I am.....really....alone.

The thought ran through the man's head over and over, and while it might of brought some fear, it only brought him peace. Alone. He always had been alone, but that's how he preferred it. Alone with thoughts. Not feelings, feelings were things you destroyed; petty emotion simply got in the way of the overall scheme of life. No, thoughts that ran deep into the soul were the kind that came to one who was alone.

Clyde. I used to be Clyde. No, Clyde is dead. I am dead, too...or soon will be.

The ninja shifted his position as he sat in the shuddering tower of rubble, waiting for the end to come. He bent his knees back a bit, rested his arms on them, and took in his fairly dreary surroundings. Pieces of schrapnel, hunks of buildings, melted glass and shattered wood all lay about him, all partially destroyed to be reformed into a hulking abomination. An abomination that was now being desrtoyed by the very power that formed it. Shadow smiled slighty at the irony of it. Destroyed by your maker. What a way to go.

He heard the whir of propellers above, and looked up to see a zeppelin cruise overhead, its shiny hull reflecting back the flames that had engulfed the tower, making the airship seem like it was covered in blood. They were on it. All of them. Good for them, it was not their time to die here. Shadow gave the vanishing ship a vague nod, as if to salute them, and to wish them a safe journey.

The tower gave a lurch, and the tremors that ran through it grew stronger. The ninja knew that if he was standing, he would of been knocked flat on his back. Good, they were getting worse, that meant it was coming sooner. Shadow closed his eyes, breathed in the smokey air, and let his body go completely limp as the floor sagged, and suddenly fell out beneath him. He waited for the final blackness.

Instead, there was a bright light. Then silence.