Hans was renting a small studio apartment, barely enough for one person. The low price was the main reason he rented the apartment but its nearly claustrophobic size was something he liked. An uncomfortable feeling always came over him when he was in large empty spaces, a feeling that had gotten enhanced by his years on the field.
It was the first time Hans actually had time to himself in that house after regressing. His first week was spent either sleeping or getting ready to go to work so he didn't have adequate time to spend in the house by himself but he couldn't shake off an uncomfortable feeling. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what that feeling was. The feeling of nostalgia had worn off and he was well aware of how anxiety felt. But at that very moment his house felt… empty.
Hans slapped himself in the face, the sound of the slap echoing in his room. He did not have the time to get caught up in his feelings. If he were to play his cards right he'd end up having such time but caring about his feelings was too much of a luxury in his current predicament.
"The current me doesn't have a reason to work as hard as I want to. Which means I have to fabricate one." Hans paced around the small house, looking at his feet.
"I can't wait till the green massacre. It's too much time. I'm too weak for the triple overload that's a month off. Think God damnit think." Hans tightened his fist "All that's left is that huh?"
-
Hans had only heard back from the agency once. It was a short call from Jonathan about him not having to get into work until his awakened identification card was processed and delivered. It had already been two full weeks yet the card had yet to be delivered despite what he had been told, something that worked perfectly with his plan.
-
Hans was dressed in an old black suit, taking small solemn steps on the chipped stone trail in-between the graves, he was the only one there apart from the old security guard who was sleeping in a small kiosk overseeing the graves. He held a bouquet of pink carnations. The 6th grave of the 9th row. That was Ronnie's grave. Hans hadn't seen it in years so when he laid his eyes upon it a surge of memories and emotions were brought back up to the surface.
Hans left the bouquet of flowers on top of the grave and then sat on the ground. He reached into his pocket and took out two chocolate bars. The wrap of the chocolate was light green and had a very fat canary wearing a party hat on it and the words 'birdie-bar chocolate' written in an ugly yellow font plastered across it. He placed one of the two chocolate bars on the grave next to the flowers and unwrapped the other and started eating it.
"This chocolate is so bad. I don't know why you liked it so much. Was it this canary that looks like an overweight pigeon?"
Hans had a pained smile on his face as his eyes were glistening in the early morning sun.
"I'm doing well. Struggling with the whole time travel thing but I'll make it. There is no other option. I was one of the best in my job before I died too. It's very similar to our dream but better. I actually saved lives. So many lives. I really wish I could have saved yours too."
Hans bit into the chocolate aggressively and covered his face with his hand as he chewed.
"If only I had gotten awakened then instead of in my twenties. I could have saved you. I would have at least been able to carry you to the hospital. I could have been there. I wish I could at least get revenge for you. I miss you man."
Realizing that even swallowing his own saliva had become difficult, Hans put the rest of his chocolate bar next to the one he left for Ronnie. He then ran his hands through the etching of Ronnie's name 'Ronald Francis Lewis'. He then slowly stood up and patted the dirt off his pants, one singular tear escaping his eyes and falling on the ground. Hans checked his phone for the time. It was 9:47AM. 'That' was about to happen.
"Mommy, isn't that Hans?" Hans heard a vaguely familiar little girl's voice.
Hans turned his head and his eyes met three familiar faces. A middle aged man and woman and a young girl. They were Ronnie's parents and little sister. Ronnie's dad, Francis, had bright red hair, blue eyes and permanent dark circles under his eyes. Ronnie's mother, Mary, had really short brown hair and kind brown eyes. As for Ronnie's little sister, Melanie, her light brown hair and her kind blue eyes that were oh so similar to Ronnie's made her look a lot like him.
"I didn't know you'd be here Hans." Francis said with a somber look on his face "Thank you for keeping him in your mind."
"How could I forget my Best friend?" Hans struggled to speak. He didn't know Ronnie's family were there that day. Was that why they had never contacted him past the funeral? Could they have been killed?
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"Melanie got really good grades on her last report card so she wanted to tell her brother about it. Isn't that right Melanie?" Mary broke the few moments of awkward silence.
Melanie nodded her head with a smile and looked at Hans. "I'll first show Ronnie and then I'll show you. Okay?" She ran up to Hans and gave him a hug and then to the grave. She then pulled out a report card from her pocket and showed it to the grave.
"Mister Wilson gave me an A, miss Anne too. I did get a B at mister Daniel's class but he said that if I study a little more I will also get an A. Did I tell you that Mister James and Miss Donna got married? The principal teased them about it all day." Melanie said excitedly "I also made a new friend. Her name is Rosie and she's really tall. She's even taller than the boys."
Hans was looking at Melanie talking to Ronnie's grave when suddenly he felt an intense pain that ran across the right side of his ribs. Hans turned to face whatever was there but there was nothing. Yet the pain continued. That pain was right on the scar he had gotten while fighting the Witch in his previous life. But he hadn't come across her yet. Why would a scar that isn't there be in pain?
Then, everything clicked. The Witch was…. It was Melanie. They had the same light brown hair, the same bright blue eyes and an appearance that reminded him of his best friend. The monster that had killed the sun and moon berserker was right in front of him and it was his best friend's sister. The monster that had almost killed him.
Almost.
_
It was when Hans was 30 years old. The awakened bureau had begged the agency for help, they needed all the hands they could get. A villain that would come to be known as the Witch had gone on a rampage. She was killing the officers of the bureau without mercy. The two S rank hunters, Archmage and Sun and Moon Berserker had already been dispatched but they asked for help until the two S ranks could reach the location.
Hans, as the strongest and fastest member of the enforcers, was the one to take the job. The Witch was a force of nature that rained extreme debuffs which weakened many hunters so much they were comparable to an average person. Hans luckily had managed to persevere and buy time but he was also disposed of with ease.
The witch had left him to bleed out with a large gruesome wound across his ribs. He was called lucky since no other person who had been attacked by the Witch made it excluding the Archmage but he always felt there had to be more to it. He could have sworn the Witch looked at him before she died but everyone convinced him he must have been seeing things wrong.
Turns out he wasn't
-
After Melanie finished showing her report card to Ronnie's grave she marched towards Hans and showed it to him too. She was a great student. Even after losing her brother she was diligent despite the hurt she must have gone through.
"Impressive. You're a better student than I used to be. Good job." Hans said with a smile.
"Of course I am." Melanie exclaimed proudly.
The sky cracked with a loud sound similar to a shirt being ripped apart but a thousand louder and more metallic. A rift was formed only a few meters from Ronnie's grave and 6 large jaguars with crimson red fur jumped out of the rift. They were the apex predators in the famous dungeon 'Crimson Jungle' known as blood jaguars. Yet those blood jaguars were feral and emaciated, much like with any monster from a rift. Everything was as expected excluding one thing. There were too few of them.
"Kids. Run." Francis said.
He stepped ahead of the group, trembling in fear when faced with the monsters. For a normal person even a half dead blood jaguar was a death sentence, let alone half a dozen hungry ones and Francis was well aware.
"No. Take the others and stay still behind the grave. I'll handle this." Hans said and put his hand in Francis' shoulder "Go"
"I said run god dammit. I'm not losing anyone else. Not if I have a say in it." Francis insisted.
The blood jaguars locked their eyes on the group and seeing so much food in one place, one of them led the charge and leapt towards Hans. Hans stepped to the side and gently touched the blood jaguar's head. A set of miniature lightning bolts came out of Han's fingertips and the monster fell on the ground, the leftover force of its jump caused it's body to tumble and then fall limp after hitting one of the graves. It was dead.
"Mister Francis. I'll be quite bold. They can run faster than me so stay behind the grave. I'll take care of this" Hans said
"Okay, I understand. Stay safe." Francis grabbed Mary and Melanie and brought them behind the grave.
The remaining blood jaguars tried to surround the group but they were kept at bay by Hans' lightning. The two forces were at a stalemate because even under the frenzy caused by the rift, blood jaguars were natural born predators, to the point they could withstand the effect when faced with someone stronger than themselves. That stalemate lasted until the old guard exited his cabin and went towards them to investigate.
"What's going on here? Let me see, who are you?" The guard started patting around the collar of his shirt. "Oh where are those damn glasses?"
The guard's presence broke the equilibrium and a blood jaguar charged at him, Hans turned around to help the old man but the blood jaguars leapt into action. Such were the senses of a B rank monster. Two of the blood jaguars charged right at Hans while the other two approached the grave from each flank.
Instead of defending himself Hans gathered lightning in his hands and launched two powerful thunderbolts at the blood jaguars that tried to reach for the grave. The power of the lightning bolts was incredible, forged from years of hard work and dedication. The blinding flash of lightning covered the area and a moment after the deafening sound of a lightning strike joined it. The jaguars were split in half on impact and the lightning went past them and hit the ground.
The rubble and dirt flew everywhere as the blood jaguars' teeth sunk into his shoulders, barely missing his neck due to Hans' fast reaction speed. Before they could get a taste of his blood he touched their rib cages and made lightning soar into their bodies. The blood jaguars twitched for a few seconds and then went limp.
As the rubble cleared out, Hans unclamped the monster's jaws from his body, causing blood to start running from his wounds and dropped their bodies on the ground. He heard Melanie squeak in fear from behind the grave. He was bleeding a lot and was on the edge of passing out from overusing his skill but he only had one jaguar left.
He turned to face the last remaining jaguar which had bitten down on the old man when the rift made the same horrifying sound yet again and grew larger. Hans planted his feet on the ground and looked at the rift with a look of half fear and half adrenaline fueled ecstacy.
"I knew they were too few. BRING IT ON." He shouted at the rift.
And then it came. It wasn't another wave of emaciated blood jaguars. It was one of them. But a healthy and much larger one, unaffected by the rift's frenzy. It must have lived in the rift by killing and eating its own. No matter what was the case it was incomparably stronger than the ones that came before it. If the strength of the emaciated blood jaguars were to be compared with other monsters they would be equivalent to the D rank snow wolves, but that, it was a true B rank monster.
The lightheaded Hans couldn't help but look as the emaciated blood jaguar dragged the old man's body towards the healthy one and left it in front of its feet. The healthy jaguar stomped on the other's head, killing it instantly and then opened its mouth to eat the barely living old man.
Hans couldn't move. His feet felt heavy and the blood loss started affecting him. At such a range he couldn't guarantee a kill so he needed a way to get it closer. He reached into one of the dead jaguars' mouth, ripped one of its teeth off and threw it at the healthy one to get it's attention.
"HERE LITTLE KITTY, PSPSPSPSPS"