°°° Drive °°° It was quiet, so Sean could hear the entire conversation. He was listening keenly until his phone rang; it was Jason. "Hey buddy," Sean picked it up. "Oh my God, Sean!" Jason was almost screaming. "What happened? I have been calling you for ages. You don’t return my calls, you don’t reply to my voicemails, not even on social media... "What the hell happened, bro?" "Calm your horses, son," Sean laughed. He was shocked by Jason’s reaction and laughed as he remembered that this kind of emotion was the same one Jason once said he would never show, a few months back. "…" Jason froze, then he exhaled loudly. "I’m sorry," Jason said after a moment. "I was just worried, that's all." It’s been a week now. "Yeah," Sean sighed. "And I’m sorry I couldn’t return your calls." Something came up and... "It’s Boris, isn’t it?" Jason’s caring tone was suddenly tainted by anger. "What? "No, well, yes... but... ugh," Sean was confused. "Let me explain," Sean exhaled and gave him
°°° Flowers at Work °°° • Crest Care Hospital • The staffroom was the only place, other than a few doctors' offices, that didn’t smell like antiseptic mixed with a metallic tang from stainless steel in the open air or bleach wafting from bedding. It was also one place where the scent of get-well flowers and questionable food smells from room trays had yet to corrupt. Even the doctors sometimes came up with excuses to take a breather here. A gray double-door fridge stood to the left of the doorless entrance. The wall it was backing had a sink and cupboards stretching across the entire wall's length. Just before the glass walls with a sliding door that led to a balcony, a microwave oven built into the walls was on. The sudden beeping sound drew the attention of the three ladies and the only man in the room, who were taking their break. The short, blonde-haired nurse with forest green eyes quickly walked over to the microwave and took out its contents. She w
°°° Decision °°° The sunny and mild afternoon weather was the kind that was perfect for bike riding. Accompanied with the cool breeze that blew around every now and then, this was easily one of the best Wednesdays this month. Sean was skateboarding through the streets, heading for the Millennium Skates World. He’d carried his roller skates to school today, planning to give himself a post-exam reward. He walked in and paid what was necessary, and in a few minutes he was roller skating. He met a few guys from school, and though he didn’t consider them friends, they kept each other company. They played a couple games, with Sean winning forty percent of the times they played, leaving the remaining sixty percent to be shared between the four guys. Time flew by, and they left one after another until he was the only one left. He found a place to sit, watching a man teach three kids—two boys and a girl—to roller skate. From the semblance, he could tell they were hi
°°° Pessimist °°° • Louisville, Kentucky• -May William’s Residence- The television in the living room was turned on, but as usual, no one was watching whatever was on. May William, Karen’s aunt, only ever watched videos related to her band and their music style. Karen, on the other hand, was subscribed to every reality TV show she wanted on her phone, so each time May brought home a new television set, Karen would just look away. After all, it wasn’t her money, nor was it May’s. It was a yearly gift from her grandfather, Colonel William. The basement was stacked with appliances he’d sent over that they didn’t need. Another room was now being used to store incoming appliances, and May was happy to let the Colonel keep wasting his money in an attempt to buy her over. Karen ran down the stairs in a short black leather jacket with golden diamond-shaped studs at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and waistline. She wore a black shirt with a silver skull design and a pair o
°°° Domain of Cheesy °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Walker Residence- Sean sat in his room upstairs, his ears plugged, while his PC loaded up a webpage. He had arrived home a few minutes past five, quickly toasted some bread, grabbed a jar of strawberry jam, and ran upstairs, popping open one of the three cans of Pepsi he’d bought on the way back. He had only skimmed through the card Karen had given him on their date in Louisville a couple times after returning to Philadelphia. He looked intently at it this time, muttering the name of the studio to himself. He quickly typed it into the search bar. "Fight to Fitness Studio Tournaments" The first thing to appear was a map of a region of Louisville, Kentucky, with a few locations highlighted, including the Fight to Fitness Studio. Sean ignored the map and clicked on the website of the studio. He skimmed through and saw what interested him—a highlighted phrase talking about tournaments t
°°° Job Seeker °°° The rays of the afternoon sun shone into Sean’s room through the windows. The blue-eyed lad sat at his desk, seriously going through the registration process for the Domain of Warriors tournament. Mr. Melvin had later called to inform him that the hosts of the competition had set up a venue in Pittsburgh, seeing as one of Sean’s reasons for hesitation was distance. After considering the pros and cons, as well as a half-hour video call with Jason and Karen to try to decide, Sean decided to go for it. After reading virtually everything the site offered, from the terms and conditions of the site to the rewards and means of advancing in the tournament, It was weird. a tournament with such benefits, but it was like something planned by amateurs. He felt there should have been stages: regional, state, and national. After three years of existence, he was shocked that they hadn’t matured. Sean suddenly froze as he noticed something else. "The registration
°°° Half Truth °°° "How was work, Mom?" Sean asked, sitting at dinner with his mother. "It was... well, it was work... but it was okay." "Oh and Mr. Anderson says high." "... thought he was discharged like yesterday or something?" Sean was quite confused. Mr. Anderson was the one who helped him get a membership slot at a dojo some years back. He was a good friend of his mother’s, and during the past six months, he’d been her patient. "Yeah, he was." "He just came around to visit," Kate smiled. "After spending six months in the hospital, he seems to be finding it a bit difficult to get back into society," she explained. "Oh, that makes sense," Sean nodded in thought. "Well… How was your day? "You stayed home all day?" "Nope," Sean’s voice had a tone of excitement as the discussion quickly went in his desired direction. "Well, I spent most of it at home, but I later went to Carlos’ place." "Carlos was home today?" Kate held her cutlery suspended just above the meal. She had heard
°°° The Initiation °°° • Carl’s Automotive Repairs and Accessories • Sean alighted the cab he’d boarded and walked to the shop’s entrance. It was only seven twenty-five in the morning. The auto shop didn’t officially open until nine o’clock daily, but seeing as he needed a complete job briefing and needed to familiarize himself with the faculties and equipment, Carlos asked him to be at the shop an hour before the shop was to be opened for the workers to perform the routine cleanup and arrangements before the commencement of the day. "Wish me good luck, babe," Sean spoke into his phone, looking at the name of the company placed at the top of the building. Carl’s Automotive Repairs and Accessories suddenly had more weight than ever before. He cut the call after telling Karen he loved her, took a long, deep breath, and walked forward to the half-open building. "Hey yo, migo," Malone waved at him upon seeing him. "Good morning, Malone," Sean felt a bit relieved by the fact th
I would like to use this medium to honestly appreciate you for reading till the end, thanks a ton.I really had a hard time working this book till the end, it had a lot of twists and turns that I hadn't expected. With every research I made throughout the course of writing this piece, I kept seeing ways it could have been better, but despite the imperfection, you remained in the journey till now, thanks a bunch.I would also like to thank my grammar and punctuation editor 'Miracle Mgbe'. It was a crash program, editing over one hundred chapters in five days, thanks a lot.To everyone that supported this book with their reviews and comments, thanks a ton, for those who just added it to their library, thanks a ton, for those who just opened it to get a better look at the book cover, thanks a lot too lol.Anyways, book two is already in the works, I can't promise a release date as I would like to perform as much research as possible, but I will say this, "Bloody Horizon; Gods Amongst Us" w
°°° New Frontier °°° • Unknown Dimension • In a realm of pure terror, a hellscape unlike anything movies have made as their depiction of "hellish," a place where the laws of nature were twisted and contorted and reality itself was a malleable thing, the silhouette of a humanoid figure clad in a flowing robe walked. The realm was dark and foreboding, with twisted spires of obsidian jutting up from the ground, casting deep shadows across the landscape. The sky was a sickly orange hue, with no discernible source of light, and the air was thick with the stench of sulfur and brimstone. As the silhouette ventured deeper into the realm, the very fabric of reality began to warp and twist. The ground churned and groaned beneath his feet, as if trying to swallow him whole. Rivers of molten lava flowed freely, and great pillars of flame shot up from the ground at random intervals. A being sat in the center of this hellish expanse.Its presence carried immense power and chaos. It was surround
°°° Back In Control °°° The day was overcast and somber as people gathered at the cemetery to bid farewell to Carlos Wilson and Colonel Jennifer Moretti. It had been two weeks since the “Heart of Mexico” event, as the world has named it. Sean had made a remarkable recovery and was there, accompanied by his mother, Kate. Sarah, Malone, and a few other auto shop employees were also present. ColonelWilliams had come along with Karen, and May, the Colonel’s daughter, had come to pay their respects. Everyone lived in denial of what they knew to be true for the first few days following the Heart of Mexico event.Carlos had gone to Mexico to try and make some investments, and Colonel Jennifer had said she was going to have a get-together with some friends from the academy. Everyone wanted to believe that they had left Mexico in time, or at least that they weren’t within the range of the damage, but after the first few days, they knew the duo hadn’t escaped. Their hope for the next few
°°° Power of a God °°° • Dark World • Sitting in the blue-hued spotlight, Colonel Jennifer tended to her legs, awaiting her fate. Being in the Dark World was her safest bet; even if Carlos were to kill Oracle Janice like the Mother Omega had hinted, she figured there was no way he could figure out how to get there, and if he did, the odds were that the Mother Omega would not permit a stranger into the Dark World. But like before, she couldn’t be more wrong. A bright light appeared behind her, and she turned around eagerly, hoping it was a Silvered Sister, but when she saw it was blue, she hoped with all her might that it was Oracle Janice, but looking up, all her hopes were crushed. Standing in the light away from her was a starkly naked Carlos Wilson. “Killed by a naked man,” were the first words that escaped her lips as she shook her head and turned away from him. Carlos looked at himself and realized that he was actually naked. He'd been naked so much that day that he'd grow
°°° Heart of Mexico °°° • Mexico City, Mexico In the city, now made into a crater, there was nothing but silence and flames, but in the midst of the rubble, a boulder was “driving” itself through the rumbles, keeping to the shadows as it navigated the city. It kept moving until it arrived at the epicenter of the explosion. After a couple seconds, the boulder rumbled silently, and then it split apart from top to bottom, revealing two people. They both looked like they had been through hell, especially the bald African American, who needed to be supported by his partner. Blue and Madera slowly walked closer to the spot that was the source of the blast and halted, looking at it for a while. In front of them was the lifeless corpse of their organization's most powerful entity, in a constricting position. “He tried to save her in the end?” Blue muttered in a low and solemn tone. "Nothing remained of her blue, nothing," Madera said, her voice cracking."Why... why was she cursed in su
°°° Theories, Speculations, Facts, 2 °°° • Mexico City • The entire city was still up in flames, at least everything that survived the crushing force of the explosion. The explosion had brought down planes all over the country. The city was every teenager’s vision of the apocalypse and more. The spectacular glory of Mexico was now nothing but history, quite literally, as it would make history as the “World's Largest Crater." The entire city, over 500 square miles of land mass, is now the world’s largest "sinkhole." Colonel Jennifer, dressed in tattered black clothes, hovered above the radiation-filled city.The oracles that were supposed to assist her within and around the city were all within her range of power. Despite the fact that they had been there longer, she had not heard of any of the oracles being promoted.They were all still at mountain level. She had suffered some internal and external injuries as a result of being caught in the fading waves of the explosion's destructiv
°°°Theories, Speculations Facts°°° • Mexico City, Mexico • In the once busy and bustling city of Mexico, there was nothing in sight except death and destruction. The atmosphere was calm and serene, but the reason for this serenity was nothing The sound of the whirring blades of the “Blistering Truth” news helicopter invades the silence, bringing noise to the ears of the dead once again. The channel is a privately owned network dedicated to telling truths that other news stations aren’t permitted to tell. The camera pans over the site of the explosion, which was literally the entire city, but upon deeper analysis, the epicenter was discovered. It was around the city’s cathedral. The aerial view reveals a massive crater in the place of what used to be a tourist attraction, the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. The crater was several thousand meters in diameter and several meters deep, with debris scattered for miles around. The reporter’s helicopter hovers over the scene, safely
°°° Clash of Power °°° • Guerrero Landfill, Mexico Dirt and dust filled the atmosphere as both men collided, releasing wave after wave of timber-cracking shockwaves as they met themselves, fist for fist, kick for kick, until a blow to the abdomen sent him rolling into a rock, cracking it open. Blue huffed as he tried to catch his breath, struggling to push himself off the ground. “I was expecting that by now you would have been wise enough to know that going for head to head combat against me would be futile,” Carlos chuckled, and he began stalkily walking towards the struggling bald man. “If you had used your ability to manipulate the earth to create an armor, this fight would have been less damaging for you,” Carlos chuckled, but then his grin vanished as he suddenly felt a sinister, rage-consuming presence beside him. His eyeballs turned reflexively to take a glance, and standing beside him was the red-headed lady, Madera. “THOOM!!!” Dust filled the area as she slammed her
°°° The date before death °°° • Somewhere under Mexico "I never thought these tunnels would end," Cardinal Es chuckled as they exited the tunnel, which had shrunk so much that only one person could walk comfortably in it. They had arrived at a sort of underground bunker, just as the higher-ups had told them they would find. "Heh, Madera would be so pissed if she realized she took the wrong tunnel," he laughed as he walked towards the bunker's door. Five meters away from the door, he suddenly collides with an invisible wall and is pushed back a few feet. "Anything less, and I'd have been disappointed," Cardinal Es chuckled, taking a stance. “I really don't think you should be attacking a reflection force field,” Red called out, but Cardinal Es either didn’t hear in time or he didn’t care altogether, as he threw a punch at the force field. THOOM!!! An explosive shockwave cut through the air in the wake of his punch, and as expected, the force field absorbed and redirected the fo