Freelancing Ain't Easy

He took in two deep breaths.Feeling all the pressure in his head seem to melt away.Summonning a small pool of water to clean his face off."Stop calling me that!!My name is not Squirt! It's Sean,S e a n."He yelled to Sul just a bit annoyed by the name that man insisted on refering to him as.He wasn't that small.Sul was just really big.Though Sul was probably right this time.If he tried to fight Pain anymore it could end badly."All right i'm leaving this guy to you"He sighed allowing Sul to do this by himself.Taking himself a seat on the hood of a rusty and broken car.Legs crossed,head resting in the palms of his hands.Though before leaving the fight he took the liberty to use all the water he gathered to freeze all the ground in a 200 square foot area of Sul and Pain.To make things more interesting that is

Pain stood quietly with his powerful arms resting at his sides while the two of them shouted to each other over him. So this water punk's name was Sean, and he was gonna sit this one out? Nah, a feeling in the big man's gut told him that this kid was just resting up; he seemed way to determined to just sit there. With a slight turn of his neck, using his peripheral vision, his icy blue optic's darted back and forth between Sul and Sean, focusing mainly on his large tough skinned foe. The expression on his face was a mix of rage and excitement, he looked as if he were going to kill them. He had no intentions of that whatsoever, but he was really into this fight. A smirk joined in with his fierce expression before speaking up loudly in his rough voice. "Gotta hand it to ya', you punks are tougher than I thought you'd be. You've earned my respect, and that aint somethin' most people get." These two, if they truly wanted to become heroes, had the potential to become great. Pain may not have been the easiest man to work with or the brightest, but even he could see the value in having these two on his side. They both had incredible will power, but did they have the same intentions Pain did? Sure they claimed to be heroes, but would they have the same goals in mind? Guess he would have to wait to ask to those questions, cause right now he had a battle to finish.

Pain was prepared for Sul when he came charging forward, making sure to keep an eye on his hands this time. He wasn't very smart, but he was a damn good fighter and he learned to watch for this guy's punches. Using his brute strength and super human reflexes, the big man threw up a hand to match Sul's, catching it with his massive hand and quickly locking his fingers. The big man wasted no time, planting his feet and throwing his free hand towards his opponent, keeping his hand open so that he could grapple him. His grapple was aimed towards the throat of Sul-Fury, but this man seemed to be just as quick as him, so he could just as likely block it like the big man had done to his grapple. Then the two would be locked in a struggle for power, and Pain was pretty damn sure that there was only one person who had been as strong as him.

The ground beneath the feet of the two combatants was slowly being frozen over by Sean, but the two of them were far too busy with each other to notice. Pain especially, his mind wasn't the greatest on multitasking. The ice stretched out from the water punk's position, slowly creeping closer and closer to the two. Once it reached them, it would make fighting for them far more difficult. Fighting on an icy slippery surface wasn't exactly Pain's ideal battleground, he couldn't imagine it being an advantage for either of them.

His attack was countered by an opposing hand, locked in the fingers of his own. He clasped his hand as hard as he could, but he knew he couldn't win that struggle. Pain's strength seemed to surpass his own. A hand reached up and grasped him by the throat, and once again he knew Pain was going to try and close his oxygen supply.

The empowering man began to do just that. Though Sul struggled, trying to pry his arm off his neck with his free hand, he couldn't tear the determined man off. He pushed his hand forward at Pain's chest trying to push him away off himself, but once again, he was losing strength and losing the battle from his lack of oxygen.

Sul's experience flashed through his mind as brief moments of the day flashed through his mind. Scrapping the steam engine, Sean's ability demonstration, Pain's arrival. "Wait a minute...!" he thought. He flashed back to the memory of Pain smoking a cigarette, the embers burning from the corner of his mouth. Sul gritted his teeth as he grappled with Pain, and scrambled to his pocket, pulling out his cigarette lighter.

He flicked it open with his free hand and lit his hand on fire. Suddenly, the man's hand burst into flames, and quickly crawled up his arm. He flung the now flaming arm at Pain's face, hoping to push him away, and that Pain would recoil back from the flames.

He watched them fight with interest.Eyes watchig every move they made.Allowing his body the time it needed to heal.If he didn't rest his body would most likely give out.Like the last time he overextended his powers.Also maybe it was because Pain squeezed the shit out of him.
Either way he had to study their every move.Anylize their fighting styles.In case he ever had to fight one of them,or with them.After all he had to know ways to cover any weaknesses they had.Then Sul did the most interesting thing.He took the lighter from Pains pocket and set his hand on fire.The hand burning as if it was coated in gasoline."Interesting"He cooed.Jumping down onto the ice coated ground.Considering his body ready enough to finish this skirmish.Though he considered letting Sul make his move first.Before doing anything to help him.

Pain smirked fiercely at his opponent, his bright blue optic's piercing the tough-skinned man with fear as he strangled him with one massive hand. His other hand locked fingers with Sul, squeezing with all his strength and ensuring he would remain in this position. The big man squeezed tightly on his throat, barely holding back as his opponent tried to claw his way out of his grip. His efforts were futile, Pain had been too strong for him to try to pry or push off. His cocky smirk never faded, taking some satisfaction in making his opponent suffer like that; he was truly a vicious opponent. He wouldn't just kill or fatally injure some one, he was still a hero after all, but he did enjoy hurting his opponents in a fight; even if it was just a spar. To him, it built character, experience and stamina to be able to take beatings like that, it pushed you to your limits. In his own odd way, it was just him preparing them for the worst.

The battle seemed like it would come to an end soon, Sul-Fury was locked in his position, struggling to breathe through Pain's vicious grasp on his throat. What his opponent did next was extremely unexpected, especially for the big man, who would have thought being a smoker would end up screwing him? His lighter was stolen from his pocket, and with a simple flick of it, his opponent's free hand quickly ignited in flame. The flames traveled up his arm and would slowly cover his whole body, the flame had been small after all, but it was still enough to start a fire on Sul. Pain had no idea this guy was capable of doing this, it shocked him a little, leaving him completely open for an attack. So this guy's power was fire? No, it couldn't be that simple. The big man didn't understand how his power worked, all he knew was that this guy's arm was on fire.

A powerful punch from Sul's free hand pummeled into the side of Pain's face, scorching it with flame and leaving a burn on his cheek. However the flames weren't nearly hot enough to do major damage to his nearly invincible skin. The punch hit hard though, and not just with super strength this time. His grip with both hands loosened just long enough for him to make an escape, his face moving with the punch as he stumbled back a few inches. Pain would waste not time, despite the aching he felt in his cheekbone, he quickly recovered and moved in to try to make another attack before Sul could fully recover. "I'm endin' this!" He growled boldly as he stepped in to throw a vicious right knee towards the midsection of his opponent.

His tactic seemed to have worked. Pain released his throat, and Sul recoiled away from him, gasping for air. His entire arm was engulfed in flames and his head and upper torso ignited in a quick flash of fire. "I'm endin this!" came Pain's finisher move. Sul couldn't recover or react in time. A sharp knee blasted him in the side, and knocked him backwards, falling onto his back. He gulped for air, having the wind knocked out of him. Initially it wouldn't have hurt as much, if his ribs hadn't been aching from the previous severe blow he had taken with the street lamp.

The fire surrounding Sul was melting paths in the ice of safe walking and fighting space. Sul tried to get up and winced. He got to one knee, and rested his arm on it. The flaming arm combusted his lower half into flames, and within seconds, he was completely on fire. He rested there on his knee a moment, and turned his head to look at Pain to prepare for another attack, if there was anything he could do about it. One thing was for sure, this battle would not last much longer.

"Nows my time to act"He muttered excitedly.Taking a step onto the ice."Hang on Sul i'm comin to help".As his foot made contact with the ice.It slightly liquefied conforming around his foot.Then he rushed onward in what looked like a mixture of running and skating.Commanding the water that Suls body melted to direct itself at Pain.Going directly for his eyes.At a high enough speed to do some damage.As he made his way to Suls side.""You ready to do this?"He asked a smirk coming across his face.Now even though his body was sore.He was ready for this.

Pain stood stall and powerful before his injured opponent, several feet now put between them from his vicious knee. His face was bruised up a little but he had some of the toughest skin around, his minjor cuts were healing up too. He still had some blood running down the side of his face and dripping from his lower lip. Pain moved to rub away the blood with his right forearm as he began walking towards Sul-Fury, intending to finish the fight for good. He had sustained some damage during this fight, but he could handle it, he'd been through a hell of a lot worse in the past. The side of his face stung a little, that was a pretty damn good punch.

Luckily for the big man, Sul's fire trick had melted away a decent portion of the thin ice on the ground. As he slowly approached the recovering fighter, his ally Sean showed up again, running towards Sul's side. He figured that guy would show up again, couldn't blame him for not wanting to give up; something Pain respected. A blast of water came flying at him, heading straight towards his face. He was prepared for an attack to his face, reacting quickly enough to put his forearms up to guard his face. His tough skin easily held up against the torrent of water pummeling into him, he just walked through the attack, moving closer to the two of them. "Back for more eh?" He said in his rough voice as he came to a halt just a few feet before them. "I'm just gettin' started." He said with a crazed smirk as he pulled his hands back, preparing to unleash a deadly shock wave by slamming his palms together. If they didn't stop him or move out of the way quick, it would mean trouble for them, and the big man would probably end up trashing a good portion of the junk yard. Pain would not give nearly his all though, if he did, he'd probably end up doing serious damage at this range. That and he'd decimate this entire junkyard and more.

"Are you ready to do this?" Sean asked him. Sul got up from resting on one knee, he really wasn't. Pain threw both hands behind his back and clapped them together, resulting in a powerful shockwave aimed in their direction. Sul's eyes widened at the attack and uttered an exhausted command to Sean. "Douse me quick!!"

Luckily Sean was quick enough to react, and summoned a wave of water to splash over Sul's body. Sul-Fury hurled himself in front of Sean, and grasped him harshly, pulling himself close to his chest and encasing him with the protective shell of his own body. With his back facing the shockwave, Sul took the full hit and got knocked flying along with several pieces of debris from the junkyard hurled into the air.

Sul and Sean went hurdling through large piles of debris, punching holes right through them. Debris everywhere from the junkyard was flung up into the air from the powerful blast, raining shrapnel and large metallic objects on Sul's thick skin. He made sure Sean was completely concealed, grabbing the back of his head with his large hand. A rusted 1954 Thunderbird fell from the sky and landed on the two of them, piling onto the amount of debris they were buried underneath.

When the coast was clear, Sul started to move. He used his free hand that wasn't holding Sean to claw to the surface of the Junk pile as if he were climbing out of an avalanche. Lifting the Thunderbird up with one arm, he hurled it 30 feet as it landed upside down. Sul let go of Sean and rolled onto his back closing his eyes in pain, completely immobilized.

His bloodied lip opened a crack to say: "He has to show me how to do that one..."

The next things happened almost too fast.He summoned the water to douse Sul.Then Sul grabbed him.Protecting him from a humongous shockwave that Pain managed to create.Next thing he knew he was flying disorientingly.Crashing through the large junkpiles.Though Sul was taking the damage.Cause god only know what would happen if he took the brunt of the attack.He would have died,if not been mangled.When they stopped flying.Sul rolled over weak.
"He has to show me that one"Sul managed to say.Sean fell on his ass drenched with sweat.Hair soaked as if he was hit by a fireman grade hose.Completely drenched."You okay Sul?You look pretty banged up."

((OOC: Word Count, if you'd like to do it yourself you can, but these are the results I got from Microsoft Word.
Sul Fury - 4840
Pain - 5439
Sean - 2928


As the big man slammed his hands together, the massive shockwave boomed from him and quickly rippled through the air towards them. Dodging was impossible, they were both in too bad of shape to even hope for that. Thanks to their quick thinking and team work, they defended themselves just before the powerful attack could slam into Sul-Fury's back. The shockwave completely destroyed everything in it's path, the ground was torn to shreds, and a good portion of the debris in the junk yard had been flung up into the air. Shrapnel rained all over the junk yard, pummeling into Pain's tough skin, but simply bounced off like it was nothing. Luckily no one had been here besides them, other wise they would have ended up dead for sure.

Pain smirked in satisfaction as he watched the two heroes quickly fly through the air, slamming through two piles of debris before their momentum was slowed enough to crash into a third pile. "Damn.." The heroes were buried under the chunks of metal and debris, and to make things worse, a car landed directly on top of them. It was a good thing that they protected each other, it showed that they had a lot of potential to the big man. He lowered his hands to rest at his sides and looked around at all the destruction he had caused. "Mighta' over done it." Finishing his sentence with a soft chuckle as he dug his hands into his pockets.

Pain began making his casual walk over to the heroes, and midway there the car that buried them was tossed off and went flying over his head to land far behind him. 'Good, they aint dead. These punks got a lot in em'.' He thought to himself as he drew closer and closer to them. He wanted to pull out his pack of cigarettes and smoke, but not only was his lighter stolen, the pack was completely crushed from the fight. He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it onto the floor; he had no use for a bunch of busted up cigarettes and joints. Plenty more where that came from anyway.

Pain came to halt, now standing before the pile of debris they had crashed into with his hands dug deep into his pockets. His icy blue optics glared up at the two of them, the vicious smirk returning to his face once again. "You punks had enough yet?" He stated boldly to the two of them in his very rough and deep voice. He expected them to give up, Sul-Fury was injured pretty badly, and his friend Sean didn't seem to be in any condition to fight either.

(Will our Word count stop from here on out? Or was that just a 'so far' thing?)

Sean's word's echoed in his ears as if he was in a mirage in the desert. "You okay Sul?" His eyes darted around looking for the source. Sean hovered nearby where he could see him. His words sounded garbled to his ears. "You look pretty banged up..." A few seconds passed by, and his dizzy state left him. Pain walked nearby and threw a pack of busted cigarettes to the ground.

Was he done? Most definitely, and he knew Sean wasn't going to be able to face him alone. He'd shown his power, but it only proved to be useful in this situation when they worked together. Despite if they continued or not, Sul couldn't participate for more than absorbing a punch or two. He was calling it quits. Sul-Fury rolled his shoulder to try and position himself to get up. He settled for getting to his hands and knees, and raised his wrist up to wipe some blood off his mouth. He didn't get to see it often, it wasn't easy to make him bleed. He brought the hand back in front of his face, and gazed at the yellowish acid that coursed through his veins. He really was a monster. He sometimes longed for the days of being human.

He raised his head to get a good look at Pain. He was good. Sul suddenly felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. That someone was better than him in every way. Faster, stronger, tougher. It didn't feel good, and he knew that Pain wasn't the only opponent that way. His eyebrow furrowed, thinking about how far him and Sean would have gotten alone. Nowhere. This whole Superhero group idea was all for nothing, when he thought about it. They would have died right here if Pain was a villain.

Sul-Fury forced himself up to a standing position, though could easy be knocked back on the ground again. He spat the corrosive blood to the ground, and wiped his mouth again. "Yeah... We're done..." It was an odd feeling, being inferior. It beat all the optimism out of Sul, knowing that he wasn't something special after all. Was just another nobody. How would he ever reach Hurricane? Though he surrendered, his fists clenched together in frustration.

"So I guess we didn't have what it takes after all. Guess this was just a big waste of your time. Sorry Sean." For the first time today, he called him by his actual name. Metahuman or not, they were no competition for the man. Though they bruised, scorched, and pierced his flesh, his composure was as if they hadn't touched him at all. His confidence radiated off him like an aura. Sul raised his chin to attempt to reflect it, but knew that he didn't stand a chance.

" I would love to say that i was i was ready for more ,but honestly.I think i've had enough of getting my ass kicked for one day."Sean replied to Pains question.Not really phased by his defeat one bit.He had faced people with amazing strength before.Maybe not to Pains calibur for sure.Still he knew with Sul in the condition he was in.Fighting any more was not an option.
Also he noticed how Pain looked unaafected by every single hit they landed on him.His self confidence came off him like a radiant light almost.An aura of perpetual self confidence.That was one of the many qualities that caught Seans eye.Then Suls statement caught his ear."So I quess we didn't have what it takes after all.Guess this was a big waste of time.Sorry Sean"He half apologized.A small frown coming across Seans face.Quickly removed by his near endless reserves of resolve."Are you kidding?I think we did pretty damn great."He stood to his feet.Still drenched in both sweat and water."Cause you make it sound like he just tore us to shit."He smiled a twing of a country accent entering into his voice."Granted he kicked our asses,doesn't mean your weak.It just means hes stronger than you.So just get stronger.That is the smart thing to do"He began to half babble.Voice still in an enthusiastic tone.After all like his mother he never did like a quiter.

((OOC: That was only the current WC.

Sorry if this post isn't the greatest, I'm exhausted and wanted to get this up before I passed out))

The Big Man stood stall and confident before the two young heroes, eyeing them up with his icy blue optics. His attention moved to focus on Sul-Fury who had forced himself to stand up next to his ally. Impressive, they were both still standing after all of the punishment Pain had dished out. He heard their responses and figured they wouldn’t go on after that attack, but they had still put up one hell of a fight. He softly chuckled through his nose before speaking up in his rough voice. “Alright then.”Whether they thought it or not, Pain knew they had potential, and they certainly proved it to him. Maybe he’d even let these punks work along side him as a Tough Guy.

Sul seemed very discouraged from their loss, but his friend Sean had a better outlook; Confidence meant a lot in a fight. He let Sean finish speaking to his friend, trying to spark up some optimism with his own. The Big Man didn’t talk very much or very often, but he had something to say to these guys. “Nah, you punks got what it takes. Your little friend is right. You guys put up a hell of a fight, even if I did end up pummelin’ ya to a bloody pulp. Yo Sul, You’re pretty damn tough. I didn’t hold back. I hit you with nearly all my strength every time. It aint often that I run into some one like you.” Pain’s bright blue eyes darted over to Sean, focusing on him instead. “And you. That water of yours can really pack a punch, knocked me on my ass. Can’t imagine the damage it’d do to some others.”

Pain removed his right hand from his pocket, moving to rub the thick and dark stubbles of hair on his chin. ”The way you two fought together, you punks fought like heroes. You watched each others backs and put your necks on the line with out question. You two may be new to this hero thing, but I can see it in both of ya’.” He removed his hand from his chin, letting it fall loosely to his side before speaking up again. "So you punks were looking for a team?"

(No worries Pain, I actually really like your writing style.)

Granted they tried hard, he couldn't exactly get over the fact it was two on one. He'd fought bigger opponents, multiple opponents, and in those cases succeeded. He'd definitely given his all in the fight with Pain. Though they tried to make him feel better, in the back of his mind Sean was right. He had to get stronger. He'd force himself to do that, if he was going to be a hero. If Pain could beat him, there were definitely some scum out there that would do the same.

Pain had beaten him at his own game, but Sul was more susceptible to other forms of damage, as proved in the past. El Ray, the three androids, both had electrical energy fields that tore Sul a new one. Granted he ended up punching El Ray's guts out, and ripping limbs off the androids. But if he came across someone as tough as Pain but with internal damage attacks, he might be taken out again. His clenched fists relaxed and his fingers dropped to his sides. He was tough, but he could be tougher.

Pain had finally gotten to the point of the demonstration, concerning a team of Heroes. It made Sul's spirit lift back up, the fact that he was still considering joining the two. "Yeah, as far as I know there isn't one around. There's a bunch of Freelancers like myself, but nothing solid. If we could create something... larger. We could counter villains before they even act. Put those who have committed crimes behind bars. Give real justice. The governments haven't been able to do that because, well, they're just normal guys against metahumans. We could create some serious Justice. Lasting peace.

If we could eventually get Governmental funding, we might be able to start making a Headquarters that can give us intel on criminal activities. We could get advanced transport crafts, there's no limits to what could happen!"

Sul was getting a bit ahead of himself, but just speaking about the trio's potential renewed the fire he had earlier today. To him, it was just the three of them so far. But he knew that he wasn't the only Freelancer in the planet. And even if he were, he'd use his own funding to go across the country to accomplish this.

"Sure we were.If your still interested in that team thing that is?"he replied to Pains question.Scratching the side of his face with his left index finger.Somthing in the back of his mind though didn't feel right about him.Calling himself a "hero" and whatnot.As far as heroes go he wasn't exactly the righteous one.In fact he had done his fair share of crimes in the past.Murders,robberys,but god forbide never rape.He was pretty much as bad as a serial killer.Even temporarily became one.Though that was an accidental murder.Well even he wasn't sure if killing about ten people at once was considered serial killing.Then at least thirty other killed after that.Granted half of them were criminals themselves.It didn't make him feel as bad.Still it felt strange that he could kill without remorse.Did that make him not human?
All of that nagged at the back of his mind.Though he would never let the words come through his lips.That mistake could equal his undoing.Especially against someone like Pain and Sul.One alone would be too much for him,but both would be impossible.So he smiled and put on the facade of the kind hearted boy.Not letting on that in reality he was cold blooded.He listened to Suls enthusiasim rise back into his voice.Diving back into what seemed like another talk about making a super team of some kind.Sean was all for it.One part of his mind thought it would help him compensate in some way for all his "sins".Another part honestly didn't give a damn.