I awoke one day, to the sound of gunfire, filling the streets of Manhattan.

I saw two men clad in black, running in my direction, then out of nowhere a man in a black mask appeared and said:

“Get down!!!”

The man in a black mask shouted at me to get down, so I did… and what happened next… scared the living shit out of me!.

“Fireball!” The man said.

And then. The man… shot a ball of fire OUT OF HIS HANDS!!!.

“What the hell!?” I said, out of fear and confusion, as I backed away from the fire wielding man slowly.

“Are you okay?” Said the man as he walked towards me.

“It’s okay, I’ll heal you” He said as a small white light appeared from his left hand.

He touched my head and said:

“Oh holy gods, heal this young one with your almighty power!”

And, the pain that I was used to having… was suddenly gone.

“What… did you do to me!?” I said, shocked.

“I healed you, that’s all.” He said, like it was something normal.

“What… who are you?” I asked, scared.

He looked at me, staring right into my eyes. Briefly I pondered whether I should ditch this situation. I watched his hands out of the corner of my eye. He seemed to have noticed my glance and he said:

“I won’t create more charcoal than needed, don’t worry.” he chuckled as he took his mask off and said:

“Name’s Jason, Jason Vertold. And, I believe I saved you just now.” He said.

“U-Uh, yeah I guess.” I replied. “Thanks for that.” I blinked. “No, wait, what, WHAT, what happened?” I said with fear and confusion evident in my voice.

“I don’t know, first I was with my wife and son… and now I’m fighting men, with these strange weapons.” said Jason.

“You mean guns?” I asked.

“So, those are what they’re called?... guns… that’s a pretty suitable name for them.” Jason said.

I was dumbfounded. What the heck is up with this guy over there. First those mysterious men followed me down the street, then this guy came in and started shooting fire out of his hands! And now I’m stuck with this weirdo. I mean, even his getup is weird! Leather Cap, Leather armor, Leather shin guards, Leather shoes, Heck, I bet even his skin is leather!

The man, Jason?, inched closer to me.

My legs shook and my throat went dry, this monster here, no matter what, he is just simply… too weird. Yes, that’s it. He’s way too weird, I don’t know what he wants from me.

“Hey,” Jason said, “why are you backing off? All’s good right?” He said, confused.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” I hurriedly said as I backed up against the cold brick wall.

He looked at me dumbfounded, and he said “What do you mean, hurt you? I’m trying to help you.”

His friendly smile flashed in the lights, his body peered over me as I cowered in fear.

“You’re… not going to hurt me?” I said, confused but a bit scared.

He looked at me and said:

“Of course i’m not going to hurt you, dumbass... what’s your name?” Jason said.

“Oh, it’s Ashton.” I said, still a bit shaken up.

He extended his right hand towards me and said:

“Ashton, that’s a pretty strong name. Here get up.”

I grabbed his stretched hand, and he slowly pulled me up. His hand was raspy and rough, almost dry, but at the same time there was some warmth emanating from within. Well, he did shoot fire out of his hands before.

“So, where are we?” He asked.

“We’re in Manhattan… Why don’t you know where you are?” I asked him confused.

“Well, let’s just say that I’m not from around here...” He went quiet.

“Well, that’s pretty obvious.” With the whole fire thing… “You are not from here…” I gasped. “Are you from the Federation!?” I said, as hope suddenly filled my voice.

“No, I’m not from any faction… I’m just a normal guy… well at least, where I’m from, I’m considered average.” Jason said, shaking his Uniform.

“If you’re average, then what am I?” I said, clearly confused and a little bit scared.

‘If he’s average, then what the fuck are the strong people!?’ I thought, secretly.

“I know what you’re thinking, “If I’m average… then who the hell are the strong people!?” right?” He almost exactly said what I was thinking just now!.

‘PSYCHIC, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!’ I thought, kind of scared.

“Relax, I’m not inside of your head, I can just hear your thoughts, like, I’m just reading your mind, checking whether you were actually on my side or not… and you are, so all’s good.” He said in an upbeat voice.

‘What would happen if I wasn’t on his side?’ I thought, slightly fearful.

“Oh, I would’ve killed you on the spot… now, let’s go.” He said as he started walking away.

“Wha-... Okay!” I said as I started to run after him.

“Heh.” He laughed, smiling… then he put his mask on and threw a red one to me and said:

“Put it on, it’ll be harder for your enemies to find your loved ones if they don’t even know who the fuck you are!”

I put the mask on and said:

“How do I look?”

He instantly replied with:

“Like an idiot. That’s good, enemies will be less vigilant against you, so you better be grateful to me.”

And we walked through the streets of manhattan, killing every enemy in our way.

I pondered. What the heck was actually going on? I’ve been on a scavenging run for my sister, before a group of armed men jumped out of nowhere and fired at me. I took cover, but they still found me anyways. Whatever was going on, I’m sure this man holds some of the answers.

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End.

Created by: Writer 1. and Writer 0.

[Thanks, Writer 0 ] -Writer 1

[Thanks to you too, Writer 1. ] -Writer 0

[XD] -Writer 1