December

All the ultras from HealingCamp charged into battle against the enemy, creating a spectacular display of powers. The ultramutants from ParadiseCastle were wild beasts, while ours had already regained their humanity and could think rationally. Even so, we were at a disadvantage—not just in numbers, but because we could only afford to incapacitate our opponents so we could heal them later.

Maybe we can hold out for a while, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough. That’s why we need to take down the Reapers and Santos first.

At the same time, I was walking calmly through the battlefield, enjoying my cigarette with my eyes locked on Santos in the distance. The ultras protected me from any threat that crossed my path.

The Reapers, seeing things weren’t going their way and that I was getting closer to their commander, sent eleven of them flying toward me, aiming their pistols.

I didn’t even bother looking at them. I just kept walking.

That’s because I have teammates I can trust.

Melanie teleported behind each Reaper in the blink of an eye and inserted a USB stick with the virus into a small port on their helmet. With that, the Reapers shut down for a minute and couldn’t move.

Peter took advantage of this by running and jumping from Reaper to Reaper like a kangaroo, hitting them hard on the head with gorilla strength. That way, the soldiers controlling the Reapers collapsed to the ground unconscious, unable to get back up.

Thanks to that, I finally reached the mysterious ultra I had met back in June, in the middle of the scorching desert. Next to him stood the last active Reaper, ready to fight if needed.

Santos began clapping.

"Well done, Jason. You made it to me. How’s life treating you? Probably not as well as back in our castle, where you could enjoy Aoi’s body. Hahaha."

"Where is she? Did she send you because of what I did to her son?"

"Oh, right, I killed her," he said like it was nothing. "Lucky you, or she would’ve sent me to kill you earlier."

"But it seems like the result will be the same."

I said that while glancing around at the chaos and the war.

"Oh no, I never said I’d kill you. I just want to destroy this cute little camp. So why don’t you stop this pointless resistance?"

"I’m not handing over the only place my nephews can call home, wrapped up like a gift."

I stared him down.

"What a shame. I liked you."

"Yeah, yeah. Why don’t you drop the act and tell me what you want from here—and how you teamed up with PowerMax?"

"I’ll explain that."

The silent Reaper behind him spoke, stepping forward and removing his helmet. Revealing the face that had been burned into my memory for the last twelve months.

"Smith..."

"Carson."

The man who had coldly murdered my brother without hesitation.

"What brings a simple field soldier out here?"

"That ‘simple field soldier’ has moved up since the last time you saw him," Smith said, puffing out his chest. "You’re talking to the new general manager of PowerMax now."

"Eh? Really? You look like you didn’t even finish school."

"I did, actually. For some reason, the higher-ups at the company have been mysteriously falling one by one to an ultra’s attacks."

He explained while Santos stood behind him, covering his mouth and pretending to be innocent.

"But why team up with these lunatics? I didn’t think you guys could stoop that low," I said, pointing at Santos.

"We’ve been searching for HealingCamp’s location for years. Santos came to us with it. He proposed an alliance and asked us not to interfere with his plans in the future."

"But why? This place never did anything to you. In fact, it’s trying to fix the damage you caused."

"We’re not interested in removing powers or reversing mutations. We’re trying to find a way to control them. This place is a small obstacle in our path."

"Yes, Jason!" Santos added. "Ultramutation is the next step in human evolution, and we must embrace it! Simple humanity is a thing of the past! And if you’re wondering how I found your location, you can thank Paul for that. By the way, I saw how your nephews tore him apart—tough kids. But I guess they didn’t notice the little chip Paul placed on Rick’s cap."

"I see. But tell me—why would any of this matter if in a month there’ll be no humanity or ultras left?"

"Oh, naive Jason. Did you really believe that story about the end of the world? That was just a little lie we made up! It was all a marketing strategy for ParadiseCastle! We spread the rumor to attract customers who wanted to party before dying! Hahaha!"

He said maniacally, arms outstretched, looking up at the sky.

I didn’t react, because I knew the real truth. Maybe they spread that supposedly fake rumor—but it had to come from somewhere, right?

"Let’s say you’re right," I played along with the lunatic.

A tense silence fell over the three of us, knowing full well that we would decide the outcome of this battle.

Melanie teleported behind Smith to insert the virus, but he noticed and stopped her with a massive punch to the stomach that left her incapacitated on the ground. He was about to shoot her, but Peter rushed in to save her. Peter and Melanie worked together to keep the Reaper distracted.

Leaving just Santos and me, face to face.

"Well, I guess that leaves us—"

I didn’t let Santos finish. I punched him in the face with all my strength, knocking him to the ground.

He got up unharmed. No blood. Not a scratch.

"Is that all?" he asked, trying to make me angry.

I stepped in and started hitting him from both sides of his face with my fists. But again, no reaction. No wounds.

"You done?" he said, grabbing my fist and slamming me to the ground.

He got on top of me and started hitting me. This time, I could feel every blow. Blood poured out everywhere, bruises forming on my face.

"Hahaha! Remember, I never told you my power!!! My skin is indestructible—it’s impossible to hurt me! And I’ve never mutated in my life! Smith told me I’m an anomaly—a perfect being! That makes me the one destined to be the new king of the ultra-world!!! HealingCamp will be an example of what happens when you foolishly rebel against me!!"

"I already knew your power," I said, spitting blood.

"What? I never told you," he said, stunned.

"In the desert, you thought you stayed awake all night. But you dozed off for five minutes at one point. I used that chance to shoot you in the head and saw you were perfectly fine. Did you really think I’d let an ultra stay near my nephews without checking? I’ve been planning how to beat you ever since."

"Oh yeah?" he said, placing his hands around my neck and choking me. "Looks like you didn’t come up with anything. Now you’ll die at the hands of an ultra!!!"

He squeezed harder. I was suffocating, my brain fading—but then he stopped halfway.

I opened my eyes and saw blood dripping from his mouth—for the first time.

"What...?"

"Looks like you didn’t notice when I slipped some PowerMax pills into your mouth while I was hitting you."

Yeah, maybe one pill gives you powers. But if you take more than one, your body can’t handle the overload and you die. I made him swallow five of them so they’d work faster. Thanks to Melanie, who gave them to me before the fight, I was able to pull it off.

"Son of a bitch!!! I don't care!!! At least I'll get to kill you and your nephews before I die. And I'm going to enjoy it more than you can imagine!!!"

"I knew you'd say that."

I showed him my tongue, where I had hidden three PowerMax pills, and let them slide down my throat.

"You..." he said, surprised by my determination.

If I had only taken one, the power would’ve taken too long to kick in and he would’ve killed me first. That’s why I had to take more, despite the risk. It didn’t matter—this way, I could at least buy time before his final breath.

A bright color began to glow from my body, and I felt a rush of overwhelming energy.

"Santos, watch out!!"

Smith, still fighting Melanie and Peter, saw the light coming from me. He rushed over to protect Santos and pushed him out of my path.

I simply stretched out my hand, pointing at the Reaper in front of me.

He just prepared himself by putting on his helmet, not realizing he was about to become a little metal ball.

Yes—with my power, I shattered the Reaper armor, shrinking it and trapping Smith inside. Blood started to drip from the metallic sphere.

"Magnetism..."

Santos said in disbelief, lying on the ground.

I threw the metallic ball—what was once Smith—at him. The impact sent him flying. He got up again and charged toward me.

But I hurled everything from the battlefield at him—metal, bullets, armor, and more. That stopped him in his tracks.

"You might be indestructible, but you're not immovable," I said, launching even more at him.

Blood began to drip from my lips and eyelids. Shit—the pills were taking effect.

Santos was running at full speed, dodging all the metal I threw. He reached me and started pummeling me with everything he had. I used my new power to cover my fists in metal and strengthen my punches.

We exchanged rapid blows as we both started coughing and wearing out.

Until finally, Santos, exhausted, threw one last weak punch and collapsed to the ground, closing his eyes.

"Well played, pal."

He said his final words, letting his hat fall.

I staggered too, about to fall to the ground, spitting in Santos’s face. Until Melanie caught me.

"Hurry, let’s go inside. There must be a healer who can help you."

"You know very well it’s already too late. Leave me here. I’ve spent my whole life on the battlefield, so let me die on one."

"But..." she said, her eyes full of tears.

"Just bring them here," I said, collapsing to the ground.

Melanie teleported inside with Peter. The battle around us seemed to have ended with the defeat of the Reapers and the deaths of Smith and Santos.

Melanie returned in a second, this time with Rick and Andrew.

As soon as they saw me lying on the ground, covered in blood, they rushed toward me, crying their hearts out.

"No, Uncle, don’t go!!"

"We still have adventures left to live!!!"

"Sorry, but I think mine are over," I said, coughing. "Damn, I should’ve quit smoking. Cough, cough. Boys, come closer."

They both came closer, hugging me and holding my hand, soaking my clothes with tears.

"Don’t forget Carson Rule Number One."

The rule I broke many times with their father—and deeply regret.

"Stick together and watch each other’s backs."

"Yeah!!" they answered at the same time, trying to be strong.

"Good. And take care of my revolvers."

With that said, I closed my eyes one last time, watching my nephews say goodbye with gentle smiles, Melanie sobbing in the background.

Who would’ve thought? Me, dying like a filthy ultramutant. Well... at least it was worth it, right, Johan? I hope I was a good uncle.

And just like that, the battle for HealingCamp came to an end.

With only three confirmed victims:

Clarence Smith, general manager of PowerMax.

Santos Buenavista, the self-proclaimed king of the ultramutants.

And Jason Carson, the savior of the new world.

In what was left of the month, the remaining ultramutants were welcomed into the camp to be healed. Melanie also brought the residents of Dreamguard, along with Valerie and her boyfriend, just as she had promised Jason.

Thus, a strong resistance was formed against PowerMax, which was now on the verge of collapse.

At the same time, the famous list's profiles were reviewed—still unsure if Santos’s claim that it was all a hoax was true or not.

And so, December passed.

December 31st.

11:55 PM.

Five minutes until the supposed end of the world.

A farmer stepped onto his porch to smoke the cigarette he had been gifted months ago. He looked out at his beloved cornfield one last time. But in the distance, he saw two kids teleport onto his land. Behind them stood a woman with a black jacket and violet hair, also smoking.

The kids stepped closer and raised their revolvers toward the old man, pointing to his head. He dropped his cigarette and looked at them with a smile. The kids fired their final bullets.

As the bullets flew toward him, the old man stood tall and said softly:

"Boom."

12:00 AM.

January 1st.

THE END.