ic Fisticuffs 2: The Opening Credits (IC)

[Nyrath]

Mongrel Angel was unused to being late, usually she arrived well in time. But for once she had had a little trouble finding where she was supposed to go, and it was only when she'd spotted the good Doctor Archeville that she'd known. So now she arrived a little after the good german and his persian speaking girlfriend, as usual dressed in street clothes rather than any form of costume; wings, purple hair and an amazonian physique tended to make her stand out regardless.

Casting a glance over the place Alex noted the spread of heroes present, and tried to spot a decent place to land. Espying a lady she recognised after a moment's though as Gossamer the dark angel figures it as good a place as any, what with there being only one person in a decent space, and touches down a few metres from the heroinne with the bountiful hair. "Ah, hello. Anything started yet? Oh, where are my manners. Alex Maenheld, usually called Mongrel Angel. How do you do?" The winged amazon extended a hand for a handshake towards Gossamer.

[Electra]

Declining Dynamo's offer of a lift, Erin made her way reluctantly back to the Circus building. She didn't want to go in, but she'd come this far, might as well do what she'd come for. Slinking in through one of the less obvious side entrances, she took a seat at the back of the stands and looked around. She was startled to see the zombie creature up and around again, looking no more mangled than when she'd first seen it. That was disturbing, for all it meant she might be in less trouble. Glowering, she watched it intently, keeping no more than half an eye on the rest of the action.

[Dr Archeville]

Doktor Archeville

Archeville had been keeping an eye on Wander's assault on Dead Head; he knew her, and parts of her background, but had only heard of the undead creature in passing.

Finally, a weakness in one of those Claremont brats that doesn't involve their raging hormones!

I believe the best course of action is to separate those two, get the creature far away, and then wipe the past 30 seconds or so of her short-term memory.

Ooooh, now that's a slippery slope I can climb aboard on!

On the bright side, I do get to finally see this 'Dead Head' creature I have been hearing about.

Pft, 'undead.' Just another mutant with a powerful regenerative ability, and a really bad skin condition.

Then Avenger stepped in and hit her with his mind-whammy.

Awww. Spoilsport!

Well I, for one, am relieved.

"Vell," he exclaimed with a sharp clap, "now dat de 'preliminary fight' is out of de vay, I suppose de main events will be starting, ja? I do not plan to participate, but I am here to provide any medical aid in case you get too rambunctious. Hopefully," he paused just long enough to retrieve a beverage (something in a chilled can), "I shall not be called upon for too much."

[Geez3r]

Dynamo had intended to keep an eye on Eric once they had gotten back into the arena, but that idea didn't exactly pan out. Goss had apparently brought around a friend after their little trip. And Dynamo didn't want to be rude and not introduce himself. Dashing up to the pair, Dynamo pulls the sudden stop routine introducing himself with the incredibly mature "Oh hai!" having the unique talent for being able to verbalize the misspelling, making any English majors in the room cringe.

Giving a half bow to MA, Dynamo adds "The name's Dynamo, I'll be your caterer for the evening. If you need anything at all, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to ask."

[Avenger Assembled]

Avenger repressed a wince as he watched Dynamo bringing back the deranged teenager with the penchant for decapitating undead. Well, this has all the potential to be really quite awkward. Figuring that he might as well make some friends, he left Anderson to keep an eye out and sidled over there himself. "Hello," he said cautiously, "I don't think I caught your name earlier."

[Electra]

Erin regarded Avenger silently for a moment, sizing him up as though she were considering fighting him, too. Not tensing to jump on him or anything, more like deciding if fighting him was necessary, and what his weaknesses were. He looked pallid, she noted, like he never got out in the sun, or like it didn't affect his skin. Not that she had a lot of room to comment there. He slouched a little, but walked with the grace of someone who knew how to fight. And when he was standing still, he didn't breathe. She stared at his chest for a moment, and when he caught her looking, he suddenly inhaled audibly and exhaled, half a second too quickly to sound normal.

"I don't believe I dropped it," she replied stonily, when she was done sizing him up. Chris wouldn't be proud, but repartee wasn't her strong suit. "I'm Wander. You live with Phantom, right?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Phantom is my wife," said Avenger, relaxing a little when he caught the half-familiar name. "Ah, I think Hellion's mentioned you to me." Only in the most general of terms, though, which told him nothing more than that this was a powerful girl. Of course, he'd known that already. "He's worked with Phantom and I on some magical cases. "

[Dariusprime]

Giving Jack-of-all-Blades a quick wave, she turned her attention to the self-assembling zombie. Part of her was creeped out by his appearance and regeneration, but frankly, another part was fascinated and a little jealous at that kind of resilience. Those mixed emotions played on her face as he introduced himself.

After only a slight moment of hesitation, she shook his hand, being carefully not to pop it off. "And you must be Dead Head. A pleasure to meet you. I remember you from the church a few months back. The 'leper'." She smiled, adding to the joke, "Oh yes, of course. She was just moments from dropping from exhaustion."

That's when Fulcrum made the mistake of accidentally patting Dead Head a little hard on the arm. True, he was much tougher than he looked, but he was also much more...limber...than a living person. Hoping the fleshy cracking sound wasn't an injury, she turned to watch the gas-masked man and apparently, Avenger. The vampire certainly looked different out of costume.

By now the circus was a flood of activity, so Fulcrum made a shooing wave to Dr. Archeville, "Sure, Viktor, your presence is purely for objective purposes only, like your taste for German beer." A chuckle and wink followed before she turned back to the group of Dead Head, Jack (of the Blade persuasion) and Geckoman.

"You have all met? Small city. Have all of you met Dr. Archeville?" Once Avenger headed over to Wander, Fulcrum glanced to Dead Head, "Gird your loins." before motioning to her.

[quotemyname]

"Avenger!" The gas masked man called out once more. He took a few steps away from the girder he had been leaning against.

"I have no intentions of being rude. Especially not to a," Lukos seemed to hesitate, "Man of your stature. But I have business with you, and I would appreciate not being ignored."

Lukos place his hands behind his back and subtley gripped the handle of the axe, though it looked like he was simply grasping his other hand. Lukos began circling the crowd of other assembled heroes. "You see, Jack has told me that we've been having some problems in this city. Problems that we can't simply make go away. No more than we can force the sun to rise." If anyone in the room would understand Lukos' undertones, it was Avenger.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hmm." Wander and Lukos, the closest thing to predators in the room besides Avenger, saw his hands clench at the arms of the seat beneath him. He cocked his head and looked over at Thomas, something absolutely flat in his eyes. Lukos had plenty of experience dealing with people with rage and hunger and a beast inside them, but looking at a vampire wasn't like looking at a wolf. It was more like looking at a...shark. "I wasn't aware that was something that concerned you people. That's good to know, I suppose. Your pardon for ignoring you earlier, I was concerned about the welfare of my friend given the particular...circumstances." He shrugged slightly, not quite looking at Wander. "I'm sure you people understand loyalty like that."

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head

Fulcrum found the zombie's hand was quite cool to the touch. As she shook it, the light of recognition went off in the zombie's eyes. "Oh, yeah, you were at the church when that angel fella showed! Man, was that a wild day!"

His expression was completely unchanged when she accidentally broke one of his arms. In truth, he barely even felt it, and it was only her reaction that alerted him to something amiss, though by the time he looked it was already almost completely "healed."

"I gotta find me some sturdier clothes," he mused aloud as the amazon turned away, "pickin' have been slim in the Good Will dumpsters."

He knew Wander was watching. He still didn't know just what her problem was -- neither of the Jacks had been helpful in that regard.

Keep it cool, Deady, don't do anything to upset the psycho. I know, I'll do some decidedly non-zombie-like things.

Overhearing snippets of Dynamo's conversation with Gossamer, he waved at the two. "Yo, Speedy! You're the caterer, right? Can I get a burger? Or a hot dog?"

[quotemyname]

There was a second's pause before Lukos nodded his head. Loyalty certainly was something he could understand. But it was the way Avenger had said it that had grated on his nerves. 'You people'? That's like calling me a dog. We'll see if this continues. He'd better hope that he doesn't make this personal. Inside him, Wolf snapped his jaws.

"With respect, we're concerned with far more than you know." Lukos voice was even, his thoughts wary, I think. He spoke once more. "I'm told you keep tabs on us. And from your response it seems you do. Jack was hoping that we might use this occasion to our mutual benefit. As he was indisposed, he sent me. His general." Beneath the mask Lukos frowned, And he told me to tear your head from your body.

The wolf inside him was crouched and poised to attack. Lukos reflected this by subtly bending his knees and making himself ready...for anything.

[Geez3r]

"You want fries with that?" hollered back Dynamo. "Sorry, habit." added Dynamo with a shrug. With a quick dash, Dynamo handed Dead Head over a burger, a hot dog and some fries. "Cheers!" he says holding up a burger of his own before munching on it. "Don't worry about paying me back or nothing; it's not like it cost me an arm and a leg." Dynamo wore a big doofy smile as he drank in the collective groans and face palms.

[Starsign]

Rycon looked at the crowd of heroes as she walked towards them. A woman with purple hair and wings, A huge, kind female that Rycon has met before, A gas-masked adult hiding something, a dark, brooding vigilante who seems in argument with the gas-masked adult, and absurdly-powerful student from Claremont that Rycon also knows, a hyper-active, possibly inexperienced college student, and most interestingly, an active, intelligent, very friendly zombie.

Deciding that it would be okay, Rycon walked up to the revenant, though making sure she was beside Fulcrum, just in case. She feels her legs trembling as she begins speaking, "You're a... a zombie? I didn't think they could be intelligent or friendly people." She was taking slightly deeper breath than usual."Please tell me, h... how long have you lived for?" She was starting to think this wasn't such a good idea.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head

The Revoltin' Revenant chuckled at Dynamo's joke, "Oh, I'll repay ya later. After all, I know some thing ya can't run from.

Okay, remember what Mom always said: small bites, chew thoroughly, at least 30 times before swallowing, and chew with my mouth closed.

He balanced the fries and hot dog in the crook of his right arm, and held the burger in his left hand. Before taking a bite, he noticed the trenchoated girl talking to him. "Well, yer right, zombies ain't intelligent or friendly. Which must mean I ain't a zombie, right? I mean, would a zombie eat french fries?," he asked while popping a few in his mouth.

He'd have to get rid of those later. As unpleasant as he knew he smelled to others, adding the scent of rotting fried potatoes wouldn't help.

[Starsign]

The response the... person gave made Rycon feel that she had insulted him. "Ah, my apologies." she said quickly, trying to state that she meant to harm, "This was a terrible idea," She thought, "But I should keep conversing, just with a better choice of words. She watches the guy eat some of the french fries he held. "He fits the looks of a zombie, but his attitude is nothing like one... Perhaps it's something to do with his regeneration?"

Rycon gives a quick looks towards Erin before continuing the conversation, making sure Wander doesn't go berserk like before again. "If I may ask, she began, "What would you consider yourself to be, if not a..." She stops before saying "zombie" again. She had a feeling that the shambling man she was chatting with did not like that word.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head

"I'm..." the creature paused, chewed thoughtfully on a bite from its burger, "complicated."

"No, no, that ain't right," it quickly corrected. "I'm actually pretty simple. Well, not 'simple' simple, but... "

The creature put its food down on a nearby bench, wiped its hands on its jeans, and extended one, "Folks call me Dead Head. Pleased t'meetcha!" The creature's rictus grin grew a bit wider.

[Starsign]

The words of Dead Head we're making little sense to Rycon at first. She couldn't understand what he was trying to say. Something like it being a simple thing but complicated to explain or understand. Her mind went away from the thought as she a hand from the rotted man reach out. Rycon would normally decline without a second thought about touching such a thing, however this time it felt more as a test of courage of sorts.

Thinking to herself, "Please don't be contagious." Rycon reached out to shake the person's hand, and while it did feel a bit revolting at first, she was glad that she was trying to be more open to people. "I'm Rycon. I moved here a few months ago from an outcast area in America." She didn't state her German heritage, though her accent may have given it away.

[Electra]

Erin watched the byplay between Avenger and the man in the gas mask, not entirely sure what was going on there. She wasn't Avenger's friend, and she hoped to god he wasn't claiming friendship with the zombie still ambling grotesquely around on the floor. It didn't seem like anything she wanted to get involved with, though, so she kept quiet and kept watching. She saw Ashley watching her with the all-too-familiar "you're crazy" look on her face, and glanced away for a few moments as though she hadn't noticed. That was just great. Forget Summers, Erin figured she'd be lucky if everyone at school didn't hear about her lapse.

Folding her arms across her chest, Erin kept watching the zombie, who was now doing something ridiculously disgusting with a hot dog, but tried to make her surveillance a little more surreptitious. It seemed to have a simulacrum of intelligence, enough to say a few slurred words anyway, but it didn't seem to be much of a threat. Not on its own anyway. There could be more like it.

[Gizmo]

Jack of all Blades grumbled with mock annoyance. "Hmph, if anybody's 'Jack from the West End', it's me." Leaving Avenger and his new friend to be mutually broody and oblique, he turned his attention back to the gathered heroes' various reactions to Dead Head. He gave an approving nod as the other girl from Claremont introduced herself, clearly unnerved but working through it. The undead creature might have been incredibly disturbing to look at, too say nothing of his unsettling necromatic energies, but in Jack's book he was good people.

Noting Dead Head's earlier attacker standing off to one side, he raised an eyebrow as the girl tried to play off the looks she was getting as the zombie established himself in good stead with the gathered heroes. The swordsman turned to Geckoman. "So what's the deal with your gal pal there? She gonna be alright?"

[Dariusprime]

"Yeah, that was a wild day. Sorry about the arm," she replied, turning back to Dead Head. At the mention of his dumpster diving, she started to say something.

Instead of interrupting, she stood reassuringly next to Rycon and listened to them chat. The look of curiosity on her face suggested that she too would like to know more about Dead Head. Much like Rycon though, she glanced at Wander every once in a while and mentally made a note to introduce herself when Rycon felt comfortable with the Revoltin' Revenant.

"If you need something, Dead Head, I'm sure I hook you up," she said after introductions, "I'm guessing you can't just walk into a store for whatever you need." Oh, sure, his appearance was nausea-inducing, but frankly, he sounded like just such a nice guy.

But the burger-and-fries trick wasn't fooling her.

[April]

Sage had quietly slipped into the old, abandoned arena while Wander was beating the snot (and other assorted ichors) out of Dead Head. Wearing dark loose-fitting clothing, Sage wandered the perimeter avoiding the fight and making what she thought was a reasonable attempt at avoiding notice. She recognized Wander from Claremont but did not recognize the revolting creature she was wailing on. Still, she assumed from the lack of immediate intervention by the others assembled that this had at least some tacit approval.

Eventually the fight ended rather abruptly, through some signal Sage didn't catch, and Wander dashed off with a blank look on her face. A brief amount of time passed before Wander wandered back in in the company of a man Sage remembered noticing earlier but didn't see leave. Rolling her shoulders with a small shrug the young telepath settled back agains the wall with her arms folded. She wasn't fighting tonight, but she figured she could still learn by watching.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head

The creature's hand did indeed feel revolting to Rycon, cold and slightly unresponsive. Pretty much exactly like a corpse's hand would be.

"Outcast, hunh? From th' same place as th' Doc up there," he pointed up with his free hand to the Hovering Barcalounger of Doktor Archeville. "I mean, ya kinda sound a bit like him. Jes a bit, though."

"Eh, don't worry none 'bout the arm," he replied with a dismissive wave to Fulcrum, "I've suffered a lot worse. Worse than the little lady there was doin', even. Like th'time I got hit by a steamroller. It is rough on the clothes -- I ain't got one of them fancy 'Morphic Molecule' suits like what y'all got -- but I make do." He paused pick up his burger with his free hand, "You'd be surprised at the kinda things folks throw out, how useful a lot of it still is. An' I do mean throw out, not donate; it's a shame how ready so many folks is t' throw stuff out in favor'a somethin' new."

Rycon suddenly realized she was still shaking Dead Head's hand, which she attributed to her nervousness. But then she noticed that it was no longer attached to him....

[Ecalsneerg]

"So what's the deal with your gal pal there? She gonna be alright?"

"Dunno. She's been fine for months," pondered Geckoman. "Thing is, those months have been largely undead-free. She has a kind of issue with them. Not really up to me to disclose, but... that's kind of her normal reaction to dead things walking around."

[Gizmo]

"Huh," Jack considered aloud. "Well, we've all got our buttons, right?" Clapping Geckoman on the back, the swordsman jogged over to Wander with a wave. "Hey, Slugger! I was just telling Goggles over there that if you're any indication, Claremont must have one helluva girl's softball team! What're they feeding you kids in the school cafeteria?"