New York

4,543 years since initial death
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All eyes are on him.

Dressed in a brown leather jacket over a white buttoned shirt, Mark took a second to adjust his bright red tie. He looked back at everyone seated before him. So many people all watching him at once. Some tried to look away, but it was clear he was the center of attention.

They were bored. Every single person here wanted this to end immediately. Time was of the essence to them, but not to him. It never was.

Mark simply walked over to his desk, picking up a glass of whiskey and chugging a shot. Beside the glass was a red apple, one that he grabbed without another thought. He stared back at his college students, slowly taking a bite out of the apple. The class was so silent that they could hear him chewing. He was stalling. It's for the best.

Taking another bite out of the apple, he held it up for the whole class to see before he chucked it behind him. The apple bounced off the floor, rolling away. This caught some of their attention. Still, no one made a sound. They've never seen their professor like this before. Usually he was a respectful man with well manners and a mature attitude. But something was different today.

"Does anyone know why I took a bite out of that apple?" Mark spoke up, presenting his voice loud and clear for his students to hear him. No one raised a hand. Therefore, he answered his own question. "It's because it makes me look like even more of an asshole. Already am one, might as well just embrace it."

That helped wake a few students up. A few confused looks aroused within the hall. One person even chuckled.

Mark however never smiled. His neutral expression was permanently stuck. This was the final day of lectures for his students before Summer. They were all eager to leave, but they have to go through him first. He wasn't quite finished with them just yet.

"Every single one of you have attended my lectures, but was it out of free will or order? Have any of you memorized anything I've taught you, let alone cared for my teachings? I know some of you despise me, but please; show me some hands. I want to see how many of you truly care. I've heard the insults after class, so come on. No more bullshitting, just be honest."

When he said it, several hands were slowly raised. That seemed to aggravate him.

"What did I just say about honesty? There is no way in hell any of you care about my lectures!" He waved both his hands like a madman, suddenly beginning to point at different students. "I've seen you whisper to your girlfriend during my lessons. And you, just last week you were playing Skyrim on your laptop. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I have cameras everywhere! Even your fellow classmates behind you were too pussy to rat you out. The only elder we're learning of is Pliny the Elder, not the fucking Elder Scrolls!"

Many eyes had definitely widened after that. There were no other adults in the lecture hall with him, no faculty or professors. It was just him and his students. Therefore, no one would be able to stop him. "So don't sit there and raise your hands as if you listen or acknowledge anything I say. We're not here to lie to one another."

Keeping his temper from erupting, he was on the verge of falling apart. He just needed to keep himself together, but he was slowly losing himself.

"If you won't be honest, then I will. I only have one more lesson to offer, and you better pay close attention. I don't care what the hell you're learning, but what I'm about to tell you is the most important thing you'll ever hear in your lives. You don't need to take notes, but I advise you to listen."

Mark took a step towards the chalkboard. Using a white chalk, he drew a stick figure with an evil frown. "This angry, pathetic little specimen is classified as a bad guy. We'll call him Cesare for example. He can be Italian too, why not?" Writing the name Cesare, he drew a little arrow pointing to the stick figure.

"Cesare is a dummy. Just a narcissist that likes to give orders, kill people and steal out of envy. Now for those of you who weren't jerking off in class, you'd know who he is. However, since you horny teens don't give a flying fuck about my lectures, allow me to refresh your memories. This is Cesare Borgia, a ruthless and vile political leader during the Renaissance. Now, can anyone tell me how he died? Anyone at all, please; humor me."

To his surprise, one hand was raised. A girl was willing to answer, albeit she was slightly hesitant given her instructor's wild and sudden behavior. "He was ambushed by his rivals after a siege. Beaumont's knights struck him dead with a spear."

Mark glared back at her, almost as if he wanted to kill her. However, he began to clap his hands. "Well bravo to you! Look at that, someone with functional ears and a developed brain! I'd shake your hands, really I would. But you got one thing wrong. He wasn't stabbed with a spear."

Walking back to the board, he drew a second stick figure. This new figure was also angry, and it was holding a sword. "It was a sword that struck down Cesare. I'm sure you're wondering how I know this, given it wasn't explained at all. Well it's quite simple really."

His back was turned to his class. At that moment, he suddenly turned back around to face his students. It was so quick and sudden, scaring a few of them in the process. But what really terrified all of them was his scream.

"I killed him!"

No one was brave enough to laugh or raise a hand. They were forced to sit and listen as their professor went on a rampage.

"I'm the guy that penetrated him! Plunged my sword deep inside of him until he groaned. You should have seen him, he was whining like a girl. Oh boo hoo, he was destined to die and he refused to believe it until I delivered it. And you know what? I change my mind. All of you better start writing this down. Write down the name of the man who killed him, and it's not Mark. I want you to write down the name Marco Settini! Or Maalik Seti, whichever one you prefer. Al-Seti, or just Seti. Doesn't matter, they're all right answers."

Some of his students obeyed and wrote down both names. The rest however were still hesitant about all this. They watched as Mark walked back to his desk to serve himself another shot of whiskey. The moment he chugged it, he felt his adrenaline rush back to him.

"I'm immortal, bitches! I was there after the American Revolutionary War. Saw this place change its name from the King's College to Columbia University. Yeah, I know everything. Any of you got American ancestry that lived here in the late seventeen hundreds? Slept with a couple hot women, and let me tell you, I'm talking real hot and attractive. Such massive breasts too, they were so, so round and jiggly. And back then we had no protection, so who knows? Maybe I banged your great-great-great-great grandma."

He's definitely lost it. By now, some of his students broke down in laughter. But that was a mistake. Once he caught on to them, his anger returned.

"Hey! Cut that out, I swear to God! You think you're so clever? Well here's a newsflash; you're all going to die! That's right, you and you and you and you and you! Dead! Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, and maybe not in a few dozen years. But mark my words, you will all die before me! Which brings me to my final subject; time."

Taking a deep breath, he clapped his hands once loudly. "Three billion years from now, humanity will cease to exist. Around five billion years later, Earth will explode. Now think about it. Will anyone even remember you at that time? I'm serious here. You can write the greatest book in human history. Produce a beautiful film, or sing an inspirational song. Become a world leader or a dictator worse than Hitler and Genghis Khan combined. Will anyone remember you or your accomplishments three billion years from now?"

Everyone was silent, listening to his depressing speech. It was certainly the opposite of motivational.

"Everything you've ever done in your life will be forgotten. You won't matter in the end. All of history that I've taught you will be erased. My Pyramids of Giza that I fucking built with my own two ancient hands will crumble into dust. Stonehenge will erode away. The Parthenon in Attica, pardon me, Athens; it will fall apart. Your homes will disappear, this university will fade away. Everything humanity has made since Adam and Eve will be destroyed. You have literally nothing to live for. As a wise man once said, you have so much to die for!"

Taking a step forward, he approached one of his students. A young boy with blonde hair and nose piercings. Mark simply glared at him, striking the fear of God into him. That's when Mark pointed a finger at him.

"You serve no purpose. You are worthless. Your life equates to nothing. What have you done with your life? Don't answer that, I already know. Absolutely nothing! Fuck you! You've contributed nothing to society apart from taking up space, eating our food, breathing our oxygen and living in our proportional plane of existence! Become a doctor and cure cancer, but even then it won't be enough. Yeah, kinda makes you wish you were dead right about now, doesn't it?"

Unable to even think of a response, the student stared back baffled. This was the craziest lecture of all their lives. As for Mark, he had only just started. "Look at that ladies and gentlemen, he's forgotten how to speak. Come on, you know English, don't you? Why don't you say something, huh? You're a man, so act like it!"

"Please stop screaming, and please, I'm nonbinary." the student mumbled a quiet answer, afraid of the severe backlash he might receive. He was right to fear his professor because he wasn't even given the chance to finish his sentence.

"As if I really give a shit who you think you are?! I'm talking about death, the literal end of the universe and you're concerned that I shattered your precious ego? I said be a man, I know girls who have bigger balls than you! My daughter could probably lift you up above her shoulders effortlessly and pile-drive you into the floor! And that applies to my other daughter too. And I think my third one. I lost count."

Mark took a step back, extending his arms to his side in a fit of rage. "That includes all of you little shits! Some of you may become celebrities, living the glorious wealthy life while the whole world knows your name. Even after death you will be remembered. But when the sun expands and brings an end to life as we know it, will it matter then? Go ahead and construct the next tallest skyscraper; it will fall."

Suddenly, his tone took a direct shift. "So my advice is to live your lives before the end. My words may seem horrible and depressing, but you're missing the point. If nothing matters, it's not an invitation to give up. Rather, you make it matter! Even if everything you accomplish will mean nothing in the long run, the least you can do is enjoy whatever remains of your existence here! Pursue your careers, make your dreams come true and turn this world into your sandbox before the plug is pulled!"

He had to calm down, but that was harder than it seemed. Walking back to his desk, he reached for his glass. Instead of refilling it, he violently threw the glass at the floor. His students watched in fear as it shattered. That's when Mark lifted the bottle of whiskey and chugged a good portion of it before slamming it back on his desk.

"Fucking political correctness and modern agendas! Children and their special needs! Back in my day, all you had to worry about was crossing the street without contracting tuberculosis or dysentery! But it seems today everyone's causing a shit storm over any minor inconvenience that happens to them! Women used to be real and physical, not hide as insecure virtual anime waifus with impossibly large tits! Men were once kings of the world, but now they're too busy dancing in skirts for social media and getting their asses kicked while simping for internet girls; if that's even a real word anymore cause I don't fucking know anymore with you teenage cunts! We used to wrestle each other in the mud and pop out the eyeballs of our enemies! Now, if you just so happen to accidentally bump into someone on the street without their consent, it's sexual assault! Go ahead and 'cancel' me so I can curl up in a ball and cry for losing my internet privileges. A couple hundred years ago, canceling someone was done by stripping them naked, leaving them hanging upside down in the middle of a public street and having citizens mock them for weeks on end! That's what I'd rather do to humiliate someone today, because it was effective!"

Mark rushed towards the board and drew a large 'X' over Cesare's stick figure. "Cesare should be happy that he died during a time of art, culture and classic antiquity! Meanwhile this Marco guy thought he was doing himself a favor. Want to know something funny about this stupid bastard? He really thought Cesare and the last of the Borgia would be the last lives he'd ever take. That after wiping them out, he could live the rest of his immortal life without having to lift a weapon ever again. Idiot! You abandoned your family and for what? It was never about their safety, you were just too afraid to face them. Too afraid to take responsibility after turning your own daughter into a God damn assassin you degenerate, lowlife piece of shit!"

Out of rage, he threw the chalk at the board. However, it only bounced off the board and struck his head. It was enough to have him stumble back and fall to the floor. Some of his students stood up in shock, but the truth was they were too afraid to even help him.

When Mark stood back up, the whole class could see he was in tears. His wrath had lost control, allowing him to return to his senses just enough to stop screaming. He looked back at all his students, realizing what had happened to him. Turning his head away, he tried to wipe some of the tears away as he straightened his jacket.

"I was supposed to hand out long-term assignments today. To just read some books on history. But that's not happening. If you want to study history, there's the door. Go out and travel the world, you'll learn a lot more about history than you would reading a book."

As he spoke, he bent down to pick up the glass shards he had thrown on the floor. Dumping them all in the trash bin, he threw the half-eaten apple after them. All that was left was the bottle of whiskey. Before he grabbed it, he pulled a pair of black gloves from the desk drawer. Wearing the gloves, Mark grabbed the bottle and walked to the center of the lecture hall, pausing in silence as he stared back at his class.

"So in conclusion, have a wonderful Summer. Be kind to one another and live your lives as best as you possibly can. Death may be inevitable for us, but we can always give a middle finger to nature and fight back for our lives. Make your life count and always remember to have fun, otherwise why live at all?"

Given how nobody responded to anything he said, he broke the silence once again. "Also for those of you wondering, this is the last time we'll be seeing each other. I'm most likely going to be fired for bullshit claims like transphobia or whatever. But hey, they can't fire me if I quit. Anyways, I'm off on a permanent vacation with my bitch whore of a wife. That's if you can call her my wife. We've been married since 1919 and we've gotten divorced at least forty-two times before getting back together because we've got nobody else to turn to. God I hate my life sometimes. I'm all for equality but I'd just punch the hell out of her if I legally could. How many years do you reckon I'll get behind bars for everything I've said today? That's what I love about history, I'd have gotten away with it back then. Not anymore I guess; oh well."

Lifting the bottle high in the air, he made his farewell. "Cheers." He took one more sip before walking off. His class remained seated, watching him walk towards the door. However, he never left. Rather, he stopped at the door and looked back at his students.

"Well?" He sighed to himself, taking a few steps towards a particular red lever located close to the door. "Come on, move it! Last day of school, you should be trampling over one another to get out of here! But if you need a firm reminder..."

Mark smiled for the first time, but it wasn't a wholesome smile. Instead, it was devilish. He smirked dangerously, clearly about to do something incredibly reckless. His hand went towards the red lever, hesitating for a second before pulling it.

"School's out cunts!" The fire alarm was pulled.

Just as everyone jumped at the alarm, Mark was already gone. He walked out the door and down the hall with his bottle of whiskey. Several people poked their heads out the doors to see what was happening as a few others began running. So many of them had their hands to their ears, but Mark never cared. He casually strolled down the halls smiling to himself.

Stepping outdoors, he made his way down the staircase of Columbia University. Dozens of students were outside, watching him walk off with the bottle as he ignored them. His eyes were focused on the city ahead as the sun's rays shone directly through the skyline and guided his path towards freedom.

Taking the final sip of whiskey, he stood at the university's northern entrance with the empty bottle. Several people had gathered nearby, waiting for the firetrucks to arrive. Mark dropped his bottle to the ground and crossed the street. His car was parked on the other side.

Getting into his car, he finally had a chance to relax and take a deep breath. He backed up and drove down the road, away from the university. The firetrucks were approaching in the distance.

Perhaps his students would rat him out. Or anyone could view the security cameras. It was clear Mark was responsible for this and he could be arrested. But he didn't have to worry about that. It was time to travel the world again. By tomorrow, he'll be gone from the state altogether with Valerie.

After all, an Immortal can't stay in a single place for too long. This was his chance to transition again and to continue his adventures.

He'll take it in a heartbeat.

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