Another Gothic City Tale

West Gothic City: 12:53 am

The crescent moon was the only source of light upon the dark night. Stars were barely visible albeit three or four, whose light were just bright enough to give off a soft glow from the distance. Footsteps pattered across the muddy ground as one man signaled the rest of his crew to jump over the fence. There were ten; all of them cautious as they landed on the other side of the fence. The crew made their way toward the old newspaper factory, using the light that flickered through the gritty window as a guide.

The crew's age was diverse, the range about 17-23 years of age. Everyone had a reason to do what they wanted to do, for now it was to satisfy their flesh desire. The gang all had black leather jackets with a red mask to hide their identities; each one with a different t-shirt to distinguish who was who. Only one of them was wearing a red armband, the one giving orders.

"There it is boys, " he whispered, "Time to collect what we need." He pointed at the two big men with the grey t-shirts under the jacket, "You two go around and see if there's anyone. Kill 'em if there are—Quietly. You three with the green go to the doors and you three with the blue go through the windows. Shoot them down and that'll let all of us know to go inside." He pointed to another guy wearing a white t-shirt beneath the jacket, "and you… you follow me."

Everyone left to their destinations. The two big men circled around the back of the newspaper factory. Two men armed with guns equipped with silencers were guarding the back entrance. The big men tackled them, breaking the men's wrists in the scuffle as they held down their throats for no sound to escape. Finally the leather-wearing guards fell victim to the guns they had.

The "green team" made their way to the main door as they drew their guns, awaiting the signal. The "blue team" silently climbed the windows with such care as they opened fire and that signaled the rest to enter the battle.

Shots were fired and in mere seconds, everything went silent. The leader entered with his partner and saw an array of dead bodies. Blood was splattered across crates and walls. Tables were set up along the sides of the walls, right beside the bodies of men wearing bandanas.

"Poor guys," the man smirked, "didn't even have a chance."

Gothic City High: 5 Years Ago

THUD!

The young boy's head shot up at the sound of the textbook slamming the floor.

"Mr. Candan, this is the fourth time you've slept in class all week!" The teacher spoke with a rugged tone. "Detention for two weeks."

The teacher turned around as she made her way back to the chalkboard."

"Aw shut up," he whispered.

"Make that a month in detention Mr. Candan."

The young 14 year old slammed his head against the desk in annoyance as the dinosaur of a teacher resumed lecturing about some guy who couldn't decide which road to take. Ryan honestly didn't care if the guy took the road everyone took or not, he just didn't want to be in school; heck, he didn't want to go home either.

A moist spitball hit the young guy smack in the middle of his neck. Ryan ignored it at first, knowing the jocks were doing that to get him riled up. He held his voice at the second. But he was getting really tired of it by the fourth and fifth. With every ball he just tossed it to the side.

The bell finally rang, everyone poured into the hallways and went to their lockers. Ryan opened his locker as he was surrounded by the three idiots who annoyed him.

"Yo trailer boy," one jock said, "Why don't you invite us over huh?" Another spitball smacked him in the neck. "Maybe your dad will let us have a few of his beers. It's not like your mom cares."

Ryan immediately punched him in the nose and blood was running down the guy's face. The other two beat him down to the ground, kicking him and throwing him against the lockers.

FIGHT FIGHT! FIGHT!

The crowd roared as the jocks were beating up Ryan. The young teen screamed as he tried to make a comeback and punch the jock with the broken nose once again. People scattered at the sight of the principal and the jocks fled. Leaving the young teen battered and beaten on the floor with all the blame. Blood rolled down his nose as the principal grabbed him by the arm.

"Poor kid" someone whispered as Ryan slowly tried to get up, "He didn't even stand a chance."

Present

"Did you hear me?" the leader shouted at his partner, "Candan!"

Ryan snapped out of it. "Get the oxycodone out of the crates and into the bags. We can't have any until we get back to the hideout! That goes for all of you! We gotta get out before anyone else gets here."

Gothic City 4:35pm

"I wish you would have told me you were coming by." A scruffy man with salt and pepper hair spoke with a cigar in his mouth, wearing the GCPD uniform. "I have to leave to work in about thirty-minutes." He was obviously annoyed as he walked through his cramped, smoked filled apartment.

"I know, I'm sorry about this Uncle Paul, I just remembered yesterday that I left my old lucky red high heels here." Nicole spoke with an apologetic smile, trying not to breath in too deeply as her Uncle lead her to her old room. It was stacked with boxes, scattered papers and files.

"Well, all ya's stuff is in the closet, I have to take a piss, the old prostate is acting up again." He grunted, staggering out of the room as the young blond was left gagging silently.

"It's amazing that we're related." she spoke to no one in particular as she walked over to a desk, filled with police files that shouldn't have been removed from Gothic City Police Department. Looking back at the door to make sure her Uncle wasn't there, Nicole began shuffling through the papers. She wasn't here to visit her uncle, or even gather her belongings, she didn't even have anything here. The young archer was here for one thing, to find out what was going on in her home town. Knowing her uncle was being paid off by local, low time gangs, she always kept tabs on him, and always came to visit him whenever she felt it was time to do her monthly cleaning of the city, at least for the night. School was demanding, and she knew Ian didn't exactly appreciate her going off and play hero without telling him, but she just didn't have time to explain why she was going to Gothic City, it was like a monthly ritual for her, something she felt should be done more often.

"Bingo." she whispered as she grasped what seemed to be a newer file, spoke about a gang, mostly made up of young men. From the information she had, they didn't seem to be too much into turf wars, but rather robberies. Not the usual jewelry store or bank, but local drug dealers who dealt with prescribed medications. Prescription medication were like gold in the city. The police didn't question a bottle of prescription pills, and pills sold faster than illegal drugs on the streets of Gothic, which made this heist perfect. Grasping the file she quickly tucked it in her jacket as she heard the toilet flush.

Scurrying out of the room she threw herself on the couch that was planted in front of the TV, acting as if she had been sitting there the entire time as her dirty uncle walked up. "Did ja find what yer were looking for?" he inhaled his cigar that seemed to have never left his lips.

Giving a nervous chuckle she stood up, rubbing the back of her head. "You know, funny thing is, I just realized I have them! My friend text me and was all like 'Girl you wore them last week!', I guess I just forgot."

Paul gave an annoyed sigh as he walked over to the door. "You teenagers are ridiculous, get out of here girl, go to the mall or sumthin, I got work to do." he opened his door as Nicole continued to apologize to him until he finally shut the door behind her.

"So do I." she wiped her hands on her pants while shivering in disgust. "After I take a bath."

12:53am

The silent engine of her Honor Bike left the streets with nothing but the sound of her yellow cape flapping furiously behind her as she road through the narrowed streets of Gothic City. She knew other masked vigilantes had made their homes here and she would have to watch out for them, but since the city was so large and crime never seemed to rest, there was a slim chance she would actually run into someone she knew. Making a sharp turn she turned her lights off as she came up to the news paper factory that was written in the file. Parking her bike in the shadow of the night she made her way up to the building across from the factory, getting her arrows ready as she suddenly heard gunfire go off inside. "Sh!t I'm late!" she cursed to herself as she quickly pulled out a cable arrow. Quickly taking aim and letting the arrow fly it wedged itself onto the outside of the building.

Not waiting to see if the grasp on the building was strong enough, she leaped off the roof, holding onto the cable she flew downward towards the building at full speed as she closed in. Now wasn't the time for a silent entrance, she needed to take care of this group now. Letting the cable go her body crashed through one of the many windows. Shatters of glass exploded forward and upon the green and blue shirted gang members like rain.

"What da f#ck?!" one of the blue shirt guys yelled out as they saw the yellow and black costumed girl descend downward, landing and tackling down one of the green shirted men and slamming her fist into his face, knocking him out.

"SH!T IT'S A CAPE AND THEY GOT DANNY!" another one yelled out. "KILL IT!"

Before they could draw their guns on her she pulled out another arrow, aiming it at the roof as it hit the ceiling, in that instant all the power went out in the building, the lights blacked out and the air the vent's were pumping through stopped thanks to her electromagnetic pulse arrow.

"F#CK F#CK F#CK I CAN'T SEE!"

"JUST PRAY AND SPRAY!" One yelled out as he began shooting blindly around him in a panic. Bullets flew, making sparks on the large metal newspaper machines that were around them.

Nicole had to use the darkness around her and the fear of her enemy, just like what Dark Vengeance taught her. 'The darkness is like a shield, if they can't see you, they can't hit you. Just remember, if the enemy is in range, so are you.' she moved her way to one of the men who were hiding behind some crates with his gun held closely to his chest. He was so scared she swore she could hear his heart racing.

"JAKE, JAKE MAN YOU'RE GONNA HIT ONE OF- AAACK!" One arm wrapped around his neck from behind as the other held it firmly in a lock.

"Bruno!?" The trigger happy thug yelled out as he aimed his gun at the noise and began firing at the two, not thinking that he could be aiming at Jake.

Not waiting for Bruno to fully pass out, she slammed the two to the ground as the bullets whizzed passed her hood, struggling to hold Jake down as he finally went limp under her. Taking in a shaky breath she stayed silent as the sound of his clip fall to the ground, telling her that was currently out of bullets and reloading. Pushing herself up from the ground she yanked out her bow, puling an arrow as she could see the reflection of the metallic weapon reflect the moon's light. The only thing that gave her an indication of where he was. The 'click' was heard as Jake reloaded his gun and she could see the gun aiming at her direction.

"Bruno? Bruno man are you ok?" Jake took a step forward, and was instantly met with a sharp pain to his right shoulder. "AAAHHH!!" He yelled out as he dropped his gun, an arrow now embedded into his shoulder as he staggered back. "SHE SHOT ME!! THAT CRAZY B!TCH!"

Gothic City High, 5 years ago...

A 14 year old Nicole sat in the hallway of the high school, sighing heavily to herself as she looked down at her at her backpack that was resting on the floor. She HATED this part of the day. For the past two years she had been required by CPS (Child protective services) to have weekly appointments with the school counselor, to make sure she was doing 'ok'. It was far from being 'ok'. Ever since her parents were killed in that car accident people had been treating her differently. They felt sorry for her, took pity on her, she hated it. She didn't want to be felt sorry for, she didn't want to be treated differently, she wanted to be treated just like everyone else, was that so much to ask for? Not to mention the whispers in class, down the cramped hallways and crowded cafeteria. She could hear them, all of them, almost everyday talk about her. 'Why is Nicole such a b!tch, she used to be so nice.'or 'I heard she lives with her Uncle, everyone know's he's a dirty cop.'and her favorite 'I just feel so bad for her, maybe we should invite her to hang out.'. It made her nauseated just thinking about it.

Footsteps were heard from a distance as she looked up to see a face she had grown familiar with this year, Ryan Candan. People always talked about him, how his father was a drunken loser and his mom was a slut who didn't care what happened to him. He was always getting into fights, mostly because people were constantly provoking him, but the staff at the school didn't care, they just saw him as a troubled kid who has no future. The first time she saw him, she was actually scared of him, with his bloody nose and cold hard eyes, he didn't exactly seem to be the person someone would want to become friends with. But she would see him almost every week, sitting there just across from her. While he waited for the principle to call his parents, she waited for the counselor to call her in for her appointment, they always sat for about 10-15 minutes with each other. At first she was terrified to even look at him, but then one day... he actually spoke to her.

"Hey." He finally said to her after weeks of sitting across from her.

Nicole's eyes widen for a moment. "H-hey."

"So, you're the girl who's parents died two years ago, right?"

Oh boy, here we go again. "So?"

"So..? I'm sorry for your loss." There it was, the pity.

"Don't do that." She crossed her arms across her chest, showing she was annoyed with him.

It was obvious he was confused on what he did wrong. "What?" He was just as annoyed with her right now.

"Say 'sorry', I don't want your pity." She spat out.

Ryan scoffed. "Who said was taking pity on you, I'm just saying that it must have sucked to loose a decent pair of parents, that's all."

Narrowing her eyes at him she lowered her arms a bit. "So you don't feel sorry for me?"

"Hell no, you could be worse off than being with your dirty cop uncle, you could have my parents." He gave a smirk grin, snickering at his own joke. But Nicole stayed silent, not sure if she was suppose to laugh or not. "Oh come on, you know it's funny."

Nicole gave a small grin as she let out a small chuckle. "I'm Nicole Merdock." She finally introduced herself.

"Ryan Candan." He gave a bloody grin.

"What people say about you... it's not true."

"Oh? And what do they say about me?"

"That you're a crazed psychopath."

Ryan laughed, shaking his head. "You know, what people say about you, isn't completely true."

Arching her brow Nicole couldn't help but ask. "What do they say?"

The principle then opened his door. "Ryan, get in here."

Standing up Ryan picked up his backpack. "That you're a crazy b!tch."

Present

"What's going on in here?!" A voice could be heard shouting as a series of dim red lights could be seen lighting up the room. Flares being thrown in the middle of the room as all six men who were wearing the green and blue shirts were now knocked out cold on the ground as Nicole hid silently in the shadows. Her bow was ready with an arrow in place, taking a shaky breath. Trying to stay hidden from the rest of the group. Just how many more were there?

Glass rained down upon the floor. Words were flying all across the factory. The room went black and the gang scattered at the action caused by the Hooded Archer. With such great agility and precision, she took out six guys with a series of blows and arrows. And with such speed she disappeared back to the darkness she had created.

The members lot up their flares and allowed the red light to give off some sort of visible sight. There were only four left. Ryan had his flare in one hand and his gun in the other. Each member slowly walked around the factory with great caution, trying to find the heroine.

"Find her and shoot her down!"

Ryan slowly walked around the machines, trying to find a place for her arrows to deflect off of something. Sounds of rats walking across the metal pipes echoed throughout the building.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"You found her?"

"I thought I did..." One guy said.

Fear was evident. Every second gave the archer the advantage of coming up with an idea to a take them down. But she can't shoot what she can't see. What she can't see... Ryan immediately threw his flare across the room.

"The Flares! She'll find you!"

"Gah!"

Someone went down. Who was it? Ryan only saw two others with flares in the distance. He had to get out, he already had some oxycodone in his pocket, it was the reason he was here. He didn't really need them. Ryan's hands stayed close to the wall as he tried to navigate himself to the back door where the "green team" got in.

"Bingo" he whispered as he opened the door. Moonlight seeped through the crack and an arrow pierced through his right sleeve, just missing his forearm. The arrow pinned against the metal door.

"Crap!" The teen forcibly tore his sleeve off and ran outside of the factory. Climbing over the fence with such athletic ability and continued running until he was in the darkness in between the alley of nearby buildings.

The teen panted heavily. It was a close one but at least he got the stuff he needed. His mask was still on, he'd need it for future heists, but the jacket was a different story. The torn sleeve revealed his burn scar on his right forearm.

4 Years Ago: Gothic City Park

"Ryan, you're the only idiot I know who wears long sleeves in freakin' 90 DEGREE WEATHER!!"

"Alright calm down, it's just my style alright?"

"Your style is gonna get you killed." Nicole tied to grab his arm in an effort to pull up the sleeve. Ryan immediately jerked his arm back.

"If you wanted to get physical all you needed to do was ask." Ryan joked.

Smack!

"You're an idiot Ryan."

"Ow... so I've heard..."

The two walked across the park as the sun was beginning to set.

"What time is it?" Nicole asked as she began to yawn and cross over to his right side.

The teen lifted his arm, "About 5:30."

"Hah!" She lifted his right sleeve, revealing a large scar from what seemed to be a burn. "What the hell happened to you?!"

Ryan gave her a stern look as he rolled his sleeve down. "Nothing."

"Ryan. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?"

He sighed as he looked away. "One night my dad got drunk and I was ironing some of his clothes... I left for a minute to get something and when I came back he said 'catch...' Guess I was lucky he didn't get my face.... at least I had THAT luck..."

Present

The wind gently blew as the teen finally caught his breath. Ryan reached into his pocket only to find nothing. There was a tear. It must have been from the fence. very pill he got fell out save for two.

"Crap..."

His eyes widened as he looked over. It was her bike. The archer left her vehicle around the area. It was finally his chance to get out and even make a decent amount of cash. Ryan walked over to bike as he mounted atop the bike and placed his hands on the bars. The bike itself was extraordinary with its features and advanced functions.

"Where do I start this thing?"

A sharp prick was felt on his finger.

"The hell?"

The bike spoke: "Not Recognized." And a light soon began to blink on the screen.

"Oh crap..."

She cursed to herself as one of the men managed to slip through the building after she pinned him to the wall. But she couldn't just leave the remaining men here while she chased him. The hero had to take care of these three first.

"Did he just ditch us!?" One of the larger men shouted, waving his flair around in panic.

"Run! Just run!" The other man threw his flare, rushing towards the door the last man ran through. But before he could reach it an arrow slammed right in front of his shoes, upon impact, the tip of the arrow exploded in a thick glue, making it impossible for the man to move forward. "What the hell is this crap!?" The man struggled to take a step, but ended up loosing his balance and falling over. "ACK!"

"C-come on! Show yourself! What's wrong, scared of taking me on mano eh mano?" The larger man shouted, tossing his flare on the ground. A whistle was heard as an arrow slammed into his chest, as soon as impact was made an electrical surge plowed through his body, showing that the arrow was a taser arrow. The large man fell to the ground with a loud THUD as Honor Girl finally stepped out of the shadows.

"Maybe next time big boy." Nicole smirked as she cuffed the large man then moving over to the other man who was still trying to get out of the glue mess she got him into.

"You b!tch do you have any idea who I am!? I'll kill you!"

"Oh shush, I bet you tell that to all the girls." Lifting her foot up she slammed it against his face, knocking him out and cuffing him. But before she could do anything else, a voice came through her com-link. "Unauthorized personnel at Honor Bike"

"Perfect." Nicole gave a grin as she quickly made her way out of the building.

Four Years Ago...

"Are you sure it's cool I hang out?" Ryan questioned as the two walked into the dirty apartment. "I don't want to get arrested by your uncle." There was the familiar smell of alcohol that lingered in the building, one that he knew all too well.

Nicole snickered as she closed and locked the door behind them. "He's at work right now, and by the time he get's home, he'll be too drunk to realize we're even here."

"Him and my dad should hang out."

The two dropped their bags by the couches as Ryan plopped himself on the couch and Nicole walked over to the what was suppose to be, the kitchen. "Hungry?" She asked opening the refrigerator, pulling out different items, and shoving them on the cramped counter that was littered with beer cans and half way smoked cigars.

"When am I not?" he had a wide grin, stretching his arms along the couch as he plopped his feet on the small coffee table.

"Ahem!" The blond teen loudly cleared her throat while shifting her eyes from him, to his feet.

"Ok, ok." he pulled his feet off the table and ended up getting up, beginning to walk around, looking through some boxes. "So, are you always here alone?" His eyes began scanning the apartment, crumpled fast food bags, scattered empty beer cans and cigar buds could be seen everywhere.

"Yeah, but I like it," Nicole was seen walking out of the kitchen with two plates, a sandwich on each. "it gives me time to do homework in peace." she sat on the couch where Ryan was sitting as she placed his plate on the table.

Reaching into one of the boxes, Ryan pulled out a old bow. "What the hell?"

Nicole looked over at him as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Hm! That used to be my moms." she spoke covering her mouth with her mouth full. "She used to be on the high school's archery team."

"Is that why you joined the team?" He held up the bow, examining it, the string that once pulled the arrows back was gone, and scuff marks were seen all over the old bow.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty fun, you should give it a go sometimes."

"Ha, no thanks, that would mean I actually care about the school." He put the bow back in the box and plopped himself back on the couch, grasping the sandwich and taking a big bite of it.

Shaking her head with amusement, the young blond stood up, "I gatta go to the restroom, I'll be right back." she scurried off to the restroom, quickly closing the door behind her.

Ryan continued to sit still until curiosity got the better of him. Standing up he made is his way through the apartment until he reached a halfway closed door. Peeking through he saw a bed with a grey and yellow floral bedding, yellow, that was Nicole's favorite color. Slowly pushing the door fully open he made his way into her room, it was clean, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay cleaner than the rest of the apartment. Looking in this room you could forget that you were currently standing in a filthy apartment. His eyes continued to wonder around the room until a picture caught his eye. Walking over to it he picked it up and began to examine it, a picture of a younger Nicole, maybe about eight? with a woman and a man, assuming they were Nicole's parents. Ryan chuckled to himself when he realized that Nicole looked more like her dad than her mom.

"Excuse you, that's not yours." A voice came from behind him, causing his hair to stand on the back of his neck.

Turning around he could see Nicole standing at the doorway, her arms crossed as her eyes gave that death glare he knew too well. "Ok, ok, sorry." Ryan gently set the picture frame down and lift his hands in the air, trying to keep his cool. "I'll leave quietly." he smirked at her as he walked out the room, but not before Nicole playfully smacked him across the head and closed the door behind him.

Present

Nicole landed silently behind the bike as she watched the man sit on it, trying to figure out how to turn it. Pulling her hood over her head she couldn't hold back the smirk that was forming on her lips. "Excuse you, that's not yours." She pulled out her bow with one hand as the other instantly pulled out an arrow, putting it in place and drawing it back, aiming at the man. "Now, you can do this the easy way, or the hard way just like all your other little friends back in the building." She nod her head to the building behind her. "Your choice."

"Excuse you, that's not yours." String creaked as the archer pulled back the arrow. Goosebumps emerged on the young thief's neck. Whoa… déjà vu, he thought.

"Now you can make this the easy way, or the hard way just like all your little friends back in the building. Your choice."

Ryan slowly lifted his arms just enough for his hands to be seen over his shoulders; his scar would have marked him for identification if she let him go, which was unlikely. He remained seated upon the cycle quickly trying to figure out what to do.

"Well?" she responded. The teen continued to sit there as he smirked. "I'm in a tough position. I'm sitting on your bike, but if I leave peacefully you can try to take me down or you might let go of that arrow. If I continue to sit we might be here all night or you might let go of that arrow… so really… I have little choice 'cause in the end we both know you're gonna do somethin'. Unless…"

3 Years Ago

"Mr. Candan?" Ryan lifted his head from his desk. Ms. Wood stood before him, her bright orange outfit burned the teen's retinas. She stood with her arms crossed as she pierced through her student's soul with those black beady eyes.

"Yes Ms. Wood?" he yawned.

"Mr. Candan since you're so wide awake today why don't you solve the great riddle Oedipus the King solved? What has 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon, and 3 in the evening?" She smirked as she knew Ryan didn't even know the book they were reading. Students snickered as all eyes were on him. The young teen looked around the class as people smirked.

"Well Mr. Candan?"

Ryan looked at Nicole who sat up front, she tried mouthing the words but she looked like she was chewing a huge wad of gum.

"Well Mr. Candan it seems that you don't know the answer; predictable." She turned around as she began to write on the board.

"A human."

The teacher stopped writing and turned around. "Excuse me?"

Ryan sighed as he rolled his eyes, "The answer to the riddle is a human. It's a baby in the morning as it crawls, by noon it walks on two legs like an adult, and by night he is handicapped with a cane: his third leg." He returned to his sleeping position upon the desk, hiding his smile.

The class remained astonished as the High School Junior slacked in all of his classes, showing no interest in anything and out of nowhere he knew the answer with such confidence as if he was Oedipus himself. Ms. Wood stood frozen at the shock as the bell suddenly rang. Ryan got up and left; first of the class to do so.

"Ryan Candan, tell me HOW THE HELL YOU KNEW THAT?!" Nicole shouted as she caught up with him outside. The teen just looked at her and smiled. "C'mon tell me! You made Ms. Wood, a motormouth of a teacher, shut up! C'mon just tell me!"

"I used to do a lot of reading as a kid..."

"So you're a freakin genius and you don't tell me?"

"I'm not a genius, I just know things."

Nicole smacked him on the backside of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For not telling me you're smart! Do you know how many homeworks I needed help in?! Besides, why don't you do good in school?"

"Well for starters I get bored when I'm learning things I already know and I just don't care about school. Neither do my parents so why should I start?

"Cause you can."

Present

"Unless I tell you that I know things." Ryan slowly lifted his leg and began to get off of the bike. He now stood with his back facing the archer. "Now I'm slowly gonna turn around." The teen turned with great caution until he saw the archer under the moonlit night. Her hood covered the archer's hair but it didn't hide the smirk.

"Now…" Ryan spoke, " I know that oxycodone is high in demand right now, so there are a lot of gangs coming. So what I'm gonna do is draw my gun and shoot the group of gang members that know of our location. And you can't stop me for three reasons. One is that you have no choice but to trust me. Two: They're here."

"There they are! Get 'em!"

"And three: 'Cause I can."

The hooded archer stood silently as she watched the lonely thug raise his arms to the back of his head, with his back faced to her while he sat on her bike. He spoke about knowing something... what did he know that Nicole could have accidentally looked over? She didn't lower her guard as the seemingly talkative thief moved off her bike, hands still above his head as he slowly turned to her, and then... she saw it. Her heart almost stopped and her fingers almost let go of arrow out of shock. The scar on his arm. Nicole couldn't let the man know what she was thinking, she had to keep her posture she had to stay focus. There was no way... a lot of people had scars on their arms... right? Ryan would never... She almost missed about other gangs coming.

"Wait.. wha-?" was all she could get out before a gang seemed to have appeared out of no where.

"There they are! Get 'em!"

"Crap!" Nicole quickly aimed her arrow and let it fly, completely missing a target as a bullet whizzed passed her face, slightly tearing her hood as she took cover behind one of the many crates in the surrounding area.

Looking over towards her now temporarily allay she began to shout, trying to be louder than the explosion of gunfire before them. "No lethal shots! You kill anyone and I'll break both your hands and take you to Gothic City Prison myself!"

This wasn't suppose to go down like this! Was it that her uncle gave this location away to multiple gangs in order to get more money? She silently cursed to herself as she got her arrows ready, she needed to not only get herself out of this... but the man with the scar as well.

Three years ago...

A yellow arrow whistled towards it's target, pinning right in the bullseye as multiple teens and young adults surrounded the area, clapping their hands in astonishment as Nicole made her 10th bullseye in a row. Ryan didn't care coming to 'Robin Hoods Archery' here in Gothic. Nicole was just one of the only three girls that ever came in here, so for a girl to come into the building and who is actually GOOD at archery, the boys always tend to pool around her. She swore it was for practice, but why not practice at the school like her teammates? Although, Ryan couldn't complain, it was time to get out of his home away from the family and spend more time with his friend.

Nicole's eyes glanced over at him as her bright smile suddenly faded, he didn't seem impressed with what she had just accomplished. "What?" she asked him as he shrugged his shoulders at her. "No, don't do that, what is it?"

Ryan let out a huff of air as he pointed at the target. "You've just been shooting at the same target, of course you're going to get a bullseye every time, the target doesn't move and neither do you. You just have to do the same technique every time." He spoke his mind as the boys around him glared over at him.

The young blond nod her head, as if she was agreeing with him. "Alright then, come on, I have something I want to show you." She didn't wait to see if he would follow as she grasped onto the sleeve of his leather jacket, forcing him to follow her.

The crowed didn't seem to follow as they came into another area inside the building. Against the wall were a series of black walls and on those walls there were multiple colored circles. A single red, two orange, three yellow and four green all on the board. Nicole couldn't help but smile as she let go of his arm, she had been wanting to show him this trick for some time, but was worried she would totally mess up. Now however, she was confident that she would do this right. "I've been practicing this for probably a year now, it's not easy, but I think I finally got it."

"Oh?" Ryan spoke, semi interested to see what exactly she was going to show him.

Drawing her first arrow she quickly took aim, and let the arrow fly, it hitting the red target perfectly. She didn't bother to look over at Ryan, because she could already tell by the stillness of the air that he wasn't impressed by that shot. Drawing two arrows however, she could hear Ryan adjust his body against the wall as the leather rubbed against it, he had never seen her shoot more than one arrow a time. Pulling both arrows at once back, she stood silent for almost thirty seconds, it took more concentration, even though she had been practicing, it was still a little difficult for her. Holding her breath she let the arrows fly as both arrows hit a orange target each at the same time.

"No way." Ryan quickly walked over to her with shock in his voice. "You're one of those archers with real skill?" He spoke totally surprised as Nicole turned her head and glared at him. "Not that you didn't already have skill, just that you're not just an average archer that struts around here." He corrected himself.

"Well, it's taken me a lot of time, and I can hit two targets, three is a little more difficult though..." She rubbed the back of her head. "I've only been able to hit them about sixty percent of the time for the past month."

"Show me." For the first time, Ryan had genuinely showed interest in her archery practice.

"O-ok." Nicole hesitated a bit as she drew three arrows up and placed them on her bow, taking aim as she slowly drew them back. "Just don't rush me, ok?" Her blue eyes looked over at him until he silently nod his head, her eyes focused back on the three yellow targets. She began slowing her breath, taking long deep breaths as they stood for what felt like for five minutes. Her arms were beginning to tire as she finally held her breath, letting the arrows fly simultaneously at their targets.

"YES!" Ryan yelled out, running over to the targets, looking at each of the arrows that pinned themselves on the green target. "I have to admit Nicole, this right here, this is cool."

Nicole let out a light chuckle as she watched Ryan almost examine the arrows and targets. "I haven't even tried the four targets yet, I want to get my ratio higher with the three before moving on."

Ryan darted his head towards her as he smiled, that same smile whenever her asks her for something that she didn't really want to do. "Nicole, you HAVE to try!" He began.

"The young archer shook her head. "Ryan you are aware the record for hitting four targets at once is the current world record right? The chances of me actually accomplishing that is-"

"Is higher if you actually try." he interrupted her.

She began glaring at him, but this time, he was glaring right back at her, the two in a stare off as they stood silent for what seemed hours. Finally, she gave up. "Fine!" She threw her hands in the air, Ryan almost jumped with excitement as the young archer drew four arrows. "But you know I'm going to completely fail, right?"

"Just aim, breath and shoot." He attempted to coach her, even though he hadn't the slightest idea on how to even hold a bow.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Nicole put the four arrows in place as she drew up her bow, slowly pulling back as she grit her teeth, it was harder to draw all four back, and the weight was more than what she was used to. She slowed her breathing again, focusing, her eyes narrowed at the four green targets as everything else around her was blocked out. She wasn't keeping track on how long they were standing for, she didn't want to become distracted. But then her hand began to quiver that was holding up the bow and Nicole didn't have a choice but to let go of the arrows.

"Holy sh!t Nicole!" He looked at the targets in amazement.

Nicole frowned in disappointment. "I missed." she lowered her bow and pointed with her other hand at the targets.

"But look at what you did!" Ryan walked over to the target, three of the arrows pinned perfectly in place on their green targets as the final arrow was just about an inch away from just touching the target. "Look at how close it is!" he turned to her. "You can totally hit all four targets Nicole, then you can say that you're just as good as the person who put out the record!"

Her frown turned into a smile as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Ryan had never shown any interest in what Nicole did, to see him this excited, it was cute. It was completely out of character of him, but it was well welcomed compared to the normally serious Ryan she knew.

Present...

She watched as her temporary partner begin to rain bullets upon the opposing gang. She had to do her best to try and prevent him from actually doing too much damage to these thugs that were currently trying to kill them. Killing wasn't what she did, but beating them to a pulp... sure. "Cover me!" She shouted at him as the masked thug looked over at her in surprise, only to nod his head.

Without hesitation she drew a single arrow.

"Your going to need more than one to stop them."

"Just cover me and close your eyes!" She quickly stood up as she drew the arrow quickly and let it flew, closing her eyes as a bright flash of light engulfed the area, the gang before them stunned as Nicole then drew four taser arrows, quickly putting them in place as she slowed her breathing down. While she could shoot three arrows at three targets simultaneously as she jumped out a window, she couldn't get the four arrows just right, she had to be completely focused still in order for her to hit them. Her eyes focused as she blocked everything out around her for a moment as she zoned in on four targets. Holding her breath for a second she let the arrows go as they flew towards her targets, each arrow slamming into their targets as they let out a roar of pain before collapsing on the ground. Quickly ducking back behind a crate she could hear the men shout, it sounded like she just pissed them off even more.

"No lethal shots! You kill anyone and I'll break both your hands and take you to Gothic City Prison myself!"

"Thanks for the warning," Ryan whipped out his gun from the inside pocket of the jacket. He aimed at the legs of the gang members. Bullets were fired at the thugs. Few fell screaming as they grasped their legs. More came and fired bullets of their own.

Ryan joined the archer behind the pile of crates. Opposing bullets pierced through the wood; exploding and breaking the crates, creating a fog of dust and splinters. Pieces of the wood scraped the young man's face. Ryan closed his eyes and listened to the bullets, trying to figure out the position and origin of the bullet. His eyes shot open and in an instant popped up and shot three men in the arms. The young man ducked behind the crates once again.

Four left. He was with one bullet left. Ryan looked at the archer with surprise as she requested back up with one arrow.

"Just cover me and close your eyes!"

Ryan followed her instructions. He closed his eyes and heard screams. The young man opened his eyes and saw her up in the air with such athletic ability, flipping in mid air as she drew four arrows.

"No way..." He whispered. That form, that focus. It was all too familiar. Wait... What did she call herself again?

2 YEARS AGO

"This is senior year Ryan! Our last year!"

"Don't remind me..."

The duo were alone in the library, Nicole had a pile of books on the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court cases.

"Nicole, I'm pretty sure we took history last year."

"This is just to get a head start for college. You know what i want to be."

"Yeah yeah. You want to carry on the family legacy." Ryan began to sniff his nose as if it were runny.

Nicole tried to balance herself with the thick books piling upon her arms. "What do you want to study in college?" The pile of books was too much as they crashed to the floor. Ryan bent over to help her pick them up.

"I don't know. I honestly don't even think that my grades are good enough, besides I'm just focusing on moving out of my place. Its gotten way out of hand." Ryan began to sniff again as he handed Nicole the books.

"Thanks. Are you okay? You're sniffing a lot."

"I'm fine. So you're sure about law?"

"Definitely. So wait, how are you moving out if you don't even have money?"

Ryan sniffed again, "I'll work on it. But let's be serious, you want to continue the honor family legacy. Heh... maybe I'll have to call you 'Honor Girl.'"

"Ummm... maybe when I actually put people in jail."

"Alright then. Until that happens, you will be called 'Blondie.'"

"I would smack you, but I don't want to pick up these books again."

Ryan smirked, "I know."

PRESENT

The archer hid behind the crate next to Ryan again. "I think I just made them mad." She said as she continued to draw her arrows. The young man looked at her movements; they were definitely like... No it couldn't be... But her name...

Ryan looked at his gun and back to the archer. "I got one bullet left... You better come up with something better than an arrow blondie."

“I got one bullet left... You better come up with something better than an arrow Blondie.”

She swore her heart stopped at that moment as she suddenly froze in place, her eyes widen as she could feel her face become hot with panic. “Ry-“ Before she could finish a bullet slammed into her abdomen, forcing her down the ground as she grit her teeth in pain, trying to refrain herself from screaming.

Blood began pouring from her wound as she watched Ryan, seemingly in slow motion, rush up to her side before... everything went dark.

Two years ago…

“Nicole! Dat Candan kid is here.” Her uncle Paul slurred out as he left the door to the apartment open, walking away and back to the couch as Ryan stepped into the room. It stunk of booze, a sent he knew too well.

“Ok! I’ll be right there!” Her voice could be heard coming from her room, almost as if she was in a panic.

Ryan was wearing a three piece charcoal suit with a white button shirt and yellow tie, something that Nicole picked out for him after she asked him to go to prom with her. He didn’t see the big deal about going to an event like this, but if it made Nicole happy, then he didn’t mind it so much. Rubbing his nose he leaned against the wall, waiting for his friend.

Then, high heels clicking on the wooden floor was heard. Ryan picked up his head as he saw Nicole walk from behind the corner and into the TV room. Nicole was wearing a lighted beaded sweetheart neck line, sleeveless yellow dress that gracefully fitted her body. Her hair was wavy, instead of the usual straight and pulled up into a pony tail. Ryan almost instantly stood up from the wall as Nicole walked up to him, a huge smile on her face, she was so excited, she couldn’t wait to get out of the apartment and away from her uncle and just spend the night with her best friend.

“Um…” He began, trying to figure out what was appropriate to say without getting smacked across the head. “You look really nice.”

She couldn’t help but give him a questionable look. “What? No, ‘I’d hit that’ comment? Or ‘Wow Nicole you actually look like a girl!’ remark?”

Shaking his head he gave that cocky smirk she knew too well. “I told you I would behave tonight, so I am.” He opened the door for her. “My lady.” Nicole couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why thank you my good sir.” And with that, the two walked out.

At Prom

The teen couldn’t hold back her smile as she wrapped her arms around his left arm, walking onto the building. “You look really nice in this.” She reached up at his tie, adjusting it just a bit. “I’m surprised you knew how to put this thing on.”

“I didn’t, I had to youtube it.” Ryan admitted as he gave a nervous chuckle while rubbing his nose, sniffling a bit.

“Ryan, are you still sick?” Nicole showed concern as she pulled back just a bit. “I feel like you’ve been sick all year.” She reached up with her free hand to feel his forehead but was quickly swatted away as Ryan gave an annoyed glance.

“I’m fine, it’s probably just allergies.” He sniffed once more as they made it into the area of the actual prom. The music was thumping through the room as their classmates were seen dancing on the dance floor either as a couple or in large groups with their friends.

Nicole wasn’t big on dancing as she glanced over to right, a long line of teens who stood while waiting in line to have their pictures taken. “Come on, lets take a picture!” She didn’t give Ryan a chance to oppose as she pulled him over towards the line.

“Do we really NEED a picture?” He hated taking pictures and strange part was that he knew Nicole hated taking pictures too. “I mean, what are we going to do with them?”

“Ryan, look.” Nicole shift her body so she faced him. “Prom night can be a special night, if you let it be. I know you think it's for losers and something that popular kids do because they are boring people with porcelain hearts who don't know what it means to be lonely. But you're wrong. I mean… I’m here with the one person I conceder my best friend, and I wouldn’t want to spend it with anyone else but you.”

“I’m your ONLY friend Nicole.”

“Don’t ruin my speech Candan!” she playful smacked him across the head.

“Damn it… not even ten minutes in here.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Look I erm… I need to go to the restroom.”Sniffling he began to try and pull away from his friend.

“No, not until we take our picture.” She demanded, tightening her hold on him. “Plus, we’re almost there, just… One two… ten more couples!”

“It will take me ten SECONDS to go pee and come back.” He flashed a smile at her. “Come on, I’ll be right back.”

Giving him a questionable glare she sighed, nodding her head. “Fine… but if you don’t come back on time, I’m going in there after you.” She released her hold.

“I know you will, be right back!” He sped walk towards the bathroom, leaving Nicole waiting in line.

About twenty minutes, Nicole stood next in line, getting a bit anxious as Ryan was seen rushing back, his tie looked a bit sloppy as he quickly slipped on his jacket.

“What happened to ten seconds?” Nicole quickly reached out, adjusting his tie and noticing something… powdery white on it.“Ryan what is-?” Before she could finish asking the photographer called them.

“Come on Nicole!” Ryan sniffed as he lead in front of the backdrop.

“Good, good, now, stand behind her and wrap her arms around her waist.” The photographer explained to Ryan.

“Erm… you’re not going to smack me across the head again, right?” He hesitated for a moment.

“Ryan, shut up and hold me.” Nicole whispered as she grasped his hands and warped them around her waist as the two posed for the picture.

Filling out some forms so they could get them later the two then sat down at an empty table and Nicole couldn't help but notice Ryan scratching at his arms and his eyes shifting from left to right, mostly upward at the lights that were flashing around them.

"Ryan, are you ok?"

"Y-yeah I'm fine." he sniffed, rubbing his nose as it suddenly began to bleed.

"Your bleeding!" Nicole shouted, quickly grasping the black, cloth napkin from the table and pressing it against her friends nose.

"I'm fine Nicole." He gently pushed her hands away from his face. "I feel great, it's just my allergies."

Genuinely concern she pulled a chair next to him. "You're sure? I mean, if you weren't feeling well you could have just said so."

"I'm fine," he pulled the napkin away from his face and as Nicole looked down, she noted a trace of white upon it.

"Ryan... what is that? It's the same thing I saw on your tie." She grasped the napkin away from before he could pull it away from her.

"It's nothing, probably just my-"

"If you say it's your allergies one more time, I'm going to punch you in the nose." Nicole almost growled at him as she took a closer look, it was a white powder like substance... but around his nose? “Ryan… is this…?” She didn’t even have to finish, she knew what it was… standing up she dropped the napkin and walked away, leaving Ryan sitting at the table running his fingers through his hair as he let out a heavy sigh.

Standing outside Nicole leaned against the wall of the building, not sure who she was more upset with, him for turning to drugs... or herself for not catching on sooner. “Allergies, does he think I’m THAT stupid?” Her hands buried her face as she began sobbing to herself. Tonight was going to be the night when Nicole was going to tell Ryan something she had been holding onto for the past year, her feelings for him. She cared for Ryan so much, and while she loved the friendship she had with him, but for the past year she had liked him more than just a friend, she was just afraid to ruin the friendship they already had. But now… “Maybe I am that stupid…”

“You’re not stupid…” Ryan spoke as he stood a few feet away from her, hands in his pockets. “Look, I know you’re upset, but… it’s not THAT big of a deal-“

“Not THAT big of deal?” Nicole cut him off, pulling her hands away from her face, her mascara was seen running down her cheeks. “You’re snorting coke in the bathroom! I thought you were sick! I was worried about you and you-!” she was so frustrated she couldn’t even finish. “All the rumors that have been forming around since you were a kid are coming true, and you’re letting them!”

She could see Ryan’s jaw tighten, he was getting upset with her, his eyes grew hard. “Let me take you home.” He took a step forward only to have Nicole pull back.

“No, I’m walking home.” She turned her back to him and began walking.

“In heels?” He called out to her, trying to lure her back.

She stopped for a moment only to reach for something in her clutch purse, turned around and threw a paper at him. “Here’s the receipt for the picture, you can have it.” And with that, she walked home and that was the last time she spoke to Ryan.

Present

“Wake up! Damn it Blondie wake up!” A voice echoed from the distance as she felt someone’s arms wrapped around her body as her head bobbled from side to side.

Opening her eyes she looked up to see Ryan holding onto her, he was running down the allies with her in his arms. “Blondie, come on, we need to get out of here!” He stopped around a corner, breathing heavily as he set her down.

“My bow.” Nicole murmured as she pulled an arrow out.

“Fck the bow, they have guns!”

“Ryan.” Her voice stern as she spoke, and she could see in his expression, that he was shocked he used her name. She knew he knew who she was, and he must have known he knew who she was, now it was time to get out alive. “Bow, now.”

“Still bossy as ever.” He pulled the bow up handing it to her while setting her down to the ground.

Slowly trying to stand with the help of Ryan, she grunt in pain as she put the arrow in place, taking aim at a building, the arrow flew, leaving a line behind.

Using the line she tied it around his waist, securing it in place. “What are you doing?”

“Ryan, shut up and hold me.” She could feel his arms wrap around her waist, it made her shiver in pain as his arm pressed against her bullet wound. Then within seconds, the arrow pulled the two upwards towards the roof of the building.

Reaching the top Ryan pulled the two to safety as the mobsters that were chasing them just minutes ago passed the building they were now hiding on top of.

“Are you... ok?” The young archer spoke, pressing her hand against her abdomen as she lowered herself to the roof to sit. She was more concern about her former friend than herself as the foot steps and shouting were heard being moved down the street. She was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded, but was too afraid to look down at her wound.

She froze for a second. Why did she freeze? Her eyes widened a bit the moment Ryan finished the sentence. Did she not liked to be called "Blondie" or was his suspicion correct? Her mouth opened a bit trying to form a word. But it happened so suddenly. Splinters flew from the crate and Honor Girl fell to the ground. She clutched her abdomen as she writhed in pain. Ryan was careful to lift her up a bit; placing his hands behind her back.

Bullets continued to zoom past them.

"Wake up! Damn it blondie wake up!"

Hers eyes began to open a bit. She was alive. "My bow." The archer muttered. She wanted her bow in a gunfight; Ryan cursed out the thought.

"Ryan."

The young man's eyes widened. Goosebumps spread throughout his body and a lump in the man's throat began to form. He wanted a bullet to nail him in the gut, just to see if he was dreaming. He was right, Honor Girl was Nicole Merdock.

"Bow. Now."

Yeah. That was definitely Nicole.

"Still as bossy as ever."

The Archer wrapped cord from her arrow around the waist of the young man. "What are you doing" he demanded.

"Ryan, shut up and hold me."

Two Years Ago

"Ryan where the hell are you going?" Ryan's father burped at the end of that sentence. The young man was disgusted to be his son.

"I told you I'm going to prom," Ryan looked into the broken mirror they had in the bathroom, fixing his hair and beginning to put on the tie. "Where's mom?"

"Who cares. As long as she's got protection and bringing back cash, I don't want another mistake in the house."

Ryan's hand clenched into a fist. Broken glass fell to the floor.

"What the- Ryan! Why the h-"

"Another mistake?!" Ryan shouted. He walked to confront his father who was already standing waiting to take on his anger. "Yeah I got it the first time when I was 10. You don't have to remind me every time she leaves the trailer. And by the way you call THIS a house? A house is something you take care of; we live in A FREAKIN TRAILER!"

"Boy you shut up or else someone's gonna get beat."

BAM! A body fell through the small wooden table and laid there unconscious.

"I was thinking the same thing Dad..." Anger and frustration overwhelmed the ten. This was supposed to be a memorable night. He promised Nicole they were gonna have a good time, but now how can he? With his father getting those thoughts in his head. Ryan looked at his hand, luckily there were no cuts or scrapes from the broken glass; the last thing he wanted was to have Nicole play 20 questions.

He needed something to alleviate his emotions, something to make him feel better. Immediately he went to his mother's room and sifted through her clothes. There is was, a packet of coke. He snuck this from her for about a year. Ryan couldn't vent his anger out to people. He found an alternative.

The young man wiped his nose as he grabbed his suit jacket from the chair nearby and put it on. He left the trailer park and walked to Nicole's home.

AFTER PROM

"Not THAT big of a deal? You're snorting coke in the bathroom! I thought you were sick! I was worried about you and you- All the rumors that have been forming since you were a kid are coming true, and you're letting them!"

The two argued but those words stung Ryan in the heart.

"Here's the receipt for the picture, you can have it!" Nicole tossed the piece of paper at this head. She walked away into the night.

Ryan's face remained stern and stiff. A tear began to roll down his eye. Emotions ran wild. His head began to lower as he looked at the receipt. He promised her a memorable night, but what was given was a night to forget. Ryan picked up the receipt as he wiped the tear off his face. He walked back into the school and found his napkin.

Music roared and people laughed and smiled. Ryan stood alone with the napkin in one hand and the receipt in the other. A vast amount of memories flowed through the mind of the teen. How he met Nicole, how they hung out together and every single joke and slap in the head. They were good friends, all that gone because of one stupid thing. She was right, all those rumors about him were coming true because he let them come true. But since when did he care about those rumors?

Ryan lifted his hand with the napkin toward the trash bin. He knew the answer to his question: since he met Nicole.

"Wait…" a voice spoke. Ryan turned around and saw a large guy wearing a tux along with a red armband. "I know where you can get better stuff."

PRESENT

"Are you… okay?" Nicole clutched her abdomen.

Ryan looked at her quietly, still in shock of what happened. Voices were heard down the street.

"Ryan," she blinked as if she was adjusting to a bright light," A-are you okay?" Blood oozed through her fingers as it rapidly dripped on the floor.

"I gotta take you to a doctor." He finally said as he walked closer to her.

"A-and reveal m-my identity? No…"

"I'm not gonna let you die!" Ryan took off his jacket and t-shirt. He ripped the shirt and wrapped it around Nicole's waist. "I'm not letting you leave this time."

She smiled a bit. Her hands trembled as she went toward her belt and it soon started blinking.

"What did you do?"

"H-homing s-signal…"

A bat is disturbed by the sound of a roaring monster approaching his home. Instinctively, the flying mammal tries to escape the noise that he believes is after his life but noise keeps getting louder .The monster is messing with his ears, he can't "see" well any more. The bat is convinced that the monster wants to take his life, his father had died from a similar noise. He was sure that the noise was here to finish his work so begins flying faster and faster for almost what seemed as an eternity, taking several turns trying to avoid any rocks but the noise still followed him and his efforts turned out to be pointless.

He hits a rock and falls like he has never fallen, his wing is partially dislocated and the monster kept getting closer and closer. He knew he couldn't give up yet, his life depended on it. It was time to make a final effort to get away, the bat flew for a few more yards and he finally saw the light, his freedom from madness was near. From all of the excitement his body gave out as he reached victory

To his amazement he had arrived in the the part of the cave which he didn't believe to be real, this side which only a few ever have ever been blessed enough to witness, it was told that this part of the cave held many great secrets and riches that any bat could ever witness. But the more sweeter sight for blind eyes that no one ever believed when it was told was the so rumoured bat-god that lived in the sanctuary.

Nobody really knew anything about the bat-god except that he lived in a cave more majestic than they had ever seen, there were such strange artifacts and relics that were speculated by the elders to be magic. One of the first bats claimed that he saw a green giant monster that had scales such of a lizard in there and at sight it was scary, but he didn't seem to be alive. The lizard seemed to be frozen for some reason.

The monster finally stopped screaming and out of it one god held another goddess in his arms, they weren't gods of bats like him. One of them was the god of birds and the injured one he couldn't clearly see what she was the god of, he just knew that she was bleeding and looked like she was about to die. The bat-god quickly shouted at the bird-god to get him his healing artifacts, he put her on the table and used one of his gadgets that looked like metallic claw to take the small lead rocks from her skin. She looked pale, like she was about to die. The bat-god shouted once again to the bird-god and ordered him to get the long metallic stick that had some kind of bag with blood and connected it into her wing.

When she started to look better the bat-god became angry at the bird-god for some reason. He said something that sounded kind of like this. "Woetehjelrru?". he really couldn't understand what they were saying but he was holding the younger god by his armour and lifting him up as he kept asking him question. "Jowdouuknoujer?" It sounded kind of like, any ways he didn’t seem very happy to find his fellow gods for some reason, he didn't seem happy overall. There was something about him that he found familiar and not just the bat costume...there was something else....