Chapter 1: Kick Off

Drip.

Drop.

On one fateful snowy winter night, a seven-year-old child sleeps soundly in his bedroom. His red flannel pajamas and thick blue blankets cover most of his tired pale freckled body. However, he's whisked away from his dreams as a constant dripping noise fills the room. The tired boy yawns as he groggily moves his messy white hair out of his sleepy red eyes. He looks over to the doorway to see that the metal door is shut. He sighs as he starts to look toward the other side of the room.

Drip. 

"Uh, are you still up?" The young boy groggily asks.

Though as the young boy saw the source of the dripping noise, all previous signs of exhaustion would vanish from his body as something else took control of him…fear.

What caused the boy's sudden reaction was a tall figure looming beside his bed, one that wasn't human.

Drop.

The blue moonlight seeping in from the shut window behind the entity illuminated a few of its features while casting the rest in shadows. It was a mouse-like creature standing on two legs. Its ears and tail coiled upward while its unkempt and messy white fur was soaked in the blood that bathed the walls behind it.

Its heavy panting sounded like nothing the boy had ever heard before, the blood all over its body dripping off of its sharp black claws and onto the bedroom floor.

Drip.

For most people when they're little, they are always so afraid of a monster hiding underneath their bed or lurking inside their closet.

But that's just because of naivety.

Since why would a monster even need to hide from its prey?

Drop.

PROJECT MONSTER

Yellow sunlight seeps through the shades of an apartment room as its occupant is sound asleep in his bed. However, the blaring alarm on his phone finally causes the man to wake up and turn off his alarm.

"Uh, what time is it?" The man grumbles.

However, his exhaustion would soon turn into panic as he checks the time.

'11:00 A.M.'.

"Crap," the man groans before frantically getting up.

The 19-year-old by the name of Razor Smirnov rushes out of his bed to start off yet another average day as per usual. Waking up late, rushing to style up his white spiky hair while rubbing the sleep out of his red eyes, and then putting on a suit and tie he has lying on an ironing board.

Finally, he hops to the door of his bedroom while trying to get on a pair of brown loafers. Bursting through the bedroom door, Razor Smirnov finally gets his shoes on as he walks over to the front door. However, as he's about to leave, he spots his younger sister Nadia Smirnova still fast asleep on the black leather couch with the TV still blaring. Razor rolls his eyes before leaving to start another average day.

Now on the bustling yet average city streets of Rising Heights, Razor is just one of the many trying to make it through the crowded sidewalk on this hot summer day. He's rushing to yet another average job interview that he's certain won't pan out because he lacks 'experience'.

However, there's one thing. One consistent thorn that keeps pricking into the sides of Razor and everyone else in the city when they least expect it is how their day will get ruined by them.

Unluckily for Razor, he's about to discover exactly that as he turns the corner and is about to enter the street where his interview is at… only to find it blocked off by caution tape and several military soldiers.

Looking past the soldiers, he spots that the reason the street is closed off is due to the corpse of a giant monster being strewn across the street. Several people in white hazmat suits are all trying to clean up the rotten remains.

"Of course this would happen," Razor sighs, defeated.

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.

Razor, confused, looks to see that one of the other onlookers is…eating a bunch of pelmeni while watching the clean up? The man munching on the pelmeni is tall with black poofy yet messy hair, olive skin, and a patchy beard. The 20-year-old is also wearing a green cloth that covers the top half of his face, a white tracksuit that has a red flannel shirt underneath it, and red high-top shoes. There's a person next to him who's scrolling through her phone. She's an 18-year-old woman with medium-length black hair, white skin, and green eyes. She's also wearing a gray long-sleeved crop top, black sweatpants, and checkerboard shoes.

The man, in the middle of eating his food, spots Razor looking at him and asks, "Problem?"

"Oh no, I just didn't expect to see someone eating here," Razor remarks.

"I've built up quite the appetite," The man says before motioning to the pelmeni in his hand, "Care to have some?"

"I'll pass."

"Your loss pal."

As the man finishes his pelmeni, Razor asks, "I'm Razor by the way."

"Dmitri Morozov," the 20-something responds, "and my friend over here's Katina Rotten."

Katina, overhearing her name get called, takes out one of her headphones and waves at Razor.

"You guys have any clue on when they're opening the street back up?" Razor asks.

"Yeah, like five years," Dmitri jokes.

"R-really?!" Razor questions.

Katina elbows Dmitri before answering, "Don't listen to Dmitri over there. It should only take like an hour or two till the cleaners are done."

Hearing that, Razor groans, "Well shit."

"Sorry," Katina apologizes, "Are you missing work?"

"Close," Razor sighs, "it's a job interview."

"Ouch," Katina hisses.

After hearing about Razor's, Katina gets an idea so she takes out her phone.

"Hey, mind if you type in your digits?"

"Sure." Razor responds as he takes Katina's phone and puts in his contact information before asking, "But why?"

Katina takes back her phone as she says, "I just felt bad for all of this, so I figured why not lend you some help? We tend to travel all across the city so I'm certain we'll find a place looking to hire."

"Wow, really," Razor states, baffled, "I don't know what to say."

"Thanks would be a start," Dmitri teases.

"Yeah thanks," Razor states, "Where do you guys even work?"

"We're pelmeni reviewers," Dmitri begins to say, "We try every pelmeni you can ever find in this plac-"

"Dmitri enough with the jokes," Katina groans before turning to Razor, "And you don't need to thank us. It's the least we could do after caus–"

However, before Katina can fully apologize, both her & Dmitri's phones begin to buzz loudly. The two take a look at them and sigh.

"Sorry Randy," Dmitri states.

"It's Razor," Razor corrects.

"Potato, Potato," Dmitri groans before explaining, "Our boss wants us to attend a meeting that's in 20."

"Petrova always does this!" Katina groans before saying, "But hey, it was nice getting to know you Razor."

"Yeah, you too!" Razor affirms, "Good luck at your meeting."

"Thanks, we'll need it," Dmitri states as he and Katina walk away.

With the two gone, Razor's attention focuses back on the cleaning crew. Despite them constantly picking and moving up pieces the street looks as disgusting as it did when he first laid eyes upon it. Razor takes a look at the time on his phone.

'11:30 A.M.'.

It's the time the interview would have started.

Razor turns and makes his way home as he chalks up today as yet another waste of time.

_______________________________

Light seeps in through the window blinds of a tiny apartment with 3 rooms; two of which being bedrooms. Old photos of a family of five, three siblings, snowy hills, and sunflowers are plastered across the white walls of the room. Near the entrance to the apartment is a small kitchen area with cobblestone countertops, a sink filled with dirty dishes along with used appliances, and a newer photo of a family of four sitting by a wooden basket of peaches. Closer to the windows lies the living room section of the apartment where sitting atop the couch is Nadia Smirnova.

Nadia's 17, still in school, has long white hair, pale skin, red eyes, and freckles. She's wearing a black t-shirt, gray pants, and white socks. There's a green & white jacket lying on a nearby cushion of the couch, and she's currently playing a game on the TV.

The front door to the apartment opens as Razor enters and states, "Yo, I'm home."

Nadia, while still focusing on her game, shouts, "You're home early, did the interview not go so well?"

"Didn't even happen," Razor explains as he opens up the fridge, "Some monster attack had the whole street blocked off. Couldn't even show up. Guess I'll have to try to reschedule or try my luck at a different place."

"So basically it's just another day of Razor being the king of unemployment," Nadia sighs while she games.

"At least I was employed at one point," Razor retorts while rummaging through the fridge, "Unlike someone who still gets an allowance from Mom & Dad."

Nadia pauses the game as she shouts, "Hey, you got one too back when you were in school! Besides, the allowance I'm getting from them is the only thing paying your rent."

Razor, finally finding what he was looking for, pulls out a bottle of iced tea from the fridge and then shuts the door.

"Our rent," Razor corrects her, "You live here too y'know."

Razor walks over to the couch, moves the jacket to the table, and sits down on a cushion.

"Besides," Razor teases, "We both know you only use the money to order food online."

Nadia murmurs, "Yeah, but the alternative isn't exactly easy for me."

"I know, I know," Razor sighs, "But still, you could just have me buy you some groceries. It'll be cheaper."

"And trust you with getting food I like?" Nadia retorts, "I'd rather not."

"Oh right, I forgot I'm living with the pickiest person on planet Earth," Razor groans.

"Like you're any better!" Nadia laughs as she playfully punches Razor in the arm.

Razor chuckles before taking a proper look at the table ahead of him. There are piles of mail stacked upon piles of mail. A good chunk of them are magazine ads and newspapers, but the more important ones are at the top. Reminders of long overdue rent, his bank account getting charged for having not enough money in it, and military ads are just a few of the letters that all deliver him bad news.

Razor slouches down, a bit defeated, while Nadia glances over at him. While Razor starts to daydream, he feels a game controller get pressed against his face.

"Betcha I can still win in a game of Party Panic?" Nadia teases.

Razor takes the controller before smirking, "We'll see about that."

The two begin to play the game and continue until day turns to dusk and eventually night. The credits on the game begin to roll as Nadia is fast asleep. Though Razor is still wide awake. Then he looks at the set of mail on the table. He rummages through the pile until he finds one that he kept hidden from Nadia.

It's a notice from the landlord, one that states if they don't give him all of the months' worth of unpaid rent by 'June 10th, 2021' then he'll get evicted. Just five days until then.

Razor sighs as he hides the notice back towards the bottom of the pile and then takes a look at the now empty bottle of iced tea. Figuring he should get a drink that hits a bit harder, Razor gets up off the couch. He then heads to his room, puts on some new clothes, exits his apartment, closes the door behind him, and locks it.

___________________________________

Illuminated by the streetlights above it, the now somber streets of Rising Heights are nearly empty. While most people are already at home, there are a few who are now partaking in the city's nightlife. One such person being Razor Smirnov, who's now wearing a black jacket over a long-sleeved green t-shirt, red pants, and blue sneakers.

Looking around the street for a place to wind down, Razor spots a dive bar hidden between two closed stores simply known as 'The Underground Tavern'.

"Guess this is as good as it gets," Razor grumbles before entering.

The first thing Razor is greeted with when entering is a trail of stone steps leading underground. Razor follows the trail and once he reaches the bottom, he realizes why the bar has its name. All around him is a huge tavern carved out of

rock and stone. Expensive drinks are stacked all behind the counter as a bartender mixes some alcoholic concoctions for the clientele. The place isn't too crowded, with most being seated around round wooden tables, but there's no one sitting at the bar.

Razor walks up to the bar and sits down before waiving the bartender over.

"What drink do you want, kid?" The bartender asks.

"Uh," Razor begins to say as he looks at all of the options, "I'll just let you decide then."

"One gimlet coming up!" The bartender announces as he goes to work on the drink.

As Razor waits for his order, a middle-aged man sits down next to him at the bar.

"I'll take an old fashioned," The man orders.

The bartender nods. Razor looks at the man next to him out of curiosity. The man has dark brown hair that's pulled back except for a lock that's down on his face, facial hair, white skin, and green eyes. The man is wearing an unbuttoned light blue military uniform that has a black t-shirt underneath.

The bartender finishes making Razor's gimlet and hands it to Razor. Razor takes a sip of it and is taken aback at how pungent the alcohol is. Still, he continues to drink it regardless. The bartender then slides the old fashioned down to the middle-aged man. The man takes it and finishes the whole thing in just one gulp.

"Ah, that hit the spot," The 44-year-old states, satisfied.

Razor looks at the man confused, and after noticing his state, the man chuckles.

"What's the matter kid?" the man asks, "Never seen someone drink before?"

"I have, just not like that," Razor answers.

"Heh well y'see when you get to be my age, it'll take more than five drinks if you even want to start feeling a little buzzed."

"Really?"

The man waves the bartender over and says, "Five beers for the both of us please."

"Wait what?" Razor questions after just finishing his gimlet.

"You gotta live life to the fullest, kid," The middle-aged man states as the beers get passed to them.

"I guess," Razor states before drinking a bottle of beer.

"I like you, kid, what's your name?" 

"Razor Smirnov," Razor answers.

"Maskim Abdulov," The man replies before lifting his bottle of beer, "Now, then, ready to drink the night away?"

Razor is a bit hesitant but he raises his bottle. The two clank bottles together before they start to drink.

After getting a few drinks in, Razor's face is flushed red and his movements are wobbly.

"Y'know Abduulov?" Razor starts to say, "This shhiddy is bulllshhid!"

"You got that right," Abdulov chuckles.

"Alruddy I'm- I'm uh," Razor starts to say but loses track of his thoughts.

"I get it, there's some reason why a kid like yourself is drinking their miseries away huh?" Abdulov remarks.

Razor nods.

"Lemme guess, is it girl problems?" Abdulov questions.

Razor shakes his head.

"You got a shitty boss?" Abdulov questions.

Razor shakes his head.

"Money problems?" Abdulov questions.

Razor lightly nods his head as he asks, "Howww did- How did u gnow?"

"Third time's the charm," Abdulov jokes.

"Heh heh."

"I've been in your shoes before y'know," Abdulov begins to say.

"Rrreally?"

"It's true," Abdulov affirms, "You remind me of myself when I was your age. Angry at the world for not listening or caring."

"Wowww, sssurry dat huppened two you Mistah Siw buss Man."

"Don't mention it, but y'know I wanna help you," Adbulov begins to say, "I got this thing I need help with, it'll only take a few minutes."

"Wut izz it?"

"I can't really disclose it here," Abdulov says before whispering, "But if you help me out I'll pay you twenty thousand dollars."

"TWUNNY THOUUZAN?!" Razor shouts, "U're sso kind Mistah Siw Buss Man."

Abdulov laughs as he writes out a check and hands it to the bartender before standing up.

"Welcome aboard, now let's get started," Abdulov says as he stands up, "Time is of the essence kid."

The drunk Razor leans towards the bartender.

"Don't worry about it," Abdulov shouts as he walks up the stairs, "I covered both of our tabs."

Hearing this, the drunken Razor stumbles out of his seat and follows Abdulov out of the underground tavern.

_______________________________

Abdulov takes Razor down a dark and grimy alleyway. After he throws up, Razor continues to walk while noticing that at the end of the alleyway is a thick metal door with a scanner attached to it. Abdulov takes out his military badge and puts it in front of the scanner. After the badge is scanned, the door is unlocked. The two men enter.

As Razor enters the building, he looks around to see how empty it all is. All there is in here is just cement walls and pillars, with a stairway leading down to the basement of the place.

"What is this place?" Razor questions as he's beginning to sober up.

"Oh, this?" Abdulov responds, "It's a building I managed to buy. Though the only thing that matters about it is the stuff downstairs."

"I see," Razor says as he starts to get second thoughts.

While his second thoughts begin to grow, Razor follows Abdulov down the stairs and into the huge open basement. One of the basement's walls is made of metal with two circular handles on opposing ends of said wall. As Razor looks closer, he notices that the wall splits down the middle a little.

Finally, he realizes that what he's looking at isn't a wall.

It's a door.

"Now, all I need you to do is to just twist one of the handles and push it in while I do the same on the other end," Abdulov instructs.

"That's it?" Razor questions.

"That's it," Abdulov affirms, "Simple, isn't it?"

Razor doesn't respond as he walks over to the handle. He slowly begins to break out into a nervous sweat as his gut is telling him to stop. It's telling him that there's something else going on down here, that Abdulov isn't being fully honest.

Yet despite feeling conflicted, Razor goes along with the order anyways as he places his hands on the cold metallic handle. His face showing the sentiment that even if he isn't being told everything; he really doesn't have a choice but to go along with Abdulov's offer of twenty thousand dollars.

What's the worst that could happen?

And so, after the two nod at each other, both proceed to twist their respective handles before pushing them inward. Once done, a loud clicking noise echoes out from the huge door as it begins to split in two.

Razor tries to get a good look at what's behind the now-opened door, yet all he can see is darkness.

"S-so no what?" Razor asks, confused.

"Now we wait," Abdulov answers.

As the two stand there, Abdulov clears his throat as he begins to speak.

"Y'know kid, around 19 years ago this place used to be a hotel and a damn popular one at that," Abdulov explains.

"W-what happened to it?" Razor questions.

As soon as he finishes speaking, Razor hears what sounds like a mix between a distorted ground and a tongue clicking come from within the inky abyss he just helped open.

Unphased by this, Abdulov continues, "Several monsters appeared practically overnight causing the hotel to shut down. Now this was before the military really had any proper protocol on what to do with monsters, so you wanna know what they did?"

Razor is silent as he looks into the darkness, only to see three pairs of glowing eyes stare back at him.

"They just trapped them here! Letting them be forgotten by all, forgotten by time. And it would have remained that way," Abdulov rants as he takes a step forward, "If it wasn't for me."

Razor begins to back away as the monsters start to emerge out from within the inky shadows they were trapped in for so long.

"When I first bought this place, I was only able to communicate with them through a small window," Abdulov monologues, "And yet, I managed to tame them. All that I needed was a little help opening up the gates."

Abdulov stops walking and turns to face Razor as the three monsters surround him, "And thanks to you, I can finally do what I must."

Of the three monsters surrounding Maksim, the closest to him

looks like a lion at first glance. Except behind that fur; its skin is cracked, its mane pricky, its teeth razor sharp, spikes protrude from its spine, its eyes all blood red, and its tail similar to one of a large fish. The second one appears to be a tall yet very slim floating serpent, they have tiny legs at the bottom of their body which are all covered in white and green scales. Lastly, the final monster is the biggest of them all. Its rock-like body has no limbs, instead it has a giant green orb oozing out from beneath it which it uses to roll around on. Each and every crack on the monster's rocky body reveals a pulsating flesh hidden beneath it.

Razor tries to move, he tries to run, tries to scream, but...

He can't.

There's an emotion that's crawling throughout his entire body; one he hasn't felt this potently ever since he was a child. One that he can do nothing but just stand still and be consumed by it.

By overwhelming fear.

Finally finding his voice, Razor croaks out, "Wh-what are you going to do?"

"Sorry kid but like I said earlier time is of the essence," Abdulov explains, "Though if you really want to know, then just watch."

Abdulov lifts his hand towards the ceiling. Razor watches in a mix of shock and fear as a firework rocket appears above Abdulov's hand. It then shoots up into the ceiling, exploding in the process. As the ceiling starts to crumble down, the now large gaping hole in it allows the three monsters to escape out onto the surface.

Riding on one of the monsters Abdulov congratulates, "I must thank you Razor. After all, none of this would have been able to happen if it wasn't for you."

With the monsters and Abdulov now gone, Razor finally can feel his legs again. Without a second thought, Razor quickly takes off running up the stairs as the building begins to collapse. He jumps over the large hole Abdulov left and slams his body into the exit. 

Razor bursts through the door and stumbles out into the alleyway.

"I gotta get out of here- I gotta get out of here-" Razor pants as he continues to run towards the street.

However just before he can make it to the streets, he stumbles back as a rock-like monster rolls passed. After getting back up, he looks to see that the car the monster rolled over is crushed into pieces.

Razor then runs out into the streets as he and several other citizens are running for their lives, trying to avoid the rampaging monsters and Abdulov. Fireworks are being shot into several nearby buildings, sending rubble down onto the city and innocent civilians below. The lion-like monster slams their tail into a human's legs, sending them flying across the street. 

Not wanting to die, Razor frantically looks for a place to hide. That's when he sees it; The Underground Tavern!

Without a second thought, Razor sprints towards the door and tries to open it. However, it's locked. Razor goes to turn around only to see the serpent monster flying straight toward him. Razor begins to slam into the door with all of his might until he manages to get it open and rushes inside, the monster quickly following.

As Razor runs down the steps leading to the bar, the serpent monster pursues him crashing into the walls of the stairway as it tries to devour Razor.

All the lights are off in the bar so when Razor reaches the bottom of the steps, he quickly hops over the bar and covers his mouth with his hands. But in the process, having his phone fall out of his pocket. Razor tries to not make a single sound as the monster slams through tables and chairs alike in search of its meal.

During its search, the monster slams into the wall where all of the bottles are, and in doing so sends them all crashing down to the ground. Razor covers his head as shattered glass and bottles alike rain down upon him.

Razor closes his eyes and waits.

He waits…

And waits…

And he hears…nothing.

All the slamming into the walls, all the bottles breaking, everything has all ceased. Razor opens his eyes, relieved that the nightmare is partially over.

That is until his phone illuminates as his ringtone blares out into the ruined bar. Razor looks to see he's getting a call from Nadia. Razor quickly tries to hang it up. That's when he spots some liquor dripping down onto the phone. Except, all of the bottles are already smashed onto the ground.

Looking up in horror, Razor sees the serpent monster staring right back at him from the top of the bar. Its mouth opens, showing off its endless rows of sharp teeth.

Razor screams as the monster lunges toward him, but Razor just manages to get out of the monster's way barely avoiding an untimely demise. As Razor then runs toward the stairway, he starts to hear something.

He hears footsteps.

A mysterious figure reaches the final step and turns the lights on, causing both Razor & the monster to stop moving. Standing at the end of the stairway is a tall middle-aged woman with long sandy blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. The woman is wearing a black turtleneck sweater underneath a beige jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots.

"You, get behind me," the woman orders.

Razor complies as the monster watches the woman in curiosity. The woman proceeds to take out a tiny brown pouch with a yellow ribbon out from her pocket. She then unties the ribbon and pours the contents of said pouch onto her hand.

Now in her hand is a pile of sand. She lifts it up towards her face before blowing on it, sending the sand flying outward. Except, the sand begins to move back towards her hand as it expands and morphs into a sword which she is now wielding.

"Keep your distance, because things are about to get messy," The woman states.

See You Next Chapter!~