The Extra’s Detour

When Jay woke up, it was night time. He was looking up at the dark sky and his head was pounding. He smelled garbage.

Huh...

Then he looked around and realized he was in garbage. Lying in a dumpster in some back alley somewhere, between what smelled like old lasagna and a fettuccini fighting for territory, he looked up at the open sky and sighed. "Damn... that sucks..."

Now he had to figure out if he had a washing machine at his apartment.

"I don't even think I have soap," Jay murmured as he sat up, hissing as his chest tightened in protest and his arm spasmed at even the slightest movement. He looked down at it, cursing as he saw finger shaped bruises and a large swelling. He hissed, gritting his teeth as it pulsed with pain and some bandages, barely tied correctly, fell from his head.

"Fuck," Jay whispered as he pulled himself out of the dumpster. Cringing as his back started pulsing in protest and his head pounded. He barely had the strength to heave himself out of the dumpster, slipping halfway and landing in a pile of snow. Screaming into the powder as his arm landed beneath him and nearly broke again.

"Fuck!" Jay let out a muffled scream, biting his cheek hard enough to draw blood as he pushed himself to his knees. Then after his head vision stopped from the pain, he stood up. Standing on shaky legs as he held his broken arm at the elbow, hoping nothing would move it, and saw his jacket pinned into the nearby wall with his broken spear head. A note tacked to the top of it.

Hey, fucker. It read. You should feel pretty lucky. I had to waste medical supplies on you, so now you owe me, let's say 1,000 U. Better fucking have it by the time school starts back up again or I'll make your life a living hell. And don't even about pulling that shit again. Otherwise I'll really kill you next time.

Jay read the note, laughing tiredly as he pulled the broken spear out of the wall, the dagger buried so deep it cracked the wall when he pulled iron out. He let the spearhead fall from his fingertips and picked up his jacket. The spearhead was already damaged from how hard it had been jabbed into the wall.

It was useless now, so he didn't need it.

He didn't need anything except a nap.

"Long... long day," he murmured almost drunkenly, barely putting on his jacket before he stumbled into a wall and fell to his knees. Gritting his teeth as he sat there for a minute to recuperate. He could feel his fingers shake and numb. He could feel his right eye water. His left eye too swollen to tear up.

Everything hurt.

And he probably wasn't anywhere near his apartment.

Or his sister's apartment he guessed.

"I have a sister..." Jay murmured, glancing around the alley he was in. It was dark and gloomy, boxes across the walls and trash scattered everywhere. Jay knew he wasn't near the bar, there hadn't been a dumpster there, but he also didn't recognize the building on either side of him. He had no clue how he was gonna get home from here.

"Wonder where she is..."

At this rate it might've just been better to sleep in the dumpster till sunrise. That way he could at least ask someone for some directions come morning.

"Didn't he say she was a celebrity or some-"

"You gonna keep talking to yourself kid?" Jay paused as he heard an old and gravely voice break the light snow fall. Jay looked over, the flickering, dim street light highlighting an open door in the alley. Jay saw a wrinkly old man in PJs, with dull black eyes, a thin grey strands of hair hiding hints of baldness, and a skinny, probably dying body. He might've been tall too, but he was in a wheelchair, parked at the edge of the doorway, so it was hard to tell.

"Or you gonna clean the mess you made to my wall and leave?" The man asked with a hint of a German accent. Jay watched as the man, who was starting to remind him of Ebenezar, lit his cigar with a pair of thin, creaky, trembling hands and put it to his lips.

"You're ruining my mood." The old man scowled, puffing on the cigar as Jay blinked, "Who goes outside to smoke in the middle of the night?"

"Who sits in an alley way in the middle of the night looking like they crawled out of a blender and muttering nonsense to themselves."

"…Touché old man. Touché." Jay grumbled, glancing at the broken wall from the spear point and sighed. "Do I really have to clean this stuff. I don't even know how to fix a wall."

"Then figure it the fuck out." The man scowled, "Or pay someone to do it. I don't care."

"You're a real saint, aren't you."

"Saints are for the dying or the dumb, and I'm neither."

"I mean you look pretty close to one." Jay snorted, coughing up a laugh as his lungs started burning. He grit his teeth, closing his eyes as he heard the man scoffed, "And you look closer. Do me a favor and die somewhere else, would you? I don't need you leaving even more of a mess."

"Just shut up for a second." Jay wheezed before he nearly hacked up his lungs, slowly catching his breath as he tried to stand up and nearly slipped. Catching his footing by a hair's breadth, and sending a jolt of pain through his ribs once again, he put his good arm against the wall for balance and tucked the other against his stomach and breathed.

And breathed.

And kept breathing. It was the only thing he could do to stop the world from spinning. He'd never been in this much pain in his life. It felt like his arm as stabbing itself every other second and his ribs felt damn near crunchy. Everything hurt.

But eventually he caught his bearings, and was able to stand up without the wall. Glancing over at the old man who was already on his second cigar. Lighting it with a bored look on his face as he sighed, "About time. Now fix the wall and leave. I'm tired."

"I'll fix the wall tomorrow." Jay groaned, ignoring the man's frown as he asked, "Where am I? I need to get home and I can't do that if I'm lost and cold."

"I think cold's the least of your problem." The man huffed, tapping his cigar against the door as he rolled himself back inside his building.

"You're by Memorial Park. It's five minutes from here if you take a left out the alley. Figure the rest out yourself." He said, slamming the door behind him. Leaving Jay alone in the snow and darkness.

"Thanks for the help..." Jay coughed. Turning towards the edge of the alley as he started limping as slow as he could. He winced with every step and breath, trudging through the snow and cold night air. He walked out of into the empty street, glancing back to see the building the old man went back into.

It was a small, two story shop.

Erinnerungen Sterben Nie. Jay read the sign as he coughed violently, shaking his head as he walked away and headed towards the Park.

He got lucky. If he remembered right Memorial Park was a place that didn't actually have any graves, it would take too much space to fit the millions that died over the last two invasions, but the park wasn't empty.

There were golden statues in the park instead of traditional graves. Remnants of the legendary heroes from the first and second invasion. Whether it be the few that survived or the dozens that died, any big named hero of the past was there.

Ryu visited it once on a whim, to see what they were like. The heroes that defended humanity to the fullest.

He said it was humbling.

"How much would it cost to fix a wall..."

He also said it was ten minutes from a convenience store. So Jay would have to try his luck there.

....

It turns out the convenience store wasn't 24 hour one, unfortunately, but it did have a complementary map plastered on the side. Jay used it to find a landmark he knew, the Association headquarters, I.E the tallest building in Regalia, before using it to work his way backwards towards his apartment.

It took two goddamn hours.

And by the time Jay got to his apartment , third floor two doors to the right, he was ready to pass out. He walked inside, closing the door behind him as he trudged over to his room, the sound of the TV he'd left on greeting him. He glanced at it, an interview with another hunter was playing, this time from the Number 1 guild, Azure Tiger, and their guild master. A woman with straight blonde hair and royal blue eyes. Jay glanced at her before heading to his bed.

He stopped right in front of it, staring at it for a full ten seconds, before sighing and walking to the bathroom. He could already feel the sticky mess his face was turning into, with all the dried blood and makeup that had been smeared off. He had to wash it before it got infected. He could sleep afterwards.

No, wait, actually he couldn't. He had something else to do to. Fuck. It never ended.

"What a pain." Jay grumbled as he turned on the bath, quickly changing his mind and starting the shower. Last thing he wanted was to fall asleep and drown after everything he did today. It would be such a waste of time and effort in his part.

"Maybe next time." He coughed as he stripped his dirty clothes, tossing them to the side and taking a quick, painful shower. His lungs screaming at even the dull sprinkles of water and his arm still looking like an apple after the way it broke.

Jay would try to find a way to cast it later, but after the shower was over, and Jay's face only looked like a bruised banana instead of a fucked up bruised banana, he walked back to his clothes, took something out of his jean pockets, and walked back to his bed and fell atop it. Not even registering the pain in his arm anymore as he lay in his back and looked at the ceiling. Resting for a moment before he sighed, and looked at the phone in his hand.

It was cracked, probably old phone by this world's standards but at least an IPhone 17 back in his old one. Property of one Jay Haze. Returned by one idiot David-whatever.

Jay had stolen it from his pocket when he tried to stab the dude.

Or pretend to stab the dude, he guessed.

"Thanks for the help." Jay laughed quietly, it hurt to laugh, and turned on the phone. The screen lighting up his dim apartment as he saw a Lock Screen of a girl with long brown hair and icy blue eyes on what he assumed was Voxx's standard uniform. A white dress shirt with a blue skirt.

She was a teenager, maybe Jay's age, and it didn't take long to realize this was his sister. He saw the resemblance right away.

And he couldn't help but notice that the photo looked old. And profesional. She was smirking directly at the camera and holding two Sabre like swords at her waist. It looked like she was posing for something, maybe a news article or interview or something.

It even had snippets of a date in the corner. 2059.

"10 years ago?" Jay furrowed his brows, swiping the screen as he was met with his greatest enemy since he showed up on this world. The bane of his new life.

"Password…" he muttered as he glared at the phone for what felt like hours. Trying digits in his head until he glanced at the ceiling. Closing his eyes as he set the phone down and sighed, "How the fuck am I supposed to figure out the dude's password."

And to be clear, when Jay said that, alone in the discomfort of the apartment…

[I believe he keeps a diary under the bed if memory serves right.]

He wasn't expecting an answer.