Fear and loathing in chicago (Alex)

Hannibal took another bite of his sandwich. it had been quite the ride to get here, but now he was finally where he aught to be. The house looked just like he remembered it: Painfully middle-class. His sister had always wanted to get away from the pick-up drivin', gator-shootin', moonshine-brewin' and ho-downin' lifestyle of her family, and Hannibal had to give it too her, this house was probably the opposite of their rather chaotic upbringing. He knew that one or two of his other siblings envied her, but not him. He was pretty comfortable with the life he had chosen in the army, and even though his current line of work were occasionally a tad on the shady side of the lawy, he still enjoyed the huge pay-offs for diminutive amounts of work.

Metahuman muscle was a rare commodity these days, and he intended to capitalize as best he could on his newfound abilities, and so he had agreed to act as a bodyguard t been hired to some shady industrialist. He had no idea why the man thought he needed a bodyguard, and he did not really care. He was just another working stiff on an assignment, nothing more nothing less.

He turned and stopped on the driveway, and even though he was driving a custom-made light truck specially designed to handle his mass, the car still creaked omniously as he got out. his massive foot thudded on the driveway. Usually he tried to get a room in a decent hotel, but when he told his big sis that he would be in the neighborhood she had practically insisted he'd stay with them for a few days. He knew that this most likely meant that he'd be sleeping in the basement again, but he didn't mind. It was rather cosy down there, and since they knew about his size they knew how to avoid accidents and whatnot.

He sauntered up towards the door, scratching his butt as he went, and pulling up the rear of his pants whilst he was at it. The fabled "Plumbers crack" was something that was considrered a bit too stupid even amongst his native tribe. He fished inside of the pocket of his jeans-vest and pulled out a packet of cig, produced a lighter and lit one up before ringing the doorbell.

"Oh! He is here! That must be him."

Sarah, Alex's mom, was practically bursting with excitement. She had been talking about her brother visiting for the past week and they were all to get "ready" for him. Alex had been forced to clean the house not once, but twice in the passed two days to make sure it was clean. It practically glowed with cleanliness by the time his mother deemed it done. Now that man was here, his mother could hardly contain herself. She bolted up and too the door before either Alex or his dad could move. For a woman always complaining about her sore feet, she could move pretty fast.

Last time his uncle had visited them was... a long time ago. Back in the house in california. It must have been close to a decade ago as Alex was barely seven at the time. All he could really remember of the man was this smell of cigarettes and a very large gut. Not the most exciting memories. He was sitting at his kitched counter, head propped up by one hand as he tried not to look too bored. He just needed to killed sometime with his uncle then he could escape to do more... Heroic things.

Sarah opened up the door with glee, her bright smile lightning up the room. Hannibal towered over her 5'0" stature with ease, but she didn't seem to care. With the force of 98 pound woman, she pracitcally talked her brother in a hug. She couldn't even fit her arms around his waist.

"Well hi there Han! Bigger then ever I see!"

Hannibal couldn't help but to smile as his sister opened the door. She seemd alot smaller than he expected, but he knew that it was a matter of perspective. last time they had met had been about three years ago when cousin carol had married, although she had not brung her family that time, but that was the only time they had met since he had gone metahuman. She was not the only one that had turned into a midget in his eyes. it was the same with the rest of his family and especially his younger brother Eddie. Eddie had always towered above the rest of them, but nowadays he was a small as the rest.

Hannibal knelt down and wrapped his massive arms around Sarah as she came rushing out at him, She was literally enveloped, almost dissapearing into his embrace, only the top of her head and her shins where visible.
"Nah, it's just you that's started to shrink, Sis" the eight and a half-foot said, his voice sounding like an impossibly deep rumble. with a big grin on his face he let go of his sister. still smiling. He had no idea he had missed her this much. He was usually not a nostalgic and sentimental sort, but seeing Sarah gave him that warm and fuzzy feeling usually associated with "comming home"

Then came the awkward part of the visit. The door. Ever since he went metauman going through doors normally was beyond his abilities, but he had learned a rather neat little trick involving his stretchy powers. He simply elongated himself slightly as he went through the door, shifting his mass into the house, thus sparing the family a hole in the wall.

He then lay his eyes upon the man of the house, who no doubt had been told of his condition, but still had that slightly glazed-over, "what the heck"-gaze plastered on his face, but was still polite enough to do his best to not gawk. Hannibal had never really been close to the man, even before they moved out of california. They where simply too different people, but he seemed to take care of his wife well, and thus he was one of the good guys in Hannibals book. even if he was as dull as dishwater sometimes.

The son on the other hand he did not recognize, but he wasn't too surprised about that. Last time he saw the kid, he had been roughly seven and chattered on about something or other. Hannibal had no idea what the kid had been talking about, so he had taken a "smile and nod" approach to dealing with Alex. . . Or was it Axel?
"Hey, guys. I ain't seen either of ya in a friggin' eternity! How's ya doin?" He said conversationally, his voice so deep it could almost be felt in the walls.

"Whoaaa dad, has he always been that big?" Alex murmured to his Father next to him. His head had come off of his hand as he looked up at the big man. Even the word big failed to adequately describe this behemoth. The dude barely fit through the door and the wood flooring was creaking loudly under his weight. Hopefully Alex wouldn't have to share his room with the man. He doubted there would be room for the two of them.

"No buddy, I don't quite think he has..." Alex's father, John, muttered back to him. He smiled and returned the nod.  Alex's mom disengaged from the hug and walked into the kitchen. She practically pulled Alex out of his chair and over to Hannibal.

Sarah: "You remember Alex right? He used to only come up to your knees last time!"

Well, maybe. It was hard to tell where Alex might have been last time they had met. Men after 30 usually didn't hit a growth spurt. Alex just grinned tiredly, putting up with his mom's antics. She was just to excited.

Alex: "Good to see you again."

And stuck out his hand. Alex was about 6'2", built with broad shoulders and lean cut. A well defined athletic body, but even so he was tiny standing next to his uncle. Still he seemed undaunted, looking up at the man with a tired grin.

Sarahs son was one of the few people that actually looked bigger than he had when he last met him, mostly on account of him barely having begun school back then. He had never been all that good with kids, and he remember Sarah yelling at him for showing the seven year old his Desert Eagle. He especially remembered the earful she gave him about it afterward, and especially the part about the dangers of giving an eight-year old a loaded gun. So what, as long as the safety is on there was no worries, right? And everyone knew kids were idiots, so he wouldn't be able to figure out how to turn it of either. They had eventually reached a compromize where Hannibal emptied the gun before letting her son or husband play with it. Apparrantly he didn't trust her hubby around them either.

"Man, who'd think that chubby little guy'd grow up so friggin' fast." He said with a big grin as he removed his hideour trucker-cap from his head. and almost nonchalantely tossed it at a conveniently placed chair.

"Still remember the hidin' I got from yer ma for lendin' ya me gun. Heh! Man, that brings me back." He continued, his deep rumble of a voice becomming like an avalanche when he let out a boisterous laughter.
An' dun' think I've forgotten 'bout you, Phil. If I get any free time while I'm here I'll offer ya the chance ta get even for that time I humiliated you when we were bowling last time" He said to the boys father. Last time they had met, they had decided that bowling was something neither of them had any objection towards doing together, so they had gone bowling, and even though it was mostly for Sarah's sake, he had found that he actually liked the other man a bit. Of course, if not for Sarah the only place they'd ever meet was probably a courtroom, but still. It could be way worse.

"You know, I could say the same thing bout you uncle. Since when does a man past 30 years hit a growth spurt?" Alex said with raising an eyebrow. But his father cut him off with a laugh.

Phil: "I'll have to take you up on that offer sometime! Since Sarah told me you were coming I've been hitting the bowling alley on my lunch breaks!"

His father was always one for a competition. Its where Alex got his competitive streak though his father wasn't what one would consider an athelete. The 40 year old lawyer had a bit of a belly himself. Alex's mom said it just added to his charm when he dressed up as Santa near Christmas. Alex though, was no longer paying them any attention. His phone just got a text message from an app of his. He had set his phone to recieve updates from a police scanner. There was a fire going on downtown in one of the skyscrappers. The fire department wouldn't be able to help them. But Alex could.

Alex: "Alrigth, gotta go! Don't wanna be late for my work out."

Sarah: "Wait! Where are you going! You can skip one day!"

She called out to Alex, but he was already on his way to his room to grab his bag. In record time, Alex was out the door. He called over his shoulder, saying he'd be home in time for dinner but was gone. Alex's mom just held her head with one hand as if she was used to this.

Sarah: "That boy...."

A few minutes later and Alex was in his uniform. He slapped his eye mask on with a grin then tucked his bag away in a safe little hiding spot. He flew up from the alleyway and soared to the fire. This was a job for Aegis.

Spoiler:

"Ta be honest, kid yer guess is as good as mine. It's one o' them meta-things. better ta just roll with it, y'know." He rumbled cheerfully, grinned as he looked down on his gargantuan, round belly and patted it. "Met'phorically speakin' o' course." he added with another bout of boisterous laughter. Ever since he had turned meta he had been pretty open with what he was. After all, with his size he might as well have 'metahuman' written all over his forehead

He grinned as phil said he had practiced. He figured he would. Back in the days before Alex were in the picture he remembered how Phil had always been the one who'd take things a little further. Hannibal had always liked bowling, so he was naturally good at it, however, Phil had proceeded from total novice (the first time they had gone bowling he had even managed to toss the ball so bad that it somehow ended up in the neighboring lane) to a somewhat competent bowler in naught buta few weeks. The guy had drive, there was no doubt about that.

As Sarah called after the boy that seemed to be running late for something, Hannibal couldn't fault him. Thus far the temporary living-arrangement had been between exclusively between him and Sarah. "Let him go, sis. I need to head out myself anyway. Work an all that, y'know. I'll just get my bag down into the basement, and get back into the car." he said as the tiny woman led him into the basement.

"Thanks for letting me stay, by the way. And it's really good ta see ya again, sis." he said as he put his things down next to the mattrasses that had been repurposed as a bed for him.

-------------- ten minutes later. ----------------

Gorgeous George was pretty bored, but in a way he considered boredom a luxury for person in a fighting profession. In fact he simply could not get enough of boredom whilst on a job, because boredom meant that nothing dangerous happened. Usually body-guarding jobs were like that. He was an obvious meta, and people generally used him more to show off that they had muscle than for actually dangerous assignments.

This time he had been commissioned to guard a high-placed agent from a east-asian terror-organisation loosely affiliated with a country that barely existed anymore. From what little he had gathered from his tightlipped employers they where here to score some sweet firepower from another organization of malcontents and generally unpleasant people. He was one of four bodyguards, and as far as he knew he was the only meta. Two ofthe other bodyguards were the representatives country men, whilst he and another one were hired westerners. He did not really like the company, only one of the foreigners spoke any english and the other western bodyguard were a man codenamed "Johnny five" who was some sort of cybernetic ninja. Gorgeous scoffed as his ilk. They were far too kill-happy, barely professional at all and gave his profession a bad name.

He had changed clothes aswell, and was currently dressed in a pair of military fatigues, a matching wife-beater and his cool vaugley lucha-libre style skull mask. At his side he had his trusty Desert Eagle, modified for his rather oversized hands as well as a radio to call for backup and a first aid kit in case someone got seriously hurt. In that respect his size was an advantage, it was alot easier to bring more things. However, there was something that smelled rather fishy. The warehouse they had designated as a meeting-spot seemed to be totally devoid of life. The other group should have been here by now. However, Hannibal wasn't too worried. The simplest explanation was usually the correct one. The guy could have gotten cold feet, a better offer or a flat tire. The possibilities were endless.

A fire ragged on the fourteenth level of the sky-rise, flames licking the outside of the building with their orange and red tongue.  Alex didn't even pause as he flew into the fire. He came to stop in the middle of a hallway that was mostly on fire. He was no expert, but this place did not looks very structurally sound anymore. He wouldn't have long.

"Hello?!? IS ANYONE IN HERE?"

Alex pretty much bellowed as he began to scope the place out. He covered his head as part of the upper floor came crashing down next to him, only to hear someone call out to him. It was faint, but definitely there. He began to force his way to the back, tossing desks and office dividers as he did so. There was a person banging on a oddly out of place metal door from the other side of it. With a quick grab, Alex ripped the door off of its hinges. A woman was standing there in a lab coat despite the normal boring office.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Twenty minutes later at the warehouse
A door slammed open inside the warehouse as three men swaggered forward. They let the guards pat them down with cocky grins on their faces. One of them held a small black case in his hands. The three looked like nothing more then normal humans in suit and ties, but the way that they carried themselves was off. It spoke of experienced combatants, no wasted movement despite their swagger. One with blonde hair stepped forward with the case.

"For something worth three million dollars, this was surprisingly easy to obtain. So easy we were worried it was the wrong thing, but then we got a chance to look inside"

He tapped the black case and gave a small little whistle. He tilted his head as he did so, grinning again. His teeth were sharpened to points, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. He gave a small wink to Hannibal.

"What a glorious little thing this is eh?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten minutes ago

With a fireball on their tail, Alex flew the girl out of the building. She clung on to him and screamed into his ear. He merely winced at the noise, too focused on not being barbecued to try and shut her up. By the skin of their teeth, they made it outside. And only slightly singed too!

Alex: "Well that wasn't so bad!"

Doctor Karstan: "You fool! Put me down right this instance!"

Alex: "Alright, Alright..."

Alex floated down to ground level, still carrying the doctor as she glared angrily up at him. He raised an eyebrow at her

Alex: "Going to explain why you are mad at me for saving your life?"

The good doctor glared harder at him then sighed, rubbing her temples.

Doc: "I suppose I should thank you for that. But my life wouldn't have been in danger if it wasn't for you gene hazards!"

Alex just raised his eyebrow again. Not the first time he had been insulted for being a metahuman, but he usually wasn't due to being a hero. Or at least, trying to be a hero.

Doc: "I was just finishing up my project when they burst in! Three powered metahumans began to ransack the office looking for me! You see, Carso co. also has a lab on the 14th floor. Its mainly for computer sciences so it worked out nice. We just needed a small little room. Those three broke through the door! After that they grabbed my project and jammed the door behind them as they left. Then they set the entire floor on fire!"

Alex: "Why the hell does Carso co. have a computer science lab in a random office building?"

Doc: "Well... we were labled as the server room and we did some.. projects to keep us on the leading edge."

Alex: " Of marketing?"

The doctor gave a small shrug, looking very uncomfortable. Alex was nearly at ground level now, but he slowed down. He wanted to hear what this lady was going on about before setting her down.

Doc: "Well, ya... sorta. We made a virus for the company. It would slip into peoples computers via seemingly harmless ads and steal their data. We could in turn use this data to make better ads right? Well looks like we did a good job on the virus. If it was implanted into say, a government computer in the pentagon, it could steal massive amounts of data from the systems. Weapons, security plans, hidden metahumans. Would need to be upgraded before hand, but the basis is there. Thats why we put it in the case. To keep it safe."

Alex: "Uh huh... cause that worked so well."

Doc: "The case, not the office you nitwit! The thing is nearly indestructible. Would take some severe punishment to get that sucker open. Also has a tracker in it."

Alex: "A tracker you say?"

With that, the pair landed. There was a swarm of press held back by the police as the medics rushed forward. The flashing of cameras was blinding. He leaned close to the doc.

Alex: "Can I have that tracker then?"

The doctor paused then reached into her lab coat, nodding. She pulled out a small black device and pressed it into his hands.

Doc: "Good luck hero! You might need it."

Alex: "Let the police know, I'll be heading their first"

Wasting no more time, Alex took off into the sky. A sonic boom sounded as he raced across the sky

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Present time.

Blonde: "But seeing how useful this device might be to say... other people how about we rengotiate the price eh? I say five million would be more suitable for this little puppy."

He crossed his arms, lifting up his chin in a display of arrogance. He thought he was holding all the cards right now. His compatriots stood on his flanks with equally cocky stances. That was, until a large crash sounded in the warehouse. A new hole was ripped open in the rooftop as Alex came soaring down through it. He landed to the side of the two groups, on one knee as his fist was planted into the ground. There was a small crater around him in the cement as he slowly rose up. A nice entrance.

Alex: "I think you folks have something that doesn't belong to you."

He looked around at the two groups until his eyes settled on Hannibal. Alex was dumbstruck by the sight of this three ton man in a wife beaters and a luca mask. Did he really think that he was fooling anyone with that disguise. It was all Alex could do to not let his jaw hit the floor. What the hell was his uncle doing here in the middle of a weapons deal?

Hannibal sighed as he kept an eye out for eventual problemS, even though he was fairly certain  this would most likely to be one of the best sort of assignment. Two hours of standing around, then a sweet, sweet paycheck. Even so, he couldn't afford to get too relaxed, especially not whilst working with people like Johnny Five. That lunatic was likely to go off at the slightest provocation, and Hannibal had noticed that he had started playing with one of those knives of his. The blonde guy who they were doing the negotiations with also rubbed him the wrong way. He seemed determined to do his best to come off as the biggest twat in the east coast. Obviously he had learned his negotiation-techniques from old james bond-movies.

"We negotiate before! Price set! I pay what we say I pay!" His employer said, a thick high-pitched voice having an obvious, almost comically thick cantonese accent, though there was nothing comical about the man. He may he was a physically unimposing fellow, a chain-smoking, rail-thin chinese man with a thick accent and a combover, but he still dominated the negotiation. After all, you don't become head negotiator for a terrorist-organisation for being a pushover. .  .

. . . When suddenly a sinister figure dropped from the sky. . .

The fellow smashed through the roof like a meteorite and landed in his own, homemade crater. As far as entrances go, this one was top-notch. Hannibal was actually at a loss for words, but Johnny Five however compensated by giggling loudly. Unlike a normal, girly sort of giggle, this was the giggle of a bored psychopath who finally found a way to amuse himself. from each of his fingers there suddenly grew a three-inch metal claw, bursting out of his gloves. Oh, yes, Johnny Five was getting his, no matter how outclassed he might be.

His boss simply snorted in contempt at the interruption. If he was surprised or frightened he did not show it. The only emotion that could be read from his lined face was annoyance and contempt.
"Idiot, You said location secure! I don't deal with idiots!" he said, rushing for the door, his two countrymen in tow.

Johnny five, Gorgeous George! You cover us! Don't  want trouble! one of his bodyguards said hurriedly, and by that Gorgeous took a few steps to the door and simply stood there, looking at the hero and mr.Blondes group. He didn't have any trouble with either of them, so unless someone decided to give him a hard time, he wouldn't give much of a crap what happened to the blonde-man group.

Johnny Five on the other hand had stopped giggling, but it was not because he had calmed down, quite the opposite actually. His giggling had now grown into full-blown maniacal laughter as he hyperactively looked between the assembled types. "Oooh, I want to carve my name into you all, so you'll remember me forever!" He screeched at the group. One of Blondies men lost his nerve at that and fired a few rounds at Johnny, but the psychotic cyborg moved far faster than any man had any right too, and deflected all off the bullets with his claws.

"AND YOU GO FIRST!!!!" He screeched as he sped towards the man.

Gorgeous George? Really? That was the big guys name. Alex could just barely hold back from sighing and rolling his eyes at the man. This was too much, even for the big guy. The giggling though, broke Alex out of his little stupor there. He recognized that name now that he was hearing the giggling. A local Chicago psychopath named Jonny fives, known for his utter brutality when it came to killing people. Not that the blonde was much better. That was Carson Blaze if Alex remembered his mug shot right. A notorious hot head trying to revive the Chicago mob. Also a metahuman.

What the hell did Alex just fly into...

The gun man next to Carson had his guns up and blazing, but Johnny was faster then that. Those two shots was flicked away like a man shooing a fly. Before Alex thought to interveen, Johnny had stabbed an entire hand into the man. He ripped upwards with a vicious glee, gutting the poor sod like a fish. Carson barely even noticed. He was here for the cash.

Carson: "Get the big man! I'll grab the fucking cash."

And with that, he ignited into a sheath of flames from his very skin. A very predictable set of powers from a very predictable man, but it worked for him. He took off into the sky, heading after the head hancho. He didn't even spare a glance at the blood mess that used to be his compatriot. His other minion damn near panicked then, but just nodded instead. Before Johnny could move to him, he ran at Hannibal. Mid step, he transformed into a charging Rhino. It lowered its horn... or well raised it up to Hannibals chest as he charged.

Carson still held onto that case though. It was attached to his back. Alex needed to get that case before this got out of control... Not that it was really in control in the first place. Standing right next to a heavy looking crate, Alex grinned to himself. He grabbed and threw in just one motion, sending a very sturdy looking crate at Carson. Carson, who wasn't paying attention, was blindsided by a two ton crate.

Gorgeous George Aka Hannibal Herman was not particurlarly happy about the situation that had unfolded. It had been a really good day up to this point, and then suddenly that vigilante had dropped from the sky, people had started shooting, Johnny Five had gone ape-shit and just about everything else had gone FUBAR in response to these events. Ah, well, it could probably be worse. He did not exactly know how, but it could always be worse. However, fortunately he knew exacactly what to do in this situation, and that was to do whatever his employers had paid him to do, wich in this case was to keep blondie and the hero-squad off his employers back.

"Aw, fuck all kinds of duck" Hannibal rumbled apprehensively as Johnny five stabbed his cybernetic ninja-hand into one of the blonde man's goons and gutted the poor guy like a deer. He had hoped that Johnny would show a modicum of restraint and let the blonde guy duke it out with the hero, but unfortunately that did not seem to happen. He mostly blamed himself as he should've seen this comming. After all there was a reason why he was hesitant to work with the crazies.

He was even more annoyed as Carson ordered him taken out. Seriously? It wasn't like he had done anything! However, he was not all that worried. once he had put his feet on the ground the people that could hurt him where few and far between. However, this guy could apparantly turn into a rhino, wich in itself was rather impressive. However, Hannibal wasn't worried. Even without his forcefield that rhino wouldn't even be able to scratch him. But even so he decided that It was at that time to activate his repulsor-field, or as he called it his "Bounce-back powers" since there was no kill like overkill.

The field was mostly invisible, even though it couldbe detected by pebbles and particles bouncing away from our Obese hero, but that went unnoticed by the rampaging rhino. Instead, it seemed to be going for the kill, aiming its horn at Gorgeous chest. This did not scare hannibal. He had been carpetbombed and came out of it alright, so he had definately survived worse. All that it did was make our hero feel even less guilty about what was about to happen

The Rhino charged into him with massive force, only to have that force turned against him as his horn was less than an inch away from him. The shockwave was enough to fling the five-ton animal into the air, having it crash into a few crates nearby. However, that was not the end of it. The shockwave that surged through the warehouse had caused pretty much an avalanche of crates, not to mention that it would most likely knock anyone weighing less than a ton over. Johnny five was the most obvious victim as he was flung across the room, crashing into a wall, somewhat surprised but still completely unhurt

"Whozzamatter hornface? Y'can dish it out but not take it?" he roared at the pile of crates that had collapsed over the poor animal, that was currently struggling to get back up onto his feet. It looked bruisedand battered, but even so, Gorgeous was not letting up, but took a few long strides towards it, and kicked it, just as it bas getting back up onits feet. Hecould feel two of its ribs crack as he sent the poor beast bouncing like a big football into another pile of crates.

"Here's 'bit of an education for y'all, dickheads! I'm Gorgeous George. When I move I'm unstoppable, when I stop, I'm immovable. . ." He rumbled loudly as he glared at the other combattants, his inhumanly deep voice filled with anger and confidence. When he was done talking he immediately started to walk towards Carson and the newly arrived hero, each of his steps providing an audible thud.

". . . And when I'm moving towards you, you're screwed!" He finished, a bloodthirsty grin appearing on his face. Of course this little speech was all theatrics, but it was always good to put a little fear into the hearts of your enemies before you start clobberin' them.

Alex, for the love of god, could not take this man seriously. First he causes some uber mega shock wave that hit Alex hard enough to cause more cracks in the ground around him then he does some shtick like that. It was certainly scary though. Not psychopath scary, but scary in his own weird way. He took out that charging Rhino like it was nothing, then broke the mans ribs just to make sure he stayed down. It was brutal, quick, and efficient.

That alone was far scarier then any sort of speech. Actions always spoke louder then words

Carson was already getting up though, shaking off the dirt from the crate. He was looking like might downright explode from fury. He took in a deep breath and let it go, breathing like a dragon. Fire poured from his mouth in a gigantic spray, threatening to overwhelm nearly all of the warehouse. Reacting fast, Alex kicked a large crate in front of Hannibal before ducking behind his own. Mom would kill him if his uncle got fried

Hannibal had moved half-way across the warehouse, keeping his eyes mostly on the Hero and carson, those two seemed to be the most dangerous of the remaining foe. Johnny Five was no doubt skulking around somewhere, but Hannibal had lost track of him when the Rhino was rampaging around the place. However, he was not too worried about Johnny, after all the two of them were onthe same side in this little scuffle.

However, Carson seemed to have recovered pretty well from having a crate tossed at him. No doubt there was more to this man than met the eye. It seemed to Hannibal that Carson was definately one of those fellows you couldn't just be knocked down. He needed to be put down, otherwise he'd just get back up and come straight at you again and again. He had seemingly recovered rather well and the big intake of breath seemed to indicate that he was about to do something rather violent.

Hannibal stopped and activated his forcefield, when a crate come skidding along the floor, stopping almost perfectly in front of him! This perplexed him somewhat. Was it Johnny Five that had . . . Hah! No, not a chance. He looked towards the direction where the crate had started skidding from, and noticed that it had been the hero-guy that had been ultimately responsible. Why would he do something like that? After all, he was as much his enemy as Carson or Johnny five. . . It might have been just to keep a few more bodies to throw at Carson, or perhaps he wanted to join up with them for the battle. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Either way Hannibal was rather happy about this, It kept the number of hostiles to a minimum.

"Thanks, pal" he rumbled before he jammed left hand into the crate, making a makeshift handle in the box. He then proceeded to run towards the fire-spitting evildoer with as much speed as he could, hoping he would able to crash into him with the crate. Wit his right hand he pulled his gun, ready to put a few bullets in the man in case he decided to try to sidestep him. . .

Carson didn't move an inch. He didn't have too. As the bullets rang out, they just slipped right through him. In fact as Han charged at him with the crate, it all went right through him. He let Han run passed him before reforming on the other side. It was like a bunch of sparks from a fire coolesing into a human body. He rebuilt slowly till he finally reform with one hand raised at The Gorgeous George.

Carson: "You didn't think you were the only one with a few tricks up your sleeves now did ya?"

The wanna be snapped his fingers, igniting another flame blast.

From the other side of the warehouse, Alex was standing on top of a crate watching the whole ordeal. He was about to leap into action when he heard a small giggling from behind him. Turning to slow, Johnny jumped onto his back. Alex let out a yell as those metal claws raked across his skin.

Johnny: "What a sucker! Who the hell lets their guard down like that in the middle of a fight??"

He let out another insane laugh as he drew back his hand to finish the job. He would savor the blood on his claws of this little hero. But when he drew back his hand, something was off about his claws. There was no red. There was no blood. Before he could figure out this little puzzle, Johnny felt a grip on his other hand. Alex pulled him closer to his body then flew straight up with Johnny on top. Alex slammed the psyco into the ceiling with the initial leap then spun out of the weakened grip. He grabbed Johnny by his shirt and slammed him into the ceiling hard, actually breaking through it. It drove the air out of the man's chest, but Alex wasn't done yet. He turned towards the ground, Johnny in front of him, and flew at full speed. He hit the ground hard enough to make yet another crater, this time using Johnny as the impact point.

Hannibal Held out his gun, ready to shoot the man in question. This was ending now. However, the appearance of a new variable made the plan crumble like a legal case against John Gotti, as the man in question seemed to have a rather nasty ability to transform into embers and somehow avoid the brunt of the blast. Hannibal grunted in dissaproval. This would no doubt complicate things quite a bit. However, However, he did not actually need to kill Carson to finish his mission. He only needed to buy his boss enough time to escape before departing himself.

As he heard the man talk behind of him, he quickly spun around, but it was too late, the insanely hot flames of the inferno burnt him before he managed to turn the crate around to once again shield him from the blaze. He was only singed, and even though it hurt, it did not take long for his body to regenerate the damage. He cursed his stupidity as he crouched behind the crate. He should have activated his forcefield when he had heard the man's voice rather than swivel around. The field would no doubt have protected him better than his haphazard solution with the crate.

However, the Embers were physical in nature, at least to a certain extent. That meant that they might be dispersed by a sudden shockwave. And if there was one thing he could do, it was produce shockwaves.
That was why he suddenly tossed the crate towards his opponent, He was far too close to avoid it with regular methods, so the only thing he could do would to go ember-form again, and that was when hannibal smacked his own stomach, the fist connecting with the forcefield and thus, unleashing yet another shockwave in the direction of Carson. Hopefully the embers would be dispersed to prevent re-forming, or even better disintegrate totally, killing the annoying bugger. . .

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Johnnny Five shried in rage as he crashed into the ground, he could not feel pain, but he kept getting error-messages from all regions of his cybernetic body several of his servos where damaged, his plating was more or less turned to scrap-metal and one of his arms where completely irreparable. It was obvious that he would not win this. However, he may have one chance of revenge. He decided to overload all of his systems, effectively blowing himself up. Hopefully the hero would die, and so he would win. After all, he would be reincarnated soon enough as "Johnny Six"

"You've gone and killed me! Allow me to return the favour!" he shrieked as his the process begun, bolts of electricity shooting from his cyborg body, along with jets of flame. . .It was quite clear that something was amiss. The dying, overcharged cyborg started laughing maniacally as the process continued, but it was not a laugh of joy, It was the desperate laugh of terror.