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Elmo has finally done it. He's caught Kai in his superhero getup. Because while Elmo'ss walking down the street at night, a figure clad in grey leaps from a low roof and lands on the ground behind him, silent save for a whisper of cloak against clothing. Hooded, identity a mystery, until a familiar voice says, "Elmo? Is that you?"
Elmo, who's feeling jumpy after his embarrassing brush with being a Greek myth, whips around. Static electricity crackles to life all around him, his hand is in his pocket and pulling out a screwdriver—then he pauses, eyes narrow. "Kai?"
Kai holds a finger to his lip and says, "Hjuki." When he steps closer and tilts his head so the light from a street lamp can fall across his eyes, they're familiar to one who knows him. It's not a bad disguise, the way he plays with shadows. "I'm out looking for someone or something that's been terrorizing the poor vagrants around here."
Elmo hmfs, letting the static fizz out, but keeps his screwdriver in hand. "Okay. Hjuki." He pronounces it pretty good. He has so many questions, like, Kai has a superhero disguise? Why? But he only says, "Want some help?"
Kai says amiably, "Sure." Because, Elmo. A mod would never want to be caught saving the day. It would look like he cared! He nods down a darkened street, its lamps burnt out, and says, "I heard some heavy breathing over this way." Which of course he stealths toward, not away from.
Elmo follows, nonstealthily. He's never done a superhero patrol in his life, but he's had so many new experiences lately, what's one more? A little tongue of lightning flickers along the screwdriver, like the world's most dangerous night light.
Kai lowers the timbre of his voice as well as its volume. "If I had to judge from the sound of it, it's about the size of a grizzly bear. I shouldn't say 'it' because it'd have to be at least semi-sentient to target a specific demographic." He creeps closer, though Elmo's lack of stealth is no help to him. Or is it? A low growl sounds from within the darkness of an alley, alerted by footsteps.
"A bear?" Elmo mutters, immediately having second thoughts. The growl makes him flinch. Static tension rises again in the air. "What should I do?"
"Zap him," Kai says. "Just don't zap me." Something dark moves within the alley, a deeper shadow against the darkness, and Kai murmurs, "Ooh, I see you." A pair of glowing red eyes turn toward the pair, and a rumbling voice comes so low its barely audible, though it causes the ground to tremble. "Turn back, if you want to live."
*Zzzt!* Lightning dances from Elmo's screwdriver to the concrete, lighting up the street, flickering in place. "This ain't your turf, pal," he replies, trying to sound way tougher than he feels, which is terrified. Then—he tips the ionic balance. The lightning lances out towards the being. *CRACK!*
In the crack of lightning, the visage of the beast becomes clear. Maybe it's human? Or was once. Maybe it's a mutant gone all wrong, but the face is piggish in feature, with a humanish nose and beady eyes. Its muscles ripple under the hodgepodge of clothing its fashioned together to cover its massive bulk. Its roar of pain is barely a low-toned huff, but again the ground shakes. It arches its back, clawed hands tighten into fists as it does the electric shock dance.
Hjuki, at Elmo's side, says, "Ooh, he's gonna be mad." The elf on the other hand sounds delighted, and he touches fingertips to the pendant he wears around his neck. They unfurl into a pair of deft, deadly daggers. "Last one in is a rotten egg," he says. And he lunges.
Elmo swaps out his screwdriver for something else: a metal Slinky. "Okay this was a terrible idea!" He dashes after Kai, and hanging on to one end of the coil, flings the other one at their adversary. Electricity races along the thin metal.
Kai nimbly leaps upon the beast of a… person? And his daggers find themselves pressed at its throat. "Surrender and no one gets—" He squeaks as the lash of electricity blows him off the baddie, and he goes rolling, but he's promptly on his feet again. Alfheimians. The baddie man/mutant/pig-thing gives another unsettling roar that's more felt than heard, and it arches its back in agony, in strobe as the electricity flows. "I'll never stop," it manages to stutter out.
Kai frowns, wiping his daggers on his thighs. One must keep them pristine. "Well, why not?" It's a logical question, right? God, he sounds like such a do-gooder, gosh golly gee-whiz.
"I'm hungry," it stutters, and its jolted, raggedy arm slowly starts to reach for Elmo.
"You can't eat people," Elmo informs the creature sternly. Then the thing is reaching for him and he dodges, backing the hell away. "We don't do that here!"
Hjuki rolls under the reaching hand and slashes at it as he comes back to his feet. This gets an aggravated yawp and a massive hand swatting at the elf, who ducks and slashes again. Death by a thousand sharp, painful, irritating cuts. "He's right, you know," he says. "You're way out of line her, pal."
The creature/personmaybe lunges forward and beats his(?) massive fists against the ground, cracking asphalt. "I want them," he rumbles. "I want to taste their flesh, drink their blood, and crunch their bones. I'll eat you slow." This to Elmo. "Make it hurt."
"Okay that's gross." Elmo lets go of his end of the Slinky. It springs towards the creature person, crackling with energy. "What do we do with him?" he yells at Kai, now pulling out a battery. A hefty one, a D-cell. A streetlight goes dark as he taps its electricity.
"You leave Elmo alone!" Hjuki says, and he stands in front of his friend to protect him.
"I'll eat you, too."
Kai pauses, then says, "Don't do that, either." Then he starts to glow, subtly at first, just a shimmer, but he starts to glow brighter still, until he gleams like the light of a full moon. It's enough to make the ugly bastard squint and hold a hand up to its face. "They say you only come out in the dark," he says smugly. Then, "Elmo! Fry him!"
There's nothing pigperson can do except try to block the lights from its eyes as it begins to retreat.
Elmo tosses the D-cell in one hand, then throws it, hard. It goes sailing to whap the creature on the head, then discharges hugely. Electricity leaps out all over the poor(?) creature, biting, burning, yanking on every muscle and nerve. Elmo beckons the streetlight and it turns back on, glowing hotter and brighter than it can on its own, throwing everything into harsh light.
In the glimmering moonlight, the creature twists and writhes. The broken bits of asphalt and detritus in the alley bounces on the ground as it trembles with its cry. It's strong, one has to give it that, but it's not impervious to the punishment Elmo is giving it. Him. Maybe. Whatever it is, it's left smoldering, splayed on the ground, twitching every once in awhile.
Hjuki rubs his nose and says, "I smell smoke. Woah, what if it's dead?"
Elmo winces. "I didn't wanna kill him." Willing to dish out a lot of damage with electricity is dicey that way, though. He tries to peer from a hopefully safe distance.
Kai has no such concerns for safety. He walks up to the creature, daggers at the ready, and kicks it lightly in the head. The ground rumbles with a low growl, but that thing ain't getting up any time soon. "Nah, he's breathing," the elf says. What should we do with it? Call the police? The police can't handle something like this."
Elmo dares slink up behind Kai, eyeing the collapsed bulk. "Do I look like I know what to do with man-eating monsters? …Don't answer that." He gives Kai a look. "Can't we call the Avengers or something?"
"Gosh, I guess we could," Kai says. The effect of the moonlight on his otherwise plain grey clothing renders it (and him) ethereal. There's a reason he's been referred to as an angel (from those who don't see his regular behavior). He nudges the fallen foe with his foot. Still breathing, still incapacitated. "What do mutants do when they find a mutant that's gone really bad?"
Elmo picks up his battery. The Slinky's a lost cause. "Cement shoes," he says, unhappily. "I know there's a mutant prison or something. They were talking about sending me to it when I was in, but they didn't." And he'll never know how lucky he is that they didn't.
Kai admits, "I have a number I could call, but I don't know if anyone's going to answer at this hour. This guy looks like he's going to be down for awhile." He turns to Elmo, then. Such kind eyes, gleaming with silver highlights in his glow. "Or we could just hope he learns his lesson, but that might put more vagrants in peril. Hmm. It's kind of bad to kill him when he's like this."