Hellbound

Sacerdos? Once your character is approved, we may have to call you the Patron Saint of ass-kicking. I believe I'm supposed to officially not like you as Thunderstanding is better at what Hellbound does than Hellbound is (though I've known since the start that he wasn't a very optimal build). You can post the survey answers to your character's 'news' thread under the 'Freedom City News' forum. That's basically just a venue for you to track Thunderstanding's progress in whatever format you want. Most people name their thread after their char for clarity, but I had to be a smartass and call mine the Hellblog. I provide a link to each of his threads and post a little of how he interprets the events through his own eyes to a mythical fanbase. 'Cut my teeth on the Keep as well over here, so if you've got a nice porch laying around we can both fart some dust together. I have to admit that I'm not the fan of M&M that you are. Set in my ways, I'm having trouble dragging myself out of the Champions mindset and into a game that clearly allows for more creativity and freedom on the part of the player. Games aren't about empowering the players, dagnibit, they're about GM's hitting people with sharp objects. Good job on the Wuxia modeling, by the way. Particularly the Regen, though I'm surprised you didn't link the recovery scene from Kung Fu Hustle to show an example for that one. So have you studied Wu Shu at all, or are you just a fan of the cinema?

Where's mah pail o' water, biatch? :mrgreen:

Hellbound sat the cat in front of the window where it could watch the world move by. She seemed happy, but then again she always seemed happy. Even with Hellbound not being a cat person he could tell she was happy. There'd been no signs of fear on the bus ride home (and, fortunately, no ninja attacks), nor had there been any hesitancy in exploring the single hotel room that he lived within. When Tigho moved across the floor it almost seemed like she was unable to even walk without bouncing. There was simply a tireless energy inside of the cat, one that somehow lightened a room up as soon as she entered it. Being forced to use her eyes rather than her ears gave her an appearance of being one of the most curious creatures on the planet. She had to look at everything, and though she poked her nose at objects once or twice, she never really sniffed at them. It was almost like her sense of smell was as hampered as her hearing. Certainly there'd been no reaction to the catnip that Hellbound had picked up. It was supposed to be fresh, and he could certainly detect the weedy odor of the stuff, but Tigho cared little. When he'd lay back on his one couch and she stood on his stomach, her paws would stamp down on him in that oddly out-of-synch way that she'd displayed earlier. Deaf, no sense of smell, probably blind in one eye and no rhythm... but with no fear of anything other than zombiequin animating witches (assuming that's what she'd sensed back at the mall), and a boundless joy that even Hellbound could feel beneath his calloused exterior. "Werido." He stated, though whether it was to the cat or himself, he just wasn't sure. "I gotta go meet some guys. 'See how my performance went last night. I'm a singer now, see? Not that you'd be able to hear me but... whatever. You have fun. I'll be back later."

Good god, with the powerful superstitions of the dark ages, Avenger would all crime on the continent cleared out overnight :D

Darn... first attempt at replying died in transmission. Let's hope this time it makes it through. Count Hellbound in on this one. Will there be any changes in the PC costumes or powers? I'm thinking that his wings-and-scalemail Device would play well in such a scenario.

Hellbound had to make a quick descision, but fortunately he wasn't the contemplative type. Rather than dwell on what to do, he picked the woman up and ran for the cargo hold. Combative instinct within the young hero told him to go for the open space, giving himself room to fight. If this were a freighter or other ship built purely for hauling cargo, then there would be a good chance of multiple exits from the hold. If nothing else, then large overhead hatches would be needed for the loading and unloading of goods. But, unfortunately, this was a luxury liner. The odds were that the room ahead was little more than an oversized storage closet. He had no way of knowing if this would be the only access point. Even if it were, though, and the pair became trapped then at least he'd have enough room to fight the monster without his charge getting in the way. The unknown side door could lead anywhere, on the other hand. If it were one of the cramped passenger cabins then they'd be in big trouble. It was better to take what control he could of the situation and take the known factor, that being the cargo hold, and gear his strategy towards what advantage it held.

Hellbound opened his mouth as if to protest, a part of him not really buying that Archeville wasn't getting a kick out of this. But he considered the words that'd just been used. Shredded... scorched... if the Doc had just used the phrase 'beaten mercilessly' as well, then he'd probably have described a pretty good weekend for Hellbound. Undoubtedly the wings actually were going to have to be built around his unique hobbies. "Who the hell's Valdo?" Hellbound asked, distracted by the gun range. "Oh, you mean Where's Waldo? Never really my thing as a kid. All those dudes looked alike to me. "Why?"

I dunno. College study can be fun. I remember studying this one chick for hours, once. Fascinating work. Then the cops showed up and made me get out of her bushes and go home. Still... what were we talking about?

A couple of hours later, and yet more of his hard earned cash spent at a pet store, found Hellbound and Tigho both safely at home. Though if this were Hellbound's home then things were seriously wrong with his life. He didn't live in a nice neighborhood, that was for sure. Even though the angle of his lone window gave him a clear view of the Boardwalk area, the lands between were nothing short of depressing. Hellbound made his home on the downward-spiral side of the gambling capital. What he could see were buildings in serious need of repair and repainting, streets lined with derelicts of both the automotive and out-of-work variety and the near constant call of sirens from police pretending to give a damn about what happened in the area. But Hellbound was a Knight of Freedom now. He'd made it into the big leagues, working alongside people able to alter the fabric of the fragging universe. What was he doing still living in a dump like this? As he stood gazing out the window, Tigho held lightly in one hand while she pressed her paws against the glass and gazed out with him, Hellbound started to scratch her behind the ears. She turned her head to gaze up at him with the action for only a moment before returning to her studies of the world outside. Normally, a flop-house like this wouldn't allow pets of any kind. The people living in the cheap hotel were hard enough on the furnishings with the added destruction of genuine animals (who at least had an excuse for their mindless behavior, but were still better mannered than most of the humans in residence). However, it was a rare guest that could put his fist through brick walls. Special allowances were often made for Hellbound when it came to breaking the rules.

"Frag you!" Hellbound flipped the camera crew off in passing. The security cameras inside would tell the truth of what happened, so this would just be a good picture to match up to further footage. Apparently Hellbound wasn't yet making a name for himself. Though he did have a strong following among the Hellions, they weren't the type to be wandering around malls on a saturday afternoon. There weren't quite as many of his fans in the crowd as there had been last night. Plus, he had to admit that a guy wandering around in thrift-store clothing wasn't exactly superhero material. If Hellbound was really going to get into the business, he was going to have to dress brightly before being able to walk in the sun. Avenger might be cool with battling from within the shadows but Hellbound wanted more recognition than that. There were more important things right now, though. The first order of business after exiting the scene was to find his cat. He'd hoped that leaving her with the security guard had been a good idea, especially seeing as how his bluff would have been very difficult to pull off if he'd had to keep her from getting crushed in the process. Fortunately the temporary caretaker had taken the duty seriously. It didn't take long for the two to find each other and possession of the animal returned to her rightful owner.

Outside of Millennium Mall, peole were waiting to hear news of the action inside. Camera crews were showing up and police were cordoning off the area and keeping civilians at a safe distance. Not that they truly needed to put much effort into that, given how nobody wanted to accidentally catch an acid-blast to the face. It'd been known to happen before, after all. The action today had been a little less intimate than the bar fight of last night. Then, it'd been clear from the start that common fisticuffs were being called for. Today had been in broad daylight, however, with hundreds of screaming shoppers and magically animated mannequins. Instances like that invoked a more cautious attitude from people who wanted to go through life with all of their major organs intact. Hellbound was still willing to step out and face the cameras, however. Part of the reason for getting into this whole gig was for the fame and fortune (assuming he could pick up some profitable contracts), almost as much as the superpowers themselves. Honestly. When a guy could juggle draft horses and punch a tank into submission, was he really going to get a job selling used cars? Of course not. He was going to go beat up criminals and stop rampaging hordes of zombiequins. It was all part of life's weird little circle. Emerging from the mall, he prepared for some triumphant cheering, but all he really got was confused expressions. "Who's that?" Someone asked. "Looks like a survivor. Maybe he knows which hero's inside fighting?" Came the answer. "Must be a survivor. Look at his clothes, the dude's been through hell. Get him out of the shot, we want to get pictures of the superhero."

Nobody had ever told Hellbroad just how difficult it was to navigate while flying a few hundred feet above the city. Birds did it all the time, true, and the wings had programmed much of their flight instincts into her peripheral nervous system, but unless she wanted to fly south for the winter that wasn't much help. All of the landmarks she'd normally use to get around were gone. Well, not gone but they were so far away as to be useless. Everything looked different from this angle and it was far easier to get lost than she'd have expected. If it weren't for seeing Geckolass' ship hovering over what seemed to be the proper section of town then she might still be flying around in circles. Though Hellbroad found that to be a far more pleasant experience than walking on high-heeled boots. Even though she'd been the first to take to the air, and her flight speed should have easily gotten her to the house in minutes, she wasn't actually arriving until Victoria was opening her skylight.

Miles away, buried deeply in a dark chamber of some industrial sub-basement on one of the uncounted tenament slums of the city, Jennifer Wu found herself being thrown from a summoning circle. Candles surrounded her etched glyphs and wards, though most of those had burned down to stubs, and blue flames ran through the mystic lines of her work and died. Hovering in the center of the circle was a demoic, half-seen form. A female spirit that glared down at Jennifer with a dissaproving look. She shook her head as an exhausted spellcaster tried to push herself from the floor but only managed to find a resting position supported by her posterior and bent arms. "'Told you that wouldn't work." The demonic spirit chided. "That's the second direct attack you tried now. He's too strong. You need to be more clever." "F#c$ you." Jennifer spat back. "No wonder it didn't work. You give up too goddam easy. Next time tell them to send me someone with balls." The demon appeared angry and insulted, but mostly disgusted by the retort. Jennifer Wu had asked for this power specifically. The demonic spirits she summoned up weren't drawn by chance or whim, but by her request. If she wanted something more powerful, then next time she'd have to ask for it herself. But the contract was now completed and the spirit didn't need to waste any more time with this mortal idiot. Just as the melded pair had faded from beneath Hellbound's grasp at the mall, so did the spirit herself vanish from Wu's basement. In less than a second, the room was quiet, still and dark other than a harshly breathing witch still laying on the floor, trying to still her own racing heart. She had to admit, it was a thrill to send out her soul to blend with another's born of hell itself. There was an intimacy to the power and a rush that made the accompanying corruption well worth it. Further, if she'd been informed correctly, the whole experience would be universally amplified if she could perform the ceremony with Hellbound's blood. And after having felt it pulse in his veins herself? There was no doubting that. None whatsoever, at least not in her mind.

The demonic witch let out a strangled cry of pain at the injury. Here, Hellbound had been surviving her assault for much of the afternoon, and within the first minute of her taking physical form she already had a useless arm. For as one-dimensional as this 'hero' came off on his blog, he was apparently more dangerous than he appeared. "Where's your army now, huh?" Hellbound was asking her, bearing down on his vice-like grip. He was pretty sure that one of her wrists was on the verge of snapping like a twig. "Think you can turn into smoke before I break you in half? Or do you feel like answering a few questions?" It wasn't easy holding back as he was. Guys like him simply weren't meant to manhandle girls like her. She might have vast power at her command, but clearly that didn't extend to personal protection. She was nearly as fragile as any normal citizen of Freedom and Hellbound was not in the mood to cut her any slack. Still, he didn't go around brutalizing anyone for no good reason. Her primary threat had been ended, the zombiequins were still lifeless on the ground and no problem to anyone anymore. He had the villain within his grasp and hurting her any more than needed just wasn't... well, heroic, really. Besides that, Hellbound had always hated beating on someone weaker than himself. It just wasn't fair. Maybe if she managed to show some superhuman strength or durability it'd be a different story. But so far her only trick had been to bring an enclave of plastic soldiers to life and that wasn't happening again. "Actually..." Her strangely distant voice spoke again. The movements of her mouth didn't quite match, as if there were a time delay at work. That's what was wrong with how she talked, Hellbound realized. The witch twisted her body, painfully, so that she could look Hellbound in the eyes. There wasn't any fear in her gaze, even though she was beaten. Her body was his to abuse or release as he pleased, but all that was reflected back in her face was challenge. "Actually... I can. You'll get nothing today, inhuman fool." With that, Hellbound felt her dissolve beneath his grip. There wasn't any smoke or special effects like when she'd formed, but the witch was gone anyway. All he was left with were the shattered remains of her attack on him and the distant awareness of crowds gathered outside. There was that old Freedom City survival instinct again. Once the supervillainy starts, run and don't go back until it's all over. People were crowded around the mall as they waited for the 'all clear' signal to come from within.

Hellbound let slip a nasty grin, lurched and then reached for the scary lady. The copper wiring and insulated, steel strands of his bonds parted in staggered snaps. Pieces of floor broke upwards where they refused to let go of the cords holding him down and then he had her. A look of utter surprise and fear crossed the girl's face. She hadn't expected this, not from one as simple as Hellbound. He was too dumb to react this smartly... wasn't he? In fact, Hellbound had indeed been playing possum. It'd been obvious long ago that he was never going to beat the endless hordes of animated attackers without knowing what was controlling them. Even if he'd managed to destroy every mannequin in the building, he was pretty sure there were other materials that could be used in its place. Honestly, this was probably only the first wave. More would likely to have followed even if he'd kept fighting. But by letting them have him, knowing that they would have a hell of a hard time killing him, Hellbound figured to draw out their master. Not exactly one to surrender, however, he had to make his own capture look realistic enough to fool whoever wanted him so badly. Now it worked, and now he had the bitch by the throat. Anger that probably wasn't appropriate given his heroic status took over and he wrenched at one of her arms. There was a nasty snapping and scraping of bone as it dislocated.

Well, if I get into the top five then I get into it -- though I'm not sure it should fully count since it's just a solo thread. Still... having a blast taking Hellbound through a few adventures :)

Pale and firm as they were, it wasn't easy for Hellbound to tear his gaze away and meet her eyes. Those were dark brown, almost black, with an almond shape that bespoke of an Asian heritage. But something less human filled out her face. Though he'd seen greater variations of the species in his life, something about the way that her bones came together made him think she wasn't entirely of this world. Certainly, most people didn't have hair that meandered around their bodies as if they were some kind of diaphonous gown. Being in the superhero business, however, Hellbound had witnessed things far stranger than that. "That was somewhat harder than I thought it would be." She spoke with a voice that carried a distant quality. It sounded, to Hellbound, like she was actually miles away. "Truly, I have not been mislead. The qualities... I must have them... I see now what is truly required." Hellbound had no idea what she was talking about. The chick also wasn't talking like anyone he'd expect to hear from outside of a bad fantasy novel. A real drama queen, is how he'd label her. But then again, anyone capable of animating an entire mall full of mannequins was probably entitely to talk however the hell she wanted. "Yessss..." She hissed, placing one hand on his shoulder. He struggled, but was unable to throw off her grasp. It felt cold and not just devoid of life, but hungry for it. It felt like a piece of ice that didn't draw out the warmth of his body, but rather his sould. "It burnsss..." Her other hand made gentle, almost loving contact, with the side of his neck. She felt blood pulsing through his carotid artery.

Hellbound made a few weak attempts at escape, but the bonds held him securely. He wasn't going anywhere. The cords which had his arms, legs and head all trapped had forced their way into the flooring. Cracks ran from where the restraints had found anchorage and, even without the exhaustion, Hellbound had no leverage in his current position. The boy was stuck, and there was something forming before his eyes. Smoke drew from the prostrate remains of the zombiequins and the wiring which had animated them moemnts ago. Even the cords holding him prisoner released some whispy essence that gathered from all about the hall to the center of his vision. It swirled and coalesced, creating first an obscure form that eventually resolved itself into a floating female. Some young woman, whose long black hair swirled around her body to preserve some sense of modesty though she was nude otherwise, hung in the air while completing her formation and then stared down at Hellbound with an amused smile. Her feet egan to move as if she were floating in water, walking through an invisible tide pool and descending from her floating position to where Hellbound remained trapped. She touched down on the marble floor and stepped around the lifeless mannequins and debris with an artful grace. She approached Hellbound and bent before him, her hair falling away from her body enough to allow a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts.

In time, the zombiequins did manage to overpower the hero. Though he was still in good health, having not yet received harsh wounds, he couldn't keep the pace up forever. Slower and slower came his counter attacks while the aggression of the horde knew nothing of exhaustion. Still as fresh and, seemingly, as numerous as when the episode had started, they continued the assault. A broken torso, little more than a single arm loosely attached to a plastic chest, managed to get a hold on Hellbound's ankle. As he bent to rip the grasp away, a mass of wires latched onto his opposing hand. Hellbound rose to handle the second threat when another attack from behind clutched about his neck and then they were on him. Like a tidal wave of animatronic chaos, Hellbound was strapped, beaten and trussed to the point of immobility. Wiring began to relinquish its hold on the zombiequins in order to form shackles that bound him, wrist and ankle, into a kneeling position. Both feet were tied together with more wiring twisting its way up his legs to prevent the knees from being straightened. Wires engulfed his hands and wrists, drawing both arms into a crossed position behind his back. Cabling entangled itself throughout his hair and pulled sharply back on his head, angling his face upwards as he found himself drawn into forced supplication. The zombiequins, now freed from their unholy control, were left motionless and dead in circles around him. Hellbound found himself in the center of a massive crowd of battered and abused mannequins, each one prostrate on the floor with heads down and arms extended towards his trapped form. For a crazy moment, it seemed he was the center of a surreal worship with some sort of plastic congregation bowed in his presence.

"Fragging make me!" Hellbound shouted back at their oddly conjunctive sussurus. He lost himself for a while in a whirling mode of destructive blows. The zombiequins weren't up to the task of handling him, clearly, as they shattered, broke and failed beneath his strikes. Animating wires were torn away with contemptuous ease when they tried to constrict his movements. Everything had become a red haze of battle where Hellbound refused to fall beneth the limitless onslaught of a shopping mall gone mad, and yet the relentless wave of attackers seemed to have no end. It was a big mall. There were a lot of mannequins to animate. As the battle waged, Hellbound began to tire. His endurance did have his limits, after all, and the cabling which periodically snagged on his wrists managed to hold him for a second or two longer than before. Also, many of the zombiequins themselves started requiring a more blows to bring down. This was starting to go downhill for the fearless fighter.

Even a he pulled his fist back to deliver the next blow, Hellbound's elbow encountered an attacker. The zombiequins were definitely closing in and what was once an open, promising fighting arena was now becoming a claustrophobic trap. He could keep this up, yes, but for how long? How many mannequins had been brought to life by whatever force he faced? Hellbound continued to swing, shatter and split skulls. When weapons came at him he snatched them away from their possessor and turned them against the horde, such was his reaction time over theirs. When fists or feet impacted his skin, Hellbound spun and knocked the limbs to the side with a followup attack that nearly always proved disabling. Unfortunately, he was having to react now far more than he was being the initiator. For one moment he found himself nearly buried under zombiequins too numerous to count, but was able to throw them off with a single surge of insane strength. "What do you want from me!" He shouted at the air, not sure why this was happening. It was strange. The zombiequins all seemed to be gathering around him right now. Though his attention was largely focused on those he'd been wrecking, there were times when he could take the entire scene in at once. None of the monsters were making their slow, shambling ways towards the exits. Any straggling citizens that'd been glimpsed between clashes were being ignored. They wanted him. They wanted Hellbound specifically, and as the attacking horde hissed to him at once in reply, they apparently wanted him to bleed for them.

Shrapnel flew and embedded itself harmlessly into plastic flesh. A few animating wires were cut and zombiequins disfigured by the shattering chain, but other than that not much happened. Hellbound lost his weapon, and a good source of his current enjoyment, but that was about all. The steel support blade that the chain once ran about was stuck in a monster's shoulder and, though its motor was still puttering with life, Hellbound had to toss the now useless tool away. The zombiequin who'd taken the destructive shot went with the chainsaw, being tossed by Hellbound's prodigious strength with ease. He recovered from the effort just in time to catch an ax that'd been heading towards his skull. Apparently the zombiequins weren't getting any faster than before, but there were so many of them now and so close that the individual attacks themselves were happening more frequently. Even as he halted the ax's descent by gripping its wooden handle, a thick mass of wire shot from his left to ensnare his own wrist. As the entanglement pulled at him, trying to yank the fighter off balance and put him at further disadvantage, Hellbound moved with the effort and took advantage of the momentum. The combined force of both the taut wires and his own throw had the ax tumbling in the direction of his would-be captor. Its blade struck plastic just at the point where the reaching wires initiated their attack and managed to sever a number of them. Now being held by only a fraction of the cordage that had gripped him a fraction of a second ago, Hellbound snapped his left hand free of bondage and spun to strike with his right. Superhuman knuckles encountered animated plastic chest and another zombiequin was battered forecfully out of the fight.

Zombiequins... yeah, zombiequins. I like the sound of that. You fraggers can use that if you want, but remember it's my term. I invented it and I fought 'em. It's my word, but it's a good word. Zombiequins.

Taking advantage of having the weapon for now, Hellbound tore into the armed attackers with gleeful abandon. They outnumbered him greatly but that didn't matter much given their clumsy, sluggish movements. By now, they were all surrounded by dimembered mennequins and the still-twitching wires that'd animated the dummies. Hellbound had to step carefully so as to not trip over someone's broken head or arm. This was his chance to go absolutely nuts for a change. Since he normally had to hold himself back, what with being a hero and all, he couldn't really break necks as he typically threatened. Much of his gruff talk and violent ways were just bluffwork... well, maybe not the violent ways, but certainly he'd never have fed anyone their own family. But now he was fighting mindless, soulless beings of unintelligent destruction. He could put his foot through a zombiequin's chest, stamp on a fallen soldier's leg until it shattered into dust or cleave through a neck with his chainsaw without having to worry about what the press might say or even taking a life. If it hadn't been for the massive numbers facing him, and the fact that eventually he'd wear himself down with the battle, this would almost be fun. Who was he kidding. Hellbound was having the time of his life. He could collapse beneath a mountain of broken bodies at this point and never have a happier moment through to the end of the universe. He continued his dodging, weaving, striking dance through the relentless tide until his chainsaw caught on the metal structure inside one of the zombiequins in just the wrong way. It'd never really been built to use as a weapon, to be honest. The punishment that the chainsaw had been taking so far was way beyond anything the original engineers had conceived and it was amazing that it lasted this long. Maybe, after he got himself cleaned up, Hellbound should seek them out for a spokesmanship deal? But the toothy chain that made up the lethal edge of its blade fractured and snapped under the strain. A small, yet powerful, engine continued to whip the deadly metal until it converted into lethal shards exploding through the air.

Hellbound jerked back, releasing his force against the horde and angling away from the chainsaw. The monsters surged with him, but his fast hands managed to disarm the power tool wielding attacker before any damage could be done. He snapped one arm up to shatter its wrists, flipping the chainsaw over to be caught in his left hand. Gunning the throttle, Hellbound grinned with the renewed roar of the chainsaw and swung it back in return. The whirling chain bit into a zombiequin's neck and tore both plastic mannequin and living cord to shreds. The monster spun away with the blow and Hellbound finished it with a shattering kick to its midsection. Not wanting to give the creatures a chance to press any kind of advantage with their numbers, Hellbound continued laying into them with the saw. His left hand move fast, almost smashing them with the powered blade than carefully cutting them down. Perhaps it would have been quicker to disable the monsters with his bare hands, but hey... who didn't ever want to lay into a horde of zombies with a chainsaw? It was every American boy's dream as far as Hellbound was concerned.