The Wrestler and The Wizard (IC)

[Lone Star]

January 2, 2011.

Warlock is standing outside of the Starbucks, one of the many in Ashton and Grenville. It's about eleven o'clock, and Blake is outdoors with a warm cup of their Winter Blend. He took a sip, and felt the caffeine rush to his bloodstream, and he sighed like a junkie taking a hit. It was a pleasantly chilly evening, not as frigid as the days before, and Blake wore a black winter coat over his suit. He decided to take the night off- although business in the paranormal had been steady, it had been surprisingly low for the past few weeks. It was time for a night off.

[Limos]

The night air whistles past his ears, muted through the heavy toadskin that covered them. El Sapo lands with a thump on the rooftop of the charming brick and mortar apartment building. He tenses and then leaps again, soaring once more through the sky, an action figure come to life silhouetted against the moon. The cold bothered him, though he would never admit it, and certainly his spandex shorts that ended at the knees did little to hold on to heat, but he had an image to maintain and as he told Maria El Sapo cannot fight crime in a sweater! No one can be intimidating force for justice in a sweater.

His latest leap ends with a rumbling crash as he alights on the roof of yet another building. He gazes sadly at the Starbucks across the street. El Sapo does not acknowledge the cold! No matter how tempting whipped cream frappe coffee drink is...

[Lone Star]

Warlock pauses for a moment as he hears a rumble of brick and mortar. There was what appeared to be a Mexican wrestler wearing a green costume on top of a roof. He blinked once, and set his coffee down on the table. Was this man insane? Was he a superhero? Worse still, was he an insane superhero? Blake shrugged. There were weirder costumes than his. He waved to the muscular stranger.

[Limos]

El Sapo braces to leap again and then stumbles and nearly falls off the roof as he sees the man waving at him. He freezes, look left and then right. Finally he looks back ahead quizzically and waves weakly. How did this man spot El Sapo? Deciding to investigate further the lumbering luchador hops down to street level and poses dramatically with his beefy fists on either hip. "Is there a problem citizen? Fear not, El Sapo is here to help!" He tries very hard not to fidget as the biting cold begins chilling his extremities now that they were no longer warmed by exertion.

[Lone Star]

"I'm no civilian. Call me Warlock!" he shouts from across the street. "Come over here! It's really-" A sudden gust of wind drowned out his voice. "It's sorta chilly!" He bundled his coat closer to him. El Sapo? I can barely remember Spanish. The guy looks like Rey Mysterio's weird crazy cousin. Maybe he's cool, though. I've certain never met anyone quite like him.

[Limos]

"Yes it's very... brisk this evening." El Sapo grits his teeth to keep them from chattering as he crosses the street to the much smaller man's side. Then again everyone looks rather diminutive next to El Sapo. "Warlock you said? I take it you too are a defender of justice? I find I am still new at this patrol thing, I need to look into getting a warmer costume..." He says ruefully as he succumbs to the urge to vigorously rub his hairy arms together.

[Lone Star]

Blake chuckled. "Yeah, it's probably a good idea to have a winter costume. Or a variation of it with thick sleeves." He looked at El Sapo's arms. "Or, in your case, sleeves." He looked behind him to the Starbucks. "Can I get you a hot drink or anything, El Sapo? I imagine it must be awful for you."

[Limos]

"No need amigo! El Sapo is no ordinary man!" He beats his chest with one hand and begins pacing to keep warm. "El Sapo has many layers of muscle to be keeping El Sapo warm. Like blubber on whales you know? But enough of El Sapo, speak of you amigo. You are hero too yes?" El Sapo does at least agree to walk back into the Starbucks and take a seat where he won't be freezing to death while they talk. "El Sapo began training for heroism four years ago, but only started patrolling earlier this year."

[Lone Star]

"That's quite a while." Warlock said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. That's pretty hardcore. He pulls a deck of cards from inside his jacket, and starts shuffling them. As he drops them into a pile, the cards appear to be random faces and numbers. However, as he grabs a handful and shows them to El Sapo, they are all the Ace of Hearts.

I can do magic." Without warning, he tosses all of the cards into the air, and they explode into red heart shaped puffs of smoke. "Pretty cool, huh?"

[Limos]

"Very cool amigo!" El Sapo laughs heartily and swipes his hand through one of the smoke puffs, then he looks around and leans in conspiratorially. "I can make it rain. But usually people are not so happy when I am showing this so I save it for special occasions, si?" The massive man leans back out again and relaxes, his secret delivered. "Ah, but what I meant to ask was. How has your own hero'ing been? I have not heard before of the man Warlock, are you still new?"

[Lone Star]

Warlock took a sip of his coffee. "I wasn't always called Warlock. I used to be known as Kid Cthulhu. Until just recently, I had strange powers from a very malevolent creature that I used for justice. However, my powers were taken, but I kept my aptitude for magic. So I basically taught myself how to use it, and now I'm back in business. What's your story?" Warlock looked at the gigantic luchador, and smiled. He was an odd one, but he liked the guy.

[Limos]

El Sapo whistles slowly as Blake namedrops his former identity. "Ah, Kid Cthulhu I have heard of. But word I have been hearing is that Kid Cthulhu is dead, not so much I see." El Sapo scratches his masked chin. "El Sapo is the legacy of my family. Passed down from father to son. It's part of a... deal I suppose. I don't know how much is really safe to talk about. My g- the one who trained me to be El Sapo always said I should not reveal the source of my power, or my identity." The massive man rubs the back of his head nervously, "I think sometimes sh-... they worry too much. Who would pick a fight with El Sapo?"

[Lone Star]

"I can understand that, Limos. Keeping secrets safe is always important." He smiled at El Sapo's comment. "Indeed, I know I wouldn't pick a fight with you! You'd twist me up like a pretzel! So how long have you been here in Freedom?"

[Limos]

"Ah Freedom City, she is my home." El Sapo smiles, "I was born in this city. I have never known another. And you amigo? From where comes the fearsome Kid Cthulhu, or Warlock now as you call yourself." The massive man frowns and rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"You know, I have always heard that you were more... squid-like."

[Lone Star]

"Like I said, I can't really access my Cthulhu powers anymore. I just do plain-Jane magic now." Blake sighed as El Sapo asked him where his real home was. "I'm a native Freedonian as well- I grew up in the art district of the West Side. My parents were both artists, and they sort of took care of me. I did learn a lot during those years- how to take care of myself, which I utilize now. I have my own place, actually. A couple of powerful mystics helped me renovate the interior of this broken-down home in The Fens. From the outside, it looks like the worst house you've ever seen. Police tape everywhere, like there was a crime scene. But the inside has some of the finest furniture and gadgets, and also has my lab. No one would ever think to look in that home." Blake said with a smile.

[Limos]

"El Sapo does not think mi esposa would be too happy if I tried to renovate." El Sapo muses, "But enough of the small talk! Amigo Warlock, we should be having the superhero team-up. Freedom City is a dangerous place at night. maybe we can find some evil do-er in need of a good stomping?" The large man looks very enthusiastic, rather like a small child contemplating a new toy.

[Lone Star]

Blake whipped out his wand- a piece of metal about a foot long. A few sparks shot out of the end. "Sounds like a plan, my friend. I need to test this device anyway. Targets and mannequins can only show me so much." He grinned with the pleasure of a madman holding a shiny new chainsaw. "Where should we start, though? I'm good for wherever- or I can be there quickly if need be." Blake clicked the heels of his shoes together. "Magic can do a lot."

[Limos]

"Can you see at a distance? There are always bad men in the West End. Find some for us to smash" El Sapo stands up from the table and tries to move away from the small furniture without knocking anything over. "I have been looking for some time for a gang that has been robbing stores in the area. They come in the night and are usually gone by the time I find the smashed storefronts. But if you can help me find these men then El Sapo will bring them to justice!"

[Lone Star]

Blake retied his shoes- it would be unfortunate if he tripped over them mid-teleportation. "Sounds like a fine idea." Blake stood up, and adjusted his overcoat. He calmly finished his coffee, and threw the cup away. He coughed once, and adjusted himself. "Well." Blake said, clearing his throat. "Race you there!" he said, his voice suddenly full of life. Blake ran out of the coffee shop and took a running jump, landing halfway down the street in a tenth of a moment.

[Limos]

The large man is stunned for a moment then gives chase, bursting out of the coffee shop and rocketing into the air with a single mighty leap. He smashes into the pavement and immediately springs back into the air, leaping after the teleporting mage. "Beware criminals! El Sapo is coming for you!"

As the two heroes leap and portal their way across the west end they hear an echoing crash coming from down the street. The iron grating from the front window of a pawn shop makes a loud metallic clatter as it is smashed free of it's housing and thrown into the street. "Alright you miserable lot. Get the loot an' let's scarper 'fore some no good cape shows up."

A large man, heavily muscled in his arms and shoulders, yells orders to the group of thuggish men who are gathering armfuls of merchandise from inside. The man is has a strange metallic sheen to his skin, and his right hand has been replaced with a massive metal ball. The four thugs with him are more standard, simply being dim witted but muscular men wearing ski masks.

[Limos]

El Sapo leaps immediately into the fray, "Halt criminals! El Sapo is here to defeat you! Arriba, Arriba y Lejas!" He lands just behind the villain and catches him in the chin with a strong right cross. The punch lands with a dull mechanic clang that rocks the villain back on his heels but leaves El Sapo wincing and rubbing his knuckles. "The glass chin I have heard of, but never the iron chin!"

One of the more quick witted thugs pulls his pistol and lets loose a shot at the wrestler but the bullet goes wide.

[Lone Star]

Warlock grins at Wrecking Ball, El Sapo already at him. He whipped out his metallic wand and grasped it firmly. Doing a surprisingly good Angus Young impression, he shouts at the top of his lungs "YOU'VE BEEN! THUNDERSTRUCK!" He thrust the wand out at arms length, and it starts spraying sparks out like a sprinkler. Blake shook the wand a little, and a steady stream of lightning poured out, which adjusted itself into a solid beam. The lightning flew towards his metallic foe.

[Limos]

The Wizards thunderbolt crackles across the surface of Wrecking Ball's metal skin but the ferrous foe shrugs off the attack. In return the thugs open fire with their pistols. Both the bullets go wide of their intended targets, whizzing by El Sapo's ear and pinging off of Warlock's shield. El Sapo is forced to jump aside to avoid the massive iron ball as Wrecking-Ball fires it from his wrist, crushing a chunk of ill-fated pavement rather than his intended target.

Taking advantage of his foes distraction El Sapo swings a double hammer blow, catching Wrecking-ball in the gut and knocking the wind out of his iron lungs. "Feel the wrath of El Sapo!" The large man yelps and ducks aside as yet another bullet goes whizzing by. These thugs have very poor aim, but they do manage to ruin El Sapo's heroic moment.

[Lone Star]

Warlock put his wand back into his bag, and instead pointed his hand at his foe. "I really hope this doesn't make him explode." He imagined an invisible hand closing over the massive villain, grabbing him, and Wrecking Ball rose into the air. He had a bit of difficulty lifting his huge metallic frame, but he managed to get him a few feet in the air. He figured throwing him through the wall wouldn't do very much, so he decided to toss Wrecking Ball at one of his cohorts! He hurled his oppressor at a helpless mook.

[Limos]

Wrecking Ball rises slowly into the air in the grip of Warlock's will. "Oi! Put me down wanker! What're you- AUGH!" He screams as he suddenly accelerates sideways into one of his henchmen and then the both of them hit the brick wall with enough force to shake loose mortar dust. Wrecking-ball collapses in an insensible heap atop his unlucky hench. The remaining three drop their pistols and back away.

"Whoah man, be cool!" One thug stammers, "Yeah the whole heist was his idea! Please don't zap us!"

In the distance police sirens begin to wail as they slowly make their way to the scene, long after the criminals would have escaped with their loot. 'Well done amigo! We are victorious!" El Sapo says heartily as he pats Warlock on the back. "That last bit where you threw him at the other one. That was cool."