Chapter 1 – Aiden McCay
The cold rain strikes the surface of the asphalt as a heavily armored van rips through the puddles accumulated down the long street. On the side of the van were the words "Crime Detection Agency". Surrounded by streetlights and headlights the armored van flew by as it made its way through the traffic. The brightly lit city of Monstropolis was surly a site to behold especially at night, but this was a dark night indeed. As young Aiden McCay sat restrained in the back having just lost his trial and sentenced to banishment. Only it wasn't the Human World he was headed to.
It was not long after the discovery of laugh energy that banishment to the Human World became a thing of the past. After constant fighting between lawmakers and the protestors who claimed it was too cruel a punishment to bestow on fellow Monsters, it was eventually outlawed in Monstropolis. No more Monsters would be sent to the Human World. But it wasn't long before the bad effects of this decision began to emerge. Over a course of five years the crime rate increased tremendously. Jails and prisons quickly began to overflow and criminals were everywhere on the streets. It reached a point where it wasn't even safe to leave your house anymore. The city was in turmoil. The Mayor, in a panic, along with his politicians began to search the new banishment law for any loop holes they could find. Very quickly they found one. The law stated that banishment to the "Human World" was no longer justified. So they turned to an organization called the SDK (Science Discovery Knowledge) who had recently discovered a third realm and were working on building a gateway to that world, similar to the Humans world.
The Mayor offered funding over the next three years to speed up the project. But it was only two years before the city reached its dept limit. The Mayor was no longer able to send money to SDK. Because of this, only one gateway was able to make a connection to this new world. Immediately this news became public. Shortly after that the government locked down the city. Quickly, without knowing anything about what it was SDK discovered, the Mayor ordered that all criminal offenders were to be sent to this third world never to return. Things did not get better. Because of the Mayors poor choice of words, all criminals large and small were being banished. Monsters were being banished for petty crimes as small as driving without a license. It reached a point where even innocent Monsters were being banished. This dark period in Monster history finally began to fade over the years, but was not gone. And now nearly fifty-two years later, it was Aiden's time.
"You sure are a quite one, you know that?" said one of the two CDA agents sitting across from Aiden who was glaring out the window watching streetlights pass by. The two agents wore their iconic black and blue CDA suits which covered their entire bodies form head to toe. "Hey, you hear me boy?" the agent continued sternly. Aiden kept looking away. "He's just a punk kid trying to act tough" the second agent said. "You know, I looked at your record. I'm surprised it took up until now for the judge to finally lay it down on you after all the shit you pulled. Like torching the Mayors car, which I'll admit that one was pretty funny."
The second agent leaned forward towards Aiden, "The judge seemed to favor you. He was always letting you off easy for some reason. But you just couldn't stop poking the bear could you? I heard you even...killed a man."
Aiden looked at the agent, "That was an accident!" he replied.
"Holy shit, it speaks!" the first agent said. "What else can you do?"
"Screw you." Aiden shot back.
The agent quickly changed his attitude, "Hey you know, you should show a little more respect kid. I've been wearing this uniform since before you were even a thought!"
Aiden rolled his eyes and smirked "I don't respect puppets of the Mayor. Especially badge wearing monkeys who think they're protecting the city, when all they're really doing is causing even more pain and misery!" The second agent interrupted "Now hold on you!" Aiden interrupted back "Oh I'm sorry am I pissing you off? What are you gonna do, taze me?"
The two agents glanced at each other. The first one leaned forward before striking Aiden in the face knocking him onto the floor of the van. "I ain't no puppet you little freak!." the agent yelled. "You know, I think you need to be taught some respect." the second one said standing up followed by the other agent. "Yeah, lets teach this little punk some manners!"
Aiden looked up at them and began to regret opening his mouth. The two agents began kicking and punching Aiden who was chained up and defenseless. All he could do was lie there and take it. After a while his mind drifted off as the agents continued to beat him, flashes of back home as a kid passed over his eyes and he almost felt like he was actually there for a moment, with his family. Finally the agents stopped and sat back down. That's when the thought finally hit Aiden. His life was over. He would never see his family again and he would never be able to return home after today. So Aiden just lied there for the rest of the ride as his mind wondered feeling every bump and turn the van encountered before finally coming to a violent stop. "We're here!"
The back doors to the van flew open and Aiden was tossed out, landing on the hard concrete ground. "Welcome to SDK Labs, we hope you enjoy your stay!" the second agent said before kicking Aiden one final time.
"That's enough you two!" a voice said. Aiden's vision was blurry and he could only make out a shape approaching but he knew it was another Monster. "This fellow is about to be banished." The shape said to the two agents. "He's already having a bad enough day without you two beating on him."
Aiden's vision finally started to come back to him and he was able to make out the person talking. It was a tall green Monster. He had three eyes and many tentacles. He practically resembled an octopus wearing a lab coat and carrying an umbrella. Aiden stayed on the ground as the monster defended him, though not as sternly as Aiden had hoped. "Ah whatever, we got better things to do anyway." One of the agents said waving his hand before climbing back into the van, followed by the other agent. A few seconds later it sped off down the road. Aiden was relieved that those two were gone. He then looked up and saw two large Monsters that looked like CDA agents but their outfit was a slightly different style and color of black and yellow. They each grabbed Aiden and pulled him up to his feet.
"Don't worry about them, they're just security here." the Monster in the lab coat said. "As for those other two, I'm sorry lad. We don't really have much control over the CDA."
Aiden shrugged his shoulders attempting to regain is posture. "Thanks for that" he said. "So, who are you?"
The monster perked up, "Oh I'm sorry, I am Doctor Timothy Smith, head researcher here at SDK labs!" He then pulled a clip board out from his coat and looked at it. "Ah and your name is, Aiden McCay." He tilted his after reading that. "Huh, your last name sounds familiar."
Aiden sighed, "Well my great-grandfather was a famous scarer back in his day."
Dr. Smith snapped a tentacle, "Ah yes, Frank McCay!" He said excitedly. "I actually think I still have his scare card. He was-"
Aiden cut him off, "Can we just get on with this?" Dr. Smith returned an unamused glare, "Hmm, well there's no need to be rude. Come on then, this way." Dr. Smith turned towards the building. The two security guards each grabbed one of Aiden's arms and pulled him along. It became quiet. All that could be heard was footsteps, the rain, and the sound of rattling chains that restrained Aiden.
Aiden looked forward as they approached the towering building. The structure was black with yellow lights that shot straight to the top in straight lines. It had an enormous sign on the front that lit up reading "SDK". It easily could be one of the tallest buildings in Monstropolis. He didn't have much time to admire the view before reaching it. They approached the base of a wide and tall set of concrete stairs that led up to the entrance. They began to make their way up. Aiden could see four guards standing at the entrance, two on each side. Once they made it to the top Dr. Smith pulled out a key card and swiped it on a console next to the doors, opening them. Once inside he closed his umbrella. "Ah, finally nice to be out of the rain." he said before looking back at Aiden and the two guards escorting him. "Okay now no time for lollygagging, lets go!" he turned and continued through a second set of doors which led them into the main lobby of the building.
The lobby was just as incredible as the rest of the building. It was about half the size of a football field. The whole room was bright white and there were monitors mounted on the walls, all talking about SDK and their accomplishments. On both sides of the lobby were two sets of stair cases leading up to different floors of the building. On the back wall were three evenly parted elevator doors. Not to mention there were Monsters in lab coats everywhere, all looking like they were in a hurry to get somewhere. And security guards posted every ten feet.
At the center of the lobby was a large desk which they approached. Dr. Smith took out his badge and showed it to the receptionist who was busy reading a magazine. She glanced at the badge for a moment and then back to her magazine. "Okay, you're clear to proceed." She said. Smith nodded and began to head towards the elevator doors over in the back of the lobby, with Aiden and the guards following behind. What surprised Aiden the most was how nobody here was reacting to what was going on. It was like this was the norm for them. Which really wasn't a good thing, Aiden thought.
Dr. Smith pressed the down arrow button and the elevator door opened. They entered with the doors slowly shutting behind them. Dr. Smith took out his key card once again and swiped it down a slot that was next to the floor level buttons and then pressed the one reading "B3". The elevator then began to descend. Inch by inch Aiden was getting closer to his final destination and he did not like the journey one bit. "This is a long elevator ride." he thought to himself.
"So you're a scientist here, huh?" Aiden asked Dr. Gordon who then replied "That's right." Aiden continued, "So does that mean you enjoy participating in the banishment of innocent Monsters?"
Dr. Smith turned around to face Aiden, "Good heavens, no!" he said with a slight shocked expression. "I just, never really had a choice in the matter." Aiden responded to that by raising an eyebrow and saying "Yeah, sure."
Dr. Smith was beginning to get irritated. "You know, I looked at your file earlier and you're not exactly an innocent Monster yourself." The elevator finally came to a stop and the doors opened. "So, you wanna talk about that?" Dr. Smith asked.
Aiden looked down at the floor and became silent. Dr. Smith smirked, "Yeah, didn't thin so." He turned and stepped out of the elevator and then said "Lets go." The two guards pulled Aiden along. He took this moment to look around. They were in a large room filled with armed guards, scientist, and computers. As they made their way forward, four of the guards approached them. "Bring the inmate over for a bio scan." One of them said. Aiden was pulled forward towards what looked like a big metal detector that can be seen in most airports.
Just then a guard approached, this one was different from the rest. He was slightly bigger and he wore a CDA outfit as opposed to a security guards and on the front of his suit and on his right shoulder were the numbers 01. "Step into the bio scanner." he said harshly to Aiden who casually walked over to it while taking a quick glance over at Dr. Smith. He looked a little nervous after that CDA agent entered the room. "Oh Number One, I thought you left for the night." Dr. Smith said cracking a nervous smile. Number One snatched the clipboard from Dr. Smith, "I have to stay over time and miss dinner." He said before approaching Aiden who had just entered the scanner. Number One looked at the clipboard and began to read it out loud. "Aiden McCay, age 19, height 6'5", weight 236lb, and a pretty lengthy record." He flipped to the next page, "Vandalism, assault, breaking and entering, fraud, and murder in the first degree. Now I gotta say, that last one surprised me!" He continued, "But after reading all of that, its no wonder your here with us tonight."
Aiden tried to avoid eye contact with the agent but he stepped forward and got right in Aidens face, he continued to resist eye contact. "I'll bet you're one of those rebellious punk kids that have been running around lately causing trouble. Breaking the law and ranting about The Mayor and how he runs this city. Am I right?" Number One continued to glare at Aiden until he finally broke and made eye contact with him. Number One huffed, "Yeah, you're just getting whats been coming to you. Start the bio scan!" He shouted stepping away.
Aiden looked up as a bright light illuminated over his head and surrounded his entire body. This was followed by a soft humming sound. Over to the side a descriptive biography of him appeared on a computer monitor. The light and humming continued. Then a three dimensional image of Aiden appeared on the screen. Aside from the orange jump suit and chain restraints, Aiden resembled his relatives in many ways. He had rough blue skin with different tones throughout his body such as his arms and legs which faded a darker shade of blue closer to his hands. His four limbs were thin near the top but got thicker closer to his hands and feet which bore semi sharp claws. His head was rounded with small spikes on top and two bright blue eyes on the front. His body was slightly slender but he still had a frame to him. And along his back were dark blue spots that lead all the way down to the base of his short tale.
After a few minutes the humming stopped and the lights faded. "Bio scan complete, sir." a Monster said while viewing the monitor. Number one nodded before turning to the two guards that escorted Aiden, "Take him to a temporary holding cell with the others." The two guards grabbed Aiden once again by each arm, he looked over to see Dr. Smith raising a tentacle and smiling. "Well this is where you and I part ways, Aiden. Good luck in whatever awaits you!" Dr. Smith finally left with Aiden being moved in the opposite direction.
After a long walk through the halls of SDK, they finally reached their destination. They were standing outside a heavily reinforced door with four guards standing in front of it who stepped aside once Aiden and his escorts approached. The door opened and they made their way inside to a what appeared to be another hallway but unlike the others, this one did not lead anywhere. It came to a dead end only a hundred yards away. Along the sides were steel doors with mail slots and numbers on them that ran all the way down the long hall. It hall was bright white and very clean, it didn't look much like a cell block Aiden thought. The guards pulled him over to a door with the number five on it. There was a key pad on the door, one of the guards typed in a code and a loud beep was heard followed by the door opening. "You will stay here until they're ready for you." one guard said. Aiden was shoved through the door and it was closed behind him.
The cell wasn't so bad, it was white and clean just like the rest of the building and plenty spacious. It had to be at least forty by fifty feet. Aiden was too busy processing where he was that it took him a minute before he realized that there were eight other Monsters in the cell with him. Aiden stood there for a moment as they all just stared at him, they were all wearing orange jumpsuits and chain restraints just like him. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable so he slowly moved over to one corner of the room and sat down on the floor bringing his knees up to his chin. After a while the other Monsters stopped starring and some began to talk amongst each other.
Aiden just sat there, still in allot of pain from the beating he received earlier. He began to drift off in though before he was interrupted. "Wow buddy, looks like they did a number on you!" a voice said.
Aiden looked up to see one of the other Monsters standing in front of him. He appeared slightly smaller than Aiden and had light orange skin with green zigzags that ran down his back that were the same color as his eyes. He also had two legs, but four arms and two very large ears.
"Yeah, I guess I should have kept my mouth shut." Aiden responded shrugging. The Monster sat down next to him, "So whats your name?" He asked. Aiden looked at him slightly surprised by the friendly character this Monster had. "I'm Aiden." He replied.
"Well hi Aiden, my name's Steven." he said raising a hand to shake Aiden's. They just sat there for a moment.. Steven lowered his hand and decided to break the silence with a question, "So Aiden, what did you do to get in this situation?" Aiden looked up at him, "A bunch of things and a big one that wasn't even my fault. What about you?" Steven smirked, "Too many parking tickets." Despite all that's happened, Aiden couldn't help but chuckle at that.
Timed ticked by for what seemed like an eternity in this cell, hour by hour Aiden sat in that corner with Steven next to him talking about all the stuff they did to get banished. The long period of boredom was about to end. Aiden looked and saw that some of the other Monsters were staring again. He challenged them by glaring back. Steven saw what was going on, "Hey man, I wouldn't be starting shit if I were you. Those guys are pretty hard core." Aiden continued glaring, "I ain't afraid of those losers."
"We can hear you." one of them said to which Aiden replied, "Yeah, well I said it loud."
The Monster gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "Whats this guys problem?" he asked out loud. "I don't like his attitude." another said. Aiden stood up with a smirk on his face, "What are you gonna do about it, tough guy?" he said. Steven jumped up and got in front of Aiden. "Hey come on now, nobodies gonna do anything. This is just a misunderstanding!" he said smiling before Aiden stepped forward and pushed him aside. The other Monster raised his hand pointed at Aiden, "The guards already kicked your ass once and I got not problem finishing the job!"
Aiden laughed, "Bring it on big boy, I'm right here!" Aiden readied himself for a fight, ignoring the pain he was already in. They were just about to charge at each other, but they only got in one step when an extremely loud vibrating humming sound emitted in the cell. Everyone inside fell to the floor covering their ears. The loud noise continued and was almost unbearable. Aiden's eardrums felt like they were going to explode even with them covered. After a few seconds the noise finally ceased and everyone was groaning in pain. Just then the cell door opened and Number One walked in along with some guards.
"You girls like that?" he shouted. "Now that little sonic blast was only half of what it can really do! Now I will not be having any fight outbreaks here because if I do so help me God I will crank it up to eleven next time!"
Aiden uncovered his ears which were still ringing and looked around, the room looked distorted. "Hey, McCay doesn't look so good." one guard said.
"Hey, you okay man?" Steven asked. Aiden's head was spinning and he began to feel very dizzy. His distorted vision became blurred before fading into complete blackness.