Author's Note: I didn't think I'd ever write another part to this story because it was meant only to be a one-shot. Still, today I got inspired. I read a quote that said, "Step into my shoes and walk the life I'm living and if you get as far as I am, maybe you'll see how strong I really am." I read that and I thought, that's bloody brilliant. So, using that quote as inspiration, I wrote this.

Snips of the song "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons.

I really enjoyed the way it turned out and I hope you will too.


Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? You think you can do better?

Well then, go ahead and TRY. Here, let's switch places. I know Desiree's around here somewhere.

If you think you can do a better job at protecting this worthless piece-of-shit town, be my guest. I'll just sit back and watch you burn.

You see, it's not as easy as you think. YOU try getting beat the shit out of, getting hurt every single day of your existence, all the while knowing deep down in your heart that when the day is over and you're bleeding or starving or fucking near unconscious, you have no one to come home to. No warm embrace, no loving family, nothing. All you've got is yourself.

I'm waking up to ash and dust

I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

I'm breathing in the chemicals

Oh-ho-ho-ho. Not so eager now, are you? My thoughts exactly. You see, that's the difference between you and me. I don't want to save your town, but I still have some hints of morality buried deep within my core. I am still partly human, after all. Although at this point in time, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered having Vlad remove my human half.

This is it, the apocalypse

Woah

But that's just one possibility. No emotional ties, no sense of justice, nothing to keep me from being the ghost I could be, the ghost I should be. I long for that freedom, that rest, that peace.

Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. I mean, maybe I'm broken. I must be. Every once in a while, something foreign appears within me and I feel. . . human again. In the privacy of a place that will remain undisclosed, I'll revert and stare at my features. My face, my eyes, my hair, nose, lips. . . It seems strange to me, to see a young raven-haired boy instead of ME. The glass ripples and distorts my reflection, and I'll reach a hand out, try to hold on to a side of me that isn't real. Can't be real. Because when I stare at that boy, I swear I see ghosts.

I see Sam, my beautiful Sam, come up behind me and wrap her arms around me, plant a warm kiss on my cheek. I see Tucker, grinning as he eyes Sam and I coyly, pocket his PDA and place a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I see Jazz giggle in the background before gesturing to two other figures—my parents. At this point in the hallucination, I feel my knees grow weak and something burn my eyes. My mom and dad, still clad in their vibrant jumpsuits, come up behind us and wrap their arms around Sam, myself, and Tucker, all the while smiling warmly. Jazz is the last one to come into the picture and as she does, she whispers, "We love you."

I have to look away. I can't help myself. It all feels too real, too powerful. I guess in this sense, I'm a coward. When I look back into the glass, they're always gone. The only person left is that raven-haired boy, his eyes confused and downtrodden.

For some reason, this upsets me. Two emotions rise within me. I am angry; I am protective. I feel the need to protect that boy, shield him from the horrors of this world. He looks so innocent, so pure. They'll rip him to shreds and his purity will be gone, corrupted. I can't let that happen. Simultaneously, I feel angry. Doesn't that boy know? Doesn't he understand? How DARE he look at me with those tear-filled eyes, as if begging me to save him, too. Doesn't he know that I'm not a hero?

I always leave at this point. I transform first, smiling as I reappear in the glass. ME, not that raven-haired boy. He and I don't belong in the same world. He comes from a gentler time, a better time, whereas I. . . I come from the New Age.

I'm waking up

I feel it in my bones

Enough to make my systems blow

Welcome to the New Age, to the New Age

Welcome to the New Age, to the New Age