Werren looked out the car's window, a sprawling orange landscape coating mountains. The autumn trees created a wave-like effect as the wind coaxed it into a continuous rhythm. Atop the distant mountain was the signal tower, barely visible as its red and white stripes cloaked itself amongst the forest.

Blues kept his eyes on the road.

"There's a supply store in town. Hopefully, we can pick up what we need there."

Werren leaned back into the car.

"What's our budget? I don't have my wallet with me so you'll have to pay."

Blues gestured to the backseat.

"I have some old trinkets that I'll sell. There should be a pawnshop nearby."

Werren looked back to see a couple of black sacks sitting in the back. Both sacks looked as if they would burst any moment.

"Damn. Never took you for a hoarder."

Blues shrugged.

"It's mostly stuff from the last Era. Oak doesn't want it cluttering the basement so he asked me to get rid of it."

Werren squinted at Blues.

"I'm starting to think you didn't just bring me here to help me move on."

Werren shakes his head and leans back.

"First the signal tower and now selling junk? You just wanted a sidekick."

Blues side-eyes Werren.

"So tell me what else the great Werren would be doing instead of this?"

Werren doesn't answer, he just shakes his head and softly chuckles.

"Exactly. If it's any consultation there's a bar in the town."

"Better be!"

Werren playful slaps Blues' leg.

They continue the drive, the soft hum of the car filling the ambience. Flocks of birds flying overhead and the occasional car driving past attracted Werren's eyes as he watched the scenery pass him.

Werren soon spotted the town's sign on the side of the road.

"Jia? So we're up north."

Blues nods.

"Yep. We're not too far from the capital."

Werre groans.

"The capital... christ."

"Don't worry, we're still like four or five hours away."

"Nah it's not that. I just don't get it. I mean Nuclear city...? Narcissistic much isn't it?"

"I agree the name's a little... on the nose but I've seen their facilities. I hate to say it but the nuclear power they use there is... beneficial. For a city as big as that it's very sustainable."

"Too bad it's being run by a complete prick. I also heard about this... odd rule about non-strand people."

"Oh, yeah I have no idea what that's about. Apparently, people who don't have strand just aren't allowed in."

"Not so shiny now is it?"

Blues looked over to Werren, his lips twisted into an awkward smile.

"I guess."

Blues looks back to the road.

"But let's not worry about all that. We're coming up on the town now!"

They stopped by a pawnshop to sell off the junk. Blues and Werren hauled the sacks into the store before throwing them on the counter. The clerk, an older man with a glistening bald head and a killer moustache, mozied down to look at the sacks.

"Welcome new faces."

The clerk crossed his arms.

Blues looked up and smiled.

"Morning! You could tell we weren't local that fast? That's impressive."

The clerk smirked.

"'Course I could! I've shaken hands with every resident in this town."

Blues chuckles.

"Oh wow! That's... unsanitary."

The clerk howls with laughter.

"You should see the hands of the people I've shaken hands with!"

Blues nervously chuckles.

"Oh haha... uh that's... what do you mean?"

The clerk continues to laugh louder and louder, and people in the pawnshop look over confused.

"Cause I shake with the same hand I wipe my ass with!"

The clerk bangs his fist on the counter and laughs harder, his entire face morphing red.

Blues stop laughing and just stand there, a little disgusted.

"Funny. Yeah... uh anyway. We've got some things to pawn off so would you mind taking a look at them?"

"Nah."

Blues blinks a few times.

"Oh."

He is speechless.

The clerk then bursts back into laughter.

"JUST KIDDING!"

The clerk falls onto the floor laughing.

Blues stands there not laughing, he sighs.

"This will be a while..."

Werren looked around the pawnshop, shelves stacked with dolls and wooden toys. Countless stacks of furniture were dotted in every space and hundreds of paintings lined the walls, it was harder to spot the wallpaper and floor of this place than anything else. As Werren gazed around he hadn't noticed his sack topple over, various knick-knacks spilling out.

Werren quickly turned and picked everything up.

"Damnit... why is there so much of this shit."

As Werren sifted through everything he spotted something shiny amongst the pile.

"No way..."

He gently picked up a golden pin.

"The Grand Party..."

Blues walked over.

"Werren, can you try talking to the clerk? Anytime I speak with him he just makes a dumb joke and starts laughing."

Werren stood up holding the pin.

"You're... getting rid of this?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. As I said, most things from the last Era are getting sold. Includes most of my costumes and anything else I won't need anymore."

Werren gazed at the pin.

"But why? Isn't this important to you?"

Blues looks surprised.

"Werren. I haven't used that in 24 years. By the time the next Era arrives, I'll either be dead or too old to do anything."

"Still I... I think you keep some of it. As a memento."

"Sorry, Werren. Not that big of a fan of remembering the end of the last Era. I wanna move on. I'm sure people will step up when the time comes for a new Era to be decided but I don't think I'll be one of them."

Werren slowly nods before tossing the pin back into the sack.

"Fine. I'm gonna go have a smoke so meet me outside once you're done."

Blues reaches his hand out.

"Wait! Werren I need your-"

Werren had already left.

"Ugh. Fine. Let's try this again."

Blues forces himself to go back to the clerk.

Werren steps outside, the chill air hitting him hard.

"Damn..."

He lights his cigarette and sits on a bench.

Not too far from him, he sees a man in a faded yellow raincoat wheeling a woman in a wheelchair.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"-got to be strong. I read a lot about it using this... internet thing and it's got over two thousand guards! Never heard of an army that big to guard just one prison. This world has changed so much."

Werren's interest is piqued by this conversation.

"Uh, excuse me!"

The man stops and turns to look at Werren.

"You're talking about the Leo Palace, right?"

The man softly smiles, his face was mostly obscured by the hood on his raincoat.

"Yeah. You heard about the breakout?"

Werren leans in.

"No, I haven't. What happened?"

"Apparently some powerful person broke out. First in history! Crazy isn't it."

"Who was it? Anyone know?"

"Not yet. The entire government is doing a worldwide manhunt for them. Scary to think someone that strong is just wandering around."

"How did they break out? That place is at the deepest part of the ocean."

"Dunno. The government is keeping a lot under wraps. Some sources are—"

"Archie."

The woman in the wheelchair glared at the man in the raincoat.

"We should get going."

Archie quickly returns to the woman.

"Sorry. Thanks for the chat!"

Soon, they both disappeared into the distance. Werren put out his cigarette before standing up.

Present day...

Casey walked around, admiring the pawnshop made of moss and leaves. An almost perfect replica of the building.

"So... there are places where you can go in and sell things. Interesting."

Werren continued to walk.

"Eh, I don't trust a lot of them. They've scammed me a couple of times."

Casey caught up and walked alongside Werren.

"Scammed?"

"Like... ripped me off."

"Off what?"

Werren chuckled.

"No no. They... haven't given me what I'm owed."

Casey nods thoughtfully.

"Alright... I understand it now."

Casey looked around the jungle floor before picking up a rock.

"So what would I get if I gave them this rock?"

"I think they'd tell you to leave."

"Why?! This rock comes from my home and my home is worth a lot."

"Sorry Casey but they don't take into consideration personal worth unless it's something rare or one of a kind."

Casey gently puts the rock back on the ground.

"I don't really have a lot of anything. I guess the pawnshop isn't for me.

"What is it like being here?"

Casey lights up.

"It's nice! Well... out here in the sea is nice. We spent a lot of time underground but now that we get some fresh air it's been good for everyone!"

"How many people live here? The island looks big so I imagine there's a sizeable amount of you."

"I think there's around fifty of us but we get new people all the time! Things always seem fresh around here. Even more now with all of these newcomers."

Werren nods. As their walk continues they soon reach the top of a hill.

Casey runs ahead.

"Oh, I love this hill! The view is so pretty!"

Werren slowly catches up but he watches as Casey stands frozen, looking out over the island. Werren gets an uneasy feeling, he holds onto his stomach and joins Casey atop the hill. His eyes widen. The sight of a vibrant orange landscape captivated him. Grey fumes blocked out the sun. The jungle was burning.

Casey trembled.

"N-No... wh-why..."

Werren looked closer and saw people with flamethrowers spreading the fire. A trail of ash and soot was left in their wake.

"Must be Ignition..."

Casey lifted his mask and wiped his tears.

"Ignition...? Why would they do this to... my home..."

Werren remained stern.

"Do we have to head toward the fire to find my next memory?"

Casey nodded.

"Yes. The next memory should be past the fire."

"Then we can stop them."

Casey looked up at Werren.

"R-Really?"

Werren smiled.

"Of course. Come on."

Werren and Casey dashed down toward the fire...

Meanwhile...

Ala leapt forward and swung her fishing rod around. The hook flew through the air before latching onto a Necrobeast. She pulled back and reeled the Necrobeast toward her. As it got close Javier jumped in a slammed his head down onto the Necrobeast. The blow was powerful enough to break the Necrobeast into two.

From the forest line, more Necrobeast emerged. All prepared to defend their home.

Ala looked to Javier.

"Don't steal my next kill, asshole."

Javier cracked his knuckles.

"It's called teamwork Ala! We have a one-two combo me and you!"

Ala stood up straight.

"Never asked for your help. Keep to your own lane."

Ala focussed back on the battle, she ran forward and sent her hook out. The fishing line wrapped around a group of Necrobeasts. In a single, fierce, tug at the rod, the line tightened and sliced through the Necrobeasts like butter.

"Not bad! Let's create a little chaos though."

Javier jumped high into the air. He dove down head first. When his head slammed into the ground the pressure caused an intense amount of heat to build up however his sweatband managed to absorb a lot of the heat and evenly distribute it through his body. Javier kept slamming his forehead into the ground, the heat building and building as his body began to glow a rose red.

Once he had built up enough heat he charged forward and headbutted any Necrobeast standing in his way. The heat caused the Necrobeasts to pop like balloons. As a dozen Necrobeasts swarmed him he screamed out a war cry before headbutting every single Necrobeast. They all exploded into a green goo. He wiped himself clean and revelled in his victory.

"SEE ALA! That is how you fight!"

Javier flexed.

"You reek of masculinity. Stay far away from me."

Ala walked away.

Javier ran after her.

"Hold on! I really think we could make a great team! That rod of yours is great!"

Ala rolls her eyes.

"Know a lot about good rods?"

"You know it!"

Javier winked.

"Gross."

Ala and Javier kept walking, their eyes watching the edges of the jungle as they walked across the burnt remains of the jungle. Not too far ahead of them were people with flamethrowers torching the jungle.

"I swear we've been burning this jungle for so long but we've barely made any ground."

Javier crosses his arms.

"It's been thirty minutes. On the bright side, we've actually managed to get further this time."

Ala checks on her fishing rod, making sure it's in perfect condition.

"Think we'll find Hiro?"

"I'm more concerned with where he went. Part of me thinks he defected."

"Hiro defecting? Because of that girl that died like a month ago? I'm sure he can get over it! He's a tough guy so he probably just wanted to fight on ahead, go straight to the Haab'."

"Let's hope so. This island is already starting to annoy me. The faster I can get off it, the happier I'll be."

"You and happy should never be in the same sentence."

"Why? You don't think I can be happy?"

"You're always so gloom and doom! Even when you're slicing through Necrobeasts you seem sad."

"It's not sadness I'm just doing my job. If I want to become an agent then I'll be taking this job seriously... unlike someone."

"Hey! I'll have you know I've killed more Necrobeasts than you so who's really doing their—"

Before Javier could continue a massive wave of ash and dust blew toward them. Ala covered her face as the sudden wind slowly pushed her back. Javier headbutted the ground, the impact causing a conflicting gust of wind to create a safe zone inside the ash. Ala ducked into Javier's safe zone, coughing and rubbing her eyes.

"Where did this come from?!"

Javier waited for the ash to subside. When it did he saw the Spectators wielding the flamethrowers being tossed around by black tendrils sprouting from the ground.

"Holy..."

Ala stood up, her eyes red and spit dripping down her chin.

"Is that..."

From the fire, Werren burst through. Tendrils slapping the flamethrowers away and tossing any Spectators away. Werren dashed across, occasionally ducking into the fire to hide as the Spectators shot at him. Werren sent forth a sphere and increased its mass, anything and everything was sucked towards it before he quickly reversed its gravity, throwing everything in random directions.

Javier and Ala looked at each other.

"THAT'S WERREN THE HERO!?"

They both shouted in unison.

Werren turned to Casey.

"Put out the fire. I'll deal with these people."

Casey nodded before running off. Werren turned back to see the Spectators all gathering around Werren.

"SHS... didn't know you guys were here too."

Javier walked forward.

"Werren the Hero. Heard tales of you from Lord Vivian."

Werren smiled.

"Nice to know the Lords still speak of me."

"Oh, they do. They also say that if anyone were to beat you they'd get a position high up in the SHS."

Werren rolls his shoulder.

"Alright. Who wants a promotion then?"

All the spectators grin. It was one versus one hundred. Werren grabbed onto his tie as he looked into the eyes of every single Spectator. Without a second thought, the Spectators all rushed toward Werren as he smirked and tightened his tie.