Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – It’s hard to breathe but that’s Alright

3rd POV  

Walking out of her house at 4:30am in the morning 43-year-old Marie D’souza took a deep breath of air before putting on her gloves and preparing to get rid of the weeds that come to plaque her garden every year during summertime. Collecting her shovel and other tools Marie quickly got to work planning to finish her gardening before she had to go in and make breakfast for her husband. Carefully searching her garden, she masterfully removed the weeds and their roots ensuring they wouldn’t come back anytime soon. She worked for hours moving meticulously across her garden.  

Wiping the sweat from her forehead Marie looked up just as the sun was rising and stood up. Stretching under the warmth of the sun Marie was about to head inside when an unusual smell entered her nose. Turning her head to investigate the source, her gaze soon stopped on the Walkers house. Both Dan and his son Makenzie had always been early wakers and both were also splendid chiefs. Little Makenzie would often go around the neighborhood and try to get people to try his new recipes. Thinking of little Makenzie Marie couldn’t help but let out a sad sigh. The whole neighborhood had heard about the accident.  

‘Sigh the poor boy. He must be trying to distract himself by cooking. I should go over and make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. It isn’t safe for him to be cooking at a time like this.’ Making her way towards the Walkers residence Marie stopped when she was about fifty meters away from the house. She could now see small amounts of black smoke leaking out from the shut kitchen window, realizing the danger Makenzie could be in she quickly sprinted towards the front door. However, right as she was about to grab the handle a deafening explosion went off throwing her backwards. Landing harshly on the sidewalk Marie barely had the time to understand what happened before she was pulled off the ground. Turning around, she looked at her husband standing behind her in shock. “Bob. I..I.I don’t know what happened I just I saw smoke and then it just..” Breathing shakily, Marie tried to explain to Bob what had happened but was forced to stop talking when Bob brought her into a tight hug.

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine. Firefighters will be here soon enough. It isn’t safe for us to be this close to the fire.” Speaking soothingly Bob tried to gently guide Marie away from the house but Marie refused to budge. “No. We can’t Makenzie is still in there. We have to go in there and help him!” “Marie there’s nothing we can do for him right now! If we end up trapped will just get in the way of the firefighters.” Dragging Marie away Bob listened to the sound of sirens in the distance and relief washed over him. Thankfully one of their Neighbours had called 911. 

Stopping their fire truck just outside of Makenzie’s house, the firefighters were about to get to work when another explosion sounded, and the house collapsed inwards on itself. “Makenzie!!” Releasing a scream Marie turned and started to cry into Bob’s arms. While still young, Makenzie had been a very active member of the community and being such a polite and considerate child had made many couples in the community fall in love with Makenzie. Watching his house burn down with him in it the surrounding families all grieved at the loss of the little boy who cooked for them. 
THE END 
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24 Hours Earlier 

“Ring Ring Ring” 

Waking up, Makenzie groaned as he sat up from his bed and hit his alarm clock. Turning to his side he hopped off his bed and started his morning stretches. “Gah” Holding his arm after feeling a sudden bout of pain Makenzie looked over towards his full body mirror and turned sideways to try and look for signs of injury. Looking at himself in the mirror Makenzie took a minute to look over himself.

He was standing just over 5 feet at 11 years old making him one of the tallest in his class, almost the same height as Flash. He had dark brown hair that had never been willing to stay in a hair style. He kept his hair short so it wouldn’t grow into a bird's nest, and he often left his house with his hair looking the same way it did when he woke up. His eyes were a dark green color that went well with his slightly tanned skin. His body, while not ripped with muscles was lean and showed clearly Makenzie’s attraction towards physical activity. As he looked himself over in the mirror Makenzie saw a purple bruise that started at his shoulder and went down towards his elbow on his right arm. “Sheesh. Seriously. What the hell did I do in my sleep? Fight the Hulk.” 

Giving a hollow laugh at his joke Makenzie quickly got dressed and headed downstairs. As he stepped onto the main floor his mood dropped considerably. Sighing to himself Makenzie pushed away his grief and walked past the kitchen. Moving into the living room Makenzie slapped himself on the forehead when he remembered he would need money to buy himself food till his kitchen was fixed. ‘My kitchen huh. I always joked around with dad about how one day I would kick him out of the kitchen and start doing everything myself. Who would have guessed I’d have to start so early.’

Breaking away from his thoughts Makenzie absentmindedly grabbed the remote and turned on his TV, before heading up towards his bedroom to grab some of his savings. ‘Thankfully the power is still functioning, else I doubt they would have let me stay here on my own. John probably helped pull some strings as well to ease his own guilt.’ Suddenly a series of images started to appear in Makenzie's head causing him to stumble into the wall. 

 “Please, Please. No, I’m sorry I swear that’s everything I know I swear.” Looking around, Makenzie was shocked to find himself in a dark office with John tied to a chair in front of him. Seeing the pathetic appearance John was in Makenzie felt the anger he had felt last night come back in full force and he punched John in the face. {Pah, Pah Pah} Listening to the sound of impact each time his fist connected with John brought Makenzie immense satisfaction. Over and over Makenzie punched him over for what felt like hours. Finally, exhausted Makenzie stepped away to look down at John. John’s head was hanging low, and blood was dripping from his face.

Grabbing his hair Makenzie pulled his head upwards savagely so he could properly see his face. However, even with him holding John’s head it was hard to see past the blood and snot that covered John's face. Using the back of his sleeve Makenzie bent forward to clean his face.  

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“What? What the hell?!” Backing up quickly in horror Makenzie fell back onto the desk behind him. Sitting in front of him wasn’t John but instead a young girl who couldn’t be more than 10. The blood and snot quickly disappeared, and Makenzie suddenly found himself on a dock with the girl in front of him crying on her knees. “Please, Please I won’t say anything I promise. Please let me go home. I want to see my mommy. Please.” Seeing her like this Makenzie tried to go and comfort her but he realized he couldn’t control his body. Suddenly, his body started moving forward. “No. NO! PLEASE! I’m sorry Please. Mommy help.”

Makenzie tried desperately to stop his body, but he wasn’t in control. He watched on in horror as he arrived in front of the girl before bending down and grabbing her by the throat. Her screams went quiet as Makenzie continued to apply pressure causing her body to bend backwards lying flat on the pavement. He watched her try to struggle but there was nothing she could do. He was too big too strong. There was no way for her to stop him. Makenzie watched as his body leaned forward to be directly eye level with the girl and as the light slowly begin to leave her eyes Makenzie saw his reflection. His face was a mess of twisting and contorting parts. Muscles and bones are being created and destroyed every second.

As he watched his face Makenzie without warning was thrown out of his body and now stood on the sidewalk next to them. He watched the ‘thing’ in front of him twitching its ear before it slowly rose. Darkness wrapped around it covering its body in a black cloak. Reaching full height its body turned to face him, and Makenzie came face to face with a white mask. “AHHHHH” 

Screaming, Makenzie closed his eyes and started to breathe heavily. Looking around himself with wild eyes. He only relaxed when he confirmed he was back in his real body and was in his house. “Huff Huff. What the fuck was that?!” Calming himself down, Makenzie temporarily set his illusion aside and quickly grabbed what he needed from his room before returning quickly to the living room and falling onto a couch he had moved inside yesterday. They used to keep it on the porch if they ever wanted to eat outside so Makenzie brought it in as all their furniture on the main floor was more or less ruined and Makenzie didn’t want to sit on the floor.

Laying on the couch Makenzie decided that it probably would be for the best if he didn’t go to school today. Until he figured out what was with that hallucination it would be best for him to avoid public spaces. “That’s right Jameson. It’s the worst terrorist attack America has experienced since 9/11 with an estimated 300 causalities it can be seen that this attack was carried out ruthlessly by a group of terrorist set on bringing our country into chaos.”

“I absolutely agree Melissa. A group of terrorists found a way into this great country of ours and won’t stop their attacks till they see our great nation fall to its knees.” Focusing on his TV Makenzie saw a reporter standing in what looked to be Hell’s Kitchen judging by the amount of trash on the street. She was standing in front of a hotel that was extremely run down and surrounded by police tape.  

As Makenzie focused on the hotel behind the News Lady on the TV, he saw that near the front entrance of the hotel there was an indent in the pavement. Standing up to look closer Makenzie identified the indent as a footprint. Staring at the footprint Makenzie zoned out as memories poured into his mind. ‘No. No I couldn’t have it’s not possible.’ Makenzie tried to deny it to convince himself that it was another hallucination, but he knew deep down that it wasn’t. Makenzie stayed there standing in front of the TV as he wrestled with the reality of what he did... of what he had done. Finally, Makenzie just grabbed the TV remote and turned it off before dragging himself back to the couch and laying there silently. 

‘How? How could I do that? I just killed them. They had families, they all were trying for a better future. And I just came along and took it from them.’ Makenzie was no stranger to the loss of life. He had watched the apocalypse happen for 500 years and had seen people be killed in the most brutal of ways. But still those were deaths he couldn’t have prevented. He had realized quickly that he was only a spectator in the Overwatch world and that detached him from their struggle. There he was never able to do anything other than watch, but this is different. Here in Marvel Makenzie can make a difference. It’s what he had been planning for since he got here a way to improve the Marvel world to protect its people to be a hero. The remorse Makenzie felt over having failed to control his emotions and new power resulting in 35 innocent deaths isn’t something he can just walk off.  

Laying there with guilt and remorse over having taken so many innocent lives, Makenzie eventually decided that just lying there in his thoughts wouldn’t do him any good. Deciding it would be best to go outside and walk around while he relaxed and reflected on what he wanted for himself and his future. Makenzie rose from the couch and moved slowly towards the door. Grabbing his shoes and his key along with the money he had grabbed prior, he made his way out of the house before turning to lock his front door. Making his way towards 59th street, Makenzie walked down the road looking for somewhere he could get something to eat. Spotting a bakery to his left Makenzie crossed the street and entered the bakery.  

He was surprised by the rather big line considering by now most people were at work but got in line nonetheless, he hadn’t spotted anywhere else appetizing nearby. While waiting he took a minute to look around the store. The walls were a nice baby blue color decorated with various photos of farmers and hikers from around the globe. There were a few tables at the far end of the store where a group of old men were all talking and laughing with newspapers in hand enjoying their treats. The counter of the store wasn’t anything too impressive. It had a single cash register that stood next to a display that was currently being tampered with by a young man with black eyes and hair. Looking past the young man Makenzie was barely able to see an older gentleman in the back giving instructions to a group of three kids who looked a couple years older than Makenzie. Most likely new employees on their first day of the job. When it was finally his turn, he ordered a simple bagel with cream cheese due to the limited amount of money he had on hand. While waiting he took notice of the concerned looks, he was receiving from the cashier and the other customers, and it hit him that he hadn’t washed up today so the tear marks and soot from yesterday were probably still on his face. 

 Exiting quickly after receiving his food and thanking the cashier. Makenzie stepped off to the side of the street in order to eat his food in peace. Shooing away pigeons Makenzie took a seat on a bench and began eating his breakfast. He took a small careful bite at first to make sure it tasted good. And WOW. Good was an understatement, this was some of the best food he had ever eaten even if it was rather plain due to his tight budget. Looking up towards the sign hanging from the store entrance which read “Riordan Sweets” Makenzie was struck by a sense of familiarity when he looked at the sign, but he couldn’t place from where. ‘Strange.’ Making a note to visit this shop more in the future, Makenzie continued walking down the street with his mood significantly better than earlier. 

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