Chapter 37 - Promethean World

"Look at you! You are not studying!" yelled Prometheus' grandfather speaking in a thick Ilocano accent. "Meanwhile, your valedictorian in class is a woman! You should be the valedictorian! I was one when I was younger! You are just playing in your laptop."A younger Prometheus shouts. "FOR THE LAST TIME!!! I'M NOT PLAYING!!! I'M WRITING A STORY!!!""That is completely unimportant!"Prometheus just ignores him and continues writing.Meanwhile, his younger brother happily plays a video game on his iPhone."Why does he get to play and I don't?" asked Prometheus."Your brother has special needs," said his mother."So do I!" yelled Prometheus."Yeah. But you're the older brother. You should be able to think better in this age," said his father."I'm 12..." said Prometheus, with an annoyed tone of voice."And he's 4 and can't talk.""I couldn't talk when I was 4.""Yes, you could. Though your grammar was all wrong," said his father.Later...Prometheus covers his ears while his classmates humorously clap near his ears, ring coins together, and shine lights in his eyes causing the poor child to cover his ears and close his eyes in distress. However, the students seem to pretend to be applauding for Prometheus after his performance."MR. IBARRA!!!" roared the teacher. "PAY ATTENTION TO ME WHILE I TELL YOU YOUR SCORE FOR THIS PERFORMANCE!!!""But they were ringing coins... and clapping loud... and-!""STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!!"Prometheus cries and slams his head in the wall, flapping his arms."My God! What the hell is WRONG WITH YOU!?!?"Later...A teacher laughs at Prometheus for playing with his hands. "AND THEN HE HURT HIS EYE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!!"All the students in the room laugh at the boy, who bows his head in shame.Later..."76!?!?!" roared his grandfather. "YOU AREN'T STUDYING WELL ENOUGH!!! MY GOD!!! BACK IN MY DAY I PERFECTED!!! It is SCIENCE, boy!""It's just so hard..." Prometheus whimpered. "I couldn't understand... and the teacher doesn't teach... She just talks about her life and laughs at m-...""NO!!! You must face the consequences! You will study under my watch!""Wait? Laughing at YOU!?!?" asked his aunt. "WHO IS SHE!?!? I'LL SUE HER!!!""N-No... Never mind... I'm sorry. I'm... joking..." he bowed his head."Do not lie, my son..." said Joseph, his father."LIAR KA!!!" roared his grandfather."I'm NOT a LIAR!!!" roared Prometheus, punching the table.His grandmother squeezes his ear angrily. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!"Prometheus whimpers and runs away.The Flashback ends...Prometheus, now at the age of 64 though still biologically young, limps toward the CoolDudeBus, sighing. He rocks his body repetitively in order to think. "Stop being such a wimp and come, boy," he told Miguel, his adoptive grandson."Yes, Mr. Prometheus..." Miguel walks strangely along with his friends who pace with caution.The Reaper walks around with a cane. "Don't be so harsh on 'im, pops," said the Reaper."Body's aching..." said Miguel, shivering while walking."Yeah? Because he's a pansy straight boy," said Prometheus. "My parents were straight. Look at how I turned out. Good thing I'm bisexual like a real man. Back in the war even if our body aches we stride on.""We're alters... You know you and I have the exact same backgrounds..." said the Reaper. "And you're my father... and you're beginning to sound a lot like Dad and Grandpa."Prometheus doesn't respond and ignores him.Anna is helping him to walk. "Easy... That's right... Easy does it."The group enter the bus, where they proceed to rest as Fred drives the bus away.They teleported at the base of a massive snowy mountain thru the CoolDudeBus which was transported into the world thru a portal. They enter the bus and drive away up the mountain's road."Can't teleport new unregistered people into the city..." said Prometheus."What city?" asked Miguel."Burnham..."Miguel looks outside and sees several pine trees like in his world's Burnham, but sees some snow landing on them. Miguel touches the window and grabs his hand immediately. "WHOA!!!""This world entered an ice age around thirty years ago due to the asteroid's meteorites which cause a nuclear winter. The meteorites contained dust that caused the sky to be covered completely, causing the planet to lose its global warming effect. The winter became colder because of the nuclear war because of the dusts in the sky, causing the entire world to become colder by ten degrees. The asteroid's speed also changed the axial speed of my world. In other words, it's going to have an ice age for a very, very long time.""Whoa..." said Miguel. "Those are the lowlands." He watched to see that the lowlands seem to remain very warm with different mutant plantation and several animals that are white in color. People's skin are shown to be much lighter.Prometheus sighs. Miguel smiles and teleports next to him. "Who are we gonna meet, Mr. Prometheus?""My family.""Whoa... I get to see what my biological Dad looks like!?""Our... parents don't look the same at all.""That... doesn't make sense...""Mutliverse bullshit," said Prometheus. "Fix your hair.""What? Why?""And your... this..." Prometheus waves his hand over Miguel."You referred to ALL of me...""Yeah? Well, I want you to be as prim as proper as possible.""Why?" asked Miguel.The Reaper, who is way at the back, whistles a sound only heard by dogs and Aswangs.Miguel teleports next to the Reaper. "What's up?""Pro here wants to make sure you guys look great. He inherited Mom's uh... Sense of uh... How can I say this... Obsessive and compulsive habit of making us look good to Mom's family.""The Kezons?""Yeah. Both Prometheus' version and my version of our families are almost similar. Mom came from a very rich family. But now, they hate her.""What? WHY!?!?""She got impregnated by a delinquent idiot and was forced to marry him and had an idiot son," said the Reaper."You have an older brother!?" smiled Miguel.The Reaper sighs."Oh... Ooooh... Our biological Gramps probly didn't like either of you?""Oh, maliciously. So, now it's the same situation with Prometheus. So act... cool..." said the Reaper. "They accepted me so far but there's still some leftover tension between Prometheus and his family."Later...The entire group stood outside the gate which is at the foot of a tall hill almost similar to their home. Strangely enough for the Philippines, it's snowing. Behind them is an abandoned neighborhood and strange wild mutant Askals that look similar to wolves with droopy ears could be heard growling behind them."Happy?" asked Prometheus.Happy begins emitting a strange signal, causing the Lobokals to whimper and scamper away.The door opens, revealing Prometheus' partners: Annalisa, Jenna, and Jessica."Hey," sighed Prometheus."HONEY!!!" The two women and man hug their husband."Ugh! What the hell?" asked Jessica. "There's snow all over your clothes! I'll go clean them up-...""Sweetie. I can use magic to clean ourselves," said Prometheus."You alright, dude?" asked Jenna, his husband."Yeah. Just a bit aching from the last battle," said Prometheus."That was a week ago. It isn't healing?""Aswangs might have venom..." said Miguel, smiling.Jedan sighs. "Hey, Grandma Jenna.""Hello me," said Jenna. Jenna sighs. "We have tea upstairs for your healing. I also prepped Sisig.""ALRIGHT!!!" smiled Jedan, walking into the gates along with the others.Happy just teleports into the gates.Annalisa sighs, fixing Prometheus' collar."Hello, Anne," sighed Prometheus. "You're look as radiant as ever.""Well, well. If it isn't the Smarty Boi?" she smiled, speaking in a seductive voice.Prometheus smiles. "How're those two?""Embarrassing us in front of our parent-in-law..." she laughed."Ha! Losers..." said Prometheus. "You?""I think I've been doing great..." said Annalisa."She farted in front of your mother," said Jenna."HAHAHAHA!!!" growled Prometheus, as Annalisa punched him jokingly in the shoulder."See you upstairs, love," smiled Prometheus."Reason we got down is because the atmosphere up there is insufferable," said Jenna."I thought Mary liked me!" smiled Jessica."Pfft! No, she didn't," said Jenna.Prometheus rolls his eyes.Miguel and Anna hold each other's hands."We could do this," smiled Anna."Yeah... Together..." Miguel said with hope in his eyes.Note: Annalisa is the grandmother. Anna is her alter and Miguel's girlfriend and adoptive sister. They are two different people :3. Jessica is NOT Jess. Jess is the popular gal in Miguel's school he used to have a crush on. Jenna is an alter of Jedan BUT is a femboy unlike the buff boy he is."Be open-minded, alright?" asked Annalisa, smiling."Sure thin, Lola!" smiled Jedan."HAHA!!! Don't call me that again!" she smiled with a terrifying look."Oh, please!" yelled Fred. "I'm a dog! I can eat anythin' served to me!"Later...The ten people sit on the couches and are served Lobokal meat as a traumatized Fred stares at the meat of his own brethren, seeing a plate of Lobokal head."Wild Lobokal. Don't worry! The domesticated Lobokals are a different species completely! This is safe to eat!" smiled Jenna.Fred still stares at the meat in horror. "You guys got chicken...?""You're in luck! Their fam lost a sabong last week! Here ya go!" smiled Jessica, offering Fred a massive ostrich-sized drumstick. "Pure Chicken Raptor meat!""Oh, thank the Abrahamic God!" Fred grabs the drumstick and bites the meat."I thought you were an atheist," said Gerard."Jerry... JERRY!!! Gerard! HERARDO!!! You DO realize that we work for the Avatar of God...?" asked Fred.Gerard corrects him. "Former Avatar of-..."Prometheus squints his eyes."Apologies..." Gerard bowed his head."Haha!" laughed Fred.Lord just keeps playing ML."Hey!" smiled Kariel. "You play ML?""Oh! Hey Great-Uncle Kariel!""Yeah! Hey!" smiled Lord. "Yeah... No... In our world this is a sequel to a game called Plants vs. Zombies 7.""Wait, seriously? Ever since the apocalypse, they couldn't make any more games. Just a bunch of ads talking about people stealing toilet paper and cannibalism," said Kariel."Dang..." said Lord. "This is like a variant of Garden Warfare, right? BUT!!! It acts more like Clash of Clans! Where the aspects of colonization is fairly important."Jedan tries getting the Reaper's flask."No!" yelled the Reaper."It's not like I'm driving later!" yelled Jedan."You're 15.""Gatekeeper!""This isn't gatekeeping. This is parenting," said the Reaper, while Fred sniffs the Lobokal meat. "Fred. Don't touch that. You'll get canine kuru.""That's not a thing! I think...""Exactly," said the Reaper.Prometheus sighs.Inside the house, there are heaters in just about every room with a ventilation system installed. The house feels warm. The entire group wear thick jackets that are waterproof. Outside, the windows are shown to be icy and cold. On the floors, Prometheus' very young biological and adopted children play around with toys. Gabby, Raphael (the Evolved Chimp), Victoria, and MJ all happily play around along with their pet Lobokal puppy, Johnsilver."I feel like your new dog brings racially questionable ethics," said Fred, watching the Lobokal pup happily bark at the twins."This is Johnsilver. He's a Lobokal," said Prometheus."What IS he?" asked Anna."He's my pup. I adopted him back in April when I entered my world again. Apparently, street dogs regained their wolf-like instincts and became mutant wolves. The Splooge usage on the world granted many species to accelerate their evolution according to their adaptation. Animals, unlike Humans, mutated thru the Splooge based on their environment, not their personalities," said Annalisa.Prometheus sighs, eating the meat. He senses danger. He stands up.Joseph, Mary, and Elizabeth all walk downstairs."Dad. Mom. Tita," said Prometheus.Miguel is at awe with seeing them."These your kids?" asked Joseph."Uh. Yeah," said Prometheus.Joseph breathes out of his nose. "Alright. Nice to meet all of you."Happy hugs Joseph. "Grandfather!" he smiled."Lolo!" smiled Athena, hugging Joseph."Right..." said Joseph."All of you, fix yourselves," growled Prometheus, annoying his extended family.Later...The three parental figures face Prometheus, who is with his family: Miguel, the Reaper, Anna, Jedan, Lord, Happy, Athena, Gerard, Fred, Annalisa, Jessica, and Jenna. They are all served chicken and deer meat."Uh... Hey...!" smiled Miguel. "How's it going, gramps and grannies?" he smiled, clicking his tongue."Is he gay as well?" asked Joseph.Mary slaps the back of Joseph's head."It was an honest question! It's fine! He's family!" yelled Joseph."We are very happy to have met you all here today!" smiled Elizabeth."Yeah!" smiled Mary. "Good evening! Wonderful time to be alive here in the Promethean Ice Age.""What...?" asked Joseph, as Mary slaps the back of his head. "Wonderful indeed!""Right..." sighed the Reaper, as he scoops and eats some rice and deer meat."Why so much deer meat?" asked Miguel."Ever since the apocalypse, the Deer multiplied in numbers and practically appeared all over the Philippines walking thru the frozen glaciers in winter. The only apex predators that challenged their ever-growing population are us and Lobokals," said Joseph. "I was a lawyer, but the Philippines was divided for a long time and Burnham became an isolated city, and outside it are wild Lobokals, Wild Cats, deer, goat, giant pangolins, giant mousedeer, Giant stink badgers, Giant warty pigs (or War Pigs), Giant Boars, and Monkeys." "There are also a couple of tigers near the mountain foot..." said Joseph."Ah, yes! The Subic Tigers! Some adapted to the cold! They escaped the zoo in Subic and kinda became an apex predator. Other than the wild Lobokals and Wild Cats," smiled Elizabeth."Yeah. Fun..." said Prometheus."Hey, Prometheus! Why don't you uh... show yer old high school enemies how cool you are now?" smiled Miguel."Because those enemies of mine are very, very dead," said Prometheus."YOU KILLED THEM!?!?""No. But the nuclear war that ravaged Earth for forty years did.""So..." said Miguel. "What is your job now, Mr. Ibarra? Or... 'Lolo...?'""Well... I'm the King of Burnham," said Joseph."Whoa!" smiled Miguel. "Actual royalty!"Gerard looks annoyed a bit. "I'm also royalty, just so you kn-...""So, you conquered Burnham!?" smiled Miguel."Yes," said Joseph. "Well, I conquered the Barangay AND THEN Burnham. Most of my soldiers can be found in his old high school which was rebuilt into this military camp. Camp Burnham, which is a tourist destination in the middle of the forest with several restaurants? That's also one of my military camps.""A good man once taught me that you don't reveal your headquarters to just about anyone. That 'good man' is called 'common sense'," said Prometheus."He's family," said Mary. "It's fine!""Yes. But from experience, Miguel is terrible at keep secrets..." he sighs. "He, sadly, told the Reaper about this whole thing where his bio Dad killed Reaps' parents-...""Mr. Prometheus!" yelled Miguel.The Reaper facepalms. "Oh my God...""What!?" asked Prometheus."Pro, please. You're embarrassing them," said Annalisa."Yeah? Back in my day, these people used to humiliated me all the time. Didn't think much of it..." said Prometheus."Miguel, stop," said Joseph. "That's your grandson.""It's 'Prometheus,' now!" roared Prometheus. "AND DON'T TELL ME HOW TO PARENT MY KID!!!""You're acting like your Lolo!""And that's supposed to be a bad thing!? Lolo was a GOOD MAN... That's how I was parented by Lolo!""What about how I parented you!?""NO, YOU DIDN'T!!! YOU WEREN'T EVEN THERE!!!" roared Prometheus, slamming the table.The entire room went silent from Prometheus' sudden outburst. His extended family just awkwardly bowed their heads and looked away, except for Miguel, who genuinely looked concerned.Joseph looks away, subtly while Prometheus breathes out thru his nose."I'm going for a smoke," said Prometheus, standing up and stomping away."He smokes now!?" asked Mary."Hey. If he wanted to inherit shit from me so bad, this is a good thing when you think about it-..." said Joseph."JOSEPH!!!" yelled Mary."KUYA!!!" scolded Elizabeth.Miguel stands up and follows after Prometheus. So does the Reaper.Later...Prometheus closes his eyes and begins humming "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. His voice is actually surprisingly beautiful and subtle."Boulevard of Broken Dreams!" smiled Miguel and the Reaper."Pro? You alright?" asked the Reaper.Prometheus gives a big sigh. "Do you remember Lolo? Before yours died?""Yeah. Haha. He was hilarious! Racist and funny like any regular Lolo," smiled the Reaper."Well... My Lolo was the one who raised me and taught me things while my Dad and Mom were gone for most of my earlier childhood. Mom would always be working in the night and sleeping at the day. Dad was in Manila in the San Diego Region. Mom only appeared around the time I was 14. Dad would visit every month. Growing up, my Dad and I would often hang out as much as we could, but Dad began seeding ideas into my head... wanting me to be a lawyer. He wanted it so much. I didn't know why. Something tells me it's because of how Lola viewed his music career. I wanted to be a writer. He called it a hobby. Called it the forbidden apple given by the snake from the tree. I began writing a satire about a political family. One that he supported. He called me a filthy liberal. I opened up about my sexuality. He disowned me.

Meanwhile, growing up, I hated my grandfather for his bleak and tough attitude. But when he got older, I began to see his genius. I'm sorry about earlier."