+++++++++chapter 5: To Wish For Some Action
Her first night as part of a hero team was… really boring
Taylor and Reiner had agreed to meet in costume on a specific abandoned building in the up skirts of ABB territory, the most experienced Hero liked to use as a base of sorts.
" Never do heroing close to where you live… learned that the hard way." The older teen had said on their talk over coffee.
She had endured a full day in school just waiting too put her mask on again and have some action, some good, some … something! And all they did was walk around and have her search some buildings with her bugs.
" You can't just expect the bad guys will be roaming the streets every night like they were night guards. They have no schedule, and their workplace does not appear on Google Maps." The boy said, as they walked the poorly lighted streets of a neighborhood known for drug dealing. " You actually have more of a advantage in this area than most. You can look inside the buildings without having to trespass. For all you dismiss it, your power is super-hero-useful." He had tried to comfort her.
It was nice to be complemented. And she knew that he was right, for all the talk of Brockton Bay being crime-infested is not like they can expect finding a drug-den in every city block ( 'even for the girl with enough protagonism force to end up fighting a International villain in her first night' Reiner joked, muttering things about Phatapisics and Doctors )... Still, she was restless.
Not 4 nights ago Armsmaster had tried to intimidate her by talking on how the ABB would be in the hunt for both their heads. Even If she knew it to be impossible, she found herself wanting to find the other Asian capes and taking them down quickly before they had the time to do the same to her.
...And yet they spent an entire night doing absolutely nothing, but patrolling empty alleys. It was silly, she was aware, but she still wished for some action.
# Meanwhile #
Jerry was finally going to get in on the action.
5 months on the Empire and he had done nothing but play " Delivery Boy" for his brothers. Now though... He was going to work with Hookwolf.
The Fenrir-son himself had come into their base ( more like a bar, but still hosted their reunions) and asked for some extra hands for a job. Jerry could not rise his hand up any faster than he did.
Now, he, Tom, Marc, Sam and 6 other guys were under one of the state's most badass capes on a mission. Jerry held his shaved head high as he got out of the Tom's van and walked towards the garage Hookwolf was waiting in.
" There." The parahuman pointed to a bunch of boxes pilled up at the garage." Just take then and drive into this places. " The masked man said, giving Tom a piece of paper. " Each of you gets out with 2 kilos of it and give it to the guys waiting at the door. Just remember to ask the fucking password first. If you dumbasses lose a single -" Jerry stopped listening after that. More delivery? What the fuck, he was specting a mission! Fucking action ! This was, This was-
He did not had the time to voice his anger though. It was then that IT arrived.
Some good 10 meters away from the garage door they were all clustered in a big flash illuminated the night for second. They all went blind, and curses filled the air. When his eyes stated working again... Jerry saw the box.
It looked to be made of either stone or concrete. 3 or 4 meters tall. There might have being something written on it, but like hell he could read it on that light. It had some kind of door facing them but said was locked with some bigass lock that looked huger than his head.
"What. The. Fuck?!" Tom's curse broke the silence that settled while they all stared at the box.
What indeed, man. Jerry wondered If it was supposed to be cargo, Tinker tech maybe? But dismissed the notion at the sight of Hookwolf transforming and getting between them and the thing.
"Guys…" Someone started, but closed his mouth once the door opened.
The warm summer air went winter cold when that man stepped out.
He was wearing nothing but red-colored rags that acted as pants of sorts. A sand-monkey, judging by, his skin tone and big nose. Taller than he expects from a Arab though, and way more imposing too. The most eye-catching detail though was the tattoo' s covering the guys body. Even in the shitty street-post light the demon faces were pretty visible, almost as If they emitted their own glow.
He looked around, dizzy, confused, and in a bit of pain. But stared straight at the neo nazis once he spotted them, a feral smile on his face.
Jerry did not like that smile.
Neither did Hookwolf apparently If the blooming of blades was anything to go by.
Ratter than intimidated, the weird man seemed delighted at the sight of a werewolf man with 6 inch iron claws and almost a dozen of armed men ( when had the others took their guns out? should I take mine too ).
Fucking hated how powerless he felt in front of them. Even considering he was an a inferior, being a cape meant there was good chance he could take on twelve arian adults with guns only Hookwolf making this a fight they could win.
"S-Sir?" Tom called out, fear in his voice "That guy might be a cape. What should we do?"
"Without a mask?" Hookwolf rumbled, his voice even deeper now that he was all wolfed-up."If that's the case, then this is clearly an idiot. There should be no problems here."
The villain walked towards the Arab. Bulking up with more spikes, blades and hooks and finally turning to a four-legged beast.
The men's smile became even more feral, with a hint of mania. It was a smile that promised hell and blood and- for god sake it almost made Jerry pee himself.
Hookwolf launched himself in the air. Claws spread to shred this bizarre monkey to shreds.
The first thing to connect though was his face, and instead of reaching the arab's body, the metal maws of the wolf were hit by a black sword that came out of literal nowhere.
The bull-sized metal monster was pushed back - yeah, pushed back - by the surprise strike of the smiling monkey. Hookwolf landed heavily on the ground. His makeshift claws digging into the pavement as he roared. the screeching metallic sound was deafening, and If Hookwolfs mangled maw was anything to go by, a swing of that man was probably enough to bisect a normal man in half in a heartbeat.
For a moment the two of them just had a stare down. Hookwolf growing even more as his snout repaired itself, and the man... He summoned another sword.
Now that Jerry could take a good look at it, the guys swords were not made of metal, rather they looked to be made of darkness itself... did Miss militia got a damn cousin visiting and no one warned them? Were there any other fucking sand-monkeys with energy weapons hiding around? Will the next one make bombs ? Maybe a old one with a flamethrower?
The spell broke when the arab teleported. Too fast for his eyes to see, too fast for their beast to actually react. Two swords stabbed into Hookwolf 's eyes
" RRAAAAARRRGGHHH!" the parahuman howled.
For all the invisibility that surrounded Hookwolfs name, there were still parts of him that were flesh and bone, his eyes specifically could not turn into metal.
"GYAHAHAHAHA!" The arab cackled like a madman, joyfully dancing around the injured beast it trashed and clawed blindly.
Jerry froze. He knew not of this kind of violence. He could deal with beat-ups, gunfire, riots? Yes. This ? Hell no . So he stood still, even as his brothers fled for cover and he saw Hookwolf's rip the leg off poor Tom who was just trying to get a good angle to shoot the damn demon.
The arab though did not stood still. After a few moments of watching Hookwolf squirm, he summoned another blade, this one larger and heavier, probably heavier than Jerry himself.
What is going too-
" You know... " The arab spoke, for the first time. "... You, and this entire place, have a different feel to it. Although you are a bit disappointing... I guess I will give a chance to your lands."
With a smile on his face, he moved again, too fast to see, but with a goal, anyone could guess. One of the last things Jerry saw was the metallic head of Hookwolf rolling on the ground. Them the ethereal blade came his way, crossing his ribcage like it was nothing but air.
Why did end up like that? He just wanted some action.
