Just a Taste (IC)

[Thevshi]

Monday, January 28th, 2013

10:10 PM

So far the night had been gone pretty well for Kyle Conners, or as he was also known, Siphon. He had been patrolling in the West End, looking for criminal activity to stop (preferably of the supercriminal variety). During his patrol, he had happened upon a group of shady looking men who were breaking into a herbal medicine shop just on the outskirts of Freedom City's Chinatown.

Siphon had gotten the drop on the group's lookout and getaway driver, managing drain him into unconsciousness before he could warn the rest of the group. It had then been a matter of following the group into the building, where he had managed to surprise another one and put him down, before having to fight the final two. Luckily those last two were so thrown off by the hero’s appearance that they really put up little in the way of a fight. From the looks of things, they had been in the process of tearing the place apart and stealing some of the more valuable herbal medicines.

He now had all four gathered together on the sidewalk outside the shop, where he was binding them up so he could call the police and have them waiting for pickup.

[Thevshi]

Megan Howell was feeling rather happy as she sped through some of the neighborhoods of West End as Velocity. So far tonight she had patrolled neighborhoods in the southern parts of Midtown and Parkside, during which she had stopped two muggings, an attempted burglary and convinced two teens that they really did not need the trouble that would result from breaking into a car. And of course she was getting a chance to speed around town, operating at near her full potential and not feel as if she was having to constantly move at some incredibly slow pace.

But beyond the immediate, Megan had another reason to be happy. Though it had only been a few weeks since she had met Kyle, they had been seeing a good bit of each other. Just this last Saturday night they had gone out for some pizza and then to see Silver Lining Playbook. After the movie, they had gone back to Kyle's apartment to talk and spend a bit more time together. That inevitably had led to making out for awhile before they both realized it was probably best not to rush things too quickly.

Because it had been rather late, Kyle had insisted Megan stay over, taking the couch while letting her sleep in his bed. That had proven almost an even greater temptation, as the sheets and pillows seemed to smell like Kyle (and not in a bad way!) That had left the young blonde struggling with a part of herself that had wanted to go back out to the living room and just say to hell with taking things slow. In the end she had gone to sleep, and yesterday morning they had gone out to breakfast together at one of Kyle's favorite places near his apartment.

Suddenly the young blonde (brunette in costume thanks to a wig) was pulled from her thoughts as she thought she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye, or more accurately, just behind her thanks to the all around vision provided by the high-tech goggles she wore in costume.

Skidding to a halt, the speedster glanced back behind her, frowning a second. Did I just see a bunch of motorcycles with a couple of guys running alongside them go by? She asked herself before rolling her eyes. Please don't let this be another bunch of guys hyped up on Zoom out trying to get into street races with everyone they come across. Letting out a small sigh, she started off back the way she thought she had seen the motorcycles and people running beside them go. Guess I had better check this out.

[Azuth65]

Before looping their wrists together with a series of heavy duty zip-ties he had picked up from several hardware stores around town, the energy-vampire kicked the duffel bag of stolen herb packets and stacks of money from the store safe they had managed to open before his arrival by their feet. The thugs he had taken down had barely satisfied his inner Hunger's cravings, it wanted to feed upon a metahuman and if it was not satisfied soon, Kyle worried about maintaining control.

This, he mentally complained, Is a terrible ending to an otherwise incredible weekend. His date with Megan had gone a bit longer than planned but all things considered, the slight knot in his back had been worth the kiss he had received after breakfast.

He was just finishing up one of the last few impromptu zip-cuffs when he heard the roar of motorcycles heading his way. "Super," he muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this."

[Thevshi]

GM

Siphon was just standing up and turning back towards to street to see what the sound of the approaching motorcycles might mean when a pair of young men suddenly appeared out in the nearby street before him in a blur of motion. Both of Asian descent, dressed in jeans, T-shirts, and similar looking black leather jackets.

But the hero barely had time to register their sudden appearance when one of them flatly stated, "this block belongs to the Dark Fist." Then in a blur of motion, both leveled sub-machineguns at the figures before them and began to pull the triggers…

[Thevshi]

Velocity was just rounding the corner as her goggles helped her focus in on the six young men on motorcycles and about four similarly dressed figures running at comparable speed beside. They were all of Asian descent, and on the back of their leather jackets were emblazoned with what appeared to be a dark colored hand in the shape of a fist.

Great, looks like some street gang. She thought, wondering what they were up to.

That thought was quickly answered as two of the ones that were running alongside (possibly on Zoom) sped a bit ahead of the pack and stopped along one side of the street. Her goggles zooming in slightly, the speedster spotted a figure standing on the sidewalk in front of the two gang members, and she was pretty sure he was a hero she had recently read about in the papers called Siphon.

The two gang members then raised sub-machineguns and aimed them at Siphon. I don't think he is bulletproof. Velocity thought suddenly as she felt a slight surge of adrenaline and then accelerated as fast as she could.

There was a loud *CRACK*, followed by a deep *BOOM* as she broke the sound barrier, closing the distance between herself and Siphon in a fraction of a second. She reached him just as the sub-machineguns began firing at full automatic. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she used her momentum to push him out of the path of the automatic weapon fire, sending both of them flying some ten feet further down the sidewalk, before they bounced and tumbled onto the pavement. Ow! The speedster thought as she came to a halt, half lying on top of Siphon. As the pair had tumbled along the ground, one of Siphon's hands had brushed up against Velocity's cheek.

The motorcycles and other running gang members roared on by, someone yelling something in Chinese as they passed. The two that had just opened fire were then off as well, running at well over a hundred miles an hour after their fellow gang members.

[Thevshi]

For some reason, after tackling Siphon, Velocity felt somewhat sluggish and not quite herself. Maybe it was that sudden burst of speed to get him out of the way. She though as she pushed herself up off the ground and Siphon's prone form. Ow, or maybe it was bouncing around on the sidewalk. She thought. Glancing down at Siphon, she gave a small grin. "I certainly hope you are not bulletproof, cause I would hate to think I did that when I didn’t need to."

Her grin faded though, as she saw the bound forms of the criminals that Siphon had previously captured lying on the sidewalk bleeding. "Oh no. I didn't see them."

In an instant, she was back on her feet, her head turning to look down the street in the direction the gang members had gone. Her communicator was in her hand as she put out a call on the Freedom League's emergency channel. "This is Velocity, I have a gang related shooting down in the West End, corner of Allen and 90th. Four injured, I am in pursuit of the gang, who are on motorcycles with a few apparently using Zoom."

Then she was off in a blur, running back into the middle of the street and then off after the fleeing gang members. The motorcycles and Zoom enhanced gang members were just starting to spread out as they fled the scene, but the speedster was easily able to close with them.

Passing close to one of the Zoom enhanced gang members that had fired at Siphon and the unconscious criminals, Velocity's right hand shot out with a *CRACK* as it broke the sound barrier. *WHACK* The blow connected with sufficient force to send the gang member sailing off the street where he slammed into the side of a building before dropping to the sidewalk unconscious.

[Thevshi]

GM

The various gang members were all swerving and trying to squeeze out every ounce of speed as possible from their motorcycles (or in a few cases their drug enhanced speed), to various levels of success. Soon, the gang was stretched out over two blocks, with the gang leader and one of the Zoom enhanced members out in the lead.

But as fast as any of them were, Velocity had little trouble keeping up with them, weaving in and out as she moved towards the front of the pack. As she went, some of the gang members took shots at her as she passed.

One of the Zoom using gang members fired his SMG at the yellow clad speedster, the bullets riddling the side of a parked car, blowing out a window, as they came nowhere near close to hitting the intended target. Another took a swing at Velocity with a crowbar as she passed, coming close to hitting until she ducked underneath the attack at the last moment and then continued on past the motorcycle riding gang member.

A pistol shot and another SMG burst echoed in the night air, the bullets from both ripping across the pavement as they also missed the agile speedster. The gang leader turned back slightly as Velocity closed up next to one of the other gang members on a motorcycle behind him. Taking his right hand off the handlebars of the motorcycle for a moment, he reached back to aim at the speedster, a bolt of black energy shooting from his hand, blasting out a chunk of pavement as she nimbly dodged the attack.

[Azuth65]

During the tackle out of the line of fire, Siphon's hand brushed across the exposed bits of Velocity's face in her mask where his underfed Hunger acted without his conscious will, making him faster than he'd have ever thought possible previously. Super, take a metaphorical bite out of the woman who just pulled me out of gunfire, he mental groaned.

Shaking his head at the effects of super-speed rushing into his body, his eyes narrowed when he saw the collection of gun toting jerks take off, with the yellow clad woman in hot pursuit. Climbing to his feet he followed, just in time to see nearly all of them take shots at her. Catching up to one of the bikers in the lead he tapped the man on the shoulder, "Excuse me but I'm going to have to give you an official warning, trying to hit a lady is highly frowned upon around here." He followed the comment up by planting his fist into the thug's face, knocking him out in one swing.

[Thevshi]

GM

Siphon’s punch sends the gang member tumbling from his motorcycle, to bounce a couple of times across the pavement before coming to rest near the back of a parked car. The motorcycle itself quickly flips on its side, skidding along the pavement for a good dozen feet before coming to rest in the middle of the road.

A bit further back, another of the gang members on a motorcycle tries to level his pistol at Siphon’s back while controlling his motorcycle with the other. A gunshot rings out and Siphon hears the faint crack of a bullet as it passes far too close for comfort.

[Thevshi]

Velocity glanced over in slight surprise as Siphon came speeding into view, knocking the gang member she had been running neck and neck with off his bike and out of the fight. "Hey there." She said with a small smile. "I'll take the guy on the motorcycle shooting dark energy, you can take the one running along with the sub-machinegun. Then we can loop back and deal with the ones in the back."

With that, she sped up, quickly closing the distance between her and the gang leader, even as he tried to somehow pull away or outmaneuver her.

Coming up alongside, her left hand shot out with blinding speed, another *CRACK* sounding as her fist broke the sound barrier. The gang leader had brought up his right hand, trying to create some sort of dark energy shield between them, but he was far too slow in doing so, and the speedster’s punch connected with a solid *WHACK*.

The gang leader swerved slightly on his bike, but somehow managed to stay up on and conscious, maneuvering back over so he was right next to the speedster.

Hmm, maybe he will be a bit tougher. The yellow clad heroine thought as she saw the gang leader remain in the fight.

[Thevshi]

GM

The chase continues along the streets of West End, with the zoom using and motorcycle riding gang members trying desperately to somehow shake the two heroes, but too little avail.

One of the gang members who had been closest behind the heroes tried desperately to avoid the motorcycle that had ended up in the street, but he was going too fast to do so. His motorcycle slammed into the downed one, sending him flying off. He tried to roll with the impact with the pavement, but still bounced and rolled more than a dozen feet to lie still.

The other gang members had already started to swerve or run to the side to avoid the obstacle, so they were not impeded by the newly downed motorcycle.

Up towards the front, one of the Zoom using gang members had been pulling ahead of the gang leader, when he saw the yellow clad speedster zip in to strike him. Doubling back, the gang member came up alongside the speedster, taking a swing at her with his sub-machinegun, but failing to come anywhere near the fleet young woman.

The gang leader focused past the pain from the supersonic punch delivered by Velocity as he swerved his motorcycle back near her. His right hand crackled with dark energy as he tried to punch the heroine, but he fared little better than his fellow gang member.

With a gang member on either side of her and two other Zoom using ones closing quickly behind, Velocity shouted over to Siphon. "On second thought, I've got these two, you take the runner coming up behind us!"

[Thevshi]

GM

As fast as he was now, Siphon was still not quite used to running or maneuvering this fast. Trying to drop back, he miscalculated, and the Zoom enhanced gang member he was trying to intercept managed to pass him by, while another drew closer behind.

The one that passed him by had a sub-machine gun in hand, but he was hesitant to fire at the yellow clad speedster ahead of him as she was in close proximity with both the gang leader and another of the Zoom enhanced members. So instead, the gang member turned back slightly, aiming the weapon at Siphon behind him before firing a quick burst. However, his aim was far off, and the bullets ripped across the pavement well off to Siphon's right.

Behind him, the other Zoom enhanced gang member also took aim at the hero with his sub-machinegun. But he fared even worse than his compatriot, the bullets from his burst ricocheting off the ground far to Siphon's left.

[Azuth65]

Siphon zigged to his left, neatly dodging the burst of automatic gunfire from the vehicleless gang member.  Unfortunately for him when he tries to zag back to punch the trigger happy thug, he almost stumbeled over a loose bit of asphalt, falling behind in the chase.  Taking a deep breath, he charged forward, coming up alongside of him and swinging his right arm out to backhand him. 

 

The Dark Fist however, hopped up on speed enhancing drugs like he was, ducked the blow nimbly.   Siphon growled as his fist did little more than ruffle the criminal's hair.

[Thevshi]

Velocity easily stayed alongside the gang leader on his motorcycle, and just as she was starting to outpace the Zoom using gang member beside her, the yellow clad speedster's right hand shoot out towards him.  Another *CRACK* echoed down the street as her fist connected solidly with the side of the gang member’s jaw, sending him flying into a parked car.  He clipped the top of the car, the momentum causing him to roll across the top until he fell onto the sidewalk on the other side, unconscious.

 

The young woman then slipped back alongside the gang leader, her left hand swinging out towards him.  But even as another *CRACK* sounded, the young man had veered his motorcycle away, and the attack went wide.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The Zoom using gang member Siphon had just swung at returned the favor with blinding speed, swinging the sub-machinegun in his hand at the superhero, managing to land a hit, but only a glancing one that Siphon was able to shake off.  The gang member then pulled ahead of Siphon in the high speed chase as it continued down the street, taking a sharp left turn at an intersection ahead to continue after the gang leader and Velocity, who were still neck and neck a good ways ahead.

 

As that gang member pulled ahead, the one running behind Siphon opened fire with his sub-machinegun.  But once again, the bullets harmlessly ricocheted off the pavement to one side of the hero.

 

Up ahead, after veering away from the yellow clad speedster's attack, the gang leader extended his right hand, firing another blast of dark energy at the heroine. However, this one came nowhere near hitting Velocity, passing harmlessly behind her before blasting out a window of a parked car.

 

Further back, the other motorcycle riding gang members continued to try to keep up, with only one making much headway in closing the distance towards where Siphon was running with the two Zoom using gang members.

[Azuth65]

Growling at the mocking look on the Zoom-using Dark Fist's face, Siphon balled up his fists and dug deep into his stolen powers.  But he was unoccustomed to moving at such speeds outside of a motorized vehicle and just could not keep up.  The Dark Fist behind him however, who had foolishly tried to shoot him in the back, was going to have to do for a new target.  The power-thief slowed slightly, bringing their speeds to match as they rounded the corner.  As his unsuspecting victim came around, he found a hard-knuckled fist flying directly at his face.  The impact sent a shock all the way up Siphon's arm but the Dark Fist's eyes rolled back into his head as he stumbeled and fell.

[Thevshi]

The chase continued down the streets of the West End, Velocity easily able to control the pace of things between her speed and acrobatic skill.  The gang leader still remained in the lead on his motorcycle, so that is where the yellow clad speedster remained.  Thanks to her goggles, she could see that Siphon had taken care of another of the Zoom using gang members, but was not between the last of them and the ones on motorcycles which were well behind.

 

Trusting the other hero to adjust as he needed to, Velocity focused back on the gang leader, moving up next to him once more.  Her left hand shot outward once again with a loud *CRACK*, but once again the young Asian man had begun veering away at just the right moment and her supersonic punch missed once again.  She remained even with him as he straightened out his course once again.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Though he managed to gain a bit of ground in trying to move up to assist the gang leader in fighting the yellow clad speedster, the last of the Zoom using gang members was still well behind them.  Given the superheroine's close proximity to his leader, the gang member could not risk firing his sub-machinegun at her.  The other hero that had fallen well behind him however, was another matter. 

Turning slightly, the gang member aimed his sub-machinegun behind him and fired a burst at Siphon.  However, his aim was not quite what it could be given the considerable distance between them.  The bullets still passed far closer to the superhero than he might otherwise have liked.

 

Up in front, the gang leader once again raised his right hand and aimed a blast of dark energy at Velocity.  However, the blast came nowhere near the yellow clad speedster, blasting a small chunk of pavement out of the street over near the curb well past her.

 

As the various gang members on motorcycles tried their best to keep up with those out in front, the one closest behind Siphon raised his pistol and fired a shot.  His aim proved a bit more steady than his Zoom using companion, and he managed to hit the superhero.

[Azuth65]

Siphon managed to avoid the worst of the barrage of bullets, the super-speed he had copied from Velocity allowing him to move enough so the worst injury he had was a slight graze along one shoulder.  Letting his pain and anger at being shot override his conscious thoughts for a moment, he turned and charged at the nearest of the Dark Fists brandishing their submachine guns.

 

All but jumping into the man's face, he delivered a series of quick punches into the thug's chest.  He would have prefered to go for the face but with his helmet covering his head that plan was a nonstarter.  The punches caused the gangster to loose control of his motorcycle, falling to one side and skidding along the road.  The crash looked worse than it felt for him though, given the heavy padding the gangster was wearing.  He'd live but he was going to ache for a long while.

[Thevshi]

Velocity continued speeding down the streets of the West End, easily keeping pace with the gang leader on the motorcycle.  She heard the gunshots sounding behind her, but it seemed Siphon was doing okay even though he was being shot at (and the speedster thought she might have seen him hit by one shot), as he took down another of the gang members on a motorcycle. 

 

Focusing her attention back on the gang leader, Velocity easily closed with him once more, determined this time to try to put the criminal down.

 

*CRACK*  Once again the sound of her fist breaking the sound barrier echoed along the street.

 

*WHAM*

This time, the supersonic punch connected, solidly, with the gang leader.  The forcefield of dark energy that protected him buckled under the force of the punch, and the young man was knocked completely off his motorcycle, which promptly flipped over and skid about fifty feet along down the street, before coming to a halt.

 

The gang leader himself flew up the sidewalk, managing to flip into a roll as he hit the pavement, rolling a few times until he finished mostly on his feet.  But he looked to barely be hanging on to consciousness, and was currently dazed, trying to get his bearings back.

 

Okay, maybe this will finally bring this dangerous chase to a halt.  Thought the speedster as she doubled back around to where the gang leader had ended up.

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The chase continued down the streets of the West End at high speed.  As Siphon managed to knock another one of the motorcycle riding gang members down, the next closest gang member on a motorcycle had to make some sudden maneuvers to avoid hitting the downed bike.  But the gang member corrected too sharply given the speed he was going, and he lost control, his motorcycle veering off to the opposite side of the street where it slammed into a parked car and the gang member was sent flying over the front of the car, crashing hard onto the sidewalk on the other side.

 

Siphon managed to close about half the distance that he had allowed form between him and the last Zoom using gang member.  Once again, the young gang member turned backward slightly to fire his sub-machinegun at the hero.  The bullets from the burst impacted along the street in front of Siphon, close, but not close enough.

 

Another gunshot rang out from behind Siphon, as the last gang member on his motorcycle fired a pistol at the speeding hero, but missed badly. 

 

Far up ahead, the three combatants could see the gang leader get knocked off his motorcycle and land on the sidewalk to the left of the street.

[Azuth65]

Getting shot at was really starting to get on Siphon's nerves, letting out a growl of frustration the power-thief charged further back towards the end of the line.  Once within striking distance of the Dark Fist and his motorcycle he performed a chop at the wrist of the thug's gun hand, knocking the weapon loose to tumble to the street before looking the gang member right in the eye.  "Bet when you guys use that Zoom crap you feel like Road Runner," he said, faking a conversational tone, "Guess you guys on the bikes are the coyote."  He punctuated with another strike, knocking the punk off the bike which rode on for a few yards before slamming into a light pole.

 

As he took off to resume the chase, the last thing the aching Dark Fist heard before passing out was, "Meep meep."

[Thevshi]

The last Zoom using gang member arrived near his downed leader, trying to help the young man up as Velocity zipped back towards the pair.

 

*CRACK* 

Her fist shot out at supersonic speeds, striking the gang member using Zoom squarely across the jaw with a loud *WHAM*.  The impact sent the man flying backward, where he slammed into a wall and the crumpled onto the sidewalk unconscious.

 

*CRACK*

Velocity followed up on her momentum, aiming another supersonic punch at the now upright gang leader.  *WHAM*  The attack struck him squarely and knocked him back into a parked car as he also was knocked unconscious and fell into a heap.

 

The yellow clad speedster glanced around a brief moment, noting that Siphon seemed to have dealt with the remaining gang members on motorcycles.

[Azuth65]

Siphon rounded the corner Velocity and the last of the Dark Fists had taken, though when he saw the yellow-clad speedster standing over the unconscious forms of the last thugs he slowed to a normal, if brisk, walking pace.  Stepping into the circle of light cast by the streetlight almost directly overhead he smiled.  "Nice work," he said pulling a pair of gloves on as he moved forward.  Holding out his now covered right hand he said, "Name's Siphon, a pleasure to meet you Velocity."

 

"And since we're apparently done chasing Zoomers and motorcycle riding thugs with terrible aim, I'd like to take just a second to apologize for the unsolicited duplication of your speed.  I try to avoid doing that to fellow heroes, terribly rude," he said.

[Thevshi]

Velocity looked up as Siphon made his way over and formally introduced himself.  Siphon saw that he did not really need to put on gloves to shake the speedster’s hands, as she wore gloves herself.  "Good to meet you as well Siphon."  She responded.

 

When he then apologized for duplicating her powers, the young woman gave a small smile.  "Oh, so that is what happened?  Well, considering that you duplicated my speed when I tackled you out of the blue, it was probably a pretty good defensive reaction to try to copy the powers of someone that was potentially attacking you."

 

"And anyway, if you hadn't copied them, you would not have been able to help with dealing with these guys.  The fact they had terrible aim did not make this little chase dangerous for any innocent bystanders the longer it went on.  So thanks for the help in cutting it short."

Edited April 15, 2013 by Thevshi