Chapter 1, Season 3: Tilted Towers
"Standing by for launch."
"T-Minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ready for liftoff!"
There they were, the two brave souls ready to make the next big leap for mankind. In their newly constructed rocket dressed in their orange astronaut uniforms, they were ready to go where no one had gone before, see places never before seen, visit the stars they see every night.
"Thrusters activated."
"Navigational systems computed."
"Strap in, Moonwalker."
"Strapped in, Specialist."
Time for liftoff. The moment they'd been waiting for. The moment that the whole island would remember for the years to come, passed down through generations. They were no longer touching the ground as the thrusters started to propel the rocket upward.
Until they didn't.
The rocket made it as far as 50 feet off the ground before the thrusters sputtered and died.
"Mayday, Mayday! Thruster malfunction!" Moonwalker yelled into her helmet. "We're coming down!"
As soon as the event started, it was over just as fast. The rocket crashed right into the grasslands outside of the city, and you could feel the relief coursing over the crowd. From the smoking wreckage climbed the two would-be heroes, heads held high despite the bruises.
"Well folks, at least you got a show!"
And with that statement from Specialist the crowd clapped and cheered, as the festivities officially began, for today was the day of the greatest accomplishment thus far of the island's inhabitants: the opening of the island's first city, Tilted Towers.
To Brite Bomber it was nothing short of a miracle this had been accomplished in the first place. The fact that all these people, with no memories except those of violence from their fighting, were able to come together without violence to build something so impressive. She had no other city to compare it to, but for what it was it was enough. The city had the closest thing to skyscrapers on the island, and because of that they seemed to reach up and touch the stars. For whatever reason, cranes and construction equipment had been on the island prior to anyone's arrival, and after learning how to read the manuals inside (no one had known how to read when they got here, so it took quite a while to interpret the texts. Only a few could fluently read, including Brite.) Once they got those done, the process for harvesting materials from the island began, and within a few months of everyone doing their part, the city was able to take shape into the magnificent place it was today.
"Hey, Brite!"
There was that familiar voice, and that more than familiar smell. She knew exactly what was coming.
"You've got to try this pizza! Straight from Tomato Town!" He said as he ran up to her. "The founder Tomatohead decided to bring complementary pies, and they're to die for! Though I do wonder where he gets the tomatoes. Do you think he's part of a species of tomato men with giant tomatoes for heads?"
"I think, Skully, his big tomato head is a helmet."
"I suppose I'll take your word for it." Brite enjoyed Skully's company, but sometimes he got to be a bit much.
The two walked through the new city, Skully still going on about the exquisite pizza he was eating. All the shops were getting their first customers, some selling basic foods, others selling homemade goods. He was annoying at times, but still, on a day like this, it was nice to see the excitement surrounding the city.
"So why'd they create a parking garage?"
"What?" Brite responded.
"Y'know, there's all these 'cars' around the island. But we can't use any of 'em. The garage is for the cars that we can't even drive, so why bother?"
It was weird. When Brite arrived on the island, there were cars scattered around the roads, but there was nothing to make them work. No fuel, no keys, no gas at the gas stations. It made life a lot more difficult.
"Well, maybe someday we'll be able to find another way to drive them."
"Hopefully. My feet get tired after so much wa—is that a guy with a fish for a head?"
And there it was, what looked to be an astronaut suit with a fishbowl for a head, and a piranha inside.
"Well, wonders never cease 'round here." Every day there was someone new on the island that really set them apart, just like the person Brite realized they were about to run into.
Great.
"Heyya! Would ya like to join the Cuddle Squad?"
Cuddle Team Leader was her given name, and trying to grow her 'cuddle cult' (as Brite liked to describe it) was her game. She was dressed in an all-pink outift with a comically large round cute bear-head that she wore. It was honestly just sad to look at.
"Are you done?"
"I'm sorry?" There was a definite hint of shock and sadness in that.
"Is this all you're gonna do here? Try to bring people into your cute cuddly cult? I'd be ashamed to wear an outfit like that."
"…A no would have been enough." Her voice reduced to a whisper as Brite and Skull walker off.
"Was that really necessary? A bit harsh in my opinion."
"We have enough wackos around here. We don't need any more."
Out in the distance the riff of a guitar could be heard. Sounds like it's finally time for the party to begin.
"I think Power Chord's got her stage all set. Wanna go check it out?" Skull asked, trying to change the subject.
"Might as well."
Part 2
He walked through the streets, briefcase in hand, pencil in his pocket. His black suit was made of the finest materials, but where he got it, he didn't know, nor did he care. He stood out from the rest of the colorful crowd, as if he were the only civilized person there, at least he thought. He'd been tasked with a mission, and after months of scouting, the plan was finally in action.
In the center of the city stood a grey brick building, filled with apartments and office spaces, but the rooftop was a place that was perfect for cover. Stone walls, each with windows, surrounded the roof that housed the air ventilation. It wasn't very spacious, but it would be enough, and it provided the perfect location for the concert. The only problem was getting up to the roof, as there were no stairs or ladders. But he came prepared. He had created a new sort of gadget with the limited items the island provided: a plunger gun, or more specifically, a plunger grappler. With a squeeze of the trigger, a shortened plunger would shoot out with a string attached to the back. Once the plunger hits a surface, the string retracts with such force that the user is propelled towards it. At least that was the theory; he had only perfected the design last night.
The time was perfect; the concert was starting and crowds flocked to see their first ever metal show. He took aim, and fired upwards towards the wall.
PLUNK!
It hit perfectly, and so he was suddenly forced airborne, right towards the wall.
Shit.
There was no time for pain; the opportunity window was closing. In the same instant, he pressed a button that released the plungers' grip from the wall while also pushing himself away, and the split-second after he fired upwards again. The same result. Only one more time to go.
Through the top window he climbed, body aching from the impacts. There'd be time to work out a safer design later, but for now, he had a mission. His briefcase was still on the ground, but that was no problem; the grappler brought it up to him. Down below on the opposite was the rave, with the crowds of inhabitants of the island all celebrating their outstanding achievement.
He didn't understand. He never could. That sense of community, of companionship, it disgusted him. The only way to live in the world was with self-preservation. If that meant taking jobs from metal-coated maniacs, then so be it. One less person to worry about stabbing you in the back. And in this case, it meant riding he island of two would be troublemakers, according to the client. That's what the contents of the briefcase were for: a heavy grade bolt-action sniper rifle with a multi-zoom scope, all disassembled into parts for easy travel.
"Gotcha."
There they were; the skull man and the rainbow trooper, standing in the middle of the crowd, right in the middle of his reticle. He took a prone position and lined up his sights right at the skull man's head.
The Black Knight wanted them alive, but to be honest, that was too much of a hassle. He could always pass it off as self-defense. He'd deliver the bodies to the knight, and he'd accept it. He'd have no choice. He's the only man who's willing to do what it takes on this whole damned island.
But first, he just had to kill them. The third one, he could worry about later. Whatever they did, it had to have been a royal mess to piss a man like that off. But that was none of his business.
"It's like I always say. You reap what you sow."
"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?"
"Yeah!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"YEAH!"
"THEN LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!"
The crowd was wild, and Brite had to say, having never seen (or remembered) a concert before, this was amazing. Power Chord was an amazing solo guitarist, and the speakers made it feel like her riffs could be heard from the stars.
"This is amazing!"
Skull was trying to say something, but Brite couldn't hear over the noise.
"WHAT?"
"THIS IS AMAZING!"
"YEAH!"
"I'M GLAD WE GOT TO SEE THIS COME TRUE!"
"ME TOO!"
To see this, Tilted Towers, come to be a reality, was amazing. They'd only been here for a few months, and yet the people had all banded together to create a society worth living in. Skull and Brite were the first people that Raider had found, and so they'd become the closest of friends, and there was no one else who she'd rather spend that time wit-
"Bang."
A pull of a trigger, a bullet from a barrel, and suddenly the world seemed to slow. For a second, Skull Trooper stood there, emotionless, and then came the blood, pouring out from the back of his head. His only weak point. And then he fell on his back, staring lifelessly into the sky.
Her reaction wasn't immediate. The noise of the guitar was too loud to hear anything farther than a few feet away. It was only when she heard the impact that she turned and saw what happened. Her first thought was remembering her battle royales, and when someone died, they were 'digitized', and would reappear in the next. There was no digitization now.
Up until this point there had been no deaths on the island. Besides the knight, people remained nonviolent, limiting anything to surface injuries. The Island had now suffered its first casualty.
For a reason she didn't know, there was a reflex in Brite's mind at the impact. Some dormant part of her telling her to follow the path of the bullet. He was shot in the back of the head, and the bullet came from higher up, then that's where to look. When she looked behind her and up, at the top of the gray building, there was a silhouette. And a glare. With a lunge to the side, a bullet flew to her right, hitting the pavement. As she collided with another partygoer, she yelled,
"STOP THE CONCERT! STOP THE FUCKING CONCERT! GET DOWN!"
The Reaper watched. She was good. Too good. She knew where he was now, so they could swarm the building. Surround him.
He needed an escape, and some cover. A slight adjustment of his aim, a hollow point bullet, and as he heard her yell, he pulled the trigger again.
Only some heard her, but by then it was too late. Brite could only watch in horror as the life left Power Chord's eyes as she clutched her stomach and fell. Dead as soon as she hit the stage. That's when the rave turned into pure chaos. People started running away, pushing and shoving in an effort to avoid being the next victim.
Two dead. One man behind it. And there he was, stuck on that rooftop, so she started running. Most people avoided building their own ramps using the weird technology they'd been given, but that didn't matter now. As she ran she created ramps leading up to the top of the building. There were no other builds going anywhere else, he had to be stuck there.
PLUNK!
What was that? No time to worry about that now.
Plunk!
Almost there…
plunk!
He was gone. There was nobody on the rooftop. No person, no objects, no nothing of any kind. The man who had murdered one of her oldest friends was gone.
"No."
The man who just murdered two people in front of a crowd got away.
"No."
The man who had now just confirmed their worst fears about death was running free.
"NO."
And there was no way to do anything about it.
"NOOOO!"
What was once a joyous day had turned into the darkest day that the Island had ever seen.
Epilogue: The End of the Age of Peace
The Black Knight sat on his makeshift throne. The impatience was killing him. The Reaper should have returned by now.
"I have some sorry news, Mr. Knight."
That is not what he wanted to hear.
"What have you brought me, Reaper? False promises, perhaps?"
"Unfortunately, yes." He was nervous, though he hid it under a cold demeanor. "I had to act in self-defense, but the Skull man is dead. I didn't want to spoil the other for you, so she lives still, but she's broken. I saw her break down on the rooftop where I had been. Rest assured she'll be easy to catch."
"And what of the third?"
"Not there. Her whereabouts are unknown. She's an elusive bugger, but that won't stop me for long."
"It had better not. For your sake. For now, stay here. Let the chaos die down. Strike when they least expect it, as they'll be on the alert. Nothing hurts worse than another strike after the recovery."
"As long as I get paid."
The Knight hated working with scum like him. He could not even hold up his end of their bargain, but he was the only man who had shown even some sort of skills of the assassin sort. The time to hurt his humiliators would come, but not today.
"The time will come soon. Your pay will come upon delivery of the others. For now, this is your pay; safety from eyes that seek you right now. Until the moment comes, we shall wait for the perfect moment, and then the island will be defenseless.
That is when we will rule."