Ax was staring into the gaping hole he ripped into the stomad what he saw, were bodies of himself.He just... sat down on the ground under him a silent, dropping the fangs to his sides.It was a moment of mueeded crity; something about seeing his own lifeless face ged something in him; it flicked a switch. The absurdity of everything that had happehe past two days made zero sehe only thing that truly made sense was that nothing made sense.

  He reached out to the s on the ground, and smudged the viscera off, the best he could, and shoved them bato his trousers.

  He rummaged through his own bodies, iing them one by one as he pulled them out, trying to learn the bizarre nature of his newfound power, if you even call it that; he still feels the pain ah every instance he 'Dies'.

  "This is gross and unnerving, but... there doesn't seem to be... there's no dagger or my gun, just the ones I have on my own bod—well, living body.", he talked to himself.

  Only his bodies and clothes are duplicated, not his ons or other important possessions he has, and the s or Totas he collected, he loses them on his first death.

  A realization hit him, like a brick through a gss window.

  He pats his body all over and looks for-"My pho's... it's s cracked... damn it.", he pio himself.

  Figures, he was thrashed about and almost had his soul squeezed out of his own body as if he was a bottle of mustard; he hates mustard.

  "Now how do I... tact Ad Nasri... fet it, I'll worry about that ter; I'm tired.", he muttered to himself.

  There were a lot of questions he o find out, but this was the most amount of data he could gather right now. As he got up to leave, he picked up the fangs and put them in his pocket; he then realized that he o go home, but first he o go back to-

  "Nexus... was it?", he asked himself.

  A blue door appeared behind the visceral remains of the pile of corpses on the ground.

  "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, bluey?", he immediately ged the sed the st word left his mouth.

  He silently made his way through the door, and as he opehe door. He ehat world again, making his way through the crowds of people, losing his train of thought.

  "Ow!", he excimed as he ran into another person once again."Ah!", the girl reacted."I'm so sorry, I should pay attention when I walk; I didn't mean to-", he stopped.

  The girl he ran into was still clutg her head, but she looked different; she stood out.She was wearing a bck leather jacket, but her right arm was covered in a metallic armor; she wore bck jeans, but her boots were metal to match with her right arm; her left arm was just covered with a long sleeve, and her left hand was bare, but it was on her head; her skin tone was awkwardly pale, but that didn't catch his focus; it was her hair.

  Her hair was two different colors, separating down the middle; her left side was jet bck, and her right side was as white as snow, but they had braids running through them. Her eyes were closed, but her shes were white, which to Ax implied that she dyed her hair bck. Her bottom lip also had piergs, tws pierced into them. They were ses.

  As she opened her eyes to look at him, moving her hand away, he noticed that her pupils were red; it was as if she-

  "No, it's fine, I'm still getting used to walking too.", she tinued as she walked away.

  She vanished off into the crowd.

  "Hey! Wait!", Ax tried to follow her, searg for her again; there were so many questions he wao ask her.

  ...

  As he ran around, looking for her again, various questions ran through his head.

  "Are you from my world too? you e back from the dead too? Do you know what all this is even about?" he thought to himself as the crowds ged; he eventually gave up.

  But, because he tried following her, he came to a new area with a new set of stores and buildings, the signboards... they were "English?", he muttered to himself.

  As he peered through the windows, he saw clothes which looked familiar. Mannequins wearing... normal clothes, human clothes, coats, gloves, hats, etc.

  He walked into the store and-

  "Hello! How may I help you?", asked a somewhat skinny man, wearing a white shirt, bck vest, and bck trousers. He was wearing a bck cap on his head; he looked like a fner, but still human. He had a British at.

  "You're new here, aren't you?" he asked.

  "Yeah, I came here followi-", Ax was about to say following a girl but he realized how odd that would e across. "I was following someone who looked like they were from the same world as me, and I came across this part of... Nexus? Was it?" Ax corrected himself.

  "I see, so you're NEW new; it's fine, and yeah, It's called Nexus, but that's all I should really answer.", replied the man."Seeing as your pockets are heavy and make a certain jingle, I'm guessing you just came through the doors, right?" asked the man."Yes, actually," replied Ax.

  "Well? You buying?" asked the man."Sure, I guess. Let me look around," replied Ax.

  ...

  Ax walked about the store; it was a clothing store. The froion was mainly ready-made suits, which he found odd because, "Who would wear suits to fight monsters?" he asked himself.

  But at the back se of the store, he found the leather se.He saw various clothing made of leather aher-like materials; they came in a various sele of colors as well, but the most on was bck.

  He picked up a pair of bck leather gloves."These are perfectly sized," he thought to himself.

  He walked back to the ter wearing them on and showing them off to the man."How much are these?" he asked as he held his hands up.

  "Oh my, those fit you like a glove!" the man said, visibly proud of himself.Axton's right eye twitched.

  "Three silver Totas, but... I'll give them to you for two silver and two bronze because they are not selling at all," said the man.

  "Oh, like a clearance sale?" asked Ax as he dropped three silver s on the ter."Precisely like a clearance sale," replied the man.

  "Where are you from, by the way? I'm Welsh. I stumbled across one of the doors like five years ago. You?" asked the man as he picked up the s.

  "Oh, me? I'm Bangdeshi. I graduated college like te st year. I'm kinda just taking a gap year before I apply for Uni. I just stumbled across one of the doors when I was walking bae.", replied Ax.

  "That's cool, so you're Indian?" asked the man.Axton's right eye twitched again, and he just stared at him, bnkly.

  "No, actually, Bangdesh is a VERY different try," Axton sternly corrected him."Oh well, not that big of a differe doesn't matter to me much," replied the man as he was turning around to fete ge for Ax.

  As the man was turned around to look for three bronze s, Ax had one foot on the ter and was slowly reag for his neck with both of his hands.

  "Gloves... leave... no... fingerprints," he muttered to himself.

  "As long as you're paying, that is," added the man.

  Ax quickly went bato position as the man turned around and handed him the bronze s, assuming his previous position.

  ...

  "Hm? What's wrong? You look off," asked the man, somewhat showing ."No, it's just—" Ax showed him his phohat's rough; you know there's aronics shop nearby, you know that right?" asked the man, inf Ax in the same senteno, actually, no, I didn't. Where is it?" asked Ax.

  "This is house no. 46; look for no. 65; it's a few buildings over; it's somewhat obvious; you 't miss it," replied the man."Thank you. Sorry f to kill you just now," said Ax as he was leaving.

  "Yeah, no worries, e baytime!" excimed the man.

  ..."Wait, trying to do what to me?"

  ...

  As Ax walked around the newfound area, he walked past a fountain, where he saeople from his world just chilling there, rexing. They looked like they were from different tries ahnicities, but they were from his world, his time. It was clear that he belonged here, well, at least when in this realm.

  Ax found it, no. 65. It had gss windows, and through it, he saw... phones, puter parts, "aric guitars?", he muttered to himself.

  He walked in, and behind the ter this time was an older woman, in her 30s, so older than him at least."My, my, I haven't seen you here before," she noticed.She was wearing a band t-shirt and sur jeans.

  "Yeah... Hi, I just wao repair my s," Ax said as he gave the dy his phone.She ied my phone.

  " I take this apart? It'll take me like twenty minutes max, and I'll get it fixed," said the dy."Oh, it'll cost five silver or one gold," added the dy."Sure, I'll just look around then," replied Ax. It was costly, but he was willing to pay for almost whatever.

  ...

  Ax was curious, so he looked around the store, and it was... almost everything he could ever think of needing: puter parts, phones, phone parts but most intriguing, he saw electric guitars, basses, drum sets etbsp;

  He even found some spare pickups and even amplifiers and multi-effect processors and interfaces.

  The dy noticed him gravitating towards the music se as she was ing his phone in rubber bands.

  "Hey, I'm done now," the dy said as she called out to him.

  Ax walked back to the ter, and as he pced a gold oable and the dy gave him his phone, fully repaired, the dy asked him, "You py?".

  Ax was cheg his phourning it off and on again.

  "Hm?" Ax was fused."An instrument, I mean. Do you py an instrument?""Oh yeah, I have aric guitar bae.""That's dope! What genres? You in a band or just a hobby?" asked the dy, making small talk."Rock mainly, some metal, and a little bit of punk, but I'm not the lead in my band, which I art of," said Ax."Oh wow, that's actually really y niece has been saving up for one. I gifted her an acoustic as a joke, and now it's all she ever talks about; it's annoying... but oddly... wholesome," replied the dy.

  "Anyway, have fun now and take care; do try to e again if you ," the dy added.Ax nodded and just walked out of the store, thinking about what she said.

  "I'd... like to go home now..." he mumbled to himself as he walked out the door, only to see the blue door appear ahead of him; without stopping in his tracks, he grabbed the knob and walked through and—He was home again.

  ...

  Ax was about to crash onto the mattress, but he realized something."I stink..." He made a turn to his closet, took off his gloves and pced them in there, grabbed some sants, a towel, and a t-shirt, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

  ...

  Half an hour ter.

  Ax was brushing his teeth, lost in thought. Who was the girl he ran into? Will he see her again? How long have people been sucked into the doors? Are they all like him, or is he the only one who e back?

  Ax shivered at that st thought; if he was the only ohat would mean he might get targeted, or the worst kinds of torture might await him.

  But ohought kept repeating on loop in his head. It was the versation he had with the dy about her nied the guitar.

  "Why is it b me?".

  After freshening up, he checked his phone, and it was 4:00 am. He should go to sleep.He then headed to his bed and just crashed face-first into the bed, the dagger and gun sitting oable o it.

  He then slowly turned over and sat up straight and moved to the side of the bed, got up and took the fangs, then he grabbed his ons aly put them in the sed drawer, knowing what the revolver was capable of this time.

  He then looked at the first drawer.

  Axton sighed. Heavily, he was tired of everything.

  He grabbed the first drawer aly pulled it open.

  In the first drawer, he pulled out a 'CC 76,' a standard-issue police pistol, with one lead bullet in its chamber.

  He raised the pistol towards him, held the gun in a prrip, and-

  *CLICK*

  He turhe safety of the pistol on and shoved it in the 3rd draut his revolver and dagger in the first drawer.

  He then finally id down on his soft mattress, closed his eyes, and finally took a well-rested and much-deserved sleep.

  He was doh the day.