Chapter 1 - Grey Monotone

The boy could only see one sight. It was the eyes of a feline creature. One with shimmering wheat fur and beautiful orange eyes with a piercing gaze. The beast was breathing heavily, with clear pauses between the exhales and the inhales. The beast was asleep. When… POP.

Wazir slipped out of unconsciousness. He reflexively sat upright. A mild patter of water droplets sounded all around him. The grey clouds seemingly merging with the grey buildings, making everything monotonous. Chaos of cars honking in the suburban traffic. An ambulance siren cooing in the distance. Wazir stared at the dirty scenery with dirty, wet brown hair, and a shirt reeking of sweat. His shoes, one torn after tripping on the sharp edges of the stairs, and the other not much better either.

Wazir's breath was shallow. Each breath short and quick. His eyes dazed around left and right, trying to look for sunshine. He stood up, his hands feeling the wet shirt he had on. His fingers feeling like alien probes, his nails grown out, muck in the cuticles. He shook his head like a dog, but the rainfall, now much stronger and accompanied by flashes of electricity, unrelentingly fell atop him. The wetness clung to him, his body heavy. He stepped forward, the broken sole hanging loose with the step. Wazir was at the roof. Roof of which building, he didn't know, just one tall enough. The grey tiles, half of which were hidden by large construction equipment atop them, made the entire scene monochrome. Everything was grey around Wazir, it was as if he was stuck in an empty void, except his senses were blasting and ringing. In self-defense? In reflex?

With each step, the tinnitus got louder, his irises got wobblier. His tongue felt drier, and his skin felt like it burned with each splash. Step by step he walked towards the edge. The railing, half rusty, the other broken off. Wazir didn't grab the railing, his hands were paralyzed. The signals his mind sent to his entire body unanswered. He could only stare ahead of him, barely managing to see floating cars, in a landscape of grey. Wazir gulped, trying to quench his dry throat. Was he going to do this? The wind felt like it was pushing him downwards, the rain hitting his head to drool lower, out the edge. Was he going to do this?

'Dull day innit?' A guttural sound emanated from nowhere.

Wazir flinched, being brought back to reality. He fell backwards, his body out of control, onto a broken section of the tiles, flooding with water. Wazir's hands barely managed to stop the fall. Suddenly his senses were a lot calmer. His breath deeper, his salivary glands back in function. Wazir turned to the source of the sound.

He had rippling muscles, not like those professional bodybuilders. It was just enough. His deltoids bulging out from beneath his army themed shirt. His biceps larger than Wazir's head. Two knife sheaths around his waist. His skin was fair, but it was hard to decipher that beneath the plethora of tattoos covering his skin. Wazir recognized Freddy Kreuger in one of those. His face barely visible amidst the patter, but it had some sort of tattoo on it for sure. His legs covered by commando pants with various pockets, underneath which were probably more tattoos. He stood leaned on the lifeless railing. His pose didn't strike of as anything really, which didn't concern Wazir at first, but then sent a banging adrenaline alarm through his head.

The hulk slowly paced towards Wazir. Each step of the heavy army boots covered by the strikes of water. The tiles seemingly shivered beneath them. He got right in Wazir's face, and bent down, 'Hey boyya!'

Wazir now saw the monster very clearly. His face completely disguised by a skull tattoo, making his facial features. His eyes covered in dark hollows, his lips etched with skull like teeth, his nostrils near invisible. The man didn't have any hair, for his smooth hairless head had a brain inked over it. The skull popped open, and the brain showed from beneath. Truly a freak. His eyes though were what fixated Wazir. One pupil, regular brown, the pupil slightly dilated. The other, left one, creeped out Wazir. It was smaller in size, almost like a tiny dot. As if the irises never existed, and what was there was only the pupils. Wazir was frozen, the flight or fight kicked in, but Wazir could only sit fixed in his place.

The man brought out his hand, Wazir almost wished he was going to get knocked out. In his hand he had a capsule. At first, Wazir didn't even notice it, but forcing his eyes to look at the rugged palm, instead of the crazy glare was something he had no choice but to do. It was pink colored, the coating surprisingly not breaking down under the water. Wazir wasn't sure if the man was showing the pill off as a trophy or if he was offering it to Wazir.

'Cmon.' The man's face contorted into a horrifying grin. It was unnatural seeing another set of teeth beneath an already existing pair, which sat on his now non-existent lips. He was offering it to Wazir. Was he some drug dealer? Why was he giving it to him for free? What even was it? Wazir's eyelids felt heavy. He couldn't keep looking at the beastly figure with his rapt attention, 'It's not gonna harm ya.' His freakish voice only terrified Wazir. Wazir's lips parted slightly, whether from curiosity or desire, it didn't matter.

'Bad dog.' Suddenly another voice echoed. And magically another figure appeared. Wazir felt a sense of relief seeing a normal person being the source of that comment. The figure wore dark black shoes, seemingly polished. As Wazir's eyes traced upwards towards his face, Wazir saw that the man was quite elegantly dressed. His matching black coat and black pants, without a single mark. A colorful rainbow like umbrella surrounding his head, which had a pink bowl on top of it. His slender neck and hollow cheeks didn't fit well with his furrowed eyebrows.

'Back off from the boy if you have any concern for yourself.' The pink-guy glared, his hazel brown eyes staring daggers at both of them, 'I've been told not to cause a scene, and I follow orders, but I won't hesitate bitch.

Wazir could feel a stressing tension oozing from the water around him. He could've almost fainted. The hulk in front of him though, swooshed right back up, taking exactly five steps away from the trembling boy, his face had lost that maniacal charm.

He slumped his shoulders, albeit still defensive. He looked down on Wazir, a demonic entity towering over the hopeless boy. He gave that slick, freakish grin again, 'I'll get ya next time buddy. And hopefully, I get to use these lazy blades of mine.' He turned and jumped off the edge. Wazir took a second to process it but jumped in his place on realizing what that man had done.

Wazir slumped backwards, his arms gave in. His breath was irregular now, and his eyelids trying their best to stay up. Wazir heard footsteps getting louder and louder, the sounds of the rain were fading away. Was the downpour already stopping? The rainbow umbrella was the last Wazir saw before his head tilted, his ears popped and he fell unconscious.

'Calling G.E.A.R. 047, message for Fortis Revan: quote the target of New York has lost consciousness; medical aid and a change of clothes request on arrival unquote.'