The sound of seagulls chirping echoes through the sky. It's a nice day, as it usually is in Albaque village. A boy sits on the beach against a burlap sack, feeling the sun against his skin. The warm, salty air fills the atmosphere as he lets his mind drift. He daydreams of bigger things, like exploring the sea, making dreams, achieving them, etc.
A womans voice can be heard shouting from behind him. "Come get some dinner before it gets cold! You don't have all day!" The boy gets up and stretches. "I'm coming, Mom!" He walks up the beach and into his small home on the edge of town, and sits for a meal. "I made you your favorite, Enchiladas!" His mother grins as she places his food before him. The boy thanks his mother. "So, what were you dreaming about this time?" He raises an eyebrow. "Nothing, ma-" His statement is interrupted, as the door of their humble home is slammed open. Three men walk in, lathered head to toe in bad news.
The boy recognizes these men, and he avoids making eye contact as they make themselves comfortable in this home, until one speaks up. "So, Elena, would you care to let us know why we haven't seen any payment from you for this long?" Kindly, but nervously, the boy's mother speaks up. "I'm sorry, but income has been low lately, please just give me another week I swear I'll have it." The men chuckle. "You know that the Inferno Corps doesn't take kindly to unpaid loans. Maybe we'll just have your kid work it off some more..." The boy seethes in anger, gripping his fork with white knuckles. These men were part of the corrupt organization that took control of Albaque village, the same group that has been harassing families like his for years. They have had him do mercenary jobs in order to pay off his family's debt for a while now, subjecting him to horrors that no one should face at his age.
After a while, the men finally leave. "We'll be back, and you better have the funds, or else." The boy is furious, as he has been holding back anger for the past 10 minutes. "Why can't we do anything about them!!" "Sweetie, I know how you feel, but there is nothing we can do, especially ever since your father went missing. Why don't you go to the market, and sell some of those fruits you find on the beach, yeah?" He agrees, still red in the face from anger, and walks out with his burlap sack over his shoulder.
When he gets to his stand at the market, he opens his sack and places some of the fruits that he found on the beach earlier onto the table in front of him. That is, until something catches his eye. "What the hell..." In the bag is a fruit that stands out from the rest. It has a bright neon yellow shade, with odd appendages sticking out from it. "I don't remember picking this up," the boy mutters to himself. He places it in his pocket and continues his assignment at hand.The day goes by, and the boy makes less sales than usual. Grumpily, he begins to pack his stuff to head home, until a frantic voice is heard running to him. It's his friend, Paulo. "HURRY, COME QUICK!!" Paulo is out of breath. "What is it, what's wrong!?" Paulo replies, almost brought to tears. "I-It's your mother, hurry!"
The boy's eyes widen. Leaving all of his supplies behind, he runs faster than he ever had back to his home. When he gets there, he looks in horror at the scene in front of him. The street is littered with rubble, some of the houses on his street are on fire, some people are running for their lives, and worst of all, his mother is seen being held by a gargantuan monster of a man, 20 feet tall at least, recognized by the boy as General Stone, a commanding General of the Inferno Corps, and the leader of the branch that ruled over Albaque village. One of the men who was harassing the boy's mother earlier is cackling. "Boss man is fed up with your little situation, and he finally snapped! Since you can't make any use to us, we think we'll just kill you, and the other useless worms."
The boy stands in shock, tears forming in his eyes. His mother, struggling, yells out for him to run, but he ignores her. "Please, I- I can do some work for you, just let her go..." His pleas fall upon deaf ears, and the men laugh as General Stone finally speaks, in a gruff voice. "We're finished with you and your pitiful excuses. You may have been a good soldier, but you have no more potential for us. Now you will watch as your mothers life is taken right in front of you. He screams out in a horrified state. "NOOOO!" Just at that moment, a bright laser of light screeches from the south, making contact with General Stones's head. As he falls to the ground, a man emerges from the scene, having been knocked to the ground he gets back up. "uuughhh..." he groans. "Wow, that never gets easier, does it?" Horrified, the boy glances back and forth at the dirty man and the now immobile General Stone. "D-did you kill him?" The man cracks his neck. "Probably not, I just punched him, really really hard. He'll probably get right back up any time now!" Shortly after this statement, the beastly opponent does start to slowly rise up again.
"By the way kid, what's your name?" The mysterious man asks, looking away from Stone. "And do you think you can help me take care of this?" In a state of shock, the boy is still baffled by what just happened. "H-he's starting to get back up..." "Huh? Oh, don't worry about that. Hey! I know! When this is over, You should join my crew!" This took the boy by surprise, knocking him out of his state of shock. "Your...what?" The man laughs with a full chest. "Oh man! yeah, you'd fit the bill just fine. And, I asked you a question y'know." The boy recollects his thoughts. "Oh, right.. My name is Santiago."
"But my friends call me Sneeze."
