Grant Finley: AKA The Hammer
The SUV engine roared them forward. Outside it was a bit inconspicuous, no markings or design, not even a vanity plate, but it's brand new custom leather seats were its least expensive looking attributes. There were more gadgets, lights, switches, and screens then a 747. Its guts were only something that could have come out of a Rednecks wet dream. It roared like a monster truck, accelerated like a formula one car, and sped like it was leading the Daytona 500. Peeling out of the compound, Grant couldn't stifle an involuntary
"Holy shit". He glanced briefly to Kain in the seat beside him. Maybe they could rock paper scissors for who got to drive home.
Grant's commlink listened in to what the others were accomplishing. He hoped he could meet the rest of his team as backup to support them, but it was looking like this mission would be just him and Kain. The GPS flashed a large exclamation mark on the zoomed out city map and spoke an alarmed robotic voice, "Warning - metahuman threats reported. Routing you now." It was in the opposite direction of the green T Grant had been moving toward, but hopefully Tia would be ok without their help.
"Not a lot of time for pleasantries now," he mentioned casually. They were nearing the marker, weaving in and out of traffic. Grant wished he knew what some of these switches did, anything to alleviate the traffic. As they neared closer to the site bystanders were scattering in all directions. A quick break check and weave into oncoming traffic the SUV roared back with accelerated speed and hopped onto the corner curb nearly avoiding the back end of an abandoned taxi in the right lane. "Yeehaw!" Grant exclaimed, taken back to his horse riding days. But his excitement quickly abated as their foe came into view.
Oozing a thick, green muck from what could have been skin was a 7 foot tall beast like humanoid creature. It had already thrown most of the parked cars through glass windows of the sidewalk stores and was looking to continue its rampage with load roars and disgruntled anguish. It shook vigorously, flailing in all directions violently looking to mess something,
anything, up. The ooze was melting into the asphalt sizzling white stains to the ground as it lightly wisped away. Cars had large holes being eaten away as the green slime ate away at the metal. This stuff was terrifyingly corrosive.
"Ok. This is new. Kain, I hope you got some good moves." Grant stepped out of the car. His claws flashed out of the tips of his fingernails. This thing wasn't human, or at least not anymore. And it had to be taken down. Grant put a finger to his commlink, "Uh come in... team."
Great, completely blanking on the code names. Grant knew he wasn't supposed to use real names in the field, but he could only think to call Tia. He stumbled on, "this is..." Shit. He'd never called himself this damned name before. It only reminded him of the pain he caused in the war. "This is - The Hamme... This is Grant! and Kain. We're on Jefferson and Main. There's some kind of Acid monster tearing things up. We're going to handle it, but we may need backup." Grant charged forward.
Not wanting to get near the ooze, he grabbed up small scooter knocked over on the curb. One headlight, a custom painted pink frame, and 15 horsepower went flying through the air too violently connect with the shoulder of the monster. The vespa winged off and crashed into the next street. The monster dropped to one knee in a roar of pain and ooze splattered off its body. Grant was actually surprised that's all it did! This thing must weigh half a ton to withstand a blow like that! The monster turned to Grant and Kain now. It barreled up off the ground and charged.
With incredible strength and agility, Grant leaped upward narrowly dodging the tackle from the acidic monster. Grant's claws grabbed onto a light pole and swung him onto the top of a bus in the intersection. The beast had cratered into a solid brick wall of the building behind them and was turning to face Grant and Kain again. This thing was a truck. They had to do something other than try bashing it to pieces.
"Get it into the bus! We'll push it down the street and off the pier!" Grant shouted. Looking to his metal bending companion to aid him. The pier was a still a good 3 miles away. Grant would have to lure it there first and leave the bus to Kain.
Grant leapt from the bus roof and onto the street. The problem was not getting the bezerking creature to follow him, it was the distance he'd have to travel without getting hit! The path was nearly clear. Citizen had all but completely fled the area by now and Grant could spring over cars easily enough. But, even with his incredible agility, climbing over and weaving between cars was not as fast as a 1000 pound acid monster could barrel after him! Cars were tossing left and right behind him. Being pushed aside with ease. No, hardly to say with ease. They were moved like they weren't even there and the beast was only gaining velocity. The downhill wasn't helping Grant's case. Grant would probably need a saving hail mary from Kain if he wanted to make it all the way.
Finally, they made it. Beast at his heels still and Kain behind him with the bus, Grant fled further down the sturdy wooden pier. He didn't need to look back to be sure the monster was behind him, the rumble of his presence was enough. Thundering clomps of the pavement were replaced by crunching wood and creaking of stressed support beams. Nearing the end Grant made one final leap to catch the edge of the pier as the monster toppled behind him. The bus slammed full force at its rear, shoving the beast in through the window. Trapped and hit hard by Kain's support, the heavy bus and beast went jetting off into the sunset before splashing deep into the ocean horizon.
Grant climbed back up the piers edge. "Man. Talk about catching the bus on time. Thanks for the assist Kain." He slapped him on the shoulder and started walking back up the pier. "Now, if only you could have brought the car too," he chuckled.
It was a calm drive home to the compound. Grant didn't think so much about the roar of the engine on the way back, he did however think about what he wanted for a super hero name, and what Tia might have for him along the lines of an explanation to what that was they just faced. He started to think about Tia a lot...
Parked in the garage, the engine growled and turned off. It'd be gassed up and cleaned shiny new again before heading back out on the next disaster. Grant went to find Tia. He needed an explanation. This is not what he was expecting to see.
Grant Finley: AKA The Hammer