The sun’s golden radiance cast an orange glow over the streets of Malcroix. The tall buildings made of metal and concrete stood basking in its warm embrace, crowds of people marched briskly up and down the sidewalks as cars raced along the road. The city of Malcroix was known simply as The Hub, as the name would imply, the city was always active. No matter the time of day, one would always be able to find something to do whether it be partying in a club or hitting up the bar.

In a sea of rushing people, casually strolled a single man. His steel gray eyes remained firmly ahead, seemingly disinterested in anything other than what was directly in front of him; his shoulder length raven hair was in a ponytail, his jawline was sharp and fit well with his angular face. His eyebrows were also sharp, his nose was straight and he had a short but neat beard.

The man slowly strolled through the crowd of people, his gait was slow but his steps were filled with confidence though his face remained impassive. Despite his slow gait, no one bumped into him or even looked in his direction despite his above average height and handsome face, he stood at six feet seven inches tall and wore a gray business suit and tie with a gray overcoat covering his frame.

The man’s pleasant stroll was interrupted when the sound of chiming came from within his coat pocket, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple black cellular phone and brought it to his ear, the call was automatically accepted.

“I’m listening”

The man answered, his voice was deep and slow, as if the simple act of speaking was too much effort, the voice on the other end of the phone immediately began speaking.

“Job's done, boss. I’ll wait for you at the rendevous point”

The sound of the voice was male also, though it sounded older than Fenris. He grunted in reply before hanging up the phone, a few seconds later, the phone vibrated, Fenris tapped the notification on the screen with his thumb and the screen changed to display a map with his current position and a route which he could take to reach his destination.

Fenris hummed as he saw the distance he had to travel, it appeared he could not walk the distance and arrive at the location in time. He dialed a number into the phone and pressed it to his ear, thephone rang once before someone answered.

“Good evening, sir”

The voice sounded feminine, smooth and soft like silk.

“I need a ride”

Fenris said nothing more, he didn’t have to, his phone had a tracker in it so no matter where he was, his subordinates would always know.

“That won’t be an issue, Sir. Someone will be there to pick you up shortly”

Fenris ended the call and lit a cigarette. He took a long drag of his cigarette before removing it from his lips, he expelled the smoke from his lungs causing it to waft up into the air. The sea of people moved around his still form, cursing under their breath at the inconvenience. He paid them no mind, they were unimportant, his gaze turned upward, toward the evening sky.

His mind wandered. How many sunsets had he seen in his long life? How many risings of the moon had he witnessed? How many lives had he taken on a whim? How many times had he wished for his own to end? Fenris sighed and brought the cigarette back to his lips, he was old, but more than that he was tired. Tired of doing the same thing daily, seeing the same people act the same way, he wanted change, he craved it.

The sound of a car horn broke him away from his musing, he turned in the direction the sound came from and began walking toward the black car parked close to the curb. A slim man stepped out of the car and opened the door for him.

“I apologize for the wait sir”

The man said to Fenris with a bow, Fenris however, paid the man no attention as he got into the car wordlessly. The man smiled and closed the door behind Fenris before getting into the driver’s seat.

“Where to, sir?”

He asked as he looked at Fenris through the rear view mirror, Fenris stared out the window at the sea of people rushing to and fro

“432 Briar street, 2nd avenue”

Fenris answered slowly. The man nodded before pulling off.

***

The car pulled up to an abandoned warehouse located in a desolate area, the chain linked fence surrounding the decrepit building did little to add to security, if Fenris had to guess then he would say it was simply for decoration.

Fenris did not wait for the driver to get out and open his door this time, he was not some cripple who needed aid with everything despite what his subordinates seemed to think, he felt irritation rise up in his chest as he closed the door behind him. He fished a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and quickly pulled one out before lighting it, his eyes closed as he took a long drag.

Placing the pack back into his pocket, Fenris looked over his shoulder at the thin man that drove him all the way here

“What's your name, kid?” he asked. The man smiled, displaying a row of straight, white teeth "Name's Kyle but my friends call me trip"

Fenris nodded noncommitally before flicking away his cigarette "You should take off. I'll call when I need a pick up"

The man nodded at Fenris’ instructions and got into the driver’s seat before driving off the way he came. Fenris turned back to the gate when he could no longer see the car, he walked forward and lightly pushed the gate.

It opened with a groan, scaring away the few rodents hanging about. Fenris rubbed his fingers together as rust fell from the hand he used to open the gate, the place smelled old, like rust and mildew had years to copulate and form a colony.

Small patches of grass grew in between the cracked concrete, rusted equipment from times long gone remained strewn across the yard haphazardly. Fenris walked through the half opened gate, his steps echoed as he walked towards the open door leading into the warehouse.

He pushed his senses to the maximum, he had to give it an extra shove to kick it into gear; years of suppressing himself left him rusty. Despite the underuse of his gifts, Fenris still managed to pick up the heart beat of two individuals inside, one was strong and steady while the other was beating erratically.

Fenris stepped through the open door, a wave of different scents assaulted his nose and made him stumble back, even with the cigarette dulling his senses, the smell was still almost too much for him. He shook his head and steadied himself, it would be a cold day in hell before he allowed himself to be bested by a few bad smells.

He steeled his resolve and marched into the dark warehouse, his eyes took a second to adjust to the sudden darkness, the place was cluttered with crates and small containers strewn around recklessly. Someone had made a narrow path which led to a somewhat cleared area; though it still felt slightly stifling.

In the middle of said clearing stood a man, his blue eyes glanced up as he noticed Fenris’ approach. His pale skin gave him a sickly look but his athletic build told enough about the state of his health, the man stroked his well groomed auburn beard which was a stark contrast to his clean shaven head which somehow managed to reflect the dim orange glow of the lightbulb hanging above his head.

He inclined his head at Fenris’ approach, Fenris nodded in greeting. The two stood in silence not paying any attention to the man tied up on a Wooden stool who rapidly glanced between Fenris and the bald man in clear confusion. Fenris broke the silence as he spread his arms to the side.

“Not gonna give your old man a hug?”

He asked in his usual slow manner of speech, a slight smirk on his lips. The bald man, who clearly looked older as shown by the wrinkles on his face, turned his head to the side slightly and coughed into his fist. Fenris chuckled softly before turning his attention to the restrained individual, the man’s clothes were in disarray, his red and white checkered shirt was missing a few buttons and his black jeans pants had a few stains of dirt, he also had a small cut above his left eye which was bleeding slightly, clearly he had been roughed up a little.

Fenris approached the man who was frantically screaming but the white rag in his mouth muffled his voice.

“What’s his name, Scar?”

Fenris asked as he took another drag of his cigarette and leaned forward so that he was face to face with the restrained man, he blew the smoke in the man’s face causing him to cough.

“Antonio Delgado, age twenty three. Older brother to Robert Delgado, current head of the Delgado Mafioso. Their mother moved them to the city in hopes of building a better future here, sadly she was murdered a few months after arriving. She was walking home and a few of Bora's goons spotted her. They found her body hanging out of a window down town, wasn't a pretty sight. Her youngest son, Robert, being the trouble maker he is fell in with a gang while his older brother, our friend here, bounced from job to job and struggled to provide for them both. Over the years, Robert managed to rise quickly through the ranks through the means of backstabbing and murder until he took over the gang during a coup. His brother had fallen on hard times so dear Robert gave Antonio here a little gang of his own”

Fenris observed Antonio’s face as it got paler and paler as Scar recounted his story, it was not a stretch to say Antonio was scared, in fact that would be an understatement. Antonio’s heart was racing, he had no idea who these people were but their knowledge of his past had him shaken, he tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth was muffled mumbling.

“I believe our friend has something to say”

Scar commented as he pulled the rag out of Antonio’s mouth, as soon as he could speak again he began begging

“W-W-What do y-you want? M-Money? I-I got m-m-money! You like women?! I can-”

his pleas were silenced by a solid punch to the jaw which knocked him off the stool. His face kissed the dirt and his vision swam, a hand yanked him back up off of the ground and plopped him down on the stool again

“That's not how this works, Mr Delgado. You know this.” Fenris said disinterestedly

“What do you want?”

He finally relented and asked through clenched teeth. Fenris’ smirk rose slightly, this is what he wanted to hear.

“My associate and I offered your brother a deal, he chose to reject it; we’re hoping you’d be a little more…..open minded”

Antonio looked up at Fenris with a tinge of apprehension in his eyes, he was beginning to have a bad feeling in his gut. He gulped and asked the question he knew they wanted to hear, he had no other choice but to take the bait.

“What’s the deal?”

The question tasted bitter coming out of his mouth but the cards were all in his captors’ hands, he had no ground to make demands. He caught the smile on Fenris’ face, the bastards knew they had him trapped.

“Its simple, really. We want to know the names of all your contacts as well as the immediate transference of all assets over to us.”

Fenris said with a savage grin on his face, Antonio couldn’t be sure but he could’ve sworn he saw Fenris’ eyes glow an ominous red just now. He suppressed a shiver and steeled his resolve, with as much courage as he could muster he stared into Fenris’ eyes

“Even if I wanted to I-I coudln't do that…..I’m only the Diablo’s boss in name, Rob calls all the shots”

Contrary to his expectations, Fenris’ face remained the same. He didn’t seem fazed at all by the news as his smile grew wider.

“That's quite alright Mr Delgado. Truthfully you've already served your purpose”

Before Antonio could contemplate what Fenris meant, he turned around to face the narrow path he came through. Through the pathway came an individual dressed in an all black tactical suit with a semi automatic rifle. Scar stepped back to the side so that he was standing behind Antonio as he placed his hands behind his back, the glow from the bulb overhead was now glaring off of his head.

Four other individuals dressed similarly to the first followed after the pathway was cleared, all of their weapons were trained on Fenris. They quickly spread out in a semicircle all the while keeping their fingers firmly on the trigger or their weapons.

“I'm only going to say this once, drop your weapons and maybe i'll let you live”

Fenris said, his voice carried an almost tangible excitement which was a stark contrast to his normal dull tone. The five mercenaries looked at each other in uncertainty, this was not what they were expecting. Fenris stood in front of them grinning like a madman, Scar stood behind Antonio calmly while staring at the scene in a relaxed manner as if their weapons were simple toys. The seemingly mad man didn't seem to have any weapons on him but he seemed confident even while staring down the nozzle of five guns.

Nevertheless, they were professionals, they were hired to retrieve Antonio Delgado and that was what they would do. They took aim at Fenris

“We don't have any orders to kill anyone. We just came to retrieve Mr Delgado over there and then we'll be on our way, there's no need for this to get bloody"

One man stepped forward and tried to go the peaceful route, Fenris chuckled and placed his right hand in his pants pocket and stared at the man defiantly. The de facto leader of the group sighed before stepping back and taking aim at Fenris.

“Light em up boys!” He yelled as he and his associates opened fire on Fenris. His body twitched and twisted as the bullets left holes in his body, darkening the gray suit as blood poured out. Fenris stumbled back when the torrent of bullets suddenly stopped, he grasped his stomach as his face took on a pained expression.

He fell to his knees while looking down at his wounds, blood poured out in large quantities and pooled on the floor. The expression on his face was one of disbelief, as if him dying right now was absurd, the mercenaries looked at him apathetically; clearly the man had been mad, he had to be in order to stand in front of a semi automatic rifle without any form of protection.

Fenris lifted his head and stared at the roof of the building, a sad smile on his face; with that he closed his eyes. Hi body fell forward and hit the floor with a thud.The de facto mercenary leader sighed once more, he stepped forward along with his squad, guns trained on Scar almost as if they were daring him to move.

They advanced slowly, taking their time and edging their way towards Fenris’ corpse. It wasn’t until the lead mercenary got beside Fenris that all hell broke loose. Fenris’ eyes snapped open and he sprung up off the floor, surprising the man as he stumbled back.

“Well that was disappointing”

Fenris chuckled with mirth in his tone, his arm shot out and grabbed the neck of the mercenary, the man struggled but found it impossible to escape Fenris’ vice like grip.

"I've watched your species for a very long time. Longer than you can even imagine. I've seen you at your best and your worst. Ah, I can see it in your eyes; you're confused. Its understandable, you don't understand what you're witnessing. You wish to know what I am"

He watched the man curiously with his red eyes glowing in the darkness, the little light the dull orange bulb was giving off was not enough to illuminate his features which added to the ominousness of the scene. The rest of the mercenaries jumped back and cursed, they raised their weapons but held off on firing, they did not want to run the risk of hitting their comrade.

Fenris chuckled, the sound was harsh and grating. With a growl, Fenris exerted pressure and the mercenary’s neck broke with an audible crack. Fenris smiled, curved and pointed teeth were exposed, his head turned to the remaining mercenaries

“I am the bane of humanity” he said

Fenris took a step forward, the mercenaries took five back. The smile on his face stretched, the mercenaries’ faces paled. What followed was a series of wails of terror and the sound of flesh ripping, blood pooled on the floor in thick droves, body parts were strewn across the room, a severed head laid on the floor with terror frozen on its face.

In the middle of the gruesome scene stood a man, no, a beast. The creature was covered in black fur around the forearms, back, chest and legs. The upper arm, lower abdomen and shoulders were bare but the skin was a dark blue giving the creature a demonic look. It’s scleras we’re a solid black and it’s irises were a deep sanguine, it’s fur covered face jutted out slightly and resembled a canine’s while several of its teeth jutted out of its mouth.

The creature stood upright proudly overlooking the bloody battlefield, it lifted its head high and let loose a blood chilling roar which shook the very ground on which it stood. The insects and every other small creature hurriedly left the area, the very air seemed to go still as the roar reverberate throughout the area, the beast’s chest rose and fell rapidly as its roar reached a climax.

The creature’s head slowly fell and turned towards Scar and a pale faced Antonio, a bloodthirsty smile slowly formed on its lips as its red eyes roamed over their forms, blood dripped down its chin as it slowly began advancing.