Fear not! (open)

[Dollface]

(Thought I'd try something different. Anyone who wants to play a rapist or a fellow victim is very welcome. )

“Miss Pyro Strikes Again!” The newspaper headlines screamed.

As she walked back to her small dump of an apartment, Lena couldn’t help but to smile when she saw a photo of herself—fully costumed of course—on the front page of nearly every news publication. Must be a slow news day… She thought to herself, passing yet another rack of papers. True, her rescue of those hostages had been impressive, but it was hardly front-page material.

The petite woman turned a corner then, deep in thought; her long, coppery hair bouncing with every step she took.

The media coverage of her superheroine alter ego was beginning to become too much. Every day it seemed as if some reporter or one of her enemies was growing closer and closer to discovering her identity—a prospect that worried her to no end.

Lena Chapmen was a mutant—the daughter of two individuals who had been subjected to years of terrifying experiments intent on breeding a super powered human. They had eventually escaped, and lived a relatively normal life in the city until their mysterious deaths years later. It was the death of her parents that convinced Lena to don a costume and step out of hiding, using her pyrokinetic abilities to stop crime and thwart evil.

She sighed as she reached her apartment, pulling her keys out of the pocket of her jeans and letting herself in.

[VikingRaider]

(Ah, superheros and villains. Been wanting to do an RP like this for awhile.)

Here's a question for you: What do you do when you've been blessed with extraordinary healing powers bordering on the miracles? When your body can regenerate itself from almost any injury and come back for more?

Answer: You take a job that requires your unique set of skills while at the same time doing what you love.

The current time was 1:58 pm in the afternoon. Jack Jackson (the name he had given to the police) also known as Fuse, was sitting in a lawn chair on top of an apartment building overlooking the home of one Lena Chapmen. He was currently on mission to test a little theory of his, one he had been putting together for quite some time.

Jack was, for the lack of a better term, a supervillain. He was a good one too, having spent much less time in prison then his brothers in evil. He was also good because he was smart, having spent the many years of his childhood studying all kinds of interesting topics ranging from engineering to chemistry. Those topics came in very handy after he discovered his passion.

1:59. One minute to go.

You see, Jack loved tearing things apart. There was nothing he enjoyed better than seeing something beautiful crumble into a pile of rubble. And what was the fastest way to do this? Explosives of course. And when you're body regenerates itself faster than it takes the police to arrive you become very well-known for getting the job done.

But this, this was a personal errand. He was decked out in his costume, a red and black camouflage suit with a flack jacket bearing a cartoony bomb with a lit fuse on the back. The finishing touch was the black domino mask that finished it off. All in all, he was feeling very good about himself as the clock struck two.

As the very second the clock struck the apartment building right next to Ms. Chapmen exploded in a fiery hailstorm of destruction, killing and injuring dozens in the blast. It was controlled, not something he did a lot mind you, so Ms. Chapmen home would be largely untouched. Taking a sip of his soda he leaned back in his chair, waiting for the show to start.

[Dollface]

Lena hummed some pop song she had stuck in her head as she walked over to the windows and opened the blinds, allowing light to flood into the tiny space. The apartment was sparsely furnished, but with only room for a bathroom, a microscopic kitchen, a closet-sized bedroom, and makeshift living room, Lena needed all the space she could get. Darting around the living room, she started to pick up the clutter that was piling up around the apartment, threatening to take over what precious little space she had.

Maybe she would take the night off from patrolling the streets tonight; order a pizza, watch a movie, relax...

BOOM!

The explosion shook the room, rattling the walls and knocking her to the ground. Lena scrambled to her feet and rushed over to the window, gaping with disbelief at the destruction.

So much for the night off...

Moments later...

Lena adjusted her mask as she dashed over to the inferno. The sound of screams was was almost overpowering, but she did her best to ignore it. The bright red catsuit se always wore as Miss Pyro was resistant to even the most extreme of temperatures--which came in handy during situations such as this. Without thinking, she sprinted into the rubble, nearly blinded by smoke as she worked her way through the flames in search for survivors.

The fire licked her body, but seemed to cause no harm as Lena pressed forward. "Hello?" She shouted. "Call out if you can hear me!"

[VikingRaider]

Jack, now completely in his Fuse persona, watched through his binoculars as the entire scene unfolded. He hadn't been watching the blaze, no matter how much every fiber of his being begged for it, but instead had kept his eye on Ms. Chapmen's window. Sure enough she ran to it and poked her head out. Rather than stay and watch in shock like most of the others had done she had immediately run back into her apartment. Now how about that?

And now here was Miss Pyro herself right in the nick of time. Fuse had figured it all out beforehand, how long it would take a woman of her size to change into such a costume, how long it would take to arrive. She had been faster than he thought, and there was no way she could have gotten here that fast without having already been nearby.

Sure, he could have just gone to Ms. Chapmen's apartment and attack her directly to see if she was Pyro, but were was the fun in that?

With a manic grin he picked up his home-made rocket luancher, aiming it for the bright red woman below. It wouldn't kill her but damn would it shake her up. He'd fought her several times before, having been foiled and defeated each time, but now he was ready and didn't have any distractions like bank money or hostages. Just him and her.

The rocket took off, well, like a rocket at breakneck speeds at Miss Pyro. Would our hero escape it in time?

[Dollface]

"Hello?" She called out again. Only the roar of the flames answered her call, however, as she pressed onward. The chances of anyone surviving even a small-scale blast such as this were slim to none. But as long as there were innocent people depending on her, Lena couldn't lose hope.

But who could have done such a thing? The explosion was obviously controlled--designed only to take out one specific building while leaving the surrounding structures relatively unharmed. The building itself had been unremarkable, just another ordinary apartment building in a city crammed with thousands. But what was the point in taking out a target with no strategic value? What was so important that--?

A high-pitched whistling sound could be heard over the flames. Turning around, Lena could just barely make out the shape of something accelerating toward her through the smoke. Her eyes widened suddenly when she realized what was approaching.

"SHIT!" She yelled, darting out the way only a few milliseconds before the rocket crashed into the shop where she had been standing moments before.

Fuse.

Only he would have the expertise to have been able to pull off such a carefully-staged disaster. And now he was gunning for Lena herself.

[VikingRaider]

Aw. Missed. Of course he wouldn't have been so interested in her if she wasn't one of the best.

Fuse tossed the launcher aside. Thing was only good for one shot anyway so it would only slow him down. Grabbing a rope he had secured to the the roof he ran for the ledge and jumped, his gloved hand sliding down the line and slowing him enough so he only heard a little "crack" as he hit the concrete. His bone would be healed within half a minute so no worries there.

Miss Pyro was looking just as happy as ever to see him as he gave her a salute. "Was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by," he called out to her from across the street. His hands reached for a few devices he kept as he talked. "How longs it been since we talked? I think it was when you teamed up with Captain Impact to stop me and Livewire. How's he doing anyway, you end up fucking him? There was a rumor going around..."

With a flick of his wrist he launched a pair of shiny black balls that hit the ground and started rolling of their own accord towards her. Smart bombs he built trained to follow human signature. And since he had blown up most of the other humans here...

[Dollface]

Lena could have kicked herself. How could she be so stupid? Of course Fuse was behind this. But contained explosions weren't exactly his MO--he was more of the burn-as-much-down-as-possibly-could-while-causing-as-much-chaos-and-destruction-as-possible type. Which could only mean that he had much more in store for her. Dammit, and this was supposed to be her night off!

She caught a glimpse of something--or rather, someone--falling from the top of a nearby building. A suicide? Lena quickly concentrated, forcing the flames surrounding her to die down, clearing her vision from the smoke and fire. As soon as Fuse's voice rang out, she couldn't help but to grit her teeth; her blood boiling when he mentioned Captain Impact.

But she didn't have time to respond with a witty retort of her own, as she watched Fuse get into position to launch some of his signature smart bombs.

Swearing under her breath, Lena focused on raising her body temperature. Her body was suddenly encased in flame, protecting her from the bombs, but she knew that she had to stop them before they targeted someone else.

Thinking fast, she launched herself after the roving orbs. She didn't have Fuse's engineering background, so disarming the bombs the old-fashioned way was out of the question. But maybe if she superheated them...

The devices moved erratically back and forth, searching for a target and she chased after them, no more than a blazing ball of fire to the naked eye.

[VikingRaider]

"Not bad Pyro!" Fuse laughed as she ignited herself. Didn't she think she was the cleverest little hero? His bombs were freaking useless thanks to little stunt, rolling around as they looked for the target that suddenly disappeared. So many heat sources were confusing the sensors while she took them out easily. Well, time to get a bit more creative...

Fighting an opponent whose power was freaking fire, something that was a big part of his arsenal, was a bit of a problem. So after a few nights thinking outside the box he came up with a little number he liked to call the "frosty special".

Pulling a something that looked like a mini-gatling gun he took aim of the flaming beauty. With a pull of the trigger he let loose a volley of small rockets, each one packing a special mixture of chemicals similar to what you would find in fire extinguisher but packing more of a punch. These babies were made to put out fires rather than cause them (he actually might be able to make some money selling the patient through one of his fake identities) and would hopefully give her something new to deal with.

[Dollface]

The orbs paused for just a moment, and Lena was on top of them, letting loose a torrent of flame from her palm. The bombs shuddered in place for a moment, gradually turning a dull red, then orange, then yellow, before melting into two molten pools. That solved one problem.

Smirking, Lena turned toward Fuse. "Your turn," she called out, suddenly propelling herself toward him.

He was good, but she was better. She hadn't lost to him once, and she wasn't about to start now. By the time she was done with him, he would be begging for prison--and with all the destruction and death he had caused today, he would be locked up for a good, long while.

Supervillians... They never learned.

She watched as he moved to launch another one of his toys at her. No doubt another bomb, she thought, rolling her eyes. Just in case, she concentrated harder as the swarm of rockets made their approach, increasing the size and heat of the fire surrounding her as she continued to sprint toward her foe.

As expected, the rockets surged toward her, forcing the blazing heroine to swerve out of the way in order to avoid them. But she couldn't dodge them all.

The flames moved to consume the miniature rockets, but to Lena's surprise, they exploded into a cloud of white liquid, putting her fire out almost instantly.

"What in the hell?" She said, clearly bewildered by this new development. Another rocket caught her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. The flames that were designed to protect her died into nothing as the rocket exploded, coating her with the liquid and forcing her protective fires to die down. Frantic, Lena concentrated, trying to summon another shield of flames. Nothing.

Now she was panicking, trying to wipe the strange substance off her body before Fuse could make his next move.

[VikingRaider]

That stuff wouldn't last, but Fuse was anything if optimistic. He had caught her off guard. She hadn't though he might have something new up his sleeve. That he hadn't learned after oh so many defeats.

Superheros. They never learn.

Letting out a laugh he fired off a few more rockets, making sure she got an extra coating of the white stuff and keeping her flames doused. She was scared and panicking, just how he wanted.

"What's wrong Miss Pyro, out of gas?" he laughed as he threw out another old favorite. A handful of marble-sized pellets hit the ground around them, tiny bombs that packed a wallop but probably wouldn't kill her. He grinned as they flew towards her, her flames no longer their to stop them from tearing her apart. He was counting on her mutant strength to save her in the end because, after all, he wasn't doing this to kill her.

[Dollface]

'What's wrong Miss Pyro, out of gas?'

Bastard. He was enjoying this. "Keep laughing," she said with a confident smirk, even though she was frantically trying to dry herself of the stuff. "You of all people should knew how much prison inmates love a sense of humor."

The stuff was beginning to dry, but not quick enough for her liking. Once again he moved to launch something at her now-defenseless form. Lena scrambled to her feet, slipping a bit on the fire-dousing liquid, before moving into a blind sprint in the opposite direction. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! She thought, trying to concentrate once more on her flames. Why wasn't this stuff evaporated? What the hell was it, anyway?

She felt something tap the back of her leg, but before she could turn her head to look, a flash of white light blinded her.

Lena fell to the ground with a thud, much to the horror of some startled onlookers, who screamed at her to get up. But she was out cold...

[VikingRaider]

Huh. He won.

That was honestly a little new to him. He always played to win (or at least to cause as much destruction as possible, but he had never actually won against her before.

Oh God. This was going to be so beautiful.

He holstered his weapons and ran to her unconscious form as people around him screamed for her and jeered at him. None came to help as I approached, my boots crunching broken glass from the collapsed building as I finally stood over her, victorious. She was more beautiful now then he had ever seen her: unconscious, defeated, helpless to anything he could do to her. This was destruction in one of its purest forms, but he still had work to do.

Reaching down he lifted her in his arms, throwing her over his shoulder. With a press of a remote a wireless signal went out to a remote-controlled helicopter. It was a recent purchase of his bought with the funds from his last heist, disguised as a medic chopper for just this sort of occasion. Withen seconds it was hovering over him and releasing a ladder that he took hold of and let pull him up with his prize. He had plans for Miss Pyro. By the time she woke up she would be strapped to a table of his design, built to withstand temperatures far beyond what she was capable of.

Of course he would leave her costume on. It would hardly be any fun if she was asleep for that.

[Dollface]

God... What had she done last night?

Her head pounded, her body ached, and her mouth was bone-dry. This was definitely the worst hangover she ever had, and the scary thing was that she didn't even remember going out last night. Opening her eyes a little, she promptly closed them again when a bright light flooded her retinas, nearly blinding her.

Lena went to grope for the trusty bottle of painkillers that she always kept on her nightstand. A couple of pills and a long nap would do the trick, it always did.

But her arm wouldn't budge. Ok, so this was new.

Her eyes fluttered open again, squinting through the light to glance at her arm.

Everything came surging back to her: the explosion, the fight, Fuse's new rockets. Her heart started pounding frantically in her chest when she realized that she was securely chained, spread-eagle to a metal table. Desperately, she willed her flames to burst forth, covering her body and trying to consume the table. Nothing. It barely even heated.

She started to pull on the straps then, her flames burning higher and higher in her panicked state. Where was she? What was going on?

[VikingRaider]

Fuse's ears picked up as a small warning light lit up next to his workstation. His entire secret headquarters was a bit of a mess with his bench being the worst of the lot. Half-finished gizmos and diabolical contraptions lay strewn about with blueprints and scribbled notes. Without a care he pushed aside the explosive charge he was working on and spun his chair to face a wall of security videos, the center one focused on his captive heroine.

He grinned with maniacal glee as she burst into flames, looking scared even through the burning shield she had. His table wasn't giving in and he prided himself at that moment. The entire room was built with her in mind and couldn't wait to test it all out on her.

Not about to keep her in suspense he made his way to her cell, the heavy metal doors sliding open with a few strokes of the keypad. Stepping inside in full costume (this was the way things were done among their kind) he gave her a salute. "Miss Pyro. You sure kept me waiting long enough for you to wake up. Can I get you anything, water? Ice tea?"

[Dollface]

"You!" She roared, pulling even harder on her bonds. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing? Are you trying to piss me off? Because you're doing a damn good job of it."

Dammit! Was this really happening? Had she really lost? To Fuse of all people? This wasn't supposed to happen! She was one of the good guys, dammit!

Ok, ok... She just had to calm down. Focus. That's right. Breathing deeply, Lena closed her eyes again, trying to find her happy place. It was all going to be alright. Fuse would inevitably do something stupid, she would be free, kick his ass, then drag him back to jail. That's how it always happened between them--it was a fun little routine of theirs.

But what if...?

Now wasn't the time to be pessimistic! Even if Lena couldn't manage to free herself, someone from the League of Heroes was bound to find her.

Either way, Fuse was going down.

Lena reopened her eyes, making certain that her fiery shield remained in place. There was no way she was going to let Fuse get too close to her.

[VikingRaider]

Even in this state she stays strong. God, Fuse was looking forward to seeing the cities favorite heroine break down piece by piece. He had been dreaming of this moment for a long time now. Nights spent in prison cells thinking back on what he had done wrong all the times before and how he would do it the next. But there had always been this lingering doubt that he could pull it off, being constantly foiled did that too you. But now...now it was his game.

"My my my, aren't we in a foul mood," Fuse mocked her as be began to circle her bound form. The doors shut behind him, sealing them both inside. He gazed longingly at her burning form, the way the flames licked her body but doing no damage. The way they sensually hugged every curve, every aspect of her form. He always loved fire, and she was fire incarnate. "You should show your host more respect. After all the trouble I went to to get this place ready for you..."

He pulled off his right glove, flexing his fingers as he stepped closer to her. "I've spent many long years trying to beat you, Miss Pyro. I've suffered many defeats and many near-misses. And now that I have you..."

Suddenly he pushed his hand into her shield of flame, the fire searing his flesh and causing him to grit his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain. His healing factor was the only reason he could do this, the knowledge that his arm would heal itself after he was done within minutes. He could have doused her flames, could have knocked her unconscious and had his fun, but as he grabbed her burning breast and squeezed he knew it was worth it. He wanted her to see just how helpless she was with him, her shield meaning nothing.

[Dollface]

There it was: the unmistakable flash of fear in the normally stoic superheroine's eyes as the doors to the cell slammed shut. It lasted only a moment, and the slightest blink of an eye would have caused someone to miss it. But it was there.

She watched as he removed a glove, his hand reaching into her protective flames. But he couldn't... There was no way... Even with his accelerated healing ability...

Could he?

The answer came soon enough. Her eyes widened as his burning hand grasped her unmarred breast. With a cry of pure rage, the burning woman sent a jet of flame hurling in his direction.

"Don't you ever do that again!" She shrieked above the roar of the fire. "Now let me go at once! Do you want every single superhero gunning for you? Because that's what's gonna happen!"

[VikingRaider]

With a yelp Fuse fell to the ground, his chest taking the brunt of the falme dead-on. He sat right back up though, his front burned and singed from the attack. But even as he spoke you could see the flesh healing rapidly. Soon enough the only evidence of her attack would be the burnt circle in his costume.

"Ha! What can those capes do to me? Look at me. Look at me! He brought up his arm, new skin growing over the blackened muscle and bone. "What can they do to me, honestly? I've broken out of every prison you've put me in and I can survive any laser or car they can through at me."

Pulling back and cradling his burnt arm he moved to a panel in the corner of the room. Sliding open a console he started pressing a series of commands into the device. "And regardless of what they do to me and what happens after this, it still doesn't change that right now you are completely at my mercy."

With a electronic beep several panels in the ceiling opened up allowing three nozzles to descend over her. A hissing noise filled the room as they shuddered once before releasing a familiar white foam over Miss Pyro, dousing her flames and completly covering her bound form.

[Dollface]

A high-pitched scream filled the room as the torrent of liquid was unleashed. For a moment, the flames seemed to rise higher as Lena desperately tried to keep her only defense functional. The battle lasted only a few seconds before the fires sputtered and died out completely, leaving Lena wet and shivering on the metal table.

This couldn't be happening. A loss she could handle, but this... Lena glared at him, fighting against the metal straps.

No, no, no! This wasn't happening, this was just a terrible nightmare that she would wake up from soon enough. She took another deep, calming breath and tried to think.

"What do you want?" She asked quietly. "Money?"

[VikingRaider]

Fuse gestured to the room around them. "Do I really look like a guy who needs money?" He chuckled as he walked over to her, leaning over her face and smiling. "This whole thing has only been about you. Oh, I have such plans..." He trailed her finger over her cheek, enjoying her reactions as she shivered from the cold wet substance.

"Now then," he said as his finger traced the outline of her mask, "lets start off with something to help us get to know each other better..." Reaching underneath her mask he slowly started to pull it off, enjoying her futile struggles as she tried to preserve her secret identity. This was truly the worst nightmare for a superhero. He would have to watch the close ups from the camera feed to get a true taste for the fear in her eyes.

As he finally got a pure view of her face he held up the mask and ginned. "Hello Miss Chapmen."