IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?

The age-old question. 

As someone currently on their deathbed, this was all she could think about. It wasn’t that she was religious and believed in such worldly things like ‘reincarnation’, but with the emergence of the many supernatural events humanity has faced in the past few years—it would be hard for someone like her to not at least entertain the thought of there being a semblance of an ‘afterlife’.

It all began four years ago. The emergence of the “culprits” for her premature death, that is. The year back then was 2044 and in the early beginnings of spring, a meteor had struck the Earth. Normally this wouldn’t have been a big deal; the government tended to handle these things and warnings had previously been given out for its impending, inevitable crash on the planet. 

That didn't stop the entire world from panicking though. 

Like most major disruptions to society, riots and revolts broke out across the countries. Looting, hoarding, general senseless behaviour from the general populace unraveled all while the rock had landed somewhere in the pacific ocean, with none of them the wiser. 

The meteor had pretty much sunk to a watery death faster than any nation could recover it for inspection. Eventually it was stated to have reached right down to the vast bottoms of the ocean’s floor. Despite various countries, businesses, and private organisations alike attempting to salvage this alien rock, none had been successful at fishing it out. 

Which was.. odd, to say the least. 

As if that wasn’t bizarre enough, onsite scientists, geologists, and other relevant scholars had noticed that the size of this meteor had been decreasing over a period of time. No one had known just where its mass had been disappearing to, and the popular theory was that it was being absorbed into the ocean bed.

Not long after that discovery, many abnormalities had begun to be noticed by various fishermen all around the world. It started with small instances of unknown marine life being caught in nets with their usual catch nowhere to be seen. Of course, they weren’t marine biologists, so any witness counts of these abnormal species were quickly brushed off by the media in favour of focusing on the spike in accidents involving sharks and other oceanic predators. 

This was only the start.

Then suddenly all around the world, in each of the four named oceans; sea life was being disrupted by the arrival of new predatory marine animals. This, as many had found out once military submarines and divers had returned to the surface, was due to the emergence of a Tower.

It built itself up from the seabed and according to witnesses, grew a new level each day that it was left undisturbed. A few weeks after its appearance, all was quiet. But then just as Humanity began to classify the alien Tower as less of a threat than it first appeared to be, the World Gates made their debut. 

In an instant Gates of an unknown swirling mass unbiasedly popped up in various regions across the Earth. Following this, the Tower had shot up above sea level and didn’t stop until it was beyond the height of clouds. The top could no longer be seen. 

The moment these Gates of questionable origin broke through space and made its home at various points on the Earth; half of the planet’s population had entered into a coma. No science nor experimental medicine could wake them, until the very same Gates that had caused this phenomenon had evolved and opened to reveal a different scenery inside its swirling depths. 

Somewhere in South Korea, a group of unidentified, “aggravated” specimen had swarmed out of this entrance, but before they could cause too much destruction, one of the comatose humans had awoken and froze them in their steps. 

From then on it was as if a pile of dominos had been knocked over as more and more people started to awaken. Shockingly, the majority of comatose patients began showing signs of developing supernatural Abilities. And almost overnight the whole of humanity was abruptly rocketed into the age of Superheroes…