Wildcard

            Cameras flashed. Reporters buzzed with questions for the most popular man in Duropolis, if you could even call him a man. His bulging muscles, red and black uniform, and confident look gave him the appearance of a god.

            "Ace, Ace," the reporters shouted, all trying to get a chance to talk to Duropolis's hero. He was the person who took the media and the world by storm.

            "Calm down, calm down." Ace's voice filled the room. "I'll talk to all of you individually. No need to swarm me. You, there, woman in pink."

            A reporter stepped forward. "Ace, how does it feel to be the hero of Duropolis, and perhaps the entire world?"

            "Well," Ace said, "I think that the world needed helping, but I shouldn't be called a hero just because I saved it. I was the one who got the world in trouble in the first place with my… other powers. Too many people got hurt for me to be called a hero." After Ace answered, he looked very rattled, and indeed he was, for talking about his other side threatening the safety of the world made him feel nauseous and weak. "I'm not feeling well. One last question."

            Another woman stepped forward. "How do you cope with your… disorder?"

            Well, madam, I focus on the good things in the world, and just imagine-" Ace stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly, a terrified look appeared on his face. "Runnn awaaayyy…" he stammered.

            Ace's body floated about 5 feet off the ground. He looked like he was struggling to keep something from getting out. His eyes turned coal black, then blue, then back to black. A cocoon of dark purple light enveloped him. The cocoon exploded in a flash. A man in a purple suit walked out. His lean figure and malicious eyes made him look like a man capable of terrible things. He wore a top hat, a black cape, and long sleeves. He held a cane in one of his gloved hands. His posture and smooth brown face showed that the cane wasn't used to help him walk.

            "Hello again, Duropolis. Nice to see you." his voice seemed to take the air out of everyone in the room. "Now that my other personality is gone, you can spend some time with me."

            "Everyone run!" a reporter shouted. "It's Diamondslice!" The look of fear on the reporters' faces was striking.

            "How cute. You think you can escape." Suddenly, Diamondslice slammed the butt of his cane into the ground. "Barrier!" Giant diamond walls and a ceiling came up from the ground and surrounded the entire area the interview was taking place in. "Don't worry, the diamond will protect you so you can live with the pain you will feel watching your friends and family die. Now, if you excuse me, I have a city to destroy." With that, Diamondslice made a diamond staircase with his cane and broke each stair just as he was stepping on to the next.

            Diamondslice wasn't planning on sitting idle. He didn't want Ace to resurface and stop his plans. So he had to think of something even Ace couldn’t stop. "Ace has super strength and the power of flight," Diamondslice said to himself. "What is hard enough to not be broken if Ace punches it and heavy enough to not have him carry it away?" Diamondslice paced back and forth trying to think of something he could do. After a few hours of thinking, Diamondslice came up with a brilliant plan. "The hardest rock on Earth is diamond. I could make a giant diamond in the air and drop it on Duropolis. Ace can't possibly break that. If I make it big enough, he can't carry it either. Yes! I can finally destroy Duropolis!"

            Diamondslice made a staircase to the upper atmosphere above Duropolis. Then, he pointed his cane in front of him. His cane fired out a solid diamond. Then, his cane shot out a bright white beam that made contact with the diamond. Steadily, the diamond grew in size until it shaded the entire city. Diamondslice stopped growing the diamond and let it fall.

            After all the energy spent creating the massive diamond, Diamondslice was very tired. So tired, in fact, that he couldn't contain Ace inside his head any longer. Diamondslice's body floated in the air. His black eyes changed to blue. A large dark purple cocoon of light enveloped him. The orb of purple changed to bright white. It then burst, revealing the muscular form of Ace.

            Ace remembered everything that Diamondslice had said and did, because they were technically the same person. But, even that didn't help him. After all, Diamondslice had planned for Ace to take over. Desperate, Ace tried punching the diamond with all of his strength. The diamond didn't break. Ace's hand hurt very badly, but he didn't think about the pain. He almost couldn't even feel it. Because punching the diamond didn't work, and he was even more desperate, he flew underneath the diamond and tried to fly it upwards. Again, the diamond kept falling.

             Suddenly, Ace remembered something that might just save Duropolis. "Don't worry, the diamond will protect you." Diamondslice had said to the poor reporters that he had trapped in a dome of diamond. He needed to use Diamondslice's powers somehow. But, Ace had never been able to control and summon diamond before. Sadly, Ace realized that there was no other option. He needed to channel his evil side. Ace stopped in midair, and was enveloped in a cocoon of light. The cocoon turned purple, then back to white, then split into half valiant white and half dubious purple. A new hero was created that day, and his name was Wildcard.

            Wildcard had a muscular body and a sense of righteous justice, just like Ace, but had the intelligence and creativity of Diamondslice. He wore a red uniform and a purple top hat. He even had a cane just like  Diamondslice's. Perhaps most striking was that Wildcard's eyes were different colors. One eye was deep blue, and the other was coal black. But Wildcard didn't have time to revel in his new transformation. He needed to stop the giant diamond that was going to hit the city.

            Wildcard flew down to Duropolis and landed in the park. With a determined look on his face, he said, "Barrier!" and slammed his cane into the ground. Much to his dismay, nothing happened. Wildcard remembered how many people Diamondslice had hurt last time he took over Ace. Wildcard couldn't let so many people get hurt again.

            The giant diamond was getting very close to Duropolis. Focusing all of his energy into his cane and remembering everyone he lost before, Wildcard, with all of his heart and soul, screamed "BARRIER!" and slammed both of his hands into the pavement below him. The entire ground started to turn white. The dome he was forming around the city started to grow. Wildcard screamed with determination as he fought to keep  the power from overwhelming him and stopping the dome from growing any farther. The giant diamond was getting closer and closer. He focused again, trying to make the barrier. His energy was so powerful, it destroyed the cane. Wildcard needed to use his hands to make the dome. He slammed his hands into the ground. He gave one final scream and one last surge of energy, bigger than all the others. Overwhelmed, his body disintegrated from all the power that was being releasing through his hands. With his last surge of energy, the dome was complete. With a loud noise, the giant diamond shattered as it hit Wildcard's dome that covered the entire city. Duropolis was saved, but not without a price.

            In memory of Ace and Wildcard, the town constructed a statue of him in the very same place Diamondslice trapped those poor reporters. The statue was made of pure diamond, the same diamond that Wildcard used in his dome. The inscription read: Wildcard gave his life to protect the town from himself. In doing so, he not only cut his life short, but also his greatest villain's.