Vlad Von Poison shuffled to the kitchen where the rich smell of freshly brewed black coffee greeted him. The sunlight permeated through the kitchen window, as he sipped the coffee, the bitter taste lingering in his mouth. Refreshed and eager to begin the day, Vlad ambled up the stairs of his house and called to his son - who was still living in the family home at forty-two. His name was Electro Von Poison.

"Electro! Wake up! It's eight thirty!" Vlad Von Poison spoiled him and was overprotective towards the forty-two-year-old. Vlad - aged seventy himself - was doing everything for him.

Electro Von Poison trudged down the stairs and scowled; he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, as usual. His dad had made him a full English breakfast and had it warming up on the kitchen island. Without showing appreciation, Electro snatched the plate and began gobbling it up.

"Did I hear you say thank you Electro!?" Vlad Von Poison was rather careless in this scenario.

"Honestly, I don't even know who made this for me. But you know, Dad, who cares? I like all butlers, especially the ones that make me breakfast!" Electro Von Poison spoke with his mouthful.

The town of Greenville was awakening as the blinds of the brick houses, that stood in uniform rows, were opening and the people were getting up. Greenville was a miniscule, tightly knit hamlet made up of only a few roads. At the bottom of the main road, they lived on, Oak Lane, stood the tall clock tower that housed the Emperor of Greenville - a wise man named Reginald Thorne.

Electro Von Poison's Mum, Valeria Von Poison, was already busy gardening when Electro had got up, neatly cutting the conifer hedge and planting flowers. It was nine o'clock and the bells of Greenville were ringing. Electro Von Poison wolfed down his breakfast and returned to his bedroom where he spent most of his time.

Everyone on Oak Lane knew each other and every morning, neighbours greeted each other with cheerful smiles as they tended to their gardens or walked their dogs along the picturesque street. The Von Poison's neighbour, Victor Hargreaves, was a man, the same age as Electro, but the two were contradictory in all ways. Victor was the design of a perfect, well-mannered forty-two-year-old and didn't tolerate Electro Von Poison's rude attitude.

"Electro! Come downstairs and help your Mum with the gardening; we will pay you!" Vlad Von Poison was forever shouting upstairs for Electro and was terribly guilty of bribery and spoiling him.

Electro had heard the words, "I will pay you", and was eager to participate as little as possible in his Mum's gardening. Victor Hargreaves was also in the garden, mowing his lawn and smiling perfectly as he did so. Victor was a peculiar character in Electro's eyes. He was a perfect but sinister robot waiting to strike.

Valeria Von Poison continued digging into the soil at the bottom of the garden in order to plant her Azalea plant. As she dug, a varnished bit of wood jutted through the earth.

"Electro, help me! I think I have found something", she called to Electro who was still staring at Victor Hargreaves. As Electro walked closer, he could see what his Mum was talking about - there was something in the soil. Electro vigorously snatched the trowel out of his Mum's hand and maliciously started to dig in hope to uncover the wooden object that was now looking like it was part of a box. Electro Von Poison was impatient and violently dug until all was revealed. A chest made out of natural wood sat at the bottom of the hole he had dug. Now Electro was interested; it could make him rich, he thought.

Batting his dad's hand out of the way when he tried to get a look, Electro Von Poison lifted the latch and opened the chest. Inside the chest was a cloth folded numerous times. It was handwoven with intricate threads and rich hues of gold and dark indigo. The cloth was enormous as Electro Von Poison laid it along the garden. Skilfully woven in were the letters that read: "THE TAPESTRY OF INTELLECTUALITY". From what the three could see, it was a cloth of pictures with numbers - a sort of pictorial step-by-step instruction manual. As much as Electro was disappointed about his find, he was interested in the pictures: the end image showed an onyx black, deadly creature with a red spot on what looked like a mechanical body. Vlad Von Poison was particularly interested in the tapestry - he had never seen anything like it - however, he noticed that in the bottom of the cloth, was the name: Reginald Thorne, the Emperor of Greenville. After arguing over who kept it, Vlad Von Poison and Valeria took it back to The Emperor at the top of his clock tower.

Victor Hargreaves was watching from the fence, transfixed on the Von Poisons' prize. His jealously shrouded around him like mist engulfing him. As he went inside, Victor imagined the value of the tapestry, the money he could have earned.

Later that day, while Victor was reading his favourite book, a piece of laminated paper came through the door. Victor had pounced up from his chair, eager to catch the eye of the man who had posted it. From what he could see, the man was hooded in a dark cloak, and a blur as he floated past. Picking up the piece of paper, Victor held it up to the light coming from the front door. It read: COBRA: We collect your artefacts, and you collect our money! Call: 0800 9012 and we will hand you over the money as soon as possible!

Victor had never heard of this business before, and what a good idea, he thought. Another thought floated into his mind - he could steal the tapestry of intellectuality and call Cobra and then get a large amount of money. Hargreaves was not at all worried about reputation or any suspicion about it being him because Electro Von Poison would be blamed: it always was the case.

Victor was not going to waste any time and set off to the clock tower where the Tapestry of Intellectuality would be, as the sun was going down. At a hurried pace, he navigated the road, his head down but his eyes set on the clock tower at the end of the road: his destiny.

Emperor Reginald Thorne kept the door open for visitors and lived in front of his television in his front room. Victor hoped that he could sneak past the door and scurry up and down the stairs in less than two minutes. However, his plan wasn't successful as he knew he would have been caught if he had of attempted it.

Once he had unlocked his house door, he realised he would have to direct Cobra to where the tapestry was. He began smashing keys on the phone. 9012, the last numbers as he waited for Cobra to pick up.

"Cobra here, what do you require?"

"I have an artefact I would like you to collect", Victor was going to be rich by this evening!

"Name of artefact and the name of your town," the man grumbled.

"Greenville and the Tapestry of Intellectuality".

The phoneline cut off and it was as easy as that.

Midnight was impending and the town of Greenville was going to bed, all but Victor Hargreaves. He was impatient, angered and anxious of when he would be called upon by Cobra to direct them to the artefact. This anxiety didn't last for long as there was a forceful knock at the door - one that shook the doorframe and the room itself. The same hooded man demanded for The Tapestry of Intellectuality and Victor directed him to the clocktower. The man had told Victor that he would give him the money tomorrow after Cobra had stored it in their facility. Although Victor found this dubious, it was no loss for him if they took the Tapestry of Intellectuality.

Electro Von Poison sprung awake after hearing an ear-splitting shriek come from the clock tower and walked towards his window. Inside the clock tower was a horde of men dressed in black uniform and army helmets. Without any time to react, Electro witnessed a house engulf in flames - a small mushroom cloud erupted in the night's sky. Grenades dotted the pavements while Electro called for his mother and father to leave the house.

"Run! Get out of bed! Emergency!" Electro Von Poison couldn't verbalise what was happening.

Darting out of the house and expecting his parents to follow him, Electro realised his parents weren't coming. Upon numerous occasions, Electro Von Poison had joked about urgent matters and this time they weren't to believe him.

They had assumed the sounds of the explosions had been Electro and his mischievous jokes, but Vlad Von Poison was still obliged to look. As he hobbled down the stairs and through the front door, horror hit him. "I am going to go back in for Valeria. Before I risk my life doing so, I need to tell you one thing! There is one singular quest that defines our existence, one mission that surpasses all others - the pursuit of the Eternal Prism."

Before Electro could make any sense of this, his dad darted inside. Within two seconds of him being in the house, a guard threw a grenade through the window, and an eruption bigger than anyone he had seen before decimated the house with Vlad and Valeria inside.

Electro stood there, lifeless. Devoid of family and love. Tears streamed down his face as he ran into the distance and over the hills of Greenville. He kept running and never looked behind him at the fiery, smouldering wreck he once called home.