Prologue: The Act of Giving Up (REVISED)

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Heavy breathing, the sound of my heart pounding louder and louder, filling my ears with its gut-wrenching sound. As I tried to think of ways to get out of this, my mind just fires blanks. The walls of the alleyway seem to suffocate me. This hot pain I feel, so intense. It’s unbearable as these people torment and beat me while I’m on the ground. This one is going on a lot longer than previous beatings and it's been so long since the last break in their kicks. I don't know how long they have been beating me. It doesn't really matter. My left eye is swollen, I can feel so much pain in my ribs, and I’m coughing up my own blood. I feel like I've been ran over by a freight train. I'm screaming bloody-murder, but no one came.

I was crying.

When will it stop?

I was screaming.

When can I go home?

I was begging for mercy.

How did I get here?

It had been years since my mother and I had moved to this city. My mother said that we had moved here for business, so she could keep her research going. It started off fine, normal even. I went to school, and my mother worked a well paying job as a neuroscientist. However, things started to go downhill when the bullying started. I was an outsider, with barely any knowledge of the city, or the people therein. It was always petty things, like lunch money, or spitballs. You know, the usual stereotypical bullying that you see in cheesy early 2000s movies. I would always report it to teachers and staff, but nothing would be done. I learned to get used to it.

As we stayed here, and as we started to call this place home, the bullying started getting more and more intense, to the point of my mother sending me to self-defense courses. They helped a ton, but I was still too weak to deal with groups of bullies. One-on-one? Yeah, I could probably stop an assailant, but even then, I was more likely to get my ass beat and laid out on the ground with my spare change spilt over the pavement. It didn't help that there was major gang activity in the city, and that most of the bullies I had to deal with were the ones to join these gangs or were already part of one gang or the other.

It especially didn't help that one of the gangs acted like the mob.

This 'mob', 'owned' nearly half of the city. If you wanted to get somewhere that was within their territory, you had to pay a fee, or you would get punished. Thankfully, where my mother worked and where we lived was outside of their territory. Unfortunately however, the only viable schools that I could go to were in these territories. Most of the time, I would be fortunate enough to be able to hail a taxi and avoid the mob's goons. Anyone caught on the sidewalk or in their own car would be stopped and charged their fee. I'm not always fortunate though.

Over the years, I've been stopped and charged multiple times. Each time however, I would meet them with resistance or try to negotiate my way out of it. This however, no matter how many times I've tried, would always result in me being laid out on the ground with several injuries. I would always end up paying, or they would knock me around enough and just take anything that they could find that I had on me for that day. No matter how many times that this has happened, I have never gone to the police or have told my mother about it. They have given me enough incentive for me to never do that, unless I value me or my mother's life. Sometimes, they would actively seek me out, just to beat on me, but they've never left me in a state where I couldn't recover in enough time to get home at a reasonable hour.

It was a living hell.

But then it got worse.

I couldn't think straight, as they were suddenly called off by their leader. I lay there on the ground, expecting more of the same treatment from him, but it never came. Instead, his hoarse voice fills my ears as he commands his goons.

“Alright, I think he’s learned his lesson,” he said as I looked up at him in hatred, but also, hope, hoping that this would be the end of the beatings. He got on one knee, kneeling down to look at me, “Isn’t that right, Stormy?" I look back at him and try to get up, but he punches me right in the face, making me fall back to the ground as I let out a small sob. "Stormy, you better answer. The silent treatment doesn't work here and unless you want us to keep beating you, all you have to do is tell us to stop!"

I've seen this trick before. Sure, they'll stop beating me, but only long enough for me to fork out the money for their dumb fucking fee, and if I don't give them what they want, they'll just continue. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't give them any money, because I didn't have any that day, and I've screamed as such. I've been screaming for them to stop for I don't know how long, and I've realized that there isn't an out to this situation. Despite this, and my beaten body, I try to stand up again, which was a bad idea, seeing as how much pain just getting on one leg brought me. However, I push myself to at least get on one knee and speak my mind. I've had enough of them. They have harassed me for long enough.

"Go to hell, Kyle." I said through gritted teeth. Not once in all these years have I bit back like this. This is a first. "I'm sick of this, I'm sick of you, and I'm sick of your stupid fucking mob."

Kyle, the leader of the group, looked at me in amusement as he stood back up. "Well, look who finally decided to pony up!", he gestures to his goons, before he laughs and gives me an uppercut to my jaw, sending me flying a few feet backward. I would expect him to do nothing less.

Typical.

I went headfirst into the pavement, sliding a few feet until my head slammed against a run-down jalopy.

The world faded away until all I saw was darkness.

A few hours later

I could feel my senses slowly coming back to me as I awoke back in the alley. It was dark, so I assumed that I had been out for several hours. I could tell that I was left without any sort of warm clothing except for my pants, which I wouldn't necessarily call 'warm'. Every bone in my body was aching, and I could still taste blood, but instead of just blood, of course, it had to have dried in my mouth. I begin to cough, making my body shudder in pain due to the sudden use of my muscles. I rolled over to my side, as that was all I could do as I flailed on the ground, coughing up my insides.

As my hearing came back, I could hear someone yelling. I couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but then I heard the sound of footsteps and looked up the alleyway. There was a figure, I couldn't tell who it was, but no matter who it was, I didn't want to take the chance that it might be the gang that left me like this, coming back to finish me off. I hastily tried to get on my feet so I could flee, but as soon as I got to my feet, my knees buckled, making me fall onto the hot pavement chest first. I couldn't do anything, I was useless in this state. The footsteps were coming closer at a faster pace than before, making me panic as I tried to at least crawl away, but it was useless. I was too weak. I stopped and rolled over to turn to my possible assailant.

"No, stop! Don't do this! I'm already down!" I yelled back at the figure. They stopped a couple of feet away from me for a brief moment, my eyesight was still recovering it seemed, because I couldn't tell who it was from even this short of a distance. They walked up to me, closing the distance. They knelt down and reached towards me. I was unable to move anymore, I was frozen. The only thing I could do to prepare for the onslaught was to try and move my arms to shield my face...
...but the onslaught never came. Instead, they wrapped their arms around me and held me close in a hug. It hurt, but I could at least hear their sobs now. I could hear them grieving. Just then, I finally recognized her voice.

It was my mother. She had come to get me out of this alleyway, and take me home. I don't know how she found me, but that didn't matter at the moment. Through her sobbing, she had told me that when I hadn't returned home, she started to worry so much that she had been searching for me for hours. I put my left arm around her, returning the hug.

She said that I had been out for more than 12 hours.

"What happened to you!? Why are you so beaten up!? Who did this to you!? Is anything broken!?" She asked in rapid succession. I couldn't answer the first three questions of course. If I did, what if the gang found out? They have people everywhere, spying and digging up information on everybody. If they found out that I had told my mother or anyone at all? Well... They would kill me, and then they would go for my mother. I couldn't risk it, but I could at least tell her about the injuries.

"I think that my ribs are the only thing that's maybe broken,", I tell her, my voice still hoarse from dry blood. "...but I don't know. It hurts like hell though. My whole body hurts." She gently but firmly grabbed my right arm and positioned it across the back of her neck, she put her other arm under mine for support as she hoisted me back up to my feet.
"We have to get you to the car. I don't think you can walk for long, so we need to get there quick." We started haphazardly walking towards my mom's car as fast as we could. I fell a few times before finally reaching the passenger side door. She opened the door and set me down inside with very little help from me. I'm useless in this state.

"Mom..." I say.

"Shhh..." She interrupted, "It'll be okay, I'm with you now, so you don't have to worry." She said, comforting my nerves. "Can you get buckled-up by yourself?"

I nod as I wiggle my hand for her to see, and she chuckles half-heartedly. I grab my seat-belt, pulling it across my chest and I fasten it into place.

"Good. Now, we're going to get you to a hospital." She walked to the other side of the car and gets into the driver's seat. After she fastens her seat-belt, she turns towards me, concerned. "Alex, I need you to tell me what happened, so I can help." I look at her, my left eye was still swollen. She continues, "I need to help. Otherwise, who's to say that this won't happen again? This has happened before in the past! I've seen you come home with bruises! But you never tell me anything about it!" She looks my injuries up and down, "This is the worst that it's ever been!" She eyes my injuries and notices a few cuts and bruises along my torso. Other than the fact that they kicked me, they had also taken anything sharp that they could find, and made cuts into my skin. They were relatively deep, but not enough to have me bleed to death. In truth, I wish they had, just to put me out of my misery.

"I can't tell you, mom..." I told her, making eye contact. She winces at the sight of my swollen eye. My body is still aching as I tell her this, but not so much as to keep me from talking. "If I could, I would, but..." I pause and think, but, I have nothing else to say except, "I just can't. I don't want to risk you getting hurt too..."

"Not for me, not for anyone."

I finish talking as she continues to look at me, before turning to start the car. The engine starts and we're on our way.

The alleyway went silent as the car drove away onto the main road. A large burly man watching from a dark corner scowls at the sight. Clenching his fist, he punches the wall next to him, breaking away a large chunk of bricks.

He turns to run and comes to an abandoned warehouse just a few blocks away, slamming the door open with the force of a Rhino

"Kyle!" The man shouted. "Come here!" He commanded.

A man in his early twenties was standing on a catwalk leaning against the railing when he heard his boss's shout and ran down to meet the man. "Yeah?" He replied casually.

The man looked at Kyle in annoyance. "That man you fellas beat to a pulp last night? He's still breathing!" He shouted, grabbing Kyle's shirt with one hand and hoisting him up. "Why is he still alive?"

Kyle looked exasperated at what the man had said. "We're not supposed to kill him. He's our main source of income, and if he doesn't deliver, we have to beat him up. Not kill him." He looked at the man who had lifted him like a feather and raised an eyebrow. "Were we, for some reason, supposed to kill him, boss?"

The man looked at Kyle with utmost rage. "Idiot! Someone came to pick him up in that alley. Now he'll tell everyone about what happened!" He dropped Kyle onto the ground and turned to the side, his fists clenched. "This is the worst that we've ever roughed him up!" He finished, breathing frantically before calming himself down. Sighing, he looked at Kyle. "People will start asking questions. We have no choice but to kill him now."

Kyle looked at the man, determination beaming from his face. "Alright, I'll send someone out to-"

"No!" The man interrupted. walking out of the shadows of the warehouse. He was a muscular man, at about 6 feet 3 inches with a buzz-cut. He wore a white undershirt with a black leather jacket and baggy black cargo pants. His name was Reese. "I will do it myself, and you are coming with me."

"Are you sure, boss?" Kyle questioned.

Reese looked down at the smaller man, seeming to soften up in his face. "Yes. It is rather unfortunate though.", he said.

"Why's that?" Kyle asked.

Reese looked at Kyle with a sorrowful look. "That exchange last night would have been the last time that we would have to use his money." The man started walking out of the warehouse with Kyle in tow and walked up to a black Rolls Royce. "Then he would have never had to hear from us again." He looked down. "And here I was about to apologize to him for everything we've done, and somehow make-up with him. But that's all out of the picture now."

Kyle looked at him, seeing the true sorrow in his face. He truly didn't want to do this, but he insisted, it was a necessity to keep the integrity of his gang. "Let's go, boss." Kyle finally said.

Reese put his hand on the door handle, "Contact our boys at the construction site so that we can possibly ambush them on the road."

They got into the car and drove out onto the street, in pursuit of their former "business" partner.

I love my Mother. She's a kind, but also a stern parent. She's a neuroscientist working on an advanced prosthesis prototype for wounded veterans. In other words; she makes it so veterans who have had their limbs amputated, or blown off in the heat of battle, have a normal life again, and in some cases, even better lives with enhancements. They have almost perfected it, and when it is complete, it will revolutionize our society. She would do anything to make people happy, even if it put her in harm's way. But I couldn't let her do that. Not with this mob.

It had been a silent drive. We had been driving for about half an hour. I sat there in the passenger's seat, deep in thought. I had been thinking about what I could actually say to her. We were in the car, the mob wasn't listening in, right? I hesitantly decided that it would be best to keep the explanation brief. I looked towards my mother, who was silent as she concentrated on the road. I didn't know what to say as to keep it brief, so I just started talking.

"Mom, I know I said I can't say anything about the incident, but I can't stand it anymore." I started. His mother's interest was peaked, I could tell that she was all ears. "The people who did this to me, they wanted my money and I refused like I always have."

"What changed this time that they left you to near-death?" she inquired, briefly glancing at me before returning her eyes to the road. "The last few times you came home like this weren't this bad. Honestly, I thought you were just brawling with other people those times. Obviously, I was wrong." She sighed as she made a right turn.

"They wanted my money those times too, and I also refused to give it to them then. I only gave them the money that they wanted because they beat me up." I looked down. I had been dealing with these people, this mob, for years. It started the year after I graduated, and it never stopped up to this day.

"What do they want the money for, I wonder?" She said as she came to a stop in front of a roadblock. Apparently, someone had gotten into a wreck just up ahead, in front of a construction site and they were moving debris off the road. An officer came to our car and said that there were at least 5 cars involved.

"Jeez..."

This was going to take a while.

I waited for the officer to head back to his car so I could start talking again, and he did after a few seconds. I looked at her.

"I don't know why they wanted the money," I said finally. "All I know is that they are desperate for it, for whatever reason. At one point, they had mentioned that they 'had a debt to pay' to some rival crime boss." I looked down at my body, wondering what kind of debt could force them to torment me for this long. "It's been the same people ever since I graduated."

"That long!?" My mother exclaimed. "You haven't told me anything about these people for that long?! Honey, you need to tell me everything, and I mean EVERYTHING from here on out. No ifs, ands, or buts about it." As she said this, I looked at her and nodded, agreeing. Suddenly, it felt as though a brick had dropped in my stomach. I gasped as I looked passed her and out the window and my face turned to one of pure dread.

A wrecking ball was heading straight for her side of the car.

"Mom!" I tried to warn.

But it was too late.

It seemed as if time had slowed down as the giant mass collided with the car, making it crumble as it flew into the air. She had received the full force of the wrecking ball as it had collided with her side of the car. The car was still flying as I let out a scream that could pierce the heavens. The car had made contact with a building before crashing to the ground, upside down.

"Mom!" He cried out.

She was crushed by the remains of the driver's side of the car. She was dead. I could just barely recognize her as I started to smell gas, and with my survival instinct, I unbuckled myself and fell onto the roof of the car, which could now be considered the floor at this point. I landed painfully, before looking toward the door. I tried to open it, only to find that it was stuck due to how it was crushed. I saw that the window was cracked from the landing, and started to try and kick it out. It took me several painful tries as the smell of gas started to get stronger. A fire had started, due to the engine still being on. I kicked one last time before the window gave in and I could escape. I crawled through the window and haphazardly got to my feet, the pain shooting through my body was ignored due to the adrenaline coursing through my body. I clumsily jogged away from the car just before it had blown up.

I stared in shock, as my mother and the car went up in a plume of smoke. "This..." I couldn't believe it. "This can't be happening!" I yelled.

"Unfortunately, Alex, I believe it is." A voice suddenly called out followed by the chambering of a pistol. "It's unfortunate that you lived through that. Now I'll have to finish the job."

I looked to where the voice was coming from. It was a man that stood at about 6 feet. He looked to have what I considered a 'buzz-cut'. He was buff, to a certain extent, and he wore a white tank top under a black leather jacket with black cargo shorts. He was walking away from the crane, which was parked on the construction site, that held the wrecking ball. I instantly knew that he was the one behind all of this. I could tell that this was the mob boss.

"You!" Alex exclaimed. "I-I'll kill you! You killed her!" I yelled, shaking and pointing a finger towards him.

The man looked at Alex with an amused smirk, before turning into a sad frown. He walked up to me, "The name's Reese. Glad to make your acquaintance." He extended his hand as if to offer a handshake. I looked at the hand before looking at Reese with a piercing gaze.

"Fuck you! Why!? Why did you do this!?" I questioned, pushing away his arm. "What made you do this!?" I yelled as tears started to well up in my eyes.

Reese was silent for a few seconds, before raising his pistol and pointing it at me from eye level. "She knew too much, and if she didn't, then she would have. She found you in that alley and drove you away. I knew you were gonna blab sooner or later." He extended his arm, fully aiming at my head now. "We couldn't take that risk."

I looked at the pile of rubble that was his mother's car. I then looked back at Reese with anger.

I snapped.

"Well!? What are you waiting for!?" I yelled, extending my arms outward. "Fucking do it! Shoot me! I have nothing else to live for! You took the only thing I cared about away from me! So just do it!" Tears were now flowing freely down my face, dripping down onto the cement. I looked down, then back to his face. "Just get it over with..."

Reese's POV

I looked at the man in front of me as he stared straight at me, crying, but with full confidence, ready to die. Seconds seemed like hours, and we stared at each other all the while. My hand started to tremble, the gun shaking.
'Why!? Why am I shaking!? I should be able to do this! I'm not a weakling!' I looked into his eyes, the man that we've tormented for so long, finally broken. For what? Power? No. Money? Maybe. But did we... I want him dead? Hell no. But he knew too much, had seen too much. We were so close! We could finally be out of this hellish debt!

...

But at what cost? His mother was already dead, his father was gone, and he had nowhere to go, not even our organization. He'd refuse if we even hinted at an offer.

...

I decided to finally say something.

"Do you really want to die that much?" I asked.

"Yes!" Alex answered, still sobbing. "I do! After what you've put me through all this time, of course, I do!" Alex narrowed his eyes, making his glare even more piercing. "It doesn't help the fact that I'm a useless piece of shit, that now because of you, has nobody to go to! I am not good at anything, not even drawing! I gave that up in middle-school! The only thing that was driving me forward was the love that I got from my mother, and now she's gone! I have dealt with your nonstop pummeling for nine, goddamned years! So please, JUST DO IT!"

I just stared, unsure of what to do anymore. My hands were trembling. This man, seemingly spilling his guts out to me, made my heart clench. Why?! I stared at a man that had given up on the world, whose wish was to just die and end it all. It didn't help the fact that I had killed the man's mother just a few moments ago. There was no coming back from this.

"God damnit!" I started. "I regret what we've put you through for all these years, god dammit!" I clenched my empty hand, looking to the side. "This was supposed to be the last one! The last of your payments! I didn't want it to come to this!" Alex couldn't believe it. This man was about to kill him, but why did he stop? "I can't do it..." I said as I threw the gun to the ground. "I'm done." And just turned and ran, disappearing down a nearby alleyway.

I stood there, in shock. The man who killed my mother seemingly disappearing from my sight. He was about to kill me! He should have killed me! Why did his moral compass have to kick in now... after all that he's done. I fell to my knees, defeated. I just couldn't believe that anything that was happening was real. I screamed, now fully bawling. The sound echoed off of the buildings, alerting people of the agony that was taking place in the middle of the street. Screaming, yelling, crying and in pain. After a few moments of this, I begin to calm myself, but just barely, and I look to the ground in front of me.

Reese's gun was there, its shine luring me towards it. I get up and shamble over to the gun, reaching down and picking it up, only after a slight hesitation. I stand up straight and turn it in my hand, observing the weapon. It wasn't my preferred choice of weapon, but it would have to do for what I had planned. The sight of the gun sent a painful shiver down my spine. I look towards the alley, looking for the man, but he was nowhere to be seen. The burning car, along with my screams, had drawn more than a few people to the area, me being at the epicenter. They all stood and stared at me. Some put their hands up to their mouths, while others called out for someone to help, but there was no helping this situation, I've made up my mind now.

I put the gun to my head, and there was a collective gasp from the crowd.

A gruff voice called out.

"Put the gun down, son, and slowly put your hands on your head!" It was the police officer who was at the roadblock. Where was he at during all of that?! "I don't want to hurt you, so if you could just put the gun down, we won't have to!"

I would not put the gun down. This is what I wanted, and I wanted everyone to know it.

"No!" My voice trembled. Tears were streaming down my face still. "This is what I want. For over 15 years, I've been putting up with the constant torment of being pushed around and stepped on! Nine of those years were filled with being tormented by the mob that terrorizes your city!" The crowd started to stir, and the officer raised his hand to try and calm the crowd. "Nine years of absolute torture! I have had enough! The only person that I could look to for comfort was my mother, and I couldn't even tell her about any of it! And now, there she is!" I said as I pointed a finger towards the burning wreckage that now just looked like a pile of burnt scrap. "And now she's dead. Murdered!" My entire body shook as I muttered those words. Murdered. "By a man that didn't have the guts to just end me as he did with her!" The officer was approaching slowly as he held his arms up to show that he wasn't hostile. Too bad, but there's no stopping this. "Stay back!" I shout, and he did, but then he reached for his radio. "Get your hand away from that radio! Don't you dare! You don't have the right to stop me from doing this!" I pull the hammer of the gun back. "Please, just don't..." I plead, tears streaming down my face. In turn, he stops.

"What's he doing!?"
"He should be trying to stop him!"
"Hurry up officer!"

"You seem to be confident about this," The officer started, "but I can't just let this happen! We can help you! You don't have to do this!" He then looked at me with hopeful eyes, as if he could stop me from pulling the trigger by being docile.

I look at him, with a sad smile "I can't be helped." I said. "There's no longer anyone to help me." I glanced towards the car. "So just stay back, please."

He looked at me, and I looked at him.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered as I started to put pressure on the trigger.

The officer started to run towards me, his eyes were full of terror. "NO!"

And then I pulled the trigger.

The Void (Chapter 1) [Currently Being Revised]

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The faint echos of silence.

This is what filled my ears as I regained consciousness. Regaining my senses, one by one, I opened my eyes only to be met with darkness. Darkness, combined with nothing in any direction. I was confused. I didn’t know where I was, or how I got there, but the last thing that I could remember was pulling the trigger of the pistol that I had pressed against my head. How am I alive? How did I get to this bizarre place? I was dead, as far as I could tell.

Then it hit me like a pile of bricks.

Is this where you go after you die?

I turned my head around in all directions, finding nothing but endless darkness, as I expected. I looked down at my body and found that I had no body to look at. I couldn’t feel anything. I began to panic, as the thought of becoming nothing filled my mind. But then I remembered something: this is what I wanted. I wanted a place where I could just let go of all of the hurt that I had dealt with. A place that was so peaceful, that I could forget everything.

And then a screen came up.

“Huh?”

Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: Deceased
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Above Average
Cause of Death: ERROR

I looked at the bizarre screen, seeing my name, blood type, and the confirmation that I was indeed dead. I looked at the last entry and became confused. “What type of afterlife doesn’t know your cause of death?” I said aloud.

A blinding light filled my eyes as a orb of light started to float towards me. “The type that is the equivalent to a database, of course,” Came a voice from the light. It had started to take the shape of an older man, with his peppered brown hair was ragged. He wore a tan robe over what looked to be a lab uniform that was white, with a brown belt that separated his upper half from what looked to be the ends of a tunic and black pants with black shoes. “And I, being its creator, am not all-knowing, unfortunately.”

I looked at him, bewildered at how he appeared out of nowhere. I parted his mouth slightly, (at least in my mind), before closing it again, not knowing what to say. I stared for a few more seconds before the man waved his hand, and a little keyboard appeared. He hovered it over to where my hands would have been.

“Just picture in your mind what you want to type,” The man said. “And when you are ready, concentrate on all of your being, and imagine that your hands are on the keyboard.” He demonstrated with slow breathing, before raising his hand. “See you in a bit. Chou!” And he disappeared.

I was at a loss for words at what had just happened. All I could do was heed the man’s words. I focused on my being, closing my eyes and concentrating on what I wanted to type. At first, nothing had happened. Nothing but the sounds of silence. I tried once more, this time focusing on my hands and almost in an instant, I could feel my hands again. I then focused on the keyboard, feeling my hands hover over to it, looking towards the screen. The next entry was indicated by a blinking white line. ‘Cause of Death’ were the words running through I head. I began to type;

Cause of Death: Gunshot to the head; Suicide

I pressed ‘Enter’, which triggered the system to expand and gather other entities. They looked like data. Not just any data, but data about me. My data.

Looking up in astonishment, I began to speak, “This... This is an entire data stream of every event in my life!” I looked at the stream, seeing events that he could never forget, to things that he had tried to suppress and keep hidden. I winced at these. “This isn’t just a data stream...”

“It’s a recording.” I said in unison with the other man’s voice that sounded like it came from behind. I jumped and turned around. I saw him once again with his arms folded behind his back. He had a look of wisdom or radiance of light in this dark abyss. I wanted answers, so I asked the most obvious question.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The man looked at me and tilted his head forward, closing his eyes. He looked to be deep in thought, as if he was thinking about what he should say, or to remember something. After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes, raised his head and walked toward Alex, stopping right in front of him. Looking straight into his eyes, he began to speak.

“I am Doctor Owen Parker, a former scientist, if you will, in the field of creating the perfect afterlife.” He said while gesturing around him with one of his hands. “My job was to create the perfect afterlife for those who have experienced an unfair, or unfortunate end to their biological lifestream.” He gestured toward the holographic screen, causing it to move and stop in front of him. “As you can see, your last moments were quite unfortunate if I may say so myself, but of your own accord.”

I took a moment to process what he said and began thinking about if my suicide had any impact on anything. I had no idea if this man was telling the truth or not. He was supposedly a scientist and based on what I had seen, he wasn’t very successful in creating much of an ‘afterlife’ in my honest opinion. I looked around once more, and once again all I saw was darkness. I had many more questions than I had answers. I looked at Owen, who was waiting for me to process things.

“This is real, right?” I asked, receiving a nod in response. “This is the ‘afterlife' that you created?” I received another nod. “It doesn’t have much of a presence, does it?”

What I received this time was the opposite of what I expected. He chuckled, “Well, this part of the 'afterlife' could be considered the main lobby with information on what is to be expected from this place. But I’ll spare you the fine details for now and welcome you to my world.” He clapped his hands and suddenly a bright light started to build up. Electronic buzzing and whistles accompanied the light as thousands of data and video screens started to form. The screens began to project different data sets that seemed to be from different people. They started to fly around in the darkness. They flew around in a way that could be described as a vortex of light that had surrounded us. This went on for a few minutes. The silence around us was soon replaced with constant electric noise, whirring engines and beeps, as if it were a server room, but beyond the holographic screens, there was darkness, a void of nothingness, as if these screens were what made up this ‘afterlife’. The screens started to settle down and rest in place, looking up, I could see a vortex of data and visuals.

“Whoa...” I said. I looked in front of me and saw a holograph detailing names and info pertaining to those names. I could finally feel a floor beneath my feet. I looked down but all I could see were more screens and data, but still no-body. I looked at Owen, who had a grin on his face. He looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

“Welcome to the Void.” Owen started. “Here you can see into millions of people’s lives with the press of a button. You can travel to other realities here, and you can even visit certain important people in history; depending on which history you are interested in.” Owen looked back to the wall of screens before continuing. “I originally invented this space to give people, like you, a second chance at life. I, of course, have evolved it into something greater.” He paused, furrowing his brow a bit.

I looked at him for a few seconds before looking back at the holograph. Being curious, I walked towards it until it was an arm's length away, right in front of me. I read a few of the descriptions. Some of them were dead, but most of them were still alive. “How did you do all of this? I know you said that you’re a scientist, but...” I continued to read the descriptions of more subjects, each one having their own unique background. One of which, caught my attention. The data appeared to be more detailed than my profile. I was then confused even more. “Uhm...”

Owen saw my confusion and wondered what had caught my eye. He walked up to the holograph and stood next to me. I pointed to the profile. He saw me pointing to a name that caught my attention. A quick glance was all that was needed to understand why. “Ah, that,” he said.

Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: 27
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Athletic
Health: Above Average
Heart-rate: 42 bpm
Physical Abnormalities: Amputated Left Arm
Special Abilities: High Jump, Acrobatics, Swordsmanship, Arcane Magic
Mentality: ERROR

This profile was not mine, but at the same time, I had looked into the studies of alternate realities and wondered if this was one of them. This ‘Alexander Storm’ was still alive, and he had a much more interesting life than I did. What bothered me most of all, was that this Alexander’s world was completely different. Technology had advanced quicker and easier. He had people to call his friends, and some to call his family. He still had enemies, but that was nothing new. He had abilities that would have never been possible in the real world, but there he was with arcane magic by his side. He also appeared to have spiked brown hair, which looked like it came straight out of an anime.

“Doctor, could you tell me what this means?” I asked.

“This, Alex, is an alternate reality, but you probably already know that,” Owen answered, looking at me. I nodded. “One of which that has significant differences and changes compared to your timeline, and has had elements placed there by an unknown entity. This world is going through a war so great, that civilians from all over the world have had to train themselves to fight powerful machines, mages, swordsman, demigods, and much, much more.” Owen looked at the picture of Alexander Storm. “This man is probably the most important man in this alternate reality, and in reality, Alex, this man is an alternate you.”

“What?!” I yelled. “How!? I’m here! How can I even be here?! This shouldn't even be possible, this is all science-fiction!”

“I’ll give you the short answer;” Owen responded. “This place was created by me when I had a scientific breakthrough; the key to the so-called 'afterlife'. Now,” He put his hands in front of him, bringing up a visual interface. “If you had a bubble," he began drawing, "and you created another bubble on the outside of the first bubble, there would be two bubbles, joined together, fragile, but together. The barriers between these two bubbles act as a passageway to one another. With the Void, I found and figured out a way to recreate that same passageway but with universes and realities. Now, suppose we add a restriction to these bubbles, like say... An unfair life or death. This would only make it so that only people who have suffered an unfair life, or an unfair death could pass through this barrier, into the Void.”

“And how does it do that?” I asked. Still confused and overwhelmed.

Owen paused, looking at me, and smiled. “The wonders of science, Alex! I created this, 'bubble' by creating a miniature black hole in my reality. What I found out, was that this particular black hole was different. Naturally, my world and I were sucked into it. My world was unfortunately destroyed, but I survived! Once I was here, I found that I could do things that I would only ever dream of doing! I could manipulate the black hole from the inside, and as an experiment, I wanted to create a 'portal' to another world. It worked, but what I found out through time, is that I could only visit a world for 30 minutes at a time, every 10,000 years.”

In my opinion, this man was either a genius or a loon. But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered were my next questions.

“So... What am I doing here? Am I the first person to come here after you?”

Owen’s smile grew even wider as I asked these questions, but then his face got serious. He looked at me.

“You are here because of your unfortunate life and death,” Owen said, "and yes, you are the first person that I have decided to bring to the Void. This is your second chance Alex! I admit, that your life was very, very unfortunate, but your death is more tragic." He turned to the holographs and began browsing. "Suicide, tut-tut..."

"What is it?" I asked, noticing his displeasure.

"Suicide is never the answer Alex, but that just means that you have a lot to learn." He glanced in my direction, then back to the holograph. "I need you to learn that most of all. So while you are here, there will be a punishment. But we will get to that in a moment. For now, I must tell you what you are meant to do here."

I knew that my suicide would play a factor in this, but hopefully he'll explain that later. I looked to him with interest, "What I am meant to do?"

“This is what I meant when I said that I have evolved the Void into something greater." He said with pep in his voice. "You will be the first experiment of this evolution."

Now I was even more confused than I was originally. More questions, great... "I don't understand, what is this evolution?"

Owen chuckled "Something that I'm sure that I'll be proud of." He stopped his scrolling on a particular profile. "This evolution is meant to help those that are in the land of the living or the 'Waking World'. Some people need guidance; protection if you will." He tapped on the profile to reveal that it was a girl's. She had red and gold flowing hair with a smile in her picture. "Alex, you're essentially immortal in the void, time passes differently here than in the outside world. That means that you have as much time as you need to train, and you must train if you are to protect this particular person."

Time differences? "How much of a difference is time here compared to the outside world?" I asked.

Owen smirked and turned towards me. "One minute in the waking world is four months in the void." He chuckled, "So that would mean that one second there is worth twelve hours here."

What!? I was flabbergasted. Four months in here is equal to one minute out there?! "That's...that's...how have you managed to do this!? That should be impossible!"

Owen let out a hearty laugh, "That was not my doing. You can blame the black hole for the time differences. But that brings us to your first lesson. You see, because I am limited to this place, essentially trapped, I need you to do what I can't. I will train you in many aspects. For as long as I've been here, I've mastered all forms of combat, defensive and offensive. You must train to protect others while you're here."

Alex was stumped. "Why do I have to train to protect others? Why can't I just stay here?"

Owen looked at Alex with a slight frown. "Because, Alex, I want to prevent things from happening to innocent people's lives that have ended another's. For instance, your death was caused by years of torment by bullies and thugs. You had lost your mother at the end, and that was the last thing you could bare before you ended it all." Owen looked at the data stream. "That's this skull right here." He pointed to Alex's lifestream, which looked like a heart rate monitor. At the end of the stream, was a red skull, which indicated the end of one's life. "This is why I have decided to start this evolution by training anyone that comes here to save others from doing the same."

Alex looked at his life stream, and thought of another question. "If this place is where people go after they suffer through a tragic death..." He paused and looked at Owen. "...then where is my mother?"

Owen sighed. He waved his hand and brought up another screen of data. This one was Alex's mother. It had a list of properties that were different from the other's.

Subject: Linda Storm
Age: Deceased
Previous Age: 69
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Average
Cause of Death: ERROR
Mentality: ERROR
Transfer to Void: FAILURE

"I couldn't save your mother. Her body..." Owen breathed. "...her body was too damaged to be saved, and if the void gets a body, that doesn't look human, then the person cannot be saved."

I couldn't believe it. The one chance of saving my mother, and it's all wasted. Why? Why does this always have to happen to me? Why am I even here?! I shouldn't be here! My mind shouldn't even exist anymore! Just let me die! I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, if I could have tears at all. I looked at Owen, anger welling up in my system. The Void began to shake, the screens and holographs blinking in and out. He looks at me and holds out his hands as if to calm me, but that isn't going to work. My mother! She's fully dead now, and I can't do anything about it...

"Why!" I screamed, making the void shake harder. "Why couldn't you have sent one of your 'Guardians' to save her!" I could feel my anger boiling out of control. "She was the only thing that gave me the will to live!"

"Alexander!" His voiced boomed. I shrunk back in fear of being hit, but it never came. He sighed and looked at me. "Being a Guardian is not that simple." He put one of his hands on my shoulder his tone back to normal. "I can't send them to just any dimension. I have no control over that." His soothing voice was enough to calm my nerves.

I looked at him. "So do these Guardians just get to choose who they want to protect?" I asked.

Owen chuckled, “Oh, no. Nothing like that. Based on my observations, these people are chosen by the will of their heart. Usually, the people who come here and train usually have something in common with the ones whom they were assigned to.” He said. “I train these... ‘Guardians’ to protect these people because I care about the victims who are so unfortunate, that in the end, they just end it all. I send people to protect those people, and usually, it all works out in the end. More often than not, some of my pupils have even became attached to their target by the bonds of friendship.”

Alex had few words to say. This was just so much information at one time to process. He looked back at his alternate’s profile. “So, these are separate from the people who need help?” He said while pointing to the holograph.

“Indeed.” the doctor answered. “These are the people who, given that they meet their end, will come to the void to receive training.” He flicked his hand upwards, causing the list of people to scroll downwards. “See? Here’s your profile. It’s been updated.” Alex looked at the profile. It looked like his mother's, but it was his.

Subject: Alexander Storm
Age: Deceased
Previous Age: 27
Blood Type: A+
Physique: Above Average
Cause of Death: Gunshot to the head; Suicide
Mentality: Conflicted
Transfer to Void: SUCCESS

Alex looked at the profile for a few minutes before making his decision.

"I'm ready to become a Guardian." He said before a locked portal appeared.

This shocked the pair of men, who then looked to the side of the portal. There was a label with a name with a timer underneath. It read:

Subject: Sunset Shimmer
Unlocks in: 100,000 void years

Owen chuckled. "You better get to training then."

Training and Pain (Chapter 2) [Currently Being Revised]

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I have no idea how Owen keeps track of time, but regardless of how he does, today is the day that I start my training. Owen said that I would be trained in a way that would benefit me in the waking world. The waking world is a place that people go once they have either waited for 100,000 years doing nothing, resulting in their bodies being affected negatively, or have trained for 100,000 years and having peek performance. In other words, the waking world is a place where you awaken, ready or not, to protect your target. My target is Sunset Shimmer, a student of Canterlot High School, and based on what Owen has told me, once I awake in her world, she will be going through an event called 'Anon-a-Miss'. Whatever that means.

Owen had given me training robes which looked similar to his. Although he was a scientist, he had trained himself in the arts of many various combat styles, ranging from weapons such as swords, guns, energy, to even his fists in Jujitsu, Jeet Kune Do, and much, much more.

"First lesson of the day!" Owen shouted. He had turned the space around us into a training ground. There were trees flowing in the wind, and birds chirping in the distance. He was holding a wooden sword in his right hand. "Keep your mind focused on 'Here and Now' while in conflict. Your mind is the most powerful tool in battle, and being able to keep your mind focused allows you to hone in and take in your surroundings much quicker than an average person." He gestured with his left hand, summoning a practice dummy. It was moving as if it were a living, breathing thing. It was in a battle stance wielding a wooden sword. "Hone your mind to find something that is out of sight."

Out of sight? What does that mean? Is there another dummy that I can't see? I looked around to try and see where the other dummy was, receiving an audible whack from Owen in response. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

He looked at me while sheathing his wooden assault stick. He closed his eyes, "Hone your mind. Do not use your eyes; you do not need them."

I looked at him for a while longer, noticing his body posture. He had his feet separated, one in front of the other. His hands were relaxed but aware. His breathing was rhythmic, and his eyes closed. I looked to the ground, finding an apple. I picked it up, turning it around in my hands for a second, and decided to throw it towards his face.

WHACK!

I gasped as he seamlessly sliced through the apple with his sword, his posture never changing. I looked at his face, only to see that his eyes were still closed with a stoic expression. His breathing had not changed in the slightest. A moment passed before he stood upright, opening his eyes to look towards me.

"With enough training, you will be able to accomplish this feat, along with much more." He said. He looked at the apple that I had thrown. "This feat is only part of the basic training that I will put you through. In my honest opinion, slicing an apple in half while it's still in the air is not all that impressive. At least when compared to some of the things that my students have been able to do." He sheathed his wooden sword and waved his left hand, clearing the field of both the dummies and the apple. With another wave of his hands, he summoned a few platforms. Some were elevated, while a few were level with me. "This will be your first training ground. This one will be used to practice the first lesson that I have shown you; 'Honing your mind'." He summoned more dummies, placing them in various parts of the training area. "These dummies will attack you when you're spotted. Some dummies cannot see you at this time, but once they spot you they will attack. Understand?"

"Yes, I do," I responded.

He waved his left hand, summoning a clock. It was a timer. "Then let's begin!"

Alone a school stood, proud and true, as the sun shined down from above. A lone stone statue stood out in the front courtyard, depicting a stallion rearing as it prepared to gallop off its pedestal. At the base of the statue was a plaque that read, 'Canterlot High School: Home of the Canterlot Wondercolts. Students that were congregating around the courtyard, and inside the school seemed to be distressed as a new problem had arisen, causing discord within the walls of Canterlot High. The students were not talking to one another as much as they had a few months beforehand. One student, in particular, had been placed responsible for this unrest. Her name was Sunset Shimmer.

For months, Sunset walked through the halls of Canterlot High, trying to ignore the glares and shoves from the other students. Most of these students talked about her, saying that she was responsible for the online problem known as 'Anon-a-Miss', a social media profile that had been spreading sensitive secrets about everyone at school, except for Sunset Shimmer. Lately, the students of Canterlot High had been getting more and more violent with Sunset, resorting to an occasional beating, but Sunset stood strong.

Why can't they just leave me alone? Sunset thought. While she would have tried to defend herself from these accusations and beatings, in which she had at one point, these students would not listen to her. They would say that she was just 'playing dumb' or was trying to 'destroy the school once again'. She could hardly stand it. She had received a few beatings over the past week from a student named Gilda. She still had bruises from the pummelings. She sighed as she rounded the corner, bumping into a rainbow-haired athlete known as Rainbow Dash, her former friend.

"Oh, hi Rainbow..." Sunset said nervously, waving her hand slightly.

Rainbow looked at her in fury. "Don't 'Hi Rainbow' me, you backstabbing traitor!"

Sunset stepped back, giving Rainbow space afraid that she might resort to violence. "Rainbow, for the last time, I was framed, I'm not Anon-a-Miss! I'm innocent!" She looked at Rainbow with annoyance. Ever since the Anon-a-Miss issue had started, everyone in the school, including her closest friends, had turned their back on her. In all honesty, she was disappointed and hurt by the fact that after all that they had been through, they still didn't trust her.

"Like hell you are! We should have never gotten involved with you!" Rainbow pointed a finger at Sunset, "We should have just ignored what Princess Twilight had said!"

"She trusts me, and you know it," Sunset said while trying to stay calm. "I've changed, and if you can't see that, then that's your problem, not mine. I trusted you girls to see the truth, but clearly, I was wrong. You haven't even tried to find the truth."

"Your trust was misplaced!?" Rainbow raised her voice, clearly offended. "Oh please, you were just being nice to us to take advantage of our secrets!"

"No, I-"

"I don't want to hear it! Why don't you just go somewhere to rot in a corner! You're nothing to us now!"

...

Silence...

Sunset's eyes started to tear up. "You... don't really mean that, do you?" She looked at Rainbow, wanting her to say no.

Instead, all she received was a punch to the face and fell to the floor.

This was what broke Sunset, shock washed over her face. She couldn't believe it. Her tears were about to flow freely before she got up, and looked at Rainbow. "Fine..." Tears were flowing freely as she prepared to tell Rainbow what she didn't want to hear.

"If that's what think of me, then you don't deserve me."

She was hurt, and she couldn't handle it anymore. She turned and started to run away. She ran out of the school, crying openly as she ran to nowhere. Students were still looking at her in disgust. Some were concerned, but not enough to actually care.

"At long last, it is time for Lesson 101," Owen stated, conjuring up a new training ground, "...how to use magic."

Alex looked at Owen in confusion, wondering how or why he needed to learn such a thing. He still couldn't believe that he had spent at least 50,000 years in the void, training himself to be a warrior and a Guardian. The past few thousand years had been unforgiving, requiring him to repeat most lessons at least 20 times. He still wasn't sure why all of this training was needed, but instead of doing something stupid, he decided to just go with it, but that didn't stop him from asking questions.

"Uh... Master? Why do I need to learn how to use magic? Wouldn't what you have already taught me, be enough to protect this... Sunset Shimmer?" He asked, flipping his cloak allowing it to flow freely in the artificial winds.

"You would think that, right?" Owen started, messing with a training sword. "Why would we need magic if we could just use a more... physical means? That is an excellent question, Alexander." He then flipped the sword in the air before catching it in his right hand. "I'll tell you. Come here, sit." He conjured up two seats and a campfire, (even though it wasn't needed), and sat down. Alex moved towards a chair and sat down as well, paying full attention to his Master.

"Ahem!" Owen looked straight into Alex's eyes. "So, you want to know why we learn magic, yes?" Alex nodded. "Well, I'll have a visual aid with this, but first, I want you to know this. Your world's laws of physics and reality? They will not stay constant in the worlds that you will go to. Now, knowing this, you must know about the several things that we protect against." He moved a hand up to bring up a list. "First, we protect against all outside forces, such as other people... or something entirely different. In some worlds, if not all of them, pieces of darkness will leak into them, like ink from a pen." He moved the other hand to bring up a creature made up by a pitch black substance that had a glowing red eye in the center of its forehead. "These nasty things are what we are most concerned with when it comes to outside forces, and if there's one, there will be plenty more to come."

Alex looked at the creature, suddenly feeling heavy as if the world had suddenly gone dark. "I don't like it..."

Owen chuckled. "Of course you don't like it. Just seeing one of these things has the effect of having severe depression combined with a form of schizophrenia. These have caused even an onlooker to commit suicide."

Wow. Alex thought, thinking of his world and it's lack of horrifying creatures.

"These buggers are very hostile." Owen continued. "Even though just the sight of them causes people to commit suicide, these things aren't just stationary creatures. If they lock onto you, they will stop at nothing to rip you to shreds unless they are destroyed first." He zoomed onto the creatures arms. "These things can rip a car door straight off its hinges with only one arm, with help from its razor-sharp claws." Alex saw its claws, looking as though it could tear through flesh as if it were butter.

Jesus...

Owen dismissed the creature with a wave of his hand. "Enough about this creature for now, and on to the next threat that you must defend your target from."

"And that is?" Alex asked.

"Self harm."

Christ...

"Any harm brought upon your target will be your responsibility, and if your target dies, then that will be considered a mission failure." Owen looked to the side and sighed. "Once you fail a mission, you will live the rest of that life knowing that you had failed to save a life." Owen looked back to Alex and put a hand on his shoulder. "Alex, you must do everything within your power to protect your target, even if it means protecting them from themselves. If she treats others harshly or becomes corrupt, it's your responsibility to show her the light."

Alex nodded in understanding. "Yes, sir."

Owen nodded and stood up. "Now, on to the usage of magic." He pulled up the creature from before. "These creatures require you to not only use physical attacks but to also use both defensive and offensive magic." He waved his hand again, making the creature move as if it were alive. "This is an example of how this creature in particular moves."

As Owen said, the creature began to move. "Its movements are quick and sporadic. It runs using its long legs to gain more distance, and it can alternate between this, and crawling." As Owen said this, it began to crawl on all fours, keeping its speed constant. "This seems to be used as a scare tactic to scare whoever, or, whatever it's chasing. But it also allows the creature to gain even more speed. See?" Owen showed a visual that compared the fastest runner in the world next to the creature. Its speed was inhumane. "Due to its nature, Alex, no one has ever beaten it with melee alone. We have always had to use magic to dispose of them. Light magic seems to do wonders for these creatures in particular."

"Uh..." *gulp*

Owen looked to Alex, "Now, are you ready to be trained in the art of magic casting?" Receiving a nod in response.

The Magic of Trouble (Chapter 3) [PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE]

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Betrayal.

This is what Sunset had felt for a long time, but today, its effect on her increased two-fold. She knew that people hated her, even though she’s tried so many times to dispel the rumors that she was responsible for ‘Anon-a-Miss’. They just wouldn’t listen. She could deal with being beaten up by people who she never grew close to. It was never pleasant, even if she could make it through, but today, she had been punched by one of her closest friends, Rainbow Dash. Well, former closest friends.

She was still running, and she didn’t care where she went, she just wanted to get away from the place that she used to call home. Her running had led her to the city, Manehatten. It wasn’t far, but it was far enough to get away, but she kept running; her pony stamina, although draining, had kept her going. Eventually, it had to run out.

After running for about an hour, passing by many confused faces who watched her as she was now audibly crying, she ran out of stamina and stopped to rest next to a grey apartment building. Putting her hand on the building’s side, she leaned against it, covering her face with her other arm. Her tears had stopped flowing, but she was still weeping to herself, her throat dry after an hour of crying and running at the same time. Her nose was bleeding from when Rainbow punched her, and the blood, which had run down her lip, was now dry.

Why? She thought. Why does this happen to me? I just... She wiped the dry blood off with her black sleeve. I just want my friends back. I want everything to go back to the way it was! She turned around and put her back to the building, and slid down to sit on the ground, bringing her knees close to her chest with her head between them. Why...?

Up above on a fire-escape, there was a man taking in the sights of the city streets and sidewalks, looking for an easy target. He watched as a girl slumped against the building. The man looked down at the disheartened teen, a slight grin on his scraggly face.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” He then climbed up the fire-escape and started running, laughing to himself as he jumped from one roof to another, his body, being one that you would expect on a runner’s figure. “Gotta tell the boys about this one!” He said to himself. A few buildings away from where he had started, he dropped down through the fire-escape and climbed through a window on the third floor of a run-down apartment complex.

Inside were three men gathered around a table with a ceiling light hanging down over them. They were playing what seemed to be blackjack, but the cards had seen their share of wear and tear. One of the men, Ross, who had a dark complexion, was sitting on the right, closest to the window, wore a black jacket over a white tank top that covered his broad shoulders and wore black denim jeans with black boots to match. He had a rough looking face with a noticeable nose, and his hair was cut short in a buzz-cut.

The second man, Jack, was more on the lean side with narrow shoulders and long arms. His torso was lean with a minimum of fat, you could almost see his rib-cage. He was wearing almost the exact same outfit as the first man, with the only differences being that he was wearing fingerless gloves and no tank top. His hair was done in a mohawk and was dyed a shade of red. His face was long and his cheekbones were noticeable. He had a crazy look on his face, taking in everything around him as if everything was a joke.

The third man, Deen, tended to stay out of the ceiling light’s rays. Just like the other two men, his clothes were almost identical with only one difference; he was wearing a maroon colored beanie over his hair which covered up his left eye, leaving his right, green eye exposed to the world. He was average built and looked to be on the younger side compared to the other men, and his expression looked as if he’d rather do anything else besides sit and watch the men play blackjack.

“Yo boys, I found a broad with red and yellow hair, maybe one or two blocks away!” Said Dan, the man who came from the window.

Jack looked to Dan, a smile plastered to his face, “Finally, something good! Did she look rich?! Wealthy?! Well off?! Weak?! Helpless?!” He asked, twitching as he said each word. “We need money now!” He exclaimed before cackling sinisterly.

“Jack is right. If she doesn’t look worth it, she isn’t worth it, you know what I’m sayin’?” Ross explained. "We need to take as much money as we can get our hands on, and I don’t want to take from a person who doesn’t have much to begin with, you feel me? What did she have on’er?”

Dan put his hand to his chin, remembering what he saw. “She had a school bag, that’s for sure. She also had a decent sized purse.”

“Clothing?”

“She wore a black leather jacket over a purple shirt, and she had some sort of orange skirt on with black boots that came up to here, at least.” He put a hand to just below his knee. “I was up above her on the fire escape when I saw her.” He paused and put his hand back to his chin as he tried to remember everything. He thought for a moment longer before remembering one thing. “She was sitting against the wall...”

”...crying.”

As he said this, Ross and Deen chuckled, and Jack cackled softly.

The Void

Year 51,526

Lesson 101: Magic

Owen looked down to a book in his hands. On the cover, there was a big number '101' with words scrawled under it; "The Power of Pure Emotions: A Guide to Magic Proficiency". He had been staring at the book for some time now, trying to figure out the best way of 'teaching' this subject. Alex would be completely new to casting magic, considering the fact that the world that he came from did not consist of magic; the closest thing to magic was cheap parlor tricks like illusions and sleight of hand tricks. It wouldn't matter either way. The book had nothing in it at this moment, and as soon as he thought of a way to 'teach' magic to Alex, words would then appear in it. Of course, Owen knew that whatever appeared in the book would be whatever he wanted Alex to see. He decided just to go with whatever bullshit spewed out of his mouth to teach him. This was to be considered an experiment anyway.

"Alright, here take this book and leave it closed." He told Alex. Alex took the book and looked at it, then back up to Owen. "I will tell you the core component of magic; emotion. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the magic. For instance, let's say that you need to summon fire or ice, alright? You know the basic look and feel of them, right? Hot and cold, fluid and restricting? Well, those descriptions are useless without a 'fuel' to give these images form and focus." Alex's head tilted, clearly confused. "Alright, observe."

Owen moved a few feet back and summoned a dummy. "With fire, I usually use anger as the fuel to my fire. Watch." Owen closed his eyes, focusing on his emotion, and the image of a roaring fire. From the outside, it looked as if nothing were happening at first, but then Owen closed his hands into fists, and small flames started to emanate from them. Owen opened his eyes and moved his entire body, jumping back before jumping up into the air. He then moved his arms back while twisting his torso backward before quickly turning his arms forward toward the dummy and shouting:

"FIRE!"

A fireball exploded from Owen's hands, soaring towards the dummy.

Shimmering Guardian

by Spark Shift

Prologue: The Act of Giving Up (REVISED)

The Void (Chapter 1) [Currently Being Revised]

Training and Pain (Chapter 2) [Currently Being Revised]

The Magic of Trouble (Chapter 3) [PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE]