BDSM Avenger II - Enter Battleaxe (Story)

With the Council in shambles, and Black Talon defeated, Ellen Meyers, the woman known throughout Paragon City as The BDSM Avenger, had made only rare appearances in the city. This was because the woman behind the mask was more concerned with her reunited lover, Vanessa. She did not truly forsake the city... ELITE would call her once a week or two for something major that needed her attention, and she would not hesitate. Still, newspapers and television wondered why the hero suddenly retired. This brought the attention of criminals... one particular criminal known as Death Mask.

Death Mask was an enimga to everone in the Rogue Isles. Even the Fortunatas, masters of mind reading and divination, could not figure out the man's motivations or even his origin. One thing that has been discovered is the mask he wears- the lost death mask of John Dillinger, an infamous criminal of pre-WWII America- has magical properties on the level of those worn by the Carnival of Shadows.

Death Mask learned of a Submarine that Arachnos was sending to Paragon City. Learning that one of the major capes of the City of Heroes had suddenly stopped fighting crime, he decided it was safe to raise a little hell. But he knew he couldn't go alone... he decided to talk to one Mikey the Ear, a kid with connections to the underworld, and had a 'want ad' placed in the newspaper.

"ATTENTION VILLAINS!"
"Ever wanted to travel? The man known as Death Mask needs a few bad men on to keep him company on a trip to Paragon City! Rob the famous banks! Rampage through famous Atlas Park! Please call 555-5551 for more information"

Death Mask saw the ad, and thought he should kill Mikey because nobody would answer.

Fortunately for the large-eared youth, the ad was more successful than he thought.

Three men answered the advertisement. The first was a tall yet very thin man who wore a dark suit with a black overcoat, with a Fedora hat on. He was also cuddling with a skeleton. The second was a short, wiry man in black from head to toe, except for metal strands of barbedwire all over his body. Instead of regular forearms, he had robotic limbs. The third man, like the first, was also wearing a trenchcoat, and had a skullcap, mirrored sunglasses, and a bandana over his mouth.

"Well," said Death Mask. "At least we don't have to work on a color scheme. So, tell me, who are you and what can you do?"

The man in the fedora hat spoke first. "I am Geisteskrank... and this is my darling," he said, motioning to the skeleton in his arms. "I use magics. Necromancy is my speciality."

The one in the middle went next. "Rensa Dorei. I am an assasin." He raised his hands to chest height, and eight inch claws popped out of the mechanical arms.

The last of the trio of recruits speaks. "Shift. I can teleport, and I am a master marksmen."

Death Mask paused for a moment, considering how their abilities could be used effectively, then nods. "Yes, this should do fine, at least for now. We'll have to do some recruiting after we reach Paragon City. We'll be landing in Independance Port. From there, we head to King's Row. The Skulls are predominant there. The Skulls are pathetic. Weak. We can control them easily. Then, we can strike Paragon City at it's heart: Atlas Park.

Shift nodded. "So, what are we going to call ourselves?"

Death Mask thought for a moment. "We will be deadly and violent... like a battleaxe... so let's use that. Battleaxe."

Ellen and Vanessa woke up to a start, hearing Ellen's phone ring. Looking at the caller ID, the hero saw it was coming from ELITE.

"Avenger here." Ellen answered.

"Ms. Avenger, we have a situation. Longbow recently recieved a tip that a group of villains are planning to smuggle themselves in from the Rogue Isles. We don't know who they are, or why they're heading here, but we're very sure that these are powerful villains. We need you to head to Independance Port as soon as you can."

Ellen looked to her girlfriend, who nodded her approval, before answering the call. "I'll be there in... ten minuites." She kissed Vanessa as she went to change into her costume.

"Be careful out there, hun," Vanessa said as she went back to sleep.

"You know I will, sweetheart. Remember you got that summer design show today." BDSM Avenger slipped her mask on before going out the window.

People everywhere stopped in their daily cycle when someone noticed the hero jumping from rooftop to rooftop to the transit system. At this time, that the BDSM Avenger only donned her black leather (laced with kevlar) bodysuit when the entire city was in serious jeopardy, people knew that something big was about to happen. Reporters did their best to follow the hero. Some of the younger heroes, new in town or just gaining their licenses, tried to follow her, but Longbow Eagles swooped in out of nowhere informing them that her task is too dangerous for a rookie hero.

When she arrived at her destination, she waited at a rendevous point, above the Icon store, where a group of Longbow agents were already waiting.

"We got Eagles all over, waiting for the first sign of them. Normally we'd have Azuria or the scientists in DATA to give us something that can teleport us to one location, but on this short of a notice we'll have to make do without. Remember, for all we know, these are class-A threats against Paragon City. We could be looking at Threat Levels as high as 50 here. Don't give them an opening if you can help it."

Everyone, including Ellen, nodded.

"Cheif," said a message over the comm to the leader of the squadron, "We got a sub that just emerged, just off the shore of the magic store."

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let's move!"

The Longbow Agents arrived just as the quartet emerged. The Eagles kept to the sky while the rest of the agents and BDSM Avenger dropped to the street level.

In one voice, Longbow yelled, "STOP! IN THE NAME OF LONGBOW!"

Death Mask was infuriated. "It's an ambush! Someone tipped them off!" and threw a ball of fire from his hands to one of the Eagles, incinerating him. Geisteskrank made a gesture with his arms and a horde of zombies rose from seemingly nowhere and advanced on the helpless citizens. Rensa managed to sneak behind one of the longbow agents and thrust his claws in the man's ribcage, killing him almost instantly.

Shift had other ideas. "Sorry, boss... but you're Custard, and this is your last stand." He pulled his gun and fired... a five-round burst of rubber bullets struck Death Mask from behind, and fazed him. He turned to attack Shift who was already gone, and once he figured out Shift's location, Shift would vanish again... however Shift couldn't teleport forever, and Death Mask finally got him. Shift suddenly began to see his adoptive father in front of him, being burned to death... what he didn't realize that, in reality it was he that was on fire.

BDSM Avenger threw a punch at Death Mask, and this broke his hypnotic hold over Shift. Shift realized what was going on and did the only thing he could do: Teleport himself into the ocean. The Avenger was the only one who noticed the splash, and leapt to the bay.

Meanwhile, even when the hero was around, Longbow was being pummeled. Geisteskrank kept Meyers busy with his conjured corpses, while the others picked off the squadron one by one. Now with her out of the way, it was just a matter of time before all twenty agents fell.

Shift crawled out of the bay, his trenchcoat slightly burnt due to Death Mask's attempt to immolate him. He got up and stood face to face with BDSM Avenger.

"Hey, uh, I'm okay, no need to go to the hospital..." said Shift, who still didn't have enough left in him to make an escape.

"Sorry kid, you're under arrest," said Avenger, who delivered an uppercut that sent Shift into the air and back onto the sand.

"TANGERINES!" Shift suddenly yelled out as Avenger was about to stomp on his prone body, she paused, confused.

"...How do you know Longbow code?" she said, foot dangling above the black-clad man's body. 'Tangerines' was a code word used by Longbow agents who were undercover.

"Uh, I'm the guy who tipped them off. Name's Shift, but you, babe, you can call me whatever you want."

"Sorry, hun, I'm not into guys. And if I were, I'd go out with Dr. Vahzilok before I went out with you."

"Hey, that's harsh." Shift finally had enough juice to teleport, and he did so, but simply out of arms reach of the Avenger. "After all, we're on the same side."

BDSM Avenger wasn't buying it. "A hero in the Rogue Isles wouldn't last a week."

"You're right, Ms. Avenger," said the Longbow Warden who she delivered Shift too. "Everyone knows no hero would last a week in the Rogue Isles... and that was what we counted on, that Recluse would never think a hero would do something as crazy as go undercover in his own network. Shift has spent the last three months in the Rogue Isles giving us everything he knows about Arachnos' long-term plans... which, to be honest, is more than we've gotten since he first started his takeover of Paragon City. Recluse has an entire, illegal, radio and television station devoted to taking the actions of the heroes in a negative light. He's been planning on using the sattelites in the air to force his broadcast on every channel, using subliminal messages to turn everyone against the heroes. Now that we know this, we can jam the signal so it can't transmit three miles outside his 'territory' no matter what he tries. We also know where many of his secret cells are in Paragon. We were also hoping for intel on Faultline, but alas, Shift was unable to get anything more than that it's one of Recluses' top priorities."

"...Well, now I feel sorry for breaking his ribs.." said an embarrased Avanger.

"He'll be fine. He's also given us some detail on who were are up against... apparently they introduced each other, but he's been watching these particular three already..." the Warden tossed three dossiers down to a desk next to them.

"Faustus Wolfgang Sigmund Geisteskank. A brilliant mind who studied in Paragon University. He suddenly dropped out while obtaining his doctorate in medicine when his lover, Elizabeth Hopper, died of a sudden illness. Apparently he went insane after his death, and carries her around with him at all times. He has studied necromancy, to find a 'cure' for her."

Avenger nodded. That would understand the zombies appearing out of nowhere.

"Rensa Dorei. Apparently a Japanese immigrant. Extremely disciplined and efficient assasin. We're not sure why he wears barbed wire all over his body, Shift's theory is that it's a psychological thing. He has mechanical arms that conceal claws that can slice through bone...and even your body armor."

She bit her lip over that. Vanessa is always worried about her when she puts on the costume... Rensa could probably cut her into ribbons... the first time she thought her life was in serious danger since her battle with Black Talon.

"Finally, Death Mask. Shift is utterly baffled by this one. He's a ruthless megalomaniac. Shift was a firsthand target of his powers when he betrayed the group... who call themselves Battleaxe by the way. Shift says he saw his mentor being burned alive, and the image made him block out everything around him... even his own body being immolated. When you managed to strike Death Mask, you saved Shift's life by breaking him free of the hold."

"So he could know who our loved ones are?" said a worried Avenger.

"...We don't know, but that's possible. Listen, I know you've retired, and you probably have your reasons... but they managed to slaughter twenty of my best men today as if they were amatuers. They will be able to wreck everything they see fit to wreck if we don't stop them. We need everyone we can get."

The Warden extended his hand. Avenger hesitated... she meant the world to Vanessa... and who would take care of her if she got hurt or worse? She's not even a bonafide metahuman... She has little more than this bulletproof body armor... yes, she was an Olympic-level athlete and could floor a heavyweight boxer with one punch, but that was only because of her training. One on one with Black Talon nearly killed her, and these men are probably even stronger than he was. Still... if she refused, what if they went to Galaxy City? What if Vanessa got in the way while getting to and from work?

"They have to be stopped." Avenger said in agreement as she finally shook hands with the Warden.

Abandoned warehouses are a dime a dozen in King's Row. Finding one not full of Skulls is another animal. Death Mask decided not to be picky, and gave the Skulls hanging out in the first warehouse he decided on an ultimatum: Leave peacefully, or die.

They chose death. Battleaxe was more than willing to accomidate them, and took the whole lot of them out without breaking a sweat.

"Cozy little place," said Faustus, a hint of sarcasm on his lips. "But, it shall do for now."

"Looks like the electricity is still running in this place...and look, they left us a television..." said Death Mask, turning it on to the news.

The anchorwoman for the news channel was a typical reporteress, a petit woman in her early 30s.

"...Longbow Warden Hopper is holding a press conference today about a group of criminals who smuggled themselves into Paragon City earlier this morning. The trio, collectively calling themselves Battleaxe, consists of villains who are extremely dangerous."

The screen showed pictures of each of them, in turn, while the anchorwoman continued the story.

"If you see any of these individuals, call the police immediately. All heroes are warned specifically not to engage them, alone or in a group, without Longbow consent."

The screen returned to the anchorwoman, and the graphic in the corner changed.

"Yesterday in Atlas Park the Catgirl Coalition held their monthly Do Not Spay Or Nueter Us con..."

Death Mask turned off the television, a cold chuckle coming from behind his mask. "Already they fear us. And for good reason. Even without that traitor Shift, we're more deadly than anything the Freedom Corps can throw at us. Anything we want is ours for the taking..."

Rensa finally spoke. "So what do you want to take first?"

Death Mask thought about this for a moment. "City Hall."