2001, the 31st of Malgojo, Halloween.
Cantris, the original capital of the Diver Association.
Streets were bustling with trick-or-treaters comprising packs of teenagers or groups of kids sporting a guardian at their side. Either way, a very scarce few were alone on this night. Despite the cold, there were even those holding beach parties within Cantris, wearing costumes all the while, celebrating the night away.
A Diver stood, resting their arms on a nearby railing, facing that very same beach where so many were partying currently. The man took a sip from a coffee in their hands, a comrade of theirs beginning to approach from the other side of the road.
"Yo, you on break?"
The Diver nodded. "Yeah," He had curly brown hair and green eyes, whilst his comrade was a young woman with black hair, the ends of which were dyed in a deep purple color. "Every Halloween with this... why does the Association President do this? Nothing ever happens on Halloween."
"Not feeling the Halloween spirit?" She spun around, showing her outfit. "I'm a witch today."
All he saw was a normal black dress. "You are?"
"I just don't have my hat with me right now. I'd look very witch-like with it."
"Where is it?"
I lost it."
The Diver blinked. "Awesome, need somethin'?"
"Nah, just wanted to hang out with my senior."
He sighed. "Thanks, I guess."
"You tired?" She pointed to his coffee.
"Yeah? Stayin' up all night watching these fuckin' idiots party their lives away."
"Oh, come on~!"
"What?"
"It's fun! Of course they're partying! It's fun to dress up!"
"Eh..."
"You didn't dress up! All the other guys did."
"I'm... really not in the mood for that."
"Really now? You've never dressed up for Halloween?"
The man groaned. "Of course I've dressed up for Halloween, Carole. I just... I dunno, I don't get the partying!"
"Then why didn't you dress up now?"
"Cause I didn't want to. Already had a long enough day, okay?"
Carole scoffed. "Yeah? Doing what?"
"Documents, really?"
"Look, it can be just as tiring having an exhausting day dealing with fuckin' papers-- signing off on Diver expeditions, all of that as like... doin' on the ground work! Like, lookin' at shit, or people, or things to make sure we keep the peace and stuff!"
"You're such a bummer dude~!" She laughed, resting her head on the railing her compatriot was resting on as well.
"Then, why the hell are you here?"
"Because~! I feel pity for you~!"
"Right..." He shook his head. "You gotta have something better to do."
"Yes, but I hate signing shit just as much as you do, so..." She stuck her tongue out teasingly. "Walk with me!" Carole then proceeded to shout as she walked off, away from the older Diver.
"What? What, why?" He followed anyway, keeping a close eye on her.
"Just follow, we're supposed to be patrolling anyway, right?"
He continued to follow her lead for a moment, quietly looking out at all of the bonfires being lit by various partygoers. "I suppose so."
"Then let's do it. It'd be better to see the sights, move around-- better than just... loitering!" She gestured to where he was standing before.
He sighed. "Okay, yeah... fair enough."
"That didn't take a lot of convincing."
"It's cause you're right... and also I stopped giving a shit about the job so..." He shrugged.
Somewhere else in the city, a group of partygoers spills out of a hotel, kicked out by the owner. "Come on!" One of the men cried out, waving their arm in violent, overreaching gestures. The others just laugh, holding onto one another. "We didn't even do anything that bad!"
"You didn't listen to shit! Get the fuck out!" The owner screamed back, pointing to the other end of the street before locking their doors.
"Oh, come on~!"
A girl wearing what can only be described as a skimpy dragon outfit approached the man, who seemed to have been dressed up as a knight. "Hey, forget it~! It's all water under the bridge~! By the way, the group is thinking of going to some local pizza joint, you down?"
The man chuckled. "Holy shit! Pizza!? Hell yeah, I'm down! You offer food, I'm there!"
She waved at the rest of the group. "We got 'em!" The group themselves cheering in response.
And with that, they sent themselves off, journeying deeper down into the city's trenches where a variety of different shops sat. They all stumbled over to the local pizza shop in this area, a small section of the group parting off to head inside.
The sound of cloth bumping against cloth could be heard behind the man clad in plastic armor. "Hey!" A girl cried out. "Wat-- Holy shit!" The others turned to look. "Are you a Faurnalite?"
The others approached, all of them bearing witness to what looked to be an insectoid Faurnalite. Their arms were encased in what looked to be a thick, black carapace-- no... they had two sets of arms, both encased in that almost obsidian-esque substance acting as a carapace. Their chest was exposed, and down at the groin, more of their shell is formed along their body and legs. On their back, insectoid wings flared out, blond messy hair draped over their bulging black eyes.
"I've actually only seen Faurnalites! Never seen them in person before!" The girl commented loudly, slapping their shoulder. "You gotta watch out for where you're goin' little guy~!"
One of the other men rubbed their chin. "Wow... it really is a Faurnalite."
"It's not that crazy, right?" Another man spoke up. "It wouldn't be too crazy for a Faurnalite to be able to sneak up on us, no? Maybe... one of you already is one!?" He screamed out, accusing a random person wearing animal ears of being a Faurnalite. Joking, of course, but charging at them nonetheless.
The girl dressed as a dragon by the knight's side looked to him as he stepped back. "Uh..." He leaned over to her. "Something is off with that guy, no?"
"Why, cause he's from Tierra?"
"No... he... he doesn't look... present... in the eyes, y'know?"
"What do you mean?"
Back at the beach, the boardwalks were littered with lights, various partygoers passing to and fro, some playing minigames, getting on rides, and more. Carole led the Diver out at the very end of the boardwalk. She took a deep breath. "Wow... the sea air feels so nice, but fuck that smell..."
"It's the seafood."
"I know, I hate it."
The man scoffed, "Really?"
"Not a fan of fish." She shrugged. "Look, if most humans are allergic to fish in some way, was it really meant to be consumed?"
"Was peanut butter meant to be consumed then?"
Carole paused, then stuck her tongue out at the older Diver.
"I suppose I have won."
"Won in what?"
"This debate."
"Bullshit! This wasn't even a debate! It was a... light disagreement!"
"Still a debate. A debate is an argument and an argument is a debate."
"Oh my God, shut up, you're annoying." She chuckled, leaning over the boardwalk's wood railing. She looked over at the Diver. "Oh my God! Watch out!"
He looked around, not very alert, but fell for the bait regardless. "Shit."
She started laughing. "Got you~!"
He looked out to the ocean, smiling. He couldn't help but smile around Carole; it was almost habitual.
"You finally enjoying yourself?"
"I always have a pretty good time when you're around, y'know?"
She blinked. "W-What? Why are you sayin' that all of a sudden?"
He licked his lips, looking down into the blacked-out waters below. "I dunno... just thought it was good to put it out there."
Carole pouted, "What are you even sayin' to me right now!?"
"That you're pretty cool, Carole."
She stopped, looking at the Diver's expression for a moment longer. "Thanks... I guess."
He looked back out into the ever-expanding night from afar.
The rest of the knight's friend group exits the Pizza Shop, playing "(You're The) Devil In Disguise" by Elvis Presley, singing along as they reconvene. "Yo! We got the pizza!"
One other friend in the group pointed to the bug man. "Look what we found!"
"Holy shit, is that a Faurnalite!?"
The knight continued backing up, the girl at his side becoming concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Eh..." He lifted the mask, revealing his bearded face. "Um... I... I feel-- this doesn't feel right? Y'know? W-What did Divers call it?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"Well... I dunno, it feels dangerous, we should go."
"What? And just leave everyone else?"
"I-I dunno, maybe I'm being paranoid but... j-just trust me, okay? Just this once?"
The girl groaned. "God... okay, sure. I get it, we'll go. I get it."
"Really?"
"No, I'll trust you, okay? We need a break from all the screaming anyway."
"Thanks, Lia." They both leave the group, walking away from them.
One of their friends notices. "Where are you guys going!?"
"Ah!" The girl spoke up first. "Nathan isn't feeling too good, so we're headin' out early!"
"Oh, okay! See you later~!"
At the boardwalk again, the older Diver narrowed his gaze. His voice shook. "Do you see that?"
Carole raised an eyebrow. "Are you messing with me for earlier?"
"No, do you see that? It's out in the ocean... I-It's a bit of a vague shape, but..."
"What are you even..." She leaned forward, looking out to the ocean as well. A vague shape, she couldn't quite make it out, though. "What the hell even is that?"
The partygoers, deeper in the city, laugh, cheer. And still, the bug-like humanoid stood, unflinching. "Man, this guy is we--"
"What is that...?" The Diver questioned as well, backing away from the boardwalk's railing.
Carole's hands shook, hands over her mouth, eyes wide in horror. A massive, floating, bulbous mass, bigger than a skyscraper, slowly approached from the ocean, and on that mass were faces, an innumerable number of faces writhing in pain. Its body grew more and more, and more, as horror soon spread itself across the other partygoers scattered across Cantris's beach. It loomed over the city, and it was a warning.
Those that surrounded what looked to be an insectoid Faurnalite screamed out in horror. Locusts, the size of a full-grown man, surrounded the insectoid Faurnalite. They stared out in the direction of the ocean. Crack! A pipe collided against the back of the creature's head, head snapping to look at what had just attempted to attack it.
A young man panicked, attempting to run away. The creature stuck one hand out, finger pointed in their direction, before holes were littered into their body the size of bowling balls.
Many of those at the beach ran, but they weren't fast enough.
The mass of flesh, contorted into faces, writhing in pain, glowed brilliantly against the night sky with a wondrously bright green hue, body expanding beyond what should be normally capable, even in a being as colossal as it was... and then it popped.
An hour passed after the initial explosion, and Token Errasuriz had arrived at the scene.
The ruins of Cantris stood before the man. His hair was long, black, his skin a pale white, and his eyes a bright sapphire blue. He wore an all black shirt paired with baggy grey sweatpants. His hair was tied up into a bun, and his job was to eliminate the cause of this catastrophe.
It was confirmed by Rye Taylor, the Bulldozer, that by the time they had arrived, Survivors were still exiting the city, rushing to what remained of the Diver's outside of the Chasseur Collective, there to provide any rescue efforts to any who remained.
The initial explosion only lasted a few seconds, and in response, there were no earthquakes, no storms, nothing. Just silence and the scramblings of whoever remained.
Survivors confirmed that an explosion had occured; those who happened to be behind cover survived, whilst those who were out in the open when that bizarre creature had exploded were rendered into ash, or caught by the remnants of debris from various vehicles, or destroyed, smaller buildings. Afterwards, locusts, larger than any man or woman, began swarming the city. Evidence of this could be seen on a nearby hill by Cristina Errasuriz herself, paired with Andrea Castilion.
The Demon who had caused this incident has been established as the Demon of Famine. Token Errasuriz faced the Demon of Famine. The results are unknown as a massive, unknown black dome had encompassed the city itself minutes into their fight.
Anyone caught within the radius of this dome was either killed instantly by an anonymous source or dismembered in some fashion.
And with that, only a crater lay in its wake of the conflict that had occured to Cantris on that day. The combat between Token and the Demon of Famine had only occured within under six seconds.
Andrea stood in awe, the winds caused by such a sudden and bizarre phenomenon pushing their way through her black leather coat. "W-What... what just happened?"
On the first of Nkremos, 2001, Token Errasuriz was considered missing by the Diver Association, which took refuge within Guerre, a nearby country sat within the Chasseur Collective.
After five years of Token's absence from the world, on the 31st of Malgojo, the anniversary of this horrific event, Token Errasuriz was labelled as officially dead by the major populace and the Diver Association itself.
The strongest man in the world died at thirty-one years of age.