THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #3

BY IVAN KROLO – NEW WRITER

"You feeling better?" Asks Katar as he brings his mace down on Shiera's shield before jumping backwards to avoid her counter attack as the two spar in the training area in the back of their home. "Judging by that attack I'd say so."

"I'm sorry for snaping at your father like that." She says before taking flight and charging at her husband with her mace held high before bringing it down on him with an overhead strike.

He manages to block it with the bladed gauntlet on his left arm though fails to dodge her backhand strike that manages to cut his lip. "But he can be so..."

"Infuriating?" He finishes with a smirk before spitting out some blood from his mouth and headbutting Shiera to temporarily daze her. It doesn't last long as she swings her mace again though he manages to fly away before it can even touch him.

"I know you feel strongly about our children being hunters Shiera. But the fact of the matter is that the universe is a harsh place, especially for our people, to survive we must be strong!"

He roars before flying at her at full speed though she uses her own wings to completely cover the courtyard in dirt, giving her some cover with which she strikes him from behind, hitting him in the head with her mace and sending him crashing into the ground face first.

"I understand that just fine." She states with a hint of anger to her voice before stepping down on his head while her other foot pins his wing down. "But Abrun's not like that, he doesn't have that drive for battle like you, your father or even I do. Hell Lilly probably has it more than him. Regardless, its no reason to be ashamed of him."

"Who says I'm ashamed of him?" Inquires Kator before using his free wing to smack her across the face, giving him enough time to knock her off his back and retake his mace which he uses to attack her with though she blocks it with her own. "The boys smart, kind hearted and isn't afraid to stand up for himself if some one mocks him. In a perfect universe that's all I would ever want for him."

"But?"

"But we don't live in a perfect universe, his willingness to stand up for himself may be enough for regular Earthlings. But if he's going to survive even against the more deadly forces of this world let alone the rest of the known galaxy, he needs to toughen up."

"To a point." She counters before raising her mace upward, giving her enough room to kick him in the chest and put some distance between them. "Training him to deal with threats is one thing, but I don't want to change who he is."

"Battle will do that regardless, few men are strong enough in their convinctions to keep them in war." He says while sitting on a nearby crate and ramming his mace into the ground.

"And yet we live on a world with extraordinary individuals who've done just that."

"For now, we'll see where the likes of Superman or Batman are in their moral codes in 10 years time. Personally I don't see the point in delaying the inevitable, better that he changes now under my watch than in the fires of war."

Shiera scowls at him while taking off her helmet before replying, "He shouldn't have to change at all..."

"Mom! Dad!" Yells Lilly as she runs towards them, ending their argument as they both re-arm themselves and fly towards her. "Grandpa's in trouble!"

The two give each other knowing looks with Kator immediately flying away to where his father is while Shiera places her hand on Lilly's shoulder and smiles at her. "Don't worry, everythings going to be fine. Just get back in the house and we'll take care of it, alright?"

"Okay." She nods in understanding, earning a kiss to the forehead from her mother before she joins Kator in the sky.

London

"C'mon you ugly bastard!" Throke at the top of his lungs from the top a demolished building as the 30 feet long, worm like, Trighorned Vanquisher roars merely a few feet away, releasing more noxious gas through the surrounding area.

Fortunately for him, the Nth metal in Throke's body makes its poisonous gas useless. The same cannot be said for the humans all reeling in pain and misery on the ground below, the ones who weren't sent plummeting to their deaths as the ground beneath them cracked in half that is.

Throke however has neither the time nor the luxury to aid them as the creature focuses on him and fires corossive spit at him from its mouth. He manages to dodge it without much difficulty thanks to his aerial supperiority, the few that do manage to reach him are quickly destroyed thanks to his Nth metal forged warhammer.

"Is that the best you've got?!" Yells with a confident smile on his face as the monsters starts roaring once again, he expects another barrage of spit to come out instead the creatures sides covered in scales shoot outward until they sprout wings and start flying.

The large, fly like creatures quickly create a swarm and charge at Throke who continues smiling before yelling out a war cry and meets them head one. He immediately starts felling the beats with each swing of his hammer mutilating their fragile bodies.

However he's covered in their green blood, his swings start slowing down and he can feel his whole body stiffen up as it hardens. In a matter of seconds most of his body is rendered imobile now.

"Well... this is new..." He says nonchalantly as he plummets to the ground before grinding his teeth and flexing the muscles throughout his body until the hardened blood breaks off. His wings come alive again though he opts to land on the ground instead of fighting them head on again.

"Time to take things up a notch." He thinks to himself before commanding the Nth metal coarsing through his body to adapt to this hazard. The metal begins to cover every inch of his bodies exterior, giving him a silver metalic appearance and drastically improving his bodies resistance.

But just as it completes the process he falls on his knees and coughs up blood due to the strain caused by exerting such a change to his bodies physiology. This does little to deter him as he merely wipes it off his lips and takes flight again with the insectoids.

He lets out another battle cry and begins carving through them as he makes his way towards their progenitor, the Vanquisher which begins firing its acidic spit on him. Instead of dodging it however, he merely flies through it as his newly formed metallic body resists its affects entirely along with the blood of the insectoids.

With the distance now closed between them, Throke smirks despite the pain caused by the transformation. He flies directly into the mouth of the beast and with all his strength swings his hammer over and over, shredding its insides the deeper he goes in. He reaches the mid section of the creature before punching a hole out to fly through and watches as the best lets out its last roar before dropping dead at his feet.

The insectoids also let out shrieks of pain before they too fall and die due to the death of their progenitor. With the battle seemingly over, Throke sighs before commanding the Nth metal to return to its proper place inside his blood stream. The already present pain spikes up and even his Thanagerian tolerence levels are pushed to their breaking point as he coughs up even more blood and feels his muscles tear themselves to bits before the Nth metal starts repairing them.

He falls on his back, panting heavily with each breath making him sore all throughout, but his smirk quickly returns as he glances over at the dead creatures nearby and lets out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah... I still got it."

To be continued...