Singing for His Supper

[Hellbound]

"Yeah..." Hellbound continued uncomfrotably. This whole 'kitten' thing was just acting the wrecking ball with his badass vibe.

"The thing is, I'm not really what you'd call a cat person. I mean, really. Look at me. Could you see me coming home to take care of a kitten?"

By now, Tigho had managed to climb up onto Hellbound's shoulder. Her balance wasn't perfect so she had a little trouble maintaining a solid perch, but a few tugs on his unkempt hair prevented her from tumbling off.

Stephanie had to admit that when he first came in, she was only trying to be polite. There really hadn't been any plan to let this scruffy ruffian walk out of here with one of her animals, but there was just something fetching about their newly forming relationship. Tigho, certainly, had no problems with the man.

But then again, Tigho never really had problems with anyone. There was a slight chance that her judgement alone wasn't a valid gauge.

Watching how carefully Hellbound went about accepting the cat's presence so as to not hurt her, the staffer had started to change her mind. There was a stranglely unexpected symbiosis that'd sprung up immediately when the pair met. Indeed, even before Hellbound had entered the A.R.L., watching Tigho through plate glass, he'd been drawn to the cat.

[Hellbound]

"You know?" Stephanie said, with as much wonder towards herself as the situation. "I could. Not that you look anything like a cat person, the two of you just sort of go together."

Hellbound considered what she'd just said and weighed the possibilities. Normally he'd assume she was just trying to make a sale, but that didn't seem to be the case this time. For one, the staffer did seem to care for her animals and wouldn't match any of them with a person capable of mistreatment.

For another... well, for some damn reason he received nothing but a warm fuzzy feeling from the cat as it continued to maintain its clumsy position on his shoulder. That's not something he was accustomed to having in his life. In fact, it wasn't even something he was aware was missing in his life until just now.

But with no doubt about it, there was something unique about Tigho. Though Hellbound tried to picture himself walking out of here without her, it was simply impossible. The poor man was hooked.

"Okay." He finally had to admit. "So how does this whole adoption thing run?"

[Hellbound]

Some time later, Hellbound was walking out with a cardboard box filled with cat and a wallet significantly lightened of cash. He hadn't honestly expected it to be so expensive to simply adopt an abandoned animal like that, but there were simply costs upon costs that needed to be dealt with.

Vet bills from the initial health inspection, vaccinations, spaying and an RFID implant had all added up to far more than the hero had been wanting spend. On top of that were the essentials of cat ownship such as a litterbox, food, toys and things to claw at which weren't considered expensive furniture.

There hadn't been much choice in the matter, however. Once the two had encountered each other then there was no going back. Hellbound was ending up with Tigho no matter how much his wardrobe had to suffer.

Indeed, not only did the adoption drain him of enough cash that he couldn't honestly upgrade his clothes as needed, but also there was the need to get her home. The box she was carried in had holes and plenty of room, sure, but who wanted to spend an hour in a box while some shmuck wandered around the Old Navy store?

Lifting the carrier, Hellbound tapped at its side and peered in at his new roommate. One perfect green eye and one misshapen blue orb stared back. Stephanie had explained that the genetic flaws Tigho had expressed meant she couldn't be shown or used for further breeding (a good thing, considering her source), and so the kitten had been put up for adoption.

Small, toneless cries could be heard from the box periodically as Tigho wondered both where she was and where she was going. Not being able to hear her own voice, the animal apparently had developed a meow as unique as she was, herself.

Though it wasn't until Hellbound noticed a lingering silence from the box that the warm, happy feeling within dropped. Another check inside the box showed her holding still, huddling in a corner and staring fixedly outward. It almost looked like she was attempting to become invisible, though Hellbound had no idea what may have set her off again.

[Hellbound]

"So what's your problem..." Hellbound began to ask of the kitten, even though he knew it was deaf. For that matter, even if it could have heard his voice it wasn't like the thing might actually answer.

However, behind him there most certainly was a reply. Though not a direct response to his query, it formed the answer nonetheless. A set of terrified screams erupted that he was beginning to become familiar with. One of the hazards of working as a superhero was that you quite often encountered people at their most terrified. Being greeted by 'fellow' human beings in such a manner so often tended to give one a less-than-stellar opinion of the species.

For creatures who supposedly found solid positioning at the top of the food chain, we certainly spent a great deal of time absolutely terrified. Hellbound grimaced at the kitten in wonderment. For a creature supposedly deaf, she certainly had a good sense of when bad things were about to happen.

He turned, then, and looked towards the cause of the commotion. Subconsciously, he moved the cardboard carrier behind himself so that he would stand between Tigho and any danger.

[Hellbound]

Apparently it was a good thing Hellbound ended up not shopping for clothes after all. Across the marbled mall from his position was one of those uber-trendy outlets which seemed to change its mind on what was 'hip' every other day. That's where the screaming was coming from and he doubted that it was because they suddenly cancled the afternoon sale.

Not sure as to what he should do with Tigho, Hellbound began making his careful way towards the store. Though at a point or two he had to swim up the stream of fleeing consumers, his inhumanly solid body kept both himself and the cat from being swept away on a tide of frightened humanity.

Looking past the rushing bodies, he could see what had disturbed them so. It was certainly a strange sight, maybe not one to cause quite this much panic, but the citizens of Freedom City had learned long ago when supervillainy was about. A hard, evolved instinct for when to cut and run was bred into most of the long-term denizens of the city. Things like what he was now seeing undoubtedly counted as one of those times.

All manner of cabling, wiring and cord was reaching its way out of the store's walls and across the aisles of displayed merchandise. Like strange, multicolored tentacles, the wires reached over clothing and accessory both to reach the various mannequins scattered around the place. As each one was encountered, the questing cables latched onto them, wrapped them as if making an attempt to mummify and then arcing with electricity.

One by one, as the individual pieces of work completed itself, each psuedo-human sales display open artificial eyes and turned baleful glares towards Hellbound.

"Aw... frag...." Was all he could thnk of to say.

[Hellbound]

The store cleared out quickly. As already noted, the citizens of Freedom City had strong survival instincts. They knew when to get the heck out of the way, preferably before the crap hit the fan. Bad things were about to go down in the clothing department and nobody without superpowers or extraordinary training wanted to be involved.

That was good news for Hellbound. Crowd control wasn't something he had much experience with at this point in his career. Trying to calmly clear out the store was likely to go badly for him if left to his own devices. But as luck would have it, by the time the mannequins were fully wrapped and ready to go by whatever force was at work here, most of the civilians were long gone.

A few stragglers were still in harm's way, however. One in particular was too close to an animated antagonist and she wasn't looking too quick in the escape plan. Her heals, naturally enough, had betrayed the slim brunette and she fell directly in the path of an oncoming monstrosity.

Hellbound swore softly, a sound lost in the general chaos of fleeing shoppers, and sprang into action. He dashed between the rows of clothes and leaped agilely to a sturdy set of shelves. Lucky for him, the rack had been over engineered and capable of taking his fast moving mass. One booted foot landed on a steel shelf as he changed direction sharply and took off into the air.

Tigho's carrier was shifted to his left hand in mid-leap, the action being performed with care as to not jar her needlessly, and he drew both legs underneath himself. Like a misbegotten missile, he sailed easily over the head of the fallen girl and slammed into his target. Two bent knees impacted the mannequin solidly and he crushed it's upper torso beneath his prodigious weight. The plastic dummy shattered with him kneeling on top of it, trapping the collection of metal, wire and faux humanity.

Tigho had been held high and out of harm's way, though he was still concerned about the action being too rough and smoothly moved her box so as to absorb as much impact as possible.

"Get the frag outta here..." He growled at the nameless, clumsy girl. This was not the place for some ingenue to get in the way of him saving the day. His new kitten was already doing a good job of that on her own.

As he warned the brunette to run, though, the wiring of the crushed mannequin came to life once more and began slithering its way up his bent legs and towards his torso.

[Hellbound]

The girl wasted neither time nor words in getting away. Even as more of the newly formed constructs moved in on Hellbound's position, she was on the move. This time without her heels tipping her up. It was only after she was too far away that he thought of handing over Tigho.

She could have taken the cat to safety along with her own derriere, but now it was too late. Hellbound would have to continue the fight while attempting to keep her safe.

The wires bunching up around him weren't much to worry about. After they'd ensnared the mannequin, they'd detached themselves from the building. With no access to the mall's electircal system there wasn't any concern about getting fried, and he certainly wasn't soft enough to take injuries from common conduit.

Hellbound straightened his legs out sharply, snapping the entanglement with relative ease. There were a lot of wires gathered around him, true, but he was strong enough to pratically ignore their impedance. Once free of the wiring he shifted Tigho back over to his right hand and grasped a collection of cord.

With a mighty heave of his shoulders, Hellbound then began to swing the dummy around by its own animating wires. He wasn't sure what was going on or who was responsible, but he knew how to take care of it. With the cat carrier once more in a protected position he spun the makeshift mace until it reached a weapon-worthy speed.

There was a good five feet of cable running from his hand to the shattered mannequin and this described an arc of destruction for anything that approached.

[Hellbound]

Relentless and unafraid, the 'zombiequins' continued their ungainly advance. Whatever unholy force was animating them, clearly it wasn't the most agile antagonist in the universe. The creatures moved with a halting, jerky gait that made them easy targets for Hellbound's retaliation.

One after another was smashed aside by his improvised weapon as it plowed through the air in a circle. Though he was surrounded, nothing was managing to come any closer than the commandeered unit allowed. Each time one of the attackers came within range, it was struck and sent flying in multiple pieces. Shredded remains of the building's wiring held some of them together upon landing, but none of them were in any shape to resume their aggressions.

That action couldn't last forever, though. Each time Hellbound took out one of his opponents, the impact did a little more damage to his own mannequin remains. In time, this was shattered as well and he was left holding nothing but a squirming mass of wire in one hand and a cat carrier in the other.

[Hellbound]

hellbound gripped the remaining mass of wire in his teeth and ripped the strands away from his hand. This was spat across the store before it could wrap itself around his head, leaving him to face the approaching horde without a ranged attack. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, in fact it was his preferred method of mixing things up, but Tigho's presence made combat far trickier than he enjoyed.

Still, she was kept in a protected position at his back while his left hand raised in defense. Hellbound kept himself moving in tight circles so as to not let any of the zombiequins sneak up on his flank. Even if it meant taking punishment himself, he wasn't about to let anything happen to the cat that'd just came into his life.

As the first creature stepped into his guard and threw a clumsy punch, Hellbound snapped his wrist forward to catch the blow and twist, viciously. The zombiequin was flipped over onto its back only to receive an instant punt which sent it skidding along the floor. The damage to it was minimal, but at least it was no longer able to threaten either Hellbuond or Tigho as it bowled over two of its bretheren.

The next combatant was moving in on Hellbound's rear, but he continued the momentum of his kick and brought that foot up and around, turning so as to bring it crashing down on the zombiequin's shoulder. Plastic and wire again shattered, the crushing blow driving itself through the relatively cheap construction of what was once simply a display dummy.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound had to maintain his rotating motion to catch the next victim. His hand wrapped around the back of a zombiequin's neck, gripping it by the living wire that bound its animated, plastic body. The feeling of artificial life inside of industrial cable managed to creep the hero out, but that hardly slowed him down.

The monster's head was hauled downward towards the floor, but Hellbound's rising knee intercepted it long before then. A shattering blow drove cracks through its torso but failed to stop it completely. Before it was able to react, however, he snapped that same leg out in a kick that drove it back and out of range.

A wired hand then swept in from his right side and he nimbly slid Tigho into his left grip even as he ducked the clumsy blow. Rising from the partial crouch, Hellbound reversed the passing motion of his right arm and crushed the creature's skull with a upward blow delivered by his elbow.

Really, the monster didn't seem to mind missing its head. After all, it was only an animated mannequin, so why would that slow it down? A driving, forward thrust from Hellbound's left leg was a little more devestating, however, as the centered impact wrecked its internal supports and another monster flew back into the horde.

[Hellbound]

Unfortunately, the thrust kick left Hellbound in a vulnerable position as he had to lean backwards in order to properly deliver the attack. One of the zombiequins took advantage of this momentary weakness and grabbed him from behind. Now it was a plastic arm wrapping around Hellbound's neck, trying to pull him down and cut off his air at the same time.

"Bleeeeed for meeee..." The zombiequin whispered into his ear.

"@#c& you." Was Hellbound's reply, though the spoken challenge only confused him further.

Reaching back, the hero dug his fingers into the zombiequin's plastic skull, which exploded as he made a fist. Exposed beneath the artificial head has a metal support rod that allowed him to get a good grip on the creature.

One quick heave had the thing flipping up and over Hellbound's shoulder, ripping its arm from the socket while it tried to maintain its stranglehold. The monster was swung downward towards the floor where it shattered upon impact, one more of the attackers out of commission.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound remained bent from his action of smashing the creature as one more came in from his left. Not having time to smoothly change grips on the carrier, he simply tucked Tigho against his stomach and curled around her, protectively. Fists more powerful than he'd have expected from the clumsy monsters came down on his back. Bruises formed along his spine, but those faded almost as quickly as they appeared.

"Knock it OFF!" He shouted at the attacker, delivering a rising uppercut with his right that didn't just impact with the zombiequin, but rather tore a ragged channel through its entire torso.

Plastic, wire and metal framework ripped about as his fist drove its way up through the thing's body. Hellbound extended his fingers towards the end of his attacking arc and stabbed a few digits straight through its rigid chin. Using that as a grip, he once more rolled a foe over his hip and used it to smash another aside. One quick, jerking reversal had the zombiequin flailing like a broken doll when he threw it to the side.

This was getting tricky, he realized. The monsters were getting closer and closer, cutting off the amount of room he had to move within and also forcing him to react faster with each attack. That made it difficult to keep from jarring the cardboard carrier and bounce Tigho around, though he worked hard to protect the innocent life.

So far he seemed to be doing a good job. The box was still in one piece and he'd yet felt and severe impact of the cat slamming against the side of the carrier. But if he didn't figure out a solution soon, then there was no way he'd be able to fight effectively without injuring her.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound was twisting to his left again, having to reverse his momentum after discarding the latest casualty. A zombiequin was waiting with hands reaching out to grasp the hero. Suddenly, its head exploded in a wave of plastic shrapnel. A split second later, the sound of a firearm discharging could be heard.

Glancing in the direction of the sound revealed a mall cop standing just outside of the store, gun held unsteadily in his hands and a look of shock on his face. The shot had caught its target cleanly and removed the thing's head, but that didn't stop the monster. Paying no attention whatsoever to the security guard, it still tried to get Hellbound in a death grip.

"Frag off." Hellbound muttered, batting its arms aside. It looked like he had help, now, not that it would do him much good.

Well... maybe it wouldn't give Hellbound much aid, but there was a critter present that actually could benefit from the intrusion. Tucking the carrier against his stomach again to protect its contents, he ran through the horde. Plastic hands grasped at him, tried to strike him and slow his charge, tripping up his legs and doing everything in their power to bring him down.

Hellbound was determined, though. Once he'd set his focus on getting to where the stunned and frightened guard was, nothing could stop him. Fake fingers broke against his arms and legs, plastic bodies were knocked aside and the hero made like a champion runningback dodging tackles and delivering punishment through a strong, straight arm.

The cat carrier was held like a football, close in and covered by as much of his moving body as possible. Though there was a moment or two where Hellbound thought he might not actually make it, eventually he escaped the slow moving monsters and slid to a stop by the mall cop's side.

"Take her!" He growled at the man, shoving the carrier in his direction. "Get out of here and get her to safety, right? You lose her... you let anything bad happen to her... I'm gonna hunt you down and feed you your own family, you got that?"

It was a harsh thing to say, Hellbound knew, but his adrenaline was flowing and there was an unaccustomed sense of fear in that the kitten might be harmed. The guard nodded dumbly, took one last look at the approaching zombiequins and then ran for safety with the cat carrier clutched in his arms.

[Hellbound]

With the cat now gone, Hellbound was in a much better position to open up the attack. These creatures, whatever they were and whatever was controlling them, had called down more aggression than they were likely able to handle. Sure there were a lot of them, he was clearly outnumbered by several factors, but even when he was holding back they hadn't been able to do much.

Cracking his knuckles and shrugging out the last of the minor injuries he'd suffered so far, Hellbound waited for the zombiequins to approach. He'd heard the term 'fashion victim' before, but this was about as literal as the term became. The well dressed, animated mannequins were about to become a massive pile of scrap once he fully cut loose.

"C'mon, ya' slow moving jerkwads." He encouraged the encroaching horde. "You want me to bleed? Let's see if you have what it takes to make that happen."

As the creatures crawled their way out of the store, some coming through a shattered window front while others crowded out of the main entrance, Hellbound heard an ominous buzz-buzzing noise coming from across the mall.

Looking in that direction he saw that it wasn't just the clothing store that'd been affected by whatever power was at work. Apparently Sears had proven vulnerable as well and a number of zombiequins were coming at him from there as well. Leading the way was one wire-wrapped baddie and the chainsaw he'd just fired into life.

"Aw... frag..." Hellbound repeated himself.

[Hellbound]

"Right..." Hellbound continued. It was time to start fighting smarter, not harder. There were a lot of things trying to kill him, apparently, but only one of him. That was fine. He enjoyed facing hard odds, but this was a little silly.

It did, however, give him an advantage if he were willing to work with it. Having this many zombiequins coming towards him at once, using no tactics and only trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers, meant he could get them tripping over each other. The only thing the monsters wanted to do was attack. They didn't try to close off escape routes, take hostages or do anything other than come in wave after wave at the hero.

He could move a hell of a lot faster than they could, which gave him the liberty of choosing when and where each melee happened. Plus they all simply moved in straight lines, so the ones emerging from the hardware department with weapons were only on one side. Those coming in all other directions were unarmed, which made them potential weapons for Hellbound himself to use.

First he dashed towards the approaching fashion victims and began seizing one after another. Either by the clothing that they'd been so calmly displaying earlier in the day, by the shoulders, arms or any other body part that he could reach and hurling them in the direction of the Sears.

Granted, foregoing both attack and defense in those maneuvers meant he took some punishment, but the zombiequins had already proven themselves unable to cause him serious harm. For the most part, and damage they did was gone by the time he was tossing the next one into the position he wanted. Like shifting cords of firewood... make that angry firewood... Hellbound managed to place a living wall of animated plastic between himself and the ones actually armed and dangerous.

Once there were enough in place, though they each rose and began advancing on him again immediately upon being moved, he roared a challenge of his own and charged. Arms spread wide, he swept as many as he could into his reach and began pushing back on them. The unarmed ones, positioned by his prior actions in front of the armed variety, found themselves trapped between the driving force of an angry Hellbound and the mindless attacks of their fellow zombiequins.

Chainsaws roared, axes swung, shovels clanged and the whole scene became like a shark-filled feeding frenzy. Not really knowing or caring who they were dismembering, the armed combatants began to cut down their fellows in their attempt to get at Hellbound.

[Hellbound]

Eventually the armed zombiequins worked their way close enough that Hellbound could hear their weapons bite into the others. He suffered numerous blows, kicks and sometimes even bites to push back against the mob. It was worth it, however. The group that'd been animated in the hardware department was taking out the others much more quickly than he could by himself.

Though one particularly nasty blow for a knee had managed to split his lip, he at least shattered the limb in return. Granted his skin might have broken with the blow but his teeth were made of sterner material. Smoke curled up around his mouth and a dribble of burning blood fell to the floor. The zombiequins took note of this and seemed to almost redouble their efforts in glee.

It was eerie listening to them being cut down, one by one, without so much as a scream. The animated creatures were voiceless. They didn't even moan like he'd expect from a proper zombie flick. They just rattled their plastic feet against the marble floor and rustled the living wire which drove their actions.

"Go ahead, you pricks." Hellbound hissed under the onslaught. "Cut each other to piece... whoa!"

His oath had been interrupted by the roar of a chainsaw as it carved its way through a zombiequin right in front of his face.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound jerked back, releasing his force against the horde and angling away from the chainsaw. The monsters surged with him, but his fast hands managed to disarm the power tool wielding attacker before any damage could be done. He snapped one arm up to shatter its wrists, flipping the chainsaw over to be caught in his left hand.

Gunning the throttle, Hellbound grinned with the renewed roar of the chainsaw and swung it back in return. The whirling chain bit into a zombiequin's neck and tore both plastic mannequin and living cord to shreds. The monster spun away with the blow and Hellbound finished it with a shattering kick to its midsection.

Not wanting to give the creatures a chance to press any kind of advantage with their numbers, Hellbound continued laying into them with the saw. His left hand move fast, almost smashing them with the powered blade than carefully cutting them down. Perhaps it would have been quicker to disable the monsters with his bare hands, but hey... who didn't ever want to lay into a horde of zombies with a chainsaw? It was every American boy's dream as far as Hellbound was concerned.

[Hellbound]

Taking advantage of having the weapon for now, Hellbound tore into the armed attackers with gleeful abandon. They outnumbered him greatly but that didn't matter much given their clumsy, sluggish movements. By now, they were all surrounded by dimembered mennequins and the still-twitching wires that'd animated the dummies. Hellbound had to step carefully so as to not trip over someone's broken head or arm.

This was his chance to go absolutely nuts for a change. Since he normally had to hold himself back, what with being a hero and all, he couldn't really break necks as he typically threatened. Much of his gruff talk and violent ways were just bluffwork... well, maybe not the violent ways, but certainly he'd never have fed anyone their own family.

But now he was fighting mindless, soulless beings of unintelligent destruction. He could put his foot through a zombiequin's chest, stamp on a fallen soldier's leg until it shattered into dust or cleave through a neck with his chainsaw without having to worry about what the press might say or even taking a life. If it hadn't been for the massive numbers facing him, and the fact that eventually he'd wear himself down with the battle, this would almost be fun.

Who was he kidding. Hellbound was having the time of his life. He could collapse beneath a mountain of broken bodies at this point and never have a happier moment through to the end of the universe.

He continued his dodging, weaving, striking dance through the relentless tide until his chainsaw caught on the metal structure inside one of the zombiequins in just the wrong way. It'd never really been built to use as a weapon, to be honest. The punishment that the chainsaw had been taking so far was way beyond anything the original engineers had conceived and it was amazing that it lasted this long. Maybe, after he got himself cleaned up, Hellbound should seek them out for a spokesmanship deal?

But the toothy chain that made up the lethal edge of its blade fractured and snapped under the strain. A small, yet powerful, engine continued to whip the deadly metal until it converted into lethal shards exploding through the air.

[Hellbound]

Shrapnel flew and embedded itself harmlessly into plastic flesh. A few animating wires were cut and zombiequins disfigured by the shattering chain, but other than that not much happened. Hellbound lost his weapon, and a good source of his current enjoyment, but that was about all. The steel support blade that the chain once ran about was stuck in a monster's shoulder and, though its motor was still puttering with life, Hellbound had to toss the now useless tool away.

The zombiequin who'd taken the destructive shot went with the chainsaw, being tossed by Hellbound's prodigious strength with ease. He recovered from the effort just in time to catch an ax that'd been heading towards his skull.

Apparently the zombiequins weren't getting any faster than before, but there were so many of them now and so close that the individual attacks themselves were happening more frequently. Even as he halted the ax's descent by gripping its wooden handle, a thick mass of wire shot from his left to ensnare his own wrist.

As the entanglement pulled at him, trying to yank the fighter off balance and put him at further disadvantage, Hellbound moved with the effort and took advantage of the momentum. The combined force of both the taut wires and his own throw had the ax tumbling in the direction of his would-be captor. Its blade struck plastic just at the point where the reaching wires initiated their attack and managed to sever a number of them.

Now being held by only a fraction of the cordage that had gripped him a fraction of a second ago, Hellbound snapped his left hand free of bondage and spun to strike with his right. Superhuman knuckles encountered animated plastic chest and another zombiequin was battered forecfully out of the fight.

[Hellbound]

Even a he pulled his fist back to deliver the next blow, Hellbound's elbow encountered an attacker. The zombiequins were definitely closing in and what was once an open, promising fighting arena was now becoming a claustrophobic trap. He could keep this up, yes, but for how long? How many mannequins had been brought to life by whatever force he faced?

Hellbound continued to swing, shatter and split skulls. When weapons came at him he snatched them away from their possessor and turned them against the horde, such was his reaction time over theirs. When fists or feet impacted his skin, Hellbound spun and knocked the limbs to the side with a followup attack that nearly always proved disabling.

Unfortunately, he was having to react now far more than he was being the initiator. For one moment he found himself nearly buried under zombiequins too numerous to count, but was able to throw them off with a single surge of insane strength.

"What do you want from me!" He shouted at the air, not sure why this was happening.

It was strange. The zombiequins all seemed to be gathering around him right now. Though his attention was largely focused on those he'd been wrecking, there were times when he could take the entire scene in at once. None of the monsters were making their slow, shambling ways towards the exits. Any straggling citizens that'd been glimpsed between clashes were being ignored.

They wanted him. They wanted Hellbound specifically, and as the attacking horde hissed to him at once in reply, they apparently wanted him to bleed for them.

[Hellbound]

"Fragging make me!" Hellbound shouted back at their oddly conjunctive sussurus.

He lost himself for a while in a whirling mode of destructive blows. The zombiequins weren't up to the task of handling him, clearly, as they shattered, broke and failed beneath his strikes. Animating wires were torn away with contemptuous ease when they tried to constrict his movements. Everything had become a red haze of battle where Hellbound refused to fall beneth the limitless onslaught of a shopping mall gone mad, and yet the relentless wave of attackers seemed to have no end.

It was a big mall. There were a lot of mannequins to animate.

As the battle waged, Hellbound began to tire. His endurance did have his limits, after all, and the cabling which periodically snagged on his wrists managed to hold him for a second or two longer than before. Also, many of the zombiequins themselves started requiring a more blows to bring down.

This was starting to go downhill for the fearless fighter.

[Hellbound]

In time, the zombiequins did manage to overpower the hero. Though he was still in good health, having not yet received harsh wounds, he couldn't keep the pace up forever. Slower and slower came his counter attacks while the aggression of the horde knew nothing of exhaustion. Still as fresh and, seemingly, as numerous as when the episode had started, they continued the assault.

A broken torso, little more than a single arm loosely attached to a plastic chest, managed to get a hold on Hellbound's ankle. As he bent to rip the grasp away, a mass of wires latched onto his opposing hand.

Hellbound rose to handle the second threat when another attack from behind clutched about his neck and then they were on him. Like a tidal wave of animatronic chaos, Hellbound was strapped, beaten and trussed to the point of immobility. Wiring began to relinquish its hold on the zombiequins in order to form shackles that bound him, wrist and ankle, into a kneeling position.

Both feet were tied together with more wiring twisting its way up his legs to prevent the knees from being straightened. Wires engulfed his hands and wrists, drawing both arms into a crossed position behind his back. Cabling entangled itself throughout his hair and pulled sharply back on his head, angling his face upwards as he found himself drawn into forced supplication.

The zombiequins, now freed from their unholy control, were left motionless and dead in circles around him. Hellbound found himself in the center of a massive crowd of battered and abused mannequins, each one prostrate on the floor with heads down and arms extended towards his trapped form.

For a crazy moment, it seemed he was the center of a surreal worship with some sort of plastic congregation bowed in his presence.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound made a few weak attempts at escape, but the bonds held him securely. He wasn't going anywhere. The cords which had his arms, legs and head all trapped had forced their way into the flooring. Cracks ran from where the restraints had found anchorage and, even without the exhaustion, Hellbound had no leverage in his current position.

The boy was stuck, and there was something forming before his eyes. Smoke drew from the prostrate remains of the zombiequins and the wiring which had animated them moemnts ago. Even the cords holding him prisoner released some whispy essence that gathered from all about the hall to the center of his vision.

It swirled and coalesced, creating first an obscure form that eventually resolved itself into a floating female. Some young woman, whose long black hair swirled around her body to preserve some sense of modesty though she was nude otherwise, hung in the air while completing her formation and then stared down at Hellbound with an amused smile.

Her feet egan to move as if she were floating in water, walking through an invisible tide pool and descending from her floating position to where Hellbound remained trapped. She touched down on the marble floor and stepped around the lifeless mannequins and debris with an artful grace. She approached Hellbound and bent before him, her hair falling away from her body enough to allow a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts.

[Hellbound]

Pale and firm as they were, it wasn't easy for Hellbound to tear his gaze away and meet her eyes. Those were dark brown, almost black, with an almond shape that bespoke of an Asian heritage. But something less human filled out her face. Though he'd seen greater variations of the species in his life, something about the way that her bones came together made him think she wasn't entirely of this world.

Certainly, most people didn't have hair that meandered around their bodies as if they were some kind of diaphonous gown. Being in the superhero business, however, Hellbound had witnessed things far stranger than that.

"That was somewhat harder than I thought it would be." She spoke with a voice that carried a distant quality. It sounded, to Hellbound, like she was actually miles away.

"Truly, I have not been mislead. The qualities... I must have them... I see now what is truly required."

Hellbound had no idea what she was talking about. The chick also wasn't talking like anyone he'd expect to hear from outside of a bad fantasy novel. A real drama queen, is how he'd label her. But then again, anyone capable of animating an entire mall full of mannequins was probably entitely to talk however the hell she wanted.

"Yessss..." She hissed, placing one hand on his shoulder. He struggled, but was unable to throw off her grasp. It felt cold and not just devoid of life, but hungry for it. It felt like a piece of ice that didn't draw out the warmth of his body, but rather his sould.

"It burnsss..."

Her other hand made gentle, almost loving contact, with the side of his neck. She felt blood pulsing through his carotid artery.

[Hellbound]

Hellbound let slip a nasty grin, lurched and then reached for the scary lady. The copper wiring and insulated, steel strands of his bonds parted in staggered snaps. Pieces of floor broke upwards where they refused to let go of the cords holding him down and then he had her.

A look of utter surprise and fear crossed the girl's face. She hadn't expected this, not from one as simple as Hellbound. He was too dumb to react this smartly... wasn't he?

In fact, Hellbound had indeed been playing possum. It'd been obvious long ago that he was never going to beat the endless hordes of animated attackers without knowing what was controlling them. Even if he'd managed to destroy every mannequin in the building, he was pretty sure there were other materials that could be used in its place. Honestly, this was probably only the first wave. More would likely to have followed even if he'd kept fighting.

But by letting them have him, knowing that they would have a hell of a hard time killing him, Hellbound figured to draw out their master. Not exactly one to surrender, however, he had to make his own capture look realistic enough to fool whoever wanted him so badly.

Now it worked, and now he had the bitch by the throat. Anger that probably wasn't appropriate given his heroic status took over and he wrenched at one of her arms. There was a nasty snapping and scraping of bone as it dislocated.