The RC
[ARCHIVE: Continuing the trend of video game fiction. I realize now that I guess these qualify as fanfiction. Oops. Even though failed to popularize "The RC" as an acronym for the game, I find it amusing.]
Alex lounged on the front steps of his school, alone. This was not uncommon. He had a reputation among the student body of being a recluse. It wasn't that he was outcast. Ask most of his schoolmates and their replies varied upon, "He's a nice enough guy, I guess. I don't really know him." Most people knew he was an okay guy most of the time. There were even rumors of how he would step in, helping people in need, but never staying around to receive any gratitude. The problem was his other reputation. When he got angry, he got really angry. Angry enough to throw punches. Only a few people had ever seen it, but the few and fragmented accounts of such legendary blow-ups were enough to make it school gossip. But Alex was a loner mostly by choice. It was a matter of feeling different, like he didn't quite belong because of what he thought about.
What was different with Alex sitting on the steps of his school today was that it was already ten in the morning. Classes should have been well underway, but the front door remained chained and the side entrances were all locked. It was as if classes were not meant to be in session at all today. In his mind, Alex could imagine the meetings the School Board had toiled in. He could hear the announcement in the morning informing the students; the announcement he had not heard because he had ditched school in favor of sitting under the bridge, contemplating life and lazily throwing stones into the river. He saw the copies of the letters sent out, notifying homes that there would be no school this day. He could see the single typo that put his letter into the endless rerouting of the postal service, never to land on his doorstep. It seemed like fate's kind of humor.
Like the brick flying in his direction. Almost instinctively, Alex extended his fist in its direction. The cement block shattered against his hands, sending red debris cascading to the ground. He looked at the small rubble pile without turning his head. This is what I do. I don't stop a threat, I take it apart, hurting it until it will never attack aga-
He narrowed his eyes. Under the stone fragments seemed to be a note. It had been more than an attack; it had been a message. He turned in the direction it had come from- the school.
There, in the window. Andy, one of the Dragon Twins. Ever since he and his brother Randy had arrived, the school had been plagued with delinquency and violence. Almost immediately they had risen to the top of the street gang hierarchy. Their fighting skills were unmatched; only their lack of intelligence kept them from being really threatening. If they were inside, it could only mean that they had taken made good on their boasts to take over the school. But Alex knew that they could only be muscle puppets for someone smarter.
Hopping to his feet, Alex charged out the front gate. He was strong, even scarily so, but he was only one man. If he was to help his school, help his friends, he would need help. And as much as it made his stomach turn, he knew only Ryan could be of any help. The thought of fighting alongside his rival from Cross Town High was sickening, but not as much as his dread at unleashing his inner fury, the one he had spent so long trying to control. Being alone was fine with him, as long as it was his choice. He didn't want his classmates to see him for the animal he was and lose any positive thoughts they had about him. He cursed the unknown mastermind. Whoever he was, he had already made Alex cross two lines he had hoped to never do. But he would make him pay. He would show him what happened to those who threatened River City High.
