ACT 1: EAGLE CLAWS
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Dallas Pointe was a tall nineteen year old man with a lean, athletic body. He lived a destitute life before he joined the Eagle Claws. Unlike many mutants, his family supported him with all their love and he was grateful for that. However, the recent years have been tough for mutants when the Triangle Organisation recruited the world's top scientists to their headquarters and invented high tech weapons that wiped out mutants within the blink of an eye. Due to extra security on the streets, mutants nowadays remained in low profile, refusing to even visit their families lest the Triangle Organisation should use them as bait.
The Triangle Organisation was funded by governments around the world. They had the support of the majority of the people. The Evolutionists were losing any peace talks that they assembled, the results ended with anti-mutant protestors scaring neutral humans away. Dallas knew they were fighting a lost cause. In short time, he was sure the Triangle Organisation will develop a terror weapon that will eliminate all mutants once and for all.
But Dallas didn't want to go down without a fight. The priority of the Eagle Claws was to prevent the Red Insurgents from attacking innocent individuasl as well as providing refuge for mutants who were running away from the Triangle Organisation. Dallas can't forgive himself if he backs out. He will fight to the end.
The boy walked down the streets with the short doctor of the Eagle Claws at his side. He sensed Von was exhausted. He was concerned for the little man's health. Von was ready to help the injured straight away, having an inability to turn away from those in need. Dallas grew close to Von when he first joined the Eagle Claws. He was protective of Von like an older brother, despite the doctor being older than him by four years.
"Man, I can't stand having nothing to do," Dallas sighed, placing his arms behind his head.
On the request of Von, they drank some coffee and ate breakfast earlier. The afternoon sun now glowered above them, its rays illuminating the clear blue skies.
"I am so tired," Von yawned, tapping a palm on his mouth.
"Then go to bed," his friend suggested simply.
"I cannot do that," Von gasped, as if Dallas has declared blasphemy, "What if Vulcan requires my assistance?"
"Then tell him that you're tired. Just like you told me now," the boy said. He wasn't one to talk much but around people he's close to, he did not mind sparing a few words.
"You know, one day when mutants are allowed to run free, I'll unleash my dark side," Von chuckled enigmatically, rubbing his gloved hands together and smiling his infamous, pointy toothed smile.
Dallas couldn't help but give a half smile. It was a habit of Von pretending to have darker ambitions but clearly, the little man was harmless.
"What about you, Skinwalker? Have you decided what to do once this war has ended?" Von asked him, looking up with yellow eyes.
"I…" Dallas paused.
What did he want to do? He never really considered what he would do if the Eagle Claws decide to disband. After all, he believed that the Triangle Organisation would eventually wipe all mutants. He did want attend college. Perhaps he could start with that, get and education, get a job rather than live this vigilante life.
"Haven't thought about it," was all he said.
He hesitated, wanting to tell Von what he really intended to do if the war was to end but an explosion nearby caught their attention.
Von shrieked nervously while Dallas narrowed his eyes. Screams echoed around them, crimson liquid sprinkling in the air like a fountain. Both men coughed as smoke and debris prevented them from breathing properly. A mirthless laugh resounded close by.
"I think they must be Red Insurgents!" Von cried.
"Let's waste no time," Dallas ran ahead towards the explosion, despite his comrade warning him not to.
He followed the sound of cackling flames and screams of murder. People pushed passed him, running away as fast they could. Dallas found a nun scrambling to her feet, crossing herself while fingering her rosemary beads with her other hand. Burns covered her face and seared through her modest clothing.
"What's going on, sister?" the boy enquired.
"I-it's the devil, child, do not tread any closer to the fire!" she wept, grabbing his arm, "I warned the anti-mutants that their murderous acts will one day be abhorred by God, but they refused to listen. Now look, God has condemned us all!"
Her body was instantly caught in flames. She screamed loudly, rolling to the ground. Fire engulfed her whole. Dallas panicked, breathing heavily and knowing that it was useless to save her. He watched in utter regret as the odour of burning fabric and flesh filled the smoky air. He was horrified, still not used to seeing people die before his eyes though he had encountered this many times before. More bodies covered the floor as balls of fire attacked people that attempted to escape.
His eyes scrutinised through the fire, noticing a black figure emerging through the orange flames. The figure was burly, wearing nothing but a pair of green shorts that were torn at the end. His scarlet skin was hard like leather. His had a thin oval face, complete with a spikey beard and pointy canines that stuck out. His fingernails and toenails were long. The nun was true when she mentioned a visit from the devil.
The demon grinned at Dallas, balls of fire forming in the palms of his hands. He allowed the flames to rotate while he eyed Dallas sceptically.
"Have I seen you before?" the demon said in a deep, thunderous voice.
Dallas flared his nostrils at the monster. His fists shook at his sides. He wished to rip the intruder into negligible pieces for hurting innocent people.
"Ah yes! I think I remember. You're the kid that Lee Key Bun dumped her dinner on last night," the monster grinned maliciously.
"So I take it that you're a Red Insurgent?"
"Precisely, I am known as Belias," the insurgent introduced with a mock bow, "Now Eagle Claw, step aside so I may finish these filthy humans."
"And that I won't do," said Dallas, taking a fighting stance and remaining rooted to his spot.
"Fool…Okay then, guess I have to finish you off as well. Lurker! Domino!"
On cue, a tall young man rose from Belias' shadow, his arms crossed over his chest. Upon inspection, the man would have passed for any human with his mediocre face and average body size. The sunlight burnished his dark brown hair and reflected off his tinted glasses. He wore a grey tee and faded jeans that were torn around the knees and at the ends. His apathetic expression hid his thoughts as he walked to Belias' side.
Another figure emerged out of the dancing flames. She appeared less normal than the young man, her tanned skin mottled with green freckles and her hair a dull blue. Her red eyes caught the reflections of the fire around them. The young woman was barefoot, wearing cargo pants and a tank top. In her hands were set of gold, antique guns, engraved with aquatic designs. Her footsteps were heavy as she walked to Belias' other side.
"I'm giving you another chance to leave, kid," Belias warned, his lips curling into a blithe smile as he stroked his pointy beard.
Dallas scrutinised his three opponents before touching the wolf canine necklace. His eyes shut tight in deep concentration. His body morphed painfully into a large black wolf, the long hairs swaying in the smoky breeze. He howled, crouching low and preparing to pounce.
Von watched from afar, biting his lower lip before searching his filthy, white trench coat for his cylindrical device.
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Kiki pressed her watch, her clothes changed into her battle uniform. It was a punk style dress that reached her knees. Bronze greaves complete with leather straps donned her legs. Five finger rings embellished her left hand, the index ring containing a ruby. Her bangs were accentuated with steam-punk goggles. She grabbed her sword out of its hilt.
"Daisuke, change to intelligence mode," she said.
The cat meowed before it altered into a larger, fiercer creacture. Daisuke was now an ocelot. It growled, snatching the air with its claws.
Waiting for Kiki was Nova Black, known by her codename as Black Star. She was Eagle Claws' newest recruit bar Kitty. Nova was once part of the Red Insurgents but she never told anyone but Vulcan why she had changed her mind. The pale girl had dark patterns that enveloped her body like tattoos. Apparently, these patterns were the source of her powers.
"Loving the biker jacket," Kiki admired, giving the quiet girl a wink.
"Where to?" Nova asked. Her tattoos glowed inky black. Her hand swerved, creating a black hole in the wall.
"The City Square! Our man Dallas can't keep all the glory to himself." Kiki said.
Nova motioned her to follow. Kiki entered the black hole with Daisuke. At first, she thought her body would be crushed from the magnetic force within. Her right eye cringed and Daisuke whined for mercy. Kiki grabbed a fistful of hair to try and stop the searing pain that grew in her head and crept down her spine.
Suddenly, she and Daisuke were thrown to a sooty floor. Kiki hurriedly sat on her knees and surveyed her surroundings. Nova was nowhere in sight. She caught a shadow of black up ahead.
"Skinwalker!"
Skinwalker was now a large black wolf, dodging fireballs thrown by a stinky, red-skinned opponent as well as the bullets from another barefooted mutant.
Kiki scrambled to her feet. She screamed wildly charging into battle and knocking the female mutant to the ground. Daisuke emulated her and pinned the mutant to the floor. The astonished girl's ancient guns slipped from her reach.
Belias stopped, fire still rotating his palm. He glanced back at Kiki and his fallen team mate. Skinwalker seemed disappointed to see Kiki.
"Heya! " Kiki waved at the wolf with a dramatic smile, "You jerk. You wanted to kick Red Insurgent hide on your own?"
"You have recruits? Do you really think this brat can beat us?" Belias snorted, turning to Skinwalker who had his head hung low.
"It's Felidae to you Mr. Smelly-Butt!" Kiki shrieked, pointing her sword at the monster.
"Ouch…" the young woman beneath Daisuke squirmed and rubbed her blue hair.
"Domino! What sort of nonsense is this? Get up!" Belias ordered before Skinwalker tackled him to the floor.
The two mutants rolled across blood and ash. Kiki watched excitedly as Skinwalker sank his fangs into Belias' hand, extinguishing the fire the latter had generated. Belias yelped in pain, grabbing Skinwalker's snout with his good hand and struggled to push the large creature off of him.
Kiki clapped her hands in joy, ignoring the protests from Domino as Daisuke licked the latter's face.
"Man, I hate dogs but since that dog is Skinwalker, I'll pretend to like him," Kiki bemused, rubbing a hand on her chin.
Her ears perked when Daisuke let out a throaty snarl. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she sensed a presence behind her. Kiki jumped into the air and flipped backwards, landing on her feet, pointing her sword at the intruder who had emerged out from Daisuke's shadow. He was an average guy with tinted glasses.
"About time, Lurker," Domino muttered angrily.
"I thought he was the Boogie man!" Kiki grunted as she leapt towards Lurker, swinging her sword in a semi arc.
Lurker did not utter a word but fell backwards and disappearing into his shadow. Kiki stumbled forwards, tripping over her own feet. She gasped as Lurker approached her again, out of her shadow, with only his torso exposed. The young man engaged into a hand to hand combat with Kiki. The girl too shocked to react, her nose ruptured and her lip busted.
"Owie…" Kiki fell on her backside, pinching the bridge of her nose as blood gushed down her uniform.
Daisuke roared, getting off of Domino and ran towards Lurker. Domino took the opportunity to grab her golden guns and aimed at Daisuke. The cat was too clever as it rolled to the left, barely missing the shot, tackling Lurker. The latter grimaced before sinking back into Kiki's shadow.
"Daisuke, look out!" Kiki yelled as Domino continued to fire bullets at the cat.
Unfortunately for blue haired girl, Daisuke was currently using his intelligent form. Despite Domino's excellent aims, the cat evaded each shot with ease. Kiki sighed with relief but her worries resumed when Lurker tipped her shoulder.
"Take this, you scary Boogie man!" she cried, thrusting the sides of her free hand against his neck.
He gasped, not expecting the sudden attack. Kiki revolved her sword and whack the handle across his forehead. Lurker was struck to the floor; his tinted glasses fell to the ground smashed. He glared up at a triumphant Kiki with light hazel eyes. He did not look so average anymore without his glasses. Kiki hated to admit but Lurker now seemed almost cute – almost, mind you.
"Hah! No one messes with the Kiki!" she laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
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Not too far from them, Belias finally pushed Skinwalker away from him. He looked to the left, seeing Domino hopelessly trying to shoot down the ocelot. He turned to the right and watched Lurker run towards the shadows of the fire as the crazy Felidae girl chased him, screaming like a bloody Viking with her sword pointed at the sky.
Belias smacked his forehead with his palm.
"I knew it…I should have asked Aqaurius and Cut-throat to assist me instead. Ace won't be too happy to hear about this."
His pondering was short lived when Skinwalker tackled him again with his large mane. Belias' lips curved into an O as he rubbed the pain through his abs. The Eagle Claw boy was persistent. Belias needed to change his target.
He allowed the heat on the right side of his body to create cackling flames in his good hand. His other hand was profusely bleeding from Skinwalker's earlier bite. Belias snorted before throwing the ball of fire towards the ocelot. The cat didn't expect it. It rolled around the floor as the flames caught its body.
"Daisuke!" Felidae screamed, the hilt of her sword slipped from her fingers and she knelt in pain.
Both cat and owner screamed as they writhed on the ground. Belias understood that the girl and the cat shared connection with each other. Perhaps that was Felidae's specialty. He nodded at Lurker who slipped out of his hiding place and performed a round house kick on Felidae.
They took the upper hand of the battle.
However, Belias' plan was foiled when he heard sirens in the distance. The Triangle Organisation must have been informed. He ignored Domino who was trampled by Skinwalker. The latter lowered his body on Daiskue and helped extinguish the flames. Daisuke's body flashed white before devolving back into a Bengal cat. It remained unconscious on the floor with its hair singed. Skinwalker panted tiredly beside it.
Lurker, upon hearing the sirens returned to the shadows. Felidae crawled to her cat, taking the creature into her arms and sobbing into its fur.
"The Triangle Organisation is coming, run!" Belias told Domino. His comrade nodded and ran off towards an alley way.
Belias breathed out steam, fire formed around his feet and he lifted off into the air, using the fire as a means of transportation.
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When Ash had been transported to the City Square by Nova, she found Von healing an injured Dallas, Kiki and Daisuke. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her hoody and sprinted to their side.
"You're late!" Kiki bellowed, pointing a finger at her accusingly.
Her facew as stained with blood which still poured from her nostrils. Dallas ran a hand through his short blonde hair, clearly disappointed of having lost another battle.
"We must hurry. The Triangle Organisation will be here soon," Von said nervously.
"Wait," Ash narrowed her eyes when she saw a ball of fire in the air.
She spread her arms like the wings of an eagle, her fingers curled in as she absorbed the electric energy of the cars around them. Her eyes were a glow and her choppy hair was now spiky. Sparks of blue electricity escaped her body.
She flew after the ball of her fire, using her electric powers to throw bolts at the intruder. Her efforts were evaded by the Red Insurgent.
"Where are these runts coming from!?" Belias asked himself.
He huffed with irritation and flew faster towards the beach. Ash followed, well aware that water could disrupt her powers. She gathered energy into one hand and shot projectiles of electricity at the mutant. Belias shifted away, the heat barely touching his hair. He coughed fireballs back at the girl.
Ash blasted the fireballs with jolts of lightning. Red debris burst like fireworks and sprinkled around her. The heat of the fireballs burned her skin. She used her arms to shield her eyes from the remaining fire dust.
"You got some skills kid, unlike your loser allies," Belias sniggered in front of her.
The fire around his feet expanded and he sped away from her. Ash focused on absorbing more energy from electrical machines they flew over. People on the beach were pointing at the two star-like figures in the sky, certain that the mutants were meteors.
Ash watched in horror as the azure sea loomed ahead. Belias hovered close to the water, leaving steam to evaporate beneath him. The girl decided to remain a few feet above him. Her abilities would degenerate if she comes in contact with water. Her face and clothes had cackles of ash.
Belias blew fire from his mouth at the water. The steam rose like wriggling fingers towards Ash. She gasped, covering her eyes again as the heat scorched her face. She aimed another projectile of blue electricity at Belias' good hand. He yelped in terror, grabbing the wrist of his hand as the lightning disabled it.
Cursing profoundly, Belias swerved around and headed back towards the beach, Ash right behind his trail. He spat thick balls of fire at her wake but she was more confident to avoid them, after having injured him before.
The pain in Belias' arm clouded his vision. His body slammed into a billboard and tumbled down a roof.
"You little bitch," the demonic mutant sobbed, tears flowing down his eyes, "Ace is planning something huge and you absurd Eagle Claws can't stop him!"
Ash landed opposite him, using a spark of electricity to knock him out for good. His threat left her heart beating like a drum.
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Von was relieved that Belias was knocked out for good. He healed his allies and other innocent humans (Von had fun making a few women's bust grow larger than normal) that were caught in the hideous set up by the Red Insurgents. Nova appeared in time to transport him, Dallas, Kiki, Ash and Belias back to the Eagle Claw base. They left little evidence for the Triangle Organisation; Kiki, Dallas and Ash used a special spray around the area to erase any trace of their DNA, including that of their blood.
Von was against them taking Belias back to the base but when Ash revealed that the Red Insurgents are preparing an evil plan, the little was frightened.
Back at the base, Kiki wanted to head for a night out as victory but Ash suggested a slumber party instead while Dallas wished to train more. Von simply shrugged, though he secretly agreed with Ash.
Vulcan commended them for their bravery against the Red Insurgents and promised to find out more about Lurker and Domino. They might be useful targets for one of Vulcan's plans. His powerful aura left Von and his friends at ease.
Vulcan was their beacon of hope. His very presence empowered them and allowed them to believe that they were protected. He was their guardian in this cruel, mad world.
He helped Vulcan drag Belias to the prison cells. They chained a neon green colour around the red mutant's neck to prevent him from using his powers.
"When he wakes up, I'll try to interrogate him," Vulcan assured, looking down at Von with a perfect arched brows, "Since he slipped Ace's plan to Shockwave so easily, I am sure he's easy to break."
"Yes! Ofcourse!" Von said, glad that the day had come to an end and he could finally sleep.
" , you wouldn't mind watching Belias tonight? I would have asked Skinwalker but he needs to rest after today's hectic battle."
"I…Ofcourse!" Von replied regretfully.
"Are you sure? If you're tired, you may rest," his leader reminded.
"No, no, I will stand watch."
"Good man," Vulcan said in his soothing accent and tapped his large hand on Von's shoulder.
He strutted out of the prison halls, taking the comfort of his aura with him.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the fight scene. Anyways, Act 1 is almost coming to an end, only 3 more chapters to go before we switch to the Red Insurgents point of view. ;)
Featured OCs:
Dallas Pointe (Skinwalker) by silverstarsofquebec
Von Richtor (Doctor Bunny) by The Big Bad Bunny
Kieko Matstunami (Felidae) by S Ruru
Ashlen McCloud (Shockwave) by Ninja Kat is Stalking You
Nova Star (Black Star) by He4artBreaker101
Belias by me
Lurker by Labyrinth-Designer
Domino by goodgirl275
Domino by goodgi
