Mother...
She was the best mother I could have ever found. But I was too small to realize it then.
My dad died when I was two. Raising a boy as a single mother must have been incredibly hard for her. She made sure I had everything.
She worked tirelessly for something I didn't understand at the time. She wanted to make me number one in everything, to make me what she never became herself. But she was so lost in her goals that she forgot to see a son in me. I was studying most of the day; the television in our house was the only fun I had. She never let me go out to play with my friends.
But how can anyone lock up an eleven-year-old boy? I escaped. I remember that day clearly. Mom made a big fuss. She scolded me, even hit me. I was pushed to my limit. And then I said it... I said something no man should ever say to his mother.
"Why can't I play with my friends? In school, everyone's teasing me, calling me a prisoner. I hate you, Mother! You are not my mom. Get lost!"
I didn't even look at my mom's face. But I know what it looked like. From that day on, I never spoke to my mother. Yet, she spoke to me every single day, even though she knew I would never answer.
That truly crushed me. When I was sixteen, I finally spoke to my mother. I told her just one word, but for her, it was enough. She hugged me and cried, then made me my favorite dessert.
I still think I was the problem. Now that I'm gone, my mom must be happy... I wish she would be... Damn... I really want to see her.
Kichu's profound inner thoughts were violently interrupted by a piercing alarm.
"What's that?" he muttered, running to the monitor room.
"Hey, Texa, what happened?" he asked the AI.
"Rururu... We have just encountered a wormhole. The problem is under control," Texa responded in its characteristic tone.
"Fuck... again?" Kichu cursed, immediately moving to the console to assess the situation.
Fizz came rushing in, his expression alert. "What happened?"
"We encountered a wormhole. It's okay," Kichu said, his fingers flying across the monitor.
"Rururu... Rururu... The wormhole is drawing closer. Recommended escaping facilities: sonic boost and check tilting," Texa announced, its alerts growing more urgent.
"Talk about nostalgic. activate sonic boost, please," Kichu ordered.
"Activating sonic boost in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1," Texa counted down, and the spaceship lurched forward, straining to pull away from the cosmic maw.
"Come on, come on..." Kichu urged, his eyes glued to the energy readings. The ship vibrated violently, its engines roaring in protest against the wormhole's relentless pull.
"Rururu... Rururu... The ship's energy is being drained. If this state continues, the energy will drain completely in two minutes."
"Fuck, do something, Texa!" Kichu yelled, his frustration boiling over.
"Defense mechanisms suggested," Texa replied calmly.
"What the fuck is that?!" Kichu roared, exasperated.
"Hey, kid, take it easy. Let me try," Fizz interjected, pushing Kichu aside and attempting to wrestle control from the console. But it was useless. The energy drain accelerated.
"We only have one option now," Fizz stated, glancing at Kichu, his eyes resolute.
"What?" Kichu asked, understanding the unspoken implication in Fizz's gaze. He nodded, accepting the desperate gamble. Fizz closed his eyes for a brief second, then drove the ship directly towards the swirling vortex of the wormhole.
"Ahh... another headache is coming," Kichu groaned, and everything before him dissolved into a blinding white.
Some time later, Kichu awoke to a pounding ache throughout his body. He lay sprawled on a narrow, grimy path between two towering, dilapidated buildings.
"Ahh... where the fuck am I?" he muttered, pushing himself to his feet.
"Fizz... Roco... where are you two?" he called out, his voice echoing in the confined space. He walked forward, disoriented. Suddenly, he bumped hard into someone. The man turned, his eyes narrowing with a menacing glint.
"You wanna die, nigga?" the man growled, instantly grabbing Kichu's collar.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," Kichu stammered, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Yeah, you better be sorry. I don't see you around here, who are you?" the man demanded. Kichu looked up at him, shocked. The man was Black, adorned with heavy chains—exactly like characters he'd seen in old movies.
"You a cop? Haha... we got a small cop here, homies..." The man's voice boomed, and from the shadows, two more Black men emerged, surrounding Kichu.
"Hey, arrest me, cop," one of them sneered, taunting Kichu.
"I just came to get a smoke," Kichu blurted out, grabbing the first plausible excuse that came to mind. The men exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.
"Haha... you should have said it sooner, bruh," the man who had grabbed him said, pulling a small plastic-wrapped packet from his pocket.
"100 bucks, and get your ass out of here."
Ah... what should I do? Is this a copy world of Earth, or the Earth itself? No, it's not possible, Kichu thought, his mind racing.
"Why are you waiting for? Take the shit already," the man urged.
"Um... I lied, bro. I want something else," Kichu ventured, trying to sink deeper into the situation.
"What the fuck do you want?" the man's tone sharpened. Kichu remained silent, desperately trying to formulate a convincing lie.
"Ah... I got it. Don't be embarrassed, homie, we've all been here once," he said, tapping Kichu's shoulder with a surprisingly familiar gesture.
"Hey, what type of bitches you want? Tell me, man... I'll throw you to a bunch of bitches, haha..."
Suddenly, the blare of sirens pierced the air, and a squad of police swarmed the alley, surrounding them.
"Ah... shit, so you are a cop!" the man spat, grabbing Kichu and dragging him inside a crumbling building.
"I'm not a cop! I'm telling the truth!" Kichu protested, but they ignored him.
"Hey, M, cover me and Dick. We're gonna fuck these shits and escape!" the man yelled, loading his gun. They burst back out, only to find the police presence overwhelming. Shots rang out, and they immediately took cover.
"Ahh... motherfuckers..." the man grumbled, trying to shoot a cop, but his ammo clicked empty. He braced himself, thinking it was over, until Kichu suddenly stood before him like an ethereal shield, deflecting every incoming shot from the police.
"Cease fire!" a cop shouted, and the gunfire abruptly ceased. Kichu didn't waste a second. He dragged the man back into the building.
"Are you okay?" Kichu asked him.
"Yeah, the fuckers got me. Do one thing, kid, get the fuck outta here. We'll do something," the man urged, clutching his side.
"I'm not going anywhere," Kichu declared. He darted back outside, quickly pulling the other three men inside and blocking the entrance.
"Whatchu doing, bruh? Get outta here!" one of the men yelled.
"Look, I'm going to divert them. While they chase me, you guys escape," Kichu explained, drawing his sacred sword.
The men stared at the glowing blade in awe.
"Who are you, kid?" Range asked, his eyes wide.
"I'm Kichu. It'll be nice to know your name too, since this will probably be our last meeting," Kichu said, a grim smile touching his lips.
"I'm Range, he's Mike, and that one's Nick," the man introduced.
"Nice meeting you," Kichu replied, turning to leave, but Range grabbed his arm.
"Don't you dare die, kid," Range said, his voice unusually soft. Kichu simply smiled and stepped back out into the alley.
He raised his sword and swiftly slashed one of the police cars, its metal groaning under the impact.
"Hey... he's there!"
"Fire!" The cops immediately spotted him and began firing. Kichu used the barrage as cover, running away from the building. The police followed him relentlessly until he vanished into thin air.
Kichu was falling through a dark, seemingly endless pit. He couldn't comprehend what was happening, disoriented by the sudden shift. He desperately tried to grab onto something, but there was nothing.
"Oh my god..." he screamed, plunging deeper into the abyss. Thankfully, he didn't suffer much damage when he finally landed on the pit's floor.
"Ah... that hurts like hell," Kichu groaned, pushing himself up. He looked around; it was a cave filled with gnarled tree roots.
"Where the hell am I?" he muttered, beginning to walk.
It didn't take long for him to realize it was an endless cave. Exhausted, he sank to the ground.
"Am I gonna die here?" he whispered into the oppressive silence.
"No," a soft voice replied from behind him.
Kichu flinched, startled, and instinctively drew his sword.
"Easy, kid. I'm not a foe of you," the voice materialized before him. It was a woman with a mysterious black crown.
"Who are you?" Kichu demanded, his sword held defensively.
"Umm... I have no name. People call me witch or cursed, so you can call me either of that. I don't care," she said, her tone detached.
"That doesn't answer anything. Why am I here?"
"Yeah, it was because of me. Let me break it to you. I'm kind of like an angel, but not a good one."
"What do you mean?"
"Your name is Kichu, coming from Earth. You were traveling to a planet and got pulled into a wormhole. You were three and you got separated from them, am I correct?" she asked, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"How do you...?" Kichu stared at her in shock.
"I know everything about the person who comes here. To be frank, you are now inside my world," she stated, slowly walking past him.
"Hey, what do you mean I'm in your world?" Kichu asked, following her.
"There's a lot you need to know, kid. There are Sins that no one is supposed to have. They are called Cursed Sins. I was born with it. When I was born, my mother died, and my father got a mysterious illness and died after a week. I was living alone until I realized I could create something that only a god could do. I could create worlds with just a snap. I was so happy because I thought I could create one world and live with my parents. But it was a poor wish. I could only create a copy of the world that already exists. And every world I created was a different possibility of the original world," she explained, her voice devoid of emotion.
"Woah... woah, that's too much to take. You're saying that I'm in a different timeline of Earth? This is my Earth, right?" Kichu asked, his mind reeling.
"Yes, it is your Earth. In this timeline, you didn't leave the Earth," she said, looking directly into his eyes.
He froze, trying to fully grasp the overwhelming reality of her words.
"I know what you're thinking right now. I can make it possible," she said to Kichu, sensing his internal turmoil.
"What?" Kichu asked, barely a whisper.
"I can show you your home," she offered.
Kichu stood still for a second, then looked at her and let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Is this some kind of joke? Different timeline, my ass... I wouldn't..." Before he could finish, his old house materialized before him. He slowly looked through the window, and his eyes instantly welled up. He saw a Kichu he never knew: smiling, laughing with his mother. She was sitting beside him, wearing a radiant smile he had never witnessed in his own life.
"This is what would have happened if you didn't leave," the lady said, her voice soft but impactful.
Kichu never said a word, his gaze fixed on the happy scene.
"Let me get out of here," Kichu finally managed to say, his voice strained.
"You don't even think of going back to your mother? Are you that heartless?" she began to tempt him, her words a subtle prod at his guilt.
"Shut up and get me out of here!" Kichu shouted, his frustration erupting.
"Then I would really like to inform you that it is not possible," she stated, her face expressionless.
"What the fuck? What do you mean it's not possible?!"
"Everyone who comes to this world will die by time. Your fate will be the same. Now, try to enjoy this world for some time," she concluded, then disappeared from his sight. Kichu tried to grab her, but instead found himself in the middle of a bustling city.
"What the...?" He looked around, searching for her, but only saw a crowded metropolis. "Now what? I just die here?" he muttered, beginning to wander aimlessly.
"I forgot to tell you something," the Witch's voice echoed directly in his head. "If you want to get out of here alive, you have to kill me."
"The second part is easy," Kichu yelled back at the disembodied voice, his voice dripping with frustration.
"Now for the first part: How the fuck am I gonna find you in this big ass city?!" He knew this small arc of a story would be a lot laggy.
To Be Continued....