Tzar watched the silver cruz pull up to the curb, he counted 7 seconds and the cook stepped out, just like he always does. He locked the car and pulled the door twice to check if it were locked, he would do the same for the store front door. The cook walked to the store front door and pulled twice as expected. Leaving it locked he walked around to the ally only 5 of his strides away and headed down the ally for about 8 paces, turns and hits the lock button on he keyfob for his car to triple check that it is locked then continues toward the service door. Tzar tugged on his hood and dabbed the face paint to make sure his camouflage was set. He watched the cook walk right up to the door and punch in the key to unlock it, 22479, He waited for the cook to open and close the door.

Tzar quickly sprung out of his stakeout and punched in the code and eased the door open as he peaked in. The cook was starting up the grills taking a total of 19 seconds average on each grill. That gave him a little over a minute to get what he needed, plenty of time. Tzar slung his duffel bag off his shoulder and started raiding the pantry for bread, canned food, milk, and packaged meat. He got as much as he could carry and quietly opened the door and closed it softly. "Hey Tzar! Runner told me you were on a big mission! I wanted to come help! I brought my own bag and everything!" said the young teenage looking boy as he called out to Tzar. "Lambo! Shut the hell up! We are going home. Now. I already got some stuff. Now move! We only have about another 30 seconds to clear this ally before the guy who I stole this from comes out here looking for it! Tzar said pushing the boy along, trying to hurry him in the direction they needed to go to get away.

Once they cleared the ally Tzar rubbed as much of the face paint away and put his hood down to expose his short dark brown hair and to help not look suspicious, however he never raised his head. Lambo walked with him the whole way to the hideout talking constantly about how Tzar should take him on his next scavenge. As Tzar reached the seemingly empty, lopsided apartment with only most of the roof he turned to Lambo "Lambo, you have to be quiet to go with me on a scavenge, besides that Daisy needs the supervision right now and Runner is busy getting some new clothes for all of us because you know we all need it, So go ask daisy if you can help her out some, and get her a bottle of water." Tzar said as he unlocked the door and muscled it open. "Yes sir." Lambo replied as he entered their makeshift home. Tzar took the food to the cellar storage and started unpacking all the food.

The Beginning of it All

The day itself seemed to be going rather well for the twins, it was nice, almost peaceful at the start… maybe a little too peaceful for Lilith’s liking. She normally enjoyed a bit of chaos in her mornings, though she was fully aware her brother, Uriel, had a lot less want in his mornings when it came to such a thing. At the present time, the two were on their way to work, something they both shared a hatred for considering their boss was a bit of a prick.

”Honestly? I can’t wait until we finish our college courses and can work towards setting up our own business… this guy has a stick shoved so far up his ass even I want to beat the shit out of him… and you know I hate violence,” the male grumbled as he pushed slender fingers through platinum blonde hair. As he had showered only minutes before their walk, the passage of his fingers caused a bit of his hair to stick on end, not that he seemed to really care about that in the least.

”I could take care of him for you if you really wanted,” came his sister’s rather calm reply, a small yawn even leaving her, ”I’ve got a pretty enough face and a good enough reputation that no one would ever expect me.” She flashed her brother a smile, one that was a cross between crazy and happy. She was rather easy to please when it came down to it, but at the same time she really wanted to strangle the guy.

Just as the two were about to walk into the building, Uriel’s hand came out and wrapped his fingers around his sister’s bicep. ”Lilith, your shadow moved,” he said, glancing behind her for a moment, ”And before you decide to act like a smartass and say it does that when you move, no… it moved separate of you.”

Lilith simply rolled her eyes and pulled her arm free from her brother’s hold without so much as a word. Instead, she glanced at her shadow before pushing open the door to the office building, ready for another long and boring day in an office working on a story for a magazine she absolutely hated. While she worked on her story about the string of robberies that had been happening throughout a few neighborhoods. Uriel, on the other hand, was working on a story about the capture of man who had raped 5 women in the local area. She was so tired of having to write about such things, and while some of the stories and information she gathered was absolutely fascinating to her, she found herself bored with the fact that she couldn’t actually see such things.

It was during their work day that the twins noticed an odd feeling, almost as if they were being watched, and neither could shake it no matter where they went. At one point, Lilith went to the restroom to see if the person who was watching her would follow her, only she was alone with the same feeling as before. What the hell is going on? she wondered as she looked around, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the latrine, still coming up empty handed.

Shooting a text to her brother, she ended up getting a response from him that mirrored her own. Neither one of them had been able to lure out who the hell was watching them, but she had a feeling she would be able to find out soon. I’m going to find you you little shit, and when I do I’m going to beat the ever loving hell out of you for watching me.

Leaving the latrine, she went back to her desk and tried her best to relax and get her work done, only to feel far more paranoid as the day went on. Chewing on her bottom lip, she glanced over at her brother, who was absently scratching at his arm, something he did when he was worried. It was at that time that she noticed his shadow on the wall looked far less like him for a split second, so quickly in fact that she would think she had been seeing things. What the hell was going on?

One, two, three, four, five, Rachel took a breath. She paused to question who invented 'this stupid shit', then continued her training. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve... She looked up.

And there it was again, staring at her. Rachel hesitated, laying down on the floor for her thirteenth push-up, and stared back at the thing in her doorway. She did something she never thought of doing before. "...So, where'd you come from?"

She continued her push-ups, training her body for her 'mission'. It was really hard, but that was to be expected. She hasn't really done anything physical in years, last time was when she played simplified baseball in the yard with her Dad. She counted to twenty, then took a break, her noodle arms getting tired. Slowly, she rummaged around the floor for a bottle of water, and rotated until her back was on the floor. As soon as she turned, the shadow-creature was right above her, staring, its head tilted like a dog.

Rachel laughed while opening the bottle and took a sip, lazily letting gravity do all the work. "You're gonna give me a heart attack one day, spooker.", she snarked at the shadow. "Are you some sort of shared hallucination? Are there weird drugs in the air or what? Is it terrorists? You're one hell of an enigma, spooks."

The thing was scary, but she knew it was harmless at this point. It formed shortly after the hospital visit, and it followed her around like a lost puppy. She had a sudden idea. "Heyyy, grab me... my phone?", she ordered, while pointing at her phone. Her phone was thrown onto the top of her bed, resting between two pillows. The apparition slowly moved its head towards the phone. Leisurely, it strolled over to Rachel's mattress, as Rachel herself was mildly shocked and analyzed its movements, this being the first time it moved in front of her.

"Y-you can move..?", the woman stuttered out, while bolting up with speed currently uncharacteristic of herself. Sitting on the carpet, she glared at the thing as it picked up her smartphone, then she stood up. She swiped for her phone, "Give me that!", and the Shade yielded it without fuss. She saw she had a text message. Her 'friend', Carol, sent an update about a 'shipment' that just got delivered, with a discount.

She replied with a thanks and told her 'the usual drop-point' was fine, a hidden box in a specific alleyway of the city. Rachel was very private about where she lived and careful with who she told the location of her housing. Currently, nobody knew where she lived, aside from her parents, who were on the other side of the country. The drop point was also very particular and hidden, a metal container neatly tucked underneath a damaged, but functioning lamp post.

She turned her phone off and looked at the Shade. "Now, clean my fridge.". The shade looked confused. Rachel rolled her eyes and walked to her kitchen, and pointed at her fridge. "Fridge. Clean it out.", she then pointed to all of her cabinets. "Cabinets.", she touched her nose and contemplated. "Organize...alphabetically."

The Shade looked at Rachel, yet without any eyes. Even without pupils, Rachel could tell if they were there, they'd be full of realization, then defeat. It looked back to the fridge, and slumped over in shame, as it began to walk to do its duty. "Now, I'm gonna handle some business, alert me if anything happens."

Rachel went back to her bedroom and grabbed her purse, filled with neatly organized credit cards, her phone, a butterfly knife, pepper spray, and two shots of 'candy'. For emergencies, obviously. She hid her purse 'underneath' her hoodie, and set out to the local bars. Drunks are talkative, and she needs info.

Jackal his behind a dumpster. his heart was racing but his eyes were wild and bore a wicked grin. In his palm was a handful of cash. "Where did he go?!" Yelled one thug, armed with a baseball bat. "In here!" Shouted another, darting into the dark alleyway with his knife drawn. Jackal snickered silently and waited. Footsteps raced, and at the right moment the first thug found his face bashed by a trashcan lid. Jackal, on the other end, lifted the lid and slammed it over his head, knocking him out.

The other thug tried to swing at him with a baseball bat, but jackal dodged. However he made an error, and slipped onto his back. The thug was about to bash him in, but he suddenly burst into flames. The thug screamed into the empty street trying to put himself out. Jackal could see a black shadowy dragon whisp to his side. He stared at the beast for a good while, the thug didnt say anything about this monster either. Jackal got up carefully, and started backing away. The dragon continued to follow him, not aggressively,however. It lingered near him like a gentle breeze. He would hold his hand out carefully to the beast, staring at its white empty eyes, and the dragon stared back, shrinking and morphing into a more serpentine form, then coiled up his arm and mounted onto his shoulder. Jackal was both suprised and confused by this apparition-like creature, and unsure of what to do with it. He looked at his surroundings, an empty alley al around him.

Where did you come from? he thought.

Home sweet home. Oh, how Ozias enjoyed his occasional day without lectures, or work for that matter. Today was a day he could simply enjoy with a good book and a refreshing cup of tea. The TV was on in the background, as there was no way he was missing anything that was on the news these days. The world had taken a turn for the weird, apparently. It didn't hurt to stay informed. In fact, it might save him a lot of hurt in the long run. He wasn't about to get his arse stabbed by the loonies that started to show up in the neighborhood. He'd like to see them try before they got a taste of his bullet-flavored salute. It was a waste of a bullet, such lowlife, but they might ruin his clothing otherwise!

Naturally, it hadn't gone unnoticed to Ozias that he was not alone in his room. His own shadow actually moved very little, less than him in fact. However, it was as if there was something on his shoulder. It was as if two little men were simply loitering there, yet he could neither see nor feel anything on his own. Weirder still, they seemed to be looking at him. Normal shadows had no eyes, but it somehow appeared to him like these had. They were beady and as black as their shady bodies themselves, hardly discernable, but there. It was as if these shadows, and his own for that matter, were a little more three dimensional than usual. It was imperative to him to ignore such impossibilities, lest he'd go loony like the rest of them.

Talking about loonies. He looked up from his book at he heard the distinct screaming of crazies. He lived in an apartment building on the third floor, but they were loud enough to be heard despite being on the ground floor. Oh geez, good ol' Ozias could never have a day off, could he?

<Snipped quote by Melo>

Raymond swung his knife wildly at the scared woman, who was doing everything she could to keep him away. But Raymond wasn't having any of that, he wanted to please his new master. And the only way to please him is to give him what he wants, and that is chaos. And his master couldn't have picked a more will patsy than Raymond, a man in his early late twenties, hair unkempt, plaid shirt dirty and stain. Ripped jeans and discount store bought shoes. A glowing example of a man who doesn't give a damn about anything, or anyone. He hated the people in Mercer City, even more so, he hated the people in his apartment. Annoying kids, asshole teens and self-centered adults being disruptive of his time making art of his new master. Works of art drawn in pastels, with walls covered end to end in crude potraits of the silhouettes that demand him of his service. And when they gave him the task to bring about chaos to Mercer City and feed him, he couldn't say yes fast enough. He quickly grabbed a long serrated edge knife from his kitchen drawer and rushed out of his apartment to find, and now here he is. And he could not have found a better victim to begin his terrible work then Janet Finch. Janet was a 27 year old, who kept herself looking as neat and orderly as her pristine hair, which she coveted most of all. Though she is kind and respectful to those around her, she is vain and narcissistic on the inside, only caring about her looks and only playing nice just to get some attention and a few remarks about her looks. Now she is wishing to get any attention so that someone can save her from the crazy asshole from apartment A3.

"I've been waitin' to git my hands on you fo' a long time. HEHEHEHEHE"
"Get the fuck away from me you wacko!!"
"Nahhht a chance, girl. When I'm through with you, he is gonna be so pleased!!"
"Who the hell are you talking about!?"
"You don't have worry about that, not with what's about to happen next..."
"Oh god no, please!! Please don't do this!! I'll do anything, just don't kill me."
"Oh you'll do anything, huh? For lil' ol' me?"
"Ye-ss-s-ssss...just please don't kill me!!"
"Then I got one request, heh.."
"W-what...?"
"Hold still!"

"Noooo!!!"

Raymond leaped at Janet, who swung her gucci handbag at Raymond. The hit didn't even phase him, as he was running on adrenaline. He punched Janet to the ground, grabbed her head and slammed it into the hardwood floor. He sat down on her back, as he raised his right arm, his knife clutched in his hands, ready to bring it down onto this woman and begin his new life as a obedient servant to the one that will bring about a new age of chaos to his realm. And he couldn't be happier.

A gunshot rang out in the ghettos of Mercer City. It was the part of town where gangs reigned supreme and thugs prowled the street, where people could just barely scrape by and had little hope of escaping this life. Though, one woman had escaped this wretched place, utilizing raw willpower alone to climb the ranks of the underworld. And now she was a traveling mercenary, and a top-tier one, in fact. When a member of Congress or some Governor needed some dirty deeds done, they called Kaitlyn Watson. Of course, her services weren't done dirt cheap. Her ascension to an affluent woman served as a shining example of the power of man, but also its cold cruelty.

But it was good to return to your roots every now and again, or so thought Kaitlyn. She had put her life of crime briefly on hold after her latest job, determined to find out more about the craziness happening in her home town. Clearly, these loons had something to do with the strange white-and-purple woman that manifested from her shadows recently. And the dead man laying before her, and in his own back yard, was one of those loons. And to test her control over this "Shade," she had it shoot the crazy man in the head after he grew irritating.

Her right arm ached just a tad after it shot him, leading her to believe whatever damage done to the shade was done to her, as well. A light grimace crossed her face. That was no good; this thing was likely physically weaker than her. Hell, it was like a child! Who got hurt after shooting a revolver? Well, unless it was shot in an elevator. That was hell for the ears.

"At least I got a bit of a lead..." Kait murmured, looking at the notes she scribbled on her notepad. A shadowy figure appeared to this man in his dreams, telling him that his ascension was nigh, brought on by chaos. And the time this thing started appearing to him correlated suspiciously with that "darkness explosion" she had heard so much about recently, which apparently came from that new exhibit at the museum. With these new revelations, it couldn't be a coincidence.

So, her next mark was the museum. "Give me that gun back," she commanded the strange feminine figure, and it complied without question. She holstered the firearm and stood from the lawn chair she had sat in, stretching a bit. This thing was apparently a manifestation of her psyche; she needed to have something to call it, though. Just calling it a Shade was boring. So, the woman asked, "What's your name?" Not that she expected it to respond.

"The animal you have become," it murmured, its voice static-y and flat. Which surprised Kaitlyn quite a bit, of course.

"The animal I have become..." That was the name of a song, wasn't it? Some alternative or punk song, or something. Though, if it was a manifestation of her psyche, it was surprisingly accurate. A fitting name. Why not? "Let's shorten it. Animal I Have Become. How's that sound?"

"The animal you have become." Kaitlyn frowned just a tad. Hopefully this thing didn't say its name over and over again, like one of those Pokemon characters.

"Well, you better pick up the pace," the woman huffed, and turned to exit the backyard.

While Tzar was unpacking the stolen food he started feeling a strange presence come around him, Like there were people near him, He looked for a moment, nothing. "HEY LAMBO, NOT FUNNY MAN COME OUT." He called throughout the celler. No response. "LAMBO!" he called, "Fuck man this aint cool, Youre scaring the shit outa me, Runner? Is it you? His heart was racing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of black, he followed it but saw nothing. It simply vanished. There! Again and again! "Whoever you are fucking stand still!" He got what he wished for. He followed the blur again until it stopped just in front of an enormous being that hardly fit in the cellar. "OH SHI- FUCK MAN IM SORRY TAKE THE FOOD HOLY SHIT! DONT HURT ME PLEASE! Fuck~ You're HUGE, man!"

Neither of the figures moved, despite them mimicking the tilt of his head. "What do you want?" Nothing. "Fine, okay I get it, the little guy is the talker-" "No more. Warning." "Warning? What!?" "We do not wish to hurt you, Tzar, For we are you." "What the hell are you talking about!?" "Tzar, An Evil has corrupted your world, We are here to help you." "Me? Evil? What!? How?" "We Train. Perfect. Then rebel." "Yes, We must train for the battles we will face, You must learn how to use us, then perfect us, We will help you fight off this blight, We will need to find allies also." "Wait woah woah woah, slow down. I demand that you explain everything." Tzar went up the stairs and locked the door and returned to be enlightened by the creatures that have fabricated themselves before him.