League of Extraordinary Applicants: A Series of Misfortunes

There were words being exchanged, he was certain of it; on some level, he was aware of the talk, sure, and of the insults tossed his way. He just didn’t care. His brown eyes met Cadmus’ green and a smirk, the kind that usually foretold trouble, bloomed across his face. It appears as if the blond haired demigod had had enough of Kubi talking trash; now this was the kind of shit he was here for! Somebody with balls to go toe to toe with the veritable giant! Oh, Kubi was under no delusions; from the clues he’s gathered, both from Cadmus’ speech and covertly watching him, he was significantly powerful. And with the easy way he handled that spear, well … Kubi could tell he was in trouble. Not that he was doubting his own capabilities, of course. Oh no, Cadmus had to have a weakness; everybody has a weakness. Whether it’s technical or physical, Kubi would find it and exploit it.

In the meantime, however, he’d have to fight him, though most likely in a less than traditional way. The lightning on the spear could be problematic, but he was relatively assured he could handle it, assuming it had no magical abilities. He was almost tempted to slip into Kuma Seiri, check out any magical energies, but decided against it; a power like that was best kept mostly a secret. No one here would expect it from him, after all … which, of course, was part of his plan. Lull them into a false sense of security, then take advantage of it. Perfect.

He approached Cadmus with the energy and stride of a man not pressed for time; languid, calm, and collected, only showing an arrogant smirk on his face. Oh, he hoped he was pissing Cadmus off; he didn’t seem like the type to get annoyed easily, of course, though that was a little mitigated by his current irritation at Kubi. That was mostly a result of his comments towards Nicole, though, so it doesn’t really count … still, though, it wouldn’t do to let Cadmus know of his own reservations against fighting him. Having his opponent be confident wouldn’t help him in any way. Better to keep him guessing. Slowly, he cracked every joint in his body, not once losing eye contact with Cadmus. He had moved to face him in this time until they were just about fifteen feet apart, just out of easy range. This was a calculated move on his part; Cadmus had the reach here. So step one was to remove him from the spear. Easier said than done, of course.

”What, she your girlfriend, Herc? Guy like you don’t deserve a girl like that, brother.” He shot these words at Cadmus; unlike his previous insults, there was none of the joking sarcasm here. ”Real talk, though; this is jus’ supposed ta be a friendly spar, Hercules, and you whip out your spear? If that’s the way you wanna play it, I s’pose I should whip out my special weapon.” Slowly he reached into his pocket, pulling out a leather-wrapped bundle. Unfurling these revealed gloves; leather ones, reinforced with metal. These he slipped on and then slipped into a casual pose; any fan of boxing would recognize it as one popularized by Sugar Ray; one hand crossed in front of his chest at an angle, the other laying straight across his stomach. This was coupled with a slight weaving, making any one target significantly harder to hit, yet left him in an advantageous position to strike if needed to. It was a basic style, one easy to anticipate … which was something Kubi was counting on.

”Well, Hercules? We gonna stand here all day or you gonna hand me that ass whooping I deserve?”

Cadmus grit his teeth at the barbs being thrown his way. “You dishonor Nicole with your arrogant words. You dishonor this entire organization. And you dishonor your entire line. I do not know why you have chosen to disgrace yourself in this manner, sir… but I will not stand for it!” With that, Cadmus threw himself forward. Summoning electricity to his spear.

“I am Cadmus Heracles Agaememnon! I am the son of Zeus! And for your actions today, I have deemed you unworthy of this operation. Thus I shall remove you from the running myself! Have at thee!” Yelled Cadmus as he rushed forward jumping through the air and aimed at the other mans head. This fight wasn’t one he would’ve chosen to fight.

Cadmus had never openly shown his hatred so vigorously before. This man. This giant man just ticked him off in a way no god or monster had been capable of before. He knew going into a fight angry was stupid. But he couldn’t stand idly by and let his comments stand.

”Honor is fer people who can afford to fuck off with their time. I prefer practicality, Wonder Boy, somethin’ guys like you jus’ don’ understand.”

There was still the typical mocking and sarcasm associated with Kubi, but there was a kernel of truth. He could see it, Cadmus lived his life full of optimism and joy and there was nothing wrong with that, sure, but without struggle you can’t fuckin’ help the downtrodden. He’s the type to just arrest people, he don’t care for their stories or their fuckin’ reasons. ‘Hur dur, crime is bad’. And he don’t care that the nineteen year old stealing is tryin’ ta support his sick mom, or the girl on the streets whorin’ herself out is jus’ tryin’ ta make ends meet. Nah, these goody two shoes types grind his gears something fierce. Both extremes, good and evil, were equally disastrous. The world wasn’t black or white, it fell under shades of grey, and those that saw it any other way were as bad as their counterparts.

And then … and then … the kid had the fuckin’ audacity to just leap at him? The fuck he think this was, kindergarten? Nah, fam, this wasn’t going to be that easy. He could play this a couple of ways, but he figured he’d give the kid a chance. Can’t blame him after all. He was eager to kill ‘im, which was exactly his plan. Guy like Herc, he needed a little push to take things seriously. Huh … he might have taken it a little far though. Still, at least he opened it with something predictable and easy. He wasted just enough time to smirk, and then he swayed to the side, letting the tip of the spear pass by him. And then he brought his first directly into Cadmus’ ribs. His full strength, able to rip steel to shreds, and with no way to brace himself, would blast Cadmus into the ceiling assuming it hit. At the very least, if he somehow managed to avoid the fist to the ribs, he wouldn’t be so eager to try a blind charge like that again.

And then Kubi cracked his knuckles, the grin on his face wide enough to make the Cheshire cat blush.

”What, you think this is playtime, Wonder Boy? Try takin’ the kids gloves off and act like you’ve fuckin’ been in a fight before.”