~*Jerome*~

It all happened in a flash. One moment Nooch was yelling at the older man, the next he was on the ground in a daze. That was all it took for Star to jump into action and attack the man closest to him. Now, from where I stand, I'm in the middle of a war. Guns blasting, men shouting, Frags laughing, and bodies falling to the ground. The Pack is clearly outnumbered three to one, but it's clear to me that this isn't the first time they've been in a situation like this. They're not even fazed by any of this. Is Mitch secretly just as ruthless as the rest of them?

Taking a knife out of the bag on my shoulder, I make my way through the crowd; avoiding unnecessary conflict as much as I can. My eyes scan my surroundings before landing on Woofless. The man was fighting five different men by himself, and appeared to be having no trouble at all. He wasn't even breaking a sweat. Keep moving Jerome. They don't need your help. Following my own orders, I continue to weave through the crowd. When I finally break free of the combat, my eyes are immediately drawn to the older man from before. He had a knife clenched between his teeth as he climbed up a ladder. Why does he look so familiar?

+Flashback+

"Nathan Aceti listen to me," my mother seems to plead as my father walks away, holding me at her hip. "I don't want you to go out there alone!"

"Why?" My father turns to look back at us, an eyebrow raised and a curious look on his face. "It's not like I haven't done this before." The man pulls out one of his knives and inspects it.

"Think of the kind of example you'd be giving to your son if you left right now and never came back! You know very well I won't be around to see him become an adult."

"My parents can take care of him." Nathan shrugs. "I ended up fine."

"You're literally going to let those people turn your son into a monster? When was the last time you've spoken to your parents, Nate? They absolutely hate wastelanders and everything remotely close to the topic. I watched your father chase a little girl out of his shop because her father was a wastelander." My mother's voice started to shake, which caused Nathan's face fill with worry.

"What do you mean?" Nathan walks closer to us.

"I don't want Jerome to end up like them. Please, Nate, just think about what you're doing." Nathan closes his eyes and shakes his head before letting out a soft sigh.

"Fine. I'll stay for a little longer, but they won't be as patient as you may think." My father ruffles my hair before taking me away from my mother.

"Lone Wolf can wait," my mother insists, "Nathan Aceti cannot."

"Right," Nathan looks down at me with a smile.

+Reality+

I shake my head before running to the ladder and climbing up it myself. Why did I...

I pause halfway up the ladder before looking over to see the man walking along metal walkway. That man is my father.

Reaching the top of the ladder, I climb onto the walkway and follow the man. My eyes widen slightly when he looks over his shoulder at me. "Shouldn't you be helping your friends fight and not following an old man around?"

"I would only hold them back. I'm not the best fighter," I rub my neck and shrug. The man raises an eyebrow at me before turning and continuing to walk. Does he recognize me?

"Truth be told, I wasn't the greatest fighter to begin with either. You learn with experience kid." His voice didn't sound as harsh as earlier. He didn't have an accent like most of the wastelander's I've met; he sounded like any normal person from the city.

"As I've been told." I stop and look down to see the crowd has thinned out. Only a few people were left fighting. Among those were Star, Craft, and Frags; Woofless was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go? A loud bang brings my attention back to the man. He had a gun in his hand, that was pointed at something in front of him. My eyes widen with curiosity before I walk closer and look over the man's shoulder.

An all too familiar face was gritting his teeth and holding onto his stomach; a bow casted to the ground beside him. Mitch? My hand shakes as I drop the knife and pull out Mitch's gun and raise it toward the man's head. Turn off the safety and pull back the hammer, Jerome. I follow my head's instructions, and the man in front of me flinches slightly at the sound of a bullet clicking into place.

"Drop the gun and I won't shoot," I say with a surprisingly steady voice, my eyes narrowing.

"Oh. Did I hurt one of your friends?" The man looks over his shoulder at me before kicking Mitch, making him groan in pain. How dare you...

"Nathan Aceti, I order you to drop the gun and to back away from that man before I shoot you where you stand!"

~*Nooch*~

The woman's smirk sends an involuntary shiver through my body. She isn't scared to fight? But she's so tin-

My thoughts were interrupted when a fist slams into my face. I lose my footing and stumble sideways. She's surprisingly strong for a woman her size.

"I had two nicknames in the army. 'Small-fry' by those who didn't know me, and 'A Swift Death' by those who did," The woman smirks as she easily dodges my punch before grabbing my elbow and forcing me to fall to my knees.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I mutter through clenched teeth before swiftly turning and landing a punch. She barely even flinches, but tilts her head and moves her jaw slightly. How was she not fazed by that?

"Nice hit," she says with an impressed tone in her voice. "For a human." With that she forces my elbow farther up my back, causing a shooting pain to to erupt in my shoulder and travel to my neck.

"Stop! Please! I'll let you have the plaque! Just let go of me!" The woman lets go of me immediately after I say those words and holds out a hand to help me up. What?

"That was fun, but you humans give in too easily." The woman lets out a small laugh as I look at her in confusion, "Do you want help up or not?" I grab ahold of her hand and she pulls me to a stand with ease.

"What are you?" I ask with wide eyes, holding my sore shoulder.

"I'm M'ayris," she says with a smile, "an elite graduate from the Military's Intergalactic Unit, Class 7,671." The woman bows before holding her hands behind her back. "But in my later life I was considered to be a delinquent."

"Why?"

"That's a story for another day." M'ayris flashes me a small smile before disappearing into a puff of smoke, similar to how everyone else did. Why do I feel like I already know?