It had been a few weeks since the incident with Sasha and Michael's family, along with Chase's friends, Rose and Paul. He had been on the run since. Local law enforcement wanted him for questioning but they would only say he was crazy and lock him away. Chase ditched his cherished muscle car, and had been roaming the streets on foot in favor of keeping a low profile. He looked as though he hadn't slept for days. Eventually he found his way to the slums of the megatropolis he lived in. Under a bridge leading onto a free way he sat next to a fire burning in a steel barrel.

His long black coat was pulled tightly around him. The ramp to the freeway provided some shelter from the nightly rains and kept him dry, though it did nothing for the occasional gust of wind. There was an elderly homeless man sitting next to Chase also keeping warm by the fire. "I've been having nightmares...", Chase seemed to mutter lowly to the man who listened intently, "I've been to scared to let myself fall asleep.."

  The homeless man let out a sigh patting the huddled up Chase on the shoulder, "That's perfectly understandable.... While I may not know what you went through. I can tell by looking at ya it was somethin horrible... The type of horrible.. That changes ya...", As the old man spoke Chase's gaze never left the fire. He stared on with hollowed eyes never moving or even shuddering when a breeze would roll by. "Heck, everyone here's got their own story to tell kid. Look where we are. Were in an under pass surrounded by examples of people who let their failures control their lives. The hopeless and lost gather here to form the dregs of our fair society, trying to find answers much like you. And some might. But most will not. The real question is, will you be one of these people, who have become stuck in this material purgatory... Or will you be the one to keep moving, and find what your looking for?"

  Chase turned slightly to the man as he spoke, his words provoking much thought within the young man. After a long pause, He looked over to the old timer who seemed to already be staring back, which made Chase somewhat uncomfortable. "Er... Those were wise words.. But uh.. Why are you staring at me?", He questioned quickly without missing a beat, assuming the old man might have been crazier than he initially anticipated.

The old man grinned raising a finger, "You look familiar and I just realized from where..." The old man stated causing Chase to shrink back slightly, almost seeming as though he were going to bolt away. The old man raised a hand, "Don't worry Chase Stevens... Your past is irrelevant here. But as I'm sure you know, you made the front page a few weeks ago. The authorities are looking for you something fierce."

  This did nothing to sate Chase's paranoia as he rose to his feet, causing the old man to rise up as well passively raising his hand, "Wait a moment Chase. You may call me Ivan. Other's call me V."

Chase twitched somewhat in disbelief, "Really? Ivan? As in 'Ivan of the Slums'?", He questioned rapidly folding his arms over his chest in a sort of defensive stance, "Excuse my rudeness if this is true but that man died well before I was born. Did you escape the looney bin or somethin?"

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  Ivan chuckled a bit, showing yellowed teeth through his long white scraggly beard, "No that'd be impossible much like you assume.. These people have taken to calling me it since I arrived here a few long years ago. Shortly after the flash.. I do my best to help them... But ultimately it falls on them to find what they truly need.", Chase looked around at the crowds and crowds of other homeless around them, at other fires all huddled for warmth as the nightly rains dragged onwards.

Then something dawned on him, and he turned back to Ivan with a raised brow, "Wait you arrived here after the flash that wiped out most of the town square three years ago?" Chase thought back to the news reports, maybe "Wiped out" wasn't the right wording to use, as there were no damages to the structures or buildings surrounding the epicenter of the "Flash" as well as no bodies. Everyone who was caught in it simply vanished.

  Ivan nodded in response to Chase's question, "A vast number of these people, including myself cant recall anything prior to the flash. Some can recall anywhere from a few months before, to years earlier. But nothing in between that...."

Chase grew somewhat wide eyed, "Wait a minute... So your telling me these are all the missing people from that disaster!?", he spoke raising his voice almost in an outrage before Ivan raised his hand again in an effort to calm the young man. He was about to say something but Chase spoke again cutting him off, in a softer tone, "You all have been here all this time and nobodies said or done anything to help!? Have you ever even reached out to anyone in the city? Why wasn't this ever in the news? If this is true you need to show me some kind of proof because there are to many questions now..."

Ivan, almost as if out of instinct, raised the dirty bandage that covered his right eye, revealing a fake one. Chase winced slightly as Ivan then plunged his fingers into his socket, seeming to pull it out with little effort. There was a seam through the middle, and Ivan twisted the small sphere in half opening it like some sort of container. "After the flash, I realized I had this..", He explained before finally pulling out a small note which read, "Let them think your dead..", Ivan handed the note to Chase who raised an eyebrow, "I think... The person I used to be wrote this for me. And that is why I'm here. Hiding, much like yourself.", Chase was about to respond only to be cut off by an involuntary yawn. He couldn't help himself as he was running high on exhaustion having fought off falling asleep at least a few nights by then.

  Chase fell silent as Ivan put his eye back into it's socket and lowered the bandage back down over it. Letting out a bit of a sigh, Ivan placed his hands into the pockets of his tattered shabby jacket. "Listen... Get some rest and ease your mind tonight. You will be safe here.", and with that Ivan began to walk off before eventually disappearing among the other homeless. Chase took his spot once more this time laying next to the fire. His eye's were heavy. Ivan was right, it felt like ages since he had slept. For a few moments he stared at the bottom of the fire barrel listening to the crackle of the wood burning inside before quickly passing out from exhaustion.