*The world is resetting over and over again, its driving me nuts!!!* Jaiden, a 30-year-old specialized in physical combat has experienced the end of the world in over a thousand instances. "Why, why do I keep waking up after the black hole?!" He reverts back to being a mere 5-year-old, waking up in his lonely bed. He already knew what was bound to happen, once more he would grow until the age of 8 and his parents would part ways by an accident. His judgement was clouded, and he avoided talking and making strong relationships with others, but it never changed the fate of the world. The more distant he became with the environment around him, the more the world was doomed to be failed. He and a few others were the key to stop this, but that would only decide if they managed to encounter each other in time. Out of all the lifetimes he repeatedly gone through, this happened to be different, traversing the destinies of many.
Within the year 4037, there was a war against the continents of Soltica and The Dark Lands. Robots and cyborgs were sent from the dark lands to invade Soltica. Artirias sent in some assist to help in this war, combining two countries into one. The Dark Lands was equivalent to both at once, so it was only fair. Although, deep within the battlefield of the 2nd Soltica lands, there was a great soldier, fearsome above his comrades. He used to work with multiple healer duos, but none would meet up to his expectations and would switch out for others. In his last and final replacement, there was one who met his standards, guiding his way into a better light.
"I need some help over here, maybe another dispatch!" Jaiden ran around as he continuously shot at the multiple droids that marched toward him at full jogging speed. "They're only getting closer!" He yelled furiously into his radio com. As he aimed, he noticed a drone in view, but he was not quick enough to dodge it "Ah!" Jaiden's body was flung to the ground as the drone sliced a chunk of his left shoulder. He was "protected" by thick armor, but unfortunately the drone was built stronger. This left Jaiden screaming in the sudden pain, but also kicked with adrenaline to get up and continue shooting as the others finally joined seconds later. "About god damn time you guys showed up!"
As one of the allies a part of the Soltica army and Jaiden's only trusted friend, Kelvin McGommery. "Sorry we're later than usual! The others had malfunctions with their mechs!" He spoke through the com and descended from the ship above. He dropped next to Jaiden, noticing the chunk of his shoulder missing. "Jaiden your shoulder!" Immediately, he took out a med kit from his side. "How the hell did you let this get past you?!"
Jaiden stopped shooting as he was brought behind cover by Kelvin. They sat against the opposite side of a wall that was stationed for medical use. Kelvin was a trusted friend because he was the only one capable of handling Jaiden's rough attitude. So, he was his only assistance through many battles. "Kelvin, I just need my right arm, it's fine." Jaiden winced to the medicine shot indie his shoulder, numbing out the pain.
"If I know any better, you'll have to get a new arm," Kelvin sprayed a disinfectant into the gap of his shoulder and then brought out metal slabs to fill the wound. "I'm suggesting you get this looked at by one of the doctors." He secured the slabs with an aluminum cloth, wrapped over and under the arm pit. "This should be good enough for now-" Jaiden noticed another drone flying above and shoved Kelvin to the side just after he finished.
Jaiden quickly aimed and shot at the drone, watching it fall to the ground in front of them. "I don't need to get a new arm; this can just be held up by the same method-"
"Jaiden, for the love of god, just listen to me for once!" Kelvin yelled at him, making them both face each other by grabbing both his shoulders. "You know damn well that you can't keep fighting in the Soltica Army forces if you have a disability like this! I know how much you love getting in battle, the trill and everything. It's not going to end if you just get that arm!" Kelvin's tone raged in guilt and even his eyes were flaming with emotion. Tears could be seen leaving his darkened eyes.
"Kelvin…" Jaiden could barely process what he was saying with mixed emotions. "Kelvin, I…" He stopped himself, glancing around as a grunge noise was slowly getting louder. He turned and rose, walking from the wall to peek at the other side. It was that moment he realized, this was no ordinary sound, it was of a beam that had been added to the battlefield. It destroyed the mechs of the other soldiers who fought beside them. "Kelvin, you need to get back to the ship!" He turned back to him, watching Kelvin walk behind to also look at the battlefield, in horror. "Go, go, go!" Jaiden pushed him and grabbed a device from Kelvin's pocket. With a press, it transformed into a hoverboard and levitated off the grimy and rough ground.
"I can't just leave you here when THAT thing is on rampage!" Kelvin pressed the button on the hoverboard again, making it a small device once more. "I'm fighting with you-" Just as he spoke, the beam was seen behind, tearing down the wall in Jaiden's view. He pulled him against his chest and fell to the ground, avoiding it.
Jaiden watched it pass overhead and felt Kelvin on top weighing on him. Kelvin moved to the side and stood to hold the wall from collapsing on top of them both. "Move it, Kelvin!" Jaiden rolled to the same side and stood behind him, pulling Kelvin away from the wall just in time. It collapsed and they were hit by a shockwave of a siren. The chaos filled their ears and Kelvin stood again, running toward an upcoming group of robots. "Kelvin!" Jaiden yelled as he reached, knowing that he was too far ahead. After countless times of yelling out Kelvin's name, he watched as his dear friend faded into the marching army of robots.
That night, Jaiden's last view was that of Kelvin's body, hazed in a memory. With how vast the odds were, it was unexpected to see Jaiden come out of the battlefield alone. Aftermath of the night, he was found beside Kelvin, unconscious and was returned to the main medical station, carried by an assistant officer.
"Jaiden… Crowldel… Age, 29? No, 30, man… bummer that he lost a friend on his birthday night." A doctor read off of a tablet, scrolling through a large file that had every medical information of Jaiden. Another doctor nearby also spoke within the matter. "His only friend at that too, seems like he was such a cocky partner that Kelvin kid was the only one who could handle him." The doctor with the tablet listened and continued to scroll through the file, responding to them. "Isn't the Kelvin kid from the McGommery family? They can willingly give their family shares to anyone if they write it down soon enough. You think Jaiden was taken pity on and put in?" He placed the tablet down and began to look around for a sink. Washing his hands and putting on gloves, he prepared himself to start operating on Jaiden's shoulder. The other doctor did the same and joined him at the operating table. "The Kelvin kid did it, heard they looked through his memories and it's already confirmed."
The other doctor scoffed at such a statement and began operations on changing Jaiden's shoulder. The long night went on in the operating room and the doctors rested after finally finishing up. Within the McGommery family, they held family meetings to sort things out, abiding by what Kelvin's wish of shares to Jaiden. Within time, Jaiden would awaken to the sounds of machine beeping to his heart rate. Similar to many moments he had after-battle hospital visits, he simply sighed and remained lying in the bed. Something felt off though, what he usually woke up to was the sound of Kelvin's snores as he sat nearby. In hopes that they recovered Kelvin's body along with him, he asked a doctor around the hall just outside the room. "… Sorry, no clue who you're talking about." The doctor tried to avoid eye contact and hurriedly walked the hall. Jaiden looked around the room, trying to find anything that can give him more information. The television screen above was turned on, and he was then watching the news. To his horror, Jaiden's body went stiff as he heard Kelvin's body was found dead on the battlefield. As a member of the McGommery family he was well-known, but this news was certainly not what he wanted to see. Jaiden sat there, trying to remember what happened the night before. The battlefield came to a complete blur, as if the memory of it was fogged.
One of the doctors who operated on him entered the room. He saw Jaiden sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the screen above. "Oh, you're awake. How's your shoulder?" He asked in a calm manner, then realizing what that the news had been playing. He noticed Jaiden slowly turn to him and stand as he adjusted the feeling in his shoulder. The doctor carefully took a step back while the doorway was still opened. "Now… Jaiden… You don't have to do this."
Jaiden reassured that his shoulder worked perfectly fine, highly aware that it was technology holding his arm together now. "So? Where is Kelvin?" He stared into the doctor's eyes like digging daggers into his skull. "I'm losing my patience."
The doctor attempted to speak with ease, with a little shaking in his voice. "I'm sure you know where he is by now, right? You heard on the news I'm guessing…" He nervously laughed and blinked for just a second. Then, felt a grip from his collar, bringing him inside and slammed into the wall. Jaiden was known to be one of the best soldiers of the Soltica Forces because of his continuous agility and combat training. Thus, from that point on he was excused from the battlefield and placed to become a part of city security. The government allows time off for those who become stygian throughout their days. This was their way of taking pity on those who were heavily impacted by the sight of their comrades.
"Another day another grumpy looking Jaiden." A security guard on duty sat with another, eyeing Jaiden as he stood guard around inside a large mall. "Don't you think it's about time they take him off the whole workforce?"
"Dude, you know how much he boasts about the thrill to work, they're not gonna let him go yet." He sagged himself into the seat, munching on a biscuit. There were more on a plate in front of him as his lunch.
"I don't know man… When he did the whole speech and everything on the first day…" The other thought back to the very first day that Jaiden was introduced to the team. Recalling back to how perfect and stiff his posture was, almost robot-like. This made most of the other security guards oddly uncomfortable, all but the team leader who was the complete opposite in personality. "Wasn't he like a robot? I get it that he lost his friend and everything, but doesn't he have any family to look forward to?"
"Orphaned at 8." He chewed on the biscuits and finally finished his lunch break. "Not a single family member left, he's a complete loner. My suggestion, don't bother with em."
"It just feels wrong to look away from that type of stuff." He stood and looked at the time, realizing he was supposed to be back on shift minutes ago. "Shoot- Uh, Grilen, I'm heading up to my first post." He picked up his bag and rushed putting on his belt, walking away to the elevator.
Girlen looked down and noticed he forgot his plate of food. He glanced up at him and saw him already so far ahead, resulting in eating it himself. About an hour into the next shift, Jaiden stood even though it was getting closer to his lunch break. His mind was almost lost as his eyes shifted around, making sure that everything was in check inside the mall. He heard heavy footsteps behind and quickly turned to see one of the security guards that were eyeing him from their lunch breaks.
"It's time for my second shift on this floor…" He was barely surprised by how fast he turned, which felt routinely. Jaiden turned to look while he was just a few feet away. "… Crowldel."
"Understood." Jaiden nodded and smoothly walked off to the break area. Then seen standing there, still glancing around the edge. He was still looking to make sure that everything was in place.
Grilen, once more walked up behind the security guard, keeping company. "I'm telling you, Vixent, it's not negotiable. He's a lost cause."
"You, Grilen, are the worst example of 'team communication' out of everyone." Vixent didn't even bother to look at him, focused on Jaiden. "After all our shifts end, I'm staying, leave without me. Wait, Grilen, aren't you supposed to be on the 5th floor right now?" He finally turned to look at him, watching him continue to eat biscuits from the lunch counter. "Really?"
"What?" Grilen continued eating, unbothered by his comment. "Alright, I'll go to the 5th floor if you want me to do my job. Just don't try to do anything stupid, see you later." He waved off and walked away. His steps were muffled and trailed along with the bustling sounds of crowds inside the mall.
Vixent sighed and went along with his duties keeping guard on the 4th floor. The shifts continued to be passed around and Jaiden would not use his lunch breaks as intended. While the rest of the team were preparing to leave soon, the night team's shift began to clock in. Vixent packed his things up in the locker room, carefully watching Jaiden's speeding exit. In hopes to reach him, he rushed himself to follow Jaiden outside the building.
"Wait! Crowldel!" Vixent ran, trailing and slowing down behind as he saw him turn. "Please… I need to talk to you." He panted and took a moment to breathe.
"Is there an issue?" Jaiden fully turned his body to face him but stayed in his own place. "Was there something I might've missed during or after the shifts?" His tone was cold and each word that came out of his mouth was like a brick.
Vixent looked up with a slightly disapproving stare, still seeing him as robot-like. "Well, I just wanted to get to know you." He was as honest as anyone could possibly be, but his intentions were not clearly displayed. It had been a long while ever since someone attempted to approach Jaiden, years maybe.
The look that Jaiden gave to him in return was chilling to say the least. His sparkling blue eyes seemed to dart into Vixent's soul, as if it was such an impertinent thing to suggest. "Really…?" Jaiden's brows furrowed and a frown slowly grew, then his eyes faded into red. His light golden hair that would commonly have a blue streak went and faded into red as well. These unstable emotions were escaping from the depths of his shallowed soul. Jaiden's perspective on this was to see his words as fabricated, but if they were he wouldn't have chased him down, leading to mixed feelings.
Vixent's body froze, beholding such a sight a few feet away. The thick vibe that Jaiden was emitting seeped into the darkness of the night. To Vixent this was a sight to be weary of, his face displayed the cowardice but also brave and caring heart he beheld. The only thought that spread through his mind, *Geez! Could this guy get any more terrifying?!*