Percussion's Story

Episode 1: Meet The Titans

The city streets of HillCrest were quiet, too quiet to be exact. That is, until a piercing scream echoed out into the night. The sound came from the Theater District. The District used to be known for amazing plays, beautiful artwork, and musicians out in the streets playing for tips. Now its buildings are painted with graffiti and its citizens are too high to coherently write down their creative thoughts. The scream echoed down the empty streets as a girl tried to fight off her attacker, a big burly man with oddly glinting eyes. The girl screamed for help again, but she knew no help would come. She pulled out a bottle and pushed it in the man's direction. He screamed as the mace ran down his eyes and the girl broke free.

She ran as fast as she could and turned onto the main street. She looked both ways, all down the street windows were closed, doors were shut and she was sure she saw someone close their blinds. No one wanted to help her. She ran down the street further until she heard something that sounded like growling. She turned to see the man jump onto her, pain erupted from her arms as she felt something sharp pin her to the ground. "Auugh!" She screamed.


Percussion

Drake walked down the street stumbling. He put a bottle to his mouth and took another swig of liquor. The motion of taking a swig threw him off balance and he fell to the ground. Then it hit him, some chick's high pitch voice ripped through his skull as his super hearing amplified the already loud noise.

"Shit." Drake said after he'd emptied his stomach of it's contents. He got up and saw a girl running down the street. Then a flash as a dark figure quickly caught up to her and pinned her to the ground. Drake grabbed two drumsticks from his quiver and walked towards the squirming pair.

Say something really cool and heroic. Drake thought to himself. Threaten the guy and play it cool.

"HEY!" Drake said, "Nice...girl ya got there. Mind if...if...I cut in?" The figure stopped and turned around, a low growl uttering from deep within it's throat. The girl just got up and ran. "God, that was stupid..." Drake said as he swung a drumstick. The sound of thunder ripped through the quiet streets as the figure was slammed into a brick wall. "Well, that was easy." Drake said as he turned around to walk away.

Then it was on top of him. It looked like a man, mostly, but it was covered in fur. Drake yelled out as claws began ripping into him and the man bit him on the shoulder.

Angelfire

"Always meet your idols!"

Aaron walked out of a theater with a group of friends enjoying an evening show. "Man that was funnier than I thought!" spoke one of the teens, as he proceeded to act out a scene. Aaron laughed with the others as they walked down the street. It was abuzz with activity as usual. Street performers and vendors. It was always so vibrant down here, and with the art, well it reminded him of being high just without the buzz. Despite the laughing and merriment a sound would break the normalcy of this area. Towards a quieter area of the district, was a scream. It sounded like someone was in trouble. Fearing for the worse he went to break away from his group until a large boom was heard.

"Holy shit!" "What was that!?" One of his friends shouted. People in the area began to scream like it sounded like some explosion. Some thought it was thunder but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Something was going on and Aaron was the only around to do something about it. In their confusion Aaron slipped away and went into an empty alley. "Alright roomie, time to suit up!" Aaron spoke as a black liquid began to flow from his mouth, eyes, and pores of his skin. Fire began to burn around him and then the goo swiftly covered his entire body as his entire being changed. He grew taller and larger as his skin became orange and dark brown. The most defining feature was his head of fire. He opened his eyes as they glowed with a bright fire. "Let's do this." His voice was much deeper than before as wings of fire sprouted from his back. He then launched himself in the air and flew off.

"Hey did anybody know where Aaron went?" One of the friends asked as Angelfire left for the scene. "Now then I'm looking for a girl or an explosion, hopefully both." The fiery superhero flew over Hillcrest's skyline as he noticed some guy being attacked by...an animal? He noticed the large hole in the wall near them so this must be the place. He then quickly landed beside them and then placed his hands between the fur man and the victim. "Ew, no hickeys kids." Angelfire joked as he pried the creature off of Percussion, making sure not to burn either one. Using his great strength he ended up sending the attacker flying. As he watched him land some ways away from them, Angelfire went to lift up Percussion. "Hey guy are you alright?" He asked as he turned him over then, he just about had a heart attack. "Oh...My...God...," Angelfire paused, "Your the drummer for Rebel-Lions!!" "DRAKE STONE!!!" "Dude, I need your autograph!" Angelfire spoke starstruck. "I have all your albums on my ipod!" "Dude none of the guys are gonna believe I meet THE Drake Stone!" Angelfire spoke very much forgotten why he was there.

Astral

Of course it happened again. Juliet was above the towering buildings of the city of Hillcrest, she knew others believed the city to be great, thought it was vibrant and full of life. But Juliet saw it for what it truly was, murder, robbery, corruption...and there was nothing she could do about it. She was an observer, stuck with that fate almost every time her eyes closed for some sleep.

Come to think of it why was she sleeping right now? Looking to the sky the sun was still shining. Juliet face palmed angrily, as usual she fell asleep in the morning after school, the danger of even going there enough to handle. Suddenly, Juliet heard a noise pierce the silence of her astral lurking. She swooped down closer to the ground, heading towards the sound. When she thought she was lost she heard something like a crack of thunder and whirled around, spotting a tall guy who appeared to be grasping...a drumstick? She turned to the right noticing a strange humanoid beast, appearing to have recently crashed into a wall. "D...did he do that?" Juliet asked herself, obviously bewildered by the fact. Was he...like her?

Juliet floated over to the boy, staring at him with curiosity evident on her face, it was like he was a sudoku puzzle just waiting to be solved, something about the man struck her as familiar, but she brushed it aside, doubting her memory. She regulated her breath, still unsure if he would be able to hear her while she was in her astral form. Nobody else was able to unless she let them, and sometimes it didn't even work, but if he was like her it could be a different case.

Before she could think any longer the beast ran through her, tackling the boy on the spot. "Fuck!" Juliet screamed in shock averting her eyes to the other direction, not wanting to see the blood that was sure to come from the boy. She felt bad for him, but there was nothing she could do...she was practically a ghost in this form. But she had to do something! She could just let him die! She tried calming herself down and turned around, hearing the voice of another; someone had already taken action. A large man, with skin like molten lava, and fire emanating from his head. His appearance was intimidating, perhaps more than the beast, but his voice said otherwise. "Rebel Lions..." Juliet whispered quietly to herself, she was pretty sure she had seen them before, and the boy, as the man of fire pointed out, was their drummer Drake Stone. Juliet's hand immediately went to her hair, tugging down at it from the memories of the guy, there were so many girls in her school who had a crush on him, including her friends...and others, but that was besides the point. She never knew she was going to meet someone famous, let alone ready herself to watch him die. Remembering that the two guys couldn't see her Juliet stopped trying to mend her appearance, her hair a mess and clothes sloppy from sleep.

She turned away from the two of them, trying to put her attention on something else. unfortunately it was someone else that she noticed. The beast man was charging back at them, going at a speed she didn't think was humanly possible. Juliet started to panic, knowing she couldn't warn the two guys who were probably invested in conversation. She looked at the area in front of her, hoping to find something to stop the beast. Suddenly, her eyes landed on a branch, guessing it fell from the loud, thunder like crack. She floated towards it as fast as she could. "Why am I trying to lift up a giant branch when I can't even lift up a twig?" She thought to herself frantically. But there was nothing else she could do. She couldn't stand by and watch any longer. There were people like her...she couldn't let them get mauled by a beast just because they got hit by surprise. She grasped the branch with her hands, beginning to feel the texture of the bark, once she was ready she pulled up, feeling how heavy it was, made heavier due to the fact she wasn't in her physical form. She had the branch up at around a fifty degree angle when the creature's legs smacked into it, causing him to trip and crack the ground with a loud bang, skidding on the pavement.

She dropped the branch panting to herself, "They should be able to take care of the rest..." she said, taking a break. She was proud with herself, she had actually done that, she was making progress with her powers! She hoped that last act subdued the beast or that they would be able to finish him on their own, because she didn't think she could do much more. But she had to admit, that creature had endurance! She continued watching, still hoping for the best.

The man-beast had been sent flying backwards twice now and it was pissed. All it wanted was to relieve its animal instincts for mating, but now different instincts were kicking in. The man-beast felt blood trickling down its back and it felt the instinct for survival, fight or flight. But it also felt bloodlust and rage. It looked towards where the boy with the sticks had been. There was a large man on fire in his place. It snarled and charged at them once more, this time on all fours. As it got close however, it tripped and fell, sliding headfirst right behind Angelfire.

The beast got up and snarled. It turned around to see who had gotten under it, but it saw nothing. Then it turned again and took a swipe at the burning man with it's razor sharp claws.


Percussion

Drake stared blankly for a few seconds as a huge burning man helped him up. The dude was on fire and he was geeking out about the Rebel-Lions. Drake was confused and just a little bit frightened.

"Um-hrk" Drake said as he turned and vomited again. "What-what are you?" Real smooth, idiot. He looked up at the burning figure and then to the side as something snarled. "Oh crap!" He said as the beast got up and charged them. Then it tripped and fell, landing right in front of them. "Wha?" Drake said, perking his ears a little. "Take care of...what?"

Then the beast swung its claw at the back of Angelfire's head. Percussion ducked under the outstretched arms of his savior and brought his stick upward towards the beast-man's jaw. The resulting explosion sent him flying upwards and back. Drake cast the now-broken drumstick aside and drew another one.

"Thanks for the help I guess...um...man."

Gauntlet

He heard several sharp lightning strikes from far off. He'd cock an eyebrow beneath the hood, his mask was pulled down as he walked along on the sidewalk, the flickering lights of the street lights making the darkness beautiful to him, anyways, he was enjoying a taco from a local store, cashier having been thoroughly confused as the dressed up teenager walked in hungry as hell. That was the thing about being high, always left him starving after, as if endorphins had a bad taste. It was a terrible taco at best, the meat of poor quality and the cheese meager. It had a bad ratio about it, but he scarfed it down regardless at the loud sounds.

Perhaps someone was in trouble, regardless, it wasn't a cloudy night, and he'd yet to feel a single drop of rain. He pulled up his mask and stretched, his bones cracking with the application. He began to jog in place for a moment, and then with exercised grace and natural agility he fell forward into several quick pushups, rolling over for a moment to do several sit ups. A couple would pass walking their dog, staring down at him as if disgusted and displeased with his existing. He'd hesitate a moment before reeling back on the ground before hopping to his feet.

He'd be a blaze of small sounds of air leaving space as he teleported several times before appearing a few feet away from a peculiar scene, a man ablaze, beefy, and a tall boy wielding drumsticks as if they were weapons. A man covered in thick fur was dazed and bleeding on the ground feet away from the pair. Gauntlet would see them casual about the poor fellow who seemed to be speaking gibberish. He'd walk forward from the shadows nonchalant and confident.

"Now kiddies," He'd walk up to the large man on fire stifling a laugh, his eyes suddenly ablaze as his heart began to thump rapidly in wicked anticipation. "Haven't we moved on from such silly things as discrimination?" His rant would come from nowhere in his new madness. "I'll have you all know, that I think, that my father's, father's, best friend's distant Aunt was a Jew in the holocaust. He'd cast a glance at the beast man, "I'm sure she wasn't as hairy as this guy.." He'd hesitate a moment losing his train of thought, "My point is that it isn't okay to hurt people, or their feelings." He'd emphasize the last part as his voice rose with sudden action, looking to take the group by surprise he'd release another deep sound within the air, as he teleported once more, appearing behind and above the tall boy he'd go to release a savage kick at the back of his head looking to send him into the fire giant's warm embrace.

Angelfire couldn't help but grin, "And just like a real star, I'm being ignored!" Instead of interpreting it as a bad thing, he made it sound like a good thing. "My dreams are coming true!" "First being a superhero and now, I'm being disregarded by a celebrity!" " And it's Drake Stone nonetheless!" He seemed to be crying tears of joy. "It must be amazing to be famous." He began to laugh a hearty laugh, "I wish I could ignore just whoever and not be criticized for it!" Angelfire continued to rave in his own delusional way. "And continue to treat everybody like flies and always ask for a cup of coffee, even though there is already one right in your hand!" By now it would seem the man on fire was lost in his own world.

All the while the others were beating up the fur guy and he was perfectly oblivious to it all. Until he heard that drumstick again. "Oh wow!" "And I thought your Bassist could bring the Bass!" He wriggled his ear as he spoke, "Wow! Your a legend with those things man, but don't you need a drum?!" Angelfire asked until another dude came up and this one, reminded him of like a Batman in Swat gear. His rantings seemed even more nonsensical than his own, making Angelfire come out bluntly, "What the hell are you talking about!?" He flatly spoke to Gauntlet. He then disappeared. "Whoa!" "Is he a magician or something!?" Until he noticed the fur guy. "Oh yeah...almost forgot about Mr. Furry here." Angelfire dully spoke.

Before that could be resolved Swat Batman suddenly appeared behind Percussion, and it didn't look good. He went to kick him and he was pretty sure that this was a wrong move. He was able to save Drake from a meeting of his face between the street. "DUDE!" "What the fuck is your problem!?" "Can't you see this is DRAKE STONE!?" "And he got mauled by Bigfoot over here!" Angelfire shouted at Gauntlet and pointed at Fur Guy. "Sheesh, with that gear on I figured you a good guy man!" Angelfire spoke. He then stood between him and Percussion, "I can't speak for Beastie Boy over there, but you, you better back up before I really get fired up!" Angelfire warned Gauntlet. He was sure this guy wanted fight though, and he would oblige if he really wants it.

Astral

Juliet silently watched on as more events unfolded. Arriving spontaneously on the scene was a man clad in black. He seemed dangerous, to himself and others, the look in his eyes seemed crazed, and his actions said the same. He criticized the others for attacking the beast, although he wasn't there to see the creature attack them, so it could make some logical sense for him to take action. He was also like them, that was for sure, travelling or teleporting at a great speed to kick Drake into the man of fire. Astral knew this couldn't be good, but decided to stay out of it for the time being, these people were like her, and she'd have to observe them more just to be safe...

As they were fighting, she noticed that the beast was recovering, ready to attack again. However, a new person arrived on the scene once again. It was a female this time, humanoid, but with feline features. It seemed like the two of them had a connection through their animal characteristics. Intrigued, Astral moved in closer, watching closely. The beast stated something about her being a splicer, just as he was. Splicer...Juliet wasn't sure what he was referring to, and thought on it as the battle progressed. The battle was fierce, but the girl kept an aura of confidence even when it seemed like the odds were against her. Sooner than later, the tables were turned and the feline defeated him. Juliet wasn't sure about this girl, though her confidence was impressive, it could be dangerous if it got too out of hand.

She guessed as long as she didn't wish to cause trouble she would be okay, and that she was just looking too far into things that she didn't have to think about. That thought brought her attention back to the battle between the three boys, hoping that it would be resolved soon. They were like each other, they all had powers, there was so much for them to gain from each other, but she remained patient, acting rashly would be foolish.

Percussion

Drake watched as a kid in black ran up, ran his mouth, and then disappeared. Then he reeled forward as splitting pain ripped through the back of his skull. The big man on fire caught him before his face met the concrete but it was too late for anything else. Percussion watched, dazed as the fire-dude stepped between him and the mystery kid who'd appeared behind where he was. He heard a growl and a hiss and slowly turned to watch a tiger-striped girl beat the shit out of the guy that he'd already beat the shit out of twice.

Percussion stood, rocking slowly and holding his head as the girl finished off her opponent. His eyes were watering but he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing anyways. Either there was something special in his alcohol or a huge orange dude on fire just saved him from a bear/wolf-man. It didn't matter how drunk he was, people didn't disappear only to reappear milliseconds later. And he was sure as hell that that girl had a tail and huge ears coming out from the top of her head. On top of that, who was talking before?

As his eyes began to clear and the pain receded, Percussion had a sudden sense of clarity. Actually, it was more like a sudden sense of sobriety. "Hold on." He looked at Gauntlet and Angelfire and tried to get their attention. "HOLD ON!"

When he was sure he had someone's attention he said, "Are you guys superheroes?"

Gauntlet

He sent the drunk kid flying but then the immature fire giant came out with a rant about dude blahblahblah, he could hardly hear over the pounding in his head as he landed, his daze lagging his action just long enough for the boy to rattle off a bunch of shit about good guys and Drake Stone, whoever the hell that was. But the threat was there, and it rang out in his ears as a deviant grin formed beneath his mask. His hand would rise to point at the fire giant, his eyes acute and dangerous.

But suddenly the tall boy rose, 'Ah, didn't kick him hard enough, then, I'll have to remember that.' He'd think to himself, getting suddenly anxious with his slowing heart rate, he rattled off in his drunken state about superheroes, it took a second or two before Gauntlet registered that he were asking. "I'm nothing but the guy, about to kick this guy's flaming ass." All facade's about jest and light heartedness would fade with this as suddenly there were a foreboding and dark undertone.

His memory would go from places of darkness to intricate scenarios for a brawl when it would ensue. A threat that would put this big mouthed kid in the grave, whether he escaped tonight or two years from now, his life would only end with Gauntlet punching several holes in his over-sized brain cavity.

He almost didn't notice all else that went on around him, even forgetting about the beast man he had jumped to defend, as he got his teeth knocked in by the small tiger girl. Unaware completely of the strange essence of another girl among them.

He moved from shadow to shadow across the rooftops of the city, crisscrossing over streets, his eyes wary for any sign of trouble while his head twitching this way and that as he muttered and argued with himself. His voice was soft and strained with a sliver of guilt lodged in his heart, for he'd meted out justice of a kind again tonight.

---

It had been while he was wandering through the run-down slum districts at the outer edge of the city, known as old town. He’d had trouble here before, many times as the scum who inhabited it were little better than animals, and at least animals worked together in a herd instead of ripping each other apart just so that they could gain some perceived upper hand for a moment before another’s blade changed the balance of power once again. Down here he’d given up the notion of fair play or even of given them a chance for redemption, they didn’t deserve it.
He'd found the group down one of the alleys near Old Town, the bodies of three women lay at their feet, used and bloody with their throats cut. The last one was bruised and bleeding, coughing and begging as the gang surrounded her. He could already tell that her wounds were fatal, black blood was gently flowing from her lips. He lowered himself near the end of the alley where a sentry for the gang stood, itching from one foot to the other as he felt disgruntled at being left out of the fun. The taste of those surface emotions had made the Nightlander’s lips curl into a hollow smile as he’d reached out from the darkness and grabbed the man. The shadows around him reached in and muffled the screams of the man as he went in close, eyes glowing brightly. His arms reached out, carefully applying pressure till the mans limbs were broken, shattering the bones at the knees and elbows with jabs and kicks. After letting the mans crumpled body fall he half closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on expanding the darkness around him till it was creeping along the alley, slowly blocking out the light from the sky and lights above. The other four members of this sordid group seemed a little shook up by the sudden change, rumours and stories of Old Town coming swiftly to mind. Their fears were quashed by the large man bearing down on the dying girl, knife in hand who barked at them to quit being babies. He died first. His thin curved blades of midnight hue ripping through his back to burst through his chest before withdrawing as he reversed them to remove his head, his expression of shock still ingrained as it toppled from his crumpling corpse.
The others stared for a moment before turning to run. They barely got a few feet before he was upon them, breaking bones and crushing bodies as he slaughtered them. Their whimpering cries and plea’s for him to spare their lives fell on deaf ears. He often wondered why they begged him, for surely they must know that their actions deserve retribution and that the path they have taken has simply led up to this moment? Once his work was finished and none remained standing he knelt by the body of the girls, carefully closing their eyes.

”You didn’t have to kill them.” A voice had whispered, it was unusually jovial given the scene, but then the pale skinned girl had little to fear. She stood shorter than he did, but to him she seemed to be ten foot tall. Her smile was warm but her eyes seemed to be disappointed.

”Hello, I’d hoped to be gone before you arrived.”

”You know for a fact that I’m always here, so that is a lie Mal.”

He shrugged and walked over to the corpses of the gang-members and began to carefully saw their heads from their bodies. He would leave them as a reminder to the gang that he hunted them now, and that he would make them suffer.

”So what do you want?”
He grumbled as he stoed the last of the dripping heads into the Darkness Between, another smile ghosting across his features as he felt more than heard the anguish of the first man as the dead remains of his ‘friends’ joined him in limbo.

”To help. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I don’t want to see you become the very monster you’re trying to fight.”

He looked up and smiled, genuinely and softly towards her, as he stood. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders before speaking.

”I’ll make the world better even if I become the very thing I’m purging from the world, because in the end if I’m all that remains then I can finally rest. I’ve no delusions that I have a place in the future I’m trying to create. You taught me 'If you change the world, the world will change' so that is what I'm trying to do. Goodbye, Mother.”

With that he turned and vanished into the night, leaving her staring after him. No matter how much he focused his skills she could never fail to spot him or find him or see right through him. He paused outside the one of the gang’s holdings, ramming the still warm heads of those he’d slain onto the spiked fence around the perimeter.

”Scream, for the Nightlander comes.”

Then he was gone, leaving only the flayed skulls with the skin peeling from their bones while the lightly acidic rain scourers the musculature with empty eye sockets staring out at nothing.

---

An echoing bang and a shockwave burst nearby, shaking him from his haunted reprieve. He looked around to see what had caused the explosive noise, and caught sight of a lithe figure stalking across the rooftops. She was clearly stealthier than any he’d seen, but up here in the darkness there was very little that could hide. He caught sight of a whipping tail extruding from her tail-bone, which intrigued him greatly. He watched her fall down into the alley below and followed to kneel on the edge of the building overlooking the scene below. He wrapped himself in shadows as the blazing light from the large winged figure caused him pain, not as much as when he’d first felt the warm kiss of sunlight (he still remembered the sting of blood running down his cheeks) but enough to make him recoil slightly. He tilted his head and gently twirled his sword between his long fingers as he watched the fight below.

"Time to throwdown!"

Angelfire looked on at the suited up fighter. Still his mannerisms made him elusive and quite frankly really bothersome. Still it was when Drake Stone asked about whether or not they were superheroes did he turn towards him. "Well I like to think of myself as a hero, I mean I look the part right?" Angelfire asked a little doubtful of his ownself. Then spoke the other guy, either he was being modest or he really isn't one. Yet, Angelfire is certain this guy still has an aura of heroism, even though it is being buried with his hostility. This was really becoming bothersome, he was here to help and this guy thinks he can do whatever! Fat Chance!

"Y'know what?" "I'm gettin tried of your hostile bullshit!" Angelfire spat. "If your not scared at the sight of a ripped dude, with the powers of a wildfire, then bring it on!" "You'll be the first dude I fought that wasn't afraid of gettin burnt." Angelfire spoke. While he wasn't so sure of what they were fighting about, he felt egged on. He spoke his piece now he has to back it up, but one thing they are both unaware of, he isn't fighting alone. Speaking of fighting alone, he did notice a strange sight.

At first he was worried what he was seeing was really there, especially when the Swat Dude didn't seem to notice it. But there they were a battle of wild animal dudes. Well a wild animal chick was more like it. She was a cat and a very strong one at that to be beat back Mr. Sasquatch over there. Angelfire completely ignoring Gauntlet waved and cheered at her, "Dude, that was some sick shit!" "Totally awesome your an animal chick!" Angelfire raved. All the way he was enthralled at the sight of another person with powers, forgetting about the fight he's put himself in, in the process.

Astral

One thing happened after another and even after threats of violence the man of fire was no longer interested in the menacing man clad in black, more interested in the feline who defeated the beast. She was confused by his short attention span, though she found it slightly entertaining at the least.

The woman seemed to be angered by the man of fires referral to her, Juliet suspected she wouldn't like feline either, but she didn't have a clue about what her name was, for all her observing she didn't really pay attention to any of their names, though she wasn't sure if that was really even a problem, seeing as she was pretty much unable to communicate with them.

Juliet sighed, continuing to survey the area. Floating closer to the feline, she saw that she was eating candies...perhaps a high metabolism rate of an animal required her to eat more...though she wasn't exactly sure of what a feline's general metabolism rate was. Next, she moved on to the man of fire, still cheering the girl on, she couldn't really read much from him, she guessed he was just a generally happy guy. After him she checked the man in black, whom she assumed wasn't that pleased with the man of fire's sudden change in mood, she couldn't grasp much from him either, a man solemn just like the dark clothes he was wearing, but with a sense of pleasure when it came to violence. She then went onto Drake, the only name she really caught. He was pretty much wasted, vomit laced on the floor, and little balance; was this really the man that so many people fawned over?

Juliet sighed, floating back from the others, even though she was a good observer she didn't manage to notice the man of darkness perched on one of the buildings. Drake's question on whether or not they were superheroes still drifting through her mind, even if it wasn't directed towards her. "Even with our powers I doubt any one of us are really heroes..." she mumbled to herself softly, letting her hand pull through her hair and continuing to watch the scene play out.

Guantlet laughed snidely, masking his outrage. The laugh lent a wicked atmosphere to the already scary backstreets. Without hesitation the young man clad in black teleported and appeared right behind Angelfire. A swift gauntlet to the back of the right knee sent Angelfire kneeling on the ground.

Angelfire looked back towards where Gauntlet used to be, confused. "What the hell? Ow. Wait...Where did Mister Jumpy go?"

Percussion looked around, dazed and confused as well. He saw 'Mr. Jumpy' right out of Angelfire's sight. "Dude, he's right there!" He threw a sound propelled drumstick towards Gauntlet in an attempt to smack him in the head. The projectile flew fast as Gauntlet reacted faster, teleporting in front of Angelfire and kicking him into the path of the speeding stick. Angelfire was smacked square in the chest and flew backwards several feet onto his back. The wooden stick burned to a nice crisp at his side.

As Percussion watched his move fail he also failed to see Gauntlet launch a punch at his head. Percussion fell to the ground, out cold.

Angelfire lay on the ground, catching his breath. He was pretty groggy and didn't feel much like moving.

Tigress took a moment to observe Gauntlet. Her tail twitching ever so slightly. She readied herself, waiting for him to get cocky.

Astral jumped into action. She entered Percussion's body, feeling as if she was growing and yet being compressed at the same time. She got up, feeling his body react slowly to her impulses.

Gauntlet could feel the rush of the fight spreading through him as he walked towards the prone figure of Angelfire. He grinned as the bigger man got up. He cracked his knuckles, readying himself for another round with the fiery giant.

Astral prepared herself mentally and forced Drake's body into a charge, aiming a punch at the back of Gauntlet's head.

The punch landed and sent Gauntlet reeling forward. He looked back to see Percussion standing there. The dude looked weird though. His eyes were clouded over and his face had a blank expression on it. He teleported forward to break Percussion's skull and was tackled to the side by the Tiger chick. Gauntlet found himself facing three people at once.

Angelfire moved slowly, as he caught the rest of his breath. Then he ran towards Gauntlet aiming a punch at his gut.

Astral watched Angelfire and came up with a plan. She pushed Percussion's body into another charge, trying to flank Gauntlet.

Gauntlet teleported upwards and the two collided underneath him. As he fell back down he aimed his gauntlet at Angelfire but was again knocked off course by Tigress. He landed with a thump on the hard asphalt as Tigress landed next to him. She took a clawed swipe at him but he teleported so that he was facing her on his feet.

Astral, Angelfire, and Tigress faced Gauntlet. Tigress roared and the three charged. Angelfire flew upwards, Tigress to the left and Astral pushed Percussion's body to the right. Gauntlet grinned and teleported over Percussion, kicking his shoulders and unbalancing him. Astral felt his body fall to the ground. Tigress clawed Gauntlet and cut a stripe into his chest. He teleported out of the way and into Angelfire's burning grip. His shoulders and arms began to burn and he teleported away again onto the roof of a building.

Tigress growled as he was out of her reach and Astral began thinking about finding a different strategy. Angelfire however, was just fine flying towards him. "Why are we even doing this man?" Angelfire said, wistfully.

"You guys think you're better than everyone, like that furry guy. You think you can go around attacking people. But I'm here to stop you." Gauntlet spat out.

"Hey moron!" Tigress called from the street. "They're fighting with me aren't they?"

"She's got a point dude." Angelfire said. "I didn't really come looking to fight anyone. I just wanted to save people."

Gauntlet

He'd be unable to hear over the pumping of blood through his ears, the small over-confident furry with her little claws and pitiful demeanor, the over-confident dweeb gone flaming douche. An odd.. Very odd seeming drunk, surprising he hadn't been knocked unconscious yet. Thick skull, that much could be given. He'd stand atop the building, surveying, planning based upon the current positions of his adversaries, his eyes would dart with unnatural speed from one to the other, obscuring his peripheral vision to account them all for one moment. The furry said something about fighting with them, but he'd not even talked about her, didn't notice her till the little girl was charging him. What was wrong with simple thugs? Had the city really run out of those to fight? This just over complicated a simple idea.

He'd managed to fight them all off, the fire giant must be hurting, the drunk nearly done for, he'd yet to focus his efforts on the little girl, but he definitely felt an ache in his chest for it, or maybe that was the pain that the adrenaline didn't help him escape. He'd been scratched rather deep, his kevlar material having been split but nonetheless taken some of the focus off the attack. The punch to the back of the head was more surprising than jarring, it'd sent his head spinning a moment regardless. The kevlar had taken a lot of the deadly from the burning, but it hurt nonetheless as the fabric was torn in places where spots of 2nd degree burns would show, the whipping wind of the night sending crisp pain through his skin, settling in his bones.

He'd hesitate a moment but smile beneath the mask, a wolfish smile, savage in nature. The fire giant would close and he'd rise from a crouch stepping off into the empty air, the wind and pull would whip around him furthering the immense pain, even settling into the confines of the cut. It was something his high couldn't allow him to be rid of. He ached to continue at their over confidence, but simply tucked into a roll upon his shoulder as he hit the ground, rising infront of the drunk and the furry, the fire giant now about him.

His voice would be playful and satisfied. "Good show." He'd walk about casually, his trademark gauntlet curled across his chest overlapping his vacant right arm, this weapon accompanying his sudden nonchalance, a mere mirage as his body would be posed and cocked for any sudden attack. He'd walk silently looking them over, wild-eyed and weary for combat. "I'm willing to end this if the furry guy gets an apology."

Despite geeking out about a superhero flirting with him, Angelfire wasn't quite prepared for an all out showdown with another dude, with powers. Already his mind was abuzz with others like him and the implications it means. Already things were falling into place to live out any nerd's fantasy of superherorics. But it would seem they would go through combat rather than camaraderie. Angelfire did his best to fight but going against someone who isn't a common every day criminal was tough. The guy was more prepared more tough and well had powers. There wasn't much he could do but team up with those around him. They had numbers which seemed to be the only advantage. Angelfire supposes he could have used his full strength, but already he doesn't know how strong he is. Last time he lifted a broken down car in the junkyard with relative ease. Just imagine what he could do if he punched a guy hard enough.

Yet that was the problem through all of this. He didn't really want to hurt this guy, even though he asked for it. This guy somehow does seem to be like all the other baddies. Normally they would run or talk a big game. He didn't really do either, just alot of threats. Which he supposes is normal. Still his doubts were shattered when the Swat Dude, asked the unthinkable. He wanted an apology for the fur dude. Angelfire looked incredulously at him and was like, "Whaaaat?" Angelfire had a dumbfounded look on his face. "You want an apology for Mr. Hairy?" Angelfire looked down at the beaten up creature, who he has already forgotten about.

"Dude if you was a bad guy, you wouldn't be concerned about another bad guy." Angelfire then looked at him. "Yeah we aren't bad either." Angelfire spoke. "I mean I would apologize if I didn't see the Furry Guy tear right into Drake over there like he was Sunday dinner." "I mean look at that shoulder wound, that happened before the fight." Angelfire then pointed down to the drunk guy and more importantly the amount of blood on his shoulder. "I had to step in, or he would get mauled, guy." "And well being a hero doesn't mean allowing people to get hurt, even if it's by a hairy dude or a bald dude or something." Angelfire seemed to lose his train of thought. "Well I mean, he just attacked him and I didn't want to see him die when I could do something about it, I mean that's what heroes do right?" Angelfire asked as he scratched his head. "I don't know you get what I'm saying right?" Angelfire asked Gauntlet. He wasn't sure if he would believe him or not, but he told the truth.

---

For the most part he'd been attempting to watch events happening below but the brightness of the fiery figure was making his head ache, with his face twitching uncomfortably and his mouth formed into a grimace against the dull pain. He shook his head slowly as he watched their conflict move back and forth, with the black-clad figure seeming to get the worst end of things down there in defence of what appeared to be a lycan-esque creature. Though admittedly the surprise of such a creature seemed dulled by the feline girl he’d seen lunge at both and despite that this armoured fighter didn’t seem to be cowed by the fact that he was heavily outnumbered and was losing the conflict. He looked along the length of the alley, trying to locate a suitable point at which to enter, and lowering himself down via a nearby fire-escape with his darkness spreading to the metal in an attempt to mask his presence more. After reaching the ground he was able to understand more of what was occurring between the groups as the voices were less muffled, and as much as he’d rather not agree with the point offered up by the source of the light spots flashing across his vision the boy had a point. This figure in black did not conform to any notion of criminal or the ilk, especially given the beating he’d had in defence of what was most likely a stranger to him given events.
He had to bite back a scornful bark of a laugh at the fiery boy’s words to Gauntlet about them being heroes, given that such things were unlikely to deign to visit this hellhole for anything beyond turning it into a ruined grave and even if they were it was nigh-impossible that any in this refuse filled alley would match the description, with perhaps the exception of the winged figure who would at least match some fantasied version of a hero. His voice was soft and sharp, echoing from slightly further behind the two warring parties so that the figures of the Lycan and Gauntlet helped to block the blinding light from this irritating Angel, as he moved carefully into view, his body detaching from the shadows of the building.

”Heroes? Is that what you’d call a bunch of kids scrapping in a back alley?” He shook his head with exaggerated care; his body shrouded in wisps of trailing smoke the colour of midnight with the only discernible features being the glowing embers of his crimson eyes. ”Don’t make me laugh.”

He half leant against the wall, almost looking disinterested in events, though the main aspect of his stance was mostly obscured. The darkness that enveloped his body was almost hissing as the light touched it, causing it to warp unnaturally against the bright flame of this ‘angelic’ creature. He could feel where the light was affecting him most and focused his energies on increasing the density of his darkness so that it became more concentrated in those areas to try and ward against the pain of the flames.

”Do you mind perhaps reducing the brightness? It is rather unnecessary Boy.”

His face twisted and twitched slightly due to his eyes scanning the group and lingering a moment too long on the flames while he spoke, but his features hidden beneath the swirling mass of shadows and masking his reaction.

Astral

It was...odd...being in a body that wasn't her own, especially one of...different anatomy. At first she couldn't function properly, operating limbs seemed so much more of a conscious decision she had to make and at first the whole body felt numb. Eventually, after she got pretty decent control of his body, she was able to help in the fight against Gauntlet, though her assistance wasn't that much of a difference, she was glad that she made what she thought was the right decision.

Soon everything began calming down, and the man in black demanded that they apologize for how they treated the beast. Juliet was shocked at his demands and wasn't going to stand for it. She was about to say something but she heard something come out of her mouth that wasn't exactly from her thoughts, "I won't apologize to a rapist!" The voice was deep, toned differently than hers, but that wasn't the only thing that was different, she wasn't going to say that...she wondered if Drake had taken control again for a moment without her even realizing it.

The setting around her began to get blurry as a man arose from the shadows, saying things that were muffled, indistinct. Juliet was able to let out a, "Huh?" The voice still deeper in pitch but still her words, before she found herself in a completely different location.

The room was dark let alone a few flashing bright lights. The music blasted in the background and numbed her ears, making it hard to hear. She walked through the people surrounding her, her white clothes distinct from the dark backdrop.

"Hey."

She turned to see a tall guy by the bar, putting down a drink after he noticed her. She was confused about where she was, just a second ago she was outside, with the beast and a bunch of other people with powers, now she was in a club...with Drake. Suddenly, a realization hit her, she was in his subconscious. Her vision focused on him again as she walked closer, trying to ignore the fact that he could see her in all of her sleeping glory.

"Uh...hey. I'm Juliet...sorry if I'm intruding to much." She said, wondering if he would respond. "Ok, um...Juliet..." He said, his eyes moved as he seemed to be observing the club, Juliet assumed he wasn't aware that this was his subconscious yet. "This isn't really my club. So you're not intruding on me." He said, confirming her suspicions. "Right..." Juliet said, lifting her hand up to her head, "This is kind of hard to explain, but this kind of is your club because I'm sort of in your mind..." she says putting her hand down and averting her eyes. "I possessed your body-but not in a creepy way! I needed to to fight against the guy in all those black clothes..." She said, trying to stop herself from rambling in her explanation the best she could.

He chuckled a bit, the sound was low and pleasant, soothing to hear. But the chuckling stopped when he noticed her expression. "You're in my head? Wait, you possessed me? What?" He asked, obviously confused by the entire situation. "Well...I'm in your whole body to be honest, but right now we're in your subconscious, I'm guessing I wasted too much energy," Juliet said, letting a moment of silence in as she noticed the music changing more drastically. "I know, it's really hard to explain, and what I did was really invasive, so I'm sorry," she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "But like I said I had to help against that guy...I couldn't stand by and watch." She stated, hoping his reaction would be better this time.

"You mean the guy that kicked me in the head? Did you make me deck him?" He asked as the music changed again. "Yeah, him. I hit him pretty hard in the back of the head I think," she said, cracking a smile as she continued, "Though that was pretty much all I got on him." He smiled from her response, the grin crooked...pleasing, and a laugh she was glad to hear again, "Aha nice. Dude deserved it. Too bad you didn't crack his skull." He looked around nonchalantly, "So you uh, want a drink or something?" She smiled, listening to him, "I don't see why not, I've never drank anything inside someone's mind before," she said laughing a bit.

He shook his head, and blinked, "Oh right, we're in my head." He took a sip, "Damn, non-alcoholic." He sighed and handed her one anyways. "So how'd you end up here anyways?" "Too bad, but at least you have good company," she said flashing a smile as she took a drink from her cup. At his next question she felt herself unsure, "I'm not sure exactly to be honest...I have the power to leave my physical form as a kind of spirit of sorts, I've been able to possess people before, but I haven't done it in a long time...I'm not really sure how I did it to you..." she said, taking another drink.

"Yeah. Good company..." He said, she felt his gaze upon her. "So you've got powers too huh? Were you at the fight with the furry guy?" "Yeah, I lifted a branch and tripped him...he was about to tackle you and the flaming guy while you were talking," she said, she could feel his eyes on her. "Thanks for the save then I guess." He seemed to think for a second. "Wait, if you're here...then where's the rest of you? Isn't that really dangerous?" "No problem I guess, it wasn't much really." "The rest of me would be...at my house in bed..." She said, addressing her clothing, "It's not really safe at all really, but I usually get detached when I'm sleeping, I can't stop it..."

"Wow." He says quietly. "That's gotta suck huh?" He sat down and a chair appeared underneath him. "How do you stop that?" "Yeah, it's never much fun to go to sleep, but I can't really help that either..." Juliet said, a more somber expression going on her face. She sat down as well, as another chair appeared. "I'm not sure really. But it's not bad all the time, I mean, if I didn't detach this time, I wouldn't really be meeting you here now would I?" She stated, trying to put a more positive twist to it. "Yeah, I actually get that a lot. Just not in my own head y'know." He stopped for a second, perhaps to think. "Did I introduce myself yet?" "Actually, not yet, but I know you're Drake Stone due to the ravings of your friend on fire," Juliet said, drinking from her cup again.

"Yup. That's me. The late great Drake Stone," he said, grinning again. Juliet attempted to give a response, but found herself unable to speak. Suddenly, she felt herself warming up, and as if something were pulling her away. Eventually the sensations got too unbearable and she found herself outside of Drake's body once again, energy depleting at a much more accelerated rate. She continued watching as everything around her progressed, but she knew she couldn't make any actions for what happened. She sighed, recounting the conversation she had earlier instead of paying closer attention to her surroundings.

Percussion

Drake was out for some time. His first waking thoughts were of the girl who seemed to glow. She was thin and hauntingly beautiful. Way different than the chicks he used to date. She was also pretty shy. As he talked to her, he began to feel more and more like he was in a dream. But she, she was so real. He couldn't remember everything that she was saying, but he was acutely aware of the way she looked. It was when she mentioned his name that he really started to become aware. But it wasn't that he was becoming more aware of the dream, he was catching glimpses of the real world. Wait, the real world. But what about the girl. What was her name? Julie? Julia?

"Juliet!" Percussion said as if waking up from a nightmare. The fight seemed to be over and all of the others were standing in something of a semicircle. He looked around to see a dark figure lurking in the shadows. "Oh fuck!" He jumped back a little. "Who are you? What just happened?"

Gauntlet

Confusion, the only thing there was for the moments following, they ranted and moaned about this or that like babies, then some condescending asshole would come out of the wood-work with his shadow routine. Gauntlet would remain casual simply taking a few step backs to lean against the wall, within moments he'd forgotten what they'd even had to say, he pulled his left leg up along the brick wall, keeping his arms folded over his chest. The soft chill on the wind still biting into the slight burns and the cut on his chest. Ah, rape, the guy yelling Juliet had been raped, he must have been really disturbed by this, why he was going to odd places in his mind involving this woman.

"That guy raped you?" His voice would show a hint of concern, actually. Behind the goggles his eyes darkening though he'd remain youthful and undisturbed, "My apologies, man, I thought you were raping him.." He'd hesitate a moment as his mind drifted. "With the fire guy, or something." He'd pull himself from the wall to walk forward, a show of lack of intimidation even as he felt that he was surrounded. Suddenly shadow faggot's words returned to him, he'd stop abruptly to look over at the man with a melodramatic slow turning of his head as his hand was drawn upward to point.

"You, are an asshole." It'd then just as slowly return to peer at the rest of his enemies in turn. Within moments of the silence a bending of the air would occur and he'd be sucked from being to teleport behind the group.

Angelfire

Angelfire wasn't sure how the armored guy would react, but the others protested to apologize as well. Then man made completely out of shadows rose and spoke. Angelfire didn't really process what the shadow dude spoke, all he could think was, "Holy shit! A shadow dude!" "AWWWWWEEEESOME!!" He raved. Then when the shadow man spoke directly to him, he asked if he could make it less bright. Then Angelfire thought about it. "Sorry man, I don't know how to, to be honest." "This whole fire thing bit, it's pretty new." Angelfire spoke. "Sometimes I think my powers have a mind of it's own." "I can ditch the suit though." Angelfire flew down to the ground. "But it will reveal my secret identity though." "Not sure if it's safe to release such private info." Angelfire spoke.

He then heard Drake shout a girl's name. "Juliet?" "Whose that?" Angelfire asked confused. Then Percussion acted weirdly as he seemed to act amnesiac. "What do you mean?" "Thats some shadow guy and you were just in a fight!" Angelfire spoke. "You fought the Kung Fu King over there pretty well." Angelfire spoke as he pointed to Gauntlet. "Why don't you remember?" " You decked him in the head pretty hard." Angelfire recounted the fight. Then he heard the Mr. Swat Team speak. "Dude I wasn't raping him." "I prevented him from doing the raping." Angelfire defended. Then he called the Shadow Dude an asshole.

Well the shadow guy did say something about Heroes and kids, he wasn't really paying attention. Still seems kind of funny, a guy that he thought to be the asshole called another dude an asshole. Wasn't there an old saying the asshole who calls another guy and asshole is a greater asshole? This guy must be something else. He wasn't quite sure whats going to happen next. He's pretty sure the shadow guy wouldn't like being called an asshole. Or he may be upset with the fire deal, but what if metal fist over there wants to hunt him down later? He wouldn't like him dropping in his school and kicking the crap out of him. He then tried to tell the flame to quiet down. "Uh fire could you like turn it down a notch?" He spoke to himself. The fire didn't seem to pay attention though. In fact the suit itself seemed to be guarded against the shadow guy, like whatever that means to him. Still there's always turning off the power. Angelfire then proceeded to think about it.

---

"AWWWWWEEEESOME!!"

He winced slightly at the fiery boy’s squeals of delight at his very existence, the level of enthusiasm and excitement that seemed to perpetuate every part of the boy’s being almost making his skin crawl. He was somewhat thankful that his expression was hidden beneath the swirling darkness that roamed across his body, save for his eyes which narrowed in a growing dislike of them all. As he was pretty sure given the current level of unease he could sense building amongst them, admittedly the angel’s simple comments seemed to be keeping that mood calm, the look of pure revulsion that was creeping across his features would quickly descend it into open hostility. This was probably one of the reasons he rarely sought the companionship of others, even his own family found him unnecessarily morbid and depressing, save for perhaps his uncle, but then he was usually so self-absorbed he wouldn’t care one way or another.

Shaking himself clear of his thoughts he refocused on events to hear a response from the rather beaten figure that certainly sounded more confident that it should have for one having been beaten down rather heavily mere moments before. He cocked his head, a thin smile curving his dark lips as he heard the Gauntlets taunting insult before suddenly appearing some distance beyond the rest of the group. Clearly the guy was possessed of more than he had originally presumed, which made him more interesting.

”Asshole am I? At least I wasn’t the one knocked on his ass by some drunk idiot with a lucky throw.” His voice was low and growling, but tinged with a rough laugh as he felt himself warming to this arrogant bastard.

He realised after a moment that the Angelic child had mentioned something about Juliet, whoever they were, as had the drunken imbecile which was a mystery of sorts since from what he could gather that did not appear to be the name of the feline-girl.

”Given that it appears we’re all, what was it again. Ah yes, ‘Heroes’. Then should we perhaps introduce ourselves more formally instead of trying to see how much damage we can cause to one another for the sake of our own pride? Admittedly when I say that I am of course referring to your little gathering, I was merely observing events.” He makes a light mocking bow towards them as a whole before straighting up to await their response.

Astral

She could feel herself waning. She knew she had to go back to her body, recover, but she couldn't just leave now when things were finally calming down. Though she was still wary of him, the man submerged in shadows suggested they all introduce themselves, she believed it was a good idea, though she was pretty sure he had not introduced himself as of yet, which she found odd. But she remained silent, continuing to observe.

Tigress, the feline girl who was apparently part human, part Amur Tiger, was the first to give a formal introduction. Juliet took note, beginning to wonder if she would even be able to introduce herself even if she wanted to. Her energy was definitely drained from the whole situation, and she wasn't really able to concentrate much after what just happened. She decided she'd wait, let everyone else introduce themselves, then, she'd hopefully have enough energy to do something.