May 8 1945.

It's done. After three years of fighting, it's finally done. Hunter could barely even process it. He had been fighting for most his teenage years and yet it's finally over. He couldn't tell if he wanted to celebrate or cry. But he could most definitely tell what his division wanted.

After a short period of processing the entire 16th infantry regiment had started a huge party in the camp, with drinks, local women, and even cake's from a nearby baker who was all to happy to hear the wars end.

Meanwhile Hunter was in his tent calmly smoking a cigarette and reading Huckleberry Finn. He smirked at how the women from back home would react to this. He was only sixteen and was gonna turn seventeen on the sixteenth. He joined the army when he was thirteen just in time for the Invasion of Sicily and had basically been going with the flow ever since. Not that he didn't mind, he liked Army life, it brought a strange sense of comfort to him especially his friends, despite the fact that he was at the very least three years younger than them, and that's just for the newer guys.

Not that anyone could tell of course, aside from a few, Hunter had a naturally mature face and surprising height which made him resemble a high school graduate, not to mention the more mature voice he had to practice for a while just to get into the army, but things had changed a lot since then, his voice had deepened a fair bit, and he had gained a few scars all across his body including two on his face, one on his right cheek, and another going from the right side of his temple down to his jaw line, and he had also grown a bit of a beard making him look even older. Though he knew he'd have to shave at some point, but maybe he'll look good in a mustache.

Hunter then heard the flap of the tent open revealing his Captain Jacob Albert.

"Wittebane?" He asked in his gruff Texan accent.

"Yes, sir?"

"There's some officer wanting to talk to you."

Hunter calmly closed his book and threw his cigarette onto the ground and smothering it with his right boot. He got up and followed Albert threw the camp, having to dodge drunken soldiers.

They reached the camp entrance where a captain in his dress uniform holding a clip board was standing flanked by two MP's. He spoke up. "Sergeant, Hunter Wittebane?"

"That's me, sir."

"It has come to our recent attention that you are not fit for military service."

Hunter shook his head in confusion.

"We have recently received word from your father that you had enlisted into the Army at the age of thirteen years old using a fake birth certificate. Due to this you will be honorably discharged and sent back to your father's home in Buffalo New York and all of your weapons and equipment will be turned in."

Hunter couldn't even talk, he wasn't just shocked that he was found out by the Army, but he was scared, scared that he would have to go back to his father and face whatever consequences that bastard had in store.

Albert then spoke up. "Now hold on, Sir I've known Wittebane for years and I know for sure that whatever information you have there is false."

He was lying, Hunter knew it. Albert was one of the few people who had discovered his true identity, and the only reason Hunter wasn't turned in is because he already had a year and a half of combat experience under his belt and according to Albert at least was one of the best soldiers in the Division, he couldn't just be sent back, especially with who Hunter's father was.

"I'm sorry Captain, but the evidence we have provided says otherwise.
Sergeant. Wittebane, you have half-an-hour to collect all of your gear and belongings, then you will report back to us for the discharge process. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good. Captain, keep an eye on him and make sure he does what he's told."

"Yes, sir."

Hunter and Albert quietly walked their way back to the tent where the teen began packing up and grabbing anything he could. After zipping up his duffle bag Hunter starts punching it viciously before Albert forcefully pulled him away. "Hey, hey, hey! The hell's the matter with you boy!?" He scolded.
Hunter stayed silent. "Well?"

The younger soldier then finally spoke. "I just...I can't go back."

Albert sighed. "Look Hunter I understand you're scared but you're a soldier now practically a warrior, you don't have to be afraid of your daddy anymore." He said reassuringly.

Hunter wasn't convinced. "You don't understand, I ran away from him so I'm gonna get beaten to a pulp anyways, and if I try to stand up to him I'm gonna either be killed or have to spend the rest of my life hiding from his hitmen." Hunter then slumped onto his bed and held his head. "I'll never be able to live a normal life."

Albert then kneeled in front of Hunter. "Alright, look at me kid." Hunter did so.
"You're never gonna see him again alright? I promise you that." Albert said firmly. "But, how?"
"You speak good German right?"
"Yeah I'm pretty fluent."
"Okay, then I'm sure you can blend in with the locals."
"Sir, what are you talking about-" Hunter stopped as the realization hit him.

"No, no no no no no no, we can't, Captain, they'll court martial you or worse."

"Not if they think I didn't help you."

Hunter gave an incredulous look. "What do you mean?"

"When you get your gear packed. I want you to punch me as hard as you can, make it look real."

Hunter straightened up and stared at Albert confused. "What!?"

"Shh, not so loud." The Captain scolded.

"W-w-why the hell do you want me to punch you?"

"I told you to make it look real, and take my Thompson for good measure." He said referring to his SMG on his own bed.

"...okay." Hunter said reluctantly.

The young Sergeant went to grab his combat webbing and quickly applying it. Then he grabbed all of his weapons including an array of knives, his sidearm, and his M1 Carbine, the later of which he slung over his shoulder. Then Hunter walked up to Albert.

"I just gotta say that I'm say that I'm sorry in advance." Hunter said.

"Ah, don't worry, I know you got a mean right hook." Albert assured.

The two stared for a second.

"I'll miss you, sir."

"I'll miss you too, son."

Then Hunter punched Albert in the left cheek sending him into the bed behind with so much force that it collapsed.

Hunter cringed but he had no time to be idle. He quickly grabbed the Thompson and ammo pouch stuffing both into his duffle bag.

He then quietly walked out of the tent and fast walked his way to the edge of camp. After getting close enough to the woods, Hunter went into a sprint to get as far away as soon as possible. The extra weight and having to carry his bag made running more awkward, it wouldn't be the first time, at one point he had to carry a .30 cal along with ammo for over three miles through the Hürtgen forest, which was honestly way worse then what he had to do at the moment, so he would do fine.

He ran for over an hour through the woods before he suddenly changed course from North to West, in order to try and make it harder for the MP's to find him. Then his run became a jog, then a fast walk, before he eventually dropped from exhaustion.

Hunter felt like he was gonna throw up as he laid on the forest floor on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath. But he kept it in and pushed himself onto the side of a tree. Then he heard his stomach grumble and realized that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, that wasn't good, it was 1300 and he knew he needed his strength if he was gonna keep going.

He placed his Carbine next to him just to make it easier to grab in case of emergency. Then he undid his webbing placing it on his lap in order to get at his backpack which was always filled with some kind of rations. In this case, he had at least three Hershey chocolate bars stowed away. Perfect, the calories and sugar would give him a second wind, he still wouldn't be able to run, but he could keep moving until he reached somewhere more safe to have a meal.

Hunter ate only one, and took a long swig from canteen, he wanted to make his food last as long as possible so he wasn't just gonna blow through it. After that he put the small box back in his pack in order to not risk a sign for his whereabouts. Then he put his webbing back on and picked up his duffle bag, but when went to grab his gun, it was gone. "The hell?" Hunter muttered. He quickly every which way for his gun before he heard the distinctive hoot of an owl.

Hunter did a 180 and saw a rather small owl standing before him holding within it's beak...a bag? "The fuck?"
Then Hunter noticed something in the bag, the butt of his Carbine was sticking out. Hunter was about to say something before the owl turned around and started running away. "Hey hey hey get back here!" He demanded.

Hunter wanted to pull out his 1911 and shoot the little bastard, but he knew he couldn't draw too much attention. Because while yelling was loud, a gunshot would probably be heard throughout the whole forest. He repeatedly tried jumping on the bird before it suddenly swung in another direction leaving him in the dust while the owl used it's wings to help propel itself forward. Hunter became completely focused on the bird and ignored the rest of the world just to catch the little prick.

He was so focused in fact that he didn't even notice when he suddenly went through a glowing door in the middle of a clearing, he just had to get his gun.

Then Hunter suddenly ran straight into a wooden pole landing him on his ass.
"What in the..." Then he noticed his surroundings, he was no longer in a forest but some kind of purple tent. It was filled to the brim with random item's ranging from books, to bones, to clothing, to jewelry,and then some things he didn't recognize like some kind of black glass slab displayed on a table.

Then he heard. "Okay what do you have this time Owlbert?" It was a woman, an American woman at that, which didn't make sense, he was in Germany. Hunter hid behind a random table and saw the speaker. The woman was fairly tall with a full bush of hair on her head, grey skin, a long Red dress and, what almost looked like a gem in her chest.

"Hey, Luz can you help me with these?" The woman called out. "Sure, Eda." Another voice called, presumably Luz. The entrance of the tent flew open as a young girl came in. She was looked Latino and wore a purple and white shirt with jean shorts. The two then starting going through the bag the owl brought back pulling out a comic, a radio, and some poor woman's shoe.

Then the girl, or Luz, got a look of confusion when she felt something in the bag. "Wait, is this..." She then pulled out Hunter's M1 by the barrel and looked at it for a second before she processed the fact that she was holding a gun. Then she screamed and threw it into the air in terror and the gun landed on the table. Luckily the dust cover was closed so it didn't fire.

"Woah you okay, Luz? You look like you just saw a ghost." Eda asked. The woman then looked at the gun and was confused. "Did that thing scare you? It looks like someone tried to make a crossbow without having ever seen a crossbow." She laughed going to pick it up. Hunter decided he was done hiding, so he pulled out his sidearm and jumped out of cover pointing it at the woman.

"Don't touch that gun!"
The two girls jump in surprise at the sudden intruder. "Alright put your hands in the air and step away from the weapon." Hunter ordered.

"Please, please don't shoot!" Luz begged holding her hands up. Eda meanwhile was not as intimidated. "Pfft, come on kid doesn't look that dangerous."
Both Hunter and Luz give her a look that say 'There is a gun pointed at you.'
But Hunter opted to ignore the comment. "Just give me the gun and I won't shoot." He pressed. "Hey my owl stole this thing fair and square." Eda said firmly.
"That gun is property of the army of the United States and was issued to me in 1944, now hand it over!"

"1944?" Luz asked. "Uh, what year do you think it is?"

Hunter raised his brow. "You kidding? It's 1945, now give me that weapon." He restated.

Then Luz started to notice his clothing, the pants, the gear, the helmet, all of it was out of those WW2 movies her Dad owned. "Uh, Eda?"
"Yeah, Luz?"

"It's supposed to be 2021."

"What the heck do you mean-" Eda was cut off when a loud smash was heard from outside and a loud gruff voice was heard. "Eda the Owl Lady! We have you surrounded on all sides, surrender yourself or we will force ourselves in.

"Oh great, these guys again." Eda groaned. "I didn't do anything you weirdos stop following me around!"

"You mean aside from stealing other people's things?" Hunter quipped. "Hey, in all fairness Owlbert was the one to do it. And besides as long as you're here they'll think we're fraternizing and then you'll also get thrown in the clink"

Hunter scoffed. "Yeah right, once they hear me I'll be free to go."

"She's not kidding dude, when I first got here, they immediately tried to arrest me for being next to her." Luz piped in. Hunter looked at her and saw the honesty in her eyes, he knew she wasn't lying, which means that he to was in trouble. He sigh's. "Alright, just give me my gun and I'll help you guys out of this."

"Ugh, fine." Eda groaned. She then threw the gun over to Hunter who caught it with his left hand. He holstered his pistol and cocked the Carbines operating slide. "Alright, how many guys can we expect?"

Eda thought for a moment. "I'd say maybe eight or nine. That's how big their patrol's have been lately anyways."

Then the sides of the tent were ripped open as giant men in medieval type clothing and long beak mask's barged their way in. "Shit!" Hunter exclaimed. He then opened fire on one of them killing the man instantly. Then a ball of fire flew at his Hunter's head forcing him to duck. "WHAT THE SHIT!?" He swore.

He then saw Eda jump on top of the table as the owl suddenly turned into a staff. "Get out of my tent freaks!"
Then the Owl staff started shooting beams of yellow light sending the bird men flying and knocking them out.

Then all of the objects in the room started floating with a yellow hue around them as Hunter was on the verge of a full blown panic attack. "W-wha-what- how?"

"It's magic!" Luz exclaimed excitedly. "Isn't it cool!?"

Hunter looked at her with his mouth agape. "NO! No it's not cool, it's crazy and terrifying, and quite frankly is a violation of God's law!"

"Oh shut up you pansy." Eda said. The floating objects were all bundled up into a green cloth which was tied around the bottom end of her staff. "Now come on we gotta go before more of those guys show up."

The trio ran out of the tent into a market place while Hunter is still trying to comprehend everything that's happening. "There she is!" A voice down the street yelled. Another group of guards was coming towards them was Eda then mounted her staff like a flying broom and joined by Luz. "Hop on!" The girl said. Hunter was reluctant. "Don't worry it's not that scary if you don't look down." She reassured him. But Hunter wasn't convinced. Then Eda spoke up. "Hey, it's either you come with us or we leave you to the po po, your choice."
She had a point. So Hunter carefully mounted the staff between Luz and Eda. "Alright, just do anything crazy alright?"
He asked. "Sure." Eda Said. But Hunter couldn't see the smirk as the staff suddenly shot forward at the speed of sound into the air. And from the ground the guard's could hear the distinct sound of somebody who thinks they're about to die.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"