all the people you could have made your best friend, you picked him?"

The words were strange coming out of his son, so articulately, since his boy had barley began to understand how to poop on a toilet.  "He can be... difficult sometimes."

The kid raised his eyebrows.  "Difficult?  He is currently choking you to death."

Scott shrugged.  He had no argument there. "So, is that it?  Am I dead?"

The entity shook his small head, an act meant to be serious, but failed thanks to the golden curls.  "No, you have a choice.  You can die here or fight for your family.  But, if you do fight, you will lose your friend.  Not that I see much of a downside there."

Scott frowned.  "No... There has to be a way to do both."

The entity narrowed his eyes at Scott.  "Do you understand how a choice works?  It’s one or the other."

Scott shook his head.  "I refuse to believe that.  I refuse to quit on him."

The child shook his head.  "When are you going to grow up and realize that you can't have your cake and eat it, too."

"Never," Scott said.  "I'm going to keep my family and I'm going to save Zachariah, or I will have neither.  I like cake too much."

The entity looked skeptical.  "You can't fight fate."

Scott grinned.  "Watch me."

By sheer will, Scott brought himself back into the world.  Pain was everywhere.  His head felt like it was going to pop and his lungs ached for oxygen.  He brought up his hands, putting them together in one giant fist and brought them down on the crux of Zachariah's elbow.  The move forced the arm to fold and released Scott from the death grip.

Scott threw off a leg, kicking Zachariah in center mass, just to get some distance.  He rubbed his throat and spoke with a groggy voice.  "Where are you, Zach?"

Zachariah was advancing but stopped, confused by the phrase.  "What?"

Scott stood.  "Where is my best friend?  The guy who hates authority?"

Zachariah scowled and charged forward with another fast-sweeping punch.  Scott, however, was only focusing on dodging now and slid out of the way.  "The Zachariah who dropped out of high school because he didn't like people telling him what to do?"

Zachariah took another swing but Scott slid past it again.  "The guy who walked away from his parents because they thought they knew better about his life than he did?"

"Shut up!" Zachariah said and  threw another barrage at Scott, but Scott was convinced the blows were coming slower.

"The guy who knew that figuring it out on his own, better or worse was the way he had to go."  Scott continued.  "I want to know where he is, because that guy would never let whatever is in you, making you do this, control him.  That guy does not let this world tell him what to do.  He does not let this world tell him he is better off dead.  Zachariah makes his own decisions!"

Zachariah missed again but his punches had slowed, as if the need to attack was subsiding inside of him.

Scott pushed the advantage, stepping in and open-palm slapping Zachariah across his face, before grabbing his shirt and pulling him close.  "That Zachariah tries to find a way to prove everyone wrong and live."

Scott could see Zach in his eyes, replacing the hate.  The moment was broken by a scream and an explosion.  Zachariah and Scott were thrown in opposite directions.  Zachariah landed, unconscious. Scott pulled himself to his elbows and saw the pale woman with tears of blood.  She turned to him and stepped forward, power coursing through her.

She bent over, as if sizing up Scott, and smiled.  "You are going to be interesting."

The Horseman of War stood and then walked calmly into the forest.  Scott pulled himself together and scrambled to Zachariah.  He grabbed him, pulling him up slightly, trying to wake him.  "Zach?!  Are you okay?!"

Zachariah groaned.  "No... You slapped me."

The friendship has survived this fight but can they now find a way to save Zachariah and what seems to be the whole of time and space?!

Find out on the next episode!

Stranger Things; Zachariah's death