Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chapter one:
in which Micah dies, the Doc explains, and Lanz gets what he deserves.

In the darkness of the under city, a figure runs through the street, awkwardly, something heavy over it's shoulders.
Cap: I'll admit, I've had better days.

The figure runs into an alley.
Cap: Not to say I'm ungrateful for what the Doc did for me or anything.

The figure - DOC(thin, mid thirties, tired) - stops at a door at the end of the alley, looking to see if anyone's seen him. MICAH (young, scrawny, dead) is over his shoulders.

Doc drops Micah's body onto the operating table, flooded with fluorescent lights.
Cap: But I would rather not to have died at all.

Micah, alive, sits at a chair in a nice restaurant, eating a salad, alone.
Cap: You see, I was having a pretty good time being alive. I had no idea what the alternative was like. Nor did I know how the darker side of life worked.

Micah starts to choke on an olive, grabbing at his throat. Doc stands outside the restaurant, looking in the window, shocked.

Doc rushes into the restaurant. People look up at him as he yells, not noticing Micah's choking.
DOC: Don't worry! I'm a Doctor!

Doc gives Micah the Heimlich maneuver, but it's too late.
Cap: Now I know both a bit too well.

Doc pulls Micah out of the restaurant.
DOC: He'll be fine! Just needs some fresh air.

Doc, covered in blood, some old some fresh, operates on Micah, goggles shielding his eyes, his tongue out.

Doc pulls up the goggles, a smile on his gaunt face.
Cap: And it's all thanks to him.

The sun rises. A large black vehicle is parked in front of Doc's "office".

Micah lies on the operating table, a sheet over him. Doc worriedly smokes a cigarette, the ashtray in front of him full.

Two men - ANTONIO (fit, early forties, slimy)and Z (blond, slightly rotten, tall) - step through the doorway.

Doc looks at them, terrified, his cigarette almost falling from his lips.
Cap: It wasn't until later that I realized just how much we needed each other in this dark world.

Z grabs Doc by the collar and holds him up against the wall. Doc winces. Antonio looks around angrily.
ANTONIO: THREE! I said three of your little monsters! And what do I see?

Antonio points at Micah.
ANTONIO: One little pipsqueek!

Z looks at Antonio sadly as he waves an order with a cigarette.
ANTONIO: Pull one of his arms off Z, He's a cockroach, he can live with one less.
DOC: No! Please!

Doc looks terrified, understandably.
DOC: There are cops everywhere! It's impossible to get anyone over here!

Antonio snaps.

Z drops Doc.

Doc lands on the ground, rubbing his neck.

Antonio stands in front of Doc, pointing at him.
ANTONIO: You're a lucky man, you know that? Most people who owe us money, they have their legs broken. But not you! So use them! This is your last chance.

Antonio walks over to Micah.
ANTONIO: When's this little p***y gonna wake up, huh?

Doc pulls himself up off the ground. Z watches him.
DOC: Any moment, now.

Doc notices the rot on Z.
DOC: You should really take better care of Brian.

Antonio glares at Doc. Z grabs him from behind.
ANTONIO: You think you can tell me what to do? What, you think I'm an idiot or something? Z is mine and I take care of him fine!

Micah sits up, finally awake. No one notices this as Antonio kicks Doc.

Z let's go of him, letting him fall to the floor.

Antonio kicks Doc again, in the ribs.

Micah glares at the action.

Micah lunges

Micah knocks Antonio away from Doc.
ANTONIO: s**t!

Doc stares at the action, amazed and afraid

Z grabs Micah by the arm and pulls him off of Antonio.

Antonio picks himself up, straightening his suit.
ANTONIO: Ah, so he does have something to him.

Doc grabs his ribs and tries to pull himself up, biting his lip.
DOC: What are you going to do with him?

Z walks Micah towards the door, the young corpse looks back at Doc, afraid and confused. Antonio stands behind them.
ANTONIO: My cousin, Lanz, is going around collecting dues tonight. One of the bars that owes him has been giving him some trouble.

Outside, Z pushes Micah into the car.

Z drives while Antonio sits in the passenger seat smoking.
ANTONIO: You really surprised me, boy. Still, good to know your not the p***y I was expecting.
MICAH: What the Hell's going on?

Antonio turns in his seat to look at Micah.
ANTONIO: Well, let's see. You're dead. Fatto. Now, you work for us. Unless you screw up, then we'll leave you where we found you. Dead.

Micah looks as his hands, confused and not sure if he's really there.
MICAH: Dead?

The car drives through the city.
Cap: Antonio worked for the mafia. Not really a surprise. But I had been sold as if Doc was a pawn shop owner. He had gotten into some trouble and the mafia got him out of it. Now, he owed them. Seems dead people were a good enough bargaining tool.

Micah looks out the window.

Doc tries to pull himself up onto one arm.

He falls back to the floor.

Doc pulls himself up successfully the second time.
DOC: b*****d.

Doc sits in the chair and opens his shirt. His ribs are already bruised.

Doc lights a new cigarette
DOC: Damnit.

Doc stands up, holding his ribs and wincing.

He stumbles over to the operating table.

Doc digs through a drawer of medical tools.

He pulls out some rib tape.

He sits back down at the table and tapes his ribs, holding them in place.

The car stops in front of a building.

LANZ (mid fifties, fat, stereotypically Italian) steps out through the door and heads towards the car. Antonio also steps out.
ANTONIO: Lanz! How is my cous?
LANZ: Bored. What took so long?

Micah steps out of the car as Z holds the door open. Antonio points over his shoulder.
ANTONIO: Sleeping beauty over there. And the good doctor was given us a bit of trouble. No worries though.

Lanz looks Micah over.
LANZ: This little boy is supposed to be my bodyguard?

Antonio looks Micah over.
ANTONIO: Eh. You'd be surprised. Kid can hold his own.

Micah follows Lanz to another large black car, looking back at Z and Antonio, who stand together watching them.
LANZ: Alright, I'll trust you little cous, but if this goes down wrong, oh, you will feel it.

Micah sits in the passenger seat, Lanz driving.
LANZ: So, Z, what's your name?
MICAH: Micah.

Lanz smokes a cigar, looking out the other window.
LANZ: Micah, eh? Not the strongest name for a body guard.

There's a pill bottle and a note in Micah's pocket.

Micah pulls them out, looking over to Lanz, but Lanz doesn't see him.

The note reads: "Dear, Sorry, I guess I don't even know your name. Look, I'm really sorry about this. I really hope I'll have enough time to inform you on what's going on, but I'm guessing I won't. The short of it is, you died. Last night you choked to death on an olive. I brought you back to my office and brought you back to life. I don't expect you to believe me, it is pretty nuts. But anyway, I got into some trouble with the gentlemen you'll be with so that's why they took you. It's a kind of payment deal. I know you didn't sign up for it, but I really have no choice. In your pocket you will find a pill bottle. You have to take one pill a day. If you don't you will start decomposing and take it from me, that's not a pretty sight. Good luck! - Dr. Parker"

Micah looks at the pills bottle.
Cap: "Good luck!" Yeah right. I've never had good luck.

The car pulls up to a club titled "White Lines".

Lanz steps out of the car.

The bartender - BERNARD (balding, mid fifties, well dressed) - looks towards the door as Lanz, followed by Micah come in.

A group of men in shabby suits hides behind the counter, guns at the ready.
BERNARD: Lanz! How are you today?

Lanz puts his hands on his hips, knocking his suit jacket out of the way to show his revolver.
LANZ: I'm tired, good sir. You owe me and my family some money since we supplied you with this nice club. We protect you and yet you do not pay us. I'm tired.

Bernard starts to sweat.
BERNARD: Oh, I am sorry to hear that. Maybe you should go take a nap before you collect your dues? Maybe have a drink for you and your, uh, associate?

Lanz leans on the counter.
LANZ: A drink? You can offer me a drink when we're doing business, but right now, you are not. Only I am doing business. I wouldn't want to think that you're trying to buy me off.

Bernard reaches behind the counter for a rifle, one of his boys moving out of the way.
BERNARD: Well, it was worth a try.

Bernard pulls up the rifle, aiming for Lanz.

Lanz grabs Micah by the arm and pulls him towards him.

Lanz holds Micah in front of him, his revolver out over his shoulder.

Bernard looks at them, confused.

Lanz fires.

Bernard falls, shot in the shoulder.

Bernard's boys stand up and some hop over the bar.

They all fire.

Micah takes they're shots, body writhing from the impact.
Cap: I really don't have good luck.

Lanz shoots back at Bernard's boys.

Those boys in the front, fall backwards, as he shoots them.

Lanz runs, dragging Micah behind him.

Micah looks down at himself, full of bullet holes which bleed slightly.
MICAH: The Hell?

They run out of the club, heading towards the car.

Lanz sits in the drivers seat, pulling a tommy gun from the dashboard.
LANZ: Those bastards! I knew they'd pull something like this!

Micah still looks at himself in shock.
MICAH: I-I'm alive! I should be dead, but...I'm alive!

Lanz tosses a revolver into Micah's lap.
LANZ: Hurry up.

Micah looks at the gun.
MICAH: What? No, I can't!

Lanz holds the tommy next to his head like James Bond
LANZ: Then what good are you?

Lanz hops out of the car and runs back up to the club.

Micah gets out of the car, holding the gun oddly.
MICAH: Damnit.

Micah runs up to the door.

Micah looks into the building.
MICAH: Hello?

One of Bernard's boys is bent over the table, his gun in Lanz's face. Lanz's gun is in the boys face as well.

The boy stares at Micah.
BOY: What the Hell?

Lanz fires the gun.

Everyone in the bar is dead. Lanz looks at Micah, wiping off his tommy.
LANZ: Good work, boy. Late enough to miss the action.

Micah looks angry.

Micah bursts, a finger in Lanz's face.
MICAH: Look, I did not sign up for this s**t! I just got ******** shot! Now you'd better tell me what the Hell is going on!

Lanz grabs Micah by the hand.
LANZ: Who do you think you are?

Larz breaks Micah's fingers.
LANZ: You belong to me now, boy! You lost the right to be your own as soon as the Doc brought you back to life!

Micah looks at his fingers, which are all bent oddly but still movable.
MICAH: Well, no one told me.

Lanz steps towards the door.
LANZ: Let's get out of here.

The car sits where it was in front of Lanz's place.
Cap: My luck didn't improve much after I died either. Here I was with the king of assholes and I was supposed to protect him. Be his meat shield.

Micah stands in front of a door.
Cap: Seems it's pretty difficult to keep someone alive.

On the other side, Lanz sits on the toilet, pants around his ankles.

He seems to be having some trouble.

He clutches his chest.

Lanz falls forward, dead.
Cap: No body guard, dead or alive, can protect someone from a heart attack.

I dont really know "play format" except for what they have on Zhura which is where I wrote this in the first place.

The main villain is Antonio and the mafia in general. I do get a female character later though (I somehow thought that was the main bit of advice, get a girl, not a villain for some odd reason)

Oh! And other titles that have been thought up (not that yours aren't fantabulous! I especially like "I was a Mafia Zombie". Twould be perfect if this was more of a comedy)
Double-Decker Coffin
Whacked
Shylock
Babbo
The Bloody Walking Dead

oh dear! Not it's its! I hate those errors! I'll have to go over it. As for his death, I was trying to make it a little bit comedic???? I don't think it worked though, since I am not a funny person...

I was also trying to fit it into one page of the comic. I'm not the biggest fan of flashbacks, so I didn't want to stretch it out

that would work...unless it messed too much with his brain.