In a forest like all the others, during the dead of night, not far off from the border that leads to the land that once was Manhattan, a not-so-agile doctor runs by the trees and hides for his safety, breathing heavily and trembling, as if he had just gotten out of hell alive and could barely contain himself.

He's worried about his next maneuver, as his stamina is reaching its final reservoir. His last resort is to spawn his little creatures, but doing so this close to the start of the expedition is an unbearable compromise to make for the scientist. He wishes to go as far as possible without needing their help. Yet in his dire situation, he might have no other choice.

The celebrity that is Dr. Riley, with all of his tactics to stay at a safe distance, is being pursued by an assassin. Safe to say he's hiding well, although anyone with at least two brain cells would be able to see, and most definitely hear, a skinny man sprinting despite the thick darkness. It might be due to his very punk rock-inspired haircut that spikes through the air, his mask and skiing goggles combo, the stereotypical scientist's white coat with a shirt underneath containing words in latin, and let us not forget the blue pants and the brown bag he keeps close to his chest as he runs. The other thing that is out of the ordinary about the scientist is the ridiculous-looking pair of iron boots he wears. He found them in a deserted scrapyard one day. He then customized them to have spikes boost pads installed underneath.

It's a miracle his speed is not hindered by this bizarre footwear. If it was the case, his pursuer would have already decapitated him by now.

The assassin in question is wearing black armour which Riley theorizes to be customized iron for more resistance and flexibility, giving room for the man under to breathe and perform his acrobatics. This helps him jump around the dense tree branches and stick to wood and other surfaces with no difficulty. He clearly sharpened his skills for years. He wears a black skull mask and a hoodie so it helps hide his face and his upper body, keeping his identity in secrecy.

It is not the eccentric doctor who is going to try his hand at solving the mystery. Riley is too busy running for his life to care about whatever conspiracy theory is going on with his predator. For the scientist, it's an assassin like all the others, and assassins are paid unfairly well in this day and age, probably to get the job done as soon as possible.

Riley, now feeling his bones breaking down as he continues to run, finally decides to take a break and hide behind a massive tree, way bigger than others encountered in the area. He sincerely believes with all his heart that he is currently safe and that the assassin hasn't seen him. 

Meanwhile, said assassin stops on a branch and stares at the middle aged man from above with pity.

The doctor feels panic get into him as he's breathing heavily.

"Darn it... I don't wanna resort to this, but if I ignore them, I'll probably die in this forest, of all places! It is time to bring the big arsenal..." Decides the doctor, speaking with his thick french accent.

Dr. Riley, in a hesitant manner, reaches into his bag. He then proceeds to throw, with all his energy left, three shiny balls with basic patterns on each: one with a square, one with a triangle and another one with a star. As soon as they fall back and hit the ground, the marks sparks a yellow light and the containers open in a dramatic fashion, leaving smoke immediately.

The mysterious assassin stays on his branch and observes the doctor from up above. He's currently at a distance of about six meters from him. It helps that the lunatic is too occupied by whatever he's scheming to make note of his surroundings. The bounty hunter is confident that whatever he's planning isn't going to make a difference.

His fate is sealed.

"Hey, you masquerading buffoon! How about you stop kissing the skies and come closer!?"

Oh? Riley is challenging the assassin head on.

He is now confronting the pursuer like a man... a blind man, that is. Doc still doesn't know where his assailant is located. The dark limits his vision by quite a margin, which annoys and worries him a lot more.

"Ooh for the love of the almighty where the hell is this maniac!? Okay, the three of you! We need a strategy! Shorty, you need to shoot everywhere you can! Browski, start blowing trees away! And you.... El boyo....! Go and fly! Find where he's hiding!"

The three little creatures look at their master and the only thing they can muster are looks of confusion.

"I don't think the three of you understood what I just said! GO AND DO YOUR THINGS, GOD DAMNIT!", screams Riley, impatient and anxious.

Shorty, the furred cat with a machine gun fused to its back, is now looking at the doctor as if it finally gets what's asked of it. Shorty suddenly starts to go around and gather pebbles.

The assassin is still watching from his position, unsure of what is going on. There are now three small animals nearby the doctor doing different things. With the current predicament in context, this seems illogical. However, the more the assassin thinks about it, the easier it is for him to see problems: Those things were inside these containers? Doc holds a bag in his hands, so...does he keep more of those pocket monsters in there? That means more enemies.

This has the potential to turn into trouble.

Meanwhile, Browski, a bull frog about as big as a tree trunk, easily the most "normal" looking animal of them aside for its size, is scouting the area, leaping on the ground and scavenging for something to eat instead of what Riley demanded of it.

El boyo, the small flying crocodile bird, is already sailing for the zone above the forest. It's flying around looking for fresh food as well after being in a state of forced sleep for a good twenty days. It could have been a fine trip for the bird, but the very first thing its impressive eyesight finds is the assassin himself.

Lucky for it, the assassin spots the flying crocodile back, which prompts El boyo to scream out of panic, revealing the assassin's position. "Shit!" is the only thing the bounty hunter can whisper to himself.

He then feels something hit the branch he's sitting on with such impact it cuts it from the rest of the tree.

The assassin does two backflips before falling on the ground in a perfectly balanced landing. He gets up, seeing a small little cat imbued with rage ready to shoot it's mounted weapon once again. Behind the animal is a smirking scientist now ready to mock his opponent. The doctor is now acting like he has won the battle already.

"HAHAHA! I should have known you would hide so close to me in the south of the forest! It's a pattern I see you punks take every single time! As if I wouldn't be able to guess what trademark tactics you're using! I hope you enjoyed your time stalking a real KING of ingenuity! My deepest apologies, but your days are numbered, you simpleton!

- ....

- Ah! I guess the cat got your tongue, or rather... your last breath-!

- This is redundant. Are you done spouting nonsense, Doc?"

There is something about the way the bounty hunter speaks those words, with such calm and focus. He talks like there's no way he could lose, which picks upon Riley's ego.

It's as if there is information or signs he forgot to double check in his calculations, something that would have guaranteed victory for him. Why else would that foul-mouthed hunter be this collected at this very moment? This does not sit well with the doctor and he wants to close the show that instant.

"- W-Well, I've got one last thing to say! KILL HIM, SHORTY!"

As soon as he screams these words, Shorty starts growling and prepares his gun for a massive number of bullets through his prey's chest. The cat gets a solid pack of 6 rocks that Riley helps him place inside the machine gun.

The assassin stays right there in front of them, crossing his arms, curious about what the cat thinks it will accomplish with all these pebbles. Now that he knows what almost caught him, he's focused on making sure to suppress all of them in one fell swoop.

As soon as they are ready, Riley places himself in a very stable position, ready to give Shorty the signal to open fire.

"Before your untimely demise, young boy. I need to ask your name. What is your name, friend?

- Friend? You're joking right? I have been trying to kill you for a solid 10 hours now.

- ...WAIT WHAT!? IT'S BEEN 10 HOURS!? OOOOH NOOOO! Well, I'm sorry, mister assassin, but your name will be sent to hell WITH my memory of you!! Ok, KILL HIM SHORTY!

- Good luck."

Shorty then proceeds to shoot all six pebbles down its opponent's face, mostly aiming for the eyes, the only spot where it can pierce through the hunter's head. The velocity of the rocks, the traveling speed and the fact that they are only about 3 to 4 meters away from each other makes it scary for the predator...

So you can imagine the look on the doctor's face when, instead of dodging the pebbles shot from a machine gun that could throw bullets close to half the speed of sound, the assassin catches them all with his bare hands. He just stands there, making minimalistic movements to ease his body and to make sure he isn't falling on any obstacle during this surreal sequence of events.

Riley is stunned.

"Not gonna lie, your feline seems to have a decent view and great instincts. I could keep it for myself. Would be great for some of the more...questionable contracts...Not that yours is any less questionable.

- Y-you!! What the in the name of the devil are you!? You caught six of those with your bare hands!!

- ...Yes I did... 

- These rocks we're going at a speed of 171,5 meters per second!! You went 0.5 times the speed of sound! H-How!? I mean, since when!?

- *Sigh*. It's cool hearing you dabble in your thoughts out loud, doctor. But, chatting with you is...well, not the reason why I accepted this job." He says menacingly while grabbing a sword from his well-hidden sheath.

The weapon itself looks antique, as if it was stolen from a museum dedicated to old artefacts. The edge of the sword has the shape of a parallelogram, and its blade measures around 50 centimeters. It looks very sharp, as if he bought the sword of unknown origin recently.

Riley is now frightened beyond belief. His best attack to kill the bastard and finish the voyage on a nice swing had little to no effect. It maybe is too late for him. Maybe he is actually going to die here, in this forest, of all places...

Suddenly, a very deep roar could be heard from above them, as the assassin was about to charge and kill them with his sword. They all turn to see El boyo flying and taunting his newfound nemesis.

"Tsk, seems like your creatures did not give up on you, doctor."

While the assassin was dodging the bullets, he did in fact stomp on a massive worm that El boyo was ready to capture and turn into its midnight snack. This angered the flying crocodile and it gathered the necessary strength to throw a roar that would make its lizard side very proud.

However, as soon as El boyo roars, the hunter, who is ready to throw some of the rocks he caught, hears a stack of trees hit one another, falling all at once at the hunter's direction like dominoes. 

It's Browski. The bull frog has the peculiar ability to blow winds that can rival brutal storms.  It blew that whole pack of trees away in the direction of the assassin. 

As the hunter is about to dodge at the last second, El Boyo flies as fast as it can towards the assassin and catches him by the leg, making him trip on his back. All of the falling trees crash on the hunter with a resounding BOOM that shakes the ground and the entire forest.

Such timing and team spirit places a prideful smile on the scientist's face, who is just relieved his life is forfeited for today.

"- Ah...This is the taste of mercy I crave so much... Alright, now LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Dr. Riley and the three animals dashes off south to the borders.

Everything seems to go smoothly for the rest of the journey. 

It's almost like there will be no other obstacles left in the way of the eccentric doctor. He spent the last night fending off a high-caliber assassin and got out thanks to the help of his trusty companions (that practically left him to die to do other things, but we don't talk about that). The astonishing and exhausting run gave Dr. Riley the time to sit back and kick it, now leaving this lush green forest full of life and beauty as the sun is rising. He couldn't pay attention before due to the amount of pressure and fear of death that he felt a couple of hours ago. Nonetheless, El boyo is now flying in the sky, going about its own business and probably already getting past the border. Shorty is simply walking around its master, curious to find any place to sleep. It won't find anything, but it sure tries. Browski accompanies the rest of the crew as well. This intense trip for now has been them clutching through the prologue of their expedition...

So now there is the calm before the storm...

This damned barrier is soon to be crossed. You can actually see what's inside from miles away: 

the infamous bottomless pit. 

It feels big, a feeling hyperbolized by the long traveling distance left. The scientist feels a rush of adrenaline and lots of saliva going down his throat. Everything he worked for, every single achievement, every regrets that have piled up over the decades, had been for this precious moment... To see these beautiful sights once again.

...

The doctor then starts gulping.

He has a sudden realization that the unknown assassin may still be alive. Sure, he is most definitely lying dead crushed under piles of torn wood, but he did catch super-fast rocks with ease. Maybe he performed feats like this a hundred times beforehand. Who knows what stealthy schemes he could have plotted to survive without anyone noticing?

Thinking about it places Dr.Riley back in the fast lane. The hunter losing his tracks would help him with his research of the underground world. Therefore, it makes sense for him to get going before the vile hunter somehow comes back from the forest. Again, this is not a mystery Doc is curious enough to find out and it is not worth all of the shenanigans he had to go through.

With all that said, the scientist hastily starts running again, now closer to his goals than ever before.