When lightning strikes... [open]

[rain]

As per instruction, Rain was sent to the realm of Earth where he could recruit potential members for Kahn's ever-growing army. But such a task would be quite stressful since explaining to these mortals that the realm of Outworld had depleted in numbers and could use some new recruits. After all, who was going to buy that jazz? Rain kept his true face hidden behind the uniquely designed veil-like mask as the sun started to hide itself behind the tallest buildings in the distance. It was a good thing because Rain preferred a different kind of weather. The mystical demi-god and master martial artist found himself walking along the crowded streets as various eyes began to wander over his uncommon attire. He didn't blame them one bit. He didn't even wish to be on this pathetic realm in the first place but Kahn's orders...

He could already smell their inferior stench as he continued down a certain path which would lead him to where he wanted to be, eventually. Rain passed many civilians who were rather rude and at the same time quite jerky but that didn't actually bother him. It was the way they looked. Most of them weren't handsome enough to even be on Kahn's janitorial team cleaning up. It was quite sad. The mystical ninja shook his head, wondering why in the world the emperor would wish to lower his standards to conquer such an unworthy realm. But orders were orders, and they were meant to be followed without question. Whatever, Rain thought to himself as his eyebrow rose in a rather disappointed angle while he maintained a sense of casualness about being there in the first place. No, he didn't belong here at all. He was Edenian and such standards were below his own.

Rain let out a grunt. "I don't see why the oh-so-great emperor would waste such valuable time on this wasteland..." he scoffed, turning down a certain path and now the darkness began to envelop the city in a shade of starry black. The sun was finally gone. The arrogant Edenian stopped in his tracks to admire such a beautiful setting... its elegance was not befitting for such a wretched realm. Even the stars deserved better than that. It was then that he managed to find himself in the worst area of the city: Suicide Slums!

There, Rain stumbled upon some juveniles vandalizing the vehicles of hard-working citizens - such trivial excitements. As he continued down the bad part of town it didn't seem as if anyone had ever seen a true Prince before. There were sarcastic hooting and hollering going on and even some verbal outbursts that needed a good tending to. However, Rain ignored them best he could. It was hard enough dealing with such a humiliating job for Kahn, being a hired hand and all. "HEY! Why don't you show us what's under that veil?" they called out like demanding idiots. The veil was a symbol of royalty and nobility in Edenia but most male Edenians did not wear such a thing. However, Rain was not like most Edenians and had it attached to an actual ninja hood with gold trim.

Keeping his head lowered, Rain held back so much that his palms began crackling with electricity. He wanted to fry them so badly! "... Just say one more word, please..." the Prince muttered to himself as they started to hop down from their perched positions off sidewalk steps and other likewise structures. Rain stopped, turning to face them as he tilted his head and caused some drizzling around them. Lightning danced in the background as he summoned such a beautiful scene himself, using his incredible gifts. Suddenly, Rain turned to the side, still staring at them all, as he lifted his left arm high into the air. He was going to summon bolts of lightning to strike them all down like insects and it was such a close call but someone else had decided to intervene. It wasn't a familiar face so Rain was curious.

"Out of the way, mortal! I wish to show these... gutless fools... what true power looks like! Perhaps some grace and elegance will teach them a thing or two before insulting a prince!" Rain shouted angrily as he then began to chuckle beneath the mask. Yes, that arrogance was showing itself quite nicely now. The Edenian elitist focused his powers on the group before him and summoned a deadly bolt of lightning that came flashing toward them with incredible speed. His eyes remained in a narrowed state as he was truly enjoying this beneath his mask and challenged one of them to mock him now. No, they wouldn't. Their eyes began to fill with fear as it grew nearer to them and some even started to sprint. That wouldn't save them! Little did he know that the guest earlier remained in his vicinity but Rain didn't care. It was too late to give a damn now.

[pinhead]

The rotting, reincarnated remains of former human beings littered the area known as Metropolis. The Cenobite was tired of their kind covering the area as if they had the right to exist. The slow moving creature had apparently mistaken Pinhead for human and were shambling towards him. Little did they know what they were headed for. Suddenly, a chain outstretch from the ground, stabbing into one of the zombie's chests. Once it was torn out, the zombie's heart was attached to the chest. The chain brought the organ back to the Cenobite, who took it and crushed it in it's hand, sending blood pouring from his hands. However, the undead creature continued shambling towards him.

However, as soon as the next chain flew from the ground and stabbed it's way directly through a zombie's head. The chain returned, decapitating the zombie entirely. However, that was only one of the zombies. Pinhead outstretched his arm, sending a torrent of chains bursting from the ground underneath him and flying at the zombies. The chains effectively finished the zombie horde, tearing the creatures apart limb by limb all while the Black Pope of Hell watched carelessly as the area was soon scattered with the fleshy remains of zombies. Pinhead calmly walked through the pile of flesh left behind into the main city. There, he saw a man, or so it seemed to be a man.

The man was dressed in purple and black garb and appeared to be of significant power. "You've no idea what true power means." Pinhead announced, standing still and staring at the man with his pitch black eyes. "Your search for it only increases your lack of understanding as to what it really means."

[rain]

"You've no idea what true power means."

Rain heard the booming, thunderous voice of an entity nearby and was the same one he had shoved out of his just moments ago. But his words began to sear through his mind, picking apart everything he had previously thought to be "true power"; and he still did! Some pale-faced being would not underestimate the power of Rain! It was bad enough he intercepted the bolt of lightning to strike a chunk of concrete instead as a few of the people started to run away in a state of fright. But Rain remained standing... he did not fear this lone individual! Why should he? Rain, himself, was the son of Argus, thus making him a demi-god. So, what business did this fool have trying to ruin his powerful performance on the battlefield? None.

It caused him to narrow his eyes even further as the mysterious being continued to speak rather low of him and his abilities. This did not set well with the Prince of Edenia as he glared at whoever this insect happened to be. Yes, perhaps Rain did abuse his powers but anyone with half a brain would, too! It wasn't like he would be the only one in the entire universe to abuse his gifts as if they were going out of style. Many would - especially on this realm of Earth, all things considered. Rain started to advance toward this underling in an arrogant stride. "Oh? And perhaps you know what possessing true power means? You don't even look fit to scrub the Edenian bathrooms, cretin..." the traitorous Rain scoffed. Who was this man? Where did he come from?

"By the disrespecting tone in your voice it seems as if you would like to... challenge my power? Don't tempt me. I would fry you where you stand!" Rain turned his head to this being, finding him unfit. Such an easy feat would not be worth his time and let's not get started on his appearance. Whoever thought of trying acupuncture as a means of being different was far from being right. This individual was extremely ugly but if he weren't confident in his own powers and abilities then he would not have approached the Prince of Edenia with such disrespect. Perhaps this man had power of his own? Maybe even from the beyond? This "pin-head" didn't seem to know who he talked so down to and perhaps it was time he learned respect! Rain brought his hand up to his waist and turned his palm upward, crackling with lightning, as he tilted his head waiting for this being's next move as it would be his last!

"Ready when you are, inferior one!"

[pinhead]

While it was indeed clear to Pinhead that the man possessed great power, the Cenobite could not respect one who acted as if he knew of true power. What was clear to Pinhead was that he did not fear this man. Whatever pain he could inflict onto the Cenobite was nowhere close to the pain he'd known in Hell. Pinhead knew pain more than any other being, besides other cenobites, and he had come to realize that it was not bad, as most humans seemed to believe, and that it was good. Whatever this man could inflict would be nothing more than small pleasure to him.

The Cenobite could practically feel the anger emanating from Rain. It was clear that his words had offended him quite a bit. There was a certain arrogance to this man, a quality that Pinhead could not stand. To Pinhead the only beings that deserved arrogance were those that have been through Hell, and even then, most of the Cenobites were his underlings. However, despite him not being a Cenobite, Rain seemed to have power, perhaps not the true power he claimed it to be, but power nonetheless. However, upon the man's words, Pinhead realized that the man was far too arrogant for his own good. "Silence. You know not who you are speaking to."

At the man's next words, Pinhead began to approach the man slowly, before speaking. "Whatever you consider power is nothing more than a mere shadow of what true power is." Pinhead stopped walking halfway through, still staring at the man with his pitch black eyes. Soon, the man spoke again. "I did not come here to fight you. However, if you do wish to experience Hell, you may try to battle with me."

[cody]

Cody strolled along the Metropolis streets, far from his home of New York. He'd come here mainly for the fact it was an easier place to hide out and maybe get a few brawls done before returning to his cell back in Riker's Island. However, everyone seemed so happy and content here, instead of his familiar settings with thugs and gangbangers there were nothing but businessmen types. Cody strolled up to one of the men in his usual cocky way. "Hey, you got any word on a place where a guy like me can grab a drink and a brawl?" Cody said with his arms folded looking directly at the rather shocked man in an expensive looking suit.

'S-suicide Slums is where you want to go about 15 minutes north... Be careful though, it's dangerous.' Cody smirked softly, folding his arms. "Just what I want, thanks." Cody said with a smile, walking off into the direction that the man kindly gave him. If there was one thing Cody loved, it was finding a good fight with some lowlife scumbags. There was nothing that compared to the very rush he got from pounding some guy's face in with his fists.

Cody strolled along cockily in the direction of Suicide Slums, his outfit gaining some stares from the local gangbangers. He was still wearing the prison uniform from his last escape, striped white and blue as if to tell people he was a serious danger to the public. He wasn't however, Cody was a good man at heart and still every bit the hero he used to be. It was just the fact he saved Metro City and got nothing but a jail sentence that made him bitter towards the general public. Even here, Superman was a vigilante which was technically against the law yet the police gave him medals. Cody made one mistake during the time he was helping the city and ended up behind bars.

Soon Cody spotted a sight for sore eyes, your typical gangbanger owned car. Yeah, no doubt this thing was owned by a criminal. It had an ungodly amount of gold plated parts on it and a tacky spoiler at the back. "When you want to find some bees, guess you gotta smoke them out." Cody said to himself, grabbing a pipe from the ground and mercilessly swinging it into the car, taking out the windshield first and making the car alarm whine loudly. Cody then swing it straight into the hood, bending it in the middle. 'Oh, my car!' suddenly a pimp ran out of his apartment, staring down with Cody due to the fact he'd just destroyed his car. The pimp swung a right hook at the blonde criminal, which Cody easily ducked. He returned with a Ruffian Kick, hitting him square in the check and knocking the wind out of him.

After that bout, Cody walked the streets and saw a duo of people standing around. One was wearing a purple ninja suit and the other looked like some creepy goth guy full of needles. He walked over, staring at the two and not really knowing what to do or say. "Neither of you happen to be doing anything you shouldn't, are you?" Cody spoke out in his ever usual brash New Jersey accent, the ninja catching his attention more. Heh, maybe he knew Guy.

[rain]

"Silence"? This being, this thing, did not know when to hold his tongue it seemed. Rain was growing obviously angered at how this being had spoken to him as if he was nothing to himself. No wonder he didn't visit Earthrealm often. The self-proclaimed Prince of Edenia tilted his head with an obvious glare beneath the hood as he grew very tired of this one's mouth. Still, he didn't even know this being's name... bah! It mattered not! "Mortal, you should really learn to hold your tongue lest you wish it ripped from your very mouth!" Rain scoffed, ready to project a bolt of lightning at this strange and rather odd individual.

"A shadow...?" Rain began to chuckle to himself. "No, you are sorely mistaken. See, I am the powerful prince of the realm of Edenia! My power vastly surpasses any being on this godforsaken realm, that I assure you!" he smirked, visible within the folds of the veil he wore to hide his Edenian identity. This mortal, whoever he may be, had no idea what being a God truly meant. Rain was a demi-god at best but he still considered himself to be above everyone else; even his own father, Argus. But that wasn't a difficult feat, what with all of his father's infidelities and what-not. But he would never let one speak so coldly to his title.

"Experience Hell", right. The elite warrior simply narrowed his hues at this strangely dressed man and proceeded to fold his arms over his chest. Though, his black eyes did force Rain to cock a curious brow at such dark and emotionless orbs. While he was about to reply, Rain's attention was then drawn to an even lesser being clad in prison garb with the right attitude for an Earth mortal. A smirk formed at the corner of his lips as he leaned his head back in a fit of curiosity at all of the colorful individuals here on this pathetic realm. "Save it, needles! Perhaps a more unfortunate time when you least expect it. It seems someone else has joined in on the fun," Rain stated in a sarcastic tone.

Rain began approaching this individual with utter confidence and that "holier-than-thou" attitude. Why shouldn't he? One such as himself should not be worried at what some human could do to him as that would not be proper for a demi-god. Rain circled this convict, glancing up and down his form, taking in all of the disgusting dress that Earthrealm seems to accept as clothing. It was simply just sad. "That depends, human. I am doing a little recruiting for the emperor of Outworld. I plan to kill those punks hiding over there with a bolt of lightning. Do you wish to stop me?" Rain spread out his arms, taunting the convict and shooting a glance over at the punks from earlier.

[pinhead]

"Foolish human." Pinhead said, his booming voice echoing around the two. "You've no idea what you are speaking to. You cannot kill me, you could not even lay your hands on me. I am eternal." Chains began coiling around the Cenobite's arms as he spoke, as if Pinhead was threatening to use the chains at any moment. However, he was not threatening him. This man was unworthy to experience the pain and pleasure of Hell, unworthy to become a Cenobite, or even serve as a minion underneath him. No, this man was not even worth Pinhead's time. However, the man soon spoke again, with such nerve as to talk down to him. The man claimed great power, though the Black Pope of Hell would not be hearing such things from him.

"If I am vastly mistaken, I've no idea how to describe just how mistaken you are." Pinhead said, his chains now returning from whence they came. "Your power cannot surpass that of mine. My power is granted to me by Hell. Although I understand that power does course through your veins, it is nowhere near as powerful as Hell's strength is." The Cenobite's attention was soon turned from the ninja-like man to another man who approached, this one of less power than the other. This one was simply a human. A human of ample strength and power for such a species, but nothing to compare to that of the Cenobites. Pinhead decided to not speak with this man for the time being. He simply had no time for humans.

[cody]

Cody yawned to himself. "Seriously, some fancy pants in purple is going to sass me?" Cody thought to himself, folding his arms and tilting his head with a cocky smirk. Yeah, this guy was gonna be trouble. He was already claiming to shoot a lightning bolt at a group of thugs. "Really? Hey man, go for it. I don't give a shit about those guys. Way I see it, they won't get thrown in jail by..." Cody did an overblown 'ahem' clearing his throat "The man of 'steel'. Heh, that bastard does nothing but throw criminals in a cell and give them a chance to break out. If I can break out of Riker's... swim 20 miles to shore and then hop my ass on a bus here. Y'know surely they can find themselves a way out. Do it, seriously." Cody said in his usual coarse Jersey accent.

Cody then turned his head, looking at the odd man with a head full of nails in what looked to be a leather robe with parts of his bloody flesh exposed. "I think piercings are cool and all, but I think you went a little overboard, paisano." Cody was only simply playing with the guy as of this time. He looked pretty evil but he wasn't outright going to strike him. That'd be unfair hitting a guy when there's no real confrontation. After all, Haggar's lectures stated hitting a man when he hasn't done anything to you is almost as bad as being a common thug.

Cody removed his cuffs for a second, rubbing and moving his hands in a circle to get the circulation back before snapping them back on. To some, this would seem a rather stupid idea. However, Cody liked to give himself a challenge and often wore prison issue handcuffs at all times to give his opponent a better chance. Still, it rarely did them much good and more often than not Cody won. If this were to escalate to a brawl in this case he might just have his work cut out for him.

[rain]

Rain kept a firm stare on the man in the prison uniform. He didn't act or seem like an ordinary escapee and rest assured, if he were from Outworld he would not have escaped so easily. The masked Edenian warrior cocked an eyebrow at how this man replied and a smirk began to form beneath the cloth veil he wore over his face. Perhaps he was simply using a bluff... or maybe he didn't really care. The mortal was a simple Earth prisoner anyway and he didn't seem like any kind of hero at all. Rain slowly brought his hand up above his head and with his eyebrows raised, his evil eyes filled with criminal intent, he summoned forth a bolt of lightning that would strike down these juveniles. There were three in succession to another and the screams and cries of pain could be heard from afar.

"Such worthless human beings..." Rain grinned, knowing by now that they were nothing but mere ash. The man in prison colors didn't seem too afraid of what he did or what he might have done but he simply stood there. It got even more odd when Rain watched him undo the handcuffs locking his wrists together, get the circulation going in one and slapping them back on. This truly was a strange realm, to say the least. Rain didn't know how to come back at such a 'left field' gesture and decided that if this man wanted to play games, then he'd play. Might even teach the mortal that being in an entire establishment full of killers was a lot safer than being on the street with him. Then again, this strange convict didn't exactly give off that he'd be a challenge. Just another annoyance in his way.

Suddenly, Rain turned to the even stranger-looking individual who happened to enjoy pain a lot more than anyone else. His glare was one of true opposition, challenging this "pin head" to do more than just talk a lot of game. Rain grew tired of being judged by a man... a being... who did nothing to show his superiority over him; all he'd done was talk, talk and talk some more. Rain then turned to glance at the prison-garbed convict and was annoyed already. "Sorry to cut this short, gentlemen... but I have places to be! More important obligations..." He then turned while passing by them both and shoved his way through them as he began to sprint and was soon nothing but a mere speck as he continued to trek onward to where Kahn required he be. The master... so demanding. So malevolent! But also not very clever. Rain would certainly prove his trust otherwise.

Exit: Rain (sorry guys, I decided to exit Rain b/c I've been considering dropping him. my apologies! D:)