McJesus Chronicles

[McJesus]

1. ARGHARHAHR

McJesus felt sweat on his forehead. Those thick furry eyebrows were good at keeping the sun out of his eyes, but not so good at stopping perspiration. Maybe I should stop smoking so much. He could tell he had a swagger to his step, the floor kept moving back and forth, left and right and sometimes in circles. It was hard to tell as everything was white, the only difference being the crying bodies and the onslaught of attackers. A loud KRA-KOOM went off in the distance. Whoops. McJesus really couldn't control himself when he was intoxicated like this. A flash of orange flashed infront of his eyes, before he went flying away from the blurry blob. McJ tried knocking him back but all he could hear was the screams "OH JESUS MY EYES" as he fell in a crumpled heap.

He stumbled back up, looking for QuickFag, scratching his forehead. He noticed blood trickling down infront of his eyes. Ha, just a flesh wound! His eyes heated up and before long McJ could hear more cries of anguish.

He kept walking wherever his feet could take him, the sounds of agony still piercing his ears. It was muffled though, the liquor in his system was making everything foggy and indistinguishable. Flashes of purple and green, orange and.. green again, he didn't really care. He felt another smack in the face, and fell down again. Was that a [cough] a couch? McJ felt a variety of trinkets being hurled at him, but he stood his ground.. barely.

He wandered further, his right arm feeling numb. He saw the orange blur running at him again, and he instantly exploded.

"HEY QUICKFHAG, TRY AND GET ME NOW! HAHAahhharhghh-" McJ felt a distinct flavour of pickles in his throat, doubled over and puked. The red and grey cloud that was surrounding him soon drifted away, and he heard some sort of muffled battlecry, everything and everyone was getting dimmer and blurrier. He half-stood up and noticed he was surrounded by orange. A t-tornado? He felt dizzy and was soon spinning.

He started firing off explosion after explosion without a care in the world, laughing loudly. Shortly he felt a sharp throbbing in his right temple. Wha? Ow.. Another thud came from his left, he was on the ground. Did someone punch me? Nrgrggnn. Even in his own thoughts, McJ was losing all sense. He saw an orange figure standing above him.

"Pitiful."

He closed his eyes and embraced the darkness.

Great. I'm dead. Again. Well, might as well enjoy the silence. The beautiful irreplacable silence. It's in times like these that I can really think abo-

Doot.

What?

Doot.

...

Doot.

He could hear faint voices, mumbling and talking about something, he couldn't quite understand it. He creaked an eye open, and then the other. He couldn't see much, it all looked pretty grey. He blinked once, then twice and could see more of where he was. A room, with the window slightly opened. The walls were almost white, just slightly off. There was a big glass window and door leading into the main halls, and a blurry figure next to him. He was in a hospital ward.

He looked down at his torn clothes and groaned.

"Well well, look who finally woke up!"

McJ grunted. His wife's voice was instantly recognisable, but he was in no mood for talking. He turned and saw an angel looking down at him. She wasn't an ordinary angel, her hair was short and.. green? No, brown. His eyesight was returning. He could see more clearly now, it was short and spiky, but still frizzy and uncombed, she had let her hair down. McJ liked that. She was wearing her business suit again, jet black with just a hint of cleavage.

"Look, I know you're sick of that ban from BC, but it's for everyone's safety!"

"I.. I'm not.. that bad."

"You blew up the entire Arena!"

He sat straight up at this, "I DIDN-". Searing pain ran up his back and neck, he was letting himself get too restless in his brawls. He groaned as he slowly edged himself back down. He let out another grunt.

"For the last time, I did no such thing.."

AngelFace sighed, "Look, we'll talk about that later, you just need some rest." She leant out the door and called out, "Ms. M! He's awake now!"

Another angel entered the room. This one was blonde with big blue eyes. They could probably light up a room by themselves. She was wearing mostly white with a nametag, McJ still couldn't read it. He could never read nametags.

"This'll just take a minute. You should probably stand outside."

Now it was just McJesus and the new angel, who was now shooting McJesus with soothing yellow rays.

"You gotta stop beating yourself up like this Stickman."

He leant back and groaned. He was reborn by God himself, the guy who has lived for forever and a day, and He was the one who was getting impatient!

"Listen, I talked to God before I arrived and.. well you gotta stop mucking around like this! You should be preparing! We both know whatever threat you are meant to stop is going to come soon, and you gotta-"

McJ snickered. "Look, I know, alright? I've spent my life training for this. I've lived more than everyone I know, I'm probably the oldest human alive. All I know is that whatever this threat is, it had better come soon, or I'll be too old and crusty to do anything. I mean, come on! Look at my halo! It's already breakingapart, and I haven'tevengot a clue aboutthi sthreatthatimsupposedtostopanditsall.. very frust.. tra.. ting.." He sighed and put his hands on his forehead. "It's just so hard.."

The nurse sighed, "I know.. but you gotta persevere.. and you gotta stop talking so fast! Take it easy for a few days. You've been fighting for too long."

McJ chuckled, "And what about you? I've never even seen you before!"

"I guess you two are finished then?" came a voice from the door.

The nurse looked embaressed from his point of view. "Oh uh, heh, yeah I guess so.." She scurried out the door quickly before waving quickly and running off. McJ offered a quick wave back before sitting up.

"You alright honey?"

"Yeah, I think I'm alright now.." he hopped off the bed, and did a few stretches to ease his muscles. "Everything seems to check out."

"Well I talked to Dr. Shrouder, and he said that you should lay off from fighting in general for a few days, a week at most."

"Shrouder said that? Well I guess I should do what he says then.."

They both wandered out of the room and started down the hall. McJ put his arm around her shoulder, as he looked into the other patient's rooms. Most of them looked like civilians, but he saw some regular faces.. John, Grimscott, even Bulet and MVG. He was surprised to see so many familiar people here. As they each saw him, he was a bit shocked by their reaction, they all gave him nasty glares, each worse than the last.

He was about to ask why when she cut in, "I'll tell you about it later, we need to get you out of those clothes first. The Doc said you gotta wear something more casual and loose, not that silly brawl suit."

McJesus sighed as he walked out the front door of the Hospital. He saw his beat up Cadillac, once a beautiful scratchless machine was now reduced to a mere scrapheap that could barely work. He quickly noticed the two Brawl squad cars, one being a standard BCPD model in back, but the other was new to McJ. He didn't expect to see a beetle in front of his car, but it had the standard BCPD shield on the side, so he paid no attention to it. These cars were escorting him outside of Brawl City boundaries, he was banned for life. Even now he couldn't drive, AngelFace had to.

The ride was quiet for a few minutes before McJ finally broke the silence. "So, about this ban-"

"It's to keep Brawl City safe, I've told you a hundred times!"

"And I've told you a thousand times that I was nowhere NEAR the Arena when it got blasted!"

She flicked on the radio and turned it up. She whispered, "Look, I'm being watched, okay? Everywhere I go I can see cameras, spies and bugs all over the place!" McJ sat quietly, confused. "I can't say that I believe you, no matter how much I do, but I can't risk everything I've worked for! They don't even know what I can do offensively!"

He leaned over and clicked off the radio. "Okay.. nevermind."

Half an hour of silence later, they could see the Wilderness, and the cars slowed to a stop. The beetle infront opened it's doors and out stepped a woman, wearing sunglasses and looked no more than 30. Her hair was a dark shade of blonde, but she was wearing the standard BCPD uniform. Black shirt, black pants, black shoes, the only thing not black was the iron-pressed shirt and the red and green scarf she wore by her side. "This is your stop."

McJesus stepped out of the Cadillac, still confused. "What? But I thought-"

The officer stepped towards him, and calmly replied "We at the Precinct thought that it was pretty harsh to leave you all alone in the Void, so we pulled some strings and got you some priveleges. You can hang around the Wilderness, but you gotta stay on the Void side." McJesus was stunned, he looked over the fields and a tear ran down his face.

"But.. why? I thought you all hated me?"

She took off her glasses and looked him in the eye and winked. "Not all of us." She walked back towards her Beetle, putting her sunglasses back on. "Don't get in trouble again or we'll come a-knocking!"

McJ sat on his rusted car and pondered to himself before smiling. He leaped up in the air, shouting to the heavens "A break! Aha, at LAST!! Thankyou GOD!" AngelFace chuckled from behind the seat and waved to the cars, who pulled out and drove back towards the metropolis. She pulled the car onto the grass and called out to her husband.

"C'mon honey! We gotta go say hi!"

He ran back and hopped back into the car, now bustling with energy.

"I can't believe it! That gives me a whole new appeal for life! I'm so glad there's people out here like this!"

She chuckled and hugged him quickly. "There's more in Brawl than backstabbers and liars honey!"

The car chugged as it followed the dirt path. McJ looked out the windows and stared in awe of the beauty around him. Trees started appearing, soon thousands of them surrounded the car as it bustled along. Before long they reached a clearing, covered in roses and flowers, lakes of pure clear water spanned the horizon, and he let out a single tear. "It's.. amazing.. I've never seen a place like this!"

"Wait 'til you see who lives here!" cheered AngelFace, as the car pulled over to the small carpark ahead. There were two cars there already, a mint condition black Sedan, and what appeared to be something McJ thought he'd never see, a car in worse condition than his. He looked to his wife in confusion, and she chuckled as she turned off the ignition. "C'mon, I'll show you!"

They both walked down the field past the small carpark, and McJesus could see a small structure ahead, which soon grew larger as they walked near. "I can't believe I've never been here before.." he mumbled. The fields seemed to grow more and more abundantly as they got closer. The silent awe was broken with the crackle of a loudspeaker.

A dusty voice boomed across the field, "wh.. who goes there?"

They kept walking as AngelFace cried out "It's us! MJ and AngelFace!"

McJ heard the crackle again as it replied "o-oh.. c-come along then!" They both looked ahead as the building was right next to them. It was evidently huge, he estimated 10 stories of pure flat concrete straight up. He hadn't even glanced at the sides yet. A square ray of light permeated from the wall next to the couple, and a door materialised infront of them. McJ looked blankly at his wife, but all she could do was smile and kept walking. He stumbled after her, but slowed and admired the walls. He thought the structure would have looked older, the outside was made of some sort of stone but the inside was more hightech than anything he'd ever seen. It looked incredibly space age, thin lines all around the hall's walls.

He heard his wife from the end of the wall yell out "Come on! They're right in here!"

Quickly catching up to his wife, he peered around the corner, and was caught in awe once again. The ceiling was taller than he'd thought, 3 stories? 4? He was lost in thought when he was interrupted by that dusty voice again, accompanied by a mechanical whirr.

"Well i-if it isn't McJesus himself!" McJ spun to meet the voice and cracked a smile. He recognised the figure immediately. If the thick overgrown hair and greying skin wasn't a giveaway, the charred chainsaw attached to his arm most definately was.

"If it isn't my man MadMan! Ha HA!" He ran over to give his chum a long-deserved hug. "Where've you been these last few years?"

"W-well I've been here you see.. working on m-my research.." MadMan was still the same offpitch person he'd met a few years ago in the early stages of Brawl, but the stutter was new. He was still wearing that dusty suit from the day they met, now ripped here and there but that seemed to matter little to him.

Laughing, McJ replied "I don't remember a stutter! I suppose your sanity's a little worse off being all alone here for a year or two?"

Another voice entered the conversation, this one more articulate than MadMan but still recognisable to him, "I don't think anyone could survive down here by themselves, let alone keep any sanity."

He spun around again to see the second person "Shrouder?"

A laughter came from the shadows as the blond doctor stepped forward, arms holding a box of robot parts. "The one and only!" Doctor Shrouder.. one of the most highly respected men of Brawl City. Helping both Brawlers and Civilians alike, Shrouder was a welcome face anywhere he went. He was still wearing his white trenchcoat from the Hospital, but now adorned black rubber gloves, presumably for the robot parts he was carrying.

McJ titled his head, confused. "But.. I thought you were back at the Hospital?"

MadMan walked out another door. "Of c-course he was!"

"Yes well, this is where I live. You see, I have a chute that leads straight there if I'm ever needed in an emergency so I can spend most of my time here."

Smiling, he walked over and hugged the doctor, "You're a smart guy, Doc."

A beeping came from the corner, where AngelFace was standing out of the way from her husband's reunions. "O-oh.. erm. Sorry guys, I gotta go! I'll see you later honey!"

McJesus waved goodbye to his wife and leaned against a nearby table. "Amazing.. So I'm going to live here now?"

MadMan's dusty voice could be heard from a distant corridor. "Looks like it!"

"Well uh, where's my room then?"

A distant rumbling could be heard from MadMan's direction, and shortly after a small robot wheeled around the corner and up to McJ. It looked like a box with wheels on the side with a large crude smile drawn on each side. "HELLO SIR. I'M HERE TO ESCORT YOU TO YOUR DESIGNATED QUARTERS."

Shrouder chuckled, "That's one of our Tempbots. You can program them quickly to do almost anything quickly and easily." He had started unpacking his box and was now assembling parts. "It's got a very advanced AI, so you can talk to it like a regular human. Just follow it wherever it goes."

"Well, alright then. Let's go Tempbot!"

"YES SIR, RIGHT AWAY SIR." And with that, the small robot wheeled itself down yet another corridor, and McJ quickly followed after it. After travelling a maze of corridors, open rooms and doors, McJesus found himself in a comfy room, nicely lit, dark red walls and the carpet felt smooth. He slipped off his footwear and slid out of his jacket and singlet, emptied his pockets onto the bedside table and laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

I guess things aren't so bad then. He felt quite tired, he had stayed up far too long fighting. He almost drifted to sleep when he heard his phone ring from the bedside table. He grunted and reached over for it, and looked at the Caller ID.

QuickFeet.

[destructin]

Thats an interesting way to name a chapter...

Anyway, awesome story, makes you wonder what will happen next, and one of my characters got a cameo, ha, atleast its something!

[Deleted]

Nice story McJ, I can't wait to see what's next!

[Hat Salesman]

I like it. How's about some of those famed pictures you used to add on?

[McJesus]

Believe it or not, I pumped out this entire thing in 2 hours.

[Undeadlaw]

I read this last night was knacker so i didn't reply to it so its here now...

Great story seem you have a way of making it so the reading can actually imagine what is going on in stead of them reading just for the sake of it you can actually see the story in your head. This is what make good literature when you can see the story unfold, you have really got me griped and can't wait to see more.

[The Omnipresence]

McJesus Chronicles: the story of a man and his forced early retirement from beating stuff up, and how he must deal with it.

[rabiesisme]

Oct 13, 2008 13:29:22 GMT -5 The Omnipresence said:

McJesus Chronicles: the story of a man and his forced early retirement from beating stuff up, and how he must deal with it.

Why do you do that?

[destructin]

No need to argue, brawl had enough of that.

[The Omnipresence]

Oct 13, 2008 14:04:51 GMT -5 @rabiesisme said:

Oct 13, 2008 13:29:22 GMT -5 The Omnipresence said:

McJesus Chronicles: the story of a man and his forced early retirement from beating stuff up, and how he must deal with it.

Why do you do that?

I'm not sure myself, if I don't do it everything feels wrong. And I don't like that feeling.

[rabiesisme]

Oct 13, 2008 14:11:52 GMT -5 destructin said:

No need to argue, brawl had enough of that.

It's just a simple question.

Oct 13, 2008 15:19:34 GMT -5 The Omnipresence said:

Oct 13, 2008 14:04:51 GMT -5 @rabiesisme said:

Why do you do that?

I'm not sure myself, if I don't do it everything feels wrong. And I don't like that feeling.

Hokaayy... carry on, then. I guess.

[The Omnipresence]

So how bout an ETA on that next chapter, or are you going to quit like your other story?

And theres no shame in that...

[McJesus]

Well I just don't want to rush myself. Whenever I do that, the story jumps along in leaps and bounds.

[atlasttrulyaghost]

Oct 16, 2008 21:30:35 GMT -5 McJesus said:

Well I just don't want to rush myself. Whenever I do that, the story jumps along in leaps and bounds.

Trust me, that excuse becomes quicksand after the first week of no brain activity.

[McJesus]

Yeah I suppose so.

EDIT:: Fact o' the matter is, it's a bloody miracle I managed to pump out that chapter, let alone in 2 hours.

[McJesus]

Shorter than chapter 1, but oh well.

2. BOOM HEADSHOT

9 am and the sky was cloudy, misty and dirty all at once. Through the clean cut blinds, the sun glared in his eyes. His coffee was cold and his hair was tussled and messy. His five o'clock shadow was showing already. This is not the way to spend my Sunday afternoon. This was Mr. Red's mission. From 1 am on a crusty Sunday morning until the dawn of Monday, he had to sit in his high-storey office and peek through the windows, waiting.

He smelt the aroma of hot eggs and coffee before she stepped through the door. He turned to face her as she entered, "You really should stop this."

Turning back, he replied "And do what? I can't just let him roam the streets here. He's already done enough damage."

Damn that Wetherly. Ryan Wetherly. This was the object of Mr. Red's desire. Wetherly was a master crook, he had gotten away with burglary, arson, even murder. Stalking the streets of Borain, in his dark trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat, he was always just out of Mr. Red's reach. He would track him down after weeks of leads to only see him disappear around a corner. But this time was different.

She sighed as she set down his breakfast "Are you sure this intel is correct? I mean you've followed alot of false leads about this guy.."

He stood up and walked over to his wife. She wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary, just a white shirt with the top few buttons undone and a pair of jeans. He called her Black due to her jet black hair.. but it wouldn't have stood out from the crowd. Mr. Red wasn't unusual himself, and he wasn't wearing much either. A sensible button up shirt which was undone over regular black pants. Both look average, but neither was anything like it.

"Look babe, I know we've been through alot, but I think this is what I've been waiting for, and besides.. what can one more night do?"

She sighed and hugged him before walking to the door. "Just don't get in any trouble okay?"

He chuckled and was about to usher a reply when he felt a slightly tingling in his right ear. He always had this feeling when something was about to go down. Usually for the worse. He was about to tell the missus, when he saw her blank stare as she looked down the hall from the door frame. Rushing back in she mouthed the word cops. He saw her dash to another room, probably to pack some vitals and potential evidence. He looked out the window and saw fed after fed storming the apartment. He cracked open a window with a smile and yelled out "Hey, what's the matter officers?"

He quickly got his answer when a bullet whizzed through his hair. He quickly stepped back, sliding the window down in a smooth step. He ran through his options mentally ignoring the gunfire that was splitting the glass frames into millions of shards of glass. His eyes darted to the left as he saw her come out with a duffel bag seemingly stuffed. "We need to get out."

His eyes scanned the room for any exit, the door was a no go, the window was even worse, the only way out was..

"Up."

Mr. Red felt a surging power through his body. He hadn't used his powers much in his life, control over any atom was a troubling thing to him, ever since he deatomised his own door he was afraid of using his powerful telekensis, but today that was going to change. He ushered her to his side, and as she held on, he looked down at his feet. Concentrating on a small circle around them, he felt the plastic and metal beneath him shred and distort until they were left free and hovering. Only they could see the thin red glow of anything they controlled.

He turned his gaze upwards, at the ceiling. He cut a thin line in a circle above him and pushed it aside, confused screams heard from above. He repeated this act a few more times before he could see the bright white sky above. Not paying any attention to the yelling and hollering of the policemen outside the room, among other noises, he saw himself shooting upwards out of the rusty abandoned apartment. It was an effortless act, as they felt the cool air surround them, propelling them further skywards.

He felt Black turn her gaze down before she yelled something but neither could hear a word over the deafening roar of the air surrounding them. Red slowed down to hear her say "I don't think they can see us anymore Red."

As he looked down himself, he gasped in awe of the site below him, the entire void spanned farther than he anticipated, the city directly below was in stark contrast of the glistening whiteness that surrounded it. He felt a hand on his jaw, pushing it up. Black must have felt his jaw drop right down to the rusted metal that propelled them. "I've never been this high before Red."

"Neither have I.."

"So wait.. where are we headed? Cause I don't think anything's up here." He could hear a hint of confusion in her voice, she was never much for flying. She wasn't afraid of flying, just.. not a fan. Because of that, she was almost always the decoy, the undercover of the two, whilst Red handled the dirty work. This often included skydiving. Nevertheless, the two continued upwards, until a small clump of dirt hit Black's shoe.

With a blank stare, the two looked upwards again, and Red's jaw dropped again.

Yeah I suppose so.

"I.. think this is more than we bargained for Red."

Both were visibly stunned by the islands that at first trickled by in small groups, but they now filled the entire sky with a plethora of floating islands, ranging from clumps the size of your foot, to the size of a football stadium. He was simply astounded, "Th-this.. it can't be possible.. right?"

"I dunno, I've seen some pretty messed up stuff here. Hell, the brochure wouldn't do this place much of a fa..vour." He could tell she had seen something to cause her to break her train of thought, Red could always read people well. What he saw was more astounding that the fact that these islands were simply floating.

A castle, larger than any structure he'd ever seen. It's very existance confused them both as they just stood still on the crumpled metal that still hovered graciously beneath their feet. After what seemed like an hour of silent staring at this magnificent structure, he felt Black's uneasyness with the entire scene, and offered to escort her in. She silently wrapped her arms around his and they moved onward.

It was a short walk to the castle gates, the grounds offered little to look at. Varying shades of grey, with the occasional grey patch of.. more grey. It was a strange feeling, their pale skin now radiated amongst the midtones that surrounded the couple.

The front entrance was, from what Red could see, unguarded. There was no grey wooden gate or some sort of fence of any sort. It's as if the entire area was made for people to explore freely. Black whispered comments to herself infrequently, noting how expensive real estate would be here, and what the potential market was.

Strolling along, the silence deafening the couple, Red eventually noticed a faint sound coming from the duffel bag. "What is that?"

Both stopping to find the cause, Black put down the bag and opened the main zipper to find a small radio, apparently still functioning perfectly.

"We're at this altitude and that radio is still working.. simply amazing." Black remained silent, still in reserved awe. Red turned it up a little so that the two could listen to the smooth sounds of the 70s as they soldiered on.

They came across what appeared to be a dining hall, the centre table was laden with ornaments and nicknacks, books and other treasures draped in towels, blankets and white sheets. What struck Red the most was the single dinner plate covered in a greasy chicken and surrounded by what looked to be vegetables, which laid at the head of the table. As he stepped closer he saw that the meal was infact fresh and still hot. "But.. that means.."

It was at this stage that he now noticed the heavy metallic breathing behind him.

[Grimscott]

I always kinda wondered how you would refer to the Reds since they both have the same name.

[McJesus]

Oct 26, 2008 9:36:14 GMT -5 Grimscott said:

I always kinda wondered how you would refer to the Reds since they both have the same name.

Yeah, I pretty much made it up as I was writing. :P

[Deleted]

Damn Man, every word brings some form of thrill!

[Hat Salesman]

I REQUIRE MOAR

[McJesus]

3. ID LIKE TO THANK THE ACADAMY

A funeral was no place for a child. The mood is solemn and sombre. A variety of emotions float around the atmosphere, that of anger and confusion, as well as sadness and a sense of loss, whilst all the child can do is sit bored and confused as to why they're there. A woman at the very back of the hall was tending to the little ones, keeping them out of their parents hair while they paid their respects. If one looked carefully enough, they would be able to see a strain of red under her darkened veil.

She was ever careful to pay close attention to the proceedings of the funeral, she knew what was coming but she didn't know when, how or even why for that matter. She heard the priest speak his final words, then one by one, people that were sitting down walked over to the pedestal to speak their own mind about the life that had passed.

She almost lost track of herself watching every person's emotions, intrigued by their individual emotions and speeches. She saw a man in a long dark trenchcoat and hat stumble in beside her, but before she could utter a hushed insult to the man, she saw his dazzling eyes and his crooked gangrene smile. He shuffled forward slowly, leaving a trail of muddy footprints, mumbling incoherently under his breath. One by one, every row caught eye of the intruder, baffled by his appearance and prose. The man that lay dead before them was a man of honour and dignity, class and manner. But this new person.. this very odd person seemed to be something completely out of the ordinary.

He looked quite awkward compared to everyone else.

As he sluggishly made his way towards the front, his clothes appeared to slowly fall off, revealing what odd clothing he wore underneath. This baffled the crowd even more, all eyes were on the lunatic that walked before them. His clothes looked like they were cut up into shreds, thrown into a tornado with varying amounts of string and cloth, and by some unholy act of God created this costume that lay upon the man's body.

He wore mixes of a navy uniform with a fast food employee's shirt, his hair was unkept and coloured hot pink. His arms were wrapped in bandaids, his hands covered in pieces of rubber gloves. His pants looked like normal jeans (albeit too tight), but the tutu around his waist didn't help. His shoes looked like they were made from a live duck and goose, and to top it off his skin was the strangest mix of red orange and yellow, a combination the likes of which no one before him had ever seen before. Stepping up to the podium, and opening his mouth to speak, a few rabid doves flew out of his mouth and fell to the floor unenthusiastically, exhausted by the mans entrails.

Smiling, the man bowed and cheerfully opened his performance, "Gentlemen, my name is Harry St. Phillmore, and I made sweet love to dear Roger Bancroft." And with that, he walked into the curtains behind the coffin, and was off.

The audience fell deathly silent, as they looked baffled and confused, and before long, someone made the silent remark that "Well.. that was awkward."

The woman at the back sighed as she asked the doorman to take over, but before he could protest she had already walked out the door. He stumbled out to protest further, but there was no sign of her anywhere. And his gaze was now fixated on the flickering blend of red and white that sped across the darkening sky. Taking off his greying hat, letting his bright blue hair fall into place, he mouthed only a single word; her name.

Terra.

Speeding across the sky, which was slowly but surely turning a jet black, Terra knew that she was out of place, in complete contrast to the sky surrounding her, but the citizens wouldn't bat an eyelid. They were by now very accustomed to strange sights all around them. They grew to expect the unexpected, albeit still being caught by surprise when it happens infront of their eyes. Tonight was another normal night, depending on your definition of normal.

She slowed down near 85th street, it was adjacent to her home on 86th. Living in an apartment complex would have been less than ideal for Terra, but she had grown to love it there. Thanks to her eccentric roommate, they now had free roam of the entire 7th floor. On occasion, rooms on the 8th floor are left without an owner, so the duo takes down the ceiling for a bigger room, usually for Terra's experiments.

As she landed on the dusted rooftop of the apartment, she looked up at the night sky, in awe of the sheer blindness of the stars if there were any. The light pollution from Brawl City obliterated any sign of light in space. This was hardly any concern to her, this moment only occured for mere seconds before she ran her hand across the rooftop's elevator switch, waiting for her escort. Within seconds and a shrill ding, she saw the man she had come to appreciate, Awkward Man.

"Evening." was his greeting, a mix of apathy, jealousy and sarcasm. His voice was never a constant, his phrases never predictable. To add to his invitation, he offered her a "Scone?" and held his hand out to reveal a single scone, perfectly sculpted with a dash of whipped cream. Propped up on top was a used hairy bandaid, folded into a beautiful origami crane.

She giggled at his antics, "No thanks." With the same shrill ding as before, the door opened to their home. A sign was displayed directly infront of them, Terra's idea. It told newcomers of where they have appeared, and occassionally gave Terra and idea of where she was incase she got lost, the 86th Apartment Complex is one of the large buildings in Brawl City. The map was littered with the occasional scribble from Awkward Man, saying things like "KEEP OUT" or "PRESENTS HERE" whenever something came up.

Despite his strange persona, AM tended not to be a nuisance when hidden from the public in their private quarters. Terra had only been staying with him for a few months, but she'd grown used to his antics, she even delighting in most of them. AM desired to have one awkward moment between them, but even when they first met, she merely chuckled at his actions and flew into the distance. Simply baffled he vowed to make her feel awkward from that day forward. To this day he keeps trying on occasion.

AM pushed these thoughts aside and shuffled to the right and down the hall. Terra had taken off her helmet and the soft clink of her boots took her to her room. She felt her left arm tingle and tapped a button on the side as a small camera appeared. Someone had rung the apartment bell. "Hello? I heard this was your place, I think we should talk."

It was the doorman from the funeral. He was still wearing his black suit, the tie was evidently missing and a few buttons were undone. "What are you doing here?"

He was looking irritated, "I- we need your help."

"We?"

A woman with long grey hair, wrapped in a green overcoat came into view. "Hiya! I'm Kylee, friends call me Pilot and this here is Bazooka Bro, he's a mercenary. We could use your help.."

Awkward Man had stumbled into the room, she hadn't noticed. "Why should we help you?" he asked.

Bazooka Bro walked up to the camera and chuckled, "Well, we know you-know-what about you-know-who." He proudly displayed his smug smirk as Terra was visibly embaressed. "U-uh okay come on up." She was in a fluster at his comment. How on earth did he know?

Within minutes, the oddly haired duo was in their apartment area and Bazooka Bro was busy exploring to his hearts content, whilst Awkward Man followed him around, calculating his every move. Terra and Pilot had started conversation about what they were actually here for, "So what we need is your technical expertise. We thought about the mechanics on 19th but they're not really what we're looking for."

"But what do you need me for? You guys seem like capable brawlers by yourselves.."

"Well my bazooka buddy wants more firepower, he's looking into being a merc you see."

"A mercenary? Well.. he does seem like the type, but I'm still not following."

"You gotta understand, this guy is a pyromaniac. He loves his explosions and demolition. So he came to me, looking for aerial firepower. He wants to have his own custom 'Death Copter' as he keeps calling it."

At this, Terra was grinning, "So you want me to supe up a chopper for him?"

Her smile was contagious, Pilot was grinning too now, "Now you get it!"

"Come into my office!" and with that they walked down the hall to room 157, not before passing the duo of pink and blue hair. Bazooka Bro was silently remarking on Awkward Man's dress, he'd usually seen him wearing a strange mixture of clothes from every walk of life, it's like a tornado went through a department store and Awkward Man had walked right through it. Tonight was no different, but he trudged on to room 156. The sketchy writing on the door read Failed Experiments. He moved his hand forward to investigate but felt the slime of the man who followed him. "I wouldn't." he warned in an icy cold tone. Before Bazooka Bro could utter a response, he was being hugged. "Awww JUST KIDDING BUDDY! Go rrrrrright ahead!" he exclaimed with an overtly happy tone, his hand outstretched towards the door.

By now, BB was getting more nervous than he'd like. He opted to head back to Pilot and Terra, next door. "Come back soon dahling!" was the last thing Awkward Man uttered before he closed the door promptly. The two ignored him as they continued brainstorming.

"Yeah, I think that could work.. what about this adaption to that particular turret?"

"That's easy to do! I just got reconfigure the hydraulics and output valves. I could do this job in my sleep!"

"So uh, you two ladies are done then?"

Terra chuckled at his nervousness, "Aww, made friends with Awkward Man already?"

Pilot walked past him and opened the door, "Yeah, we're done. C'mon Bazooka Bro."

Bazooka Bro was hasty in his exit, already inside the elevator and his hand hovering ever so gently above the buttons. Pilot head for the elevator infront of Terra and she noticed the strange contraption on her back. "Er, I know this must be incredibly ignorant of me, but uh, you seem to have some helicopter blades hanging out of.. well.. you."

With a laugh, the gyroscopic instrument on her back started to whirr as the blades began to shift and turn slowly in turn. "I've had this for a few years. Maybe I'll tell you how it works someday."

"Actually I'm more interested in how you get dressed every day."

With a chuckle, Pilot entered the elevator, Bazooka Bro smashing the button to get away. "That's something for another day." And as the doors closed, with a grin from both parties, they said their goodbyes. Just before the door fully closed, saw a flash of colours and a scream from Bazooka Bro. With a smile she muttered to herself "Ah, Awkward Man. You never cease to amuse me."

Inside the elevator remained a deathly silence, Awkward Man was poised on the roof, his grin widening every second. Bazooka Bro was huddled on the ground staring at the intruder, never blinking. Pilot couldn't care less about the situation. Bazooka Bro was muttering with the quietiest voice ever concieved, Awkward Man was sitting on the ceiling. The situation was well.. a little awkward.

After what seemed like an improbably eternity, the familiar shrill ding rang out yet again. Instantaneously leaving the small elevator in smoke, Bazooka Bro had bolted from the open lobby of the complex. The few people in the room didn't even bat an eyelid, that elevator was reserved for visitors to the 7th floor and they had seen enough people running from it. Pilot wandered to the door, and she half-opened it before looking back at Awkward Man, in time to see him push the elevator's Close Door button with his foot. She walked outside to the view of her custom Black Hawk, her blue-haired companion already in the co-pilot seat, quivering.

Opening the door, she raised an eyebrow at him, "I know he's weird but aren't you overreacting? It looks like you were assaulted or something.."

"I-It's a long story. I've had a complicated past.."

Pilot sighed, "We all have."

The cabin went quiet, both contemplating their pasts. Pilot had a slightly less insane past compared to her colleagues and opponents. She never had any powers, and still doesn't. Her love of flight brought her to Brawl, flying in a terrain that was completely white; without a horizon in sight was considered to make you one of the best. Pilot tended to avoid fighting, whereas Bazooka Bro was all for it. As a mercenary, he was hired for various missions over the last few years, varying from simple assassinations to complex infiltrations. His latest mission had brought him to Brawl, and he liked the area so he set up base here, and hoped to receive regular missions.

Pilot flicked on the motor, the blades quickly spinning to life giving them lift. "Want me to fly you home?" She received an affirmative grunt and she turned the copter left towards the West district. This was the ghetto of Brawl City, the slums. Run-down houses, underground meetings every night and not a civilian in sight. Dangerous territory. Gang fights were common, and the majority of the people there tended to shoot anything that moved, including helicopters.

The chopper was receiving heavy gunfire, but neither Pilot nor Bazooka Bro seemed affected or even noticed the attack. The chopper was armoured such that regular arms couldn't make a scratch.

"I don't get you 'zooka Bro."

"Hm?"

"You look like a nice guy, and you're a merc that gets constant missions and money.. So why do you live in the slums?"

Bazooka Bro shrugged "It uh, it reminds me home."

She felt slightly shocked.. none of the brawlers really knew much about one another but to see a guy that lived in a slum before coming to brawl shook her world. But only slightly. The chopper flew past the relentless gunfire into a calmer area of the war-torn suburb, and landed atop a motel that was partially in ruins.

Bazooka Bro smiled as he slid out of the seat and onto the stone roof, "Hey, thanks for the ride. It's usually alot more.. intense on the way home."

Pilot returned the smile, "No problem, you call me anytime and I'll pick you up!"

"Thanks, I know I'll appreciate that some day. You should probably go, people round here are seagulls for the technology you so effortlessly flaunt."

"Hehe, I'll rememeber that." giggled Pilot. The two looked at each other silently before Pilot flicked a few switches and her chopper started to rise. "I'll see you around?" she mouthed.

"Call me!"

She gained air and left the building slightly wobbling from the throbbing of her powerful wings, and BB leant against a partial wall. He smiled as he watched her fly into the distance, receiving gunfire as she passed over the gangs, not before firing a few shots herself to silence them. Still grinning, Bazooka Bro made his way down the open stairway, away from prying eyes.

[The Omnipresence]

About time dammit, what took you so long?

[Maybe Might Not Be Moneybags]

Very good. My only complaint is you need to stop shortening people's names, it kind of takes away from the mood.

[rabiesisme]

Still loving it.

[McJesus]

Dec 9, 2008 14:30:06 GMT -5 The Omnipresence said:

About time dammit, what took you so long?

My computer died, it took a while to get my stuff back together. I salvaged the harddrive, and so I could only finish it off very recently.

[Grimscott]

Dec 9, 2008 1:44:27 GMT -5 McJesus said:

BB walked up to the camera and chuckled, "Well, we know you-know-what about you-know-who." He proudly displayed his smug smirk as Terra was visibly embaressed. "U-uh okay come on up." She was in a fluster at his comment. How on earth did he know?

[McJesus]

All will be revealed [in later chapters]!

[The Omnipresence]

Dec 10, 2008 22:47:29 GMT -5 McJesus said:

All will be revealed [in later chapters]!

Which is now!

Right?

[McJesus]

Dec 10, 2008 22:59:41 GMT -5 The Omnipresence said:

Dec 10, 2008 22:47:29 GMT -5 McJesus said:

All will be revealed [in later chapters]!

Which is now!

Right?

In about 10 chapters actually. Well 9 if you include the one I'm already making headway on.

[McJesus]

4. SATANIC MUFFINS AND SCONES

Circa 497 BC - 21:24

The floor was cold and damp, musk hung in the air like the bodies that surrounded the altar all held by thin rope in strange positions. A loud chanting could be heard from a long way away from the abandoned church, a collective string of latin slowly uttered from within its crusty walls. Inside of the chapel ruins was a large room, kept dormant until now. Entering this room meant navigating a labyrinth and unlocked a mammoth wooden oak door. The room was majestic itself, the ceiling reaching to the heavens and painted with a lushious vision of Heaven. Every surface was covered in a fine dust, save for the remains of the freshly killed virgin littered the square altar at the centre. Her eyes were gouged out and her insides turned out. Her crimson blood was still warm as it trickled down the altar's sides.

A large choir was littered around the perimeter of the room, all wearing dark hooded robes that covered their features. They sung a deep and dark chorus in an unknown latin dialect, their song droning on slowly;

"Omus. K'an su. Ny le. S'un hu. Shi Que."

The large doors burst open, a small group of elders pulled along a small naked boy chained by the wrists. The boy only looked 10 but the scars on his back seemed like older than him. The 3 elders were old and decrepit, filthy creatures that society had shunned long ago. They licked their lips as they pushed and prodded the boy towards the altar, kicking him to the floor before it.

One of the elders, visibly older but sounded much younger yelled at the boy in a language foreign to him. "Take heed, child!" The other two elders were giggling at the boy. "Thy future is wrought with nothing but misery! Let us teach thou the ways of Lucifer, his very doctrines will become your blood and flesh!" The elders were now rolling on the floor, stricken by uncontrollable laughter.

The boy was visibly disturbed by everything brought before him, but he could only shiver at the gibberish being yelled at him. He couldn't understand most languages, let alone whatever the elder spoke. He heard a new voice from behind him quickly speak the words, "Dimone S'Ktran."

The elders on the floor slowed their laughter and rolling, their voices fading. Were they dying? He could feel their breaths increasing, a tear fell from one of their eyes. As he watched the elders twitch and foam, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "Nevermind them, those heretics abused their power. Come child, we have much to teach you." The new person was hooded liked the choir, but the boy felt somewhat safe in his presence. His hands were warm and his voice seemed familiar.

"Follow me." he ushered, and the two walked away from the convulsing trio.

The chanting never once faltered.

Circa 487 BC

The 10 year old boy that was subjected to so much torture and disloyalty had grown into a better man, his body had changed for the better. His eyes were a dazzling blue, his cheeks and jaw were well defined. His hair was kept short, as the rest of them did.

He called the man who had taken him from the corrupt elders Father 'Salvus', which was latin for safe, a fitting name for his saviour. They often walked through the open fields surrounding the crumbling chapel, listening to the unending chants whilst practicing their latin and chants for the Lord Almighty Lucifer. Today however, they were rehearsing the spells they would recite that night at the the darkest hour.

Vita was the name Salvus gave to the boy, meaning life. Vita was initially a playtoy for the elders, but Salvus knew of their corruption and sought to give the boy a greater purpose; fulfilling the cults desire for eternal life. After their thorough rehearsal, Salvus couldn't help but notice that Vita was contemplating something.

"What is troubling you, Novice Vita?"

"Father Salvus, I have had thoughts about what I have been brought up to be. There is nothing wrong with what we are doing, is there? This is for the Lord, for all that is good..?"

He hesitated before looking away, "Yes, of course."

Before Vita could retaliate, Salvus stood up, "It is becoming dark, we must prepare."

.....

The moon looked enormous compared to the desolate chapel, the night sky looming over it. Light shone all around it but seemed to evade the church altogether. Clouds were forming all around for miles. The ominous choir could be heard chanting louder than ever;

"Distus.. Correctus.. Velus Oretalla.."

The thunder of the storm overheard was drowned out by the chanting of the choir, the church amplifying their bellows. Vita and Salvus could be seen making their way towards the church, ignoring the strong winds. The choir's tempo was rising ever so slightly, their efforts were about to pay off. Bystanders had long ago abandoned any attempts to stop their lengthy ballad.

As they neared, Vita could barely hear Salvus' words over the booming chorus, "The light is always darkest before the dawn, Novice Vita! You must remember that!"

"I-I will try, Father Salvus!"

Pushing open the doors to the altar, the two hurriedly entered the chapel, and made their way to the altar steps. The choirs voices were deafening now, the two knew their roles and were quick to get into their places. Salvus made his way to the choir and begun singing as loud as the rest, as Vita laid atop the altar. Before he knew it, the chorus had changed to a language foreign to him, foreign to anyone that paid attention. A demonic crying could be heard from a man in the back, Vita turned his head and was shocked by what he saw; the man was scratching frantically at his own face, a dark red smoke steamed from within his eyes and mouth. His screams subsided as he fell to the ground, smoke slowly spinning around the room. Vita knew this would happen and yet.. it still shocked him. He laid his focus back to the roof of the room.

As Vita laid perfectly still, he heard voice by voice scream and shriek until they collapsed to the floor, more smoke filling the room. Every minute the voices started converging until all he could hear was an orchestra of death, and all he could see was a cloud of red all around him. Vita began to feel nausious as the last of the roof faded from his view, and the last shrieks from Salvus could be heard as he fell to the floor. The chorus had not stopped at this stage, it was replaced by a heavenly sound of what Vita thought to be angels, beautiful creatures surrounded him, and the smoke started to dissipate as a figure walked towards him, his figure distorted by the glow he emenated.

"Child, join us. Come to Heaven, enjoy an eternity of bliss with your mentor, Salvus."

Vita did not react in the slightest, he kept his face stern as he assured the figure that he was here for his prize. The figure tried to tempt Vita, showing him the fountains of youth, the springs of power, but Vita stayed true to his word. "No, I must receive the prize that has been bestowed upon me. I demand you grant me eternal life."

The figure sighed as his glow disintegrated, his true form showing. He looked like an average man to Vita, was it someone he recognized? "Your heart is strong Vita. Unfortunately, your head is not." The man's lips creaked a smile as he began to chuckle, before bursting with laughter. "Oh, oh this is rich! I didn't think you'd make it this far! Hahahahaaa!! Look at your friends Vita! Watch them suffer!" Right on cue, the chorus of angels disappeared, the bright lights, the clouds, everything around him clicked to black and then just as quickly he saw Salvus, being held down by his neck, screaming his lungs out. He was whipped again and again, chunks of flesh and muscle being ripped out by savage grotesque creatures. Just as quickly as they ripped out his body, it grew right back, providing an eternity of torture for him.

It felt like an eternity even to Vita just watching him for those few seconds, but just as soon as he saw him, he was gone. "Salvus!" he cried, leaping forward in effort to save him. The voice continued from behind;

"Hahahah, how cute! But this is only the beginning. We have much worse things planned for him. Luckily for you, you get to experience that part right now!"

Before Vita could scream his anger and rage at the man, he felt an overwhelming amount of power surging through him, a surge of energy activated every nerve in his body before he felt them being torn away from his all in one fell swoop. He saw strange and vivid hallucinations during this, people dying, abominations and strange creatures, people fighting amongst themselves, of purple demons and eccentric fighters. He saw a world destroyed by itself. He saw flashes of faces but he couldn't make out a single one. Women, men, wearing strange clothes. He felt his last nerve being ripped from his body, as the man spoke for the final time.

"They're all gone, Vita. You'll never feel pain again. An eternity of numbness is worse than torture, trust me on that." he chuckled at that. "You will never die, you can't! You will never know death and you will long for it. Oh ho, how you will long for it. It's not all bad though, I assure you, you will know love. You'll fall in love with a beautiful gorgeous woman some day, and you won't care for pain. You'll have children, adorable little kids. Don't worry, we won't meet when that happens, or ever for that matter. You've dug yourself this deep Vita, there's nothing you, I or anyone can do to stop the rest." The man chuckled once more before smiling at Vita, "Goodbye."

Vita was still taking everything in when he felt his body being pulled back from the man at a tremendous speed. He felt his eyes open as he lunged forward with sharp raspy breaths. He looked around and saw a boy and an older man around him, oddly happy to see him alive. The sun had nearly set on the horizon.

"He is alive, Father!"

The man yelled out to somebody in the distance, and they replied back. Vita couldn't make it out, his body felt dizzy and numb. As he turned his head, he saw a large group of people scattered around a dusty ruin, stones and mortar scattered in all directions.

"W-what are you doing?"

The man kneeled next to him and told him about how the villagers heard the chanting one minute, saw the smoke the next, and before they could react they saw the entire chapel collapse.

"Good riddance I say. That entire church was doomed to fall to pieces some day." commented a bystander. The other villagers agreed with him. Vita's hearing had returned.

"A-are there any other survivors?"

"I am afraid we haven't found anyone else, we have been searching since the sun has risen and as you can see it has nearly set for today. It's quite astounding that you are alive and without a single scratch on you! You must be very lucky!"

"Maybe I am.." Vita began thinking to himself; Maybe I can make the most of this.. make my life mean something. But first it would be wise to start making friends.

.....

Vita was naturally a smart lad. From his early education with Salvus, he showed to be a great student, taking in everything and applying it properly. It's no surprise that he managed to make friends with the man he talked to and live in their home shortly. He only stayed for the night and took what he needed the next day with their help and made his way.

He donned a new robe and straw hat, and made his way down the dirt road towards the next city. "Today, I become a new man. I wonder what adventures await me in my travels?"


This was the beginning of Astro's Amazing Adventures.
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