Life in a Cliché World

Every story has an ending. Today was going to mark the end of a story. It was 7 AM. I waited in one of the parkings near our school. Today was the day.

The skies were dark, the clouds covered the sky. The sun hadn't come up yet, but if it had, it wouldn't even be visible. Varion City was alive, cars were moving to their jobs, building lights were turned on but not a single person could be seen on the streets. Except for me, there was no one here.

School was going to start in one hour. If we wanted to win, we needed to prepare. The physical preparations were already done, right now, it was all emotional. I don't know what's going to happen, but the chances are we'll win. Because that's how the story usually goes, the good guys win. And in this story, we are the good guys.

"Henry!"

"Good morning, Nello."

Nello came to me wearing a tracksuit. He was ready for battle and wanted to be in the most comfortable clothes possible. He gave off a pumped up expression, excited for today. 

"I can't believe it's finally time."

"Yeah."

"Today will be the end of Gregory's evil!"

"It will be."

My eyes were focused on the clouds, it looked as if it was going to rain today. But Nello's eyes were focused on me. I turned to him and a grin formed on his face. 

"What's up?"

"It's just.. We're really doing it together."

"Of course."

"I'm glad to have a best friend like you, Henry."

That took me off guard. I should've expected that, but I didn't. And that's what hit me the most. We were here together to take down this unjust system. We trained together, went through stuff together, we were best friends. Although Nello isn't exactly the most calm person on the planet, I still liked being with him. In the end, I couldn't help but question myself. Is a calm life the thing I want?

"And I'm glad to be your best friend."

"Hehe!"

But then two more people arrived at the scene.

"Hey Nelbro and thin man!"

"Merlo!"

"Greetings."

"Adeno!"

The full group has assembled. Adeno showed up in his kimono. I don't even have to explain what Merlo was wearing, because you already know what he's wearing. A samurai, a rich bodybuilder, a demon hero and me. Varion City is really the city of wackiness.

"We're all together now!" Nello yelled as he stretched his arms.

"Indeed, we are," Adeno responded.

"Yeah! Let's super smash this, bros!"

It's not funny when you say it twice.

"Alright guys, look. Once we enter the school, this is what's going to happen. Our plan is straightforward, we try to find Gregory once we enter the school. It's important to stick together so the Terrors are forced to group up together in order to take us down. Then, once the Terrors show up, we make way for Nello to run and find Gregory in case he's not there. In case he is there, Nello can just fight Gregory." 

"That sounds like a solid plan!"

"Thin man, you're smart!"

"Mhm, I believe that is a good plan. But what about the captains?" 

"I'll handle that," a fifth person said as they arrived.

"Emma!" Nello said with surprise.

"A woman?" Adeno asked. 

"Ooh, mama!" Merlo said.

That's a bad name mess up, Merlo. You can't just call other girls your mom. 

"Hehe, hi guys."

"What is a woman doing here?" Adeno asked.

"Got something against women?" I asked him. 

"No, but this is no fight for a woman. The captains are bigger than her and could harm her with ease."

"Don't worry, I'm not fighting!" 

"Hm?"

"Henry and I made a deal."

And as she said that, more people arrived at the parking lot. It was actually a surprising bunch of people. I certainly didn't expect one of them. An ex-nerd, a black haired transfer student and a pink haired popular girl.

"Hey Hey Nello," Kuro said.

"You're that guy!"

"It's nice seeing you be friends with the swordsman," he said with a smile.

"Ho, Kubro!" 

Again with the bro? Why am I not getting a bro? 

"You're joining us? Why?" I asked them.

"Injustice sucks, also.. Those people almost hurt Sakura," he said while glancing over to her.

"And I'm here because of Ems!" Sakura said with a passionate look on her face.

"You were right, Nello, Henry. I can't stand idle knowing people are going through what I went through," Harvey responded.

Sadly, the older captains didn't want to join us. Although the captains were thinking of joining us, their people were afraid of Gregory. Nevertheless, I still think we stand a shot. We have 5 popular people in our team, 6 if you count Nello's popularity among nerds.

"Thank you so much for joining!" Nello yelled to the newcomers.

"Haha, you're welcome," Kuro replied.

"Let's take down those bullies!" Sakura yelled back to Nello with a smile.

Emma walked over to me. She stood by my side. She's really reliable. Even though I only knew her for a while, she was still willing to do all of this for just one date. I appreciated that.

"Hey Emma, thanks."

"You're welcome, Hen!"

"Team!" Nello shouted, "Let's go to school!"

The gang lined up. Nello, Adeno and Merlo stood in the middle. I was to the left side along with Emma. The rest walked with Merlo. And with this entire group, we marched towards school. It all felt like it came straight out of a movie. 

As we passed through the streets, people stared at us. Students were screaming and running around. I knew rumors were going to spread, which would alert the Terrors. That was also part of the plan to lure the Terrors out. So by marching at a slower pace, they get more time to group up.

"They're here!"

"It's Nello!"

"Isn't that Emma Valentina?!"

"And Sakura!" 

"Oh my god it's that handsome transfer student!"

"Isn't that the guy who got into a huge fight last year?!" 

"Wait, the Swordsman of Doom is there too!"

"Oh look! That other cute transfer student is there!"

"Who's that guy with the headband?!"

"Is this the end of Gregory?!"

Everyone was losing their minds. Just by our walk, people were riled up. A crowd formed near the school and surrounded us. Yet no one was in our way. They made sure to free up space for us to walk through.

We stopped at the front of the school. Nello, being the protagonist, walked at the front of the line up and was ready to talk. Everyone was cheering, shouting, going crazy, but then Nello yelled.

"Everyone! We've come! The end of Gregory's time is now!"

Short but powerful. 

"Psh, what's going on here?" Emmanuel asked while coming out of the school building and walking towards Nello. 

"This," Nello responded by punching Emmanuel straight in the face. 

Emmanuel, dazed, fell to the ground. He tried to punch Nello after standing up, but missed and got hit in the stomach with a body shot. Nello's training paid off to some extent, he could deal with this fodder easily.

"The revolution is now! Stand up with me! Stand up against Gregory! Nerds- no, students, revolt!"

"You have a lot of nerve," Big Bunga said as he walked out of the door.

The rest of the Terrors and the captains followed Big Bunga, walking out of the building. As expected, they teamed together. But Gregory wasn't there. I half expected him to show up, but I guess he chose not to. That meant we had to get Nello away from the Terrors.

"Stay together, it's time to ram in," I said.

"Let's go!" Merlo yelled.

Leading the group, I ran in. Tornado Tommy was about to kick me, but Merlo covered me by taking the kick. He had a strong body, meaning he could withstand more, like a tank. 

As I slid through the chaos of the fighting, balls were thrown on the floor. Immediately, I knew what was going to happen, it was a smoke bomb. And without hesitation, I snapped my fingers to get Adeno's attention. He realized what was up and charged up a wind attack to blow away the smoke.

Nello and I were continuing our sprint, but Grip Perry showed up and tried to latch onto my head, which I continued to dodge. Normally, I'd say, oh crap. But the thing is, the only problem is his grip. He minmaxxed. My eyes glanced over at Harvey, who was right behind me, fighting against some of the henchmen.

"Hey!"

"Oh!" he yelled, noticing my situation. 

He ran and kicked Perry in the stomach while I distracted him, making distance between the two of us. Was this my plan? Pretty much. I glanced over at Adeno, who already took care of Benny. Benny wasn't physically strong, and being matched with someone that blows away his only means of fighting is nothing short of devastating. There wasn't enough budget for their fight scene, so it was cut out.

"Adeno, can you handle Perry?" I asked.

"So this was your plan? You weren't going to fight?"

"Nope, but you can, I'm going to handle different things."

"Okay then."

Tornado Tommy and Merlo were pretty equal. Big Bunga could jump in and make it difficult for Merlo. I expected Merlo to take down Tommy quickly but I underestimated him. But right now, the main job was to get these three popular kids in the school to spread the word.

"Emma, you know what to do?"

"Yeah! Sakura, Kuro, Harvey, let's spread the word!"

But it wasn't going to be easy. We were surrounded by henchmen and captains. Instead of attacking Merlo, Big Bunga chose to come to us. Crap.. We're outnumbered. I had to think quickly.

"Heh, no escaping for you now."

But that's when those balls appeared. Benny's smoke bombs were on the ground. What was happening? Wasn't Benny knocked out? Smoke covered my sight, I couldn't see anything that was happening. I heard a girl yelling, but that sound became more and more distant. 

It wasn't Emma's yell, it was Sakura's. What was going on? 

The smoke disappeared and I could see Makoto holding onto Sakura's wrist, running away from the group. He had an open backpack in his hands. That's Benny's backpack! This guy smoke screened us to save Sakura!

"Wait! Makoto! We have to get Kuro and Sakura-"

"Your safety is more important!" I could hear him yell in the distance.

"Sakura, we'll be alright!" Kuro shouted.

She looked at Kuro one last time before turning away and running with Makoto. Were these two falling in love? That's not good for Makoto. He still made a wonderful play saving Sakura, but it might be too late. However, Kuro's smart. He used the clichéd "we'll be alright". This was interesting.

But I'm still stuck in this situation. 

"Henry, do you have any plans?"

"Makoto ran off with the smoke bombs, if he didn't, I would have one." 

"Dang it.."

"Fufufu, it's over, nerd," Big Bunga said with a smug smile.

"I hate it when you guys call us that," Harvey replied.

"Hm? And what are you going to do, Harvey Ass?" 

Harvey made a fist with his hand and turned to me.

"Hey Henry, I ask you again, do you have a plan?"

"You seem like you want to fight him."

"I do, I really do."

"Then fight him."

"Thank you."

"But wait, how are we going to escape?" Emma asked.

I looked over at Kuro. I had two options right now. Either I sacrifice myself or sacrifice Kuro. I didn't want to fight, but I'm the only one who can here. This was a dilemma. I'd stand even brighter in the spotlight.. I made a choice.

"Kuro, take Emma. I'm going to stay behind."

"Henry, we can't leave you behind here! Do you think you can handle all of these captains?"

I looked around. There was that one girl with the cigarette, there were a bunch of early, middle and late teenagers. I definitely couldn't handle all of them alone without actually fighting. 

"Let me handle them-," Kuro said before I interrupted him.

"No, I will. Harvey, try to hold out against Big Bunga. Whatever you do, make sure you do not end up under him." 

"Got it," Harvey replied.

"Are you slingos done talking yet?" Big Bunga asked.

"Yeah." 

"Pf, people, get them!"

Harvey ran towards Big Bunga, but not a single kick or punch actually hurt him. He had an absolute tank build. I don't think many things could damage him. But Harvey didn't stop. 

Nevertheless, I had to focus on my task. Getting Emma and Kuro away from this place. I scanned the crowd that was coming at us. Where could there be weak spots? Larger teens and smaller teens were mixed around, the weak spot wasn't clear. But then I saw her, Megan. 

"Follow me! Kuro, help with the ram!"

Kuro and I both acted as a ram, pushing through the henchmen and heading towards Megan, who knew what I was capable of. The expression on her face quickly changed when I made eye contact with her. 

"Don't let him get close! Don't let Henry get close! Make sure Henry can't get to me!"

"Megan, what's up with you?!"

"Just don't let him come to me!!"

This was the weak spot I was thinking of. 

"Kuro, Emma, all their forces are going to get concentrated on me now. The wall is going to thin, use that to your advantage. Kuro, I trust you."

"Henry.." Emma said while looking at me.

"Go!" 

"Thank you, Henry," Kuro said as he ran away with Emma, barging through the thinning wall of teens.

I was getting swarmed, punched, kicked, all to make sure I couldn't get closer to Megan. I could feel my body breaking apart, I could feel people grabbing onto my hair. 

My entire body was bruised, I fell onto the ground. Everyone was looking at me and continued to kick me. I was being laughed at. Kuro and Emma were gone, they escaped. At least that's good. The crowd moved away, someone was approaching me.

"Henry Laress."

Why is he here?!

"Gregory.."

He stared at me for a second. His hand reached out for me, but I refused it. I got up with my own strength. My entire body was in pain. Bruises were everywhere. Wounds covered my arms from trying to block the hits. My hair was a mess from all the people pulling it.

"I already thought there was something strange about you," he said.

"Why are you here? Where is Nello?"

"Remember that anime group you two visited?"

"What did you do to them?!"

"Nothing, I just told them to lead Nello to the storage room. Crazy what people do just to not get bullied anymore, right?"

This bastard.. Nello trusted the anime club, and he used that trust to catch Nello.

"Right?" he repeated. He was clearly insinuating something.

"Yeah.."

"Let's have a talk, Henry. Just the two of us."

He walked away with his hands in his pockets. His aura was just as calm as always. But why did he want to talk to me? Is he on to something? I stumbled as I followed him. How could this situation possibly get better? Nello was trapped, my body is practically dead, Adeno and Merlo were still fighting and I don't think Harvey is going to last any longer.

"This is going too slow," he said as he turned to me.

"No crap, my body's not exactly in the right condition anymore."

"Hm, Daryl, carry him."

"Yes sir," Daryl, the 5th year captain, said.

We got to the roof of the school. You could see everything here. Despite all the chaos from downstairs, it looked so peaceful here. Gregory sat against the railing and looked at me.

"Put Henry down and go back downstairs," he ordered.

"Yes sir."

Jeez, it's quite pathetic how these guys follow his orders like his dogs.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"You're a Laress."

No..

"So?" I said, shuffling towards him.

"I know what you did in your previous school."

"You don't. You don't know what I-"

"You paralyzed the king of your school from the waist down."

I stood still. Should I push him off the railing? He knows too much. He knows what being a Laress meant, he knows what I did before I transferred. If he knows about those things, then what else does he know?

"How is it possible for a 13 year old kid to take down someone that's 5 years older than himself?"

"Stop."

"I already had a feeling about you. Somehow, you're not afraid of me. Somehow, you made Megan fear you."

She told Gregory..

"Please stop."

"But it all started to make sense once I learned that your dad is Harold Laress."

I ran over to him, but stumbled and fell. 

"Child abuse. No wonder you're not afraid of me, you've already seen the worst from your dad." 

"Stop!"

I want to tear him apart. I wanted to push him off the railing, make sure he couldn't walk anymore. I didn't care about the fact that he'd die. As long as he stopped talking. I didn't want to deal with this anymore. I left everything behind for a reason. 

"And now I also understand why Thorn told me to stay away from you. But as it appears, I think I overestimated you." 

"I'm going to kill you!"

"I think you know who Thorn is, right?"

"Shut up! Shut the hell up!"

Why?! Why did he know so much? Why did he have to dig so deep into me? I want to strangle him, so he can't even utter a single word anymore. Remove him from this existence along with everything else of my past.

"I just don't get it, why didn't you fight against me? You want to take me down, yet you won't even fight me directly." 

"Shut up.." I said while crawling towards him.

He got up and stood right in front of me.

"You defeated your previous king so easily, yet here you are, crawling in front of your new one." 

"I will kill you."

"You'll have to do so in another lifetime," he said while placing his foot on my arm, ready to apply pressure. 

"It won't be in another, it'll be now."

"L-let him go!" I heard a new person yell.

My eyes turned to him. I didn't expect him to stand here. That's the person I least expected, but he came. Something about seeing him made me feel somewhat hopeful.

"Hm? You're one of his classmates, right? What was your name again?"

"L-Larry!"

"Right, so why should I let Henry go?"

"I-I-"

Gregory approached Larry, towering over him and intimidating the nerd. But while he was distracted with him, I got up. Kill, I need to kill. I need to tear his throat out. No, Henry, you can't do that. 

I can't do that. I can't kill him. I can't fall into this pit again. I can't be a monster like my dad. Mom, I won't do it, I won't. I'm not going to do it again. No, I won't disappoint you, mom. I won't disappoint you, Harley. So I'll fight.

I tightened my headband again. 

My body can still move. As long as I'm able to move, I can still fight. It doesn't matter if the pain is killing me, I can still fight. I will continue on. And I won't fight the way my dad taught me, I'll fight in my own way. 

I ran towards Gregory, ignoring all the pain. He turned around and grabbed onto my face. With a clean movement, he smashed me into the ground. But I snatched onto his arm and bit into it. 

"You!"

"I will never give up."

"Then, I'll make sure you can't do anything anymore."

He stomped me in my stomach, repeatedly. But I yelled.

"Larry!"

"Yes?!"

"Go to the storage, Nello's there!"

"O-okay!"

"Don't do it, Larry. If you wish to walk away from this school in one piece, stay here." 

I could see Larry contemplating, but I crawled towards him. 

"Larry, now's your only chance."

"Larry, if you do, you will never be able to have peace again," Gregory threatened.

While I lied on the ground, I was very close to Gregory's shoes. This was perfect. While Gregory was distracted with the whole Larry ordeal, I can do this little trick. My focus was on Larry again after I was done.

"Do it, please," I said with a pained smile.

"I-I will!" Larry yelled and ran away. 

"Wrong choice, Larry," Gregory said while chasing after Larry.

But as soon as Gregory walked, he fell on the ground. His laces were tied, and that was because of me. Heh, get outsmarted. I may not be able to kill you, but I will not let you win either. 

"Henry, even after all of that, you're still able to pull off things like this?" he asked after fixing his shoes and getting closer to me.

"Heh, yeah. What are you going to do? Kill me?" 

My face turned into an arrogant smile.

"Kill me and not even the gods will save you from your impending doom." 

"How are you so confident?"

"I don't know."

So there I lied, on the ground, looking at the cloudy skies. My entire body was in shambles. I didn't know how I was still alive. Gregory sat at the railing again. He was waiting for Nello to arrive, rather than to chase Larry.

"Where did your bloodlust go?"

"I realized I don't need to kill you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"You know, if you joined me, we would've made a great team."

"Clichéd line, but you're right. We would've been a great team until I stabbed you in the back." 

"You're really a politician's son."

"Thanks, I'm not proud of it."

And then my hero arrived.

"Henry!"

"Nello."

He got on his knees to look at me. He was obviously distraught by all my injuries, but I didn't mind. I was just glad to see him. We were going to end this system together. I couldn't grab all the fun for myself. I unwrapped my headband and gave it to him.

"Nello, fight," I said with a weak voice.

A tear came out of his eye, he accepted my headband and wrapped it around his head. This should give him more determination. So come, do it Nello, take down Gregory's kingdom.

"I will."

He got up, his stare clashed with Gregory's.

"Gregory.."

"Nello Mortirior. In the end, we had to fight anyway," he said while getting up and putting his hands in his pockets.

"You'll pay for everything you've done!"

"Suree." 

He put his knuckles braces on. They were his favorite weapons. When he fights, he uses whatever weapon he can find. Nello's eyes turned red. Why's his skin not red? Did Halloween not matter at all? 

"Gregory!" Nello yelled before swinging the first punch.

But Gregory avoided it with ease, instead following up with a punch of his own. Nello's side was struck, but not a moment was left to process it before Gregory sweeped his leg. He fell on the ground.

"All that demonic strength, yet no real control over it."

Nello looked at me, I looked at him back and nodded. He got up in a combat stance. This time, it was a proper one. With every swing Gregory made with his arm, Nello reacted accordingly.. Well as much as he possibly could. He was definitely not used to real combat.

Gregory's footwork was amazing. He was avoiding Nello's every hit, had all the balance he needed and was landing combos after combos. He's a highly experienced fighter, that's for sure. Even with all that strength, Nello still needs precision to land hits. But once he lands one, I'm sure it'll have a huge toll on Gregory.

But because of his footwork and Nello's predictable fighting style, it was almost impossible for Nello to land a hit on him. Nello's eyes couldn't even keep up with him. It was a one sided match despite Nello having the upper hand physically. But their fighting was getting closer and closer to me.

I crawled towards them.

"Where do you come from, Nello?" 

"Not that it matters to you! Besides, Varion City!"

"Normal people aren't demons."

"You're more of a demon than me!"

"What about this? If you stop now, I might leave you and your friends alive."

"If I don't stop, they'll be alive either way!"

"Hey, Greg," I said.

"Hm?" 

"Grab," I said as I grasped onto his leg. 

And as soon as I locked him into place, Nello kicked him in his side. 

"Nello-Henry combo attack, lock in Hell Kick!" 

"AAGH!" he yelled in pain.

The kick was powerful enough to send him flying. Scorch marks appeared on his clothes. One kick was all it took for Gregory to be sent flying. He landed on the other side of the roof and got up.

"It will not end here.."

Nello stood still for a second and made a fist with his hand. His eyes turned black, his veins turned red, fangs appeared in his mouth. It was his partial demon transformation. He got control over it?

"Waw, you're only turning into that now?"

"I wanted to hit him first. I still don't have it fully under control, but with this, I'm certain I can do it. It only works for a small period of time, so it can only be used when he's stunned."

Nello's right, Gregory was a bit dazed from the kick. His balance was a bit off, but it was obvious he could still fight. But I see no reason for him to do this transformation, he could also just use his regular form. Oh well, I'll let him have his cool moment.

"Gregory, you have failed this school. You hurt the nerds, you hurt average people who have passions. You used people I care about against me! And now you will pay. Take this: Demon Thunder Punch!"

"Go to hell," were Gregory's final words.

With an intense amount of wind flying around and Nello's zooming across the roof, he landed the ultimate punch on Gregory. The king was punched straight through the railing, making him fall down. When I crawled to see where he fell down, I saw that he had safely landed in a bush.. Well 'safely'.

"Is that Gregory?"

"It's over?"

"Look! That's Nello!"

"He defeated Gregory!"

"W-woah! Nello! Nello!"

"Nello! Nello!"

"He did it!"

There were cheers for Nello. I leaned against the railing and smiled as Nello proudly posed in front of the people. He looked at me, and gave a little nudge with his head, almost as if he was asking if I wanted to stand with him. I responded with a nod to indicate no.

"Guys! From today on, there will be no more bullying under my supervision! I am Nello Mortirior, the man who will become the greatest superhero in the world! I will defeat all enemies, no matter how strong, no matter how big, I will always stand up for what I believe in! So come on, let's all stand united under this new school!" 

We walked downstairs. There was such a huge mess, but those who lied down on the ground were mostly delinquents. The nerds were having a giant party. Emma ran up to me while I leaned onto Nello.

"We did it!"

"Yeah, we did."

"Thank god you asked us to get all the freaks together. Harvey almost got squashed by Big Bunga!"

I missed out on all the action, that's natural, I can't be everywhere at once. But it was great to see Big Bunga lying down on the ground with Larry dancing on top of him. This is what you call payback.

"Oh, thin man! Nelbro!"

Adeno and Merlo approached us. Unexpectedly, Merlo gave us all a hug. I almost choked, I was already struggling to exist at the moment so to get suffocated by a giant nearly made the end of my story as a whole. 

"We did it guys!" Nello yelled.

"Didn't expect any less," Adeno said.

"Heh, you know what this calls for?" Merlo asked.

"A dance party," I responded with an exhausted expression.

Merlo nodded and pulled out a boombox. Some god awful music was playing but oh well. Everyone started dancing. Nello and Merlo were sliding straight through the hallways. Adeno was doing the robot, I didn't even know he could dance in the first place.

"Come on Henry, let's dance!" Emma told me.

"Oh well, why not?" I responded with a smile.

Emma and I danced less aggressively in comparison to the others. It was so strange to see everyone dancing in the hallways. There were nerds, goth girls, martial artists (where were they in the fight?) and popular girls. I also spotted Nello talking to Megan, who was sitting a bit on the sidelines. 

Wait, they're actually dancing together now?

I guess that's the power of a protagonist.

And if you're wondering about the whole Makoto - Kuro - Sakura situation, guess who's dancing with Sakura? Both Makoto and Kuro were breakdancing to get Sakura's attention. But they weren't the ones to dance with her, it was Gojo instead.

"Henry," Emma said.

"Hm?"

"Eyes on me." 

"Sure."

"Hiss!" 

"Lemon?! What are you doing here?!"

"LeBron, dance with me!"

"Eeek is that spider?! Catch me, I'm about to pass out!"

Varion City, a wretched city of stinkiness. Where people fight each other for no reason. Where people run around believing they can save everyone. A city of naivety and dreams. A place where disasters are a common occurrence and people die on the daily. Nothing in this place is positive- or so I thought. 

But maybe that's not right. I don't know how to feel about Varion City, but it isn't all bad. Nello, Emma, Merlo, Lemon, Adeno. I don't mind experiencing the chaos of this city together with them. Because in the end, isn't that what life is all about?

Going through adventures with the people you care about, the people you trust. Being with those people brings meaning to your life, and that makes life worth living. Adventures without meaning is nothing but lackluster. 

So am I glad to live in Varion City? Maybe. 

Although nearly nothing feels real here, at least the connection I feel with my friends feels real. And that's what matters the most. For the first time in a long while, I feel attached again. And although I'm a little scared, it does fill me with more energy than before. So we'll see. I don't know what the future holds, but I'll have to face it anyway.

"Henry, what are you thinking about? You look so deep in thought!" Emma asked.

"Hm? Life."

"Life?"

"Life in a crazy world."

"Emma, pick me up, I'm about to pass out."