Act One: Florence, Italy

Reports that the Crime Syndicate had been making some sort of play in Italy had led the man known as et Bellator to the grand city of Florence. He had only been to the city once before back on tour with the Marines, and if he weren’t here on business he might have stuck around to explore it some more. It was no wonder the city was such a tourist attraction. These were the thoughts going through his mind as he stood on top of the Palazzo Vecchio overlooking the Piazza della Signoria and the statues in the courtyard below. He only had caught whispers from the few members he had captured but they all agreed on one thing. Something was supposed to happen tonight, and it was supposed to be big. He assumed that it was something more than gun shipments or drug smuggling. Perhaps the infamous Phantom was to make an appearance? Were they going to steal the statue of David? Only time would tell.

So, there he waited. He set up hidden cameras, curtesy of amazon, rigged up sensors around the area, , hacked into the police and government com channels, and kept a vigilant watch. Moving from location to location, iding everyone who walked through the plaza and tracking the movements of anyone that seemed suspicious. He didn’t truly have any big weapons or traps set up as this was just a reconnaissance mission but he was as prepared as he needed to be. He knew that if something did go down he’d need to be prepared which was why he was outfitted in his new gear. It was the first time he’d be truly field testing all of the equipment, other than against a few thugs and petty crooks here and there, but he figured what better test than this. After his ‘encounter’ with Lucius he had to upgrade his equipment. Adapt and improvise. What he had been doing before wasn’t good enough and the Prime Minister proved that. This had to be enough, if it wasn’t he’d just have to get better.

The day past relatively easy, no action and nothing setting off any alarms or sensors but it was closer to night when things started to get interesting. Not in the way he had expected though. It started with the shaking. A large vehicle perhaps? A small inconsequential earthquake maybe? Buildings started to shake next, and small shops would rattle before quickly stopping. he wind would stop. It was as if the world had stopped. Clocks would stop ticking, residents would hold their breath, afraid to even let out the smallest sound. Then it happened. The ground tore apart and out came the beings from below. The apocalypse had come, and the Dark Avenger was caught in the middle of it not that far from the Holy City. What were the odds that an atheist would be the one to save the world from the apocalypse? A smile crept across his usually blank face as he raised his scope to his eye and sighted in on a demon.

*Don’t be a shut in. Go out and see the world. It’s beautiful out there!* Sionas’ words echoed mockingly through Nu’s head. Mainly because she made it sound that way. She would have let out a groan if it wasn’t such a waste of energy, and it wasn’t like anyone would hear it anyway. In her attempt to break free of her timidness and to honor Sionas’ last request before he left, Nu had decided to book a trip to the history rich Florence, Italy. Though now, half that history was on fire or covered in some form of carnage.

Oh for the life of her, Nu couldn’t comprehend why she even thought leaving her little hideout was a good idea. Though as she passed by a shop, it seemed misfortune was doomed to surround her regardless, as reports of other similar attacks cycled on a news broadcast. One of the cities under siege was her home, Montreal. She could feel a pit forming in her stomach as she read the scrolling text. Alpha was there, or at least he was when she left. He had filled the void that Sionas had left, was basically like family to the mute girl.

Now Nu was far from home and far from those she cared about. She found herself ducking and weaving through alleyways, doing her best to avoid any confrontation with what ever creatures these were. It was at times like this that the little artificial being was still in contact with the world mind. Try as she might, she could no longer hear its voice any more. She was truly alone.

Shifting through the junk and rubble lining one of the alley ways, Nu found herself using the corner of a building as cover. A pair of neon green eyes with cat-like iris’ would peak out from the cover. A couple ran down the street towards Nu. A tiny bit of panic crept up on her. She didn’t want these people revealing her locations. She was terrified of these things that poured out of the ground in packs. Just as she had ducked back into cover she heard the girl cry out to her male companion. A demon had managed to trip him up and was now looming over the human.

Nu took several deep breaths as she watched on. What was she doing? Why was she cowering behind this building like some defenseless kitten? In that moment the little mute had mustered up enough courage to walk out into the street. As Nu approached the demon she noticed a few more closing in. Instead of fear setting in, it felt as though someone was there with her, guiding her actions and giving her the strength she needed to be a hero just like Sionas had taught her.

Holding her hand out, a faint pink glow would envelop the demon. Staring the beast down with a narrowed and otherwise angry gaze, Nu would lift the beast into the air. Once she had suspended the creature several stories of the ground she’d tighten her hand into a fist and the demon would ‘pop’. Her neon eyes would drift to the two humans. It was times like this where Nu wished she wasn’t mute. Instead of being able to call out for the two, she hand to frantically wave them down, all the while a pack of demons continued to close in on them.

Finn Tarche was talking with a businessman in a restaurant down in Florence, Italy. A very fancy location, perfect for special meetings about experimental super suits. Finn was planning to create a new power core for the next R- model, but this man held the formula for a super coolant that would prevent the core from melting the new armor. As he sips from his fine wine, he glances through the window to see civilians running from the middle of the city... "Excuse me, I have to take a call." Finn runs out into the street to have dozens of people brush past him, moving away from the core of the city. Someone had crashed into a pole. Finn runs over and helps them out, putting the driver in someone's arms and yelling at them to get away. He turns the corner to see several monsters of all shapes and sizes climbing out of a split in the center of the city. "Shit. Of course this happens during my meeting." He taps his watch, activating the R-10T deployment unit. From a hanger at the Florence Airport, a pod would rip through the metal doors and blast over to the city.

Back in the city, he would see a demon on all fours start running toward him. He starts running from the beast, cursing under his breath. Suddenly, in the sky the pod which looks similar to a moon lander but about half the size would appear, shooting out the R-10T gauntlet rather than as a whole due to a clogged ejection system. The first piece to get to him is his gauntlet, thankfully. He would quickly whip around, using an impact grenade. The grenade touches the horrifying beast's head and would blast them both away from each other. "AHH!" Finn gets thrown back into the rest of the armor, wrapping around his body.

Riot stands with his armor online and fully functioning. He uses his cutting laser to slice the hellbeast in half with the flick of his wrist. Finn takes off into the sky, flying over the crack in the earth that the beasts rise out of. He smirks as he drops several impact grenades into the pit, attempting to stop even more from escaping.

Everyone

Dark winds swirled around the coastline, pulling the eye of the hurricane away from the air stream and directly towards the mountains of central Italy. The banks of the river burst forth, depositing a deluge upon river city. A new wave of demons shot out from the river, springs, and sewers of the city.

Scaly, but still dripping an acidic mucous, the frog like demons took to the streets of the city, fighting and dying- but in their deaths, they shot forth gallons of water from their bodies. The first few demons would barely cause any problem at all, but with the sewers flooded, the slow demise of the demons would eventually begin to flood the city.

Out of the arms of the tempest swirling towards Florence, a fire burned in the heart of the storm. Lighting crashed along the ground, hitting the waters of the over flooded sewers and sparking its currents with jolts of electricity. The discharge of electricity did nothing to phase the growing fire.

Once the hurricane pushed over the city, the frog demons found their strength increase, their endurance doubled, and the amount of water they discharged on death quadrupled. The city would drown soon- if it was not shocked to death by electricity first.