Sleepless in Steel City (open to all)

As the obnoxiously loud ruckus of the engine transformed itself to a soft put as it gained distance away from him, it became increasing obvious to its former passenger that he was at the wrong stop. He adjusted the duffle bag slung over his shoulder while feverently gnawed on the wad of chewing gum that long ago lost its flavor while he tried to figure out a solution.
His grey eyes scanned his new surroundings hoping they would catch some sort of landmark to no avail. All that was seen was the lingering smog that seemed to forever torment the city overhead, the docks themselves which had seen better days and many shady individuals whos attire was in the same condition as the docks.
The only plan he could concieve was to wait for the next bus to arrive while praying that another one would. So he lightly unloaded is bag filled with his training equipment and sat down beside it. Tossing his slightly faded hood over his eyes and gazing up at the purple oranges tinted sky that looked back at itself from the water below it. He used his powers to blow rings of black smoke tinged with dark blue from his mouth to occupy himself while he settled himself in for what he presumed to be a long wait.
He was so preoocupied in fact that he did not notice five of the gentlemen he noticed earlier had positioned themselves in a semi circle in frot of him until one of them spoke.
"Hey guy..." the one talking, presumably the leader of the pack was a sticky red head with beady little green eyes that darted around every so often followed by the rest of his head. He kept his hands busy by rubbing his arms I wringing them together. " you think me an' my buddies could borrow some cash?"
He retracted the puff he was blowing before it could escape his mouth and cocked his head forward before quickly reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He unfolded it, tok out two one dollar bills, and returned it to his pocket in one swift motion. He extended the bills towards the man speaking. " There ya go sir, that's bout all I can spare ya" he tried to suppress the southern drawl in his speech but the
vernacular was picked up on rather quickly. The red head motioned for one of his partners to grab the cash, which was yanked out of Joe's hand rather rudely. The red head stopped rubbing his hands together long enough to scratch his head and give his target a perplexed glare from his beady eyes.
" Ok man, look," he he moved himself a step closer to Joe. " Your'e from outbid town so I'll explain this to you nice and simple like: You give me all your stuff and my boys don't burn you and toss you into the bay." he produced a baseball shaped ball of fire in his right palm and snuffed it into oblivion. "Got me?"
Joe finally became aware of the situation. He was being mugged. And by someone with superpowers like him. But this wasn't the best first encounter. A bra of sweat materialized on his forehead as his breathing became shallower. But he was expecting all of these thing to happen. It always did when he entered the ring.
"Look sir, I really don't want no trouble from y'all. So I we could all just go back to our business, I'll look the other way and won't call the police." his muscles tightened as he spoke. He stood up straight with his hood only revealing his mouth to his soon to be opponents. "Nobody gotta get hurt now."
All five of the men broke out into hysterical laughter. A few had tears rolling down his eyes and one needed to prop himself on the shoulder of another to stay upright. The leader, through fits of laughter, commanded his men. "Get this guy. But dont hurt him too bad. We can keep him as a comedian for a while. Most of the cronies took a moment to recoup themselves, but one had produced a switchblade from his pocket, but was met with two hard jabs to his nose followed by an uppercut that landed squarely on the tip of his chin sending him to the concrete ground.
The laughing stopped abruptly while the fiery headed leader of the now four man group started giving orders to his men to atack Joe, who had entered his boxing stance, bouncing slightly on his feet. Before they could begin their charge for the assault on their comrade, Joe inhaled deep and held his breath, before their eyes he became a fog, similar to the smog they had grown so accustomed to. He whisked himself behind one of his attackers and exhaled.he reverted back to his physical form and gave him three swift and devastating right hooksbto the kidney. He hopped back a few paces to get a full view of the men, but could feel the presence of more men starting to creep up behind him.
Joe spot out his gum and flicked his nose with his thumb while bouncing on his toes waiting for them to make their move. The leaders hands wee engulfed in flames as he stared at Joe with anger an bewilderment.
"Who in the Hell do you think you are!?" he screamed at him.

"I'm Joe,nice to meet you, sir." he replied.

Jemmy opened her eyes. She was standing near a large body of water, with large constructs of wood extending into it. Shivering, Jemmy took her first breath of air.

So this was the mortal plane. Her 'vacation' had begun.

Jemmy looked down at her body. Everything seemed to be in place. She looked like a thin 10 year old girl wearing a simple blue dress. She should also have blonde hair and blue eyes, but she didn't have a mirror to look into right now. She would also have to put some make-up on. What was missing?

My balloon! Jemmy looked around frantically, and soon found the little red balloon that tethered her to the mortal plane. It was floating behind her. Jemmy grabbed the balloon's string with a shaking hand and smiled. Everything was ready.

Something was happening. Several large men were fighting against just one boy. The odds were against the boy, as Jemmy noticed the leader of the thugs had some sort of fire-power. The fight began, and Jemmy smiled. The frenzy was exhilarating. She had been afraid that there would be too much order on Earth, but now she felt more at home.

That boy, he said his name was Joe, he looked special. Jemmy decided to help him out. If she didn't, then the fight would be over too quickly and Jemmy's happiness would be cut short.

Walking in front of the man with fire engulfing his hands, and in front of Joe, the ever shivering child spoke. "Hi, I'm going to be joining this fight. I'm Shivering Jemmy."

""It's the damn Spider! Clear out!

one of the unattacked goons would bellow with his hands cupped over his mouth so his fellow cronies would hear. With the exception of the leader and two others, they all began to scatter like cockroaches. The remaining able to helped their fallen flee and more who were in hiding, waiting like hyenas for a quick meal dissapated as well.

"You gotta be joking me!" the fire-wielder roared. Flames erupted from his hands into late afternoon sky which was slowly deteriorating into night.

A puzzling look was strewn across Joe's face. He felt as though his eyes were playing tricks on him and his mind was in on the cruel joke. This mysterious girl had performed feats to make Olympic gymnasts green with envy combined with the clout to make grown men run in fear. Things like this just didn't happen where he came from. Just who was this girl?

But first his attention was redirected to. He stared down at the young girl who has appeared almost out of thin air before him and his new foe. He knelt down to her eye level.

"Hey little girl. This ain't really the place for you. Why don't y'all just hang back for a second so the big kids can play."

He attempted to dispel the look on his face for a more pleasant one. The frail little blonde reminded him so much of his little sister that he left back home in Tennessee. Noticing her shivering, he removed his hoodie and placed it in her hands through brotherly instinct. He smiled at her before his attention turned to the young girl who had saved him from his predicament.

"Thank you for the assistance ma'am. Um... Nice shirt?" were the only words he could muster up. He was admittedly embarrassed that a female saved him but now was not the time for that. For there were still the muggers.

"Look Spidey! You know who I am?! Who I work for?! I'm not to be toyed with!"
The pyromancer was angered beyond belief, barely able to contain his rage. But his mood started to mellow. The two lackeys that didn't scatter started to change. They knelt down clutching their sides and moaning while their clothing started to tear and their flesh became littered with a thick matte of brown fur. Soon the rise back to their feet, which were now resembled the back legs of a wolf. They licked their newly formed jowels with their salivating flat tongues and realesed low growls from their throats.

"Spider-punk and company. May I present the lupe brothers." a smirk made its way to his face. "Boss's gonna pis himself wheni bring him your head."

"This aint my day is it."

Joe groane to himself, trying to let the adrenaline take over his mind instead of the mounting fear. Every bonebibhis body told him to run. But leaving that girl wouldn't be right and he still didn't know where the hell he was.

"Look miss, I don't wanna stay here but aint running neither. As i ain't gonna leave this little girl here. So imma just follow your lead because you look like you know what your doin."

He dropped back into his fighting stance and put himse between the attackers and Jemmy.

A young, female superhero had also joined the fight. Now things were getting interesting. Jemmy could barely contain the laughter that was swelling up inside of her. This was great! People were getting their heads smacked together as their comrades ran away in terror.

The boy behind Jemmy told her to stay out of danger. She actually giggled this time. Her disguise was working.

Two of the thugs transformed into hulking, hairy beasts. Jemmy's eyes opened wide in excitement. This just kept getting better. However, the odds to her seemed stacked against her little smoke boy and the Spider Girl. Jemmy thought about killing one of the Lupe brothers herself, but then remembered what Mr. Keeper had said.

"Don't use your powers in combat. You don't want to attract a Lord of Order, and you wouldn't last long against one."

She sighed. It was annoying not being able to hurt anyone. Stupid Mr. Keeper. Still, breaking the rules wouldn't help her situation.

"Joe, Spider Girl," Jemmy said. "I can give you the power to win this fight. Do you want it? I'll give it to you as a gift. Just say that you accept."

Jemmy couldn't directly hurt anyone in this plane, but she could empower agents to do so. She had never used this power before, and she was nervous to see how it would turn out. If either Joe or Spider Girl accepted this contract, they would receive a temporary energy shield that would protect them from fire and greatly weaken the attacks from the monstrous duo.

The adhesive projectile made contact with the one of the beasts, exploding on onto its forearms which he had intended to use to defend himself. Instead the substance expanded over his forearms and with each writhing movement he made he simply trapped himself more. The monstrous man beast attetempted to bite at it but ended up with a mouth of off white goop instead. Flopping onto his back flailing like a trout out of a stream, he continued his struggle until the stuff made contact with the concrete before him, ensuring hat he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Exhausted, he made one final struggle before giving in to his exhaustion and collapsing.

Joe didn't feel right about leaving Spider-girl alone even if it was now a two-to-one fight. But while he could more than hold his ground in a fight with a regular human, he didn't know the first thing about meta human fights. And Jemmy was far too young and frail to be of any use. A combination of fear and adrenaline was causing his stomach to do cartwheels inside him and his heart was close to beating out of his heat. He nodded at SG in agreement while turning to the young girl, and kneeling to meet her eye level.

"Alright then I'll get her to a safe spot and come back just in case ya need a extra set of hands." he doubted she would need it though but he also doubted he would be getting mugged today as well.

"But before I go, maybe I can give I can give y'all a hand." Closing his eyes, he opened his mouth, and exuded a thick white fog. It was easily more dense than any natural one and put the smoke that billowed out of the many smokestacks in the city to shame. It wasnt long before the area was surrounded, enveloping all of them in its murky embrace. Although it wouldnt be around for long.

"Hope that helped ya out a bit, miss." he half shouted to Steel City's protector before scooping Jemmy up in his arms like a young bride. " Ok little 'un. You can give me all the powers you wanna give me. He flashed her a quick toothless smile and darted away from the battle under the cover of his smoke.

The remaining Lupe brother was unconcerned by the plight of his sibling, for he was beginning to give into his primal urges. He dodged the grappling hook an began his charge after Joe and Jemmy just as it hit the pyromancer grabbing him by his left forearm.

"You stupid tramp. I told you you're coming with me. Like hell I'm gonna tell you anything. Vic ain't a snitch. he told the young crusader while turning himself into small inferno, just as the fog began to roll in. But even with the dense fog he gave off a glow like a firefly.

"I'm gonna burn you alive you bi-" he cut himself off and violently sniffed the air. The scent of burning clothing and flesh and hair filled his nostrils. He lacked the proper regeneration powers or control of his peers to prevent him from turning himself into a living barbecue. Screaming in panic and fear he began to run towards the bay, but got lost due to the persistent fog. He performed the stop drop toll procedure on himself until his own induced flames were put out. He lay their half unconscious and nearly naked with a good amount of first degree burns on his body.

Jemmy frowned a bit. They weren't taking her seriously. She wasn't really annoyed. It didn't matter to her if they lived or died, and she had taken this form to avoid attention.

Joe picked Jemmy up and started carrying her to 'safety.' It was rather romantic, Jemmy thought. A big, strong man was trying to protect her. It was pathetic, but it was the thought that counted.

Although he obviously didn't mean it, Joe gave his written consent for her to grant him powers. Jemmy smiled as her eyes glowed orange for a brief moment. She touched Joe's arm with her fingers and channeled a very small amount of her power into him. Joe was now glowing, emitting an eerie orange light. Jemmy had made him immune to fire.

"There. Now you can't be hurt by fire. I should be safe here, so go back and beat that mean fire person." Jemmy giggled and winked at Joe. She couldn't wait to see what her new agent would do.

Joe sprinted himself and Jemmy to the outskirts of his self made smokescreen, mentally praising himself for keeping up with his training regimine. He also remembered how he got in this predicament to begin with. All he wanted to do was hit the bag for an hour or two, find a trainer, get into a ring... His mind wandered pondering what should have happened this day letting his feet carry him and his shaky passenger. Jemmy's touch brought him back to reality however and he slowed himself to a stop. Allowing the girl to land feet first on the ground. He knelt down down a bit and flashed her another smile.

"Ok little 'un. Fire can't hurt me now. But I think Miss Spider took care of the mean fire man for us so everything's gonna be alright now." Reaching out his hand to ruffle her hair, he stared at the back of it which he thought he knew so well. It was glowing. Glowing bright like a neon sign. Startled by this he attempted to remove the glow with his other hand only to find that both had the same strange orange glow about them. His eyes widened in shock as he rose back to his full height.

His breathing quickened when he looked down to see his entire body from what he could see was glowing orange. He stared at Jemmy with a cold glare while thoughts popped into his mind. Could this sweet and innocent looking child possess opera as well? And why now? What the hell is going on!?

His stare lessened before he spoke to her again. "Did you... How did you?... Why am I orange!!? he was beginning to lose his composure. And he did not notice the hulking werewolf that had descended upon him. Fortunately the beast let out a howl alerting Joe his presence. "You stay put. We ain't done yet." he told Jemmy, not actually looking at her. His full attention was towards his opponent. "He's just another guy." he mumbled to himself over and over. The phrase became his personal mantra, trying to calm himself and focus on pummeling this creature into a hairy pulp.

Just as he readie himself into his fighting stance, the beast slashed at him. Joe saw the strike coming a mile away as parried the blow, not taking into account his enemy's claws. While he easily deflected the blow, the claws raked on his chest leaving four red marks in its wake that were quickly filling with blood. Joe winced at the pain and grabbed at his new would before changing into his smoke form and reappearing behind the wolf just as his teeth clamps down on his former position. With adrenaline pumping in his system, he landed two solid hooks to where the kidney would be on a normal human. But the beast towered over the bald boxer by two feet and so he narrowly missed them. Also counting the fact that he had a thick hide and fur, Joe's attack did half as much damage as they would to a normal man. But it did more than enough to catch its attention and cause it to grunt in discomfort. It twisted its torso around wishing to rend Joe's head, but he hopped back and dipped his knuckles into his dripping wound. Hopping forward and using the downward momentum of his opponent against him, he jabbed at the wolfs' snout stopping short of its stuby black nose. His own blood flicked off his knuckles into his eyes. The beast shut his eyes and howled in anger from his temporary blindness.

Joe used this small window of opportunity to send a flurry of orange glowing punches towards the wolf mans legs seeing as they had the least amount of fit and muscle. His gamble paid off when its haunches buckled and it fell to one knee growling and randomly slashing as it fell. Joe weakened the creature to the best of his ability but the more he moved the greater his wound became and the dizzier he became.

But Joe soldiered on sendig weakening hit after hit precisely to its jowles until the beasts random slash hit his shoulder blade. He put a hand to it at an attempt to stop more blood loss while his breathing labored.

Jemmy simply giggled as Joe noticed his new glow. She then watched as her agent fought against the giant wolf-man. Joe got cut almost right away.

Oops, Jemmy thought. She should have probably given Joe some other power. Being fire-proof didn't help against this monster. Oh well. Jemmy was still getting used to being on earth. For that matter, she was still getting used to being a Lord of Chaos. Perhaps Joe would die now, perhaps not. Either way, the bloodshed was exciting. There was nothing else Jemmy would rather do right now than watch two meta-humans beat each other to death.

Jemmy looked up. Her balloon had followed her as Joe had carried her to safety. Good.

"It looks like I messed up. I gave Joe the wrong power." Jemmy waited for her balloon to think about what she had just said. She tilted her head. "What do you think I should do now?"

Joe was a good test subject. Jemmy could imagine herself giving him a new power every day and sending him on fun, destructive missions. Then again, the large wolf-man was also pretty impressive. Maybe Jemmy could make the Lupe Brothers her pets. And then there was the fire guy...

Jemmy started walking back in the direction of the thug with fire powers. Spider Girl was running in her direction, so apparently the fire guy had truly lost. She wanted to see if he wanted any new powers to get revenge.

Vic's body was still smoldering when Spider-girl applied her webbing to him. He was slipping in and out of conciseness, with each return met with intense pain that sent his mind to another place to try and escape it.

0T: dar Jemmy is hilarious to me for some reason and dont know why. Everytime you post I crack up a little. XD.

Jemmy looked down at the pyro. He was just laying there in pain, pathetic. This creature hardly deserved to live if he was this weak. "You're a sad little man, Vic," Jemmy said. "You just got beat by a spider. You're not going to give up, are you?"

"You shouldn't be sticking your nose into other people's business," Vic said, struggling against the webbing and the pain.

The shivering child giggled. "But this is my business. I'm a meta-human, just like you." It was a lie. Jemmy was nothing like these mortals. "I can give people super powers. I could give you more power if you want. Just say yes, and you can win this fight."

Vic considered his options. It didn't seem plausible that this little girl was able to help him out, or that she would want to. However, his only alternative was to wait here for Spider Girl to return. "Sure," Vic said. "Give me all the powers you've got."

Jemmy reached down and touched the pyro's forehead. She placed a small part of her own power into the man. Vic's body would take on an orange glow, and he was suddenly free from Spider Girl's webbing. How had he done that? He had seemingly phased through the web.

"I made you a fire man," Jemmy said with a smile. "Before you could only make fire, but now you are fire."

Vic would crack his knuckles. He felt revitalized. A fire body? He could get used to that. Without thanking Jemmy, he walked off in the direction of the two heroes. He couldn't see them through the smoke, but he could still hear them. Finally coming into view, he shot a fireball at each hero.

"Round two starts now."

Jemmy watched from the sidelines. She would suddenly look at her balloon with shocked eyes. "You're right. I totally forgot to take away Joe's power." She snapped her finger. Joe would have time to either block or dodge the incoming fireball before Jemmy's power would leave him. At that point, he would be vulnerable to fire again.

"Little Jemmy gave me powers and now I'm immune to fire." he replies plainly to Spider-Girl. He was on his feet, He wrapped his hoodie around his midsection and ripped a few strips for his shoulder to stop the bleeding. "Do things like this happen a lot round these parts?" his held a slight grimace on his face as he spoke to her.

The beast had no chance of retaliation against the barrage of projectiles that hurdled towards him. Three struck his face and expanded over an eye and nose while the rest glued one of its pawsto his chest while his claws were extended. Instead of beginning his next charge to attack his prey, his claws dug into his pectoral muscle. Letting out a high pitch yelp similar to one a dog makes when struck. Then an ear splitting howl followed, it's mouth pointed towards the sky. As blood started to seep into the webbing, creating a light pinkish color. The last half of te Lupe brothers began to dash towards the two meta humans, clearly running on ts primal instinct at this point. His slower movement and racy pantin being dead giveaways.

As Joe began to prepare himself for another bout with the were creature, two fiery orbs shot towards Joe and Spider-Girl. Before he reacted to it however, he remembered his new ability an figured now was the best time to test it. He positioned his good shoulder to take the attack and the fireball dissapated when it struck him. Before the embers could fully left he had already sublimated his body and whisked himself to Spider-Girl and performed the same action on the blast before it reached her.

"I'm guessing our friend still got some fight him after all." he spoke back to her. He opened his mouth, letting loose another coating of his dense smokescreen to ain't he both of them.