Trial By Hellfire (Entei)

Manic. Obsessed. Frantic. Any one of these could describe the state of Dressler's mind over the preceding weeks. Production was ramping up in the many dens he had scattered throughout the once ruined city of New York and it was beginning to show. Anticipation and excitement for the world to come was leading to uncharacteristic sloppiness on his end. More and more Highform children were being born every day and he had to find some way to keep up with their growing care needs. After all, he could not be there in every single den to ensure that not of his offspring would escape into the unsuspecting world before their time was right. This meant that his need for wetnurses, twisted horrible tortured creatures created from the bodies of multiple human specimens, was ever growing as well. And the need for more wetnurses meant a need for more raw material, aka human bodies. Dressler had been an active kidnapper in the past but the body count had been rapidly increasing in the past few weeks. Disappearances were skyrocketing and in large concentrations in the areas surrounding his dark nurseries. But it was his only option, transporting the large number of bodies needed to create his army of drones over long distances would surely lead to someone actually seeing his face and drawing the connection between the good doctor and his fiendish activity. He could not have that, at least not yet. But soon..

Despite the growing evidence in the outside world of his demented machinations the work was paying off. Infant Highforms were being born into ever more aggressive litters, forging rapid selection of the strong out from the weak and that was just the babies. As the young ones reached adolescence their curiosity and ferocity only grew stronger. Their to desire to take in more genetic material and to ever adapt was like an unquenchable ravenous hunger. On more than one occasion he had returned to one of his dens to find it in total turmoil, his children having grown at times resistant to the pheremonal control mechanisms implanted in his wetnurses. To anyone else, such chaos may have seemed like failure, a deviation from the plan. To Dressler this was the miracle of life in action in its purest, rawest form. This ever reaching ever stronger push towards the future was everything the human race had lost. This was the future, the genesis of a the new and everlasting age that would be ushered in by his hand.

A wicked smile crawled across Dressler's face as he mused on his ideal reality. Above morality above empathy and all the other human so called cornerstones he would pull life on this earth away from the ledge of annihilation and in to the light of new dawn. As his hands danced over the pile of flesh and bone that was once three pitiful human specimens he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. These three had in life been nothing, a janitor, a bank teller a cashier perhaps, maybe even a CEO. It didn't matter, here and now in one of his central most dens in the city he was affecting real change on their lives. No longer would they toil at meaningless jobs, worry about how they would pay the bills or ponder such useless questions as what their purpose in life was. By nothing but the strength of his will and the skill of his hands he was molding them into a greater whole that they could never conceived for themselves. No more would they want for purpose, for meaning. They would become one in his fold, dedicated to the protection and fostering of his kin, willing to sacrifice life and limb in that single glorious purpose. This was art, this was beauty, this was life and as the walls and ground writhed with the heaping masses of his creation and kind in the massive subterranean hollow that had once been an abandoned subway tunnel Dressler could not help but feel like a god given flesh.

New York was loud this time of year, it had been that way since Michael had moved here. That's not to say the city ever really quieted down, it was the city that never slept after all, but around the holidays it was always louder than usual. For someone with his powers, his super human senses, it had always driven him a little mad, which is why he had turned to drowning out the sounds of city with music.

As he stood in the center of times square, his eyes closed, and an EDM song that Uzma had recommended to him months ago blaring from the earbuds firmly lodged in his ear canal, he took in a deep, solitary breath. The people around him  seemed to avoid stepping too close to him, which was understandable. Even in New York, during the height of Meta Humans, a tall male with elf like ears and a long black tail was a strange sight. His deep cerulean eyes opened to stare at the people around him once again, but it didn't quiet his thoughts.

A favor had been called in, not to him specifically, but to a group he had used to be a part of called the Guardians. Apparently one of the chiefs of police hadn't been updated of the groups recent break up, and sent in a distress signal. Of course, being the only member able to be contacted, the distress signal came to him and him alone, which is what started this entire headache of a day.

Kidnappings. The most cliche crime in history, was the perps MO. What made this one worthy of calling in a group of 'heroes' was the sheer scale of it. For it to be noticed in a population the size of New York was a feat of it's own, but more than that, there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to it. The victims had little to nothing in common, ranging from middle aged men, to college women. It baffled analyst, even escaping the logical reasoning of Jason, the Guardians tech specialist and overall brains behind the operation. The young cambion let out a small sigh as the thoughts began to coalesce again, forcing his legs to once again move on their own. He had just left the New York headquarters of his sisters company, and was headed towards the more residential sections of New York. A young intern, more to say a young half demon like himself, had been missing for quite a few days.  It was suspected, by people much smarter than Michael, that she was linked to the string of disappearances.

Regardless, this was a job Entei couldn't get out of, even if he had wanted to. Whatever the sick fuck was up to was about to be brought to ash, at least that's what he had told himself as he began to descend the stair case of the nearby subway system. Inside his sense were assaulted by a whole new array of intruders. The smell in the New York subway was abysmal to a normal person, to him it caused his nose to scrunch in mild disgust.

He shook his head, clearing his mind once again. He had a reason for being here, and he had to stay focused on it. He stood in at the bottom of the stairs, closing his eyes once again as he focused on the smells entering. There was one that he was looking for, and it was beyond faint, like a tickle at the back of his nose that he couldn't quite reach. The smell of lavender and lilacs, the lotion that the intern had used still permeating on her flesh.

Opening his eyes he let out another sigh, before walking towards the tracks. Today was going to be a long day.

The newly created wetnurse blinked its eyes once, twice as it came to a new sort of unfamiliar consciousness. It's limbs stretched out on the table, testing their flexibility. With an awkward leap the new amalgamated creature landed all six of its legs on the ground. A quick wiggle of its claw-like toes confirmed to itself that its footing was stable. Its head then rose to meet the face of its master, the alpha of its pack, Dressler. Giving a nod he let loose a series of high pitched noises and pheremones, telling the drone all it needed to know. With a spring in its step, the wetnurse scuttled off and out of the den, instilled with a sense of singular purpose.

Quickly the new drone scurried along the ceiling of the sewer tunnels, its eyes dart around to find its quarry. A young Highform had slipped out through a now patched up hole in the dens wall and was now out wondering the sewers unattended. Normally this would not be much of a problem but Dressler was already doing more than he liked to draw the attention of the humans above. The discovery of one of his children, which would undoubtedly cause massive loss of life would surely spark a massive investigation into the sewer systems. And if that happened, Dressler's hand would be forced and he would have to rush plans ahead of schedule. Seeing as that was not an option, the drone now searched for the juvenile.

Tunnel after winding tunnel the drone searched, releasing a sweet scent hopefully to lure the young creature to it. It smelled of lavender and lilacs, a smell that brought an odd sense of longing to the searching wetnurse. Quickly that though left its mind as its eyes landed on the young Highform. It was currently in a vaguely reptilian form, about 10 feet long with a thick layer scales coating its back. Six dolphin-like fins jutted from its sides, giving it the appearance of some sort of living viking longship as is glided through the murky water. The drone on the ceiling hurriedly squeaked out at the juvenile, hoping to draw its attention. The young Highform lifted its crocodilian head from the water, catching a quick glimpse of the wetnurse drone before bolting off in the water, splashing its way around a corner. The wetnurse above took to the chase, scuttling along the ceiling and rounding the corner only to spy yet another creature, a humanoid. A shrill cry ripped through its split jaw and echoed down the sewer tunnels in response the sight of the intruder. Below in the water, the escaped Highform breached the water in response to the screech, its fin-like appendages becoming a series of albatross wings to carry it over the water's surface. Its head went on a swivel, searching for the source of the danger before spotting the young humanoid. Hungry and now startled, the young Highform dove straight for the man, its large jaws unhinging like a snakes in preparation to take a majority of his flesh in a single bite.

The tunnels around Entei dimmed and darkened as he went deeper and deeper into the abandoned subway system, long forgotten stretches of concrete the spread out like a spider's web beneath the cities surface. A snap of his fingers produced a small flame, enough lighting to illuminate his immediate surroundings. The smell continued to pull towards him, though somehow it seemed to be getting.. stronger? Strange. The young cambian thought nothing of it, following the scent towards what appeared to be a small access tunnel, which eventually hooked a right and led to a ladder leading down a small hole.

"Great.." Entei said, covering his nose with his arm as the stench reached his nose, nearly overpowering the trail he was following. "That's what I wanted today. To go into the god damn sewers."

He let out a sigh, tightening the straps to his kurikara blade that hung over his back, before leaping into the tunnel. He fell a good twenty feet before landing deftly on his feet, crouching down to a three point landing to lessen the fall. He took a look around, snapping his fingers once again to produce a small fireball in his hands, the blue light licking at the walls and water near him. His ears perked up, twitching at every rat crawling, at every drop of water that echoed throughout the tunnels. His enhanced senses allowed him a great awareness to his surroundings, one he was incredibly grateful to.

Minutes that felt like hours passed as he delved deeper into the tunnels, his annoyance spreading through out him quickly. He grew the fireball in size, providing him more light as the scent began to get stronger and stronger until it was overpowering the scent of the sewers around him.

"Rachel!" He called out, that being the name of the intern who was kidnapped. "If you can hear me, make any noise!"

As the words left his mouth, he head the sound of water splitting behind him, whipping his head quickly around to see the giant crocodile like teeth barring down on him. His hand reflexively shot out, attempting to grab the snout of the creature, squeezing down on it with his super human strength, and attempting to stop it's dive before it could rip into his flesh.

"Somehow.. I don't think you're Rachel..." He would say, his blue eyes growing a small red dot in the center of them.

The young Highform yelped in shock and pain as it felt the man's hand clamp like a vice on its upper jaw. It's forward motion halted, the beast'a form began to change. The two upper-most pairs of wings came to rest on top of one another as the spots where they connected broadened into a pair of muscular shoulders. The wings soon did the same, feather being replaced by thick scale as three clawed digits burst from the end of each wing. The wing's joints too then inverted, the muscles on them bulging to become an ape like arm. Down below, the last sets of eight ga similarly lost their feathers, flapping to the ground before growing long clawed feet. Bones snapped as the new legs cracked at the shin, adding an extra joint to give the legs a kangaroo like appearance.

All together, the creature now resembled a strange fusion of ape and crocodile, standing just over seven feet tall, with a thick muscular tail stretching behind it. Rage and hunger burned in the creature's eyes as a thick slippery mucus began to extrude from th creature's jaws in an attempt to free its large mouth from the strong grip. At the same time the creature would reach out with its massive arms, attempting to bear hug the man in front of it. If this was successful it would leap into the water with its meal, attempting to drown it.

All the while the wetnurse drone on th ceiling co to yes to cry out its blood curdling screech, the shrill sound reaching all the way back to the main den. Upon hearing the alerted noise Dressler's ears immediately perked up. It seems we have an intruder he spoke, both aloud an in his unique language with his children. Come, let us go and see what they want. With that Dressler exited the den, a writhing mass of juvenile Highforms in all manner of shapes and sizes following anxiously in his wake. With the shrill sound of the drone to guide them, it was only a matter of time before they would find what they were looking for.

The young half demon let out a gasp as the air was squeezed from his core, strong reptilian arms wrapping around him and beginning to crush the very breath from him. He began to flex, his super human strength straining against the creature, to little avail as he was rushed headlong into the water.

"I knew I said I was lonely.." He croaked out, struggling as he began to sink lower and lower. "But I'm not down for cuddling on the first date fella..."

His body sinking deeper and deeper, he held whatever breath he could as his head made the final plunge. All around him was dark, murky water, suffocating him draining his strength. The struggling of his body against arms holding him caused his blade to wriggle from it's sheath, sending it floating below him to the bottom of the sewer tunnel.

A small smile crept onto his fact as the transformation began. Cerulean horns of pure flames blazed upon his head, the tip of his tail igniting in the very same manner. His canines became pronounced and elongated, giving him a wicked appearance. The final transformation was his eyes, growing a small red circle in the middle of them.

"Grgglllrllglglgll" Was all that came from his mouth, though it could be safely assumed his was saying something he believed to be witty. His mouth opened wide, letting out a loud yell as the water around him began to evaporate in clouds of thick steam.

Himself, and anything within ten feet of him was suddenly consumed in a large fireball of immense heat. Like a saiyan powering up, the aura of flame grew wider and wider from him, causing flames comparable to the surface of the sun to engulf the tunnel around him.

The young Highform once more yelped in pain, this time from the extreme heat emanating from its prey. It's grip released, startled by the sudden heat and pain. It's powerful tail pushed it about ten feet from the source of the heat before turning around, trying to assess it's situation. But before it could get a good read on what was going on, the water around it erupted, heat and pressure instantly cooking the young Highform alive. Above the water, the screaming wetnurse could feel the growing heat below. Panicked, it began to scramble along the ceiling back down the tunnel from which it came. The only thought on it's mind, warn the den.

Meanwhile Dressler was rapidly zeroing in on the location of the scream, his ears attuned to any variance in its high pitched wail. Suddenly there was a quiver in it, a twinge of fear. Dressler's heart fluttered, a combination of excitement for what he might find down the tunnel and fear for his drone and lost young. But then his ears picked up another sound, the sound of rushing steam accompanied by the overpowering smell of boiling sewage. Just what is going on down there he mused to himself, releasing a cloud of genetic material from newly formed ducts in his back. The juvenile Highforms picked up on the cue from their alpha, absorbing the released information into their own genetic codes. Dressler in turn did the same as a rushing wall of superheated steam and pressure came roaring down the tunnel ahead. His sensitive ears erupted from the immense pressure, forcing his hands to his ears as he hunkered down to the cement floor like a barnacle, protective outer shell and all.

Waves of flash boiled sewer water washed over him, his ears continuing to ring as blood began to leak from between his fingers. The sheer force of the oncoming steam threatened to peel him from his place on the floor and fling him back through the sewer's tunnels. Quickly a rage began to build in him. Just what exactly was he dealing with that could do this? What business did they have here? Then another thought crept into his mind. What had become of his children?

Spurned on by the terrifying thought his barnacle-like form began to ripple. Suckered feet and hands on his underside became vice-like gripping talons, their incredible power sinking anchors into the material beneath. Along the lines of his four forming legs his shell cracked and then wrapped around them, forming a thick grey armored shell of limpet teeth, streamlined to cut through the oncoming waves. His eyes remained sealed closed as his head poked up from the cement. Instead his possessed a series of round protuberances, each packed to the brim with the bioelectric sensors of a hammerhead shark.

Slowly his stony hound-like form rose from the ground, all four legs braced into the rush of oncoming steam. His head raised above his arched back, scanning his surrounding for the children that had accompanied him. About two thirds it seemed still remained, all barricaded down as he had been to avoid being sent flying by the incredible force. The others had not fared so well, some being crushed by the pressure in the tunnel others flash fried as soon as the wall of steam had hit them.

The newly formed Dressler grunted out a series of commands to the remaining Highforms, instructing them on the forms they would need to follow. All that could hear him did as he said, their forms varying, but all possessing the necessary means to stay stable on their feet and resist the incredible heat. And with a still sizeable army behind him Dressler pushed on through the ever evaporating steam. Despite the effort it took, it would not be long before he came upon what he was looking for, a humanoid figure down in the sewer at the center of the steam.

"Well, if you can't handle the heat..." Entei mused to himself, brushing small amounts of ash off of his hoodie, a small remainder of whatever had grabbed him. He let out a sigh, before walking across the now stone floor of the sewer, what water had been there now hanging in the air and clinging to the stone walls, dripping to slowly begin refilling the basin that now existed.

Crouching down to pick up his blade, his elf like ears perked up at the sound of something hitting stone. His brow furrowed as he tried to find something that sounded similar in his memories, but to no avail.

"Come out and play!" He yelled out, flaring his flame around him in a menacing aura. The 'horns' on his head flared up, as well as the flame on his tail, casting blue-black shadows all around him. "I promise, I only bit a little bit! And only if you're into that sort of thing!"

Though he yelled with confidence, his skin was crawling. Whatever the hell had attacked him had not been human, and he had serious doubts that it was even some form of strange meta human. He had meet a few freaky looking ones before, but nothing quite like that. Just what exactly was he dealing with down here? He grimaced as he began to take slow steps forward, gripping the handle of his sword roughly. With each step he took there was a hiss, the sound of his extreme heat making contact with what little water had managed to reform back in the basin, being turned back to steam.

The man in the basin called out from in front of Dressler and his children, his back to the hoard of Highforms. Dressler could feel his young buzz with excitement as their prey came into view. They dare not step out of line though until their alpha give the order. They may be savage, but the pack mentality ran strong in very DNA. They would wait for Dressler. And for now, he was enjoying the view. The man's appearance was not his interest though, it was his genes. The code that him everything that he was revealed itself to the ecstatic Highform. He had only ever observed one other being like this one, one other lineage. His stone-like arms clenched with glee around the concrete beneath them, turning stone to rubble.

I am very much in to that sort of thing he croaked back, the sound of his cry echoing off the walls of the sewer. The pack behind him began to slaver and growl and hiss, their movements growing more frantic as they heard Dressler's voice. Please, do tell me what it is that brought you down here he taunted the man as he stood to his hind legs and hopped down to the basin so as to be on the same level as the man. What draws the fly into the spider's web? Confidence and malice dripped from his words like the thick saliva that drooled out in gobs from his razor sharp craggy maw.

Taking slow deliberate steps he made his way ever closer to the man, his limpet teeth shell and thermophile protections allowing him to walk comfortably in the inferno of steam and heat that radiated off of this person. Maybe its curiosity that pulled you down beneath the surface and relative safety of the streets above. Maybe its dumb luck, fate that dropped you right into my lap. He was getting closer now, about ten feet away. Or maybe its something more delicious. Maybe you've come to avenge what I did to your cousin? A wicked grin cracked his face, a second row of limpet teeth bearing inside the smile. You are related to hero they call Eclipse are you not? Or were you unaware of what I'd done to break her? If so I'd be happy to fill you in.

Dressler was taking such sadistic pleasure from this. He wanted to taunt this man, bring him to the edge and see what he would do. It wouldn't exactly be a test of his children's abilities if this man decided to hold back. No he needed everything, the whole of everything he could see that this man was capable of. All the while the juvenile Highforms circled he basin above, surrounding Dressler and the man in their stony writhing forms, awaiting the moment when their alpha would unleash them upon the poor morsel below.

"My.. cousin.." Michael had to stop, think. Did.. did he have cousins? For that matter, did he have uncles? Did his father have siblings? He couldn't remember any family besides his siblings and nieces and nephews. Was he referring to Uzma's family? But.. she didn't have any, did she? "You're mistake, I have no cousins." He called out, swirling his sword in his hand before grasping it firmly.

As he continued speaking, however, Michael's confident, cocky smirk changed and deformed. His teeth grit against each other, his brows furrowing as his eyes focused on the direction the voice came from, his long elf like ears perking up at each syllable that oozed from this mans mouth. The flames around him began to grow brighter and brighter with each ragged breath that spewed from between Entei's gritted teeth.

Cousins? He had none of those. He did however have quite a few nieces and nephews. Many, he had never met, or had very few experiences with. Tyuki, or Eclipse as she went by, he knew. He knew her very well. At the mention of breaking her, his mind raced back to every concert he attended, to every time he watched her from the rooftops, making sure she had made it home safe. To every single shared laugh at the DiMartino mansion. And his rage exploded.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" He let loose a loud, demonic scream, his voice becoming almost multilayered, as if some inner being was trying to force it's voice through his mouth. His cerulean eyes took on a red tint, the usual black pupil flaring up with a vibrant crimson color.

"Nobody.. Nobody.." He grits out, his fist clenching so hard that blood began to slowly drip from his body, evaporating from the heat around him before it hit the ground. "NOBODY TOUCHES MY FAMILY!!!!!!"

He let out another cacophonous roar, fire flowing off of his body in large, uncontrolled waves, causing the damp brick work around him to begin to melt, becoming a disformed mess around him.