The air was thick with the hum of static as every screen on Earth—phones, televisions, laptops, billboards—flickered to black. A skull materialized, its hollow eyes glowing crimson against the void, a sinister grin stretching across its digital jaw. Its voice slithered through the speakers, low and guttural, dripping with menace. "My dear humans, living citizens of this wretched globe… you've basked in a façade of peace, of joy. But beneath it all festers a darkness you've ignored. Tonight, I rip the veil away."
A video erupted onto the screens: a twelve-year-old girl, her frail body trembling, pinned beneath the hulking frame of a grown man. His grunts echoed, animalistic and unrepentant, as her silent screams clawed at the hearts of billions watching. The world froze—parents clutched their children, lovers gripped each other's hands, strangers stood paralyzed in the streets. Then came the second video: a shadowed room, a round table of suits, their voices cold and calculated. "Our dark web child porn is thriving," one sneered, adjusting his tie. "More views than Pornhub, sir. The profits are astronomical." Government officials—exposed, unmasked, their faces now seared into the collective consciousness.
The skull's voice returned, a venomous whisper. "I've shown you the truth. There's more to unveil. Imagine this was your child. Will you let it stand?" The words ignited a spark, and that spark became a wildfire.
David, the chained David, sat shackled to a throne of cold iron, his wrists bleeding where the metal bit into his flesh. Tears streamed down his face, hot and relentless, as he watched the chaos unfold on a cracked screen before him. His heart thundered with sorrow, a helpless rage boiling in his chest. He couldn't stop it—couldn't stop the evil he'd tried to bury. "No… no…" he whimpered, his voice breaking, raw with despair. "I didn't want this…"
Outside, the world erupted. Tires screeched as cars swerved toward government buildings, their drivers' eyes blazing with fury. Crowds surged, fists raised, voices howling for blood. "They did this to our children!" a mother shrieked, hurling a brick through a window. Glass shattered, and the mob descended, dragging officials from their offices, beating them with bare hands, pipes, anything they could grasp. Blood painted the streets crimson, pooling beneath the bodies of the corrupt.
Armies mobilized, boots pounding pavement, rifles cocked. "Protect the city!" a general barked, but the order faltered as gunfire rang out—not just at the rioters, but from within the ranks. Soldiers turned on their own, faces twisted with disgust. "How could they let this happen?" one muttered, tossing a grenade at a government convoy. The explosion roared, a fireball swallowing cars and men alike.
High above, the original David soared through the sky, his black wings slicing the smoke-choked air. His lips curled into a sickened smile as he surveyed the carnage below. "What a beautiful sight," he murmured, his voice a velvet blade. "Children pierced by bullets, cars crashing into buildings, the righteous tearing each other apart for justice. I didn't expect a single video to end the world… but here we are." His laughter was a jagged thing, echoing over the screams.
The war escalated. Bombs rained from the heavens, missiles streaking like vengeful comets. A father, his eyes hollow after seeing his own daughter in that vile footage, stormed a military base. "For her!" he roared, slamming his fist on the launch button. A nuclear warhead screamed into the sky, and others followed—country after country retaliating in a chain of apocalyptic wrath. The earth trembled as mushroom clouds bloomed, turning cities to ash, flesh to vapor. Babies wailed their last breaths, animals burned alive, and the world dissolved into a gray wasteland.
Chained David's sobs grew louder, his body shaking as the screen flickered with images of the end: a child's hand reaching from rubble, a hospital collapsing on its patients, a mother clutching her infant as flames consumed them. "Stop it… please…" he begged, but no one heard. His tears fell like rain, pooling at his feet, his soul fracturing under the weight of guilt and horror.
Then, a shadow loomed. The original David materialized before him, his eyes glinting with malice. "My mission is accomplished," he said, his voice smooth as poison. "I told you I wouldn't kill anyone myself—I'd let the world destroy itself. And it did. Because of you, you pathetic fool. If you hadn't tried to stop me, none of this would've happened."
Chained David's head snapped up, his voice a ragged scream. "You monster! You twisted everything! I wanted to save them!"
"Save them?" Original David laughed, a sound that clawed at the soul. "You're the spark that lit the fuse. Now you're alone, immortal, cursed to watch this nightmare forever. Look at them—limbs torn apart, bodies reduced to ash, their screams echoing in your skull. Be happy I let you live." He leaned closer, his breath cold against David's ear. "I'll see you again, very soon."
With a snap of his fingers, Original David opened a portal and vanished. Chained David collapsed, his chains rattling, his mind drowning in the cacophony of death—gunshots, explosions, the wails of the dying. The screen looped the horrors endlessly: a soldier's head split by a bullet, a child's body crushed under a tank, a lover's embrace shattered by shrapnel. Eternity stretched before him, a prison of torment.
Hours later—or was it minutes?—Original David stepped into his room, the portal closing behind him. The clock ticked: only an hour had passed here, though he'd spent two days orchestrating the apocalypse. He sank onto his bed, the moonlight bathing him in silver. "One nonsense down," he muttered, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "So many Davids left to kill. I'll slaughter every last one until I'm the only David standing across all timelines. Then, I'll protect what matters to me."
He stretched, his muscles rippling beneath his skin, and let out a sigh of dark satisfaction. "What a busy, happy day ahead." The night deepened, the moon a silent witness as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
But the story wasn't over. Far below, in the ashes of the ruined world, something stirred. A figure crawled from the debris, its body scorched, its eyes burning with vengeance. "David…" it rasped, the word a curse. The air grew heavy, thick with the promise of retribution. The terror wasn't finished—it was only beginning.