Location: La Dama, St. Moya’s Orphanage, New Castor
“Preacher, preacher!” The orphans ran into the Church of the Twins, situated just a 2 minute long walk away from the orphanage. Service had already ended an hour ago, yet the pastor was still there, sweeping, still in his vestments. He was no janitor, but he took it on himself to clean up after every service; rumor had it that this was a form of penitence, but most people just figured he liked having a clean church. He was an old bull, 54 years of age, a pair of small pince nez glasses a top his snout.
“Hm,” The bull looked up from the pile of dust on the floor, to his the cubs running through the doors. A tiger cub, a pair of squirrels, and a gecko. He regularly saw them in service, they would often have trouble sitting still during service. He smiled and waved, setting the broom aside, “Welcome in, children,” He absolutely towered over all four of them, a massive mountain of a man, even by his species standards. His vestment barely contained his musculature. Going down on one knee, as to not scare the kids, he spoke to them with a great deal of kindness, “I didn’t see any of you at service today. Busy playing?”
Fighter
Guillermo “Bulwark of the Twins” Gisbert
“Um…” One of the kids, the tiger cub, stuttered, bowing his head, “Sorry, sir… Yes…” It was a sin to lie, so at least the kid was taking that lesson to heart. But, he looked up hopefully at the pastor, “But I’m been reading my bible, I swear!”
“Don’t worry, you don’t need to go to every service. After all, play time is just as important as keeping the faith, is what I say.” He chuckled, “Now, what was it you wanted?”
Another spoke up, one of the squirrels, the oldest of them at the age of 12; that made her the leader of them, as the most wizened of them. “We want to hear the story again! The story of where we came from!”
“That wasn’t on today’s service,” The priest said, sighing. There was a whole book’s worth of information in their bible and that was the story they wanted to hear every time. Yet, the kids were so excited and never grew tired of hearing the story. “Why don’t you read your bible and you can enjoy it that way?”
“It’s more fun when you tell it!” The girl protested, “Come on! Please! Please!” The other kids joined her at those last few pleases.
Guillermo stared at them, with his tired, but kind eyes, then nodded. “Very well then.” He stood up, looking up at the statue at the end of the church. A pair of diamonds, intersecting each other, like a venn diagram, a line running through the both of them. He recited the speech, using the same dramatic voice, he used every time:
“Billions of years ago, before all life, there existed nothing but two Gods. The male god, Ymos, a god of creation, able to conjure anything with a simple thought and able to create everything that can and will ever exist. The other, was the goddess, Inva, who was goddess of life and spirit, a being without form who ruled over everything that could be felt but not touched. For aeons, they fought, constantly at war with each other, for a reason no one knows why, not even our greatest scholars. A god of form and a goddess of the formless, despite all their hatred, they couldn’t touch each other. Soon, they too realized that they had long forgotten their reason for fighting each other. They made peace, and through that peace, they realized that they felt things about the other that they never thought they’d feel before. The two former enemies fell in love, never to bare hatred towards each other ever again. Ymos presented Inva with a gift, a world of his design. But the world was gray and lifeless, beautifully crafted and intricately detailed, but lacking in life. So, Inva breathed into his gift, and the world was brought to life, full of color and sound. The two, in their love, became one in that moment, the Twin Gods, YMIV, the two that are one. The new god then gave birth to a multitude of children and those children were us. They dubbed these beings Qestians, for that was the name of the world that was their home, and after teaching them all the means to survive, YMIV sat upon his and her throne, watching their children from afar, like a proud parent watching their children play. That was the beginning of our creation. Amen.”
“Yay!” The kids cheered!
Guillermo sighed, crossing his arms, “Now, why can’t you act that excited for normal service? I expect to see you next time?”
The kids ran around in front of the bull, jumping up and down, cheering, “We’re children of a god!”
That was when, Guillermo noticed a new person had entered the church, sitting in the back pews. They must’ve snuck in while he was telling the story. They were an average looking fox, or at least they would be if not for the large scar running across the right side of her face, watching the group, reading one of the miniature bibles that were attached to the pews. The woman smirked, dressed in his red and black suit, when Guillermo finally noticed her
Redliner
Beryl “Ever Lethal” Turnington
“Remember to read your bible, children, and don’t forget that the Twins will always love you,” He said, speaking hastily, not taking his eyes off the woman
The kids fell silent, looking to the woman, sitting at the entrance, then looked up at Guillermo, all of them stepping away from her, towards the back of the church, with the youngest, huddled behind Guillermo’s leg. Each of them, on instinct, knew that this woman was dangerous.
“Children, you may leave.” He looked down at them, smiling, reassuring the four that it was okay. “Go on. She’s just a fellow preacher.” He however, walked with them, down the aisle, towards the door outside.
Once they were there, the children ran outside, back towards the orphanage, they could be heard talking among themselves, but from their voices they were in a much better mood now that they were away from the scary woman, even laughter from one of them could be heard. Once Guillermo could no longer hear their voices, he spoke, furrowing his brow. “Why are you here? Now of all times?”
“Why the hostility?” Beryl said, standing up, coyly poking Guillermo’s left pec “Didn’t boss say they’d be sending someone over when you met him? Well? Here I am.” She said, reaching into a purse at her side. Her usual Redliner uniform was slightly modified. Instead of the usual pants, she had a long skirt, her jacket looked smaller too. From the purse, she pulled out a folder, plus the Invitation, stamped with Guillermo’s full name. “But I’m curious,” she opened the folder, showing its contents to Guillermo, “What’s a priest doing going out and fighting for money?”
Inside the folder were several pictures of a fighting ring, set in front of a large audience. The type that would be hosted by bars, local groups, and charity events. From the looks of things, it wasn’t any ordinary tournament, but a Judo tournament! Not very popular in New Castor, but it had its share of followers and fans, depending on where you went. The one consistent thing about the pictures, of course, was Guillermo himself, shirtless and bruised, raising his arms in victory over a downed opponent.
Guillermo nodded, grumbling, “My secret life isn’t much of a secret anymore, huh?” He remembered at the last tournament, after a hard fought battle, he was approached by a man in a purple suit, who offered him a job, saying that it paid significantly more than the fights he was having, at the cost of greater danger. The man sat him down, he was charismatic and incredibly amicable man, and explained to him what Primal was. How could he say no to it? He, however, didn’t say anything about his double life as a priest. He didn’t once let his priesthood and his Judo champion lifestyles intersect. “How did you know?”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“We have our ways.” She laughed, leaving it at that.
“Well, to answer your question, I fight to keep this orphanage afloat. We are a poor town and the orphanage eats the town’s scraps. The children here? They are why I fight. I want them to grow up comfortable and happy, to grow up old enough to have kids of their own and be the parents they never got to have. But the fights I’m having aren’t going cut it. Hallmark promised that no child here will go hungry.”
“How cute!” Beryl laughed. “Most people I meet are just muscleheads, but you, I like you.” Her voice raised to a fervent squeal, “As a matter of fact, I like you so much, I just might-” She cut herself off, to swing a fast and powerful kick at Guillermo. The kick made impact with his shoulder and-
THUNK
-she fell down wincing in pain, rubbing her leg. “Oooooh… Ow…” She groaned. Guillermo didn’t even budge. He didn’t even block and yet kicking him felt like she just kicked a brick wall. She was hoping he’d use his Judo on her, to measure his skills, but even that wasn’t necessary.
He looked down at her, a smug grin on his face, “If you want to fight, well, we can go somewhere far away where the kids won’t see.” He picked up the invitation from her, “Twins bless you, ma’am.”
She nodded, willingly accepting that she was the fool here. “Welcome… Ow… To Primal.” She stood up, before taking one of the miniature bibles, “Oh uh… Can I keep this? I want to teach my daughter some good values.”
Guillermo, silently nodded, as he watched her leave, before returning to his broom to sweep.
----------------------------------------
Location: Xivan Max Correctional Facility, Xiva
“Alright… Two times the charm.” The warden said, as he flipped the switch.
The electric chair hummed to life, the faint sound of an electric buzz could be heard. Strapped to the chair, was an enormous Komodo Dragon, the helmet shaped specifically for his reptilian head. His whole body tensed up, violently shaking as the voltage coursed through him. Yet he didn’t shout in pain, barely making any noise. The only vocalization he made was a sharp hissing sound between his clenched teeth
The room consisted of 4 other people. A doctor, 2 security guards, and the prison’s warden, manning the switch. Soon, the electricity was flipped off, and the inmate slumped over, his body smelling of burnt scales.
“Well, all is well that ends well, I guess,” one of the security guards said, bowing his head. He didn’t know what this man did to deserve to be on death row, but a death is a death. He wouldn’t lose sleep over it though.
“Give it a moment,” His more exhausted sounding friend said, having been here far longer than the naive guard.
“Huh?”
No one approached his body, not even the doctor to check if he was truly dead. The newbie thought it could’ve been because there was still lingering voltage running through him, but no one was saying anything. All of them were waiting for… Something.
Then, the reptile opened his eyes, slowly looking up at the group, the warden in particular scowled. The inmate grinned and said, “How about one more?”
Men and women, young and old, there was no rhyme or reason to the killing, they were a man who killed for the sake of killing, choosing his victims with the randomness of drawing a name from a hat. 5 years ago, 20 dead bodies were found on the beach of one of Xiva’s islands. Due to the condition of the bodies, eaten by animals and the weather, the killer was never found. Months after that, more bodies were found, 16 of them. Again, the killer was not found. Then, the third killing happened, exactly a year after the first set of bodies were found. 24 people killed this time. But this time was different; the killer was right there, all of the bodies laid out in a circle, with him in the center. Stranger still, he came with law enforcement with no struggle, stating, “I’m done.”
Fighter
Pilotte “Deathless on Deathrow” Knox
“Again?!” The warden shouted.
“He’s survived the electric chair twice now. He survived lethal injection with enough toxin to kill a man twice his size, he survived hanging from the neck for 10 minutes.” The doctor said, looking at his notes.
Pilotte leaned back in his chair as much as his restraints allowed him, flicking his tongue, he smiled. “That all? Well, why don’t you let me out? We can stop this pointless effort.”
“Shut your mouth!” The warden screamed, he was a shrill Shrew who took all things in his prison very seriously. He would not let this shitty lizard get the best of him! “Why did you even surrender to us if you just want to leave?”
“I don’t know.” Pilotte shrugged, “Thought this would be fun. Now I’m bored.”
The warden’s eye twitched, “You…”
“Sir, if I can make a suggestion, why don’t we take a more medieval approach?” One of the guards said, “Cut his head off, divide his torso into four pieces. That’d definitely kill him.”
“No.” The warden said, “I’m fine with this. You want to leave, Pilotte? That’s what you want? Huh?” He laughed, pointing at the lizard, who looked at him unimpressed, “Well, if you’re bored, I think you living in boredom until you die of natural causes is a fate worse than death! Death sentence? Try life sentence! No! I’m gonna keep trying to execute you, over and over and over again, just to see how much more you can take!” He got right up to the Komodo Dragon, “How’s that sound! You piece of-”
A cracking sound could be heard. The whole room went silent.
“What was…?”
“I said I want to leave.” Before anyone could figure it out, they realized the source of the sound; the wooden arms of the electric chair were breaking. The guards began to turn the safety off on their guns, fingers on the trigger. But it was too late.
Pilotte darted forward, breaking the arms of the chair, and clamped his mouth around the warden’s neck, and in one solid motion, ripped a large chunk from his neck. Blood sprayed onto the ceiling and floor. Panic filled the room, even when Pilotte could barely use his hands, the chair’s restraints still tied to him.
“Just shoot him!” One of the guards screamed, while the doctor coward in the corner.
The warden’s corpse was small, being a shrew, but he made a suitable shield, actually this was better, as he was small enough to be handheld and had body armor at that. The lizard held the corpse in front of his head and neck, as his unwilling shield was riddled with bullets. Then, he counted to 3.
1… 2… 3… Click…
Simple math. He recognized those rifles. Standard issue. Carried a total of 30 rounds. About 700 rounds per minute. 11 rounds a second. Have to reload after 3 seconds. Panic causing them to just shoot wildly. See? Simple math.
Tossing the body aside, he rushed forward, and punched the experienced guard’s head against the wall, crushing it with tremendous strength. Strong enough that the wooden chair arm, still strapped to him, broke. The grisly sight of his friends crushed head was enough for the second guard to drop his weapon, screaming in a blind panic. But he would receive no mercy from the death row inmate, as Pilotte spun around, and smashed the guards torso with his large, lumbering tail; the man’s torso: Concave. The lone survivor, the doctor, passed out from a mixture of fear and the sight of gore.
“Three…” Pilotte said, looking to the doctor, walking up to him, only to stop. “…I’m fine with three. I’m satisfied.” He said, looking at the door out. “I’ll take my leave now.” He said, before hearing a clapping behind him. Turning around, he saw a man, a youthful bespectacled white cat, sitting in what was left of the electric chair. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Bravo! Bravo!” He pointed up to the vent in the ceiling. “Was watching there and I must say, that was spectacular!” He put his hand on top of his hand, and with the other, pantomimed pulling a switch. He then proceeded to pretend to get electrocuted, before laughing.
Redliner
Marilyn “Leg Cutter” Von Carvana
Pilotte bared his teeth, more curious at the young man showing no fear in front of him. But smiled, “Talk, before I lose my patience. I could make room for a fourth.”
“Quick and easy, good, that makes things simple for both of us.” He pulled out a Primal Invite. “We have a place where you can kill to your hearts content. You like blood don’t you? Well, you can eat til you vomit with us.” He grinned mischievously. “I can even get you out of here too without a struggle.” He tapped the pin on his lapel, “Thanks to this little beauty here.”
Pilotte stepped forward, looking at the button, wiping the blood from his mouth. “Hm… Well, how about that…” He thought about it, looking at the bodies. On one hand, there would be less death than before. But on the other, killing the weak just wasn’t satisfying anymore. He nodded, with no expression, took the invite. “Very well. Just don’t get in my way.”
“Good, good!” He grinned. His sister was scared for him when he was taking on this task. But he found the prospect of death to be all too exciting. Oh what fun it would be to be killed on the job anyways! “Welcome to Primal!”