Lung was jerked into the air and then met the ground with a bang as I swung him. It actually reminded me of that kid from the Flintstones...Bam-Bam…smashing things onto the ground then onto the ground on his other side.
I repeated this a couple of times before throwing him away. As he sailed through the air, I heard a whistle and a gruff female voice order, "Maim!"
From out of the night three enormous…creatures…bounded out of the twilight and leapt on Lung, ripping at him with fangs and claws. Each of them was huge, the size of a small rhino, with bony protrusions jutting out of their bodies.
"Either those are mutated pygmy rhinos or they're mutated giant dogs." I said in amusement.
"The latter." An equally amused voice said from behind me. I leapt in surprise and whirled around to see…
"…a power ranger?" I blurted out.
The girl who had spoken was literally dressed up like a power ranger. A black and purple bodysuit with a golden Egyptian hieroglyph in the centre of her chest and wearing a domino mask on her face. Behind her was a tall man wearing biker leathers, a motorcycle helmet and a mask underneath it and another guy dressed up like he was going to a renaissance fair in a weird shirt and a tragedy mask.
Over by Lung-the-dragon-chew toy, I saw a heavyset girl in rough clothes and a cheap plastic dog mask on her face.
"I get that all the time." Power-ranger girl smirked, "The name's Tattletale."
"Ok…thanks for jumping in then, Tattletale." I said with a sigh as I collapsed to the ground, adrenaline wearing off.
"Considering Lung's original target was us, it's nothing to be concerned about." Tattletale replied with a fox-like grin, "We drove off Oni-Lee and some ABB thugs, but we had no clue what to do with Lung. You really kicked his ass, you know?"
I chuckled hollowly. "I barely put a dent in him. The bastard just wouldn't stay down!"
"You did better than most Capes have done against the Dragon of Kyushu." The motorbike helmeted guy pointed out, "I'm Grue, the beanpole here is Regent-"
"Fuck you, Grue." Regent put in lazily.
"-and the girl with the dogs is Bitch." Grue finished.
I shakily stood up and fingered the spider symbol on my chest. "Just call me…Arachne."
So yeah...Just an idea that was bombarding my mind.
A lone figure stood upon the top of the warehouse. The figure was female and wore form concealing black and gold trousers and top and her feet and hands were covered in a shiny metal that almost looked like bronze or tin. A half mask shaped like a bird's beak covered her face and her long black hair was tied into a topknot.
Just by looking at her, a regular person would know not to mess with her. She had a defined musculature that screamed that she did serious working out. The fact that she also had a ring floating behind her would also be a dead giveaway that she was a Cape.
The lone figure looked down at the thugs swarming beneath her as they prepared to fight at their master's command. Lips tightening in distaste, the figure looked at the man sitting indolently on a throne-like chair at the entrance to a nearby house. He was a large man and wore a metal mask that resembled a dragon. Lung.
The Dragon of Kyushu reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a phone as she watched. He spoke to someone on the other end for a moment before hanging up and standing. He then started making a big speech about some people, the Undersiders, having robbed him, so they were going to kill them, regardless of the fact that they were teenagers.
The female figure almost growled in anger at that, but calmed down and stepped forward, plummeting feet first to the ground and landing lightly, without so much as ruffling her clothing.
"I am afraid," she spoke loudly, but solemnly, "that I cannot permit you to carry those plans out, Lung."
Lung looked her up and down from his throne and snorted dismissively. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Call me…Mantra." The woman replied softly, "Now, I would ask you to surrender, but that would be a waste of breath. I would ask that you clear the small fry from the line of fire. Wasting my time with them would be…irksome."
This, naturally, seemed to upset the regular members of the Azn Bad Boyz. They started walking towards Mantra with purpose in their steps. The female sighed and shook her head before lowering her head and charging.
In a blur, she dealt disabling punches to several gangbangers that sent them collapsing to the ground insensate. When on lashed out with a pipe, it snapped in half upon making contact with her skin.
Swiftly KOing the other Boyz, Mantra turned to Lung and crossed her arms expectantly. The Dragon of Kyushu sighed.
"Do you really think you stand a chance against me?" he asked as he slowly stood up, "I fought an Endbringer; I fought Leviathan, to a standstill! I singlehandedly beat down the entire Brockton Bay Protectorate when I arrived here in this shithole of a city! What possible chance do you think you could have?"
"Y'know…you talk too much." Mantra said. She swiped her arm horizontally at the arrogant Cape, unleashing a blast of wind that sent him tumbling over his 'throne,' which then landed on top of him.
With a roar of fury, Lung threw the chair away, already growing as his rage fed the transformation.
"Ah yes…Lung the Rage Dragon." Mantra smiled coldly, "Let us see how your Wrath fares against my Melancholy."