~LAS VEGAS, AT ABOUT LUNCHTIME~
It all began when a cafe exploded. This is not what cafe's ought to do, especially in the middle of the lunch hour, and thus the wave of panic that swept across the area was quite justifiable. It wasn't just the cafe itself that was evacuated, mind - every soul close enough to the buiding took to their heels with screams of terror, trying to put as much distance between them and the source of the explosion as they could before things got any worse. Because, in a world where superhumans regularly tangled with monsters, crime lords and otherworldly horrors, things were definitely going to get worse.
And they did, in short order, as the gangly insect monster emerged from the smoking shell of what was once a nice place to eat.
"Bah! Boredom and inspid stagnation!" thundered the mantis-like creature as he scraped his hooked talons other each other. "I was told this would be a city of excitement, where heroes came out of the woodwork every year!" And with a growl of effort, he swiped his forearms through the air, sending slices of purple energy sailing forwards to cut deep into the pillars that upheld part of a nearby bank. In a trice, the stone columns fell apart, bringing most of the overhang above with them in a shower of dust and rubble, and more screams emenated from the terrified pedestrians as they ducked under tables and into shop hallways, trying to find shelter from this unnatural event.
Not that the monster seemed to care very much at all. In fact, as he left the area of the care and turned to walk down the street, he seemed to be much more occupied with something else. His orange eyes, narrowed in a permenant sneer of haughty distaste, seemed to scan the panicking crowds in the same manner a cat eyes up a mouse just before the pounce, as if seeking something or other among them. Evidently, he was not finding whatever it was he sought, as growls of frustation left his mandibles at every other pass, until finally he seemed to give up and come to a dead stop in the middle of the street, blades and carapace glinting ominously in the sunlight.
"Where are they, then?" growled the monster at last, adressing the crowd at large. "Where are the mighty Kobbers, who effortlessly destroy every evil that goes up against them? Are they all too
scared to try and stand against the all-powerful, all-destroying Kamakiri Majuu?! Come on out, you miserable
wretches, and I shall-"
He was interrupted by a distant noise. A noise that was strange for not only having no apparent source to explain itself, but for being the sort of noise one does not expect to hear anywhere in the world. A noise that had seemingly no meaning by itself, and left the civillians, who had before been cowering in terror of the monster attacking them, as confused as their assailant was. A noise that was getting louder, as if it was approaching at a rapid pace, and was growing closer by the second as the source drew towards the chaotic scene taking place in the streets of Las Vegas.
And the noise went:
HAWK! TIGER! GRASSHOPPER!
