Rabid stepped off the bus, pulling up his collar against the cold rain. He bypassed the bus station and wandered off into the city streets. He had left Chicago yesterday, running from Chaos's men. If Shred had found him, the others could not have been far behind. So he bought a bus ticket and headed out to New York. Now directionless, he tried to decide upon a path.
He could join the Army's Special Corps, the legal branch of superpowered beings. But he disliked taking orders, which would eventually lead to trouble. Besides, the thought of working for a group little better than the criminals they fought, repulsed him. Both the ASC and CORE, their criminal counterparts, raided the gangs of superpowered individuals that resided in every city for recruits. His own, the Changelings, were all dead at the hands of Chaos. The gangs hated the ASC and CORE equally.
Trying to start a normal life was out of the question. Even if he had the resources to do it, to many powered that tried to live a regular life were recruited by one side or the other. Most, not by their own will.
So that left him with trying to find another gang that would let him join, without killing him. Gangs were nortoriously private, defending their territory viciously, from outsiders and each other. Rabid let his feet take him to the worte parts of the city, the land of gangs.
He spent most of the day wandering around, keeping an eye out for anyone he could tag as a gang member. An hour after sunset, he was still searching. Keeping one eye peeled for trouble, he started looking for a place to pass the night. Cutting between two buildings, he heard the the slight sounds of a scuffle and a high pitch cry that was aburptly muffled. He tossed off his trenchcoat and padded silently down the alleyway.
Four men had ahold of a girl, trying to force her to the ground. She was struggling viciously and trying to cry out past the hand covering her mouth. His speed enchanced by andrenlin, Rabid blinked straight at them. He ran straight into one, knocking him to the ground. The second he hit in the temple with his full quiver. The man dropped like a rock. The first seemed to throw something reflexivly at Rabid. Taken by suprise, he could not avoid the green muck that covered him and pinned him where he was.
The girl twisted away from one of the guys still holding her and kicked him in the gut, knocking the air out of him. The last pushed her away from him to the ground. His raised his hands, glowing with energy, ready to strike at her. Her brown eyes flashed, and all four men were engulfed in flames. Their screams of agony filled the air.
The girl ignored her victims cries and walked over to Rabid. He felt the junk covering him grow warm and dissipate. He rose unsteadily and faced his rescuer. She was short, probably not over a hundred pounds, with brown hair and tan skin. Rabid decided that she was about sixteen. Ignoring the still smoldering remains of her attackers, she grabbed a paper sack from the ground and turned back to Rabid. "Com'on," she said, "We better get out of here."
Rabid turned to head back for his trenchcoat, and she grabbed his arm. "Not that way! This way!" With that, she scrambled up one of the fire escapes. Hoping he had found what he was looking for, he followed her up. They clammered over several rooftoops then came to a gap over an alleyway.
The girl turned to Rabid. "We're gonna hafta jump."
Rabid barely slowed as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She went rigid at his touch. He blinked them over to the next roof, and she stiffened more. She hit him in the chest and stalked off a couple of paces. "Warn a girl, next time!"
She whirled on him, fist clenched. "What gang are you?"
Rabid shook his head. "I'm Rabid, formerly of the Changelings."
"Formerly?"
"They were culled. I escaped."
"Oh," she said, her face filling with sympathy. "Bad brake. Why'd ya help me back there?"
"Well, for one, cause I didn't like what they were about to do. And two, I'm looking for a.. new family. Being independant is hardly safe."
She nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know.... Well, you helped me. That puts you on the plus side in my book. We can only see what Topnotch says."
Rabid sat on the edge of the roof. "Well, before we get to far along, I don't suppose you can tell me who those four assholes we took out back there were? For that matter, you haven't even told me your name."
"Oh, sorry. I'm Fireball." A smile lit up her face. "I'm a pyro, in case you hadn't figured that out. Those four were SewerRats. I'm a Ironhawk. We have the roofs, they have the sewers, and we fight over the ground. That one bastard you knocked out can shut down other's powers, so I couldn't fry 'em right off. Course, we won't have to worry about any of those four again. Now, com'on, I'm running late as it is."
They crossed several more rooftops before coming to a stop on top of an old apartment building. They climbed down the fire escape and entered through a window. Fireball stopped in the middle of the room and said, "Hey Jason, you can come out now. Its safe, he's with me."
A young man with dark brown skin and curly brown hair appeared out of thin air. He had one very large, very ugly gun pointed at Rabid. "Its dangerous to bring anyone not of the family here, Fireball. How do we know we can trust him?"
"He helped me kill four SewarRats that were trying to rape me. That's good enough for me."
Jason cast her a hard glare, then gave in. "Fine, but if trouble comes from him, its on your head."
Fireball rolled her eyes at him, then pulled Rabid out of the room and down the hall. "Ignore Jason. He doesn't trust his own shadow. Topnotch should be making a nose count and taking reports right now. With all the fighting with the Rats, it's something we have to do daily to find out who's missing... or dead."
The smell of dinner greeted them as they entered one of the apartments. People were lounged on the couches and chairs, talking in low voices and eating. In one chair sat a man with white hair pulled back in a pony tail. He was not young, but it was impossible to tell just how old he was. One of his hands and one eye shone metallically in the light. He was talking to a large man as they entered the room.
Everyone's gaze centered on them when they came in. Fireball glowed under the scrutiny of the group and flopped down into an open seat. Rabid settled to the ground at her feet. Conversations ground to a halt as they waited to find out who this stranger was.
Finally, the white haired man turned from his conference to look at Fireball and Rabid. "Well, Fireball, I thought you went out to buy a few things? Was he an impulse buy?" he asked.
Fireball blushed a bit. "No, he helped me against some Rats. He needs a gang, so I figured I could at least bring him here, Topnotch."
Topnotch studied Rabid for a moment and asked, "Well, boy, whats your story?"
"I'm Rabid, formly of the Changelings out of Chicago. My gang was slaughtered by recruiters. I escaped. Chicago was to hostile, so I left."
Topnotch turned to the large man beside him. "Tough?"
The big man nodded. "He's telling the truth, but he's withholding something."
Topnotch looked inquiringly at Rabid.
"I was captured and then I escaped. They were still hunting me in Chicago when I left. I don't think they'll look for me here."
Tough nodded. "Truth."
Topnotch nodded toughtfully. "So, you possibly brought trouble with you, you're not sure if you slipped them completly. Why should we not turn you over, much less let you join us."
Rabid shrugged. "You're in a war. I'm a good fighter, which you need."
"He can teleport, Topnotch. He teleported us across the roofs," Fireball reported.
"Its very limited, about a ten foot max. It's useful in fights, that's about it."
The door opened again, and Jason came in, supporting an injured man. Several people rushed over to help him, setting the man on the floor. Jason turned grimly to Topnotch. "Star's been captured."
"Still alive?" Fireball asked, worried.
Eyes went to Tough. His eyes rolled up into his head. "Yes, she's alive, but in pain."
Topnotch tapped the arm of his chair for a few moments. "Rabid, there is a way you can join us. Rescue Star."
Fireball gasped. "Top! The SewerRats have killed everyone who's tried to get into their territory. That's suicide."
Topnotch shrugged. "Thats my decision."
Fireball scowled. "Fine, then I'm going with him."
Topnotch nodded. "If you wish."
"I will come also. My cloaking skills will help," Jason said.
Rabid looked at him in surprise. Fireball smiled at him. "Thanks, Jason," she said.
A half-hour later, the three were standing outside a sewer grate. "I can only cloak our sight," Jason was saying. "I can't cloak any sounds we make or our scent. So be careful where you step."
Fireball handed Rabid a set of goggles. "We got these off of some Rats. Should make things easier to see."
"All right, lets go." Jason settled his goggles on his head, then pulled open the grate. The three descended into the sewers. They spent an hour walking carefully along the edge of the tunnel, careful not to make any sounds louder than the running water. Eventually, they stopped.
Jason pointed to a shelf resting up on the wall. Even with the goggles, Rabid could barely make out the human shape keeping an eye on the tunnel below it. Rabid tapped Jason on the shoulder and nodded. He crept as close to the shelf as he could, pulling out one of his javalins as he went. When he was there, he blinked up to the shelf, using one hand to cover his victim's mouth as the other plunged the javalin into his heart. He lowered the body to the ground and pulled the goggles off of it. He blinked back down to his friends. "For Star," he whispered, handying them to Fireball.
"We're going in the right direction," Fireball whispered back.
Jason nodded, then led them down the tunnel.
Several minutes later, they heard laughing from down the tunnel. The three hurried down the pipe to the source, a large junction of several tunnels. Standing down in the water were several SewarRats, throwing taunts and laughing at a woman hanging from a hook in the ceiling. She was hanging by the back of her shirt, her mouth gagged, her hands and feet tied. Rabid could see cuts and bruises from a severe beating. Jason pulled out his gun and Fireball was obviously ready to fry Star's captors, but Rabid held them back. After several minutes, Star's tormentors grew bored and left, secure in their belief that she was not going anywhere.
The three crawled down to the shelf below them. Jason gestured for them to get Star, and he turned to guard them from interruption. Fireball turned her attention to Star. After a few moments, Star's charred bonds drifted to the water. Star seemed barely conscious and totatally unaware that they were there. Rabid frowned and stepped into the cold water. When he was below Star, he blinked up and grasped the chain holding her in the air. He wrapped his legs around her and lifted her off the chain. Fireball was below them then, and he lowered Star down as far as he could. He let her go. Fireball caught her and carried her to the edge. Rabid blinked down and joined them. He took Star from her and blinked back up to their tunnel. Jason and Fireball joined him, and the three hurried to the nearest exit.
As they turned a corner, they almost ran into three SewarRats. Jason filled the first with bullets, but the second one lanced out at him with energy bolts. Rabid pushed into him and blinked them both to the other side of the tunnel. Fireball blasted the remaining two with a stream of fire. Throwing aside all caution, they dashed for an exit and scrambled outside.
Fifteen minutes later, Star was being attended to in one of the apartments, while the other three were getting some hot food.
"Welcome to the Ironhawks, Rabid," Topnotch said.
Fireball smiled at him, and Jason clapped him on the shoulder.
After showering, Rabid climbed into his bed, his body exhausted, his mind racing. As he drifted off to sleep, the door to his room opened, and he tensed.
"Rabid?" Fireball asked softly. He shifted to face her. She climbed into his bed, pulled him close to her, and kissed him passionatly. "Welcome to the Ironhawks," she whispered.