 The Stormcrow, A Superhero's Tale |
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| SubRosa |
 Jul 6 2019, 03:49 PM
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#2
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 Ancient  Joined: 14-March 10 From: Between The Worlds  |
Acadian: That Carotid Slap was something I filed away for future use when I was doing my Krav Maga research a few months ago. I was not originally going to use it in this fight. But it made its way back in the mix after I made some tweaks a few weeks ago. What I have really enjoyed writing in this fight is January's gymnastic skills, which have been a key component to defeating the mercenaries.
As you noted, these last few episodes have been again given me the opportunity to Show what White, Gray, and Black Hats are, without having to Tell anything. I am pleased with how that turned out. Nits picked. Now I am laughing. We Michiganders always want to insert a hard 'a' into everything, even words that don't have an 'a'. How did I miss that!  treydog: I had fun writing this fight scene. A week before posting the first part I was looking at it, and thought it did not seem challenging enough. So I added in two more mercenaries. That did not actually make it much longer. But it did ramp up the action, and make Lighthammer and January come off feeling more super. Unlike the common lackeys in the comics, I wanted these guys to pose a real threat. They would have defeated Lighthammer if he had been on his own. So I gave them real skills and some tech-based powers of their own so they could go toe-to-toe with the supes. Given the feedback from both you and Captain A, I decided to go back to putting my links at the bottom of the posts instead of mid-stream. I will still put mood music at the top however, so people can listen while they read. January's fight theme Book 1.12 - Stormcrow Rising January stepped out to rejoin the battle in the hallway. She saw that even though he now only faced two opponents, Lighthammer was still taking the worst of the exchange. Like her own battles with the mercenaries, they had gone into hand to hand. These mercs seemed as skilled with fists and feet as her two opponents had been. Lighthammer less so. He was taking hit after hit. Most he deflected on his forearm force fields. Some he was able to slip or dodge away from. But it was two against one, and his opponents seemed to know how to work as a team. One would distract Lighthammer, while the other would strike from the opposite side. He was constantly in motion, leaping, diving, and sidestepping to stay out of their way. But inevitably some of their attacks got past his shields, and steadily dented and chipped away at his armor. Pits gouged into the ceiling and floor showed where one or the other had tried to shoot with their weapons. January did not know if those were the results of more ricochets, or if they had been intentional shots, like the one Lighthammer had used to trap her the previous night when he had made his escape. January saw Subramanian raise the discarded shotgun of the first mercenary she had defeated. He had a clear shot at Lighthammer's back. She had seen that his force fields could deflect the slugs. But she had no idea if his armor could alone. Given that not every inch of the vigilante's body was armored, it would not help at all if Subramanian got a lucky hit. "Lighthammer, duck!" January shouted. The vigilante instantly dropped, and Subramanian fired. One of the other two bodyguards had been standing directly opposite him, and staggered when the armor-piercer hit his own force field of elemental darkness. But the field held, as it had against January's own blows against his partners. Still crouched down low, Lighthammer spun and flung out one palm to Subramanian. Solid light blossomed forth, and took him full in the chest. His shotgun went spinning away through the air, shattered into numerous pieces. Subramanian likewise went flying, to land on his back several feet away. At the same time Lighthammer raised his other forearm to block a punch from one of the mercenaries. However, the final bodyguard took advantage of Lighthammer's divided focus. He side-stepped around to get directly behind the vigilante. Then he raised his shotgun and aimed at Lighthammer's head. But January was upon him with a single leap. She grabbed hold of the twin barrels of the sawed-off shotgun and flung them skyward. Both boomed an instant later, and gouged holes in the ceiling. The mercenary tried to wrestle the gun away from her, and January could feel real strength in the man's exoskeleton-enhanced limbs. Lightning cracked loudly, and January felt the steel of the barrels warp and twist under her fingers. He let go of the ruined weapon, and sent an uppercut into January's stomach. She winced under the blow, and flung the useless shotgun aside. The mercenary came back with a cross, pivoting with his torso and hips to put all of his mass behind the blow. January swept it aside with her left forearm, and countered with an immediate jab to the head with her right. It had no effect, and her new opponent sent a front kick directly at her face. She barely slipped aside in time to avoid having her teeth knocked out. As before, January could see that that striking directly at the dark force field would be useless. She had to get behind it, and disable its projector. Remembering her previous knock out, she reached out and grabbed the edges of the mercenary's force field. He stamped down hard on her instep, then kneed her in the groin. Against most people, that would have been check and mate. January just shrugged both off. Tilting backward, she pulled the bodyguard into the air above her. Squatting down for a moment, she leapt straight up with all of her might. Out there in the main hallway the ceiling was twice as high overhead as it was in the bookstore. Still, they crashed into it as if they had been shot from a cannon. The mercenary's unprotected back hit first, and bounced off metal and drywall. She felt his body crumple behind his force field. Then they were falling. January held on, knowing that if she let go and he fell without coordination, he might easily break his neck or crack his skull on landing. Half way down she felt hands grab under her armpits. She looked up to see Lighthammer's armored chest and head. He tried to hold her aloft. But her weight - and that of the mercenary - were plainly too much. They continued their fall, but now much slower. They struck the floor with only a light thump. That left only one bodyguard. He leveled his shotgun at the trio and cut loose with both barrels. January barely saw it coming, and had no time to dodge. Thankfully Lighthammer was quicker, and raised a forearm. His force field caught the shot at an angle, and deflected the armor-piercing rounds into the ceiling. January scrambled to her feet and faced the mercenary. At the same time Lighthammer fired at his face, which the bodyguard did not even bother to dodge. He just took the blast of light on his dark energy shield. But that kept the mercenary distracted long enough for the vigilante to duck and roll forward. Lighthammer came up behind the bodyguard's force field. Solid light flashed, and the mercenary fell an instant later. January hoped Lighthammer would not shoot her in the back, and knelt down beside the unconscious bodyguard that she had driven into the ceiling. Twisting his body aside, she got behind his force field and grabbed for the emitter strapped to his chest. After several fumbling attempts, she found a pair of switches that she had to press simultaneously, and the black energy vanished. She rose to her feet in time to see Lighthammer doing the same with the opponent he had just dispatched. A quick leap took January back to the bookstore, where she likewise disabled the energy projector of the first mercenary, whom she had knocked unconscious with the carotid slap. She looked up to see Lighthammer standing over Subramanian. The Indian was still laying on the ground moaning. His suit jacket had been thrown open, and his pockets turned inside out. The armored vigilante turned to face January. She saw that he held Subramanian's diamond bag in one hand. As she walked over to him, he raised a diamond in his fingers and held it up to the light to inspect it. He stuffed it back inside the bag as January came nearer, and pulled its neck tightly closed. "So are we gonna fight now?" he asked, "or should I just say thank you?" "I am not your enemy," January explained. "I didn't know what he was before. Now I do." People started to emerge from hiding now. January hoped no more of them had been hurt while she was occupied by the battle. She noticed that one was the state trooper. Her injured arm was wrapped in an ersatz bandage of her torn shirt and someone else's windbreaker. Her badge was now slung from a cord around her neck. She held her gun with her good hand, pointed to the floor at a low angle. "I'll take that as an apology then," Lighthammer smiled. Thunder howled loudly outside, followed by a brilliant crack of lightning. "I'm not sorry for anything," January contended. "I saw you attack a man, and I defended him. If you had gone about this differently, he'd have been in jail already." "His kind doesn't go to prison," Lighthammer glanced back at Subramanian and spat. "He's got the law bought and paid for." "We'll see about that," January said. "I've got his financial records all over the web already. I'll bet he's got the original still on him. All the evidence left is in your hand." She nodded to the bag of diamonds, and extended her open hand toward him. "What, so the cops can pocket half of them," he scoffed, "and he can use the rest to buy his way out of prison?" "Look around Lightguy," January waved hand for effect. "We are on a dozen security cameras, and who knows how many phones. We are probably being streamed live all over the country right now. This is ratings. Every cop who touches these diamonds is going to have a microscope up their unmentionables. No one is going to skim any." "You really expect me to just give these up, after all I've done for them?" Lighthammer stared at her. The only part of his face that was visible was his lower jaw, and that was set in a tight, hard line. But January held firm. She was not about to be intimidated by a helmet. "Yes I do," January said. "I did my research on you. You're a gray hat. You only take from thieves, drug-dealers, and other criminals. You've never hurt an innocent. I've seen you hold back to avoid that. If you take those diamonds, you are no better than Subramanian. You'll just be one more link in the chain of horror and murder that they created." "I don't think you really even need them," she continued. "You aren't going to sell them are you? You want them for your armor right? But that armor doesn't look powered. It's just protection, like mine isn't it? Your power comes from you. What do the diamonds do, help you focus it? intensify it?" "You don't need that. It's really a crutch. In the end it'll hold you back, because you won't be making the most of your own gifts. True power only comes from within. If you want more, practice, work harder, create it within yourself." "That's high and mighty talk for someone who wears a wingsuit." he shot back. "I wear the wingsuit because I cannot fly," January admitted. "But who knows, with hard work and practice, maybe someday I will. I learned a long time ago that our will creates our reality. I'll practice with you any day." "I did my research on you too, Weather Witch of Warren," Lighthammer said. Lightning flashed again, as if to underscore the title. "Okay Qui-Gon, we'll play it your way this time." He handed her the bag of diamonds. She felt its weight in her hand. Felt the stones grind against one another. For a fleeting moment she thought of all the things she could buy with them. Sex reassignment surgery, a degree from a real university instead of just community college, a house, a car, everything she had always wanted, and more. It could all be hers. All she had to do was betray everything she believed in. She looked up from the diamonds, and saw Lighthammer staring intently back at her. She knew that he was measuring her, seeing what she would do now that she actually had the diamonds in her hand. This was a test, of who she really was deep down. She walked to the state trooper, and felt a distinct wave of relief wash over her as she put the diamonds in the other woman's hand. "These are conflict diamonds," January said firmly, "smuggled out of the Central African Republic." "I guess you really are a white hat," Lighthammer said behind her. "See you around Crowgirl." He waved one hand at her in a half salute. His boots flared bright with light, and he shot off into the air. He rocketed down the corridor back the way January had come from, and vanished from sight. "See you around Lightguy," January said after him. "You're awful chummy with the vigilante chica," the state trooper said. January noticed that she spoke with teeth clenched. But otherwise she showed no signs of distress. January found herself admiring her. She had what Adin - her Krav Maga instructor - called grit. With one hand January surreptitiously reached into one of the pockets of her utility belt. She found the phone-cloner that Gadget had made, and turned it on. This might be a cop worth knowing. "He's not one of the bad guys," January insisted. "At least not today." "Besides, I guess I'm a vigilante too," she continued. "Are you going to arrest me?" "Not today." The older woman smiled and holstered her gun. January could not restrain a chuckle. Then she saw Subramanian rising to his feet. She stepped over to him and clamped a vise around his arm. "I am innocent!" he protested as she pulled him to the state trooper. "I am the victim in all this!" "Yeah, tell that to the people you shot," January glanced down at her cape, which had blocked the bullets he would have put into her and the two rednecks. "Search him, and I bet you'll find his ledger." January said to the state trooper. "If you can't crack the encryption, check social media. You should have all you need to burn him for what he's done." The trooper took him with her good hand. January saw more cops coming from down the far hallway now, and decided that she had overstayed her welcome. She stepped away, so the trooper and Subramanian would be clear of her wings. The raucous cries of crows filled her ears, and January saw the birds take flight all around her. It was like they appeared out of thin air, almost like magic. She leaped into the air and popped out her wings. Following the crows, she soared out just as the thunderstorm stopped, and the sun peeked from the rapidly vanishing clouds. Lighthammer's K.O. of the final merc was inspired by the end of the tea house shootout in Hard Boiled For Non-Nerds, the inspiration for Lighthammer's Qui Gon Jin comment -------------------- |
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Posts in this topic
SubRosa The Stormcrow Apr 19 2019, 11:34 PM
SubRosa [b]Chapter 1 - Stormcrow Rising
[center]Early May... Apr 20 2019, 12:04 AM Renee Hee hee, this is awesome! She's doing medi... Apr 20 2019, 02:21 PM
SubRosa
Hee hee, this is awesome! She's doing med... Apr 20 2019, 03:27 PM Acadian Oh this was a hoot! January, her crow fan cl... Apr 20 2019, 06:32 PM Grits I’m very excited to see Stormcrow so soon! (... Apr 22 2019, 06:17 PM SubRosa Renee: I went to MCC for a while, so it was my go-... Apr 26 2019, 04:32 PM Acadian ’Naturally she did what they said to never do.... Apr 26 2019, 06:33 PM Grits Awesome, a fight and flying sequence! I though... Apr 28 2019, 11:29 PM SubRosa Acadian: Courage + questionable judgement sounds l... May 3 2019, 09:35 PM Acadian I’ll take your wonderful Two Steps from Hell mus... May 8 2019, 07:31 PM Renee Whoa, she's wearing her superhero outfit in pu... May 9 2019, 03:55 PM SubRosa All: I created a Google Map of all the Stormcrow l... May 10 2019, 10:05 PM Acadian Neat Gadget Cave! Replete with ingenious tech... May 11 2019, 09:10 PM SubRosa Acadian: The Gadget Cave is a fun setting. I have ... May 17 2019, 04:41 PM Acadian What a fun episode, as the plot thickens with more... May 17 2019, 09:54 PM Renee There's a Beverly Hills in Michigan!
I u... May 24 2019, 07:07 PM SubRosa Acadian: Now we know that things were not quite as... May 24 2019, 10:18 PM Acadian This was a wonderful episode that sleuthed the sto... May 25 2019, 06:41 PM SubRosa Acadian: Working in the pop culture references is ... Jun 1 2019, 05:09 PM Acadian "I think I forgot to pick that at character ... Jun 1 2019, 07:17 PM SubRosa Acadian: One fun thing about writing January and A... Jun 8 2019, 04:52 PM Acadian Clever how she got her Crowsuit into the house.
... Jun 8 2019, 10:38 PM Uleni Athram A superheroine who actually knows her Marty Arties... Jun 11 2019, 03:27 PM Renee Ah, typical Renee has fallen behind. :blink: Life... Jun 11 2019, 04:30 PM SubRosa Acadian: I used the old window trick to sneak thin... Jun 15 2019, 04:58 PM Acadian January shows us plenty of raw emotion in this pow... Jun 15 2019, 07:13 PM SubRosa Acadian: That was a very intense episode, that giv... Jun 22 2019, 04:28 PM Acadian Nice job here, setting the scene and stakes for wh... Jun 22 2019, 07:18 PM treydog The way you weave “existing” tech in with poss... Jun 24 2019, 05:46 PM Renee
Nice.
Also, the whole time her family's ha... Jun 24 2019, 06:52 PM SubRosa Acadian: This will be the crescendo of the chapter... Jun 29 2019, 04:15 PM Acadian Despite the superhero tech, you rendered everythin... Jun 29 2019, 06:21 PM treydog Most excellent fight scene! And again, very h... Jun 30 2019, 12:34 AM SubRosa Ooops, I forgot to add some links. I went back and... Jun 30 2019, 06:48 PM Acadian Thanks for the additional links and update.
I ... Jun 30 2019, 07:36 PM treydog I tend to agree. While on the one hand, it is fun... Jun 30 2019, 08:33 PM Acadian Another intense fight! It was very neat how ... Jul 6 2019, 06:38 PM treydog A most enthralling fight! Then there is the d... Jul 8 2019, 04:36 PM Grits Catching up with January and Avery has been quite ... Jul 12 2019, 12:28 PM SubRosa Acadian: This two part fight forced me to think cr... Jul 13 2019, 05:08 PM Renee Lighthammer has force fields! That's cheat... Jul 13 2019, 06:34 PM Acadian It just struck when you referred to January as Jan... Jul 13 2019, 07:46 PM SubRosa As an editorial note, given that I have decided to... Jul 13 2019, 11:56 PM treydog A nice bit of calm after the Stormcrow (sorry). B... Jul 15 2019, 12:19 AM SubRosa
Side note- still looking at early Boston. Did fi... Jul 15 2019, 02:50 AM SubRosa I bought Boston in the American Revolution: A Town... Jul 17 2019, 02:03 AM Grits Excellent shirt! I’m a fan, even if Freya do... Jul 17 2019, 03:28 AM Renee
“fine-toothed search bot” :lol:
Ha ha I li... Jul 17 2019, 03:40 PM SubRosa Renee: Lighthammer's not a cheater! :lol:... Jul 20 2019, 05:06 PM treydog The thing (okay ONE thing) I like about this story... Jul 20 2019, 07:15 PM Acadian The bus ride and encounter did a couple of things ... Jul 20 2019, 09:35 PM Renee I think I want an African Goddess next to me, if I... Jul 21 2019, 02:12 AM Grits Not Cthululemon? :P Good idea to stash the backpac... Jul 23 2019, 01:10 AM SubRosa treydog: Inserting the human element into these st... Jul 27 2019, 04:35 PM Renee
:lol:
Yes, how apt a description, the handing ... Jul 27 2019, 04:51 PM Acadian A superbike for a superhero - hopefully. Unfortun... Jul 27 2019, 11:00 PM treydog Quotes first and then observations.
Have known... Jul 28 2019, 03:06 PM SubRosa Renee: I had no idea the 'Gucci Biker' lin... Aug 3 2019, 04:35 PM Acadian A nuclear powered Stormcycle emerges from the Gadg... Aug 3 2019, 07:47 PM Renee
He put a nuclear reactor in her motorcycle? :O
... Aug 4 2019, 12:30 AM treydog :lol:
Loved all the dialogue- this is the way... Aug 4 2019, 01:05 AM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1 - Stormcrow Rising
What a great way to... Aug 6 2019, 02:30 AM SubRosa Acadian: I did a lot of work on developing power s... Aug 10 2019, 04:13 PM Renee
Yes, I was thinking of buses. :) Fusion-powered ... Aug 10 2019, 05:43 PM Acadian This episode drew me in immediately and was a joy ... Aug 10 2019, 07:53 PM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1.2:
I get what you mean. The crows did i... Aug 10 2019, 09:41 PM treydog :blink:
Jan is certainly in a position to und... Aug 10 2019, 10:43 PM SubRosa Renee: This chapter is set about a week after the ... Aug 17 2019, 05:07 PM Acadian The beginning of another Crowventure assigned to h... Aug 17 2019, 09:03 PM Renee
Yeah, totally. He's like that voice over the... Aug 18 2019, 03:05 PM treydog
"
The interactions between Gadget and Cro... Aug 18 2019, 03:47 PM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1.3:
I like how you mentioned how deep-ro... Aug 19 2019, 02:17 AM SubRosa Acadian: I had not really thought of doing more be... Aug 24 2019, 04:32 PM Acadian Thanks for your peek/insight into the future of th... Aug 24 2019, 06:44 PM treydog More excellent Crow-Girl action! The fight wa... Aug 25 2019, 10:11 PM Renee Nice. She plays Fallout (or at least knows of this... Aug 27 2019, 08:16 PM SubRosa Acadian: I enjoyed writing the fight between Janua... Aug 31 2019, 04:23 PM Renee Yes there is some reason why our armed forces ofte... Aug 31 2019, 07:01 PM Acadian Another wonderful episode!
I liked how her ... Sep 1 2019, 07:29 PM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1.4: There was plenty in this chapter that... Sep 2 2019, 03:06 AM SubRosa Renee: Gasoline is much quicker to burn and explod... Sep 7 2019, 04:15 PM Acadian Gosh, I'm learning a lot about Michigan and De... Sep 7 2019, 07:17 PM Renee We recycle. At least I do. Where I live it seems l... Sep 9 2019, 12:16 AM treydog
A lesson my A and A team are learning (slowly). ... Sep 9 2019, 01:13 AM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1.7: Heh. Good question honestly. What is ... Sep 14 2019, 01:55 AM SubRosa Acadian: I know you were joking, but the reason I ... Sep 14 2019, 05:30 PM Acadian With a name like Wilhelm Wundt, it is indeed hard ... Sep 14 2019, 08:31 PM treydog Way back when we were reading Gawain and the Green... Sep 15 2019, 09:15 PM SubRosa Acadian: I still remember my Into to Psychology cl... Sep 21 2019, 03:33 PM Renee Yeah, I don't think she'd be able to conce... Sep 21 2019, 04:34 PM Acadian Another fun episode as you ever so smoothly show u... Sep 22 2019, 12:09 AM Darkness Eternal Chapter 1.10: Great thing you provided us with th... Sep 24 2019, 02:51 AM SubRosa Renee: You are right, even if she tried to ignore ... Sep 28 2019, 04:58 PM Acadian Looks like the stealth approach was a good call as... Sep 28 2019, 07:45 PM Renee See, where is Lighthammer during all of this? It m... Sep 29 2019, 03:27 AM treydog Caught up again- yay! And also phooey, becaus... Sep 30 2019, 11:30 AM SubRosa A minor note. Thanks to tredyog correctly identify... Oct 2 2019, 10:02 PM Darkness Eternal Chapter 2.1:Ah, Jan has been meeting some ladies a... Oct 4 2019, 03:33 AM |
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