He laughed.

  Not because anything was funny,

  but because something inside him finally broke.

  The sound echoed once, sharp and hollow, and then his body gave out.

  Jack collapsed beside the garbage bags and darkness swallowed him whole.

  When his eyes opened again, it was night.

  White lights.

  Beeping machines.

  The smell of disinfectant.

  A hospital.

  A scream cut through the silence.

  "How is this possible?" a nurse cried.

  "He had no pulse!"

  Jack tried to sit up.

  And felt something wrong.

  His hands were too big.

  His chest too heavy.

  He was in bucket man's body.

  Before he could speak--before he could even breathe--the air tore open.

  A portal.

  His chest tightened. His throat burned.

  He wanted to cry.

  He wanted to scream his daughter's name.

  His body didn't care.

  It moved on its own.

  The window shattered as he leapt through it, sprinting toward the portal.

  That night, he fought again.

  And again.

  And again.

  When morning finally came, the portals stopped.

  The clouds still lingered above the city, slowly twisting into shapes.

  "The chosen one to annihilate will arrive after ten years."

  A wave of sadness hits Jack as he looks at the clouds .

  Jack felt something snap.

  He jumped into the air and screamed.

  "AIR PIERCER!"

  His punch erased the sky.

  The clouds scattered like dust.

  When he landed, he started walking and returned to his real body.

  He Stared down at himself with disgust.

  "You useless bastard."

  He dragged his body away from the ruins and took it to his second house.

  The first no longer existed.

  From that night onward, the cycle continued.

  Every night.

  Without mercy.

  Creatures came.

  He killed them.

  Again.

  And again.

  Until he noticed something.

  The next creature only appeared after the previous one died.

  So he stopped killing them.

  One night, after severing a creature's limbs and arms, he carried the creature to the tallest building and sat on the edge of the roof.

  The creature stared at him.

  Through the hole in his bucket, Jack looked back.

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  "What are you staring at?" he asked quietly.

  "Are you pitying me?"

  No response.

  "Let's make a deal," he said.

  "I'll let you live until morning. You listen. That's all."

  Silence accepted the terms.

  " I fear I might lose my sanity if I stay quiet for the rest of my life so this is the answer I came up with to hold my sanity "

  After saying this he leaned on the wall behind him and stared at both the moons shining brightly in the dark.

  Below the moonlight , the man covered in blood looked angelic ,with his blue eyes reflecting the beauty of the night .

  " My daughter died ..."

  He said with no pause

  "I was going to kill myself the next morning but then I saw it .

  I saw their eyes fixated on me.

  I saw the faith of people in me .

  I became their reason to live , I became the reason they could rebuild themselves.

  I became the spark of light in absolute darkness .

  And that spark became a god for them."

  He paused for a moment

  "I became a god for them . "

  Bucket man slowly tilted his head towards the creature .

  " I never asked to be a god . "

  And silence covered both broken creatures for a few minutes.

  Finally the mentally broken creature continued .

  " Humans have other humans to rely on . They listen to each other, help each other , and connect with each other .

  And when the time of utter despair comes they have each other to lift .

  But gods .....

  But gods don't have anyone ."

  "Is this the price a human pays to achieve godhood ?"

  Bucket man stared at the creature after saying this as if the creature would reply to him .

  But it didn't.

  Suddenly he heard a human voice .

  A voice he is a little too familiar with

  " You are not a god . "

  His daughter's voice cut through the darkness .

  Jack stiffened .

  He couldn't see her .

  Not in this body .

  So he pretended not to hear .

  And the night passed away slowly with little to no conversation after that .

  Another day passed .

  Another night came.

  And so did another creature .

  The bucket man resisted the urge to talk to them for as long as he could.

  But on the second night he once again decapitated another creature and sat beside him .

  He looked at the creature for a few seconds and asked

  " Are you the same creature I talked to? "

  The creature didn't reply like always .

  " Well even if you are not, I will act as if you are and talk to you ."

  And a few minutes passed and both of them only looked at the moon's , shining brightly in the sky .

  " I know it's wrong to feel this way but I don't know how to remove this feeling ..."

  " I like being alone," Jack said slowly

  " But I still crave warmth "

  He hesitated

  "A human who can understand me and not make assumptions about me ...

  " I think that's why I prefer sitting beside the kind of creature which killed my daughter .....

  The kind of this creature doesn't judge or try to console me , they just listen to me .

  Quietly ."

  He chuckled faintly.

  " You remind me of my daughter . She used to listen to me too and was more of a quite person ."

  Tears started rolling down his face .

  " I really loved her .... "

  The sobbing grew louder and louder

  His daughter watched him mourn her , even though she wanted to console him, she knew...

  She knew She doesn't exist .

  She knew she died.

  That night, on one edge of the roof ,a father cried for his daughter .

  While on the other edge a daughter cried seeing the condition of his father .

  The sun rose again and as the sunlight hit his tears filled eyes , the creature was killed .

  The days kept on passing and talking to creatures became a daily routine for bucket man .

  Half a year passed since his daughter died and by now people had a hypothesis.

  They entertained themselves with the thought that every night , after decapitating creatures . The bucket man drags them to a secluded place and tortures them until the sun rises .

  And just like every night , that night too ,bucket man sat beside the creature .

  " You know what ? "

  A quiet laugh escaped.

  "They think I torture everything that comes out of those portals "

  He paused for a moment and continued.

  " Come on , decapitating you and making you hear my stuff is not torture I guess ...

  Leaving that aside , you know what ?

  People have started awakening powers just like you creatures so I guess that makes me the first person to ever awaken .

  I feel kinda special but at the same time I felt fear for a second .

  If these people decide they don't need me , what will I do ? "

  After Saying this he laid beside the creature and looked at the moon .

  " Do you like the view from this angle ? "

  And bucket man thought for a bit and came to the conclusion that his spot is better .

  The time kept moving and bucket man's loneliness kept on growing .

  Once again he found himself sitting beside a creature

  " You know , the government has evacuated 3 whole states for the purpose of combat .

  They have decided that it's my duty to drag the creature from wherever the portal opens to the combat zone , it will reduce casualties. Do you believe that ?

  It's all a bunch of crap . They have installed cameras in the area . They want to earn money by showing heroes fighting monsters every night .

  Those Bunch of cash grabbing bastards , trying to rob even when society is on the verge of collapse .

  And you know what's happening?

  Since the first portal opened , all the other countries have not only decided to cut off their connections with us but also are planning on starting a war with us .

  Nobody has gotten out of the country since the first portal opened except for that moustached bastard president ."

  And just like that he kept on ranting.

  Until one day when he was in his original body ,Jack saw his daughter crying .

  " Why are you crying? " He asked gently .

  " I can't handle it anymore . You are losing yourself .

  You have started thinking you are a god and the people can't live without you " his daughter replied while crying

  " what's wrong with my statement ? "

  The words lingered .

  Only after he said this , he realised that his situation is not improving but in fact is worsening .

  So he stopped talking to creatures too .

  His world narrowed to only one thing .

  The chosen one .

  His goal in life became to defeat the chosen one and that became his only reason to stay alive one more day .