Memento Mori chapter 1: Full moon again

Disclaimer: Please read this story. I don’t want to be just a story that can be skimmed and thrown away. Please take your time with this story. I don’t want the main point of this to be the big bad, or defeating the villain, I want this story to be about the characters and how they grow. This goes for all of the chapters. Please feel something.

“This just in! The Infamous Matt Kingsman has been put behind bars! What's the scoop, Sarah?”
“Well Josh, After the tragic events of what happened in West City, The leader of the street crashers has been put to jail. And this isn’t like any other arrest where he’ll be bailed out like usual! This time, the court has given him a very extreme sentence! The death penalty is back in full swing just for this man! In just one month, Matt Kingsman will be executed-”
“In just one month-”
“One month-”
“One-”

I wake up in darkness, unable to move my body… that's odd. I could have sworn I was just laying down on the cold stone bed of my jailcell… I look around to see if I can find anything, but all I can see is the abyss. The sound of water falling fills my ears as a brown bird flies by me.
“Why are you alive?” A voice calls out to me. It doesn’t sound like it’s coming from any general location, but I answer back with my usual tone.
“Well I’m not entirely sure… but I think it’s because I’ve been working out a lot more recently! Gotta work on the lower body though…”
“Thats not what I meant” Yeesh. Tough crowd. “I’ll eleborate. Why are you alive? What drives you to keep going? Why do you continue to live?” I try to answer, but nothing comes out. The confidence leaves my face. I… I don’t know. But the voice is patient with me. “Don’t worry. Most people don’t know their own reason. Maybe during this month you’ll find your answer to your life.” The bird flies past me as I can do nothing but watch. “I care about you. I always had. I’ll be rooting for you.” The world around me starts getting brighter and brighter until-
“ALRIGHT INMATE! GET UP!” I jump from my bed, hitting the ceiling. I rubbed the back of my head in pain… I should have known it was a bad idea to take the top bunk… I jumped down from the bed and put on my jacket. It was kind of Eren to give me back my old jacket while I was in here. I walk with the guards along with my cellmate, who I never really got to know the name of… But he gives me a strange vibe… Something familiar. I walk through the halls, get some… food? Nah it doesn’t deserve to be called that. I get some… goo, and sit down next to my cell mate.
“Hey, is anyone sitting here?” I say after sitting down and making myself comfortable. The man just glanced at me and went back to eating. He had pink hair and a black jacket, with a sleeveless shirt underneath that had a face with xed out eyes and a tongue sticking out.

There was a birthmark on his left cheek that looked like a scar. I spoke up once again. “So, since I’m going to be with you for the rest of your sentence, you mind telling me what your name is?” Even more silence. I just ate my goo and then spat it back out. Surprisingly, when it’s chewed, it doesn’t look that different from when it isn’t half eaten. “Do they have anything better in this piece of crap?”
“You have to pay 20 dollars in order for something slightly more edible.” The man replayed before dumping the rest of his breakfast into the trash can. I followed him and walked down the halls with him. We stopped outside and leaned against a wall. Suddenly the alarm rings and it looks like one of the inmates is trying to break out. Odd time to do so since it’s early in the morning, but hey, you do what you gotta do, I guess. The man next to me angrily slams the wall. “Damn it these alarms are way too loud…” He mumbled and touched the alarm blaring next to us… and then silence. The lights were still flashing but there was no sound coming from it. The guards start panicking and rush around the alarm, trying to configure it.
“What the hell? Is it broken or something?! Where’s the sound?!”
“I don’t know! There’s nothing wrong with it!”
“Well then keep looking damn it!” The guards are scrambling around trying to find the source of the problem. I stared at the man who just got up and walked away, now holding a marble in his hand… there was no doubt about it. Something was off.
“Hold it.” I say, holding my hand out. The man stopped and turned around, waiting for my response. “That was you, wasn’t it? You have an ability like I do. So let me ask you three questions…” I hold out one finger. “One, who are you?” I hold out another. “Two, what is your ability? And finally, three.” I say holding out 3 fingers. “What is your goal?” The man doesn’t even change expression and turns around again. He then replied in a gruff voice.
“I’m just a nobody. That's all you need to know.” He says walking off without a care in the world. I stared at him dumbfounded by his response and his bad boy demeanor. I have no idea if he’s an enemy or an ally, but I don’t want to test the waters to find out… Later on, I was reading in the prison library. The Alchemist, a classic tale about finding purpose. I was having a good time too when SOMEONE had to ruin it. I heard a scream coming from outside. I put down my book and yell a noise complaint.

“Hey! Keep it down! Some of us are trying to rea-” I stop myself. From outside the room, there stood a yellow humanoid figure, stabbing a man and pulling the blade out. After a while their eyes rolled backwards and they repeated one phrase.
“I don’t deserve to live… I don’t deserve to live…”
The man then fell down, completely lifeless… the yellow figure pointed at me and once I got a good look, I recognized it immediately.
“You!”
“Matt Kingsman… I’ve been expecting you.” That voice was indistinguishable, but I could tell that this was the man… no… the king that I’ve been seeing in my dreams ever since that day. I activated my Ares armor and coat my arms, ready for a battle, but the king simply waved away my threat. “I have no need to deal with you yet. I’ll save you for the main event.” it said, snapping its fingers, signalling for a guard with white hair to walk forward. “Mangle him.” It says, disappearing in a yellow fog. The man bows down politely and looks at me with a malicious smile.
“Pleased to meet you. My name is Owen O'neill. It will be an honor to kill the famous Matt Kingsman.” He told me. It was almost like his entire body was mocking me, from his posture to his face. I go in for a punch, but the only thing I make contact with is a cold fragile mirror. Confused, I turn around and see Owen standing there with some humanoid thing behind him. “Suprising, isn’t it? This is my guardian, Narcissus. It allows me to create mirrors anywhere I want in this prison. Isn’t it lovely? Seeing my own reflection right when you’re about to die… I would say it’s too much.” I smile a little, being a little thrown off at his bluntness, but I jump in place and speak up.
“Explaining your powers to your opponent? You’re acting like you already won!”
“Oh but you see, Kingsman…” He says taking out his gun, “I already have.” He fires at me but I quickly dodge out of the way… Only for the bullet to hit me when my back was turned?! I turn around and see a mirror where I was standing, adjusted so the bullet would bounce off it and hit me. So his mirrors aren’t only just for looking at himself… They can reflect bullets too! I hear more gun shots and I quickly jump out of the room. But then Owen picks up his walkie talkie and speaks through it. “We have an inmate trying to escape. Sound the alarms.” The alarms started on again, still with no sound, but it was enough for everyone to be confused.

Soon, a riot started and the cops struggled to put the inmates back into their cell. I ran down the halls and bumped into that man again.
“You! What did you do?” He says angrily. I tried to explain the situation to him, skipping a couple parts cause I was in a hurry. Could you blame me? I’m bad at telling stories under pressure! After listening, he just walked past me and said “Well, whatever happens happens. This is your fight. You saw something you weren’t and now you’ll pay the price… although I didn’t think there was another Guardian user here…” Wait what? I grabbed him by the shoulders and put him face to face with me.
“Guardian?! What the hell even is that?! I heard that Owen guy say something about that too, but how do you know about it?!” I yell at him and pin him against the wall. I can tell he’s trying to keep his cool as sweat drips down his face. He replied,
“I don’t have anything to say to you! It was just a slip, so don’t worry about it!” I was about to punch him straight in his emo face until I suddenly heard a gunshot and quickly pulled him away… The bullet barely missed his head and I turned to see Owen with Narcissus floating behind him.
“Oh what's this? Another ally? Well no matter, I’ll get rid of them too.” He says aiming the gun at the man's head. Right when he pulled the trigger, I kicked the man into a jail cell, letting my leg get hit by the bullet. The man's face was absolutely priceless. He didn’t seem to expect me to save him like that. I close the door behind him and turn to Owen.
“I have no allys here. There’s only me that you have to eliminate, so no one else has to die, you got that?” The guard stares at me with a smile and points his gun once again.
“If you insist,” he says, firing multiple bullets at me. I deflect them back at him only for it to be blocked by his Guardian. “Did you really think I wouldn’t calculate you doing that?” I get punched into a wall by Narcissus and get sent into the main room of the prison… where he already set everything up. There were mirrors upon mirrors surrounding me as I looked around. All I could see was Owen’s smug looking smile, mocking me, as he reloaded his gun and aimed it. I can hear the firing of a gun and the sound of the bullet ricocheting off the mirrors and then hitting me straight in my chest… I can’t even see where he’s attacking from… there are too many mirrors… and I didn’t even eat enough to have the energy to defend myself right now…

Owen’s laugh echoes through the room. “Oh isn’t this just pathetic! The great Matt Kingsman, The one who everyone said was the strongest, being killed by an enemy he can’t even see!” I frantically punch the mirrors, but Owen will quickly reform them in their place once I do… I could probably destroy them all with a stomp, but that would risk all the inmates and guards who are also in the building… Suddenly a bullet lodges into my back as I fall down, coughing up some blood. “Oh what's wrong? You’re holding back? Too scared to go all out? You might kill someone, right? Since when the hell did YOU care about collateral damage?!” I can hear multiple bullets being fired at once… “This time you’ll really be finished! You think you’re so special, but you’re just filth that has a title!” I can hear the bullets getting closer… “I WIN, MATT KINGSMAN! NOW LAY DOWN AND DI-” His monologue was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering. I turn around and see a fist destroying the mirrors that were a part of the bullet's path, completely missing their mark. I look at the source and notice the man from behind with a weird knight looking thing with a cage for a head behind him, wearing a crown.
“Street Prince…”
“I’m sorry?” I say confused at that random jumble of words
“Street Prince.” He repeated himself. “You asked what my ability was, did you not?” He says holding out a marble. “It has the power to turn anything into a marble… Anything.” He says crushing it as the sound from the alarm blares loudly. Owen screams and covers his ears as the mirrors break around him, revealing his location. I rushed at him, but the man quickly caught up with me and grabbed Owen by the neck and slammed him to the ground. He then crushed another marble and took out a desk and slammed it over him, knocking him out cold. The man put one foot on top of body triumphantly and continued. “My name is Zach Wilson… and my goal… my goal is that I want to live a life I can be proud of.” He says smiling. I can’t help but smile back and shoot a thumbs up in response.
“A life you can be proud of? Well that's certainly a flexible goal. I got nothing against it though.” I said laughing to myself and moving some of the glass shards out of the way. “By the way… do you always fight with desks?”
“Yeah I do! You got a problem with that?!” He yells, holding his fist up. Yikes… looks like I touched a nerve… I should backtrack since I just started getting on his good side.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know, I was just curious” I said scratching the back of my head. Suddenly I hear footsteps and I get into a fighting stance. But it was just that Robert guy…
“Oh dear… so that's what all the ruckus was about…” He says adjusting his tie. “Man Jowl is going to kill me when he sees this…” I’m about to approach him, but Zach yells at me to stop.
“Get away from him, Kingsman!” He says in a worried tone. I turn around confused but he continues yelling like his life depended on it. “Who do you think was the one who got me in here?!” Putting two and two together, I look around and see Robert adjusting his hat, sighing.
“Geez you really are a buzzkill, you know that Zach?” He says turning to him, and then back to me. “Yes I’m a guardian user, I’m sure you know what they are by now since you seem friends with him already… But I’m not here to fight you. I’m simply here to take you in for questioning. Now if you could come with me.” He says waving his hand and walking along. I turned to Zach, who just saluted me.
“I’ll see you around, Kingsman. Watch your back.” He says walking back into his cell. Later, I was handcuffed into a table and explained everything to Robert. I know he probably would think I’m crazy, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say at that time.
“...I see… So this King guy is causing the suicides…” He says to himself before taking out a case file and looking through its contents. “This has been going on for quite some time, and I’m willing to bet you just found our culprit. Very well, tell me everything you know and I’ll send you back to your cell-”
“Hold it!” I yell and slam my hands on the table. “I’m not just going to tell my sob story and then go back to rot. I’m going to help hunt down that thing.” Robert looks shocked at this but hears me out. “I’m the only one who knows what it looks like, aside from Eren, who’d most likely not help due to seeing you take me in. So I’d like to have a parole until I can help capture that King… deal?” Robert thinks about it for a moment and then nods his head and waves his hand.
“Alright then, have it your way. But I have to watch you whenever you’re doing your investigation, and before this month ends, you will be back here, and you will wait for your execution. Got it?” Execution… I completely forgot about that. Sure I could just break out last second, but risk running away forever and being shunned from the world? I’m not dealing with that! Besides… I still have to find my answer…

“Fine.” I say as he uncuffs me and lets me leave. I’m about to leave him until I remember something… “Actually… one more thing.” I say turning to face him and pointing at the prison room. “Release Zach Wilson too, and let him help me.” Robert practically chokes on air, dumbfounded by what I just said.
“Are you kidding me?! You know how long it took me to even capture him?! And now you’re just telling me to let him go all for this little rag tag group of detectives?”
“I just want to see what he can do.” I say, rather smugly. “Also the King has sent a guardian user after me, and there’s a high chance he can send more. He seems trustworthy enough to help me out.” Robert bites his lip, about to say something, but he sighs in defeat
“Alright fine…” He says “I’ll let him out, but you owe me okay?” He says getting his walkie talkie and talking to the guards. Later I head outside of the prison and stretch my arms, finally free from that cramped living space. I can’t wait to go home and snuggle with Vi. I then hear the door open behind them as Zach and Robert walk out. Zach stares at me and nods with a smile as he leaves while Robert stands besides me. “This better be worth it in the end, Kingsman.”
“Please just call me Matt. We’re going to be working together after all.” I say holding my hand out as a friendly gesture. Robert looks rather surprised but shakes my hand. A smile forms on his face as he walks off. As he leaves, I hear him call out to me.
“Hey, feel free to consult with me while I’m slacking off, alright? Just don’t tell Jowl.” He says laughing. What a lively fellow… Well I have some time to kill right now… What should I do…?

See Zach: imgflip.com/i/a1o7n3
See Robert: imgflip.com/i/a1o7ne
Check out new area (!): imgflip.com/i/a1o7vl
Go home: (RECOMMENDED TO DO LAST) imgflip.com/i/a1o7n5

But mirrors are glass

This 👏👏

The neatpression is real

Lowkey cool multi options for the end, and the writing was not bad, my friend, I see you becoming a seriously good author if that's your goal. How long have you been writing stories for?

Uh... A long time? I don't really remember

Makes sense, will tune in for the next chapter!

Do I need to read you other story to understand? If so, could I get a link/links?

Honestly not really, just know that he's in jail right now