Hello everyone. Now, this is going to be a bit emotional to read, depending on how well I write it. But, let me say this. For the people who have decided to read this fanfic and follow it, thank you. It means a lot. So, without further ado, let's get into the third chapter of The Last Avenger.

After stealing and driving a car, we finally reached our destination.

"Home."

It was a house that was burned into my mind. I couldn't forget it ever since that day several weeks ago.

'The brick and mortar, the unkempt bushes, the rough stone walkway. Everything looks the same, despite everything being different.' I sighed, letting my guard down for one instant.

"Brat, stop reminiscing. It's going to rain in a few minutes." I was confused by how he knew that, but it snapped me out of my thoughts nonetheless. "We have to go in." He walked passed the bushes and looked to be readying himself to kick down the door. In front of the door, he crouched down, and his right leg tightened.

"Wait." I touched his shoulder, which he flinched with my contact. "There's a key over you." I reached over him, which made me realize how much taller I was compared to him. I looked to be at least half a foot taller than him.

'Maybe his personality makes him seem taller or something.'

I grabbed the silver key that was lying on the top of the door frame, which was thankfully still there, and lowered it. The key fitted snugly into the keyhole of the door, and, when I turned it, the door clicked, signaling that it was open. Pushing the door handle downwards, I walked into the eerily quiet house.

The dust had accumulated on the flooring, but otherwise, it looked exactly like I remember it. Same wood flooring, same glass dining table, same multicolor carpet, even the same cups that my dad used to drink whiskey out of was still where I remember it.

I walked past the coat hanger and towards the Island and dining table in the center of the room.

The creaking of the wood floors was the only sound I could hear, as I remembered the last dinner we had there.

Weeks ago

"Rahul, clear and set the table. We are having dinner."

I was playing games on my laptop, so my dad sighed and cleared the table for me. By the time I came, the table was set and cleared.

"Sorry, Dad."

"It's fine. At least you were doing your homework, right?"

"Yeah, I was." I bit my tongue so no more words could come out of my mouth.

'I don't remember what Dad made that day.' I racked my brain, trying to find an answer.

"Hey, what's your name again?" The short Asian man behind me asked. He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Did I not tell you?" I looked forward in the direction of my backyard. I thought I saw something, so I opened the backdoor, where I saw a few people emerge with bows.

'Might as well pick up the slack for once in my life.' My arms were still sore after swimming through the Chesapeake, but I rotated them to get my strength back into my arms and legs. "My name" Arrows were shot towards me. Somehow, I grabbed both the arrows an inch away from my flesh. "Is Rahul."

I dropped the arrows and yelled, "Who's there?! Come out and show yourself!"

After yelling out, three teenagers emerged from the shadows cautiously. One had orange hair, with that one unkempt strand of orange hair sticking out, which made it look like an antenna. She had a face of sympathy, which contrasted against the figures next to her. The other kid next two her had dark black hair, even darker eyes, making him look similar to Levi. The last kid had pale skin, but one littered with bruises, with grey eyes that windowed into his mind, cloudy and chaotic.

They walked quietly to the deck, where I could see them fully. They looked sad, but a glimmer of hope was shining through their eyes. As they came upon me, they looked down.

"Hey." I quieted my voice, along with my hostility. "Who are you guys?"

The girl of the group looked up. "Oh, my name is Emma."

She looked intently at both of the boys standing by her side. The black-haired kid spoke up next.

"I'm Ray."

Then, the white hair kid, after looking skeptical at us, sighed.

"I'm Norman."

"Hey, brats, let's continue with the introductions and interrogations inside the house." His voice carried a condescending tone, one that ordinary people would blindly follow.

I realized that it was starting to drizzle down, so I agreed. "Yeah. Let's go inside." I motioned for the teens, who didn't look that much younger than me, inside the house.

We gathered around the table. At first, their was complete silence. All that could be heard were the tapping of the raindrops outside as the rain started to get heavier.

However, Hanji decided to break the silence. "So, how do you have Orange hair?" She pointed to the girl, who's was named Emma. She looked… oddly fascinated with her hair color. "Do you have any parents that had orange hair?"

She sighed. "I don't have any parents. I mean… I did, but I've never met them."

The excitement on Hanji's face now was silenced, only the pouring rain being heard in the background, so, while looking at the floor, she muttered, "Sorry."

Levi raised an eyebrow, but he remained in his calm composure.

"Though, what about you two brats?" He turned towards the two boys. "Same story?"

The boys slowly nodded.

Levi sighed. "Anyways, how did you wind up in this place?"

The orange antenna girl spoke up. "We… had made a deal, one with a demon." For some reason, she expected us to look surprised, or even dumbfounded, however, we didn't flinch with this new information.

"It… said that, in exchange for going into another world and making the departure back to the previous world impossible, we would have to be separated from our siblings in two different worlds."

"Are they related? Or…"

"No." The black-haired kid interrupted. "But, they are just as close to us as a real family compared to any other biological family."

I smiled lightly. 'These guys remind me of my family.' Water built up in my eyes, but I blinked them out before anyone could notice.

"Though, we don't know where they are, or what the demon meant." The black-haired kid continued.

'Now I can explain it better.'

"Well, I think I might. What technology did the world you intended to go have?"

"Huh?

"What this brat is asking is what was your world like? And what was the world that you wanted to go to?"

She was a little stunned by Levi's words, but she slowly spoke. "Well… our world was…"

"Hell?" Ray interrupted.

That caused Levi to smirk, and almost chuckle, but he regained his composure again and stayed calm.

"Well, yeah." She gulped. "We were raised behind walls. Sometimes, we would look at the walls, and see how tall it was compared to us. However, we never questioned why it existed, or if we were trapped."

'Wait, that's… pretty similar to how Levi and Hanji described their world. People looking at the scale of walls, not knowing how it was made. Never questioning it until their lives were at stake. Did they come from similar worlds?'

"However, one night, our sister left her stuffed animal, a big bunny plush, back at the house we lived in. We ran to give it back to her, to the gate at the walls."

I looked at Ray, who shared her expression, looking down towards the floor in shame.

That made Levi, again, raise an eyebrow, which was incredible considering he didn't even shift out of his blank face whenever I was talking.

"However, when we got there…" Tears started to color against her face. She responded, in a higher pitch, "She was dead… killed by the mother who raised us. Eaten by the demons… who… took her from the world."

She openly cried out, as Levi and Hanji looked at them with electrified expressions. Ray and Norman silently teared up as well, while Hanji and Levi only could watch. My face fell into an expression of sympathy.

'Looks like there isn't just one universe that is suffering.'

Dropping my previous explanations that I was thinking up, I stood up and moved to their direction.

"Hey." I crouched in front of Emma since she looked to be carrying the most emotional baggage. Her face, wet with tears streaming down it, looked up towards me with surprise. Then, I softly placed her head on my shoulder. She froze with the gesture, but she comfortably started crying on my shoulder nonetheless. I stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. "You will get your family back. Maybe not one of your sisters who lost her life, but mark my words, you will go back to your family." I pull away from her head, and looked at her, directly in her eyes. "You will reunite with your living family, even if it costs me my life."

She gasped. "But… why? I tried to hurt you so we could steal your home to live in. Why would you help people who treat you like that? People who wouldn't hesitate to kill you for no reason?"

"Because… you guys are special." I backed away from the three teens, standing against the basement door. I closed my eyes, looking downwards towards the wooden floor. "You guys have been able to survive without many people for so long. You have lost a lot." I smirked, as I turned my back towards them. "However, you keep moving forward, getting stronger, all while trying to protect the people you still have by your side. That… is something that I wasn't… no, I can't… be able to do."

'Besides, this isn't my home anymore.'

"So…" I walked to the kitchen, which was next to the dining table, getting out the pots and pans. "As long as you guys stay under this roof, I will do all that I can for you guys."

'I don't have a home anymore. This house… feels empty inside.'

My face turned towards the survivors behind me. Emma, Norman, and Ray looked at me with saddened smiles, while Levi had a ghost of a smile present on his face, and Hanji looked at me with respect. "What do you guys want to eat?"

A future Avenger meets the children raised in a realm of demons. Now, if you liked it, hit like, and follow the story, and if you didn't, comment down below what I should do better. And as always, have a great day.