Lock, Fist and Purr (IC)

[Supercape]

"Get in the car?"

 

It was a simple enough request, and one that was his first instinct too. But as his spinal cord of fear clicked into action, and started him moving, his foot brushed against the desicated body of his Partner, sitting against the chevvy like an ancient mummy. 

 

"Gah! That always freaks  me out!" he yelped. It didn't help to look at it in the moonlight. 

 

Still, he couldn't leave the vulnerable body there. Instead, he averted his eyes, and tried not to think of the crumbly flesh in his fingers. Instead, he gritted his teeth and pulled the lug into the Chevvy, collasping into the back seat with him. 

 

"Sweet Mary and Joseph, you weigh a ton even like this" he moaned. 

[Supercape]

Meanwhile...

 

The owner of that same dessicated husk of bone, muscle (and a little brain) was charging after the lady with the hair. His sticky blood form left a trail of red behind him, as he ran at full speed, in leaps, bounds, and slithers, after his quarry. 

 

You don't ever the hit girls, boy...That is being the law....

 

His fathers wise words, said in his stern Russian accent, floated through the decades and impaled him like a spear. He didn't know why, but it was just wrong to sling fists at a woman. He remembered his father beating a man black and blue for slapping his wife when he was a kid. 

 

Yeah, his upbringing was rough, but he always held true to his fathers imprint. 

 

Propelled along at his messy and fast speed, he soon jumped in front of the escaping dame. Getting hold of her when he was only a few feet high was not easy, but he dribbled, slobbered, and oozed around her, his bloody limbs all over her hair and head. 

[Thevshi]

The young woman gave a startled cry as the short, oozing form of Bloody Mess slammed into her and began grabbing her with its shortened limbs.  "What the...oh gross!  What the hell are you?"  The supervillainess cried out as her arms were pinned and a good bit of her hair became coated with oozing blood.

 

Suddenly the amount of hair around Bloody Mess seemed to multiply, becoming a tangled forest of strands of hair that were grabbing at him, trying to pull him free from the costumed criminal.  But all that seemed to do was get more and more of the hair gummed up in Bloody Mess' oozing form as the villainess toppled over onto the rooftop with Mess still holding on...

[Tiffany Korta]

With all the speed Lucy gathered she threw herself up the side of the building with the momentum she had gained before climbing up the rest of the distance. That meant that she didn’t have much time to figure out the situation, not that she needed that much time.

Walking towards the tangled pair, not giving much thought to Fred’s bloody form, she threw a simple punch at the female villain. fending off any comment’s from Fred she added.

 

“What you said no hair pulling nothing about punching.â€

[Supercape]

"What the..." blurted the Mess through bubbling lips.

He wasn't called Bloody Mess for nothing, but this was ridiculous. The entaglement of his fizzing, oozing form and the cobweb of hairs that wiggled for the womans whims led to an awful sight. Clots of congealed blood laced between clumps of tangled, interwoven hair.

"I didn't say you could hit her!" Complained the dim witted detective.

"It ain't ladylike, fighting!" He protested, without any coherent argument to back up his reasoning.

Still, he figured his Dad never said anything about squeezing...

[Supercape]

"What the..." blurted the Mess through bubbling lips.

He wasn't called Bloody Mess for nothing, but this was ridiculous. The entaglement of his fizzing, oozing form and the cobweb of hairs that wiggled for the womans whims led to an awful sight. Clots of congealed blood laced between clumps of tangled, interwoven hair.

"I didn't say you could hit her!" Complained the dim witted detective.

"It ain't ladylike, fighting!" He protested, without any coherent argument to back up his reasoning.

Still, he figured his Dad never said anything about squeezing...

[Thevshi]

"Let go of me you disgusting…whatever you are!" The costumed criminal shouted as once again her many animated strands of hair strained against Bloody Mess' grip. This time her efforts proved more successful, as the hair managed to pry Mess’ stubby liquid blood arms off her and push the short blob of animated blood away. The woman's hair then began expanding further, pulling apart to free itself from being gummed up by the congealed blood.

"I told you I don't have the statue any longer." She then stated. "I gave it to my contacts to deliver to the client that requested the job."

With that several strands of her long brown hair stretched up into the air, quickly extending out more than a hundred feet as they grasped part of the support arch for the Mona-Glenn Bridge. Then the hair began to contract, as the supervillainess was pulled up into the air and onto the arch.

[Tiffany Korta]

“Oh you're so not going to get away that easily. At least until I get some answers from you.â€

With a crouch to start herself off she launched herself off into the air. Whilst she didn’t often do it her undead form allowed herself to push her body well beyond it’s normal capacities. INdeed as she launched herself into the air she could feel the muscles on her les rip and tear, but she didn’t feel any pain. In fact by the time she reached the beam of the bridge they had already healed themselves. Which was useful as she had to balance herself on the beam.

 

“Trust me I could do this all day.â€

[Supercape]

"Oh Lord, here we go again..." complained Harry, as he kicked the Chevvy into gear and tried not to look at his partners dessicated body in the passenger seat. Heaven help the poor cop who pulled them over. And heaven help him trying to explain it. Shoving the fantasies out of his head, he gritted his teeth and stamped on the accelerator, giving the Chevvy a burp of smoke and burn of wheel before it tore off to follow Lucy and the Mess. 

 

Meanwhile, the Mess craned his head to follow the woman, and gave a bubbling "wow" in admiration. 

 

"You gotsta have some major duty shampoo, lady! But you ain't getting away from me that easy!" he shouted at her, before his fizzing bloody legs sprang into action and launched him up , up and away, to the beams of the bridge. He gave a grunt at the woman.

 

"I'm still not gonna hit ya!" he declared, before his bloody form started slithering towards her like a cannonball, like a bullet, like a train. He ran across the beams, his bloody legs sticking and propelling him, and driving his body straight into the supervillainess. 

 

"But I am bringing you back to earth!"

[Thevshi]

Harry went tearing off down the street, trying to make for the nearest southbound onramp he could think of, the Chevy making good time initially as it wound through little used side streets under the bridge, but he soon hit busier streets, and was having to weave in and out of traffic as he sped along.

 

 

Up on the support arch for the bridge, the supervillainess did not have time to respond to Lucy's sudden arrival and attempt to grab her when Bloody Mess arrived, bowling into and knocking her off balance.  The costumed criminal was knocked off the narrow beam of steel, and out into open air as she began to fall towards the freeway below.

 

But she had only fallen a couple dozen feet when another long strand of her hair extended out to grab ahold of the other support arch, swinging the supervillainess out over the multiple lanes of traffic still dozens of feet below.  She swung through some of the thick cables connecting the arch to the bridge below and out into open space beyond.

 

The strand of hair released its hold on the support arch and the villainess flipped in the air as her momentum carried her further away from the bridge and out towards the streets of the Fens below...

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy took off across the rooftops attempting to keep up with the long haired woman. She wasn’t the most agile of people but she more than made up for it with her speed and strength. It  wasn’t graceful the most graceful of chases but it did mean Lucy could keep up the chase.

“We’re going to keep doing this until you tell us what we need to know. And trust me I can keep doing this all day and all night.â€

 

As long as Lucy could stay up here then the statement was basically true, she hoped the villain would give herself up well before it came to that though.

[Supercape]

"Damnit! She goes and pulls some Tarzan thing!" said the shocked Mess and Strand swung away across the city, like a spider swinging on its web. 

 

"And in my streets too!" he said, angrily. Sure, he protected the whole of the City. But the Fens were his streets, and he wanted to keep them clean. Hell knew there was a lot of cleaning to do there. The last thing they needed was a supervillainess prowling them. 

 

With another mighty bound his fizzing bloody form leapt after her. He felt a vague tingle in his body...how far can I go? I've never been quite this far away from my body...my real body....he felt a kind of stretch, a slippery feeling on his bloody skin. Stupid time to do a field test, he realised, banging the side of his bloody head with a bloody fist...

 

He concentrated on Strand again, aiming his body like a dart and propelling himself towards her, bloody fist windmilling as he approached...

[Thevshi]

Freddy launched himself, well, his congealed blood body anyway, out into the air after Strand, slamming solidly into the villainess.  While Strand managed to twist with the impact to avoid serious harm, it still altered the course of her trajectory, sending her spinning off to one side as she continued to fall.

 

Freddy also found himself now falling towards the street below, just as he saw Harry round the corner in the Chevvy.

 

Strand meanwhile managed spot a nearby building as she spun though the air, before sending a thick strand of her brown hair shot out to grab the edge its rooftop.  The hair then contracted, pulling the villainess towards the rooftop and catapulting her over the side as she flipped over and landed on her feet as she skid to a halt on the rooftop as she fully reoriented herself.

[Tiffany Korta]

This was getting to be frustrating the woman wouldn’t consider giving up the information so they’d just have to subdue her first.

“I really wish we didn’t have to do it this way, but you’ve been asking for all this.â€

 

She lept from building to building ready upon landing to strike the very anoying young woman. The leap was perfect, or near perfect, but the landing was less than stellar and possible blow against the woman went well wide as Lucy struggled to regain her balance.

[Supercape]

Harry craned his neck upwards to try and see the swipe of superpowered fists and super powered hair above him. He was not sure who was winning. He was just sure it was above him. In more ways than one. 

 

"I'm just a guy who can turn into a dog! I can't fight the Super-hairdresser from hell!" he said to reassure himself, although just how much it reassured him was open to debate. 

 

One thing did become apparent, however. The lump of muscle and blood that was his partner was falling. He knew Freddy could take a hit. But becoming a pavement pizza was something he didn't want to leave to chance. 

 

Looking upwards, he slammed his foot on the accelerator and the Chevvy leapt forward, tyres squealing. 

 

"I gotcha buddy!" he yelled out. "Land on the roof!"

 

Alas, it was not to be. He had spurted forward a couple of yards without looking, and the CHevvy hit a Lampost, crunching the bonnet up in a horrible manner, and letting off copious amounts of steam. 

 

"Oh sweet Mary, my car!" he yelped. "I look like that Idiot Lord Steam and his stupid car!"

 

His train of thought was interrupted by the Mess hitting the pavement with a loud thud. Turns out he didn't explode or flatten. Fortunately, he broke his fall with a non vital organ. His head. Still, it was enough for him to groan and pass out. 

[Thevshi]

Strand managed to agilely dodge aside as Lucy came hurtling down onto the rooftop, creating a few cracks as she landed with considerable force.  Focusing on the undead attorney, the costumed criminal's hair coiled in before launching out in a large mass aimed at Lucy.

 

But Lucy was quicker at regaining her balance than Stand anticipated, and easily dodged the attack.

 

The supercriminal pulled her hair back, the mass of dark brown hair swirling around her as she continued to face off with Lucy.  "Why can't you all just give a girl trying to get by a break?"  She began.  "If you all were willing to just let me go my way, I would tell where the statue is headed.  The longer you waste with me, the closer it is to the delivery of the goods to the buyer."

 

[Tiffany Korta]

This wasn’t getting them anywhere and they really needed the information, so it was time for Lucy to take a risk. She wasn’t sure that Bloody Mess would approve but he had other things on his mind right now.

 

“Okay then but on two conditions. One you tell me everything you know about who hired you. and two there a Women Shelter in the West End that could really do with a large donation.â€

 

She took a relaxed posed as she spoke, but she was ready to act if Strand made another attempt to escape.

[Thevshi]

Strand relaxed slightly as Lucy shifted out of her fighting stance. "A women's shelter? I think I can see about them getting a nice donation." She replied giving a small sigh.

"The job stealing the statue came from a group called Crimenet. They are an organized crime group that operates up and down the East Coast, only recently getting started here in Freedom City." The costumed criminal then continued. "Several of their mooks picked up the statue to take it to the buyer. Along with them was some hired…well, I guess superpowered muscle. Guy named Ronnie Motts, goes by Machinefist, likely on account of these huge metal gauntlet things he wears. If it weren't for those things, he would seem like just any other outlaw biker thug."

"I don't know who the buyer is, only that they will be meeting them in an empty warehouse in Greenbank."

[Supercape]

The Chevvy busted, Harry scuttled on foot to Strand and Revenant. Not too close, though. 

 

He picked up a trashcan lid as a shield and cowered behind it as he approached. 

 

"Yeah, no fighty, no problemo!" he said, peeking his eyes above the rin of the trash can. "I'm not a fighter anyway. More of a lover. Well, more of a runner, honestly. So if you want to fight, She is much better at it that me" he explained, pointing at Revenant. 

 

"Machine fist? Sounds horrible" he muttered, conjuring up medieval injury of a giant man with fists made out of implements garnered from the Spanish Inquisition's deepest dungeon, carving his way through his internal organs. 

 

"But I am sure Revenant and the Bloody Mess can  handle him!" he said defiantly, hoping this was indeed the case. 

 

"Give use the location and the time for this meeting. Then we can end this nightmare" he said, wiping the sweat from his damp h air and forehead. 

 

"And there is this really important place in the Fens. Does a lot of private detective work for the poor. Takes on charity cases, vital community work. Very charitable, very worthwhile. I am sure they could do with a donation, too. Have you got a pen and paper? Its called the Bloodhouse detective agency, account number...."

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy without looking over to Harry gave him a gentle clip round the back of the head. Then she made sure that she got all the necessary details of where the meeting was going down

 

“I’m a woman of my word so go. Just think twice before you try this again in this city, any city really.â€

 

That done she turned towards Harry, glancing over to his partner.

 

“We better get going if we’re going to recover this statue, how’s poor Fred doing?â€

[Thevshi]

"He's a pig." Strand responded as Harry commented about Machine Fist. The costumed criminal then gave him a small sneer as he began talking about the BHDA’s need for charity. "Nice try, but I wouldn't push your luck." She then proceeded to give the pair the address for the exchange, which was to take place within a half hour or so.

"Well, a girl has to make a living." Strand replied to Lucy’s comment about not trying this again in Freedom City. "But I think I will try to avoid this town in the future." She added, before jumping off the rooftop, using her hair to swing away from the building.

The address for the warehouse where the exchange was taking place was not too far away, but with the Caddy busted, that might still prove a small problem.

Down below, Freddy slowly came back awake, his bloody form lying in the street near the crashed Caddy.

[Supercape]

Harry looked at the poor Chevvy. 

 

"Damn heapa junk! All I did was drive it into a lamp post. And I guess I will have to pay for damage to the city" he whined. 

 

He pulled the Mess to the Car and waited for him to recover. In his own body, at that time. The Mess' bloody powers - he never got used to them entirely. Always unsettled him. 

 

"You two go on to the meeting place. Ill get this bag of bolts towed. Not that I would be much help fighting super villains anyway. I could probably bust up their knuckles pretty badly with my kidneys" he joked, already making the towing call. 

 

"You sure?" asked the Mess, scratching his bruised head. He already knew the answer though. 

 

"Guess its just you and me, Lady" he said to revenant giving her a playful punch on the arm. 

 

"Ready when you are!"

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy didn't reply for a minute or two looking off into the distance, then she turned to her partner.

 

“It the car can’t take us then I can carry us both on foot. Not quite as fast or comfortable as the car but it will get us there.â€

 

She gave him one of her charming smiles and gestured down to the car.

 

“I could probably carry the car as well as take us all, though I’m not sure that Hound could cope with the stress!â€

[Thevshi]

Despite Harry's prostrations in opposition, the decision was made that Lucy would carry the Caddy, with Harry inside, while Freddy would run alongside, as he was just as fast as the undead lawyer.  Even for Freedom City, the resulting scene was an unusual one, Lucy and Freddy running down the streets, just as fast as the cars, with Lucy holding the beat up and smashed Caddy over her head, Harry sitting, white knuckled, behind the wheel of the carried vehicle.

 

Even though he was in abject terror during the "ride" to the abandoned warehouse, in the back of his mind, Harry could not help feeling that there was something familiar about the name Ronnie Motts.

 

A short while later, the trio arrived at the address Strand had provided.  It turned out to be a relatively small warehouse (comparatively to its neighbors), with a somewhat larger paved yard around it.  Seven foot high chainlink fences surrounded the yard, a gate at the front appearing to be locked closed.  The warehouse was dark, or at least the front part of it was.

[Supercape]

"Sheesh! Even my poop turned white!" gasped Harry, clutching at his chest with what he hoped was an imagined, rather than real, heart attack. 

 

"Chest...pains...I gotta quit smoking...." he wheezed, lighting up a Cigar and puffing it like it was an oxygen tube. 

 

"Sweet Mary, I needed that..." he said, voice climbing down to normal and blood recirculating in his body. 

 

"And now we gotta meet some world class assassin or super powered killer or something. Yippee! I'm staying in the car, even if it is busted!" he said, defiantly, clicking the doors to locked. 

 

He wound down the window to speak to his sturdier friends. 

 

"What are ya waiting for then? Go take a look, and don't get shot!"

 

"You got it buddy!" smiled the Mess,  giving his partner two thumbs up and scanning the warehouse. He jumped full over the chain link fence and started to walk to the Warehouse to take a closer look...