An explosion tore open the hull of the large freighter ship, letting water pour into the rooms below and drown the surviving civilians; women, children and elderly. The ship began to slowly sink as it filled with water and the remaining passengers who managed to escape the destruction made it onto the deck. The crew, they found to their horror, had other priorities in mind. A helicopter had approached in the several minutes that had passed since the explosion, and the crewmembers were busy securing cables on a large box with clear labels on the sides: Explosives. The passengers realized in that moment that they were going to die, and panic broke out.

The helicopter began to rise, taking with it supplies for the war effort. It would have continued to rise if not for the ball of fire slamming into the crate, knocking it free of the cables. It plummeted toward the ship, flames consuming every inch of the box. As soon as it landed on the deck, its contents torched off, blowing the ship out of the water and removing all signs of life inside of it.

That was the last battle of the Australian-Canadian war, won by Australia because of the actions committed by the Alchemist, who was still considered one of the worst criminals alive.

The Australians never forgot his actions.

Throughout the dark and gloomy halls of the prison, a tune played, to the annoyance of the prisoners trapped and forgotten inside. It was a tune that had survived over a hundred years, despite many attempts to have it banned by almost every country in the world, many of which succeeded once it was used by the Alchemist in every operation he took part in. Those that struggled quickly gave in when they heard of how the Alchemist was to be put down. A public execution by firing squad would remove not just the infamous Alchemist, but also four other infamous criminals.

When said war criminal caught wind of his execution, he demanded his final request to be bound by some strange magic that everyone involved refused to explain: As long as his heart beat, the song he loved so much would play. Grinning at his success, he was escorted back to his cell to wait out the next few days before his execution was planned.

After the song had played for a little over twenty minutes, he found out his execution had been bumped up to right then, and he was escorted out into the courtyard, where he found his four other comrades in death, hands bound behind their backs, their backs to the walls. The Alchemist recognized every face, and silently went over their names in his head. Or what he called them; few had actually told him their names.

There was Catherine, a young girl who was maybe fifteen. When she was younger, her schoolteacher had supposedly tried to rape her, setting off her ability and revealing her special talent of disintegration. She decided to show her new talent off by wiping out all life in a fifty mile radius. Accidentally, of course. She showed remorse for the deaths, and as he had seen upon his sessions of "attempted rehabilitation," she had taken many more accidentally when taming her ability. A valuable ally simply because she shows remorse, the Alchemist thought over in his head, as though he believed he was going to survive an execution. Her dirty brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, showing off her fair features. The bags under her eyes from her sleep deprivation brought on by nightmares, her tear-stained cheeks from the times when she had failed, the scratches in her palms from when she tried to focus. The pain in her sea green eyes as she watched the Alchemist pass, as though she understood that he understood her remorse.

Next to her was that hooded woman whose name he couldn't remember for whatever reason. Maybe it was because he could see her face when she told him. When she saw her "rehabilitation" during his own, which generally consisted of watching other sessions, he made a point to focus on her appearance, not her personal details. Another possible ally, even if I can't remember why she even deserves to die. Most couldn't remember, but either way people were happy to see someone who was stronger than them die. When he tried to recall what he usually called her, nothing came to mind.

Which brought the Alchemist to his next observation: Milton aka Mindfuck, a telepathic psycho. His kill count was fairly high even before the lives taken by people under his control. He showed zero remorse for any of his actions. In fact, he seemed eager to be a part of the execution, a wide grin on his hard features. Numerous scars lined his face, from what the Alchemist couldn't guess, but they did the job of making him look psychotic. He had a thick ginger beard and hard hazel eyes that focused on the peculiar pyro with an accusing glare.

Finally came Fade, also known as Ferdinand or some stupid shit. He was a confusing one, rarely spoke of his actions but seemed proud of them when mentioned. His actions, as they were, were large. Mass kidnappings (more than twenty people at a time) vandalism, theft, assault, battery, torture, sexual assault... the list was longer than the Alchemist had time to go over. He could change his form to resemble just about anything, and used that to get close to his victims. He could make a person see anything he willed, and tended to stalk his victims openly for some time before an attack, much like the Slenderman of legends who he modeled himself after. Fade and Milton are two to watch out for. While powerful, the Alchemist reasoned that their psychotic natures weren't worth the risk.

Together, the five were lined up against the prison wall of the fairly sparse courtyard, and watched as several thousand people (despite the rescheduling) filed in, cheering as the people they hated so much were going to die, or so they thought. The Alchemist had the sense of mind to shoot anyone waving an Australian flag a look that would make Chuck Norris cower in his robotic boots.

Even after becoming part machine, the man was the subject of numerous jokes, along with your mother.

The Alchemist made a point to look away from Canadians, though staring up at the blaring speakers brought him little comfort, as he couldn't see the looks on peoples' faces as they cringed and looked up at the offending sound producers.

Oh Eduard, how much I love you and your brilliance. If he was going to die, he made a point to make the people watching suffer alongside him. After the Australians turned him over to the UN for his “crimes”—which, by the way, the Australians waited until after the war to complain about—he ceased to care for the people down under.

Then, like something out of a movie, everyone in the crowd went silent, leaving the music unchallenged to reach everyone's ears. The Alchemist blew his long, dirty hair out of his eyes, frowning as he saw the firing squad walk out, fifteen men with assault rifles. Three men for each criminal, it seemed. Not sure how firing squads work, but doesn't that seem like overkill? They turned towards the convicts, pointing their guns straight at the people.

The Alchemist leaned forward, looking down the line of people and seeing differing expressions: Catherine was sobbing, the forgettable woman's face was covered by her hood so people could remember that she was there, Fade's jaw was locked, and Milton... Milton was still smiling, but he was whispering something.

The Alchemist watched as the members of the firing squad started looking at one another suspiciously, before one of them turned the gun on the guy next to him, putting several rounds in the side of his head and hitting one of the people in the crowd. Suddenly, it was mass hysteria. People charged the squad and prisoners, intent on making sure none of them walked away alive.

Which they didn't. They didn't need to walk because instead, they teleported.

The Alchemist opened his eyes, surprised to find that instead of the inky blackness of death, or the grey of the concrete floor, he was staring at orange rock. He lifted his head and found his hands were free, so he leaned on his arms and took a look at his surroundings. He was on a cliff overlooking what looked like a massive apple orchard. It spanned an entire valley, although he noted what looked to be a large path cutting through it. Place doesn't exactly look modern, although I can't be sure of that just yet.

Because that teleportation had been no accident. No, when he saw just what Milton was doing, he acted, expelling every ounce of his energy into a spell, consuming all five of them in a blast of light and throwing them into the nearest occupied space that he knew wouldn't kill them the very second they arrived. Of course, that place happened to be uncharted territory for even him, so whether they were killed in the following moments was left up to fate. He rolled onto his back, staring into the cloudy sky above him. He looked around him and saw more cliff, along with four awaiting faces.

He grinned, nodding. "Right, I bet you all have questions." Three heads shook, but Fade made a point to raise a hand.

He stood, taking a few steps forward and pointing at the orchard. "Where are we, Gerard?"

"Sorry, are we on first names now? Because I don't remember being all buddy buddy with you. You're lucky I saved your life. I could have left you and Mindfuck over there to die." Gerard pointed a finger at Milton, nodding. "Only reason I didn't is for one single reason: I believe everyone deserves second chances. Wouldn't be fair if I got one but you didn't. And before you say anything, what happened in the prison was hardly a second chance." Fade and Milton both seemed surprised by the idea of fairness, but neither refuted his point and he continued. "Now, have any of you gone to see if there are locals nearby? That orchard looks pretty well cared for." Four heads shook. "Right. In that case, I'll go do it. Not like I just wasted most of my energy on a difficult spell to save all your lives, so I'll go alone." Use guilt to get some company, that'll work on a bunch of convicts.

Of course, he was hardly surprised to hear the quiet footsteps of a teenage girl behind him. They walked without a word until they were out of earshot, when Gerard decided to test the waters. "So, Catherine... Why you? You hate all of us."

There was silence for several moments, long enough for the Alchemist to decide she wasn't answering, when she surprised him. "I hate you the least." Curiouser and curiouser... Although, I suppose there is a logic to the choice. He looked back and saw she was watching him while trailing a few feet behind him.

"Why is that? I've killed more innocent people than all of you combined. Just because I regret it doesn't make me a good person." Wise words, old one. The thirty-four year old was surprised to see Catherine shake her head, a smile growing on her face.

"I don't care if you regret it, it's the fact that you can tell the difference between innocent and guilty. Milton and Ferdinand don't care who they kill, they just like to see dead people."

Gerard nodded in a sage manner. "Right, right. Too bad they don't have a sixth sense, that would sort of solve having to kill people to see them dead, huh?" The pair shared a laugh, but one thought crawled to the forefront of Gerard's mind. "You've never been quite so talkative. I would have expected you to shut down after everything that's happened." They finished walking down a slope and turned to start walking towards the orchard, and what appeared to be train tracks.

"I've lived my life from the age of eight with the realization that I'm going to die. Every day I spent being taught subjects that I knew I would never need to know. I was taught to use an ability that could kill people. Maybe you're right, we all deserve a second chance. I want to take advantage of that, and unlike you I've had half the day to think about it."

Gerard raised an eyebrow. "I was out half the day?" He looked up and saw that it was indeed well after noon. They came to the train tracks just as a train approached, a coal run locomotive by the look of it. "Really? Damn, the people in this place must be technologically impaired."

They waited for a minute or so as the passenger train passed, in silence until they saw the end of the train approaching.

"Finally, now we'll be able to cross and get some..." He trailed off when the train passed, revealing several dozen buffalo and horses, pegasi and unicorns. "...Answers?"

One of them stepped ahead of the others, a beige horse with a dirty blonde mane wearing a vest with a sheriff's badge and wearing a stetson. He nodded, before he opened his mouth to say, "Now what are ya'll doin' out here in Appleloosa?"

Author's Note

And CLIFFHANGER. So, opinions?
Please thank the wonderful whatmustido for pointing out how terrible this first chapter actually is.