The past or the future?

"What the- Wait a minute, did we die again?" Houmin scrunched his brows as his eyes darted around the new scenery. Confused, He had nothing to say except the urge to scratch his head. A few seconds ago, he was done fixing the comical treasure toaster, hoping to get something out of it. Then a blink of his eyes later, he's in a different place covered in white.

"Umm, That can't be right..." He mumbled to himself as he recalls all the things he did earlier. "I did make sure to not touch the blue button inside the G.E.C.K case... Hmm, or did I?"

Only... He forgot to look behind.

"Sonuvabitch!"

Before he turns around to look for the person who said it, Houmin felt a sharp pain on the side of his neck that made him stumbled forward.

"Fuck! That stings!" He gritted his teeth but quickly recovered. He reflexively put one of his arms on guard as he held his neck with the other. He turned around only to see Skylar with haggard hair and puffy eyes. Holding in her tears from anger. He paused as he also caught a quick glimpse of the people behind her. The Ghost team and every Division Agents were looking at them... or more specifically, was looking at him.

"Houmin! EXPLAIN?!" Skylar said in a strained voice. When she heard Houmin's self-talk, her emotions were filled with thoughts of unfair treatment while Houmin's eyes scan her reaction.

'Not good, I made her cry.' Seeing her and hearing her like that made him remember the first time they met. He put two-and-two together and got the basic rundown of what is happening: People felt it was his fault they were here.

Frankly, in his mind, It might actually be his fault this time.

"What blue button? Tell- tell me! Damn it!" Skylar's voice cracked midsentence as she held on to Houmin's shirt collar. She quickly held her composure and readied herself to give Houmin another punch.

"I knew I should've kept a close eye on you! You fucked something up, and now, we're here!!" Skylar hides the pain but failed to do so with her almost sobbing expression. She stammered for a second when a thought crossed her mind as she saw Houmin's reaction, confused as she is. "Bullshit! You caused this! There's no excuse for not knowing!"

She took a step away and inhaled a big gasp of air. She held it in for a few seconds before exhaling with what seems to be her frustration. She turns around to the group of people, "God Damn it! Alright! Who the fuck pressed the blue button on the case, huh!?"

"I'd be nice if you stop using my name in vain when you're here, girl." A smile and a condescending tone with a mobster accent were heard from the side. A person watched with a bored expression, huffing a Cuban Cigar as the moments goes by. "It makes my ears feel uncomfortable." Everyone turned around to that voice. At first, they were suspicious of the white suit-wearing adult with flowing long hair and smoking a cigar. Eventually, It slowly caught up to them that this person was the one they made a deal with.

God didn't mind having these people waste his valuable time, more like he enjoyed the company once in a while. Yet, when he heard a phrase from Skylar that involved him, it struck a nerve that made him twitch his eye in response.

God glared at her for a second but shook his head away as he showed a smirk to everyone.

"Now the warms up are done. Welcome, everyone! I'm sure you know who I am. First, I ask all of you to give our Withbeck boy some applause. There, Thank you."

Just by stomping his feet down, God forced them to turn their gaze to look his way. Paralyzed there and without a word, watching him taking his time with his cigar.

"You didn't die again, which is I am happy for everyone, not to mention that it's a huge pain in my ass if all of you did. Clap clap. And you're here because of what Withbeck boy did."

And with that last sentence, God eases on the restraints he had with them. He gave a sneering smile to Houmin. Houmin wasn't dumb enough to ignore that sign... so he ran away.

"I knew it! Someone hold his arms and feet down! Ah! He's running away! Get' em!" Skylar ordered as she too chases after him.

It wasn't long before they pinned Houmin down on the floor and surrounded him.

"Ahh! Bitch! You broke my arm! Who the fuck starts with the arm?! This isn't how you torture someone! You go with the fingers first- Ahh! Damn it, you broke my finger!"

'These shmucks are getting dumber by the generation... Ey, whatever.' God shrugs his shoulders. He finds it too much work breaking up this whole misunderstanding. Letting them sort it out for themselves and learning from the experience is always best, he told himself.

"You see, aside from completing the objective, joining the Desert Rangers, he stumbled on one of the hidden things in this world." Ignoring the screaming and gleeful sadistic tendencies made by them, God pointed a finger up, and a holographic screen appeared. It showed a picture of a kneeling Houmin, fixing the toaster and a variety of scribbled doodles. This caught the attention of some of them, chuckling as they saw Houmin's silly face froze in that frame.

"Enough, stop laughing." God scoffs and gestured with the laser light that is coming from his finger, pointing it at the screen. "Yes, it's an ordinary toaster. The interesting part is that for most of you, nothing can happen even if you fixed a broken one. But, it's an entirely different talk when Withbeck boy and the Kennedy girl did something to it."

God puffed a smoke before continuing on, "If you're asking why it's because of this." a second screen appeared with a number 1.

"When a toaster is back to normal by either the boy or the girl's hands, this screen here will add another number to it," God explains. "And, of course, there's a catch. Gonna be boring if there wasn't. Choose from using the points to improve the bunker... Or use the points to see your friends or family- Oh! Almost forgot! Speaking of which! Here are your much-deserved rewards."

With a finger snap, the number jumped from 1 to 6. Not just that, behind God, several doors slowly faded in. Everyone stopped, held their breath, and with widened eyes when people started coming out from those doors.

2 of these people, Both females, a teenager, and an adult, ran in the direction where Houmin is.

"This will be done in a jiffy" Seeing the two ran on ahead without him giving them the go-ahead, God snapped his finger again and turned his gaze to Houmin. Instantly, like a miracle, Skylar and the rest that was pummeling Houmin got pushed away. Then both Houmin and the rest had their body shine bright for 3 seconds, healing Houmin's mangled body and even fixing the creases in the others' clothes. With an additional effect of calming everyone.

"Houmin!"

"Big Bro!"

"--I'm freaking hearing mom and Hadley's voice just now." Houmin blinked hard in doubt. "Shining bright like a diamond might have fucked with my hearing."

"Houmin!"

"Big Bro!"

"There! I'm hearing it again!" Agitated by this, Houin had the thought that maybe this a sick game from God... It quickly changed when he felt a hard push from his back. He turned around to see two people were hugging him.

"Mom?! Hadley?!" Houmin can't believe his eyes, seeing his loved one screaming his name with tears and mucus. He doubted this at first, thinking that this was a test, but then he had the urge to hug them back. With every moment, this urge became bolder. He hesitated at first.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I kept calling you with all I have! You kept ignoring us! Look at us! We're all full of snot because of you, Stupidhou!"

While his sister hugged him and complained, his mother only hugged him so tightly without saying a word. Their warmth, voice, gestures, and even personality were too real for Houmin to bear.

"Hou- Houmin, Son. Look! It's Mother. It's me!" His mother had to tiptoe just to reach her son's face. "Houmin, Why didn't you said I love you back last time we saw each other?" Tears ran down her face as she gave him the most beautiful smile a son can see on his mother.

Dumbfounded with what's in front of him, Houmin was unaware of the expression he gave them, teary eyes--the face of missing them so much. He didn't doubt it anymore and hugged them back as tightly as he could.

Everyone fell silent as they stared at each other. Some of the Division agents were in disbelief, shaken, or holding down their tears. This stalemate broke when all of them heard Houmin cries out, and it followed a stream of emotions that have voices of longing for each other.

The two parties came to each other's embrace. Tears were shared, and stories were told. Screaming out their regrets and feelings that weren't shared earlier. It was a sight God cherished the most, A scene of hope, an aura of sincerity, an act of forgiveness, a heartful love to each other. The continuous praise--Hearing them say 'Thank God!' again and again. Does put a smile on his face as he waves his cigar from time to time.

Meanwhile, The Ghost Team and Skylar were the odd ones out. The former stood there on parade stand watching on. The latter was anxious as she had been searching for someone amongst the scattered group of people. For the Ghost Team, they expected the situation will work like this since their deal with God is different from the others. But they can't deny the feeling was disheartening at best.

God knew what's on their mind and gave a chuckle. Seeing the girl that frantically runs around in circles trying to find the person she cherished the most was leaving a bad taste to God as this goes on. He snapped his finger again, and a plain wood door faded in close to him. The door slowly opens when a person with a redhead popped her out, looking around the place. God also chose this moment by timing it just right when Skylar looked in that direction.

Recognizing the redheaded person, Skylar ran ahead with tears slowly creeping away from her eyes. The lady in question stood there, unsure of what to do. Not by what's going on, by what she's going to do--She hasn't seen her daughter for a long time since she died. She took a moment to try and rehearse some lines but can get anything out that felt right.

Skylar jumped at her as he cries, "Mama!"

"Ohf!" Both of them fell down on the ground. Skylar's mother took the hit well. Seeing her daughter buried her face in her clothes, she comforted her. "My plumpy tomato back then is a big girl now! You gotta remember what we say about big girls? It's that 'Big girls don't cry'" She caressed her. "Here, here. It's okay, it's okay. Mama's here."

On the Ghost Team side, Bear began to bawl as he can't help but miss his wife and kids. Followed by Castle's cry as he curses himself to stop crying over and over. Irish bit his tongue, trying his best not to let the sound got too much as he cries. Joe held his face with one arm, crying as he apologized to his teammates. They have to endure.

God pitied the Ghost Team. He popped a small screen in front of him, did something, and he snapped a finger. The Ghost Team realized what's happening as a wide enough screen showed in front of each one. A live feed of the condition of their families lives. They snapped their heads to look at God, only to receive a nod in return. Realizing this, they took no time at all and sat down as they watched the screen.

Sensing that this could take long, God popped out a chair and sat down.

"Now I've done my part of the deal, you have to keep your end of the bargain. If you want to see each other again, you have to help these two, the people on the wasteland, and finding more toasters- Gaining enough points." He reminded everyone. "Either using the points on the bunker or your past life is up to the group to decide... Well, not exactly since Withbeck boy got the last word to anything to that."

"Yes, surely a lot of pressure on your shoulder," God mumbles to himself, remembering the days of the past.

"Do you spend that hard-earned points for this world? or be continuously connected with your past?" He contemplated the idea. His creation does surprise him from time to time.

"Keep me entertained everyone, That's what you all good for, isn't it." a wide grin crept upon his face.

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(Author's Rambling)

I'm starting to have some trouble writing this chapter. I know my writing style is all over the place. I'm even using another webnovels phrasing, dialogue, and even monologue just to see what sticks and whatnot.

This chapter is not that fleshed out. That I can always confess. I'm having this kind of deadlock of what I want to try and say. Honestly, I wanted this chapter to feel more of a reunion than just a mess.

I'm not even sure I'm improving at this point. But I'll keep on trying. I'm getting fixated with the thoughts in my head like if I'm using too many words of this, using this again and again, if I try this, will the tone became more different. Etc.

♪ Matt Maeson - Beggar's Song ♪