《A Journey Through the Worlds.》044: Free Man.
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Mad Dog stood there in a daze, no not just him, everyone there was just standing there frozen, they didn't even know if what they had just seen was true or not.
They only saw the woman lift her hand, and then a purple ray left her hand before hitting the tall man who fall down to the floor soon after, it was an unbelievable sight that made the space around them turn silent.
Even Barry and old Frank were just standing there not knowing what to think.
When they first saw Robin teleporting while luring the dragon and Anie's calm expression while looking at him, they knew that their leaders weren't normal at all, but seeing something like that happen right in front of their eyes was a different experience entirely.
"Wh... What kind of monsters are you?" Mad Dog finally spit those words breaking the since that fall around them.
"We are no monsters, we are simply humans like you, except that..." Dan said but he didn't say the answer directly as he took his time saying the last part, seeing how they all were looking at him reminded him of his students when he used to ask them an interesting question that no one knew the answer to, and how they would just start waiting for him to give it, smiling to himself as he remembered that, he finally said:
"... I'll tell you later when everyone in the base is together, now let me ask you, from your words I think that all the crewmen of the ships in your gangs are here, right?"
He didn't answer them as he knew that many people had to listen to that information, and he wasn't going to keep on repeating it.
So he just decided to gather everyone who he deemed impotent and tell them about it, he would then give those that he didn't think of as essential for the journey a chance to join them or not, while basically kidnapping those that he deemed essential, as he wasn't going to let them go just like that.
"Don't worry I won't do anything bad to you all, I will only ask you to listen to what I want you to do, first tell me, are the crewmen here?" Dan said as he saw that no one there showed good expressions after hearing his words.
Even his teammates looked at him in a weird way, they expected him to explain what happened and where they were from but instead he said that.
"Yeah they are here, probably they are already on the ships getting them ready to sail." the bald middle aged man answered Dan's question.
"Great, now everyone lets enter please." He said before starting to walk towards the cave.
Mad Dog didn't have a reason to refuse, and after seeing what happened to the tall man all of them decided to follow silently.
When they entered the cave Dan saw a man walking around the cave while holding a spear making him remember something, so he turned his head to old Frank and asked:
"Hey old Frank who made those spears? they were surprisingly good."
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He remembered that the spears which he used in the fight were great, even though they were only made of iron their handling was great and they showed just how good their maker was at his field, and he wanted someone like that on his team.
"Oh you mean those spears that I sent you? They were made by Thomas, a very talented person in the gang, he only makes spears and weapons for the blood power users, no normal person would ever dream of getting his works, when I heard you say that you wanted spears I searched for thirty of his best and brought them to you." old Frank said.
"Does he have a family?" Dan asked, he getting interested in the man named Thomas.
"Yes he has a wife and a little boy." old Frank answered.
"Then send someone to call them here, remember, ask them to bring all their valuable possessions, but also tell them that they need to hurry I want them to be here in the next hour." Dan said.
"Ok I'll get it done" old Frank nodded his head before calling a guard over and telling him Dan's orders, the guard soon left to finish his mission.
As they were walking toward the platform that over looked the whole cave Dan saw a man walking by, he found him familiar when he saw him, thinking about it he realized that it was the same man who opened the gate to the underground base to them for the first time.
Dan was a little surprised as he never thought that that man would be there, as he gave him the impression that he would die at that gate, because whenever Dan passed by the entrance or left the gate, he would always see him there.
"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought that you never left the gate it's really a surprise seeing you here." Dan asked.
The man turned his head when he heard someone calling him, except that he didn't expect to see Dan standing there while smiling at him:
"Sir I... I... Even though I like staying guard at the gate, every year when the Great Migration starts I would volunteer to join the crew." the man said after he returned to his senses.
He was skinny, his head way too few hairs, he also had quite a funny hobbit of smiling when he gets nervous.
"Are you a crew member? " Dan asked.
"No, I'm not I just join them to help a little bit, that's all."
"Why is that, I heard that not a lot of people like joining the crew members on their ships, it's way too dangerous after all" asked Dan interest.
"I just like feeling that moment of freedom in the days of the Great Migration... Actually the reason why I stay as a guard at the gate is because I like the weather and place outside, and I just want to be as close to it as possible and to see it as much as possible." the man's words were trembling a little when he started at first but then he started talking and the more he talked the easier it was for him, he simply liked that feeling to the point where he forget that he was talking with the gang leader.
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"So you like to feel free?" Dan asked.
He liked the man standing in front of him; he was the only person who talked about freedom and going out in much a dangerous world.
"Yes sir, I like to think of myself as a free man... In heart at least if not in body..." the man said.
"That sounds good, if you really think like that, than later hear what I have to say and decided for yourself, it might be what you have been waiting for." Dan said, he then patted him on the shoulder and moved away.
The gate keeper kept on looking at Dan as he and the others moved away.
Dan finally stood on the top of the platform and said:
"Everyone can I have your attention please." his voice wasn't high or anything like that but when he talked everyone there calmed down as they had been looking at him and the others ever since they entered the cave.
"Everyone I have something important to tell you." Dan said after he saw that everyone was listening.
"We six are the new leaders of the one eyed dragon's gang, while those people here are the leaders of the other gangs on the city and their blood power users, of course that isn't the important thing that I wanted to say I just wanted to introduce myself and the others, the real thing that I wanted to talk to you about is something that concern you all, and concern your life here." The end of his words were said seriously leaving everyone there waiting for what he wanted to say.
"All of you have noticed it right? How we threw the nets from Barbarossa and how we took all the water containers from the other two ships and even brought many others through the surface?"
Many people in the crowd nodded their heads, they felt that something was really wrong when they heard about all what Dan asked for, while those that didn't started remebering the weird things that Dan asked for.
"Probably many of you felt it already, but I will say it anyway for those that didn't and to make it official, Barbarossa and everyone on it, we included, won't be out in the ocean just for fishing, we are going out for another purpose."
His words for those that didn't think about it at all sounded unbelievable, as what would a person do in a two weeks period in the ocean except for fishing? While even though those that considered it still found it surprising they accepted it better.
"Then if you aren't going to the ocean for fishing, what's the reason of your journey?" Mad Dog asked.
Dan's words didn't come as a surprise to him even when he heard them for the first time, so he didn't care about the surprised people and asked what he needed to know.
"I was coming to that, but first let me ask all of you a few things." Dan said.
"I think that all of you had noticed who the duration of a day had become longer, I will tell you know that it have became longer by two times and a half, so a day had become sixty hours long, probably the leaders here had already done some experiments and they probably come with the same amount of time right?" Asking that question he turned his head to Mad Dog and the other six.
Seeing all the people there looking at them the leaders nodded their heads one by one.
"Finding about that is easy, but do you know why did that happen?" Dan clapped his hands after seeing them all nod before he asked that question.
This time everyone in the cave looked at Dan expacting an answer, the changes in the duration of a day were something that made all of them worried and many speculations had appeared since that became known.
People in area 07 were already suffering with dragons, and such huge change like the duration of the day getting longer made many afraid that something even worse was coming their way, so hearing Dan ask if any of them knows about its reason made them quite curious and believe that he had an explanation of some sort.
"So they really know about that..." Mad Dog murmured to himself, when he heard Dan's question.
"I see that all of you want to know about it, but please hold on to that thought and let me ask you another thing."
"If I'm not mistaken a few days ago, an earthquake hit every place in the city right, and while that earthquake happened everyone here lost consciousness, nothing bad happened but after waking up, did weird memories appear in you minds? Memories about living in other worlds, in those worlds there was no dragons, the civilization there might have been destroyed just like here or still good and functioning, about a world where people had abilities, a world with dinosaurs and many other, did that happen?"
Dan knew that he had to link every weird or unknown thing that happened in the last few days and try explaining it to them in a way so they would understand it, to make them belive what he was going to say later.
Hearing Dan stop in the middle of his explanation about the reason of the change in the duration of the day and stsrt talk about another thing made them a little bit upset, but then they heard what he wanted to talk about and they become even more interested.
Everyone losing consciousness at the same time was a major thing that happened a few days ago, and just like what happened when the duration of the day changed no one had an explanation for it.
Not to mention that the happening then didn't only include all of them falling unconscious but also the weird memories and visions of them on other worlds.
Those memories were a mystery, as no one could explain how they appeared in everyone's mind.
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Beast
A threat to the galaxy has come from another, and the Union of intelligent life will go to any length to stop it. Military Quarantine has held for hundreds of thousands of cycles. Traders, merchants, colonists, and Pirates live risky lives along the fringes as the politics from the inner systems fail to see the larger threats beyond their borders. A lone human finds himself far from home with no memories to how he arrived. A failing Trade vessel plays on a desperate gamble, while a malicious parasite searches for a suitable host. ............................................. Author's note: Beast is a story that I wrote a long, long time ago. Some of you might have read it then, back when it was posted on reddit over at r/HFY. It was my first webfiction and made in the spirit of that subreddit's "genre" of humanity being awesome. But, it is also a story that has bothered me a little bit. Just like most new writers tend to do, I made mistakes and errors that feel painful to reread. A Space Opera will be a Space Opera, but I had prose that makes present-me cringe. Still, at the same time, the story is still very much a tale I've never given up on. It was my first adventure into fiction: Beast was a crazy adventure with bodysnatching aliens, galactic war, threats from across the universe... Posting this story here is a way to try and redeem myself a bit. I won't call it a complete rewrite, because it's not, but I have wanted to go through and correct some of the major issues Beast has for a long time and put it somewhere more accessible to read (instead of as posts/comments on reddit) and I figure that now is as good a time as any. Additional corrections you might notice are welcome.
8 182From My Enemy to My Love (bxb)
* I thought it might be time for me to pull away now that he was calm, but Vincent surprised me. His long arms, slowly wrapped around me. I hadn't expected this. I hadn't expected to get warmth for warmth. I couldn't pull away now. I held him tighter. "I can't believe you," he said quietly next to my ear. "But I want to believe you. Maybe you are different." He lifted his head off my shoulder, but instead of pulling back his face got closer to mine. "Maybe you and you alone are different." He kissed me.* Vincent has always had a desire to protect his best friend from those who would take advantage of his wealth. So when his best friend starts dating someone that Vincent is convinced is only out for his money, Vincent is determined to do all he can to break them up. Chet has never seen his best friend date anyone, so when he starts dating someone and is genuinely happy, Chet wants to support him anyway he can. Especially when he finds out someone is trying to break them up. This book is intended for a mature audience. The main characters are adults. This is a male/male romance story. There will be sexual content. Names, characters, events and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Copyright 2019: All Rights Reserved
8 199Death Regulator
Humans have lived on earth unopposed and alone for thousands upon thousands of years. Finding mundane existence boring, they have created stories of magic and monsters to sooth their lucrative imagination for as long as history can remember. Arik was one of these very same humans. It wasn’t until tragedy struck his mortality that he learned just how wrong everyone truly is. Not only did he awaken from death, but he awoke with what he could only describe as super powers. The stuff of comic books. He was a deathless. Normally it would be all sunshine and rainbows, but Arik is inevitably brought face to face with others like him. Only they aren’t half as kind, and are intent on “eating” his super powers. The battle for his unlife is on. Can he make this second chance worth it?
8 309Leave Bad Enough Alone
Something has been amiss in the city’s theaters as of late. The local bards have long done a respectable job of keeping the audiences entertained, weaving high concepts with skillful performances. But lately, a new set of bards, and their illusionist cohorts, have captured the crowd’s attention. Compared to the theater’s usual fare, their work is hackneyed and poorly plotted, with unskilled acting, bad special effects, and unsatisfying resolutions. Worst of all, the audiences like their work more, and these upstarts are far more profitable than the city’s decent bards! Clearly, there must be some dark secret behind the success of these newcomers, and it’s up to the city’s true artists to find out what it is and expose the conspiracy! Or maybe the city’s bards have just become too hopelessly pretentious and derivative. It’s hard to tell. But investigate it they must! Failure is not an option! Victory, or...well, they’ll have to get day jobs or something. Original cover image generated by NightCafé.Master story list here.
8 126An Average American in A High-school Academy Anime
An American versed in narrative tropes and more than mildly acquainted with anime wakes up in a completely different bed than the one he went to bed in. Now he has to scramble to understand where he is, what's going on, and hope to God he isn't in a relationship drama. I don't expect this to be good or well-received, but I have plenty of time this quarantine, so I'll try to get a chapter of 4000-10000 words out every one or two weeks. (haha) Please let me know how it can be improved. I'm an avid reader of fiction, but I've never really fallen down a rabbit hole so hard that I can name all tropes and settings and such by heart. I'm not sure if this will be effective satire, so I preemptively apologize. Inspired by: "My Life is Not a Manga, or maybe..." by EO Tenkey and "The Simulacrum" by Eganthale. Check them out if you want probably better stories than this one.
8 146Building An Army In Another World With My Smartphone
I woke up in a strange new place and learnt that I had sacrificed my memories for a powerful gift during my transmigration to another world. I guess all I can do is to build up my army...using my smartphone.
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