Stories from Ravencroft
Chapter 1 – Enter the Seb Hood…
It's a quiet day in the city of Ravencroft – the people are happy, the skies are blue, cars aren't crashing all over the place, the Yassins are singing as they fly through the air. Everything is basically just very peaceful…. UNTIL A VERY SUDDEN LARGE EXPLOSION HAPPENS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY. BOOM. Cars are scattered everywhere, people are running away, the pavement is scorched and windows are broken (nobody is dead though, we'd like the keep this story light hearted). When the smoke and fire fades, a purple motorbike crashes down the highway, chasing a beaten up muscle car. Two criminals are in the muscle car – one is driving the vehicle, the other is hanging out the window aiming a gun at the man on the motorbike.
The man on the motorbike - clad in black leather with purple lining and a purple helmet, with medals and patches resembling cookies sitting upon his jacket and a black hood covering his head – gracefully avoids the gunshots by moving out of their way on his bike. This man… is THE SEB HOOD. The criminals, frustrated by their lack of success, abruptly stop their car and exit. Following their lead, the Seb Hood stops his motorbike. The criminals grab their rifles and unload all their bullets at the Seb Hood, screaming at the top of their lungs while they do it. The Seb Hood simply stands there, as if the bullets are doing nothing. After a short few seconds, the criminals run out of ammunition and drop their guns, the expression on their faces being that of pure terror as they look at each other and then back at the Seb Hood. The Seb Hood… chuckles.
"My turn." The Seb Hood says, voice full of arrogance. He quickly and effortlessly grabs his dual pistols and shoots their knee caps, incapacitating them. He returns the guns to his holsters and almost immediately bolts towards the criminals, kicks one in the head and slams the other into the car. They've been defeated. He grabs his hand cuffs and takes them to the station.
The Ravencroft Police Station – a large building in the centre of the city. Magnificent, it contains the hard working police force and all the criminal scum they put away. Sitting at the front desk is Officer Bronson, leader of the Ravencroft Mod Squad, who gets up to greet the criminals and The Seb Hood.
"Rexy and Optimus. You punks again… you come here so often that I'm thinking of just putting a sign over you cell." Bronson laughs. Rexy spits on Bronson and tries to break out, prompting Bronson to grab a nearby gavel, slamming it into Rexy's face.
"And to think… I still love you, like… love. Take him away, mods." At that moment, two mods hurry the prisoners away to their cells. "Thanks again, Seb Hood. But we could've hand-" Bronson turns around to see that the Seb Hood has vanished. He shrugs it off and sits back at his desk, proceeding to listen to a Nirvana album.
We come to a dirty apartment building, full of bad smells and garbage. The Seb Hood parks his bike outside the building and runs up the steps to the front door. He slams open his apartment door and shuts it, proceeding to turn the light on. The light reveals a messy one bedroom apartment, with clothes flung all over the place and dirt everywhere. The Seb Hood removes his helmet, revealing a young man with dark hair… this man isn't the Seb Hood, but simply Seb.
Seb sits down at a table and opens a can of beans, pouring them into a bowl and not even bothering to heat them up. It's apparent that he doesn't care much for himself. While eating his cold beans, he picks up a newspaper – the headline states "SEB HOOD – Man or Menace?" with a picture of him holding a civilian hostage as a human shield. He scoffs in disgust and throws it across the room in anger. A noise is heard from the closet, Seb springs to action and grabs his gun, aiming it at the door. Who could be in his home? The closet door opens, revealing a man wearing a suit out of bird feathers… wearing a beak mask over his mouth. The man has deep black eyes, and talons. This man… is Yassin Prime, leader of the Yassins.
"Hello Zemmal." Yassin says, smirking. Seb lowers his gun, Yassin poses no threat.
"Yassin… good to see you again. How long has it been, two years?" Seb responds. He walks over to his liquor cabinet and pours a glass of whisky. He offers the glass to Yassin, who politely declines. Seb proceeds to drink it himself, cringing as it burns his throat ever so slightly. "So, what brings you here?" He asks.
"There's a war coming… the Yassins cannot stop it, we need your help." Yassin tells Seb, almost choking as he explains.
"War? What war? Who with?"
"You're not going to like this… it's Andrew and his forces." Yassin responds. Seb widens his eyes in shock, audibly gasping. "Yeah, you remember 'Drew. The whole reason the group fell apart back in the old days… you just couldn't let it go." Yassin laughs. Seb's expression turns to anger, he attacks Yassin! Grabbing his knife and aiming for the throat. Yassin suddenly glows, and dissipates into a bunch of birds, who fly off in opposite directions. Seb loses his balance and falls flat on his face while Yassin reforms behind him.
"Ugh… forgot you could do that… argh…" Seb struggles to get up, but does so without assistance. He dusts himself off and turns to Yassin. "So, how do you plan on defeating Andrew? He's way too powerful now… and he's relentless."
"I thought you'd have a plan." Yassin says, voice full of disappointment. Seb ponders on what to do, when suddenly a picture catches his eye. He steps towards it and takes it off the wall. The picture is old, and shows a group of people.
"Well… maybe we should… no, that's stupid." Seb puts the picture back on the wall.
"What is it, Seb?" Yassin asks, excited and curious. Seb looks down and sighs, hands on his hips. He looks back at Yassin.
"We need to get the gang back together." Seb responds dramatically.
"Oh…"
Ravencroft Suburbs – Midday
The suburbs of Ravencroft are… well, they're like any other suburb – nice houses, nice cars, nice neighbourhood. The appearance isn't relevant to the story. A black car drives up to one of the houses, parking on the sidewalk. Seb and Yassin exit the car, dressed in casual clothing. The house is a light blue, with a SUV parked on the driveway. Seb and Yassin approach the front door.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Seb ponders. Yassin rings the door bell.
"I hope so…" Yassin responds. There is doubt in his voice. The door can be heard unlocking, and it flings open… revealing a woman with short black hair. A face familiar with Seb and Yassin.
"Oh my god… you guys?" She stays with a stern voice, arms crossed and a displeased expression.
"Christa, hey." Seb responds with caution and excitement all at once. Christa gives both Yassin and Seb stern looks, before turning into one of happiness. She smiles wide and hugs them both.
"It's SO great to see you both! How have you been?" Christa squeals with excitement. It has been years since these people have seen each other. "Tell me every-"
"There's no time for politelessness." Yassin rudely interrupts. "We're here on business." Christa's expression turns to one of seriousness as she signals Seb and Yassin to come in.
"Xavier isn't home, so we can talk here. Sit down on the sofa." Christa sits down on a chair opposite the sofa, Seb and Yassin sit down with a look of weariness on their faces. "What's going on?" She asks.
"It's Andrew." Seb says "He has returned… with an army."
"Andrew? Oh boy…" Christa responds. Her face is both concerned and shocked. "How can we beat him, he's… difficult to deal with, always has been."
"That's why we came to you" Seb responds "You've always been wise and shit."
"True."
"So are you gonna help us or not?" Seb asks, almost begging. Christa leans back, thinking about whether or not she should help.
"Please?" Yassin asks aggressively.
"Sure… what the hell! Always happy to help out my friends." Christa gets off her chair and walks out the door with Seb and Yassin. "What's our next move?"
"We need to find Miles." Yassin says, lighting up a cigar in his beak "The speedforce can help us greatly, and we think you can convince him to return."
"Lololol, I don't think so." Christa laughs.
"Wha? Why the hell not?" A puzzled Seb asks Christa "Aren't you like… BFFs?"
"Damn, we haven't spoken in years. He insulted Xavier at our wedding, got drunk and destroyed the cake… it was insane." Christa explained.
"Okay then… we'll get back to Miles. Who's next on our list, Yassin?" Seb asks. Yassin pulls out a notebook and opens it up.
"Urm…." Yassin skims through the book, until he reaches a page and stops it with his finger "Here we go. Seb, Christa, Miles… um… Tyler."
"Tyler?" Seb responds with shock. "Oh man."
"This is going to be difficult." Christa adds. The group enters the car and drives away on their search for Tyler – the former leader of the group, current status: pothead.
Abandoned Warehouse – Ravencroft Docks
"Bring in the shipment!" A tall man shouts at a couple of workers. His most striking features being his bushy eyebrows and brown eyes. Spiked up brown hair sits upon his head, making him resemble actor Andrew Garfield. This is Tyler. His eyes are red and his appearance dishevelled.
The workers drop a case in front of Tyler, who scrambles towards it, scaring the workers slightly.
"Take it easy man." One of the workers tells him.
"Quiet you… hehehe…" Tyler opens the case, revealing an entire box full of weed. He picks some up and smells it. "Oh yes, this is some premium weed. I can almost feel my connection to the universe getting stronger." He sniffs it again.
Suddenly! A scream is heard, echoing through the docks. The workers and Tyler become distressed and confused.
"What the fuck was that!?" Tyler shouts. The workers are too confused and scared to even respond. Almost out of nowhere, a blur takes out one of the workers, sending him flying. Before they can react, the blur returns and kicks the other worker into a wall, stopping where the worker once stood. The blur is a man, dressed in a black costume with red lining. On his head, he wears a Jim Carrey mask. The man turns to Tyler and walks towards him. Panicking, Tyler tries to back away but falls over. The man crouches and leans over Tyler.
"WHO ARE YOU?" Tyler screams, he's scared.
"Me name iz… JIM JIM."
END OF CHAPTER ONE