Friday Night Fights

[Moira Morley]

Moira looked around. It was just her, O'Ren, and the pieces of dead human remains left. She so very much wanted to do something, but apparently hitting something really hard wasn't the answer this time. At least not yet.

Walking over to O'Ren, she sighed. Her arms where still crossed as she leaned only her forehead against his chest, her body completely detached from his. "I wonder how long we'll have to wait."

[Hellbound]

Roman protested the idea of handing the camera over, insisting that he needed to be the one to shoot the footage, but in the end gave up and handed it to Hellbound. That might not be a bad idea, he figured. Give it to someone already determined to step into harm's way and let him capture all the action. Maybe someone trained for camera work stood a better chance of getting broadcast-worthy stuff, but this way the genial host might actually live to see it in the editing room.

"Mortuary... groundbreaking?" Roman chuckled as he was being led away. "Heh, I like that. Do you mind if I use it in the show?"

Hellbound was examining the hand-held electronic doodad and trying to comprehend its functions. The camera was a pretty basic consumer-goods model, Roman did say they were just scouting locations so there had been no need to lug expensive stuff down, but it was already set up with its night-vision mode blazing.

"Ah, cool, I can see in the dark with this thing." Hellbound exclaimed, looking through the LCD panel while pointing directing the lens around. It eventually settled on Moira and zoomed in slightly.

"Smile, beautiful, America's going to eat you up."

There had been the question of how long they'd have to wait until Jack returned with his reinforcements. To answer, Hellbound pointed the camera further down the tunnel and got a better look at where they were heading.

"Wait, shmait, he can catch up with us later. We still have a monster to track down before it manages to eat another production crew. How many people has this thing killed so far? We figured, what, five or six from the party? Maybe that same number with Roman's people and it's not even lunch yet? I don't think we can afford to give it any more of a head start than it already has.

"Do you want to carry the camera, or can you see well enough with the workman's-comp-waiting-to-happen level of lighting that we have in here now?"

He reached up to tap one of the caged, industrial quality bulbs that glowed weakly against the ceiling.

[Moira Morley]

Moira looked up to O'Ren and smiled as she shook her head. He had what it took to be a hero: confidence and courage. Here she was choking on the fear of the unknown and she wanted to be a full-fledged hero one day?

She uncrossed her arms and reached for the camera, "Yeah, I can do that," she meekly stated. She cleared her throat and repeated herself, this time with more of a growling strength behind her voice, "Yeah, I can do that!"

The camera was something to keep her busy. It would probably take her mind of the horror of the event if she could fire a flash and forget it.

[Hellbound]

"Good girl." Hellbound commented. Obviously, Moira was intimidated by their situation but holding up just fine. In a way, that blew his mind. She was the first person on the planet he'd ever met who could take a punch as well as himself, maybe even better. She could also bench press most late-model sedans. Just what, exactly, did she have to be afraid of down here?

Maybe the girl hadn't been born with her powers? Hellbound had the luxury of his entire life to get used to be being nigh-invulnerable. His abilities had first started to manifest at an early age and grew steadily with each year of his life. His strength grew into the superhuman range even as a child and he honestly couldn't ever remember suffering serious injury in spite of his rough outlook on life.

Puberty, in particular, had blessed him with a tremendous leap in strength, agility and endurance. Things have slowed down a little since then, but he knew that he still wasn't at his peak. There was more to come from his mysterious body and he was looking forward to discovering each new development.

Others, he knew, weren't so lucky. Some capes didn't know their powers until later in life and it had to represent a massive adjustment in their mentalities. Who knew how everyone would react to something like that?

He began trudging through the tunnel once more, leaving the unmistakeable smell of death and decay behind them. Somewhere up ahead there was still a dead production crew, but so far they'd only encountered Roman as the lone representative and survivor of that mess. They'd find them eventually, though, and haev to deal with more of the dirtier side of the business.

Speaking of which, he looked down at the filthy water washing over his ragged boots and mentally compared himself to both Moira and Jack. Compared to them, his style was so worn out and tired that he wondered if he actually COULD be a hero looking like this. It wasn't something that had ever bothered him before, but then again he'd never tried to cultivate a public image. Now that he was seeking more of a spotlight than what he was getting in the ring, was it time to upgrade his wardrobe?

"Huh. Ya' think I might need some new threads?" He asked Moira as they walked in the semi-darkness. "You looked pretty sweet through that lens, you know? I can't imagine I come across as anything more than you'd expect to find in a hellish pit like this."

[Moira Morley]

Moira looked down at her her shoes tracking though the filth. She sighed andcontinued trudging along, looking through the camera. "O'Ren, you're fine," she smiled, turning the lens towards him, "You've just gotta clean yourself up a bit. Heck, I'll need new clothes after this. And a warm bath. And probably some brain bleach." Moving the camera out of her way, she looked to him with a wink, "You're welcome to accompany me on any of those trips."

[Hellbound]

"I'm not sure I'd like the taste of brain bleach," Hellbound admitted. "But the rest sounds just perfect. Especially the warm bath. 'Better make that at your place, though. The only time I get warm water is when the boiler room catches on fire."

He kept his eyes and ears open, watching and waiting for things of darker demeanours to jump out at them. So far the trail was staying cold and quiet, however. No new bodies, no new threats. Whatever they were chasing, it seemed to move quickly and not nest for long.

"So what's your story? How'd you end up with so much going on? Power wise, that is. Most chicks I know don't have a punch like a wrecking ball and can't create vacation homes just by wishing really, really hard. You're a bit different, aren't you?"

[Moira Morley]

Moira stopped for a second. She had always tolder herself that if anyone asked this question that she would just tell the story tongue-in-cheek, but was now the time for lighthearted camp?

She looked down at the camera and then looked back up at O'Ren. Sighing with a smile, she tried to remain upbeat while telling the story, "To tell you the truth: I've always been this way. Always been able to lift and break more than I was supposed to. Always been able to talk to people and have them listen. Always been able to make things appear when I wanted them. It's like I was born with all of it. I just found out the reason a few weeks ago: I'm a goddess." She paused to gauge O'Ren's reaction

[Hellbound]

"Well I've always thought you were Divine." Hellbound agreed before realizing how serious she was.

It took a few moments for Moira's tone and words to sink in. She was telling the truth, or at least as she understood it. Honest-to-goodness divinity played out in mortal flesh. She might be right or she might just be misinformed, but either way she believed what she just said.

He wasn't sure whether or not to believe her, himself. Hellbound had read enough comics as a kid to know that the world was a weird and wonderful place, but was he ready to accept that he was walking side by side with an actual Goddess?

Looking her figure up and down, the concept seemed easier to swallow then one might think.

"No kidding?" Was all he could ask. "Real Halls of Valhalla stuff? Maybe that's my deal, too. I still have no clue where my powers come from. They just seemed to develop over time, but I sure don't remember getting bitten by any radioactive badasses when I was a kid. So how'd you find all this out, anyway?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Heard you folks had a problem." Though Jack knew his friends would probably take him appearing behind them poorly, he had to stay in-character as Avenger. That meant, once he'd packed off Roman Michaels in a cab to the nearest police station, that Jack Faretti had needed to disappear into the sewers to find his friends. Avenger was a dark, menacing figure as he walked stealthily towards the pair down the walkway the sewer workers usually used. He looked very little like Jack, who was shorter, leaner, and with very different mannerisms. It was certainly hard to picture Jack in a hockey mask and black cloak, for that matter, looking like a slasher movie character as much as a superhero. "Got a call on the line. Something about a monster?"

Not far away, something sniffed the air and made a low grunt, turning back into the stream of filthy rainwater it had been wading in. Fresh meat? There was only one good way to find out.

[Hellbound]

"Geeeeeez!" Hellbound exclaimed, his shoulders bunching and his hands balling into fists of their own accord.

He might be fearless, but he could still be taken by surprise. They were in a tense situation at the moment and he had no idea when they'd be attacked or when they'd come across their next corpse. It was not a good time for dropping surprises.

Hellbound turned to face their new companion, once again ready for a fight. This was the second time this moning that it'd happened to him and, at some point, he was going to get to release some of the building tension by popping someone. Apparently, though, this was not that time.

The newcomer was clearly a Cape. Not only was he wearing one around his neck, but he also had a mask (of sorts), and was talking like Hellbound would expect for a superhero. The style was something more darkly dangerous than the spandex-clad crowd enjoyed, however, and was clearly designed to throw a scare into superstitious and cowardly lots. It appeared to be something of a blend between slasher flicks and professional wrestling.

Hellbound liked it.

"Hey," Hellbound asked Avenger, once he managed to catch his breath. "You don't know a duded named Jack, do you? He likes to sneak up on people too."

The Cape didn't look much like Jack. That didn't mean they weren't somehow related, though. After all, didn't the guy who took Roman out say he was calling in reinforcements? Apparently they now knew who he was talking about.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Not hard. You just need to use what the sewer gives you." Avenger made his way toward the pair slowly, his boots wet on the slick floor. His costume is home-made and well-worn, but from the marks on his gloves and feet those patches on his soles and knuckles got worn out the old-fashioned way. "Avenger. Tell me what's down here." As he spoke, he peered into the gloom all around them, cold, ice-blue eyes narrowing in the patch of white just visible that was his face.

[Hellbound]

"No, Hellbound." O'Ren jerked a thumb at his chest in a friendly jibe. From the way the question had been posed it could almost sound like he was being referred to as 'Avenger'.

The hockey mask was a serious sort, focused on what he was doing and not leaving much room for casualty. Hellbound could respect that, it sometimes made for a better work environment.

Well, for most people, he figured. Being who he was, Hellbound didn't worry too much about making mistakes. Sometimes getting in over your head was just another way to have a good time.

"She's Moira. And we have no idea what's down here other than it's hungry and not too picky when it comes to buffets. It's already eaten a bunch of people up on the beach, you probably saw them on the way in if you came from there, plus a production crew. We figure about a dozen so far, somewhere in that neighborhood. That's one hell of an appetite, assuming it's alone."

[Moira Morley]

Moira watched the exchange between Avenger and O'Ren with bated breath. After the hostilities were out of the way, she spoke a little bit more calmly, "So, now can we get on with this?"

Her fear was turning into frustration. The costumed person around didn't help much. Why weren't you handling this before, her mind yelled at him, Monsters just don't come out of nowhere to eat people! Still she kept the hate in her head, leveling the camera and walking onwards, "Shall we continue? or do you have a better plan?"

[Hellbound]

"Continuing is the plan." Hellbound walked to keep up with Moira. "Or at least it's the best one I've come up with. Unless someone has a way of actually tracking this thing down, I'm stuck with just walking --> that way until we get attacked.

"Hey, might not be the best plan, but I'm pretty sure it'll work eventually."

[Avenger Assembled]

With a sudden roar, a hideous beast burst from the muck just behind Avenger, slashing at him with huge, terrible claws. Avenger shouted a warning in surprise, leaping forward away from the beast's massively extended claws even as they tore through his cape and slashed open the rear of his costume. In the gloom of the sewers, the three heroes could see the hideous beast before them; a terrible monstrosity in the shape of a man with black obsidian claws burst unnaturally from the backs of its bloody hands, a stocky, misshapen body covered in hair and matted blood, black, staring eyes and bloody, pointed teeth bared in a feral roar! As the beast roared, its black eyes turned a horrible red, its shout enough to strike fear into all but the hardiest of souls.

[Hellbound]

"Awrigght!" The young fighter turned at the monster's sudden appearance and leaped into action.

Yes, it was gruesome and, yes, it was scary, but he'd been waiting too long for this confrontation to let a little thing like fear slow him down. Perhaps if he'd been a normal man then the sight of the hideous predator would have him quivering on the floor, but 'normal' did not have much at all in common with Hellbound.

Instinct and surprise made him want to put his fist down the thing's throat, knock a few of those man-eating teeth out, but he was working with others in this one. There was a better tactic for him to employ.

Hellbound jumped on the creature even as he turned and reached for it, trying to turn his grasping hands into a Hammerlock to hold the creature for his friends to help beat upon.

[Avenger Assembled]

The beast fell victim to Hellbound's grabbing arms, wriggling horribly in the wrestler's powerful, experience grip. Hellbound felt the creature's bones break as he struck and grappled with it, muscle and flesh weaving and unweaving horribly beneath his grip. The beast's eyes were now a crimson red; they'd certainly made it angry! Even as the others watched, the beast's wounds healed up before their eyes, broken bones sealing themselves shut right through torn skin! Now an even more horrible assemblage of teeth and flesh, the monster screamed and pivoted, driving its claws directly into Hellbound's thigh! The blade sunk deep, bursting right through the other side!

Avenger replied with a kick to the thing's face, unfazed by its fearsome mien. To his fury, though, the beast shrugged off his kick as it turned against an iron-hard jaw, blood and bone spraying without doing any actual damage. The beast's resilience was horribly impressive; even Hellbound's burning blood pooled and rolled right off its blasphemous skin!

[Moira Morley]

Everything was happening so fast. The beast popped out of nowhere and it seem to not phase her. When it mangled O'Ren, something went off in her head. A mixture of fear and frustration finally spilled to the surface as she let off a roar of her own as she brought down vengeance with a overhead hammer blow from the camera.

[Avenger Assembled]

Moira hit the thing square on, shattering the camera to a thousand fragments of metal and plastic while at the same time making black, decaying blood and filth splatter from the monster's head with a noisy splutch like the shattering of some horrible coconut.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound took another shot at confining the monster, reaching for it with arms powered by inhuman strength and determination. Unfortunately, the combination of poor lighting conditions, uncertain footing and the wound still burning in his leg kept him from maintaining the hold he'd tried to establish.

[Avenger Assembled]

The fight in the sewers was a fast, brutal one that took the three heroes through yard after yard of the darkened tunnels. Together the three were pitted against a terrible monster that used its home to terrible advantage against three less powerful opponents. Eventually, though, the deed was done and the monster left sprawling, bleeding, and unconscious at their feet after a long, brutal fight. Avenger had let Moira and Jack do the heavy hitting, recognizing quickly that they both hit harder than he did, concentrating on distracting the hideous beast while the others pounded it to a bloody pulp.

Holding his arm, where he'd taken a slice to the humerus, Avenger asked, "Phone? Suggest we get up and call the League to deal with the thing." Certainly the thing still looked to need dealing with, breathing in a horrible, stentorian rhythm as blood leaked out of its mouth and nose.

[Moira Morley]

If Moira had to breathe, she'd be out of breath. Most of her clothes were ripped, but it seemed the beast couldn't scratch her. Looking to the bloody messy on the ground, she nudged the it with her foot just to make sure it was down for the count.

"You're in the Freedom League," she stated directly after Avenger mentioned them. "Maybe you guys should have been out here earlier," her voice turned surly and loud, "lots of people died here. WE almost died!"

[Hellbound]

It didn't sound to Hellbound like Avenger was in the League, but at least he had their phone number. Probably there was some general alert type line open to public access, a superhero 911 maybe. If he paid more attention to that sort of thing he'd probably have known what it was.

"Relax, babe. We didn't die. I got a little cut up, but nobody here died. Well, except for the people that were already dead, but don't forget we didn't get here in time to save them either. But unless you got an adamantium cage in your pocket or can conjure one up for us, I think giving the big boys a call might be a good thought."

His leg wound was still dripping, letting liquid rivulets of flame and ugly smoke splash to the filthy floor beneath. His jeans were a scorched mess, dim shadows leaped randomly on the walls around and small scorch marks were left behind as the burning lifeblood guttered itself out.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Not in the Freedom League," Avenger informed Divine with a flat, dead tone in his voice. "League objects to my techniques." He clutched his bloody hands into fists, then added, "Team might not be a bad idea. Phone?" His sudden inquiry ended with a glance at the walls all around them. "Cell would have troubles. Perhaps you two upstairs? You seem compatible. I can deal with monster."

[Moira Morley]

Divine looked at the beast and then to Avenger, "Well it looks like there's nothing left to deal with. But you're right, we should get out of here." Gently grabbing O'Ren's left hand with both of hers, she nudged him towards the exit, "Besides we need to look at that wound and find some clothes."