Intro: Cold on a hot day
Chapter: Intro
Cold on a hot day. Down the halls of an old house the sounds of yelling and sneezing could be heard. Echo's of two siblings was apparent as they argued fiercely like two raging lions trapped inside the same small cage. Through all the shouting loud explosive sneezes broke the echo's to protrude through as the dominant sound. For a moment all is silent... then returns the explosive sounds of the two sneezing together before a loud scream of terror and pain nearly cracks the walls, "Fuck you I didn't give you my cold you must have caught one by yourself or worse you got some sort of disease from all those nasty old people you are always hanging around!" shouted Cruzo at his older sister. Mira growled as she clenched a fist then struck Cruzo's head with all her might, leaving quite a large sore lump as she shouted back, "I'm a nurse! I have to be around all of them, and none of them had a cold! You were the only one that had a cold and you sneezed right on my face when I was giving you a check up!" He rubbed his head where the lump was as he hopped around from the pain, "Arrrgh!! That wasn't nice! Anyway you already hit me when I did that why do it again?! You're such a bitch!!" he howled out. She gasped heavily as she left the room, stomping fiercely and shouting various curses as she went down the hall to her room. She opened her door to a bright room full of colors and very feminine things such as teddy bears that had been cleaned up, little toys that beeped and buzzed, and of course a big soft bed that looked like it was dropped by angels. She yanked open her closet door and began to ruffle through her things before yanking out a large wooden paddle. "This will teach you to call me a bitch you little bastard!!" she shouted down the hall to him. He turned his head to see his sister standing at his door holding her massive wooden paddle like a samurai sword at her side. He squealed out and grabbed his back pack full of equipment and clothes before bolting for his window. He launched himself toward the small opening in the window only to find himself stuck. Only after jumping had he noticed it wasn't as open as it usually was so he found himself stuck in the small opening flailing about and crying already before even being hit. His sister grinned quite evilly as she approached him aiming her paddle for his well exposed back side before lining it up like a baseball bat then striking with all her strength! He squealed out in pain as he was shot out of the window to hit the dirt and roll a bit before he stopped in front of his friend the local Bounty Collector Markus. Markus Laughed as he lifted Cruzo to his feet before dragging him off to work and yelling back to Cruzo's sister, "He'll be back later when he has worked this cold out of his system, try not to hurt him when he gets back!" Cruzo tried to pat off some of the dust he had on him as he opened up his back pack, looking over to Markus with an annoyed face. "Why didn't you help me? You had to have been standing there for a bit so you could have helped me out of the window before she hit me with that devil stick she calls a paddle! I swear it was carved from Satan's own front yard tree!" he grumbled out as he started to dress himself in his clean clothes in the back room. Cruzo pulled up a pair of desert camouflaged pants with various pockets all around them. Then he pulled out and put on a large shirt of the same color, along with a big belt with two packs and a holster on the left side. After he had gotten his clothing situated he started to head up front to see if he was needed by Markus, but before he could get to the door Markus pressed a small button under the counter to alert Cruzo of trouble up front by means of a big blue light on the wall beside the back room door. He nodded as he noticed it turned on before running over beside it to open a small slit before poking his pistol through it to aim at the man in front of Markus. He awaited patiently for the red light to turn on meaning to fire. Moments passed before the green light at the top flicked on to let him know everything was ok. He sighed as he holstered his pistol then went up front with Markus who patted him on the head. Markus smiled down at him and pulled up a small piece of paper, "Well you got a bit of work now. Seems that old Miss Farless is missing her wig collection again. Probably the same group of kids took it this time. Go pay them a visit and get the wigs back, and remember not to start any trouble about it unless you have to." Cruzo nodded as he sighed and went back into the back room to don his jacket, helmet, and mask as well as a pair of heavy combat boots. As he left out he was nearly run over by the same hooligans he was going after, of course all shouting and laughing while wearing the wigs and drinking. He sighed as he started walking toward their little 'hide out' or so they thought it was anyway. The only problem was that it was covered in keep out signs, and was still inside the town walls. It only took him a few minuets to reach their door and knock on it firmly. The shouting and fun sounds from inside stopped as they tried to decide amongst themselves who to send to the door so they sent of course the new guy. The new guy Franklin opened the door with a half drunken grin on his face as he looked down to Cruzo. He reached down to pat his helmet as he leaned down a bit, "Oh you lost little guy? Or maybe you want a drink, which one is it yah little runt?" Franklin asked not knowing exactly what he had gotten into until he heard everyone inside gasp in horror as they saw who was at the door. "Little guy....runt?! Who the hell do you think you are?! You must be the new guy! Well let me tell you now this is going to hurt and they will be taking you to the hospital! So you guys go start the truck while I teach him why I popped in for a visit, oh and leave the wigs on the table guys or I'll have to drag all of you to the hospital." Cruzo stated in a psychotic voice with hatred flaring in his eyes up at Franklin who only was able to fall back onto his ass while everyone else rushed out the door to do as Cruzo had said. Cruzo shut the door as he laughed manically! Screams of pain echoed out of the small run down hide out as he Cruzo proceeded to beat the tar out of Franklin with a very psychotic glee. Franklin tried his best to rush out the door before he was yanked back inside for even more torture and pain! A few minuets later and then Cruzo walked out with the wigs of Misses Farless'. He turned to the group in the truck and pointed to the door, "Ok guys you can go scoop him up into a cup or something and see if the hospital can re-attach his fingers and that piece of his right ear, and guys...don't do this again cause next time I'm getting all of you!" shouted out Cruzo as he grinned evilly. They all squealed in terror as the ran in to get their friend and rush him to the local hospital. Cruzo on the other hand started down the street to miss Farless' house to return her wigs. He shivered a bit as he quickly lowered his mask to let out a sneeze, his cold still apparent but the heat of the day helping him to feel better. As he knocked on the door he grunted a bit, trying to look down as miss Farless came to the door. She was old but she didn't quite look or act it. She opened the door wearing only a small Bikini, she leaned down to Cruzo to take her wigs, "Oh thank you Cruzo would you like to come in for a bit?" she asked flirtingly as he shook his head. "No thanks miss Farless! I have a cold and don't want to give it to you! So I'll leave now thanks!" he tried his best to say before trying to leave only to be yanked in. He shivered a bit as he looked up to miss Farless. She wasn't exactly human, she was a dark elf who was over a hundred years old and was quite well...rounded. Especially in certain spots that often made Cruzo uneasy. Most times he would find himself doing a chore for her when she only really wanted him to come give her company. He was young but he understood what type of company she wanted and she had seen her bedroom before and was uninterested since her bed room was riddled with chains, whips, straps, and worst of all....paddles. She smiled as she hugged him from behind, pressing her ample and heavy breasts against his back, causing him to blush and shiver. He tried his best to smile as he turned back to her, "You're welcome miss Farless can I have a drink though I'm kinda thirsty." He said in his best attempt to get her to leave the room for only a moment. She nodded and rushed to the kitchen only to return with two drinks and an empty room. She sighed and grinned thinking to herself that she would get him some day. Cruzo on the other hand had very different thoughts more along the lines of staying away from her as best he could. He headed back to the Bounty Office to turn his work report and get his cash. It only took him a few moments to get back, but as he went to open the door a man pushed it open and knocked down Cruzo, he looked up angrily about to yell something but when he saw who it was he was struck speechless. It was the bounty office head bounty hunter. He looked down to Cruzo for a moment before walking off. Cruzo quickly hopped up and rushed in. "Did he bring my initiation mission?! Do I have to go shoot some small gang or something?! Assassinate a political assistant maybe?!" he squealed out as he hopped around in a hyper fashion. Markus laughed a bit as he reached under his desk to pull out a large silver case, "Yes he did, and I have this for you too." he said as he opened up the case to reveal some very nice weapons, "This is a new bat that hyper vibrates on the area you strike to cause extra damage, and a new exodus magnum pistol, and finally my old trench knife. You should have fun with all this." he said as he passed it over to Cruzo. Cruzo gasped as he grabbed the case and examined the weapons inside, grabbing the bat first and swinging it. Accidentally he struck the nearest chair which caused it to explode into a pile of splinters from the vibrations. He smiled innocently as he placed it into the safety sheath it came with to keep it from hurting the carrier. The next one he pulled out was the Trench knife, it was just an old very sturdy knife he felt honored to have since it was from Markus. Markus had used the knife in some old war or so he says. He put it in a sheath on his belt, and then finally he pulled out the Exodus Magnum pistol, it was a massive gun much larger than his and fired massive bullets that could blow a hole through most anything especially since the rounds had an explosive tip. "Thanks so much Markus but with all this my mission must be pretty rough. What is it?" he asked as Markus handed them papers outlining his mission. "You're going to go after Bradson and his crew of anthro sand pirates. Don't worry there is only about five of them in total so it shouldn't be hard especially since they stay at there base all day. Rarely even do much but recently they stole quite a lot of money and a crate of food supply from a very small village. Also don't think they are a bunch of push over's. There's two wolf anthro, one rat, a snake, and the leader is a bear anthro. They have weapons but don't count on all of them being a good shot especially the leader. Though I hear the snake and rat are quite a deadly team. Just be careful and...oh well hell you know what to do, you can take care of it no problem!" Cruzo nodded as he crossed his arms and grinned, "Yep! You can count on me! Cruzo the unstoppable sand storm!" he shouted as he rushed out the door and on to his mission. Cruzo had gone down the street and recruited the help of the local gang and their truck to get him over to the pirates base. The ride was long and the new guy of course was forced to apologize to Cruzo who of course forgave him. Though Cruzo still picked on him nearly the whole way there. They took off soon after he had gotten out and started walking toward the three story building that the gang used as a hide out. It looked deserted but he could see one of the wolves walking back and forth on the roof top occasionally looking out over the desert but luckily for Cruzo it was getting late so he was able to sneak up to the backside of the building. He pulled out his magnum and started in quietly as he could. For a moment it crossed his mind that his magnum would be way too loud, and his knife was much quieter, but...his bat was more fun so he pulled out his bat. He cautiously entered into what smelled like the bathroom and heard some grunting from one of the stalls before a loud fart. He tried not to gag as he kicked open the stall to see a bent over sickly looking wolf who was straining to break off a log it seemed. Cruzo cringed as he slammed his bat into the head of the wolf causing a mush to blow out of his ears before the body fell limp. Quickly he started toward the exit since he had no plans of staying for the scent or the new paint job. Cruzo slowly started to make his way upstairs after composing himself. He heard the laughing of two of the pirates and leaned around the corner to see the rat and snake remembering that Markus told him to be careful about these two. He pulled out his magnum and blasted the snake's head off his shoulders, spraying brains, blood, and probably some spit and venom at the rat who stood beside him. The rat yelled out and ran up the stairs to warn his boss, the Bear that an attacker was here and had killed one of his best fighters! Cruzo quickly rushed after him only to be pounced by the second wolf, he gasped as the wolf moved to bite down on Cruzo's throat but was stopped by the trench knife he had yanked out when he hit the ground. He punched the wolf's head causing him to rear back before moving to head but Cruzo only to find he was head butting the knife and had more or less killed himself. Cruzo sighed as he had to push the heavy body of an overweight anthro wolf off of his smaller body. He let out another soft sigh as he whipped of the remnants of blood and brains on his pants to clean off his knife. Cruzo panted a bit as he had to compose himself again, picking up his magnum and going over to the puddle of snake goo on the ground, leaning down to sniff it before rubbing the blade of his knife in the greener looking areas of the messy liquid hoping his venom was strong. He sheathed his knife and quickly headed up the stairs. Stopping before he opened the door to the next room pushing it open a bit only for it to be nearly obliterated by gun fire from the rat who laughed out manically, "Yeah that's right you little fuck!!! Ill blow you to bits if you walk in!!" Cruzo thought for a moment as he holstered his magnum and smirked, Rubbing his head a bit as he thought for a moment of where he was and what room was under him. After a few seconds he headed back down the stairs and shouted back to the rat, "I have no plans of being turned to Swiss cheese so I'll just leave, sorry to cause such a ruckus!" The rat didn't believe it as he still had his gun trained on the door. He sat there for a few moments as he started to think the brat did leave, but just as he started to relax a bit the floor under him exploded and he fell through, he rubbed his head after he hit the floor below him hard and tried to look around and see what had happened only to see Cruzo standing there with his bat, grinning like a deranged maniac who had just been given a license to kill! He lifted up the bat, waving it about as the rat begged and pleaded for mercy before cringing as he saw Cruzo swing it downward at him! Cruzo smashed into the crotch of the rat with his bat with such force his insides had erupted and spewed from his mouth and ass. He didn't bother seeing what a bad mess he had left in the pants of the rat but he didn't really care much anyway to him it was 'just a dirty rat' he though to himself as he went upstairs to face the bear. This was the only one that worried him. He pulled out magnum as he reached the door with a large bear symbol on it. He pushed it open slowly and saw quite a lot more than he was originally informed of. There was a lot of stolen goods in the room. The bear himself was chewing what looked like the large arm of a human. Cruzo walked into the room slowly with his magnum trained onto the chest of the bear where his heart would be. As the huge being started to move Cruzo let his instincts take over as he closed his eyes in slight fear before pulling off a few shots. He had emptied his gun and not even grazed the huge beast, but had blown the hand off of the arm he was chewing on. The bear stood and growled with a deep feral anger as he charged without a word toward Cruzo. Cruzo holstered his magnum and quickly yanked out his bat and struck at the bears leg as he got close enough. The bear howled out as he tripped and grabbed Cruzo's leg dragging him along for the ride through a sturdy wall and into an open room that was under repair. The bear growled as he tossed Cruzo across the room against a post that was holding up the roof. Cruzo opened his eyes to see the bear charging again, he quickly yanked out his knife as he slammed the bat down on the floor with his other hand in front of him, causing it to crumble just as he bear ran onto it. He clawed at the ground as he tried to pull himself up but only grabbed hold of Cruzo's leg again. Cruzo yelled out as he was pulled down on top of the bear, quickly jabbing his neck with the knife causing the venom on it to sink in and slowly take affect. The bear growled as he tossed Cruzo off and tried to stand but only fell down a few times before vomiting up quite a bit of human flesh and blood. "What the fuck did you do you little shit?!" shouted the bear as Cruzo sheathed his knife and grabbed his bat that was lying beside the bear, "I gave you a nice shot of snake venom with my knife you big fuck. Now your gonna die for eating all those people and stealing all that stuff! Also I'm gonna take that stuff up there back to the owners and get my bounty hunter's license!" Cruzo said with a devilish grin. As the bear reached for a gun in his belt Cruzo slammed the bat down directly onto the back of the bear's neck causing him to cough up one more mouth full of blood before falling limp to the floor. Cruzo smirked as he went up stairs and pulled out a radio to call in the gang that brought him. They were amazed he was still alive but rushed over anyway since they were allowed a small cut. The gang arrived and helped Cruzo load the stolen goods into the truck and they started to ride back to the village but before they got there they noticed miss Farless sitting out beside a rock resting in her armor. They stopped to see what was wrong, but as they did a massive flash was seen in the distance then a ship could be seen flying off into space. Cruzo rushed over to Miss Farless, "Miss Farless?! What's wrong, what happened at the village, and why are you in your battle armor?! Did something happen?!" he hesitantly asked as she looked up to him and smiled, hugging him weakly to her bloody breasts. "Oh little Cruzo, I'm so sorry I didn't get to play with you but those horrid men came and killed most of the village and took the rest away. I only escaped cause I'm going to die anyway and they probably knew that. They had a lot of tech and armor. None of my magic could break through it, but I tried my best...oh...and your sister...well they took her but hopefully she will be ok....Oh little Cruzo...you're so cute...I'm gonna miss you hun, take care of yourself." she said with her last bit of energy before falling over. Cruzo turned to the truck and they ran over to pick up miss Farless' body to bring her with them on their way back to the village. They arrived only to find bodies of those who were left and a blown away gate. Their first stop was to miss Farless' house to lay her in her bed and cover her with some nice sheets before saying some nice words then off to the bounty office to see if Markus was possibly still alive. They found him behind the desk holding a large rifle with Cruzo's name etched into the stock and on the side was an inscription: The Unstoppable Sand Storm as well as an "Interplanetary Bounty Hunters D class license". Cruzo smiled as he hugged Markus's body for the last time before the group started to gather supplies. They stocked the truck as well as two others for a long trip to the nearest city with interplanetary travel ships. As they finished packing a ship with the same colors as the larger one from earlier arrived and a single armor man hopped out. He walked around checking bodies for life while the gang and Cruzo watched from the shadows. They had never seen or heard of such armor or weapons before as the ones they saw on the being in the street. The being looked down at his arm before aiming his weapon over to the group, "Come out and surrender or I'll destroy you. Do not fight back it is useless." the man stated obviously human. Cruzo lifted his rifle and aimed for a weak spot at the neck of the armor and yelled back, "No! You killed all of the people I know and love! Tell me who you are, and who your leader is and I'll let you live maybe!" The man laughed as he took a shot and killed Franklin. Cruzo gasped as he saw how heartless the man was and fired a shot blowing out half of the man's neck causing blood to spew out like a small fountain as he took another shot but a less accurate one that missed. Cruzo fired again and decapitated the man, but even that didn't stop him. He continued to take pot shots at the group even though they missed he continued. The group watched for a moment as the body walked around pulling a trigger to an empty weapon, seemed it didn't plan on dieing so they just grabbed the head of the being and drove off to the nearest city. They arrived and asked around to find out whatever they could about it but found nobody who knew a thing about it so they just sold it. With the money they had they bought a single ticket with weapon permits for Cruzo to go to the eastern country where he had one living relative left or so he though. When he arrived he found the relative had been killed as well but had a will stating any remaining family were to inherit his home. Cruzo moved in immediately and soon settled in with the society around him. He still dressed like he was in the desert but had developed some manners even if they were only a few. So as it seemed to be Cruzo was now a citizen of a small samurai village in the eastern kingdom and worked for yet another bounty office. He was allowed to use his weapons still since he was from another country but he had to install genetic chips so if anyone else got them for too long they would self destruct and destroy the tech inside them. He could install friends into it but he only had a few. Years passed, and Cruzo grew older and more skilled with his weaponry. He made sure to keep all of his weapons in good shape so they lasted over the years. Each year he was given another test for his next level of his bounty license. Each one he of course passed with great ease, but he never got what he truly wanted...another chance at those who attacked his home so long ago. The day had come for his twenty first birthday, a day that not many in his profession got to see if they had started at such a young age as he had, but he had surpassed so many others as this was the day he was taking the test for his SSS class license. This would allow him passage through any city on any planet within their system and even allow him to carry weapons anywhere he needed or just wanted. It was an honor to receive the test let alone the license class itself. His test required that he Kill a man who had mercilessly murdered every single one of the bounty hunters that had come before him. A man who killed anyone he wished, and did it without remorse. He was known as a demon to most, and the pure embodiment of hell to others. Cruzo just believed he was another obstacle in the way of his greater goals and would be cleared from the list very soon...