ISSUE #0 - BACKSTORY

Nick Givens was a very gifted young man. By the time he was two, he was able to read, and had a bookshelf crammed with literature, each of which he had read at least twice. Having gotten his degree in journalism from Syracuse, Nick was a hot commodity going into the real world, and was able to work himself into a job writing for the Ravenholme newspaper by the time he was 25. The economy took a downturn at one point however, and with Nick living so prosperously, he offered to take in his parents and little sister when their house was foreclosed.

With Nick's family living with him, he became very close with them again after seeing them very sparingly for the few years before. It was a bit difficult for him to get used to at first, but after a little while, everyone got used to each other and life started going pretty well for Nick again. But, of course, this was Ravenholme; you could barely walk to work without dealing with a Stabby Joe or syndicates of Lisping Lou Ferrari. It was inevitable that things wouldn't go well for long, which is why Nick was working his tail off, hoping to get a job for the newspaper of Centenary City or Principal City so he could move his family out of danger. Really, he was fine with going anywhere (aside from The Wastelands, of course). Unfortunately, it didn't happen and disaster struck.

It was really a very ordinary day. The temperature was mild, the skies were cloudy, the Charlotte Bobcats were losing; there really wasn't anything special about this day. Nick went to work like he did every Wednesday, and worked on research for his next column as Wednesday normally entailed. However, the day took a turn away from the routine about an hour before Nick returned to his house.

It was almost 6:30 PM. Nick's family was eating dinner as they usually did around that time (Nick always insisted that they didn't wait for him). Peaking in from the bushes was a strange figure, one that none of them had seen before, and he was watching, waiting for a moment when he felt he could get in undetected. Nick's mother and father were getting everything ready to do the dishes, and his sister had retired to her room when this figure had seen his window of opportunity.

The figure had slipped into the house by quietly opening the unlocked sliding door in the back. He moved with incredible stealth, but was unable to go completely undetected; he had accidentally bumped into a chair, moving it slightly and alarming Nick's parents. Nick's father grabbed a bat and moved cautiously towards the darkness, when he was overtaken by a man dressed in black and thrown forcefully to the ground. The two struggled while Nick's mother hid in the corner of the kitchen, frozen with fear. She was able to come to her senses and call 9-1-1, but without having lived in Ravenholme for long, she didn't know that their police department put a very low priority on home break-ins. She called Nick as well. Their conversation went:

Code:
Nick's mother: There's someone here.

Nick: Mom? Excuse me?

Mother: There's someone here, and he attacked your father.

Nick: Oh God. What does he look like?

Mother: I don't know. I'm afraid to get any closer.

Nick: Alright, I'm on my way. Be careful.

*silence*

Nick: Hello?

Mother: I think he heard me.

Nick: What?

Mother: I think he heard - *loud shriek*

*phone line goes dead*
And of course, Nick knew at this point that something very bad had just happened to his mother. The figure didn't kill her at that point, but he grabbed her and destroyed the phone. He then tied her up and threatened her with a stiletto. Nick's father was able to sneak in with the bat and swing at the figure, but because of a last second sudden movement the figure was hit on the shoulder. Filled with anger and pain, the figure turned his attention back to Nick's father, and was able to subdue him back to the ground, before tying him up as well. Nick's sister reluctantly and nervously creeped down the stairs to see what all the noise was, and was shocked to see her parents tied up by a strange man. She made sure not to make a noise, but in her young naivety ran up the stairs, making enough noise to tip the figure off about her presence.

Meanwhile, Nick ran out of work as fast as possible and got to his car, but hit the rush hour traffic (that was the beauty of his job; as he usually got out at 7:30, he would be leaving after said traffic had passed, but alas, not this time). Emotions began to rise in Nick; he started to feel fear, anger and sadness all brew in his stomach at the same time. Wishing death and other horrible things on the people who obstructed his way, Nick began to drive extremely aggressively in hopes of reaching his home as quickly as possible.

The figure started to rummage through the house, looking for any money, or anything else of value. He was able to rob close to $1,000, and about $3,000 worth of easily movable objects. At this point, the figure was ready to make his way out of the house. He heard a noise at the door, and figured someone was entering, so he decided it was time to end his little game; rather than leaving Nick's parents tied up in their house, the figure used his stiletto to end both of their lives.

The figure was correct in his assumption: Nick was using his keys to open the front door. After quickly slitting the throats of Nick's parents, the figure ran upstairs to attack Nick's sister. He reached the top of the stairs just before Nick entered the house, and started looking through rooms to find the person he had heard moving up the stairs moments before.

Nick entered his house and turned the lights on, and proceeded with caution. He checked the living room, and the separate dining room, with no luck of finding anything aside from traces of rummaging. Next he checked the guest room and the downstairs bathroom. On the way to the kitchen, he checked his cash stash to find that all of the money was gone, and then, with his heart racing, moved to the kitchen. Horror immediately encompassed Nick's face as he saw his parents tied up and dead on the ground.

The figure moved from room to room, checking thoroughly in search of someone, anyone. After checking a guest room, the figure moved to what appeared to be a young girl's room, and figured he had found his target. He checked under the bed, under the desk, made sure she hadn't gotten out through the window, and then walked up to the closet...

Nick was wrought with emotion after seeing his dead parents. He grabbed the bat and was ready to kill. He slowly worked his way up the stairs, and headed straight for his sisters' room as she was the only one in his family that he hadn't seen yet...

The figure opened the door to the closet and was stabbed with an untwisted metal coat hanger, which threw him back temporarily and allowed Nick's sister some space to move. She immediately ran for the door and swung it open, hoping to run out of the house. Nick was almost at the door, and in his blind rage, swung the bat without looking to see who was coming out of the room. He hit his sister right in the head, and then the weight of what he had just done overcame him. He looked down in shock at his sister, who lay unconscious at his own doing, then glanced into the room to see the figure doing the same. Nick's rage came back, and the figure knew he had to get out, so he climbed out of the window and quickly ran before Nick could see which direction he had ran.

Nick took a minute to let what had just happened sink in, and then he realized he had a child on his hands who was unconscious due to an impact to the head. He took his sister into his car and drove her to the hospital, and stayed overnight. But, it was to no avail; she was pronounced dead the next day.

At this point, Nick was an emotional wreck. He felt responsible for not only his sisters' death, but the death of his parents as well. A nurse at the hospital recommended he see a therapist, who quickly determined that his psyche was shredded to the point where he needed mental rehabilitation. He was placed into a mental hospital and stayed for about a year, when he was released because he had shown considerable progress. In all actuality, he was just very good at disguising his depression and his anger. Nick was let out, and the first thing he did was find his friend Hank, an illegal arms dealer.

Nick put almost all of his money towards guns and ammunition. He practiced frequently at a shooting range or in the woods. He also sold his house and moved into a considerably smaller place, and was given his old job back. But of course, at this point, his job fell second fiddle to his new line of work: fighting crime under the pseudonym War. But is his heart really set on fighting crime, or is he looking to avenge the death of his family?

Sorry about the vanilla look of this entry. Since the rest of the posts will be about the progression of the story, they'll be dressed up with photos and such.