Yo, What's up? This is going to be my second attempt at writing a fanfic, yaaay! Anyways this book is basically a short story as it's supposed to be prologue for another adventure time fanfiction I plan on writing. So, please enjoy.

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"Val, please sit down," a woman spoke softly to a figure shrouded in darkness.

Despite the lack of light in the room, her eyes stared directly towards him in a pleading manner. Begging him to comply. The woman looked aged far beyond her years, she looked as if the simple act of existing tired her. Next to her was a man who placed a comforting hand on the mother's shoulder, attempting to reassure her that this was the right thing to do. It was late at night, the mother decided it was best to have this conversation with her young daughters not here to listen and instead fast asleep. Because of this, the room was pitch black with only a small lamp to illuminate the room. Once the figure took a seat, the cloak of darkness that once shrouded him melted away revealing a rather sharply dressed young man.

He wore a solid black suit with a dark red dress shirt underneath and a black tie. His black dress shoes tapping against the wooden floor as he scooted closer to them. The man behind the mother scoffed at Val's expensive attire, his family was clawing for what little money they could gather and here he was wearing clothing worth more than an entire month's worth of working at their mother's job. Valentino had claimed it was to keep an image. A facade of strength.

"What is it, ma? What's wrong?" The young man spoke with concern laced in his tone.

His mother almost looked as if speaking with him brought her nothing but pain. The mother did not respond, she only looked to the ground as tears began to stream from her eyes.

"Y-your brother and I have decided that it would be best if you...left..."

Time itself seemed to have come to a complete halt as Val stared at one of the few people on this he truly cared for on this earth. Left? The very definition of the word seemed lost to him as he looked at them, shock capturing his entire being.

"What..." He whispered in disbelief.

"You are no longer welcome in this house. Take your things and leave," Val's brother, Antonio, said in a rather harsh tone, though it was obvious the decision wasn't any easier for him then it was for his mother. He couldn't even look at his sibling in the eye as he kept wiping away tears before they could escape his eyes.

"Leave. You want me...to leave," Val spoke with his head tilted to the ground causing his hair to cast shadow over his eyes.
"After everything I have done, everything I sacrificed! After all of it, this is the thanks I get!? I gave up my very freedom just so I could get the money to keep this family alive!"

Antonio did not back down, he knew that this decision was more than justified.

"We never asked you to hang around those thugs! We never asked you to join a gang and commit crimes for money! It was all your choice! You chose that kind of life, you chose to endanger your family, you chose to follow our father's footsteps! Look at the outside of our own home! That isn't graffiti, those are bullet holes! This country is on the brink of war and it doesn't need criminals running rampant causing more damage!"

Val's anger only grew to greater proportions, as he listened to his brother. claiming that he actually had a choice in the matter. The enraged man turned and roared as he grabbed the chair he once sat upon and slammed it against the wall, shattering the piece of furniture to pieces. Val's mother flinched as her son once again turn towards them, rage boiling in his eyes.

"If I hadn't done the things I did, all of you would be living in the streets, begging others to give you their spare change! With the money I provide, we have enough for a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs."

Antonio responded without a moment's hesitation, "I would rather beg for change on the streets for the rest of my days then to accept money from a pair of hands who I know have been stained with the blood of others."

"You selfish bastard! You would condemn our sisters to the streets because of your petty sense of pride!?"

"Stop it, both of you!" The mother cried in desperation, fearing that if the argument escalated any further then the two would come to blows. She turned to face one of her beloved sons. "Please believe me Val when I tell you that I love you with all my heart, but as long as you stay in this house your sisters will always be in danger. Please, if not for your own safety then for the safety of your sisters' future, run away from this town and escape those criminals," Val's mother spoke with pleading eyes, begging him to comply.

A thin needle of anguish tore it's way into Val's heart as he heard one of the few people in this world who actually gave a damn about his wellbeing practically beg him to get out of her house. This unbearable sadness soon turned to burning rage as Val stormed towards his room and began to pack what little he had.

After emptying any and all belongings he valued, Val stood at the center of his room where he faced a closet once hidden by a cabinet filled with various trinkets. He pondered if he should leave the hidden storage be, whenever he opened this closet, people screamed, guns were fired, and someone always ended up dead. Deciding he would need the gear inside if he really was going to go through with this, Val opened the closet to reveal various amounts of weapons hanging from the wall. Taking off his coat and dress shirt revealing his rather muscled physique, Val put on a bullet-proof vest over his tank-top. He grabbed two butterfly knives and strapped one to his shin while the other was strapped to his forearm. Putting on his previous clothing over the sheathed weapons and vest, Val grabbed the 9mm pistol hanging from the wall and pocketed the handgun in his coat. The next item Val grabbed made him sick to his stomach. It was a bandana carelessly tossed on the closet's floor. Once he unfolded the piece of cloth, flashes of horrid memories plagued his mind. Memories of an enemy, memories of a fight... memories of being caked in the man's blood as he watched the life drain from his eyes. Val stumbled across the room, holding his head in pain as the screams of dozens of people echoed in his head. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he mumbled soft apologies. These fits of insanity struck Val from time to time whenever reality became too much for him to handle so he escaped into the depths of his fractured mind. Recently, these fits had become much more frequent and being kicked from his home by his own family along with the sight of blood from a victim he had to stab to death triggered one of these mental episodes. Before he could delve any deeper into delirium, Val screams as he threw away the bandana. After finally recovering from that agonizing experience, Val grabbed the last firearm in his arsenal, an Ak-47, and stored it in a nearby duffle bag before quickly making his way out of his room.

With all of his belongings packed, Val made his way towards the doorway, opened the door, and stared at city he grew up in. To be honest, he was scared. Scared to venture into the unknown. Scared if his crime family may one day find him and fulfill their threats if he ever left. Scared of what the future had in store for him.

"V? Where are you going? Why is all your stuff packed up?"

Val froze mid-step as he was about to begin his trek towards his car. Recognizing the soft voice of her 14 year old sister, Val sighed before turning to greet his sisters. A small smile graced the man's lips as his eyes were met the sight of his oldest sister staring at him with eyes that gleamed with curiosity. Their younger sister held her hand, her eyes just barely open as she attempted to wipe away the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Hey, Al. What are you doing up so late?" Val asked, hoping he could change the subject and eventually get her back in bed. She didn't reply and instead stared at him, expecting an answer from her previous question.

"Um...do you remember how I promised you that I would stop doing bad things and one day go to college? Well after a bit of searching, I finally found a college that accepted me."

Alessandra's eyes widened before she asked, "Really!?"

When Val nodded in confirmation her mouth cracked into an enormous grin as she began to dance around the hall, cheering, "My bro's going to college!" Along the way, she lifted her younger sister and said, "Did you hear that Mia, V's going to college!"

Mia yawned a bit before giving a very tired, "Yaaaay..."

Val could only smile at the sight though inside it pained him to lie to his sisters about the matter but telling the truth about why he was leaving was out of the question. Although he didn't agree with her decision, he still loved his mother with all his heart and didn't want to do or say anything that may cause his sisters to resent his mother in any way. God knew she had been through enough.

"Wait," Val was suddenly broken away from his thoughts at the sound of Alessandra's voice.
"You were going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Alessandra looked genuinely hurt and it only added to Val's current guilt.

"I wanted to, Al. I really did, but I need to be there in the morning. It's pretty far away so I decided to go late at night. Besides, the sooner I'm gone, the sooner you get rid of one more pain in your behind," Val spoke with a smile as he ruffled his younger sibling's hair.

She giggled a bit at the last comment but her expression softened as she whispered, "Your not a pain, V. Your my brother." Alessandra hugged her older brother as he crouched to return the embrace. She buried herself into his chest as she spoke, "I'll miss you, V."

Val slowly stood up and grabbed his luggage as he spoke, "I'll miss you too, Al. Take care of Mia and say bye to mom for me."

"There's no need."

Val turned to see his mother, her eyes red and puffy due to her crying. Noticing this, Alessandra and even her younger sister walked up to their mother and asked, "Mom, are you okay? Why are your eyes red?"

"I'm fine sweetheart," Their mother spoke with a voice so sincere that Alessandra and Mia couldn't help but believe her. Turning away from her precious daughters, Val's mother looked towards her son and said, "Good luck...with college. Try your best to find a good job, please stay out of trouble, and always remember that I love you with all of my heart."

A single tear escaped Val's eyes as he spoke, "I love you too, mom. I'll try to contact you when I can. Goodbye." Quickly grabbing a black scarf from the coat rack that stood next to him, Val left what was once his home without waiting for a response.

"Goodbye," Val's mother whispered as tears once again began to stream from her eyes.

After about a 30 minute drive, Val was already in the heart of the city. Knowing driving alone at night would be extremely dangerous as he might end up driving off the road due to exhaustion as hadn't had a proper night's rest for a few days, Val parked his car and began to make his way towards one of the nearby motels. Besides, its not as if he actually had a plan on where he was going or what he was going to do.

"Heh, maybe that promise I made to Al doesn't have to be a complete lie. Who knows? Maybe I actually will find a college that'll accept me. They'd have to be pretty damn desperate for new students though," Val said to himself as he thought of his sweet sister and how excited and actually proud she was when she heard his lies. Val desperately wanted to be the man Al wanted him to be but he had dug himself in a pretty deep hole and just didn't know if he could ever get out.

Suddenly the sound of an alarm blared through the city, the horrendous sound breaking Val away from his thoughts. Recognizing it as the city's emergency alarm, Val started to become anxious as he waited for whatever catastrophe was about to strike the city. He looked around to other people just as confused and scared as he was, longing briefly struck Val's heart as watched them clutch each other for comfort.
"Unidentified aircrafts are approaching this area. All residents should take shelter immediately in case of an attack. Unidentified aircrafts are appro-," the city's warning was about to repeat but was suddenly cut off. What happened next would mean the end of thousands of lives.

The sound of propellers echoed above the town. The once bustling city had now grown completely silent as its residents waited in fear of what might happen next. Suddenly the sound of loud whistles screeched throughout the city for a brief second before there was a deafening explosion that caused the very ground to shake. Val looked at the sky in horror as he saw a miasma of fire and smoke fill the night's sky. They were being bombed.

Without a moment's hesitation, Val sprinted towards his car, shoved the keys into the ignition, and turned it with all of his might causing the engine to roar to life. He quickly slammed his foot onto the pedal and began making his way back home. The family's petty squabble would have to be put to the side for now, Val needed to assure his family made it out of the city safely. Val's tires tore through the pavement as he drove through the city with as much speed as his car could muster but even as he sped past the streets; he was still forced to watch the horrors of war unfolding before his eyes. Entire buildings collapsed under the bombs' might, fire consumed everything in its path, but something that truly fractured Val's heart was seeing a little girl wondering the streets. She was alone, bleeding, and crying for help. The moment Val's car was directly beside her as he drove, the two made eye contact and what Val saw shocked him to his core. Her ankle was twisted at an awkward ankle meaning she had broken it, however as Val passed her, he could have sworn he saw it snap itself back into place. The girl seemed as if she didn't notice in the slightest as she went from limping to walking normally in between a single step. She had eyes as red as the blood that ran through his veins, and skin as gray as the ashes left behind from the fire's wrath.

Staring at the girl for a second too long, Val failed to notice the familiar screeching of a bomb. It was bigger than any other that had been detonated in the city. The bomb slammed against the hood of Val's car, causing it to flip forward and roll against the road. The last thing Val remembered was being thrown out of the car's windshield and a sharp pain that ripped through his chest before everything went dark. Eventually, Val awoke at center of the street. He observed his surroundings to find the city completely empty of any type of life. Val felt weak and extremely cold. When he attempted to get up, something lodged into his chest shifted a little causing its sharp edges to scrape against his flesh and organs. Val immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream of utter agony. He gasped for air as he looked down to see a piece of metal had bent from the car and had tore through his entire chest. Val's lips curved upwards as he assessed his position. Despite his current situation, Val couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle even as blood leaked from the edges of his lips. He remembered just how many times he'd been in a similar position, so many times he had almost died yet somehow he always pulled through, either through someone saving his ass or just dumb luck. For some reason, Val couldn't see himself walking away from this one. 'So that's it. I'm going to die here, alone. Without a single a person in this world who gives a damn whether I live or die. Heh, a fitting end for a piece of shit like me.' Val suddenly heard a small tune. He grunted in pain as he reached in his pocket to find his phone. He looked at the screen to find he had 25 unread messages and 13 missed calls. Val opened the messages to find they were all from his family. He began to tear up as he continued to read through the messages, they were genuinely worried about him. They wanted him to come back to them, they wanted to be together as complete family so they could endure this time of crisis together. Val couldn't help but grin as saw half the messages were his brother making sure he knew where they would be, texting him information as soon as he received it.

The military had quickly reacted and evacuated as many survivor as they could. They were moved to a nearby bunker which had been built to shelter citizens in case of nuclear warfare began. 'I guess I was wrong, I've got a family who cares about me.' Val thought as he couldn't help but shed a few tears of joy. Val read the last message, apparently a nuclear bomb had been launched somewhere in the city but had failed to detonate. The dying man looked up to find the culprit of his crash not far down the street, an enormous bomb which had crashed into the road and created a large crater in the asphalt. On its side was the yellow nuclear symbol. Val went to his contacts and attempted to call his mother however after a while of waiting he was turned to voice mail.

'Figures,' Val thought as he waited for the beep before he began talking. "Ma, it's me Val. I know the location of the nuke, it's in woodland avenue near the city park. Make sure to tell any soldiers nearby. Also...I want you to know that I love you. Though sometimes I didn't act like it, I'm grateful for everything you ever did for me. Tell Mia, Al, and Antonio that I told them to behave and to be better than I was. Tell them that I love them and couldn't have asked for better siblings. I wanted you know this since I crashed into the nuke and may not be alive when the army gets here. I want you to know that I'm sorry. Sorry for forcing you to watch me tear myself apart because I thought I had to. Deep down I knew there were other options, I could have stayed in school and landed a good job, maybe even found myself someone else to love and give you some grandchildren. Heh, I know you would've loved to see that, to see me build a family of my own. But I chose to follow my dad because i watched him sustain us because of the things he did. And I chose to follow him down that path, ignoring the fact that the choices he made were the reasons he isn't around today. Please stay safe and live a happy life. Goodbye." Val ended his message and put the phone away. He felt rather tired and now that he knew his family was safe maybe he could actually rest in peace. Val closed his eyes, his breaths slowly became more faint, and finally his heart slowly began to shut down. Before Val could succumb to the embrace of death however, he was ripped back into reality as he felt an intense burning sensation on his foot. While Val was giving his final words to his family, he failed to notice a green liquid leaking from the nuclear bomb. It had made its way down the street, and directly towards Val. The radiated liquid practically dissolved Val's foot causing him to scream in agony as every time an air trapping popped, it sent yet another shock of pain into Val's brain. Soon the liquid pooled around Val's entire body, and no matter how much he thrashed and shook, he couldn't will himself to get up and away from the acidic substance. Val heard the crackling of fire to his left and when he looked to see the source, he saw the hood of the car had caught fire and was spreading through the toxic liquid. The fire quickly made it way towards Val and enveloped his entire body. It turn his skin to ash and flesh to char. The fire continued its trek through the liquid and to its source, the nuke. The dying man's screams echoed throughout the city however they were soon silenced by the sound of a massive explosion. The nuclear bomb released a fire which incinerated anything within a 10 mile radius, however the damage did not end there. The force of the explosion alone was enough to completely topple buildings even further away. A massive mushroom cloud rose from the carnage, it's smoke towering over everything in the once prosperous city. The nuclear fallout eventually made its way back down to the land, infecting it with toxic radiation making the land uninhabitable for years to come. The enemy had struck first, marking the beginning of a conflict involving the entire world. World War 3 was about to begin.

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And finished. So what did you think about it? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know. If you didn't like it, be sure to tell me what you didn't like and what I can do to make it better. Chapter 2 will be out soon, try to keep in mind that I am still in school and may find it difficult to work on this fanfic. I definitely want to make a consistent update schedule however. Maybe every week or maybe every two weeks. I'll have to figure it out as I go and I'll be sure to tell you once I've worked out a schedule that works for me. Until next time, Peace out.