Feeling The Burn (Empathy Only)

Andrew walked through the front door of his dorm. Tired from classes, and not on a hot streak with his love life. He just wanted to crawl under the covers and fall asleep. He looked down at his phone on the kitchen table, 10 new text messages. 3 were from A.I. asking funny questions, and being bored. 2 from his friend Mario. 2 from his buddy Joe, and 3 from different girls who rather liked him. He was an attractive guy, and he had a way with the women. He just lost the girl he loved and couldn't seem to get over it, or care about other girls. He opened his laptop, and looked through his emails. He came across one from an email AnOnY354 . It read

"I can't tell you who I am, and I can't tell you how I know this. I just need your help. I know who you are, Phoenix." Andrew's eyes widened and shock went through his body, he kept reading.
[color:087c=black]"I will keep this information to myself, provided you help me. Attached to this email are the schematics of an underground warehouse of nuclear, and bio weapons being made by a horrible man named Tyler Gainsville. Above the warehouse is a factory the creates plane and helicopter parts. I assure you this is absolutely a front for much darker intentions. I know you run the Talons, and I know your a hero. Even thinking that there might be weapons of mass destruction in your city is enough for you to go check it out. If that's not good enough reason, me knowing Andrew Pettiglio is Phoenix is. I hope to hear results soon."

Andrew clenched a fist and slammed it against his desk. He had to play into this guys hand, or else his life as he knew it would vanish. He walked into his room and changed into his Phoenix gear. Tonight however, he was wearing a new costume he had designed for stealth missions. It was black combat pants, with black combat bats. He had his usual Phoenix fleece on, except it was black, with a gray Phoenix on his ribs instead of the usual red on his chest. He put his hood on, pulled his mask up, threw his sword over his back, and off he went to check out the building.

He made his way across the city by rooftop, traveling about 50 miles per hour. He finally reached the factory he was informed to go to with the big "Gainsville Planes and Flying Inc." So that was one fact that was true. He then looked at the ally on the side of the building to see a man getting violent beaten by 2 men wearing shirts with "Gainsville" written across their chest. "Ok that's not suspicious" he said under his breath. He leaped off the side of the building and slammed his katana into the slide, once reaching the bottom he did a side flip and skidded behind a dumpter, re-sheathing his sword. When out of the darkness behind him a shadowy figure appeared. Phoenix quickly squared up, and prepared for combat.

Arthur walked down the street, fiddling with his helmet. Tonight it seemed tighter then usual, he wasn't sure why. Had he grown? He didn't think so. Turning the corner he saw a large store and walked in, hoping to buy some new clothing. His old gear, while good, was started to get a little ragged with age. It was the same clothing he had worn 6 years ago when he had left with the cops. The asylum was a horrible place, in addition to the scarring he had gotten from his father, the doctors there had practiced strange experiments on him that they assured him were legal and necessary. Later, when he had gotten out, he found out the truth: they were trying to extract his powers. One day he was going to go back and kill them for it, but not yet; he had to be much stronger if he wanted to take them out on his own. As he walked into the store, a large man in a rent-a-cop outfit stopped him.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take off your headgear." the guard said, scowling at him.

"No" he responded.

"Sir, you can either take off your headgear or you can leave. Your choice."

Arthur clenched his fist and considered putting the man on the ground briefly before sighing.

"Goodbye." he said, turning around. One of these days he was going to have to get something less conspicuous then his helmet. But not today.

Arthur kept walking, not noticing or caring where he wound up. It was irrelevant anyway, seeing as he basically slept in an alleyway every night regardless. How had it come to this? He had held down a stable job for 3 years after getting out of the asylum but eventually he had been fired. His manager had said it was because of his poor customer service skills, but he knew it was because of his scarring. Anyone who saw his head had either repressed a gasp or gawked outright. So he wore the helmet. Always. Sometimes he tried to take it off, but he always wound up simply leaving it be.

Arthur's musing were interrupted by the sound of a nearby scream and he ducked into the shadows. Two men with clubs dragged a third nearby, he was begging and pleading but it was useless. As they cast him to the ground, they whipped out their clubs and began viciously beating the man. Repressing a smile, Arthur removed his gloves and prepared to take them down. Just as he was about to pounce he heard someone land near him. Turning he saw it was a hooded man. The man said something in a low voice that Arthur couldn't catch.
He stood up and walked out of the shadows towards the figure. Arthur was sure he could take anyone at this range.

"Who are you?" he whispered.

"Who am I, I'm Phoenix, leader of the Talons. Maybe you've seen us on the news, or internet, or with your own eyes. The important question here, is who are you my helmet wearing friend?" he asked kindly. The man was wearing a helmet which left Phoenix a bit skeptical, however he was wearing a hood and mask. Who was he to judge?
Phoenix turned back over his shoulder to see the two men carrying the beaten, and battered man back into the building. "I don't have time for this" he thought to himself. The two men had vanished and Phoenix felt awful for that poor man. He made it a point to himself to save that guy later.
"So, what's your deal buddy? You a good guy, or is this going to be a rough night?"

Over his dog tags he heard a Talon call coming in, however he ignored it. Now was not time for chatting on the phone. "Phoenix where are you?" he heard A.I. say. He felt like an asshole for not answering. He quickly pressed the button on his dog tags. "Hey, off an a solo gig. I'm fine don't worry. Radio silence will be needed. Warn the team. Phoenix out." and he released the button and cracked his neck and knuckles.

Arthur looked at the man who had identified himself as 'Phoenix'. He yammered something about being the leader of some group that he'd never heard of. Regardless it seemed like getting into a fight with him would be unwise so Arthur simply flicked his eyes over to the men carrying their beaten and bleeding prisoner into the factory. He smiled, only slightly. "Define GOOD" he said, more to himself then to Phoenix. The man was mumbling something into his chest but Arthur couldn't hear.
The man's voice sounded a little familiar but he couldn't place it.
"I'm not evil if that's what you're asking; but I'm no saint either."
That statement was practically a speech for him, seeing as usually you couldn't get more then two words out of him without a fight.

Damn, now I can't go after them he thought as the two men disappeared into the factory's large doors. Arthur returned his gaze to the man in front of him. "And how about you, are you 'good'?" he asked, knowing the man would probably say yes. He seemed the heroic type. Boisterous, jovial, the standard superhero formula. Arthur relaxed a little, his gloves still off. If the man tried anything Arthur could easily close the distance and incapacitate him. He would use something easy, like a broken arm or a snapped spine to put the man down. He restrained a smile at the thought, instead sighing and waiting for the man's response.

"Am I a good guy?" Phoenix laughed a little it was obvious he was, however in the world they lived in today, you'd never know. Phoenix looked the man up and down quickly. He figured he wasn't a bad guy anyway, otherwise he would've attacked already. The man looked way to relaxed for not knowing what he was up against. He was either really powerful, or really arrogant.

"Well you're not evil that's a plus. I see you're looking in the same place I am constantly. How about we go after that guy together?" Phoenix suggested. From his jacket he pulled the printed schematics of the building to show to Arthur. He laid the paper down and started pointing and talking.

"Here is most likely where they took the dude. It appears to be some sort of chamber." He pointed to the biggest room of the place. "That is where we find the man responsible for the assembling of weapons of mass destruction " Lastly, he pointed to a room that looked like it was impenetrable, the weapons had to be there. Phoenix assumed Empathy knew about the weapons, this was not a popular part of the city. A person out this way either worked at factory, or was doing something they shouldn't be. Phoenix assumed it was for the same motives as him, less the secret identity saving. Phoenix finished up explaining the building and then looked at Empathy. "So, are you with me, or is this gunna be a solo mission?"

Arthur stared back at the man, Phoenix who was so blatantly offering to help him assault a factory. He had no idea why he thought that was Arthur's purpose here but Arthur got the feeling that he had been shanghaied into this. Arthur sighed and nodded. "I suppose so. Let's hope we don't die." he said, he was used to being alone so speaking to himself was one of the only forms of 'human' interaction he got.

Admittedly it wasn't good for his sanity but when you walk around wearing a helmet everywhere there's not many people who will talk to you.
Arthur turned towards the factory and gauged his options, not sure of a way in. While he was essentially bulletproof, he wasn't sure about his compatriot.

Sighing Arthur asked; "So, what's the plan?" He had done more speaking in the last few minutes then he had in the past month or so. "You DO have one right?" he asked, looking back at the factory. He tightened his belt and checked his boots to make sure he was ready. Phoenix seemed the 'full frontal assault' type.

Phoenix looked at Empathy and smiled wide. "Of course I have a plan." He wasn't going to just run into a factory where he thought explosives where. This was a stealth mission, not a suicide. "Here's the plan. You saw the back way those two men took that guy right? Well that's our way. I have al the schematics of the building. I assume those two took the bulkhead in the back. That's good. We need to get into the basement to reach the elevator to lead to the weapons." suddenly Phoenix realized something. With all he was thinking about, between girls and his secret identity and the mission at hand, he never learned the mans name or purpose for being here. However the man seemed wiling to help. "Once we're inside they're will be multiple guards and from what I understand, lots and lots of weapons. The plan is to get in and get out, disable the threat, and live happily ever after. Of course, things do change and my original plan won't work anymore. "

"Before we start the plan we should know each other's powers and abilities. With all due respect this was originally a one man show. The plan's going to need some tweaking. We can use basically my plan, but we're gunna need to change it a bit. As for powers, I'll start, I have super strength, speed, and fire manipulation. Inside here fire isn't going to be a good tool to use. It's bright and it could cause things to explode. Things if exploded, will be very bad. I'm more or less sticking to the god old fashioned way. How about you? What's your name and powers ?"

Arthur stared at Phoenix, incredibly surprised at how forward he was, if Arthur had been so inclined he could have killed him right there, but as things were Arthur simply sighed. "My name is Empathy. My power... I cause pain." he said, his voice measured and calm. The looming form of the factory was getting quite hard to ignore, large billowing smog clouds erupting forth from its smoke stacks, the sound of things being soldered inside was loud, even through the thick walls. Arthur briefly wondered if there were workers inside or if everything was automated, he turned his mind back to the task at hand and considered Phoenix.

He honestly felt that that description of his powers was adequate, after all, his power was just that: to cause pain. There was no need for him to elaborate unnecessarily. Especially for someone he had just met not five minutes ago.
Looking at the factory they were supposed to infiltrate, Arthur allowed a small smile, just barely a twitch of his mouth. In addition he made a note that this man, Phoenix , talked a lot... which he didn't mind, he just wasn't used to having people interact with him. "You're oddly well informed about this place. Honestly I'm only here because I heard screaming, but if there's something that could hurt people going on in there, I may as well help you." Odd, he was speaking far more then he usually did. Arthur nodded at Phoenix and looked at the plan he had showed him. It showed the factory having several floors, some of which were underground.
The place was far bigger than it appeared... and it appeared pretty damn big. Arthur turned and broke into a dead sprint towards the bulkhead the men had entered, and he was quickly up against the wall. He motioned for Phoenix to follow.

"Pain?" Phoenix asked to himself as his partner took off ahead of him. With that, Phoenix moved too. Stacked up against the door, Phoenix prepared for phase one. "According to the blue prints, there are usually 2 guards on either side of the bottom of the bulkhead stairs. We'el need to take them out quickly, and quietly. Once inside we should be standing at the end of a long corridor. One stair case to the left, one to the right, and an elevator in the middle. We need to take the left stair case. That will lead us down into where the weapons are being created. Also, there a spots on here with red x's where guards circulate, we'el need to improvise with them because there's no way to account for them being in one specific place. On three we move. One, Two."

Phoenix kicked opened the bulkhead and dove right for the guard on the left, hoping Empathy followed his lead and took the one on the right. Phoenix slammed into the guard, wrapping him up. The guard dropped his gun, and Phoenix slammed him up against the wall, following with a power punch to the man's face, rendering him out cold. Quickly Phoenix turned around and made sure Empathy did his job. He was confident his new friend was up to the task, based off his calm, professional persona.

Arthur listened to Phoenix as he made his plan, it seemed simple and straightforward, but it would get the job done. He watched as Phoenix burst through the bulkhead and followed him, a manic grin appearing on his face as he leaped forward and tackled the man on the right mere moments after Phoenix made contact with his target. He had the man on the ground in mere moments and had one of his hands on the man's throat. "Good news little man, you get to knock off early today." Arthur chided, his voice tinged with madness as he made the man feel a baseball bat to his throat. The man coughed and fell unconscious, mouthing a silent scream. "Well, what now?" he said, his voice back to its normal tone.

"Now down those stairs and there should be a room full of guards." Phoenix said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a guard coming. "Fuck, not now." he thought to himself. "Improvising time" he said as he looked at Empathy almost with a smirk. He dashed at his target, and football tackled the armed man to the ground. Phoenix took the man's gun, and bashed him in the face with it a few times. Next, the ripped a large piece of material off the guards jacket. he covered the mans mouth, and proceeded to cover the other two guards mouths. Once all circled up, he looked on a shelf to see a large rope. "Perfect." he thought to himself.

Phoenix tied the men up like cattle. "Don't want them blowing our spot" he said to Arthur. As they approached the stair case, Andrew pulled his sword off his back. He was prepared for a large fight at this stage of the operation. He stopped Empathy "Look, that room is supposed to be filled with at least 25 guards. One thing is to our advantage however. They have no way of communicating with any other room thanks to a good friend hacking their systems for me." he said with a grin as he held his dog tags as a thank you to his team mate.

Arthur watched Phoenix tie the man up and chuckled, if Phoenix had asked, he would have simply put the man into a coma. It wouldn't be that hard. Arthur listened while Phoenix told him his plan. "25 guards with no backup... sounds easy enough" he said, as they came up on the door. he went flat against the wall and began playing with some ideas of what he would do to the men.

Torso shots were the most likely, so he could probably make them feel something close to a heart attack, he wasn't much for going lethal but they didn't have time to stop and tie up everyone in the place. If he really wanted to he could make them feel like they got hit by a train. That usually shocked people enough that they would go unconscious, he doubted they would get up for a while after that. Normally Arthur would have personalized the pain he used on them but in this case speed seemed most prudent so he sighed and nodded towards Phoenix.

"I'm ready"

"Alright, go." he said calmly taking a deep breath and turning the corner and going down the stairs. He entered the room and it was filled with more guards than he had anticipated. Instead of there being 25 the number was more around 40 or 50. Good thing he had back up. One of the higher ups said "Hey you, what are you doi...." but was cut off by Phoenix's first attack. Phoenix had dashed at him, and kneed him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Following it up with an elbow to the back of the mans head, sending him face first into the ground.

The fight was on, several guards had been unarmed as they had not expected an attack. This was very helpful. Phoenix dashed right and instructed Empathy to take left. He approached a guard wielding an electric bow-staff. "I could use that" Phoenix said to himself. Quickly the hero threw a kick to the mans ribs, following up with a small blast of fire to his chest. The man dropped the staff and fell. Next, Phoenix was encircled by 6 men, all with the same staff as him. "Ok boys, let's dance." he said with courage. He went at one of them, swinging the weapon ferociously. Making contact with the guard's head, that left one down, 5 to go.

Phoenix rolled back, and did a handspring. One of the guards chased him. Once Phoenix came out of his handspring, it seemed all he had to do was lift up his staff, and the guard went face first into a broken jaw. Spinning to his left, he blocked one of the other attacks, and then one to his right. Phoenix threw the staff into the air and blasted fire at both guards, then catching the staff. This left one, Phoenix threw the staff at him like a javelin. Making contact with the mans chest, it electrocuted and knocked him out.

"Enough!" Phoenix screamed and sent a large wave of fire at the men surrounding him with guns. This gave him a second to make a quick plan. Phoenix rolled up his sleeves, and fire surrounded his arms. He put both hands up, as if saying stop. A dragon of flames seemed to be forming. Phoenix let it build up, and eventually let it go at the guards. Rendering his half of the room out cold. He took a few deep breathes and turned to his comrade to see how he was bidding.

Arthur charged in the door behind Phoenix, both his gloves off, a manic grin spreading across his face. In mere moments he had reached his first target, a stocky sort of man. Arthur slammed his hand into man's chest and enjoyed the sensation of his ribcage being torn out, spun and knife handed another man in the neck to the tune of having his throat torn out by a timber wolf. Arthur dodged a staff strike meant for his head by a third man and smacked the man's groin, a brief feeling of testicle crushing pain echoing through him. He turned and was assailed with a full clip of bullets. He stood slumped for only a moment before laughing insanely and rushing the man.

The man was too shocked to block Arthur's flying drop kick. In moments Arthur was on top of him, and felt the feeling of a train smashing full force into his chest. Arthur quickly leaped off the man and was surrounded by several men. He began laughing even harder before yelling out

"Let me sing you a song boys, it's one of my personal favorites and I hope you enjoy it too." Arthur rushed the first man and smashed his palm into the man's chest... "Cause every time we touch", he twirled and punched another in the gut "I get this feeling" flipping into another two, he knife-handed their throats "And every time we kiss, I swear I can fly!" In only a second he was punching a third in the face "Can't you feel my heart beat fast!" and as he leaped at the final man he yelled "I want this to last, need you in my life!" Over the man's screams, he continued singing. He was having fun.

The man was on his knees, screaming while Arthur held his face tight in his grip. He felt every eye gouge, every gut rending, every arm snapping, skeleton breaking, skull pounding, face ripping, leg tearing, groin mulching second of the pain he inflicted on the man. He turned to look around, only to see Phoenix staring at him. Arthur dropped his now unconscious victim to the floor and straighten himself up. "Sorry" he said briefly before looking away.

"It's all good man." Phoenix said as he was a bit shocked at how much the man enjoyed hurting these men. He turned to another door. This time it looked like a garage door. "In there." he said. That was where they were keeping the weapons. Phoenix approached the door, and saw it needed a hand scanned. He looked around at the battered men on the ground. He created a giant ball of fire and turned towards the man. "Which one of you clowns can get me in here?" he screamed striking fear into these guards.

Out of pure fear a man screamed "I can!" Phoenix made the fire ball disappear and he walked slowly towards the man. Once standing over him, he grabbed him by the back of the neck and carried him like a baby kitten to the door. "Open it, now." he said in a very serious tone.
"Ok just one second." the man begged.
The scanner read the mans hand and a few beeps went off. "ACCESS GRANTED".
The big door opened slowly. Phoenix punched the man who opened it right in the jaw, knocking him out.
"Thanks buddy." he said to the sleeping guard.

The two heros snuck through the door and took cover behind two crated. Phoenix gave him the run down of the final and most difficult phase of the plan. "Ok, so this room is stockpiled with explosives and biological weapons. We need to make sure we don't blow up New York. You see that giant computer in the center? We need to destroy it. With that gone they can't launch, or look at the blueprints of any of their weapons."

Suddenly a curveball was thrown at Phoenix. "Hello my nuisances." the voice sounded. "I know you're in here. I suggest you come out, and surrender now." It was Dr.Gainsville.
"Crap, crap, crap." Phoenix thought tom himself. He was caught like a deer in headlights.
Phoenix stood up, and looked down at the doctor in the eyes. The doctor cackled and looked up at him.
"Did you really expect to march in here and stop me alone?" he said.
"Wait he doesn't know i'm with this guy." Phoenix said looking down at Empathy.
The doctor stared blankly at him.
"I sent you those emails. I know you're Andrew Pettiglio. I lured you here."
Phoenix felt his face go numb. He was so mad at himself for walking into this.
"Why? What do you have against me?"
"Hahahahahah. In good time boy." the doctor said as lightning stared exfoliating from him.
He pointed his long, wrinkly finger at Phoenix, and fired a streak of lightning at him.
Phoenix rolled out of the way of the electricity, and prepared to fight.