BLACKHOUND

"It's been close to thirty years since I've last written in this journal. This may be the last time I ever write in them. If you're reading this now, then you are in danger. They came for me. And now that you're reading this, they'll know, and they'll come for you. My name is Richard "Martyr" Lansing. Six months ago, from this day of August 10, 2009, I worked at BLACKHOUND, a military division that worked with weaponry, as a guard there. I was forced to sign a contract which meant 'hush-hush' on all their projects. At least it was that way for all the guards. The pay, even for a guard, was really good. One day, as I was leaving the grounds, I forgot my jacket in the locker room. As I went back to get it, I overheard two doctors talking. One said, "I looked at the test results of the Berserker's frenzied state and I found it was amazing. It was much better the Reapers back in the old cages." The other said, "Yeah, the Berserker tore up those cows so fast that they didn't see it coming. Terry's going to have some problems scraping the blood out of the test chamber walls. When they release all these guys in Manhattan next year, man, it'll be a bloodbath." "But we'll all be safely tucked away in some island thanks to the money Dr. T will give us. Man, for a terrorist, he really is rich." "Hey, c'mon, let's go back and check out how Berserker is doing!" As they went back to the holding cells, I tailed them. Then I saw it. The Berserker looked like a mutated bear, some patches of hair here and there, with cataract-white eyes and muscled limbs and claws that would put Freddy Krueger to shame. There was blood all over it and torn and ripped limbs everywhere, like it had just taken a gore bath. And what did I do? I ran back and let myself get caught as I was making an escape. BLACKHOUND called in Redknight, yet another military division and they caught me. They tried to kill me, but Colonel Taggart said that I'd be better off as an experiment. I managed to escape a second time, but I can already feel myself turning, because they injected me with whatever they used to make another abomination: The Hound. This is the end. I think, by the time you read this, I will already have lost my humanity and I have turned into one of those creatures. They've ridiculed me in the laboratory and said I'll be codenamed BLACKHOUND. The strongest abomination of them all, serving my namesake. No, I'm no BLACKHOUND. I'm the Martyr. If you find this, I hope it isn't too late. I hope Manhattan hasn't been plunged into hell. But my hopes are futile, because by the act of releasing myself into the city, infected, I have given the Martyr free-reign once it is released. I have to keep moving now, because they'll find me soon. Good luck and Godspeed."

―The last journal entry of Richard Lansing

Introduction

Midnight quickly fell over Manhattan. Its crowded streets, filled to the brim with people, walking home, striding over to the restaurants, meeting up with old friends: it seemed there were so many people that it was better to think them as a whole, rather than each individual one by one. What is one man amongst a million others? There was, indeed, one man amongst a crowd on Houston Street. Most of the crowd was walking back to Soho to go home. But this man was different. He wasn't going particularly anywhere. He wandered the streets, not a tramp, but more a solitary, lone figure, going nowhere, coming from nowhere. His name was Ethan Richardson.

As he wandered along Houston Street, his mind wandering, a cold shadow passed. It passed not only on him, but the entire crowd. And then a horrible, earth-shattering howl of pain sounded from the alley to the right. People turned their heads towards the noise, some screamed, some tensed, and some even ran, as a dark figure staggered out of the alley. People stepped back as he howled some more, clutching himself and lurching.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" someone within the crowd asked. Some walked towards the screaming, writhing, twisting man, taking his clenched arms and steadying him. "Someone call 911," one person said. "There's something wrong."

Ethan took a curious step towards the man, studying him curiously. He was dressed in a tan trench coat that was frayed and stained and a black shirt made of some fabric. As he looked closer, a cold-hand gripped his heart: there was a small logo of sword outlined in red. Redknight.

He turned away and ran, still not knowing where he was going to, but he just knew he was running. As he left, the man's screams and writhing subsided as people pulled him along, a police cruiser arriving along with an ambulance. The policemen took the man by his arms and tried to move him along, but the man was stone solid. A low, menacing, throaty growl emerged from his throat. His eyelids were closed. The policemen stared at one another, unsure what to do with this rare find. The man's eyelids snapped open. The screaming began.

Plot

Characters (NPCs)

Ethan Richardson

Name/Alias: Ethan Richardson/Bane

Gender: Male

Age: 36

DOB: December 11, 1972

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 215 lbs

Nationality: Caucasian-Irish

Blood Type: AB

Build: Quite Muscular

Affiliations: Renegades, ex-Redknight, ex-Military, ex-New York Police Department

Occupation: Leader of the Renegades, ex-Military operative, ex-NYPD Police Officer, ex-Redknight Soldier

Note: Has a bit of an unsettled personal rivalry with Jacobi Abraham

History: Ethan lived his childhood an orphan. His father had cancer and his mother died giving birth to his younger brother, David. The two grew very close together in the orphanage, and they were both adopted by an old but friendly war veteran and a baker. After the two brothers graduated from university, Ethan worked as an NYPD police officer for a few years before signing up to be a soldier in the Persian Gulf war. His skills noticed by Redknight, they hired him to be a soldier. However, when David, who was working at BLACKHOUND, discovered BLACKHOUND's insidious experiments, he tried to tell Ethan about it before Redknight murdered David. Ethan quit Redknight and was filled with a hateful vengeance, especially towards Jacobi Abraham, who ordered the hit.

He first met Nathaniel Perkins, whom he fought alongside with in the Persian Gulf war. Now an old veteran, Nathaniel joined in on Ethan's cause, naming the group 'Renegades'. Nathaniel convinced Komras and Viktor Brukoff and Peter "Prometheus" Lansing (father of Richard Lansing) to join the Renegades. Later joined Fryderick Tatashore, Drake Jonathan North, and Melissa Gage Wahlgren. Now getting older and weaker, Ethan is driven only by the goal of retribution against Jacobi Abraham, the man who murdered his brother.

Drake Jonathan North

Name/Alias: Drake Jonathan North/Papa Butcher

Gender: Male

Age: 29

DOB: September 17, 1980

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 170 lbs

Nationality: Caucasian

Blood Type: A

Build: Fairly Muscular

Affiliations: Renegades, Bellerue Refugees, ex-BLACKHOUND

Occupation: Doctor at Bellerue Hospital, Renegade Medic, ex-BLACKHOUND medical researcher/surgeon

Note: Romantically involved with Melissa Gage Wahlgren; Fluent in 7 different languages

History: Drake was born as the only child to Jessica and Jonathan North in the New York suburbs. Bright and prodigious, he was also a perfect example of the American cliched 'rebellious teenager', correcting teachers and students alike with wisecracks and mouthy jibs, doing whatever he saw fit when he saw fit. An adventuresome sort in his childhood, he took fencing lessons when he was young and became quite well known for going into tournaments at an early age. However, his life truly began in his high school Sophomore year when he met Melissa Gage Wahlgren. Though Drake took an interest into this science prodigy, he didn't hang out with her that often due to social status, Drake being one of the most popular kids in school and Melissa having just moved into the suburbs from the city, but Drake nonetheless began to sneak out at night just to meet her, and he unknowingly became infatuated with her. Often he had stood up for her, earning Drake a quite violent reputation and leaving rumors abound (he had gotten suspension after he punched two teeth out of a regular school bully's mouth). His parents were also concerned about how his was affecting his school life. It was at the end of his high school life that they parted ways, not going to meet each other again until five years later, when Drake was hired as a medical researcher and surgeon for BLACKHOUND and Melissa working as one of the scientific forensics researcher for Redknight. The two began to form a close bond together, forming an actual relationship with no restraints.

Two years later, Melissa went to take care of her uncle, who had cancer. After he died, she had to sell her apartment in the city in order to compensate for the money she lost while caring for her uncle. Drake, however, had recently moved to a better house that he bought out of his savings, and Melissa moved in with him. But for some strange, strange reason, and even though they lived together for two years and sometimes even slept with each other, Drake never had the courage to propose.

One day, Melissa returned home quite distressed, and that ended the first chapter of Drake's story, kick-starting the next. She had told him that she got lost in the lower levels of the laboratory, where high-level staff members were only allowed, and she walked in on two scientists talking about something called "Project Catalyst". Drake, having recently been promoted and having access to parts of the lower levels, stole the prototype stealth suit BLACKHOUND had been working on for the military and snuck in to find solid evidence.

BLACKHOUND later discovered that Melissa had known about Catalyst and she had to go into hiding. Drake quickly sold the house and it was then when they met Ethan Richardson. Thought they were wary about him at first, they nevertheless accepted his help and they hid at Ethan's safehouse. With Ethan and the rest of the Renegades' help, they joined in on the fight against BLACKHOUND and Redknight and have been fighting every since. While Ethan fights for retribution against Jacobi Abraham, Nathaniel fights for justice, Drake fights for a normal life instead of hiding everyday.

Acts

Act 1: Trepidation Imminent

Prologue: The Hunters ... - This was just the beginning ...

Act 1: Renegade

Chapter One: Hostile Companions - A new mission and a new friend ...

Act 1: The Paved Path

Chapter One: The Split Road - Our heroes from act one take separate paths, perhaps to death, perhaps to destiny ...