Restoring Equilibrium (Ironic.Reality)

The tracks had gone cold. A few months earlier he had located an instinctive creature that had a thirst for human blood, hidden deep in the sewers. However, it was just a small group of them, and they had not lead Sul-Fury or his former ally to the source of their origin. When he first met the creatures, he also worked alongside a winged human who wanted to put an end to the killings in Chicago caused by these creatures. The two worked together, but they reached a dead end when the last of the creatures were destroyed.

Even now, he could picture the ferocity of the creatures. About the size and appearance of a very large dog. Yet, it was a dark brown color and scaly. Bone-like spines trailed along it's back and tail, and three talons were upon each of its four limbs. Human blood stained its teeth. It's strength and speed were rival to his own, as they were capable of bringing the colossal man down who weighed over a ton. Other than Pain, Sul-Fury rarely met someone of his own strength level. Yet, these creatures were able to puncture his skin with their powerful jaws. As well as almost rupture his eardrums with powerful shrilly screams, as if to intimidate its prey.

Sul hated killing, but yet, these creatures had a taste for human blood. They thought on instinct alone, and were savage. In order to preserve the lives of others, he ended the creatures lives. For a long time, they had not been heard from again. But deep down, Sul knew that they weren't all gone. His investigation had to continue until he found the source of the creatures, and what they were all about.

Stalking a newspaper stand, he tried to get a few glimpses at the headlines from day to day. Looking for any hints or trails to a new lair, or something that tied the creatures to the city. A few brutal killings appeared from day to day, but when he arrived at the scene, usually all traces of the murder were gone.

"You gonna buy one today, punk?" The newspaper main said, catching Sul's attention. He had a fixed glare on Sul, even though he was large and powerful in appearance.

"Sorry, I haven't any money. I'm still looking for a job." Sul-Fury replied. It had been forever ago since he had a job in New York as a scrap yard wrecker. Dismantling vehicles and large equipment for raw materials. He barely made enough to get by with odd jobs he would do.

"Then beat it! No freebies!" the man snorted. He had a lot of nerve, but also a good point. Sul shrugged and kept walking, looking up at the giant clouds that decorated the skies. It always calmed him to appreciate the beauty of them.

A woman's scream rang, followed by a large clanging from behind him. Sul spun his head around, looking at the newspaper stand, toppled over and covered in blood. A woman was knelt down against a wall who had witnessed whatever had happened. She was shaking uncontrollably.

"Where is it?" Sul asked calmly. She replied in studders, and couldn't form a complete sentence before she pointed in the general direction of which way the killer went. Seemed they took an accustoming to the sewers. The stand was positioned right next to one. The old newspaper stand man didn't even see his predator even coming probably. Placing his hand on the newspaper stand, he shoved it away and looked down by the sewer grates. He couldn't fit in there. He would need another way to pursue the creature.

Ding.

As the bell rang aloud. A soft sweet voice came over the intercom.

"We will be landing soon. Please make sure you have all your belongings when you depart. I hope you have had a good experience flying with Ackrite Airlines, have a good day! And always remember.. Ain't a flight, unless you Ackrite."

Origin woke from a small nap. Stretching his arms out nudging the passenger sitting next to him. "Oh excuse me miss, i'm terribly sorry. I didn'--" as a yawn came to his muzzle, a long strand of saliva stretched from his front canine to his lower jaw.

"You are quite fine.. I didn't catch your name? My name is Jen." as she reached for his massive paw like hands. She felt like a gnat compared to his massive feature as she blushed a little."It is nice to meet you Jen.. Name is Origin." As he turned to her she noticed the scar on his left eye leading down to his mouth."Oh my.."As she motioned to touch his face Origin gave her the "okay sign". As her dainty hand touched his face she ran her fingertips over his scar down to his jaw line. She definitely felt bad for him but what could she do she was just a stranger."Don't mind it i have had far worse done. My past is of greater purpose. I have not done the best of things but i am fulfilling a new destiny and it is far more enjoyable."

As the flight attendant came by and let everyone know it was safe to get up and start towards the exit. Origin bid this new face ado as he noticed a skippy packet inside the ladies purse. His eyes fixated on the delectable snack and his savory glands started working 10x over. He quickly gulped down all of the watery sustenance. The flight attendant looked at him with furrowed eyebrows wondering what had come over Origin. It wasn't until Jen saw what he was looking at, his eyes never moved but, looked as if he was checking out her posterior. "Mam i believe he would like that treat you have in your satchel."

"What this peanut butter in a tube?" she asked with a smirk towards Origin. She reached for the snack as his eyes followed each movement she made like a puppy dog. His muzzle started to quiver and his nub tail was wagging ferociously. She motioned for him to follow her out, they were getting off the plane anyway. Making his way to the exit the sun shined into the opening. Rays glistened the walkway. Stepping out into the light his fur shined and his dreads tossed and tumbled in the wind. He let out a back and forth shaking motion to loosen up his tufts of fur letting breeze hit his epidermis. He made his way down the steps following the attendant like white on rice. As the lady turned around she was startled to have the gargantuan beast towering her.

"Oh i'm sorry. Silly me i forgot to give you this." she reached for her bag shuffling her hand around for a moment.

"Ah ha! There it is!" as her hand came out it was a wrapper that had been opened and already ate.

"That is fine.. i can always just find a way to get some more." A overwhelming sense of dread filled Origins insides, his gut started to curdle. He knew that it would be a while since he would find some again. He shrugged it off but man could he have went for some enticing lapping. His mouth started to water from the thought of the the creaminess was to die for.

As he made his way through the city on foot he heard a commotion off to the side. It looked to be a newspaper man yelling at a massive rock looking man. Origin made his way closer to the situation as he overheard the rock man say.

"Sorry, I haven't any money. I'm still looking for a job."

It had infuriated the newspaper man and sent him in a rage yelling at the rock man. As Origin approached the situation the newspaper man got startled and yelped. "Don't be afraid little man, for I don't mean to frighten you. Just a simple man trying to make it. Here take this and keep the change." as he reached into his torn pockets he pulled out some crumpled dollars and just handed the bundle to the man. "W-well okay.. but leave quickly.. you're ruining my business." Origin just shook his head and looked past the little mans ignorance because he knew this puny human was not worth the trouble. He quickly turned and was about to introduce himself when he heard a loud shriek sounding like a woman in distress.

"We can get acquainted later Sir. Lets go find out what's going on."

Origin glanced at the rock man gave a quick nod and made his way over to the woman covered in blood kneeling against the wall. Her whole body was quivering with fear and looked as if she was going to pass out from the loss of blood. As she made low and shallow gasps for air he heard the rock man speak again.

"Where is it?"

"T-t-that w..ay... he.. c-c-come.."

She sounded faint and they could hardly tell what she meant until she made an effort to extend her arm shaking with each inch that she raised her shoulder. It looked as if she pointed towards the sewers. Both Origin and the rock man looked at the grate and knew they needed another way around. Origin quickly picked up a strange and awful scent. His muzzle started going crazy as he motioned for the rock man to follow.

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*20 minutes later they had stumbled across a rear water way entrance where Origin had followed the scent to. It was a dark damp surrounding and looked as if there were a creature inhabiting it.*

It seemed the metahuman population was bigger than he thought, and like Sul, he had an interest on what was going on. Sul wasn't one to judge appearances, since he wasn't exactly the epitome of beauty himself. Still, he had just met the half-bear metahuman. Their trust level was at a minimum as he followed Origin's instinctive nose that could trace the source of the lair. He needed to know more about Origin and his intent with the creatures, it would be the only way to work with him successfully.

"My friends call me Sul, by the way. I feel like I need to know people I'm working with." He said aloud as he followed Origin. His real name was Alan Lombardi, but as far as the world knew, he was dead. Alan Lombardi hadn't been seen since the incident where he transformed into what he is today. Sul-Fury was the identity he assumed from that point forward. Thinking about it made him mentally sigh. He still wasn't close to finding Hurricane. He was more elusive now than he ever was.

It seemed, however that they came upon their destination as Origin located what seemed like a back entrance to the sewer areas. He couldn't see 5 feet into the sewers, and he could hear constant water running and dripping throughout the lines. Seemed just like last time. They chewed through the electrical cables that provided light in the sewer lines, preferring absolute darkness. There were a few traces of blood around the walls of the entrance. Possibly workers they had sent down to make repairs on the electrical lines, or leaks. Unfortunate they didn't know their job was so dangerous.

Sul-Fury jumped into the entrance, and grabbed a cigarette lighter out of his pocket. It was an item he kept with him to remember someone, but it also served a lot of other purposes. His pale glowing eyes were the only light in the entire tunnel. They needed to see if they were going to discover anything. Hitting the ignition switch, it illuminated only a couple feet in radius from him. In the distance, he could see sparking cable lines. Sure enough, they were cut through. He somewhat regretted not utilizing the time he had from last encounter to learn about some basic electrical work. He should have known the creatures would do the same thing somewhere else.

Growls could be heard in the distance. It wouldn't be long before the two would be attacked. They used the time as an intimidation factor, like they did last time. Growls echoing off the walls, so that the two couldn't hear exactly which direction they were coming from. One thing was for sure though, there was definitely more than one.

"I have a confession to make" Sul said, looking all around him. "If I'm right, this isn't the first time I've encountered these creatures. They fight in groups. Sometimes two to four, and they have very strong legs and jaws. Don't get too overconfident, their teeth are harder than steel."

Hesitantly, Sul extended his hand which clasped the lighter, the flame touched the fringe of the cloth. The fiery torch began to grow in size, yet their path still didn't seem very much improved by the illumination. Sul flicked the lighter off to save the fuel. If only Sul had been a more educated person, perhaps the electrical circuitry could have been repaired. The two would have to continue pursuit in the damp darkness.

He wasn't too sure the creatures liked the light. By their constant damaging of the circuitry in the sewers, they liked the cold damp but especially dark atmosphere. At least, that's what he made out of it. He wasn't even sure how intellectual these creatures were, or if they were purely predators bred off instinct alone.

Origin didn't seem to mind leading the way, guiding Sul who was closely behind his feet. Not that he had much choice, Origin was his current source of light. Little did he know that the two would be subject to attack by a pack that were moving in to intercept the trespassers. Being that Origin was the source of light, they immediately went for him first. Leaping out of darkness, three of them simultaneously attacked him. One snapping it's powerful jaws at his wrists in order to wrestle the torch free from his hands, and the others diving for his neck in an attempt to tackle him and force him to the ground in submission. Brave as he might be, he was still the most obvious target to hidden attacks.

As Sul-Fury tried to step in to help him, he was immediately met by fangs looking to clamp its jaws on his cranium, as the creature soared through the air with a powerful leap at blinding speed. Had he been a second too slow to react it might have succeeded. He sprang his arms up and clasped his fingers around the upper jaw of the creature. The creature wasted no time, pressing its front talons against his chest and utilizing it's muscular legs, forcing Sul downward to the ground. The impact of Sul falling was enough to cause the concrete floor to give way and crack. Leaning it's body forward, it pressed its strength against Sul's singular arm continually trying to go in for the kill. Such power, to throw him down on the ground considering he weighed over a ton due to his biological structure.

But it didn't succeed, as he counterattacked with his second hand making contact with it's leathery textured skin, punching the creature square on the side of it's skull. The flailing creature flew off of his torso and smashed against the side of the concrete wall, cratering the structure. He rose to his feet as quickly as he could, noticing that the predator was still alive, but wounded. Looking down at his hand, small incisions were made from the teeth making contact, despite his incredibly thick skin. Is it possible they were stronger than when he first encountered them? The creature didn't even latch down it's fangs and clamp onto his fingers or it might have done more damage. He'd have to be more careful, but how could he in pitch darkness? Sul swiveled his feet quickly to Origin to try and assist him in any way possible. It wasn't fathomable that the creature he wounded would attack again.

With a wrinkle of the snout, and a low grumble in an undertone, the creature didn't take kindly to Origin's taunt. It didn't know what he said, but it sensed aggression in his voice tone. It was just previously thrown off it's target, despite being successful in wounding Origin. The tall, powerful and intimidating half-bear man still stood his ground, dripping blood down his back and leg. Although it was not hungry, the smell of his blood was intoxicating to the creature. Nevertheless, it was defending its territory. Did it want some? It wanted it all.

Taking a few steps forward towards its prey, it cautiously circled around Origin looking for an ample moment to strike. Origin's torch was slowly dying. The flames flickered, as ashes fell to the floor. It was losing its source of fuel fast. The creature began to fade into the darkness of night, soon to be a silent predator, striking with deadly blows to Origin in the veil of sheer darkness.

As Sul spun his feet, he viewed Origin in his state. Sul had only fended off the one creature, but Origin was fending off three. Though, he had suffered way more damage than Sul had. Approaching Origin from behind, he reached his hand over by Origin and grasped the dying embers with his bare skin. The chemical composition of his body caused a chemical reaction, bursting into flames engulfing his whole hand. The fire crawled up his arm rapidly, covering his whole arm up to his shoulder burning brightly in the darkness, re-illuminating the creature's presence.

The creature fixed it's eyes on Sul and flexed it's bipedal body lower, twisting it's head and growling, showing two rows of teeth in its fierce-looking mouth. Leaping into a jump, it contorted it's body mid-air to try and clamp down on Sul's neck. A seemingly common area the creatures were attacking on it's prey. Sul met the creature's attack with a sweeping blow to the torso with a closed fist that was engulfed in flames. The fire transposed onto the body of the creature as it flew backwards howling from the fiery torment. It's legs kicked viciously for a few seconds, before slowing down. The nervous system shut down the body due to a pain overload as the creature went into unconsciousness. Which only allowed one remaining creature, which Sul injured on the initial attack. It limped off away, leaving a very faint trail of blood down the sewers that trickled only a drop every few feet.

"OG..." Sul said aloud, turning to his companion. He would ask if he was okay, but he appeared wounded and it was obvious that he wasn't okay at all. He needed to regain his health back. "What can I do to help?"

As he was asking the question, the beast-like creature collapsed to his knees. His body relaxed, allowing the makeshift torch to fall to his side. Origin's eyes faded as body began to fall to the ground. Quickly extending his hand that wasn't burning, he tried to swoop his hand under Origin's torso, catch and guide him safely to the ground. Now that his body sunk down to the earth, Sul stood up. Glancing at his hand, it had Origin's blood on it. Sul's eyebrows tightened, as he wasn't sure of what to do. Squatting back down, he placed two fingers on Origin's wrists looking for a pulse. However, he wasn't doing it properly and had no success. The bearlike man's chest rose up and down, catching Sul's eyes. He was breathing. But he wasn't sure if he would for very long. He appeared to be severely injured.

He couldn't leave him here, that was out of the question. In the one hand, he needed the fire to guide his way. He had to contain it's spread across his body while carrying Origin. The only way he could think of accomplishing that would be to carry Origin with one hand, while guiding his way with his opposite arm in flames. Occasionally he would need to stop to douse himself in the sewer water to dampen the flames from wounding his friend further.

"Sean, where are you?" he thought to himself. His partner he usually teamed up with was very helpful in situations like these. By himself, he had strength, but lacked in a lot of other areas. Reaching his hand over by Origin, he clasped his arm around his waist and raised his knees up so that he could continue to walk with Origin in tow. But the question was, does he get help or does he pursue the creature that ran off? A trail of blood was very faint, but did guide where the creature fled. If he gave up now, the people that lived above would be in constant danger from these creatures. If Origin's condition appeared worse, he would give up. But for now, he would pursue the fleeing creature in hopes of finding it's source.

Following the trail for a few minutes, while occasionally dampening his flames from spreading across his entire flammable body, the trail went cold. It was a maze, he was getting lost, and the blood trail had stopped. Placing Origin down to the ground, he splashed some water over his shoulders in order to prevent the fire from spreading again. All the while, keeping his opposite arm in flames to keep the area lit. In the distant area, they were being watched. However, it was not by the creatures that attacked them earlier. This was different, and much more intelligent. It waited in the shadows, stalking the two heroes. Matching their steps, following them.

Sul looked over his friend, he seemed pretty serene in his slumber. But he wasn't too sure of Origin's makeup. He could just as easily be in pain. Metahumans were difficult to figure out, they all had their own reactions to different scenarios.