PICTS THE PAINTED PEOPLE
NG HUEI HAO
PICTS 0 THE PAINTED PEOPLE
Case
Rats
A miserable and abhorrent creature. They hide themselves in every corner of the world.
Anyone could be one of them. They are human's enemies, who go against the norm.
Demoralize the society.
"THE usual” bar This is where my journey start from.
Don’t you agree? He’s my mentor, my Shifu, one of the top hunters in the department of Anti-Picts. And I, a new investigator who just joined the enforcement recently.
Eliminating Rats is our duty.
ff ~ ~ Sni Sniff
I think I’ve kinda mastered the way to identify the Rats through their ink odor.
逮
Well done. You have a good instinct.
Thank you shifu. It’s all your contribution.
Take care of this box. It’s a Pandora.
Hmm, are you providing additional services other than delivery?
Let me finish this.
Not Now!
There’s more of them.
?
Sweetie, wanna hang out? You’ve got a good figure, don’t you.
Hands off!! You piece of...
!!
N R A D ! ! IT
Don’t let him get away!!
Luckily shifu stopped me ealier. The number of Rats in here is far beyond my imagination.
Let’s get moving.
DING........
G! N A P
PANG!
AHHH H!
Kill him!
! NG PA
CHAKACHAKACHAKACHAKAKK.....
!!
ere er th e’s ov
H
. rg..
h Ahh
Stop ru
Let’s kill him!
nning!
Ptf rat.
U!! SHITF FOR WAI
ME!
?
Hey you!
Why are you folllowing us?
Uhh...
My name is
JAKE Interested in your mask maybe?
Young investigator from Department of ANTI-picts weapon : electrical metal glove
1
Case
the VOID
Rats
They can be found in our surroundings.
They live in every corner of the city.
People isolate them because they think rats worship violence.
DISSSSS!!
? They have the power which they are not meant to have. People believe that this phenomenon goes against the will of god.
TADA DAD ADAD A! They feel fearful of their existence.
ONE MORE STEP ...
We call them...
Picts The painted people
DOMO!
tHE hIDEOUT OF
VoiD
ONE OF THE FAMOUS PARTies IN PICTS SOCIETY.
Actually,
I just want to let you know that my friend, the wing guy, he saved your life.
The wing guy....
The Leader of VoiD
Henry Because of that, he was captured by another party.
In normal situations, normal people like you are only given two options. One is leaving here with your neck broken.
I assume that you can figure out who we are.
Since I'm not the one who saved you, I’ll respect my friend’s decision and not take any action against you.
It seems like this is one of the rat parties. I can’t let this chance slip away .
So, the second option is...
I want to save that guy. This is the only way I can think of to repay his kindness.
What makes you say so?
ELLA The healer of VIOD
He saved my life!
Ha! Ha! You can’t even save yourself.
Trust me! Please! I won’t burden you guys.
You are not afraid of us, boy? We are the so-called rats yo!
We’ll literally bite you to death.
tigor ONE OF THE TOP RANK FIGHTERs IN THE PICT SOCIETY
Espically me, “Mickey Mouse.”
If I was afraid of rats, I woudn’t have gotten myself involved in that fight.
Moveover, l’m the one to be blame for this. So, I hope to…
I’ll believe there are some stories to be discovered in this picts society, I shall not leave soon...
UP TO YOU.
!!
Are you serious? Huh??
What’s your name?
Jake.
Tigor will take you along to get a tattoo tomorrow.
I don’t think I need it...
You can always leave your head here and leave.
...
Oh ya, Ella hates you because you put her lover in danger.
WHAT!
Can you not?!! Hahaha! Welcome to the VOID Boy, although I don’t really know what it stands for...
Can’t meet Shifu for a while before I’ve achieved something... He hates Rats so much and will kill mee too if he knows I have a tattoo...
2 Tattoos Case
An ordinary old HDB, with a strong smell of ink and cigarette smoke.
12-25
SANTA'S PLACE a tattoo shop
Tigor has something on, so he gave me the pass and here I am.
In this picts society, there is a group of people who give tattoos.
Us outsiders, we call them Satan. The insiders...
they call them
SANTA.
But wait.. the odour is not from Satan.
Is she a normal human?
Brave enough...
Who are you?
Your inner soul. Huh? The wounds are gone..
This is your spiritual world, you are summoned here to face a challenge.
What challenge?
A challenge to test whether or not you are qualified to share the superpower from me. Everyone has their own hidden ability, which is the Pict ’s Power. In fact, they are either granted with the power or they’re gonna miss it for their whole life.
Doesn’t the power go agaisnt god?
I am just like a mirror, reflecting your true self. This is the only way to activate your hidden superpower. I know there’s a misunderstanding between normal people and picts, but it doesn’t matter, does it ? No! this must be Satan’s illusion.
You should focus on your challenge young man!
SPLATTTT
BLURB RB LURRRB...
HAH!!
! !! T I N DAM
Find me and I’ll tell you the truth.
Hold on! I’ll prove that you are not real! This is just an illusion.
...
z Pizzzz
z Pizzzz
You just wait…
I will prove it... I’ll Prove that Picts are scum!
They are troublemakers and they will never be normal. They like chaos, they are terrorists! Tattoos mutilate the body which is supposed to be nurtured and sustained.
They glorify the ungodly and vulgar, instead of God’s righteous character. They are….
........
You should start drinking. kid.
You should stop smoking. Old fella.
Rude indeed.
Do you know what’s his intention?
Don’t worry, he’s still a bud.
It makes me have a Love-hate relationship with it.
Don’t be deceived by his appearance. Are you confessing though? Disgusting, you old-bastard.
Haha! Might not have a chance to talk with you in the future...
Look at how charming this city is.. but there’s no rose without a thorn.
Isn’t that’s a metaphor for rose?
Who’s the next Santa?
My youngest daughter…
I see...how about Jake’s tattoo?
Half-done.
He denied his own soul.
After a few days...
HALF-DONE TATTOO? HAHAHA! it is an insult to us! But no worries boy, you can still get it done!
Ain’t your business though... I hate Rats!
Hey babe! Hands off.
Welcome!
Chill boy!
One strawberry HL milk for me, two litres.
You haven't completed your challenge, have you? Is it too tough?
Annoying...
Seems like you have something good inside your bag huh? Mind sharing?
Take out your valuables.
Le...leave me alone!
Bully?
RY PLEASE!
AHHHH... SOR
I said take it out!
!
UG
TH
y! e H ey! H ! Hey
! p o t S Typical Rats... ?
Pii!
!!
Pii!
Pii!
Pii! Pii! Pii!
Hey! Your bag!
Se
rio
I got this from that thief just now, here you go!
ly?
!
Pi i!
! Pii
us
Pii!
OHH MY!
Thankyou very much!!
Wink~
Ptf...
Don’t move, you Pict!!!
Turn over!!
wha t!!! I t ’s p ict!
! ! G N A B BANG!! !! G N A B
G!! BAN !! BANG
Oh my, I just let a billion slip away...
Four e Fiv
You owe me 8 bullets.
Six
Please bear with me for a little while because the wound heals up faster in this beast form.
Sorry...
Don’t feel guilty boy, come have a seat.
You will soon get used to it. This is picts’ daily routine. Eventhough the world is big, there’s no place we belong to.
Why whould you choose to become a part of them when you could be better than this. The lives of Picts are so miserable.
I inherited this trait from my family.
Same as Henry and Ella. But for Bird , his back scars were inflicted during war and were modified as tattoos which summon wings as blades and shield to become his defensive weapons.
Ella’s tattoos are passed down from generation to generation. This kind of tattoo is rather special. Her ancestors and family are considered noble as they possess strong superpowers.
It’s mostly used for helping people.
For my Boss, we don’t really know what’s his Picts Power. He’s too mysterious hahaha.
The wings represent Freedom. when the wings are active, surrounding people become less aware of his presence.
But how about mine? I’m sure that I have completed the challenge.
Hmmm...
I managed to climb up against the waterfall. But the only thing I saw...
was absolutely
NOTHING.
See? Is just an illusion This is the truth.
You can go now.
Which means you can’t use your tattoo power right now huh? Let’s go to black market and get some Picts Weapon.
A half-done tattoo is nothing to feel sad about.
Bought the same weapon again...
Should I stay in VOID a bit longer?
What will you do, Shifu?
The Picts... It’s very different from what I thought..
Yes! the Picts were stealling and they even frightened my customer away...
Ahhh...
the smell of Rats...
Jake?
Interesting...
3 3 Case case
the whileold old man man white
THUG
THU THUG G
TH U THUG G
!!
SH
!
THUG
O O O SHO
Sulfuric Acid?!!
Got you.
Is he even an old man??
Rats can’t fly!
This psycho!
H! SWOOS
! ell? h e t th wha
Powerful isn’t it ?
I got this power from a previous Rat. We extract picts power and imbue it onto weapons.
To pay a person in his own coin. This is what our job is. Hunting Picts by using their own superpower. I don’t really care what you guys are up to, but I enjoy the hunt!
HAAA !!
DOOOM! Come out!
I know you’re still alive
!!!
Never assume that I only have one pair of wings.
Thanks for your gift.
Have to meet my friends now. I shall never see you again. Give it back to me! You low-class creature!!
You should be more alert of what GEORGORY is up to.
GEORGORY... ?
ONE MORE STEP
bird urban legend
"The blade angel"
Dug!
Dug! Dug!
zuc
mortia
picts power lava, bless of phoenix
picts power skeleton, vegvisir
Must ask for more commission from Georgory. Can you help ealier next time?
Nope.
GEORGORY A narcissist.
He is the one who captured Bird. This is all the evidence showing that he is doing some illegal trading in the underground world.
Bird is the first person who noticed his plans and kept an eye on them.
That day is the day when Geogory’s minion sent the illegal item to the other party when you were there.
His minions are probably getting a lousy temporary tattoo ink from the black market. They are not picts.
I’m not sure how he hired those ordinaries to be his minions.
They are planning to “mark” the whole city. The cross marks are those places where they have already made their “marks” and we can’t remove it.
The whole city?? We are one of the areas that still refuse to let him make a mark. So...
He won’t hurt Bird. He is planning to ask me for help in his evil plan when I meet him to bring Bird back. Plus, some parties who are actually his supporters, are guarding those places.
If the “marks” are done. It’ll form an ancient summoning circle, summoning pure evil entities into this world.
We call them
“THE 13 HATS”
They plan to destroy the government system...
What’s their intention?
And dominate the world to become their own king, I guess.
This illegal box is the one they’re using to do the markings. The box inside contains magical ink which allows people to draw a magic circle.
Cough!... only he would do such a narcissistic thing.
Bird shouldn’t be this cruel!
Bird is supposed to meet us there, but we were late. He was then captured by the GEORG-Georgory’s group
He put this in your pocket.
So, we send you back to VOID.
Oh ya! For your information, Ella is the one who carried you that day. Huh?! That’s why she’s quite pissed at you because you never thanked her.
? You really like white huh? Feels like that bloody-psycho-bald old man.
Do you know him? He is quite famous because of his weird hobby.
Shifu??
No...
Anyway, be careful of him.
Georgory is the only Pict who owns a company and manages his business this openly.
All of this, because of his tattoo’s power.
What a beautiful city...
It is wasted in the hands of ordinary people.
GEORGORY Tattoo power: Lucky
What a wise choice it’d be to let me handle this city.
So lucky to have you guys helping me in my project. I appreciate it.
We have lived under the thumb of oppression for a very long time...
No big deal. We work for money.
“ There once were 13 grandmasters. ” “ They were well versed in different fields of study.”
“ With their knowlegde, they changed and improved society for the better. ” “ But because of their abilities, they were hunted down. ”
“ Government was afraid of divergent thinking and their abilities. ” “ Hence, the WITCH HUNT began. ”
The book of WITCH CRAFT was then created with the sole purpose of purging these witches.
“ Because of their uniquness, they were prosecuted and killed. ” “ As time went by, lessons were learnt. ”
Eventually,
“PICTS POWER” was invented.
“ Picts power gave the user the ability to convert their magical powers into tattoos. ”
“ Through these tattoos, they were able to hide their abilities whilst keeping their powers. ”
“ By merging magic with tattoos, limitations were at hand. It allows each user to only have one selected power based on their truest nature. ”
“ It split into Words and Symbols, Historical people, Demons and Monsters, Gods, Animals and Mythological creatures and Elements. ”
“ Thus, with this transformation, they were no longer known as witches, but Picts, the
“ Gone were the days where one had to carry tomes and flying brooms. ”
PAINTED PEOPLE. ”
The common misconception that only the female witches had magical powers, lead to them being hunted down more than men. That’s why there are more male Picts today.
“ This later lead to the body of magic spliting into 2 factions. ”
The Balance For Peace
The Rebellion for Vengence
“ Although centuries have passed, their thirst for vengence could not be quenched. With that, all hell broke loose and the world entered into a time of endless war. They wanted society to suffer, just as their fallen brethren had. ”
“ The picts became labeled as terror threats against humanity. ”
“ The Picts won battles but eventually lost the war and thus went into hiding once more. ”.
As for Me, I am the first of my kind to re-enter civilisation posing as a mere mortal. But with my talents, I Georgory am still a cut above the rest.
My scheme for my people to rejoin civlillisation is but a step away from success. I will not let anything or anyone get in Georgory and his destiny.
By summoning the 13 elder witches and playing on their thirst for vengence, we will turn the tides on humanity.
What do you think of my flawless scheme,
Bird?
The great Bird! oh how have one so high and mighty as you fallen from grace at the hands of the mighty Georgory.
What a pity.
OUCH!
Thanks for carrying me back last time. I never mentioned anything though...
Pft, not that i care.
Ahhhh~ although i dont quite fit, nothing beats the comfort of MY sofa.
Ella, you don’t have to pretend its taking forever just to spend time with handsome boy.
What the hell? Just Shut up!
Thanked Ella yet?
Yea. Can I ask you a question?
Hmmm... Go ahead.
As a part of picts, GEORG faction only exsist with its sole pupose being revenge. What about VOID?
Whether you believe it or not.. although our motives are in contrast we share a common goal.
I mean, we live in a civilized time where rebellion isn’t always the best option.
As long as both parties find a middle ground, we will be able to live as we did.
When days of lookin over our shoulder will be but a memory.
Except those who live for chaos
The Picts have adapted and found a way to live in today’s society.
Although we are treated differently, as long as we hide our tattoos we can continue living amongst the mortals.
Just like the relatioship between a crocodile and an egyptian plover.
Symbiotic Relationships can be beneficial to both parties and even essential to their survival.
The only thing we need is to have a chance to let public understand our circumstance through a proper means.
True... A bad impression of picts has been instilled in us, since we were young.
In media such as movies, news, from the elders or even in education.
Picts catch kids who wasted their food.
Not really sure if there will be a day when we can proudly proclaim that WE ARE PICTs
If only people show more empathy and cosideration...
..just like how a child wouldn’t discriminate between a beggar and a king.
Will you still hate us, even then?
4 set off
Case
He’s coming!!
DOMO!
How did you get through that door? It’s a bloody magic lock!
WE DON’T REALLY NEED TO TALK HUH?
That’s Bird. My Savior
you e r a g at aitin h W sw E guy M O ?! C N for
W O D D AN H IS N I . F M E TH TS!! O IDI
Opps... A strong one!
I’m coming!! Everthing will be okay...
It is a shame to live under their control! We have the upper hand! We TO shouldn’t live this tragically!
IT’S TIME CHANGE!!!!
Stop doing pointless things. These bullets are not going to break my luck!! You will get nothing from supporting the BALANCE! Why don’t you get it?
JOIN ME!
Low-class humans.. always doing whatever they please to us, in the name of their so called “justice”!
Their gaze. Ever so cynical, looking down on us just as though we are nothing but trash.
Y !! M E G A R
VOID HENRY Love n Peace
“ ” Deactive the Picts Power of those who are near him.
HHHH S O SWO
It doesn’t matter who I join or what I do to you.
It is all done for those I love.
THAT’S ALL , MY FRIENDSSSSS
This new arm works wonderfully.
Hi there, you guys doing well?
Oh...$#!&(%!!
Wahhhh......
AHHH!
The building is collapsing!!
!!
Help
Ohh no! My so
n is nearby th
ere...
RUN
Hi, is this Fire Departme...
!!!
THUDDD
H H H H H H sH
SHIFU!
Well done Jake, you never disappoint. The sacrifice of your body so as to infiltrate the Picts.. You should be missing home.
What is he talking about?
HAND THEM OVER to me and you are free to come back and work for me after this. Be an example to your peers.
Come on~
No..........
We aren’t saying bye to your new friends, we still can adopt them in jail right?
Not.. not like this..... But I have nothing to deny...
BA Y O ST U AR D! !!
Sorry guys.. I didn’t mean to!
He so st
rong!
! Defend AHHH!!
DOO OM!
Stop spou non ting sen s you e BAS TAR D!!
YYoouu’r’ e em maakiknigng m m y y bbooyycry cr! y!
!!
You are qualified to be a PICT! Now you just need to run away from this dangerous place. Tigor is enraged!
Don’t just stand there!
Qualified?
Yes, by your VOID members...
...and your inner soul.
Because you are being true
to yourself.
After the explosion, we were separated. That killer, she activated her skeleton tattoo as a shleid to save her life.
Later, I heard from Henry that Ella decided to stay in the building during the explosion.
She used up all her Picts power to save thousands of lives by preventing the whole building from collapsing.
And... probably will forever remain part of nature.
Of couse, people will grasp at the opportunity to slander the picts.
Yet another terror attack by the picts at around 9.30p.m. last night.... blablabla....
On the other hand, miracles do happen. My mentor offered Geogory, who was heavily injured, to collaborate instead of ending him.
Whether it was for Georg’s wealth or his power of luck..
..no one knows.
In my opinion, either way is considered as a kind of luck.. bad luck.
And the box soon fell into that killer’s hands. It’s the sole purpose for her to join GEORG since the beginning.
Mission accomplished. I’ve got the INK. Apologies for blowing up the Zuc. I’ll keep his ashes until his next rebirth.
Tigor? We’ve yet to hear any news about him since that night.
Perhaps, that was the last we saw of him...
0
Book end
SPECIAL THANKS Ms Peh James Leong Roi Hew Arvind Radhakrishnan Ezra Chan Vien Thuy Nhu Cean Ng
In the present day, society and their culture shun upon the marked ones and considers them as scum. Jake, a young and ambi tious investigator, went undercover into marked society. Along the way, he experienced life with the scum of society and soon grew close to them. However, the law was cracking down on them. Jake then has to decide between his duty to “serve and protect� or his morals.