New Horizons

Panel 1: Shot of laboratory hallway. Head of Marcus is visible.

"If anyone finds this, there are a few things you need to know. My name is classified, but for our purposes, you can call me Marcus. I'm a researcher for the New Horizons Medical Laboratory and Research Center."

Panel 2: Pan down on first panel, revealing Marcus to be wounded.

"Things have gone terribly wrong."

Panel 3: Shot of meteor crashing into a building.

"It started when a meteor made impact with the west wing of the building."

Panel 4: Shot of wreckage.

"The initial damage was surprisingly limited, but more than a few staff members were killed by the object's crash landing instantaneously."

Panel 5: A mutilated hand bursts from the wreckage.

"All things considered, they were the lucky ones."

Panel 6: Shot of security scrambling.

"The mutations started almost instantly. Critically injured staff began attacking anyone they saw, their bodies warping into alien monstrosities."

Panel 7: Clear shot of a mutant.

"Every time someone was traumatized by something they felt or saw, they turned into a mutant, and would seek out victims of their own, assuming they didn't die from shock first."

Panel 8: A closed metal door.

"Their numbers grew exponentially, and the facility was put on lock down to trap them inside."

Panel 9: A mutant attacking someone.

"Of course, that trapped the rest of us inside with them."

Panel 10: Shot of Marcus stumbling through a doorway.

"It didn't take long for me to fall victim as well."

Panel 11: Marcus putting on a breathing mask.

"All things considered, if I was any farther from the anesthesia lab, I probably wouldn't be recording this."

Panel 12: Marcus fiddling with chemicals while the tube is still attached.

"The gas kept me under control within the confines of the room, but I had to find a more portable solution."

Panel 13: Marcus giving himself a shot.

"I put together an anesthetic mixture that would keep my body in a dazed state for the time being."

Panel 14: Marcus walking down the hallway, passing mutants.

"The mutants ignored me now. I can only assume they somehow knew I was one of them."

Panel 15: Marcus pulling an orb from the wreckage.

"In spite of my numbed thought, I knew I had to investigate the source of all this."

Panel 16: The pod opens, revealing an Omnitrix.

"I didn't recognize the device stored within the fallen object. It seemed almost alien, in a way."

Panel 17: Marcus examining the Omnitrix.

"Eventually, I worked out that the device was emitting a foreign radiation with enough traveling power to cover half the continent. I realized the implications of this, and I can only hope the world will still be intact when I return."

Panel 18: Marcus extending his hand, revealing an eye on the palm.

"With no proper means of escape, I hesitantly lowered my anesthetic dosage, just enough to let the mutation manifest more clearly. As it turned out, I could now grow eyes anywhere on my body, with each eye being capable of emitting a different form of focused energy."

Panel 19: Marcus taking notes.

"I began researching the mutants and their abilities more in-depth. At first, I referred to them by their human names, but as time wore on, I began to forget them. That was when I decided to label them according to their new physiology. Bat Mutant. Shell Mutant. Atomic Mutant. So on and so forth."

Panel 20: Marcus welding electronics.

"My stock of drugs was not infinite. I began working on a device capable of suppressing the mutation to a workable state."

Panel 21: Marcus applying electrodes to his knuckles.

"The device needed a full-body application of some sort to keep me stabilized. I jury-rigged a system of thin wires that wrapped around my body, evenly distributing the effects."

Panel 22: Marcus approaching a metal door.

"While the makeshift suit largely suppressed my violent urges, it still allowed me to call upon my mutant abilities at will."

Panel 23: Marcus uses an eye beam from his chest to blow a hole through the door.

"With its help, I was free."

Panel 24: Marcus walking out of the facility.

"As for my former coworkers..."

Panel 25: Shot of dead mutants.

"I did my best to let them go."

Panel 26: Flash forward to present day. Marcus is working on something obscured from the reader.

"It's been ten years since then. Thanks to KafKo, I've been able to develop my technology into something revolutionary. With it in the right hands..."

Panel 27: Pan above Marcus, revealing his project to be a Hybrider Belt.

"I think we can save the world."

END - TO BE CONTINUED IN PROJECT DECA.