"My mother was an honor student at Saint Diego University: The most prestigious school in the Philippines. My father was a lawyer at the Department of Justice. My aunt was a world-renowned scientist.Me? I was a nobody...
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"Wow! Look at these garbage collectors in TV!" smiled Joseph, watching television and pawnstars. "Aren't these garbage collectors... wow! They are just so crazy, am I right? Man! Too bad they didn't make... The Choices. Right? Those good ol' The Choices that make you lawyers, doctors, teachers, and actual functional people in society. Instead these kids always wanted to be... I dunno... Youtubers! Rappers! Musicians! *COUGH!!!* Writers..."A young Miguel... but not the Miguel we know... No... An alternate one... One with the same dead eyes of another character, just continuously types into his laptop with a dead look."Y'know, if you're going to keep writing, you should read some *COUGH!!!* law books! Y'know! Be a useful and functional member of society!" he smiled.The boy ignored him, and kept typing."Son. I'm only home two days a month! You could at least spend some time reading these books!""Those books are for nerds..." Miguel coldly turned to his father with dead eyes. "Fanfiction's for Sigma Male Grindset babies like I am.""I... I'm sorry. I have no fucking clue what that means. Son. What do you want to be in the future?""I want to rule over the Multiverse and show how fucking wrong you were about me.""HA!!! You!? The Multiverse isn't even real! What could you do, anyway? YOU DON'T EVEN WANNA BE A LAWYER for fuck's sake! Be realistic! Please, son! Only 1% of Filipinos actually become successful writers! So! BE a President! BE a leader! BE a lawyer!!! I'm trying to save your future! Our family name! But more importantly, YOUR FUTURE!!! But also our family name! Please, son! You're going to be something great if you just...""Listen..."Prometheus opens his eyes, still typing on his laptop many, many, many years later. He is chronicling the fauna and flora of Gerard's world. Right now, he is writing about a flower."Prometheus! Whatcha doin'?" asked Miguel, Prometheus' much younger alter."I'm busy. Buzz off, nerd..." said Prometheus."Whoa! Is that our Dad?" asked Miguel, pointing to a picture of him on Prometheus' phone."Yeah." Prometheus warps the phone away. "How the shit do you know my password?""Same password as mine!" smiled Miguel. "Whatcha doin', anyway?""Disappointing my father. Shouldn't you be on sleeping for training tomorrow?" asked Prometheus, annoyed."Well... I just think you're cool, and all! You being my legal guardian and all! So weird that I'm my own legal guardian! Is this what adults feel like!?" smiled Miguel."No. You're stupid and naive and you're slobbering over my Caeluma Ruptoris.""Oh... Sorry!""Sleep, kid..." said Prometheus grabbing his head and pushing him into bed. "Besides... You have to be more powerful in preparation of the great evil. Now, move it.""By the way... What IS the great evil?""No.""Why!? Please tell me what I'm up against! It's kinda fucked up that you aren't telling me anything!""Because you're not ready. Your eyes will melt if I tell you.""I'm 14. I'm not stupid.""Well, clearly, you're very stupid.""What makes you say that?" he smiled."You're asking the most powerful Wizard in the Multiverse a question he does not want to answer.""Who cares? You can't kill me OR harm me!" smiled Miguel."Making HUGE assumptions here with the 'harming' part...""But Pro! Pleeeease! What was my Dad like?""Satan. Sleep or I'll put Vick's VapoRub in your nose, ears, eyes, and other orifices."Miguel bows his head and sleeps. "Fine..."The next day..."AGAIN!!!" yelled Prometheus.Miguel does an aerial cartwheel and drop kicks, blasting flames from his feet. But, he mistakenly blasted his feet upward, causing him to crash into the ground.The entire group stayed in a strange temple with strange writings all around. The temple is a place for training and practice. Anna, Jedan, Lord, and Gerard all train.Miguel grabs his head, slowly standing up."That was pathetic. AGAIN!!!" roared Prometheus.Miguel does the aerial cartwheel and crashes again into the ground."AGAIN!!!"Miguel does the aerial cartwheel and manages to blast flames from his feet while on the ground only for him to crash into the ceiling."AGAIN!!!"Miguel does the aerial cartwheel only for him to crash into Jedan."Hey, pookie!" smiled Jedan."Waddup, binkie!" smiled Miguel.Prometheus sighs and grabs Miguel's head. "Stop making out. It sounds like *Disgusting slobbering noises...*""No, we aren't!" yelled Miguel. "That's gross! He's like my brother!""Yeah. That's what they all say. Do it again."Miguel does another aerial cartwheel only for him to crash into a pillar of stone."HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" laughed Prometheus. "HAHAHAHAHA-!!! Again."Miguel tries standing up only for him to fall over."I said stand up, pudding cup."Miguel bleeds and falls over again."You alright, kid?" asked the Reaper, as Miguel falls over after. The Reaper sees that Miguel has a fractured leg.Prometheus gives a worried look. "Alright... Lemme have a look."Prometheus warps out a few blue bubbles and begins healing Miguel."Ah! Tsss!!!" he hissed."Easy..." said Prometheus. "After this, I want you to keep-...""No. You can have a break, Miguel.""'A break?' You gotta be shitting me. MABUS and his master will kill all of us.""At least Miguel would be in one piece when it happens," said the Reaper.Prometheus sighs. "Fine... Twenty minutes.""Prometheus. He obviously needs more time-...""Twenty minutes!" Prometheus yelled, walking away.Later..."Wow! I can't believe I get to take the rest of the day off for the first time!" smiled Miguel. "By the way... Sorry that Mr. Reaper forced you to let me have the break, Mr. Prometheus.""Shut up and eat your Sacrifice. By the way, none of you should look at each other's eyes... Especially to the Usog Users...""Sounds like something I should actually pay attention to," said Jedan."Yep," said Chris."Only look at your food during this meal. Thank you," said Prometheus."What? AH!!!" Miguel is horrified to see a giant ant with a very fatty abdomen but with a much smaller head and thorax with its abdomen the size of three watermelons combined. "Wh-Wh-W-?""Oh... You're freaked out by ants, too," said the Reaper. "I had that phobia when I was younger. This is a Gi-Ant. Freshly bred and sacrificed by the Gi-Ant Queen and her soldiers. Compliments to the Keeper!"Miguel sees an abundance of food next to it: Mutant blue corn, spaghetti with blue sauce, dumplings, pizza with green cheese and insectoid meats on it, green cheese, a bowl full of mutant beetles and crickets cooked in adobo style, a casserole that looks like goop with tentacles on it that are still moving, steamed slugs, and a pitcher-full of green milk.Miguel is just... weirded out... "C-... Compliments... I think...? What's that? A... chef's hat?" asked Miguel."This is my head flower of which provides food to the Gi-Ant brethren..." said the Keeper."Oh... Wow..." said Miguel."Its nectar was formed from my own blood... Of which was used to fatten the Sacrifice up for your current meal...""Back up. We're eating something that's sentient!?" asked Miguel. "Also, fed by this dude's blood?""It's cool. They're around the same intelligence as a crow or an 8-year-old child," said Prometheus. "Also, don't worry. This guy's clean from any STD.""WHAT!?!?" asked Miguel."Dig in!" smiled Athena, biting into the flesh."Aren't you... an ant as well?" asked Miguel."Yeah? So...?" smiled Athena.Miguel looks at everyone else and sees that they're just happily eating the Gi-Ant's flesh. "Uh..." "Here..." sighed Prometheus, cutting a slice of meat from the ant's butt and taking a bowl serving of blue corn kernels with his magical blue bubbles. "Eat...""Riiight..." said Miguel, as he is served the white creamy flesh and the bowlful of blue corn. He sighs and begins eating. He bites into the flesh and feels at ease because of the strange citrusy and nutty tang but cringes at the thought of eating something goopy and creamy. "Mmm... Mmm! Tastes great and all but... *sigh...* It has that texture to it...""Do you not like my Sacrifice?" asked the Keeper, preparing to stab himself in the throat."NO!!! NO, NO,NO!!! I LIKE IT!!! MMM!!!" Miguel eats more of it."Damned straight you do," said the Keeper.Miguel begins eating more, grabbing the dumplings, corn, pizza, cheese, spaghetti, and many more. Later, he even began eating the bugs and alien casserole."Why do I feel like I wanna eat more?" asked Miguel."Our bodies burn a lot of energy when using Usog or our abilities," said Prometheus. "Things may taste alien to a regular person, but because of the heightened sense of hunger because of the usage of Usog, you need to eat or else your Usog will uncontrollably injure people and make them vomit. It especially does this when food is placed in front of you in a very famished state. That is why I asked that none of you to place eye contact to each other.""There are drawbacks to this!?" asked Miguel, turning to Prometheus."Look down!"Miguel, terrified, looks down."Yes. Usog has various drawbacks. Usog can also affect you based on arrogance and ego.""What do you mean?""When one becomes too overconfident about something, the universal forces would use Usog to forfeit that something.""What do you mean?" asked Anna."For example. When you keep flexing and talking about how you're going to the waterpark, being really excited about it, only for the trip to not happen because of a storm.""Like jinxing?" asked Anna."Yes," said Prometheus. "The key is to respect it with humility. A mistake often done by relatives of mine.""What were your relatives like?""They were hilarious. Now, eat, restore your energy, and perfect that attack by tomorrow.""Okay..." Miguel bowed his head.Later..."GAH!!!" Miguel crashes into the wall.Prometheus emotes his goggles into bored eyes. "Ocakes. Take five.""Ugh..." said Miguel.Prometheus places a jar of some sort of red honey next to Miguel. "Eat this Big Bee honey. Made from the Dragon Flower and fed to the Gi-Ants usually."Miguel opens the jar and transforms into an Aswang, proceeding to suck the honey up with his tongue. "Whoa! That is SWEET!!! And my tonsils feel better!" he smiled."Yeah. Because Humans evolved eating that stuff.""Heeey... I thought the Bible was right.""Well... Genesis was kinda more... metaphor-y? The dinosaurs were extinct and God happened to find the perfect place to begin life and started creating life from there, ending up creating humanity through evolution," said the Reaper."What is God? Some scientist who creates life or somethin'?""Sure..." said Prometheus. "Whatever. Keep doing it.""Mr. Prometheus..." said Anna. "I think Miguel should be resting... It isn't right that we get to have more breaks than he does.""Well, as your adviser AND principal, I decide your curricula.""Mr. Prometheus... Please..." sighed Miguel. "I can't do it!""Yes, you can. You just gotta believe.""Well? Y'know what? If this is just gonna keep happening to me I DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE!!!""What!? The great evil will-!""I don't care about the great evil! I just want to be a somebody!"Prometheus frowns. "IS that what you want?""What?""Or maybe you want something that was missing. A father? A mother, maybe?"Miguel looks down. "I don't wanna talk about that...""Talk about what? Talk about how you were alone your entire life? How no one cared about you? Well, get over it!" "Prometheus, that's enough," said the Reaper."That's true for EVERY version of us! EVERY version of us ALWAYS ends up alone! Because we have shit families. Shit parents. Shit EVERYTHING!!!""Prometheus!" roared the Reaper."YOU STAY OUTTA THIS!!!""Prometheus. I actually LOST my family! Aswangs tore them to PIECES in FRONT OF ME!!! Where's yours, 'Space Wizard!?'" Suddenly, the Reaper begins choking.Prometheus strangles the Reaper with a ring-shaped bubble."Mr. Prometheus!" yelled Anna."What the HELL IS HAPPENING!?!?" asked Jedan.Miguel tries attacking only for Prometheus to wave a stick he warps out with his other hand and creates a barrier between them and the others."MR. PROMETHEUS!!!" yelled Miguel.The Reaper growls and shoots flames out of his feet and crashes into Prometheus."HELL RUSH!!!" The Reaper then blasts several punches toward Prometheus as shockwaves leave his body, severely injuring him all over.Prometheus is thrown away like a ragdoll"You just aren't as durable as they SAY YOU ARE!!!" The Reaper blasts another punch but Prometheus twists his body and activates his sticks, slapping the Reaper in the face with his stick. He then transforms his stick into a chain-like spring that he uses to grapple onto the Reaper's neck and throw him into the ground.The Reaper grabs on the stick and pulls Prometheus toward himself, punching him again only for Prometheus to block him with another barrier."STOP!!!" Miguel somehow manages to do the aerial cartwheel and manages to blast a blade of flames with his food into the pair."Aha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YES!!!" cackled Prometheus. "You finally MANAGED TO-!!!"Miguel punches Prometheus with a flaming fist, causing him to cough blood."How dare YOU!!!?!? YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME!!! I OWN YOU!!! I-!!! *sniff!!!* I just want you to BE a King! BE a leader! BE a WARRIOR!!! I'm trying to save your future! Our alter name! But more importantly, YOUR FUTURE!!! But also our alter name! Please, Miguel! You're going to be something great if you just..."The Reaper facepalms."Oh..." said Prometheus, realizing who he's sounding like. "Shit..."Miguel runs away and sobs.Everyone else crosses their arms, staring at Prometheus with disappointment."OH, COME ON!!!" roared Prometheus. "I'm not-! Am I!? Reaps! Go get the child!""No. YOU fix this. I'm tired of fixing the problems you cause," said the Reaper."FINE!!! Whatever! I'll speak with the boy!"Miguel had hidden above the roof of the temple and sobs silently.Prometheus teleports next to him. "Hello, boy.""What do YOU want?""I dunno! I just wanna-... Y'know! Hang out with you! I just wanna tell you that anger is a demon-... Shit... That's exactly what my Dad would say... He'd... ruin an apology by placing the idea that it was my fault for getting angry with him in the first place and would return to his original philosophy with me being a failure...""What... was my Dad like...?""The Aswang King?""Yeah...?""I don't know... I never met him.""But you said-!""I didn't say anything. You're a hybrid. I found you because I was told to take care of you. No other reason.""What... do you think my father's like.""Well... My father was cruel, arrogant, selfish, UNBELIEVABLY stupid, terrible, horrible, constantly addicted to his vices, would win every argument against me because he was a genius liar, was rude to me and my mother, was mean to me, would compare me to my brother, would compare me to his friend's children, would compare me to my classmates, would-..." Prometheus turns to Miguel, who is teary-eyed. Prometheus sighs. "But in the end, he had flaws. He was... is... still my Dad... He may be all that... But he still believed that I could be the best lawyer...""But... You didn't want to be a lawyer.""Dude. I always wanted to be a writer. Dad would always imply that I would end up being a nobody who bags food in grocery stores or be a garbage collector. So did my Mom, who always found my brother favorite. So did my Grandparents who compared me to some random kid out there.""So, you're saying that my Dad is a failure as well?""No. Our worlds are... different. Remember when I said that visualization could change your truth?""Yeah? So?""Have you ever heard of Schrodinger's Cat?""Cat is placed in a box with poison in it. While the box is closed, the cat is both dead and alive until it is opened. Because reality can never truly be considered truth until we see it. Quantum Mechanics.""But we have Usog. If you believe hard enough in something... Maybe... Just maybe it's true. It's right.""What if someone else believes the otherwise?"Prometheus sighs. "Believe harder. Believe your... Dad was the greatest hero ever... Believe that... Maybe it is true... But at a certain point of view...""What do you mean?""It means that you should just have faith and stick to your guts.""That's the first wise thing you said to me. Thank you."Prometheus is impressed with what he did. "Thanks as well.""Well... I believe that my Dad is the greatest hero ever... And I believe that you and the Reaper are the coolest mentors I ever had..." smiled Miguel."Thank you..." Prometheus closed his eyes. "Then, I will be that... I promise..."Miguel smiles and nods.