The image descriptions usually go first, followed by character dialogue Cover Dying Fire Chapter 1, 1st round being the marker of a saga Redd Dogg and Mars, the initial protagonists, are running against a dark background with a spotlight focused on them P1 Redd Dogg sitting upon a hill with a cross placed into the ground originally the chapter was going to have little tracks placed around for the reader to look up and listen to. in this situation, the track for the reader to listen to was Tsuneo Imahori's Jester's Dream from gungrave's anime soundtrack (but the text had not been typed out fully). some revisions of pages are altered here and there because of numerous ideas for morse code for story details, hand written text along with digital texts in lettering,etc. P2 Redd Dogg, the lead character, notices a mysterious entity seemingly stalking them and readies themself to fight next to the gravesite they were resting by. Redd Dogg: Was it gonna kill you to wait, you greedy sonuvabitch?? Fine... I can find time to rest later. ! Looks like I misread the whole situation. Alright then... I'll help ya out... P3 Redd Dogg jumps into the background, snaps a piece of the cross from the grave, and throws a part of it at the looming stranger. in confusion, the stranger turns in reaction to a strange clicking sound as Redd Dogg attacks it while the stranger is caught off guard. 7 hells, the track from dmc3's intro stage theme P4 the stranger, having guarded themselves against an attack with the broken cross from the grave, is then hit with an array of punches from what is assumed to be Redd Dogg P5 Redd Dogg calls out to their sister, Tornado, who initially appears to be a very small robot making a series of clicking sounds. P6 the stranger is seemingly apprehended, and Redd Dogg holds their hand in an act of sincere concern. Redd Dogg: Thank you, Tornado Now, if we can just find out what the hell they were doing out here. from across several hills, a voice belonging to a robot bearing a very large grin calls out: ' I think I might be able to help with that.' P7 he robot identifies themselves as Mars and elaborates on his being here Mars: I'm Mars, I came across that robot there out in the forest south of here. Redd Dogg: where exactly are you from? Mars: I'm homeless, but I've been in the forest for years. I spend my days trying to do what I can for the ones who live there, be they man or machine, animal or plant. To that end, when I saw this guy barreling on past me, I decided to act. To make a long story short, they were unresponsive to any communication I attempted to engage in and kept moving north. I sent an emergency signal to the police and tailed them until they hid in these hills. Tornado: Was your own safety not an immediate concern? What if you were attacked? P8 Mars stands with his arms out to either side of him, his grin remaining bold on his face, but his words indicating a something far more responsible and stern. Mars: I don't care what happens to me. If somebody were to up and die because I was too worried about myself I'd sooner drop dead. Tornado:Your valor's commendable but few people can help others while being dead. Mars: Luckily, you two showed up and helped out. Redd Dogg: If you needed us, then you weren't that lucky. Descending from above, a small machine hovers on by projecting the voice of one police captain Gol, with the panels shifting to show a portion of the captain's appearance in conjuction with the machine. Captain Gol: Lucky enough, I'd say. No need to be so dire about it, Dogg. Redd Dogg: Ah, Captain Gol. Captain Gol: Since you and your senior were nearby, I figured you'd already defused the situation. I've come to personally apologize for not warning you, there's been another incident in the inner cities. Maximum security procedures have been put in place indefinitely. P9 Captain Gol: That aside, I've got information on who this robot is. Redd Dogg: Sounds good. Captain Gol: You already have some idea, don't you? Redd Dogg: Somewhat. The mask clued me in. Captain Gol: Well, that's good because he's with forza, you don't have to keep guessing anymore. Redd Dogg: Aw, shit. Tornado: Aw, fuck. Captain Gol: Normally Forza's just a task force that deals with "special emergencies", but this operative was supposed to handle a simple mission patrolling with local police out in a northern town by Seiton. As the stranger lays dormant, Redd Dogg stands to the left of the panel opposite Tornado. The panel below shows certain members of a task force referred to as Forza. In the center is the stranger, now referred to as Shrowd in later pages. P10 Captain Gol continues to elaborate on Shrowd's activities leading up to their strange behavior in the present, while illustrations depict them against a white background. Then, in panels below that are illustrations depicting the hijacking of their physical form by some sort of entity and their failure thereafter at the hands of Redd Dogg and Tornado, who stand by the right in the last panel to menace the entity, depicted as a devil with horns. Captain Gol: Given name Shroud (spelling of the character's name at the time), no one had heard from them in almost 2 days, so it's a complete mystery as to what could have happened to them in that time. It seems likely someone had hijacked their brain and had them out doing their bidding... ...That is, until they pushed their luck. P11 Mars stands at the center of the page, with redd dogg below his panel standing with their arms up over their head, stretching and speaking to captain gol's recon robot from the robot's view. they're stating what they intend to do as a rending ranger on the record. Captain Gol: Sir, given the circumstances, I'd like to ask for your cooperation in this investigation for the time being, and on behalf of the force, you will be reasonably accommodated. Mars: Me? Forget the accommodation and get some slashers to help make sure things don't get any crazier out here. Captain Gol: The two robots over there ARE rangers... Mars: OH! Well, that'll do. Captain Gol: Dogg, go ahead and speak for the record. Redd Dogg: Deadman's Year 029, October 12th. Rending Rangers Redd Dogg and Tornado, ID 0046 and 0045 are setting out to investigate the abduction of a Replicant Android working uinder Forza. Further reports will be made in time. End Record. P12 Tornado retracts their limbs and forms a metal ball, while captain gol sends their machine flying off. As said machine flies off, redd dogg faces the viewer in the center panel to begin their journey. in the bottom panels, they turn to face mars and motion to have them show the way. Mars proceeds to get into a running stance as tornado rolls in his direction with Redd Dogg following. Captain Gol: I know you can handle this, but all the same... be careful out there. Redd Dogg: (thinking) I have this feeling... as if at any moment, this case'll take a turn that I wasn't expecting. Could you show me the place where you found Shrowd? Mars: Yeah, if you don't mind going on foot. Redd Dogg and Tornado: no. Mars: Good, we should get there in a day. Tornado: Before that...Dogg... P13 Tornado's ball form faces the viewer in the first panel, as the proceeding panels show redd dogg motion over to pick up the cigarette that they dropped at the beginning of the chapter. they stand for a moment with different panels placing attention to the sky around them, the cross near them from the earlier pages, and the following turn to the viewer as they face away from the grave. the sky above looks as though it's trying to grab at redd dogg, with the clouds resembling fingers. Tornado: Go grab your smokes, don't just leave'em there. Redd Dogg:Ohh yeah... P14 Redd Dogg, Mars, and Tornado race off into the distance as night falls, the scenery becoming a mix of harsh monochrome as they run towards the viewer's perspective while the eerie night lurches forward. P15 Mars, Redd Dogg, and Tornado climb up a rocky hill which seemingly leads to an off-screen bridge that is referred to by Mars. Once they've gone up, Mars is immediately startled by something and stops in his tracks. Redd Dogg: Do you smell that? Mars: Yeah, like something was burning... did something happen to the bridge? P16 A massive bridge is before mars and red dogg, that has been torn apart, almost like something chewed it up. P17 text reads as follows Mars: The Town of Greenville is a few miles away from this bridge. I want to radio them in and get information on this. Someone had to have seen or heard something since I left the forest. --wait-- [static is all mars can get] Mars: there's nothing... this is worse than I thought! the bridge is out and it's like greenville suddenly disappeared overnight. What's going on h-- Dogg: stop. [placing their hand upon mars' shoulder] people pull through nightmare after nightmare by keeping their fear in check, and this is no different. Don't freak out now. P18 Text reads Dogg: Tornado and I plan to see this case through to the end, and we need your help to do it. now, mars, can we take another path down that way? Mars:yeah Dogg: great. P19 Text Reads Mars: But if we go down that way, we'll run into croc-- Tornado: We all know the risks involved. Dogg: Besides, you and I both know that croc was involved in the destruction of that bridge. if we cross paths, I bet we'll start getting more answers than questions. Mars, Dogg, and Tornado venture down a hill which leads into a watery tunnel towards and alternate path from the bridge, which is shrouded in darkness. P20 Text Reads Mars: But if we go down that way, we'll run into croc-- Tornado: We all know the risks involved. Dogg: Besides, you and I both know that croc was involved in the destruction of that bridge. if we cross paths, I bet we'll start getting more answers than questions. Mars, Dogg, and Tornado venture down a hill which leads into a watery tunnel towards and alternate path from the bridge, which is shrouded in darkness. P21 a strange creature howls as mars, redd dogg, and tornado leap out to approach them. Tornado sends out a small mechanical arm to strike the creature and sends it down. Tornado: !!? What the hell? [something is left on tornado's left hand that appears to be blood] P22 text reads Dogg: No wonder you couldn't tell what kinda animal was lurking around near this cave-- this is an imp bat, from a forest on the other side of the continent. They really are as calm as they say. Mars: What's that Garo symbol on his head for? is it a brand? Tornado: It's an old River Men tradition where they use hair clips on their pets' fur. Like a tag. That aside, I was trying to knock him over and catch it, but it felt like something was pushing me away. he should even be bleeding, my punch wasn't strong enough for that. Dogg:On that note it's kind of scary how he's so composed, even IF he's an imp bat. Well, seeing as how he hasn't really tried anything, hopefully we can find his owner and patch him up without anymore trouble. Just then, a loud whistle catches everyone off guard P23 the whistle is from above, being done by a strange figure on a ledge as strange creatures are all about them, staring down at redd dogg , tornado, and mars P24 Mars: Huh, that must be the owner Dogg: Just like their owner, they both come off as intense. [a loud roar can be hear in the distance, coming from a large and menacing creature] Mars: And there's Croc! ???:...Scatter...be a good boy now , Able. [the imp bat, able, upon hearing this, walks over and sits on Dogg's shoulder. Dogg: Guess we play it by ear, then! [they traverse the rocky terrain and over the ledge, where able footprints can be found from when he descended said ledge.] P25 as they reach up regain their footing, mars, redd dogg,tornado, and now able are face to face with the creature who destroyed the bridge, Croc. his menacing presence and strange powers seem to affect the very air around them, while mars and dog take stances in preparation for a possible attack Dogg: There he is... Ya wanna run? I won't blame you. Mars: No thanks, being a coward's too lonely. the words MEET AGAIN IN STONE are in the bottom right corner a phrase being a sort of nod to the phrase TO BE CONTINUED.