MadGremlin

[ QUOTE ]
Newton threw one of his singularities at Sting, pulling him through the wormhole to the other end of the alley, separating Sting from his prey. “Man, he’s going to hate that,” the green-haired man murmured as he saw the bestial, mindless look on the insect-man’s face.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting’s spine hit nothing but an empty garbage can, but the initial spine was left in Brander’s leg. Sting was confused for a moment, unsure of what exactly had happened. He looked around and saw that he was now down the alley from the battle, with Newton looking at him with a somewhat sheepish stare.

Sting all of a sudden felt the wound in his side – it was still slowly oozing a bit of yellow-green gunk, but it was already closing. Sting charged down the alley and stopped at the end, looking for a target.

[ QUOTE ]
Mystic hovered there, turning to Brander in mid air, flames still trailing from his hand and said, "run."

[/ QUOTE ]

“To late.” Hissed Sting. His voice had taken on a completely different tone. There was something about his stance and body language that spoke of feral instinct.

There is some sense that all creatures have; from the smallest bug to the most brilliant human mind. It tells you when things are…well…about to get very, very bad. This was one of those times.

Brander sensed this as Sting leaped at him. Fire launched from his fingers in a futile attempt to stop Sting – but the bug-man was feeling no pain at this point.

Brander managed to lean back far enough that the first spine only penetrated his thigh. Not a scrape, or even a deep gash – in one side and out the other almost pinning the Outcast to the ground. Fortunately for Brander, most of the poison ejected onto the ground in a small, smelly pool.

The spine from the other forearm was cocked back, ready to make its ‘point’ with Brander.

((OOC: Sorry I’m late, volleyball night!))

A large spine hit a gun-wielding thug in the front of the shoulder, spinning him around and down to the ground as Sting landed in the middle of the melee.

“Sorry I’m late, I ran into some old friends. Hey Coolant, he’ll survive if we get him to the hospital.” Sting sneered.

He bent over a bit and started pushing. The pressure started to build as spines were ready to fly everywhere. Then he saw the girl. Small, afraid, and clearly not able to take a beating. Sting stopped and stood looking at her for a moment, cursing the little morality he had left.

Then it happened. One of the other pistol wielding thugs, seeing his friend go down, aimed at Sing. The bullet struck him solidly in the abdomen. Fortunately the gunner was scared enough that it went off-center – about 2 inches above the belt and on the outside edge. But regardless, yellowish-green fluid splattered from the wound.

Sting’s eyes seemed to turn a darker shade and poison pulsed into his spines as he turned to the gunman.

Sting headed out too, leaping through the neighborhood, keeping low and trying to catch a glimpse of any movement. “Oooh, some Skulls. Wonder if they want to play?” Sting moved down to the ground and moved through an alley to approach them from behind as they were pulling a few items off of an abandoned car.

[ QUOTE ]
“This the Apple to Snow White’s Brigade. No sign of Dopey or any of the other dwarves. Hope the Poison, Prince Charming and the Wicked Step-Mother are having better luck. No 'happily ever after' here."

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting stopped and looked at his radio. It showed that it was Newton laying down the gibberish. It had also alerted the Skulls to his presence.

Sting snapped his spines out and said; “Guys, I’m just trying to find some Outcast Chiller. You don’t have to get yourselves hurt or dead.”

The first one turned and held a knife. His buddy, with a tire iron, just started to run.

Sting was on them in a flash. A precise swing of a spine cut a hamstring on the one trying to run. A small dose of poison just made it painful enough that he did not get up.

The second slammed the knife into Sting’s side. It made scratch on the surface of the chitin, but did not penetrate.

Sting was about to plunge a spine through the thug’s throat, but hesitated for a moment. Instead he simply used the spine as a club and knocked the thug head-over-heels. Before the knife-wielder could get up Sting was on him with a poison drenched spine held at his chin.

“I said, I am looking for an Outcast Chiller. Seen him?”

The thug swallowed hard. “N..no! He has been around but I haven’t seen him for a while. D..don’t know what an Outcast is doing around here. C’mon man, I just steal purses and crap, I ain’t important.”

“Yeah, I guess you aren’t.” Sting pulled his arm back and just before the spine would have penetrated his throat, Sting pulled it back in, and instead laid him out with a forearm. He put an arrest tag on that one and sent him away, then moved to the other thug.

“How ya doing buddy” He asked as the Skull tried to crawl away crying in pain. “Ok, here is the deal; That poison is probably going to kill you in about 5 minutes.” Sting was lying at this point. He hadn’t injected enough to cause anything more than pain and some damage to the tissue in the leg. “So what can you tell me about any Outcasts in the area? Maybe then I’ll send you to the hospital.”

“I don’t know! Please help me! I don’t want to die. I promise I’ll go straight!”

“You really don’t know, do you? Ok, Mr. Goodyboy Coolant wanted me to give second chances. Here is yours.” Sting took an arrest tag and attached it about 5 feet up on a light pole. “If you are quick, and get to that tag, and turn yourself in, they might just save that leg. You can tell them insect anti-venom #6 when you get there. Otherwise you can crawl your way home while the poison does its job. You’ll probably get gangrene, but if you get one of your hack doctors to saw off the leg you might have a chance of survival. I’m sure the Skulls have lots of uses for one-legged thugs.”

“Have a nice day!”

Sting went on his way, not bothering to look back. He continued to search his area but saw no signs of any Outcasts.

“Oh sure, the boss gets the chick, and we get to search the dumpsters and run down buildings.”

Sting pointed to the map. “Ok, this area has mostly modest height buildings – makes it a little easier for me to navigate when jumping. Plus the tight alleys are not an issue for me; multi-faceted eyes and motion detecting antennae make it hard to ambush me.”

"Its really too bad these things." Sting wiggled his large antenae. "Don't catch radio waves. But with my luck they would just get a religious station or country and western."

Sting looked at the map again. "Ok, lets pick a place to start and hit it. Someone is probably pulling this guys strings and we need to find out who. Heh, wouldn't be surprised if it is someone at City Hall."

“Why would we want to avoid fights?” Sting questioned Coolant. “If we want to find this guy, the best way to do it is to crack some heads and ask who has seen him. We have a picture, don’t we? Heck, he might come out after us if we make a little mess of his ‘crib’ and his ‘homies’ as Newton put it.” Sting poked fun at Newton’s attempts at using slang.

Sting lifted one of the glowing crystals and looked at it. “Pretty neat boss. Still, I’ll put some normal light bulbs in as well.”

“So what is first, beat people up, or fix the place? Either way I’m ready to go.” Sting clipped the radio to his belt. It hung somewhat clumsily there and he tried to get it to stay a little better. “Man I am going to lose this thing first leap.”

Sting had spent much of the time arranging as well. It was kind of a compulsion with him – keeping the ‘hive’ neat and tidy.

“Did you happen to get any light bulbs Newton? Practically every bulb in the place is smashed. Oh, and someone shot holes in the hot water heater, too. So no hot showers until we get that fixed. But I did see one in that building across the street while we were there. Maybe we want to see if we can hook it up if Cool and his blowtorch can manage it. I can help fix walls and such. Certainly not an expert but I have to keep active.”

Sting looked at the map. “Wow, this is grunge central isn’t it? So we each pick an area and search for the Chiller.” Sting picked up a radio and turned it on. “You want us to move on him or call for back-up?” Then he brought the radio up to mouth. “10-4 good buddy, we got ourselves a convoy!”

"I don't think you really need sugar and caffeine." Sting joked. "But if you are going, you might as well pick up some food for all of us. I can eat just about anything so I'm not picky."

[ QUOTE ]
“You played the psychopathic jailer quite convincingly. I think we both could have been a little better if we hadn’t been half a second from bursting into laughter, though.”

[/ QUOTE ]
"The psychopath part comes pretty naturally."

[ QUOTE ]
“Hey, I know they would love to hang out with you,” Newton laughed. “Do you know when we might head after him?”

[/ QUOTE ]

All up to the boss man, but I imagin we won't want to wait around too long. He may be expecting a report. But then again the way that thug is singing we may know exactly when and where they were to report.

Sting stopped listening in to the interrogation when he saw Newton come by.

"Hey man, you were pretty awsome in there. You shoulda been an actor or something." He spoke quietly enough to be sure the thug would not hear.

"From what I heard, it sounds like we may be going after one of those Freezer guys. I'm not big on cold but if you can keep guys dangling helplessly I guess I don't have to be."

Not many things would make Sting smile anymore. Not that he really had good facial expressions now anyway. But still, there was a certain amount of satisfaction out of the successful ruse. Newton’s acting was quite enthusiastic and good. It was infectious and Sting found himself having a ball banging things around, even to the point of almost bringing down a wall.

But the true joy was the end results. The one was singing like a canary, but the other had passed out and soiled himself. Sure Coolant may be a goody-two-shoes and Mystic may be a little full of himself, but this was starting to be a lot of fun.

[ QUOTE ]
“As far as I hear, Poison is simply saying he will defend himself to the best of his ability, and in doing so, people get killed now and again. With you and Newton and I here to assist, perhaps that won’t happen as much. But let’s not have you going all sixes and sevens if someone trying to kill him gets killed. We still have the right to defend ourselves, heroes or not. As long as we all agree that this isn’t our goal, to kill them, then I don’t see a problem. We’re not assassins.”

“If I can consider this matter closed, I’ll go on to explain my plan. If you two have more to say, or I can’t persuade you from engaging in combat here in the station on day two, then fine.” And with that, he ended the spell, walking back over to the chair and picking up his sandwich. He noticed Newton hovering still. “It will wear off in a second or two.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“Alright, I guess I can live with that.” The spines slowly retracted into his arms. A few drips of poison fell on the floor and Sting rubbed it with his toe. It made a small clean spot.

“Well lets get this show on the road. What approach are we taking boss. I kinda like Newton’s idea of coming down from the top.”

“Well actually the correct ‘cure’ for those I put down is to get the holes I stab in them patched really quickly. The poison rarely kills on its own.”

Sting stood looking at Coolant, surprised that the man had such conviction concerning those that would harm others.

[ QUOTE ]
I'll try not to judge your actions, only my own. You can try it my way, or I MUST try to stop you. If we do this, though, aim for my heart. I doubt you can pierce my inner armor; It hasn't happened yet. I would pass out after you got through the second layer, but if it does pierce, please put me down quick. I won't hold it against you at that point."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Sorry dude, the serious stuff is only for those who deserve it. I may not like you, your attitude, or you pushing your morals on me, but you are still a hero. And one thing I don’t do, is try to kill heroes. I may deal vigilante justice, but only to those who deserve it.”

Then finally, through all the hate and resentment, a thought occurred.

“Someone knew this would happen. Put some high ground hero and myself into the mix, and this is destine to happen. Get a couple heroes to rip each other up and this project is done. I told you I thought this was set up to fail. All of a sudden I don’t feel near as much like fighting you Coolant. You’re probably just a pawn in this as well. I feel a lot more like saving the spines for the ******* behind this mess. Not that we couldn’t go a few rounds…”

[ QUOTE ]
"Listen," Coolant said, finally closing the hatch he was working on, "I don't really care about your past, but I don't stand for murder. Accidents do happen, and I realize they are trying to kill us, but if you are openly using lethal force, I will feel obligated to step in. I really hope it doesn't come to that."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Listen yourself. If someone tries to kill me, they get it right back! I don’t have a fancy suit like you, I can’t throw fire, and I can’t make bubbles or whatever else Newton can. I have these.” Long spines snapped out of Sting’s forearms. They glistened with some sort of liquid; the acrid smell of which was clear throughout the room.

“This is what I have to work with. I tried it the other way for a while; using my fists and even my feet, rather than my spines. It doesn’t work so well. So if we are going to have a problem with this, we might as well settle it here and now, because in the middle of a fight is not the place.”

Sting moved over the an open area of the room and stood, looking at Coolant. “Oh if you do get poisoned from my spines, which I doubt will penetrate the suit, tell the doctors insect anit-venom #6 is the one to use. It’s a nasty necrotic poison which usually has a pretty limited effect, but has been known to leave lingering issues.”

Sting stood in a nonchalant manner; as if he had done this before and was rather fatalistic about it.

[ QUOTE ]
“You weren’t fighting any urges not to kill us in our sleep, were you? It would be simply brilliant to know about these things before things come to an ugly point.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“See the problem is, I have lots of insect DNA. Consequently I have lots of…instincts. Sure they help sometimes, but at other times I have to try to control them. But to answer your question; no, I don’t normally have the urge to kill and eat everyone around me. And actually the more I am around you, the more my system will get used to you and react to you better.”

[ QUOTE ]
“Oh, my, it sounds like the Deli is here.” Mystic got up and walked out to get the food. He returned with the food and beverages ordered and set them on the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting dug in, eating pretty much anything, but especially the raw bacon.

[ QUOTE ]
“Now, oh, my this is quite greasy. I’m certain they don’t use vegetable oil. Right, on with our assignment. Well, as I said earlier, it isn’t really an assignment, more of a lead. It appears that the building is being watched. Across the street, on the second floor of that abandoned factory, there are several gentlemen looking at us all day and most of the night. It’s been suggested that we go and try to discover their intentions, and the reason for their interest.” Mystic took another bite of breakfast sandwich and tried to wash it down with some tea. “Now, I am not a master of stealth myself, but I can hover quietly enough not to attract too much attention. My suggestion is that we sneak in and try to capture them for interrogation purposes. But first we may wish to fix up one of the interrogation rooms. I have a thought on this, actually, since the place is already in shambles.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“I can jump…really high. Unfortunately, no nice insect wings to fly with. Either I don’t have’em or they haven’t grown in. I’m modestly sneaky, but nothing you should count on.”

Sting thought for a moment. “Interrogation; that means not killing them…well not ALL of them anyway. But yeah, a room for interrogation sounds right. I call ‘bad cop’, who is going to be ‘good cop’?”

[ QUOTE ]
"Well, trust is a hard thing to develop in one day with three people that I moved furniture with." he stated without malice or humor. "At least nobody tried to kill anybody else in their sleep. That definitely puts points in the trust column."

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting just stared at Coolant for a while, not sure what to make of him. He would definitely keep an eye on the blue metal man.

[ QUOTE ]
Newton chuckled. "Well, I was actually a witness for the state in a case of a Family tax evasion case. The judge's name is Richard [censored]. I'm pretty sure he's on the take. Apparently I was much to friendly with him in the courtroom. I kept on calling him [censored] - in the most unfriendly meaning possible." Newton looked up at the ceiling. "Then he had me arrested for contempt of court. I told him I didn't have contempt of court, just contempt of a real [censored]."

He sipped some more of his tea. "I guess I probably shouldn't have made his judicial robes float, though. How was I to know that he wasn't wearing pants under the robes." Newton grinned viscously. "It was caught on Court TV, of course."

"Essentially, I treat people with respect until they disrespect me. After that, all bets are off." Newton's tone was light, but there was a hint of steel in the chubby man's voice.

[/ QUOTE ]

“Wow, wish I had seen that.” Sting laughed, then he turned toward Mystic Inferno. “So boss, what’s your story?”

[ QUOTE ]
“Not much to tell really,” he said with a smile to maintain the facade, “I was born, I lived as a normal person for a while, and then I got put in this can. I can't be outside my suit or my living chamber. Period. You get used to it.

I volunteered for this job because I like The Row. I have to admit, I thought you guys were volunteers too, but I'm glad you're here all the same."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Well geez, and I thought I cut it short. Good thing to know since we will be working together that trust won’t be an issue.” If Sting could have rolled his multifaceted eyes he would have. “You volunteered to do this? Well I guess it is our hive, er, home now.”

“So Newton, what’d you do to get thrown in front of a judge to start with? And I gotta know what you said to him or her.”

[ QUOTE ]
“While we’re waiting for the food to arrive, perhaps each of us could take a turn giving a small synopsis of our backgrounds.” Mystic sent out waves of heat from his hands and caused large balls of flame to come into existence too far above the furniture to burn anything, but quite easily warmed the large room in a matter of moments.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting stood, staring at the burning orbs, absorbing the heat. He suddenly looked down at the rest. “Yes, if I could fly I would flutter around and bang into them like a f- -king moth, ok?!!”

Sting thought for a moment. “My background? Reader’s Digest version howsabout. I was dying of cancer; 28 years old and I had 3-6 months to live. Yeah, you can shove your pity. I signed up for a free radical treatment. Me and 100 others got shipped off to a lab in South America. That should have tipped me off right there. A year later and there were 3 of us left alive. I think I had gone insane several times by then. Sure cured the cancer, but look at me now.”

Sting paused for a moment to let them take in how far from human he now was.

“Then I freaking escape, fight my way back here, and register as a hero, hoping to find out who did this. Well in a matter of a couple months I am arrested repeatedly for using ‘excessive force’ when apprehending criminals. There are guys out there with claws, and swords, and axes, and I get hauled in? What a f- - king joke! So some judge who doesn’t like me anyway sends me to this gig. My guess is he wants it to fail, hoping that I will kill one of you guys. But hey, I haven’t so far, have I?”

[ QUOTE ]
"Tea's on. And there's an important announcement about to be made in the lobby." Mystic brought the tray down, with four cups, sugar, and milk that was kept in a refridgerated container in his pack. (Mystic was fairly serious about his tea). As a matter of fact, a novice would not know to test the temperature and aroma of the tea, and would have, in fact, served it tepid, until someone complained.

One small incantation on the stairwell and the tea was quite warm by the time he was pouring it. "Gentlemen, and those who prefer to be addressed by other titles, we appear to have our first mission, as if were. If everyone wouldn't mind gathering around, I'll fill you in on the details."

[/ QUOTE ]

“How about some chow first boss? I can’t think straight until I get something to eat.” Sting stretched and his carapace popped and creaked. He was definitely moving a little slow. “And a little warmth in here would help too. I tend toward cold-bloodedness when I sleep so even a little chill and it takes me a while to get going.”

[ QUOTE ]
"What? Weaponry?" Mystic, one shoe off and in his stocking foot, came out of the bunk area. "Oh my. They must have missed... Well, I suppose, can you carry one of those big lockers into the bunk room? I hate to impose on you, but you're both much stronger than I, and Newton, could you make the task easier? I'd rather have any weapons in our main room, which is likely to be the bunk room until we can get to the rest of the building. This way we can keep the weapons locked up until we can take stock of them. Sting, would you mind inventorying them when you have the time? Or I could do it. It just doesn't seem like you get tired easily. Plus I wouldn't know a .38 from a .39"

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting hauled the couple weapons lockers out with Newton’s help lightening them up. For the next several hours he had fun going through the weapons, ammunition, and supporting gear. It wasn’t that much – 2 shotguns, 2 assault rifles, and 4 9 mm pistols, with no more than a couple boxes of ammo for each. It was pretty typical stuff that just happened to get missed by the police in their hurry to leave and the vandals as well. He wasn’t a weapons expert but he had fun checking each piece out and making sure they were in reasonable working order.

Finally the lack of good lighting made any further work difficult. Sting curled up under a desk in an office and slept for a few hours.

[ QUOTE ]
In the morning he awoke to the sound of someone beating a pipe, with another pipe. At least that’s what it sounded like. He rose, looked about to see if anyone else was up, then threw on his shoes and went downstairs to find the cause of the racket.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting had not heard the sound – his hearing was not great – but his antennae did detect the movement past the office where he went to sleep. He watched as Inferno moved toward the front door.

[ QUOTE ]
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to come on so strong,” he replied in a normal voice. “You may call me Coolant System… or any variation of that as people always do. I don’t believe I caught you names, but was one of you the Poison Apple?”

[/ QUOTE ]

“No, he is Neutron Apple, the boss is Magic Flamethrower, and I am Fuzzy Teddy Bear.” Sting grinned – which usually made him look like he was about to eat someone. “Just kiddin’ ya Cool. I’m Sting.” He gave a little wave.

[ QUOTE ]
"Would you mind terribly lending a hand? Coolant System? I say, well I'll keep us warm during the winter if you do your part in the summer. Now we just need a 'conjurer of snackfoods' and we're all set."

[/ QUOTE ]

“Heh, I can eat most perps so don’t worry about snacks for me…” He said matter of factly. Then he looked up for a moment seeing everyone staring at him. “Um, just kidding? Is that going to be frowned upon here?”

Sting got to work cleaning up. Somewhat surprisingly he was actually very effective at helping clean up and repair the station. He was not fast, or super-effective, but he moved along with methodical, insect-like efficiency continuing to plug away at the task. Cleaning, repairing, setting up rooms, he did it all with hardly a complaint – only making negative comments about the lack of efficiency that the previous residents or vandals had.

It was very odd to watch him, as he would often follow the exact same path over and over again, to the point of wearing a trail in the dirty floor.

“Boss!” Sting shouted from a back room on the ground floor. “We got weaponry stored back here, what’dya want done with it?”

[ QUOTE ]
Mystic remembered his manners. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to shout, Apple was it? And poison? Oh, I suppose that would make this third gentleman the evil godmother or some such. Apologies again, didn’t mean to make light of your names, but the situation is… Look, I’m terribly sorry about the confusion, and the mess, but I’m not the cause of either of them.” Exasperated, mystic put both pieces of paper on the table next to him. He noted how the bubbles reacted to his desire, not constraining him, but almost playing off of his movements to repel things from him. “I’m just someone sent here to pick up the pieces… like you. And I don’t expect you to follow me or take orders. Let’s just clean up a bit, if you wouldn’t mind helping, and hopefully, by nightfall, we’ll have a place to sleep. I saw a shower room upstairs that looks mostly intact.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting looked over at Mystic Inferno. “Heh, evil godmother, I love it.” He laughed. Hey, maybe this gig wasn’t going to be so bad. This Mystic guy has a sense of humor at least. And he wasn't bossy at all.

[ QUOTE ]
Mystic sighed a heavy sigh, took the papers from the table and stuck them into his robes. Then he walked around the table and tried to lift it from his end.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting moved quickly to the other end of the table and lifted it with ease. “Where do you want it, boss?”

[ QUOTE ]
“Hello. Would you gentlemen be part of the area cleanup program, or are you just here to cause trouble?” he said in as deep a voice as he could muster, “Either way, it looks like I have a lot of work to do here.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Sting turned to see the very large man in the blue costume.

“Gawd, what is this; spandex with an attitude day?” Sting said with attitude in his own voice. “You want to beat someone up why don’t you and nature boy over here go play in the street.”

[ QUOTE ]
At the sound of the menacing voice, Newton whirled and back-peddled, his hands spreading out towards Mystic and Sting. The air shimmered around them as waves of gravity bubbled around each of them. He moved quite quickly for being a bit overweight. “Always looking to cause trouble,” Newton said from behind Sting. “Keeps life interesting.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“Whoa!” Sting said, “Bubbles!” Heh, I might just end up not killing tree-man, he’s got some spunk. Sting thought to himself.

Rather than be all threatening, Sting just struck a casual pose, leaning against a beat-up filing cabinet. “Like tree-man said; Always looking for trouble there big blue.” He said in the direction of Coolant.

[ QUOTE ]
Mystic stood six foot tall, covered in blue robes and wearing a cape. His eyes glowed a soft red from under his hood. Red runes were visible on his clothing, and not a part of him wasn't covered. Something he'd learned from using his powers in windy areas.

The mage stood as strongly as he could, chin up and eyes darting across the two newcomers, scanning for any signs of hostile intentions. "Can I help you two?"

[/ QUOTE ]

“Yeah, the name’s Poison Sting, but you can just call me Sting. I was just condemned to this hellhole. And just so we don’t get off on the wrong foot, I don’t take @#%$ from anyone, so don’t go getting on my case.”

Sting waited for a reaction from Inferno. He expected that this guy would be like any other authority figure and try to force his rules on him.

((Sting looks like a typical insect-human combo: Green chitin for skin, multi-faceted eyes, and antennae. He stands about 6’8” tall but is very slender. His voice is gravely, but he seems to have retained enough human parts to speak fairly clearly. The chitin is pock-marked with openings where his spines can come out when needed.))