[Police Radio] Dispatcher: Stand by, 10-10, investigate a reported disturbance at Aesir Plaza. Cop #1: 10-4 dispatcher, verify address... Dispatcher: That's Aesir Plaza, repeat, Aesir Plaza. NEW YORK CITY. PRESENT DAY. TWO HOURS AGO. Cop #2: Shots fired on the rooftop. An a**ault in progress at Aesir Plaza. Repeat, an a**ault in progress. Cop #3: It's a war-zone down here. 10-85 dispatcher, need additional units, additional units now! Officer in danger, officer in danger. Dispatcher: 10-5, please repeat. 10-5, all units, all units, emergency, officer in danger, Aesir Plaza, repeat, Aesir plaza, all units... [Fades Out] Max Payne: They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger, and then it was over. To make any kind of sense of it, I need to go back three years. Back to the night the pain started. I was still in the force back then. NYPD, Manhattan, Midtown North Precinct. Hell's kitchen. Alex: So, when are you coming to work for me, Detective Payne? Max: You'd make me work undercover in some hellhole. Sorry Alex, Michelle and the baby come first. See? My last smoke. It's bad for the baby. Alex: That's you, Max, a regular boy scout. Max: See you, Alex. Alex: Still on for Poker Thursday, right? Max: Like taking candy from a baby. Max Payne: Life was good. The sun setting on a sweet summer's day, the smell of freshly mowed lawns, the sounds of children playing... A house across the river, on the Jersey-side. A beautiful wife and a baby girl. The American dream come true. Max: Honey, I'm home! Max Payne: But dreams have a nasty habit of going bad when you're not looking. The sun went down with practiced bravado,
twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding. NEW JERSEY. THREE YEARS AGO. Max: Michelle, honey, anybody home? Max Payne: I didn't like the way the show started. But they had given me the best seat in the house. Front row center. Max: What the hell?! Max Payne: Something ugly had been tattooed on the wall, a map of things to come. It was a poison syringe, a magic tag full of diabolical meanings. [The phone rings] Max: Listen! Someone's broken into my house, call 911. The Other Voice: Is this the Payne residence? Max: Yes, someone's broken into my house, they're still here, you have to- The Other Voice: Good. I am afraid I cannot help you. Max: Who is this? [The other person hangs up] KLIK! Max: Hello? Max: Michelle! [3 gun shots go off] Michelle: No! No! No, Max! Michelle: Auhh! Max: Michelle! Michelle: Please!... [3 more gun shots go off] Punk: I'm gonna hurt you! I'm gonna hurt ya! It's coming. d**h is coming. You're gonna die! Max: Freeze! NYPD! [Max sees the baby cradle knocked over and blood everywhere] Max: No! No, no, please God, no.... Next Punk: The flesh of fallen angels! Max: No, no, no God, no. Please, Michelle, oh baby... Noooooooooo!!! Max Payne: That was three years ago. Everything ripped apart in a New York minute. The k**er junkies had been high on a previously unknown designer drug. Valkyr. V. After the funeral, I told Alex I would be transferring to the DEA. It took us three long years to get a break in the Valkyr case. Then, finally, two months ago, a dime-dropper tipped us off that Jack Lupino, a mob boss in the Punchinello crime family, was trafficking. I went undercover, infiltrated the worst Mafia family in New York.