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[https://i.imgur.com/uVOrrsh.jpg]

Year 135 New Calendar (Second Paradigm)

Dark, grey clouds loiter around an abandoned airport, it's around noon and the sun is at its highest but the sky is dark with strong winds gushing over.

The cemented ground of the airport is dilapidated and destroyed, the ground which was once concrete and sturdy, overtime has become mushy and decayed with vegetation and plants finding their way through the soil. But the ground is now black, with the scorched corpses of the plants and red; smeared with the blood of the soldiers fighting on it. The few vehicles placed around the area, are completed destroyed. Detritus from the war is everywhere, with the abandoned planes also in shambles and on fire. The tanks that were brought to fight this war are completely destroyed and burnt just like the men and women participating in the war. While most of them are dead, a few are still engaging in battle over a war that has already ended.

[https://i.imgur.com/4iVVjAY.jpg]

Near a destroyed tank, a few soldiers engage in battle. Absolutely perpendicular to that tank lies an old and worn-out airplane. Suddenly there is a burst of light, the light is red and blue in color, it is impossible to determine the source of this light with the naked eye but it seems like the light descended on the ground from the skies.

[https://i.imgur.com/PRtpdad.jpg]

The light then like a lightning passes the soldiers who were battling, throwing them off causing them to stop fighting and rendering them almost unconscious. The light crashes into the tank and ceases to exist. As the light fades away we see two men resting against the tank, catching their breath. While both the men stand tall, one of them has long hair, while the other one short hair. Both of them are bloodied and battered, their bodies riddled with injuries. The man with short hair tries to get back on his feet but is then blown away by the other man with a blue beam from his left palm. The man with short hair crashes into the plane lying perpendicular to the tank, breaking the plane in half.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

After sending the man with short hair flying across, the long-haired man falls to his knees. He's shed out every drop of energy from his body. His hands and legs now shaking with fatigue. Falling to his knees, he heaves and starts spitting blood. He looks at the ground while kneeled in that posture. The blood from his head and face drips to the ground. He takes a deep breath, muffles his pocket, and takes out a worn-out cigarette pack. Almost all the cigarettes have been crushed and spoiled. Taking one of those crushed cigarettes he lights it using the fire of the burning tank next to him. Drawing a puff while resting against the tank he then jolts his head back and looks at the sky

[https://i.imgur.com/GmJXhGY.jpg]

He hears a loud cry from where he had sent the other man flying to, he smiles when he hears that cry. The short-haired man begins to walk in the long-haired man's direction with his hand writhing with a red flame-like aura. The long-haired man with the cigarette in his mouth shows no movement, he just smiles, seemingly aware of the other man now approaching him. The short-haired man stops walking when he reaches in front of the smoker, the red aura in his hands now shining even more brightly.

The man kneeling still looking at the sky now sees his entire life, He sees his parents, his brother, his team, and the girl he loved.

The long-haired man then speaks for the first time, "They're all trash"

"This whole world is trash"

"Each and every one of them is trash"

Taking a long breath again drawing from the cigarette he says, "Fuck them all, they don't deserve me."

He looks at the man standing in front of him, he shows no emotion just like a blank canvas, staring at the other person's hand writhing with the red aura. The man standing then speaks with remorse, "Atharv, I'm Sorry"

There is no immediate response

The man kneeling then says, "Asshole, Fuck you too"

"There are people waiting for me, don't be a wuss", he laughs as he says this.

The man standing contorts his face, he seems deeply conflicted and his face exudes sorrow and regret. After standing momentarily his left hand also starts shining, writhing with the same red aura as the right. Then taking both his hands writhing with a red aura, he places it on Atharv's face gently. As soon as he does that Atharv's face starts turning to ash, slowly his entire body turns into ash and disappears in the wind till there is only one man standing.

Story By: Four Eighty One

Art By: Sakshi Chokhani

(The Story, Characters and Art are all original pieces of work, kindly refrain from using them without permission)

New Chapters every Friday