Two Posts within three months! I must pat myself on the back! Seriously though, I MAY be cheating when I say that this and Chapter 1 are separate posts. They are actually both part of one mega chapter that I broke down into two because OMFG SO LONG! (Over 15 pages on Word Docs) But none the less, here you are my lovelies! There is Arsenal being his badass self. (Finally!) And data Da! The first encounter!

So review and comment because it's my life force!

"Italics" = Spoken in a languages other than English

Italics = Thoughts

Chapter 2

In which the idea BBQ becomes horrific

Boston, MA

February 5th 2017, 20:15 EDT

It was when he finally got close enough to let the arrow fly that Arsenal decided he really hated the whole just in the nick of time thing. It was a) nerve wracking, b) incredibly difficult to pull off without anyone getting hurt and c) downright inefficient. He cursed himself for not thinking of the fact that the scumbag could have very well found someone outside to use as collateral. As it was he was pleased to see the blunt arrow tear the gun out of the mans hand and into a nearby wall, where the barrel proceeded to warp into uselessness. The next arrow knocked the man spinning like a drunken merry-go-round and the girl, once again, into a snowdrift. Great. That should give him time to get down there and beat some sense into that asshole.

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The world was knocked spinning like a top as my knees and chin made violent contact with the compacted ice as I fell like a plane blown from the sky. Little dots coalesced and contracted as the world swum in and out of focus like a bad home video. My fear, gone from a little jibbering bystander to a full on dictator screamed disjointed words along the lines of run, kick, bite, plead, LIVE! My bones were full of hot coals, my skin boiled, my eyes burned, my hair ached. It felt like someone was pouring molten metal down my throat, settling in white hot mass in my stomach, pumping it through my veins, trying to rip me open and incinerate me till I was nothing but smoldering ash and fragments of blackened bones.

"What tha…"

I didn't think. I didn't consider. I don't even remember moving, but somehow my arms where in front of my face, my hands thrown out as if to protect or plead or both… And white hot flames roared into life from the exact center of my outstretched palms.

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Arsenal wasn't aware it was possible to change direction midair without being a italian plumber. Adrenalin however, as it almost always did, proved him wrong as his body twisted like a snake hyped up on sugar, recoiling from the sudden rush of unbearable heat. As it was he could FEEL his skin crisping. He landed chin-first, jaw hitting the metal of the roof of a warehouse, and he winced as he felt a couple molars come loose of his gums. He ran his tongue over them, wincing as he pressed the roots back into their rightful spots in his jaw. He smacked his lips, swallowed a bit metallic blood and waited for his two eyes to get their damn act together and see only one freaking picture. He smelled something rank and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Was that him? He hoped not. It smelled like charred meat mixed with burnt metal. A muffled but persistent howl of pain gouged in on his personal ache-filled world. Arsenal gritted his teeth (Which he instantly regretted) and rolled over onto his back. Couldn't somebody shut up that SOB?! Arsenal just wanted to lie down and try to remember how to breath again. And take a nap. A nap sounded REALLY good right now.

His eyes flew open. Sh*t. This SOB was kinda his job, wasn't he? Sh*t. Groaning and jumping to his feet, (As much as he could with two fuzzy dots taking up his vision) Arsenal peered over the roof, bionic arm at the ready. The alley was cloaked in a thick veil of steam and the noise was coming from the man whose gun he had taken out. He was curled into a fetal ball, clutching his face and howling like a wounded animal. Ok. Admittedly Arsenal was no shrink but that didn't seem like normal behavior for a guy who had ten seconds ago threatened to shoot a bullet into a girls brain.

Holding his arm at the ready, Arsenal dropped into the steam choked alley.

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It was like dropping into a sauna. Despite the cold winter night that ranged around it the alley itself felt like a greenhouse had gone rouge and decided that here was the perfect place to create a tropical rainforest. Arsenal trod through puddles of water with a few solitary ice crystals floated for seconds before melting into nothingness. As the heat and steam grew thicker, the howling grew louder. Arsenal dropped into a crotch, shuffling closer by inches, revving up his lazer just enough so the little pilot light glowed like a beacon, ready to fire on a seconds notice. He nearly tripped over the guy before he saw him. He was still curled into a ball wailing and clutching at his face, his back to the living security breach. Arsenal growled, and yanked the man up by the back of his shirt collar, spun him around… And nearly yacked all over the pavement.

The mans face looked like a piece of meat that had been burnt beyond recognition but by some unholy law of the universe was still raw and bloody under the crackling black exterior. An ear appeared to be fused to the side of his head, cartilage melting and melding with the bloody hairless mess that was the side of the mans face. Huge pus filled blisters swelled along the mans neck and jaw. The left eye now was a cloudy mess as iris and pupil melted into each other while gelian like fluid dripped from… oh Hell.

Fighting down a new wave of nausea, Arsenal raised two fingers two his earpiece. It rang softly in the silence of the alley.

"Arsenal?" a voice cracked through the earpiece sounded on the verge of panic.

"Blue Beetle. Come to the corner of..."

Arsenal squinted through the steam to a poorly maintained signpost across the street.

"Jefferson and Hunt. There's a guy here who needed medical attention yesterday and I need you to analyze..."

Arsenal felt the attack before he saw it. The sudden heat hit his back just seconds before a white hot tongue of fire blasted into the exact spot he had been standing. He rolled into a fighting stance, arm at the ready. Next to him the white hot side of an empty dumpster hissed and spat like an angry opossum as the now liquid metal dribbled into a nearby puddle.

"I… I'm not afraid of you!" said a female voice.

It was true. The voice didn't sound scared. It sounded shit-your-pants terrified.

"I know how to use this!" said the voice with absolutely no conviction.

Through a small gap in the steam, Arsenal glimpsed his attacker. She was about his age, (or the age he appeared to be anyway.) with dark, shoulder length hair and light brown skin. Her eyes were big and wild, like someone let off a bullhorn right next to her ear. Which, he supposed, in some way they had. She was holding her right hand out in front of her as if she was afraid of it, pointing her index finger vaguely in his general direction. Shit. This wasn't gonna end well was it. Pulling upon his limited social skills, Arsenal attempted to diffuse the situation.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing!?"

He did say attempt. He never said it was particularly effective.

There was a sound akin to a small animal in distress and he ducked as another fireball roared toward the wall on his right. He was still blinking the purple after-images out of his eyes when he heard her legging it out of the alley and down the nearby street.

"Arsenal?" Blue Beetle's panicked voice crackled through his earpiece. Only now did Arsenal realize he had probably been shouting in his ear throughout the whole exchange.

"Blue Beetle… yeah, forget about the analysis part. I think I just ran into the perpetrator. On a related note, I need the lactaid to keep tabs on someone."

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It was a rather boring night for Officer Keats. He was on desk duty tonight and thus had missed the big hullabaloo of the burning warehouse, a fact of which he was a bit resentful. But duty was duty and despite all his complaining he did enjoy being a cop. He had just grabbed his mug for a coffee run to the break room when there was a pounding on the stations main door. Confused, he peered out the door only to see a middle-eastern girl that looked scared witless. He proceeded to the unlocked door and opened it.

"Can I help you miss?" he asked her gently.

For a couple seconds the girl stood there blankly, fist still raised to knock. Finally she blinked and lowered the appendage carefully. She blinked again and, appearing to address empty air rather than anyone in particular asked,

"Do you know CPR?"

Keets blinked.

"Yes..?"

"How to handle shock related injuries?"

"Yes…" Keets said again beginning to worry.

"I see, how are your reflexes?"

"Good, listen miss are you o…"

"Excelent. And I am sorry about this."

Keets was barely able to catch the girl before she hit the floor.

Dun dun duuuuuu! Cliffhanger! Sorry if it feels rushed, I was running out of ideas.

As always review and comment!

Zoo Out!