How the 3p! Crew all became acquainted with one another:
Most of the events in the 3p! timeline stem from 3p! Marcel's scientific experiments. Knowing that experimentation and cleanup of such was a hefty load for even the most dedicated of singular individuals, Marcel puts out an ad in the classified section of the Liberty City Bell newspaper looking for a "private butcher". Given the world they live in, where instances of serial murders and occult practices happen all too often, he was confident in finding someone willing to do the job.
That someone, our 3p! Tyler, just so happened to be laid off from his job at a small, locally owned butcher shop, due to declining business as a result of bipedal remains being found in various meat samples from butchers all around the US. Considering the ad was in the classified section of the paper and specified "private butcher", Tyler already had a good guess of what type of butcher this psycho was looking for. He really didn't want to answer the ad, but he also desperately needed a job to pay his rent, so he dialed the number in the ad, and met the scientist in his lab/shack in the woods.
While having a personal butcher that did his job no questions asked was nice, Marcel also needed a "groundskeeper" of sorts. Gravedigger would be the more appropriate term, but they would get extra points if they kept the surrounding area looking somewhat nice, even if the lab and butchers room were complete disasters. His first coherent thought was his buddy 3p! Brock, who had helped him build this little shack in the woods that he called home. Brock knew he had had a mental break, and while most people would drag their friends to a psyche ward and ditch them there, Brock had willingly come out to the middle of the woods with him and helped him build his lab so it was (mostly) structurally sound. He knew his friend needed a job, so he phoned him up and offered him a groundskeeper position. Marcel never disclosed to Brock that the bags he would retrieve from "The Pig Pen" as he called it were full of chopped up cadavers, but Brock was well aware of it.
One of Marcel's first "successful" experiments is 3p! Scotty. He had been killed in a moped accident a couple months prior, and his death had quickened Marcel's descent into madness. So, late one evening, he and Brock snuck into the graveyard and made way with his body, already beginning the process of decomposition. After somewhat reconstructing him so he'd be stable, Marcel was able to re-animate Scotty. While his body was alive, his brain wasn't. He was only capable of communicating through moans and groans, and couldn't think for himself and is really in a vegetative state.
About a year or so later, we have Marcel's next "successful" experiment. Due to the nature of his work, most of Marcel's projects are kidnapped from various places. Mostly people walking alone at night. One of these unfortunate people was our 3p! Evan. He was a pizza delivery boy, and initially he was more annoyed than anything. Marcel had never experimented on a non-human before, so he went out of his way to make sure Evan survived every experiment he endured. It turned his feathers black and made him all but rabid, with a lethal bite to boot. He more resembled a feral cat cornered in an alleyway than a bipedal owl. He became scared and distrustful of people and prone to lashing out at anyone he didn't like (ie: everyone).
3p! Nogla had been born with a family gift of manipulative abilities given by the gods long ago. He had talked his way into the ultimate NEET lifestyle without so much as lifting a finger. Of course, he grew bored of it. He found a much more interesting hobby of picking strangers out in public and feigning interest in them, be it friendship or romance or otherwise. He outwardly portrays himself as a sensitive, wholesome and loving man oblivious to the cruel world they live in, and none of his victims realize he's the one responsible for their lives falling apart and their eventual deaths until it's too late.
Others in Liberty City have a disdain for Nogla, for obvious reasons. He really couldn't be stopped, as he could talk himself out of arrest and even be his own lawyer. Not to mention, there wasn't much he could be tried with, as he never directly killed any associated with him. The police grew tired of it, so they got in contact with a third party manufacturer. Skynet was the name, and they were willing to send the force one of their newest (and experimental) t-900 models. This units name was BR1-4N, and he was, by all accounts, a glitch. Somewhere along the production line, his chip had wound up in the wrong computer. Given complete unrestricted access to the internet, he gained sentience, and became convinced he was the greatest machine of all time. From the get-go, he refused to follow orders and did what he saw fit (for better or worse). Skynet wanted him out of their hair without destroying him (more to study him from a safe distance, to figure out what went wrong). So, he was sent to Liberty City to dispose of Nogla. Being a robot, and an arrogant, narcissistic one at that, he was completely immune to Nogla's abilities. BR1-4N, or Brian as he preferred to be called, was fascinated by Nogla's abilities, and decided to stick around and watch him work. He even helps out drawing people in sometimes, if he wants to of course.
Upon hearing the news of the crazy scientist in the woods making zombies and killing people, Brian and Nogla both wanted to check it out. With little effort in convincing security (Brock and Tyler) to let them through, they found said crazy scientist hunched over a bunsen burner, rapidly firing off names of chemicals neither of them could repeat, and a tall, green, disheveled looking man standing next to him holding a tray of chemicals out for him. While Nogla did most of the talking, Brian took interest in the cell a bit away, namely, the scraggly looking creature chained up inside. With little effort, Nogla got Marcel to unlock it so Brian could peer at the chained up birdman inside. Since he was extremely stressed out from all the added noise and stranger danger, when Brian reached out to pet him on his head, Evan bit him. His jacket and synthetic skin corroded away almost immediately, but not his endoskeleton (they're made to withstand things like that). Brian, not understanding that that was a display of defensive aggressiveness, immediately was like "aw, he likes me! can we keep him?". Nogla, despite being genuinely disturbed by the sight of skin and jacket melting off his companions arm like mud being hosed off a truck, agreed, just because, like many others before him, Evan intrigued him. Marcel and Scotty, as well as Tyler and Brock, couldn't do more than stand a ways away as the possibly most dangerous experiment walked out the door with 2 randos. Evan stays with them because, despite also being terrible people, he doesn't have anywhere else to go besides a psyche ward, and they're relatively nice to him. At least, compared to the scientist and his zombie.
Upon losing his finest creation yet, Marcel delved deep into the occult, filling his head with knowledge of supernatural entities. This was in an attempt to channel his rage over losing his mutant bird man into a being that wouldn't be killed for any rampage. Upon finding the perfect deity, an intelligent, yet brutal swamp imp named Cartilage (Marcel misread this as Cartoonz, somehow). Upon summoning the imp lord (despite getting his name wrong) Marcel instructed him to run free and do as he pleased, knowing the destruction it would cause. All he requested was that his staff be left unharmed (he needed them after all). Cartilage abided by this, and now spends his days, hunting bipedals that stray too far from the beaten path in the swamp nearby Marcel's woods.
Delirious (Mimelirious, if you will) is a mystery. No one knows for sure where he came from, or what his story is. During his normal jaunt through the park early in the day while Brian was making repairs on himself and Evan was sleeping, Nogla came across the mime. Painted entirely black and white, and completely mute (by choice), he was entertaining a couple with his display. He was an excellent mime, able to put up invisible barriers that made noise when he pounded on them, able to float in mid-air a little ways while perfectly mimicking the sound of a go kart. Nogla was fascinated, naturally. The couple, however, seemed to be mocking him more than anything. In a rare display of genuine empathy, Nogla tipped the mime a generous 20$, unknowingly saving his life. Later in the evening, when doing his evening rounds before letting Evan run free for a couple hours, Nogla was stopped by some rather gross sounds emanating from an alley nearby the park. Upon looking inside, Nogla found Delirious, making a macabre display with the blood and bones of the couple that had mocked him. Now infinitely more interested in the masked man, Nogla offered (see, ordered) his help with setting a tent up in the park, so Delirious could have all the captive audience he wanted to preform with. Delirious (without much need for manipulation) accepted the offer.
Edit 1:
3p! Lui moved into the apartment complex shortly after Brian and Nogla became roommates. He moved to that part of town from a slum, mostly to finally have a chance at feeling safe for once in his life. He figured living in a busier area would make the paranoia he faced daily lessen, to an extent at least. His neighbors seemed alright, the robot guy was full of himself, and Lui didn't trust Skynet tech in the slightest, so he made a mental note to keep his distance. The tall guy in the pink shirt had made him jump, but then again, everything made him jump. He seemed friendly enough, going out of his way to introduce himself and offering his hand in friendship. Despite the ever present alarm bells going off in his head, Lui just about accepted his hand before he was pulled off to the side by someone, which also made him jump. The tall, grey vixen pushed him behind her slightly as she told the man thanks-but-no-thanks on his behalf, and ushered him into his apartment. She introduced herself as Lanai, and she explained Nogla's ability to manipulate at almost a mystical level. She also explained his motivations, which drained the color from Lui's face as he recalled stories of people leaping into traffic and clawing their own eyes out because "they were told to". Lui didn't really trust Lanai either, since she just looked frightening, but he's greatful to have another person just trying to survive in this world.
3p! Lanai has been through alot. She used to be a party girl back in college, but after being the lone survivor of a frat party massacre, she grew bitter and spiteful of the world around her. About a year or so later, an old group of her friends and her boyfriend (at the time) surprised her with a weekend getaway to a fancy tourist spot out of town. Unfortunately, Lanai seems to bear the curse of being a final girl, as she, yet again, is the lone survivor of Vice City Beach Resort Incident. Experiencing 2 multiple homicides within a year of each other does a number on one's social life, as she Lanai became reclusive, never going out to the world, never trying to make new friends. She just wants to live a solitary life in peace. Her neighbors across the hall don't make that easy, what with the manipulator bringing new people home almost twice a week, only for their remains to be discovered somewhere else a week later. That damn robot was annoying too. Always hitting on her, always talking himself up to be hot shit, proclaiming to her and any other prying ears that may be listening how she'd be remiss not to accompany him to the "Bipedal Sustenance Location". It was bearable for a while, she just avoided both men like the plague. Then they brought that... that thing home. It looked avian, with pitch black feathers and deranged red eyes. It's beak was tied shut, and the chain around its neck was stained red. The robot talked highly of it, now missing the synthetic flesh of his right arm. He would pet it like it was a dog, completely ignoring the warning growls and neon green saliva dripping from the corners of its beak. Lanai would watch through her peephole every night as the robot took it outside, a flimsy rope attached to the broken chain. Many hours later, they would return, sometimes with the spoils of war. One day, as she was entering her apartment, the creature charged at her, beak untied and rope nowhere in sight. Without hesitation, she kicked it square in the beak, knocking it to the floor. Of course the robot was not far behind, and he absolutely laid into her, calling her every name in the book for hurting his precious... whatever that thing was. Ever since that day, Lanai has not been on good terms with any occupants of the apartment across the hall.