Chapter 2:
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The warehouse was mostly dark except for the places where the 5th Columns soldiers moved about and worked, which left a lot of space to move around in. Having snuck around the shadows of the entire warehouse he counted 20 soldiers and one leader-type. Apparently his name was Heinrich but since E didnt speak German he hadnt gleaned much else about them or their motives, other than ransoming the children of course.
The children in question were tied up, gagged, and were being held in one of the far corners of the warehouse. There were two more guards watching them, and several others within eyeshot. Not good. E thought as he scanned the area further, searching for some advantage. Finally his eyes fell on the ventilation duct near the floor. A bit of light, oscillating red and blue, was leaking in through it. It lead outside! Bingo.
The magician worked his wiles on some of the group of soldiers adjacent to the children and their warders. In a few moments it was becoming hard to tell who was hypnotized and who wasn't. A brawl erupted in the middle of the room, becoming a tangle of tight black outfits and assorted curses in both German and English. The two guards watching over the children looked at each other for a moment, shrugged, murmured to themselves for a moment, then played paper-rock-scissors. Having finally decided who was "it" one of them dashed past the melee, disappearing around the corner while the other stayed behind.
Seeing his chance, the fledgling hero sprung into action. First he kicked out the grate over the ventillation duct. It was kinda small, but allowed plenty of room for the kids to crawl through. Getting himself out of there would be another matter. The noise was muffled by the fight raging nearby. With the escape route cleared, E turned his attention to the remaining guard. Luckily the tussle going on in front of him had him mostly distracted. E climbed up onto one of the wooden crates behind the Column soldier and, doing his best impression of a professional wrestler's missile dro-kick, jumped down on him feet-first. The guard crumpled under the impact, and was quickly put down by a couple of quick punches to the head.
The childrend began to squirm and whimper through their gags. E put his finger to his lips in a "hush" motion and most of them quieted down. There were five children in all. Luckily the knots in their ropes were simple, and in a few moments they were free. E ushered them hastily towards the ventillation duct and they scurried inside towards freedom. E's heart lept when the last of them entered the duct until he heard a harsh, accented voice from behind him.
"Was in der Hölle geht auf hier?"
E spun around. The hypnotism had apparently worn off, because the 5th Column soldiers were no longer fighting amongst themselves. Some of them were holding their heads, but most of them were looking at our hero, with guns drawn. A tall figure pushed his way through the mob and most of them snapped to attention. He was just like the others, dressed all in black, with a mask and helmet hiding his face, but the insignias on his chest and red band on his arms set him apart... Heinrich.
"You have poked around in business that is none of your concern, little man," he croaked out in stilted english.
E gulped as he saw the rest of the soldiers raise their rifles. He was cornered with nowhere to run to, and he knew he couldnt mesmerize all of them. E closed his eyes and waited....
"Bereit!" E began to sweat as the Column soldiers all raised their rifles.
" Ziel! " There was the sound of bullets being chambered, the soldiers took aim. Heinrich chuckled and let the moment hang for awhile.
"Eintrag-" Heinrich's order to fire was cut short by an explosionof brick, mortar, and metal.
E dived to the ground behind a crate and peeked around it. Hovering in the air, just inside the hole that had just been smashed in the wall, was a nighmarish figure. A huge form, easily almost seven feet tall, with a body red as blood, grey facial features that were mostly obscured by a cloth mask, and feral, glowing red eyes. Rams horns swept back over his head and a small tail swished in the air behind him. E gasped as he recognized the figure from the newspaper... Helloween... the risen demon.
"Salvation is simple," Helloween intoned, "Redemption is hard." The soldiers stared in stunned silence.
"Töten Sie ihn," Heinrich barked as he clapped one of the soldiers across the back of his head. This snapped most of the Column troops out of their trance and a hail of bullets flew at the demonic hero hovering before them. E fumbled through his pockets, withdrawing the last 4 flash pellets he had brought with him. He popped up to see Helloween absorbing insane amounts of fire. He was shielding his face with his arms, but otherwise the bullets were having little effect. E grasped the flash pellets and launched them into the crowd, spreading them out more or less evenly. The bright flash of light stunned most of the soldiers who were firing.
"Now Helloween!" E shouted as he ducked back down behind the crate.
The hovering demon looked down at the blinded troops below and chuckled an eerie laugh. He rose up in the air a bit, then came down like a hammer, pounding Heinrich to the floor. Then the demon was a flurry of motion. Motes of evergy flew from his fists as he pummelled soldier after soldier. Some of them managed to break away and make a dash for other parts of the warehouse. E grinned to himself and slipped through the shadows, striking the runner from darkness and taking them down quickly. I a few more moments it was over. The soldiers were all unconscious or tied up, and the police were sweeping through the warehouse checking for "strays."
Helloween paid no heed to the goings on around him. He looked down at the yellow-clad magician, nodded silently, and rocketed off through the hole he had blasted in the wall. The hero soon-to-be-known-as Mister E grinned. He had a feeling he'd run into Helloween again. Shrugging off reporters and police he slipped through the alleyways and made his escape into the night.
Several TV reporters were interviewing some of the older children regarding their experience.
"Who was the man that helped you escape?"
"I don't know... he's a... it's a.... mystery."
And thus our hero came to be...
Helloween
Helloween drifted through the clouds slowly, soaking
in the moment of blessed peace before it was
shattered. Moments like this were rare for the risen
demon. Having only recently turned away from the
darkness his mind was often a chaotic jumble of
conflicting emotions and drives. Instinct drove him
to corrupt, to destroy, to kill, but his will and
desire for redemption fought agianst those urges.
Luckily his more violent aspects had an outlet.
Pounding on the Hellions, Skulls, and other numerous
thugs that threatened the safety of Paragon City
provided some modicum of relief, with the added
benefit of furthering his quest for redemption.
Then there were moments like this. Quiet. It often
took taking to the sky to find a moments peace, and
even then it didnt always help. The moon was out ,
shining bright, full-faced in the sky. With a moon
that big in the sky Helloween felt somewhat...
small... an usual and refreshing sensation for the
nearly 7 ft tall, broad-shouldered demon.
Then he felt it, that twinge in the back of his head.
An almost painful pull that he had taken on as his
curse when he set upon the road of redemption.
Innocents were in danger nearby. Helloween spun on
his axis, angling himself down. He let himself fall.
Down. Down. Down through the thick clouds over the
city. Down. Down. Picking up speed. Down past the
tips of the skyscrapers. Faster and faster. Always
towards the source of the call in his mind. He pulls
up, now runnin paralell to the ground. The buildings
rushed by underneath him in a blur as Helloween
squinted his eyes against the wind.
He pulled up short near a large warehouse. Police
cars encircled it. He knew the innocents were inside,
along with the guilty. Never one for subtlety, he was
about to rush the wall and slam through, when
something made him stop. A feeling, almost a voice in
his head said, "Wait..." Somehow he knew when the
proper time to act would be. So he hovered there
waiting...
About 20 minutes later, several small children
scrambled out from a small hole, the police rushed to
rescue them. Helloween knew the innocents were safe,
but the guilty were still within. "NOW!" he said out
loud as he rocketed towards the wall, slamming through
it with inhuman force...
is this interesting enough for anyone for me to continue?
chapter 1
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Mister E. adjusted his mask, tightening it slightly in the back. With a flourish he donned his fedora, running his fingers almost ritualistically across the brim. His mother would have died from either laughter or shame if she could see him now. His bright yellow suit and hat, purple mask and undershirt, and purple boots would look ridiculous in almost any kind of reasonable social circles, but not here, not in Paragon City.
Almost a month had passed since the robbery at his magic show. The 5th Column had burst into the auditorium right in the middle of the act, just before he made the tiger disappear. They were armed to the teeth, loud, and intimidating. E had to admit that at that moment he was scared, and now he was ashamed to admit that at the time he was primarily scared for himself and what an incident like this would do for his career. That fear faded away as several of the Column soldiers started snatching up children from the audience, and was replaced by anger.
After the police arrived E. slipped away to the back dressing rooms. The cops were afraid to do anything yet. They knew where the column was hold up but they were afraid for the hostages and for themselves due to the insane amounts of firepower the 5th Column possessed. E possessed no such qualms. Rummaging through the old chests of clothes he came upon a garish yellow suit and mask. No telling what it was once used for, probably some comedy routine. It would suffice though, to hide his identity. Donning the outlandish outfit he took to the streets, having only to follow the stream of lights and the odd police drone as it hovered along towards the scene of the disturbance.
The 5th Column had set up shop this time in a large warehouse in the industrial district. It didnt take them long to quietly convert the building into a veritable fortress, with steel shutters, gun ports, and a reinforced entrance. Police cars and a couple of the new drones surrounded the building. It was a standoff. The police were unwilling to risk so many lives storming the place, and the 5th Column had no means of escape now that their brash actions revealed them. Time was on their side however. They had the children of several influential citizens, and there was no way the Police or the other powers that be would allow the children to come to harm.
E crouched down, kneeling at the edge of the rooftop just adjacent to the warehouse under siege. He could see the roof access, there were 2 guards posted there, chattering amongst themselves in German, albeit with a thick American accent. E faltered and inched back from the ledge. He hadnt planned on getting this far this close. The people were criminals, kidnappers, and even killers. He had no idea how he was going to handle them when he got there. He did a quick inventory on the items in his pockets. A book of matches, a couple of flash pellets, and a stick of gum were all he found. Es heart sank. What am I doing? he thought. But then the image of the innocent children being dragged away in terror came to min again, and brough inspiration along with it. If hypnotism could work on an audience . why not an enemy?
E approached the ledge again and began to whisper, waving his hands slowly. The subliminal sounds reached the ears of the first guard, drawing his eyes to the hypnotic motion of Es hands. Wouldnt it feel great to beat him up? Hes arrogant. Hes after your promotion E whispered. The guard turned to his companion exclaiming Sie Schwein! as he clocked him across the head with the butt of his rifle.
Was die Hölle? the other guard cried as he held his head.
E wasted no time. A quick leap across the gap between buildings places him near the two guards. The mesmerized soldier paid him no heed. The other started to raise his rifle but was struck again by his partners rifle butt. E pulled one of the small flash pellets from his pocket and launched it, Nolan Ryan-style, straight at the un-hypnotized guard. There was a bright flare and a shout of, Ow, meine Augen! as both guards staggered, one of the dropping his weapon. Grabbing the rifle, E swung twice for the back of their heads, and each quickly fell to the ground, unconscious.
E smiled to himself as he tossed aside the rifle and slipped inside the warehouse. Where a whole precinct of police would fail one man may just have a chance he thought to himself as he descended the stairs .
<<to be continued>>