[Turf Wars] A Cry for Help

[Ecalsneerg]

Effortlessly dodging the blow, Arrowhawk pivoted and fired arrows in rapid succession, first hammering into the man who'd attacked him and leaving him unconscious on the floor. With near-mechanical precision, he repeated the process towards the escaping man, knocking him to the ground as a well-placed arrow hit him in the temple.

[MBCE]

Dark Star

The night was fairly quiet during Dark Star's patrol of the city. A few burglars were out and about which the hero quickly captured. It was relatively peaceful. That all changed when Dark Star tuned into the police frequency.

"911. What's the Emergency?"

"Man there's somebody shooting over here. I think some supers have showed up and trying to squash those Skinheads out here. Woke me up with all the damned noise."

"Gun shoots? How many did you hear?"

"A whole crap full! Gotta be an uzi or something! I told yaws that those freaks were holed up in that building down the street. Supes are doin' yaws job again!"

"Please give me the address."

Dark Star recorded the address and realized that he could be on site in very little time.

[MBCE]

Arrowhawk's arrows tack out the two melee fighters, but the last man managed to make it up the stairs untouched. Only one thug remained standing in the partially destroyed room. The others were out cold from shock and their wounds. Outside, one of the thugs was sprawled in the street where Arrowhawk's last blow took him out.

Hellbound was in a position to see the man escape the room and quickly get taken down by an arrow.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound grined and started smacking one fist into the oppsoing palm, anticipating the thug getting to his position. Unfortunately, an arrow dropped the punk just before he could lay into him.

There was a brief verbal protest at his target being sniped, but he was starting to get used to that sort of thing from Arrowhawk. For a guy who just shot pointy sticks at people, he was remarkably good at this sort of thing.

It looked to him like the battle was now over and he stepped through the big hole in the wall to examine the house interior. Things were a ruined mess and he lamented having missed all of the action.

"So what's going on?" He asked the assemblage. "Why'd we just drop kick a house full of gunmen, besides the obvious?"

[N/A]

"So what's going on? Why'd we just drop kick a house full of gunmen, besides the obvious?"

"Not just gunmen. Anti-powers neo-Nazi gunmen." The Scarab held up a futuristic firearm. "And disturbingly well-funded ones, at that. There's still one upstairs. Luckily, the cavalry has arrived." She looked down and raised two fingers to her forehead as she reached out to DarkStar's mind. Welcome to the party. Would you kindly take care of the human supremacist on the second floor?

She walked over to the last remaining skinhead as he slipped free of her mental domination, and pointed the science-fiction gun in his face. "There's a lot of buttons on this thing. Drop the gun and put your hands up, or we'll find out what this one does."

[Nalerenn]

This group was tremendous... watching their powers in such a way... Earth would be very interesting, it seemed. It seemed like now would be the best time to make an appearance. In the middle of the room, there's a shimmering, before Ignis's ethereal form is visible to those nearby. His first call of introduction, though, is to bow his head to those around him before speaking, his voice again echoing in their minds.

"Do not be alarmed. I am Ignis, and I have observed your actions thus far and wish to assist you. If you do have any queries or concerns, please raise them now and I shall do my best to address them."

His form continues to hover there, glancing around at each hero in turn.

[Hellbound]

"Sweet." Hellbound spoke after being informed of the remaining gunman. As he ran towards the stairs, however, he felt the need to reply to Ignis' introduction.

"Welcome to the party, man! I got dibs on the dude upstairs!"

He was unaware that Scarab had already filled Dark Star in on the man's location. Even if he had been in on the silent communication, however, he'd still race the gravity-wielder for the right to bring down the last bad guy.

[MBCE]

Hellbound goes passed Scarab and the cowering thug, racing after the one that got away. He passes teh main entrance where the light post still remained after Scarab used it to enter the building. Heading out what was left of the front door would slow anyone unable to fly. No wonder, the thug decided to head up the stairs.

Taking the stairs two at a time, it wasn't long before Hellbound found himself on the second floor. A short corridor that lead to a window that overlooks the entrance at one end and a door at the other was the main feature of the upstairs. Another door was between the top of the stairs and window. The room before that door most likely sat right over the room where the others were located. The door at the end of the corridor was slightly ajar and Hellbound could see light coming from inside as well as hear the sounds of chanting voices.

---

The thug, realizing that he had very little choice in the matter, quickly dropped his weapon at Scarab's urgings. His eyes went wide at the sudden appearance of Ignis floating in the air. With four supers present and from what he could determine another on the way, he had lost all nerve to resist. He quickly put his hands up.

"Wh...what are you gonna do to me?" he manages to stamper out.

---

Dark Star arrived on the scene and easily made out the building due to the two large holes in the front. Where the door would stand, a large hole was the only thing that remained of the entrance. The tail end of a lamp post could be seen among the debries. Above this hole, Dark Star can see another window and movement that seemed to be the familiar silhouette of Hellbound.

Just to the right of the destroyed entrance was another large hole and the unconcious form of a skinheaded man. The rough edges of the hole gave the impression of once being a window, but it was now just as accessible as the front door.

Scarab's message comes through loud and clear. It seemed that a lot of the old gang had arrived on the scene as well.

[N/A]

The Scarab kicked the skinhead's weapon aside, then tossed her own next to it. "Good move. You're smarter than you look."

She turned to the assembled heroes. "Well, it seems like you have things well in-hand here. Whatever these lowlifes were planning, it's been averted. DarkStar is upstairs, mopping up. Give him my regards." With that, The Scarab disappeared from their sight, and flew off into the night.

[MBCE]

Scarab turns invisible and flies passed Arrowhawk through the large whole. She passes Dark Star as the hero finally arrives on the scene.

It isn't long though before Hellbound comes flying out of the second floor window. His body sails across the street only to smash into a mailbox. Hellhound remained in place, his toxic blood dripping to the ground.

A loud roar followed as well as a large muscle-bound red skinned man jumped out of the window. He landed on the street with a large boom. Dark Star can see three more red skinned figures can be seen on the second floor, heading down the stairs.

---

Arrowhawk heard the crash of the window breaking and caught a glimpse of Hellbound's landing. He then heard the sound of the attacker landing outside followed by feet running down teh stairs. The lone thug still in the room with Arrowhawk smiled.

"Now, you're gonna get it! You'll learn to not mess with us!"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, do shut up," sighed Arrowhawk, rolling across the room towards the stairs and coming up in a crouch. Lifting his bow, he quickly fired a stream of arrows into the lead assailant. "Fall over now?" he suggested as the arrows whistled forth.

[Lone Star]

Fastball was crouched on ground opposite, watching the whole thing. Southside was his neighborhood, and he wouldn't let anyone take that away from him. Although, he thought to himself, I really could use the help. He walked halfway across the street when Hellbound fell from the window, and a large red man followed him. What the hell? Fastball thought as he drew his weapon of choice: a powerful aluminum baseball bat. He sped the rest of the way across the street and prepared for combat.

[MBCE]

The heroes react quickly to the presence of the rec skinned men. Arrowhawk moved around to face the stairs and fired two quick shots that hit the lead man directly in the chest. The force of the arrows caught the red skinned man by surprise and he fell backward into his companion.

Outside, Darkstar swooped down to help Hellbound once again. It seemed that recently he was always arriving just in time to help the hero out of a tight predicament. He quickly reversed gravity, lifting the large Red skinned man into the air. He looked about trying to find the cause of his sudden flight and his eyes alighted upon Dark Star. He smiled widely and pointed his hand at the hero. "You're next."

Ignis decided to help as well and moved into the fray.

---

Bodies flew left and right and explosions sounded in the derilict building. It took all three heroes and a little luck to manage to apprehend the largest of the skinheads, though two still managed to escape with their new weapon.

As Dark Star, Arrowhawk , and Ignis waited for the police to arrive, they took time to check out the upstairs rooms. Within one of the room they found the remains of what could only be the paraphernalia of a mystical ritual. Half burnt candles and a small bloodied altar sat near a pentagram etched into the flooring. Within the center of the mystical design was a small charred space. Something stood there and burnt the flooring but it was unclear as to what it might have been.

After handing the unconcious thugs to the poilce, the heroes said their good byes and parted company. Perhaps later they will learn what the Skinheads were you to.