**New York City, February 1976 – 11:47 PM**
The hospital's fluorescent lights buzzed like angry wasps as Ama's screams tore through the maternity ward.
"*Something's wrong!*" Nurse Adwoa barked, her stethoscope slipping from the pregnant girl's sweat-slick belly. "The heartbeat—it's *gone*—then it's *triple speed*—this isn't *possible*—"
Ama, sixteen and alone, clawed at the sheets. The abortion herbs she'd taken in Ghana should have worked. But the thing inside her *would not die*.
**Then the contractions hit like a sledgehammer.**
The first push ruptured Ama's cervix. Blood *splattered* the ceiling.
"*We're losing her!*" a doctor yelled.
The second push shattered the fetal monitor. The screen flatlined for **37 seconds**—long enough for the resident to grab the death certificate—
—then **ERUPTED** in a screech of static as the baby's heart rate **spiked to 300 BPM**.
"*What the fuck is that?*" A intern pointed at Ama's stomach.
**Gold veins pulsed beneath her skin**, forming Adinkra symbols:
- *Sankofa* (Return for your past)
- *Akofena* (The sword of war)
Ama's water broke. The fluid wasn't clear.
**It was black.**
---
#
The Scorpion King Takes Form**
The child *crawled* out on its own.
No head-first birth. No doctor's aid. It emerged **backwards**, tiny hands *pulling* itself into the world—as if impatient.
When the midwife grabbed it, the baby's skin **burned her palms to the third degree**.
"*It's not a child!*" she shrieked.
Then it **opened its eyes.**
**Crimson. Pupilless. Swirling with sandstorms.**
The infant's first act? **Laughter.** A sound like shattering stained glass—
—and every bulb in the hospital **exploded**.
---
The Mark of the Cursed**
In the darkness, three horrors unfolded:
The Umbilical Cord**
- Thick as a boa constrictor, it *writhed* before severing itself—then **crawled into a biohazard bin** like a live
- The deformity wasn't a birth defect. It was a **scar**—*the exact shape of a scorpion's stinger*.
- Where droplets hit the floor, the linoleum **melted**. The CDC would later quarantine the room for "unknown corrosive agents."
---
The Goddess's Whisper**
As Ama bled out, her vision fractured. She saw:
- **Dunes. A golden warrior falling. A woman with seven faces catching his soul.**
- The woman *smiling* as she **crammed the warrior into Ama's womb.**
*"You tried to kill my weapon,"* the Goddess hissed in Ama's ear. *"Now it will kill your world."*
Ama's heart stopped.
**For 59 seconds.**
Then the baby **wailed**—and her pulse *jolted* back.
---
The Aftermath**
By dawn:
- **5 nurses** quit medicine forever.
- **The hospital's crucifix** melted into slag.
- **Grandma Ama** arrived, took one look at the child, and spat on the floor.
"*Abonsam bone*," she muttered. *Evil seed.*
But when the infant **gripped her thumb**, her eyes widened.
The baby's palm bore a **brand**:
**♏** (The Scorpio symbol).
---
### **Transition to "The Scorpion's First Sting"**
**Three Hours Later**
Auntie Mercy crept into the nursery, rat poison in her pocket.
"Better you die than shame us," she whispered.
The baby's eyes **snapped open**.
Mercy never noticed the **black scorpion** crawling up her leg…