IN VERSION

" Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely..... As a result of the sudden surge of special abilities in the Human society, anarchy ensued. Chaos raged and wars were fought! This period of instability was known as one of the darkest periods in mankind's history as over 29 percent of humanity's population was lost. These lasted 7 years following the' Rip' appearance"

YEAR:2161

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

He clearly remembered when they had both met. Mum and Dad decided to adopt a child to keep him company since he kept whining about how lonely he was and how his parents were always too busy for him.

Mom worked at the Special Abilities Division as an Attorney, while Dad was always away on business. He did not fit in at school and most often had to rely on his own imagination to keep him company. He was utterly alone and lonely. That is..... until that day.

"Tenny, this is Darey, he's going to be staying with us from now on." Mum had said.

He, who had been nagging his mom about a brother finally got one... But he did not know how to react. He did not have any experience interacting with anyone his age.

"Oh! Huh... Hi, I mean... What's good... I, … Do you like watching Virtual live Monster battles?" He finally managed to say. He was worried as to how this stranger would receive what he had just spouted. He was anxious for nothing.

The stranger's face brightened up a bit and he finally spoke "Sure, You got footage from the last one?"

"Yep, It's on my virtual screen... wanna check it?" Tenny said, now more confident.

"Sweet!" The new boy finally smiled as he said those words.

The two boys rushed to the room, as though on a race to see who would get there first, even though the new guy did not even know the room they were headed toward. As his parents' satisfied faces faded from his sight, and seeing Darey was already ahead of him, he felt happy, and for the first time since they met... he called him "Brother" in his heart.

Tenny groaned as he twisted on the ground. Suddenly he sat up, rousing from his sleep and shouted "Darey you bastard!"

He was puzzled. Was he just dreaming? No! He looked around him and confirmed that they were still underground. He saw the Diamantite glowing about 5 feet away from him, which illuminated the dark space. How long was he out for? And the most important question kept ringing in his head

"Where is Darey?" He groaned as he rose to his feet.

He shoved aside those pointless thoughts which could wait for later and tried focusing on how to escape the Underground area he was in. Lucky for him, after they entered Underground, he had been observing the terrain and had a rough idea where to go, even though it was very dark, the Diamantite would illuminate the way for him.

Darey had probably thought he was dead and left his body to rot in this isolated area, erasing all evidence. Why else would he sell him such a convincing story and bring him all the way out here? In any case he needed to hurry up to the surface and report to the appropriate authorities about him. He also had to keep his mother safe, after all... she could be next.

He had not walked for over 5 minutes when he felt he was being watched. He heard a whooshing sound behind him, and startled he yelped, turning the light toward the direction he heard it from.

"Nothing... whew" He heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

He was scared. It was dark, it was smelly, even more than before, and worst of all was the feeling he had long forgotten coming back to him, he was Alone. He heard a dripping sound echo through the cave. It continued, and was getting even louder, and clearer and closer.

"Who's there?" He spat out.

He was so terrified. He had never experienced anything such as this. Everywhere was dark, except for his immediate vicinity.

"I just have to keep moving. The sooner I get out, the sooner this is all over."

Yes, he was right. He just had to keep a level head and.... He froze as his left eye caught a quick glance something while he was moving. It wasn't human! He turned his light in its direction

He kept running and running. Almost there.... almost! He did not sense the beast giving chase, but he didn't care! The image he caught flashed in his head. It's bulging eye, sharp teeth which were yellow and looked decaying. It's pale colored skin and tall gait. From what he saw, that was a monster...

"What is a monster doing in such a place as this? There are no humans here... everyone knows monsters only appear in sufficiently populated areas" He muttered to himself as he was scanning the area for the sign of the entrance they came through.

He halted abruptly." I'm already here.... But.... where is... the.... where is it?" That was when it dawned on him...

"I'm trapped!"

The entrance they came through showed a mechanism of entering, but Darey never told him how to get out. Furthermore, the Dump was an isolated place and no one would bother coming close to the area talk less of finding the mechanism. Even if the Waste Disposal Agents came to take away the waste, he was not sure how long he had been down there, neither could he tell what time was. He had no idea if and when they would arrive, or even if they had already come. If they had, the next time they would come would be at least 24 hours from now, maybe longer! Could he survive till then? Absolutely not!

He heard a growl coming from the distance he was running from. The monster was getting closer. Now he realized why he did not hear any chasing sound from behind him while running.

"It most likely knew I was headed for a dead end, and so he calmly pursued me... enjoying the chase, relishing the hunt" Tenny thought aloud.

The fright was enough to make him pass out as he was trembling to the bone. It was all in futility from the very start. He never had any chance. Who was he fooling? He thought that by being a little brave he could fight against his inevitable fate... what a joke.

Even if the Waste Disposal officers were miraculously at the surface, or someone surprisingly decided to take a walk to The Dump... the layer that separated them surface from the under ground. The fine boundary of earth would be over 3 meters. The ceiling was tall, and there was no ventilation. There was no way they would have heard him. He would die here. He closed his eyes and thought of giving in, then Darey's smug expression appeared in his mind.

"Screw him!"

His mom's troubled expression also made him want to live. There was also going to be live footage of the Monster Battle going to occur at Hampshire the day after he had left with Darey, and he did not want to miss it. He was not going to die. He would live to see his mother! He would not give Darey the satisfaction of him dying, and he would most certainly not miss the Monster battles to occur in a few hours time! It may be a Fantasy, but that was his specialty anyway! He would survive and.....

His hopeful assurances were shattered as the beast appeared before him. It was already so dark, and without the light Tenny could only see the shadow of the grotesque creature. It seemed to be bending, not standing upright, and yet it was over 7 feet tall. It's eyes glowed and it's body also started emitting light, making it's body become more visible as it approached. The claws of the beast were at least 10 centimeters in length, and its arms stretched below its knees. It seemed to be muttering intelligible words, but Tenny felt it was grinning in anticipation of it's lovely meal.

"Can I actually survive this?" Tenny found himself asking.

He doubted himself, and being realistic his survival chances were less than two digits. He however noticed the monster's approach was slow paced. He had initially thought it intentionally delayed to savor his despair, but it did not look like a monster that was capable of such a high level of intelligence. Even if it was, it would have by now, seeing him trapped... be satisfied and rush him. But instead, it kept walking slowly toward him, with bloodshot eyes and drooling mouth as though it wanted to eat him on the spot.

Now there was no doubt about it. The monster didn't give chase to him, not because it wouldn't, but because it couldn't... This monster was naturally slow. There was only one way for him to survive. He had to outmaneuver and outpace it, he'd leave the rest to chance or formulate a plan as he moved. Now there was only one thing on his mind, RUN!

After hours of running, Tenny was exhausted. His baggy eyes felt so heavy and he felt his body begging for sleep. He had managed to dodge the monster's attacks and once again run the opposite direction, leading him to the place where he started from. It had been hours since he had woken up, and he felt too sleepy and worn out to even stand from where he was already seated. "So much for outlasting it" He chuckled to himself. He began to hear the footsteps of the monster coming again toward his direction and that roused him from his near slumber.

"Shit I gotta move" He said and instantly tried to get up, but felt a sharp pain in his legs as they were at their limits.

He was still trying to rise that he did not notice the beast was already in front of him. He tried using his hands to crawl quickly, but the monster's long hands reached him first. It's claws grazed him by the side, scraping some of his flesh, and barely missing his bones and vitals.

" Arghhhhhh" Tenny screamed.

The pain was unimaginable. The instant shock drove away any form of drowsiness and his body was in emergency mode. His legs trembled as he managed to stand, his hands holding his injured side as he started limping away from the enemy.

"No worries, it's slow" He reassured himself.

He suddenly felt wind sweeping past him and saw the monster right in front of him. Before he could react, it gave him a slap that sent him flying toward the wall by the side, and the blow was enough to make him lose consciousness. As his mind was fading away, and as the beast drew closer, he thought " Is this the end?"

After his hours of evading, of running, of hiding... in the end he was still going to die. Pitiful! He wished he could hide, disappear, cover himself with a blanket that assured him of protection from the harsh reality he was facing. He always knew he would not live. He just wasn't strong enough to admit it. He thought he could do it... survive, confront Darey... Stop stigmatization, solve world hunger, change the world! But he knew.... he was a coward! He had dreams, but he did not have the strength to achieve it! He was weak... these thoughts echoed through his head as his mind went blank

"I'm a coward!" COWARD was typed before him in the darkness. "I just wanted to create a better world, a PARADISE..." Before him were spelt the words "COWARD'S PARADISE" and then everything went blank.

He opened his eyes only to see himself 20 meters from the enemy's location.

"What just happened?" He asked himself.

His wounds had closed and he was away from the... how did he know the exact distance between himself and the monster? And how did he escape in the first place? The monster started moving hurriedly toward him. It was dozens of times faster than it was initially. He could not evade this. He closed his eyes and braced himself, but instead heard a whooshing sound as he was once again exactly 20 meters from the vile creature, who was obviously getting impatient.

That was when Tenny realized... He had awakened his special ability, 'COWARD'S PARADISE' and it allowed him to teleport himself far from danger. He did not know the limits or conditions for his abilities, but he now had a greater chance of surviving. Forgetting all the pain and weariness, he started moving toward the monster with the intent to kill, however unlike before he knew he would win... and that was because... He was not WEAK anymore!

TO BE CONTINUED...