Episode 1 - Awakening
"Alright! Pax High; everybody off!"
The holler from the front of the bus caught Isaac's attention; he'd been staring out of the window, watching the scenery pass by; apart from the occasional bump from going over a rock in the road, it had been smooth.
It would have been better if it weren't for the other teenagers crammed into the school bus.
Isaac had grown up as an only child, so was used to the silence of a house with only three people in it. He relished in it whenever they came around, which became fewer and fewer the older he got.
And the fact that he was in the middle of other teenagers, who spent more time looking at the phone in their hands than what was in front of them, shouting loudly to be heard over everyone else shouting, made him appreciate it all the more.
With a low, calming exhale, Isaac reached between his legs and grabbed his rucksack, getting to his feet and filing off of the bus along with the other students. Bodies shoving against each other in the narrow confines of the walkway in the bus, as they shuffled towards the open door.
The students muttered small words of gratitude to the driver, some merely grunting from being too absorbed in the latest Tweet, before Isaac passed the driver, muttering a faint "Cheers," before climbing off of the bus.
No point in hiding his accent, he figured shortly after arriving here. 'They'd find out soon enough,' he told himself.
He stepped off the bus, sit stepping to let the other students pass, all walking towards the high school that stood before him.
The walls were an off white in color; either by choice or from weathering, it really wasn't a good color, in Isaac's opinion. But, he didn't really have a say in what passed for decent colors nowadays. Still, the design was alright; at least three stories high, with windows lining the height of some areas, void of classrooms but filled with stairs.
The name of the school, 'PAX VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL', was embedded into the sign above the front doors, as students filed through, heading to their hangouts before dragging themselves to their first period.
Exhaling again, Isaac slung the black rucksack over his shoulder, looking across all that was in front of him.
"Here we go…" he said to himself, before willing his feet to begin walking; driving himself towards the school.
Pushing his way through the double doors, he was met with a wall of students; blocking the entire width of the hallway, chatting in little clusters, their little friendship circles, barely leaving room for a single person to navigate their way through them.
Rolling dark brown eyes, Isaac began the process of maneuvering his way through the clusters; brushing past people, trying to find his class as quickly as possible.
"Class 13…Class 13…" he muttered to himself, looking from side to side, reaching a crossroads in the corridor. Thankfully, signs hung from the ceiling and helped Isaac find his class.
Heading left, he found this corridor was narrower, and thankfully, fewer people were filling the width. He headed past several doors, looking for their number.
Class 11….
Class 12…
"Bingo," he muttered to himself, stopping and standing before Class 13.
He stepped forward, opening the door and heading into the classroom.
There were only a few students already in the classroom; the rest of them were taking their sweet ass time dragging themselves from their lockers.
"Ah, you must be…Isaac, yes?"
Isaac turned to look at the source of the voice; it would appear to be the teacher of the class.
He had a wiry figure, which was half hidden behind the desk; arms crossed in front of his chest, crumpling his dark grey suit. This was paired with a white shirt and slim black tie.
A pair of thin wired glasses rested on his nose, which he pressed back slightly when Isaac entered the room. Short black hair was kept clean and trimmed, a professional look.
"That's me sir," Isaac replied with a faint nod.
The teacher picked up a piece of paper from his desk, muttering a little under his breath.
"You're sitting at the back. Find a seat, the others should be in soon."
Again, Isaac nodded, before walking around the desks and slinging his bag under the desk of his selected seat, dragging the seat out and taking a seat.
Now all he had to do was wait for the others…see who he was stuck with for the foreseeable future...
Kyle was REALLY regretting last night. He should have had all those drinks…just one more, he said.
It was for fun, he said.
Oh, how he wished he listened to his common sense.
He let out a low, slightly pain groan as he rubbed his temple with his palms, partially lifting the dark blue cap he wore as part of his uniform. His elbows resting on the table of the place's breakroom. He'd try using some ice to soothe, but his manager would make him pay for it.
The ass…
A mild buzzing in his pocket brought him back from his pain, and he slipped one hand down to blindly grab for his phone. After unlocking it, he flicked the screen down to get the notification up.
'Hey, u at work yet?' It was Tanya.
Still rubbing his temple with the one hand, Kyle's fingers glided over the screen, tapping out a reply.
'Yeah, still suffering :-( '
He tapped send.
He waited for a few seconds, seeing Tanya had seen the message.
'Lightweight lol'
Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, a soft chuckle escaping him. Though it was replaced with a low groan of pain moments later.
'Meet front of store?'
Kyle tapped his thumb over the screen. 'Eh, sure. Shift doesn't start for another 5.'
With that, he slowly stood up, slipping his phone back into his pocket and headed around the table. One hand still pressed against his temple, he headed for the front of the store.
The door of the classroom woke Isaac up from his light slumber, lifting his head up from being propped up on his elbow.
Several people had entered the room since Isaac last checked, shifting slightly in his seat to sit up straight.
"Finally woke up, did you?"
Isaac flicked slightly, glancing to his left. He really needed to improve his hearing…
It was a girl; wearing a dark grey jacket over a shirt, complete with jeans. Her black hair was about shoulder length, give or take an inch.
"Yeah…" Isaac said slowly, shifting slightly in his seat again. When he spoke, something seemed to catch her attention; she tore her gaze from her phone to side glance at him.
"England, huh?" she asked.
"Uh…yeah…"
Well, someone figured it out faster than he expected them too…
"What's a Brit like you doing in Pax Valley?" she asked.
Isaac shrugged slightly, shifting around to face the girl.
"Grandparents are from here; moved over to England. Dad divorced from my Mum, and she wanted to come to the place her parents were from. And well…here I am."
The girl looked Isaac over for a few seconds, before she finally decided to introduce herself. "Natalie," she said.
"Isaac," he replied.
Natalie nodded slightly, before turning her attention back to her phone.
Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, turning his attention back to the front of the class; the teacher finally decided to start the first lesson.
"Wow…you look like shit."
"Thanks, Tanya," Kyle replied, sarcasm so thick in his voice, he could've choked on it.
The girl rolled her eyes, leaning her elbows on one of the outside seating of the diner.
"You always were blunt," Kyle muttered, rubbing his hands over his face repeatedly
"You didn't think I'd change over the summer, did ya?" Tanya asked, leaning over to nudge Kyle's shoulder. This caused his arm to slip out from supporting his face. He would've face planted the table if it weren't for his other arm.
Kyle grunted quietly, bringing his arm back to rest on the table. "So, how goes the trainin?"
"It's going alright, I guess; got a trail week at the kick boxing place other side of town next month," she responded, leaning her elbows on the table, crossing her arms over each other.
"Well, good luck with that. Just promise not to use me as a punching bag," Kyle said jokingly, though he felt a slight pang in his stomach when he stopped talking.
Tanya chuckled, flicking a bit of her short, brown hair behind her ear; Kyle remembered a time where Tanya had her hair to at least her shoulders. Now, it was cut rather short. She gave a light punch to his shoulder, yet he still winced at the rough contact.
"You should really stop giving me ideas," she said.
"Yeah, yeah…" Kyle replied, rubbing his shoulder, yet had a smile on his face.
'Car 59T, reports of a 415 on 53rd and 17th. Reports say in an alley.'
One of the officers grabbed the hand piece of the radio, raising it to his lips. "This is car 59T, 10-4. Moving to investigate."
Setting the hand piece back into place, the driving officer took a right at the intersection and drove towards the predesignated streets.
A short drive later, the car pulled up to the curb and the engine was turned off.
"I got this," the driver said to the passenger, a fellow officer, as he opened the door to step out of the vehicle.
"You sure you don't want help?" asked the other officer, slightly younger than the other, leaning over slightly as the first officer stepped out of the cruiser completely.
Leaning down to peer through the door, the older one looked blankly, saying, "I've got this, Seth. I'll get you if needed."
With that, the door closed, the officer walked around the front of the car and headed into the nearby alley; figuring he'd try them one by one until he got to the disturbance.
All was quiet in the police cruiser for the few minutes that followed; the officer known as 'Seth' trying to find something to keep himself occupied. He quickly checked his phone for any updates; just a few Facebook notifications and a new video posted.
And he was just in the middle of double-checking that he had everything he needed on his belt when a noise came from the alley the other officer had entered.
After a quick debate about whether to follow orders for his superior or see if things had gone south, Seth quickly exited the cruiser, shutting the door as he called, "Officer Charles?"
When he got no response, Seth slowly stepped forward, hand resting on the grip of his pistol as he neared the alley.
"Officer Charles?" he asked again, slower this time. Just as he reached the alley's entrance, he froze.
He briefly saw a flash of light grey, and he was flung backwards. Flying through the air, coming crashing down on the bonnet of the police cruiser.
A sharp gasp of pain, followed by groans, came from Seth as he tried to come to terms with what had happened. He tried to move, his body thrown with such force that the bonnet was warped and dented with his imprint.
Standard proceeded began to flash before his eyes, trying to assess his injuries. He was only about to guess at how many bones were broken, however, before the flash of grey reappeared.
It jumped through the arm, a height impossible for a human, blocking out the sun from Seth's vision momentarily. The officer barely had enough time to try moving before the grey blur came crashing down on the bonnet over Seth.
More dents appearing in the metal, the creature stood over Seth momentarily; its head at just the point where it couldn't be seen because of the glint of sunlight.
He tried to speak; to shout, to scream. Anything. But nothing came out. Just…silence.
A low, raspy hiss came from the creature, its pale grey skin clashing with the white bonnet of the cruiser; not that the looming figure was in anyway subtle.
The same hand wrapped around Seth's throat; clawed fingers latching onto the flesh of the human, constricting to restrict air flow. Seth gasped, trying to reach a hand up to pry the fingers from his neck. But his movement was met with immediate response.
The creature moved quickly, dragging the human body from the front of the cruiser and rushing towards the alley. A gargle cry was all that came from Seth, desperate to alert anyway. But the streets were empty.
All the evidence to suggest he was ever there was the ruined police cruiser, the bonnet completely dented in and decal designs for the Pax Valley Police Department cracking from the metal warping. And the blood trail that led from the bonnet, to the sideway, and leading to the alleyway.
"Are you sure it is them?" said one voice.
"Sir, I've played and replayed the footage several times over. The templates match; they are the real ones," said another; this one sounding altered and metallic.
"How can this be possible? He was locked away; I saw it happen."
Footsteps echoed through a dark corridor, the smooth walls reflecting any light that passed through the darkness. A single red line passed through the center of the corridor, though slightly to the left.
"We have to come to the possibility that-"
"Don't say it; I know what you mean, I just don't like hearing it aloud."
"Might I suggest a course of action, sir?"
"Which would be?"
"Our systems have narrowed down the selection to the correct number; they have the highest concentration of the Bloodlines in them. They are the ones."
"Absolutely not. I will not have humans take their powers."
"Sir, will all due respect, they are the dominant species. Whether you like it or not, they are your hope to combat Horror."
A short pause occurred between the two voices, and the corridor was filled with silence; they had stopped walking, standing in place.
"…I am against this entirely. I hope you realize this."
"I predicted an eighty-nine percent chance of you disagreeing with my suggestion, sir."
"Send out the Gatherers. They'll bring them in."
"At once, sir."
With that, the sound of walking returned; though instead of a pair overlapping, it was a single set of foot, walking against the surface of the corridor.
The other stood still, seemingly watching the other walk off to wherever they were going.
"May Zeta have mercy on us…"
"Good God that was a drag."
Isaac muttered quietly to just himself and Natalie as the two of them exited their latest class; the corridor was full of students piling out of their classrooms.
By sheer luck, Isaac and Natalie were in a couple of classes with each other; namely Mathematics and Biology. The latter of which they had just finished.
"Didn't I warn you that Mrs. Winston was a bitch?" Natalie asked Isaac knowingly as she caught up to walk alongside him. They barely had enough room for the two of them to walk side by side with all of the other students to the sides, front and behind them. So they ended up with Isaac walking slightly behind Natalie.
"You could have told my how bad she was," Isaac muttered, fishing his hand into his pocket to gather some money. He had discovered during first break that he had left his lunch at him.
"Well…I kinda did," Natalie said, smirking slightly.
Isaac was about to respond when he was forcefully pushed back; someone had been walking the other way, but Isaac hadn't paid him any attention until their shoulders had collided.
"Watch it," was the warning he had received, turning to look at the guy who had thrown the threat.
He seemed about his height, with short blonde hair that was spiked towards the front. One of his hands were wedged into his jacket pockets; the other was pulled out, most likely from the solid collision seconds earlier.
His dark blue eyes glared at Isaac's brown ones, before turning around and continuing onwards.
Isaac glared at the back of his head for a second before he made to walk after this dick, but something stopped him.
"I wouldn't," Natalie warned, having grabbed his forearm before he could turn completely.
Isaac reluctantly turned around and shook his arm free from Natalie's grip. "What's his problem?" he asked, gesturing behind him.
"That douche? That's Matthew; the resident asshole of the school. Just…Make your life easier, and stay out of his way," Natalie explained, rolling her eyes as she spoke. She seemed to make it clear that she was tired of that guy.
"I'll try to avoid the arsehole," Isaac muttered, his accent coming through as he looked at Natalie.
She blinked once at first, before a smirk broke across her face.
Isaac's shoulders sagged slightly, an annoyed expression playing across his face. "Really? I thought you were mature."
Natalie raised a hand in defense, yet the smirk remained. "Whatever you're into, mate." The put-on British accent playing to Natalie's phrasing.
Isaac sighed heavily, before he said, "Hey, when you're done laughing, I'll meet you in the canteen; I've been holding in a piss since she started the presentation."
Getting a dismissing hand wave, like Natalie didn't want to know (Who wouldn't?), Isaac headed down the corridor, slipping around the other students to head to the closest toilets.
"So much better…" Isaac sighed internally, doing the zip of his jeans as he stepped away from the urinal, and moved over to the sink.
The male's toilets were unusually quiet, though Isaac figured it was because everyone was rushing to get something to eat. Or have a smoke.
Or both.
Rolling the sleeves of his jacket up, Isaac reached the sink and used his palm to twist the cold water tap. He didn't want to know who had been touching what against those knobs.
Isaac shook his head, rubbing his hands together under the running water. The skin on his forearms formed in goosebumps quickly in reaction to the temperature, but he quickly pushed it aside as he cleaned his hands.
That was when it started.
The pair of long, thin lights fitted in the ceiling started to flicker slightly; flashing between full brightness and dimly lit, creating an annoying flashing effect.
"What the…?" Isaac asked to himself in a hushed tone, looking over one shoulder before turning to look over the other. Shaking his hands dry, rubbing the remaining water off on his trousers.
Yet he was still the only one in there.
All of a sudden, the lights went off entirely. Covering Isaac in darkness.
"Oh come on…" he groaned, before turning around slowly and called out. "Very funny! Flicking the lights on and off on the new kid? What are you, 12?"
No response came from outside.
Isaac rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and fished out his phone. "Where's that flashlight app..?" he asked himself, flicking his password in naturally, and began searching through the pile of apps he had to hand on his phone.
Selecting the flashlight app, a bright white light came flooding from the small bulb of his phone, illuminating the darkened toilets.
He looked around slowly, the light of the phone guiding his vision.
Though he didn't expect what he saw…to see.
"The fuck?!" he exclaimed, quickly stepping back and flinching his arms to his side; in doing so, he lost his grip on his phone and it fell to the ground. Bu some miracle, the phone landed so the back of the phone was facing upward. Shining the light evenly around the room.
Before him, looming like something from someone's nightmares, stood a figure. It looked roughly eight feet tall; towering over the cubical next to him. Though because of his stance, hunched over slightly, it made it difficult to make out any minor details; the light only catching so much.
But one thing that stood out was a pair of burning eyes; dark red orbs staring down at Isaac with an intense stare. As if daring Isaac to look away. Look away, and discover the consequences.
Or stare back for too long and suffer the same consequences.
Honestly, this was being put to the back of Isaac's mind for now.
Isaac's currently mind set was;
'Ohshitohshitohshit-I'm gonna die-ohshitohshitohshit-What the fuck is that thing?!-ohshitohshitohSHIT!'
A deep, throaty growl broke the deafening silence; the vibrations passing through Isaac as if he was a glass window. It was at this point that Isaac's discovered that he was still breathing; albeit extremely shakily.
Was this thing going to kill him?
His vision was then consumed by a blindingly bright red light; he's eyes squinted and he raised his hands to try and save his vision. He figured enough was enough and tried to turn and rush towards the door of the bathroom.
That was when the burning sensation overcame him; he shouted out, feeling the rippling heat travel from his extremities first, working along his arms and legs, moving towards his torso. He crumpled to his hands and knees, trying to make it to the door.
He tried reaching for the handle, the burning feeling slowly overcoming him to the point that it was completely unbearable. He fell against the door, his body twisting so he was facing the looming figure; where the waves of heat and light were coming from.
His eyes slowly rolled back, and his body went limp; slumping against the door.
The blinding light was then replaced with a flash of bright white; rippling around the room, much like when a rock is thrown into a smooth pond surface.
The ripples suddenly froze, but the ripples started returning to the source; creating a metallic whooshing sound, and concentrated into a small ball. Before vanishing into thin air.
Except now, the bathroom was vacant; completely empty. All that occupied the room was a rucksack, slumped against the wall beside the sinks.
"You're telling me that nobody saw this?"
Police tape surrounded the scene; surrounding the police cruiser with the dented bonnet, and the trail of blood leading from the cruiser to the nearby alley. The taped-off area also included the width of the street; to the farthest piece of shattered glass.
Officers were crawling over the scene; some wore surgical gloves, taking pictures of the numbered pieces of evidence for analysis. Others followed the photographers, carefully taking the evidence and placing them into zip-seal bags, to send to be cataloged.
Two officers stood outside the tape-off area, discussing the situation.
"Sir, we're going to the apartments opposite the scene to see if they saw anything. We'll find out soon."
The other officer took off his hat, running his other hand through his short grey hair; this, combined with the few wrinkles that covered his face, signified his age.
"Anything from their radios?" the older officer asked, placing his hat back on his head; adjusting it with both hands to make sure it sat right.
"We haven't been able to find them; their cruiser radio was damaged by…whatever caused this," the younger officer said, gesturing to the ruined cruiser behind them.
"And the blood trail?" the older officer asked.
"It's…well…you should come see it…" the younger officer said, a slightly unsure tone to his voice, before carefully lifting the police tape, and bending over to fit under.
The older officer followed suite, the tape being lowered afterwards. They walked around the crime scene, making sure to watch where they stood.
They walked along the sidewalk, turning the corner at the alley; walking into the alley, where a couple of officers had been sent to ensure no-one tampered with the evidence.
The two came to a stop, standing beside the blood trail; the older officer slowly crouching down, his eyes moving along the blood trail. From where it entered the alley, to the point that he crouched beside.
"What the hell…?" he asked himself, seeing the trail just…end. The end was clean; no evidence of it being washed away; the line that ended the trail was curved cleanly; like it was a side of a circle.
"The boys got anything for this…?" he asked, gesturing to the strange break in the blood while looking up to the other officer.
"They haven't seen anything like it either, sir," was the response.
A low exhale left the older officer, standing to his full height again.
"I don't like this…if there's something attack my officers, I want it taken care of; quickly."
A sharp pain to the side of his neck brought him back to consciousness.
Isaac gasped loudly, his eyes shooting open; breathing deeply and loudly, the sheer brightness of wherever he was causing his eyes to squint shut again. He couldn't make much out of his surroundings, other than a blurred shape hovering above him.
"Good; you have regained consciousness," said a voice, altered to appear more robotic; the shadow over Isaac moved away, and his eyes eventually started to adjust to the brightness of the room.
He slowly raised his head, his brain throbbing like it was two sizes too big for his skull, and looked around.
The first thing he noticed was what he was sitting in; it appeared to be a metal chair, the back pushed back and his legs propped up. The next thing he noticed when he tried to move his arms.
He looked down, seeing his wrists, ankles and upper legs were held firmly in place by curved metal plates; he tried moving, but the plates held him in place.
"Where the fuck am I?!" he shouted, straining to turn his head to keep the shadow in his line of sight. But the plates restricted the movement of his body.
"Please refrain from using such language. You are in no danger," said the person, the sound of faint beeping coming from behind Isaac.
"No danger? No danger?! Then why the hell I'm I restrained?!" Isaac exclaimed, struggling roughly against his bounds.
"It was merely to ensure that you did not move while I tested your vitals. There are variables that make Gatherer teleportation potentially dangerous. They cannot make accurate measurements, adjusting for body proportion and size, and many others," came the voice, before the sound of footsteps grew loud.
Though there was something Isaac found off…whatever the surface was, it made the footsteps sound heavier than normal. Then there was that metal clink…maybe steel-toed shoes?
His theory was quickly shot down, when his adjusted eyes saw…whatever it was, for what it…was.
It appeared as a humanoid robot; the body was made of a mixture of dark grey and smooth steel colored panels, with bolt ends visible that held panels together. Small pistons attached from the front and back of his torso, connecting to the underside of its head. Acting as additional support for the neck.
Its hands appeared like dull-clawed hands; smooth grey metal, welded together for the small panels. Still, there were a few exposed wires and tubes that were made between where the different body parts connected.
The head…well, to put it bluntly, it appeared like a sleek, robotic version of a canine's head. There were small protrusions near the back, looking similar to folded back ears. The same steel grey panels made up the panels of the head. The 'mouth' piece extended forward, looking like a sleek, lupine muzzle.
Where the eyes were was a blank rectangle, with a single red light in the middle of the black box. It reminded Isaac of those old digital alarm clocks.
The robot…thing then proceeded to undo the restrains holding Isaac in place; starting with the ones on his ankles, and finishing with the plate holding his right wrist in place.
"Please, if you could come this way…" said the robot, as Isaac slowly sat up, rubbing his wrists slowly. He glanced up to the robot, slowly turning around to kick his legs off of the chair.
"And how do I know you aren't taking me to be tortured or something?" Isaac asked slowly.
There was a brief pause before he got a response.
"You do not. You must trust me, Isaac Bryne."
Isaac blinked slowly, lifting his head. "How the hell do you know my name?"
He didn't get a response; instead, the robot turned and moved towards one of the walls. As he approached, a large panel slid up, leaving a doorway for the robot to walk through.
Isaac looked all around him slowly, searching for another exit. Not finding any apart from the recently revealed, he decided to try his luck. Maybe he'd find another exit shortly…
Getting to his feet, he slowly headed out of the room after the robot, following it down the dimly lit corridor.
The light seemed to follow them during their walk down the corridor; the dim lighting from the seam where the ceiling and the wall met moving with them, giving them some light.
"Where are we going?" Isaac asked wearily.
"I have not been given permission to say," was the response he got.
"OK….Who…gives you permission?"
The answer he got wasn't verbal; they had just reached the end of the corridor, and the robot side-stepped; allowing Isaac to see in front of him.
And what he saw was the last thing he expected.
"The fuck are you doing here?" He asked Natalie.
"You think I know?" came the snap of a response.
Natalie was leaning against the far wall, arms folded across her front. But she wasn't alone in the large room.
There were four others; one he recognized as that douchebag Matthew, his hands moving about in his pockets as some sort of distraction, and the other two humans were two he didn't recognize.
The fourth…
"Shit…" he said slowly, eyes wide.
Arms folded over his chest, the fourth figure was a behemoth of a creature; canine in appearance, standing on its hind legs. Thick black fur covered the entire of his visible body; his lower torso, thankfully, was covered by a pair of dark grey trousers. Though from the dirty and worn appearance, they were old.
His torso was mostly exposed, save for his arms and back, which were covered in a long, black trench-coat. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow point.
A pair of dark yellow eyes stared intently at Isaac upon his entry into the room.
"Let's get to business," the creature grunted quietly, getting up from leaning against a desk and turning around.
"Are you finally going to explain where the fuck we are?" asked one of the other people, the female, in an angered tone.
"I…wouldn't piss him off, Tanya," Kyle muttered, stepping forward to try and calm his friend; though quickly stepped back when she yank her arm from his grasp.
A loud, possibly exaggerated, sigh escaped the lungs of the wolf creature, as it tapped away at an unseen keyboard.
"In short…" he eventually said, tapping one last key and turning around. Just as a hologram, stretching from the ceiling to the floor of the central control port, glowing a faint blue.
"Your city is under siege from the pits of Hell itself, and you're going to have to fight them back. I'm Savage, the robot is MUTT, and no, you-"
"Wow, wow, wow. Time out. L-Let's just take, like, fifteen steps back first," Tanya said, raising her hands as she stepped forward from the group. "Firstly, just so we-we're all on the same page here. What the fuck are you?! Where the hell are we, and what makes you think we're capable of doing…whatever it is you expect us to do?!"
Savage just looked back at Tanya at her raising her voice at him; an expression playing across his face that only said 'I really don't have time for your shit'.
The remaining teens looked across at each other, Matthew pulling his hands from his pockets and folding his arms over his chest; Kyle shifted slightly from one foot to the other, while Natalie remained leaning against the wall.
Isaac slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, watching the central holographic column with a bit of interest.
Savage looked over the five human teens; his sharp yellow eyes watching the subtle movements of each of them as they stared back. Eventually, he let out a frustrated growl and folded his hands behind his back. Screwing one of his clawed hands into a tight fist, while the other firmly held the wrist of the other.
"MUTT," Savage growled, flicking his head from the humanoid robot to one of the keyboards.
The lupine-headed robot nodded slightly, moving across the room to stand at the central command stand, tapping a few of the keys. He then grabbed a pair of hanging cables and plugged them into the ports in his forearm.
The blue holographic column flickered slightly, MUTT tapped a few of the keys on the keyboard, and activated a small screen on his forearm, sliding a few settings on the touch screen.
The blue hologram slowly narrowed, before flipping around so it was lying flat in midair; different areas rising up, giving the appearance of a city's skyline.
After a few seconds, the hologram warped into an irregular shape, and eventually became a shape the humans recognized.
The borders of Pax Valley.
"As you can see, you are currently located five miles south of the human settlements' border," MUTT explained, highlighting a small red blip, towards the bottom end of the hologram.
"The threat that Savage, the Homo Lupus, mentioned is an entity that has been documented as Master Horror."
"Bit melodramatic," Tanya muttered, having moved back to stand beside Kyle; since, frankly, he was the only one she knew, and didn't want to get to know these other guys yet.
MUTT continued, as if he wasn't interrupted. "Most humans don't know him as such; he was from an early enough date that they wrote it off as a myth. Around 10,000 years ago, during what you humans know as the Mesolithic Period, Master Horror used fear and hatred to take control of the early human species. But another species, at the time, fought back."
"The Homo Lupus," MUTT side glanced at Savage, who had retreated to one of the walls of the room, leaning his back against it as the robot gave a debriefing to the humans.
"A species that remained hidden to keep themselves from the Humans; fearing they would be hunted for the fur. They were thought of a myth as well by the primitive humans."
"Horror was sealed away by five warriors of the Homo Lupus, gifted with extraordinary abilities, but at the cost of their lives. But…recent activity and footage has come forward to suggest…Horror has escaped."
"Wait…what activity?" Isaac asked when MUTT fell silent, causing looks to be drawn to him from the other teens; raised eyebrows, and hand gestures for 'what are you doing?'
MUTT adjusted one of the settings on his forearm, before tapping a command into the keyboard. The map of Pax Valley, and was momentarily replaced with static. Though this was quickly replaced with the image of a street. It was completely bare, save for a police cruiser that was in view of the screen, and two figures.
One was standing over the other, both of which were on the bonnet of the cruiser, which appeared to be severely dented.
One looked human, while the other…had the vague shape and outline of a human. But…its skin was a sickly pale grey, with large spots of black covering, adding bulk to the upper torso, forearms and legs. No facial features could be made out, from the position and the distance away from the camera.
"What the hell is that thing?" Kyle asked, taking a step forward to get a better look; the others following his example.
"A Wolkein," Savage's voice finally returned, stepping off from the wall and walking towards the floating image. "A mindless soldier; following his master's orders mindlessly."
"And if Wolkeins are starting to appear in the Human World, then Horror and his Generals will soon follow.
Tanya and Isaac stepped forward, leaning forward to get a better look at the creature; both side glancing at each other, before Tanya took a side-step from Isaac.
"So-and just so you know, I'm really looking forward to this answer-, how do you expect us to fight those things, exactly?" Matthew asked, gesturing with his hand to the image. Sarcasm heavy in his tone.
"The five of you were chosen because you have the highest concentration of the original Warriors blood; and the Howlers only work with the bloodline of the Warriors they bonded with."
"Wait, wait, wait; time out," Natalie said suddenly, making the 'time-out' gesture. "We've got the same blood as those warriors, who are like Wolfman over there?"
"That is correct, yes," MUTT said, as Natalie received a growl from Savage.
"So…what you're saying is…at some point…Humans and those…Wolf-People…" Natalie fell silent, letting the gesture she was making fill in for her.
"Let's get back on track; what's a Howler?" Isaac asked, seeing this conversation turning south very quickly.
"Dude, seriously; you could've picked a better time to ask that than now," Kyle said.
"Well someone had to ask it eventually," Isaac responded hotly.
"You could have waiting five fucking minutes," Tanya shot, looking at Isaac with a disapproving look.
"Pretty sure Wolfie over there would've been pissed off if we waited five minutes before we asked that question," Matthew threw in his two-cent.
The five teens continued to argue among themselves for a few minutes, as MUTT looked over at Savage; his lip slowly curling up, revealing sharpened fangs, while a low growl steadily rose in his throat.
The arguing was cut short all of a sudden, as one of the small monitors was ripped from its place on the desk, and thrown at the teens.
Isaac and Tanya ducked by instinct, barely avoiding the flying tech; instead, it collided with the wall and shattered into several pieces.
"What the hell?!" Isaac exclaimed.
"You are wasting time arguing among yourselves; a Pack must work in harmony with each other in order to achieve victory," Savage growled, before he crouched down and picked something up from an open panel from where he had thrown the monitor.
He stood up again, and turned around; revealing a medium-sized, wooden box in his hands. Gold plating covered the top panel, looking ceremonial. As if it was something meant for those of nobility.
"A Pack is made up of five members," Savage started, his tone giving the hint that this was the start of one of those long speeches.
"A leader, brutes, strategist and diversion. A group kept to the bare minimum of numbers, yet using their abilities to ensure victory," Savage started, before he unclasped the lock at the front of the box, and slowly placing his paw on the lid.
"These…" he slowly raised the lid, revealing the contents inside.
"…are your Howlers."
In the box, lined with dark red velvet, were five devices. They were all thin, looking as though they would easily fit onto someone's wrist. At the center of the devices, sat a circular gem; a different color for each device. The first was a dark red, followed by a navy-colored one, a yellow gem, a black gem, and finally, a clear, transparent gem.
Silver lines ran down the length of the devices, curving around the gem at the center. The rest of the device was black in color, making the silver and the gems stand out more so.
"Wow…" Kyle said softly, crouching down slightly to take a closer look at the Howlers.
Savage grabbed the first two in one hand, and handed the red-gem centered one to Isaac and the navy gem to Matthew. "Take these, and you will have powers beyond your imagination," he said as the two humans took their Howlers, examining them closely.
"So…how do these work?" Isaac asked, looking over the Howler as Tanya, Kyle and Natalie cautiously took the remaining Howlers offered to them.
"Place them on your bare wrist," Savage said, and the five teens looked at one another. Give or take a few seconds, they all placed the Howlers on their wrists.
So none of them had any forewarning from the others.
"Ow!" "Fuck!"
A stabbing sensation sliced into the back of their wrist, and they instinctively tried to remove the Howlers from their wrist.
But before they could, thick leather bound extended from the base of the Howlers, wrapping around their wrists and seemingly fusing together when both ends met.
"The Howlers need to ensure that the right blood is using them," Savage remarked offhandedly, closing the box and placing it to one side. "As for how to activate them, you say 'United, we Howl' and slide the crystal backwards."
"Now, as for training…" Savage started, before a sudden alarm went off on one of the remaining monitors.
MUTT disconnected himself from the wires, and approached the blaring monitor. "Sir, Wolkeins had been sighted."
"Where?" Savage said sharply, approaching the monitor and ended up shoving MUTT aside to look at the monitor directly.
"East District…" Savage muttered, before turning to look at the five teens; still trying to see how to remove the Howlers.
"Looks like the training will have to be postponed to a later date," he said, moving to a control panel and tapping a few keys and turning a few dials. "I'm sending you five to the location; hopefully, it'll just be Wolkeins."
"And if it isn't?" Natalie asked.
"May Zeta have mercy on your souls."
"Wait!" Matthew exclaimed, "You son of a-!"
He was cut short by columns of light engulfing the five teens, filling the white-light filled room and eventually disappearing. Along with the light, the teens were absent as well.
"I would have advised giving them at least a brief talk about how they fight," MUTT said once the lighting faded.
"I prefer the hands-on approach."
Five columns of light shot down in an alley, the blue and white columns forming behind the red, yellow and black columns. Mixed voices of panic came warping through the lights, before bodies came flying from the light; landing roughly on the concrete floor.
The light vanished, revealing the group of teenagers crumpled on the floor; Matthew had landed against the wall, Tanya and Kyle had both landed on their backs, both groaning in pain. Natalie and landed on her front, a small cut forming on her forehead from the collision.
Isaac pushed himself to his feet, having landed on his front too, and wiped a bit of blood away from the corner of his mouth.
"-bitch…" Matthew said slowly, groaning as he pushed himself to his feet.
"That could have gone smoother…" Tanya muttered, pushing herself up and offering a hand to help Kyle up; he took up the offer, taking her hand and pulling himself to his feet.
Sudden screams from the alley brought their attention back to the reason why they had come here in the first place. "Come one," Isaac muttered, before running to the alley entrance. The others tried to shake off the teleportation effects and headed after Isaac.
They were met with the swarm of people running the other way; they needed to side step and bump past people in order to keep moving forward. The shouts and screams from the people drowned out all other noises.
"Where are these things?!" Matthew shouted, as the crowd died down and they were almost by themselves.
"I don't know…" Isaac said, walking forward yet turning around, making sure to walk the same direct.
"Guys! Over there!"
The others all looked over to where Kyle pointed, and their blood ran cold.
"Oh shit…"
At the other end of the clear area in the middle of the tall buildings, a mass of the creatures Savage identified as Wolkeins were moving; they were all the same shade of sickly-pale grey, making it hard to make individual ones out. The only thing that helped seeing individuals was the black armor they wore.
Upper chest plates covered their chests and shoulders, going around their neck to cover the back. The same kind of armor covered their arms, from the elbow point to their wrists; something similar was going on with their shins.
"Those things look fugly," Tanya said bluntly.
As hearing the teen speak, one of the Wolkeins turned its head sharply to the source of the sound; revealing no facial features dominating its face. Just scars digging into the 'skin' and deformities.
Gravelly grunts came from this Wolkein, alerting the others. They all turned to look at the five teens, who stepped back from instinct, as they began drawing nearer to the teens.
"Well…let's see if Wolfie was telling the truth…" Natalie said, and they all looked to their Howlers.
"You guys ready?" Isaac asked, side glancing both ways.
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
They brought their Howler-wrist across their chest, the other hand coming to press against the crystal at the center. At the touch, the crystals began glowing.
"United, we Howl!"
The five press the crystal at the center of their respective Howlers', the light from the crystals intensifying as they moved the crystal back the length of the device. The light grew brighter, differentiating themselves from each other by forming into the different colors of the teens, overcoming the teens and obscuring them from view.
~Morphing Sequence~
A stream of light shot out from the gems, extending out before the teens. Taking the outline of a wolf, the light shot into a curved stream, moving up into the sky. The motion the light wolves made as they moved through the air simulating running; as if they were running on solid ground, rather than simply moving through the air.
Performing a loop in the air, the light wolves shot into the air behind their teen, eventually landing on the ground, a few meters behind their human. Once settled, they leapt forward, looking as though were going to collide with the human body. But before making contact, they flipped backward, so their underbelly made contact with the back of the teen.
Their limbs move to the same position of the humans, wrapping around their limbs and torso; covering them in a mixture of silver and their respective colors. Their head was raised, before lowering it through the human head. Their muzzles opened up in a low snarl, and the space between the jaws was filled with the black visor for the teens; the shapes vaguely different with each teen.
With this, the rest of the suits began forming; silver-furred paws wrapped around their arms, leaving silver gloves and sleeves covered in their respective color, ending at the shoulder, which was covered in a slim, silver shoulder pad. Something similar happened to their legs; silver boots, with a thick black line around the sides of the legs, with their respective colors filling in the rest.
The black line continued, passing over the sides of the torso, and ending at the armpit point; large gouges of black escaping into the core color on either side of the torso.
To finish things off, a stylized wolf head appeared over their hearts, embedding itself into the armor.
~Morphing Sequence Ends~
The Wolkeins pause in their advances, yet their bodies kept moving continuously, shifting their weight from one side to the other; like whatever was powering their bodies required them to keep moving.
They stood there, looking at the spot where the five teens had once been standing; now, in their place, stood five colored warriors; silver boots and gloves, shoulder and forearm armor added to their bodies, while the rest was covered in one of five colors; red, blue, yellow, black and white.
"Wow…this is weird…" said Kyle, breaking from the initial trance of morphing, and looking over his silver-and-black armored body.
"This is amazing!" Matthew exclaimed, rolling his shoulder once to see how the armor fitted with the spandex-like armor. His hands then flew to his throat and he said, "What the hell's up with my voice?"
"Perhaps it's worth mentioning that I made some…modifications to the Howlers when activated," MUTT's voice said, echoing between the helmets the teens wore.
"Distorted voices…could have been worse," Isaac muttered to himself, before looking back towards the Wolkeins.
"You guys want to test run these things?" Tanya asked, cracking the knuckles of her silver-glove covered hands, stretching the sides of her neck.
"No time like the present," Natalie agreed, taking a step forward; rolling her white-and-silver armored shoulders.
"Let's do it," Isaac replied, the five of them all taking a step forward so they were level with each other; trying an intimidation attempt.
The creatures didn't seem fazed, however, as they suddenly advanced; the sound of a mass of heavy footsteps pounding against the ground. The teens quickly followed, running towards the group of pale skinned Wolkeins
The two groups collided, fist and daggers flying, trying to make contact with the other group. The pale Wolkein bodies getting knocked to the ground, some colliding with the sides of the close buildings.
Isaac throws a few wide punches to a couple of Wolkeins in front of him, before ducking when one tried to swipe at him from the side; returning the attack with a kick, colliding with the side of one of its knees, causing the creature to collapse to one knee.
It looked up to strike the red-armored warrior again, but was met with a solid knee to its 'face'; sending it flying back, colliding with another pair of foot soldiers.
"Wow…" Isaac said; surprise evident in his voice, despite the artificial distortion.
"Stay focused!" called Tanya's voice, as she grabbed a Wolkein's shoulder, and using the newly gifted strength, throwing it behind her; flinging him into a group of three Wolkeins, sending them crashing to the ground. Only for the thrown one to get up again and the four joining the others again.
"These guys really don't like staying down," Kyle commented, dodging a flying fist coming towards him, but getting knocked to the ground from an attack from behind. He quickly rolled out of the way when one tried to stamp on his back.
"MUTT, got anything for us?" Isaac asked, dodging a series of incoming attacks, shifting around the group focused on him as he tried getting the robot up on the comms.
"Slide the crystal to the front-most position," came MUTT's voice, broadcasting to all five teens' helmets.
"You guys get that?" Isaac called, grabbing a Wolkein by the throat and, using his other hand, choke-slammed the creature to the concrete. A shallow dent appearing once the creature slowly got up again.
"What do you think?!" Tanya shouted, in her hands a bow and arrow; clad in silver and yellow, yet without any elastic from the ends that is with the traditional bow.
Yet as Tanya pulled the invisible band back, a transparent yellow arrow forming in its space. Her hand went loose, releasing the energy arrow. It flew through the air silently. It collided with one of the Wolkeins' head, slicing through the skin like it was nothing. This particular Wolkein fell to the ground, motionless; green goo oozing out of the entry point.
"News to me," Natalie called, dodging a strike while moving the crystal to its front-most point; a burst of white light came from the Howler, moving to her hands. Grabbing the handles that formed, Natalie saw white blades form from the light.
"Daggers…nice…" the white-clad warrior said, before dodging and stabbing another attack from a Wolkein; digging the blade right into the torso of one of the creatures. It let out a screech-like wail, as Natalie pushed it off of the blade, and fell to the ground.
Matthew and Kyle seemed to have gotten the message by this point; Matthew had a spear in hand, matching blue and silver with his blue-and-silver armoring. Swinging around the blunt end of the spear, smacking the Wolkeins' across the face, before stabbing the same ones with the sharpened point.
Kyle, meanwhile, had a pair of, what appeared to be, knuckle dusters; black and silver in color, and a bit larger than what you would expect. They were pretty much covering his entire hand, and were secured by locking into place with the armored forearms.
He threw a few punches to the chests of the Wolkeins, sending them flying back with screeches ringing out as they collided with the walls.
Isaac raised his Howler to move the crystal along, when he heard a sound that caught his attention; and judging from their reaction, it also caught several Wolkeins' attention as well.
A siren.
'Oh shit…' Isaac thought to himself when he saw a police cruiser screech to a halt on the nearby road. Two officers quickly jumped out, looking between each other as they saw the fight that'd been reported in.
Something about weird grey people fighting brightly-colored people.
Isaac was torn from the officers when the Wolkeins suddenly charged towards the officers, seeing them as weaker targets to take out.
"Crap!" Isaac said, quickly following after the stragglers, breaking apart from the rest of the group, heading towards the officers.
"Stand down!" shouted one of the officers, the pair of them pulling the standard issue pistol from their holsters, aiming them towards the charging crowd. Yet not one of them stopped.
"Stand still; this is your final warning!"
Still, the group kept running towards them.
Isaac ran behind him, trying to overtake them to get to the officers first. And then the bullets started firing.
The bullets sliced through the grey flesh of the Wolkeins, passing through one before hitting another behind. Despite this, they kept running; the bullet holes healing themselves up, mere moments after the bullets passed through them.
Isaac, by nature of, you know, not wanting to die, flinched and raised his hands; praying that none of the bullets made contact with him. Though he suddenly felt small contacts with his body; yet no searing pain.
He opened his eyes behind his visor again, and found that none of the bullets had penetrated the suit; not even any marks. Though he looked up when he noticed the group of Wolkeins again; baring down further on the outnumbered officers.
And that was when…something happened.
Isaac didn't know how it happened, but one moment, everything was moving normally, but the next…everything seemed to slow down.
He saw the Wolkeins' charging as if they were in slow motion; the officers' pistols kicking back painfully slow with every shot fired.
'What is this…?' he asked himself, looking down at his hands; he moved them around, seeing that they were still moving at normal speed. Or at what he assumed was normal speed….
Adding this to the questions he'd asked MUTT later, he focused back on the officers; quickly moving towards them, sliding around the slow movement of the Wolkeins, and approaching the other side of the police cruiser.
Looking between the two officers, Isaac finally settled on grabbing the shoulder of both officers, and moving down the street.
When he got to the second-street over, everything seemed to catch up with him; the officers noticed someone had grabbed their shoulders and forced themselves free of Isaac's grip, aiming their weapons at them.
"I wouldn't point a gun at someone that saved your ass," Isaac commented, taking a step away from officers regardless, hands raised slightly instinctively.
"Who are you?!" demanded one of the officers.
Beneath the helmet, Isaac bit back a comment, settling on, "You'll find out soon. Now if you don't mind, I gotta go help my friends."
Without another word exchanged, Isaac turned and ran back the way he came; hoping the others had managed to finish off the last of the Wolkeins.
As he left, the two officers looked between each other, before the older officer holstered his pistol and grabbed his personal radio.
"Dispatch; that report on the fight in East Town? You're not going to believe this…"
Isaac ran back through the alley he had ran through, seeing the other four together; Matthew finishing off one of the last Wolkeins with a spear through the head, as it writhed in pain for a few seconds, before falling still. Matthew removed the spear, and green ooze slowly started to escape the wound.
"That the last of them?" Isaac asked, looking around at the mass of dead bodies surrounding the area.
"Looks to be," Tanya replied, setting one end of her bow against the ground; supporting her hand on the other end.
As the five met up again, thin grey mist slowly started to rise from the Wolkeins; seemingly coming from the open wounds the Rangers tore in their flesh.
However, as it started to growth denser, Natalie was the first to notice and point it out to the others. "Uh, guys…" she said, gesturing to the point she spotted.
The others turned, before noticing that the same thing was happening all around them; the Wolkeins' bodies becoming blocked from view with dense green smoke. The bodies slowly lowered, as if the green smoke was letting them pass through the solid concrete.
By the time the green smoke dispersed, the bodies were no longer visible; yet there weren't any holes in the surface where they had passed through.
"OK…that's weird…" Kyle commented.
"MUTT, we've finished up here. Reckon we can get a transport from here?" Isaac said, unsure of what the best thing was to talk to MUTT; raising his hand to the side of his helmet, seeing that helped.
It seemed to get through, however, when the five of them were encased in their respective columns of light, and in an instant, they vanished.
Though they didn't go unnoticed; the police cruiser that still remained from the officers called to the scene just so happened to face the teens…
"You know, I'd appreciate it...if you'd give us a heads up," Kyle said, taking his helmet off mid-sentence, the result creating a faint hiss from the disconnection.
"I had orders to bring you back as soon as possible," MUTT responded automatically, as the remaining Rangers removed their own helmets; faint hisses following their removal as well.
"We kicked ass!" Matthew said upon removing his helmet, carrying the helmet under his arm.
"That was pretty insane…" Natalie agreed, setting her helmet down on one of the counters beside her.
"But, amazing," Kyle insisted, placing his helmet down on another counter, above an old keyboard.
"Do not sound so satisfied."
The teens all turned to face Savage as the anthro wolf approached, arms clasped behind his back as the ever present scowl on his muzzle because visible.
"This is simply the first wave…Horror must be tested the waters, seeing the world has changed since he last tried to rule. He must have figured that it would be easy to conquer the humans. But, you five proved him wrong; that makes you five more of a target. Starting from tomorrow, I will be training the five of you to prepare you for what you're about to face," Savage said, walking across the five teens; much like the army commanders when faced with recruits.
"Way to bring the fucking mood down," Tanya commented dryly. "We did a good job, and you say that. Jeez, didn't they teach you decency?"
Isaac's eyes then widened, and he said, "Crap! Classes."
"Shit…" Natalie said.
"New record I suppose…" was Matthew's response.
"Interesting…" said a feminine voice.
"I thought the Warriors were destroyed with the Master's sealing…"
"By the looks of it, Fear, you were incorrect," the female voice hissed quietly.
"Try to refrain from being so petty, Batibat," said a male voice.
The two creatures, humanoid in shape, stood before a small portal of dark green and black smoke; swirling around, like water when forming a whirlpool.
An image sat in the middle of the smoke whirlpool; showing the five, multi-colored warriors standing among the bodies of the fallen foot soldiers.
"We should inform the Master," said the female voice, moving when the figure walked around the whirlpool; the faintest tint of red-tipped black hair visible, leading up to a pale face. Thin red lips, and one green eye visible.
"The Master most likely knows already; their powers are hardly subtle," responded the male voice, the faint light from the projected image revealing some of his physical appearance. Light grey complexion, with dulled, bronze armor covering his forearms, and moving up the length of his arm. Not enough light being given off to get a better look.
"Who gave them the powers if all of the Warriors were destroyed, though?"
"We may know soon enough…Soon, we may know…"
So, there we go; the first episode of the 40-something planned completed! :D
Would you guys prefer it if I uploaded it part by part for an episode, or prefer an entire episode uploaded in one chapter? Let me know.
-Nf991
UPDATE: 13/5/2016
At the suggestion of my Beta, and a few readers, I have decided to put full Episodes up in single chapters. The only episodes that shall be split up will be the two-parters.
-Nf991