'Fuck…'
'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Not again!'
'Ugh…! God…'
"God… please not again…"
A young man stared in despair at his bank account after a failed interview.
"Fuck… how can I even survive until next month? The savings are almost gone and I haven't even dealt with all these bills and the rent…"
He let out a long sigh. "Sooner or later, I'm going to end up on the streets if things keep going like this…"
"God… I'm so fucking miserable…" He couldn't help but be disappointed in himself, regretting his foolish decision back when he was a kid.
'What makes me think it was such a 'genius' idea to actually commit to it? If only I didn't quit, I might be qualified for the job… forget it, I shouldn't keep on thinking about what-ifs…'
He closed his eyes, an unwanted memory began to resurface as he smacked himself back into focus.
"Hah… was the death of my parents the reason my life took such a sharp turn? Was it the sign of 'God's Wrath' upon me?" He paused for a moment, then he let out a sarcastic laugh, "then, should I claim the Title of God's Most Hated Man? Sounds pretty ridiculous."
His gaze scanned through the rundown apartment, cracked concrete walls, and just generally unsafe looking, 'twas the cheapest one he could afford. "I'm back."
As he stepped into his rented apartment, in the corner of his eyes he saw an old Chinese man watching a chicken documentary on the sofa. "Ah-"
The old Chinese man turned his head towards the entrance, staring at the youth, "Ah, you've finally returned?" That voice sent a shiver down the youth's spine, "You know, I've come here to collect the unpaid rent, it has been piling up too much, it's either that or I might have to kick you out, Senja."
"Ahahaha- Well, Mr Tang, next month, I'll pay the rent next month! I'll even pay it back twice—no! Thrice the amount!"
"I'm sorry, ah boy, I also have to feed my family and myself, so you'll have to choose, pay me or get out of my lawn—Ahem! I mean my apartment."
…
Seated at the park's public bench, Senja was lost in thought, he had lost the majority of his property and was only left with a handful of items, one he could actually carry.
After draining him of all of his money to pay the rent, Mr Tang also took nearly everything he owned as collateral. As the severity of his situation dawned on him, he let out a faint laugh.
"It's not like I have a use for them anyway, big chance I'll still have to abandon them if I was kicked out… at least they'll be useful now."
He stared at his smartphone, the battery had dropped down to twelve percent, then he checked his bank balance, it was… practically empty.
A passing thought crossed his mind.
'Should I… finally end it all?'
He paused for a moment before giving himself a harsh slap, "That's not the right way to finish this." He stood up and walked around aimlessly in search of a temporary shelter for the night.
Over two hours passed by, he ended up just stopping by a dark alleyway, despite its ominous presence, Senja sat down and leaned against the damp wall, he looked around with vigilance but refrained from overthinking as the exhaustion had begun to creep in.
It was far too deep into the night, his muscles ached and his mind disoriented from stress, it doesn't take long till the exhaustion overcame him as he fell flat on the cold, wet, concrete floor, sleeping peacefully.
…
"Argh!" Senja screamed in pain as he was jolted awake from the pain from the stab on his thigh.
His eyes darted all over the place, marking his unfamiliar surroundings, he wasn't at the alleyway but rather at some kind of basement. In a panic he blurted out, "Where am I…?"
"You're actually awake, that's good." A muffled voice sounded beside him, a figure adorned in a costume resembling the Plague Doctor that melted into the dark background.
"Now, I can start the job~" The figure spoke with enthusiasm.
With a hazy mind and a blurry sight, Senja stared at the figure in confusion and spoke his thoughts out loud, "Huh? A plague doctor…? Am I in some sort of a freak cosplay convention or something…?"
Feeling offended, the figure quickly struck Senja's throat which caused him to immediately lose breath.
"You may remain silent." The figure's harsh voice echoed in his mind..
Quickly regaining composure, Senja retaliated by spitting on the figure's shoe, "A-Are you mad, fucker? You Plague Doctor wannabe-? Ukh! God, that fucking hurts…" In his mind, this was merely an absurd dream, even if the evidence of pain showed it was indeed reality.
Running out of patience, the figure picked up a peeler from the metallic tray placed on a nearby wooden table, "A foolish one, indeed."
Grabbing a piece of cloth, the figure stuffed Senja's mouth, intending to use it to muffle his scream as the figure slowly peeled off the exposed skin.
That was the start of his personal three months of suffering at the hand of the nameless madman, yet Senja's mundane reaction dulled the madman's satisfaction as they decided to end it early.
As their last experiment, Senja was tied onto a wooden chair, the madman triggered a mechanism which poured flammable liquid all over his body.
"Any last word?" The figure asked curiously, with a mocking undertone, their hand wielding a lighter was positioned directly in front of Senja's face threatening to light him up.
Senja simply stared at the figure without a hint of fear or interest, even revealing a mocking smile.
"Your ugly mug still pisses me off." The figure lit the lighter and let it fall, when a spark reached Senja's body it quickly burst into flames, as the flame burned away the rope Senja desperately tried to catch the figure as a last act of revenge.
Yet, it was futile as the flames turned his body into ashes long before his hands could reach out.
Fascinated by Senja's unwavering will before death, the figure decided to hold onto his ashes in a jar as a memorial.
***
'…So this means, I'm dead, huh?'
'Not as bad as I expected, this coldness… I can really get used to it.'
'Especially, taking into account the fact that it's pretty calming.'
'…Now that I think it's actually relevant, I wonder where I'll end up? Heaven? Hell? If they even exist of course.'
'Well, even if they didn't, I just have to stride through this endless voice of emptiness with only my voice as a company for the rest of eternity…'
'I hope I can cope if that's true…'
'On a more hopeful note, I at least wished to meet my parents again, and also my ancestors, that'd be neat…'
'Can't wait to see what actually happens! That's… assuming anything will happen at all…'
As his thoughts grew dimmer, Senja consciousness slowly faded away, and then there was nothing.
'Hm? What happened?'
'Where am I?'
'Something feels strange…'
'Ugh…! My head-, what's going on…?'
Senja clutched his head as a throbbing pain suddenly arise, but quickly subsided as his senses slowly returned.
'Huh? Is this…'
Instinctively, Senja opened his eyes, the unprepared eyes flinched at the bright light that flooded inside.
A few moments of the eyes adapting, his eyes wide open as he studied everything around, he was surrounded by tall buildings, some appeared far more futuristic than he remembered, people walking around him, some taking a quick glance at his face, it reminded him of his old world.
Yet, there was something that differs. The memories of the body told him about something, in this world superpowers exist and in return so do Superheroes and Supervillains!
The proof was there right in front of his eyes, on the high-tech holographic billboards there was advertisement that featured Superheroes as if they were regular celebrities.
Senja's eyes widened in shock, at first he concluded that this world was a Heaven or simply a mere illusion but soon, he would be able to find it was all real.
He looked upward, a black blur shown to be thrown into a large skyscraper causing an explosion of dust, the debris from the building was falling down and one of them was headed straight toward Senja.
Fortunately, a streak of blue passed by, and all the civilians was saved including him.
There was a drone flying nearby, a voice rang out from its speaker, [ "Good morning, lady and gentlemen! As we can see at this moment, the Hero, 'Another Flying Brick' or my favorite was 'Carbon Copy of Superman'! He has been overwhelmed by a puny monster—Well, not so puny… A-Ranked Monster: Rock Titan King! It seems that his body of steel is not as strong as everyone made it out to be! On the other hand, the beloved speedster hero, 'Thunderfeet' had swiftly saved the bystanders from the debris with his lightning speed! What a True Hero!" ]
"You alright, mate? Anywhere hurts?" Thunderfeet asked.
Despite being shocked, Senja still blurted out a reply, "Ah- I'm fine, yeah, I'm alright…"
"That's marvelous! Now, please find a safe place, alright mate? Goodbye." Thunderfeet said before he disappeared into a trail of blue lightning.
Soon,he reappeared beside the Hero called, 'Another Flying Brick', he stared at the dust covered figure of the Hero as he struggled to stand up.
Remembering something, a brilliant idea popped into Thunderfeet's mind as he asked the fellow Hero, "Need a hand, mate? Just got the right thing for ya!"
The Hero noticed the smirk plastered on Thunderfeet's face and shouted in annoyance, "Don't you dare-!"
Thunderfeet's face showed a mocking smile as he revealed a glowing solar system model from behind his back, "Here a yellow sun, absorb it!"
Enraged, the Hero screamed, "YOU DUMB EUROPEAN BASTARD! I'M NOT HIM!!!!!!"
With a face distorted by anger, he flew outside towards the Rock Titan King with a full throttle.
"Heaven, this joke never gets old." Thunderfeet let out a laugh as he stared at the monster being defeated in one blow.
"Nice job, buddy!" Thunderfeet exclaimed as he disappeared into a blue streak of lightning.
Senja's eyes locked onto the fantastical scene, something straight out of a comic book, and now witnessed with his own two eyes, "Is this real…?"
He pinched himself, he felt pain, he did it again, and again, it was painful all that time, it seems that he was truly back in reality.
Covering his mouth to muffle his voice, Senja excitedly blurted out, "God… this is so fucking cool-!"
Beneath his hand, his lips stretched into a wide smile as his locked onto the flying figure, the fact that superpowers, superheroes and supervillains, actually existing… are so fucking badass!