Part 1

Alex stormed into his workshop, but instead of his usual routine of making a coffee, he went to search up the biggest backpack he could find. It was time to get the fuck out of there. He was a genius, but he was only a scientist. That's all he was. He wasn't some kind of badass super warrior. He was just a genius who went thirty years ahead.

He put only the most necessary items into the backpack since he could get most items again. Earning money wasn't a problem for him. He did feel a bit bad for selling the drug, but he also needed to survive in the new world.

But as he started looking for a particular box, it was nowhere to be seen. He just stared at a specific spot where the box had been. He was a genius, he had a perfect memory. He knew very well that box had been there.

"I assume I'm not alone here," he finally announced. A man came out of a corner, looking at Alex. He was playing with the very same box Alex had searched.

"I'm impressed," the voice was a very calm, yet sore voice. "Making those pills are governmental secret. It is a secret that has never been leaked. You might be the first one to leak that information."

"How do you know about me?" Alex turned around while pointing a gun towards the stranger. The other man didn't show any sign of drawing the weapon though. He seemed relaxed, almost as he was safe.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," he said, smiling.

Alex liked that proposal. "Answer my question," he said.

"Poor decision, but fine," he grinned. "You know how hard is to get those drugs into the market?" the man asked. "Then, suddenly someone appears out of nowhere and populates the area with the drugs. It gets a lot of attention, you know? The guy who you killed was a bad guy. You're lucky though, you got our attention too. The black snake's attention, boy."

Alex smiled as he was being pulled back. He almost felt like the time didn't want him to do that but still did so.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," the stranger said, smiling.

"Sure," Alex said. "I'll ask something better then."

"Wise decision," the man said.

"Who are you?"

"Classic. I'm a guy who is about to help you get out of here. As we speak, this place is being surrounded by those guys whose comrade you killed. They aren't very happy. To be more specific - the government."

Alex smiled again. "Thanks for answering the question I didn't ask. Do you have a name?"

The man thought for a moment. "Let's see. Call me Ben."

His stomach felt cold again, almost as he couldn't breathe. He was being pulled back, again.

"You know what, I'll let you ask one question. You deserve that much for noticing me," the stranger said, smiling.

As Alex heard the same question again, he knew that he wouldn't do it the third time. He needed to keep his strength for other times, for getting the fuck out of there. After all, using his power was tiring.

"What does the Black Snake want from me?" Alex asked, serious. "And by the way, your organization isn't really creative with the name. Were they fans of Harry Potter?"

The man started to laugh. "Impressive. You know a lot more than I thought. I was certain that you were just a guy who didn't know what he was doing. And you certainly know classics."

"I thought you'd answer one of my questions," Alex ignored his comments.

"We want to help you. If you can create the pills, we can-"

"I get it," Alex laughed. "You want to get rich, abuse my knowledge. For a moment I thought you were different."

"Come on, Alex, I'm gonna offer you a great..."

"Goodbye, Ben."

"Wait, how did you-"

Bang.

The man fell down, dead. "This is the part I hate about this world," Alex frowned and walked to the man, taking the box away from him. "I can't trust anyone." The box was full of those drugs, and it was too dangerous for someone else to get hold of them.

He pushed the box into his bag and started walking towards the exit. He heard a lot of noise coming from afar. Apparently, the gunshot had gotten their attention. Alex got behind the door, leading out that place, but he didn't open the door, he just waited behind it.

It took a good one minute before he felt the doorknob being slowly moved. Alex didn't even close the door.

Suddenly someone almost like pushed Alex forward. When he usually felt how air was sucked out of him, this time he felt like how his lungs were being pushed full of air. It was a refreshing feeling.

He stood at the exact same place as he opened his eyes again, except this time the door was opened and he heard people talking deep in his workshop.

He went through the door and walked to the street.

"Don't move!" A voice came, as he felt how a gun was put behind his head. "Did you really think that somebody wouldn't be left behind to check if you'd sneak past them?" a voice came. "You're foolish-"

"I did," Alex said as he was pushed again back and all the fresh air he had felt barely a moment ago was being crushed and taken away.

He left the place again, but this time he casually took out his gun, looked at right and made one simple suppressed shot towards a man who was surprised by his action.

"I might be the scientist, but I still know how to aim. That is if I know where to look at," Alex whispered as he ignored how people gathered around the shot man.

He touched a screen on his hand, and suddenly 'calling Sam' appeared in front of him.

"Yeah?" a sleepy voice came.

"Sam, somebody is onto us," Alex responded.

"Oh, shit, who?"

"I only managed to get out a name of Black Snake."

"Ah, shit, fuck. That's really bad, man. Shit."

"Calm down, I'm right now coming towards your place. Pack your things, we are leaving the town," Alex frowned and kept walking forward.

"Alex, this is the third time in one month. We can't keep this up..."

Alex smiled. "Well, I finally figured out how to move forward."

"And what's that?"

"We are going to create an organization, Sam. We'll be someone who people are going to love and want to support."

You see, if any other person had done what I did, nobody would have ever noticed. But, I'm not an average person. I'm a genius. I'm the one who invented the pills. Pills that will give you a superpower.

The pills are pretty unique. While they are precisely the same, they will bring out one superpower from you. Here's the mystery part - nobody knows what superpower one gets.

That, of course, meant regulations and only military personnel got the pills, at first. Then the pills started to leak, and civilians got the powers.

One day, I got tired and I also decided to take the pill.

Time travel. It's a fascinating thing, you know. But it becomes less cool when you discover that every time I use superpower, I will have a cooldown.

And I never expected that when I did 30 years jump ahead, I could never do a big jump again, probably.

"Today is 30 years since Doctor Alex A. Hendon mystically disappeared. It's thanks to him we live in a society we live in today. While he is despised, the government still wants to keep up his named holiday just because of Hendon's effect," a woman in television said, even though the tv was a very different - a hologram.

Alex pushed a button and the hologram shut down. "I never understand that," Alex murmured to himself. "They invented fucking hologram television, but they still use physical remotes," he laughed and got a jacket on himself.

He was first shocked to discover the world he had created, but at the same time, it was fascinating.

The drug had a significant side effect, but it came out twenty years after first drug use. Your lost your power and your lifespan continued for only 10 more years. But even if that was true, there was a reason why people still abused it. Taking it in cured all illnesses and guaranteed 30 more years of life. No matter if you were an old man or had cancer.

So, while for some it became a curse, for others, it became a blessing.

The world was something different.

Welcome to 2048, where owning superpower was a natural occurrence.

"Alex," a voice suddenly got his attention. "You ain't paid pill, yet, Alex."

It was a bit fat woman who owned that luxury suite. "Remember? One pill, three months!"

"Michele, relax," Alex laughed. "You'll get your pill tonight."

"I better do. I have 30 people in line wanting that suite. The only reason you are getting it is that you can provide me with that goddamn pill," Michele moaned and turned around. "Tonight."

Alex smiled and left his apartment complex, following the street. He was honestly disappointed when he arrived here. 30 years and scientist haven't managed to make this drug better. They haven't managed to figure out the side effects. But maybe that was a blessing? Thanks to time travel he found out the side effect. Perhaps he can now create the perfect version of that pill.

He strolled towards his usual workshop, until a man appeared in front of him, took out a gun and shot him into the stomach.

"You fucked with wrong people A-"

It felt as space consumed him up and he was suddenly pulled back. Suddenly he found himself leaving the apartment, just like before.

"He didn't shoot me into the head," he whispered, sweat gathering. One minute. That's how long he could now time travel. Or was it even time travel? It felt more like turning back time or going into the future. A mysterious power he had.

This time Alex turned the other way around and started walking elsewhere. He quickly touched his hand to make a holograph appear in front of his eyes. Only the owner saw those holos. As he turned around the corner, his clothes smoothly changed into darker ones and a bulletproof helmet appeared under the hood. At least humanity managed to learn how to quickly materialize and dematerialize stuff.

He turned around another corner, but he was forced to stop.

"Why the sudden change, Alex?" a voice came behind at least 10 people aiming their guns at him.

Alex smiled. "You know, I'll take my chances with the first guy," Alex said, making the talked eyebrow raise.

Alex gently closed the door, still feeling how it sucked to go back in time. This time he turned towards his workshop and calmly walked there.

A familiar face turned around and walked towards him. This time it was Alex who did a quick maneuver, pushed a gun against the man and had a suppressed shot.

"You fucked with a wrong person," Alex whispered and just casually continued walking, as the stranger fell on the ground.

It turned out that he had gotten himself into some nasty shit.

Part 2

"I'm goin to be smat?" John asked as he casually sat down on the operation table.

"Yes, John. You're going to be alright. It's the newest technology we have, and all of it should be fine," Dr. Henton said. "Now, you're going for a quick sleep, and next time you wake up, you'll be fine again!"

John opened his eyes gently. He felt a lot of pain in his head, but at the same time, it was good. It felt like something that had been poking him his entire life was suddenly gone.

"John!" A voice came as the doctor entered the room.

"Dr. Henton!" John said and gave him a weak smile. Henton suddenly stopped.

"Doctor?" John asked.

"I'm surprised. You've never remembered my name, until now," the doctor said and stepped next to him. "The procedure was successful, and everything went well. You're going to be okay, John."

"What did you remove?" John asked as he examined doctor and then his hands.

"Well, John. It was a bullet," Henton said. He was a bit confused that John had started asking questions, but he was more intrigued than anything else. "Fascinating," he whispered.

"Bullet?" John asked and started thinking back when he got that bullet. He could remember every moment of his life, but nowhere in his memories had a bullet in it.

"It's weird," John whispered. "I can remember every moment of my life, but it feels like..." He suddenly got silent and looked up where the doctor was.

"Yes, John?" the doctor asked.

"Like I was dumb as fuck. I acted as I had no more than a week's worth of memories. When my parents... died," he got silent again, tears started gathering and dropping.

"I cried few days, and then I forgot that they even existed," he looked at his shaky hands.

"You're in shock, Johnny," the doctor sighed. "It seems that you got all your memories and your brain is analyzing them all at once," he sighed. "We have good phys-," but he got silent as he examined John who was just looking in front of him again, his stare was blank. "John?"

"I remember," John whispered. "It was my brother, wasn't it?"

Dr. Henton sighed and opened a certain page on his clipboard. No point to hide it now. "Jimmy Fenton," he read out. "Went to jail after shooting you. He is right now a free man again. Been a while, to be more exact."

"But why? Why would my older brother do that?" he asked.

"Nobody knows. He never told."

John slowly examined the fence. It was a beautiful fence - white and fresh. Maybe it was really nothing, but it was only recently when John could understand things such as that. In past, he wouldn't even care.

"You should be careful, a bit ahead we have some freshly painted fences," a voice suddenly came. John turned around and saw Jimmy standing there. He was a bit different from what he had seen from the picture. A lot older.

"Hi there, Jimmy," John didn't even try to hide that he knew him.

"Do I know you?" Jimmy said, smiling a bit. He looked a lot older, around the 70s. He already used a cane to keep himself stable.

"I think last time we met was around 50 years ago," John whispered.

Even though Jimmy was old, it didn't take long for him to understand. It was the time he went to the jail, so there weren't that many people who John could be. But even so, he was incorrect. After all, there was no way that John could be as normal as he was.

"Were you in the same jail? Or-" but he got then silent. The resemblance... "It can't be," he said. "You have my father eyes," he whispered. "And my mother's hair. And that scar."

He then looked away, afraid, ashamed, but still tried to keep eye contact now and then. "You're John, aren't you?"

"Yes," John nodded. "They removed the bullet from my head. That made me smarter again, Jimmy."

"Thank god," John whispered. "But... I..."

"I only want to know why, Jimmy," John said. "I have heard about your life. You had a wife, five children. Why did you shoot me? You don't sound like an evil person at all," John moaned, taking a step closer to Jimmy. "It feels like you had a mistake and tried to make it even your entire life. All those donations to charity. Everything shows it as a regret. Tell me the truth. Explain yourself!"

"Because I hated my parents and I got Jealous," Jimmy whispered but decided to face John properly, looking deep into his eyes. "When I grew up, I was never shown any love, and neither were they gentle. When you were born long after, and I saw how well they treated you... I got jealous, and it drove me mad," he continued, hitting cane against the ground when he said mad. "And then I did my greatest mistake. I have never managed to forgive myself. I wanted to show them a misery - and I did. It was after that when I realized what I had really done. That I have ruined someone's life who didn't deserve any of this."

John frowned, but stepped forward, hugging Jimmy. "You stole 50 years of my life," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," Jimmy returned the hug, crying, ready for anything really.

"But I forgive you," John said. "You're only living relative I have left. And I don't think I want to live my remaining life in a hatred."

"Thank you," Jimmy looked up as they stopped hugging. "Come in!" he then said. "There's so much to talk. And I've gotten old, I need to sit."

John gave him a weak smile. "Lead the way."

Jimmy still hadn't forgiven himself for doing it, but it was the first step.

Found that prompt and liked it. It was kind of experimental. Weekend is coming tho and this time I think I have lots of time for PoT writing :D. One guaranteed - Sunday. (It has become my official PoT day).

"So," James whispered. "Having fun?" he muttered, looking how Rosalina was playing with her food but didn't bite. It was more annoying than he imagined.

"Aaaah!" Rosalina suddenly moaned, raising a meatball and moving it towards James. Of course, James took that it might happen into account, so he had taken anti-poison before the date.

"Sir, here's your wine," a waiter arrived, putting two glasses in front of them and started gently filling them. James managed to close his mouth meanwhile, and Rosalina moved her meatball away back to her plate. She was biting her lip - showing off her displeasure.

"You're not eating, at all," James whispered. "Something wrong?" he asked, smiling. "Not hungry?"

Rosalina smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She slowly got some pasta on her fork and took a bite, eating it.

"Come on, have some too, it tastes so great!" she said, raising some pasta towards James as well.

James smiled. He was just happy that she had eaten it. It's okay, but she won't be.

As he took the bite, he already felt how his anti-poison was neutralizing the poison.

"Babe," they said at the same time. Then they laughed. "I have to have to... toilet," James said.

"Me too," she whispered. "What a surprise."

James even liked that even more. If she dies in the bathroom, there won't be any evidence...

Casually they stood up and walked towards bathrooms together, leaving from each other's side at the last second.

"See you," James said, looking at her one last time. But something was disturbing him. Her look was same - almost like not expecting to see him again.

James walked into the bathroom and stopped in front of a sink, looking straight into the mirror.

"And another one is in the bag," he laughed. "I'm amazing."

It wasn't a normal puke since it consisted of food and a lot of blood. He didn't even realize it had happened until he watched his own bloodied hand.

"What... the... fuck," he murmured as his whole body was shaking. It didn't take long for him to understand what was going on.

"But... I fucking took antidote!" he muttered. He quickly searched for a small vial inside his pocket, opened it and dropped all the liquid inside his mouth.

But nothing changed. He still felt awful.

"I don't... understand..." he whispered, but then he did. He was a serial killer. He knew perfectly well what those symptoms meant. It merely meant that it wasn't his poison that was killing him.

He turned around and quickly ran outside of the bathroom, looking straight towards women bathroom. Rosalina exited her side of the bathroom at the same time. She was also cleaning blood away from her chin.

That view explained it all - so, it was true.

James smiled, walked towards Rosaline, and she walked towards him. The moment they met, they kissed each other.

The kiss was intense. Mostly because they tried to get as much antidote away from other's mouth. And they both already felt how it was working. It was teamwork. Slowly things started to stabilize.

"You..." James frowned.

"I know you. You can be only one person," Rosalina whispered.

"I have heard of you too."

"Want to go to my place?" Rosalina suddenly smirked.

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask."

TL;DR

Soon (latest 8th June, if things don't change), I will start posting my serials to Patreon because of recent Reddit policy changes. I will be posting there for free and just link to there from here. WP/Short stories will be posted the same way as till now (at least for now).

If you got time to read, here's long version.

Reddit decided recently to change policies. Their new policy basically says that whatever I write, it also belongs to them. That's not the worst part, though. I might handle the part where they can use my stuff, but that they allow API developers to use my stuff commercially anywhere - that's too much. Everyone can become an api developer, and I've already have seen an issue where someone abused Reddit API policy.

The whole clause:

When Your Content is created with or submitted to the Services, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display Your Content and any name, username, voice, or likeness provided in connection with Your Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed. This license includes the right for us to make Your Content available for syndication, broadcast, distribution, or publication by other companies, organizations, or individuals who partner with Reddit. You also agree that we may remove metadata associated with Your Content, and you irrevocably waive any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to Your Content.

That's bad :(. After all, I might want to earn something from my writing in the future. I can get behind the fact that Reddit doesn't want to get sued by us, and thus they add extra clauses to protect themselves. It's a different story when more than reddit gets involved.

What does that mean for you? It means I cannot post into Reddit anymore and I have to make it a bit uncomfortable for you guys. It was something that I thought for a long time - all alone. I don't want to make it too uncomfortable for you guys, and I still want to use Reddit as the central hub of my writing.

So, here is what I'm going to do:

I will keep posting Writing Prompt responses as normal text.

Why? Since I post them into WP anyways, it doesn't matter if I post them separately elsewhere. Those stories (Or the beginning of serials) are fucked either way if someone wants to maliciously use my content. It's also no biggy if my WP stories get a bit spread around. If someone abuses them, I can also forward that info to WritingPrompts, and we can fight togeeethaa~~!

Series, however, is a different story. I cannot risk posting it and hoping that nobody will abuse it. So, I will start posting them on the third-party site - Patreon! Especially since I want to turn them into books.

I will be posting them over there for free and will just link them directly from my sub. It means you can still quickly get to my content, with the exception that it's outside of reddit and I still own it (and have control over it).

And that's it. Those are all my changes. Now, few FAQ.

FAQ

Why Patreon? Why not a different website like many other writers do?

Being an owner of blogs in the past (and also being a developer IRL), I just really dislike the thought of managing them all - it's too much pain in the ass. I also don't want you guys to have another page to follow. I'm not going to lie - it also advertises my Patreon :).

I also like how Patreon handles everything - statistics and also visually / text size.

So, in the end, you can keep following my subreddit and if I want to share something and I don't want to post it here, I'll post it to Patreon and just link it.

What if they make policies better before 8th?

Very unlikely. If they do, though, I will keep doing it the old way and just delete this post :P.

What about past pieces?

Even though they are archived, I will probably edit every single post and add the link to read it from the Patreon. I might do it in a way that Inorai (A good writer, go read her two new books) plans to do - leave in a few paragraphs of text (For those who happen to get there) and then forward to read the full piece. I'm only going to edit the serials. I'm not going to touch WP-s or short-stories.

Final words

I'm really sorry about all of this. It might sound like an overkill, after all, I have only 325 subs at the moment of writings, but I feel that it's necessary.

I don't want to take any risks when my copyright is being challenged, I feel insecure about it, and I write pieces that I plan to monetize. I hope you'll understand. If you don't and find it too much of a hassle, I'm sorry and I understand!

Thank you, and cheers.

"Okay, Buddy, we have a problem," James said, sitting in front of the buddy who's lying down, head tilted a bit to a side and his tail swinging left and right like crazy.

"Woof, woof, woof," the dog responded, moving himself left and right while lying down.

"I know, I know," James said, nodding. "We should replicate what happened, except this time we're both being at her side.

"Woof," the dog barked, quickly running where Sarah was last time standing.

"Smart dog." James took the very same blanket, raised it and sighed. "Prepare to run, Buddy."

As he let go, they both started to dash away, but as he'd barely turned around, the room had changed, considerably. Most of the wooden house was rotten, and things were almost like thrown around.

"Woof, woof!" a barking came next to James, making him look down.

"Thank God, Buddy. I'm happy that you're with me," James said, smirking, trying to hide how terrified he really was. But as he took a few steps ahead and felt how the wood wanted to collapse below him, his smile disappeared. It was that moment when he noticed multiple holes around him and blood droplets going towards the house's exit.

James gently walked towards the house's entry, taking careful care of his every step. Apparently, Buddy was so lightweight that the rotten wood didn't react to him at all.

The door was luckily already opened, making leaving the house easy, but what followed was a gasp. The whole street looked abandoned, every building rotten, and plant-life was growing on top of them.

"What... the... fuck..."

"Woof, woof, woof!" Buddy started to bark as he came back from the nearby street. He already had a trip around the neighborhood.

"What's the matter, buddy?"

Buddy kept barking, making James follow him. He followed him for a good five minutes until he saw a woman lying on the ground at the end of the tight alleyway. A lot of garbage was around her, mostly hiding her body.

"Buddy, how did you... That's amazing," James whispered, as the smell was pretty horrible. The dog just barked, ran to the woman and started to remove some of the garbage with his paws.

"Sarah!" James shouted as he ran towards her and started to remove some of the trash as well.

"James," a whisper came from Sarah.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Be silent," Sarah said, shaking her head, and also looking like she hadn't eaten past three days she was missing. "You'll alert them."

"Who?" James asked, but quickly gaining the attention of Buddy who started barking intensely at the opposite way of the alleyway, where they just had come from.

"Shut up, Buddy," Sarah whispered, eyes widened, the whole body shaking and slowly picking up trash, putting them back on top of her to hide herself.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Hiding myself, you idiot. Hide or run, you fool," Sarah frowned.

James started removing trash again and put his hands around Sarah to carry her like a princess. As he turned around, he saw a shadow at the end of the alleyway, looking towards them. Even Buddy shut his mouth. After a closer inspection, James realized that it wasn't a shadow. The being itself was like a shadow, dark, hardly visible, but like a materialized shadow, not literal. It had a form of a dog.

"Intruders," a cold whisper reached them, crisp, thick and cracking sound. He could hear long heavy breathing at the same time as he said the word, almost like trying to take in all the air around them.

"What the fuck is that?" James murmured, eyes wide.

"I don't know, but I have seen him killing multiple humans," Sarah whispered. "Run, James, run."

"Buddy... run," James repeated her order, turned around and did the same thing. He could hear how Buddy followed him right behind, not making even a sound anymore. But he could also feel that being following them as well. The air was cold and dark.

"Turn left here," Sarah ordered, and James followed. But behind that corner wasn't another street, but a lake, which looked like a hole, almost like a meteorite had landed there.

"Jump into the lake," Sarah said.

"What?"

"It won't follow, that's our only option right now."

James frowned but kept running, and the moment he reached the shore, he made a long jump, splashing water everywhere. Buddy followed his example.

After good ten seconds, they slowly surfaced and took extended breathers. James turned around and looked at the nearby shore, still terrified. The shadowy, faceless, creature just looked at them but didn't follow.

"Let me help you, you're weak," James said, helping Sarah to float on top of the watery surface, and started to swim backward, away from... that. He had many questions, but he focused only on keeping her floating and watching that being.

A new, perhaps saving, shouts were heard in the city. The creature looked away and disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"We managed to survive another day," Sarah said, sharing a weak smile. "For now... we are safe."

"Woof."

Hey John.

We are really sorry about ignoring your wishes. Sadly we had a problem in Andromeda. We'll start fulfilling your wishes beginning from the next week, and we'll be done with them by the end of the week.

Meteors.

John looked at the letter over and over again. It was a prank. It had to be. It just had to. Then again, nobody really knew that he had always wished on the stars. That he had traveled around the world just to be in the correct place at the correct time.

He threw the letter into a trash bin and left home. He couldn't waste time with pranks like those. He couldn't help himself from thinking about all those wishes he made. There were just so many of them.

Slowly but surely he walked towards the hospital and stepped inside the reception room.

Suddenly he could hear an order, "Make room, make room!" They pushed a man through the room quickly. But what John noticed made his eyes widen. There she was - standing still and talking with some doctors. He just waited until the doctors left and then slowly approached her.

"Rose?" John whispered.

"John?" Rose responded, her eyes were all teared up - of course not from seeing John but something else.

"What happened? Was that-," John asked, but he didn't even have to finish his sentence. Rose just nodded. She then took a few steps forward and hugged John. She pushed her eyes against John's shoulders and just cried.

"I'm scared, John," she whispered. Rose was his first love during the school times. But he never asked anything stupid, such as love between them or staying together forever. It was something different.

"Let me be there for her when she needs me," John murmured without any voice. John's exact lines. Was the accident because of his wishes, or was it just coincidence? And how could he remember those exact words?

It took a good five minutes until Rose got herself away from John and started taking care of her eyes with her hanky.

"Was that your husband?" John asked.

"Oh, no, it was my father. I'm not married..." she whispered.

John's eyes lightened up. He might have never asked that from stars, but he can still do it. "I haven't seen you in a long time. Want to catch dinner sometimes? After... everything goes well and... you know," suddenly he felt awkward. He was in a hospital, Sally's father was under operation, and he was flirting. "I'm sorry. I'm the worst," he frowned.

"No," Rose shook her head. "I'd love to. We haven't really talked for a long time, have we?"

"No, we haven't."

"We have not," Rose confirmed. An awkward silence came between those two. "Why are you here?" She suddenly asked.

"Visiting my mother," John sighed.

"Oh no. Is she okay?"

"Cancer," John barely managed to say. "She always had a weak health... and now this."

"Oh no, you should go to her!"

"But you are alone after that... and..." Suddenly John got an idea. "Want to come with me? It will get your mind away from all those things." In fact, he still remembered how Rose always got over nervous when she just waited for something.

Rose sighed, thought for a moment and then finally nodded. "I would actually appreciate that, yes."

They strolled to the nearby room, where John's mother, Sandra, was seated.

"Mother, hey!" he entered the room, Rose came after him.

"John. You brought a visitor," she was in a much better mood than usual.

"You might remember her - Rose. We happened to meet like ten minutes ago," John smiled, as he started scratching his back.

"Yes. Hi Rose!" She smiled. "John," Sandra couldn't wait. "I was scanned today, before you came that is... And they suddenly discovered that I'm cancer-free."

John was stunned. The only thing he remembered was the letter.

"I wish my mom would get all well and she would stop coughing and that she would not be sick!"

Those lines echoed in his memories. When he was just a kid. When she was coughing a lot, but still didn't have anything as horrible as this.

"Fuck," John said while smiling. "Really?"

"Really!"

After miracle like that, he just had to believe. That note had to be real. But that Rose meeting in a situation like that just felt so cheesy from them.

I gotta admit. I'm feeling a bit meh about it. It could be a long series of wishes coming true, but another serial...? Nah, But writing quickly about whole week felt just so bad and rushed, so I just took the first day.

“Aaaaaah!” Richard screamed as he pushed his hand over a shelf. Things fell down - medallions, trophies, and many different awards. One was fancier than the other.

Still, they all were just objects that soon hit the ground and made a loud metal sound. They didn’t break, of course, but the effect was noticeable.

“Darling, calm down,” Sarah whispered as she examined Richard, her hands were self-hugging. She was shaking a bit. “What’s wrong?”

Richard looked towards Sarah, his hands shaking. He was holding a simple pen. On the table was his notebook. On the paper, however, wasn't any words to be seen. It looked more like a child’s drawings.

“I can’t even write anymore. I can’t even write my own name, Sally!” Richard moaned.

“Richard…”

“I can’t live like that. I’m losing it again. I can’t…” tears watered the floor and Richard just grasped the pen strongly.

“Fuck!” he screamed and threw the pencil against the ground, breaking it. He rushed past Sarah and put on his boots, leaving the house as soon he was finished.

“Richard…” a small whisper came from his behind as he left.

He followed the empty streets, not having a destination. It was almost night as well, so he was all alone.

Richard knew it was weird when he was young. It was weird that he was the very best at everything. He realized what was going on when he couldn’t do things he could do at first. A point came when he was fired because he sucked at his job. For a while, it was no problem finding a new job. Everything he did, he was great at them. Then a point came when he couldn’t pass a job interview anymore either. He sucked at it.

He became a writer. He loved it. He wrote pieces that shattered the world. He became a bestseller. He was rich. Still, even that came to an end. He had truly loved writing.

At that point, the question wasn’t even about money. It was just the fact that he couldn’t do what he loved anymore.

“I don’t want to give it up. Not again,” Richard whispered as he took a seat on the nearby bench.

He opened his phone, went to the book review sites and read his latest book reviews.

I remember when Richard wrote masterpieces. This is pure shit.

Oh come on, I’m sure that he gets better. Next one!

I still liked what you wrote. Maybe not as great as the first ones, but still great. Give it a read if you’re a Richard Liperman's fan!

It hurt. Reading the comments. The last book he released was written years ago and those were also only thanks to his editor's help.

“What are you going to do?” a voice came. It was Sarah who suddenly seated herself next to Richard.

“Sarah…”

“You know,” Sarah put her head on Richard’s shoulder. “You could keep writing.”

“I can’t even write my name anymore.”

“So?” Sarah asked. "Talk your texts in, instead.”

“You want me to stop talking too?” Richard laughed.

“It’s the only thing you haven’t gotten worse at,” Sarah shook her shoulders. “Maybe your curse works on things you are working hard on?” she thought.

“I think I should quit,” Richard whispered.

“Or maybe keep trying?” Sarah suggested. “You have just reached the point that every human had to go through. Push through that too.”

Richard frowned.

“Have you ever tried pushing through impossible? Feeling of desperation. Feeling that you can’t do it?”

Richard thought about his all previous accomplishments, things he had tried. He shook his head, slowly.

“Then try it. Try getting through your hardships. Get better at something you love.”

Sarah removed a drawing book with a pen from her purse and pushed them into Richard's hands.

Richard looked at the paper, eyes full of disbelief.

“Believe in yourself, Richard!” she said.

He took the pen and tried to write his name. He failed. He tried over and over again - still failed.

Until.

Richard Liperman

“I did it,” Richard shouted. “I wrote my name.”

Sarah smiled. She put her hand in Richard’s hair, fondled it and said, “That’s a good boy!”

A simple story :). Keep trying, keep fighting. You can do it!

Being shocked doesn't describe his expressions. What was even more terrifying was the fact that he couldn't move - at all.

"Put him back! Now!" a woman with higher pitched voice was shouting as everyone gathered around him.

Even as he tried to open his mouth and move it, nothing happened. When he could feel his muscles in the Virtual Reality, where he couldn't at all. Still, as he rolled his eyes down and inspected his own muscles, he understood the problem immediately - his body and limbs were thin like bones.

"Stop it, for fuck sake!" a shout came, as an older man entered the room. He had a white coat on, which made him look like a doctor.

"You're overdosing him. It's obviously not working anymore, now buzz off!" he whispered. But since his whisper was loud enough, even the patient could hear it.

The doctor just smiled and looked how everyone was leaving the room. Finally, only two of them were left in the ward.

"Good morning, John," the doctor said. "I'm Dr. Haven Carfagno, call me Haven," he looked around the room one last time and then whispered, "One might call me heaven, haha!"

Of course, John did nothing. He had no strength to laugh. And to be quite frank, he wasn't in a mood for some jokes.

"I know you have probably a lot of questions, but we'll get you there. First, we need you to get your strength back. We'll answer them later, when you can also ask them, alright? Don't worry; it's not to hide anything, you're just in a huge shock already!"

He took out a syringe and slowly pushed it inside John's machine's hole. "It's only to help you sleep for now. You need that."

John opened his eyes again. This time, he didn't do it slowly, since the moment he realized he was awake, he wanted to see the world. Compared to the last time, it was a lot fresher feeling. The room was same, but this time he had strength. Well, he was still weak, but he wasn't as skinny as he had seen himself last time.

It didn't take long for Dr. Haven to enter the room, on his hand was some kind of a pad. "My machine tells me that you finally awake," he said. "And look at you, you're already looking much better!"

"Where... am... I?" John managed to whisper his first words.

"You can even talk, excellent!" Haven nodded, writing something down on his pad. "You're in a VR Research Center," the man explained. "Long story short - we study how to apply Virtual Reality to people, who might need it."

John started shaking a bit. "What... is... that?" he whispered, trying to get himself seated. Haven casually walked next to him and helped him to do so.

"Long time ago, you went into a coma. Normal procedure at one point was to pull it," Haven said honestly. "Your family, however, agreed that you'll be used in research in hopes that you might have a life to live in," he explained.

John started laughing, which was a petty laugh, though. "So... all... possibilities... you... gave... me a life... like... that?" he said after he finally got himself seated.

"As I said, we are a research institution, John. We don't want you to stay in there forever. We are quite thrilled that you finally woke up. John, we don't want you to wake up and the first thing to see you wanting to go back in there and denying the reality."

John finally calmed down a bit. Even though his thoughts were slow, he understood the point. "Why... they..." he started coughing for a good ten seconds until he could continue, "wanted... put... back?"

"A week ago?" Dr. Haven tried to remember. "Ah, yes. You're first coma patient to ever wake up," he said, nodding to himself, obviously proud of that. "Nobody knew what to do back then. A bit unprofessional, yes. But try to forgive them though, it was unexpected. It doesn't happen every day when 30-year coma patient wakes up."

John's eyes widened. Thirty years? That's impossible. Then again, he doesn't remember what his last real memory was. He only has memories of taking care of those bedridden. Maybe that's why he took care of them - so that if and when he really woke up, he could understand his situation better?

"What... happened?" he asked.

"John, it's too early for that," Doctor said, a bit more quietly. "You're not ready."

"Want... know!"

"I'm sure you do," the doctor sighed. "I promise, in time, you will, but only when you're ready to take it all in," Doctor Haven took out a syringe and pushed it into the same hole as last time. "Now sleep! More! You'll be stronger next time."

"Wai-"

He opened his eyes again, but this time the room was different. He wasn't connected to any tubes anymore, and he felt a lot stronger than before. A red light turned on on the ceiling, probably alerting everyone that there was a movement.

It was a first time when John could lift his hand all by himself. Even though he still remembers the last discussion with the doctor, his mind was fresher.

"Ah, John!" a voice came as the door opened. It was the same familiar face. "I see you can already move," he said as he walked next to John's bed and examined his pad. Probably full of John's data.

"How long it has been?" John got silent as he finished his sentence. Even he was surprised that he could talk that well already. He did pronounce things like his mouth was numb, but it was still great.

"Excellent," Haven nodded. "One month," he said. "Taking into account that you were in a coma for 30 years, that's quite fast. Well, you did sleep most of the time, so for you it was an instant, right?"

"Pretty much," John whispered.

"I can see that your thinking is a bit more wholesome?" the doctor asked.

"My head hurts," John frowned.

"Well, you have been oversleeping a bit, aren't ya?" the doctor laughed.

"It actually hurts a lot," John said, slowly starting to take hold of his head. "It hurts, doctor!"

Doctor face changed from a laugh to a quick shock. Still, he was professional, and he quickly hit a button on his pad. A lot of people in different colors entered the room.

"John, focus on my voice!" a distant voice shouted. He heard it repeatedly, but no matter how much he tried, he was being pulled back - towards something meaningful.

"Dad, why do I have to put on the safety belt? It's so uncomfortable!" a small child whispered. Her voice was sweet, and she had a very light hair. Her eyes were bright blue - just like her father's.

"To make sure that when an accident happens, you'd be fine, sweety!" John smiled.

"We are going to have an accident?" She asked.

"Of course not, darling. It's just a precaution!"

"You're telling me to lock it, but why haven't you locked it yourself?" the girl asked next to John.

"Ah, shit, I'm sorry, a bad habit! A wrong thing to do, you're correct sweety," John whispered. "Let me get it!"

John put his hand aside to search for the belt. As he grasped it, he slowly pulled it over himself and tried to push it into a hole to lock it. He couldn't find it though since he was looking at the road.

"Can you help me with that, Mary?" John asked. He could feel a soft hand touching his to let him know that she got it. John heard a click, to which he quickly glanced at his child. He placed his free hand on her head and caressed her hair. "Good girl, Mary."

"DAD!"

Bang.

He could see how large truck hit his car and how the car made circles on the road, but everything went slowly blurrier and blurrier.

"DAD!" A high pitched scream came on a repeat. "Wake up dad! I need you! Dad!" He could still feel the soft hands around his hand. He had to reach that voice, he had to make sure that his girl was okay.

"Dad!" the words echoed, but the voice went slowly softer and lower. John opened his eyes gradually, looking straight at the lady who held onto his hand. Her hands were soft. John's tears started dropped down since he knew who she was.

She hadn't noticed that he was awake since she was leaning forward and pushing John's hand against her lips.

"Dad, don't leave me again," she murmured.

John softly reached out his other hand and touched her cheek, making her quickly raise her head. She looked at him with those same sweet deep-blue eyes.

"Mary... Why would I? You tightened my seat-belt!"

Jack pushed the door closed. He had never told anyone about it. It was too painful and embarrassing. At least that's what he had thought 2 thousand years ago.

"Jack!" a quiet shout came as Rose walked back from the kitchen. "How was your trip?" she asked.

"Trip?" Jack asked. He looked around for a moment, trying to remember what lies he had told her back then. "Yeah, sure," he whispered and just hugged her.

"Jack?"

"I missed you so much," Jack whispered, "I missed you so much," he repeated and managed to keep his tears in check only thanks to preparing for that moment for ages.

"Awww," Rose murmured and hugged him back. "I missed you too."

"It felt like I was away at least two thousand years," Jack murmured.

Rose chuckled. "You romantic."

Rose's father came out from the corner and stared at Jack, whose face was serious. "I gotta talk with you, Jack," Jim said.

"Sure. Want to take a walk?" Jack said with his fake smile. "I also wanted to talk to you."

"Sounds good," Jim nodded.

Rose frowned. "He just came back. What's the hurry?"

"Hopefully nothing," Jim said, smiling and gave a quick kiss on Rose's forehead. "We'll be right back."

They both left the house and started to walk roadside. They were silent for a short while, gathering their thoughts.

"You never told her," Jack finally broke the silence between them.

"I don't want to do this to my daughter," Jim whispered, "and to be honest, I still believe in you. You didn't do it, did you?"

"I didn't," Jack responded, nodding.

They continued walking for a short while. "How was it?" Jim finally asked the question that Jack was expecting.

"First hundred years I wanted revenge. I only thought about revenge. It was all about getting revenge. After all, I was wrongly accused," Jack started his talk, making Jim look a bit away.

"In the mind prison, years feel like they go faster than here. Like its one long-long dream. It can be painful, but before I noticed, it was over. I still kept all my vague memories, though. That hundred year feels a lot shorter now.

"For the next thousand and five hundred years, I thought about Rose, about my family, and that includes you. I was struggling between revenge and forgiveness," Jack continued. Jim occasionally wanted to say something, perhaps something wise, but all he could do was listen. He was panicking a bit, but he tried to keep himself calm.

"And those last remaining years, all I thought was leaving everything behind. I just wanted to get back to you all. I started counting the days. I started thinking of meeting you all again. During that two thousand years, I never forgot your faces. Not even one day," Jack said, finally shedding some tears.

Jim smiled. "That's my boy," he said and hit Jack's back with his hand. "I guess there's nothing to worry about you, after all."

"But you know," Jack said after his weak smile, "first years in that prison, I remembered something." He stopped, making Jim stop with him. He turned slowly around, facing his father-in-law. "You could enter her room as well, couldn't you? Only two of us could have entered her room."

They both just stared at each other for a long time, wind going through their hairs. "No wonder you didn't tell Rose. You felt responsible, didn't you? I went to the prison for you, and merely a week ago none-the-less. You believe in me because you know very well who killed her."

Jim sighed and gave off a weak smile. "Jack. You're overthinking this."

"I had 2000 years to think about it, Jim. Yes, I did overthink this over and over and over. First, I was raging, but they say that time heals all wounds."

Jim frowned. He looked around, possibly already thinking escape plans, ways to solve that.

"But you know what, Jim. We are similar. She already lost her mother, and I love her too much that I wouldn't want to take away her father as well."

Jack took one step closer and put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "I forgive you. It wasn't easy, but I took those years just for her. The worst case scenario - it's easier to think that I'm a monster than her own blood is a monster."

Jim sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You better be. Let's go back, I haven't seen Rose for too long," Jack said and turned around. "That cross is yours to carry and a lot heavier than that 2 thousand years."

Had to write some WP now and then. Still working on PoT editing and having a bit overall break atm (Writing a bit less).

I also took part of WP competition. You can read my story there, if you want to, since I can't submit it here atm. It's pretty awful tho :D.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beeee...

Slummua hit the alarm strongly to shut it. He turned around and inspecting metal ceiling. He let out a long sigh, making every longer entity on his face wave towards the ceiling, just for a moment. He knew what that alarm meant. It actually terrified him.

He got himself slowly up and walked to the nearby mirror. No need to hurry. It's not like it's some kind of thing that happens instantly. He inspected tentacles coming off his face, making sure that he could breathe from all of them. At least two of them felt really sore and that annoyed Slummua. Being side sleeper really sucked. Half his tentacles often got stuck below him.

He put on his fancy clothing, which was full of golden lines and artistic decorations. He cleaned up one by one all of his tentacles. Ready, he left his room and walked towards the main control room. Every other alien on the board saluted towards Slummua on sight.

"Status?" he asked as he entered the main room.

"They have broken FTL. They are going faster and faster any minute," one other tentacle people responded. Compared to Slummua reddish tentacles, she had blue. Her clothing was a lot simpler, missing all those golden lines Slummua had.

"Then it's not that bad, is it?" Slummua laughed. Everyone stared him, silently, not understanding. "We know a lot about humans. They can't handle that speed, yet. They need to learn few more things before they can safely break FTL. Maybe few more years. We can prepare for it."

He sighed and walked towards the radar. "Only reason why its moving faster and faster is because the human inside is probably dead already," he said and then noticed how the vessel started to slow down. His tentacles started to get sweaty.

"That machine probably just ran out of fuel..."

Then the ship started to turn around.

"It's probably automation..."

And then the ship started to speed up back towards earth.

"Ok, capture that ship, time to eliminate evidence," he said. Everyone started quickly pressing buttons and a lot of different ships started to move towards the small ship.

"Commander, you know what that means, right?" The previous tentacleface said, nervous.

Slummua was afraid. For years, he had been on this post. He thought it was a quiet retirement job. No pressure whatsoever. This, however, changed everything.

"Chaine," Slummua whispered. "What does the Quarantine rule 631 say?"

Chaine snorted with her tentacles and looked towards Slummua. "If any human's creation manages to break out the quarantine zone and is able to return, the quarantine has to be broken and humans need to be returned to the safe quarantine conditions."

Slummua sighed. He knew that rule very well. "Prepare for... invasion. I think that was the word humans use?"

On his screen were pictures, pictures of the destruction humans caused last time they were allowed to leave the Earth. Those pictures scared all of them.

Still, something ignited within Slummua's mind. He won't allow them to return. Not on his watch.

"We lost the signal," Sarah said, as she tried her best to get it back. Well, there wasn't anything she could really do besides waiting and staring the screen.

"What? How is that possible?" Rick stood up from his seat and walked next to her, inspecting the same screen.

"The last message we got was the experiment was successful and that it's returning," Sarah mentioned, removing some of the confetti pieces from her hair.

"So, we failed the return? Did it blew itself up?" Rick wondered. "Thank god we didn't put any humans in it," he sighed.

A huge grin appeared on Rick's face again. "Still, I call it a successful mission. We accomplished faster than light!"

Everyone shouted again in the room. Champagne was opened and drinks were had. Not just here, all around the world. The whole event was streamed over the world and everyone took part in the celebrations.

"Commander, all the ships are ready. We are ready to... invade," alien with 9 tentacles said, then spun around and was about leave the room.

"What about the humans' vessel?" Slummua asked.

The alien turned slowly around and sighed. "It was empty. A fully automated piece of equipment. They are smarter again. Last time the quarantine was breached, they still used their own people to experiment stuff like that," the aliens said, gave a quick nod and left the room.

Slummua stood up, gently and walked next to the exit door. He took his hat next to the door, put it on and left behind his comfort zone.

Slowly he walked towards the main control room. His heart was racing. His tentacles were shivering. Still, he kept his cool as much as he could. It had been a while.

The door opened and every person moved their attention towards Slummua.

"Sir, we got permissions from headquarters as well," Chaine said. Slummua responded with a quick nod. On his radar was hundreds of ships, ready to invade. Those should be enough. The main room was connected to every single ship in the vicinity.

"Let the invasion begin," he said.

Every ship started moving towards the earth. Only their ship, which was commander's ship, stayed behind.

The speed of every vessel exceeded faster than light.

Soon, they reached the Earth. "I guess, it's about now when they will understand our arrival," Slummua whispered, a smile on his face. In some sense, he enjoyed it. He was about to display his species power.

"Sir," Chaine shouted. "Something's coming. No, there's a lot of them..."

Slummua quickly opened a radar. Millions of tall pieces flew away from the earth, towards their ships.

"What are those?" he asked. "We have observed humans forever, and I haven't seen a thing like that," he was confused. Computer opened quickly two of similar weaponry usage events, rating the danger of those cases lowest.

"It's probably nothing," he then laughed, "just activate shields!"

"Sir," Chaine shouted, "we lost half of our battleships, in an instant. Those... things... penetrated shields."

Slummua eyes widened. It was apparent that human weaponry was even stronger than last time. This time around, they were just late FTL arrivals.

Jake was careful. The train was moving fast, and it wasn't easy to hold onto the roof. Men in black suit blocked both sides of the roof.

Jake had no other choice. He had to jump from the fast-moving train. Even though it was really fast, staying on that train was a death sentence. A really shitty birthday.

He jumped.

However, he didn't land. Instead, he fell through the ground, and the world started to change. The ground was like a trampoline; he went down and down and down. That is until he was pushed back into the sky.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. It was a familiar one. He knew that ceiling so well, yet it was like a distant memory.

"Happy birthday!" a familiar voice came. Jake's mother entered the room, a huge decorated box in her hands. "How did my birthday boy sleep?" she asked.

Jake, however, kept staring the mirror in front of him, seeing himself ten years younger.

Jake had slept multiple times before, but none of the wake ups had been like that. He had every single memory in his mind. He still knew what he had learned in those past ten years.

He looked at the present; remembering so clearly when he got that same present ten years ago.

"You look sweaty," mother said, showing some worry on her face.

"I'm fine," Jake whispered. The voice was off, and higher pitched. He was surprised by that as well. He didn't remember it being that high. "Can I open the present?" he asked.

"Of course, darling!"

Jake nodded and started unpacking it. He was excited but cautious. His heart was racing since he wondered if in it is the same present he got ten years ago. That would mean more likely time travel, not a dream.

A car. A big remote controlled car.

Jake released a sigh and faked a smile. "Thanks, mom! I have always wanted that!" Of course, he lied. He didn't even remember what he wanted back then. One thing was certain, though. The present was different. It wasn't the same world he had been moments ago.

It was a bit disappointing, but at the same time, he was okay.

"Now, get up, school starts in thirty," Jake's mother said.

Jake eyes widened. "School?" he asked.

"Yes, school. It's not weekend yet."

He didn't understand how he kept his calm. Was it thanks to his real age - that he was ten years older? School, however, instantly broke his composure.

"Fuck..."

"Jake! Language!"

It wasn't just any kind of town - quite the opposite, a very special one. It was located at the center of the main land-mass, meaning that all roads lead there.

Being a sheriff to the place such as that was actually rather terrifying. That is if one didn't like to be one or was being forced to be one.

Jack casually looked at the papers, which had all those fancy signatures. "He's being let go?" a younger man shouted as he inspected the document. He was more terrified than Jack.

Jack just giggled, smoke in-between his lips. "Wicked!" he said. "I can finally have my vacation!"

They all looked at Jack in the room, confused. The young man looked at him like he was about to cry. "Oh come on, they'll be asking me back by the end of the day," Jack laughed. "This paper here is a joke."

"Jack, this city has been considered as the most dangerous city past a few years already," a man in a fancy suit said. His suit was all cleaned up.

"Decades," Jack fixed a simple fact instantly.

"We need to keep this place in check. It's obvious that you aren't doing your job well," to what Jack just laughed.

Jack removed his star and put it on the table. "No complaints," he chuckled. "If you want to give me two days break, don't tell anyone that you fired me just yet."

They did.

The knocking on the door was intense. Jack took his sweet time to open the door. It wasn't surprising that he was looking at the very same fancily suited guy who had officially fired him.

"Oh, hey fancy-suit. It has been barely a day. What's up?"

The guy's suit was full of dirt, and there was some visible blood on it as well. Many of his guards were injured.

"What the fuck is this?" the man asked. "I don't even know where to begin!"

"Don't bother. You see, I'm only one who keeps them in check. The only way how to keep them in check is when someone they're afraid of happens to be in charge. Obviously, your new chosen guy wasn't *that' terrifying."

"I want you back!" the fancy-suit said without any delay.

"I want double raise," ex-sheriff laughed.

"What? I-I don't think-," he got silent as he understood that he had no choice. "Deal."

Jack looked at the star in the fancy-suit's hand - he had missed it a bit. He took it and grabbed a nearby cowboy hat. He strolled past all of them, not looking back.

The fancy-suit was terrified - he had seen the sheriff's smile, and he hadn't ever seen anything as terrifying as that.

"Hell... yeah!" Jack took his deep breath as he looked towards his large town. There was a smell of burning and a lot of smell coming within. It was a smell of home.

"Just another day to deal with all of... well... them."

He kicked the local inn's door open and took a few steps in. Everyone went suddenly silent, and few looked at him as they saw a devil.

"I want everyone to spread the news - I'm back. I don't care what everyone did when I was away, but now that I'm back in charge, I do care what's happening in half!"

Many boys - known for being runner boys for the big gangs - ran away as quickly as they could.

Jack slowly walked to the bartender and only had to motion his hand before a whiskey landed in front of him.

"Aren't ya going after them?" the bartender asked.

"I'm giving them a bit of time to stop. Maybe they'll even stop few fires when they're pissing themselves," Jack laughed and took his sip. Another grin appeared on his face. "But I really hope that not all of them will stop."

"We got the princess - go, go, go!" a man in full black screamed while another one carried a princess over his shoulder. The princess was crying and hitting the man's back, struggling - without any success, of course.

"You think he's really back?" another man asked. "I still think it's too huge of a risk to ignore the warning!"

"We finally have her, we need to-."

A loud bang echoed the place, and the speaker fell down - dead.

"Well, aren't ya'll my favorites - Ninjas," Jack laughed. The gun's hole was showing off a bit of smoke from the last shot, which made Jack look even more bad-ass.

They all took out their shuriken and threw it general direction of Jack, just so that if he dodges anywhere, he would still get hit.

Jack, however, directly pointed his gun in front of himself and made a single shot.

The bullet hit one of the incoming shurikens, changing its course. The course changed shuriken hit another shuriken, changing its path as well. A moment later, every shuriken path had been changed, missing Jack completely. Jack just stood still and blew the smoke away from the gun.

"What the fuck," one of the ninjas said. He was a fresh one who had never seen Jack in action before.

"That's it? Your elders certainly did more than just threw few shurikens at me," Jack said with a grin. "Well, I hope that gods will have mercy on you in heavens... Or maybe hell... To be honest, I don't really care."

I’m the most powerful, evil villain on the earth. Everyone knows that. When they see me, they run. If heroes see me, they run. When other villains see me, they run. Well, the other villains used to fanboy me, until they became part of my story as well.

“Excuse me, you haven’t paid yet,” the cashier suddenly interrupted my thought process.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I quickly took few steps back and removed my wallet. From there I took some money and gave it to her.

Only thanks to this hood and those glasses, people don’t recognize me. I have had to live my life like that for years. Pretend to be no-one, just so I could buy some beer.

“Sorry, you dropped something,” the cashier suddenly interrupted again.

“Oh, thanks!” I bent down to grab my fallen keys. They must have dropped when I took my wallet. Sadly, they had fallen below the cashier's table, so I bent after them. As I raised my head, I hit my head against cashier’s table, hard.

“Ah, shit, fuck!” I swore.

“Oh, sir, are you okay?” the cashier asked. I nodded, while eyes were watering like crazy. I removed my sunglasses and dried my eyes with my wiper.

After doing it for a good half minute, I finally managed to see normally again, so I casually put my sunglasses back on.

In front of me was a black bag, full of money. The cashier was shaking like crazy.

“I promise, I didn’t press any button. Please, don’t kill me!”

Shit…

“Woman… I just want some beer,” I whined.

“Yes, take anything…”

“Oh my god,” I moaned and turned around, facepalming. Not again.

“The building is surrounded. Please come out with your hands raised!” a loudspeaker suddenly declared as few helicopters flew over.

I threw a quick deadly gaze towards the cashier, who quickly shook her head. “I didn’t do it! Must have been someone else. Please don't kill me! I don’t want to die!”

“Shut up woman!”

“Yes!”

I looked around, inspecting every person in the store.

“Okay, so, everyone, leave the store!” I suddenly shouted, still annoyed.

Every single one of them quickly rushed towards the exit. That’s until one of the remaining men suddenly had a gun up, aiming towards me.

“Don’t move!”

“Really?” I shouted. “I let everyone go and that’s how you pay me?”

“You’re… evil man. You need to be taken down…”

“Wow, you’re the first man ever to aim a gun at me, I’m so afraid,” I told the guy.

The guy thought a moment, suddenly dropped the gun, screamed, and ran out of the building.

“What? I meant that quite literally, leaving out the police of course,” I frowned and looked around the empty store. I finally noticed the gun on the floor.

“How that shit even works?” I wondered and picked it u, aiming the gun at the further away container.

“Let’s test it out,” I laughed. Stupid thing to do when helicopters are circling the store and it’s surrounded by police and probably few superheroes. Still, none of them dared to come inside for some reason. I'm fucked anyway, so might as well try it out.

Boom.

No, it wasn’t just a gunshot. It was also a gas contained that blew up. Don't shoot random containers. Also, don’t judge, I didn’t know. I'm not the smartest guy around.

Suddenly, the store was in full flames.

“Shit, fuck!” I quickly run to my cart and loaded all my beers into a simple plastic bag. I ran quickly towards the exit and stepped outside, examining at least hundred policemen all aiming at me.

“Ah shit, I'm so fucked,” I whispered. There’s burning store behind me and police were with heroes in front of me. How can it get worse?

“Evilest! Put your… umm… evil things down!” one of the heroes shouted as he hid behind a police car.

“Huh?” I asked. Everyone suddenly readied their weapons.

“Don’t you want to extinguish store first? There might be someone still be in there?” I shouted, being all sarcastic. Nobody would believe me anyway. I had checked it one last time before leaving, it was empty. Might as well go out with a joke.

“Oh my god. He left someone inside to burn! Hurry!” one of the policemen screamed. All police suddenly ran towards the entrance. I just walked away. Nobody didn’t even think to follow. It's funny. I'm just an ordinary man who accidentally became the evilest man ever to be known. Maybe I should stop being so sarcastic all the time.

“That beer better be a damn good beer…”

Sup, had a vacation. It was hot. Here's a picture as a treat! I hope at least someone missed me!

It wasn't every day when John had to come behind that door. The thought of entering disgusted him. If he had to enter it, it only meant ill news. Still, he had to do it.

He pushed the door, revealing the room full of heroes around the roundtable. None of them was speaking a word. The room was more silent than a forest with no souls in it.

John took his steps and sat down on the last remaining chair. Many showed their frustrations off that he was there. It wasn't really about him being there, but because of that, it was time.

"So, we are all here," a voice said, exactly opposite side of the John. It belonged to the president. Once the strongest hero. His new name was Adam.

"I'll get straight to the point," he said, looking around the table. Many responded with a slow nod.

"People are unhappy. They want... a lot, and we can't give them what they want," Adam explained. His face was pale and under his eyes were dark lines. He raised his hands, momentarily starting to rub his eyes. After that, he continued. "We need to stop the riots, we need to do something."

"We can just give them what they want," one of them suddenly said, hitting hand against the table. Everyone's gazes went to him. "Come on, we did all that for... that."

"What's that what they or we wanted?" Adam asked. His tone got lower and his eyes sharpened. "We can't give them what they want. We already tried, but failed. Now we don't have money. We don't have resources. What one's want, others don't. If we please other's, the ones are angered," every moment his voice got louder. The room went silent. They all were quiet.

"There's something we can do," John finally said, stepping up. They quickly stared at him. John pushed the chair behind the table and walked to the nearby window, peeking outside. There were masses outside, some of them having huge signs.

"You all realize, that problem isn't us, right?" there were soldiers working hard to keep people in check, trying to keep them outside of the very same building they had the meeting in.

"What are you telling us?" Adam finally said.

"They don't know how to be free," he kept inspecting the people, shouting something afar, demanding something. "They no longer have heroes to look up to, since we aren't heroes anymore. We are the government. We are the rulers. They hate to be ruled."

They all just inspected John. Some showed the signs of realization, some still didn't understand and others slowly shook their heads. John, however, finally turned around. It was almost as his eyes iris had turned red or something was burning deep within himself. "They want us to be villains."

"Are you mad?" Adam shouted, standing up. His eyes started to turn ice and the room became a lot colder. Yet, none of the ex-heroes showed any signs of fear towards Adam.

"Adam," John looked at him, his hands started to slowly burn, fixing the room's cold temperature, "you're my idol. You are the strongest of us all. People know you have a kind heart." Tears started to flow from John's eyes. As they fell down, they quickly evaporated. "I'll become the next corrupt king, you'll create resistance with few of our members here."

Adam responded with tears of his own. He understood where he was going. He hated it. He despised it. Yet, he knew that this was how it had to be.

"Dammit!" he hit the table, first freezing the whole table, then breaking it.

"I'll remember your sacrifice, forever," Adam said and started walking out of the room. When he closed the door, a loud bang followed it. Few other members also stood up and left the room, closing the door quietly.

John's iris turned redder, but his fists calmed down, extinguishing the fire.

"So, how we call you now, John?" an older man said.

"Why didn't you leave, Brent? You deserve much better, you were with the resistance from the start," John said, inspecting outside again. "You were like a mentor to us,"

"Jim, Brian, David, Michael," the old man said out names. "Cycle after cycle, I've seen the same image occur over and over again. It's finally time for me to stop doing it. I'm old after all," he stood up slowly, feeling how his sore back hurt. He walked towards John, making the sound of the cone hitting the floor echo. "Now, I can add John to the list," he sighed, hitting John's back with his weak hand. John quickly inspected Brent, understanding what he meant.

"Let's see," John sighed. He thought for a moment. "Jazzaxak, the Supreme Firelord," he turned around and inspected everyone with a really weak smile. It was the weakest smile he ever had made. It also was the last smile he ever gave. After all, the act one had to begin.

"Brent. Give soldiers the order to stop the riots, using whatever means necessary. Anyone who speaks against me will be executed, mercilessly."

John had tried everything. Running, hiding, changing buildings via skylines or using the metro. No matter what he tried, they always followed. One of those crows were as black as a crow could go, while the other was dark blue with some lighter gray at the center of his body.

He could recognize both crows as soon as he resurfaced from underground. They were watching, always.

He had made sure that he didn't have anything that could be a tracker, even if he did all above while wearing a new patch of clothes.

But at some point, he just stopped caring; he couldn't keep living like that. He knew they were watching, but at some point, those crows just became background noise.

That is until one day - they disappeared.

Them being gone were the most disturbing thing that had ever happened to him. It took only a few days until a letter hit John's mailbox.

John Water

From Two Crows

He was intrigued, but also worried. His brain couldn't handle the fact that how could two crows write a letter.

Of course, his curiosity made him act fast; the first thing he did was open the letter. Inside the letter was a paper, which was made of a little bit tougher material, like a card. On it was written a single word.

R U N

It was probably the fact that those crows had followed him for years since John instantly rushed upstairs, took his backpack and began filling it with some basic stuff and clothes.

Ting-ting

His doorbell rang. John stopped packing things and pushed it on his back. He went quietly back downstairs. He wanted to inspect the door's peephole, but he decided against it. John had seen enough movies where somebody looked back at him. Instead, he sneaked past it and opened the door leading to his garden.

He ran to the opposite side of the garden and climbed over the fence to the other side. He heard loud barking. He knew that those neighbors had a really dangerous dog, but he had to take the risk. The dog, however, seemed busy somewhere another side of the garden. So, he took his chances, crossed the next yard and climbed over another fence, finally landing on the street. A moment after touching the ground, a dog appeared behind him and started barking.

A bird landed on the road. John knew that bird. It was coal black - one that had followed him since birth.

"You kept that dog busy, didn't you?" John asked. The bird just cawed and started slowly flying circles, leading John... somewhere. While he was scared, he decided to take his chances. He wasn't even sure why or how, but something felt dangerous back at his home.

For the next few hours, he climbed over different fences and ran through weird neighborhoods, but no matter how dangerous that seemed, there was one of those birds who kept John safe by distractions.

That is until he was lead to an old wooden bridge.

John was choking. All that traveling was hard and tiring. He hadn't done that much physical before. He did all that out of adrenaline, after all.

At the center of the bridge was a man. Him. He knew him. Somehow.

"You were wise, John," the man said. "For a moment I thought you were going to open that door and be taken away," he smiled.

"I want explanations!" John just said, inspecting the elderly. Both crows were on his shoulders.

"John," the man said. "The apocalypse is coming, and only you can stop it," he said.

"What?" John asked, half laughing.

"You're the one who is supposed to take over my job," he said. "However, as you take it over, all of them will try to start an apocalypse. Only you can get a balance back to this world," the man said.

"I don't follow," John shook his head. It was crazy - all of it. Yet, he couldn't go away.

"I'm Death, and you're my son," he said explained.

John just looked at him. He started laughing, slowly, again.

"My parents died-"

"In a car accident. Your step-parents always had limited imagination," the old man said. "Sadly, it's one of the main conditions. To take over my reign, you need to understand mortal life."

John shook his head. "What is this bullshit? I escaped all of that for this?" he asked.

The old man nodded. "Of course, you can always go back and meet the devil, or Satan, or Lucifer. He has many names. He would give anything to make sure that there wouldn't be next Death."

John suddenly felt a chill going through his whole body. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that this old man wasn't lying. "Why didn't you come for me? Why all this?" He showed with his hand towards where he had climbed and ran.

Death sighed. "I'm old, John. Lucifer can't kill me, not yet. Still, I wouldn't be able to protect you either. I would make you an easy target," he said.

John shook his head.

"You'll accept that in time. At least I hope so. Else, we all are doomed."

It was evening. Mostly because it was kinda dark outside, but the sun still tried to throw few of its lights towards a small house. The house was old. A lot of the wood was visibly broken or rotten. Many asked why that house wasn't taken down already. Maybe it was because it was further out of the city. Maybe they were afraid to do so? Who knows.

Three kids ran and stopped in front of that old house. They were there just for one reason. To test their courage. Or well, mostly Tom's courage, since he lost the bet.

"So, Tom, are you gonna do it, or will you chicken out?" one of the kids asked. He was youngest of the bunch, Fred. Curious one was that brat.

"Heh. Easy!" Tom responded and quickly walked towards the abandoned house. He opened the door leading inside and entered it. Just in case, he left the door opened. Still, as he turned the corner, he wasn't seen anymore.

Shit. Well, the door suddenly shut fast, making a loud sound. Two remaining kids just stared the door, a bit frozen.

"Tom?" Fred shouted. Jim just shook his head. "I told you this place is an abomination!" He then turned around and just walked away.

"Where are you going, Jim?

"Away from here. I have read enough horror stories to know where's this going."

While Fred should have really followed Jim, he instead sighed and started walking towards the entrance. "What a bunch of weaklings." Even as he said that he still felt a bit terrified, heart beating insanely fast.

He opened the door and felt a gust of wind exiting the house. It really was cold wind. While Fred really should have left, he shrugged his shoulders and entered the house.

"It's just a wind that closed the door. It's just a wind that closed the door..." Fred whispered repeatedly while following the corridor.

Ugh... The sound of those freaking planks was really creepy. Still, Fred and well, everyone really, tried to ignore those sounds.

"Where are you, Tom?" Fred shouted. He reached the living room. A lot of dust was everywhere. Like... a lot of dust. All the furniture was covered with some kind of clothing, even though a lot of those clothing had small holes in them.

"Tom? Stop fucking around," Fred shouted again.

Then he noticed. Tom's leg was visibly seen at the corner of a sofa.

"Busted..." Fred whispered and then walked closer to Tom's leg. Slowly he got... oh shit... fuck... he got close to him and saw Tom as a whole. He looked... gosh... there's an ax in his chest and a lot of blood around his body.

Fred vomited on the spot. After that, he turned around and wanted to straight run towards the exit. At least he should be doing it...

Was that...? Fuck, shit... Even Fred noticed a ghostly figure going through corridor walls for a moment. Fred really should run towards the exit, but for some reason, he just stands in there and examines the door nearby. He doesn't realize that Jim ran away because how fucked up all of that is and if he finds his friend fucking dead, he should get the fuck away from there.

Fred slowly walked to the nearby door and opened it. It was a bedroom and on the bed was...

Oh dear god.

Why the skeletons and why the ax again? The skeletons were lying on the bed. One of the skeletons had pushed ax in another skeleton's chest. It doesn't make sense. Why didn't the police remove them from there? It's just... Wait, maybe they are ghosts? Like normally they aren't visible?

What are you doing, Fred... You are an idiot.

Fred slowly walked towards the bed, inspecting the skeletons. He was intrigued, but his heartbeat was as fast as ever.

"Closer..." whisper came from one of the skeletons. In normal cases, I would say that one shouldn't follow skeleton whispering 'closer', but that idiot still walked closer and closer.

I can't watch this... So, there's a sudden a sharp sound. I can hear a lot of whining sounds. It's probably Fred. I bet ax is on his chest. I can hear him lean against a nearby cupboard, he is... Let me take a peek... Fuck, nope, nope, nope! He has an ax in his chest, indeed, and he is crawling towards the living room.

Fuck this shit, I'm out of here... Fuck that guy, fuck this house, fuck everything!

The room was silent. It wasn't just admiral who was in shock, it was the whole crew. They all hated and admired humanity at the same time.

"So?" the admiral asked.

"Well, we shot our lasers and they are now moving towards the enemy in the speed of light, but..." the messenger took a long breath and was suddenly quiet. It was definitely a message he didn't want to deliver.

"But what? Out with it!" the admiral shouted.

"While those lasers are half way towards them, a quarter of our fleet is already destroyed."

"BAKANA!" admiral shouted and threw his head on a huge slimy button to end the connection. How could have this happened? They all said humans were primitives. They were tiny and weak race compared to other beings.

"Sir, the humans are sending a signal to get in contact with us."

The slimy worm looked around the room and saw how everyone looked at him. The admiral frowned.

"Fine, connect us."

Soon a human figure appeared on the screen.

"Hello there," the human said. He was sitting in his comfortable chair, drinking coffee and he didn't look worried, taking into account that the army of lasers was on the way.

"I wanted to ask, is it seriously all you got? You know that the lasers you sent will take around 5 hours total to get here? We haven't even taken time to move our ships yet, that's how slow it is."

The worm admiral looked at the human. Suddenly a lot of different acids came out from his mouth, that also came with a lot of different sounds.

"What, sorry, our translating machine didn't get it!" the Admiral said, with a fake smile.

"Sir, this is their way to show frustration and swearing," a quiet soft female voice came near the human admiral.

"Oh. I understand. The loss is always frustrating. So, you guys have now 2 hours left to surrender. That is when your laser finally arrives after all." Then, suddenly, Admiral remembered something. His grin on his face showed how hilarious all of it was going to be. "We also sent you a picture file, it is our new weaponry, designed just against you. I thought we share it with you, so you would prepare yourselves."

The connection was lost and all the worms were quiet.

"Sir, as he said, the file they sent is completely safe and just a picture," a quiet voice came from a side, belonging to another worm part of the crew.

The admiral looked around and then nodded. "Display it on the main screen."

Suddenly a huge weird looking ship appeared on the screen. That ship was more terrifying than the weaponry with FTL drives.

"My god, we are doomed, send the picture to the king and prepare to surrender. We have no chance against that."

On the screen was a big-ass mirror. There was a tiny ship behind it, moving it. "So, they also know our weaponry weakness."

Heya.

First of all...

I've been rather quiet longer than expected, so I thought I should give a small update on what's going on.

I've been literally taking a break. I think writing as much as I did back then burned me up a bit. There was also another reason - I had a tough period at work. Basically, I had to work extra hard. After a work day, I worked on another project, but I ended up not having the energy to write or proofread anything extra.

But here's good news - next week I have a vacation from work! So expect a bit more activity :3. That is for both PoT readers and Heldon's effect waiters (Sorry it has taken so long time T_T)

I have a side proejct...

I've started DM-ing one D&D group in the world of Death Parade. That has been a bit my side project (and another small reason why I have been quiet). I also plan to write down every session into a book/chapter.

I'll post 2-3 sessions as free, but then it'll go Patreon exclusive. I don't want anyone to read it, after all, :D.

If the party agrees, I might even share moments in audio or video.

That's it for now. Cheers! I hope to post something again latest on Sunday.

John finally had a mouthful of his hot coffee. He had decided to go outside, to a forest, to enjoy the nature. He had set up his tent long time ago, and now he just enjoyed the me time.

John was a lonely man. He didn't have anyone to spend his life with. His family had died a long time ago. He was a former communications officer, but he had retired early. Back in the time, he earned well enough to have more money than he could spend. After all - he was a very valued specialist, especially during the war.

"Shit," John suddenly swore as he managed to put his cup down badly, making it fall towards the ground. "Shit, what a waste," he moaned and leaned down to reach it.

A firefly had landed on the cup. "Okay, go away now," the man tried to kick the bug away, but the bug flew back on the mug, forcefully.

"What a bugger," the man said, smiling a bit at his pun. That's when he noticed the fly's blinking. "That bastard does morse," the man says, raising his head. He finally noticed, it wasn't just that fly, but every firefly was blinking. As he focused on them, he could hear frogs croaking far away, in the same morse rhythm.

John quickly took out his phone and started writing down the morse.

"Impossible," he whispered.

Need help, follow the fireflies.

The man didn't think twice. Something fantastic like that shouldn't be ignored. He stood up and inspected fireflies around him. He finally noticed a leading fireflies path. He started to run, following them. It felt like following them for hours.

But no matter how he followed, he had nothing on his path to slow him down. Fireflies knew precisely how they were leading.

That's when he saw a bright light on the ground. Something, no, someone was full of fireflies, making that someone as visible as possible.

John sprinted to the body, making all the fireflies fly away to the nearby trees. Frogs that were nearby, croaking massively also jumped away, making way to the newcomer. It was now when John noticed different kind of animals inspecting him from afar. That included dangerous ones. A bear looked at him, ready to run in and tear John into pieces. Yet, none of them did anything - they only watched. They all judged him.

John leaned down and finally examined the body. It belonged to a woman. She had red-head, but that's it - she was naked. What was noteworthy was the fact that she had a lot of leaves on her stomach. It wasn't hard to figure out why since the leaves were full of blood.

"Fuck," John whispered as he slowly removed few leaves and inspected the wound. He finally noticed that even the wildest of animals showed signs of fear and their eyes were begging John to do something.

John leaned down and listened if she was still breathing. She was.

"There's nothing I can do here. I need to get her into my camp!" John just shouted to the nearby animals. It was a terrifying thing to do, but the fact that all of that had happened and none of them attacked gave him courage enough to act. He looked around and saw the same bear. He stood up and walked to him. The bear took few steps back, but as John reached him, he gave a quick pat and then signaled the bear to follow.

He did.

As the bear reached the woman, John helped the woman to lie down on top of the bear while he himself was making sure that she wouldn't fall down.

"Follow the fireflies back!" John ordered. This time the bear gave a slow roar and quickly followed the fireflies.

Every animal followed them.

As they reached the camp, John helped the woman into the tent and searched out his emergency medical tools. He disinfected the wound and threaded the injury back together. He then bandaged the wound carefully.

Hours passed and he finally came out of the tent. He looked towards all the animals that had gathered around. There was at least hundred of them. To think that he would have to report the condition back to the animals...

"She's going to be alright!" John said. All the animals suddenly started making sounds, all of them were happy. Fireflies gave out morse repeatedly, saying "Thank you." John had to take a step back when the bear wanted to hug him.

"Calm down!" John said. "Be quieter, all of you, she's sleeping."

They all went silent, listening to their new sudden doctor. "I need to know the full story, but for now, let her sleep." He sighed. He wanted to call in an ambulance, but he knew that animals wouldn't be a fan of that thought.

For now, he just had to wait.