Hellbound

The Hellbroad smacked one fist into her opposing palm. As always, the sound was akin to a hammer striking concrete. Unlike the previous times s/he'd gone through the action, there was a certain amount of additional jiggling. Jiggling that was made even more so by the use of the anti-gravatics that kept her full weight off of the high heal boots. "So that means I either get to hit something, or help Geckolass make fun of it?" She asked. "Sounds like a sweet plan to me."

Sure. He's not exactly the modest type. ;)

That was a little harsh..., thought Hellbound. Granted, he considered himself to be fairly hardcore and used to gratuitous violence, but even he wouldn't just blow someone's leg off like that. Especially given that the guy was so outmatched by Knievel, it just seemed like a blatant, cowardly act of brutality. The man was unconscious and at his mercy, did he really need to kill him? Though he had to admit it made an impression on the other gangsters. The ones who'd been holding themselves back in reserve took that opportunity to run, leaving Edge and his closer associates hanging by themselves. Further, if Leapfrog had wanted to live a long and healthy life then he probably shouldn't have joined up with a criminal organization filled with superheroes. It was just common sense. But that still didn't excuse the level of lethality. Hellbound would have to have a word with the Captain about that later. The Mirror's Edge had bigger things to worry about, however. His forces were rapidly dwindling, far faster than he'd ever experienced before. Normally it was either Tony 'BigHorn' or G.D. Badman that led these missions, but with both of them out of the picture that meant he had to come up with something or lose face. Afterburner was in trouble, being smacked around by Hellbound as he was, and Leapfrog was either dead or dying, it was difficult to say. The amount of blood that he was losing, combined with the shock of sudden leg amputation, didn't give him good odds. Even worse, should the mutant survive, all of his power was focused through his legs. Would even be able to function properly without one? Suddenly the tables turned a bit in his favor. The punks behind him might have turned and ran, but Edge could see that his more reliable companions were still willing to fight. Even as Afterburner exhaled another stream of gas right in Hellbound's face (this time, the substance was thick, black and oily appearing), Sewerfoot flowed up out of a grating in the street to surround Knievel. It was as if a living stream of pond scum had suddenly come to life and engulfed the villain. Sewerfoot first covered him from head to toe, but then concentrated his own mass on Knievel's head, trying to suffocate the life out of him. The liquid mutant was slimy, disgusting, hard to see through and impossible to breath through. The Captain found himself at a bit of a disadvantage, what with a glob of sewer drek enveloping his head and upper body. "The word is... f'ck you!" The Mirror's Edge shouted as he charged at the Captain, ready to deliver some punishing blows of his own.

Keep in mind that there's a big difference between 'having a presence' and 'taking over'. What I mean was that they may already be spreading their influence into other areas of Freedom besides the West side. Okay, let's establish it as this then... Tony B.'s yet unnamed leader is the Sotto Capo who's been assigned to establish the Mutant Mafia's presence in Freedom City. He's started with the West side and reports to a Capofamilia who has a stronger presence outside of the city, but wants it to fall under his control. Tony B. himself is the Caporegime who has managed to dominate West End and would like to expand his own territory in the future. G.D. Badman is the Soldato (aka. Button Man), who's helping him do this. The Mirror's Edge (assuming he survives the encounter with Captain Knievel), is due for a promotion to Soldato as well. That's all we have so far for Made Men. The rest are simply Associates, and if the Sicilian model is followed, here, they don't really even need to be mutants. Historically one has had to be Italian in order to 'make their bones' for the mob. Non-Italians can work for them, but the can't rise higher in the organization than a common employee. If the Mutant Mafia would substitute mutant powers for Italian descent (in other words, only mutants can be full members while non-mutants can still be simple employees), then it would make sense that they could expand their employee base without having to overpopulate the world with an army of mutants. Sound good?

I suppose that depends on your definition of 'neighborhood'. Right now, the mysterious and well dressed dapper man oversees operations in West Freedom. Tony B. is in charge of the subdivision of West End. That territory apparently covers Lantern Hill to Greenback, so that alone could comprise several neighborhoods, depending on your definition. I like the idea of them being underdogs, in that they're an upcoming organization that nobody knows much about yet. We'll just see how they evolve in play now that the refs are aware of their tentative existence. So far they've only demonstrated a presence in one part of town. They may be in others, they may not. We'll just have to see....

Hellbound's official stand on that -- only cowards kill. He does, however, acknowledge the fact that some vigilantes are gung-ho enough to kill rather than incarcerate. He won't lose any sleep over members of The Mutant Mafia dying, but that doesn't mean he'll approve of the action. As long as the refs don't mind, then neither do I. Just don't kill G.D. Badman until I get the bonus power point for him :P

The precise organization or dispersement of the Mutant Mafia isn't all that important, but simply establishing their existence is what I'm going for here. If I can get both G.D. Badman and Tony 'BigHorn' Shapela approved, then there will be some sort presence on the West Side. Tony B. already has some sort of authority in West End while his boss oversees all of West Freedom. Conceptually, I was seeing them as having a slightly wider scope than that, but however they fit in is fine. What I need to do here is make sure that nobody objects to their actual existence. It's entirely possible that they're only one family in the larger organization of the current Mafia just as it's also possible that they're a new, experimental enforcement arm of that same group. It's equally possible that they're a brand new organization that's trying to take things away from the existing Mafia. Really, not that much has been exposed regarding their existence. But I just know that I'd get slapped six ways from gamer-Sunday if I just created them from thin air and wishful thinking.

The Mirror's Edge growled at the abuse of his man, but refused to back down nonetheless. Leapfrog wouldn't be getting up for a while, but he had more resources than just that at his disposal. Snapping his glassy fingers together, he gestured for Afterburner to move in. That mutant finally released the gaseous payload that he'd been holding since the encounter began and a thick stream of noxious vapor poured out. Hellbound move on this, quickly. Stepping between the mutant and Captain Knievel, he took the full blast to his shoulders and face, but didn't seem to notice anything odd. Even though his clothes smoldered and melted from his body, he plowed forward through the stream of acid, unhindered. Upon reaching a very surprised Afterburner, he grinned and shot out one hand to smack the man across his face, both shutting his mouth and stunning him to the ground. A near explosion of the expelled gas erupted from his face as this happened.

The Hellbroad shrugged. "Hey, how hard can it be to find one giant robot in Freedom city?" The fact that she had absolutely no idea what the answer to that question might be gave light to how inexperienced she truly was.

You may be right on the use of the term Don. I was thinking they were the Sotto Capo (underboss), but it looks like the title is used more to refer to Capofamiglia (family boss). Which would make Tony B. a Caporegime and G.D. Badman a Soldato with the rest of the crew simply being Associates. As far as the other mobs in Freedom City? I'd say that, since they maintain strict Sicilian structures and roots, they'd be on friendly terms with the normal mafia. Anything else would be considered rivals. In fact, the formation of a Mutant Mafia may just be a way for the mortal mob to fight back against the Kavos family.

I'd like to expand on the idea of a mutant powered mafia lurking behind the scenes in Freedom City, if nobody minds. This may be something that only pops up in Hellbound's solo threads, but stuff is developing in my head I'd like to get down on 'paper', as it were. I'm looking at dividing the city up just as it appears in the "The Campaign World" forum. Each section (Downtown, North, South, West and Other Areas), each has its own Don who is in charge of business. The Don for West Freedom has been established as the mysterious, mystical mutant who has recently threatened Hellbound, for example. The Dons meet in council and report to a Cappo, with each Don further dividing up their territory and letting a lieutenant run things for the most part. Tony 'BigHorn' Shapela has been established as running the West End section of West Freedom, as further example. Each of the other areas have their own bosses and crews, though they have yet been brought to light. Are there any objections to establishing this in-game, even though the various crews and mafioso might appear only in Hellbound's solo threads?

"They actually have rare anime?" The Hellbroad asked. She wouldn't have expected that. There was, of course, the awareness of a strong and nerdly following, but as far as precious media? That wwas a new one on her. She rubbed her arm where Archeville had managed to take the blood sample. Bruising had faded quickly, but she wasn't used to have things simply pierce her skin like that. Less than painful, the sensation had certainly been uncomfortable. To make matters even worse, he'd ended up having to make several attempts before coming up with the idea of a vacuum sealed, titanium allow syringe. With no oxygen available and made of a very heat-resistant material, the implement had finally taken from her what no other doctor had managed before. "Anybody know why he did this?" She asked further. "What? Was it supposed to be a joke? A test? Just messing with our lives? What sort of freak is this Otaku guy, anyway? "And if it's a test, is he watching us right now?" She kind of hoped that he was. With the brainpower they had in the room, there was a good chance that someone would be able to figure out how he was doing it and then track the signal back to his lair.

A dark figure, the one who'd been called Leapfrog, crouched low with his hands crossed in front of himself. There was a moment of intense concentration on his face and then he lept upward. A pulse of energy seemed to move through his legs and into the ground as he launched himself towards a nearby wall where he landed, adhered and remained watching the battleground. Sewerfoot's exit was a little less dramatic. He simply wavered in place, went transparently brown and splashed into a thick, liquid puddle that snaked its way into the sewer system. From there, all evidence of him was lost. Afterburner followed his boss and let his head fall back on his neck, loosely. His eyes rolled back until whites were showing and he seemed to be drawing in a very, very deep breath. Strange parcels of his cheeks started to expand as if he were a chipmunk storing something other than nuts. "You're a funny guy." The shiny, mirrored thug said. "As far as I know, I'm the boss in these parts." That was, of course, a lie. Edge was only third in line in Tony B.'s crew, but it was a part of Omerta that a mobster never gave up the names or locations of their bosses. Even if it meant taking the heat themselves, it was a level of protection that was considered nearly sacred. It would take a lot more than just asking in order to get that sort data out of the man. Aside from those brave, criminal souls, three others hung back and awaited further orders. Just the ones who'd gone forward already had their opposition outnumbered. There wasn't any point in commiting all of their forces at once.

Okay... who are we dealing with? The Mirror's Edge -- he's ranking just under G.D. Badman as far as Tony B.'s crew goes. We're looking at PL7 with a high strength, good protection and a mirrored skin that makes energy weapons less effective against him. Typically they reflect off of his surface rather than cause damage. He's the toughest we're dealing with at the moment. In fact, the Council of Don's is considering to let him 'make his bones' and become a full fledged member of the mob. This would either be a huge win for Tony B., as it'd mean he had two made men working beneath him, or Edge would be sent to another territory to work as a Button Man just like G.D. Badman. Leapfrog -- a normal appearing man with dark hair and shades. Always wears a long, black trenchcoat. He's a tactile-telekinetic who can focus shockwaves through his legs and feet. This allows him to make tremendous leaps and VERY powerful kicks, but that's about all. Aside from being able to stick to walls, he doesn't do anything spectacular. Afterburner -- he can produce various chemical clouds in special glands in his cheeks and expel them through his mouth. Pretty good range on that, and he can produce anything from streams of acid gas to military grade hallucinogens. This actually makes him VERY dangerous to G.D. Badman, and that's part of why Tony B. keeps him around. Sewerfoot -- a limited shapeshifter who can convert his body into a pretty nasty smelling and looking fluid. Not very dangerous, but he can catch people by surprise from time to time and likes to engulf them and then try to drown them. Aside from those mutants, three are holding themselves in reserve. We do not yet know what they're capable of. As this is a stat-free thread where all action is free-form writing, I'll let you decide the results of Knievel's various conflicts. Though while the rest are relatively low in power levels, the Mirror's Edge should be difficult to take down.

Okay... who are we dealing with? The Mirror's Edge -- he's ranking just under G.D. Badman as far as Tony B.'s crew goes. We're looking at PL7 with a high strength, good protection and a mirrored skin that makes energy weapons less effective against him. Typically they reflect off of his surface rather than cause damage. He's the toughest we're dealing with at the moment. In fact, the Council of Don's is considering to let him 'make his bones' and become a full fledged member of the mob. This would either be a huge win for Tony B., as it'd mean he had two made men working beneath him, or Edge would be sent to another territory to work as a Button Man just like G.D. Badman. Leapfrog -- a normal appearing man with dark hair and shades. Always wears a long, black trenchcoat. He's a tactile-telekinetic who can focus shockwaves through his legs and feet. This allows him to make tremendous leaps and VERY powerful kicks, but that's about all. Aside from being able to stick to walls, he doesn't do anything spectacular. Afterburner -- he can produce various chemical clouds in special glands in his cheeks and expel them through his mouth. Pretty good range on that, and he can produce anything from streams of acid gas to military grade hallucinogens. This actually makes him VERY dangerous to G.D. Badman, and that's part of why Tony B. keeps him around. Sewerfoot -- a limited shapeshifter who can convert his body into a pretty nasty smelling and looking fluid. Not very dangerous, but he can catch people by surprise from time to time and likes to engulf them and then try to drown them. Aside from those mutanta, three are holding themselves in reserve. We do not yet know what they're capable of. As this is a stat-free thread where all action is free-form writing, I'll let you decide the results of Knievel's various conflicts. Though while the rest are relatively low in power levels, the Mirror's Edge should be difficult to take down.

The leader of the pack wasn't intimidated. These were the guys, after all. Someone was trying to move in on their turf and that wasn't a nice game to play. Especially with their top hierarchy out of business. Tony 'BigHorn' was still laying low after getting sprung last night. He'd barely hit lockup before the mob had lawyers down there getting him back on the street. The same couldn't be said about the others, though. Mr. Whipcord, Kid Sparks and the Brick Brothers were still doing their time, though. Not being family men like the two higher-ups, they didn't get all the advantages that came with full membership. G.D. Badman, however, hadn't been seen since last night. Word had it that he'd been ordered out on a personal vendetta against the guy who put him into the hospital, but that was just a rumor. Simple soldiers like these guys weren't always told everything. All they knew, at the moment, was that they needed to keep a close eye on their territory this weekend. With their membership weakened as it was, then it was a prime opportunity for others to move in. And it looked like that's just what was happening. "Afterburner..." The apparent leader of the cut-down crew spoke to another member. "Load your face up and stick with me. Leapfrog, go get some high ground while Sewerfoot gets under the street. "The rest of you, spread out and follow us." With that, he stepped forwad for the confrontation with Knievel. As he did, dim light reflected off of the skin of the man known as The Mirror's Edge and his glass-like appearance was obvious to the mutant-hater and Hellbound, both.

"Not a bad idea, boss." Hellbound growled. "While we're there, we can look into sending this guy's mother some flowers." The hero leveled a finger at what appeared to be a most frightened manager/owner. "Cause if this guy don't pay, she's gonna need lots of 'em, you know what I mean?" With that menacing line, Hellbound turned to follow the Captain outside. By god it felt good to be a bastard again. He just wished that he could have left a card behind or some sort of message that said everything would be okay. Unfortunately, that would have ruined the 'act' and, perhaps, tipped the Mutant Mafia off to what was really going on. Coming out of the sandwich shop, they noticed a group of shadowy looking men hanging out in an opposing alley. One of the crew spotted Knievel and Hellbound making their way to the street and tapped the shoulder of another, vigorously. As one, the half-seen group of people turned towards the devastating duo. "Whoa." Hellbound couldn't believe their luck. "I think we got a bite already."

Well he does have a juvie record... of course, he's also NOT a mutant just like Knievel's NOT a superhero. :P

When the Captain made his first reference to Hellbound, the latter began picking at his teeth with a dirty fingernail. He certainly did look the thuggish type at the moment. He was covered with soot from the fire at Superslams and his clothes, already tattered, looked like something dug up from a fresh grave. He would have preferred to hurl the chair through the front window, actually. For one it would have given everyone an easier egress, but also the window would be cheaper to replace than the display case. But, unfortunately, people were already crowding to get out. Shattering the plate glass now might result in some lethal lacerations. So, instead, Hellbound deftly twisted and crushed the chair until it was a compact, metal-and-shattered-plastic ball. Tossing this lightly once or twice with his left hand, he swept it forward in a bowling motion. The makeshift missile shattered not just the display dome, but also the counter backing it. His throw had been hard, indeed, and there was now a nice sized hole to accompany the broken glass of the case. Inwardly, he was conflicted. It was fun to act like a hooligan once more, but he knew this was hardly the way a hero should act. Hopefully the dirt and grime from the night's previous activities would keep him from getting recognized. Had there been any other sure way of drawing the Mutant Mafia out, he would have taken it. For now, though, there would have to be profuse apologies and insurance payoffs to be made later on. "Hey, Cap'n." Hellbound spoke to his 'boss'. "You sure you wanna own this place? Looks a little run down. Look at the hole they got in their display case."

Nope, that's us. Hellbound looks like a scruffy ruffian and Captain K. looks like a dashing super-type. However, as I'm unsure as to how far his reputation will have proceded him, the reactions of the patrons are up to you.

"Hrm..." Grumbled Hellbound as they entered the place. "I hate relying on luck. We could rip up half the block before the right person comes by to notice. I like the idea of a directed attack better." He stopped at the entrance and took the place in with a long, menacing glance. There were a few customers here, still, but it shouldn't be difficult to chase them out. For now he wanted everyone to have the proper impression. Two people had just shown up, one of them looking like he was up to no good and the other an obvious super-powered... soemthing. There was a silent pause while he studied the interior and prepared his approach.

Hellbound tried to shout at the shark, telling it to let him go, but nothing came out of his mouth but rushing water and bubbles. The situation was quickly becoming less than idyllic. What had once been a calm jaunt beneath the waves of the Wading river was now a struggle for his life against a feeding machine of a shark. Except... once Hellbound settled down from the immediate attack and took a more serious look at the situation, he realized that it wasn't so bad after all. Though the shark was strong enough to fling about even his massive body, its teeth weren't constructed of nearly sharp enough stuff to penetrate his skin. His clothes, already a mess from both their age and his repeated abuse of them, were being shredded. His skin, on the other hand, was durable enough to take the attack without so much as a scratch. So much for testing out his burning blood under water. Perhaps that would have to come a later day. Frag off..., he tried to tell the shark, to no avail. Getting a little tired of being treated like a ragdoll, Hellbound tensed himself to become a more solid target and less likely to flail about in the shark's mouth. From there he gripped its jaws and began to pry himself loose. That's when the most curious thing happened. A small flap on the shark's head slid open and the delicate barrel of a wepon lifted into view. There was a bright glow evident in the depths of this misplaced weapon.

Huh. So the good news is that my body can apparently adapt itself automatically to any hazardous environment. That's pretty sweet, let me tell you what. I Tested the Waters myself for a while the other day, and lemme tell you... if you can figure out how to get your own body to do it? Well worth the fragging while.

It was nice down here. It was peaceful, calm and (above all), it was kind of boring. There was only so much introspection that Hellbound could put himself through before he started aching for something to actually happen. A part of him wondered if he should try one of the more dangerous environments, but he wasn't sure how to go about that. Granted, there were nuclear reactors around here someplace, but he didn't exactly have the connections to get inside. Hellbound could just imagine what the technicians would say if he asked to walk around inside of their chambers for a while. Probably that wasn't a good idea. Nor was it acceptable to actually start a building on fire to see if he could handle that as well. He might get lucky and find one already ablaze, but there just wasn't any assurance that he'd find one in time. So continued exploration was apparently on his docket for the day. That might not be as bad or as boring as he expected. After all, just because he could survive down here for a few minutes, that didn't mean he breath dirty fluids all day with no ill effects. How long would it take to get the water out of his ear? A sharp 'swooshing' noise that didn't quite fit into the background sounds erupted behind him. There'd been no real warning of the approach, but Hellbound suddenly found himself being gripped in a set of inhumanly strong, razor sharp teeth. The heavy hero was lifted from the riverbed and shaken about violently as a shark, who'd come from absolutely nowhere, decided to make his its next meal.

Once outside again, and back in the freely flowing waters of the river, Hellbound wondered what to do next. He could just spend the entire day wandering around and learning the lay of the underwater land, but a part ofhim wanted this to be a more momentous occassion. This was ground breaking stuff, here. This was a man who was walking along a riverbed as if it were a simply cut path through a park. There weren't many in Freedom who could claim the same ability. Though, he had to admit, that the ability to breath water wasn't the most impressive of powers. Outside of being able to wear a fishbowl on his head at parties, this wasn't always going to help him out much. When real trouble appeared, you typically didn't call on the 'fish guy' for help. Well, not unless the trouble actually involved fish. But those were rare occasions. Fortunately, Archeville had given him better news than just that. Breathing underwater was the least of his body's adaptive abililties. Supposedly, his systems could adjust to nearly any lethal enviroment. Once the power fully developed and expressed itself, he wouldn't have to worry about radiation, extreme temperatures, poisonous atmospheres... even bathing in acid wouldn't be a problem for him at some point. And that was only the power's base levels of function. Shoud Hellbound choose to further push his own adaptive abilities then there was no telling what sort of conditions he could simply shrug off and feel right at home within.