In the Time We have Left...

        Luck.

        Luck is the strangest thing, it can be very random at times. Helping one succeed sometimes while completely screwing them over other times. Some say that in a lifetime one can only have so much good luck before it expires and turns bad. Before your goodlife takes a turn for the worst.

        Some also say that some people are born with more luck than others as are people with less luck than others. The people who were born with the most luck that survived and thrived, their luck being so massive that it never expires during their lifetime. The people who were born with an average amount of luck made do, but their lives are far from perfect and have to deal with the main struggles of life. The people who were born with hardly any luck at all become either dead, hobos, or prostitutes, doomed to be nothing but crazed individuals who drown and numb their sorrows with drugs, mindless sex, and alcohol.

Most people were fortunate to at least have some luck. However, our protagonist, Derrick Roberts, was definitely not one of the fortunate.

Derrick walked down the street with a somber look on his face. He had just visited his doctor looking for some reassurance that he was in perfect health after some suspicion that he had for some time, he received just the opposite. His doctor told him that he had lung cancer due to his 'excessive' smoking and has a little over 4 years to live on treatment, less than 2 off treatment. Derrick, being the most unlucky bastard in the world, did not have health insurance nor the solid money to pay for this treatment. He, understandably, was not the happiest person in the world at the moment. He was quite possibly the most unhappy person in the world.

What was even worse for him was that this was merely one tragedy in the series of unfortunate events for him. He lost the love of his friends and family, he lost nearly everything he owned, He only recently lost his job, and now he was just told the he was soon to lose his life. After all this tragedy in his life, Derrick have grown tired.

This would be the reason that Derrick was walking down the sidewalk, grimly planning his next course of action. The plan of how he was going to kill himself.

He was tired of this game called life, nearly everything has gone wrong for him and he didn’t want to play anymore. However, Derrick couldn’t do it himself. He disliked the idea of going out without a bang, he needed go out with a fight;, he someone else to do it for him.

With his plan in mind, he decided to continue walking to the one place he knew he could easily pick a fight. The one place he was was very familiar with and was a frequent customer of. The local town bar. As much as he hated bringing hell to the local business, he had a suicide to fulfill and the bar had exactly what he needed; a mob of angry drunk men and an armed bartender.

After a few minutes he reaches his final destination. Upon opening the doors the familiar scent of booze and drunks surrounds him. All around him, there were tables and booths pack full of patrons happily drinking their alcoholic beverages; their soberness and free will draining as quickly as the poison was draining from their mugs. It was a full house tonight.

“Good.” was all Derrick thought as he continued his way into the bar.

Approaching the counter, the bartender noticed Darrick and began his approach towards him. The man was young, looking somewhere in his twenties. He had a completely shaven beard, pale skin, Black hair, and a momma's boy haircut, plain and simple.  Darrick didn’t recognize this bartender, he must have been new.

“Even better, he won’t know me and will be more likely to shoot if I scare him enough.” Darrick thought darkly.

“So, what will it be my friend?” The bartender asked.

“Just a beer.” Derrick mumbled just loud enough to be heard.

He had entertained the thought of going after the bartender right away, but he knew that would only get him thrown out faster than one can say ‘sorry’ and put him further away from his ultimate goal. He had to be patient, wait for the right opportunity.

“Alright then, one beer coming right up.” The bartender replied as he went off to get Derrick’s drink.

Derrick took the opportunity to look around the bar and scope out a target; there were plenty to choose from. The man in a corner booth at the far left corner of the bar looked strong enough to snap his neck in one punch, but didn’t look nearly drunk enough to have little self control. Still, he would have to keep an eye on him. There was another one at one of the round tables. He was definitely drunk, but way too drunk to do any serious damage.

Then, finally, there was a guy and his girlfriend sitting at the right corner booth of the bar. The kid looked young, along the lines of eighteen or nineteen years of age, definitely too young to be drinking. Derrick briefly wondered how he managed to get in here in the first place let alone get a drink, but decided it didn’t matter. He was definite athlete and could do some serious damage, a formidable enemy for his last fight.

He couldn’t kill Derrick, no, but he could most definitely cause a scene that would make the bartender pull his gun. Then all that will need to be done is charge the bartender, and the whole plan will wrap itself up from there. Assuming the bartender is a good shot.

His target acquired, Derrick moved to get up from the counter and move towards the couple. His plan of action was simple, insult the girlfriend and the boyfriend will jump up to protect her honor. It will be too easy.

However, he was interrupted as the bartender placed Derricks beer on the counter.

“Hey! Don’t go anywhere, your beer is here.” The bartender said.

“Damnit, you have to show up now!” Derrick complained mentally.

“Uh, right, sorry.” Derrick replied awkwardly as he grabbed his beer.

Looking over his shoulder, he see the two lovebirds talking to each other. Judging by their full mugs Derrick felt safe to assume that they won’t be leaving anytime soon. So he relaxed and sat back down at the counter, deciding he would have time for one last drink.

“You alright there buddy? You don’t seem like you are feeling very well.” The bartender asked, making casual conversation that derrick really didn’t want right now.

Grunting, Derrick replied. “I had a bad day, and received some bad news. I really don’t want to talk about it...”

“Alright my man, if you don’t want to talk about it, I am not going to make you.” The bartender replied as he went off to service another customer.

“Good.” Derrick replied bluntly as he took in a mouthful of beer, savoring the numbing liquid before swallowing.

“Man, I am really going to miss beer…” Derrick casually thought.

He was about to take another sip when he heard commotion behind him. Turning his head, he finds that the two lovebirds had gotten into a fight. Over all the other commotion going on within the bar, he could barely hear the harsh whispers their mouths hissed towards each other. They seemed upset.

“Maybe this is a good opportunity that I shouldn’t waste…” Derrick thought as he put down a twenty to pay for his beer and got up.

However, as he got up, the girlfriend got up as well and quickly made her way towards the exit, an upset look on her face. The boyfriend did not follow, he instead decided to stay put and finish his beer. Derrick was now conflicted on what to do next.

He saw the girl rush out into the night alone, and this was a bad neighborhood; especially for young girls. She could get hurt walking the streets by herself, or worse. He believed that he should go out there and at least make sure that she got home safe. However, on the other hand, he had a suicide to complete, and he wasn’t sure how long until the jock drunk himself shitless to the point where he couldn’t fight.

Derrick found himself staring between his two options; the jock, or the girl. He looked at the jock and found that he was crossing his arms, muttering something; likely angry that his girlfriend walked out on him. If there was an opportunity to get into a fight, it was now. Then he looked at the door in which the girl had just left. He knew that she was alone, walking the streets in a bad part of town at the worst time of night. If he didn’t get out there and see her home, something extremely bad was likely to happen to her.

Looking over his two options carefully, Derrick made his decision. Walking straight towards the door, he went out into the night to find that girl and see her home. Derrick figured that he may as well do at least one good deed before he ended it all, it was the least he could do.

“Besides, that fucker probably isn’t worth the effort anyways…” Derrick mused.

As Derrick walked into the dark night, the bartender came back to where Derrick once sat, noticing an unfinished beer that he had paid too much for.

Walking out of the bar and into the alleyway beyond, Derrick began to make his way towards the street; hoping to catch that girl before she had gotten too far. Running down the alleyway, he began to notice a noise as he approached the end. As he got even closer, he began to notice that what he was hearing were voices.

“Oh come on you bitch! You know you want it!” One voice said, clearly a male.

“No, I don’t you creep, leave me alone!” The other said, this one was clearly female.

Derrick put two and two together rather quickly as he began to run faster down the alleyway. Worry gripping him that he might be a little too late. Soon his run turned into a full on sprint down the alleyway.

“Let me go you, fucker!” The girl shouted.

“Oh no you don’t, bitch! You are coming with me! We are going to fuck you REEEAL good!” another male voice shouted with a laugh.

Turning the corner, Derrick came face to face with the situation. Two young men that were dress in some sort of gang getup were grabbing onto the girl that Derrick had seen rush out of the bar. The two men were trying to drag her into a car.

A scowl formed across Derrick’s face. I took him all his will no not just rush in immediately. With a collected mind, he approached calmly and quietly in hopes that the two men would only see him coming when it was far too late. Putting his hand into his pockets, he pulls out a pair of brass knuckles and fits them around his fingers; preparing himself for what came next.

He was five feet away when one of the men finally noticed him.

“Hey, motherfucker! What do you think yo-” The would be rapist never got to finish his sentence as Derrick’s right fist collided with the gangbanger’s face.

The gangbanger fell to the ground as he clutched his broken nose and screamed in agony. His buddy finally gained notice of Derrick and released the girl. The girl ran down the street screaming for help as the second gangbanger pulled a knife.

“Fuck!!!” Derrick’s mind screamed as he narrowly dodges to the right of the incoming knife, the knife took a piece of his shirt.

Derrick acted quickly, countering with a left jab to the gangbanger’s face. The blow was not that hard due to the awkward angle he was forced to swing at, but still ended up stunning stunning the gang banger and made him stumble back. Taking advantage of this brief window, Derrick followed up with another left jab which was then followed by a powerful right jab to the gangbanger’s face. The gangbanger fell to the floor unconscious.

Derrick, feeling safe that the man would not be getting up anytime soon, turned around to deal with the other one. However, upon turning around, he notices the other gang banger had already gotten back up and was now aiming a revolver at him. With a smile, the kid pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

Derrick fell and screamed in agony as he felt a bullet rip through his stomach, making his belly explode with blood as a slow and steady stream shot out of his wound. If he knew getting shot was this painful, he would have probably considered a different method of suicide.

Derrick hit the ground hard, withering in pain as he heard the gang banger start to chuckle to himself; probably very proud of himself. Derrick tried to get up to strangle the little bastard, but the pain shooting through him from the wound of his stomach kept him down.

Lying on the ground, twitching in shock, he shot a glance at the kid who gave him the wound. The kid stood over him, he was clutching his nose in pain but had a cocky smile on his face. The kid pointed the gun at his head and pulled back the hammer with a defining *click*.

Derrick began to think over his recent actions. In the end, he decided he did well. He saved that girl from a fate much worse than death and earned the glorious death he had been trying to gain; though by other means.

“Maybe my luck is changing.” He thought with an humorless laugh.

“Any last words you sorry sack of shit?”

Derrick said nothing for a moment before he said. “Good riddance…”

As his vision began to darken, Derrick believed that he heard the last shot that ends his miserable life.

*BANG*

A shadowed figure watched as the whole event unfolded.

His faith in this species faltering as he saw the girl getting grabbed by those animals. Their intentions were of total malice, to rape the poor girl and probably kill her after they had their fun. These monsters reminded him of some ponies back in Equestria, it made him sick. It was such a shame to him, these were not the champions he had hoped to find.

He was about to move on to somewhere else, but that was before he notices another human running out of ally and spotting the two rapists. The shadow figure’s attention regained, he watch as the human approached the two others and proceeded to beat the shit out of them, much to the figure’s amusement. The girl ran off as the man stayed behind to keep the two thugs in line. Perhaps there was hope after all…

His amusement was short lived, however, as one of the rapist pulled out a different type of weapon and proceeded to wound the hero of the girl.

The shadow figure let out a sigh as the villain triumphed over the hero. While he usually didn’t mind the idea, it sort of depressed him in this case.

“No good deed goes unpunished I suppose…” The figure thought to himself.

The figure however, finds himself surprised once again as he finds another man running out from the alleyway, armed much like the rapist except with a bigger weapon. The man then proceeds to blow the back of the villain's head off before rushing to the hero’s aid.

“Now that is interesting… Perhaps there is still hope.” The figure thought to himself.

The figure started his descent towards the two living humans, it was time to greet his new champions…

        John had never imagine his night would go like this…

        This was his first shift on his job as a bartender, his first shift and he has already had to kill someone. All John could think about at the moment was how much his boss was going to kill him when he hears that he shot and killed some kid on the street using the bar’s gun. He was going to lose his job for sure.

It started off when some amiss looking guy came into the bar and ordered a beer. He looked somewhere between old middle aged, somewhere in his forties. Wearing a red flannel shirt and blue jeans. Judging by his disheveled appearance with a rough light beard and tired eyes, it looked like something was bothering him. He was looking around at other people rather suspiciously, like he was looking for a fight. When John asked about how he was doing, the man simply brushed him off. After a bit, the man took off and left 18 dollars too much for the beer.

Though John would had liked to think it was a huge tip, he really didn’t think so. He assumed that the man simply forgot to wait for his change. So, with this in mind, he made up the man’s change and went to see if he could catch him before he got too far.

However, he came around the corner to find that the man was in a fight with two thugs trying to kidnap a girl. John reaction was immediate; he ran back to the bar, quickly made his way around the counter, grabbed the bar’s double barrel shotgun, loaded it, grabbed the rest of the box of ammo, and ran back to the scene, ignoring the concerned shouts and questions raised by the customers.

By the time John got back, he found one of the thugs standing over the man with a revolver to the man’s head. John didn’t hesitate as he leveled the shotgun and fired. The kid’s head was blown off, bits and pieces going everywhere, as the body fell limp and to the ground.

Now, John was standing in the aftermath. Checking on the wounded man and freaking out over the phone with the police.

“I SAID, we need someone over here now! The guy is fucking dying! You hear me? Get your asses over here!”

“Sir, I need you to calm down. Tell us where you are and what happened.”

“I TOLD YOU ALREADY!!! We are on Sanderson outside Quips Bar!!! I came out and saw some people in trouble! So I went back to the bar, came out with a shotgun, and shot one of the fuckers! I don’t know where the girl is, but I know the man is in critical condition! Now get over here NOW!” John shouted before hanging up.

John Sat down next to the dying man, he had one hand and a towel keeping pressure on the man’s wound and another over his own nose and mouth as he tried his best to keep himself from vomiting from the sight and the smell of the scene around him. He was constantly trying to think of something else, but the sight and smell always brought him back to reality.

“This night is so fucked up…” John mumbled to himself.

“Not nearly as much as it could have been. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better outcome…” said voice out of nowhere.

John looked up to see a shadowed figure vaguely representing a human standing in front of him. The figure has no defining details other than it’s shape what-so-ever, it was merely floating black fog.

“W-What the fuck!?” John stuttered in fear as he reached for his shotgun nearby. However, the shotgun slid out of reach by a black aura before he could grab it. In a panic, John tried reaching for the dead thug’s revolver instead. It was all for not as it slid out of reach as well.

“Calm down, human. I mean no ill intent… if you lest to change my intention, then have not ill intent against me.” The thing calmly responded.

John barely understood what the thing had just said, but understood the basic point. “U-Uh… Okay… I don’t try anything, you don’t try anything?” John asked nervously.

The shadow seemed to stare at him with annoyance of John’s ignorance of basic english, but continued on with what it was saying.

“Exactly. Now, as I was saying, this could have been a lot worse. If this man didn’t come out, that poor girl would have been taken away to have the unspeakable done to her. If you didn’t come out, this man would be dead for sure, this crook would have gotten away, and I wouldn’t have found my champions.” He said.

John was confused now more than he ever has been in his entire life. He couldn’t quite comprehend what exactly was happening, this night was just getting weirder and weirder. Who was this guy? What did he mean by champions? Champions for what?

“Wh-What are you talking about? Champions? What does that have to do with any of this? What the fuck are you anyways?”

“I am sorry to say don’t have much time. As such, I don’t have time to explain. I need to get you two prepped for transport. Got to get you two Equestria as soon as possible, before your friend croaks and your police arrive to screw this all up, sorry.”

“Wait! What are you-” John tried to ask before he and the unconscious man were swarmed by a black fog. John struggled to free himself from the suffocating gas around him, but only succeeded in making himself circum much faster to the lack of oxygen.

As he felt himself hit the floor and fall unconscious, he heard the final words of the figure.

“I sincerely hope you two will be enough…”

In the Time We have Left...