Hero's Unlimited: The Catsiverse: The Viper Wars

[CelticREI]

Owl
HP: 1. LP: 2
Condition: Fine.

The wind is what Owl hated most about the mountain area, always blowing and whipping around, never-mind what it did to one's skin...
She waited atop one of the hills overlooking where Vadimar's camp was suppose to be, or rather Mansion.... why didn't evil mages have camps in the middle of deserts or caves deep inside mountains anymore?
As she waited she began to draw a small symbol into the dirt at her feet using the tip of her staff, it glowed for a moment before fading from view, it was then that her waiting was ended as two grey owls flew up to her and transformed into exact look-a-likes.
"So the place is about how we thought." said the first
"Yeah, a few guards roaming about, a few wards up for 'porting and shifting." the second finished
"Right, let's do this ladies." Owl said as she let go of the enchantment and her two copies faded from existence. She slipped from the hill into the air, her cloak opening like an owl's wings as she glided silently toward the ornate home, speaking a quiet word and she faded from view.

"What are you doing you idiot!!" Bill snaps crossly as he swats Bert on the back of the head.

"I heard something, I'm telling you!" Bert replies harshly as he glares back at Bill and rubs the back of his head.

"it's just an owl you moron." Bill jeers as he rolls his eyes and points to the Owl sitting high on a branch of one of the trees. "They're out hunting, come on dumb@ss we'll be late for the check in."

"I'm telling you there was something there!" Bert complains but Bill doesn't listen as the two argue and move off.

"No matter the villain, they always have stupid peons..." Owl said to herself as she hopped down to the ground and went about her work, every few feet dropping a small coin to the ground which seemed to fade into the background and blend with the dirt or grass or stone it was set on.

"Yeah this is Tim, checking in." a man said, not noticing the shadow creep over him until it was too late. His body taken to a place none would notice and a special coin put next to his walkie-talkie.
"Yeah, this is Tim. Checking in...." it said, set to repeat every 15 minutes.

This is way too easy... Why did Lady Grey send me? She could have sent Sparrow or... Owl began to think but was interrupted by a bullet, through her shoulder.
Owl faded into view as her concentration on her enchantment was broken and she staggered backward "Well that about sucked..." she said before casting a quick charm to silence any radio broadcasts from the area... no one but this new guy need know she was here.

"Don't reckon you're from these parts, but also with your skills you must know who's property you're on." the man said, to which Owl tilted her head in a very bird-like manner "Huh?"
The man's answer was to raise his twin six-shooters and fire off a few more rounds at the Avian Avenger, most of which she was able to dodge, and she threw a few of her Owl'rangs in return, most of which were shot from the sky but one managed to nick the man's cowboy hat "Uh oh, I ruined your favorite hat, didn't I? Come on, you're every bit of a bad rip-off of Eastwood already, just get mad and say the damn line!" Owl quipped as she dodged another volley of hot lead.

"Don't rightly reckon to know what you're talking about ma'am, but you'd do good to just lie down and die for me, you hear?"

"And what's with the perfect speech? Shouldn't you be slurring your words to high heaven? What kind of cowboy are you?"

"... A deadly one." he said as he shot a bullet which bloomed into a fireball not a foot out of the barrel.

"Ohhh... so -there- is your line, you take offense to being questioned on your 'cowboy-ness'... Well that's not cool, cause like, I've seen circus clowns who are more Western than you..."

"You can shut your mouth, young miss, and die now."

"Sorry hun, I've been told how I die by a pretty good fortune teller, so I know it's not here." she said as she dodged a sparking bullet and she thought was one made of acid. His aim is getting off more and more, which is good, the bullet through the arm is starting to really hurt... she thought as she pulled out two Owl'rangs and whispered to them before letting them fly. The cowboy shot both of them with a grin on his face but was slightly surprised when they exploded slightly with a small 'pop' as he shot them
"Your explosives need some work."

Owl grinned "Nah, they get the explosive shrapnel pretty well spread around." she said, the cowboy seeing himself surrounded by small blinking red lights "Night night." Owl said and snapped her fingers, triggering the mini-bombs.

--------

"What was that noise?" Vadimar said to the cultists around him "Gore, check on it and find Raid! Make sure the damn cowboy isn't trying to shoot bottles with fireballs again..."
"Yeah, this is Tim. Checking in...."
"Yeah, this is Bob. Checking in...."
"Yeah, this is Randy. Checking in...."
"Yeah, this is Kevin. Checking in...."
"Remind me to get some minions with originality next time..." he commented to another cultist.

--------

*cough cough* "So... maybe a little -too- much explosives..." Owl said as she faded from sight again...

Okie dokie... about 30 more coins and I can go have a chat with Vadi... oh and hello ugly as sin croc-like creature... just going to sneak around you... sniffing the air and turning toward me... Peachy.
Owl faded into view with her staff at the ready "So... I guess throwing you a big steak wouldn't do it, yeah?"
"Gore Maul!" he said as he started to charge
"Owl Run!" Owl snarked as she leapt into the air and glided behind the charge, as she did so she dropped an explosive Owl'rang onto the brute's head "I hate to pull the same gag twice in a row, but if it works..." she said and snapped her fingers.

--------

"More noises... get some more people to find out what is happening, I can't let this ceremony be interrupted!"

--------

*Cough* Well, that about does...." she starts but sees a large shadow raise from the rubble "that..."
Gore steps forward out of the dust cloud "RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!"
"Eep."

Gore charged again and Owl deftly dodged out of the way another time "You know, tall dark and scaley, we could both just walk away, no harm in seeing that I can't beat you and you can't hit me..."
"Gore no get tired. Bird-Lady getting very tired..."
"Bird-Lady?! I am -not- some crazy old chick in the park!" she said, pulling twin Owl'rangs from her cloak and whispering a charm as they flew, each of them were covered in a purple shadow energy which formed into owls, and they both flew right by the large Lizard Man.

"Bawhahahahaha!"
"Yep, because my aim is -that- off..." Owl said with a grin and she pulled her hands back toward herself as if pulling back on a rope, the twin Owl'rangs slapped onto the monster's back and dug claws into his thick hide to keep them in place
"No boom make Gore go down!"
"Yeah I kinda figured that, so instead of trying to 'take you down' I'm just 'taking you out' Happy Trails." she said, still grinning as she snapped her fingers and the Owl'rangs let out a flame from the bottom of them, leaving the Lizard Man a quick moment to wonder what was going on before he rocketed into the air with his improvised jetpack, off to who-knows-where... "You should survive the landing... should..." she said as she dropped two more coins.

--------

"Finally the time is at hand! In less than 15 minutes the planets will be in proper alignment. Bring the girl!"

A coin flew from the darkness to smack Vadimar in the back of the head "What? Who dares?!"

Owl stepped from the shadows "Hey Vadi, I dare."
"And you are?"
"Owl, servant of Lady Grey."
"Bawhaha! Lady Grey, she will have -nothing- after tonight! I will be given god-hood for breaking my Masters from their prison they were entombed in so..."
"You know, I could listen to you drone on and on, taking up time until you try to stab the poor girl 'without me being ready' and all, but the fact of the matter is you've already lost. I'm giving you the option, go with your dignity or not."
"How dare you, you..."
"You know what, nevermind, I'm making the choice for you. Vadi, it was nice knowing you... actually that is a lie, you suck." she said with a grin on her face, one that didn't disappear even when the ethereal tentacle summoned by the evil mage grabbed Owl and brought her close to him
"You think you have won? You have not even thrown a single spell nor punch my way!"
"Actually, I did both." she looked down to the coin on the ground, the very one that had struck the back of his head moments ago.
"Ha! hahaha! You think..." he started before he really looked at the coin, he started to reach for it when he heard an audible 'snap' of Owl's fingers...

The coin began to glow a burning red color, then red energy lines snaked from it and connected to a ring of coins around the room, each one turning red as well and throwing out snake lines to connect to other coins, and so on until a huge elegant design is formed, taking up the whole of the mansion.
"What is this? What are you doing?!"
"Smacking you with a rolled up newspaper." Owl smirked, the tentacle fading from existence as the very magic used to summon it is sucked into the vortex of the symbol.

--------

Owl stood over the mage, trembling on the ground as he tried to cast some spell but it failed.
"Yep, what that did was drain away all the magic in the area for a good... couple weeks probably, people will get their reserves back quicker, but you can't light a candle for at least a couple hours."
"But that means you are powerless too!"
Owl pulled the man to his feet and held him by the collar of his robe "My magic is drained, yeah, but I'm -far- from powerless." she grinned and head-butt the man into unconsciousness.
Pulling out a cell phone, Owl put it to her ear "Yeah, send in the clean up crew, yeah... no... yeah... sure, see ya soon... Oh and watch out for falling Lizard Men... you heard me..."

[catsi563]

Owl

The clean up crew arrives fairly quickly mostly minor acolytes and mages or scholars whith a knack for such cleanup including a few minor fae, and other creatures tasked with such things. The area is cleansed of any dark after affects and spells, and Vadimar and his associates taken into custody most to go to more mundane prisons for various sundry crimes. Vadimar is wihisked away to be seen by the Lady Grey her self, a prospect which has him unleash a long mournful howl as he realizes the enormity of what hes facing.

Unfortunately Raid it seems slipped away in the confusion, but at least they caught Gore after he face planted on the side of a building in downtown, they do give you a bit of grief over that, given he could have landed on a civilian or in an inhabited area and caused all sorts of havoc.

Still for the most part its just grumbling they understand what position you hold and leave any further chastisement to the Lady of the House.

The Lady in this case when you finally show up is rather pleased though she doesnt really show much more then a casual expression a near perfect poker face if ever there was one. She doesnt interrupt as you give a full and detailed account of the night leaving nothing out knowing that even the smallest detail can be cruical in this world you're in.

when you're done she makes the only sound you've heard from her so far which is a slight exhalation of breath and a mildly annoyed twitch of a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Bothersome idiot should have known better than to cross me, did he actually think I would let this go unnoticed?" she seems to ask rhetorically.

Then she waves a hand dismissively and regards you with that stare that no matter how many times you've seen it never fails to send a shudder down your spine,that look as if she were paging through you like a book and reading chapter and verse on you.

"Again you've done well and served me proudly, I couldnt be more pleased, though in one case you're judgement could use some scrutiny." she again arcs an eyebrow at you "Really sending Gore flying in a random direction like that, tsk tsk" still in the end results are what matters and yours cant be denied in this case, the girl safe, Vadimar in custody, and the ritual of pure blood stopped and unable to be performed again for no less then a thousand years. exellent work." she praises you with a small fond smile.

She indicates you should sit and points to a cup of tea. After a few moments in which she regards you a little less thoroughly and more casually she speaks aagin.

"I have to ask you for a somewhat unusual request this time." she begins "it is not an order, and one you may feel free to disregard if you wish."

"Kris has been cleansed and the demon inside him is no more." she explains evenly "Now though he is vulnerable, and in greater danger then before. His bond with the Lantern was strong, but their destinies Im afriad have reached a pint of parting and they must find new paths seperate of each other. "She pauses a moment before contiuing "Kris will need guidance and training to reaquaint himself with the magic that is his birthright, James had allready begun such training but the use of his demonic "Gifts".." she emphasized the word a bit snidely "left him a bit behind where he should be in many disciplines."

She stands up and makes her way over to the fireplace in the room stares into the fires for a few moments before finaly turning to you. "I want you to train him, help him reawaken muscles long atrophied, reembrace skills dusty with unuse. I beleive you can help reawaken his skills and when he is ready he will reembrace his full potential. He will also need protection until then. He is vulnerable now to those who will not take kindly to hsi ahving broken the contract he made, nor to those who in the past he has stopped or defeated, and who once they know about his infirmity will take that as their invitation for vengance."

[CelticREI]

Owl
HP: 1. LP: 2
Condition: Fine.

Owl smiled when she was praised by Lady Grey "Well to be fair, he -should- have only gone straight up, but the wind and him flailing kinda threw off the trajectory..." she grinned.

She listened to Lady Grey as she explained her request about Kris, thinking a moment before answering "I know how much Kris means to you, so you asking me to be the one to do this, first off is an honor, second would be a pleasure." Owl nodded to herself "I'll show him the ropes and keep an eye out for him."

"... so... does this mean my normal duties are on hold? Just wondering if I'm going to be running around or if some of this is getting pawned off onto Sparrow and Hawk."

[catsi563]

Owl

She looks at you and repliess "Yes for now Sparrow and Hawk will be taking your normal duties, along with Cardinal and Raven--she mentions your other siblings-- Kris will require most of your attention. The group he is with will need his skills, and yours sooner then they realize, or know." she pauses a moment.

"Forces are on the move that will alter the balance of power in this world and bring a great evil back into it." She sneers slightly "That jackal headed fool doesnt comprehend the powers hes unleashing in the slightest, nor the fact that hes a mere tool."

She turns to leave, and as she passes you she pauses momentarily "Be cautious about what information you impart to Kris about this Anubis." and her tone of voice is stern here "He has begun this journey, and in many ways this is his journey to end."

She hands you a small papyrus scroll sealed in an ivory and gold inlaid case "When the time is right make sure Kris finds this, I trust you will know when."

"Until then stay safe and take care of yourself." Then she turns and pulls her hood up over her head and as she walks past you just as she reaches the corner of your peripherla vision she vanishes as if she were never there.

[catsi563]

Vipers in out Midst

"Theres a snake in my boots!"

Woody, Toy Story


It has been a long month for everyone since the end of the troll incedent, and everyone has been tremendousy busy.

Hornet came home to find a video message from Karen saying she was going to be out of town for a short period due to a family illness. But she left notes on the projects you were both working on that wer emore then adequate enough to finish. You also received a message from Firefly which was basicaly a video of her legs--very nice--sunning themselves on a beach somewhere. The message in short said "That was SOOOOOO much fun lover, thanks again for the amazing time, and lets do it again soon." Kisses! Firefly."

She also left you another clue as to her past, when she said in the message that her sister had worked for Brand and when she found that her work on shrinking down a power source that could be used in robot chassis was being coopted by Viper she tried to go to the feds only for Brand and Viper to arraigne an accident. The company of course cov ered its tracks but thanks to your actions they've now been exposed and are under a nasty federal investigation.

For Shock hes been running around tracking leads on the META distribution network and shutting them down sometimes solo, and sometimes with the help of the other Guardians and most often though with the help of the hotblooded Dragonfyre. The young metas raw strength and power wera great boon for the time you ran into the serpent society Vipers trained assassin squad.

For Kris the last 4 weeks saw him getting a new mentor who after barely one week made him all but wish he had the demon back inside him. The Mysterious Owl had taken over his training from Doctor Arcane who had smiled and said "Dotn worry Christian, shes great, it'll be fun!" with that tremendous grin on his face. Not for the last time youve wished you could punch him right in that grin since the Owl has proven a fierce taskmaster with a personality nearly as eccentric as Arcanes is.

And last but not least the Protectors as a whole have run into the normal threats any group of your caliber faces. The Nasty Boys, GRAB, The Ultimates, the machinations of Lor Recluse and his Archnos organization, and of course VIPER whose activities have taken a serous upswing in Bay City lately.

Almost as if they were plannign something.

With Green Lantern leaving to join the newly formed Blue Lantern Corp this has left a void in the group. Tony AKA Dragonfyre has fileld in admirably--going toe to toe with Ogre is no small feat--and the group is looking to add some more firepower to its ranks. So far though no candidates have presented themselves.

Until now.

--ooOoo--

A pudgy middle aged man with a bad toupe sits on the screen and points to a picture on the wall behind him as he rants. "And here were go again friends. Once more our so called heroes doing more harm then good, trashing millions of dollars of property to bring down a few small time crooks in halloween costumes. Not leaving the job to the ""Proper"" law enforcement officials as they should!!" he yells as he bangs his fist down in a childish display as he steamrolls on.

"And this..." the scene cuts away to a video of a tall beautiful woman taking on the Wrecking Crew and basicaly while out numbered holding her own. "This is the worst of the lot." he rants on "Clover Madison, grandstander, charalatan, fake, and media whore." he sneers viciously. "Look at that smug attitude,thinks shes better then us normal americans, think shes the bees knees." he snaps throwing his arms up in the air dramatically as he goes on another long winded buffoonish rant about the evils of Clover Madison and how shes a danger to the world and traditional american values, and so on and so forth.

Finaly the ranting is shut off as Doctor Hank walks in and uses the remote to change channels to something with more intelligence; Pro wrestling namely. "Aw come on Dc I was watching that." Elena pouts "Why Elena? Doc asks incredulously "that stuff will rot your brain, proven scientific fact."

"Good to know what the enemy thinks of us." she replies evenly "Also helpful for finding new recruits, after all if that bloviating gas bag doesnt like them they msut be doing something right." she repleis cheerfuly.

"You're thinking about that Clover woman, arent you?" Doctor Hank replies as the bashmaster brains his opponent with a chair in the background.

"Yep, Oracles done extensive studies of her physiology and powers, shes got amazing potential, and could be a potent frontline fighter for the group, not to mention give them some extra capability in rescue operatons as needed."

"Huh?" he coughs "Well shes gorgoeus thats for sure, if she kicks butt half as good as she looks the bad guys will be turning themselves in to jail in no time." he chuckles good naturedly.

"want her pnone number?" Elena snarks sticking ehr tongue out at him

"Can you..?" he starts to ask with a mischeivous grin before she cuts him off "Get out of here jerk!" she snaps as she shoos him off to the med bay all the while shaking her head with a smile.

--ooOoo--

In a part of the Imagerea very rarely traveled too. A man walks boldy up to and inside a massive cave entrance. His cloaked and hooded form not even pausing as he enters the cavern. Down deep and dark tunnels he wends his way as the air around him growns warmer and warmer almost as if it were a sauna, and instead of getting darker it gets brighter the deeper he goes.

Down and down, until he steps out onto a ledge above a massive cavern that is filled wall to wall with treasure of all sorts and shapes and countless piles of other precious things. In heaps uncounted and unseen lay ther wealth of ages, piles of coins in gold, and silver and platinum and in metals not seen on earth in ages. gems and jewels cut and uncut worth a kings ransom by themselves, cups and arms and armor, and many other such gleaming things wrought and unwrought were to be seen in this immense cavern.

But the man standing their paid no mind to the immense wealth before him. For as he removed his hood to reveal the face of Doctor Arcane himself, the Master Mage waited patiently as before too long a massive sinuous form stalked into the enormous cavern. its gleaming red scales like a great coat of shining blood red mail, its claws long as any sword and ten times as sharp and its fangs gleaming in its lagre mouth were the stuff of nightmares. Massive sinuous wings flexed and unfolded as great nostrils flared at the scent of something that had not dared step into her domain for an age.

"So the Master Mage deigns to pay me a visit." came a deep rumbling as of two massive slabs of bronze rubbing together."And to what do i owe the pleasure?"

"He's joined the group as I'm sure you know." Arcane answered easily not the least bit flustered as a massive golden reptilian eye regarded him.

"I am well aware, you think I dont keep an eye on him?" came the deep rumbling reply.

"Of course not..." he bega onot have her interrupt him "Then why do you come here?!" she roared and flames shot from her nostrils to either side of the master mage who merely brushed a cinder off his shoulder as he looked at her quizzicaly.

"Common courtesy of course, you did ask me to look after him, and you know as well as I do what role he plays in events to come." Arcane replied as he watched the sinuous form drop down on the bed of treasure like some enormous cat, turning in place a time or 2 before stretching and curling up.

"Yes." was her only reply as Arcane turned to leave but before he did she opened her mouth as if to speak.

"he's grown into a fine young man by the way." he interrupted her this time "just thought you should know." he added as she smiled that mischievous smile of his at her before walking out of the cavern. He didnt need to see the pleased grin on the enormous creatures face as it lowered its head and closed its eyes to sleep and dream of a far away place where her son performed great deeds.

Moving on lets have a move on post whats everyone been up to for the past month. And same as before if anyone has any requests for villains let me know.

[Shadowbourne]

Dragonfyre

The past month had been a whirlwind of life changes for the young Mr. Long. The first use of his...gifts for someone other than himself had been incredibly rewarding. The joy in Mrs. Ngyuen's when her nephew recovered and news that the drug that was responsible was being burned from the street had lit a fire in Tony's soul. Then the first call from Shock was...well...a shock. That he had wanted Tony's help made the daring dragon's soul burn even brighter. He was wanted...he was needed. And more than that....it felt right. He had told Shock that the pusher's had invaded his territory...his turf. At first, even Tony had thought that that had meant his neighborhood. But, after the first event, Tony found that things bothered him even when they weren't in his neighboorhood. Now, it seemed, the whole Bay Area was his territory. And when Shock had told about Viper, the backers of META, and how they were stepping up their operations in the Bay Area, Tony simply growled and followed Shock into every Viper nest the Electrical Knigt Errant found. Soon, Dragonfyre had become a force to be reckoned with...whether they wanted to or not.

Tony's father? His only reply was "Karma...there are things you must do and things you are meant to do. When they come together, that is Karma," shaking his head saddly. When Tony told him of the Protectors invitation to join he simply said, "As it should be. Do what you know and feel is right son. The only person you have to see content is yourself. I will be fine...seek your destiny."

However, joining the Protectors was only part of his life. He still helped out at Mrs Ngyuen's and though it was wrong, DR8KE still hacked his way into more gaming systems than he should have. He couldn't help it really....it was way too fun to hack the systems and take an NPC Dragon and use it as your own avatar and THEN do things that weren't scripted. It was so fun to ignore the Tanks and simply kill the Healer first. Even better yet was to actually die when a lone player attacked you stupidly. It drove the Gaming Devs nuts...and made Tony smile.

Tony was shutting off his laptop after playing a round of Land of Lords(LoL). Standing up and stretching, he cracked his knuckles as he got up and went to the fridge for a BEAST energy drink.

[kenseido]

Kris Majax

It had been a few days since Ashley left Earth for this new Blue Lantenr Corps. The ring apprached them as they arrived back home after seeing Dr Arcane, and the two of them had talked about it all night. This felt right to both of them, so even though there was a great deal of saddness, Kris saw her off and wished her the best.

But now was not the time to reminisce. Kris looked down at his side, the deep wound still oozing blood. He took a deep breath and looked around for something... anything he could use to get out of this mess.

"Christian! Stop putting off the inevitable."

What was it with all the magic types that thought you should just roll over and die, as a courtesy to them? Still, this was pretty bad - exactly the thing Ashley was worried about. He had received word of this new "mentor" - the Owl - and insisted he would be fine. This paticular demon was fireproof, meaning the one attack spell he managed to master since everything went down at Arcane's was useless.

"Come on Christian, you're making this to easy."

"That's because I want you to follow me, you puke." Kris says under his breath. Across the road he spies a foundry. Perfect.

"You really should have known that little girl was a trap."

Yeah, he suspected; but it didn't change the fact that she needed help. He takes in a deep breath and sprints over towards his chosen battleground. He side screamed with every step. He looked around and saw the employees were still there.

"ILLUSIO!" he calls and suddenly a loud "explosion" comes from the main furnace, causing all the workers to follow the carefully laid out evacuation plans of 'Run for it!' Also, that would be loud enough to get his attention.

He looks around the area for something to use as a weapon. A lot of scrap iron around, but most of it too heavy to be turned into an effective weapon. Unless...

He spies his prize, and looks back towards the entrance. He saw the demon in human guise casually walk into the area.

"Seriously, Christian? I thought we already established the whole fire thing was useless."

"Seriously, I thought we established when you last two mooks ended up dead that I am no pushover." Kris' voice called back. The demon began moving in the direction of his voice.

"Yes, well I'm afraid your luck has run out today."

"Day's not over yet."

The demon pops around the corner where Kris' voice is coming from only to find... nothing.

Kris pops up from behind crane where he was projecting his voice from, "Say Bye-bye!" Then he barely whisphers the incantation "Illusio". Lightning crackes around his hand, and he points it at the demon. True surprise, and a little fear comes over the demon at the thought of underestimating his prey. The lightning bolt is let loose and the demon instinctively dodges to the side. He kept his eyes on Kris, the look of pure venom staring down the mage. Had he followed the lightning bolt, he would have seen it pass harmlessly through the metal wall behind him. Illusions were like that.

But that was no illusion hanging above the demon now. "FORZARE!" Kris calls as he hits the controls on the crane, turning off the magnet and releasing several hundred pounds of jagged scrap iron on to the unsuspecting demon. Kris lets out a big sigh as he sees seveal pieces of metal have impaled the demon, and one long pole had pierced his brain.

Without stopping to congratulate himself, or offer a quip; Kris moves over to the foundry entrance. He rests against the wall inside the entrance, and pulls out a long thin leather pouch. He unwraps the pouch to reveal a long black blade. He pulls it out of the scabbard in a reverse grip and waits.

"RRROOOOOOOAAARRR...."

The second demon's roar is interrupted abruptly by the hunter's blade entering under his chin and piercing his brain as well. Kris holds it there for a few seconds, and then pulls it out causing the demon to collapse. He wipes the blade off on the demon and returns it to its scabbard. He looks back down at his wound and sighs.

"Guess I should learn that healing spell soon."

[Tattooedman]

Hornet:
[Kirk McGlothlin]
HP: 2
LP: 2

Hornet spent the first week repairing his armor, the damage done to it by his pushing the booster so hard had been pretty bad. Plus he'd been still recovering from the few scrapes he'd taken from his previous bouts with Firefly so he paced himself under Doctor Hanks instructions (though there had been a couple times the guy had tricked Kirk out of the lab to relax some). He also spent time working on making some improvements on the armor based on what he'd learned from working with Karen as well as their collective projects.

Then Detective Gaines had brought Hornet in as a "technical advisor" position with the investigation into Brand, he said it'd take his boys three times as long to figure out half the techno-babble they'd confiscated than it would Hornet. And Kirk had to admit that Brand's tech was pretty cutting edge, even he had some trouble keeping up with all of it as some parts were in fields of science Kirk wasn't up to date with but he managed to get some answers for Gaines none the less.

By the middle of the second week he'd gotten the armor put back together and fully tested, so he wasted no time in heading out for a night of patroling only to run into Flip; a nice gal really aside from her habit of breaking into jewel stores to loot them and throwing custome made razor cards with a precision that was uncanny and even Hornet had a bit of trouble dodging them. Add in her world-class level of acrobatic skill and she was a bit of a handfull but thankfully after all his dealings with Firefly, Hornet was ready for several of Flip's feinting tricks. Then he spent the rest of the week hunting down Brainchild thanks to some tips he'd gotten from a few friends in the scientific community, but unfortunately the psionically gifted inventor manged to elude Hornet still.

The whole third week Kirk spent catching up on his work for Oracle. His supervisor had left him a few messages to "remind" him that the team was waiting on Kirk's blueprints, which he hadn't even started by that point.

The final week Hornet was attacked by Beetle again (he was getting better at fixing his armor it seemed), and spent most of the week stuck in his tiny form thanks to Beetle's use of a custom jammer he'd built that was meant to cause the armor to stop it's shrinking function in the idea that Hornet would be returned to normal size and unable to properly defend himself. Instead it locked the Insect Avenger in his small statue form and Beetle had managed to capture him and take him to a hidden lab he'd set up on the outskirts of town. Hornet spent three entire days trying to find his way out of the "hive maze" Beetle had quickly thrown together and driving the criminal away before spending the next two days working to reverse the jammer's effects on the armor and then the following two last days of the week testing the armor for any possible malfunctions that might have remained from the jammer's use on it.

Who said being a hero was easy?

Hornet wanted to smack him in the back of the head just on principle.

[CelticREI]

Owl
HP: 1. LP: 2
Condition: Fine.

"Guess I should learn that healing spell soon."

"Yeah, like soon enough to not bleed out." a voice trailed through the air before Owl shimmered into vision from the shadows. She walked up to Kris without slowing and whispered something as she pulled out a small spray canister "Not gonna lie, this will -sting-." she said before spraying it on Kris' side, shooting pain followed, but it lasted only a few seconds before it faded and when it did he found his wound closed.
The Avian Avenger stood "Temp fix, don't over exert yourself for the next couple hours or it might re-open." she said, her cowl moving to indicate she was looking off to the side "Really stupid move. You got these two, barely, but what if there were three? Or four?" she sighed and shook her head.

[kenseido]

Kris Majax

Kris almost falls over when the cloaked woman appears. He isn't initially concerned about her, his former contract left him with a sense for the infernal.

Not to say that non-demons were all on his side. More than a few out there would like to kill him, because in having made the deal once before he was obviously going to do it again. Better to save him by kill him.

As the woman sprayed his wound, he winced. She wasn't kidding even a little. He looked down and saw the wound close up.

"Yeah, well, there weren't three or four; just the two of them. Loud mouth wanted to distract me from his friend." Kris indicates the demon killed by the Hunter's Blade. Kind of risky for a mage to carry one of those, but he knew what was out there after him. Until he could expand his repertoire, Kris would need to rely on items like this.

"Name's Kris by the way, but I suspect you already knew that."

[CelticREI]

Owl
HP: 1. LP: 2
Condition: Fine.

She smiled, her cowl still showing she was looking off to Kris' side, at least if her eyes were facing the same way her head was, her cowl blanketed the top half of her face eerily well "Quick on the uptake, I like that." she said, now turning to face him "Owl." she halfway faded from view "Head home Kris and heal up, we'll see each other again real soon..." she finished before she faded totally.

[kenseido]

Kris Majax

Kris just stands there for a bit after Owl leaves. He had half hoped she was Owl, having been completely spent in his battle against the two demons. She definitely had a bit of Arcane's flair.

Now that he wasn't in immediate danger of bleeding out, he slowly made his way out of the foundry as the workers started to make their way back to work. He pulled out his cell phone - thankfully still working - and called a cab.

He made his way down to the corner and waited for the cab to take him back to his apartment.

"I miss being able to shimmmer."

[CelticREI]

Owl
HP: 1. LP: 2
Condition: Fine.

"I'll teach you eventually kid..." Owl said to herself, her 'shimmer' teleported her to the roof of the building as she watched Kris leave. Clicking her tongue lightly before looking down to the third demon, the one she got to before Kris ran into the building and their trap, she sighed a bit "This should be a fun next few months..."

[kenseido]

Kris Majax

Kris approached the clearing, and when he saw the mats laid out, he let out a groan. He had gone through many lessons with Kung Lao on similar mats. And what's worse, without the demon inside him, he didn't have the resilience or skill to even be competitive.

He had spent the last few days recovering from his injuries, and much to Dr Hank's dismay, he used alchemical preparations to aid his healing rather than the fine Doctor's medical talents. Still, he felt 100%, so if this is a trap, he is... well he is a little more prepared for it. At least he was better armed in case some demons decided to surprise him.

[Nineofspades]

Clover
HP 1

Clover sat on the sofa, feet kicked up on the coffee table, beer in one hand, enjoying the evening as best she could, and trying to work out the krink in her neck from a very long day. First there was the Wrecking Crew, That had been fun. And not even sarcastically fun. It fit a really nice nitch in the Superhero-Super villain ecosystem. No grand dangerous plans, no stressing out over the fate of the city. Just some thugs with super strong muscles and a desire to grab some cash. You could practically call it cathartic for her, just slugging it out in the streets. Good times.

Of course that was only the start of the day, and as usually, seemed to go downhill fast. No patrolling the city, no visits to hospitals to cheer up some sick kids, and certainly no easy afternoon working on rebuilding a '44 mustang engine from essentially scrap. Man that baby was going to pur something beautiful once it was finished. But ya, nothing productive. Clover got to spend her day shooting a commercial for some plastic looking sports car that was trying to come across as tough. Big flashy shoot to, where they showed off the cars features compared to Clover. Some of it made sense, you know, acceleration, pulling power. Things you could make an easy comparison to, putting superhero and muscle car in a 'contest'. The marketing guys had to get Clover to take it easy though, let the car win. Said it'd sell better that way, which was what they were going for. Then the director wanted to get all arts. Like setting Clover and the Car on fire to show how 'cool they were under pressure'. Didn't hurt, but there's no part of being 'on fire' that could be called fun.

It was a very, very long day, and Clover just wanted to retire to her appartent, and relax for a bit before turning out the futon bed and calling it a day. For her efforts, she'd made a pretty penny. Enough to cover the next few weeks worth of rent and groceries. Clover knew she was getting the raw deal. If they had gotten some Hollywood actor, or pop musician, or some sports star to come and endorse their crappy car, they'd probably get payed 50 times as much as the Super heroine did. But Clover didn't have the luxury of asking for more, not without looking like a huge 'sell out'. She already got enough flack for her shameless endorsement deals.

Nobody ever seemed to get it. She wasn't in it for money or fame, she did those deals because it was a quick way to get a bunch of cash, and meant Clover didn't have to work a regular job to make ends meat. Spend 6 hours doing a commercial, and she'd be free for a month to flying around and doing her real job of saving the day. Never could figure out a way to please everybody.

"Mom?" Came a soft voice,along with the creaking of the bedroom door opening up. Clover turned, and saw her daughter standing in the door, gently rubbing her eyes. "Hay sweetie" Clover responded, walking over and picking Little Nicole up, returning them both to the couch. "Sorry I was late coming home,Hope I didn't wake you. How was your day?" The 8 year old didn't answer for a while, sitting quietly, burying her head in her mothers shoulder, before answering "Rebecca said my bicycle was stupid, and that only babies use training wheels, and all the kids at school laughed at me." Though her face was hidden, the kids voice alone was enough to make it clear she was on the verge of tears over this incident. "Shh, hay, No tears now, alright?." answered the mother, gently running her fingers through Nicole's hair. "How about tomorrow, we go to the park and practice without training wheels, hmm? And afterwords, We'll stop by the convince store and get some ice cream cones. That sound good?" Nicole didn't answer, but just nodded her head. "Ok babe, now hustle your bustle back to bed. Its past your bedtime." Pausing to plant a kiss on her daughters forehead, and a small pat on the back, Clover watched her daughter head on back to the bedroom, and with her eyes peering through the walls, made sure she got back in bed.

The Western flick ended, and next on was the news.

"And this..." the scene cuts away to a video of a tall beautiful woman taking on the Wrecking Crew and basicaly while out numbered holding her own. "This is the worst of the lot." he rants on "Clover Madison, grandstander, charalatan, fake, and media whore." he sneers viciously. "Look at that smug attitude,thinks shes better then us normal americans, think shes the bees knees."

Clover rolled her eyes and switched channels, looking for something else to watch. She really hated Herbert. One of these days she hoped he'd fall into a vat of chemicals and get some kind of superpower. Just so she could slug him one and not feel bad about it. Still, it was like she'd said. Can't please everyone, no matter what you do.

Just as Cover was drifting off to sleep, she caught sight of the blinking light on her answering machine. She went through the motions of grabbing the reciever and bringing up her messages, though she did so reluctantly, not expecting to hear anything good.

Which certainly left her unprepared for a call from some very interesting people, with a very unusual proposal. Seems they had an opening on a team,and wanted to sit down for a chat with her...