Canon Fodder

END OF BOOK 3 CHAPTER 318 EPILOGUE

I woke up in the Junction. 

I looked down to my body and it was no longer old and wrinkly. My chakra and other power systems back up to full strength my Gantz Armor was fixed as well. And something I hadn’t felt a moment ago reappeared, my drive. My need to survive and live. I guessed using up my lifeforce had made me feel weak and depressed. Though I believed much of what I thought, there was no reason to give up and die. I could always do better. 

Bringing up my Status Screen I clicked Summon next to Hancock’s name. She appeared right in front of me. But not the woman I knew. She was now the same age as my body. About 16 years old she was a couple of inches taller than me, her rack not near as large as before, she wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants.

“I’m sorry,” I said. But instead of being angry at me she latched onto me. Holding me tight to her I hesitated to touch her. Still ashamed with myself and my actions, I didn't deserve this kind of reception. 

Hancock didn’t care, grabbing my hands she moved them to around her. Crying further she sobbed, “I saw it all! The entire fight.” 

“You did? How?” I asked. 

“I was watching the whole thing. I don’t know how. You gave it everything you had. I know you did.” She pulled back, where I expected tears there was a look of pure rage. Drawing her arm back she punched me across the face. Throwing me back I hit the back wall. “Why the fuck would you give up!?” 

“Hanc-” 

“Don’t you dare Hancock me!” she yelled. Moving to me the young girl was full of a rage I hadn’t seen before. “We have children! Why would you give up on them?!”

“Because I already died!” I said, growing angry. That shut her up. “That bullshit story my shadow clone told you about me disappearing from our Link. I was dead! 20 minutes!” I let out a long breath, trying to keep the anger back. “I don’t know. It’s been building for a while. I had a vacation but I didn’t feel better afterward. I just felt more tired. I have been doing this for over 6 years. Jumping between places. I am beyond exhausted. I wasn’t bred for this sort of thing. I’m not some protagonist that pulls through. I am an average Joe that gets tired, and wants to sleep in, and take breaks. But I pushed on. Training every day. Hell, I shouldn’t have even spent that time with you back when I was training Haki. I needed that time off though. I needed to recharge. And it has built up to this. Me, giving up.” 

Hancock was quiet as she crouched in front of me. I bit my lip hard. Trying to use the pain of it to pull back some of the anger I was feeling. I was trying to admit how hard it had been for me. This was the truth on why I had left MHA last time. I had stopped interacting with the others in class as friends. Just training and doing the quests I was burnt out on everything. So much on my shoulders it was almost too much to push to the back of my mind. 

“You were right, Hancock,” I said. “I didn’t respect your wishes. I blamed it on not being able to tell you the whole truth. But if I had intended to not keep the promise, I should have said so.”

“Yes, you should not have made that promise,” she said. We locked eyes for a long time. She was the one that broke it. “I had thought you were lying.” Looking around the room she asked, “Is this the place you were talking about?” 

“It is the Junction. Where different types of worlds intersect,” I said. “Behind each of these doors is a myriad of worlds. All with different versions of me.” 

“Yes, I am starting to believe,” she said. Reaching down she extended her hand. I took it slowly and she helped me up. “I have not forgiven you, husband. But, I do not hate you as much as I did.”

“Uhh thanks,” I said.

“To make me not hate you I will want to start over,” she said, her chin pushed out as she decided. 

“Start over?” I asked. 

“Yes, in another one of your worlds. You can bring me to them. I want to travel with you. You said that time will freeze in our world, correct?” She asked. I slowly nodded. “Good. We will start over at the beginning. No lying this time. No half-truths. You will be honest with me, from now on.” 

“I don’t know if that will work,” I said. She gave me an angry glare. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to have you with me. But I don’t know this summon skill, or whatever you did to show up in the Challenge, or if you can live in the other worlds.”

“Then we will figure it out,” she said. I studied her. The beautiful girl was not budging on this. All I could do was nod. “Good. Now what did you lose from this fight?” She asked. 

I dreaded looking at my screen, but it was time to pay the piper. 

“Goddamn,” I said, shaking my head as I looked at the Manga Door. The name above the door was now crossed out, but the door was still there. The doorknob disappearing, it was really gone.

“What?” Hancock asked. 

“Your world,” I said. “It’s gone.” 

“Destroyed?!” She asked. 

“No, just-we can’t go back to it. Or I can’t. Right now the time should be stopped there, and if I died it would start back up again.”

“Don’t say that,” she said, slapping the back of my head as she moved toward the door. “Our children are behind this door. Lillian and Lupin. Our lives are behind this door, Weston. I’m sorry that you are burnt out, but we keep moving forward. You will take on the next challenge, and the one after that until this door is opened again. You and I will conquer these worlds. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I do not care. But we will both get back to our children. Then you will finish whatever nonsense you have with your crew, and we will keep working toward getting stronger, until you never have to lose or give up a fight again.” 

Her eyes were like embers as she stared at me. Though in a young body I could hear the strength of the woman I had come to love. 

“Am-I-understood?” She asked through gritted teeth. 

“Yes dear,” I said, a small smirk breaking out on the side of my mouth. She smiled slightly as well. 

“Good,” she said. “You have done some bad things, husband. But we are young. You can make up for them. Nothing is written in stone. We will work together to figure it out. Now which world shall we go to?” She asked with some actual excitement in her voice. 

I chuckled. Shaking my head as I watched her look at the doors. Reading the nameplates above the frames I could feel a sense of adventure leaking from her Haki. 

I had done a lot in my time in Manga. I hadn’t completed everything I wanted, but maybe this was the push I needed to venture out and try new things. Mikhail had the World Lasting Physique, and I thought I knew how he got it. I doubted many others had it, so maybe I could get lucky and turn things around. 

Having a beautiful dark haired woman by my side would probably make it more fun as well. I wasn’t sure what the Companion Fusion had done to her, but maybe it would work out where she could join me on the quests. Some hope grew in me. I was surprised that I got another notification. 

I hadn’t seen this kind of notification since the 1st challenge. My path wasn’t that hard to pick, and as I read over the other notification I became more hopeful. Talking more with Hancock she actually got excited as I talked about the different worlds before us. After working out our plan we stepped into a new Hall. For the first time since I started this ordeal I was venturing to somewhere new, and to be honest, I was looking forward to it for once. Hand in hand Hancock and I stepped through a doorway off to a new adventure.