Kieran was sitting on the edge of a five story building. His leg kicked the side of it, and some of the paint scraped off onto his combat boots. He watched the traffic below him, cars honking and the sounds of police sirens in the differences. This was the world idea of peaceful, he guessed. More like being to lazy to solve the problems.

Life really was a drag.

Being a vigilant probably wasn't the best of his life ideas. It's to tiring. Still better than spending time in headquarters though, but not by much.

He heard a scream and he sighed. Life had to many problems. Like, he know that no one else in the world really cared about anything anymore, but they really should just fix their own problems. Kieran stood up from his sitting position, stretching his sore muscles. And then he jumped.

He fell for about two stories, and then he caught the side of a window. He spot the roof of the nearest building. Using his legs, he kicked off the walls and propelled himself to the roof.

He grabbed the side of the roof, pulling himself up. He began to run from where the scream came from, jumping from roof to roof (it was one of the only good things of being a vigilant).

He found the woman from where the scream came from. She looked wealthy enough to live on the East side of the city, and he wondered what she was doing over in this city. Probably had a lot of connections with the government. She was currently being held by gunpoint, and a muscular man was talking to her.

"Give me your wallet," he said smugly, "Or I'll shoot."

Another mugger, how unoriginal. People need to find something better to do. At least the Ash mafia was actually doing something interesting.

Kieran jumped and landed next to the man. The mugger and wealthy woman looked at him in silence for a second.

The man finally recognized him, "Karma..." Mr. Muscle Mugger muttered to himself. He gave Kieran one more glance, and then ran away as fast as he could.

Kieran shouted, "Bye Mr. Mugger!" and did a hand gesture that his uncle Bond wouldn't have been very proud of.

Kieran has a very distinct appearance. Or at least, Karma did. Raven black hair that was darker than whatever raven you could actually find. Red hair on the right side, while blue was dyed on his left. Of course, he made sure to wash most of the dye off when he wasn't being Karma. Though, he kept some of the color in his hair all of the time, you really couldn't live with red and blue hair. Believe him, he tried. It's way too obnoxious.

Besides that, there were many other traits to Karma. He wore a black, crimson and scarlet red clothes. He had debated if he wanted a hood or not, then decided no, he didn't need a hood. He wanted everyone to recognize he was Karma, to either put fear in so random mugger and just to annoy the mafia. There was the symbol for karma, an endless knot, painted white on the back of his leather costume. Black and red combat boots, gloves, and pants were added. Pale skin as well, because Karma spent most of his vigilant hours in the night.

Kieran's favorite part of the costume however, were his eyes. A rich gold or bluish silver. His actual eye color was a cold blue, but he wore gold and silver eye contacts. They weren't for show though, those contacts were actual use to him. Equipped with high-tech hardware, it was connected to different parts of the internet (and he meant every part) and allow him to do whatever he wanted on a regular computer but better. It was basically the most powerful computer in the world in his eyes (Though he usually just used it for chat messages or watching cat videos. They were also great cameras for filming). He literally never took it off, so he guessed his eye color was now a permanent gold and silver. (He never wore both of them on the same time, he already had a half-half in his hair. He wasn't that weird). He called it the "Inter-sight".

Those eye contacts were now scanning the woman, search the internet for whoever she was. Luckily, she was famous enough not to have to go on the darker parts of the web. She was an important government official's wife, and she went by the name of Amelia Sonia.

Amelia was currently glaring at him, "Who the $^(& are you?!"

He flashed a grin at her, "Name's Karma, cuz' I'm destiny," he said sarcastically. He hated everyone who said that. He couldn't even control his own destiny.

"Yeah right," the woman glared at her, "How come I never heard of you?"

"Because," Kieran said, "You Eastern people don't know a thing about the West's streets."

"What did you say to me boy?" the woman asked angrily.

"I said-" The woman cut him off by throwing a large rock at his face. He caught it easily, "that you eastern people don't know a thing about how the west works."

"Do you even know who I am?!" She continued to thrown rocks at him. He caught them, sighing. People were terribly boring. He checked her Wikipedia page.

"Yeah," he said, "Amelia Sonia, real name Bonny Smith. Age twenty-eight, born in Central Texas." He flipped to a darker web-page. "Apparently, you had some business with Harry Tongi. How was it? I-"

"Shut. Up." The woman said, "You don't know anything."

"I literally just read off your wikipedia page," the fourteen-year old began.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID!" the woman began to dial her phone, "I'm going to call 9-1-1."

"You know," Kieran advised, "You probably shouldn't tell the person you're calling about that. But since I'm so nice," He stifled a yawn, "And I'm kind of tired of humankind at the moment..." He ran away.

"GET BACK HERE BOY!" the women screeched. Kieran didn't listen to her, he was too tired. After all, it was almost five o'clock in the morning and really wanted to do something that wasn't talking to an angry 50 year old women.

_____________________________

Kieran changed out of his clothes in a restroom stall, stuffing them into his backpack. The city these days were cold, so he made sure he wore a thick jacket over his sweater. He slung the backpack over his shoulders, and walked out of the stall. He frowned when he looked around the bathroom. It was terribly trashed.

Okay, okay, he knew this was a public restroom, and they usually have graffiti and plumbing all wack. He knew this what it used to be like in the past, but there usually shouldn't be a whole roof missing. It was snowing as well, and the cold icy substance covered the floor.

He head over to the sink and rinsed the dye out of his hair. It was beginning to few disgusting and clumpy anyway. Still, a few red and blue strands of hair stayed, but it was fine. It was not like he could have a nice shower in one of these bathrooms anyway.

He exited the bathroom, heading down the cold streets. There was barely a whisper now, and the streets were very calm. You would've thought this was normal. Well, until you took a look at the buildings. Destroyed buildings that looked like it came from a zombie apocalypse usually doesn't go in a peaceful scenery.

There were still a few pedestrian, and they walked around the streets, not even caring about the sidewalks or cars.

Kieran had once seen a car run through the road and hit someone. The car drove away like nothing happen.

They died.

The police didn't even try to catch the guy. The ambulance didn't even come.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Kieran was eight, he was shocked.

Now he was fourteen, and these things were normal to him.

It's normal to anyone who grew up during these times. Not many kids or even young adults know how to talk.

A girl started running down the street, a woman half heartedly chasing after the girl.

"Come back with my food!" the woman yelled. The girl didn't stop, and the woman just sighed and walked away. She didn't even tried to contact the police.

She knew that it was a waste of time anyway.

The girl bumped into an old woman, who fell to the floor. The girl continue running away, not caring that she knocked someone over.

Kieran looked around, there were many people around the woman, but no one helped her up. With a sigh, he walked over to the old woman and helped her up.

"Thank you," the old woman muttered, "Not much people want to help an useless women like me these days."

Kieran said nothing, he focus was trained somewhere else. Namely the gunshots.

Guns were a common occurrence in this part of town. There were no laws to stop them, so they stole or threatened people for their things.

Gunshots rang out, but the people just continue their aimless walking. Everyone was used to this now, if they weren't the ones committing the crimes at least.

With a sigh, he turn to where he heard the gunshot and began to walk away.

The old woman's eyes widened. "You're not planning on go fight those guys, are you?" the woman asked him, incredulous, "Just leave them be!"

"Sorry mam," Kieran told the old woman, "That's kind of my job. Vigilant and youtuber and all that."

The woman gave him a weird look and walked away. Kieran grinned, he was use to it.

A burly woman was holding a gun at a man, who's hands were in the air. The man seemed unbothered by this. He just tiredly looked at the woman and drew the wallet at her.

Before she could catch it, Kieran hit the woman in the back of her head with a brick he had found in the alleyway. She fell unconscious, and he caught the wallet easily.

The man looked at the Kieran. He didn't seem very relieved to be save from getting mugged.

Kieran shook the wallet, "You want this back?"

"Just keep it," the man says, "I'm tired of having it. It's not like money its worth anything anymore. Nothing is. Not even your life sometimes."

Kieran silently agreed with this, but still he threw the wallet back at the man, who surprisingly caught it and walked away.

When Kieran first started out, he was surprised by this, but he slowly realized this was how it worked. Money was worth nothing anymore. People just stole from each other, and no one really cared. It was like they were giving things for free. It wasn't even like it was a "fight for survival: kind of thing. It was more like "continue until you reach the end". The population was slowly dying out, no one cared for love or kids anymore.

Kieran continued walking and arrived at an old, ran-over bar. The black wallpaper was peeling, revealing a wooden wall. A juke box was playing a tune that Kieran was too tired to remember, and only one or two people were even drinking. The rest of them were probably passed-out, drunk.

He walked up to the bartender, who glared at him, "What are you doing here boy? Don't you read the signs? Twenty-One and up only."

What were people's problem these days? He had an actual name. He was too exhausted though, so all he said was,

"For goodness sakes, we freakin' rise from ashes, can I go in now?!"

The man was surprised for a moment, probably thinking 'how does a kid know the code' and 'such disrespect for the code'! Again, Kieran literally cared for nothing. The man eyed him suspiciously, "How do you know th-"

"I'M THE SUCCESSOR! THE DARK PRINCE! WHATEVER YOU CALL IT! JUST LET ME IN OR I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU."

The man looked surprised once again, probably because of the former. No one really believed his death threats. They regret it however, once they have a knife lodged in their chest. The bartender gulped. You really don't want the successor of the boss of a mafia that's control reached across the world on your bad side. He motion to the backrooms, and Kieran headed there.

The Ashes' headquarters in the northeast were connected by tunnels (old subways systems that were closed after Armageddon). The entrances were always cover by businesses bought by Bond. You could only enter them by using a stupid phrase, "From Ashes, We Rise."

He kicked open a trapdoor inside the backroom, climbing down the stairs. It was dark and gloomy, and water dripped from the ceiling. The light flickers on and off. Honestly, you could expect this scene from a horror movie. He wasn't scared though, he grew up exploring these tunnels. Kieran found an old vending machine. He kicked it, hard, and a few snacks and a soda fell down. Coca-Cola and pretzels. Fun. He opened the soda, taking a sip. It was fresh, as all the food down here unusually was. That was the only thing the mafia did about the tunnel. Doesn't fix the lights. Doesn't fix the run down tunnels. Only fixes the snack machines that Kieran regularly breaks anyway.

He walked for a few more moments, until he arrived to see a sleek motorcycle. Blue and silver, it was his literal pride and joy. Kieran could ride it faster than whatever subway or even a race car could go. No one could steal it, because it required his hand-print to drive (unless they cut off his hands and somehow found a way to drive with them). It was also silent enough to ride around the backwaters of the city without getting found. No need for a helmet either, which he hated anyway. They were always so stuffy.

He hopped onto his motorcycle, swinging his legs onto the other side. Starting it up, he flew through the tunnels. The wind blew threw his currently red and blue hair, and he suppressed a whoop. Riding his motorcycle was literally one of the only reasons he still wanted to live.

After about ten minutes of experiencing the great joy of riding his motorcycle, he finally screech to a stop next to another trapdoor. Parking his ride, he walked up next to the entrance. Unlike the one at the bar, this trapdoor was built of metal. It was also locked.

There was a small camera above the trapdoor, unlike most cameras on the upper world, it wasn't shaped like an actual camera. It was shaped like an eye. An eye that currently looks exactly like his.

All the mafia equipment or technology that was stolen from the government came from a small business. In the upper world, it was called 'Edge_Cutter Corps." and its building was actually pretty cool. It was a mash between retro type video games and "Star Wars". However, the Asher crime family refer to them as "Dragon's Lair". The mafia and their love for fantasy always made Kieran laugh.

Anyway, the eye cameras were one of their trashier ideas. He heard it started it out as a joke inside the small business, but then for some reason they decided to mass produce it. The mafia, for some reason, loved it and took it all in.

"Kieran Asher," the robotic eye said. For being robotic, the eye could certainly give him a judgmental look. He never really like the eye-cameras very much anyway.

"That's me," he smirked, "The one an only Karma too."

The eye glared at him for a few moments, and then reluctantly swung the metal door open. He gave the eye one last grin and walked in.

The Ash headquarters, or as the mafia referred to it, "The Phoenix's Nest", was busy as usual. People bustled around, drink coffee, working on a computer, and passing papers.

If Kieran didn't know any better, he would've thought this place was your usual office. Instead, the people drinking coffee were currently drinking steroids that could improve your strength by ten folds. The people working on the computers were hacking through hundreds of the government's secret archives. The papers were documents of the newest drugs made by "Poison Island".

He began to weave into the rooms for the higher-ups. Some people looked up at him. By this time, everyone knew what the young teen did all night. A few people glared at him, giving him irritated looks. Those were the Karma haters, and he avoid them the most he could. Another few people smiled and waved, those people were just trying to get friendly with him so they could get closer to the boss. Or maybe they were his subscribers. He hated them sometimes too.

Still, a lot more people just ignored him. Most didn't even know who he was. The 'Ash' mafia wasn't just the Asher family. It was full of other crime families who joined the Ashers. Eventually, it grew to become the biggest mafia in the world with all the families joining it. Still, the Asher family was the highest of all the families, meaning more people should know who he was. He was pretty sure they just like ignoring the 'depressed, groomed teen who became a violent vigilant'.

It never bother him.

He understands where the depressed parts come in. He was a pessimistic person, and he barely saw good in anything.

He acted cocky and stupid to mess with people. Antagonize them to no ends.

People deal with there emotions differently is what they told him. No one liked him.

Did he care?

…

He never really was diagnosed with depression, but everyone, including him knew that he was.

He arrived to a small metal door, similar to the one back to in the subway tunnel. This time, the door led to his room. He slipped his black gloves off his hand, placing his thumb next to yet another eye camera. He didn't want more eye balls staring at his own eyes, so he made sure the door to his room scanned his thumb. This one looked at him a bit nicer though, he was pretty sure the eye knew Kieran was his owner. If not, it would be slightly creepy to have an robotic eye like you for no reason.

The door clicked open, and he took a deep breath in his room. It was messy, but Kieran didn't really care. He headed to the restroom, because he might as well take a shower before he goes to bed.

He sighed, and another day of living his miserable life was finished.