Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The metal rang out quickly and repeatedly, causing bright yellow sparks that quickly faded, but briefly illuminated the scene.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The detonations of a firearm roared loudly. There were no bullet casings or the clatter of them falling to the ground. Instead, there was a bright trail of white light that crossed the space.
As he fought for his life, he spat out a couple of drops of blood that moistened the dust on the cold, lonely stone floor.
His body is covered in blood, wounds, and pain. He can barely stand, but he still tries. He still wants to live even though his body has already begun to succumb to death.
He doesn't know why he has to do this. He doesn't know how to get home. He is trapped in this place with this monster.
To add insult to injury, his heart is plagued with disastrous emotions that prevent him from concentrating.
He knows it's the end, but until the end...
"I will fight until the end!"
***
This story, at least the end of humanity and the beginning of his power, goes back a little over a thousand years, when a mysterious asteroid was spotted on the outskirts of the solar system.
The world's major organizations announced that the asteroid had appeared out of nowhere and would hit the planet within the next year. They were even able to calculate the area where it would fall.
This alarmed everyone in the world, as it was mentioned that the asteroid was a hundred times larger than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago.
In addition, this asteroid carried mysterious compounds never seen before, which only increased the risk to humanity.
They did everything they could to save themselves. They gathered all the satellites in the world along with the largest space stations. They threw all that junk at the asteroid along with all the nuclear weapons they could muster in an attempt to stop the imminent demise of humanity.
But they failed.
The asteroid, whose special properties were unknown to mankind, did not change course. It didn't receive a single scratch. Absolutely nothing happened.
That simple fact confirmed to humanity that this was the end.
Desperate, many people hid in bunkers and caves. Many others waited for the end with their loved ones, and a few took advantage of the fact that the world was ending to reveal their true colors.
In essence, on that day, almost all of humanity came together to witness its pathetic end.
Completely oblivious to the great catastrophe looming over the planet, the asteroid could be seen in the sky as a large and beautiful shooting star approaching at full speed. Its light, its very presence, was extremely intimidating.
Thus, on April 27, 2074 AD, humanity's torturous wait ended when the asteroid struck the north-central part of South America.
The impact immediately sent a powerful shockwave that swept away everything in its path on the earth's surface.
The continents burned and broke apart. The waters became contaminated. The sky filled with ash, turning everything visible into an eternal, cold night.
Life on the Earth's crust was extinguished in the days following the impact.
It seemed that this would be the end of humanity and all life on the planet, but the asteroid also failed to do its job.
Even though the continents were shifting, breaking apart, and separating with devastating earthquakes and natural disasters, shrouded in the perpetual cold winter that covered the planet, small remnants of humanity rose from the rubble.
There were survivors who, although few, managed to save themselves from extinction.
How did they do it? Was it a trick of fate itself? Is this some kind of stupid joke? The survivors thought the same thing.
A large minority who hid in their bunkers and caves managed to survive.
Not all of them were unharmed. In fact, the vast majority had serious injuries, as the shaking inside the bunkers was terrifying, and most of those who hid in caves were crushed to death.
The survivors remained hidden for months, recovering with the few resources they had managed to save until they finally ran out of everything.
Starving, freezing, and desperate to know what had happened to the planet, the nearly two million survivors came to the surface. It was a large number, but very small compared to the planet's population of nine billion before the impact.
What they saw and found outside made them think that staying in the bunkers to die was a better idea.
Not only were the natural disasters that occurred daily a danger, but amid the chaos, mysterious beings moved across the surface of the apocalyptic planet.
They were creatures of every imaginable shape and size, moving through the earth, air, and water with mystical and occult powers that seemed like magic.
The appearance of these creatures was humanity's first tragedy, and it marked the first year after the impact.
The creatures, called Aberrations by humans themselves, hunted the few survivors. This caused their numbers to dwindle every day. Because of this, humans hid and fled as much as they could, but they were always found.
The Aberrations always found a way to track them down. Worst of all, there was no way to defend against the mysterious powers of these monsters.
As if that weren't enough, a mysterious disease infected all those who came to the surface. The symptoms were everything anyone could imagine! It was the most horrific disease ever discovered by mankind.
That same disease began to kill the weakest, while the strongest tried to survive with everything they had. But without food, without medicine, and with little sanity left, it was only a matter of time before extinction was complete.
Less than half of the survivors remained. The possibility of survival was increasingly discouraging, but someone discovered something.
Someone emerged from among all humans to defend themselves!
Strangely, when humans defied everything around them, they began to notice severe changes in their bodies and hearts.
When someone felt very angry, they became a monster of brutal strength.
When someone felt very scared, they were able to manipulate the senses of predators, creating illusions.
When a person felt happy, they gained the power to make others stronger.
Only then did they understand. They understood that when those powers awakened, they were cured of the disease.
The disease, the Psychological Virus as they called it, was a phase of assimilation by the human body of the energy that the asteroid was releasing onto the world; the asteroid that, instead of evaporating on impact, remained intact in what was once known as the continent of America.
Each person had an emotion that dominated their heart. That emotion became a strength and provided an opportunity for salvation.
That was how, finally, humanity was able to fight back. They used their new powers to dominate all forms of life on the planet. Then, only then, did mankind once again dominate everything that moved in this world and save himself from disappearing from the face of the planet.
They used all their pre-impact knowledge to begin rebuilding civilization on the new planet where they had managed to survive. However, there was something else that slowed them down.
That obstacle was an incomprehensible phenomenon. They called it Dimensional Portals; fractures in space and time that opened doors to other unknown places. From those Portals came the new Aberrations; more lethal than the Aberrations of the Impact.
However, on this planet, Terra, there now exist Empaths, who are responsible for protecting humanity from the Singularities of this crazy world.
The rest is history...
***
Currently, there is a boy who is a support-type Empath walking through the streets of the city. He was eating a killer squid skewer with a very relaxed smile. In fact, everything about him was too relaxing.
However, a sound ruined his tranquility. He took his communicator out of his pocket, which was ringing with a strange bell tone, and swiped his thumb across the glass.
When he saw the screen, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
'Aberration near the Long district. They're already on their way, huh.'
He smiled amusedly and ate the skewer in one bite. He threw the stick into a nearby trash can and looked at the street.
'Let's see what's in store for us this time.'
Without waiting any longer, he put the communicator back in his pocket and ran down the street until he reached the epicenter of the disaster.