Michel was a very tall broad man with a heavy build; he has a thick neck and arms both covered in intricate and beautiful tattoos. His scarred face was curled into a perpetual scowl, his eyes were miss matched one being a deep sapphire blue and the other a dull milky white, the skin around it was horrendously scarred with a puffy spider web like acid scar that started above his eye an extended across his left cheek and over his missing ear. But at first glance it didn't seem that extensive because it is mostly concealed by his long coiled dirty brown hair and his bushy red streaked beard, he wore a black worn hooded jacket that was at least a size larger that he was and poking out from underneath it was a blood red t-shirt. he wore black ripped knee denim jeans that had seen better days and were held up by a thick but worn black leather belt, it had rippled and warn threw almost constant use. It had an oblong shaped buckle that had a skull in white against a black background, he wore tall leather boots fastened together by deep yellow laces that stopped just below his knees, his jeans were tucked into them making them bunch up there. On his hands when you could see them, as they were usually tucked into his jacket pockets where leather fingerless gloves.
Michel was always clenching his hands when he had nothing to do with them just to keep the blood pumping in them; his voice was a deep rumbling growl that few could understand when coupled with his heavy valleys accent, not that he cared if he was understood or not because most people wouldn't even speak to someone like him because of how he looked, most people in fact would cross the street as soon as he approached either because they were scared that he would rob them or eat them, but his usual rout to the GYM was devoid of people not many bothered to go through the subway these days because of their fears of hoodies and youths, that left them mostly deserted of anyone but the homeless who were looking for shelter from the rain.
Or so he thought as he came to the exit of the subway there was a group of nine people whose features where obscured by hoods, they were dressed identically in jeans black hooded jackets and black gloves, as Michel neared they moved from their position against one of the walls to block the exit, they didn't move like regular people there was something very strange and very, very alien about them as if there was something that living people do that these people where not, and this snapped his attention on them like nothing he had ever felt before, it was as if something in his mind within his very being knew them to be different enough to be a threat, that unsettled Michel at his very core.
Michel slowed to a stop a few feet from the group and was resisting the urge to put up his arms in a defensive posture, like something in the primal part of his brain that was demanding he prepare to fight these people should they indeed be revealed as a threat to him, and in his mind he had already killed these people nine times over in the past few seconds, he stopped pumping his hands and balled them into solid fists, he could feel his heart beat increase and familiar burn of adrenalin rush into his blood.
"Move" he growled menacingly his voice echoed through the subway like the growl of bear, the nine looked at each other for a second before one taped another on the chest with the back of his gloved hand and the group opened to let him through, slowly Michel made his way through the hole they had opened turning just as he passed them making sure there would be no shenanigans from the mysterious crew, when he was far enough away from them he turned and continued on his journey, though something told him that he was being followed and he knew instinctively that it could only be the nine who had obstructed him earlier, rather than increase his speed and let them know he knew they were following him he decided to take the slightly longer wrought following the road rather than the tree lined path he would usually take because this path had one advantage over the other, it had a mirror at the blind turn letting Michel use his hood to camouflage his eyes allowing him to take an unrestricted look behind him without his pursuers if any knowing.
There they were, as he passed the mirror he saw them, they were moving strangely as if their hips weren't orientated like humans and they twitched excitedly as they followed him, Michel knew there was another blind turn coming up with another mirror attached to a tall wall, the wall had a hidden gap large enough for him to squeeze through and by the time the nine caught up he would be well hidden and could turn from mouse to cat in this little chase, the only problem was the path three meters after the wall took a left turn away from the road into the end of the wooded path, and then a few meters later it opened up into wide fields and the nine would know that he was behind them or that he had escaped them, and it was more than likely that if a fight occurred the numbers game would play a large part in it and though he was confident that he could beat them after all they were thin and small but he knew that he would take some damage as well, he had learned the hard lesson that it wasn't the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
As predicted the nine moved past him and as they did so he could hear some sort of strange other worldly language, it sounded like some weird amalgamation of a turkey gobbling and a person drowning, it was obvious to Michel that whatever it was they were, they were as far from human as an octopus from a bird, as they passed his hiding spot he counted back from ten slowly and as he reached one he made his way out of the gap the mysterious nine where about three meters in front of him and had yet to spot his evasion, but as they made it to the clearing they stopped dead in their tracks, Michel paused as the creatures began to tilt their heads like confused dogs but thankfully they didn't turn around he moved forward slowly mindful of every step before he got about two meters from them, then he kicked off and ran at full tilt towards them and just as the lead creacher began to turn he was knocked to the ground by a powerful knee block the creacher bounced twice before sliding to a stop.
For a moment no one moved, the strange creatures seemed too stunted to realise they were under attack, and Michel took advantage of their shock hammering another in its face, dropping the creature like a sack of spuds, he elbowed another on the back of its head then brought his knee up to strike the creature as its head drooped towards the hard floor, one of the creatures attacked Michel, he was astonished by the strength of the creatures as its fist impacted on his face, Michel had been in many fights and had never taken a blow hard enough to almost off his feet, he staggered back rocked by the blow, a ringing in his head, but he had no time to adjust himself before another of the creatures attacked him, moving with a speed he never thought he had Michel dodged a flying kick and had the foresight to raise his hand catching the creature with his forearm across the neck the momentum driving the creature to the ground, as its body bounced Michel drove one of his heavy boots down on its head, he repeated the blow two more times to stop the thing from moving.
The five remaining creatures began to cycle Michel there strange gobbling was unsettlingly synchronises before one of them jumped at him, the creature moved to kick Michel who intercepted the leg and kicked the supporting leg hard enough to bend the leg in the wrong way the creature dropped and Michel punted the head off the creature hard enough to stop it moving, and once again the unsettling gobbling resynchronised and anther of them came at him, this time the creature came at him with a fist, not wanting to take another tooth chattering blow he moved inside the arm and drove his head into the head of the creature, that was not the smartest thing Michel could have done as, as soon as his head made contact it felt like he had hit a cinderblock the creature dropped but Michel had succeeded in giving himself a concussion, seeing him weaken the three remaining charged at him forcing Michel to grab a nearby rock as a weapon, his vision swimming he swung wildly at the nearest target catching one in the head the other two split away from each other, as Michel's vision began to normalize they struck a kick in the chest staggered him hard and found it very hard to keep his footing then a second kick to the back, of his staggering legs found Michel on his back scrambling to defend himself from the two remaining creatures the stone flew from his hand at the heavy impact.
Getting to his feet as fast as he could the two synchronized there attacks, and charged at him one kicking high the other kicking low forcing Michel on the back foot, he needed to separate them force them apart somehow, deciding to take a risk he charged the nearest one impacting its mid section he lifted the creature up and pushed it off as he sped to full speed the creature landed heavily enough that it rolled twice before coming to a stop, he turned quickly and attack the standing one with a kick to what on a human would have been the groin, but it was ineffective as the strange creature tilted its head he elbowed the creature in the face, then kicked the thing in the chest knocking it on its back, he spun around quickly as the second creature returned to the fray, as the creature threw his arm out for a punch Michel moved back grabbed the wrist and using leverage forced the creature down, he placed his boot on the back of the creatures head and launched himself up, the boot still on its head his full weight on the creatures head and driving it head first into the ground.
With one creature still somewhat mobile Michel was set to get some answers, but as he moved to grab the jacket of the reaming creature they vanished in a strange blue yellow halo of light, taking a second to process their disappearance he moved his arm through the location where the creatures where, waving it through nothing but air he cursed up a storm realising that they had either retreated or that they had used some form of suicide technique, finally ending his four letter tirade he made his way back the way he came.
As his adrenalin levels dropped to their pre fight levels his legs began to shake uncontrollably and the pain from the fight began to flow over him lifting his hood over his head he made his way home limping all the way.
(St Illtyd's Grove two hours after the incident)
St Illtyd's Grove was a middle class cul-de-sac in the mildly affluent region of the former kingdom of Glamorgan in the Republic of Wales, it had twenty houses and number twelve was perhaps the most out of place amongst them, in so much as that every house was identical so much so that even the grass was regimented and policed weekly, and the only thing that had made the house stand out was that it had a blue door instead of a regimented red that every house had, and that was a cardinal sin in such a neighbourhood.
Michel limped through the back ally that connected his street to five identical cul-de-sacs, and made his way to his family home at number twelve, past disapproving tutting and parents pulling their children away from their games in their front gardens, Michel sighed in irritation his already sour mood was getting worse and with it his thoughts began to darken, his mind burned with a cacophony of brutal and bloody images of murder and torture of those same families that judged him of silencing their disapproval permanently, cutting there wagging tongs out and brutalising them in ways that would reveal a level of sadism not seen in humanity in decades, and although he never would act on them there temptation would always be there.
He pulled the small brass key for the door only for it to open just as he was about to insert the key, standing there with a disapproving scowl was a short woman, she in her mid thirties early forties her blue eyes where blazing with fury only a mother could know, she wore a t-shirt and black trousers and a pair of trainers, she was still a beautiful woman given her age but one or two grey hairs where peaking out amidst a sea of golden blond hair.
"Who was it this time" she said, her scowl deepened and her arms folded, making Michel shudder slightly, there was nothing in this world like the wrath of a mother, and for such a petite woman she gave a very good impression of a fierce lioness.
"What" Michel Mumbled? Trying to fain innocence to mitigate her rage.
"Don't give me that I can see the bruises on your face" she said cupping his face in her hands after pulling his hood down, her gaze softened as Michel moved to hide his scars from her, even after all these years he was still ashamed and embarrassed of them. "Don't hide them from me Michel" she said softly
"I don't know" he said hiding the left side of his face from her "I was followed and defended myself" he could see by the look in her eye that she didn't believe a word of it, he had used the self defence excuse too many times for her to buy it now, she moved aside giving him enough room to enter.
"Michel you are seventeen years old how long are you going to keep this up" she asked him "next year you will be an adult in the eyes of the law and then what" he didn't say anything as she continued "You know what has to happen now son" she said gently almost reluctantly, "it had been one thing for the Tattoos" she said still not over him defacing his body in such away "but the constant fighting has to stop" she moved to allow him into the house, she gently closed the door closing it from the prying eyes of the neighbourhood gossip vultures.
"You're really going through with it" he said in disbelief, she had threatened it a few times but now, now he knew she wasn't bluffing.
"Michel we've had this talk before" she said as he sat down, even while sitting he was taller than his mother, he held his head in his hands trying in vain to wish the truth away "and you agreed to this if you went out fighting again" she didn't get a chance to finish
"Your "Fresh Prince-ing" me"
"you have left me little choice Michel " she said not backing down to him "Oh come on your being dramatic" she said rubbing his broad shoulders to try and soothe him "and you like your cousin Willy, you used to get on like a house on fire when he would come and visit" Michel nodded sullenly
"When will I be going?" he asked resigned to his fate.
"I already have the tickets" she said "I have contacted your uncle Peter"
"How long have you had these tickets" he demanded betrayal evident in his voice
"Don't you dare shout at me young man" she shouted right back at him "you may be big but you are nowhere near big enough for me to not put you over my knee" she said "and for your information they are open tickets and there valid till the end of October" she said arms crossed again "now I have contacted your uncle Peter and he will meet you from the airport" she said walking to the stairs "come on let's get you packed" she said he followed behind her slowly he knew better than to poke the lioness.
His room was the last one on the landing and sat over the living room at the front of the house, it wasn't big by any means but it was big enough for him.
As he entered the room he sighed and sat on the bed facing his cupboard, he shook his head as his mother buzzed through the room grabbing his clothes and placing them in a suit case she had dug out form her own room, it was a dull grey and made of leather, and it was filling with his clothes, he couldn't even bring himself to be upset that he was being sent off to America and to his mother's family, he had know the consequences to his actions months ago, they had had a talk about what would happen if she found out that he had been fighting again, but what did upset him was leaving his mother alone, his father had left them when Michel was a boy, he had run off with his secretary and was living somewhere in Spain, his mother was devastated and had never trusted a man after that, she never dated again and now she was sending him off, that meant that she would now be alone in this house and that was what upset him.
A few hours later he was sat on a plane heading for California, to Angle Grove and his mother's family, and about the only thing that he was looking forward to was seeing his cousin Willy again though his Uncle Peter was absent minded for a genius his cousin Willy was not, though Willy was more difficult to talk to, recently he had though the help of a girl Trini or something he had come out of his shell and was beginning to speak like a real person, once again he hoped that when he got there his Uncle would have remembered to pick him up.