Hickory-Dickory-Dock

Prologue

   5 years ago...

      "Can someone please help me! Please!"
    
      Hearing the panic in those words caused Frank Lloyd to laugh, a deep, guttural laugh that caused even the bravest men to fall flat.

     He looked down at the man, who's throat was currently locked within his killer grip. "And they thought you were a god," he sneered, smiling his shark-toothed smile, before tossing the man off to the side.

    He adjusted his biker gloves as well as his leather jacket, before looking around at all the glorious chaos he had created.

"New York City in Chaos"

      He smiled, happy with the fact that he was the current topic of every news station or paper out there. New York was his, couldn't they get that into their minds?!

     He scornfully walked towards the woman who'd called for help, his pride inflating at the fear in her face that only grew with each step he took.

     He raised a hand towards her and she flinched, but for whatever reason, stayed rooted to her spot.
     
    "Kneel... Before your new God." He snapped, placing his large hand on the top of her head and pushing her downward onto her knees. The woman whimpered, only earning another hearty chuckle from the beast of a man.

      These vermin, these cowards, these... worthless people were merely lost sheep without a shepherd. And that was Frank's purpose. To be that shepherd. Whether they wanted it or not.

      "L-leave her be..." A hoarse voice called from behind him, the weak stability being emphasized by a series of coughs. If it wasn't for the irony of the situation, Frank would've been irritated. Instead he was amused.

     Frank roughly released the woman's head, shoving it aside as he turned towards the source of the interference.

    He laughed as he watched the foolish, benevolent hero, shakily climb back to his feet. Shaking his head ruefully, he advanced towards the man.

   "Thought you'd learn to stay down when you're so clearly outmatched," Frank said, amused as he drew a fist back to punch the do-gooder.

     As quickly as he could, the man thrust his hand towards Frank's chest, pulling the muscles taut.

     Frank looked down at himself laughing, as the wind around him picked up in intensity. He lowered both arms and inhaled, seemingly unfazed by it.

     "Wow... What a breeze, am I right?" he said, right before backhanding the hero. He could feel the man's neck nearly snap from the force behind the hit.

     He smirked giving the man time to recover. As soon as his vision cleared up, the man wasted no time in throwing his own exhausted punch.

     Frank dodged it with ease, and responded by gripping the man's head from both sides.

     The man shook his head, sensing Frank's intentions, but Frank ignored him, forcefully yanking the man's head downwards to meet his own rising knee.

    The two unstoppable forces collided somewhere along the bridge of the man's nose, and Frank smiled at the sound of the bones shattering beneath, as well as the man's own gut-piercing scream.

     Frank giggled with glee, dropping the hero to the pavement as well as attempting to wipe the blood stains from the knee of his jeans. Oh well.

     He turned to walk away once more, this time halted by the sounds of police sirens. He forced himself to smile through gritted teeth.

      "How great... Another setback," he said dryly, turning off towards a street post. Bracing the palms of his hands against it, he uprooted it from the ground with minimal effort.

    He waited for the nearing police car to round the corner, before hoisting the lamp post up above his shoulder like a javelin, and grinning like a madman.

    The driver of the car never had a chance, as he was far too preoccupied with steering his way through the wreckage as well as avoiding the masses of people, to notice the flying lamppost before it shot through his front window, impaling him to his car. The last sound he ever made was a barely audible gurgle, as he choked on his own rising blood.

    Frank smiled, dusting his hands off. "And now..." He crowed, turning back towards the man with the broken nose, "time for the main event."

     He pridefully walked towards the man, embellishing the anger and fear as well as the sorrowful taste of defeat and surrender, that practically radiated from the broken figure lying in front of him.

     Without stopping or slowing down, he snatched the man up by his leg, slinging him around so that he could grab his arms, one in each hand.

     He ignored the man's screams as he wrenched both arms out of their sockets, before twisting the arms until they were beyond recognition. Every snap of a bone rang out, drowning out the noise around them.

     Once he was done with the arms, Frank yanked the man's head towards him and dropped his elbow down on the already broken nose, earning another tortured scream.

    Satisfied with the torture, he decided to speed things along. He placed his palm on the top of the man's head, curling his fingers around it and pushing him down into a kneeling position, grinning in victory.

     It was the man's screams that firstly alerted him to his success, and right afterwards he could feel both the pain as well as the surge of energy as he drained the man of his powers.

     Frank screamed in delight, raising his other hand upwards in order to unleash some of the pressure that was pushing against his body. The power blasted put from his hand, and he painfully maneuvered his head to stare at the hero who had given up the will to even fight.

     Feeling the last strands of power enter his body and the pressure start to loosen, he slowly raised the man up into a standing position, and then lifted him off his feet, still in the same position.

      He looked at all the panicked onlookers, and held the man out before them.

     "Behold!!" He sneered, rearing his hand back, "your champion," and hurling the man, full force, towards a wall and watching his body splatter upon it like a bug on a windshield.

    Frank stood staring at the bloody mess for a good minute before turning his back and walking away. No laughter, no snarky comments, just silence.

     The citizens watched him, fearfully waiting for him to turn and come back, but he didn't. And so they moved towards their fallen comrade, the first stages of grief already beginning.