I - The Beginning

In the first official piece of story in the CGHC, we begin with a simple introduction to all of the necessary, important elements. We learn a little about the characters, how they work, who they are as individuals. We also find that what occurs in I - The Beginning has actually already occurred. This will be explained later.
==Included Characters==
Anzyl: The protagonist of the story, as well as the main essential character of the CGHC as a whole. 
Riuvec: The antagonist, or, well, one of many. Less of a villain, more of an anti-hero. An absolute freak.
Zelica: Another main character. Mostly just mentioned, in this section.
Emperor Crab: Like Zelica, mostly just mentioned. Will be relevant in the second section.
== I - The Beginning ==
=== Part 1: Reflection ===
It's funny... Those with absolute power tend to forget what it's like to feel weak. To feel helpless and alone. They become used to having their strength serve as both a sword and a shield; their abilities granting them a sort of immunity to the stresses and dangers of everyday life. But even they must eventually face this weakness again, and most of them aren't prepared for it. He certainly wasn't.
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Anzyl had a completely ordinary life, up until he didn't. Sounds stupid, but... It was truthfully as simplistic and abrupt as that. One minute he's walking down the street after a good day at school, the next he's waking up belted to a table and being sliced open by someone he can't even see. A series of tests were performed... each one more horrific than the last, until eventually everything just sort of became a blur of pain and bright lights. Admittedly, he blocked most of it out... Though he can specifically remember a few different trials he was forced to perform in. One of them involved quite a lot of physical activity; though as a teenage boy he could barely keep up with the genetic monstrosities he was meant to compete against. Failure was punished with more tests and experiments; and his view victories were rewarded with little more than a less painful test or experiment. It all eventually came to a point when the scientists were prepared to throw him out, to dispose of him... though before they did, one of them suggested that they attempt to use "it" on him. What "it" was certainly wasn't clear to him at the time... though the fact that they literally tore one of his arms off in preparation was an indication that it wasn't good for him. 
What happened after he went into shock after having a limb callously tugged from his body is beyond him; but he distinctly remembers waking up, surprised that he seemingly still had his arm... Though now it was covered in tattoos. Strange. Also strange was the fact that he felt a lot less beat-up and fatigued now that this new, tattooed arm was part of his body... From that point, those tests didn't seem nearly as challenging. In fact, he actually started doing quite well; to the point that the scientists were genuinely starting to get a little scared of him... though he saw it coming. He prepared. When the time was right, he just straight-up left... They couldn't stop him. Nobody could.
After that, Anzyl was living the high life. Though embittered and somewhat spiteful about his prior situation; he made the first step towards avoiding a path of villainy and instead used the power he was gifted; which he came to know as the Right Godhand, for good. After about a year of ramblin' around dispensing a sort of frontier justice, he found himself getting a bit weary of sleeping in weird tents that he had to construct out of monster skins and wooden planks, so he made the executive decision to beeline towards the nearest town. This, however, led him to rediscover how unfair life happens to be... As for a second time, he was given perspective on how plain trashy some people can be. Not only was he denied service at just about every place he tried to go specifically because of his species, but he was literally told to leave by about five crotchety old men and made fun of by a few small children. Absolute sadness. It was then, however, at the point that everything seemed to be going straight back downhill, that he met the person who would turn him from a bitter, sad young lad to someone just a little more sensible, and a LOT less edgy... Zelica.
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Every boy goes through a phase where they believe girls are some kind of horrible alien creature. Most females have a completely different sense of fun than most males; which explains why those rare examples that have similar interests tend to be sought after by the lad element. Anzyl had only as recently as a few years prior graduated out of the 'not quite interested in girls' phase, which made things a bit odd for him when he knocked on the door of an old building and found it being opened by a rather stunning female, who herself was something of a loner type. The awkward conversation that transpired eventually culminated in his being allowed into the house; where he found himself set up with an accommodation that had quite obviously once been a living room when the home had seen more active days than a singular female occupant. The pair eventually became more than just housemates; having the sort of conversations one would expect of close friends. 
This friendship continued to grow, up until the point where it started to evolve beyond the level of just a friendship. In this way, they went from simple associates brought together by unfortunate circumstances... to something quite a ways more. What they became seems subjective; as both parties would give separate answers. Zelica would tell the asker to mind their own business before aggressively smacking the teeth out of them. Anzyl, on the other hand, would become a bit flustered and exit the premises without saying another word. In any event, what's truthfully going on is a romance that can only be achieved by two people who have no idea how romance works... And it's working quite well for them. There are issues, however, with the fact that their relationship has advanced. One of these issues came in the form of Riuvec.
Now, Riuvec himself is an incredibly unusual figure. In a sense he's the opposite of Anzyl; where Anzyl is a considerate yet somewhat distant individual who would prefer to keel over than inconvenience those he cares even slightly about, Riuvec is a loud, directly-in-your-face and excessively self-confident lad who would prefer to make someone else keel over than even consider their opinion. Another important thing to note is that he too has a Godhand; though it happens to be the polar opposite of Anzyl's. Yet another important thing is that he at one point had a rather intense set of feelings for Zelica. This has caused the pair to butt heads on more than one occasion... though what that entailed seems a bit foggy as of right now.
In truth, a good portion of his more recent history seems somewhat foggy. Everything just sort of begins to fade away around the time when he was in the middle of fighting someone... It wasn't Riuvec, no. Someone far more substantial. Someone a bit crab-like... an authority figure, actually. God, it's right on the tip of his tongue... though it's hard to remember whether the fight was a win or a loss. 
Oh, wait. That's right.
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=== Part 2: Realization ===
Anzyl would sit bolt upright if he could. Instead, he bends up about an inch before he immediately lets out a pained grunt; immediately falling right back onto the ground and writhing slightly as his body enters a state of complete and utter agony. For him it feels like little jets of caustic flame are lighting up under his skin; it's very clear that a good portion of his ribs are either fractured or broken, one leg is bent a bit funny, and one arm is clearly busted.... Of course, it couldn't possibly be the Godhand. For all intents and purposes, that particular arm is completely damage-immune. Does it still hurt regardless of that fact? ABSOLUTELY. At this point, there isn't a single inch of his body that DOESN'T feel like he was just thrown out a window... And, as the memories come rushing back, he just kind of makes an annoyed groan. He was thrown out a window. Great.
It takes him about three minutes to get himself up; his entire body straining under the mixture of painful resistance and sheer willpower. He figures it'd probably be smart to get going before it gets dark... after all, it seems like he's landed in the middle of a veritable no-man's land, which is generally where all the action happens post-sundown. 'All the action', by the way, referring to carnivorous psychopaths who spend all of their time running around tearing parts off of moving cars and being generally unpleasant. And while he would generally be able to take grand numbers of them with ease... not with a badly-schwomped leg. Not with a broken arm. For now, all he can really do is walk... And so he walked.
It takes a very specific kind of person to forcefully motivate himself to stay upright and move when every single instinct in his body is screaming for him to keel over and take a rest for more than, like, a minute. But something inside of him refuses... He doesn't want to stop. He knows that if he does, he'll end up in a far worse situation than just being a little bit messed up. This is giving him plenty of time to think about what happened, too...
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Riuvec violently slammed his fist against the Emperor's armored forearm, his punch being rebuffed with relative ease as he experienced a full-speed backhand... the sheer force sending the rather large wolfman reeling through a wall and straight over the horizon; his body spinning rapidly through the air as he disappeared from sight. Anzyl stood in place, shocked at the Emperor's raw power before looking up and barely managing to move out of the way of a slamming fist that shook the very building they were inside. Seconds later he was again barely capable of dodging; as a massive reddish ball of raw power whizzed past him and caused him to stumble just a little... this stumble was all the opening that was needed, as the Emperor's armored body appeared before him and began to pummel him with metal-fisted blows. Each strike felt like a freight train plowing full-force into Anzyl's comparatively small frame; every punch forcing him further against the floor until he's just barely on his feet... one more causes him to drop, his entire body limp against the tiles. The Emperor takes some time to let out a little bit of a laugh; raising both arms in a victorious gesture.
"Is this really the best you could offer me? TWO wielders of such legendary power and you didn't even dent my magnificent royal armor? What a joke." 
He then moved his clawlike armored hands back; thrusting them down in a sort of shoot-to-impale movement. To anyone else, there was almost no transition between the windup and the attack... to Anzyl, it was in slow motion. 
Here it comes.
Both hands continued to move forth, the sound barrier cracking around them as they picked up speed.
It's over.
Anzyl watched in a sort of dead silence, as though time was frozen. It was just him, The Emperor, and the attack that would surely end him.
Get up.
Anzyl didn't know what to think. He had no way of protecting himself. No way to escape.
GET UP.
In the split second it took The Emperor to finish that two-handed attack, there'd be a loud CRACKOOM as the floor exploded under the pressure of the strike; dust and bits of tile kicking up in a spectacular, theatrical cloud. Though when it cleared, there was a much different scene than what was expected. Most onlookers would likely assume that there would either be an eviscerated corpse or simply a large red stain where Anzyl's body would have exploded under the sheer might of the invincible Emperor's assault. What was actually present was a grand showing of the Emperor's very first moment of genuine surprise... and a little bit of fear.
His armored hands were currently being gripped by something that only vaguely resembled Anzyl's original self. Whoever it was, they were tall... Nearly pitch-black in color, wreathed in an aura that was both white and every color besides white; flickering slowly between them like a party strobe. Steam poured off of his body in rippling jets of pure heat, and for the first time in a good, long while... his face carried no emotion. Just simple, undeniable malice. In an instant his hand had extended; his fist thrust forth at a speed incomprehensible to even The Emperor's trained eyes. It took some time for him to realize that he had best look down... and to his utter shock, despite his armor not even being touched by the blow it immediately shattered into pieces; leaving only the harness around his body and a few broken plates attached to his real body. 
Bits of metal and wire spewed in all directions, and for a moment it appeared that the Emperor had an average humanoid figure... before the thinner armor within was ejected upon his activation of the emergency release, miscellaneous bits of shrapnel and tech spewing in all directions. It took a moment for the Emperor's true form to be shown, but to the surprise of anyone not of his army, it was soon found that he was not the humanoid that was expected, but rather... a two-foot tall crab.
The Emperor immediately leapt forth, unleashing a barrage of jabs and swipes at the offending lizard who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be completely untouchable. At the peak of the Emperor's fury, however, Anzyl's luck seemingly ran out. His body lost the pitch black tint, the aura, all signs of the power he had so briefly displayed... which gave the crab the exact opening he needed. 
"IT'S OVER!" He absolutely screamed in just about the most dramatic manner he possibly could; slamming the wide end of his right claw directly into Anzyl's chest and sending him clean through the walls of the tower, condemning him to a similar fate of long-distance horizon-crossing flight as the wolfman who had operated as a sort of associate for this particular battle. The rest, for all intents and purposes, was a blur of high-speed movement through the air, a lot of screaming, then blacking out right before impact. And now... well, here he is.
What can he do now?
Category:Fanfiction
Category:CGHC
Category:CGHC Content
Category:Stories