Heart of the Hero [Closed to Hawkwing]

Chicago seems to be busier than usual. Perhaps its because of all the refugees who have been forced out of their homes in New York. The entire eastern coast of the United States has had the refugees flooding into their region looking to rebuild their lives. For a lot of the inner city New Yorkers, they couldn't get away from the busy hubbub of the Big Apple. Sul-Fury stopped walking to take in a deep breath of air. He felt relaxed, at ease. He wasn't exactly fitting in the crowd well though. To others he appeared as a monstrosity, a freak. As usual, a pathway was created for him as he walked among average people. They didn't want to be anywhere near him. They had good reason. Metahumans are constantly on the news, wrecking havoc in one city or another. A maniac here, a psychotic sociopath there. People without power lived in fear. The world was chaotic, and the scene at New York could be the next Chicago, Los Angeles or any other big city out there.

A woman's scream interrupted the serenity of a peaceful day amid the busy streets. A puff of air quickly exited Sul's nostrils as he speedily walked over to the scene which took place down an alleyway. A streak of blood painted the alley all the way to the sidewalk he was standing on. As if something had grabbed a person on the street and dragged him viciously down the alley. Yet, nothing was there. Sul turned his head and stared at the woman who had previously screamed with his dimly glowing yellow eyes. She trembled for a moment, then ran off. Which was for the best. She didn't need to be another victim of whatever was happening here. Sul walked down the alley, knocking over trash cans, looking for signs of life but found none. He stood in the center of the gore puzzled for a moment while he thought about where the suspect and victim could have gone.

God it was good to be home. Hawkwing soared through the sky, watching over his city. Chicago was beautiful, even if it was a haven for crime now. He flew over the House of Blues and flew close to the river, making waves as he sped up, flying faster and faster. He shot up into the air spiraling and kind of giving a show for the city goers, most of which hated him and thought he was a monster, but that didn't matter to him.

He heard a scream pierce the sky and he turned in the air, trying to locate it. When he saw a huge... thing walk toward where the scream was heard, he started to make assumptions, assumptions that led him to the conclusion that he was probably going to get in over his head.

He flew into the alley and perched on a fire escape, looking at the big guy.

"So..." he said, "Ummm you didn't eat anyone around here did you?"

While scavenging through the immediate area, looking for signs of life, he couldn't find much of anything. The only thing that marked the existence that someone's presence was the blood spattered all over the concrete floor. A voice from behind him echoed through the alleyway. He looked behind him towards where he thought the disorienting noise came from, but nobody was there. The alleyway was a dead end. His eyes glanced up, scanning for who was speaking. Spotting a young man by the fire escape, Sul fixed his eyes on him. If there was a God, he was kind to Hawkwing. Unlike Sul, his metahuman transformation seemingly kept all of his natural appearance, save a pair of angelic wings. Apparently the young man thought he was responsible. An easy assumption. First glance at Sul would indicate he might be the culprit, given his appearance. Being at the scene of which someone was either wounded or killed was another clue against his case.

"No, I heard a scream and came to find out what the commotion was. With this much blood loss I would think whomever was hurt is most likely dead. I'm still looking for a body."" he replied. He doubted they would find one though. Hawkwing was right. It appeared as if someone was not just murdered, but devoured. A growling could be heard from a sewer grate in the alleyway. Of course! Why didn't he think of that. Sul walked over to the sewer grate and slammed his powerful foot against the ground causing a small tremor. The sewer lid sprang up into the air as he caught it with a singular hand.

Instantly he was tackled to the ground by something extremely powerful. An unknown beast-like creature sprang out with lightning speed. It was about the size and appearance of a large dog. Yet, it was a dark brown color and scaly. Bone-like spines trailed along it's back and tail, and three talons were upon each of its four limbs. Human blood stained its teeth as it tried to take a bite into Sul's throat. Instead he threw his arm up to block it. The teeth clamped onto his forearm as the creature tried to shake him with his powerful strength. Though, Sul was no longer on the defensive. Placing his feet on the gut of the creature, he kicked it off sending it reeling into a brick wall behind it. Demolishing part of the wall, the creature fell to the ground. It attempted to get up twice before finally getting back to its feet on the third attempt. It limped as it circled around Sul-Fury.

As Sul-Fury also stood to his feet, a tingle was felt in his arm. Looking to where the creature had bitten just seconds earlier, his skin had been damaged by it's powerful jaws. Another bite like that on his forearm would draw Sul's acidic blood. It's strength was no joke. It could easily rip apart someone with lesser durability than he was if it got it's hand on them. In further study of the creature, it didn't seem to be very durable itself. It was almost knocked out with a singular blow. The only thing keeping it standing was its instinctive will to survive. It was still quite injured. Sul threw his fists up into the air, ready for it to make it's next strike, if it were to come.

It appeared as if Hawkwing was barking up the wrong tree. This wasn't too surprising, he was pretty new at all of this, and hadn't fought too many villains, he was still kind of in the goon phase. He looked around for the body, scanning for clues when he heard the growling.

"Please tell me that's just your stomach." He said as he looked towards the sewer grate. When the beast leapt out of the sewer Hawk was legitly scared. This was a monster, like a bona fide monster. His wings snapped out and he watched, trying to figure out a weakness of the creature, it was fast and strong, but it didn't seem too tough.

The best way to do this would be with no wings. He pulled his wings in and jumped to the ground, landing on top of the beast, but being careful not to hit the spines. He flipped off of it and landed to the left of the man, crouching down a bit, ready to leap into the air at a moments notice.

The winged man swooped down landing on the creatures back. As he flipped off it's back, fangs snapped at Hawkwing's ankles, only grasping air. It paced back and forth, looking for an opening to strike at the pair as they stood side by side. Sul glared it in the eyes, looking for any signs of movement that would indicate another impending strike. It's speed rivaled Sul's, perhaps it was a bit faster. He had to time his strikes to the rhythm of the attacks or he would have to deal with another blow to his durable hide, or perhaps Hawkwing's death. An interesting fellow, he seemed willing and able to help Sul despite the danger posed to him too. Sul wouldn't judge his strength until he saw it though, he learned that through trial and error. Looks can be deceiving, they don't always portray ones abilities clearly.

The snarling beast had a line of drool seep through it's teeth. It was starving or feral, but he leaned towards thinking it was feral by it's actions towards humans. It charged forward again with blazing speed, this time leaping into the air trying to ensnare Hawkwing's throat within it's powerful jaws. Unfortunately for it, Sul took a step forward and grabbed it by the lower jaw before it could make contact. It flailed its limbs, slashing it's talons against Sul's chest, but to no effect. His jaws were more powerful than it's slashing strikes. Spinning the creature 360 degrees, he hurled it back against the wall again. A powerful impact hit the wall, sending it to it's knees, quite possibly having broken bones in several places. It was unable to get up from the blow. Instead, it raised it's head skyward, letting out an extremely high pitched shrill.

"Nyughh!" Sul covered his ears, recovering from the initial pain of the piercing shrill. "Was it another weapon?" he thought. The peak decibels from the scream were almost powerful enough to burst an eardrum. However it wasn't a weapon at all. An echoing growl could be heard throughout the alleyway. On the fire escapes and rooftops were about six of the creatures that looked exactly like the one that laid injured on the ground. It was calling it's friends. The creatures leaped down and began chattering their teeth, the spines on their backs shook in an instinctive method to intimidate opponents. It was working a bit. They were fast and powerful, and outnumbered them greatly.

"If you don't got what it takes to fight these off, I think it's best you fly away. They mean business. Don't worry about me, I'll find a way out of this." He said, shifting his body from left to right, expecting an attack from any of the eight beasts that surrounded them. He did have a way to get rid of the creatures, but if he used the technique it would left him very vulnerable and weak if he were to attempt it. He still hasn't refined his ability. It wasn't something he practiced due to its lethal effect it could have on others. It was essentially his last ditch effort if he couldn't defeat an opponent.

The creatures were done intimidating, now they went on the offensive. Leaping forward one after the other, they were intent on overwhelming the two with sheer power, speed and numbers. Sul knocked one out of the air with a closed fist, sending it skipping across the concrete on its thick hide. It sprang back to its feet and rejoined in the attack. Seems he didn't hit it hard enough. He wasn't aiming to kill the creatures by using his full strength, but he would if he had to. Immediately after his counteroffensive punch, Sul was snagged on the shoulder by another that came flying in on a pouncing strike. It tried shaking it's head in an attempt to rip the flesh right off, but Sul threw himself against the wall behind him, crushing it with his massive weight. Three more pinned him against the wall, grabbing at his legs and arms with their powerful fangs, trying to draw blood on Sul's rock-like hard skin.

Sul threw his head forward and headbutted one into unconsciousness in order to free his left arm, wildly swinging the closed backhanded fist into the temple of the one grabbing at his leg. It slid against the concrete before coming to a motionless halt. The third snagged its fangs onto his forearm that had been bitten earlier, and they finally succeeded in drawing Sul's blood. However, not with the results they thought. His blood was a bright yellow sulfuric acid, and it burned through it's teeth. It immediately let go and ran several feet away from Sul. All in all, he'd disarmed four of the eight creatures, now that the one creature was toothless. Four still remained. He didn't want to show any weakness, but he needed to rest. He placed one knee on the ground and grasped his forearm that was bleeding drops of acidic blood to the ground with a sizzle. One more of the creatures was left, and kept looking him in the eye, ready to pounce in aiming for Sul's throat.

Hawkwing wasn't getting off so easy either. While Sul-Fury was being attacked, three separate creatures came running after him snapping their jaws at him trying to catch the bird before it could fly away. The duo needed a plan to get the advantage on these creatures. If there were any more of them, they might come running soon.

Thank God his mom put him through gymnastics classes when he was younger, he should be able to outmanuver one mangy demon dog. He prepared to dodge and sock the mutt when it leaped for his throat, but the thing was cut short by the big guy that was helping Hawkwing.

When it hit the wall it started to howl. Hawk clasped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the shrill shrieking. He looked around as more of the demonic dogs started to appear. His head drooped, but perked back up when the big guy suggest he leave.

"No way, Tiny," he said, "I'm here for the long haul." He swallowed as three of the monsters rushed at him. God he hated to get in a fight where he was outnumbered. His wings snapped out and he dodged the first two monsters, leaping over them, then smacking the third in the ribs with a wing. It skittered away then jumped back into the fight. Hawk leapt high into the air as another one of the creatures rushed at him and it leapt after him to. He landed on the wall, then pushed himself off, punching the beast in the face, sending it to the ground. He twisted and landed on the back of the giant, then jumped off of him, kicking another beast that had decided to jump after him.

He seemed to have found a strategy that worked for him, but he wouldn't be able to do this forever.

Looking over to his newly acquired ally, he seemed to be doing fine fending off the three creatures that were after him. Unfortunately for Hawkwing though, he would need to land several blows on each creature before knocking them out of commission. They could probably rip him apart if they caught him. All one would have to do is clamp his jaws down tight on some flesh, and it would be all over. He couldn't get free, and the other two would pounce on him like they were on Sul. He needed to help him out before that happened. The one remaining a few feet away from Sul kept growling at him, but didn't want to attack. It feared his strength he displayed in beating four of them just moments earlier.

Sul's hand kept placed on his forearm where they had pierced through his rocky outer shell. Yellow acidic blood streamed through the cracks in his fingers. They didn't puncture him deep, but enough to draw blood. Which the blood in itself was strong enough to damage them as well, apparently. He didn't have time to think about much of anything, really. But he knew they weren't sentient, or conscientious like humans were. They appeared feral and had acquired the taste for blood.

Flicking his hand at the beast in front of him, acidic blood that overlaid his hands sprayed it in the face and eyes. It recoiled back in pain and threw it's paws over it's face, trying to get it off. Sul had gotten some of his breath back by now. He ran over to where the three of them were snapping their jaws, trying to catch Hawkwing. He was quick. Quicker than Sul, but he knew that a simple mistake could mean his death. He had to intervene. One of the beasts leaped at Hawkwing trying to clasp it's jaws on Hawkwing's ribs with an attack from the side, but Sul intercepted it by grabbing its upper and lower jaws with separate hands. It's powerful jaws tried to force shut, but they weren't a match for Sul's strength. He simply clenched his left hand, shattering the lower jaw of the creature. It yelped in pain as Sul kneed it in the ribs, sending it tumbling across the alleyway. The presence of Sul caused the other two to back off of Hawkwing a bit. The odds were now even. Two of them against Sul and Hawkwing. The third was still trying to rub the acid out of it's eyes to no avail.

The remaining two tucked their tail and ran back into the sewer grate with haste, leaving their comrade behind. Sul walked over to the remaining creature trying to rub the acid out of its face, it was unaware of his presence. A bop to the head knocked it unconscious. One thing was for sure, these things were dangerous to the people of Chicago. There are probably several 'missing persons' who will never return home because of them.

"You alright?" Sul turned his head and asked Hawkwing. His glowing yellow eyes fixated on his newly found friend. "That was quite a scrap. If there's more of them, Chicago isn't safe. I think I'm gonna have to put these guys down. They've acquired the taste for human flesh. They'll want more. I think they're instinctive creatures, they didn't give any signs of intellect." He hated the thought of killing, but they left him little choice. Even though Sul wasn't edible, the creatures knew no different and still tried to devour him. Where did they come from? The sewers? Was it a biochemical mutation or something worse? So many questions, but Sul was not going to drag Hawkwing into it. He would most likely investigate when the kid had left.

"Oh, I forgot. My name is Sul-Fury. My friends call me Sul for short." He said, grabbing a cigarette lighter out of his pocket. He never carried smokes, though. It was for another purpose. Igniting a flame, he covered his hand over the flame. It combusted into flames with a bright flash. The flames quickly began to travel across his body covering his entire arm up to his elbow. The sulfuric acid sizzled as the wound began to cauterize. He had a lot of strange talents that he had picked up over his experiences. Ones that he keeps using because it works. Being flammable and impervious to fire gave him an advantage to stopping his bleeding in any situation, if his opponent was capable of causing such damage. Sul was a slow healer, so cauterizing wounds was just a quick fix so that he wouldn't lose too much blood. It took a long time to fully recover from any wound.

Hawk was getting slightly worn out. The constant moving to dodge the creatures was tiring and the focus it required was pretty extensive. He was moving faster than the beasts, landing blows every chance he could get but they kept getting up. They wouldn't back down. They didn't seem to understand timing or working together either. Had they timed their attacks and staggered or attacked all at once, they would have been able to overcome him. As it was, they would probably catch him before he was able to incapicitate them.

He dove off of a dumpster at the wrong time and twisted, hoping to avoid the beast that was about to take a bite out of his ribs, but the big guy saved him. He hit the ground and skittered a bit, getting up as quickly as possible as the hulkish hero dispatched him leaving it two on two. The beasts seemed not to like the odds of that and ran off.

The big guy turned to him and seemed to be examining him with those yellow eyes of his. Hawkwing returned the gaze with his bright blue eyes, showing no fear, still not too sure about this guy.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm fine, I've been in tighter places than this." he lied, then shook his head, knitting his brow, "Chicago is safe, I got everything here under control. They aren't smart enough to catch me, and next time I won't keep myself in a tight alley. Trust me, I can handle all of this." Hawk wasn't actually sure if he could handle this, but he hated it when people looked down on him or patronized him. He didn't want this guy to take his job and make him some second-rate hero.

"I'm Hawkwing," he said, "You can call me whatever you want." He watched with curiosity as Sul set himself on fire. "So, you gonna head back to wherever you're from, right?"

Sul patted his hand down, extinguishing the flame. His wound had stop bleeding as he expected. Listening to Hawkwing talk, he began collecting all the creatures, grabbing them by the tail and dragging all of them towards the sewer grate. Hawkwing seemed pretty confident he could handle himself. It wasn't something Sul doubted, the kid was holding back. He didn't use his winged abilities once. He purely fended the creatures off with his agility and speed. Something struck him as odd though when he asked Sul if he was going to go back to wherever he came from. Was his help unwanted or something? It didn't really impact him enough to change his mind on what he was going to do.

"Heh heh, don't get me wrong. It isn't you I'm worried about. You've proven you're tougher than you look." Sul said in front of the dark opening of the sewer grate, peering down for a moment, then returning his glance to Hawkwing. "It's everyone else in Chicago. You really think they're safe from those things? Do you think that there's only two left, or a hundred down there? Hnn. I'm not leavin' til I find that out what's going on down there. I'm in a league of Heroes, the Tough Guys. If you want me to go back to where I came from, yer' just gonna have to follow." He said with a smirk. Then he took one step to the side, falling into the abyss, carrying all the unconscious creatures with him.

He landed in ankle-deep sewer water that splashed up to his knees, letting go of the unconscious creatures. The sewer water didn't really bother him though, the stench couldn't soak into his rocky skin like a normal person. All the lights were out, however. The only illumination anyone had in there was Sul-Fury's glowing eyes. Once every 30 seconds, you could see a spark down the long tunnel. The creatures liked the darkness. They had destroyed any lighting fixtures that were originally down here. Anyone who was sent down to fix it was more than likely devoured. Sul reached for his lighter but accidentally dropped it into the water. He could hear an echoing chatter of teeth down the tunnel. He continued to fish through the water, looking for the cigarette lighter that would give him some illumination to see in the pitch darkness.

Hawkwing scowled a bit when Sul started to explain things to him, as he gathered the beasts and threw them into the sewer. He watched Sul jump into the sewer, and hesistated, because it stunk down there. He also hated dark enclosed places, which the sewer was both. He wasn't about to be showed up though and jumped in, landing in the sewer water in a crouch to avoid hurting himself.

"It's ok," he muttered, "I didn't like these clothes anyway, I don't mind having to burn them."

He tried to see in the darkness, but he couldn't see anything besides what the light from the opening above them showed, which wasn't much because the sun was starting to set behind the tall buildings. When Sul dropped his lighter and the creatures started to chatter, he reached into his own pocket, pulling out his little bic lighter and lit it.

He looked over at Sul, "Don't judge," he said, "I'm trying to kick the habit."

It seemed Hawkwing was going to join him in his exploration of the sewers after all. Hawkwing's cigarette lighter illuminated the immediate area, though the radius of the light wasn't exactly a highly concentrated beam. But it was enough for Sul to spot out his lighter in the sewer water and fish it out. He would save it's fuel for now, seeing as it was Hawkwing had one to use. He shoved the lighter back into his pants pocket. Scampering could be heard as the light was lit. As if there was someone there that was going to attack but decided not to because of the light. Either way, they seemed a bit disadvantaged in the darkness.

"Glad you decided to come. So what are ya anyway? Are you from this world?" Sul-Fury asked as he investigated the lighting system further, questioning why it had failed. He wasn't sure if Hawkwing was an angelic creature or a metahuman. Sul had fought demons before, so he knew if they existed, angels had to as well. He just envisioned angels to be much more powerful than metahumans of this realm like Hawkwing and himself. Though, remembering his battle with a demon, it wasn't strong enough to beat Sul.

Examining the lighting systems, the bulbs were actually intact. They weren't what was damaged. It was a cable that was chewed in half. The entire lighting system below the surface was connected in a circuit. Break one line, all the lights go out. Rubbing his hand along the lines, he found where they were chewed through. He brushed the two lines against each other, only making some sparks fly through the air. One thing was confirmed, power still ran through the sewer lines. The problem was, Sul was no electrician.

"I think if we can rewire this, the entire sewer will light up. That'll get us a bit more of an advantage in this kind of situation." As he was yet speaking, however, the wires sparked as the lights came back to life. Yet, there was no trace of any creatures. He didn't know which way they went. For now, he would have to give up on them until a later time.

[END TOPIC.]