(Open) Back Alley Rumble

A group of thugs were menacing a couple." C'mon, give us what you got and we won't hurt you. Promise, heheheh..." The two nod, giving up all their valuebles. A wicked grin grew across what seemed to be the leader's face,and he stashed the loot in the bag. "Much obliged, truly..."

Suddenly,he explodes into violent movement, casting one of the pair down with a sudden,brutal punch. His girlfreind's eyes widen,and she draws back,fist clenched. "You promised not to hurt us, you son of a..." She's interrupted as one of the other goons trips her up with a kick to the shin,making her fall down.

The leader laughs,and raises a bat for a bone crushing bone as his minions laugh around him. "I liked. Oops..." He prepares to strike down,but is interrupted as a orb of what appeared to be purple flame smashes into his face with a slight crunch.

The strange ball disappearing as he staggers back, clutching at his face, Thug Leader's eyes widen,then narrow, as what looked to be a kid,clad in both worn clothing and a bandanna mask, suddenly appears infront of the couple,noticing eyes the exact same shade as the orb peeking past messy red bangs,as well as five more orbs hovering over his small shoulders. "You...you bro'keh my news!! Bo's, 'et him!!" They hesitate, not quite willing to go so far as to attack a kid,even one that was a kid hero, only to start moving as the leader gives a muffled roar filled with both pain and anger. "NOW!!! BEFORE I SK'HIN YA!!"

Imp dodges a swipe from another bat, countering with a quick kick to the...'crown jewels'. As the thug falls to the ground, groaning painfully, the boy backs up,forming his own slugger out of psychic energy. Glancing back at the couple as they pick themselves up,he hollers at them. "GO!I'll hold them off,but you gotta get out of here!"

They hesitate, flinching as a thug prepares to attack them only to get a orb to the stomach. "Kid...." He dodges a hatchet blow, countering with a strike to the shin."Don't worry about me!! I can handle these idiots, but you gotta get out my way. Move it!!"  Sighing slightly in relief as they finally listen, Imp redirects his attention back to the group of thugs,smirking beneath the mask. "C'mon then, if you think you're hard enough." That goads them into attacking,and the boy gets to work...

2 minutes later...

Imp's back is pressed against a wall, a orb and his bat remaining,and he's panting in weariness and examining his remaining,but at least a tad bruised and battered, foes. He'd managed to convince a couple of the meatheads to take a nap,but there was still a good few of these jerks,and they didn't look pleased,for the most part. Those that did managed to send a chill up the boy's spine. He takes a breath in,then fires off a insulting challenge. "W-well? c'mon you sewerpipe sucking rats!! Let's do this!!" The leader snarls past the nosebleed, his hands adjusting their grip on his own bat. "You're gonna pay for this, you little brat. One way or another!!"

Zil'costa slithered along, eyeing the surrounding area with distaste before casting her gaze at the form walking alongside her.

"I thought you sssssaid that your knew where you were going." The Serpentor warrior said, her hissing accent showing that she was a bit agitated with her companion.

The figure next to her was dressed casually in a hoodie and some khaki cargo pants. Of course there was more to him than met the eye, and Zil'costa knew that. She'd seen her friend put on the mask he wore when going outside into the city. She disapproved of her friend hiding who he truly was but didn't bring it up, knowing it would be pointless. He'd have to just come to terms with hiding his face or not on his own.

The face looking out from under the hoodie seemed like a normal human teen, but was in fact just an illusion. An elaborate enchantment on a mask worn by the Kitsune who was best known as 'Fox' to his friends. His tails were also enchanted with an illusion at the moment, the fluffy appendaged wrapped around his waist and made to look like a normal belt to anyone looking at him.

"I know where we're going, I just decided to take a little short cut." Fox said offhandedly, waving away his much larger friend's concern. He was pretty sure that no one would bother him in this area with the rather intimidating Zil'costa by his side. Even with no legs she towered above him, her serpent like body moving along quickly as she held her upper body high and proud. The schoolgirl outfit seemed a bit out of place, but she insisted on wearing it even when she wasn't working at the comic shop where she was employed. Of course she made the excuse that most other outfits didn't look good on her, which he supposed was a fair enough argument since she could only wear skirts and not pants along with her tops... what with the massive snake like body she had.

Fox paused for a moment, his ears twitching under his hood. Zil'costa instantly went on alert as well.

"What is it?" She asked, suddenly serious.

"Trouble, around that corner." Fox said, point toward an alley. He was inclined to ignore whatever was going on, figuring that it was none of his business. Zil'costa however was already slithering her way toward the indicated area. Fox let out a sigh and chased after her, not about to abandon a friend... even if they seemed a bit foolish for poking their noses into someone elses business.

As the duo turned the corner they spotted what Fox had sensed. A gang of hoodlums had some boy cornered, and it looked like they meant to do more than just rob the lad. Fox sighed again, really wishing to not get involved but he knew Zil'costa wouldn't let some innocent get hurt when she could stop it.

"Hello boysssss. Am I interrupting?" She asked, loudly as she came around the corner and surveyed the scene. The nearest thugs turned to regard her and nearly leapt out of their skin at the appearance of the alien snake lady. Before they could reply she causally spit at a nearby metal trashcan, and the metal started to sizzle and melt as her acidic drool attacked the metal. It was as clear a warning as the thugs were going to get.

"Why not pick on someone your own size, or better yet pick on me since I'm bigger than you." Zil'costa added with a grin, showing off her twin fangs. Fox on the other hand just stayed close to her and did his best to not draw attention to himself, not really wanting a fight at all. Hopefully these guys would be intimidated by Zil'costa and just leave... but if they didn't he knew Zil'costa would likely handle the lot of them and not too gently at that.

Imp's eyes narrowed at the threat,and he tenses up, the edges of his form beginning to flicker. Just had to delay them for about 30 seconds...However, his attention,along with that of the muggers, is grabbed by the sibilant voice that speaks up. As they glance over, a couple of thugs stagger back with surprised curses as they see who exactly had spoken up. Imp, meanwhile,regarded Zil with wide eyes. Woah...

At the challenge, and the very evident threat of a melting trashcan, most of the thugs broke and ran. Cursing, the boss grabbed two of them by the back of the collar before they could could get away. "Run, and I'll be paying a visit to your families like I'll be doing for those other cowards. Go secure the brat while I take of the Snakefreak!" With sullen affirmitives, the thugs approach Imp. "C'mon, kid, we don't want any trouble.  Just..just surrender already..." The boy adjusts his grip on the psychic energy bat. "Make me, Ugly and Uglier." They glance at eachother, then adjust their grips on their weapons, walking forward.

Meanwhile, the thug leered at Zil,and pulled out a pillbottle. "Don't know who or what you are, but I've got a little present for you, lady. Heh...You want a fight? Fine!!!" Popping the top, he poured a couple of pills into his waiting mouth, chewing on them as he stashed the bottle away. Grunting,he crouched down slightly,then let out a roaring laugh as his muscles visibly swell, clothes tearing at the seams. Glaring at Zil with eyes so blood shot they almost seemed to be solid red, he gave a evil grin."OOOOH YEAH!!NOW YOU'RE IN FOR IT!!! I'LL RIP OUT YOUR FANGS AND GUT YOU WITH THEM!! LET'S GET IT ON!!" Raising his bat, the amped up thug charges at Zil.

@fox

Zil'costa was a bit surprised that she didn't manage to intimidate the street thug, and even more surprised when the fellow pulled out a bottle of some sort of drug and buffed himself up with it.  She let out a slow hiss, more like a frustrated sigh, as she knew that they were going to have to do things the hard way.  Unfortunately she'd left her blaster pistol at home, and despite her threat earlier she knew she couldn't just use her acid to melt the offending human either.  She really wished the laws on this world weren't so tough, it would be so much easier if she could just melt the obvious criminal and be done with it all.  Well just because she couldn't kill the criminals here didn't mean she'd let them off easy.  With a smirk she summoned her crystalline armor, the tiara looking thing on her forehead suddenly growing to cover her entire head and torso so only her serpentine lower body was uncovered.

Fox on the other hand seemed to have been ignored completely as Zil'costa made her threats.  He let out a groan of his own as things seemed to escalate.  The masked Kitsune had no intention whatsoever of risking his tail for some stranger, but now that Zil'costa was involved he had no choice but to help his friend.  One look at the scary, drug crazed, brute told him that he should probably concentrate on the other thugs instead.  Yeah, they looked considerably more normal, and thus safer.

Zil'costa formed a blade on each wrist as the thug charged at her, the crystal armor acting as weapon as well as shield.  As the thug came in she swung at his bat, cutting it cleanly before attempting to slam the other blade into the thugs shoulder to disable him.

Fox meanwhile snuck past Zil'costa and the thug leader, and came up behind the two that were harassing the stranger.  The Kitsune was no where near as honorable as his friend and used surprise to his advantage, summoning nine fireballs of fox-fire and sending four at one thug and five at the other one in hopes of taking them both out before they noticed his presence.  Of course as soon as he summoned the blue flaming orbs his surprise was blown, but he hoped it wouldn't matter as the flames went hurtling toward his targets.

@hellbreaker

Imp gave a warding swing with his bat as the thugs approached, wincing as his various bruises twinged. Ow...The muggers had paused for a few seconds as the flame like bat had swung infront of them, but continued on. "G-get back! I mean it! I'll m-make it so you guys can't walk straight for weeks!" One of the men rolls his eyes, opening his mouth to make a comment, but what came out was a strangled scream as foxfire suddenly slams into him. As he falls down,rolling on the dirty pavement,his buddy becomes occupied doing the same. "Gah!!! It burns!!!" "Make it stop!!!" Imp glances down at them with wide eyes,then at Fox.

Meanwhile, Bossman paused just slightly at the sudden armor appearance,but not for more then a second. As his bat is suddenly deprived of much of it's mass, he blinks dumbly at it's stump,before throwing it aside with a angry roar. As the muscled up bully rears his fist back, he suddenly finds a crystal blade shishkabobbing his shoulder."AAAARGH!!!HURTS,SCALE COVERED HAG!!KILL YOU, EAT YOU!!DIEDIEDIE!!!" Bossman attempts to swing his still good arm at the wrist of the arm currently attached to his shoulder poker.

@Fox

Fox gave each of the two thugs he'd set aflame a swift kick to the head, then gave one of them a second kick to make sure they were both out.  That done he made the flames vanish.  While he didn't really care about most humans, he didn't want to kill anyone.  Satisfied that the thugs were incapacitated he looked at the kid he'd helped, giving him a thumbs up as his enchanted mask smiled.

"That was easier than I thought.  Thanks for distracting them."  Fox said, still grinning.

Zil'costa was surprised at the sheer vitriol spewing from the apparently crazed human, not that she could blame him when she'd skewered his shoulder pretty good.  When his next blow came in at her, she used her free blade to slash at his hand in an attempt to ward him off.  Thankfully she was able to keep him from moving too much with her other blade stuck in his shoulder still.

"If you twist around too much I might just take your arm as a souvenir."  She hissed.

Fox turned away from Imp then, holding up a finger to tell him to hold on for just a moment.  Since the lead thug's back was turned to him Fox created another ball of fox-fire.  This was gonna be easy!  A large target, back turned, held in place with a crystal sword stuck in him... it was perfect for the opportunistic Kitsune.  With a little laugh he lobbed the ball of blue fire at the man's back.

@Hellbreaker

Imp wasn't quite sure what exactly to do about the flaming thugs, though he did want to stop them from hurting, but Fox quickly fixes the issue by knocking them out himself. Blinking as Fox gives his thanks, he tilts his head slightly,giving a thumbs up back. "Uhm...you're welcome."

Glancing over at the snakelady and the leader, the boy winces. Oh, ow...That had to hurt. Meanwhile, said leader's hand jerks back,narrowly avoiding the blade,and he gives a savage growl,glaring at her for the threat. "Kill you....killkillkill..."Suddenly he gets a ball of fire in the back, provoking a roar and pained flailing. Wincing, Imp glances up at his still unused orb,then turns his attention back to the two combatants...Or rather, combatant and idiot who thought he could tangle with a snakelady much larger then him who also happened to have metalmelting spit, amping up drugs or no,trying to get a good aim with the ball of psychic energy. "C'mon..." -Hold still so you could take a nap...Don't want to hit one of my rescuerers either...especially considering she's able to do that.-

@Fox

Zil'costa let out another loud hiss, wondering if it was really worth the trouble to take this human alive.  She was pretty sure that even according to this planet's laws she was well within her rights to kill him in self-defense.  Of course that would probably look bad for her anyway, what with her being an alien and all.  She kept her sword in his shoulder, mostly to keep him from moving too much.  Yet when Fox's fire hit him in the back it took most of her strength to keep the punk from tearing himself apart on her blade, causing her to pull it back so she didn't hit something vital.

Zil'costa morphed her crystalline blades into large crystal maces, and she brought one crashing down on the man's uninjured shoulder.  There was an audible crack, and since her mace was still shiny and unmarred, it likely meant a broken bone or two for the doped up thug.  Thankfully that blow seemed to stun him enough that even the blue flames on his back didn't seem to be distracting him anymore, making him a sitting duck for the moment.

@Hellbreaker

Imp watches, wincing as the snake lady brings the mace down on the man's shoulder. Oh jeez...This doped up idiot was way too stubborn for his own good. At least he was staying still now...Better end this before he recovers. The boy focuses, then sends the orb rocketing over full speed,slamming right into the man's jaw. Head jerking to the side,the thug slumps, now taking a nap,and Imp sighs in relief. That was finally done.

@Fox

When the man slumped down Fox dismissed the blue fire so that the now unconscious man wouldn't burn to death.  The Kitsune made a sour face, thus making his enchanted mask mimic the expression.

"Ick,  these guys smell even worse when they're singed."  Fox commented as he went to stand by Zil'costa, the disguised Kitsune looking like a normal human teen at the moment with his illusions still in place on him.

Zil'costa let her crystal armor recede back into it's dormant state, namely the little tiara like device she was wearing.  Once the armor, and the weapons, were put away she let out a little sighing hiss, and then slithered her way toward Imp.

"Nice shot there at the end.  I was afraid I was going to have to kill him and then claim self defense, but now I don't have to."  She smiled at Imp without showing her fangs, her tongue flicking out in a somewhat cute fashion... if anything she did could be described as cute.  Fox walked alongside her, obviously not wanting to be caught anywhere away from her in this part of town.

@Hellbreaker

Imp furrows his brow at the other teen's somewhat lackadaisical attitude about roasting a few guys,but nods in agreement.  "...Yeah, though maybe it's actually a improvement." Watching with somewhat wide eyes as the snake lady's armor retracts, the boy looks up at her a tad warily as she slithers towards him. Huh...Well, she wasn't very scary like this...He should still be careful though. Rescuers or no, it'd be idiotic to relax around strangers.

Blinking at the compliment, Imp shrugs. "Uhm...thanks...And yeah, the whole killing bit would be bad. Stubborn idiot just didn't know how to quit,though those boosters probably didn't help the screw box upstairs any." Glances around her, peering at the collasped leader. "You know...we should probably bandage up that hole you put in him. Don't want him to bleed out, right?"

@Fox

Zil'costa looked back at the unconscious thug when Imp mentioned bandaging the fellow up so he didn't bleed out.  She clicked her tongue at the thought of subduing him, just for him to die anyway from his injuries.

"Well that certainly wouldn't do.  I didn't realize that humans were so frail."  Zil'costa said, never having fought an actual human till now since she'd been able to intimidate everyone so far.

"Unfortunately I don't really have any medical skills, or supplies for that matter."  The Serpentor female stated, wondering what to do now.  Fox let out a little sigh and walked over to the fellow, placing his hands on the man's wound.  With a thought he conjured up his flames again, cauterizing the wound before using his foot to push the man over.  He cauterized the exit wound as well and then turned away, looking like he might vomit from the smell of burnt flesh.

Fox looked a little wobbly as he came back to Zil'costa's side.

"That should make sure he doesn't bleed out, though he'll have a nasty scar to remember tonight."  Fox commented, which seemed good enough to Zil'costa who saw Fox as more informed on how things worked on Earth since he was a native after all.

"Can we go now?  I'm positive I made a wrong turn now."  Fox commented, wanting to leave this neighborhood as quickly as possible.

"Sure Fox, in just a moment."  Zil'costa replied cheerfully before turning her attention back to Imp.

"Would you like to come with us?  It doesn't look like you're in any shape for another fight and we'd hate to have anything happen to you after coming to save you."  Zil'costa offered to escort Imp out of the area, offering him a hand in greeting.

"Oh, almost forgot.  I'm Zil'costa, and this cute little man is Fox."  The Serpentor lady said, introducing the duo to Imp.  Fox waved with one hand, not really thrilled with how things had gone and wanting to be long gone by the times the thugs woke up.

@Hellbreaker

Imp blinked. Frail...She took on a guy doped up on Boosters and she thought him frail...Yeah, ok, let's not try to make any trouble with her, for sure. He wouldn't be able to fight well, especially since her freind was able to toss around fireballs. Nodding at her statement about not having any skill or supplies, he shrugged,eying the coat of a thug speculatively. "That's fine. All we need is to get some cloth and..."

Pausing as the other teen walks over to the supine figure, he winces as a hissss fills the air. Oh,ouch...Well, at least he wouldn't be dying because of a infected wound or bleeding out. As far as the boy was concerned, that was definitely good enough, considering the man's actions.Looking at Fox with some concern in his eyes, Imp makes sure to wipe said concerned look away, reassuming the somewhat blank frown his face had been in,though he couldn't help blinking at the offer.

Surveying her warily,he considered it for a few seconds,then shrugs. "I can take care of myself...But, yeah, guess I'll go ahead and take that offer. Thanks, Scales." Tough front or no, he really was feeling a tad beaten up...The boy definitely didn't feel like messing about with knuckleheads and jerks anymore,not for a little bit,at least.  Reaching out to the offered hand, he gives a gentle, almost hesitant shake. Head tilting at the names, Imp nods."Aight...I'm Imp."

@Fox

"Pleasure to meet you Imp."  Zil'costa said cheerfully, her tongue flicking out for a moment.  She seemed awfully bubbly for someone who had just skewered a man's shoulder, but that's just how she was.  Fox on the other hand, while usually cheerful as well, wasn't really in the mood at the moment.  He merely waved a greeting toward Imp, glad to have helped but not thrilled with having to have gotten into a fight.

"I guess we should go back the way we came, it's getting late anyway."  Zil'costa stated.

"Yeah, sorry I got us lost.  The city looks a lot different when you actually walk the streets instead of taking the rooftops."  Fox said with a little shrug, seemingly more upset that he'd let Zil'costa down than he had at burning the thugs.

"Shouldn't be hard to backtrack though."  He quickly added.

"So, Imp, what was this little kerfuffle about?"  She asked as he led them all out of the alley and back toward the street's sidewalk, gesturing toward the knocked out thugs as she spoke.

"They were probably trying to rob Imp after beating him up."  Fox chimed in.

@Hellbreaker

Imp blinked at Zil's cheerful tone, but nodded.She seemed rather relaxed after turning a man into a pincushion,but she kinda seemed the sort for it. Besides, considering what he and those thugs had had planned for him and the innocents he'd stepped in to help with, the boy wasn't exactly going to be shook up about it. Fair karma, as far as he was concerned.

The jerk and his posse would survive,and he'd have a lovely new mark (and maybe some difficulty in using his arm) for his ill willed efforts. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Uhm...I guess." Dang it, this whole thing had throne him off his front game a bit. Stay rude, stay tough...or at the very least stay distant.

As her normal seeming, fireball chucking friend gives Imp just a greeting wave, the boy nods at him in return,glancing up at the sky at Zil's comment. Huh...what'cha know...Time flies when you're trying not to get stomped or worse.Brow raising at the rooftops comment, the boy tilts his head slightly but lets it rest. He used the roofs sometime too, and considering he'd already seen Fox throw fireballs around it's not like it was overly surprising he used alternative routes...None of his business,anyway. At the snakelady's concern, Imp shrugs,snorting at Fox's comment. "Maybe....Probably had worst in mind, though,or at least the boss and a few of his cronies. I kinda helped out a couple they were mugging,and they didn't exactly appreciate my good deed."

@Fox