Friday, April 25, 2014
GIN HEART BEAT VIDEO FROM FINAL FI
The only video in the project that I did 100% of the editing on, I think it shows.
final fight draft
NOTES
Final fight----------
Stray and Shiv waiting for Gin.
Gin tries to talk them down. Shiv says fuck that and just
shoots him. It goes wide (Stray noticed it would, as Shiv was trembling with
anger.) and Shiv, all the more infuriated, charges. A small trading of blows
between them. Stray makes his move, moving in and switches places with Shiv.
Shiv backs off, cursing at his gun to charge faster. Gin and Stray trade blows.
Gin is surprised by the fighting ability that Stray possesses, makes a note
that he should not be this good. Stray assaults Gin with every trick in the
book. Gin, caught off guard by the ability behind the assault, is hit a few
times, but it doesnt affect him. It does, however, begin to activate his power.
All the while, he is struggling not to hurt Stray. Gin grabs the cane, asks for
it back. Stray refuses. Gin knocks him back. A shot comes out of nowhere, and
Gin dodges barely. Shiv screams in anger, and Gin turns to face him. Shiv
rushes in with a flurry of pistol whips, but Gin remains unfazed. He returns
with a single punch, and pushes Shiv back. Shiv merely spits out some
spit/blood, and returns for more. He assaults with punches and kicks this time,
Gin continuing to block or avoid. Shiv lashes out at Gins face. Gin leans back
to avoid, stray sweeps his legs. Shiv jumps on top of him and delivers a flurry
of blows (punches and pistol whips) He ends by pointing the gun at Gin’s temple
to fire. Gin flips him up and over. Shiv misses, screams. Stray leaps in the
gap, defending Shiv. He pushes Gin back and away from Shiv, while Shiv
recovers. Stray makes a long, telegraphed swing, Gin dodges and chops the back
of Stray’s neck. Both are down.
Small talk.
They both get up. Flashy
as hell here. Gin reaches for the gun. Stray hooks it and throws it back,
spins, and hooks Gin’s leg. Shiv gets a free shot and makes contact. Gin’s
adrenaline pumps harder, and Shiv comes at him with a swing. Gin kicks him up
and grabs his legs, hammer-throwing him back and past Stray. He uses his speed
to land on his feet. Stray, meanwhile, is baseball-bat swings at Gin and Gin
goes to counter with an gut uppercut. Shiv, seeing the coming exchange fires a
shot that hits Stray’s cane, accelerating the swing so it lands first, cracking
good against Gin’s jaw. The blow sends him reeling. In that moment, Stray hooks
Gin’s neck and swings around him, pulling him into a faceplant on the ground.
Stray backs up and regroups with Shiv as Gin gets up. (Small talk?)
Shiv runs in for a
punch. Gin slips underneath it, spins with a sweep. Shiv goes down and Gin
spins into an axe kick, dislocating his shoulder. Gin backs off. Yells to try
and get them to stop the fight. Stray helps Shiv up. Stray and Shiv rush Gin.
Stray attacks, leans down, Shiv jumps off his back. Fakes out Gin, rolls past
him, shoots him in the back.
Gin is now done trying
to maim. Shiv rushes him with a punch. Gin avoids it, meanwhile, Stray slips
behind him and hooks him. He hits him and spins him, leaving him face to face
with the barrel of Shiv’s gun. Stray closes his eyes and sighs. Gin sweeps the
gun to the side and uppercuts Shiv. In midair, he clotheslines him under the
chin and throws him to the ground.
Gin turns to Stray,
tearing up. Stray shows no reaction. This pisses off Gin, and Gin asks about
it. Stray turns away. Gin goes to leave. Stray hooks the back of his shirt,
pulling him back, and strikes him. Gin mutters something. Stray goes in for a
wide swing. Arm bar into body punches and uppercut/hook.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on right
now?!” Gin asked utterly confused.
“We’re
kicking your ass; I thought that was obvious.” Shiv replied, regaining his
balance.
“Could’ve
fooled me” Gin chuckled. “Seriously though, cut it out. I just need those fancy
doodads you guys took from my place – they are mine, ya know?”
“Finder’s
keepers, dumbass. They’re ours now.” Shiv, gave Gin a cocky smile as he stood
back up. Stray, a few feet away, also got back to his feet.
“Listen,
you guys know I have no problem with sharing my stuff – I’m probably crazy
saying that to a couple of pick-pockets – but this time I’m going to have to
insist. Those things are going to put you two in real danger, I can help though
if you give them back. We can spar some other time, if you really want an
ass-kicking that badly.” Gin smirked and then held his hand out sternly
awaiting the return of his artifacts.
“Real
danger, huh? Like you can talk about putting us in danger!”
“Hey!
If you didn’t want to get hurt, you shouldn’t have stepped to this! Mess with
the bull, you get the horns sonny-boy.” Gin flexed and laughed as he taunted a
clearly livid Shiv.
“Enough
with the cocky talk Gin-“
Shiv
groaned. “Fuck this.” He levelled his pistol at Gin, interrupted Stray
entirely, and shot.
“Whoa!”
Gin side-stepped the blast of energy that came rushing out of Shiv’s gun.
“Seriously?! You could’ve actually hurt me there man! Enough is enough, this
isn’t a game. Just, please, give me the gun.” Gin lunged forward and reached
his right hand out to grab the barrel of Shiv’s pistol.
Stray
quickly whipped the crook of the cane forward, wrapping around the pistol. In
one smooth motion, he threw the pistol up and over Gin’s right shoulder. Shiv,
using his newfound supernatural speed, made it below the gun before it reached
the ground. As Gin turned to face him, Shiv let a blast fly, striking Gin
square in the back.
Gin
let out a loud grunt as the massive ball of energy made contact with his back
and threw him face first onto the ground. The burn was intense, not quite as
bad as a burn from Aidan but it carried a similar sting. It was enough pain to
kick Gin’s adrenal glands into action. His pulse began to pound and he started
to breathe heavily. Shiv zoomed in attempting to land a pistol whip before Gin
could get back to his feet, however, Gin’s lit up senses caught the threat with
enough time to throw a kick straight at Shiv’s chest. The inertia from his
speed, coupled with the force of Gin’s kick, caused Shiv to fly backwards. As
he was falling Gin grabbed for his legs and used his momentum to hammer-throw
Shiv high into the air. He used his speed to adjust himself on his descent and
landed on his feet a few yards behind stray.
Stray
hopped in the gap, between Shiv and Gin. He spun as he moved forward, gathering
force to use in a large baseball swing. As swung, Gin slipped in and readied an
uppercut. As they both struck at each other, Shiv saw a chance, and shot a
blast behind Stray. The blast hit the cane behind the swing, propelling the
swing forward with an obscene amount of force into Gin’s jaw. There was an
audible crack. Gin stumbled back, reeling from the force of the contact.
As
Gin was off-balance, Stray hooked the crook of the cane around Gin’s neck. He
slipped around him, and pulled the cane hard to the ground, dragging Gin’s face
into the dirt. Stray hopped back to his feet, and scuttled back to where Shiv
stood, with his pistol still levelled at Gin on the ground.
At
this point, Gin’s fight or flight response was beginning to take hold of his
body. Every motion was in service of his protection. If they keep coming at me like this, I won’t be able to stay in
control. I need to keep them safe; I have to stop to this - now. He was
still breathing heavily and his body temperature was rapidly rising. He reached
his hand up to his mouth and snapped his jaw-line back into place; yet again
letting out an audible crack – his adrenaline allowing him to shrug off the
pain. He stared down the barrel of Shiv’s pistol as he came to his senses. Gin
felt a chill down his spine. The look of absolute fury that was telegraphed on
Shiv’s face was scary, even to a monster like Gin. Gin recognized that look all
too well. He felt it inside, every time he looked at Aidan.
“I-“ Gin opened his
mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Shiv’s fist. Gin slipped under Shiv’s
punch and quickly swept his back leg around, knocking the speedster off his
feet. Gin looked down at Shiv on the ground.
Gin quickly raised his front leg high into the air and slammed it down on
the Shiv’s shoulder. His bones snapped loudly as his shoulder dislocated from
his socket and Shiv let out a blood-curdling scream. Gin jumped back and
watched as Shiv was writhing on the ground. He would take any chance he could
get to try and make sense of this madness. That
look on his face…he really wants me dead. Was Aidan right? “This is
pointless! No one needs to get hurt anymore! Just hand over the artifacts!” Gin
screamed in between his heavy breathes in a desperate plea to reach Stray and
Shiv. Though his cries would go unheeded, they were too far gone.
Stray ran to help Shiv
up. The two were unfazed by Gin’s pleas – in fact, the fury plastered on Shiv’s
face was more fearsome than ever. Gin could see Shiv mouth something to Stray,
and the latter nod. Shiv raised his gun from just behind Stray. The momentary
flinch it baited was enough for the sudden movement forward from Stray dashing
at him to catch him slightly off-guard. He set himself again as Stray closed
in. The simple swipe straight down with the cane was easy enough to avoid.
Stray’s follow-through seemed overdrawn, so Gin readied a punch.
As he drew back, Shiv
stepped up behind Stray. He planted a foot strongly on Stray’s back, and leapt
off it. He took aim at Gin’s face, but when Gin moved to avoid the coming shot,
he pulled his arm back in a feint, and somersaulted past Gin. As Shiv left his
field of view, Stray began to stand, and readied a swing. As Gin prepared to
intercept it, an intense pain flared over his back, with a searing sensation.
Gin screamed in agony.
It was the first time anyone other than the origins had caused him such immense
pain in a single fight. His heart was pounding heavily – faster than it ever
had before. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, urging him
to get up and react. His body temperature rose rapidly as the profuse sweat
that was dripping down his body began to evaporate into steam. He had the
aspect of a hulking monster in an adrenaline fueled rage. He could barely
control his actions, all he could do was watch as his body reacted.
Shiv flew in yet again
letting out a furious howl. He could barely direct his punch as he was
distorted by the immense steam cloud emanating from Gin’s body. Gin instinctively
dodged. His movements were now much less rigid than before; he appeared
animalistic and unbalanced as he flowed through his motions. Stray took
advantage of Gin’s unbalanced state. He readied the crook of his cane at the
exact point where Gin’s neck would land after his dodge. Stray used the
momentum to spin Gin around bringing him face to face with the barrel of Shiv’s
gun.
Time seemed to halt for
Stray. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. Gin’s left hand whipped up
and quickly swept the gun away from his face as his right hand forced an
uppercut into Shiv’s torso. As Shiv flew into the air Gin lunged forward with a
tremendous force keeping his right arm steady as he slammed it deep into Shiv’s
windpipe. Shiv’s windpipe was completely crushed under the force of Gin’s arm
which threw him to the ground so hard that his lower body bounced back up.
Gin could felt it as
his arm tore into Shiv’s windpipe. His breathe became trepidacious as his mind
caught up to his body. He stuttered, trying to slow down his heavy breathing. “Shiv…?”
Gin called to the body lying behind him on the ground. “Shiv?” He walked closer
to Shiv’s body, staring down at him. Gin’s brain could comprehend it, but his
mind refused to believe. He knew what he had just done – as he had done it to
so many others before. Why would Shiv have been any different? Gin bent down and
slowly grabbed Shiv’s gun. As he rose up, his eyes met with Stray.
Stray was completely
devoid of emotion. His eyes were fixed on the ground. He seemed like a child
who had just passed blame on their sibling; feeling as though he had done
wrong, but unable to understand why. He looked completely lost. He didn’t even
try to calculate this situation – he didn’t even want to consider what had just
happened. But he and Gin - they both knew, Shiv was gone.
Gin stepped towards
Stray, tightly clenching Shiv’s gun in his hand. He wanted so badly to ask
Stray “why?” but he felt he wouldn’t get a straight answer. Instead, he started
to feel and insatiable rage. When he looked at Stray, he saw not a single tear
on his face. No sense of remorse, grief, no sadness at all. When Gin looked at
Stray all he saw was…nothing. Nothing, how could Stray feel nothing? His
brother had just died before his very eyes and didn’t seem to affect him in the
slightest. Even Gin had a tear or two stream down his face only to be evaporated
by the steam. “Hey.” Gin called to Stray. “You just…don’t care? You’re just
going to stand there?” Stray didn’t answer. He didn’t move at all, he just
continued to stare at the ground. This made Gin furious. “He was – was always
there, running right by your side. The two of you would face anything together
no matter the odds. How can you not care?! Your entire life was based on your
dependency on this person and now he’s just gone…You must feel something!
Gin had no time to
breathe as his eyes met with the barrel of Shiv’s gun. His heart was still
racing and the adrenaline allowed him a moment of clarity before his instincts
took over. Just what the hell is going on
here? How did things spiral into this hell before me? I thought I could change
but, maybe my body is telling me to just stick to what I know…
how artifacts work
possibly forces out humanity that’s up to Geoff
lower level demons imbue real world items with their energy
to make a pact with a demon the demon has to reveal their
name gives human some power over them
making a pact will yield more power on both ends
weaker demons avoid pacts by creating artifacts because
demons cannot fully cross to the human side they use human collaborators
through artifacts or pacts to meet their goals
when you get ahold of the artifact demon energy rushes into
you and develops your power but your human body doesn’t know how to make full
use of it and so some energy doesn’t get used slowly builds up inside you if
you have enough energy to sustain your existence when you die then you will live
on as a demon such as stray and shivs case
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Production Log
When I started thinking about this project I was not sure if there was anyway for me to bring together a product that really embodied what it was that I wanted to experiment with and learn about. I knew that I wanted to primarily work with story, but taking suggestions from my professor, I thought about working with video. Video was a field that I worked with and loved earlier in my college career but, for some reason, never had much chance to come back to. My professor suggested that this project would be the gateway through which I could experiment with the IMM fields that I am passionate about. That being said, I decided that I really wanted text, video, and some 3D elements in my project. Now the challenge was to figure out how these things could possibly come together. Obviously, the primary portion of the project would be story. As aspiring writers, my writing partner and I really wanted to take advantage of this project to show off what we can do and focus on crafting this skill. So we would definitely be writing a story and the scope would be that of a short novel. Now to bring in the video portion.
Originally, I was positive that I wanted to either focus on making 3D characters and environments for short, 3D animated flavor scenes throughout the story but I soon realized that I had neither the time nor the skill to do this. Then I wondered if I could use live action film and add 3D costumes and weapons to my actors. This ambitious idea was also put down when I realized how difficult it would be to accomplish. Our next attempt was to use a web-based interface for the entire project. We were going to have the home page laid out like a crime scene and you would click new items from the story as they were placed in the room to bring up the narrative. Each section would have a video at the beginning or the end. We realized in time that this was a haphazard and very impractical way of putting together our project. Eventually, my professor showed me a TED talk in which images were projected onto a physical book on stage. This gave me the idea to add live action film into a physical book with augmented reality.
Now it was time to refine our story. My partner and I had worked together to make an interactive story-telling project the year before. We knew how to craft a story together, although our previous attempt was much more rushed and less professional. We began with a few story ideas that we had left over from our old project. Some included medieval knights possessed by fire demons on a quest for revenge. We had another about a monarch's son and his friend - an assassin who was contracted by a secret order to take out the other character's father. Our biggest concern with crafting this story was avoiding cliches as much as we could. We found that a lot of our initial ideas for stories often sounded like something we had heard recently or would lead into a very common story trope. With this in mind, we tried to craft the climax of our story into something that no one would have ever seen coming and this would hopefully serve to really push the main theme across. Theme was another very important story point. I personally really wanted to focus on a universal thought that can be taken away from understanding the character development throughout the story. I wanted my story to stick with the reader in a way that made them think differently about certain situations in their life.
The main template from the story was eventually taken from an old idea that my partner had. Two orphans - brother and sister - who were living on the street, come into contact with a street gang that uses heavily exaggerated and fantastical alchemy. We thought about how we could develop the characters in this story while also fairly splitting up the writing and found that some changes had to be made. Soon our brother and sister duo became brothers who were much older than originally intended. They were not actually related but found family in eachother through their years spent together in an orphanage. We kept the street gang but evolved them into a full-on, world-wide crime syndicate and introduced a third character who works for this gang but also befriends the two orphans.
Originally, I was positive that I wanted to either focus on making 3D characters and environments for short, 3D animated flavor scenes throughout the story but I soon realized that I had neither the time nor the skill to do this. Then I wondered if I could use live action film and add 3D costumes and weapons to my actors. This ambitious idea was also put down when I realized how difficult it would be to accomplish. Our next attempt was to use a web-based interface for the entire project. We were going to have the home page laid out like a crime scene and you would click new items from the story as they were placed in the room to bring up the narrative. Each section would have a video at the beginning or the end. We realized in time that this was a haphazard and very impractical way of putting together our project. Eventually, my professor showed me a TED talk in which images were projected onto a physical book on stage. This gave me the idea to add live action film into a physical book with augmented reality.
Now it was time to refine our story. My partner and I had worked together to make an interactive story-telling project the year before. We knew how to craft a story together, although our previous attempt was much more rushed and less professional. We began with a few story ideas that we had left over from our old project. Some included medieval knights possessed by fire demons on a quest for revenge. We had another about a monarch's son and his friend - an assassin who was contracted by a secret order to take out the other character's father. Our biggest concern with crafting this story was avoiding cliches as much as we could. We found that a lot of our initial ideas for stories often sounded like something we had heard recently or would lead into a very common story trope. With this in mind, we tried to craft the climax of our story into something that no one would have ever seen coming and this would hopefully serve to really push the main theme across. Theme was another very important story point. I personally really wanted to focus on a universal thought that can be taken away from understanding the character development throughout the story. I wanted my story to stick with the reader in a way that made them think differently about certain situations in their life.
The main template from the story was eventually taken from an old idea that my partner had. Two orphans - brother and sister - who were living on the street, come into contact with a street gang that uses heavily exaggerated and fantastical alchemy. We thought about how we could develop the characters in this story while also fairly splitting up the writing and found that some changes had to be made. Soon our brother and sister duo became brothers who were much older than originally intended. They were not actually related but found family in eachother through their years spent together in an orphanage. We kept the street gang but evolved them into a full-on, world-wide crime syndicate and introduced a third character who works for this gang but also befriends the two orphans.
Engine Background work in progress
“This
won’t kill you Engine. Dammit! Open your eyes! Keep your head up, don’t you
even dare to pass out!”
Am
I going to die here….so much blood. It’s
cold…can’t keep my eyes open.
“Sir, he’s letting go,
we need to back off!”
“No! Keep firing! The
boy lives or dies with this exercise. If he does not stand than I expect
nothing less than a bullet-riddled corpse against the courtyard wall.”
“Aaaah!” A blood-curdling
shriek and utter blackness as Gin awoke in a cold and profuse sweat. He
clenched his eyes tightly as he waited for his muscles to contract and relax.
His body was automatically set on high alert. It’s the kind of reaction one
would expect from someone standing before a firing squad - especially when he
was both physically and mentally recalling the full complement of a 30 caliber
machine gun rending their flesh over and over. He was panting heavily and
looking around his dark room for something to comfort him. He reached down
beside his bed to grab a bottle of water which he proceeded to sip from, only to
let the majority of the bottle trickle down his nick in an attempt to cool
himself off. “Heh, I guess the past is going to haunt me forever. But I can’t
be held back forever. One day my prison will shatter. I will earn the right to
my life. Until that day comes, I will never give in to despair…I suppose that’s
just who I am. The so-called ‘Little Engine that Could,’ I just won’t ever
quit.” He laid back down and tried to get back to sleep hoping that tonight he
could avoid the nightmares that he couldn’t seem to escape; unfortunately, this
night not would not spare Gin from his grief or show him any remorse.
“Come
on in! It’s time for dinner!” Gin could hear the soothing sound of his mother’s
voice. When he turned around, he could see his old family home in the distance.
A gorgeous old mansion on the outskirts of the city, it sat high up on a hill
overlooking a suburban housing settlement.
“Comin’
ma!” A ten year old, bright-eyed Gin called back to his mother and began
sprinting his way back through the dense forest that made up his massive
backyard. Well at least it would seem that way to a ten year old. It was a
massive property and he had gotten lost out there more than a few times when he
was younger. As he approached the back door and the embrace of his mother’s
arms, his breath began to constrict. His full sprint devolved into a lumbering
stagger and instead of breathing he was gasping for breath.
“I
told you to pace yourself sweetie, here.” Gin’s mother ran out to catch him
before he hyperventilated and fell to the ground. She shook up his inhaler,
forced it into his mouth and pressed down on the top to administer his asthma
medicine. This process was all too common for Gin who, knowing full well about
his heart condition, would still insist upon running around with the other
children in an attempt to keep up with them. He actually never remained “it”
for long when playing tag. He would let out a full burst of speed and generally
catch the very same person who tagged him…but he would be out of the game for
good after that.
“Elena?
You ready yet? We’re dying of starvation over here hon.” Gin’s father called
out with a playful tone.
“The
food’s ready, I was just busy making sure our son doesn’t die.”
“...Alright
well don’t let the steak get cold.”
“We’re
having steak tonight?!” Gin immediately perked up with a bit of a cough and ran
out of his mother’s arms and over towards the dining room.
“Whoa,
whoa son. Slow down, we’re all hungry and the food isn’t going anywhere. Geez
your mom just treated one asthma attack, you looking for another one so soon?” Gin’s
father George grabbed him as he ran past. “You remember my boss Mr. Aidan,
right son? Go on and say hi.” Gin turned around to see the massive man who was
talking with his father. He was very tan and had long, dark hair with a chin
strap that ended in a goatee. He was clearly older than George – though he was
very obviously clinging onto what youth he had left. His eyes stared softly,
but there was something ostensibly devilish about his smile.
“Well
I’d be awfully upset to hear that you’ve forgotten about me son.” Mr. Aidan
stood up out of his seat and looked down at Gin with a gesture of playful
disappointment.
“Hell-o…”
Gin’s eyes met with Aidan’s and he felt a chill rush down his spine. He quickly
looked away – refusing to make eye contact again. Aidan seemed very overbearing
to Gin. He felt a yearning for comfort. He thought about clinging to his
father’s leg as any other child would when faced with a somewhat scary
stranger. Though Gin had never been one
to fear an unfamiliar face – he had always been quite friendly and maybe a little
overly talkative in fact. A 10 year old Gin would not be able to figure it out
– a 30 year old Gin, would most likely be puzzled as well. There was something
about Aidan’s presence that made Gin feel as though he was unwelcome in his own
home. Even his playful attempt at sarcastic disappointment felt more like
genuine malice.
“Haha.
What’s the matter? I was only joking. I couldn’t expect you to remember me from
so far back. The last time I saw you, you were still in diapers.” Gin could
felt a small heft in his chest as Aidan spoke. This feeling of fear was so
foreign to him that he could only wear a face of confusion. He stood there
staring around the area where Aidan was standing trying as hard as he could not
to make eye contact again.
“Yeah
you can’t really expect him to remember something from two weeks ago. He’s not
the brightest kid.” George joked and nudged his son on the arm.
“Hey!”
Just like that Gin snapped out of his little funk, turning his attention toward
his father. “Shut up dad!” He leaped onto his father’s back and started
pounding away with his little fists using his legs to clamp on. George chuckled
as he took a beating from his son. He only pretended to fight back as he could
tell Gin was still out of breath from his asthma attack earlier. Only Gin
himself could tell that his shortness of breath was somehow caused by Aidan,
but he continued to pound away at his father hoping to beat back his fears.
“Don’t
break your father. He’s my top man. I need him in good shape.” Aidan chuckled.
Gin’s punches got fiercer as he heard Aidan’s voice.
“Ow!
Seriously son, listen to him. You’re going to put my back out.”
“Honestly
George can’t you go five minutes without provoking him? He just had an attack,
he needs to rest.” Gin’s mother Elena walked into the room from the kitchen.
“Anyway, you have to stop fighting now because the steaks are ready. You don’t
want them to get cold do you?” All at once Gin and his father held perfectly
still for a split second before the both cried out in unison “Steak!” George
Grabbed his son under his arm and rushed them both into the kitchen.
Gin
sat down and started shoveling his food into his mouth. As odd as it sounds, he
always loved steak from the point that he was old enough to try it. He tore
through the tender meat as fast as he could, hoping to finish and get away from
the table where that odd man sat across from him. He never looked up from his
plate and when he finished eating he rushed off to his room. “Don’t forget to
come back and help me with the dishes!” His mother called to him as he ran off.
Though they were wealthy, Gin’s family was very headstrong and often insisted
on doing things themselves – which is why there were no servants in their
massive mansion of a home.
The adults took their
time savoring their much larger portions. When they finished it had been quite
some time since Gin had rushed off. George and Aidan retired to the den to discuss
professional matters while Gin and his mother cleaned the dishes.
“Mom?” Gin turned to
talk to his mother.
“Yeah hon?”
“Who is that man?”
“Mr. Aidan is your
father’s boss honey. Didn’t he tell you?”
“I think so. But why is
he here?”
“Well your father has
been good friends with Mr. Aidan for a long time but now he doesn’t want to
work for him anymore. So he wanted to invite Mr. Aidan to a nice meal before
giving the bad news.”
“Why doesn’t dad want
to work for him anymore?”
“He loves you so much
that he wants to be able to spend more time with you.”
“Hmm. What does dad do
mom?” It was the first time that Gin had ever wondered what it was that kept
his father so busy and away from home all the time. He always felt that when
his father could be around he had always done more than enough to make time for
him.
“Well you know your dad
is really good at getting people to do things they don’t always want to do.
It’s called persuasion.”
“Huh?” The young Gin
was puzzled, he wasn’t the brightest boy.
“Well, he convinced you
that you should do your homework without much trouble didn’t he?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“He also got me to make
steak for the third night in a row…” Elena said with a troubled look on her
face. “Anyway, your dad persuades people to give their resources to Mr. Aidan’s
company, and no one does it better than him…or so he says.” She muttered
beneath her breath.
“So dad’s going to be
home more now?” Gin was excited at the thought of having his dad around more
often as he was almost always out of the house working.
“That’s right son.” His
mother smiled at him as she handed another rinsed off dish to her son who
placed it in the dishwasher. He smiled back at his mother excited to have his
dad around more often. “Let’s hope Mr. Aidan doesn’t get too upset with your
dad.” At the mention of his name, Gin thought about Aidan’s presence and he
lost his breath for a moment.
“Mom? I-is Mr. Aidan
mad at me?”
“Of course not.” Elena
chuckled. She looked over to see a thousand yard stare on her young son’s face
and realized the seriousness of his inquiry. “Why would you think that?” she
asked with a motherly concern. Gin didn’t answer, he was lost in thought. His
mother bent down and hugged him tightly. “Honey, if Mr. Aidan is mad at anyone,
it’s your father. You have nothing to worry about...though his face is kind of
scary huh?” They both shared a laugh – though Gin’s was more of a nervous
chuckle – and after a peck on the forehead from his mother, Gin ran back up to
his room.
“I’m done Flame. It’s
time I get what I want and what I want, is to spend time with my family.” Gin’s
father sternly protested. Seldom had he been heard with such a serious tone of
voice.
“You’re done, when I
say you’re done. I think you forget who it was that brought you up. You would have
nothing without me. I did for you what no one else ever would. Your debt has
yet to be repaid.” Aidan retorted.
That night Gin lied
awake in his bed. The young boy was confused by the commotion he faintly
overheard between his father and his so called ‘boss.’
“I have done everything you have asked of me.
Not a single expectation went unmet. Kronos is well established now and you
have more resources than you could ever need. What more could you possibly ask
of me Flame?”
“You
so easily forget your position George? I suppose arrogance has always been your
biggest vice. Don’t think you won’t be punished for your hubris. The origins
don’t like their lap dogs to have self-awareness.”
“Enough
Flame – Aidan…This is not the life I want for my family. My time is short and I
won’t let you scare me into submission anymore. I will go to Etruscion myself
if I must.”
“Fine.
Attempt to stand before Etruscion without the power of Kronos behind you. I’d
be interested to see how you fare.” With that, Aidan bowed out in silence. He
left with a look of pious disappointment on his face. You could almost hear him
saying “you’ll regret this George, please don’t make an enemy of me,” but Aidan
was never one to appear weak. None of this came through to Gin clearly. He
could only faintly recall some of the odd names they mentioned echoing through
the halls of his massive home. He had fallen asleep before the conversation had
ended, and after that night, Aidan was neither seen nor spoken of in Gin’s
home.
The next three years
went by in the blink of any eye. Gin’s eleventh birthday was the first one his
father was able to be around for in the last five years. It warmed his heart
well to have his best friend home all the time and ready to play. Though Gin
was always very gregarious, the difficulty he had in keeping up with the other
children – caused by his heart condition – left him with only a handful of
close friends through his adolescence. Even when he would insist he could keep
going, he would do so through spells of dry heaves and wheezing which his
mother could not stand to bare. So the boy turned to his father, his hero, for
friendship. For as long as he could, George made sure that Gin would head out
into the yard with him every day. They would play tag or wrestle – really any
type of activity that would help to strengthen Gin’s breathing little by
little. After all, Gin did get his heart condition from his father in the first
place, who better to know how to fight back against it? Gin and his parents spent
every day together through his youth and when he finally did make more friends,
he still yearned for quality time with his parents and he would choose them
over his friends more often than not. That twelve year old boy could not
possibly have ever been happier…nor would he have the chance to be.
“It was all a lie.” Gin thought to himself. “The comfort of love and happiness lulled me into a false sense of
security so I could be dragged down further. My world began to unravel in one
night of terror.” By the time Gin turned thirteen, his father’s condition
had worsened. They did not have the chance to play together like they used to.
George spent the majority of his time in bed which was very uncharacteristic of
a man his age. Gin and Elena did all they could to help get him back on his
feet.
“Come
on dad, you have to get up. We should totally go for a run, it’s a great day
outside. I bet I can finally beat you up that huge hill on Parnell. What do ya
say? Winner gets to do my homework for me. Eh? Sound tantalizing dad.” Gin
joked to get his father’s spirits up.
“Wow
son that sounds really tempting. It’s so exciting I think my heart may finally
just give out if I think about it anymore.” George replied.
“Hey!”
Elena punched George on the shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that. And, hey!”
She then proceeded to punch Gin on the shoulder.
“Ow!
What?!”
“You
better get that homework done before you go anywhere.” She scolded in an oddly
motherly fashion.
“Fine,
I’ll do it right now…if dad gets up and goes for a run with me. Come on dad
let’s go.” Gin grabbed his father by the arm and attempted to drag him out of
bed. “Come on pops, we’ve got to put some more mileage on you before we can
trade you in.” Gin was insistent on getting his father to better himself. After
all, George had done the same for his son; and although Gin would never say it
out loud – for fear of hurting his father’s feelings – but seeing his hero
defeated by the same condition George had once helped Gin to conquer, was
killing him inside. He couldn’t stand by and watch his father rot from the
inside out.
“I’m
sorry son….” George gasped for breath. “I just can’t today. Why don’t you ask
one of your friends to go with you.”
“Fine,
I’ll give you a pass today.” Gin replied. “But you have to promise to come with
me tomorrow.” In truth, Gin wished taking his friends would have been the same,
but it never was. Only when he ran with his father did he feel like he was
accomplishing something. Everyday the two of them would get just a little bit further
together before they would both start wheezing. They would have humorous bets
to see who would go into shock first, needless to say…they both needed a ride
home rather often. But now, they almost never ran together. So rarely did
George find the strength to even climb the massive flight of stairs in their
estate.
That
night after dinner, Gin came home alone. His run was so underwhelming that he
wasn’t breathing heavily in the slightest. Gin walked into the kitchen hoping
to grab a drink – and maybe pick at some leftovers. “Alright, mom packed up
some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Crap, can I eat them now? If I do I won’t
have them for tomorrow!” He clasped his hands against his head and ran his
fingers through his hair as he wracked his brain for a solution to his current
predicament. “Ah! I want ‘em so ba-“ Just then, Gin heard the sound of
shattering glass followed by a muffled scream. “Mom!?” Gin called out. “You
okay ma?! You need me?!” Gin peered down
the darkened hallway connecting their kitchen to the living room.
“Don’t
come any closer kid or I blow her face off!” It was late at night at the lights were off in
the house so Gin could not see clearly. All he could make out were two black
silhouettes standing in the living room. Behind them he could see a small hole
where some moonlight came in through a broken window. The light from the moon
revealed the bottom of Elena’s dress. Gin could see the heel of his mother’s
shoe which was closed in by what looked like a black combat boot. He heard grunts
and groans that sounded a lot like his mother and right by the source of the
sound he could see a slight silver glint from the light of the moon. Gin didn’t
want to process what was going on. He had a feeling that once the situation was
accepted, it was the truthful reality. There was no denying it though, his
mother was being held hostage with a gun to hear head.
“Mom!”
Gin called out from the darkness. “My…mom.
What’s going to happen to my mom? I need to run, I need to get dad, I need to
get anyone that can help.” It was all Gin could think about. He knew his
only choices now where to try to escape to the darkness, or calmly listen to
what this intruder had to say, which is why his next move came as much of a
surprise to him as anyone else. “You better fucking let go of my mom!” His eyes
were wide and his stance strong. “Why did
I say that?! I need dad. What can I do on my own? He has a gun, he could kill
her.” He couldn’t believe what he had just done but something inside him
would not allow him to sit still.
“You
better watch your mouth you little shit! I could end her life any second if I
wanted to.”
“Don’t
say that about my mom!” Gin’s heat was beating wildly. He was a frail thirteen
year old boy with a heart condition staring down the darkened silhouette of an
armed stranger who was holding in his hands the fate of that which Gin held
most dear. Gin knew he was completely powerless in this situation, but he
didn’t care. The end of that hallway could have held countless demons from a
far off dimension but as long as they were threatening the life of Gin’s loved
one, they would be no more frightening than a litter of puppies.
“Honey,
you’ve got to calm down.” Elena struggled to speak through her captor’s bonds. “Ngh.
I’ll be okay. Just do what he says and I promise you we will be oka-!” The
captor jerked Elena’s body towards him and tightened his grip.
“Shut
the hell up. Both of you!” Elena’s captor screamed as he tightened his grip yet
again and placed the barrel of his gun firmly into her temple.
“Agh!”
Elena called out in pain.
“Ngh!
Leave her alone! I’ll fucking kill you!” Gin was seething. His heart was racing
so fast he was beginning to wheeze.
“That’s
it kid.” The captor kicked Elena in the shin to break her stance.
“Agh!”
Elena cried out yet again as the her captor’s boot dug into her leg leaving her
shin severely wounded.
“Lady,
I’ve had just about enough of that smart-mouthed brat of a son you’ve got
there.” He raised his gun towards Gin and pointed it firmly at his forehead while
adjusting his stance to support Elena whose was struggling to stand with her
wounded leg. “If your kid continues to behave like an animal, then I’m going to
have to put him down.” Elena, whose torso was now titled toward the ground,
supported by nothing but her good leg and the arm of her captor which she was
hanging from, jerked her head upward. She saw the horror of a gun being pointed
at her child and went into a berserk rage just as Gin had.
She
let out a loud yelp and threw her head into her captor’s torso. She then sunk
the heel of the shoe on her good foot into one of his shins, just as he had
done to her, and summoned all of her strength to push his gun aside and skew
his aim.
“Mom!”
Gin cried out and started sprinting towards the two as soon as the gun barrel
lost its target.
“Ngh!
You bitch!” The captor screamed as his shin was assaulted. He pushed Elena’s
face away from his torso and let the rest of her body drop to the ground as he
readjusted his aim. He pointed his gun down toward Elena as Gin flew in to
tackle him. A loud bang went off, followed immediately by a thud as two more
bodies and a hand gun hit the ground hard.
“Agh!
Hah hah! You bastard! Hah hah!” Gin was sitting on top of his mother’s
assailant radically throwing punches and panting. His heart was pounding harder
than it ever had before and tears were streaming profusely down his face. He
got in a few good blows before the assailant sat up and knocked the small
thirteen year-old in the face so hard that he flew back towards his mother’s
body. Gin could not even bare to look to confirm if she was okay. He knew that
if anything else had happened to her, he would fly into such a blind rage that
the resulting stress response would send him into anaphylactic shock and he
would be completely helpless to aid or – less preferably – avenge his mother.
Gin had to perish the thought and focus on the task at hand. He stood back up
and wiped the blood from his face. He was ready to dive right back in and fight
until his little body could not hold up anymore.
“I’m
going to love beating some sense into you kid.” The assailant rose and walked
toward the helpless young teen. The look on Gin’s face would terrifying, he
truly had the eyes of a killer. He looked right through the man before him and
saw him as nothing but sentient trash that needed to be burned. As the
assailant got closer Gin brought up his leg for a kick hoping that his legs
would do significantly more damage than his arms – he most likely would have
been right if his kick had landed, but the assailant grabbed Gin’s leg and drew
him in closer. Gin immediately took four right hooks to the face that knocked
his head back with every impact. On the fourth punch he hit the ground hard and
shut his eyes. “Now stay down kid, I’ve got a job to finish.”
“You
get back here you pile of crap.” Gin refused to let his attacker slink off. He
grabbed the assailant’s leg and started punching it. He hadn’t landed three
punches before he felt the tip of a combat boot in his temple.
“It’s
only going to get worse for you if you don’t stay down kid.” The assailant
continued forward to pick up his gun.
“Agh!”
Gin cried out and kicked the unsuspecting assailant while his back was turned.
“That
is it kid! I told you to stay down, now I’m going to have to put you down.”
When the assailant got back up on his feet, he turned toward Gin and cocked his
hand gun aiming it once again at Gin’s forehead. Gin stared deeply into the
familiar gun barrel once more. His heart was pounding in his chest. He was in an
excruciating amount of pain and he was bleeding profusely.
“Did I kill my mother?” Staring death in
the face, all Gin could wonder about was his mother. “Is she okay? Was it my fault? What else could I do for her?” Gin
was so fixated on the choices he had made. “He
hurt my mom. I had to protect her. I needed to hit him and so, that’s what I
did.” He felt somewhat contented by that thought. Instead of being
dominated by what would scare off any other person, Gin focused on attempting
to resolve the situation in the way he most saw fit. He took a deep breath and
exhaled heavily while trying to calm his heart rate. He heard the sound of the
gun cock and contemplated rushing forward in a last desperate attempt but
before he could take a step…The loud bang of a gun went off.
“Check
on your mother!” It was George slinking down the stairs, gripping the railing
in one hand, and a hand gun in the other. The assailant went down and his blood
began to drench the carpet. Gin’s tears only stopped for an instant as he
immediately turned around to check on his mother. As it turned out, Gin was
able to spare her the bullet, but it may have been a less cruel fate than what
she had actually suffered through. The various severe instances of blunt force
trauma she received to the head that night caused an aneurism which killed her.
Gin bent down over his mother’s corpse and held her tightly as he cried. His
father, despite his dangerously high heart rate, rushed down the steps to
console his son. The family sat there for hours without saying a word.
They
were so deep in mourning, they never would have noticed, the man that they
though had been shot dead had completely disappeared. He crept off into the
darkness when Gin and his father were distracted. Outside the estate, the
assailant regained his composure. He plucked the bullet wound from his chest,
it was just above his heart. He held his hand up to the fleshy wound, closed
his eyes, and took a deep breath in through the nostrils. The muscles in his
chest tightened and began to glow as the wound started to heal itself. He then
pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Is it done?” A deep voice asked from the
other side of the phone.
“I
think I got the woman, but that kid is a different story. He freaked out and
attacked me! What kind of a kid tackles an armed gunman? And then, we got into
a fist fight and I pummeled him real good – even used my scion powers at one
point, but the kid would not stay down. It was the craziest thing.”
“Failure
is unacceptable scion.”
“I
know bu-“ The assailant tried to argue but he was cut off.
“Do
not back talk scion, return to the tower immediately.”
“…Y-yes
sir Lord Flame.”
Gin
awoke from that night the same way he had for the entirety of his teenage
years. He was covered in tears, sobbing into his hands, unable to get up and
start the day. “What is wrong with me?” He wondered aloud. “Why couldn’t I save
her? That man was armed, what was I thinking?” He clenched his forehead hard
with one hand and streaked his fingers through his hair. “Dammit!” He punched
into his wall in blind frustration. Most of his nights went about like this. He
would unintentionally reflect on the darkness of his youth and the terrible
fate that had been thrust upon him. “Well, maybe a run will cheer me up.” He
said taking a deep breath. So he started to run, and he ran hard. He must have
gone for hours – heading to the very limits of the city, he didn’t even feel
tired. When he finally reached his destination, he looked up to see his old
family estate. It was at that second that Gin’s exhaustion caught up with him.
His heart had been racing at an unnatural pace just as he knew it would, but he
couldn’t control the loss of breath he felt by stepping back into his home.
This place, it was the source of so much happiness and at the same time, so
much grief.
“Hello
Engine.” From inside the house, a deep and familiar voice echoed forth.
“…What
are you doing here? Can’t you leave me alone?”
“Oh
come now son, I could ask you the same thing. This Estate is technically mine
now, I’m sure you remember signing it over to me when I offered to help treat
your father.” The man replied in a haughty tone. Hearing this angered Gin. The
fact that anyone would ever bring up his parents in such a way is something
that Gin could never forgive. “Oh did I upset you? Didn’t mean to be
insensitive Engine, I just thought you had grown from the weak and foolish
child you once were, are you telling me my training was ineffective?”
“I
haven’t tried to attack you have I?” Gin replied. In any other circumstance,
Gin probably would have lunged out by now. The man before him, however, was one
of few that Gin could never even dream of attacking. “Are you going to tell me
what you want…Aidan?”
“Oh,
I see you still have a spark of insolence don’t you Engine.” The man before Gin
was in fact, his father’s old boss, Aidan. “I expect you to refer to me as Lord
Flame, I thought that was clear Engine. I helped you to find your power, I
demand respect for all I’ve done for you. I threw all of my resources into
trying to save your father, you and your family are still indebted to me.” Gin
cringed as he heard this. Sadly, it was true that around a year after Gin’s
mother had passed, George’s condition had turned critical. The only one there
to help Gin when his father’s medical bills ran his money dry was Aidan.
“Yeah
and I’ve done everything you told me to, you never said anything about having
to like it.”
“Watch
your tone, your sentence hasn’t quite run up yet.”
“Yeah,
just a few more months though, then I’ll be free of you.”
“Oh
don’t think like that Engine, I thought
Well I was sure I had
taught you something Engine, but it seems your old habit is resurfacing. Like a
dog bearing its fangs before its master. Maybe fear has become your fuel?”
Rather than feeling insult, Aidan was intrigued by Gin’s newfound backbone.
“The power of Etruscion will take away all remnants of your soul and in return,
it will leave behind only your present-most trait allowing it to amplify and
manifest as a latent, super-natural talent. What is it Engine, what is it that
fuels your heart?” Aidan was staring intently at Gin. He wasn’t staring at him
though, rather, he was staring through him – entranced by the possibilities of
Gin’s potential.
“This
won’t kill you Engine. Dammit! Open your eyes! Keep your head up, don’t you
even dare to pass out!”
Am
I going to die here….so much blood. It’s
cold…can’t keep my eyes open.
“Sir, he’s letting go,
we need to back off!”
“No! Keep firing! The
boy lives or dies with this exercise. If he does not stand than I expect
nothing less than a bullet-riddled corpse against the courtyard wall.”
“Aaaah!” A blood-curdling
shriek and utter blackness as Gin awoke in a cold and profuse sweat. He
clenched his eyes tightly as he waited for his muscles to contract and relax.
His body was automatically set on high alert. It’s the kind of reaction one
would expect from someone standing before a firing squad - especially when he
was both physically and mentally recalling the full complement of a 30 caliber
machine gun rending their flesh over and over. He was panting heavily and
looking around his dark room for something to comfort him. He reached down
beside his bed to grab a bottle of water which he proceeded to sip from, only to
let the majority of the bottle trickle down his nick in an attempt to cool
himself off. “Heh, I guess the past is going to haunt me forever. But I can’t
be held back forever. One day my prison will shatter. I will earn the right to
my life. Until that day comes, I will never give in to despair…I suppose that’s
just who I am. The so-called ‘Little Engine that Could,’ I just won’t ever
quit.” He laid back down and tried to get back to sleep hoping that tonight he
could avoid the nightmares that he couldn’t seem to escape; unfortunately, this
night not would not spare Gin from his grief or show him any remorse.
“Come
on in! It’s time for dinner!” Gin could hear the soothing sound of his mother’s
voice. When he turned around, he could see his old family home in the distance.
A gorgeous old mansion on the outskirts of the city, it sat high up on a hill
overlooking a suburban housing settlement.
“Comin’
ma!” A ten year old, bright-eyed Gin called back to his mother and began
sprinting his way back through the dense forest that made up his massive
backyard. Well at least it would seem that way to a ten year old. It was a
massive property and he had gotten lost out there more than a few times when he
was younger. As he approached the back door and the embrace of his mother’s
arms, his breath began to constrict. His full sprint devolved into a lumbering
stagger and instead of breathing he was gasping for breath.
“I
told you to pace yourself sweetie, here.” Gin’s mother ran out to catch him
before he hyperventilated and fell to the ground. She shook up his inhaler,
forced it into his mouth and pressed down on the top to administer his asthma
medicine. This process was all too common for Gin who, knowing full well about
his heart condition, would still insist upon running around with the other
children in an attempt to keep up with them. He actually never remained “it”
for long when playing tag. He would let out a full burst of speed and generally
catch the very same person who tagged him…but he would be out of the game for
good after that.
“Elena?
You ready yet? We’re dying of starvation over here hon.” Gin’s father called
out with a playful tone.
“The
food’s ready, I was just busy making sure our son doesn’t die.”
“...Alright
well don’t let the steak get cold.”
“We’re
having steak tonight?!” Gin immediately perked up with a bit of a cough and ran
out of his mother’s arms and over towards the dining room.
“Whoa,
whoa son. Slow down, we’re all hungry and the food isn’t going anywhere. Geez
your mom just treated one asthma attack, you looking for another one so soon?” Gin’s
father George grabbed him as he ran past. “You remember my boss Mr. Aidan,
right son? Go on and say hi.” Gin turned around to see the massive man who was
talking with his father. He was very tan and had long, dark hair with a chin
strap that ended in a goatee. He was clearly older than George – though he was
very obviously clinging onto what youth he had left. His eyes stared softly,
but there was something ostensibly devilish about his smile.
“Well
I’d be awfully upset to hear that you’ve forgotten about me son.” Mr. Aidan
stood up out of his seat and looked down at Gin with a gesture of playful
disappointment.
“Hell-o…”
Gin’s eyes met with Aidan’s and he felt a chill rush down his spine. He quickly
looked away – refusing to make eye contact again. Aidan seemed very overbearing
to Gin. He felt a yearning for comfort. He thought about clinging to his
father’s leg as any other child would when faced with a somewhat scary
stranger. Though Gin had never been one
to fear an unfamiliar face – he had always been quite friendly and maybe a little
overly talkative in fact. A 10 year old Gin would not be able to figure it out
– a 30 year old Gin, would most likely be puzzled as well. There was something
about Aidan’s presence that made Gin feel as though he was unwelcome in his own
home. Even his playful attempt at sarcastic disappointment felt more like
genuine malice.
“Haha.
What’s the matter? I was only joking. I couldn’t expect you to remember me from
so far back. The last time I saw you, you were still in diapers.” Gin could
felt a small heft in his chest as Aidan spoke. This feeling of fear was so
foreign to him that he could only wear a face of confusion. He stood there
staring around the area where Aidan was standing trying as hard as he could not
to make eye contact again.
“Yeah
you can’t really expect him to remember something from two weeks ago. He’s not
the brightest kid.” George joked and nudged his son on the arm.
“Hey!”
Just like that Gin snapped out of his little funk, turning his attention toward
his father. “Shut up dad!” He leaped onto his father’s back and started
pounding away with his little fists using his legs to clamp on. George chuckled
as he took a beating from his son. He only pretended to fight back as he could
tell Gin was still out of breath from his asthma attack earlier. Only Gin
himself could tell that his shortness of breath was somehow caused by Aidan,
but he continued to pound away at his father hoping to beat back his fears.
“Don’t
break your father. He’s my top man. I need him in good shape.” Aidan chuckled.
Gin’s punches got fiercer as he heard Aidan’s voice.
“Ow!
Seriously son, listen to him. You’re going to put my back out.”
“Honestly
George can’t you go five minutes without provoking him? He just had an attack,
he needs to rest.” Gin’s mother Elena walked into the room from the kitchen.
“Anyway, you have to stop fighting now because the steaks are ready. You don’t
want them to get cold do you?” All at once Gin and his father held perfectly
still for a split second before the both cried out in unison “Steak!” George
Grabbed his son under his arm and rushed them both into the kitchen.
Gin
sat down and started shoveling his food into his mouth. As odd as it sounds, he
always loved steak from the point that he was old enough to try it. He tore
through the tender meat as fast as he could, hoping to finish and get away from
the table where that odd man sat across from him. He never looked up from his
plate and when he finished eating he rushed off to his room. “Don’t forget to
come back and help me with the dishes!” His mother called to him as he ran off.
Though they were wealthy, Gin’s family was very headstrong and often insisted
on doing things themselves – which is why there were no servants in their massive
mansion of a home.
The adults took their
time savoring their much larger portions. When they finished it had been quite
some time since Gin had rushed off. George and Aidan retired to the den to
discuss professional matters while Gin and his mother cleaned the dishes.
“Mom?” Gin turned to
talk to his mother.
“Yeah hon?”
“Who is that man?”
“Mr. Aidan is your
father’s boss honey. Didn’t he tell you?”
“I think so. But why is
he here?”
“Well your father has
been good friends with Mr. Aidan for a long time but now he doesn’t want to
work for him anymore. So he wanted to invite Mr. Aidan to a nice meal before
giving the bad news.”
“Why doesn’t dad want
to work for him anymore?”
“He loves you so much
that he wants to be able to spend more time with you.”
“Hmm. What does dad do
mom?” It was the first time that Gin had ever wondered what it was that kept
his father so busy and away from home all the time. He always felt that when
his father could be around he had always done more than enough to make time for
him.
“Well you know your dad
is really good at getting people to do things they don’t always want to do.
It’s called persuasion.”
“Huh?” The young Gin
was puzzled, he wasn’t the brightest boy.
“Well, he convinced you
that you should do your homework without much trouble didn’t he?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“He also got me to make
steak for the third night in a row…” Elena said with a troubled look on her
face. “Anyway, your dad persuades people to give their resources to Mr. Aidan’s
company, and no one does it better than him…or so he says.” She muttered
beneath her breath.
“So dad’s going to be
home more now?” Gin was excited at the thought of having his dad around more
often as he was almost always out of the house working.
“That’s right son.” His
mother smiled at him as she handed another rinsed off dish to her son who
placed it in the dishwasher. He smiled back at his mother excited to have his
dad around more often. “Let’s hope Mr. Aidan doesn’t get too upset with your
dad.” At the mention of his name, Gin thought about Aidan’s presence and he
lost his breath for a moment.
“Mom? I-is Mr. Aidan
mad at me?”
“Of course not.” Elena
chuckled. She looked over to see a thousand yard stare on her young son’s face
and realized the seriousness of his inquiry. “Why would you think that?” she
asked with a motherly concern. Gin didn’t answer, he was lost in thought. His
mother bent down and hugged him tightly. “Honey, if Mr. Aidan is mad at anyone,
it’s your father. You have nothing to worry about...though his face is kind of
scary huh?” They both shared a laugh – though Gin’s was more of a nervous
chuckle – and after a peck on the forehead from his mother, Gin ran back up to
his room.
“I’m done Flame. It’s
time I get what I want and what I want, is to spend time with my family.” Gin’s
father sternly protested. Seldom had he been heard with such a serious tone of
voice.
“You’re done, when I
say you’re done. I think you forget who it was that brought you up. You would
have nothing without me. I did for you what no one else ever would. Your debt
has yet to be repaid.” Aidan retorted.
That night Gin lied
awake in his bed. The young boy was confused by the commotion he faintly
overheard between his father and his so called ‘boss.’
“I have done everything you have asked of me.
Not a single expectation went unmet. Kronos is well established now and you
have more resources than you could ever need. What more could you possibly ask
of me Flame?”
“You
so easily forget your position George? I suppose arrogance has always been your
biggest vice. Don’t think you won’t be punished for your hubris. The origins
don’t like their lap dogs to have self-awareness.”
“Enough
Flame – Aidan…This is not the life I want for my family. My time is short and I
won’t let you scare me into submission anymore. I will go to Etruscion myself
if I must.”
“Fine.
Attempt to stand before Etruscion without the power of Kronos behind you. I’d
be interested to see how you fare.” With that, Aidan bowed out in silence. He
left with a look of pious disappointment on his face. You could almost hear him
saying “you’ll regret this George, please don’t make an enemy of me,” but Aidan
was never one to appear weak. None of this came through to Gin clearly. He
could only faintly recall some of the odd names they mentioned echoing through
the halls of his massive home. He had fallen asleep before the conversation had
ended, and after that night, Aidan was neither seen nor spoken of in Gin’s
home.
The next three years
went by in the blink of any eye. Gin’s eleventh birthday was the first one his
father was able to be around for in the last five years. It warmed his heart
well to have his best friend home all the time and ready to play. Though Gin
was always very gregarious, the difficulty he had in keeping up with the other
children – caused by his heart condition – left him with only a handful of
close friends through his adolescence. Even when he would insist he could keep
going, he would do so through spells of dry heaves and wheezing which his
mother could not stand to bare. So the boy turned to his father, his hero, for
friendship. For as long as he could, George made sure that Gin would head out
into the yard with him every day. They would play tag or wrestle – really any
type of activity that would help to strengthen Gin’s breathing little by
little. After all, Gin did get his heart condition from his father in the first
place, who better to know how to fight back against it? Gin and his parents
spent every day together through his youth and when he finally did make more
friends, he still yearned for quality time with his parents and he would choose
them over his friends more often than not. That twelve year old boy could not
possibly have ever been happier…nor would he have the chance to be.
“It was all a lie.” Gin thought to himself. “The comfort of love and happiness lulled me into a false sense of
security so I could be dragged down further. My world began to unravel in one
night of terror.” By the time Gin turned thirteen, his father’s condition
had worsened. They did not have the chance to play together like they used to.
George spent the majority of his time in bed which was very uncharacteristic of
a man his age. Gin and Elena did all they could to help get him back on his
feet.
“Come
on dad, you have to get up. We should totally go for a run, it’s a great day
outside. I bet I can finally beat you up that huge hill on Parnell. What do ya
say? Winner gets to do my homework for me. Eh? Sound tantalizing dad.” Gin
joked to get his father’s spirits up.
“Wow
son that sounds really tempting. It’s so exciting I think my heart may finally
just give out if I think about it anymore.” George replied.
“Hey!”
Elena punched George on the shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that. And, hey!”
She then proceeded to punch Gin on the shoulder.
“Ow!
What?!”
“You
better get that homework done before you go anywhere.” She scolded in an oddly
motherly fashion.
“Fine,
I’ll do it right now…if dad gets up and goes for a run with me. Come on dad
let’s go.” Gin grabbed his father by the arm and attempted to drag him out of
bed. “Come on pops, we’ve got to put some more mileage on you before we can
trade you in.” Gin was insistent on getting his father to better himself. After
all, George had done the same for his son; and although Gin would never say it
out loud – for fear of hurting his father’s feelings – but seeing his hero
defeated by the same condition George had once helped Gin to conquer, was
killing him inside. He couldn’t stand by and watch his father rot from the
inside out.
“I’m
sorry son….” George gasped for breath. “I just can’t today. Why don’t you ask
one of your friends to go with you.”
“Fine,
I’ll give you a pass today.” Gin replied. “But you have to promise to come with
me tomorrow.” In truth, Gin wished taking his friends would have been the same,
but it never was. Only when he ran with his father did he feel like he was
accomplishing something. Everyday the two of them would get just a little bit
further together before they would both start wheezing. They would have
humorous bets to see who would go into shock first, needless to say…they both
needed a ride home rather often. But now, they almost never ran together. So
rarely did George find the strength to even climb the massive flight of stairs
in their estate.
That
night after dinner, Gin came home alone. His run was so underwhelming that he
wasn’t breathing heavily in the slightest. Gin walked into the kitchen hoping
to grab a drink – and maybe pick at some leftovers. “Alright, mom packed up
some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Crap, can I eat them now? If I do I won’t
have them for tomorrow!” He clasped his hands against his head and ran his
fingers through his hair as he wracked his brain for a solution to his current
predicament. “Ah! I want ‘em so ba-“ Just then, Gin heard the sound of
shattering glass followed by a muffled scream. “Mom!?” Gin called out. “You
okay ma?! You need me?!” Gin peered down
the darkened hallway connecting their kitchen to the living room.
“Don’t
come any closer kid or I blow her face off!” It was late at night at the lights were off in
the house so Gin could not see clearly. All he could make out were two black
silhouettes standing in the living room. Behind them he could see a small hole
where some moonlight came in through a broken window. The light from the moon
revealed the bottom of Elena’s dress. Gin could see the heel of his mother’s
shoe which was closed in by what looked like a black combat boot. He heard
grunts and groans that sounded a lot like his mother and right by the source of
the sound he could see a slight silver glint from the light of the moon. Gin
didn’t want to process what was going on. He had a feeling that once the
situation was accepted, it was the truthful reality. There was no denying it
though, his mother was being held hostage with a gun to hear head.
“Mom!”
Gin called out from the darkness. “My…mom.
What’s going to happen to my mom? I need to run, I need to get dad, I need to
get anyone that can help.” It was all Gin could think about. He knew his
only choices now where to try to escape to the darkness, or calmly listen to
what this intruder had to say, which is why his next move came as much of a
surprise to him as anyone else. “You better fucking let go of my mom!” His eyes
were wide and his stance strong. “Why did
I say that?! I need dad. What can I do on my own? He has a gun, he could kill
her.” He couldn’t believe what he had just done but something inside him
would not allow him to sit still.
“You
better watch your mouth you little shit! I could end her life any second if I
wanted to.”
“Don’t
say that about my mom!” Gin’s heat was beating wildly. He was a frail thirteen
year old boy with a heart condition staring down the darkened silhouette of an
armed stranger who was holding in his hands the fate of that which Gin held
most dear. Gin knew he was completely powerless in this situation, but he
didn’t care. The end of that hallway could have held countless demons from a
far off dimension but as long as they were threatening the life of Gin’s loved
one, they would be no more frightening than a litter of puppies.
“Honey,
you’ve got to calm down.” Elena struggled to speak through her captor’s bonds. “Ngh.
I’ll be okay. Just do what he says and I promise you we will be oka-!” The
captor jerked Elena’s body towards him and tightened his grip.
“Shut
the hell up. Both of you!” Elena’s captor screamed as he tightened his grip yet
again and placed the barrel of his gun firmly into her temple.
“Agh!”
Elena called out in pain.
“Ngh!
Leave her alone! I’ll fucking kill you!” Gin was seething. His heart was racing
so fast he was beginning to wheeze.
“That’s
it kid.” The captor kicked Elena in the shin to break her stance.
“Agh!”
Elena cried out yet again as the her captor’s boot dug into her leg leaving her
shin severely wounded.
“Lady,
I’ve had just about enough of that smart-mouthed brat of a son you’ve got
there.” He raised his gun towards Gin and pointed it firmly at his forehead
while adjusting his stance to support Elena whose was struggling to stand with
her wounded leg. “If your kid continues to behave like an animal, then I’m
going to have to put him down.” Elena, whose torso was now titled toward the
ground, supported by nothing but her good leg and the arm of her captor which
she was hanging from, jerked her head upward. She saw the horror of a gun being
pointed at her child and went into a berserk rage just as Gin had.
She
let out a loud yelp and threw her head into her captor’s torso. She then sunk
the heel of the shoe on her good foot into one of his shins, just as he had
done to her, and summoned all of her strength to push his gun aside and skew
his aim.
“Mom!”
Gin cried out and started sprinting towards the two as soon as the gun barrel
lost its target.
“Ngh!
You bitch!” The captor screamed as his shin was assaulted. He pushed Elena’s
face away from his torso and let the rest of her body drop to the ground as he
readjusted his aim. He pointed his gun down toward Elena as Gin flew in to
tackle him. A loud bang went off, followed immediately by a thud as two more
bodies and a hand gun hit the ground hard.
“Agh!
Hah hah! You bastard! Hah hah!” Gin was sitting on top of his mother’s
assailant radically throwing punches and panting. His heart was pounding harder
than it ever had before and tears were streaming profusely down his face. He
got in a few good blows before the assailant sat up and knocked the small
thirteen year-old in the face so hard that he flew back towards his mother’s
body. Gin could not even bare to look to confirm if she was okay. He knew that
if anything else had happened to her, he would fly into such a blind rage that
the resulting stress response would send him into anaphylactic shock and he
would be completely helpless to aid or – less preferably – avenge his mother.
Gin had to perish the thought and focus on the task at hand. He stood back up
and wiped the blood from his face. He was ready to dive right back in and fight
until his little body could not hold up anymore.
“I’m
going to love beating some sense into you kid.” The assailant rose and walked
toward the helpless young teen. The look on Gin’s face would terrifying, he
truly had the eyes of a killer. He looked right through the man before him and
saw him as nothing but sentient trash that needed to be burned. As the assailant
got closer Gin brought up his leg for a kick hoping that his legs would do
significantly more damage than his arms – he most likely would have been right
if his kick had landed, but the assailant grabbed Gin’s leg and drew him in
closer. Gin immediately took four right hooks to the face that knocked his head
back with every impact. On the fourth punch he hit the ground hard and shut his
eyes. “Now stay down kid, I’ve got a job to finish.”
“You
get back here you pile of crap.” Gin refused to let his attacker slink off. He
grabbed the assailant’s leg and started punching it. He hadn’t landed three
punches before he felt the tip of a combat boot in his temple.
“It’s
only going to get worse for you if you don’t stay down kid.” The assailant
continued forward to pick up his gun.
“Agh!”
Gin cried out and kicked the unsuspecting assailant while his back was turned.
“That
is it kid! I told you to stay down, now I’m going to have to put you down.”
When the assailant got back up on his feet, he turned toward Gin and cocked his
hand gun aiming it once again at Gin’s forehead. Gin stared deeply into the
familiar gun barrel once more. His heart was pounding in his chest. He was in
an excruciating amount of pain and he was bleeding profusely.
“Did I kill my mother?” Staring death in
the face, all Gin could wonder about was his mother. “Is she okay? Was it my fault? What else could I do for her?” Gin
was so fixated on the choices he had made. “He
hurt my mom. I had to protect her. I needed to hit him and so, that’s what I
did.” He felt somewhat contented by that thought. Instead of being
dominated by what would scare off any other person, Gin focused on attempting
to resolve the situation in the way he most saw fit. He took a deep breath and
exhaled heavily while trying to calm his heart rate. He heard the sound of the
gun cock and contemplated rushing forward in a last desperate attempt but
before he could take a step…The loud bang of a gun went off.
“Check
on your mother!” It was George slinking down the stairs, gripping the railing
in one hand, and a hand gun in the other. The assailant went down and his blood
began to drench the carpet. Gin’s tears only stopped for an instant as he
immediately turned around to check on his mother. As it turned out, Gin was
able to spare her the bullet, but it may have been a less cruel fate than what
she had actually suffered through. The various severe instances of blunt force
trauma she received to the head that night caused an aneurism which killed her.
Gin bent down over his mother’s corpse and held her tightly as he cried. His
father, despite his dangerously high heart rate, rushed down the steps to
console his son. The family sat there for hours without saying a word.
They
were so deep in mourning, they never would have noticed, the man that they
thought had been shot dead had completely disappeared. He crept off into the
darkness when Gin and his father were distracted. Outside the estate, the
assailant regained his composure. He plucked the bullet wound from his chest,
it was just above his heart. He held his hand up to the fleshy wound, closed
his eyes, and took a deep breath in through the nostrils. The muscles in his
chest tightened and began to glow as the wound started to heal itself. He then
pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Is it done?” A deep voice asked from the
other side of the phone.
“I
think I got the woman, but that kid is a different story. He freaked out and
attacked me! What kind of a kid tackles an armed gunman? And then, we got into
a fist fight and I pummeled him real good – even used my scion powers at one
point, but the kid would not stay down. It was the craziest thing.”
“Failure
is unacceptable scion.”
“I
know bu-“ The assailant tried to argue but he was cut off.
“Do
not back talk scion, return to the tower immediately.”
“…Y-yes
sir Lord Flame.”
Gin
awoke from that night the same way he had for the entirety of his teenage
years. He was covered in tears, sobbing into his hands, unable to get up and
start the day. “What is wrong with me?” He wondered aloud. “Why couldn’t I save
her? That man was armed, what was I thinking?” He clenched his forehead hard
with one hand and streaked his fingers through his hair. “Dammit!” He punched
into his wall in blind frustration. Most of his nights went about like this. He
would unintentionally reflect on the darkness of his youth and the terrible
fate that had been thrust upon him. “Well, maybe a run will cheer me up.” He
said taking a deep breath. So he started to run, and he ran hard. He must have
gone for hours – heading to the very limits of the city, he didn’t even feel
tired. When he finally reached his destination, he looked up to see his old
family estate. It was at that second that Gin’s exhaustion caught up with him.
His heart had been racing at an unnatural pace just as he knew it would, but he
couldn’t control the loss of breath he felt by stepping back into his home.
This place, it was the source of so much happiness and at the same time, so
much grief.
“Hello
Engine.” From inside the house, a familiar voice echoed forth that sent a small
chill through Gin’s body.
“…Can’t
you leave me alone?” Gin grunted. “What are you even doing here?”
“Oh
come now son, I could ask you the same thing. This Estate is technically mine
now, I’m sure you remember signing it over to me when I offered to help treat
your father.” Gin didn’t answer. He just looked at Aidan with contempt. His
instinct was to back-talk, but his training taught him better; still, something
inside him was changing, he felt safer now speaking his mind before Aidan than
he ever had before.
“Yeah
we both know how that turned out…” Gin gave Aidan a cold stare. There was a
slight trembling behind his voice as his heart began to pound.
“Well
I was sure I had taught you something Engine, but it seems your old habit is
resurfacing. Like a dog bearing its fangs before its master. Maybe fear has
become your fuel? I suppose an imposing threat would activate your stress
response and power that magnificent heart of yours.” Rather than feeling
insult, Aidan was intrigued by Gin’s newfound backbone. “The power of Etruscion
will take away all remnants of your soul and in return, it will leave behind
only your present-most trait allowing it to amplify and manifest as a latent,
super-natural talent. I could never figure out why your courage had given you
so much power; until I realized that you have something much different from
courage…but what? What is it Engine, what is it that fuels your heart and
glands to pump such massive levels of adrenaline? Why does it allow you to push
the barriers of human limitation so well?” Aidan was staring intently at Gin.
He wasn’t staring at him though, rather, he was staring through him – entranced
by the possibilities of Gin’s potential.
“Not this crap again.” Gin thought to
himself. “Hey!” He called to Aidan, to snap him out of his trance.
“Don’t
you ever wonder Engine?!” Aidan stood up from his seat and slowly walked toward
Gin. “What was your trait - what could possibly have amplified to change your
physiology in such a way?!” Aidan had the look of a hungry predator eyeing Gin
as though he were a tasty meal.
“You
got me.” Gin replied shrugging his shoulders. After all, his body wasn’t
actually functioning differently than it should have – it was a natural
process, multiplied several million times over. When Gin’s body would go
through the normal human stress response, he would receive a copious amount of
epinephrine from the adrenal glands which is heart would pump several times
faster than that of a normal human being. Normally, adrenaline surges allow
humans to briefly perform at 100% of their physical potential while
simultaneously rejuvenating the body. Gin, on the other hand, could go well
beyond this ‘normal’ potential, and then some, as long as his stressors were
sustained.
“Well,
I can see your ignorance hasn’t changed.” Aidan replied as Gin grimaced and
scratched the back of his neck. “One day soon, I’m sure we will come to understand
this power of yours Engine.”
“I
still don’t understand your fixation with me; the power of an origin easily
dwarves my own.” Gin snapped Aidan out of his trance with that remark.
“Yes.
Indeed, we are rather glorious.” Aidan proclaimed his self-adoration.
“Ah
yes, the mighty origins, the great kingpins of Chronos.” Gin stated in a
sarcastic tone as he dramatically danced about the room. “So powerful and
cunning they are; tricking a powerful demon by using the souls of their
followers to pay off their debt to him.” Gin stopped his dramatic prance and
turned to Aidan with a look of condescension. “So what’s the conversion rate of
deceit to glory again?” It was the first time he had ever been so forward with
Aidan. “Ah!” Gin cried out as Aidan grabbed him by the throat. He could feel
his flesh started to burn as simmering steam rose up and into his eyes from the
point where Aidan grasped at his throat.
“It
was cute the first time Engine. But now I find your new tone sickening.” A fire
burned in Aidan’s eyes and small embers began to swell at his feet. “You are
not to talk back to or mock the origins. Do not forget that you belong to the
origins – you belong to Chronos. Don’t forget who saved you from your
weakness…Eug-”
“Don-Don’t!”
Gin screamed struggling for breath. His powerful, adrenaline fueled muscles
aiding his strength, giving him just enough energy to speak through Aidan’s
vice grip. Aidan let up on his grip. “Please - Lord Flame…I’m sorry I insulted
you.” Gin tried as hard as he could to make himself sound humbled.
“Don’t
let it happen again. I don’t know what happened to you Engine, but you better
get a grip.” Aidan put Gin down but the embers continued to burn into the old
carpeting.
“Y-yes
sir.” Gin obediently replied.
“Take
the rest of the night to cool off. I have something I need you to take care of
tomorrow night.” Aidan turned away from Gin and headed out the door.
Gin took a deep breath
and rubbed his hand over his throat where he had been grabbed. “Damn that’s
gonna burn for a while.” He headed upstairs to his parent’s old bedroom. “I bet dad’s old emergency kit is still in
the side table drawer by his bed.” Gin thought to himself.
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