Spectacular World

Full Monarch

A Few Hours Earlier...

Thaddeus closed the truck door and stepped out of it. He took a moment to rub the hood of the old vehicle. He didn't really understand it, but Jack's old truck was somehow still standing even after all the disasters that had struck Oleander. The truck was just as stubborn as its original owner.

"You stay here, girl." Thaddeus cooed as he patted the truck. "Take a well-earned break."

He was no longer in Oleander, or any of the cities for that matter. He had been gifted the truck around the time the Beast attack happened, but this was his first time actually taking it out. He had driven it for nearly four hours straight and even picked it up and carried it across the ocean at one point. All so he could make his way to a small little farm that was hidden away from the rest of the world.

Thaddeus let out a low whistle as he took stock of the farm. He had parked his truck outside of its gate and hadn't expected it to be quite so big. It was a vast plot of land, covered in fields that were coming along nicely. A barbed fence went on for at least half a mile, and past it was a cornfield, a barn, a few stables, and a small wooden hut that had been recently built. There was an old well outside of the house and a pickup truck that made Jack's look brand new.

Thaddeus hopped over the fence, and he covered his nose, doing his best to ignore the stench. A few dogs ran around, most barking at him as he approached the barn. The doors were open, and past them, a cow stood, with a man crouched in front of it. A bucket was placed on the ground in front of the crouching man, who, in turn, was using only one hand to milk the animal. Thaddeus reached out and knocked on the barn door, but the man next to the cow didn't react to him at all.

"Hey, Augustus. Can we talk?" Thaddeus asked quietly, and he folded his arms.

Slowly, the man let go of the cow and let out a heavy sigh. "I really don't want to, but I know you're the kind of person who won't leave me alone until I do." Augustus was in his mid-twenties and had brownish-blonde hair and tired-looking eyes. He wore a red buttoned-up shirt and old faded blue jeans, and most notable about him was that he only had one hand. His left hand was gone, replaced with a hook, which he pointed to his old friend. "What do you want, Myth?"

"Why'd you leave your team?" Thaddeus said softly. "Money Tree, you ran away and left everything to me to handle. What the hell, man, did you really think I could pick up the pieces that were left shattered on the ground after the fight with the Beast?"

Augustus, also known as the hero Money Tree, absentmindedly rubbed his hook hand. Several emotions swam across his face. Anger, sadness, hurt, and, most notably, a sense of guilt. "You know why I left. I couldn't save her." For a moment the image of BB went through the hero's mind. "I wasn't any help in that battle at all."

Thaddeus stepped forward and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You did help. Your leadership kept the others safe. I lost people I cared about to the Beast as well. Believe me, I'm just as lost and confused as to what I should do, but giving up isn't the answer."

Augustus slapped away Thaddeus's hand and stepped past his friend. "There's another reason you came here, right?" The man asked hollowly. "Come on. Let's head inside."

For a hero called Money Tree, his living space was small and poor-looking. The inside of the hut only had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. After running away, the hero had seemingly been keeping himself constantly busy with his farm life. Augustus took a seat at the kitchen table, opening a can of beer and sliding another one to his friend. Thaddeus accepted it and took a sip from it. Normally, he didn't drink; he made it a point not to, in fact, but today, he made an exception to that rule since he was reunited with his best friend. They both sat in silence, quietly drinking and tapping away on their cans. Finally, though, Augustus let out another sigh.