History Tropers / HarleyQuinn117

'''Theory of the Damned'''
A young boy who wished for the world to be like a video game, meets an animal that says it will grant his wish, the Boy tells the creature his wish and the Animal obliges. Causing the world to change. His perseverance and courage will be tested. The young boy, through his travels, learns that a hero always carries a weight on his shoulders. And learns, that even heroes fail.

[[folder: Chapter 00]]
What would you say, if a cat asked you what you wish for most in the world? Would you answer with “Nothing”, “Everything” or something else? The proper answer is probably to just walk away and cast off the idea as a hallucination. But when I was asked that question, my answer was rather, unique. I had always thought the world to be a boring, droll place where nothing happened. So when I was asked that question, I answered with this, “I wish I would become a hero, like a video game hero.” mind you, I was just barely entering into adolescence at the time, fifteen was right around the corner for me. I guess it is understandable for wanting such a risky lifestyle. But it is another thing to be given that lifestyle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Chapter 01]]
I awoke that morning with a sense of, I guess you could call it apathy. The world felt very, uninteresting. As if everything and everyone was just following a set track on the ground that controlled all of their movements. Nothing felt organic nor real. Everything felt, monotonous. I got up, ready to head to school, it was nearing the end of my ninth year of school, or if you prefer my first year of high school. My birthday was just a couple months away, the only day that didn't feel monotonous because of the unpredictability of what my parents were going to get me. I took a shower, like I usually did. Standing underneath the hot water, I stood there unmoving, my thoughts shooting from “Just another boring day” to “I wonder if anything interesting will happen, maybe I'll get into a fight.”

Honestly, while I was quite, interested, in writing I much more preferred to give some arrogant ass a nice pounding. My family didn't like it, minus my brother and father who constantly told me to take up boxing, which I did. Though that didn't last long after my mother found out, after around two weeks she forced me out of it after one of my sparring partners got in a cheap shot and knocked me silly for a moment. I still beat him, but the incident caused her to get really upset. At school though, I was a rather nice target for the bullies. Since whenever I fight back, my mother hounds me and grounds me for a week. I don't like making her upset, so I refrain from giving them a good fight. Instead I mostly let them do what ever they had in mind. Though that doesn't stop me from stopping bullying. Doing that still got me in quite a bit of trouble, but at least I felt good about it.

After getting dressed and packing my bag, I left to head to school. With my sense of apathy unwavering, I continued along my way. I arrived at the school and went inside. As class started, Ms. Cross came in, her arms were overloaded with papers. I stood up and helped her out, handing me a stack of papers she told me to hand them out. I went in between each row and gave the papers to each student, some of them gave me a dirty look, as if they were mad that I was voluntarily giving them tests. Grabbing the last piece of paper and handing it to my friend Alexis who looked up at me, slightly blushing and smiled. “Thanks.” I smiled back and walked to the front of the classroom.

Handing back the papers, Ms. Cross blushed at me and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Thanks sweetie, now sit down.” Sasha, another one of my friends laughed a little, as I sat down she leaned over to me, “It's been a year since that bet and she is still doing it.” I laughed remembering the contents of the bet. That bet had to be the most interesting thing that had happened to me.

The classes passed by quickly as lunch drew closer. The last class before lunch ended and we began to leave the room. Before I left, Alexis grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me back. She smiled and blushed looking at me. “Hey Ace...” I groaned slightly, “Stop calling me by that nickname...” she shook her head and continued to smile.

“Listen, do you think we could maybe,” she fidgeted slightly and then smiled at me, “stop by that cafe place, ya know, that one that just opened up?”
“Yeah sure. I got some money on me.” I had remembered a couple of days before it opened, Alexis wanted to try going to a cafe for once.
“Awesome, I'll wait for you by the pillars outside.” she smiled and walked out of the classroom.

I began to walk towards the lunchroom when They showed up. Bob, Marley and Jim. The three biggest bullies of the school. “Just my luck, what do you three meat heads want?” they smiled and pushed me against the wall. “Nothing much, just wanted to know what Alexis wanted with you.” I sighed slightly, “She wants me to explain Schrödinger's cat to her.” I joked, hoping that would confuse them enough to leave me alone. “What?” I sighed, oh great they don't even know that.

“Nothing...” they didn't like that answer very much. The pulled me back slightly and slammed me into the lockers again. “Do you guys really get off on this? I mean honestly, don't you think it is your repressed homosexual urges you have for me that is making you want to pick on me so much? I mean, I am flattered you find me so attractive, but I don't really-” before I could finish, they punched me directly in the middle of the chest, knocking the wind out of me. “Shut up homo. Let's get out of here before his gayness gets attached to us.” they threw me to the ground and walked off.

Honestly, they were quite annoying, but I guess I could have just kept quiet when they cornered me instead of trying to smart mouth them, maybe then they wouldn't have punched me. But their anger at the joke really speaks volumes. After quite a bit of time on the ground, trying to regain a normal breathing pattern, I picking myself up just as the bell rang, lunch had already ended, “Another day, another missed lunch.” I sighed slightly and walked to the next class. I had gotten used to this and learned to keep a cereal bar in my backpack.

School ended, the three bullies left without doing anything more to me. So I left and found Alexis by the pillar outside. “Hey,” I said walking up to her, “ready to go?” she nodded her head and we left. After some walking into town, we arrived at the cafe, we walked in and talked to the bartista. After ordering our drinks, we got a place at one of the tables outside. “Ya know, I'm surprised there are still cafes. I guess the hipsters do need a place to hang out at and act non-mainstream.” I joked, Alexis in front of me gave a weak laugh and leaned back.

“Listen, Ace-”
“I said-” I stopped myself before finishing the sentence, she stared at me with fierce eyes. It felt as if, if I finished that sentence she was about to reach across the table and strangle me to death.
“Listen, Ace... I wanted to ask you... do you... want to maybe go on a... ya know... a... date?”
“Huh?”
“N-nothing...”
“Oh no, it's just I was taken back slightly... Yeah sure... I would love to go out with Miss Idol herself...”
“Don't call me that... It's embarrassing...”
“Haha, alright. But ya know... We kinda are on a date...”
“True...”

I wasn't really looking for a girlfriend. But she asked and I agreed to it. She was nice and all, but wasn't really my type. Now Ms. Cross on the other hand, oh yes lovely, lovely Ms. Cross, is more my type. The cool, stoic snarky Ms. Cross. Who was always so nice to me. Her buxom body, lovely curves and wonderful personality. She was the one I really wanted to date. But sadly that was a love that could not be, at least not until I was at least eighteen. I mean, she is twenty-three and I'm fourteen. If we did go into a relationship, it would be statutory rape. Sometimes, I loath the law. I felt quite bad about this, but it was better than waiting all of those years for a girl who would probably forget about our bet and get a boyfriend or married.

After we finished drinking our coffees, I walked her home. She lived fairly close to my own home so it wasn't much of a walk, which in turn wasn't very far from the new cafe. After dropping her off at her home, she gave me a kiss on the lips and ran inside blushing and smiling. I turned around and began to head home. When I walked by a cute, little kitty on the side of the road. It was sitting there, staring up at me, I knelled down and petted it slightly. “Hello, Ace.” a voice rang through my head, the kitty stared at me, unmoving. “What... was that...?” I said, looking around to see if someone was messing with me.

“Ace, oh Ace, I have a proposition for you.”
“Who's talking?” I continued to look around for the voice.
“It is I, the cat. And my name is Louis.” I looked down at the cat, I laughed slightly.
“I'm going insane aren't I?” I said as I petted it's head, laughing weakly.
“No, no. You see, I came to offer you something, a wish, to be quite blunt about it.”
“A wish...?” I looked at the cat and lifted it up a little bit.
“Yes. A wish. I can bend the laws of the universe to my will, I can recreate the world with a thought. I am giving you a chance to use those powers at your own accord.”
“... This is bullshit.”
“No, I can say quite honestly it is not. Do you see a bull anywhere nearby?”
“There's a ranch a couple of miles out-of-town...”
“Do you see any of the said bovines excrement?”
“No...”
“Then it is not Bullshit.”
“... Alright... ” I thought about it for a moment and smiled at the cat, “I want to be like a hero, like one of the ones from a video game. The guy who saves everyone by defeating a powerful enemy. That is my wish.”

I heard a faint laugh in my mind. The cats eye's glowed. “Your wish shall be granted, when the moon is risen directly into the sky, gaze upon it and watch as the world is recreated. Watch the sky and be astounded by the changes.” I smiled slightly at the thought, even if it had just been an insane hallucination, a small inkling of hope scratched at the back of my head. I was much too old to be asking for such a juvenile thing, why couldn't I had wished for Ms. Cross to date me or something less risky?
“This new world of yours, will be most interesting.”
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Chapter 02]]
I had walked home, the night time air was cooling and refreshing. As I was walking to the store from my home, I saw a small puddle on the ground from a nearby sprinkler. My short brown hair was in perfect uniform fashion, parted down the middle. I looked at my watch, it was eight PM. Even though I knew it was too good to be true, I still watched the sky waiting for midnight. I had already eaten dinner and was just biding my time till midnight. Under the pretense of going to the store for some ice cream, I left home for a bit. I had my heavy Sherpa coat with some jeans that I liked. Under the coat, I had my favorite T-shirt on. Under that, a thermal.

I don't know why I pulled on my favorite clothes, I guess the thought about having a wish possibly fulfilled made me want to keep my favorite clothes with me. After getting the ice cream and going home, only thirty minutes have passed. Up in the sky, it was still covered by clouds. I shook my head and walked home. Giving my parents the ice cream I went to get, my mother scooped it out and served it to us. Time passed and soon it was eleven. I waited in my room, watching the sky. When it turned eleven thirty, the cat from before appeared outside my window looking up at the sky.

“What ever happens, do you accept responsibility?”
“If it makes the world less droll.”
“You are quite the adamant child, no?”
“I'm tired of a boring life,” I shook my head, “and plus, you're a hallucination conjured by my psyche to give me false hope.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes.”
“Very well. Things are going to get interesting so I might as well bestow upon you the important part of your wish, the object that will embedded into you, your status as the hero.” the cats eyes glowed and a small jewel appeared on the windowsill. “For now, it does nothing. But once midnight comes, it will become a weapon suitable for a hero.”
“Alright...”
“You know, this wish, it is still you can still cancel it. I will refund the wish if you want to.”
“No. I am quite happy with it. Even if nothing happens.”
“Very well.”

It turned eleven-fifty-nine. “Come out the window with me.” I followed the cat, against my better judgment. I opened the window and climbed out. “Look, up in the sky.” I turned and looked up into the sky. The clouds were swirling, lightning lighting parts of it. A storm was coming. The moon revealed itself and around it, millions upon millions of tiny orbs appeared around it. “It's starting.” the cat said, as it turned to a soft mist and disappeared into the wind.

I continued to watch the sky as the orbs rocketed downwards. I couldn't believe it. My wish had actually been fulfilled. Thoughts of happiness, excitement and wonder paraded through my mind. It was amazing. The orbs began to rain down, I climbed up to the roof of my house and stared at the sky, clenching the jewel tightly in my hand. “This is... surreal...”

While I was atop the roof, a song began to play from an unknown location. I believe it was my neighbors home. “I see trees of green~ Red Roses too~ I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world~” the tiny orbs hit the world and waves upon waves of strange looking tides of translucent tides varying in colors zoomed across the world. When I looked up at the sky and noticed one of the orbs heading straight for my town, I got off of the roof. I threw myself to the ground as a shock wave shook the trees and my home was engulfed in a strange mixture of fire and electricity.

My body began to convulse, inexplicable pain shot through out my body. I tried to speak but it was too unbearable to even manage a word. I couldn't handle it, my body was in extreme pain and I wanted to scream. Managing to stand up slightly, pain caused me to drop to my knees. I opened my mouth, trying to muster a scream, when blood gushed from it. The jewel in my pocket glistened slightly and began to glow. It floated into the air and hovered directly in front of my heart. It pushed into my body, slowly, it felt as if it was burning through my body. I looked down and saw the jewel melting away my flesh and pushing itself to my heart.

I could feel it touch my heart, it cooled down extremely fast and then I could feel it growing. I looked down and saw the jewel growing out of the wound it created. It came out of the wound and then covered my heart and some of my chest. It solidified and then began to heat up once again. I felt it grafting itself onto my chest, I should have passed out from the pain, I don't know why I didn't, but I should have. After managing to live through it, I fell to the ground. “GRAGHHHHHH!” I screamed out loud, my breathing was labored as I stood up.

The pain before was excruciating but had all but subsided. I threw up all over the ground, most of it was blood but there was also some water and undigested bits of dinner, I recall there being a rather large piece of chicken there as well. Stumbling backwards, I put my back against the wall of my home. Looking around the corner, I saw the entire neighborhood had changed. Flora had covered most of the buildings. The streets were covered with vines and had been cracked. Stumbling forward, I opened the front door to my home. Inside my parents were hurdled together with my brother. “What's... going on?” I went over to them, they looked at me and saw the hole in my shirt. “Oh my god! Ace what happened!” my parents ran forward, “Take off your shirt son...” my dad said as he ran up to me, I took off my shirt and my parents screamed in shock. “Oh my god! What is that!” my father put his hand against it, “I don't know... It feels like... Diamond...”

I explained to the what had happened outside and they were shocked. I omitted the part about the cat who granted my wish. “God...” my parents held me close to them. “It's alright... Hey, listen, I have to go check on Alexis.” my father shook his head, “No, you're staying here.” I pushed away, “No. I have to go check on her, she's my girlfriend.” even though she wasn't the one who I really wanted to be with, it was still an obligation to check on her.

Running out of my home, my father tried to stop me. My brother on the other hand held them back. “Thanks man!” I said as I was running away, “No prob! I understand ya!” while I was running down the street, I wasn't really thinking about Alexis. Instead, I was thinking about what had changed, who the boss was, what I was going to be fighting. I made it to Alexis' home and kicked open the door, inside, I realized the house had been hit, hard. “ALEXIS!” I screamed, running forward. I ran up the stairs and up to her room, I banged on it. “ACE!” she screamed.

The door flew open and she wrapped her arms around me. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, “My parents their... their...” I looked in the room and saw her parents on the floor. The ceiling had collapsed on them. Her mother had a spike through the skull, her fathers body was split in half. I turned her around, “Don't look...” I held her close to me. That was what a boyfriend does, no? I rubbed her hair and swept her off of her feet. Going down the stairs, I went straight to my home. My parents were angry at me, but then I explained what happened to Alexis' parents.

“Oh... Oh my god... Alexis...” my mother said, rubbing Alexis' shoulders.
“You can stay here for now, Alexis.”
“No. Shit. She can stay here. I am not letting her go back to that house.”
“You can stay in Aces' room.” And yet, my nickname still had not disappeared, even after the apocalypse.
“Come on...” I put my arm around her shoulder and brought her to my room.

She sat down on the bed, weeping. “I want to check out what happened, alright, stay here with my family alright?” she shook her head, “No, don't go, please stay here...” I shook my head at her, “Come on now, I need to check out what happened.” I didn't really need to check it out. More like my curiosity about my wish was making me want to find out more. And while I might have seemed like a bastard, not caring about her parents, I couldn't really not hate them. To be honest, they were abusive pricks who got away with punching their child because she was so used to it she thought it was normal parenting. Even when I tried to tell her otherwise, she called me a liar and said they loved her. They didn't.

I left the house, my brother covered for me while I was leaving. Walking down the street, I looked at the new landscapes. People were walking out of their homes, distressed and scared. The cafe that Alexis and I had gone to before had been destroyed, a large crater had replaced it. While I was walking down the street, I saw my teachers home in the distance. Out of curiosity, I ran towards the home. As I was running there, that cat from before appeared beside me.

“Do you regret your wish?”
“Not in the slightest. I'm... Quite pleased with it.” the cat laughed slightly.
“You are quite the interesting one.”
“Thank you... For fulfilling my wish...”
“No problem... You might want to check on that teacher, Ms. Rosalyn Cross was it?”
“What... are you talking about.”
“Oh nothing, but I suggest that you hurry. I think the big bad just found her.”
“...”
“You wanted this to be like a game. Did you not? There is a boss for you to defeat. And once you get to that house, the plot line begins.”
“..."

I ran towards the house, worried about Ms. Cross. If she was hurt, I was going to go ballistic.

“This boy, he doesn't seem to regret the devastation much."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Chapter 03]]
Running to her home, I banged on the door. “Ms. Cross?!” I screamed. Inside I could hear the sound of things getting thrown around and the sounds of heavy breathing. I stepped back, with a swift kick to the door knob, the door flew open. Inside, I saw the teacher being held by the neck by a strange, indescribable creature. “Let her go!” I shouted at it, wanting it to let her down. It turned and looked at me, cocking its head slightly it dropped her and walked towards me. It spoke in a language I couldn't really comprehend but it pointed to the jewel encrusted piece on my chest.

“Ace... Get out of here...” she muttered.

I ignored her, like hell I was going to leave my crush alone with that, thing, I ran around it and stood in front of her, as defiantly as I could. I don't think it liked that much, it lifted its finger and pointed at me. The area warped around us and I looked down at my body to see parts of it tearing off and floating away. Just before I was completely gone, it spoke in perfect English, “My bosses told me to not destroy you yet, instead, I'll bring you to where they specified.” I didn't quite understand it at the time. But his bosses were not, people, I think, you should piss off.

Opening my eyes slowly, I looked around at the unfamiliar terrain. From what I could guess, I was somewhere near the east coast. What was left of it I should say. America, after the apocalypse, had change. Significantly. I don't really understand how it happened, but the east coast had turned into a winter wonderland. Now, while it might seem like just a guess, the sign that said “Welcome to Miami” kinda gave it away. I turned around, hoping Ms. Cross was still there. Much to my delight, she was. “Ace... What is going on...?” she asked, looking up at me. I smirked a little, I thankfully had my heavy Sherpa coat on. Taking it off, I handed it to her. “Here... It's... Cold.” I said, trying to sound cool. And failing. Spectacularly.

She took the coat and pulled it on over her, very revealing clothes. I hadn't noticed it till just then, but she was in a tank-top with a pair of lace panties on. “I'm not entirely sure myself, but come on... We need to find a warm place to hunker down in for now.” thank you father for being an ex-military sniper. You taught me all I, kinda needed, to know to survive in harsh terrains. My father, back in Iraq, was a decorated sniper. He retired a few years prior and during that time, he taught me how to survive in the wilderness. Since we lived in a rather high elevation area, which meant it snowed a lot, meant that he would teach me how to survive cold weather. He taught me some stuff, how to find edible food, how to make a fire and the best way to keep warm. We managed to live out in the forest for a good week before my mother and my brother had come back from Vegas. Long story, not worth talking about, but the short version is my brother accidentally married someone down there.

“So, Ace... Do you know what's going on...?” should I tell her the truth, was one of the thoughts that ran through my head. “Kinda...” I gave a semi-answer, with a bull crap story in mind if she pried more. “... Do you mind explaining some of it?” I took in a deep breath and pulled off my T-shirt. She blushed a little as I turned to look at her. She gasped in shock, looking at the ruby crest embroiled on my body.

“Oh my... What is that...?” I shook my head.
“No idea, but I can tell you this. It gave me some insight about everything that's going on,” Lies, “it basically told me, that the world is changing. And it embedded itself into my chest.”
“That must have been painful. The skin around it looks scarred...”
“It wasn't that bad,” lies, “basically all I know is that everything is changing and that I've been forced into the position as a 'Guardian'.” at that time, I was beginning to think I could only tell lies.

She believed everything that I had said. “Do you think you can do it? Be a... Guardian that is...” I turned and smirked at her, “Damn straight I do.” I said, trying to act confident. In actuality though, my heart was racing and thoughts about how many different ways I could die were racing through my mind. While we were looking for a nice warm place to hunker down in, we noticed people frozen to the ground and frozen in the stores. Their bodies had been frozen to the ground. I assumed that what ever those orbs were made out of landed nearby and it released some sort of extremely cold wave that caused the place to freeze instantaneously. I mean, it had been about thirty minutes since the orbs collided with Earth.

While we were walking down the street, I couldn't help but hear the songs playing on the radio. Most of them were strangely upbeat sounding, “Darum schickte ein General~ Eine fliegerstaffel hinterher~ Alarm zu geben, wenn es so war~ Dabei war da am Horizont~ Nur ninety-nine luftballons!” I didn't understand a lick of it, I assumed it was a foreign song. It was rather happy sounding.

After some walking down the frozen streets, we managed to find a store that was hadn't been occupied by corpses. Opening the door, with some strong arming, we walked in. The store itself was a large clothing store, which after searching the back, also had some food in it. A frozen pizza and some frozen water. Ms. Cross was directly behind me. She was shivering. Plus she wasn't wearing shoes and was walking on frozen ground. “Go grab some clothes,” I scratched my head, “we are going to stay here for a while, 'kay?” she nodded her head, “Got it Guardian.” to be honest, I was quite surprised she even believed me. But she did have a sense of naïve-ness about her that kinda made me feel bad about lying to her. I believed that if she found out that a wish made by me caused the world to change so much, she would hate me for it.

She came back, wearing a pair of jeans and a large sweater. Over that she had a large, cold weather jacket that had fur around the edges. She handed my Sherpa jacket to me and I pulled it back on. Under her arm was also a blanket, “Come on, we need to warm up for a bit...” even though I wasn't very cold, I still accepted the invitation to sit under a blanket with my crush. She wrapped it around us and she held me under her arm. My head laid against her breasts.

“Ace, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but can I ask you... Why did you not run away when I told you to...?”
I didn't know how to respond to that.
“Do you have like, a messiah complex or something?”
No, not in the least.
“... I didn't want you to get hurt...” I said in a low murmur.
“What...?”
I have a massive crush on you and I thought if I acted brave you would throw me down to the ground, make me a man and become my girlfriend.
“What was that you said, Ace?”
“... I didn't want you to get hurt, so after those orbs fell from the sky, I went rushing to your house to make sure you're safe...”

I think she understood what I meant, after I said that. She blushed brightly and looked away. “Oh... Is that so...” I looked up at her, her blushing was probably giving the room a dim red tint. She didn't speak after I told her that and we fell asleep together. During that time, she didn't snore once. That night, I had the most peaceful night.

Which was cut short. When I awoke to rummaging in the store. Rosalyn was still asleep, but I stood up and created a small gap that I could see out into the store from. At the front of the store, were three people with hoodies on. They had baseball bats with nails driven through them. Looters, just great. I backed away from the door and put my hand on the large diamond on my chest. Hoping something would happen. I clenched my fist and concentrated hard.

Wasn't quite sure what I was doing but I hoped it would work. Which it did, in a sense. I looked at my hand and saw some strange looking gauntlet on it. My other hand was completely bare, but my right hand had a gauntlet with the words Pectus Pectoris of Flamma. I don't know what it means, but as I clenched my fist, a raging fire enveloped the gauntlet. This is my power, this is what the cat gave me, this is my key to being the hero.

Opening the door, I walked out and stood defiantly as they walked into the store. “Hey kid, listen, just give us your food and shit and we'll go peacefully. You don't gotta get your head bashed in by us.” I clenched my fist, the fire erupted and startled the looters. “What the hell are you kid? Some kinda monster that came from those rocks?” I walked forward, the fire enveloped me. One of the looters ran forward and swung his nail bat at me. It ripped my shirt in half, but I heard it hit the diamond under my shirt.

“You looters, might want to start running. 'Cause I'm the baddest mother #%!$er here!” I raised my hand up and slammed it into the ground. A wave of fire shot forward and incinerated some of the clothes.
“Let's get the fuck outta here!” they turned around and ran away. I stumbled back and began to laugh.

I had just bullshitted my way out of a serious fight. Damn I'm good. Looking behind me, I saw Rosalyn watching from the door. She smiled and shook her head, “That was... Cool.” she said, turning around and walking back into the room. Walking back to the room, I put my right hand behind my head, as the gauntlet disappeared. I don't even know the extent of it's power, yet I can summon it easily. I guessed, that after this day, everything was bound to just get better and better.

''"He won't admit the truth to the one 'claims' he loves?"''
[[/folder]]

PS: My stories can be located [[http://inadvisablestories.weebly.com/ located here...]] or you can read them below... I put them on here, so they can get seen. I know they aren't "OMAHGAWDYOURESOGEWD!", no it's my first story. It probably sucks. Tell me what you think via PM if you will.