Life's Tough/Transcript

**JOEY:** Hey, man, we got cut off earlier. You alright?

**JAMES:** I found the last of Erik's audio logs. But Erik doesn’t explain what happened to him! I mean, he said he got “decomposed” and “sucked into the experiment” when it exploded. But he couldn’t have died, as audio logs 4 and 5 were recorded after the incident! Oh, no. Man, what *is* Erik? Is he a being? Or not?!

**JOEY:** Man, this is too complicated for an old funkmeister like me. I mean, I really want to help you, bro, but… y’know, life's tough.

**JAMES:** So you’re bailing on me? You know you’re all I have, right?

**JOEY:** I know, but like I said, life’s tough. Very tough. For me, anyway.

**JAMES:** How do you think I feel? But I put up with this shit!

**JOEY:** James. Calm down...

**JAMES:** This sucks! Fuck you!

**JOEY:** Oh, that’s it!!!

*[All of a sudden, we hear Joey grunting and then static. Then the call ends.]*

**JAMES:** Joey? JOEY!?!! Maybe he’s at his apartment!

*[James heads to Joey’s apartment in Queen Anna, Feldis. James goes to the roof, because Joey usually hangs out up there.]*

**JAMES:** Oh, man, Joey’s not here!

*[All of a sudden, James spots some blood drops on the ground. They make a trail which leads to the fire escape.]*

**JAMES:** Maybe this is Joey’s blood. I’m gonna follow this trail ’till it ends.

*[James follows the trail down the fire escape, through the alleyway, across the street, all the way to the elevated train station. There are cops all around the area and the area’s blocked off. The cops start shooting at James when he approaches, but he ignores this. He heads to the station platform where there are people standing, in awe, staring at the track.]*

*[Once James is up there, he sees the train halted on the tracks, and the front of the train is covered with blood. But there’s no body. James jumps onto the tracks and orders everybody to evacuate the train. Once everyone’s a safe distance away, James uses all his energy to trap the train in a giant aura beam. He then lifts the train into the air and throws it off the tracks. The train falls onto the street below. On the tracks, lies a deceased Joey covered with blood and gore.]*

**JAMES:** JOEY!!!! WHY?!??!!

*[James, at this point, is so enraged that his aura energy turns a dark red. A red glare is shining in his eyes, and out of devastation, unleashes a wide aura blast through his body, killing everyone nearby and collapsing the train station onto the street below. The cutscene cuts to James sitting in his bed in his apartment. It is early morning but the sky is still dark, but hint of red is visible, suggesting sunrise is soon. James is grieving. Dry tears can be seen on his face.]*

**JAMES (INNER MONOLOGUE):** Why? Why would Joey kill himself? He had said life was too much... but he couldn’t stay strong and hold out, like I did? I mean, I told him I had nobody... but he did it anyway. Now I *really* have nobody.

*[James gets out of bed now.]*

**JAMES (INNER MONOLOGUE):** But I still need to be strong. I need to help the people of this city... and stop Erik. And I’ll do it myself. Watch.

*[James jumps out of his window and is out, ready to start. It is snowing out. The camera then points to a billboard that says the temperature. The temperature is -11°F.]*

**JAMES:** Man, it’s freezing out here!

*[James spots some Ululators around, and takes them all out.]*

*[James hears a van coming towards him. He turns around and sees a Diamond 6 News van heading down the street. The van pulls over near James and out comes a reporter, a camera man and a mic operator. We are now seeing out of the news camera’s point of view.]*

**LYNDSEY:** This is Lyndsey Belcher reporting live from Tennant Avenue. We have James Derettas, the famous super-powered man, right here. Now tell us, because we want to know, how does it feel, to have powers?

**JAMES:** Y’know, the news always asks the most ridiculous questions. But I’m fine. It’s pretty stressful, but we gotta move on from the stress, right?

**LYNDSEY:** Yes, exactly. Now…

*[All of a sudden, we hear gunshots from a distance. Then we hear a loud gunshot, a loud grunt, and the news camera falls over, and the camera-man dies. The camera view is now a regular cutscene rather than through the news camera. The news van pulls away in a hurry and three gray vans pull up in the area. Each van has two Ululators in the front, five in the back, and two on the top. So that means each van has 9 thugs, making the total 27 thugs that the player must defeat. The player must also destroy the vans. When the fight is over, James falls to his knees, breathing heavily.]*

**JAMES:** These Ululators are in for a fight. I guess I am too.

*[James gets up and stumbles a bit, but he’s back up now.]*