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"Well... Jet, can we have a ride in your car?" asked Lutecia. "'tis not far, but I am tired, and making Tia walk in her state... not a good idea, neh? Since Jerry's coming too, you can continue talking en route. Also, I'll help you chase that fish monster. For what he did to Tia he deserves a cruel death." As she said that, a fiery halo flickered in and out of existence around her head. Tia just her her hand, not saying anything.
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground
"I'm not a bus driver," Jethro said, "But I suppose if I brought you here I shouldn't leave you stranded." He turned back to Jerry, "Yeah, any cop worth his salt knows the place."
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"Thanks," said Lutecia. She took a few deep breath, fighting to keep her powers under control, then boarded Jet's car with Tia in tow. Once inside, she sighed.
edited 16th Sep '12 10:45:01 AM by desdendelle
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground
FISTINGLY DELICIOUS
"Then that's where you can find me." Jerry winked. He watched as the pyrokinetic and the little bladewielder took their seats in the officer's car. Tia appeared to still reeling from the aftermath that tinted her skin an almost lobster-red. With the museum behind him, the Gentleman Avenger couldn't help but feel the weight of history echoing down at him.
He shook his head, waving the notion aside, before climbing into the passenger seat and trying not to appear too much of a time-lost bumpkin. "Strapped in and ready," he told Officer Kane.
The hits keep rollin'!
"Uh, here" Jethro said, stepping aside as Jerry passed by him into the side seat, and heard Lutecia's sigh. He reached into the rear seat from the other door and picked up his destroyed leg and a SAW he had left lying around when he repaired himself, and closed the rear passenger door as he walked to the back and placed them in the rear compartment where they belong. "That should give you some more room," he said, but stopped himself from closing the back door, his hands still hanging on it, as he added "You're gonna have to tell me where your magic doctor is, though, I know my way around pretty well, but I'm not up-to-date with all the back alley surgeons."
edited 16th Sep '12 11:11:11 AM by nman
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"I assume you know the old part of town?" Lutecia asked Jet. "It's an alley called, if I'm not mistaken, Atelidae Lane. Hard to miss — there's a large copper statue of a monkey at one end."
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground
"Always thought that monkey statue was up to no good," Jethro said as he got behind the wheel. "So what do you know about these sardines off the top of your head?" he asked Jerry as he started driving away from the museum.
BWAH-HA-HA!
"GAH!"
The waters of the ocean welcomed Zad'k with a good deal of pain. Father Dagon already knew of his massive failure. His sinews began knitting themselves back together, but not so gently as was normal. Dagon didn't will that. The fibers and tissues of his body shot out at over twice the speed, shooting hot fire up and down ever square nanometer. Another creature might go immediately into shock and subsequent unconsciousness; Zad'k wasn't given the privilege. Not now, not before, never.
"Nahg'n Dagon! Nahg'n criz't Padra!" The internal injuries were mended, but the flesh wounds remained deep, and the pain did not subside. It wouldn't, not entirely, until late into that night. "Ia, IA!" With the little energy he had left, he began his descent into the abyss, were greater tortures than his were plenty.
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.
FISTINGLY DELICIOUS
"Off the bat? They're nothing but bad news..."
Jerry felt the smoothness of the vehicle's manufacture as it pulled away from the crowded museum area. He was already in the process of revising several of his opinions as he turned to answer Officer Kane's query.
"No one knows where exactly they came from. We thrown every kind of theory out there, from being from beyond the stars to evolutionary throwbacks. It all boils down to they ain't from around here but they ain't going anywhere."
He leaned back in the seat, noting how much more comfortable it was than what he was used to.
"They're deep water creatures, but have lungs as well as gills. We've known 'em to be real fond of the seas and inland waters. You don't mess with them in deep water areas, unless you're really prepared." There was an unspoken emphasis on "really".
"When it comes to land, they're much weaker, as you've seen before," Jerry referred to their earlier encounter with the deep ones in the exhibit. "So they use their wits, taking the sewers and other things when on dry ground. Not to mention get help from them cop cultists from earlier..."
edited 18th Sep '12 5:49:55 AM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!
"So you a part-time marine biologist, or something... Jerry?", Jethro said, recalling the name Lutecia had called him. "But damn it, he did turn those men right against us, in the blink of an eye."
FISTINGLY DELICIOUS
"Just a guy with an interesting job, is all."
Memories of the battlegrounds in Massachusetts, Cote d'Ivoire, what might have been an outpost of fabled Atlantis and so many others, flashed in his head. Interesting couldn't begin to cover his line of work. Then Kane mentioned the traitors that had leveled shotguns at himself and innocent civilians.
"That's another thing we watch for; deep ones love capturing women for breeding purposes. It's part of how they work." Jerry could not help remembering the pale, pitiful captives of Father Dagon's favored. There were times he could even hear the screaming out to him, especially in his dreams. "They're the eyes and ears of their masters, after all."
edited 18th Sep '12 7:59:42 AM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!
Jeff's phone sparked and sputtered—and suddenly Skeletone's messages were gone. Huh. So were Ial's. Quite a few contacts were gone actually; oh well, side-effect of shitty black-market gear. He finished folding his laundry, then got dressed in clothes befitting a Supervillain. Time to rob a bank. That could draw out Gum Girl.
Rick passed Rick a mug of tea, leaving the apartment to meet up with Rick, Rick, and Rick, having filled out a police report of the incident with Rosette. He heard about some sort of SWAT dispatch over at the museum, and decided to meet up with himself there.
"Three punctures, tearing, concussion, second-degree burns. Hemorrhaging throughout chest cavity as well." John struggled awake as the gurney rushed along the hallway, twitched, wheezed in pain. A doctor looked over him, examining his numerous injuries.
"My armor—hhrrrkkhhh—safe?" John coughed up a bit of blood as he intently stared at the doctor, trying to stay conscious.
The doctor slowly stuck a needle in John's harm. "Yessir. We stashed it in a closet. Now just count back from three."
"Thr—"
"Great," Jethro said, "Killing people isn't enough for this guy, huh? If we can't get him soon, SVU's going to have a lot of cases on their hands."
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"This fish-person does not seem like a particularly nice guy," said Tia in what was probably the understatement of the century.
"He certainly needs a good fry, I agree," said Lutecia, carefully caressing Tia's hair.
FISTINGLY DELICIOUS
"He ain't anything but nice, little lady. He's trouble on a scale cases can't measure."
Jerry's eyes focused on a billboard advertising soda. The thirst returned with a vengeance. Maybe they could swing buy a place they could buy a drink somewhere, like one of those convenience stores he'd seen on his first nights.
"Their big cheese, the yahoo in a tarp toga, he sounded like a high priest in my head. And where deep ones listen to high priests, high priests follow this aim of destruction. No matter where you go or what you fight, it's almost the same all over... They want to end us. Hard."
edited 21st Sep '12 1:12:50 AM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!
"So he's not the only one out there like that," said Jethro. "Great. Just when we didn't have enough supervillains and criminals." At that time, he passed the statue of a monkey, and parked the Hummer along the curb. ""Alright, where to?"
edited 22nd Sep '12 8:44:35 AM by nman
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Lutecia stifled a yawn. "Just behind that statue," she said. She opened the door and helped Tia disembark. She knocked at the door — the same door that Gold Dollar delivered the tea to last night. The same simian person opened it.
"Hey, Uagen," said Lutecia.
"Good. Um. Yes, good day. Um. Lutecia. Um. Uhum. How. Yes. How do you do?" asked Uagen Zlepe.
"Got into a scuffle with a fishman that tried to boil me. I'm mostly fine, but Tia" — she patted the girl's head — "got some nasty burns from scalding water, and Jerry" — she pointed at the Gentleman Avenger — "got his hand mangled by a fish."
"I. Um. Yes. I see. Come, um, inside," said Uagen and stepped aside, letting the group enter his apartment.
The antechamber and the living room looked perfectly normal, if a bit old and dusty. The only thing that stood out was a peculiar armchair in the living room, which had some complicated arrangements so that tailed beings would be able to sit comfortably in it. Uagen sat down in that armchair and waved at the other assorted chairs and sofas.
"Do. Um. Yes. Um. Do sit," he said. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground
"I don't suppose that by some miracle you're actually practicing medicine with a license?" Jethro asked as he stepped in.
FISTINGLY DELICIOUS
"Nice place," Jerry observed as he took a seat on a comfortably overstuffed armchair, looking around as he settled in. "Would you happen to have known a Claire Holloway? Place kinda looks like hers."
It have occured to his companions that the Gentleman Avenger, like Jethro preceding him, was not the least bit curious as to where the pyrokinetic Lucetia had led them, or the fact that the doctor in question was a genteel simian with green fur. Rather, his eyes roamed the living room like a child in a toy store as he recognized various pieces of obscure paraphernalia and artworks.
edited 22nd Sep '12 10:23:34 AM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!
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"A, um, license?" asked Uagen. He pointed at the wall behind Jet. "Um. There. Should. Um. Behind the. Um. Yes. Behind the scroll."
Behind an ornate scroll there were indeed two framed diplomas. One was totally unreadable, written in some sort of script that was mostly lines arranged in a nonary grid, but the other was an MD from Johns Hopkins university.
"As to, um. Claire. Holloway? Never. Um. Yes. I. Um. I never heard of. Someone named like that," Uagen told Jerry. "Anyway. Your hand. It got bitten?"
Jethro zoomed in on the diplomas to pass the time as he waited for the doctor to finish his work.
Somewhere in the Atlantic
The small boat floated along in the waves. From above, it appeared to have a pair of old men who were taking advantage of the sunlight to go fishing, their poles cast on opposite sides of the boat.
Below, it was a different story. The creature had been too fast. The even smaller ROV attached to it was currently one kilometer below the surface, and could not go deeper. But the target had gone deeper, which meant the small boat and ROV could only wait, relaying data. As time was not in short supply, they merely remained waiting.
"Come here, sugar" said a man in a rougher part of the city, loudly. He had extremely pale white skin and a shaved head, and brandished a Smith & Wesson Model 10 - the most common handgun used in crime across the nation - and pointed it at a young woman. Behind her, another man in his late teens approached, with dark black skin and an afro, holding a TEC-9 sideways so that the fifty-round magazine and high recoil would cause the gun to wildly miss if fired, undoubtedly injuring bystanders. She appeared to be in her mid twenties, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore a bright red dress. She had been using an ATM as the pair of men approached when she walked away after her transaction. Both men wore shorts that had their seams at least five inches below their waists. The black man tried to put a hand on her shoulder while the white one continued to yell.
"HELP!" yelled the woman as she ran away, but tripped, falling to the ground, as she started crying. The black man fired off nine rounds from his gun, while the white one only shot once. All of the bullets had missed the woman, with the .38 round hitting a window in the corner, shattering the glass, while the TEC-9 rounds had gone lower and mostly hit the ground, though a few hit some cars and activated the alarms. The woman continued to cry as she turned over, looking at the men approaching her.
edited 22nd Sep '12 12:13:10 PM by nman
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A certain shadow in the building above the ATM hid more than just cockroaches, cigarette stubs and general refuse. A certain black-armoured woman crouched in it, watching the robbery bellow. She wasn't planning on playing the hero any time soon — it did not seem that this particular act would endanger the balance much, so why bother?
So she crouched, and waited, her daggers still in their sheaths.
BWAH-HA-HA!
Movement under the waves was something liberating for Zad'k. All within the full extent of the power packed within his relatively small frame. He shot his way towards the abyss at speeds of three-hundred miles per hour; it would have been five, If he didn't care about his newly healed wounds re-opening. The searing pain didn't subside, but Zad'k's thoughts had long since turned away from it. "There is work to be done.", he though to himself.
The bright blue, warm, sun-soaked waters slowly began giving in to blackness and cold. A cacophony of grotesque utterances began ringing as he broke into the abyssal zone.
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.
Alright, Saturn wanted me to get rid of Gum-Girl lethally...
As Jeff headed out, gear in a duffel bag, he dialed up Skeletone's number one last time. Voicemail, of course.
"Look, hey, Skeletone, just gimme a call if you're still game on hiring me; no hard feelings if you don't, I mean I do have something to occ—" Jeff dropped his phone as a hard, pink, concussive force hammered him into the pavement.
Fuck. Jeff realized with a sudden sinking sensation that Gum-Girl called him Jeff. She knew who he was! Jeff levered himself up as the girl jumped away, grabbing his phone in the process.
"Sorry about that. Onne sec..." Jeff crouched down, unzipped the duffel bag, and stepped into an alley, tracking his target. She yelled some profanities and insults at him, and probably also some pedophilia jokes, but during that time had failed to keep her trajectory inconsistent.
"Oh yeah, and uh..." Professor Holocaust lit up the girl, melting her gum-constructs and sending her screaming to earth like a comet.
"That ghost thing, right?" FWOOOSH, "AAIIIEEEEAAAAGGGG!"'
"Yeah, that was pretty cool too. Call me up if you want—Goddammit shut up!" Holocaust stomped down on the throat of what was left of the Superheroine and ground his boot in. "If you want help. Seeya." Jeff snapped his phone shut and gave the burned girl one last burst of fire before calmly walking back to his bag and tossing the Cannon in. The cops would be on the scene soon, no doubt. Not that they'd find much, save maybe dental records. He went on his way again, headed for one of the smaller banks of Radio City.
Multiplayer, at a completely separate Bank from Jeff's target, was busy performing a four-way facepalm. The two muggers were doing it completely wrong! He'd have to show them how it was done—not that he would let the woman go with her purse or anything. The four men drew a knife each and advanced on the two muggers.
"The HELL are you chucklefucks doing?!" the front one yelled. "You fucking kidding me?! What are you thinking?!"
Another Rick jabbed his knife in the woman's direction. "Don't you move either."
His own chuckle echoed the new arrival's mirth. Jerry recognized the man hanging out of the vehicle as the officer who pulled him (and Tia, by extent) out the line of boiling steam during the melee in the museum.
He took note of the obvious mechanical augmentations that formed a second skin on the man and realized that while he didn't look the part of an officer, the man fairly radiated with the presence of a good lawman. It probably explained why the Gentleman Avenger thought he saw a cop charging in to the rescue and not a biomechanical monstrosity, similar to the kind he'd faced down in Belgium. Mc Carthy, if you could only see this... Jerry thought of another old friend he'd lost during his accidental trip forward.
"Waht they are ain't hard to figure out. But finding sardines where they live? That'll be tough, but I'll let you know what I find. Drop by the Bixby Building when you can. You know it?"
edited 16th Sep '12 10:49:23 AM by mantlemask
The hits keep rollin'!