C'mon now people, don't just read it. Give me some comments! If you want to hear some more, just give me the say so.
Moar!
Global - @El D
Servers - Protector
[ QUOTE ]
You story intrigues me, and I hereby request that you continue it for the sake of the reader. I find that this particular passage leaves much to be desired, such as, why are the two fighting? What is Maelstrom doing working for the Marcone, an organization clearly not powerful enough for his particular abilities. What is the relationship between Maelstrom and Brimstone? Were they childhood friends, transformed into sworn enemies, or simply met each other in their line of work?
As previously mentioned, what I read was quite enjoyable, however, leaves much to be desired. Hence, I request the presence of an additional chapter, to fill in some of the gaps, so to speak, of this passage.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is, of course, what he meant. 
Nice work!
If only I can get off my lazy bum and get to writing on mine 
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Very nice work. Makes an ordinary battle seem far more interesting.
[ QUOTE ]
You story intrigues me, and I hereby request that you continue it for the sake of the reader. I find that this particular passage leaves much to be desired, such as, why are the two fighting? What is Maelstrom doing working for the Marcone, an organization clearly not powerful enough for his particular abilities. What is the relationship between Maelstrom and Brimstone? Were they childhood friends, transformed into sworn enemies, or simply met each other in their line of work?
As previously mentioned, what I read was quite enjoyable, however, leaves much to be desired. Hence, I request the presence of an additional chapter, to fill in some of the gaps, so to speak, of this passage. [ QUOTE ]
This is, of course, what he meant. 
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
But 'Moar' works soo much better 
Global - @El D
Servers - Protector
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You story intrigues me, and I hereby request that you continue it for the sake of the reader. I find that this particular passage leaves much to be desired, such as, why are the two fighting? What is Maelstrom doing working for the Marcone, an organization clearly not powerful enough for his particular abilities. What is the relationship between Maelstrom and Brimstone? Were they childhood friends, transformed into sworn enemies, or simply met each other in their line of work?
As previously mentioned, what I read was quite enjoyable, however, leaves much to be desired. Hence, I request the presence of an additional chapter, to fill in some of the gaps, so to speak, of this passage. [ QUOTE ]
This is, of course, what he meant.
[/ QUOTE ]
[/ QUOTE ]
But 'Moar' works soo much better
[/ QUOTE ]
As AD would say, lrn2speekenglsh.
Alright guys, i'll write the next chapter tomorow afternoon. I'll try and fill in some of the gaps.
Sometimes, things don't always work out the way you want them to. Everything that could go wrong, will go wrong. And whether or not you are prepared to face the possibility that maybe, just maybe, one person's actions can change the path of another, is pure opinion.
This is the day Ben was having.
He awoke in the middle of the night, letting out a cry of angst as his muscles began to burn with startling ferocity. Ben tried to lift his arm, however more pain shot through his body. His head lay to rest on a uncomfortable pillow, covered in what he thought must have been a hybrid between cheap linen and plastic.
He looked around the room as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. He was hooked up to several machines, all making a similar beeping noise. From what he could tell, he was in a hospital. However, how he got to a hospital was what intrigued him most.
A crack of light shone on the opposite side of the wall as a man in thickly-rimmed glasses appeared in the doorway. He could hear mumbling coming from the man as he waved his hand wildly around the wall, searching for the light switch. The doctor struck gold when with a soft click, the room was flooded with an annoyingly bright glow from the several lights on the ceiling. The doctor took a few steps forward into the room, glancing back and forth from Ben's face to the clipboard in his arms.
Acting as if he had assured himself of the situation, the doctor took a seat in a chair at Ben's bedside. There was something in eyes that told him that something was seriously wrong. The doctor spoke softly,
"Do you have any idea as to why you are here at Steel Canyon medical center?"
Ben thought for a moment, searching for any kind of explanation. He searched deeper and deeper into his memory until he came up with the cracked smile of one Sean Marcone.
"I....I was doing battle with Sean- I mean- Maelstrom, in Siren's Call."
The doctor nodded, taking out a pen and begging to write on his clipboard.
"He...he was about to, well, blow himself up. I had to stop him so....."
Ben cut himself short. He couldn't remember anything after that, and by the look on his face, the doctor wasn't too surprised. He straightened his back, as if trying to give himself confidence in what he was about to say.
"Mr. Brimstone, I am afraid to say that when you attempted to stop Maelstrom from wiping Siren's Call off the map, you suffered from a massive concussion."
Ben's heart skipped a beat. He had "attempted" to stop the explosion. Did that mean he had failed? Had hundreds of civilians been killed? He didn't have a chance to inquire as the doctor continued to talk.
"The force at which you hit the ground was too much for your body to take. When paramedics arrived on the scene, you were unconcious. You were, however, still layered within your granite shell. It seems that your armor protected you from sustaining a fatal blow, but during the time it took for us to wear down the stone to get to you, several vital parts of your brain lay inactive."
Ben wasn't sure what this meant. His head seemed perfectly fine- the only thing hurting right now was the rest of him. The doctor took a breath before talking again.
"During this period of deactivity, a very important part of your brain died. This part of your Plutonian mind, that gives you your ability to control the earth, has nothing to do with you being alive or dead, but i'm terribly sorry to say that your career as a superhero is, well, over."
Ben blocked out the rest of what the doctor said after that. His whole body was numb- he could barely bring the energy forth to even breathe correctly. He didn't want to believe the doctor's words. Yet something in the back of his mind forced him to take this statement as fact.
Brimstone Ben was gone. And he wasn't coming back.
....Dang....
Global - @El D
Servers - Protector
Paragon City, Faultline. Present day.
Ben sat up in his bed with a start. He was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. He had the same dream again. It'd been coming to him for the past two years. Every time he went to sleep, the same dream would make itself apparent. He could never make out what was happening, or who was in it. All he knew was that someone was in trouble- and Ben was the only one who could help them.
Ben dragged his legs off the end of the bed. He could feel them burn slightly, but the feeling quickly went away. After a year of muscle reconstruction and learning how to walk again, he had found himself somewhat of a home in the newly rebuilt Faultline. With his life as a superhero gone, he took up a small job working construction on several projects in Faultline's northern wall. It wasn't the powered lifestyle he once had, but at least it gave him some privacy.
He stood up in his place and yawned slowly. It was funny to him, yawning. Hard to believe that before his confrontation with Sean Marcone, he never had yawned before. A lot of his Plutonian brain was severely damaged in the fight, leaving him utterly powerless and seen as a loose end that needed to be cut by his Plutonian bretheren. They stripped him of his rank as General of the Plutonian army, and abandoned him on Earth in a search for a new, more worthy home base.
He walked to his stained window and peered into the darkness of the alley below. He saw movement as a man in a plain gray business suit walked by, chatting incoherently into a phone. Losing interest, Ben was about to look away when he saw further movement in the direction directly behind the unknowing stranger. A giant of a man stepped from the shadows, carrying a sword that must have been twice his own size in height. His eyes gave off a faint and sleepy yellow glow as he took another step towards his talking prey.
Ben had been a hero long enough to know that something very wrong was about to happen. But what could he do? As far as he knew, he was completely powerless. The only weapons he had was his new physique, which didn't quite cut it against a sword the size of a baby elephant. He continued to watch as the armed thug grasped the business man by the scruff of his suit's collar. Picking him up as if he was a feather, the brute snatched the cellphone from the now wimpering man. With a small grin, he tossed the phone into his mouth and swallowed, easily downing it. At this the scrawny man yelled with fear. The big one apparently didn't like the noise, and promptly tossed the man like a frisbee into a molding dumpster.
Ben couldn't stand it anymore. Without thinking, he opened his window and clambered onto the firescape. He was only on the second floor, and he was sure that if he could get enough air during his initial sky assault, he could possibly knock the villain out. He grabbed hold of the metal railing of the firescape and hoisted himself over. The muscles in his arms shuddered with a pinch of pain, but were soon overwhelmed with a shot of adrenaline. Ben fell seamlessly over the head of the human giant and delivered a powerful haymaker to the noggin of his unsuspecting foe. It did more damage than he thought it would, and the thug went down like a sack of bricks-which Ben was sure his head must have been filled with.
The giant lay unconcious as a groan came from the man in the dumpster as he lifted his head into view, rubbing it with his palm.
"Hey man.....thanks for that." he said, swinging his leg over the dumpster's edge. Ben nodded with a small smile.
"No problem at all, really. I actually have experience with these kind of things."
The man grinned.
"No doubt. Judging by that stuff on around your hands, I'm guessing you are a local superhero, eh?"
Ben stopped. He hadn't really looked at his hands during his attack, but he did sense that they were a bit heavier than usual. He lifted them to his face. He couldn't believe what he was looking at. A thin layer of rock encased both hands- it wasn't the toughest looking layer of stone he'd ever seen, but it was stone nonetheless.
Ben blinked stupidly, "I'm, uh, not really a superhero."
The man's smile broadened as he walked towards Ben, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, judging from what I've seen, you'd make a damn good one."
The man patted him on the shoulder before walking off into the night, leaving a astounded Ben alone in the alley, still staring at his hands. He wasn't sure what to do- and he honestly didn't care.
For the first time in two years, Ben felt like he was finally coming back to being his old self.
C'mon guys, post some comments! I don't write these for my own reading pleasure- tell me what you think.
I think you're better keep writing 'afore I find you and lock you in a cell with nothing but a typewriter and bread and water. I wanna know what happens to Ben.
;-) Fun stuff.
The caped hero strafed to his right, narrowingly avoiding the brunt of the energy blast. The glowing beam shot passed his left shoulder and collided with one of the many serene buildings of the area.
A shower of concrete fell upon the hero's back. He ignored it as he once again dodged another rogue blast of energy. The attacker was a wanted criminal, member of the infamous Marcone family. The hero had been sent out to bring the evildoer to justice after several reports of Longbow casualties here in Siren's Call.
Things like this were common in this part of the city, mostly because of the stronghold set up on the coast by the villain organization known as Arachnos. However, the insane amount of the lastest Longbow attacks had alerted the authorites of a core archvillain that held himself in the center of the city.
The villain cackled heartily as he sent a barrage of gleaming energy spheres in the crusader's direction. He crossed his arms in front of his face, protecting it. His muscles tightened as a thick layer of solid rock encased his forearms, taking the assault head-on. The impact sent a flurry of stone pieces over the hero's head, but the defense had done it's job.
He let down his arms, allowing the stone to seamlessly fuse back into his skin. The villain laughed more than ever at his own failure. He spat,
"Still resourceful after all these years, eh Mr. Brimstone?"
Brimstone Ben frowned.
"Still using the same useless tactics, eh Sean?"
It was Sean's turn to scowl. He lifted one arm into the air. It began to glow a bright red. He spoke,
"My name...my name..isn't Sean."
His arm ignited with surprising power.
"It's Maelstrom!"
He flung his arm forward, leaving a glowing trail in its wake. A shadow-filled blast rocketed towards Ben, gaining strength with each and every second. Ben didn't have a choice, he willed his body upwards in a attempt to escape the blast radius.
He heard what he thought was a grenade go off below him as a wave of energy engulfed his entire body, forcing him ever higher into the night sky. He wasn't severely hurt, but it was enough to make him rethink his battle plan. He looked down below in the face of his opponent. He knew that only one of them would survive this fight, and Ben intended on fighting another day.
Ben forced his body straight down into a free-fall. He positioned himself to run straight into Maelstrom's chest. His change in tactics apparently caught the villain off guard, as Ben pulled his arm back to deliver a powerful right hook to his jaw. Fist collided with bone as Maelstrom's jaw shattered, sending his body like a bullet towards the street below.
His body hit the pavement with sickening force, making an imprint of his body in the concrete. Ben hovered in place, taking deep breaths. He had put everything into that punch, and he was sure Maelstrom was down for the count. To his amazement, Maelstrom opened his mouth. It wasn't a scream of anguish, or pain. But a laugh. A sick, desperate laugh.
"Y-y-you think you've finished me....but you have n-n-no idea of the powers I possess."
Before Ben could respond, Maelstrom's body began to glow a dark purple. The pupils of his eyes began to white-over as he stared Ben straight in the face.
"T-t-t-this is the end of the line, f-f-for both of us, Mr.Brimstone..."
Ben's eyes widened. He knew what Maelstrom was about to do. But how could he stop it? He couldn't fly away fast enough, that much he knew. The thought came to him, and he knew there was no other way.
Maelstrom's body began to shake uncontrollably as beams of light erupted from cracks in his temple. He spoke once more, quietly, as if speaking a secret only for Ben to hear.
"G-g-g-goodbye, Mr. Brimstone."
Ben dropped himself, letting himself go into yet another free-fall. He put his head straight down, laying his arms to his sides. He accelerated further as his body began to undergo a change. Large, bulky pieces of gray stone covered his entire body. His trump card had finally come into play as his body broke the sound barrier, white streaks flowing around his body.
With a final yell of triumph, Ben collided with Maelstrom's broken body. Not knowing what would happen, everything around him went black.