Chapter One

Nothing suspicious here. Just an old lady going into a bank. God bless the elderly. He whistles peacefully, as he passes by on his scooter, when suddenly, the bank's security alarm goes off. Sigh. Spoke too soon. She dashes out of the bank, only to land in his arms.

''Caught by the law,'' he smirks.

He had enough time to realize it wasn't a she but a he before the thief breaks his way out, making a run for it with the money, tossing his wig and fake boobs away.

''Aw, no, not the fake boobs again. Get back here, you crap!'

He follows after him, passing by numerous curves and turns until they reach an alley. The thief attempts to climb up a ladder suspended on the wall Sebastian doesn't let him. He shoots at his leg and he crouches down to the ground with an outcry of pain.

''Disguising as an old lady, wearing fake boobs! Just to rob a bank? Despicable. You thieves have really stooped so low,'' he shakes his head, handcuffing the thief. ''That'll be three months in, old lady.'' He calls in his partner to come pick him up.

'So…fake boobs?''

'Fake boobs! Gets me every time! Plus, he did really pull off the 'terrible old lady makeup look'.''

They turn to the thief at the back seat of the car, gnashing his teeth in pain. They nod and Greg turns back to focus on the road.

'Didn't plan to shoot you, bro but you were trying to escape from the law… You going to finish that?'' chubby Sebastian asks Greg, pointing to a half eaten chocolate doughnut on his lap.

'All yours,'' Greg replies, keeping his eyes on the road and making a swift turn right.

'Thanks, man.'' He reaches for it and chows down on it like one who hasn't eaten in days. 'So hungry… Been almost an hour since I last ate!''

Greg rolls his eyes and shakes his head, then pulls up at their station. 'You've got to start keeping fit. It'll help you catch bad guys faster,'' he snaps, as they both get down from the car.

'Nahh, that's bogus!' says Sebastian, getting the thief out and walking him into the station. He takes the thief past many cells, each filled with criminals.

'Hi, Natasha!'' yells Sebastian as they pass by a lady doing crunches on the floor. She looks, then rolls her eyes and continues her crunches. 'That one's my ex-girlfriend. Who would have known she'd end up here?'' he asks the thief in between laughs.

'Bro, could you just put me in standing before him.ell, already?''

His laughter dies down slowly. 'Yeah, alright.'' He stops by a cell that looks empty and gets out the keys from his pocket. He then unlocks the cell.

'Finally.'

'Your new home, buddy!'' he releases the handcuffs and half-pushes him into the cell, then shuts it and walks away, whistling from the depth of his potbelly.

The thief manages to sit on the floor and draws nearer to the wall so he can rest his head. He shuts his eyes when the pain of his injured leg hits again.

'What you in for…roomie?'' a deep, rusty voice asks. He opens his eyes to a huge, muscular man with legs spread and both hands resting on each hip standing before him.

'W-was caught robbing a bank.''

'Ah…baby crimes. I killed my brother for getting my dream job…then killed my mother for trying to rebuke me about it…then killed my wife when I caught her ratting me out to the police. Fortunately for them, they got there before I could escape. I'm only here until it's the day of my court case but it seems like until that day…'' he bends down, staring at the thief eyeball to eyeball, 'you and I are going to be GOOD FRIENDS,'' he grins, exposing his dirty brown teeth. The thief swallows heavily, sweat droplets surrounding his forehead already.

Sebastian walks down the hallway still whistling, watching all the criminals do their things. Some glare at him, while some grunt loudly, and others simply ignore him – others like Natasha. They had dated, alright, for two years before they broke up. They met each other at a coffee shop. Sebastian, who had just newly been recruited as a cop came there as a customer and Natasha was the waitress who served him. She had walked up to him and taken his order nicely. Immediately, he fell in love with her accent and peaceful smile. He thanked her when she served him his hot medium-dark coffee and tipped her. She was indeed delighted by his gesture and shot him yet another beautiful smile before walking away to serve other customers. He watched her walk away while taking a sip of his coffee and knew he just had to get her number but he decided to take things slowly. So, he kept going there everyday for the next two months and tipping her as well until one fateful day. She normally served him and after being given a tip, would walk away but that day, she stayed back a few minutes. She pulled out a chair and sat opposite him on the table.

'I feel your stare every time I turn around…'' she took a look at his name tag, 'Sebastian. You've been tipping me five dollars everyday for the past two months and today, you gave me ten.''

'I felt five was too little.''

'Your coffee isn't even worth five dollars,'' she paused and stared at him. He did same too. 'I know you like me and you want my number. You know you could have just asked two months ago, right?''

'Two months ago, you might not have agreed to give it to me.''

'So, what makes you think I'll agree now?''

He didn't speak. She smiled, then leaned forward and took a pen out of his front shirt pocket. She dragged his napkin and scribbled down some numbers on it. 'Call me,'' she said, leaving the napkin on the table and getting up. 'I'm keeping the pen,'' she added, turning around to sway her well-rounded hips as she walked away.

(In) That moment, he died and resurrected. He sat there in denial for a couple of minutes before he came to accept that it was real. He reached for the napkin and took it in his hands. She did have a lovely writing. It showed through her numbers. That evening, after work, he called her on the phone. She had picked up and had recognized his voice before he said his name. He was sweating in his palms. How was he to tell her that he had wanted to take her on a date the next day, being a Friday, so they could unwind for the weekend. How he had done it, and how they had actually had the date didnt matter because months later, he proposed to her and she accepted. Then, he looked much better. He was a younger, fit, agile cop…so unlike what he is now. That was probably what made Natasha like him even more. Maybe he had let himself go after their breakup. Maybe the image didn't leave his head even years after catching her in bed with another guy. Maybe the fact that she didn't see anything wrong in it made him unable to heal quickly. Maybe she had lost interest in him. Or maybe she didn't totally love him in the first place. Again, maybe she did love him and knew she was wrong. Maybe she did feel so bad but knew it was too late to make amends. Maybe the breakup hurt her twice as much as it hurt him because she was the one who caused it. Maybe it had taken her a longer time to get over the pain. Maybe that was why she committed a felony that landed her in jail. Maybe she took to crime after she had lost him - someone she loved. Maybe that was why she ignored Sebastian every time he walked by – because it reminded her of the time she had hurt him two years ago. Maybe… They both did change a lot. Sebastian let himself go and embraced being happy alone. Natasha on the other hand, became the opposite. Her beautiful, peaceful smile gone. She now smiles and talks less. She transitioned from girly and pretty to cold and intimidating. It's quite obvious who was really more affected by the breakup.

'Seems like there's no much crimes today…could be a free day,'' Sebastian, on getting outside the station, says, poking Greg, who's standing by the car, staring into thin air.

'There are no free days as an officer. You should get back to patrolling,'' he replies plainly.

'Come on, man…take a break once in a while.''

'Not on a day like this. Don't you realize the city's too calm? Too calm, it's suspicious. Something might not be right somewhere. Get in, Sebastian. We're getting back on patrol together,'' he says, getting into the car.

Sebastian groans as he joins him in the car. 'I wish they'd paired me up with a more fun partner.''

'Not everything in life has to be fun, Sebastian. Not everything in life has to be fun.''

'Yeah, I get that, Greg. I guess in life, we just have to do what has to be done.''

'Duty calls, always,'' Greg replies, zooming off.

They drive around town, searching for any suspicious activity until a man falls from the sky on the road before them... Literally

'What the-? Get out of the way, man!'' Sebastian forces his head out the window and yells after Greg had held the brakes instantly. Greg honks loudly but the man stands there, staring at them, doing nothing still.

'Yo…'' Sebastian gets down from the car and walks up to the man. He hits him in the chest. 'Get out of the way, man! You trying to get yourself killed?'' Still, the man doesn't bulge. Out of the blue, an identical man drops from the sky and stands there staring at them like the first.

'Holy shit…'' Sebastian backs away slowly, watching them closely until he reaches the car. He enters into it without taking his eyes off them. By then, Greg is calling in the DPO. A third same-looking man drops from the sky as well. Sebastian and Greg sit there after making the call, avoiding any sound or movement that will startle the men. But the moment the police cars start driving in, the three men hit against the car Greg and Sebastian are in with full force, destroying the bonnet totally. Just then, Greg and Sebastian jump out of the car as though they had been waiting for this moment and begin shooting at the men immediately. The rest police force begin shooting as well. But no matter how much they shoot, the men don't seem to bulge. Instead they turn their heads in a robotic manner to look at each other then nod simultaneously. More men fall in, surrounding every police car and officer until all the officers are surrounded by men who keep falling from the sky. Men who aren't affected by gunshots. Men who tilt their heads like robots. To worsen it, men who all look awfully identical.

''What the fuck? These men aren't normal. This isn't normal!'' Sebastian yells, shooting away with all his might. Greg shoots along with him. All the officers present are shooting but none of the bullets seems to meet these strange men. They step forward and with a swing of their hands, wipe out a large number of officers.

'Fuck. We're dropping like flies! We have every police officer from every station around the city here and we still can't stop these creatures. Quick, Greg! Call the Comman-''

One of the creatures grabs Sebastian and tosses him to the ground. He falls hard and groans, holding his left arm in pain. Just then, it looks up at Greg and tilts its head robotically. In the blink of an eye, Greg runs to find a quiet space behind one of the cars. Quickly, he makes an emergency call.

''195...196...197...198...199...200...''

A call comes in. She abandons her pushups and heads to the phone hung on the wall.

''Marilyn Carpel speaking,'' she picks up.

''Commandress! There's an invasion in the city! We're dying like flies! We need yo-''

''Hello? Hello??''

A movement outside the window catches her attention and the phone drops from her hand.

''Dear God...''