ABANDONED CONSTRUCTION SITE

TERMINUS, GRATA - 4:57 AM

A white sedan drives through empty streets under the darkness of early dawn. The sun is still nowhere to be seen with the stars and moon blocked by a humongous wall towering over the city; the only sources of light come from the vehicle itself, as well as the occasional blinking from the broken wall lights.

The car eventually stops near a bent pole, with two men stepping out of the front seats. The individual on the left is a young, lean man. His wavy, short hair is as dark as his irises; a distinct jet black that stands out in a crowd of blonde and brunette Lavians. His cohort is an older, middle-aged man with hazel brushed up hair. His eyes are a dark shade of green and he sports a brown, almost greying goatee. On his wrist is a gold watch that shows the current time: 4:57 AM. The older man opens the trunk, pulling out two shovels as he hands one over to the younger man. They begin to walk through the broken road filled with abandoned vehicles accompanied with shattered windows and broken headlights, while moss grows out of their windpipes.

Passing through rubble and abandoned shops, the two men eventually arrive at an empty construction site. A stationary crane sits in one corner, steel beams rest on a small mound in the other. The older man glances at the younger one as they enter the construction site proper.

“You ready to dig?” the older man asks.

“Sure, but shouldn’t we leave this to Palladium?” the younger man retorts.

“Palladium’s busy with some demon terrorizing Yundash,” the older man states as he thrusts his shovel into the ground, starting to dig. The younger man follows suit.

“Just feels like we’re doing their job,” says the younger man as the two continue digging.

“Isn’t that what you want?” the older man sarcastically asks, as if to annoy the younger one.

“I want to kill demons, not look for shit that’s buried in god knows where,” answers the younger man as he digs more aggressively.

“Right… I bet you just want to see your prince charming again,” replies the older man in a mocking tone.

“Yeah… He’s probably dead. I just wish I could have gotten the chance to thank him.”

“For what? Abandoning you?”

“For saving my life,” the younger man sternly declares as the older man sighs.

“I thought you’d have known better by now, but you gotta get over your obsession with Palladium.”

“I’m not obsessed… You know damn well why I wanna join them,” the younger man retorts.

“I just don’t understand… why you’re still so hung up on them…” The older man says, panting heavily.

“Are you forgetting that their… incompetence damn near wiped out… an entire city?” he continues. The younger man stops digging and gives the older man a stern look.

“Of course I remember. But I also know that there are some things in life too precious to let go of. You, of all people, should understand.”

“Listen, I’m not trying to invalidate your childhood trauma. I’m just saying maybe you should give it up. Just stay here and enjoy living like this, instead of risking your life everyday in Valcove,” the older man says, trying to bargain with the younger man.

“Living? This… This isn’t living. Not when there’s so much out there,” the younger man says as he continues digging, while the older man rolls his eyes. His mind drifts back to that day…

15 YEARS AGO

ALTAIR RESIDENCE

ROSCHER, GRATA - 6:21 PM

A little boy is in awe watching the news on a tv in a small room. The boy looks awfully similar to the young man of the present, the difference being his eyes are full of innocence and hope, lost in the eyes of his now-older self. The news is broadcasting an incident in Valcove, the place where Palladium Headquarters is located. A young woman and her infant were saved by a man with long, straight blonde hair sporting a Palladium tag, Rank S, from a demon that resembles a beetle. With one swift strike of the blonde man’s forearm, the beetle is blown to bits with an explosion.

“Nick!” the voice of a child calls out from down the hall.

“Wait! I’m almost done watching!” the boy replies.

The bedroom door creaks open as a girl walks in. She resembles Nick, but with longer black hair and is slightly taller. She sports an angry look on her face as Nick continues to watch the news.

“Come oooon!! Are you seriously gonna ignore me on my birthday?” the girl says, stomping her foot on Nick’s carpet.

“Look, Candy! He’s so cool!” Nick says as he points to the Palladium member on the television, now being interviewed by a reporter.

“Ugh, that’s so lame! That restaurant dad picked is way cooler! So come on already, dad’s… waiting for you!” says the girl as she yanks Nick away from the tv.

The two children arrive downstairs, where their father awaits them. He too, has black hair accompanied with a full beard.

“Are you two ready to go?” their father asks. The two nod.

“Oh, have you given Candace her gift yet?” the father asks Nick.

Nick runs across the living room to the kitchen. He searches the lower cupboard and pulls out a box wrapped in pink ribbon. He hands it to Candace.

“Go ahead and open it, Candace.”

Candace rips apart the ribbon to unveil a metal box. Inside the metal box is a bracelet studded with diamond hearts. A shocked expression forms on Candace’s face before quickly turning into a huge smile.

“Really?? You got this for me?!” she asks Nick.

“I chose it, but dad’s the one who bought it!” replies Nick enthusiastically, rubbing the back of his head in pride.

“It cost a lot of money, but nothing the best scientist in Lavia can’t buy!” says the father as he laughs.

“But I thought you were retired?”

“I am, and that’s why someday, I’ll teach you the importance of saving so you can get the things you want!” the father replies. Candace hugs Nick tightly as their father looks on, a smile on his face. She wears the bracelet and adjusts it to her wrist size. All is well for the happy family.

“Alright, let’s go! You two are going to love this place,” says the father as the three step into his grey sedan. Beside the freshener is a wedding picture of a couple. In the picture is the father, who is younger with a much less grizzled beard, and their mother who passed a year after Nick’s birth. On the back is a handwritten note: Rose Sirchen and Raymond Altair, 06/05/1989. Raymond adjusts the picture as he steps on the pedal, and the family go on their way.

“Where are we going?” Nick asks.

“Whole In One! It’s a huuuuuge restaurant underneath the Nazendel Bridge!” replies Candace.

“They have all the food you want, so don’t hold back!” says Raymond as the two children grow hungrier by the moment.

NAZENDEL DRAWBRIDGE

EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 6:41 PM

Twenty minutes later, Raymond slows down the car as they arrive at the Nazendel bridge, surrounded by countless skyscrapers. Raymond begins to park the car as he notices a huge puff of smoke coming from the biggest skyscraper, the Eternal Tower. He brushes it off for the time being, and the three step out of the car and make their way down the staircase leading to the restaurant. The Altairs proceed to enjoy themselves on Candace's Eighth birthday. From choosing a wide array of delicacies ranging from venison, to seafood, to pasta, topping it all off with a black forest cake, dripping with melted chocolate. Stuffed from their celebratory meal, Raymond decides to bring the children to the nearby theme park to burn what they just ate. During their tenure inside, Nick manages to snag the grand prize of a huge, black teddy bear by managing to hit a bullseye on a miniscule target with a toy bow. He gives it to Candace, another gift aside from her priceless accessory.

NAZENDEL DRAWBRIDGE

EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 7:46 PM

The three begin to return home after a fun evening, the family stuffed and fulfilled. On their way, several distraught citizens can be seen either running away or frantically trying to open their cars. Raymond senses something awry, and begins to speed up, overtaking several other cars in the process.

As they approach the toll gate separating Nazendel from Grata, a huge amount of traffic blocks their path, forcing Raymond to slow down. Beside their car is a security guard communicating on his walkie talkie. Raymond opens his window to speak with the guard.

“What’s the hold up, officer?” asks Raymond. The security guard puts down his walkie talkie.

“Nazendel is currently being put on lockdown sir,” replies the guard.

“And the reason is?”

“Classified information sir. I’m afraid we can’t release it to the public until the issue has been dealt with.”

“Don’t you think you owe us an explanation as to why we can’t return home?”

“‘Fraid there’s nothing I can do about it sir. Perhaps you could book a night at the Mibuki Hotel while things settle down.”

Raymond gets increasingly frustrated with each reply from the guard. He sticks his hand out the window to let the guard know of his serious intent.

“I don’t think you understand me quite well, so let me rephrase myself. Today is my daughter’s 8th Birthday, and I want to end the night on a good note. It only takes 20 minutes to go from here to our home, but if you keep holding us up-”

Before Raymond can finish his sentence, gunshots can be heard firing from a distance. At the very front of the toll gate was a frustrated civilian who broke through the barrier. He was unable to come very far though, as his car was gunned down by a drone that detects bypassers.

“Oh fuck!” Raymond exclaims as he frantically tries to cover the gruesome scene from the two children’s eyes by grabbing the passenger seat and blocking the view with his arm. Fortunately for him, Nick was about to drift asleep. Candace on the other hand, was wide awake and wary of the situation. To make matters worse, the ground suddenly shakes with such high intensity that the security guard beside the Altairs’ car loses balance. Raymond looks back at Candace.

“It’s okay baby, just stay calm alright? We’re just being held up by a bit of traffic,” Raymond asks the confused Candace as she nods. He reaches over to kiss her and Nick’s heads as he tears up. Nick wakes up groggily from the commotion, fluttering his eyes. Candace worriedly looks around as the trees beside the road start to fall over, and a psychotic laugh echoes through the forest.

The security guard begins to pick himself back up after losing balance and draws his gun, shooting at the sky. It is futile, however, as a bald, buff individual marked with the letters “PA” on his forehead lands on top of him, crushing the security guard and splattering his insides onto the car window. Candace is horrified and hides herself and Nick under the seats as Raymond recoils from shock. The radio suddenly switches from pop music to a news report.

“Breaking News! Nazendel is being put on lockdown after the murder of President Baron Rivers. Several crazed demedioms are reportedly on the loose following the incident. To all residents of South Lavia, please refrain from going outdoors in the meantime. More to come in a few.”

The radio reverts back to pop music. Though the two children managed to stay hidden, the lunatic demediom notices Raymond and picks up their car, tossing it towards the toll gate. Nick blacks out from the impact.

The psychotic demediom proceeds to gruesomely slaughter everyone around him. The security guards try shooting him to no avail. Suddenly, a huge blast of wind pushes back the lunatic, the first time he had been affected by an attack tonight. Limping through the debris of wrecked cars is an injured Raymond Altair, who begins to square up with the lunatic.

The lunatic picks up a piece of the road and chucks it towards Raymond, but Raymond slices it apart with his wind. He sends several wind slashes toward the lunatic, and cuts him up in several parts of his body.

Raymond begins to gather wind around his fist, and punches the lunatic square in his stomach, making him fly. As he flies through the air, the lunatic begins to rotate his direction and aims straight towards Raymond. He punches with all his might, but Raymond dodges at the last second. The lunatic’s punch creates a large crater in the middle of the road, and makes shockwaves that catches Raymond off-balance. Because of this, Raymond loses his footing, but the lunatic dives straight towards the children instead. Raymond quickly pulls the vehicle containing Nick and Candace towards him with a vortex of wind. The children safely land, however…

Before Raymond can counterattack, the lunatic drives his fist straight through Raymond’s chest, making the latter cough copious amounts of blood. Meanwhile, Nick begins to wake up after being knocked out from the impact of their car being thrown earlier. He looks over to Candace, who is bleeding profusely from her head. He reaches over to her, but she is unresponsive. Her newly given bracelet, shattered and spread across the ground; the stuffed bear’s head hanging from its neck. Nick approaches the road to try and look for help, but instead he witnesses his father’s death, as Raymond falls to his knees and curls up on the ground in a pool of blood. In just a few hours, the happy family that celebrated a birthday had been stripped to only one member left. Nick sees a needle poking out from the car compartment. He pulls it out, revealing a syringe with a very vivid blue fluid. He remembers seeing a similar-looking liquid from when his father showed off his collection...

To Be Continued...