Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:22 pm
Chicago
Alessia stumbled upwards as the silhouette of a massive human stepped into view, giving him a weak thumbs up as she stretched her neck and back from the force of the impact. She turned and look around, finding Risha cowering under the seat after he had been thrown from her shoulder during the impact. Softly cooing to him, she slowly lifted the owl and placed him back on her shoulder, and then looked back at the large shape as the details of his face slowly came into view.
When recognition finally struck Alessia, she almost doubled over in excitement.
"Vin-dee-cator!" She exclaimed, smiling underneath her veil, "I have heard so much about you, it is an honor. Hopefully, we can be of some help to you all."
After an hour of uneventful silence, the pilot informed them of their arrival to Chicago. His calm yet determined tone was soon washed away for a more panicked one. "Warning, incoming-" Ollie's British voice was interrupted by the sound of metal grinding and squealing as the dropship shook violently. Richard's mood dropped as the bottom of his boots magnetized to avoid being thrown about. The dropship soon leveled out, much to Knight Owl's surprise as it lowered to the ground. "The hell..." Richard said as he unbuckled and approached the rear door just as it was brutally forced down, revealing Vindicator, one of the legendary Regents. "Vin-dee-cator!" he heard from behind him, as Alessia moved past Owl to greet Vindicator. Owl turned back around to investigate how the rest of the team was doing. "Everybody alright?" he said, his voice slightly distorted by the helmet.
Zeke tensed up as the ship crumbled after an attack by some entity he didn't quite see. "Fuck..." He said as his body tensed up. He'd survive the crash, most likely. The rest of the team, maybe not so much. Instead, the ship was saved by one of the Regents. As the door ripped open and revealed Vindicator, Zeke unbuckled from the seat and moved to the back of the ship, moving past the rest of the Argonauts and the Regent to examine where they'd crashed.
Chief already hated flying plenty, and the near-crash landing didn't help his upset stomach. When they started to plummet, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the contents of his stomach private. But thankfully, they were saved by a true hero- Vindicator. Chief heard Knight Owl call out, and he responded quickly, "I'm alright."
Pending quickly unbuckled himself and went up to see Vindicator- walking slowly so as to quell the remaining urge to vomit. "Hello, sir." He said, throwing up a small, quick salute, "I'm Chief, and I think I'm in charge of these guys- I mean this group of Argonauts. Is there anything you would have us do?" The ape took some calming breaths. He knew that if he was going to be the leader of this mission, he'd need to have more confidence than what he'd displayed thus far.
Vindicator remained mostly stoic, brushing off the bits of pulverized asphalt that had gathered on his jeans and boots from catching the dropship. He gave a rehearsed, faint smile and nod to Alessia, but furrowed his brow when Chief approached.
"If you're in charge, you'll want to talk to the boss," he said, putting a hand to his ear.
"You getting this, Cypher?"
"Indeed," a voice replied over the shared comms.
A burst of gunfire rang out, before the number 1 hero in the world continued, "Pending Chief, Pan Melior, I'm afraid we don't have time for pleasantries. This is all a big rouse, but I don't want to tip our hand just yet. Several villains are causing distractions and keeping the Regents spread thin. I need your team to relieve Wrath and Quatermain at West Washington and North Clark."
Tuccia was looking decently frazzled from the drop, but at this point was clearly more perplexed that the simian of all people had managed to get a position of influence over the group. He didn't even have a proper name. But then, who was she to judge? Regardless, as she properly stowed away her device, Tuccia looked at him with some level of scrutiny. After all, one could be forgiven for considering such circumstances extraordinarily strange.
Knight Owl looked over to Chief for an order. "Where'd you want us, Chief?" Asked Owl, putting the pressure on Chief. If he's gonna be Team Leader, he needs to handle being put on the spot.
Chief looked at Knight Owl and knew the easy answer to his question. Obviously. they'd have to go help Wrath and Quatermain, but Pending was having troubles thinking of a plan to do so. Leaders needed strategies and plans to carry out their missions quickly and efficiently. To make said plans, Chief figured he could start by learning more about who they were up against. He looked at Vindicator and said "Do we know who Wrath and Quatermain are fighting?"
Chief looked back to Knight Owl and the rest of the Argonauts. Leading was really stressful for the ape, and he didn't know if he should actually be doing it. "We should all stick together, because few of us have fought actual villains." That would be a good start. Numbers kept the family safe from predators. Apes together were stronger than apes divided. "We will make our way to West Washington and North Clark, meet up with Wrath and Quatermain, and hopefully get a clear idea of what we're up against. We know that there is a deer, but deer rarely travel alone. Perhaps I could find something related to the villains and use my power to learn more about them. Otherwise, listen for Cypher's orders and look out for civilians on our way to the rendezvous." That felt like a good enough plan.
"The Gold Diggers were seen in the area; that's the 'deer' who downed your plane, and who's been keeping me busy," Vindicator grumbled, gesturing to the numerous damaged and nearly destroyed buildings.
"From what I heard, Wrath and Quatermain got some civilians they're protecting from random street thugs with powers. Honestly, you better get there before Wrath microwaves them."
As the hero was speaking, the ground seemed to rumble, followed by a large, almost human hand appeared around the side of a building.
"Well, looks like Tiny's back!" Vindicator bellowed, turning to face the towering gorilla lumber into the street.
The poor animal had horns and armor plating growing from its skin, along with an extra pair of limbs sprouting out from under it's arms. Combined with it's dozen or more foot-tall height, it was an imitating foe.
"Tiny here has some kind of regeneration. I've been fighting it all morning. You kids run along, I can keep it at bay."
To prove his point, Vindicator gave a superhuman leap. His strength carried him clear of the buildings that flanked the street, but then he suddenly halted his ascension and dropped like a human meteor. He slammed into the mutated gorilla like he weighed thousands of tons, creating a crater and sending debris flying in every direction. The ground shook, followed by smaller quakes as the hero launched a barrage of massive blows.
The 12-foot tall gorilla was a creature of action, not words. Its thick brow had furled as it felt an emotion that humans would call confusion- a creature similar to it was standing amongst the hairless ones. One of the smaller, black-furred apes. Were the gorilla capable of language, it would certainly identify the being called Chief as a traitor. But of course, the gorilla had other priorities.
The hairless one who had given it horns, scales, and more hands had put an idea in its head. Cruel predators were coming to harm the gorilla and the ones who had brought it from captivity- naturally, its instinct was to fight against such threats. The one-eyed hairless one- Vindicator- was the worst of them. As the gorilla rounded the corner, Vindicator barreled into it with the force of a wrecking ball, crashing into its massive, muscular form and following up with a brutal barrage of blows.
But the gorilla had gifts- powers -of its own. As Vindicator's fists battered the gorilla, gouged flesh and shattered bone knit themselves back together. Even the exhaustion that should come from such an intense battle was nothing. The gorilla's gift was to enjoy the thrill of battle without risk, to fight without ever worrying about losing- or so it figured in its primate mind. The attacks of the mighty hero barely missed inflicting any kind of crippling harm- with the gorilla's regeneration clocked in, it was as though the animal had avoided the attacks altogether.
The four-armed gorilla managed to deflect one of Vindicator's punches with it's lower arms, leaving the hero open. It counterattacked, upper arms swinging at the hero. Its technique was instinctive, but its strength was overwhelming. As its flurry of punches subsided, the gorilla opened its mouth, roaring at Vindicator. The display was not for show, as a centipede-like arthropod extended from its mouth,
spewing a dark purple bile at the hero. An acidic compound, designed to eat through flesh- and meant to counter Vindicator's immense durability. Brute force would be of little consequence to him, so more insidious means were designed by the gorilla's master.
Chief was in shock that another ape had powers. He thought he was the only one, but unfortunately there was no time to talk to his compatriot. "Everybody move to the rendezvous!" Chief shouted to his team. He went on all fours and started running past the chaos to get to the heroes that needed the Argonauts' help. He figured that his team could fight a few powered goons just fine, but not a gorilla.
Alessia stumbled upwards as the silhouette of a massive human stepped into view, giving him a weak thumbs up as she stretched her neck and back from the force of the impact. She turned and look around, finding Risha cowering under the seat after he had been thrown from her shoulder during the impact. Softly cooing to him, she slowly lifted the owl and placed him back on her shoulder, and then looked back at the large shape as the details of his face slowly came into view.
When recognition finally struck Alessia, she almost doubled over in excitement.
"Vin-dee-cator!" She exclaimed, smiling underneath her veil, "I have heard so much about you, it is an honor. Hopefully, we can be of some help to you all."
After an hour of uneventful silence, the pilot informed them of their arrival to Chicago. His calm yet determined tone was soon washed away for a more panicked one. "Warning, incoming-" Ollie's British voice was interrupted by the sound of metal grinding and squealing as the dropship shook violently. Richard's mood dropped as the bottom of his boots magnetized to avoid being thrown about. The dropship soon leveled out, much to Knight Owl's surprise as it lowered to the ground. "The hell..." Richard said as he unbuckled and approached the rear door just as it was brutally forced down, revealing Vindicator, one of the legendary Regents. "Vin-dee-cator!" he heard from behind him, as Alessia moved past Owl to greet Vindicator. Owl turned back around to investigate how the rest of the team was doing. "Everybody alright?" he said, his voice slightly distorted by the helmet.
Zeke tensed up as the ship crumbled after an attack by some entity he didn't quite see. "Fuck..." He said as his body tensed up. He'd survive the crash, most likely. The rest of the team, maybe not so much. Instead, the ship was saved by one of the Regents. As the door ripped open and revealed Vindicator, Zeke unbuckled from the seat and moved to the back of the ship, moving past the rest of the Argonauts and the Regent to examine where they'd crashed.
Chief already hated flying plenty, and the near-crash landing didn't help his upset stomach. When they started to plummet, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the contents of his stomach private. But thankfully, they were saved by a true hero- Vindicator. Chief heard Knight Owl call out, and he responded quickly, "I'm alright."
Pending quickly unbuckled himself and went up to see Vindicator- walking slowly so as to quell the remaining urge to vomit. "Hello, sir." He said, throwing up a small, quick salute, "I'm Chief, and I think I'm in charge of these guys- I mean this group of Argonauts. Is there anything you would have us do?" The ape took some calming breaths. He knew that if he was going to be the leader of this mission, he'd need to have more confidence than what he'd displayed thus far.
Vindicator remained mostly stoic, brushing off the bits of pulverized asphalt that had gathered on his jeans and boots from catching the dropship. He gave a rehearsed, faint smile and nod to Alessia, but furrowed his brow when Chief approached.
"If you're in charge, you'll want to talk to the boss," he said, putting a hand to his ear.
"You getting this, Cypher?"
"Indeed," a voice replied over the shared comms.
A burst of gunfire rang out, before the number 1 hero in the world continued, "Pending Chief, Pan Melior, I'm afraid we don't have time for pleasantries. This is all a big rouse, but I don't want to tip our hand just yet. Several villains are causing distractions and keeping the Regents spread thin. I need your team to relieve Wrath and Quatermain at West Washington and North Clark."
Tuccia was looking decently frazzled from the drop, but at this point was clearly more perplexed that the simian of all people had managed to get a position of influence over the group. He didn't even have a proper name. But then, who was she to judge? Regardless, as she properly stowed away her device, Tuccia looked at him with some level of scrutiny. After all, one could be forgiven for considering such circumstances extraordinarily strange.
Knight Owl looked over to Chief for an order. "Where'd you want us, Chief?" Asked Owl, putting the pressure on Chief. If he's gonna be Team Leader, he needs to handle being put on the spot.
Chief looked at Knight Owl and knew the easy answer to his question. Obviously. they'd have to go help Wrath and Quatermain, but Pending was having troubles thinking of a plan to do so. Leaders needed strategies and plans to carry out their missions quickly and efficiently. To make said plans, Chief figured he could start by learning more about who they were up against. He looked at Vindicator and said "Do we know who Wrath and Quatermain are fighting?"
Chief looked back to Knight Owl and the rest of the Argonauts. Leading was really stressful for the ape, and he didn't know if he should actually be doing it. "We should all stick together, because few of us have fought actual villains." That would be a good start. Numbers kept the family safe from predators. Apes together were stronger than apes divided. "We will make our way to West Washington and North Clark, meet up with Wrath and Quatermain, and hopefully get a clear idea of what we're up against. We know that there is a deer, but deer rarely travel alone. Perhaps I could find something related to the villains and use my power to learn more about them. Otherwise, listen for Cypher's orders and look out for civilians on our way to the rendezvous." That felt like a good enough plan.
"The Gold Diggers were seen in the area; that's the 'deer' who downed your plane, and who's been keeping me busy," Vindicator grumbled, gesturing to the numerous damaged and nearly destroyed buildings.
"From what I heard, Wrath and Quatermain got some civilians they're protecting from random street thugs with powers. Honestly, you better get there before Wrath microwaves them."
As the hero was speaking, the ground seemed to rumble, followed by a large, almost human hand appeared around the side of a building.
"Well, looks like Tiny's back!" Vindicator bellowed, turning to face the towering gorilla lumber into the street.
The poor animal had horns and armor plating growing from its skin, along with an extra pair of limbs sprouting out from under it's arms. Combined with it's dozen or more foot-tall height, it was an imitating foe.
"Tiny here has some kind of regeneration. I've been fighting it all morning. You kids run along, I can keep it at bay."
To prove his point, Vindicator gave a superhuman leap. His strength carried him clear of the buildings that flanked the street, but then he suddenly halted his ascension and dropped like a human meteor. He slammed into the mutated gorilla like he weighed thousands of tons, creating a crater and sending debris flying in every direction. The ground shook, followed by smaller quakes as the hero launched a barrage of massive blows.
The 12-foot tall gorilla was a creature of action, not words. Its thick brow had furled as it felt an emotion that humans would call confusion- a creature similar to it was standing amongst the hairless ones. One of the smaller, black-furred apes. Were the gorilla capable of language, it would certainly identify the being called Chief as a traitor. But of course, the gorilla had other priorities.
The hairless one who had given it horns, scales, and more hands had put an idea in its head. Cruel predators were coming to harm the gorilla and the ones who had brought it from captivity- naturally, its instinct was to fight against such threats. The one-eyed hairless one- Vindicator- was the worst of them. As the gorilla rounded the corner, Vindicator barreled into it with the force of a wrecking ball, crashing into its massive, muscular form and following up with a brutal barrage of blows.
But the gorilla had gifts- powers -of its own. As Vindicator's fists battered the gorilla, gouged flesh and shattered bone knit themselves back together. Even the exhaustion that should come from such an intense battle was nothing. The gorilla's gift was to enjoy the thrill of battle without risk, to fight without ever worrying about losing- or so it figured in its primate mind. The attacks of the mighty hero barely missed inflicting any kind of crippling harm- with the gorilla's regeneration clocked in, it was as though the animal had avoided the attacks altogether.
The four-armed gorilla managed to deflect one of Vindicator's punches with it's lower arms, leaving the hero open. It counterattacked, upper arms swinging at the hero. Its technique was instinctive, but its strength was overwhelming. As its flurry of punches subsided, the gorilla opened its mouth, roaring at Vindicator. The display was not for show, as a centipede-like arthropod extended from its mouth,
spewing a dark purple bile at the hero. An acidic compound, designed to eat through flesh- and meant to counter Vindicator's immense durability. Brute force would be of little consequence to him, so more insidious means were designed by the gorilla's master.
Chief was in shock that another ape had powers. He thought he was the only one, but unfortunately there was no time to talk to his compatriot. "Everybody move to the rendezvous!" Chief shouted to his team. He went on all fours and started running past the chaos to get to the heroes that needed the Argonauts' help. He figured that his team could fight a few powered goons just fine, but not a gorilla.