Speaking in Tongues(IC)

[KnightDisciple]

"Yes, that will do nicely. I'll get this matter wrapped up momentarily."

His voice whispered in her ear again.

--You might want to take cover and cover your ears.--

Wave-Eye then heard Gabriel's voice.

--I know where they are, just on the other side of the wall you'll see me facing. Keep the door intact, but I think the wall can come down. Hope your ears aren't too sensitive.--

Gabriel calmly stood and clasped his hands behind his back, before turning and walking to face the wall that was hiding the villains. He took a long, deep breath, focused himself for a moment...

And screamed for several long moments. It was an unearthly wail that stretched for several long seconds before finally ceasing.

[Ari]

GM

There was dead silence in the room Gabriel was in, though from the other came the sound of several bodies hitting the floor. An electronic voice said "Rubber Burner? Blackout? What is wrong?"

Mrs. Scallop had just managed to cover her ears in time, frozen in no little terror and staring up at Gabriel with her hands clasped over the sides of her head. At last regaining her composure she got up from the desk, nodded quietly to the white-clad hero and quickly got on the phone. "Hello, police? This is 2471Cyrus St., the Double Decker building. There are four supervillains here that were just caught by Gabriel, could you come collect them please? Thank you ever so much. Good night" she put the landline back in its cradle, saying to the hero "They'll be here shortly. If you'd like I can supply a freight truck to hold them in until the police arrive."

With a sudden explosion of plaster and broken wood, a robot that looked like it had been put together in a scrap heap came storming through the door, pointed at Mrs. Scallop and said "Francine Scallop, you have violated the terms of our agreement. Your life is forfeit" one eye twisted over to look at Gabriel "Please do not interfere."

[KnightDisciple]

"Not interfere? I don't think so, you ratcheting pile of junk."

His face showing only determination, his body language exuding confidence, and his gait bolstered by resolution, Gabriel stepped directly in front of where Mrs. Scallop was hiding from the action. He tilted his head to one side, raising his free hand and pointing two fingers (index and middle) at the robot, as if he were playing "cops and robbers" with the mechanical villain.

"I may not wear a bow tie or wave around a glowing green magic wand, let alone have the audacity to be British, but I think I've got enough in me to disassemble the likes of you."

Suddenly, a barrage of sonic bolts flew from his fingertips, several striking the robot's torso, directly amidships, while one hit it right between its glowing optics. Gabriel just smirked.

"Then again, I've faced scarier robots than you myself anyways."

[Ari]

GM

With an electronic blare as its systems were met with those smashing blows of sound that dented is carapace, twisted wires clean in half and pulverized at least one vital stretch of electronics, the robot stumbled to the ground in a shower of sparks. It ground out an incoherent moan of low noise before beginning a spastic twitching of its limbs, clearly unable to even move under its own power for the time being. Behind where the robot had so rudely intruded, three unconscious figures could be seen collapsed across the floor. One wore a neat grey flannel suit and domino mask, with the insignia of two circles emblazoned on the chest, while another was all in black leathers with an opaque motor cycle helmet clutched in one hand. The third was in more classic skin-tight spandex that was black at the middle and grew to grey across the rest of the body. They had fallen apparently with some violence, crashing into and over a desk that had dust covers placed neatly over it, the suited man having left a deep imprint in the drywall.

[Ari]

Wave-Eye had barely had time to move before the metal man busting through the wall was sent crashing down, stepping forward a little belatedly and exclaiming "Teotl! What other wretches were you dealing with, Scallop?" coming into the room and seeing the fallen would-be extortionists he gave a soft growl that sounded oddly like a snicker "Well, not as bad as the Serpent People, twisted fiends from the utter darkness or all-consuming terrors of the deep I expected, but foul company to keep nonetheless, eh Christian?" he commented drily to Gabriel, his heavy clawed feet creating small clouds of plaster dust as he stalked into the other room, examining the senseless 'Hahaha' villains with slow turns of his massive black eyes. Calling over his shoulder to the two humans he said "We might need to use that freight truck you offered us after all, Scallop. Where is it kept? Gabriel, how many can you carry?"

[KnightDisciple]

"The roads of life lead to odd places sometimes, Wave-Eye."

Gabriel turned and gave Mrs. Scallop and encouraging look.

"There. Problem solved. Like I told you. I apologize for the mess, but it looks like we kept it pretty contained for you at least. We'll get the STAR Squad out here to deal with and process them. I'll tell them they were forcing you to cooperate via a threat of violence on you and your people."

A small smile graced his face.

"Which is the truth. Anything beyond that is up to you. Though I would ask you to contact myself or another hero if a similar situation comes up again in the future."

He turned and regarded the unconscious villains. He sighed and grabbed one with both arms, heaving him up a bit and ending up dragging his feet on the floor.

"Oof. One. Just get them down to a loading door; STAR can take it from there. I don't feel like trying to drag their sorry behinds across half the city anyways."

[Ari]

"The roads of life lead to odd places sometimes, Wave-Eye."

The triton was silent at that. Considering the path his own life had taken during the last few thousand years, he realized abruptly that he was one to talk. Grumbling he said quickly "I am sorry, Mz. Scallop. Please forgive my words." Bending down he slung the man in the suit and the one wearing the skintight costume over his shoulders, turning and bending under the broken wall that the robot had smashed, walking back towards the door, nodding to the woman behind the desk as deferentially as he could. "Gabriel speaks well. If you ever need help with such people, send word instantly. You are sure you can manage that fool white one? I'm sure I could spare an arm or two" he added to Gabriel with grin, watching in amusement as the leaner human dealt with their own much less fanatically-developed musculature.

He frowned suddenly "'Star'? Who are they? I've never met them. They ferry criminals like these to prison, I take it?"

[Ari]

GM

"Yes, they're the force that takes care of the super-criminals captured" Mz. Scallop explained, having sat down quietly when the short battle had broken out, with the white-clad sonic champion easily trouncing the strange Wreckers, much to her obvious pleasure. She smiled beneficently at the odd pair as they began to drag the 'super' villains out of her offices "I will, of course, take your advice Mr. Gabriel" she went on "Although next time hopefully my walls won't suffer such..rude treatment when I require their help" she said ruefully as she stroked a finger through the plaster dust that had fallen like a thin layer of snow onto her desk "Take them down to the second building, first door you see, they-" she was interrupted by the sudden movement of one of the Wreckers, the man in the suit whose hands were suddenly coated in a grey metal, his head snapping back as he swung his fist directly into the face of Wave-Eye, shouting in a Coloradan accent "Sorry, catfish! You're not dragging us off to the big house that easy!" "We're not done yet! Time to get your lily-white clothes a little of the Blackout treatment!" agreed the man in the skintight costume, who reached out a fumbling hand that unleashed a sudden bolt of light and smell of ozone from his hand that filled with room before vanishing. The light, that is, the smell remained for a good two weeks.

Sadly for him the lightning bolt struck a good foot beside his target's head.

[KnightDisciple]

"I'd be more scared if you could hit me."

True, Gabriel had leaned his body to one side a bit as the bolt flew by, but it hadn't really needed the help to miss. Apparently the after-effects of a sonic attack left one having difficulty hitting an obvious target.

"Apparently you lot didn't get the memo the first time I yelled it out. So let me give you a more personal message. Sit down, and shut up."

His right hand came up, making a series of quick flicks, almost as if he was shooing Blackout away. The sonic bolts that screamed through the air and slammed into the lightning-flinging villain's body got the point across well enough, especially the one that hit him right in the crotch. Gabriel gave a very fake wince of sympathy.

"That's probably going to sting for a couple hours."

[Ari]

Dropping his cargo unceremoniously on the floor with a snarl, Wave-Eye briefly nursed large patch of darkening red scales where the metal fist had crashed into him, fixing a glassy black eye on the suited man with the transforming fists before suddenly lashing out with a powerful stomp that dented the floor, barely missing the man below who managed to roll to one side and leap to his feet. The triton gave a deep growl that shook the floor "I am sorry for your floor, Mz. Scallop! We will try to make sure this doesn't escalate, though I have my doubts!" he called to the woman who yet stood in danger of having a very final price extorted from her.

[Ari]

GM

Blackout slumped to the floor heavily at Gabriel's sonic barrage, though the groin attack had surprisingly little effect compared to the ones that slammed into his chest at super-sonic speeds. As he fell once again insensible the man with the transforming fists managed to roll away from the vicious stomp that would have pushed the air clean out of his lungs, panting in wide-eyed horror as he glanced at the monstrous fishman that stood above him before jumping to his feet and weighing his chances between the hulking triton and the comparatively slender and non-brutish-looking Gabriel. With a snap of his now stone fingers and smashing a small hole in one of the walls next to the Double Decker owner's desk as he ducked around Wave-Eye, he dashed forward and crossed the office in a few long leaps, winding up and slamming his fist straight into the shoulder of the hero empowered by the angels!

"Stop that!" Mz. Scallop barked, now plainly incensed and ducking under the desk accompanied by the sounds of rifling through the heavy drawers, obviously searching for something very pertinent to the situation "STAR won't look kindly on this destruction, and neither will my insurance agency!"

[Ari]

GM

The man in the motorcycle garb groaned groggily, apparently coming round as evidenced by his slow crawl over to a wall, which he leaned against while holding his helmeted head in both heads, moaning quietly as the reverberations from Gabriel's sonic attack rattled yet within his head. Thin plumes of smoke flowed from gaps in his helmet, and flames flickered within its blackened depths.

A few papers were flung into the air as the sound of Francine's rummaging continued, dull thuds and resounding clatters as her search went on.

[Ari]

Wave-Eye winced as the stone hand impacted the flesh and bone, snapping out at him "Wretch! Direct your blows to those with thicker skin if you want to make a name for yourself!" while bringing the conch that hung at his side to his lips. He took a deep breath and suddenly blew a thunderous roar through it that sent streams of red-laced water bursting from its mouth and whirling around the besuited man, whose skin suddenly hardened into a bronze sheen, which deflected most of the slashing blades of water and tossed them splashing against the walls, only a few managing to make any incision into his now-metal hide. There was a frustrated silence from the triton as he glared at the dripping walls and sodden carpet, then turned his gaze back to his foeman, pointing a spined claw at him "Fear not, I'll just punch you next time!"

[KnightDisciple]

Without even really thinking about it, Gabriel made sure to keep himself firmly positioned between Francine and the assorted villains. His face was stoic as he regarded the opposition. Blackout seemed to still be going strong. Meanwhile the man with the rocky fist hit him with a punch....that bounced right off his armor. Gabriel raised an eyebrow at his opponent.

"That one tingled a bit."

He turned his gaze back to Blackout, pointing again.

"You sir, should really sit back and wait for the medical professionals."

Bolts of sound ripped through the air, battering the villain head to toe once more, one even hitting around his kidney, and three hitting somewhere on his head.

"That ringing migraine might require prescription-level medication, along with those bruises."

[Ari]

GM

Blackout swayed for a moment as the focused waves of sound pummeled him and then fell with a thud, electricity arcing over his body as he faceplanted with a quiet whimper of "...No fair...". In a whirr of motors the clearly-damaged robot leaped back into the fray, eyes blazing from excess energy being pumped into them he leaped onto Wave-Eye's back, its super-humanly powerful arms wrapping about his arms and waist with terrific force...only for the triton to burst free, sending his enemy staggering backwards, its feet struggling to find purchase on the carpet amid the growing debris.

The smell of salt water was strong in the air, and from the way Combine brushed angrily at his jacket while glaring at Wave-Eye apparently it was strong on his clothes as well. "You'll pay for this jacket, Creature from the Dank Lagoon," he spat, his skin turning a brilliant steel-grey as he swung around on Gabriel with a swinging fist "and you for crashing our deal!" his words belied by the fact that he missed his mark, a harsh sound singing through the air.

[Ari]

GM

With stunning alacrity the smoking man in the motorcycle leathers jumped to his feet, and still in a blur from the movement, with a flare of dark red light, a hail of fireballs spat from his arms and legs, heading straight for Gabriel!

Much to his dismay, they were each dodged with ease by his target, slamming into the walls and dispersing by some miracle into large stains of soot on the wall. With a flurry of curses he dashed straight for the white-clad champion, muscles tensing as he dashed to leap to the side that needed evading into as he raced forward!

[Ari]

Starting as the darts of flame soared past him, Wave-Eye fought back the sudden burst of panic that had welled up in him, hurriedly returning his focus to the battle at hand. He didn't see that the Wreckers had much chance, the Christian in white armor was dealing with them quite easily, to the point where he wondered briefly if it would have changed much if he hadn't been there...tossing that aside as well, he hurled himself with a guttural shout of "Harken, man of flesh and iron!" as he slammed into the suited and soaked form of Combine, punching him squarely in the jaw with a spined fist!

His enemy reacted well to the punch, going along with it and just managing to ease the damage to his face by turning it to hardened iron.

[KnightDisciple]

"Don't talk to me about fair, buddy."

Gabriel's voice was chiding, like that of an exasperated teacher. He easily moved around the motorcyclist's attacks, his brow furrowed in thought.

"I mean, you lot run what sounds like a tin-shed loan operation, but with extra crime added on. If you want to talk about strict profits, I'd have thought a more legitimate loan company combined with a private security firm would bring in more cash, and avoid fights like this. I mean, why go around killing people who miss a payment? You all must just like violence instead of money. Which is really sad and deplorable. It's a good thing my friend and I are here, we'll set you right. Get you some time alone to think about how you can better your lives, make something of yourselves. Be productive citizens. Also, get help for the long list of injuries we're inflicting. I hear morphine feels good."

Another quick barrage of sound struck Blackout, an almost casual attack that didn't seem quite as precise, but still hit its mark.

[Ari]

GM

"[i am not programmed for 'legitimate business'. Our well-dressed friend Combine says it would interfere with my higher functions]" explained the junk-heap robot placidly, springing upon Gabriel from behind and across the room, where it had been standing moments before its initial target, the triton, had gone bounding off after the suited man apparently called Combine, who while nursing his jaw rolled his eyes at the synthetic's words that rattled out of its voice box. Without further speech two badly mismatched arms wrapped jerkily around Gabriel's waist and arms, pinning the limbs to his sides with superhuman might. The smell of oil emanated from it, and through his stocky scrap frame he could feel the unsteady jolt of electricity humming through its damaged body. Taking advantage of the moment, the man in black became a red blur around the tightly-gripped man, his fists pummeling and pounding with resounding thuds and cracks against his pristine holy armor, his fists aflame with the friction of his movement as they hissed through the air, several of the punches slamming and thudding into Gabriel's head with particular vehemence. "Ghreailleughyousiraggbev!" he shouted angrily as he punched, apparently from the sound of it trying to curse out his enemy, but as he didn't have the capacity to speak clearly while moving at super-speed, sounding wholly garbled and incoherent instead.

"I question your powers of deduction, Mr. Gabriel." Combine said, sounding more than a little miffed at the holy champion's description of the bunch. "This villainy of ours is just a short jaunt down a side street of the Road of Life, not the main journey! Besides, you ever tried to be the great hero of Colorado? It gets old pretty quick when the biggest problem people have is random thefts and little crime circles that just skip town when you try and collar them. After years of fixing people's tractors and combine harvesters, I decided I'd try a few years on the other side. So far it's been at least interesting." With that, he spun on his heel and, his left fist transforming into a square block of iron that he spun low and darted into Wave-Eye, driving the fist into the flank of the fish-man and tearing a jagged cut in his tough and scaly hide, through which ichor began almost immediately to bleed.

[Ari]

Wincing at the jab of pain as the metal tore his skin, Wave-Eye spat derisively at Combine as he reflexively clutched at the narrow cut, snarling "Ridiculous! You decided that helping others was not worth your time because it did not satisfy your dreams? If you take on a task, you DO it! Leaving it undone so you can amuse yourself elsewhere is lower than any snake!" he took up the conch, taking a deep breath and adding "I agree with Gabriel: think long on your actions while you recover!" and again the flood of red water lashed out from its mouth, slamming into Combine with tremendous force!

Catching sight of the black-clad speedster getting ready for another attack on his comrade, he sprang directly in front of the blazing fists, giving a cry of pain as the flames washed over him, his upper body suddenly catching every single punch that had nearly rained down on the tightly-gripped Gabriel. As the last few strikes smouldered on his scales, blood dripping and hissing onto the carpet, he sank slowly to his knees, eyes unfocused at the world as it dimmed and swirled before him.

[Ari]

GM

Stepping back for a moment to reassess his target, Rubber Burner was startled when he dashed forward and began another flurry of savage blows at the shining man, only to find his knuckles slamming against the iron hide of Wave-Eye, grinning visibly through the smoke-darkened helmet nonetheless as he found that his burning hands were charring and tearing straight into the fishman's skin.

In a moment the room was suddenly in further turmoil, as Combine's left hand suddenly lashed out like a steel hook, curving through the air to snatch hold of Wave-Eye's neck yet lashing just short of his target's nose; the robot held Gabriel perfectly still, jolting slightly from brief surges of power within its badly damaged innards, groaning slightly as it spoke "[be quick, I cannot hold him still eternally.]" Kicking aside the kneeling triton, the motorcycle man darted forward in another dizzying rain of attacks, laughing happily as every whirring hook sailed true into the mighty breastplate, leaving unsightly sooty smears all over it, leaving large patches of singed cloth on his robes, and following up the body blows with two powerful strikes across each cheek.

Combine strode over to the fallen Wave-Eye, surveying him with a smirk "G'bye, Lagoon Boy. You were a pain" he snarled, lifting one of his feet, which was now a solid block of lead, and drove it straight through the floor next to the triton's head, which he stared at with irritation for a moment before saying quietly "Nevermind, let's try Mr. Weiss" as he spun on his lead heels, his fists turning a decidedly gold color.

[KnightDisciple]

"You will not hold me still now!"

Gabriel's voice held surprising anger, even as he grit his teeth, enduring Rubber-Burner's assault. He relaxed his head just enough that the blows landed on his helmet rather than his flesh directly. When the punches slacked off, he gave a rather vicious smirk.

"Normally I'm one for keeping things at the "turning the other cheek" stage, but for punks like you I think I'll make an exception. You can let me go now, Tin Can Man."

Suddenly, from both of Gabriel's hands, a barrage of sound sliced through the air and battered the frame of the artificial person. It was enough to loosen the android's grip, which caused Gabriel to stand up once more, casting his gaze at the remaining combatants.

"Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto."

[Ari]

GM

The robot's arms were flung wide apart with a whine of servos moving faster than they had ever been built to, its legs locked up in a shower of harmless sparks, its eyes flickering fitfully as it fell face-first to the floor with a dull *whunk*. "[My name is not Mister Roboto, it is Trasher]" it protested weakly, its voice-box clearly failing.

Combine stared in horror at the robot's fall, gave a short bark of anger and hurled himself through the air, his left leg turning into a immense hammer which he swung furiously at Gabriel's head only to watch in helpless anger as he whirled past and crashed into one of the filing cabinets , sending a mass of files into the air.

"Oh hell no, you just blew out Trasher!" yelled the speedster furiously, lighting up and slamming his fist straight towards the shining sonic-master's body core "You're gonna pay for that, buddy!" The punch was surprisingly well-thrown, with weight and power behind it that belied the blazing man's lean frame. It sent a flash of pain across the body of the sonic champion, knocking him into the desk and briefly sending him out of the fight, but only until he got his footing and breath back.

Combine jumped up from his resting place amongst the files, turning his entire left arm into a vicious-looking claw, and springing across the office he directed it squarely at the face of his enemy.

[Ari]

With a bellowing, gurgling roar Wave-Eye jumped up in a scaly, shivering heap of muscle and bone and fins. He had awakened, more or less, a moment ago and seen the incoming hammer of metal descending towards Gabriel, and every instinct within himself honed by long years in battle promptly forced him up and sent him running full-tilt into the path of the arcing, transfigured fist. It smashed into his head with a resounding *clong* that echoed throughout the office and down the hall, causing the triton's eyes to slowly roll backwards, and sending him crashing with considerable finality into the dusty, scorched, paper file-strewn carpet. He managed a "Gllghckt..." before falling unconscious, a brief mutter of shame at the back of his head as he slipped away.

'The Christian will never let me live this down.'

[Ari]

GM

The burning biker stared in disbelief at the collapsing figure of the fishman, glancing at Combine as the suited man cursed furiously and started getting ready for another try. He burst out laughing, clapping mockingly as he turned sneeringly to the just-recovering Gabriel. "I gotta hand it to ya, buddy! You sure do have a perfect hand on the situation here! In a few seconds you and your fishy pal here are gonna be tossed into the dumpster anyway, so why don't you be a good little choir boy, and sit down so me and my pal can beat you senseless? You can't win now!" he crowed, suddenly lighting himself ablaze, his eyes now visible as white-hot coals behind his smoke-blackened helmet "The Wreckers are gonna get their dues!"