Thursday May 23rd - 10 h 53 PM

Unfortunately, just like the other cops predicted, Holland’s wild action caused the deaths of two innocent people. There are three other citizens injured. The rookie was not ready to be in such a sickening position. He and his friend York had just gotten to the big leagues. They were supposed to learn from the best of the best. Instead, their tutor, their hero Richard Young, dragged their heads on the mud and fed them to the dogs of their own law, an act of social cannibalism that is unfair for both of them. Holland is now forced to watch in horror, as two cops come out and stare down at his only ally in York, forced to be an interrogation prop, as everybody’s trying to figure out what is even happening in the mind of their soon-to-be sergeant psychopath. 

This is supposed to be Troposville’s lucky day. After all these years of political persecution, they finally get to catch one of the mutants that ruined Atmos over eight years ago. This is supposed to be the moment where Richard Young plays the savior, the upstart turned legend of the force, as he gives a taste of the peace to come for the rest of the country, a key component in the history of the city’s brilliant opus: how they were able to conquer a virus from within, a virus that turned every man, women and children into terrifying monsters, or cursing them with powers none were prepared to handled, cast aside from their families, social circles and opportunities, treated not even as second class citizen but as threats to the country. Everybody can turn. Everyone is affected out of the twenty million people living in Atmos. And everybody will tune to their TVs tomorrow as Richard Young, no matter how well he saves the day, will have to bear the weight of Atmoscian casualties by his underlings. The city would be in debt to him for a short few hours. In exchange, he would lose his position as sergeant and his police license forever…

Emphasis on “would” here, as some of the citizens look up horrified when Athomas Killian screams “BLOOD CENSORSHIP” at the top of his lungs. Nothing happens for a few seconds, while cops mobilize to take down the threat. 

A child observes from a nearby window with ironic awe, as a crimson red ball forms behind the fugitive before forming into a cape.

“Mommy! Daddy! The weird guy is making red magic!”, yells the child in excitement.

Athomas feels his body revive as he regains his lost strength. Most importantly, the blood that sprayed on the corner of the street comes back to form a new pair of legs, as if nothing happened.

A light gray drawing of an eye appears on the bloody cape and looks around, like an actual normal eye, to see the police officers below. In an act of desperation, Athomas, now dressed like he’s cosplaying dracula thanks to the blood transformation, creates a ball of energy in his free hand.

“Athomas! It’s me, Richard! You have to get down there and explain to us how in the hell did you become one of those monsters! If you can decipher to us what happened, we could find a way to stop-!”

“Be quiet!”, cuts the fugitive, still in panic. “You and that bloated mouth of yours! I couldn’t reach out to you even if I wanted to! I understand now that I made the right decision! You’re as corrupted as the rest of them! I must accomplish my mission!”

All of Athomas’s injuries from a couple of minutes ago are healing at a rapid pace. Every other cop is left confused and terrified of what they’re looking at.

[ Blood Censorship - Blood Ball : Enabled ]

The Blood Censorship sub-system appears before Athomas. The eye on the cape glows white, signifying that the enabled action is completed and ready for usage. Athomas throws the ball of energy on the rooftop he’s holding on to. A blood ball explodes in a giant puddle of blood that covers a quarter of the rooftop’s surface on contact.

“We don’t know what the hell he’s gonna do! Wait before shooting”, pleads Richard, who seems to have gained some of his senses back with the realisation of his comrade being the one on the loose. The same cop who berated Richard a moment ago comes back a tinge more traumatized.

“You gotta be joking right!? We got citizens that are hurt and terrified here and this monster just pulled this fucking stunt! We HAVE to kill him! I don’t care if it’s Athomas! That guy can go to hell!”

Then, Athomas lets himself fall between the two walls that lead to an alley, filled with metal pipes and equipment like air conditioners installed. Athomas extends his arms, palms open, towards all this metal surrounding him.

[ Blood Censorship - Metal Lance: Enabled ]

The eye on his cape glows white again.

Parts of the metal from all of these pipes and equipment get snatched in big chunks that float in the air and transform into small yet deadly spikes. Athomas makes a sudden throwing motion towards the cops car like he’d throw a baseball. Two of those chunks fly into Richard’s car. One pierces through Holland D. Pétrarque’s entire face, killing him on the spot, while the other hits the engine of the car, rendering it useless. York falls on his knees, curved in a ball and screaming for help while the rest of the cops try to disperse. The chunks hit a bunch of cars and lights, about a dozen of them flying around like gigantic darts. It looks like a massacre.

Richard, taking cover, can feel the weight of his decision tremble over his consciousness. He’s shaking.

Athomas lands on the ground without an ounce of trouble, with Blood Censorship giving heightened resistance and durability towards things that should be normally fatal. Now fully focused, the fugitive turned predator dashes for the car. He knows he got Holland, for the system sends him these gruesome messages back to back.

[ Player { Holland D. Pétrarque } status : dead ]

[ Responsible of Death : Player { Athomas Killian } ]

[ Cause of Death : subsystem { Blood Censorship } ]

ignoring the screams of cops terrified, he simply reaches out to the car, with York the only one observing him mortified. Immediately, a gigantic, comically large amount of blood escapes through the car. Gallons of blood turn into energy balls that float behind the murderer.

York is pale, unable to move as he’s shaking all over.

“BC, give me the amount of blood balls enabled, will you”.

[ Blood Censorship - Number of Blood Balls enabled: 6 ]

Athomas, as his humanity is uprooted by the sheer presence of this system, gets rid of the remains of his earlier disguise, revealing behind the ski mask and older man, in his mid-forties, hints of gray covering his natural, long black hair roughed up by stress and unsupervised depression. When he’s about to leave, that’s when Richard gets out of the rubble and pulls his weapon, the psychopathic level of bravado from earlier vanishing to leave fear and bewilderment in control. York is staring at both of them, but his eyes are focused on nothingness, as he’s crying a waterfall of despair.

“Athomas!! Why!? What is the meaning of this!?” Yells Richard.

Killian stops on his tracks, but doesn’t turn back.

“I was lost, Richard… The only gift I received from this curse was realizing everybody in this country is as clueless as I was”. The middle-aged man clenches his fists. “Not anymore!”

Blinded by rage, Athomas then throws one of his blood balls directly at Richard who dodges at the last second, landing on his stomach. The impact on the already destroyed vehicle wakes York up from his traumatized slumber, as he crawls on all fours once again.

The criminal takes this chance to run towards the alley and throw another blood ball on a wall.

[ Blood Censorship - Blood Transfusion: Enabled ]

The blood pool on the wall begins to vibrate like hundreds of droplets falling on it and creating waves.

“Open fire!” Athomas hears from a distance, as he sees a few cops taking matters in their own two hands, packing heat and ready to fire. As they pull the trigger, dozens upon dozens of bullets traverse the alleyway and punch holes through the fugitive’s body, who jolts and convulses on each hit. When they are done, they are surprised to see the man is still up. He’s still breathing. He shouldn’t be. This man should be dead, falling on the ground like a ragdoll. 

Instead, Athomas stares them down while his wounds heal with ease, some people in the force he once trusted now standing as his enemies, opposite in their purpose. Richard Young watches the scene in shock.

“If only you remembered the last time, Richard Young. None of this would have happened”. A poetic expression of sadness on his visage, Athomas opts to send one last goodbye by sending these bizarre questions.

What exactly happened last time? What does he mean by last time?

With a few pieces of a disorienting puzzle left for all to assemble, Athomas Killian exits the scene through the blood transfusion technique, disappearing into the splash of blood on the wall. Like magic, he’s gone.

Immediately, Richard takes back the reins of command. What transpires might break everything he once knew and cost him his goals & dreams beyond repair, but Richard is fueled by enough frustration to bring a beaten dead horse back to life. He clings on to this position, this chance to lead. He can’t help but feel like he has seen this in the past, that there is a sense of déja vu haunting him, unable to shake the words Athomas Killian just rang in his ears a few seconds ago.

Athomas’s blood transfusion technique gives him the ability to traverse through any pool or puddle of blood he created, which means he’s now slowly appearing on the rooftop where he threw the first blood ball. Athomas begins running again, his cape and dracula cosplay shifting into another hoodie, hiding his face with a bicycle helmet, sunglasses and a N95 face mask.

In another building further away from Athomas, something vicious, monstrous, waits for the fugitive. 

Certainly not human, this bipedal creature, mechanical in its movement, tracks the steps of the murderer like a hawk…