Costumed Heroes

[Alkonium]

Toronto, the largest city in Canada, and like any city, there people here who prey on the innocent and the weak. From the petty thugs to the corrupt politicians, I will always seek to protect those they try to hurt. I am the Blackhawk, protector the innocent, working in the shadows for the good of the people.

 

So far, it seemed like a routine patrol. Nothing too out of the ordinary had happened yet. Hell, the only real interesting thing so far was dealing with some mugger who wasn't scared because he hadn't heard of him. He wouldn't be making that mistake again. Like most muggers, he'd just run the next time they met.

[Chevron 7 locke]

((I changed her location of operations.))

Location: Kyoto, Japan

 

Why is it that all these muggers and thieves always underestimate me because I'm a woman. You'd think after the third beating in a week they'd get the hint.

 

Shade couldn't help but smile beneath her mask as she broke her attacker's left arm while watching the other five men in black garb circle her carefully.

 

Good. Now they'll think twice. Now...what to use? The posion might work well...but then I have to worry about the posion lingering in the air like last time. Hmph. I'll use the katanas again.

 

Shade dropped the man and unsheathed both swords from her back and smiled at the men and women surrounding her.

 

"Play time."

[CommanderQ]

Toronto, Canada

City Armory

 

 

A large city.....ripe for the taking....and a perfect place to make a killing.

 

Or to start a war.

 

That is why I am here. To start my own war, a war where that I can only win. A war where fear and terror are my prime weapons, controlled by a force few will ever understand. Toronto will soon know.

 

Death and destruction, a small dot on the larger picture.

 

The world watching, waiting for the inevitable.

 

This is because I have come.

 

And I am the War-Bringer.

 

 

"Plant the charges on the main magazine boxes...."

 

"Yessir, right away."

 

The black-uniformed soldier, a member of my elite organization, the "The Black Hand," moved fast, placing the high-explosives on the magazine.

 

I have come here to show my existence to the world, to show them the truth of what they have created. Toronto will only be the beginning.

 

I have come here with a group of my soldiers to plant several highly-modified bombs. I will detonate these, exploding the large amount of ammo and other explosive materials here in Toronto's armory. It will light the city like a candle, bright, brilliant, and quick.

 

My message will be sent.

 

A soldier approached, "Sir, there are civilians snooping around the inside of the building, might be tourists."

 

I grab my Modified STG-44 Assualt rifle.

 

"I will handle them. Make sure the bomb is armed and ready in 10 minutes. I don't want to risk discovery."

 

I took out a magazine and loaded it quickly, stepping through the concrete doorway, off to find some new victims...

[Master_Archon]

((Helpful reminder to all who enjoy RP'ing, please try to speak/type in third person narrative, it gets confusing otherwise. After all, Alkonium was posting first person to create a Rorschach diary effect, the rest of the post, if you would, was in third. Thank you for your time, patience, and cooperation! I am also sorry if this seemed a bit patronizing or condescending, I just wanted to to be helpful, again, thank you, and sorry. ))

 

Kyoto, Japan

 

Ten stories up, light gusts of wind, and the strange tangy-sweet scent of orange stir fry in the air. It was, in fact, a perfect day ((assuming it's night time in Toronto)), full of laughter and banter from the surrounding area, which seemed to linger on the wind as it whipped by Jack's head.

 

He looked up, admiring the crystal blue sky, a few wisps of stratus cloud marring, nay, adding to the beauty of the day. And what could make such a perfect day even better? A bright sun giving warmth to those who stood under it, but a cool, constant breeze to keep the heat from becoming unbearable, and no problems in sight. Yes, this was a perfect day.

 

But...if only. If only it were so, and yet, it was not, for Jack was on business that day, thus, it turned this whole perfect day into, well, more of an annoyance. His job? Eliminate a threat to the local areas' criminal businesses and dealings. He was looking for someone who went by the alias of....Jade, he thought was the person's title, he wasn't too sure, as the meeting with his client was brief, and the details were sketchy, if not vague.

 

All he had in sight was a busy street where business of the more honorable, and savory sort were being conducted, such as the hocking and selling of wares. He saw no one matching the brief description given, and frankly, he didn't think he would. But his client was clear on when, and where this, Jade, sort would be, but so far, nothing.

 

"Maybe if I use my mask," Jack said to himself, slipping on the strange visor, and activating it with a few pressure plate locations. Soon he was engulfed in a whole other world, his head moving around unnaturally, looking in directions that had no great significance to them, other than the fact that it just looked weird. But almost like magic it was over, and Jack was looking off at another roof, where, if someone looked closely, there appeared to be butterflies fluttering about an overhang that overlooked an alley.

 

"There," came the clear yet vocally distorted voice of Jack, his mask automatically altering the tone and sound of his voice.

 

He bounded off, leaping the gaps between rooftop, some great, some small, while others were lower down, and some, he had to climb up old pipelines and fire escapes to get to. But soon he was at the location of the strange golden butterflies, that seemed to pay Jack no mind when he approached, on the contrary, they seemed to be attracted to him.

 

Jack peered over the edge of the overhang down into the alley, the butterflies seeming to fly in the direction of his gaze. Surely enough there was something down there, but it wasn't quite what he expected.

 

'Five...Six, no, Seven, with one on the ground...In pain. Five have surrounded the one.' Jack thought to himself, calculating and assessing the situation at hand.

 

It was very unfortunate that Jack hadn't brought his TB-40 sniper rifle with him, or he would have taken them all out and saved himself the trouble of going down there and eliminating them point blank. But that's the unfortunate side of vague details, one doesn't know how to prepare themselves properly unless given good details.

 

'Oh well,' Jack thought, letting out a quiet sigh as he pulled out his concealed auto-pistols, and stepped onto the edge of the overhang.

 

******

As the men circled the woman, one of them paused as something caught his eye. Turning, the man noticed a strange butterfly flitting about in the alley, coming ever closer to the group, until it fluttered about the man's head. He retracted a bit, his attention taken almost completely away from the woman; this was strange after all, a weird butterfly in a densely populated slum, how very...

 

"Oh, cra...!" Was all the man could get out before three small, but accurately placed bullets pierced his skull.

 

Jack descended, a strangely placed pipeline allowed him to move quickly, hands free to wield his weapons, down into the alley.

 

With the death of their comrade, came shouts from the group of assailants, half of them turning their attention to Jack, the other half staying focused on the original attackee.

 

But what was even more cryptic was the sudden appearance of not just one, many multitudes of butterflies, roughly a dozen in all, seemed to come flitting in from everywhere. Around corners, from the alleyway entrance, the rooftops, and even from open grates that led into the sewers, the eerie, yet beautiful insects came.

 

"Babochka..." One of the attackers said in an almost reverent awe. The others simply whispered to each other, most of them saying his more local title, Nazo, as they mumbled to one another.

 

'They seem to be familiar with me, but then again, who in Japan isn't?' He thought to himself. 'Maybe I should let them go, and ask the...' Jack paused as he turned his eyeless gaze on the attackee. It was a woman, although masked and clad in Kevlar and sown-in plating, it was still a woman, if not a vaguely attractive one.

 

'Hm, nah, best just to cap 'em all, make sure none of them are this 'Jade' person. Besides, they're breaking my number one rule,' he finished, realizing that it only made his life easier if he just got rid of them all.

 

"Hey ma..." 'RATTATATTA!!!' Was the sound as two more bullets pierced another assailant's skull before the man could even finish speaking.

 

Then all you-know-what broke loose, and Jack began unloading, and before long, the only ones alive were the woman, himself, and the man with the broken arm.

 

Jack holstered his weapons, considering they were out of ammo, and to his very own surprise, he had no extra clips left. He faced the woman, removing his favorite .50 Desert Eagle from it's holster, it too, only had a few shots left with no reloads, seeing as he had been taking side jobs the whole way to Kyoto, thus he was low on ammo. But Jack only needed one shot, as he had demonstrated, he was deadly accurate, even with short range automatic weapons, and his Eagle, was definitely not short range, on the contrary, it was so well maintained it was almost difficult to miss.

 

"So, I see you like to vigilante," Jack said, his voice still distorted, his gun held at his side, considering that raising it to the woman would cause him to brake his first rule. His head moved up and down as if he were looking her over, as he did, the butterflies seemed to concentrate around her, giving Jack a better image of her. "You wouldn't happen to know of a 'hero' who goes by the name of Jade, would you?"

 

((Sorry if I took away all your fun Chevron . Also, I know your character's alias is Shade, Jack's just confused, thought I'd clear that up. ))

[Chevron 7 locke]

((Not a problem! I was planning on messing with CQ's little terrorist operation anyway It just wouldn't be an RP if I didn't screw with his plans.))

 

"You wouldn't happen to know of a 'hero' who goes by the name of Jade, would you?"

 

This can't be good if someone is asking for me.

 

"I do not know of the one you speak of. Now...if you will kindly excuse me."

 

Shade turned toward the man whos arm she had broken and lifted him up by the throat.

 

"You will tell me who you work for."

 

The man remained silent.

 

"Shade tightend her grip and the man began to spasm a bit.

 

"Your comrads are dead. Your are at my mercy. And if you do not wish to dissapear, you will tell me what I wish to know! Now Tell Me!"

 

The man whsipered one word before shifting his tounge around and swallowing something.

 

"Black Hand."

 

Shade watched as the man's body spasmed once and went still. He must have taken some sort of suicide pill...What is this...Black Hand he spoke about? Is it another crime lord faction?

[Alkonium]

Blackhawk had just arrived at the armory when WarBringer had stepped out. "Leave them alone, or you'll have to deal with me!" He shouted to the mysterious malefactor. He then fired his grappling hook at him, and sent an electric current through it, hoping to electrocute him to the point of losing consciousness. This man seemed to be no common criminal, but more of a professional than the usual thugs he dealt with. "Who are you?" He asked.

[CommanderQ]

((Sorry on the first-person thing, I got inspired by Alkonium's first post, so I just wanted to use it on the first post for effect:D))

 

War-Bringer saw the grappling cord lunge forward from the man standing nearby.

 

He moved quickly, evading the cord, his goggles registering it as electrical. War-Bringer grabbed the cord, his protective rubber gloves, stopping the flow of electricity so it wouldn't make short work of him.

 

He then twisted the cord into a knot and dropped it.

 

War-Bringer chuckled and walked forward arrogantly, "What is this? A super-hero pup? I try to cause mass destruction and all they do is send a pup after me?"

 

He laughed some more, but quickly composed himself, cradling his machine-gun.

 

"Forgive me for my ill-manners......those civilians will not be much of a problem now, they'll be dead soon as it is."

 

He made direct eye-contact with this...hero, sizing him up. Perhaps this man was not so much a pup after all, but War-Bringer would handle him nonetheless.

 

"I am the War-Bringer. You may see me a lot more often now....heheheh, or maybe not."

 

He raised his STG-44 and activated his comm.

 

"Get the bomb ready...now. We leave soon."

 

One of his troops sent an instant acknowledgement, "Yessir."

 

War-Bringer stepped forward again, putting on his most intimidating visage.

 

"And who...might I ask, are you?"

[Rexraptor2000]

Location: Unknown, Somewhere in the Middle East

 

“So is the shipment ready?”

 

Milam gave Sahib an annoyed look and said “Quiet! Do you want to give us away to the whole world?!”

 

Sahib gave out a short laugh. “You need to relax Milam; the Americans left this village a week ago.”

 

Milam glanced around, paranoid and for good reason. They were in the middle of a busy marketplace, sitting in the shade of a merchant stand and eating baked falafel. The buildings around them were bleached from the sun’s rays and though the Americans were gone, the people still had the air of their filth around them. Sure the Americans had left, but that did not mean their influence had not. It was going to take much more work before that and now his lieutenants were suddenly beginning to disappear. At first he assumed to be a defector, but when the third was assassinated in the open not two days ago he began to fear for his own life, especially since the assassin had gotten away without a trace. That was why there was a multitude of armed guards around the marketplace and everyone was up for suspicion.

 

He had not told Sahib yet and did not plan to. This deal was necessary and Milam could not afford spooking his middle man, although the more time he spent out here the more paranoid he himself became. Sahib noticed this and asked “Is everything alright brother? I have seen you like this since the Americans first came to the village.”

 

“Everything is fine.” Milam snapped and looked away towards a group of children playing among the merchant camels. This did not go well with Sahib.

 

“Brother, is there something wrong? Is the shipment not ready? I need to know-” Sahib started saying but then suddenly stopped.

 

Milam found this odd and turned to look at him, only to find a man in a white hood sitting in his place. Panic seized Milam and he fell back out of his seat while backing away, asking frantically “Who are you?! Where is Sahib?!”

 

The hooded figure stood, his face concealed by the shadows, and replied “I am Azrael, the angel of death. Your time has come.”

 

Then the figure leapt at him, a blade extending out of his left arm, and Milam’s life ended.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Location: New York City

 

Deathblade's Journal, A comedian died here tonight...nah I'm just kidding. But I do have to stop thinking to myself, its a little weird.

 

The streets of New York, home to crime and hotdogs but mostly the crime. Deathblade ran from roof to roof looking for anyone who might need help, he got his wish when he heard a scream. Deathblade turned his head and looked to see a man being mugged just underneath the building he was next to.

 

"I said give me the money," A thug yelled as he struck the man.

 

"Ooooh, a mugging can I help!?!?" Deathblade yelled as he jumped down.

 

"Yeah, by giving us your money too freak" The thug replied.

 

"Alright, but only for a cookie."

 

"So you're a funny guy, well we have ways of taking care of you funny man. Break his face in Tony."

 

A second thug threw a punch at the masked man, only to have it countered and get his arm broken in the process. The second thug screamed as he fell to the ground. The first thug released his grip on the man and swung a crowbar at him. Deathblade countered with a katana and kicked him. The thug tried to run but Deathblade sliced at his chest.

 

"You're a freak man, a freak!" the thug shouted.

 

"All I wanted was a cookie." Deathblade replied.

 

He moved over to the mugged man and helped him up.

 

"T-t-thank you."

 

"Anytime, after all I am you friendly neighborhood... the dark knigh...Dr. Manhatt... Deathblade. Its not too friendly but its gets the job done."

 

Deathblade ran at a wall and jumped to another. he pulled himself up and ran on the rooftops some more.

Its good to be me

[Astor]

Toronto, CN Tower

 

The scumbag struggled impotently as Midknight dragged him across the roof, towards the edge, and the drop that awaited him. A man could easily kill himself from this height, especially with the amount of alcohol he'd drunk.

 

They reached the edge. Midknight swung the limp man out across the edge, keeping hold of his collar.

 

"Where are the others!?" He growled, complementing his demand with a punch to the man's gut.

 

He wouldn't answer. His earlier beating had broken his jaw, and knocked out most of his teeth. It was the only way to treat people as vile as this - trafficking the unfortunate young women of Eastern Europe and China to satisfy the hedonistic desires of rich Western Businessmen. Many of them pass through Pacific City, onto the States and Canada.

 

This scum was one of those responsible for their distribution. He'd fled to Toronto after Midknight had failed to catch him in L.A. He'd left a trail of bodies from there to here, just to reach this one man, who had provided enough information to deserve a quicker death than he deserved.

 

He let go of the collar, and the man fell, hundreds of feet to his demise. There was something he hadn't anticipated - screaming. Someone had seen him fall. He needed to move - the FBI were already on his tail, and more heat at this time would only cause more problems.

 

He pulled out a zip line from his belt, and attached a grapple. It was long enough for him to zip down the length of the tower, to his escape vehicle - the cops wouldn't be coming any time soon - he had plenty of time.

 

His victim, however, had just run out.

[Master_Archon]

((Sorry on the first-person thing, I got inspired by Alkonium's first post, so I just wanted to use it on the first post for effect))

 

((S'okay, didn't really matter that much anyway, as I said, just trying to give everyone a helpful reminder. ))

 

"I do not know of the one you speak of. Now...if you will kindly excuse me." The woman said, her tone giving away nothing, her body language shifting slightly, but just enough to give Jack the information he needed. Besides, he'd very quickly figured out that the woman was the person he was looking for; obviously her name was not 'Jade', as he had previously thought, but he knew that this was his target. Regardless of his personally set out rules, Jack would kill a woman, or an elderly, even a child, if it was necessary, and pertained to something important, mostly job wise, that is.

 

But, something on the inside wouldn't let him raise his gun to take the shot, he didn't want to kill her...at least, not at that moment.

 

"Black Hand." He heard inaudibly through his little artificial friends floating around the woman, and the man she had lifted from the ground, whom in turn killed himself, most likely with a cyanide pill hidden in his mouth.

 

Jack lifted his gun slightly, aiming at the woman's hip, but then he quickly diverted his aim, and holstered his DE Magnum.

 

"Well, Miss, if you are indeed a 'Miss'," Jack spoke to the masked woman suavely. "I believe my work here is....concluded, for the moment. I will be going, if you need anymore help, then please, don't hesitate to ask."

 

Jack turned, moving towards the entrance of the alley, and began to walk away. If his plan worked, the woman would ask for his aid, if not, then he didn't have to worry anyway, because he knew she would track down the Black Hand, and Jack didn't have to worry about a thing if she did that, he knew how to find people, especially when they were trying to find other people or groups, like the deadly and feared Independent Syndicate known as the Black Hand.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Deathblade continued his run on the rooftops.

 

Should I go get a cookie? Nah cookie time isn't for a few hours. I guess I could go home or something...

 

His train of thought was cut off by the sound of a helicopter. Deathblade looked to see that the side door opened up. He shook his head and ran away from the chopper. Gunfire opened up as Deathblade jumped from roof to roof. He made a sharp right and into an open window of an apartment. A man sitting in front of a computer screen jumped as he heard Deathblade hit something.

 

"Geez Will, can't you ever use the front door?!?!"

 

"Nope, than you would be expecting me, and I like to keep you surprised."

 

"Something's chasing you again, isn't it?"

 

"Well yeah, but this time its something else. I saved some guy from getting mugged but he dropped a disc that fell out his brief case, could you take a look at it?"

 

"What's so special about this cd?"

 

"The writing is in german, Black Hand," Deathblade replied.

 

The man took the cd and placed it into his computer. After a few minutes of hacking, the man had cracked into the cd. Inside the cd contained deadly weapons and a man known as War-Bringer. The weapons were being shipped to Toronto, Canada.

 

"This is serious stuff Will, we should contact someone."

 

"I'm a hero/ crazy person and you're an ex criminal hacker, whose gonna believe us?"

 

"Alright, but be careful out there Will."

 

"Yeah sure thing." Deathblade said as he jumped out of the window.

 

He knew he had to stop this War-Bringer, and before he could do that he'd have to get a ride. He heard the familiar rotars of the helicopter circling around. Deathblade smiled as he raised a pistol in one hand and a katana in the other.

[Alkonium]

"I'm known as Blackhawk, and as long as you pose a threat to this city, I will come after you, and any of your underlings." Blackhawk replied, punching War-Bringer and footsweeping him at the same time. Then, realising that they had set up a bomb in the armoury, he knew he'd have to choose between apprehending them now, or preventing massive damage to the city, and the loss of numerous lives. He chose the latter. Rushing in, he managed to spot the bomb and began looking for a way to disarm it. Lacking any real certainty over which wire to cut, he instead sought out the power source, and severed it directly. Then, once the immediate threat had been eliminated, he took the bomb back to his hideout and began taking extensive photographs and dismantling it, piece by piece. One thing in particular that stood out was an insignia adorning the device. He'd have to look it up and see what he could find.

[CommanderQ]

The...BlackHawk had moved quickly, knocking War-Bringer flat, and thanks to the mechanics that War-Bringer had added for this operation, it temporarily blacked him out.

 

A few minutes later, one of his troops shook him awake.

 

"SIR! SIR! The bomb! It's been disarmed!!"

 

War-Bringer snapped out of his state quickly.

 

He slammed his fist into the ground, the cement reverberating, and left a small dent.

 

War-Bringer jumped up, "I should have prepared for this!! We have only just begun, and we have already accumulated enemies and a failed mission!"

 

The soldier handed War-Bringer his machine gun.

 

"Sir, I do not think we have lost entirely...."

 

The soldier nodded to a group of civilians nearby, hoarded together by some of the other troops.

 

War-Bringer smiled, "Excellent choice....excellent choice. This...BlackHawk has stopped the larger plan, but we still have the advantage. Turn on the recorder, hack into the satellite link, I want everyone to see this."

 

"Already hacked the system an hour ago, we can start when you are ready."

 

War-Bringer raised a hand to the group of civilians.

 

"Activate the video, line them up."

 

 

A few minutes later, everything that was controlled via Satellite Link was commandeered, and everything was replaced with the video of the War-Bringer, standing with 6 civilians lined together."

 

He started, "Citizens of the world, I stand in the city of Toronto, Canada. Behind me are the unfortunate hostages of an operation of mine. You will be happy to know, that it has failed, an alleged...superhero, who called himself 'BlackHawk,' managed to stop me...."

 

War-Bringer paused, "...but at the price of forsaking these innocent people..."

 

He caressed the bruised and beaten face of one of the female hostages, she recoiled, and he brutally smacked her down.

 

He chuckled, "As you undoubtedly seen, these hostages are uncomfortable. Their punishment will be an example to you all. I am here to bring about a new age. An age of war, of fear, and ultimate power. Do not resist. Or else you too, will suffer this fate, forsaken by your heroes."

 

He raised his machine gun at the group of civilians. Their eyes staring back in fear.

 

'Remember my name. I am...the War-Bringer."

 

And he pulled the trigger, unleashing bullets into the group.

 

The video ended.

[Chevron 7 locke]

"Remember my name. I am...the War-Bringer."

 

Shade had been looking at one of the large television sets that seemed to be everywhere in Kyoto when the...War-Bringer had somehow managed to cut into the feed.

 

I can't believe it...he killed them without batting an eyelash.

 

She knew the man who had taken out her opponets earlier was within listening range.

 

"Tell me. Do you have any knowledge of who that man on the television was just now? If so...I would like to know.

 

I need to stop this one. His voice...it was so cold and ruthless. Even the gangsters of Kyoto give their victims a chance to buy their lives if they can but this man...this man is something new.

[Astor]

The lights of Toronto's nightlife passed in a blur as the heavily modified car sped down the main avenues of the downtown area. The stealth modifications made the car invisible to radar, and at this speed, he would be difficult to see with the naked eye.

 

The dash console started bleeping. A message, on every frequency possible.

 

"Citizens of the world, I stand in the city of Toronto, Canada. Behind me are the unfortunate hostages of an operation of mine. You will be happy to know, that it has failed, an alleged...superhero, who called himself 'BlackHawk,' managed to stop me...."

 

The lunatic continued - he was overconfident, and uncompromising. He watched as he filled the hostages with bullets, before cutting the transmission.

 

'Remember my name. I am...the War-Bringer."

 

It was lucky then, that he managed to trace the signal - the Armory. Activating the nitro on his car, he spun round, in the direction of this madman. He'd been hoping for a chance to test the new missiles on his car.

[CommanderQ]

War-Bringer stared at the bodies on the ground, pools of red forming around them.

 

A soldier tapped him on the shoulder.

 

'Sir, the evac is here."

 

He nodded coldly, slinging his STG-44 over a shoulder.

 

"We're done here, split up and disappear, we'll meet again at Black Hand HQ, we'll plan from there."

 

"Yessir."

 

The soldier ran off and got into a large tank with the other troops, they would burn a route through the city.

 

A large black, specially build, helicopter appeared, Vengeance was written in blood-red letters on the side. This chopper was extremely special, it was a Black Hand vehicle. Something War-Bringer's organization had built, along with the rest of his private army.

 

The chopper landed, and he jumped inside.

[Astor]

A black chopper had been in front of Midknight all the way to the Armory. He was still minutes away as the chopper landed, and then took off quickly. He tried to get a missile lock on the craft, but there must have been some sort of scrambling device preventing a successful launch.

 

Scanning the craft, he logged it into his databanks, to check it with US & Canadian Aviation Registries - it came up blank.

 

There was no need to go to the armory now that War-Bringer had escaped - Canadian Authorities would already be on their way, and they'd only contaminate the scene with clumsy techniques.

 

He needed to find a place to lie low, while he tried to find someone who knew more about this 'War-bringer'. He needed to find Blackhawk.

[Rexraptor2000]

A woman screamed and the entire marketplace was panic. Azrael climbed onto the top of the merchant stand before jumping onto a building. There were shouts of anger and gunshots were fired at him but he was already sprinting away, leaping from rooftop to rooftop to lose his pursuers. After ten minutes of running and jumping Azreal finally leapt from the rooftops into a dark alley, then emerged from it and disappeared into the crowd.

 

Location: Baghdad, Iraq

 

Azrael was drinking cinnamon tea outside a shop in the Rasheed District of Baghdad. Children were playing soccer across the street and it was cooler than usual in the city, though the street was still busy with people. Towering over the city blocks was the Al-Rasheed hotel in the distance, a notable site in the Persian Gulf and Iraq Wars. What drew his attention though was the young women sitting across from him at the table.

 

She was a young American, no older than 25 years of age no doubt, with a physic comparable to American models. Her dress consisted of a pair of American jeans and a light T-shirt, which might be dangerous to wear around here if she didn’t know how to take care of herself. She carried a black backpack and had her laptop out on the table, typing in the stereotypical rapid manner. When she noticed him staring at her from under his hood, she grinned and asked “See something you like?”

 

He shrugged calmly and looked away. Azrael had long ago learned to control his actions, as well as facial expressions, but if he hadn’t then he would have been blushing and flabbergasted at the moment. The American took a certain amount of disappointment from the lack of a response and stated “You’re going to have to slip sometime and I’ll be there when you do. How long have we been working together for, five years? You haven’t ever even sent me a Valentines day card.”

 

“I killed your former boyfriends on Valentines day. Both of them on both days Adela.” Azrael replied, referring to the day’s difference between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

 

“I really liked them too. Oh well, I guess all’s fair in love and war.” Adela replied giggling, causing Azrael to roll his eyes. She caught this unfortunately and was about to go off on a tangent when her computer suddenly started to beep.

 

Adela pulled up an email she just received on her computer and suddenly a video started to play. A man decked in gear with a machine gun pointed towards civilians was going off on some rant, before ending it with ‘Remember my name… I am the War Bringer.’ Carnage followed with a sudden cut in the video feed.

 

She sighed and subsequently turned the laptop screen towards Azrael. Along with the video was a an amount in the subject line: $10,000,000. He pulled the laptop towards him and typed in the response ‘His time has come’ and sent it. Adela put the laptop away, her happy mood gone, and said “Well, I guess until next time.”

 

Azrael nodded in acknowledgment and finished his tea. He left some money for the bill and walked off down the street, disappearing into the crowd.

[Master_Archon]

"Tell me. Do you have any knowledge of who that man on the television was just now? If so...I would like to know."

 

Jack was silent, and still, as if the thing he saw within the visor of his helmet had frozen him in place. Yes Jack saw it all, even with his visor on, he was still able to pick up the hacked satellite feed.

 

Jack wasn't as affected by what he witnessed as others might have been, after all, Jack was prone to similar things, when it was a necessity. But he wasn't a ruthless killer, he wasn't a villain, and what just happened with those people was why he wasn't a villain. But the same thing could be said for why he wasn't a hero, if you didn't do everything perfect, then you ended up making a mistake, and people get hurt, and then you get blamed. That was one reason Jack was such an opportunist, why he was so morally grey.

 

"Yes, I have some knowledge of that man," Jack said, turning and looking at the woman. "But if you wish to know, then it'll cost you."

 

Jack smiled under his visor, if this War-Bringer was to start a reign of chaos and destruction, causing every free nation and superhero within those free nations to come after him, all while having the supervillains of the underworld emulate him, then Jack, a man who can only really be called a 'supermercenary', would use the events to come to his every benefit.

 

He was going to have to meet this, 'War-Bringer'.

 

Jack turned away from the woman, and began to walk away again, "953,470 yen is the price for that knowledge. That's roughly ten thousand U.S. dollars, be glad it's that low, usually my prices for knowledge go into the millions; I hope you have that much, by the way. Also, I'm willing to help you for free, but only if you buy that knowledge."

 

Jack would indeed benefit from this event, yes, he would indeed.

[Cyborg Ninja]

Daethblade had been flying for what seemed like forever. He had passed the Canadian border a little bit ago and was passing a city. The helicopter jerked from side to side above the city. It had several bullet holes in the windshield and the blades were slightly off their axis. This is what happens when you jack a ride from something that was trying to kill you. Daethblade continued his struggle with the controls. He heard screaming from down below and looked to see a man on a screen in front of a building. He watched as War-Bringer gunned down a group of people like it was nothing.

 

Badass oneliners aside, this guy means buisness. Too bad for him, because i'm the negoiator for my company and I don't take no for an answer, only mercy. Whoa... I gotta write that one down because that was really awesome.

 

Deathblade didn't seem to grossed out by the killings, he had seen plenty before and had done some himself so it wasn't new to him. Now he knew where War-Bringer was, Toronto. He looked down to see tanks and groups of soldiers. He took a particualr intrest in the one getting into a helicopter. He couldn't tell who the soldier was, but he decided to follow the other helicopter. He moved the chopper out of sight and waited for the other to leave.

[CommanderQ]

War-Bringer held on to one of the chopper's hand-holds.

 

The chopper swang to the right and he caught sight of a lone car next to the armory.

 

A heavily armored car by the looks of it.

 

A friend of BlackHawk's? Or a new enemy?

 

He shook his head and looked to the pilot.

 

"Get a photo and assemble some intel on that car!" He shouted above the sound of the rotors.

 

The man saluted and turned the chopper to face the car, pulling out a special camera and snapping a picture.

 

War-bringer stood on the side of the chopper, hanging out of it, and holding onto the same handhold.

 

The chopper rose above the buildings and he looked directly at the car and it's owner, his red gas-mask lenses glaring out at whoever it was.

 

He stepped back inside the chopper as it began to fly out of the city.

 

"I feel completed, I think we've made our point. We will by now have many enemies, and countless allies...if everything works." He said to himself, staring out at Toronto.

 

He looked to the pilot, "Get us to The Punishment. They'll be anchored 20 miles out in Lake Ontario. From there, you are to meet up with the rest of the Black Hand."

 

The pilot and copilot nodded, but something started beeping on the command console.

 

"Sir, our escort of BH-9s are incoming...."

 

The BH-9, BlackHand 9, was a new class of fighter, personally created by some of their best scientists. It out-armed, out-flew, and ultimately out-classed any American fighter. In other words, it was the best.

 

"...Also....we think we have a straggler following us."

 

He looked to the pilot, "A straggler?"

 

War-Bringer thought for a moment, "Make no note on it...this may work to our advantage."

[Cyborg Ninja]

Deathblade waited until the chopper took off. He followed as soon as the chopper left the ground. He watched as the chopper in front of him stopped to look at something. He turned his head to see one lone armored car in the streets. He wasn't sure why the chopper stopped but he didn't really care. He heard the sound of planes moving towards the front chopper; this wasn't looking good. Neither the chopper nor the planes even turned to shoot or question him. Perhaps they knew he was following and were waiting. Looking down at the plane closest to him, he got an idea. He gave the chopper a slight turn and put it into auto pilot. He grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the chopper while it continued on its path. He leaned his head forward and moved straighted his body out like a board to gain speed. He shot at the plane at a diagonal hoping to land on it. As his head neared the tail of the plane, he turned to his back and opened his arms and legs out. As his torso went under the plane, he grabbed onto the tail with his legs, He quickly moved his arms to grab onto the tail as well and curled up under the plane. The wind continued to smack his face and he felt a slight chill. It wasn't the best place to be but at least he was hidden...he hoped.

[Jedi_Man]

Chicago, IL, 2:45 am

Dementix watched the man wail on the ground, blood flowing from his ears.

That oughta do it. He thought as he turned off his suit. He leaned over and checked the attackers vitals.

Yep, still alive.

Sam looked at the end of the alleyway at the would be victim. She was hyperventilating, and looked like heck. She only cringed when he got closer. Not an effect from his suit.

Sam walked away, looking for the nearest ladder or dark place where he could change back.

My suit needs to recharge, can't use it for awhile.

A scream peirced the morning air.

My jobs never done, is it? He thought as he located the area of the noise and went towards it.

[CommanderQ]

War-Bringer could see the straggler's helicopter now.

 

He used his mask's mechanical red-lenses to zoom in on the cockpit to see who exactly was piloting it. To his surprise, there was no one in the chopper.

 

He grabbed his machine-gun, something was up. The pilot couldn't just disappear, if he was there at all, and if he was here, then he couldn't be far off.

 

War-Bringer looked to the pilot.

 

"Ignore the straggler, it's un-manned, be on the lookout for any suspicious movements across the rooftops...or on our chopper. Get the escort on high alert."

 

"Yessir, right away."

 

The pilot began to send out coded signals to the two advanced jet-fighters who were flying 10,000 feet above, watching the chopper like an Eagle would it's prey. Except they had to protect what they were watching.

 

War-Bringer sat back down, but his senses were completely alerted, he'd had enough problems with super-heroes today. He couldn't wait to strike back.