Ashes of a Dream

Matt wakes up in the hospital, torn between agony and doubt. The future he dreamed of seems to slip away… yet, perhaps, a path he never imagined is about to reveal itself."

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 Matt wakes up surrounded by the sharp smell of disinfectant and the distant echo of hurried footsteps.
His vision is blurry, and his body no longer responds the way it once did.
When he finally grasps the extent of what happened, a crushing weight falls upon him: the life he knew no longer exists.
The hospital feels like a suffocating maze, filled with pitiful glances and whispers he wishes he couldn’t hear.
Between the physical pain and the emptiness inside, one question hammers endlessly in his mind:
What will become of me now?
Doctors speak of a slow recovery, but avoid meeting his eyes. Nurses try to comfort him, yet their words cannot fill the void.
Because what hurts the most is not only the mutilation — it is the loss.
Matt has no family waiting for him. No friends to reach out a hand.
The future he dreamed of — the army, the homeland, everything — crumbles all at once.
Alone in a cold bed, the silence turns into torment. With every heartbeat, the feeling grows stronger: he is trapped in a cruel destiny, with no way out.

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 Days later
Matt awoke in a hospital bed.
Both arms… gone.
— Good morning, sleepyhead! — a nurse teased. — Planning to pay your bill, or are you going to run away?
Matt raised an eyebrow, exhausted:— Run… without arms?
She chuckled, tapping her foot:— Good answer. But don’t use that excuse to skip leg training.
Before he could reply, two Ichiro soldiers entered the room. One carried a letter.
— Matt… we regret to inform you, your application has been denied.
His heart sank.— Denied…?
— Your body no longer meets the requirements.
Tears fell.— Then I’ve lost everything… my family, my arms… and even my dream.
Silence hung heavy in the air.
One soldier seemed to hesitate but said nothing, leaving the room.
Matt was left alone. Broken.
Unaware that destiny still held answers the world wasn’t ready to face.

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 Three Years Later
Matt walked alone down a dusty road.
His body bore scars, but his eyes no longer wavered.
In his mind, one certainty remained:
— No matter what I lose… I will still become the greatest of the Ichiro. Under my command… no one else will suffer.
Suddenly, the ground shook.
A colossal barbarian, with twisted horns and blood-stained armor, raised a massive axe over a group of defenseless civilians.
— Run! — someone screamed.
But no one moved.
Matt stepped forward, standing between the monster and the innocent.— As long as I stand here… evil will never prevail.
The barbarian laughed:— And what can a cripple with no arms do?
Matt smirked.
The bandages around his shoulders trembled.
From the void, black arms burst forth — long and alive like writhing chains, cracking the air with brutal force.
The ground split under the pressure. The barbarian’s grin vanished.
Matt’s gaze hardened:— Don’t underestimate… what’s left of me.
The arms whipped against the enemy, hurling him into a wall with a thunderous crash.
Silence fell.
The civilians, stunned, stared at the young man with no arms — shrouded in a mysterious aura.
Matt stood tall.
His voice rang like an oath:— As long as I stand here… evil will never prevail.

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✨ End of Episode 2
















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