A cold, dark sky hung on the shoulders of a boy not yet 15. His entire body was covered in burns, and his eyes glowed with the reflection of a burning house.
Abel had just returned from his military registration and was preparing for the academy when his house exploded. He found himself on cold dirt, with large patches of his school uniform burned into his flesh and pain shouting in his mind. Abel stood up with great difficulty and tried to comprehend what was happening. It only took a moment for him to realize that both his parents were still inside the flaming rubble. Abel ran toward the house, bracing himself for the fire shrouding the entrance. After he crossed the flames, Abel's mind went blank again. In the center of what used to be a living room, two large flaming lizards stood over two bodies with massive chunks missing from the center of their chests. A thick yellow smoke poured off the backs of the creatures and sunk to the floor.
The lizards were 'Vectors,' creatures that fell into a warp point in a parallel universe. The world governments had fully united to intercept warp points after the first wave devastated Earth 20 years ago. These Vectors shouldn't be here. Abel's parents shouldn't be dead. But as much as his mind tried, Abel couldn't run away. A seething wrath flooded into him, and he couldn't leave his parents to be completely devoured by these damned lizards.
The Vectors turned towards him, and Abel readied himself, grabbing a shattered metal pipe from the floor. Suddenly, two balls of flaming energy shot towards him. Abel leapt to the side, clearing the path of the attack, and charged towards the lizards. He closed the distance as the lizards prepared another flaming shot in their jaw. Abel stabbed the pipe into the first lizard right under its chin. The pipe barely pierced the scaly hide when it exploded open, blood and fire pouring out, melting the top half of the pipe. The lizard was disoriented, but before Abel could kill it, the other lizard launched a burning ball of fluid at him. Abel jumped backwards, and the fire slammed into the side of the first lizard, melting the entire left side of its body. Guts spilled out onto the floor, but Abel still frowned. This lizard must have been the weak one.
Fiery smoke and intense heat poured through the ruined house. Abel could feel his burned skin rip around his movements. He knew that he didn't have much longer. His mind started to haze as he glared at the final hellish lizard. Abel felt a light falling sensation and bit hard on the tip of his tongue to keep himself awake; he couldn't lose to this smoke. The pipe he held wasn't sharp anymore and was barely three feet long now. Abel didn't have the mental capacity to plan anything anymore; fumes and hatred clouded his mind.
Abel sprinted towards the lizard, anticipating another flaming shot, but when he got close, the lizard jumped forward as well. Abel barely had time to lift his left arm in front of his face before the boiling jaws of the lizard clamped down on his forearm and bit it clean off.
Abel screamed and pushed past the lizard's head. Even by his death, he would kill this beast. Abel jumped on the beast's back, slung the pipe around its neck, caught the other side with the few inches of forearm he had left, and squeezed. Abel screamed as pressure built on his wounds and the flaming hide of the lizard burned his arms and feet. The beast roared and flailed for what felt like hours to Abel. Finally, the beast toppled, and Abel let the pipe slip free of his mangled forearm. Abel jumped down, ripped one of the lizard's eyes out, and finished it off by stabbing the dull pipe into its brain.
Abel dragged the bodies of his parents out of the house on his shoulders and immediately collapsed under their weight the moment he cleared the threshold.
When the fire department arrived, they were horrified by the three dead bodies in front of the still raging house fire. They were horrified again when one of the bodies started squirming when touched.
After transporting the barely alive boy to a hospital, the firefighters finally extinguished the house. Finding two dead Vectors in a civilian residence made massive waves in local news before being suppressed by the civil relations department. After a week, only rumors remained.