3 The Future

Beep, Beep, Beep. That continuous sound echoed against the walls, along with a familiar voice belonging to that of one of our main characters. You might ask yourself who we're talking about here. But, it was clear, she laid dormant there with her head titled, her lips holding the brightest smile she could manage. Gazing upon her son, Ben Rivera. At the moment, the teenager was sitting at the edge of a gurney talking to his mother. Her name was Jess. This was the Riveras' dying mother. He had just finished talking to her about what had happened earlier at the Cemetery.

"And then we went back to Henry's Apartment, how was that?" A soft chuckle escaped her lips at the question. Part of her didn't know if she should believe what he had told her, considering the changes the World has gone through in such a short amount of time. Superhumans were being used and tortured by the government, lava was erupting out of the ground, and now, a new villainous superhuman that seemed to be Ben's best friend from the future had appeared. Part of him didn't even recognize the world that he was living in either, but they were unable to foresee how the Future would churn their fates.

"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't believe me. It does seem a bit... out of the left field. A guy that looks like my Henry, from the 26th century? Even with this new existence of superhumans, it does seem a bit insane," A tired exhale sighed out of his mouth, and Ben pushed up his glasses and rubbed both of his eyes. It was extremely noticeable -- the weight and stress he was feeling were visible with the tears forming in his eyes. His hand on the bed felt another come into his palm, and he realized his mother was holding her son's hand with all the strength she had.

"D-do the doctors know if it's getting better or worse..?" His voice was filled with fear, his eyes sparkling with tears as he stared at his mother's face. Waiting for her answer, another exhale followed...shakily, at that. Part of him wanted to have hope, that she would say, 'Yes, it is getting better. I will be out by next month.' The other part of him knew this wasn't the case.

"Honey...things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to make it--"

"Don't say that, Mom. I-I won't be able to live like that, with you gone." He chuckled softly. "Jesus, the least you can do is be a tiny bit of optimistic," Both of them let out chuckles, even though they felt like dying on the inside. Seconds later, Ben slowly took his mother's hand leaving a soft kiss on the back of her palm. At that moment, his pocket vibrated. It was clear that this belonged to his phone, someone texting him. But, it was ignored for the time being. He just needed to cherish the time he had with his mother, and not get distracted by anything else.

"I-I love you, Mom," A stray tear fell from his right eye, falling onto the ground making a tiny little water stain. Whenever he was with her, everything felt like Nirvana, spending time with her was so perfect. But then he remembers that he has to cherish the time he has with her... because she could be gone at any second. She could see it in his blue-violet eyes, a soft smile slowly forming on her pink lips using her left thumb wiping his eyes. She responded with,

"I love you too, my Sunshine..."

And then, all that was left was the sound of the rain, continuously pattering against the glass. In the summer, of all times. What a beautiful cruel world.

After spending about forty more minutes with his mother, he had decided that he had to get back to his friends. Yet, it was against his better judgment, to be honest. His foot stomped down onto the concrete, the young teenager glancing around seeing the rain pouring from the sky above hitting his dark brown hair. Quickly, he pulled his hood over his head and walked down the sidewalk to find a car. Not his, however. It had belonged to Matthew, his best friend, who was dealing with having murdered a man in cold blood. Sure, that man, doesn't even deserve to be called human, because of the atrocities he had committed, but taking a life is a thing that does something to someone. God, I'm great at describing the murder, aren't I? I'm pretty sure if you murdered someone, with or without the intent of doing it at all, you'd probably go insane with what you just did. But how would I know, right? Really… how would I? As the water continuously hit his hood, Ben walked step by step closer to the borrowed vehicle. Once reaching it, he pulled the keys out of his pocket before five fingers wrapped gently around his right arm. Which, was indeed the hand that held the keys to the car. Who did this hand belong to? Some random crackhead, someone asking for some directions or money? Well, all of those are unlikely because of nobody, despite their mental state and being desperate as all hell, in New York, at least, would do that shit. And, another thing to help that fact was that it was none other than Ella Garcia herself, his ex-girlfriend. But, he didn't seem startled or anything, better yet, pissed off or annoyed. This is the time for him to be alone, just himself. He didn't want to be with anyone else, despite her intentions. And trust me, they were despicable. But, first, the question. As he asked her, he spoke softly, not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of the sidewalk. A bunch of eyes on you, looking at you like you're crazy is the last thing you'd want.

"So I can't even visit my mother in the fucking hospital? No goddamn privacy, huh--?" Just as he was about to get in, the door unlocked and all, El had stopped him. The key in his right palm disappearing and reappearing in her left palm. Fortunately, as soon as he sat down in the passenger seat to move over, he immediately realized what the hell she did. With an even more annoyed sigh, his face pressed down against the dashboard, Ella deciding to glance around and walk around the front of the car getting in the driver's seat. Confused, Ben turned to his ex squinting at her. In response to that, she raised both of her eyebrows with a slight smile.

"What?"

"You don't have a driver's license, why're you acting like you're going to drive?" A soft chuckle escaped her lips, Ben stepping out of the passenger's seat into the rain, standing beside the door. Seconds after she had moved over into the seat and closed the door, the young man appeared beside her, the keys already inside of the ignition. Seconds past, the two friends just staring straight ahead before the woman's dark blue eyes locked onto the side of his face. Almost as if he had felt her gaze, he turned to her, waiting for it. When it didn't come, he just answered the question for her.

"I'm fine, El. You didn't have to come," Nothing was said for about a minute, Ella's left hand slowly sliding up his right arm for it to rub his shoulder. Just like that, his eyes met her own, a comforting smile being sent his way.

"You don't have to fake it with me, just, let it out. It'll make you feel better, I know it will," Was all she muttered, and softly at that, a sniffle escaping his nostrils. His palm touched her hand, taking it off of his shoulder and placing it on his chest. For her to feel his heartbeat. And trust me, when I say that it was beating fast, it was beating faster than the regular human heart can beat. And trust me, it wasn't because of a lot of exercises like lifting weights, jogging or pushups. In reality, it was something much, much worse. He was scared.

"S-she's not getting any better. I-I don't know what I'm going to do with my life when she's gone. I don't know if I can do anything," Just like that, there was silence. The only thing audible was the rain, hitting the roof of the car, and sliding down the windows. As we move away from the duo, the woman embraces her former lover, her arms wrapping around him.

"I'm sorry…"

Back in Queens, everyone had already gathered back at the Apartment currently belonging to Henry Colon. He was in the kitchen, his eyes visibly lost in the train of thought, his reflection visible in the glass of the oven. The boy winced at the sight of his face, every time he looked, he could see the man that had claimed to be him. The Smoldering Warrior of the Future, he called himself, why had he been turned? Do you know that feeling you get when you have all these thoughts running through your mind like a goddamn jackhammer going ballistic without anyone controlling it? That's where his mind was, every single possibility raced through his mind before reaching a verdict. Did this have to do with who he was inside? Who he felt for? Maybe... maybe the Warrior was being controlled and manipulated because of it? The truth he'd been avoiding for so long, it would be better to come to terms and face it. But that was easier said than done. Ding! The cookies that had been placed inside of the oven had been declared ready by the timer he had placed behind him on the counter. No gloves, of course, that would be stupid, so he took out the metal tray on its own. Walking out of the kitchen, he wiped his hands clean and watched as the door slammed shut. Ryder in the chair closest to the door turned to see Ella reaching out for the Fool, who had been storming toward the bathroom. On the couch, Matthew had been laying in the lap of the Empress, Madi. Jason, spinning a dagger, turned to the Chariot.

"I made cookies,"

While everyone gathered around the coffee table to collect their cookies, each of them taking one from the pile, there had been only one left. One man who had been left out from the happiness, from the laughter they shared, one man who hadn't been hiding the way he was feeling. One man who had experienced all the horrible emotions you'd be feeling with the possibility that your mother would die any second.

That man was Ben.

The shower ran, mild-warm water falling from the head of the shower as it continuously rained on his head. Thoughts plagued the young man's mind, wondering what was yet to come in the future, how it would affect him, and his siblings. His older siblings. Would that even affect them? Jason is the better question. The asshole hasn't even gone to see their dying mother in the hospital suffering from lung cancer. Only probably weeks or days left to live. And he doesn't even care. Yet, this young man had no idea of what his older brother was going through. Once again, for the third time in less than an hour, tears escaped his eyes, a sob flying out of his mouth. The thought of it caused him to collapse into the tub filled to the brim with water, tears continuously falling from his eyes into that same water. It's almost as if he was bathing in his tears. Just in the middle of this emotional breakdown, his eyes suddenly spread wide open staring right ahead. Just nothing. Nothing but the damned wall. His eyes seemed to pierce through the material that the wall was made of, before… he screamed. The scream was so loud that it echoed through the apartment, destroying the glass of the window for the rain outside to enter the Apartment, and the room he was in catching aflame. His emotions had once again, affected the room he was in. This happened many times over the last month since they had started training to use their abilities, but this seemed to be the worst one, right? You'd only say this if you hadn't the other ones. Some are way worse than others, and you have no idea how horrible they truly are. Almost milliseconds later, there was a bright flash of purple light, the young brunet turning his head and meeting his older sister's eyes. Luckily, the curtain was covering the leg portion side of his body, or in layman's terms, his bottom half. A soft chuckle somehow managed to escape his lips, her feet already wet as she stepped closer to the tub, and sat down on the toilet seat. As she thought of what to say, Ben did the work for her, asking a well-needed answered question.

"Do you care?"

"W-what..?"

"About Mom. I know you and me, we took her to the hospital last month on the 5th, but you haven't visited her, mentioned her, anything of that matter. You go out with fucking Ryder of all people, the asshole that was revealed to be cheating on you about 2 weeks ago when you could be doing something. Giving our mother fond memories before she dies because of goddamn lung cancer. (Under his breath) fucking cigarettes. But, the fucking least you could do is just act like you miss the woman who tucked us in at night, sang us a goddamn lullaby, and made sure we didn't want to hang ourselves from a noose…" Then, there was silence, the water from the shower, and the water in the tub moving repeatedly. Some of the water even went over the tub, falling onto the already wet floor, Madisyn witnessing the cycle of the water repeatedly. It seemed she didn't have an answer, she truly didn't. She felt horrible about her actions, her mother didn't have much time left, at all. And she was going out with someone who tried to use her dying mother to manipulate her to not go after some mass-murdering psychopath.

All she could do was just press her feet against the wet floor and reach for the doorknob, her head turning to see her brother. His head hadn't even turned to see her, it was just staring blankly at the 'damned wall.' Before she could leave, all she could do... was apologize,

"I'm sorry. I am--"

"Save it, Madisyn. Don't even bother, I've been on this Earth long enough that sorries mean nothing. They're as pointless as a child's opinion in anything. Now, piss off... and leave me alone," And just like that, she was gone.

December 8th, 2536

The air smelled of burning flesh, a crow seen nearby a pile of burning bodies stacked on one another, trying to eat an already dead body. So innocent and carefree, just wanting a little snack. Just as it was doing so, however, its head turned to the side, it getting split right in half in the blink of an eye. Slowly, the murderer turned with a sadistic grin on his lips, letting a soft cackle escape his lips staring at his Superior. Who was his superior? That's easy. To be quite honest, he was handsome, curly brown hair, a scruffy beard, and a scar over his right eye. What he wore, was just a black turtleneck suit. As if he was dressed for a wedding. Why did he wear this in this kind of setting? Trust me, I was just as confused as you are right now. Right now, the Superior was just staring at his older yet more psychotic brother, shaking his head while this demonic older brother just let out a snarl.

"That bird didn't do anything to you, why'd you kill it?" A humored chuckle escaped his cut lips, walking through the ruins of this city, stepping over rubble with his brother following behind. Some of these buildings seemed familiar. One seemed the Azure Building, an apartment building located in New York City, Brooklyn. As the duo continuously walked, the Brother had decided to answer the question, yet in another language.

"Is that an actual question? Have you forgotten about my bloodlust, dear brother? Out of all the people in the Empire, or maybe Kingdom, you would remember. Maybe you're not as smart as you say you are, hehehe..." It seemed as such that the older one of the two was making fun of the Superior. Which, he didn't seem to like, one bit. Which, is stupid for a 500-year-old demon to take to heart, but... Superiority. I digress. Once this statement escaped the Brother's bloodied lips, the Superior put the edge of a hatchet to the Demon's throat. As it reached ever so closer, a cackle escaped the Brother's lips, seeing the weapon glow with a red glow.

"Don't test me, dear brother. The Empress gave us one goal, find the remaining survivors, and slaughter them. Now, I know how much you love that, so you're going to lead the way," Almost like a dog to a new toy, the Brother's head perked up in excitement while drool dripped down from his mouth, nodding quickly. And, in addition to that, excitedly. His red fingers pressed against his forehead scanning through the City, his eyes being consumed by the closing lids that had waited above. Now, going over to the Superior, his hatchet slowly disappeared into a poof of red fire while the nails on his fingertips enlarged and sharpened. They were like the nails of a werewolf, or better yet, a demon. Then, for his final transformation, wings emerged out of his back, through his skin and piercing through the fabric of the suit. And trust me, they weren't any angel wings. After his transformation, the 'younger' man turned to his Satanic brother, a pleasured sigh flying from his bloodied lips. He could hear it now, their beautiful blood-gargling pleas for help and their horrifying screams as they were slaughtered. Their heads on the floor, blood streaming out where it would be. It was beautiful. The Superior raising his eyebrows before Lucifer's index finger pointed in a direction heading toward the ruins of a new building. It seemed like it had been untouched as if on purpose, it had remained there for a reason. In the distance, red thundered roared through the sky, lightning streaming through the sky a being of great height towering past Central Park Tower. The being had a squid-like face, wings on its back, clawed hands and feet, and glowing green eyes.

Its name was the Great Old One of great power, that laid in the depths of the Pacific Ocean in a death-like slumber for hundreds of centuries. But, it wasn't the Ocean itself. It was R'lyeh. A sigh flew into the cold winter air, the Superior turned to Lucifer who seemed to be foaming from the mouth at the sight of the Being.

"This should be fun..."

July 18th, 2013

Now, there was only one cookie at the table, the blue-violet eyed teenager plopping down beside his older brother wiping his face due to a tiny bit of water still being there. At this time, everyone had their eyes on Ben, as if they were worried. His eyes quickly glanced between the six of his friends (and Ryder) and siblings, his hand reaching and grabbing the cookie. Before he could take a bite, he spoke, just try to make the awkward silence seem less awkward.

"Fucking fatasses," Ben took a bite of the cookie, his mouth full of the tasty exterior, and the remnants of the chocolate chips. as he spoke, his voice was muffled by the food remaining inside of his mouth.

"Now, what are we going to do about that Warrior dude?" You remember him, right? Ya know, the one who claimed that he was a future version of Henry from the future? Henry winced at the mention of that man, still in disbelief that he would eventually turn into someone so wicked and malicious. But he had a plan to ensure he would become better than the man they fought. So, the Chariot gave a definite nod and exhaled, determination flowing through his veins. However, the Magician wasn't like his best friend, who was now sitting up but held a frozen pillow close to his chest, responding with

"W-W-What about him? He's dead. What else could we do about him?" There was a stammer audible in his voice, which in turn caused Ella to stand up from beside Ryder and to go into the kitchen pulling her phone out of her pocket. What she was doing was unknown to the rest, Ben answering his friend's question and drawing attention to the stammer.

"First off, we don't know if this guy was even someone from 'the Future', like what kind of science fiction bullshit is that? He could be some fuckface superhuman from the Government turned insane because of their torture. Don't go crazy over this. Second off, Matt, despite him being a psycho, you did... you did kill that guy. I get that your emotions took the best of you in that situation and he caused the Spread, but you have to stay cool. Ella and I decided that it best that Veronica come over and comfort--"

"WHAT?! She doesn't need to be involved in this, she doesn't need to deal with what I'm feeling, she has to worry about different things besides me. Plus, isn't that what my friends are for?!"

"Dating someone means they have to care about you and give a shit about how you're feeling. And sex, but that's not important. We have to be ready for the future, and what's yet to come. So, we don't need you crying when someone tries to attack us again. For now, Veronica is going to be keeping an eye on you for the time being. Go wherever you like, but go with Ronnie. In the meantime, I need to get something, Jason, you're coming with," Just like that, a portal crackling with energy appeared behind him causing him to disappear right then and there. And then, thunder was heard from out of the window, and it was red. In the blink of an eye, both of Madisyn's siblings were gone. Footsteps slowly patterned one by one on the creaky wooden floor, Ella having arrived back from the kitchen and seeing the now standing up Matt looking to his friend in disbelief. Before he could do anything stupid, he managed to stop himself, sitting down while Henry pushed himself off of the chair. And all he said was,

"I'll make some more cookies,"

In the blink of an eye, the Rivera brothers appeared in their shared bedroom, which was the living room but moving on. And no, they didn't have bunk beds. Since it was a decently sized room, there were two beds on each side of the room. The Left was Jason, and Ben was right. And the room was colored grey because of their mother not being able to afford anything else. So, it was just some boring-ass grey. Despite this, it seemed that due to him just sitting on his bed for a good 68 seconds, Ben had missed his home. Sure, there are some bad memories here, like when Mom came home and told them about... ya know. The thought of the memory caused his eyes to sparkle before he pushed himself off of the bed and looked around for his laptop. Ben managed to find his device, deciding to also some other shit. After finishing this tiny little fetch quest, he exited his and his brother's room to see Jason taking a bite out of banana while holding more in his left hand. Seeing this weird sight, the young man decided to extend out his left hand to the hallway. Just like that, yet another portal opened, Jason rolling his eyes before throwing the peel in the garbage. Quickly, he finished the fruit while his younger brother turned to him. As they walked into the portal together, Ben asked a question that would change their lives forever. Something so horrible, something so devastating, he would forever be scarred.

"Hey, have you ever thought about our future-?" And just like that, they were gone, the portal had eaten them up and spat them out somewhere else. Where? You'll see...

December 8th, 2536

The doors slowly opened, the sounds of whimpering men and women heard as it was revealed to be the Superior and his older brother. More scared than ever, they stood themselves up but fell to the ground due to being malnourished. Turning to his younger brother, Lucifer raised an eyebrow, the Superior stepping back and holding his hands over his eyes. A demonic-like claymore suddenly popped up in his right hand, his fingers tightly holding onto the grip of the weapon. And just like that, it was starting to swing around, deeply inserting it inside of their chests, the top of their heads, and slicing off their limbs. Even after they had been murdered in cold blood, Lucifer had gone to just opening their chests with his claws, taking out one of their hearts and starting to chow down on it. Yep, he's a cannibal. While he was doing that, the Superior had decided that enough was enough, pulling his brother back. In his eyes, there was a sense of animalistic rage, Lucifer even letting out a growl as he tried to scratch his younger brother. The Superior just stared into his sibling's eyes, hoping that he would see what was happening and how he needed to calm down. Despite his deranged mental state, and the insanity that ravaged his mind, the Demon managed to calm himself down and fall to the ground. His fingers curled up, nodding to himself with insane murmurs before he managed to magically push himself off of the ground pushing his feet against the ground.

"You're okay, right? Or do we need to send you back to the Castle?" Before he answered, Lucifer's eyes quickly darted around the area, seeing where he was and spotting the dead bodies. Turning to his brother, he nodded deciding to take up his brother's offer. His bloodlust had been quenched, meaning... he felt normal. Since the Superior still had things to do outside in the destroyed wasteland that had once been New York City, he decided to just escort his brother to the Castle to be extra careful. You never know what could happen, especially when your brother is a psychotic blood-lusting mass murderer that could snap any minute. In reality, anything could happen, to be quite honest, like when the two brothers exited the Skyscraper, the Superior was able to catch a glance of something while flying through the sky beside his older brother who also had wings. This something was a small beam of light visible coming from the sky over the Castle before it entered the Castle through the roof. The Empress could bend light, and she has personally made it her responsibility to train the recruits, he shrugged it off and zoomed through the sky with his brother. Little did he know that they would face the past as nobody has before.

As they exited the wormhole, Jason had answered his little brother's question cracking his neck with a soft yawn, his eyes closed as he slowly turned around walking backward answering the question.

"I guess I can't say, we can never know what the future will hold. Except that it's probably going to hold some sad shi--" His eyes then opened, spotting his brother, who was now turned around staring down the long ass hallway they were in. And as soon as his eyes opened, Jason had seen the same thing raising an eyebrow. In confusion, the older sibling ran to stand beside his brother. Seeing this as a minor error, Ben decided to once again open a portal and then enter it, which spat him back out right onto the floor. With a grunt, he pushed himself up turning to Jason who seemed confused. Where the hell were they?