28 How Far I've Come(Alternate History) (Patreon)

Michael pulled a pistol out of the side of his jeans before unloading the clips straight at me. Using my precognition, I raised my arms and diverted the bullets off me. They slid past my gauntlets, digging into dirt. With an expert's precision, Michael pulled out another clip, reloaded it, and began firing again.

Over the gunfire, Kelsey shouted, "Get back. We'll fight it off."

The two other people ran to the back. Michael ran out of ammo. Before he could reload again, I shouted, "Fucking stop you dipshit. It's me, Daniel. You know, your friend?"

Michael's shoulders slumped as he raised an eyebrow. He mumbled a word or two before saying, "What the hell. No you're not."

"Remember that time when Kelsey put cockroaches into my toilet? Like, the fuck was that."

Michael dropped his gun before his jaw went slack. He said, "What in the flying fuck happened to you?"

"Man, I don't even know where to start. It's been crazy."

"Yeah, it's been crazy as hell for everyone since this bullshit Schema came in." He turned and said, "Kelsey, can you believe this shit. It's actually Daniel."

Kelsey ran out of the tunnel, splotches of dirt on her. She wore a purple tank top, the same one she'd wear during the weekends when we all walked around the town. We always tried finding stuff to do, but we ended up hanging near here and playing whatever card game was popular.

Michael was wearing a set of football pads on his shoulders, and some strange visor that looked like glasses. They both looked like they'd been through an apocalypse, though Kelsey lost at least 15 pounds. She wasn't near as fat anymore.

Putting her hands on her hips, she snapped, "What's with the super hero landing?"

I shrugged as I said, "What can I say. I'm stylish as shit."

They both rolled their eyes before Kelsey said, "Yeah...that's Daniel."

Michael turned towards me and said, "Where have you been?" He poitned at Kelsey and said, "Kelsey's parents died. We're hiding her grandparents from some bad company. Meanwhile you found a cool set of armor and fucking super powers."

I raised an eyebrow, "Wait...I'm wearing armor?"

"Yeah. It would look badass on pretty much anyone else."

I glanced at my hands. Sure enough, armor covered it. I said, "I can't feel it anymore...at all."

Michael spread out his arms, "Did you forget you're wearingit or something?"

I glanced at my arms, noticing armor, rivets, and spikes that I hadn't bothered to glance at. At that point, I resolved to get myself a mirror. I couldn't tell what I looked like at all anymore. None of my current friends had even bothered to mention it. I suppose we all looked crazy though, especially compared with normal people.

Kelsey snapped, "Come on man. Stop looking at yourself and answer the question. We're in some serious shit."

I put my hands on my face, feeling armor on it. I remember peeling it off me, but I don't remember it coming back on. I couldn't even tell it was there anymore. It didn't disrupt my vision or anything. It really was a part of me now.

I said, "I spawned in a dungeon called BloodHollow. The bats were level 35. After almost being turned into a bug's shell, I met an Old One and a few friends. Now I'm off to kill some guy over level 5000. That's pretty much it. What about you guys?"

Kelsey said, "We went through the tutorial, Michael helped get the town on its feet. I made it through the tutorial, and I still haven't met my parents. I saw my grandparents and...well...my parents didn't make it. I've just been trying to handle it."

I nodded as I forced my armor off my face. The armor peeled back once more before Kelsey said, "What happened to your face?"

"Is it that bad?"

"No, actually it looks way better than before. Your like a gray and rugged and scar covered model or something."

"My charisma's over 30, and I'm level 105 now. The levels and attributes made me less hideous."

Michael's head shot up as he said, "Holy fuck dude. You serious?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty badass. Did you see me deflect those bullets?"

Kelsey said, "You weren't kidding about that bullshit start."

"I know right? It was complete horse shit."

Michael said, "We've got some horse shit over here too. Would you mind helping us shovel it out?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of horse shit?"

"Kelsey's grandparents are behind us. Kelsey got in trouble with this new local gang, and things are real bad now. There're bad company."

I grabbed my chin as I said, "I suppose I could serve them some lunch."

Kelsey said, "What do you mean lunch?"

"I mean some knuckle sandwiched and same fruit punch."

They laughed before Kelsey said, "That's so dumb, it's funny."

I grinned as I said, "Awesome. I let's see if we can't find somewhere else to hide. People hang out here all the time we'd rather not deal with."

Michael said, "Anywhere you think we could go?"

I frowned as I said, "We could go to my old house. Not the worst hideout. I doubt my old man made it past the turorial anyway."

They nodded, their moods suddenly solemn. The both of them knew what my dad had done to me over the years. They remembered having to disinfect seven circular burns on my side one night. Dad had been wasted, and I'd been his personal ashtray. Just thinking about it again...God, I hated that peice of shit.

I couldn't help it. Holding a grudge sure as hell isn't a good thing, but I just couldn't help it. It was just..bleh. I shouldn't talk about it anymore. No need to dwell on old scars. Besides, I hated it when people bitched about stuff that happened to them instead of getting off their ass and doing something about it. That's what I did, though all it did was get me into juvy.

Anyways, we ended up chatting about levels and builds before I met Kelsey's gandparents. Of course, my appearence shocked them, but my newfound charisma prevented them from geting too scared. We walked out of the quarry before heading back towards my house.

I sent a personal message through Schema towards Torix. He'd tell the others about what was going on. While we walked through the forest, I said,

"I'm considered an unknown by Schema, so I don't think walking out in the open is a good idea. Let's take some sort of back route."

We passed by inumerable brushes, shrubs, and fences before reaching my old home. The same shitty apartment with broken bricks, chipped paint, and little roaches running out from under you feet as you stepped in. We passed up a set of metal stairs, my feet clanking against the metal. Noticing the thunderous banging, Kelsey said,

"When did you get fat as fuck?"

"When I started putting tons of points into constitution."

Michael scoffed before saying, "Constitution, really?"

I frowned as we reached the entrance to my old apartment. I said, "Yeah, constitution."

Michael said, "Come on man, no matter how much health you have, you aren't about to survive a clip from an m16."

I shrugged as I said, "I survived two clips from your pistol. Didn't even hurt me really."

Michael stared at his gun for a second before staring back up at me. He said, "Damn...Now that you mention it, I did shoot you in the face like a dozen times. How the fuck did you live?"

I flexed an arm as I said, "I have over 3000 health. I'm a tank."

Kesley stammered, "You can't be serious...That's like fifty times more health than me."

Michael grabbed my shoulder as he said, "Damn dude. Looks like we got a badass over here."

I waved them off as I said, "Yeah, I've go a few tricks up my sleeve. Anyway, let's get inside. Don't want your grandparents passing out."

The two of them glared at me from the back. They hadn't spoken nearly a single word since I joined the group. Even with my high charisma, my armor made me look pretty damn evil. I supposed that was why they kept so quiet. Honestly, I was glad they didn't talk much.

Regardless, I grabbed the doorhandle leading into the apartmentas I said, "What level are you two anyway?"

Michael said, "I'm 62."

Kelsey's left eye twitched as she said, "I'm level 27."

Curious, I checked both of their status screens.

Michael Cortez(lvl 62) - A teenager that lives in Springfield. Seventeen years old and driven, he's invested almost entirely into perception and dexterity for his gunning skills. Compared with most humans, Michael's a very high level, having killed to protect his and Kelsey Lainer's families.

After the tutorial, he found his own parents. Kelsey and him had met up after the mayor of the town had called for an impromptu meeting in the town hall. Since then, they've been trying to help organize the revival efforts on earth. With each town disconnected, food and water had become a pressing concern.

Michael had been the leader of a party that eliminated the dungeon that had spawned inside the water purification facility near lake Perdy. He also helped clear out the lower level dungeon in the townhall before the meeting. This has made Michael into a sort of local hero.

Kelsey Lainer(lvl 24) - A seventeen year old teenager who lives in Springfield. She's invested nearly all her points into luck since she doesn't have any real fighting skills. After finishing the tutorial, she met up with her grandparents who verified that her parents had died. She met with Michael at the town hall after the mayor called for an impromptu meeting.

She's become reliant on him, both for protection and emotionally. She simply wasn't ready for what was to come during the transition towards a Schema dominated world. Still, she helped clear the water purification plant at Lake Purdy. In a stroke of genius, she told the members of the raiding party to follow her using a coin flip for deciding directions.

Since her luck was so high, they ended up taking the correct route which stopped them all from being surrounded. Her high luck has helped in other situations as well. This has made her into a sort of good luck charm, a title she embraces.

I couldn't help but laugh. I said, "Come on Kesley. Why would lie about your level?"

She blushed before saying, "Because it's embarrassing. You two are so high level. It's ridiculous."

I rolled my eyes as I said, "There's plenty of shit out there that makes me look like garbage."

I opened the cheap, wooden door, and the smell of cheap lichour and ciggarette smoke poured out. The very inklings of blood leaked out with the other smells though, so I said, "There might be someone in here. Stay outside while we handle it."

The group nodded before Michael and I walked in. Beer cans and empty plastic containers littered the floor. A few cockroaches crawled out from inside them as we walke by. I was almost ashamed that I had called this shithole 'my apartment.'

We walked deeper into the rooms, passing the kitchen and hallway leading towards my dad's room. The smell of decay was leaking from it, so we stepped in ready and waiting for some monster to jump out. Instead, we found a handwritten note beside an empty bottle of cheap whiskey.

I picked it up, my armor soaking it in before we continued. Reading it would have to wait till later. After reaching the bathroom door, I said, "I think I know what happened. Be ready."

When I pulled the door open, the stench leaking from the room was palpable. It was like an whale's bloated corpse on a beachside. Imagine poking it with a needle, releasing all the hot gases. That's what that room smelled like.

I grimaced at the rot. Michael vomited all over the floor behind me. In the tub was my dad. A thick layer of blood had coagulated onto the bottom of the tub, along with a black gunk. The old man's skin had turned orange, and he had bloated quite a bit. On his wrists were two large gashes, straight up his forearms, along with another slit on his throat that curved up to his left ear.

At that moment, I went numb. It was like my whole body refused to feel anymore. I grinded my teeth as I pulled out the note and read the sloppy note.

I lost my son and my wife. I can't do it anymore. If you're reading this son, I want to say I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry for not ever giving you what you deserve. I love you. Please don't hate me. Hate the cards I had dealt in life.

I crumbled the note in my hand before glancing into the mirror. An armored giant, hunching in a shitty bathroom, stared back at me. My armor had come back on without me noticing it, so I peeled it back. If I had to describe the changes in my appearence with one word, I'd say I was hard.

Hard hands that lead up to hard arms that ended in a hard face and hard eyes. Ragged, dark hair,gray skin, and a face littered with several small scars, I looked like an ashen warrior. Veins pulsed in my neck as I grit my teeth. Everything turned red. I grabbed the edges of the window before smashing my face into it. Powdered glass fell onto the ground and off my face before I smashed it again and again.

I ripped off the cupboard in the bathroom before slamming it into the floor. I roared as I slung my armored arm into the sink, the porcelain bowl snapping. I kicked the metal pipes underneath it, bending them before I gripped the sides of my face. I pulled on my hair before glancing down, letting my arms fall against my sides.

I turned and roared at the corpse, "What the fuck do you mean you're sorry? You aren't sorry for shit. If you you were goddamn sorry, you'd be here, ready to help me when I came back."

I clenched my hands until they shook in anger, my knuckles white. I shouted, "But no. That's too fucking hard, so you took the easy way out. You just died cause it was too hard, just like mom. You didn't love me. You never goddamn loved me."

My throat burned and my eyes were starting to wet. I crushed the sadness as I walked out of the bathroom, slamming the door. The door snapped when it closed, booming throughout the apartment. I turned to Michael and said, "Let's get the fuck out of here."

He nodded, his body tense with a smidgen of fear. We walked out of the apartment before I said, "We're not staying here. I'm skipping all this bullshit and just killing whoever it is that's fucking with Kelsey."

The way I spoke didn't leave any room for interpretation. Kelsey nodded before I said, "Where the fuck are they?"

"Uh...you remember the old gunstore? They killed the guy that owned it before setting up. I don't think it's a good idea just running at them."

I stopped her with a hand as I said, "I've fought versus things a lot scarier than guns."

Michael frowned as he said, "Like what?"

I frowned as I said, "Like hordes of insects that would turn your soul into their own shell before crawling inside."

Kelsey shivered before I said, "I'm gone. Find somewhere safe."

As I walked away, it was like there a rift between us. Since Schema had been created, the three of us had been doing far different things. Now that we finally met, things just couldn't become the same as they were before.

That was fine with me. I couldn't be friends with these guys again, as much as I wanted to. Yawm's weakest summoning could tear these guys apart ten times over. Even if we could get past that, my quests prevented me from ever settling down.

I had to keep eating ambient mana, or else I'd be hunted down by a sentinel or worse. I had to keep killing or else Yawm would tear me apart. Even worse, who knows what Etorhma would send after me if I didn't kill Yawm. He may spawn an avatar that could rip even Kessiah to pieces.

With that in mind, I headed away from the apartment. I knew I'd never see them again. If anything, I'd much rather just leave this life behind. There wasn't really anything for me since the start. It all just fell apart, like trying to hold water in your hand. No matter how hard you squeeze, drops drip between your fingers.

So I passed through Springfield, coming through several streets and alleyways. All the familiar sights were alien. The fire hydrants and window panes of old stores were unnecessary now. So much had changed so fast. I doubt many people were keeping up as well as Michael and Kelsey.

Whenever I reached the store, Several guards stood by. They probably had scouts scanning around, stopping anybody from coming through undetected. With assault rifles in hand, the aimed towards me. None of them were worth mentioning though. They were all less than level 20.

Even with an excellent weapon, a baby is still just that. A baby. I wouldn't waste time torturing them. No point in wasting my breath doing something like that.

No, I'd just tear them apart.

I put my hand onto the asphalt beneath me. When I pushed into the ground, my heel stabbed into the earth like it was sinking into butter.

The scouts heard the smack of my foot, so they turned towards me before taking aim. My appearance wasn't the most appealing, so they gunned towards me. I slammed my foot into the pavement, crushing a slab of the road upwards.

Grabbing the sides of it, I heaved it up, using the block of dirt and asphalt as a shield. Their bullets shot past my head, screaming through the air as I grit my teeth.

They'd barricaded the front entrance with several steel bars. I crushed right through it. The steel squealed as it bended then tore. A cloud of dust fell as I glanced around, my armor like death to them. Someone shouted,

"What the fuck is this?"

Several people were spread out inside the store. Some played cards in a corner while others smoked cigarettes behind the counter up front. At the back of the store was a case of glass, likely bulletproof. Most of the guards hid behind it with barrels pointed out of the wholes in the glass.

I lobbed the chunk of pavement towards the group of guards. It turns out, the bullet proof glass wasn't quite giant-chunk-of-pavement proof. One of the guards didn't dodge, and his body squished under the weight of the pavement. Blood squirted in all directions, like someone had spilled a bottle of red wine.

Killing someone had come easier than I had thought. I leaped through the whole I gouged before rolling away from gunfire. With a smooth shift in my momentum, I slung a fist straight towards one of their chests.

My fist impaled the man, blood spurting out his mouth. Before the guard beside him fired, I blocked with his body. Gushes of blood fountained out of his back as a rain of gunfire swelled into him.

Once his clip was empty, I slapped his face straight into the concrete wall. His head squished like popping a red balloon. In the back room, two guards gawked in horror before I turned towards them. One of them shouted,

"What in the flying fuck is this thing?"

Still using the body as a shield, I blocked another hail of bullets. As they reloaded, I tore off the arm of the dead guy on my arm. I stepped forward before throwing the limb like a spear at the damn gangster at the back. The arm impaled through his chest like a spear before he writhed in agony.

With a monstrous grin, I shifted on my feet towards the other guard. The corpse became mush on my arm as another clip of assault rifle fire dug into the poor guy's chest.

I tossed him aside before grabbing the last guard's neck and gripping hard. His neck elongated as his skin ripped and squished between my fingers like clay. I tossed him aside before seeing the last guard left. It was a man wearing a white tank top and a blond haired goatee on his face. As I approached, he pointed his shotgun at me and said,

"I'll fucking kill you if you take another step forward."

I laughed as he fires a shot, the pellets bouncing of my armor. I said, "Why haven't I died yet?"

"Because you're a freak."

"No, it's because while you were in here tormenting people, I was out there tormenting monsters."

With a quick backhand, his skull caved in before glanced at the carnage. Grinded glass, shells of lead, and pools of blood leaked everywhere onto the floor. I cracked my neck as I walked out.

It was a simple outcome. They brought guns. I brought fury.