ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀʟɪꜰᴇ - ᴀɴ ᴇᴘɪᴄ ꜱᴍᴘ ꜰɪᴄ

I

!!CW Implied Drug Usage!!

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"Bung ya later."

"SWAGGER!!!"

"WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS, ASSHOLE?!"

And everything had gone dark.

...

Charlie sat up. He looked around, squinting at the rubble that used to be Bungerberg, the place he'd lived in. He couldn't find his glasses. Rubbing his head, he wondered to himself what had happened. And why his body hurt so much. And why he couldn't find his glasses. He placed a palm on the ground and winced in pain. His thoughts were fuzzy, his ears ringing loudly in his head. There were puncture marks near the crease of his elbow that were bruising slightly. He had a pulsing headache that beat against his skull, as if the brains inside were scraping and screaming to get out. He stood and limped over to the large body of water that had pooled in the middle of what used to be his city. He kneeled at the edge and stared at the face that peered back up at him. His face was covered in smudges of ash and a few scrapes and cuts. His skin was raw and sensitive to the touch. He had hated the city and the work he'd been forced to do, but he'd never wanted it...

As if that single line of thought was the key to his locked memories, everything came flooding back to him in fuzzy bits and pieces. Charlie gripped the sides of his head, pressing tightly on them. He feared his head would split in two if he let go.

As he sat by the water, memories of him in the tunnels, working on the machines, begging anyone for help, the explosion all of it came rushing into his head. He had no clue how long he'd sat, kneeling by the water when he realised it had started to rain again. He looked up at the water falling from the sky. He let the rain wash over his face as he wondered how he could have possibly survived the blast. But if he had survived, then maybe his friends...

No. He couldn't get ahead of himself. For now he just needed to find his glasses. He rose, his new mission giving him some sense of purpose, although temporary. He began to wander the ruins, deciding he'd start at the site of the explosion. He glanced at the general area where it had been, the spot reduced to nothing more of a crater in the earth. Charlie cringed as he neared the place. In the hole, water had begun pooling into it. He squinted down to the bottom scanning for his glasses. No luck. He walked around the area, squinting at the ground to see where they could be.

-crunch-

Charlie lifted his foot to see his glasses under his foot. He crouched down and grabbed them by the arms. If the blast hadn't already cracked them, that careless step certainly had.

Placing them on his face, Charlie began looking around. His sight was still blurred even with his glasses on, likely from the blast.

It's no wonder he didn't see what was approaching.

Or rather, who.

Something hard struck the side of Charlie's face, hard enough to send him stumbling back a few steps and falling backwards. "Ow!" Charlie cried, rubbing his cheek gingerly. He looked around wildly to see who had struck him, the attacker who was nearby and approaching.

Schlatt grabbed Charlie by the collar and dragged him up to his feet. He seemed to be in rougher shape than Charlie was. The left side of his head seemed to have taken the most impact from the blast. The tip of his left horn had been broken off, part of his ear had been blown away as well. There was a large scar across his nose and a majority of the hair on his left side had been burned off. His left arm was covered in scars and in his left hand he clutched something, Charlie assuming it to be his ring. The most noticeable thing, though, was the bright red 'X' that seemed to shine in the center of Schlatt's chest. Charlie looked back up to the goat man, though. But something was...off. Charlie could see the anger on Schlatt's face. He could see his mouth moving, but...

"Can...can you speak up? I can't hear you," Charlie said. Schlatt's voice sounded fuzzy in his ears. Schlatt stopped his yelling, confusion flashing across his face before anger took his features once more.

'Don't fucking act dumb'

Charlie saw his mouth form the words but, "I'm sorry, I still can't hear you," Charlie said, nervous laughter tumbling out of his mouth.

The anger on Schlatt's face deepened as he threw Charlie to the ground. He spat something at him and then turned to walk away. Charlie, frantic, scrambled to stand and follow Schlatt. He at least wanted someone to follow until he could find himself somewhere to stay. He gripped the edge of Schlatt's sleeve, the businessman turning to shove Charlie off of him. Charlie knelt down and grabbed a stick, then cleared away the pebbles on the ground and looked to Schlatt to make sure he was paying attention. He quickly scribbled in the dirt, 'can't hear' and pointed to his ears. He handed the stick to his ex boss and stood up, backing away from the dirt patch. Schlatt stared at the stick, as if debating breaking it in half.

Still, he knelt in the dirt. Swiping away Charlie's message, he began writing one of his own. He chucked the stick back at Charlie and turned away. 

'Not my problem.'

Charlie frowned and held onto the stick, following the man anyways. Schlatt suddenly broke into a sprint. Not away from Charlie, no, but towards someone. Charlie saw him too.

Swagger was shoving at the debris that covered the old entrance to Bungerberg. His helmet was completely missing and his jacket that he'd loved so much, the one he'd tell Charlie about whenever he asked, it was in tatters, tied around his waist. All that was left of Swagger's attire was the chain mail top and the black shirt he wore underneath. His black jeans were in tatters, everything below his mid thigh torn to shreds. The expression on Swagger's face was ghastly. Distressed. He took in the sight of his town. The one he had built up from the ground. He never once glanced at Schlatt, his husband, who was sprinting towards him.

Schlatt got closer, closer, desperate for familiarity, comfort. And as he neared the chain mail clad man, his expression of joy and hope grew and then

He ran right through him.

And as Charlie neared Schlatt, who's expression was one of pain and confusion and anger, he realised something.

They didn't survive the blast.

They were dead and Swagger was alive.

And Schlatt and Charlie were stuck together.

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And that concludes Chapter one of Afterlife :D

I know it's kinda everywhere but please bear with me it won't be this sporadic the whole time ;-;

Once again, big thank to Rey for helping me write block man AU