How It Begins: Ch.1

Somewhere in Lipot City, exact location classified

“PLEASE! PLEASE, GOD NO!!!” These are the final words of a scientist before two hands of uncanny strength wrap around his skull and squeeze before tossing the fresh carcass aside. Several small fires illuminate the facility against the black of night as the figure the hands belong to marches out of the building, leaving a trail of bodies behind it, and towards its true target.

Some Background Character's Apartment, Lipot City

The smells of alcohol and pot saturate the air. The apartment’s floorboards creak under a young woman’s steps, not that she can hear them over the music and the loud and laughing party goers. She is fairly short asian girl with braided hair and a toned and athletic build. She’s clad in a simple black crop top, a short skirt, and a pair of boots with a recently emptied bottle at her feet and another half-full one in hand as she dances with a cute redheaded guy she’d never met before.

The man closes in on the girl, yelling over the music “Hey, it’s Alexia right? What do you say we get outta here and we can have some real fun back at my place?” He stretches his arm over the girl’s shoulders and attempts to bring her in closer.

“Fucking no!” she yells back, quickly removing the ginger’s arm.

“Hey, what’s going on?” another man, the Alexia’s roommate, interjects as he walks up, trying to help Alexia out of the situation. He is a tall and impressive white stack of muscle wearing a Superman shirt, a simple pair of jeans, and some sneakers.

“Nothing, August. Ginger here was just being a creep.” she responds, turning around to walk away and hopefully never see him again.

“Come on, sweetheart.” The redheaded man says, grabbing her ass. “I promise I’ll-”

Alexia is abnormally strong for her short stature. The man discovers this fact as her fist launches into his gut, forcing him to curl over in pain.

“Try that again.” Alexia states.

“Bitch!” the stranger yells, grabbing a bottle on the floor, standing up, and taking a swing at Alexia.

The girl swiftly dodges out of the way before August takes up a boxer’s stance and delivers a one-two punch, clocking the man across the jaw and torquing his body into each blow. Finally, Alexia kicks the pervert in the balls.

“Okay! Okay! I get it!” the man desperately screams out as he curls over in pain. He strains to get up and walks away, rubbing his jaw.

August saves face until the man leaves, and then makes his own pain clear. “Ow.” he says, rubbing his knuckles.

“Well fucking duh. What the hell did you think would happen when punched his head?” Alexia asks, amused by what just happened.

“It was muscle memory, all right? I’m used to fighting with gloves on.”

“You didn’t need to do that at all, really. I had that bastard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next ti-”

“Hey,” a voice from the crowd shouts “Crop Top and Superman! You two gotta get outta here!”

The pair turn to see a woman they both recognized as the landlady yelling at them with the ginger standing at her side.

“The hell did we do?” Alexia incredulously yells out.

“You beat up my little brother, that’s what!”

“Cause the little pervert decided to get handsy!”

“That ain’t what he said. I don’t care where you go, just don’t be here!”

August steps in. “Come on Alex, let’s just go.”

“Goddamn it,” she said “And I was starting to have fun!”

Alexia finishes her drink and walks out with her friend, flipping off the the siblings.

Our Lady of Angels Church Soup Kitchen

Jessica loves coming to volunteer at the soup kitchen, just outside of the church. The place always smells of soup, reminding her of her grandmother’s home, and the other volunteers are always good for conversation. She is clad in a cheap apron, a hairnet, and a cross around her neck while her hand is wrapped around the handle of a large spoon, handing out servings of soup to the line in front of her as she talks to a man beside her doing the same.

“So how's the new job?” the man asks.

“My boss is going to be beyond lucky if I don't stab the bastard before the month is over.” Jessica responded as soup poured into a bowl.

“Is he really that bad? I would expect a veterinarian to be like super empathetic and caring.”

“I think I know why he works with animals. Apparently I'm ‘remarkably smart and dedicated-’”

“Well that sounds nice.”

“‘-for a black girl.’”

“Oh. How much longer are you stuck with him?”

“Until I complete the necessary hours under the supervision of a vet to get my license. It's going to be a long 400 hours.”

“How the hell are you gonna deal with that? I know I couldn't.”

“I have a full-contact escrima class four days a week. Helps me vent.”

“Esc-what now?”

“It's a martial art.”

“Ah. So-”

The sound of radio static sounded from police band radio on Jessica’s belt. And then…

“We have a possible 10-43-I at the Sirocco Estate! I repeat: a possible 10-43-I at the Sirocco Estate!”

10-43-I: Assailant with a deadly weapon, officers in pursuit.

Jessica, a volunteer EMT, immediately drops her spoon into the soup and runs out the door to her car, discarding her hairnet and apron along the way. The woman she was supposed to serve next grabs the spoon and pour herself some soup.

Sirocco Annual Charity Ball For the Poor and Distressed, Sirocco Family Ballroom, Lipot City  

Dressed in tuxedos and gowns that cost more than either you or I will make in our lifetimes, the Old Money of Lipot City pursue the wasteful extravagance that their economic station allows. The attendees drop large, but insignificant to them, sums of cash into a transparent glass box for a charity that, to be frank, half of them probably aren’t even sure of the nature of. The press get a pretty photo of the cash box for a puff piece, the attending politicians and businessmen get positive public opinion, and everyone is happy. Standing by the horderves are one Willow Sirocco, her father, and Lisa Jackson.

“It’s beautiful as always.” Lisa, an elderly black woman in a purple gown, tells her host.

“Thank you, Lisa. I just hope that we can continue to do this in the future.” the old Mr. Sirocco responds. A pudgy man of hispanic descent, Mr. Sirocco is well known around Lipot city for his extravagant spending on is daughter, conservative politics, and glorious mustache. “The Environmental Technology Act is still making headway in Parliament, you know. I don’t like to think about how expensive that will be for us.”

“Oh believe me, I know. These damn eco-lobbyists never stop to think about how this crap effects hard-working Cambellians like us and they’re too blinded by their own ideology to see the world as it really is.” Lisa complains as he takes a drink from a servant’s silver platter.

“They really don’t appreciate us do they?” Willow rhetorically asks the others. The young lady is clad in an elegant white gown with gold trims that is almost as beautiful as the woman herself. Aside from her model-like frame, expertly applied make-up accents her naturally striking features.

“Well, enough negativity. Willow, your father tells me that you’ve taken up swordplay.” Lisa said, happy to change the subject.

“Yes, I have. I’ve been meeting with a private instructor five days a week and I’m grown quite skilled at it.” Willow responds, choosing not to bring up that she and Lisa have had this conversation twice before and that the fencing lessons have been happening for the better part of a year.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen her pursue something so passionately.” Mr. Sirocco says.

“It’s a good day when-” Lisa doesn’t get to finish her sentence.

On the other end of the ballroom, two large doors fly open and slam into the walls they’re attached to. A large man in a torn, bloody, and dirty firefighter’s uniform and wielding an ax marches through. Despite bustling with music and laughter a mere moment ago, the ballroom is dead silent. The strange man scans the room until he sees…

“SIROCCO!” he screams, charging after the old man.

Just Outside of the Sirocco Estate

“Now I'm not judging or anything, but if you ask me a girl shouldn't dress like a slut if she doesn't want to get treated like a slut.” Samantha tells her partner as the two sit inside their patrol car. The woman and her partner, a handsome asian man with a runner’s build, had been ordered to watch over the Sirocco’s ball. So he gets to enjoy Samantha’s delightful conversation and make sure to request a different partner when the night was over.

“Somehow me giving advice to my sister on how to dress like a lady make me the bad guy. If that wasn’t bad enough she has this boyfriend that I have still not seen a green card from. Hopefully she doesn’t come crying to me when she winds up kidnapped and sold as a sex slave in primitive, backwater, savage excuse of a country.

You probably know what that’s like. You got any family from the East Lands that don’t know how to act civilized like the rest of us? Of course, not you Vito. Despite how most of your kind can be, I was pleasantly surprised at how-”

“Oh dear God, shut up!” Vito interrupts.

“What!? What did I- Oh. Another thin-skinned-”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Dozens of screaming party goers run out of the mansion, their thunderous stampede the only thing louder than the panicked screeches. A man runs up to Samantha’s window, terror radiating off of him.

“Help! There's some guy in there with an ax! He's gonna kill Sirocco!”

The thread is dropped and the pair revert to their training with Vito running into the ballroom, trusting Samantha to inform the rest of the force of the situation over the radio and quickly follow behind. He puts some heavy duty earplugs in and draws his sidearm.

He rushes through the building, screaming “LCPD!” as he goes through the ballroom doors. As soon as he enters he sees bizarre man in a tattered, dirty, bloody firefighter’s uniform, complete with gloves, boots, a hat, and a gas mask. Oh, and a bloodstained ax embedded in Mr. Sirocco’s leg. This bizarre man rips the ax out and raises it for another blow. Vito wastes no time issuing a warning and quickly fires upon the man.

Sounding like firecrackers, the gun sends two rounds rocketing towards the figure. One misses, the other impacts into his back and the man turns, locking eyes with Vito. The figure charges Vito, who continues to fire into this being that would not die.

Once he is in chopping range, the being sends his ax flying down to Vito, who barely dodges enough to get a thin scratch on his calf from the weapon. The ax is embedded in the floorboards, giving Vito time to get some desperately needed distance.

“Vito! Are you o- Holy shit!” Samantha yells as she runs into the room, weapon drawn. She sees the hulking brute before her rip his weapon from the floor.

“Sam! Get back!” Vito screams at his partner, too late.

The being takes a powerful swing at Officer Samantha, ripping her gut open and letting intestines and blood spill out.

Outside

“Did you hear that?” Alice asks her friend as they walk home. The roommates are cutting through what Alexis enjoyed calling “Rich Town” on their way home.

“Hear what?” August asks.

“AAHHHHH!” dozens of screams pierced the air, coming from what everyone knew to be the Sirocco estate.

“Okay,” August says “that I heard.”

He dashes towards it with Alexia following as close as she could, though they both know that he easily outpaces her.

They run up to see a lone cop run out of her cruiser and into the building. As Alexia catches up to her opposite number, the two of them trade unsure and concerned looks that say “Should we…?”.

After a moment, August breaks the stillness and the two rush in. They do not have the time to appreciate the beyond magnificent architecture and art that dotted the walls of the mansion, nor can they stop to take in the sheer grandness of the ballroom when they step in. Their attention is consumed by the bloody, pained cop on the floor and her violently removed internal organs lain before her. Their attention is consumed by the bizarre man wielding a bloodstained ax who is clearly responsible. Their attention is consumed by the other cop in the room, who has resumed his attempts to fill the strange man with holes.

Vito fires a few more rounds into the man before running dry. In some ways, Alexia and August are glad, both highly valuing their hearing. The bizarre man turns to face Vito once more, raising his weapon and bringing it down, though thankfully missing by a country mile. August summons the fighter in him, sending two fists flying into the man’s back. Pain shoots through the martial artist’s limbs as though they had just struck a brick wall. As August wonders if he actually did anything meaningful to the giant of a man, said man turns a fist toward August’s face. He hits the fighter’s shoulder as August rolls with the blow.

Though not quite the trained combatant that August is, Alexia does what she can as she sends a punch into the man’s gut. He raises his ax to strike the girl down.

Outside

Jessica is thankful that the Sirocco’s mansion is just a few blocks away from the Our Lady of Angels church. She sees a crowd of the rich and powerful standing outside the mansion, all to afraid and unfamiliar with the present events to know what to do outside of talk about what is happening and engage in wild speculation. The ambient, fearful discussion grinds to a halt as Jessica pulls up to the crowd and all eyes lock onto her. She runs out of her car, medical bag in hand and knife recently sheathed on her belt.

“It’s okay, I’m an EMT. Is anybody hurt?” she told the crowd, doing her best to sound authoritative and reassuring.

The crowd stands in silence for a moment before a gorgeous young woman ran out of it to Jessica. Her white and gold dress has small amounts of blood splattered across it and her mascara has fallen to tears. She grabs onto Jessica and pulls her to the house, all the while screaming “Please help! My daddy is in there and that… person attacked him! Please save him!” With that statement, Jessica runs full speed ahead, the girl still outpacing her as they head into the mansion.

As they approach the ballroom, Jessica sees the full details of the situation: a man in firefighter’s garb wielding an ax is in combat with three people, one of whom is a cop. Another cop is very dead, her intestines and a lot of blood strewn out next to her corpse. On the ballroom’s far side, a man lies on the floor, paralyzed in pain as blood flows out of his leg.

“Stay back!” Jessica orders the girl, though the stranger seems so terrified to enter the room that it may have been redundant. Jessica forces herself to step past the brutally murdered cop, but then, out of the corner of her eye, sees the firefighter raise his ax to strike down the girl fighting him. In a split-second decision, Jessica grabs onto the ax as it is raised in the air and twists the firefighter’s arm, disarming him with a joint lock. With his tremendous strength, the man rips free of the hold, launching the EMT back a few feet. Alexia picks up the fallen ax and takes a swing at the man. He blocks the ax and it is imbedded in his left forearm. Alex punches him in the throat, stunning him for just a moment. The man decides that he has had enough of these annoyances and punches Alexia across the jaw, sending her head flying into the floorboards.

“Alex!” August yells out. He dashes over to her, picking her unconscious body up and dragging her away from the fight. Vito tries to tackle the man, but is about as effective as a determined chihuahua. The firefighter reaches over his shoulder and pulls Vito over, only for Jessica, back up and in the fight, to stab him in the side of the neck. The man hits her across the face with the butt of his ax’s handle, breaking her nose, and swings at Vito, who used the man’s moment of distraction to twist himself free. The man hit Vito enough to make a large cut into the cop’s shoulder as tried to get some distance. Just before the man turns to finish Jessica, he hears sirens.

The man does not hesitate to flee, knowing that he cannot stand up to whatever force would come to protect the rich and powerful, and runs out of the room. None are in any condition to follow and fight him.