Rise of the Titans

[oneiros23]

Brian Sun

True, the slap had taken Brian by surprise. It was the furthest from what he expected from someone who looked like Lydia, but most of his surprise stemmed from the fact that she had slapped him without flinching. He'd had men thrice her size punch him and break knuckles and wrists. He wasn't a child of the Stone Monkey for nothing. Maybe there was something to this "god" business after all.

"Back off... Monkey boy," Lydia had said with fire in her eyes. After a brief apology, she stomped away on her own.

Brian looked around at the group with a dumb look on his face for a beat then laughed out loud. He'd heard worse stuff from his own grandma. Grinning again, following her with a golden gaze, he murmured, "I like her," and followed it with a snicker. "Girl's got spirit."

Shrugging and shifting to a more serious mien, he looked around at the rest of them again. "Well, she's got something to do," Brian said, thumbing at Lydia's general direction. "What about the rest of us?"

 

[Tymeless]

Asuka

Asuka had watched what had unfolded and took in what they had said. "You may be right. Things always seem to happen around me like what had happened on the runway." She ran her left hand through her silky black hair and looked at the woman that claimed to be the daughter of the goddess of beauty. "That's pretty deep. You're definitely more than a pretty face, kinda like myself always treated differently because of our beauty and charm when we have so much more to offer." She smiled at the girl when she noticed something coming out of the shadows towards Lexi.

Asuka was just about to turn and tell Lydia that she knew several languages and a couple of them were ancient. Her dad had insisted on it to prepare her for the world. She didn't know why he would want her to know ancient languages but she didn't argue and had actually took to them quite easily, That had quickly changed because Asuka didn't know what to do when she had saw the creature coming at was now someone she would consider a friend or at least an ally.

 

[Tight_n_ready]

Hellhound

The warehouse was filled with battered and rotting crates, a stench of decay and faded dreams hovered in the air. It was empty of life, not a soul stirred save for in the centre of the room, one light flickered weakly from the ceiling, bathing the small group in a dirty yellow light. One virtually emanated an aura of threat and darkness, his being drawing forth memories of a darker place than this, a prison. A low snarl was drawn forth, too quiet for any of them to hear.

Something prowled around the outer edge of the warehouse, a shadow within a shadow, not yet part of this reality, seeking, hunting something, someone. A half formed snout, just the idea of a snout, raised to the air, sniffed. The shadow twitched and turned towards the pool of light, it's body solidifying, becoming real. It's mouth opened, a thick red tongue lolling out, spittle and drool dripping from massive fangs. It's jaws were big enough to crush a mans head and from the evil glare in its eyes, that was exactly what it was planning.

It could smell it's prey, the scent was heavy in it's nostrils, full of power, meaning. It was a familiar scent, powerful, but not yet. The stench of godhood filled the air, power rippling off from these youths. It wanted to turn, to run, to enjoy it's new found freedom in the world of men. But it couldn't, it was bound to this realm by a powerful will, and to remain it must satisfy it's demands. It began to pad forwards, growing in size as it's presence on the world became more solid, slowly it broke into a run, pushing off from the floor, moving in complete silence as powerful muscles rippled beneath the skin. It saw one of the prey turn and see it, then it's hind muscles bunched and it forced all the power of it's muscled body into one leap, it's jaws fastening onto the shoulder of Lexy and taking her with it as it's massive form flashed through the circle of light, a long echoing snarl sounding throughout the warehouse as it vanished into the shadowy corridors of crates on the other side, dragging the screaming girl with it...

 

[Tymeless]

Allison

Allison heard the scream of the girl and reacted instantly. With her increased strength it gave her bursts of energy that allowed her to move quicker than the fastest human. While it wouldn't be considered super-speed it was enough to have her close the gap on the hell hound in a matter of a few seconds. Once she was upon the creature though she really didn't know what the best method of attack would be and her first concern was getting her severely bleeding ally free from the beast. To make matters worse her hair was currently down and a strand of blond hair fall in front of her eyes blurring her vision. "The rest of us need to save Lexy, we will worry about finding the artifacts later." She hollered out. In a move of desperation before the beast could round a corner and escape out the door of the warehouse Allison flung her shoulder into the beast with all her strength. She didn't think the blow would be enough to kill maybe not even injure the beast she just hoped it would dislodge Lexy.

 

[Tight_n_ready]

Hellhound

The Hellhound yelped in pain as something heavy impacted it's side. It's mouth relaxed involuntarily and the bleeding Lexy collapsed to the floor, blood spattering from the gaping wound in her shoulder. It wheeled furiously, one paw slamming down hard on the injured girl as it's teeth snapped shut centimeters from Allison's face, hot breath and thick spittle spraying into her face. Shock clouded it's eyes as it saw exactly what had just stopped it, it was faced by a girl, a small one at that but she'd hit it with the force of a thunderbolt. It slunk back slowly, cautiously, dragging it's prey under one paw, growling territorially, as though it were protecting her. Then it's claws extended and cut into her flesh, bringing forth a fresh cry and more blood.

It's eyes flashed as it crouched, then it's muscles bunched and it leapt at Allison. It's hind legs propelling it forwards mouth gaping, fangs flashing in the light as it's malevolent red gaze bored into hers, a fierce growling ripping from it's throat as it hurtled forwards like a black missile.

 

[Tymeless]

Allison

Allison had just managed to move her hair out of her face and pull it back and secure it before the beast had lunged at her. Allison was many things, but having eyes in the back of her head were not one of them. Her instincts had told her to duck to avoid the beast. By the time she had ducked and the beast had soared over head she realized it was a mistake. Despite her reflexes it was too late there was no way for her to recover and correct the mistake. She cringed as she knew what was coming next. Allison planted her feet and tensed her muscles as she prepared her next attack, if and when the opportunity arises that she could close the distance on her foe, and hopefully save her other comrade.

 

[Tight_n_ready]

Hellhound

It howled in frustration as it's prey ducked beneath it's lethal pounce, the jaws that would have taken her head off snapping shut on empty air as it sailed gracefully overhead. There was a girl just behind the blonde, she must have rushed after her when it had pounded past. She was drawing a bow and released as soon as the other had ducked. The arrow flew fast, impaling the Hellhound in the shoulder. It landed heavily, limping, keeping it's weight off it's injured leg, but close enough to bite down on her arm. There was a spray of blood and a splinter of bone as her arm shattered between it's fangs. It shook it's head wildly and released her in a spray of blood, she flew into a crate and fell to the floor, her face twisted in pain. The hound turned to find Allison now blocking it's way. It snarled defensively.

 

[heartofcourage]

Lydia Pruitt

She has barely put her hand on the doorknob To leave when she heard the scream behind her. Turning to watch the bloody scene behind her unfold, she was struck by the power, form and stentch of the beast that was attacking Lexy and Maya. She knew what it was in an instant and was hesitant to speak its name. If it was what she though it was, someone wanted to do away with them quickly. She needed her books badly it seemed.

"It's a hellhound!" She shouted above the chaos, not moving from her spot. "Brian, Hayden, Steve you have to overpower it!"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Hayden Condan

He stood rooted to the spot for a moment, he wondered where the beast had come from, Lydia's voice broke him from his musings and with a grin he slammed one fist into an open palm,

"Power is my kind of thing."

He stormed forward, sure the beast was big, but the son of Orcus was no small child now was he? Swinging a fist he came in from the side, the impact was like a semi-truck running into a brick wall. Something snapped and it was not Hayden's fist. The hound skidded along the ground and collided with the wall,

"Any god lings not wanting in? Get out of here."

Hayden turned to face the hound and his grin grew even bigger,

"Hey there doggie, where do you come from? Definitely not my father's home."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Steve Denver

He looked at the ferocious attack and the big man slamming into this...creature. He had no way to actually describe what he was looking at, but it looked like some comic book character. He stared in disbelief.

"Overpower? Are you nuts? That thing looks like a Doberman who ate a nuclear reactor."

Again the urge came and he fought it, desperately this time.

"I can't! Let go of me!"

Without really planning it, Steve was at a loss what to do, until his hand closed on a piece of sturdy wood. Instinct took over as he hefted the piece of wood, testing the weight and balance in a matter of milliseconds, rotation and velocity came into play scant nanoseconds later and a second later he pulled back and threw. With unnerving accuracy the piece of wood flew straight and true, a slight movement of the hound's head caused the wood to bounce from it's eyebrow and not bury itself in it's eye, but the impact was enough to tear open the skin and blood poured out from the cut. Steve stared at his hand in wonder, astonishment clearly on his face

"Wow."

 

[heartofcourage]

Lydia Pruitt

“I said overpower, not kill.” She said as she pushed past Steve to make her way towards Lexy. “If Herakles could bring down Cerberus without a weapon so can you. If that thing can speak then we might be able to figure out who sent it and why.”

She knelt in the blood, checking the wound in the woman’s shoulder. It was bad, but not unfixable. She knew about human anatomy and knew what to do to fix some of the damage done, but both she and Maya would need a doctor’s care no doubt.

“This is going to hurt.” She murmured as she popped Lexy’s shoulder back into place, grimacing at the scream that came from her lips before she attended to the blood that was still flowing, applying pressure to it and encouraging Lexy to keep her hand pressed tightly to the wound.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Steve Denver

"I...uhm...I wasn't in charge."

It sounded lame, but it was the truth.

"Any case, Herakles had strength, I am very certain I don't have that kind of power to my disposal."

He watched Lydia pop back the wounded girl's shoulder and turned to face the beast again, suddenly he had a plan, he grabbed another piece of debris and threw it, it hit the hound square on the nose, stunning it for a second, making it blink.

"Now!"


Hayden Condan

The blow to the nose of the hound was enough to create an opening, Hayden came in from the eye blinded with blood as the hound tried to shake free the effect of getting hit on the nose with another piece of crating. It's head turned as it heard Hayden's approach, but by then Hayden was on it, grabbing it's neck in a Full Nelson lock, sliding onto the beast's back, locking his legs around the hound's waist and pulling back so that the claws could not reach him. Using his weight and momentum he threw them both sideways, they both landed heavily, he because he had nothing to stop his fall with and the hound as it was trying to claw it's neck free. The hound writhed and flayed, trying to get hold of him, but he held on for all that he was worth as well as keeping clear of those vicious claws.

"A little help?"

 

[oneiros23]

The attack was sudden, and maybe all of them were lulled by the safety of their numbers, but in his head Brian scolded himself for not being able to notice the beast jump in. Now one of them had been injured because of it.

He watched as Allison threw herself at the hellhound, managing to free Lexy in the process. Hayden's initial punch staggered the thing and Steve managed to cut through its hide before Hayden grappled with it.

Overpower the thing? That was a pretty tall order, specially since he knew next to nothing about hellhounds. "Does that thing have a functioning circulatory system," Brian asked out loud as he edged towards Hayden and the hellhound, "or is it just fucking magic?"

"Dude," he said, turning now to Hayden as he dropped to stance. "Think you can lift that thing up? Because I aim to break its fucking heart."

The corkscrew punch was a technique once made famous by the boxer Kid McCoy, performed by twisting the fist at the exact moment of impact. Explosive enough on its own, its efficiency was increased when focused on the sternum-- the "heartbreak punch" which could render a man unconscious if it causes enough blunt trauma. Brian used it before in fights he'd been in. Now he'd find out if it worked on hellhounds as well.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Hayden Condan

He grunted and nodded, his grumbling voice was strained.

"I can, but Lydia wants it alive, why don't you just go for the nerve clusters and hurry while you're at it? "

His hold was slipping, the beast was actually coming closer and closer with each of it's swipes, claws clipping at his long sleeved shirt. He straightened himself, stretching out the large beast as far as he could, trying to minimize its reach.

 

[oneiros23]

Brian nodded back as Hayden stretched the hellhound, exposing the underside of its rib cage.

"Don't worry," Brian said grimly. "Two hits is all I'll need." Even as he took a step forward, Brian coiled into a left lean, balling his fist. The ground under his feet crunched, cracks appearing on the floor as his weight shifted, throwing the punch upwards at a 45-degree angle to the floor.

A snap of the arm. A twist of the wrist. The heartbreak punch hooked into the left side of the hound's chest. The beast's body jerked upwards from the impact. In the same flow of motion, Brian unleashed a blink-and-you-miss-it right chop at where he assumed the cervical nerve cluster would be.

He was still holding back a bit, but even suppressed Brian's fists were moving at 60 miles per hour, with an impact force of 450 pounds. Under normal circumstances, that was enough to break ribs and damage a normal person's internal organs. Hopefully it was enough to bring down the supernatural creature.

 

[Tight_n_ready]

Hellhound

The hellhound twisted in Hayden's grip, writhing on the floor, desperately trying to scratch at his arms, its jaws snapping futilely on thin air. The blood on it's shoulder was dry and crusted, matting it's fur and it crackled and shed in brittle flakes as the limb thrashed back and forth. It's right eye was almost completely blind now, the blood crusting it shut while the other glared wildly out of the dark visage. It rolled over with Hayden atop it, slamming his back into the crates and in so doing exposing it's chest and underbelly to Brian. It scrabbled desperately at the floor, it's claws gouging great chips from the stone floor. Hayden began to strain, his arms tightening around it's neck as he pulled it back, bending and stretching it, it's vertebrae cracking and straining at the added pressure. It saw Brian approach and whined in fear, recognising the purpose in his walk and the power in his form. It redoubled it's efforts, limbs flailing, snapping it's head around in a desperate attempt to shake the son of Orcus free. But it was in vain and as Brian unleashed the first punch it howled in pain, the second silenced it, instantly, it's visible eye rolling back in it's head as it's body spasmed. The muscle contraction was so strong this time that even Hayden was thrown off with enough force to break the crate he hit. The Hound writhed and twisted on the floor a moment more, then it exhaled heavily and it's body went limp. It's weakly heaving side was the only proof of it's continued life.

 

[heartofcourage]

Lydia Pruitt

She had moved to tend to Maya’s arm, wrapping the wound in a clean cloth she’d found and encouraging her to hold the arm above her head to stop the flow of blood. She watched as Brian delivered the blow that finally stopped the beast and she stood slowly from Maya’s side, glancing at Allison and Asuka before she finally found the courage to step towards the fallen beast.

Of course she knew about hellhounds. She’d read all about mythology, but actually seeing one in person was a different matter. For one, she had no idea if the thing had a circulatory system like Brian asked, but if it was bleeding then it was a pretty good indication that it did. Someone had to have conjured the thing from the depths of wherever and it wasn’t for a good purpose. Some of the legends ever said that you shouldn’t look a hellhound in the eye three times or else you were meant to die. Usually she found those types of legends silly, but looking at an honest to God hellhound made her rethink things.

She crouched next to the animal, glancing at Hayden and then at Brian before she reached out a hand towards it. ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it,’ her mind screamed as her shaking hand met matted fur and she could feel the beat of a heart deep within its chest. It was like a dog, but different. It defied everything that she knew.

“I don’t even know where to begin with this.” She admitted, her fingers tracing through fur to trace over muscles before she dared to explore the head, noting the subtle differences there.

 

[Tymeless]

Allison and Asuka

Allison didn't get a chance to attack again the boys had managed to take control of the situation. Once she was sure the beast was subdued she picked up both Maya and Lexy placing them over one shoulder. She didn't care about the blood or the damage that had been done. She knew she had to get the girls to the hospital. If she didn't then the allies would be nothing but targets in their current state.

Asuka seeing the carnage unfolding before her began to run the gambit of emotions. When she came upon anger her hands began to glow and she noticed this triggering confusion and fear A small blast of energy expelled outward from her body blowing out all the lights in the room. She was the only thing emitting light in the warehouse. Finally getting control of her emotions she scurried over to help Allison and the girls offering to drive them in her car to the hospital.

Allison agreed and carried the girls out to the Asuka's car. It was a BMW her father had given her for her birthday and to use when she was in New York.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Hayden Condan

He picked himself up from amidst the debris of the crate and looked at Brian,

"Good job."

He inspected his shirt, the sleeves was tattered, but that was no problem, he looked as Lydia inspected the hound.

"I'd say we restrain it first, if it does come to it will wreak havoc again."

He moved over to one dark corner and sat down mumbling to himself, in fact he was busy weaving a rope, not just any rope though, as long as there was shadows about it, it remained as strong as steel, yet as flexible as nylon. When he was done, he sighed a breath and got to his feet again. The effort had not really taxed him, but he did need some sort of rest soon. He dropped the rope next to the hound,

"Anybody know anything about hogtying?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Steve Denver

He watched in fascination as Brian struck the beast, two hits and it went still. He had no idea what the big man did in the dark corner he had retreated to, but he knew about ropes and ties, he stepped forward and picked up the rope.

"At least I know about this,"

he didn't look at anybody, he just shook the rope free and started to tie the hound down, making sure that it's jaws could not reach the rope by running it from the hound's neck over it's back, he tested the knots, found them as secure as he could get them and stepped back.

"That ought to do it."

 

[oneiros23]

The tension relatively over, Brian squatted beside the restrained beast, staring at it intently.

"This early and we've already pissed someone off enough to send things like these at us." Brian turned to the others and grinned. "Interesting times, eh?"

Turning his attention back to the hound, he began to poke at it gently. "Mercy, mother... It's as tough as I am," he said, feeling the muscle underneath the bristling fur.

With a grunt and a sigh, Brian stood up and asked randomly. "Anybody think our fearless leader and Miss Moneybags will be fine on their own taking the injured to the hospital?" After a beat, he added. "And I don't suppose we've got another place to stay? I mean, the welcoming committee hereabouts..." Brian prodded the hellhound with the toe of his boot "...isn't exactly... er, welcoming."

 

[heartofcourage]

Lydia Pruitt

“These things are conjured in darkness. They thrive in the shadows. I can almost bet you that if there’s one after us there will be more very soon.” She sat back on her haunches, thinking through all the possibilities. “Which of you three got here in your car because if we take this thing on public transportation, we’re asking for trouble.”

She looked around at the three and sighed at the odd looks she was getting at suggesting they take it with them.

“Look, I know about mythology. Seeing one of these things in person and reading about it from an ancient text are two totally different things. All I know is that if we can communicate with it, we might be able to figure out who sent it and why. Wherever we take it needs to have a lot of light. We’re not giving this thing a chance to disappear back into the shadows.”

She stood then, brushing off her hands, mindless of the blood that had soaked into her jeans from her fallen comrades.

“I’m not a fighter nor do I have super strength. All I have is my brain and I’m going to have to trust the three of you to get this hellhound somewhere. I’ve got to get back to my apartment and get my books if we’re going to have any chance at surviving this.”

 

[DeathsKnight]

Hayden Condan

He grinned suddenly,

"Well tell me where you want it and I can take it there. I can travel using the Shadow world..."

he broke off and frowned,

"Unless you wish to use the beat up old van that I use at times, the body is bad, but the engine runs as smooth as a...ahem...silk sheet?"

 

[oneiros23]

"Taking a thing that thrives in shadow through shadow... think that's safe?" Brian snarked, staring at the hellhound again. "Sorry, big guy, I'd rather take the van."

He turned to Lydia. "And would you be safe heading off alone? I mean, what if a few more of these things are sniffing around for us?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Lydia Pruitt

"If there were more out there they would probably be here by now. They're pack creatures just like any dog.". She thought for a moment about where they could take the beast. "The library has a storage facility on the south side of the city. No one would be there right now. Meet me there."

With that she stood and looked at the others before she turned to leave.