The Cold Parasite: Origins
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
~1:00 AM, Port Oakes
It came. One very unlucky night, it came. It hit Earth around 1:00 AM.
Why did he get the night shift? Jacob Gells was the clerk of a store in Port Oakes. He didn't even want this job, but his jobless wife and kids persuaded him to get one. Maybe after a year or two they'd get a home. And maybe pigs can fly, he thought. After all, being a clerk dosen't pay much. He wanted a better job anyways, but being a public school dropout dosen't get you far. Besides, he could still live. Lots of generous people to give him money. He gazed out the window tiredly. He saw an object fall from the sky through the window. What he thought was that someone had committed suicide. No one did. He ran outside to see what it was. The first thing he noticed was it was moving. The second was it was jet black, with veins rippling all over it. It was a perfect sphere. The third was that since it was moving, it's alive. He ran. It chased. It appeared to notice him, and chased after him. He ran to the shop and locked the door. He stood there, panting and sweaty. He stared out the window, staring at what had been chasing him. It screeched inhumanely. It slammed against the door. Unfortunately for Jacob, it's sides split. Out from the holes grew 4 tentacles. The tentacles began pounding the door, and the door cracked. A tentacle broke through, and started, theoretically, breathing out radiation. The green cloud engulfed him. He was in pain. Why did I get the night shift? he thought, and died.
~1:30 AM, Port Oakes
"Yes! Got 'im!" The ripper breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They'd been called in, six RIP, after a somewhat delusional 911 call. The anonymous call said she saw a green flash, and a man who was standing inside a shop fell over, burned to death. He never saw anything like it. It was as if somebody had dropped 100 gallons of radioactive waste on this man, point blank. There was little left of the body; it had simply been vaporized. They found a black, circular object, with tentacles, goring his intestines out, for no apparent reason. When it caught sight of the six RIP, it screeched loudly. At that point, they were sure this thing was not of this earth. They quickly shot it, which seemed to kill it. "Alright guys, lets take 'em away. If the media gets a hold of these..." he said quietly. "Sure," said a RIP. They began loading the body and black object into the van. What they didn't know was that it was not dead.
~2:00 AM, on bridge to Paragon City
The ripper was in the van, driving. the five RIP were behind him, in their truck. The officer was happily listening to his country collection, when he heard a slithering sound amidst Johnny Cash. He turned down the volume, and looked behind him. A tentacle was moving. He whipped out his personal .357 magnum, and shot it on the spot. It didn't stop moving. The ball began rolling, and made the same angry screeching sound. He used up the remaining 4 bullets in his clip. Nothing. It used its tentacles to climb up to the driver's seat. By then, the officer was ready to jump over the bridge. The two tentacles wrapped around both headrests, and with a slingshot motion, propelled it towards his back. It hit him. He felt a stab of pain, so massive he nearly was knocked unconscious. His back felt warm. He looked around, and there was no black thing. He was terrified. He felt the warmth spreading throughout him, like drinking hot chocolate. He saw his arm turn black, then wrist, then hand. Veins sprouted. He then felt it hit his head. He was banished to the back of his head, watching his hands jerk around, as if he was watching television. He suddenly felt hungry. He was unable to move, as if paralyzed. His head whipped around, testing neck muscles and seeing its surroundings for the first time. He screamed, although at that point, it was laughing, silently. Johnny Cash had started playing "Folsom Prison Blues".
~2:15 AM, on bridge to Paragon City
Meanwhile, on the truck behind him, they were chatting about how many beers they had drank one night at the bar. Then they heard one gunshot, followed by four. They looked to see. The truck was swerving wildly, and then went straight. "Everything okay up there?" one RIP radioed. "Affirmative. Everything okay up there neutralized.""Er... you sure?""Affirmative." They continued driving, unaware there were two living things in the van instead of one.
~2:20 AM, on bridge to Paragon City
Back in the van, radical changes were happening. The rippers skin had turned black, with veins popping up. He had grown six tentacles, all wildly flailing. When the radio piped up, his mouth moved, but wasn't his. He talked, but it wasn't him. It continued driving down the bridge. The officer continued mentally screaming, while the thing was mentally screeching. As the truck approached Paragon, one tentacle picked up the radio. "Change destination to Atlas Park," his mouth said. "Atlas Park? Are you nuts? We're trying to keep it quiet!" "Change destination to Atlas Park."
~2:30 AM, Atlas Park
The truck drove to the ground in front of a hero statue. It parked. What happened next was that the six tentacles gave itself a hug; incredibly powerful. The officer's spine instantly broke. The thing removed itself from the body, and blasted it with radiation. It turned from a ball into a humanoid shape. It had an elongated head, and no eyes. It had a large mouth, full of black teeth. It was still covered in veins, and instead of arms, it had dual tentacles. It slowly crawled out of the van, and blasted radiation at the incoming truck. Before the men even knew what was happening, the radiation impacted their truck, and exploded. They all died. The thing cocked its head. It was less hungry, but still wasn't close to full. Freedom Corps was called, several times. It sent over 20 heroes. Within 10 minutes, the parasite was blasted into submission. It was frozen.
~4:00 AM, Ziggursky Correctional Institute
"What the hell IS that thing?!" the warden asked. He had just arrived when he heard that there was something inhuman stored in the Zig. "Don't know, but it's goin' in here." said a guard. "Haha, that thing? It's just a ball!" laughed a villain. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if it was your cell mate?" retorted the warden. The prisoner paled. "Well, uh, I-I suppose it could..." "It's yours." The next day, the prisoner was found with 5 holes in his chest, dead. The officials moved it from a traditional cell into a gel-filled chamber. An explosion occurred the next day. Arachnos had come. Not wanting anyone to be left alone, one wolf spider ran along, freeing all the inmates. He let the parasite out, and it promptly killed him. The parasite rolled to the cruiser, and it being full, the pilot asked him to leave. He grew a tentacle and stabbed him. The parasite promtly liquidized, and was absorbed into the controls. It controlled the cruiser, and flew to Mercy Island. It then solidified, and ran off in its humanoid form, searching for more to stop its hunger for free will.
