Chapter 5: First Day On The Job

In the dark alleyways of Rising Heights, a young kid is running for his life as the sun starts to set. He's barefoot, his clothes are disheveled, his white skin bruised, his brown hair a mess, and he has a black eye.

"Gotta hide, gotta hide!" The frightened kid pants.

As he turns a corner and goes deeper into the alleyway, he hears the roar of a monster from behind him. Except, it sounds less like a roar and more like the blaring of several distorted trumpets. The 12-year-old kid named Jessie Gavagan looks to see that at the end of the alleyway is a door that has a dumpster next to it.

He quickly runs towards the door and tries to get it open, but it's locked. He looks back to see the shadow of the monster getting closer and closer, the stomping of its feet growing louder and louder. Out of options, Jessie runs to the dumpster, manages to open it, and leaps inside. With the lid now closed, all Jessie can do is cover his mouth with both hands and pray he isn't heard. He's stuck in perpetual darkness, the only source of light being the very tiny crack on the dumpster's lid. Sweat drips down the young boy's face as his hyperventilating increases. Suddenly, he begins to hear the dumpster lid opening.

Jessie closes his eyes, fearing for the worst.

"Hey kid you're alright?" An employee of the Casino asks as he is holding a bag of garbage, "What're you doing in a dumpster?"

Jessie looks confused as he sees the Casino Employee begin to reach into the dumpster to help Jessie out. That is until both hear what sounds like the blaring of several distorted trumpets. The Casino Employee looks over to where the noise came from and his face goes pale. Jessie can hear the sound of hooves sprinting towards them and as the noise gets louder, The Casino Employee turns to run away. Jessie quickly slams the dumpster lid shut.

"OH, GOD! NO NO NO NO NO-" The Casino Employee begs before he lets out a blood-curdling scream.

The sound of the distorted trumpets is so loud that even with his hands over them, Jessie's ears are bleeding. Eventually, the noise and the employee's scream silence as Jessie hears a loud thump outside. After waiting a few seconds, Jessie lifts the lid to the dumpster ever so slightly to see if the coast is clear.

Unfortunately for him, the only thing Jessie sees is the yellow crusty eye of a monster staring back at him. Pus and mucus oozing out of every orifice.

Jessie screams as the sound of distorted trumpets picks up once more.

PROJECT MONSTER

An RV comes to a stop outside of a huge dormitory's courtyard. Anastasia Petrova & Tire Bosch exit out of the front doors of the RV while Dmitri Morozov, Katina Rotten, Razor Smirnov, & Nadia Smirnova exit out the side door. Tire closes the door and tries to lock the RV but gets the key stuck as Razor & Nadia walk forward with their suitcases.

"Say how much stuff is in here?" Razor questions as he lifts a suitcase.

"Some of my clothes, the groceries, the family photos, and the PlayBox," Nadia answers.

"You decided to save the pretzels over my suit?" Razor groans.

"You try and pack up a whole house in a few minutes."

"Touche."

As the group makes their way to the dorm, Razor gets a proper look of the courtyard. It has a circular paved road with a big granite fountain that's spraying water placed in the center. Big brick walls and a thick black metal gate separate the grassy courtyard from the rest of the city. The group walks up the cobblestone steps leading to the front doors of the giant one-story dormitory. Two golden bear statues stand on opposite ends of the stairway.

"Pretty cool, right?" Katina asks with a smile on her face.

"Yeah…it looks nice," Razor replies.

"A bit too…fancy for my taste but don't worry, the inside doesn't live up to the hype," Dmitri tells Razor.

"That's… good to know," Razor lies.

Finally getting the key out of the lock, Tire walks up the stairs and enters the lobby of the dormitory. Anastasia, Dmitri, & Katina are soon to follow, leaving the two siblings to chat amongst themselves.

"The place looks nice," Razor admits.

"I just want to go to bed soon," Nadia sighs deflated, "All the socializing has drained me."

"Don't worry, we're almost done for the day."

The two enter the lobby.

Taking their first steps into the place they'll now call home, Razor & Nadia are greeted by several party streamers going off and several people clapping. The two look around to see that the lobby has a circular couch in the middle along with some sparsely placed chairs and tables. Two hallways branch off from the lobby on opposite ends, and the entrance to the communal shower area is at the end of the lobby.

"What's all this for?" Razor asks as he tries to get some of the party streamers out of his hair.

"We do this all the time someone moves in, we've gathered everyone together too," Katina explains before adding, "Well almost everyone."

"I see," Razor says before seeing someone approach him.

The man who approached him is a 21-year-old with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, a mole on his right cheek, and a very punchable face. He's wearing a dark green military uniform.

"I'm Bastien, nice to meet you," the 21-year-old says, "Though everyone calls me by my last name for some reason."

"What's your last name?" Razor asks.

"You don't want to know."

"It can't be that bad."

"It's Bastard."

"Bastien Bastard?"

"Yep," Bastard sighs.

"Parents can be quite cruel at times," Razor pats Bastard on the back.

"I don't know if you want to be touching him," An exasperated voice groans.

Razor looks to see a 20-year-old woman with dark skin, winter gray eyes, & long black hair tied into a knotted ponytail. She's also wearing a dark green military uniform, however, her right arm is resting on the gold handle of a longsword.

"Destiny please I'm trying to make a good impression," Bastard hisses at the woman.

"Oh please," Destiny groans, "All it will take is for us to tell him about The Lotion Incident and he'll want nothing to do with you."

"IT WAS JUST ONE TIME!" Bastard shouts.

"ONE TIME MY ASS!" Destiny Whisp shouts back.

As the two bitter rivals get into a screaming match, the longsword Destiny's arm was resting on hobbles its way over to Razor & Nadia.

To their complete shock, the sword turns around and the two can see that on its handle….is a face?!

"My sincerest apologies for the disruptful actions of Miss Whisp and Mister Bastard they are performing during your welcome party," The Sword states.

"Uh it's fine Mister Sword," Razor awkwardly says while staring at the sword's green eyes.

"My name is Excalibur, though my acquaintances have taken a custom to the phrase 'X-Calli'," the sword states, "Though 'Mister Sword' does have a nice ring to it."

Destiny then grabs X-Calli by the handle and begins to swing it at Bastard, causing him to start running as he yells insults at Destiny. Razor looks at Nadia to see she's just as confused as he is.

"So…swords can talk?" Razor says befuddled.

"Apparently," Nadia replies, also befuddled.

As the two watch the chaos in front of them, Razor feels someone tug at the sleeve of his shirt. He looks down to see a short girl with messy brown hair, violet eyes, thick round glasses, and white skin looking at him upset. The 12-year-old girl is wearing a green military uniform and a combat helmet.

"So it looks like they're just letting anyone into the military nowadays," the girl snickers.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Razor asks.

"I'm MAJOR VIOLET TUCKER OF THE ELEVENTH DIVISION, AND YOU BETTER NOT FORGET IT YOU NINCOMPOOP!" The girl shouts before storming off.

Razor looks towards Anastasia and asks concerned, "You guys let a CHILD work in the military?!"

"That child has the same position of power as us monster killers do," Anastasia replies.

Razor looks at Violet and then back at Anastasia before replying, "You gotta be shitting me."

Dmitri nudges a man with messy black hair, blue eyes, white skin, and USB ports on their knuckles. The 21-year-old guy is wearing a dark green military uniform and the bags under his eyes are darker than his hair.

"Hey 'Ford, why don't you introduce yourself too," Dmitri suggests.

"If I have to," The tired man begrudgingly states.

The tired man clears his throat before extending his hand and stating, "My name's Xavier Manford. It's nice to meet you, I guess."

Razor shakes his hand and replies, "Nice to meet you, I'm Razor and that's my sister Nadia. Say those USB ports work right?"

"Yes, that's my blast," Xavier begrudgingly answers, "It's only useful when you need to charge your phone."

"Good to know!" Razor replies.

Xavier sighs and walks away. As he does that, Razor looks over to Nadia and sees that her eyes are darting all over the place and she's sweating bullets.

Razor turns to Anastasia and asks, "Do you mind if we go and unpack? It's been a long day."

"Before you do that," Anastasia says.

Anastasia hands Razor a room key with the number '106-B' while she hands Nadia one with the number '104-A'.

"106-B is down the left hall and 104-A is down the right," Anastasia explains.

"I see, thank you!" Razor says.

Nadia speedwalks towards her hallway, trying to just be done with today while Razor makes his way down the hallway.

As he does so, he walks down until he reaches a green metal door with the number '306' written on it. He unlocks the door and enters.

As he enters his room, he turns on the lights to see that the room has a wooden desk, a twin XL-sized bed, and a closet. There are also a few windows near the corner of the wall. Razor thinks to himself that the place is pretty small but he realizes he doesn't really need that much space since most of his stuff is destroyed.

Razor sets his suitcase down and takes out the few things he had left from the apartment; a few pairs of clothes, his computer, and a picture in a frame.

While Razor begins to make his room; he starts to feel a warm sense of comfort and stability wash over him. Almost as if things were finally looking up for him. Maybe it was the welcome party, maybe it was that he didn't have to worry about a job anymore, or maybe it was because he got to meet so many people. Whatever the reason, Razor feels excited for the days to come. 

After putting the final touches on the room by setting the photograph atop his desk, Razor lays in bed as he drifts to sleep; ready for tomorrow.

_______________________________

In the middle of the night, Razor is awoken by a loud banging noise coming from his door.

"Uh, what time is it?" Razor asks groggily, clearly not ready for tomorrow to be so soon. 

He looks at the alarm clock in his room to see it's 3:22 AM. As he gets out of bed he makes sure to put on his shoes before opening the door.

However before he could ask what was going on, Razor gets grabbed by his shirt and pulled out into the hall. Razor looks to see that the person pulling him down the hall is Dmitri Morozov, who's still wearing the green cloth over the top half of his face.

"Rise and shine sleepy boy," Dmitri enthusiastically says, "We got ourselves a mission!"

"Really at 3 AM?" Razor questions, "And can you let go of me dude, I can walk!"

Dmitri complies and Razor replies, "Thanks, also how come you always wear that blindfold?"

"I never leave my room without it," Dmitri replies.

"That…that doesn't answer my question," Razor sighs.

As the two enter the lobby of the dormitory, Razor looks to see Katina, Anastasia, & Tire are already there with Tire wearing a black paisley bomber jacket over his hoodie. As Razor gets closer, however, he notices a man in a light blue military uniform sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Who's that?" Razor whispers to Dmitri, "I didn't see him at the welcome party."

"He's the northern division's newest colonel AKA our boss, Frank Walker," Dmitri replies.

"I see," Razor whispers.

As Razor is looking at the man, Frank Walker notices and replies, "Hey kid, you do know that you're not getting paid to just stare at people, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Razor replies cheerfully.

However internally, a thought crossed Razor's mind, and that thought was…

"Man, the dude's a total dick."

See You Next Chapter!~