Somewhere on the rooftops, early afternoon [Part 2/4]

[freelancerchick.livejournal.com]

It was time. His last encounter with that weakling freak had given O'Malley a taste for blood and now finally the last of his mighty Army of Duckness had gathered. Ducks from China, Australia and Siberia, he was unbeatable. Standing up on the roof, O'Malley looked out over the island of Fandom. He threw his head back and laughed, the sound filling the streets which bathed in the watery winter sun.

"You better be enjoying this, you festering pit of happiness and friendliness, for it will be the last time that you see your precious warmth giving sun! I will bring you eternal darkness and fear!" With that, he signaled his faithful feathery ally Benedict, the duck formely known as bratty duck with teeth.


With a nod to O'Malley, Benedict fluttered up to the edge of the roof and sent out a call. His quacks echoed out over Fandom Town and were answered from all directions by quacks in response. Soon, ducks of all types could be seen flying up into the air. They circled and circled until there were so many ducks in the air that they had no choice but to fly in formation. It wasn't long before there were enough ducks in the air that they did indeed block out the sun. A noisy twilight fell over the town.


The quacking was like music in O'Malley's ears as darkness descended over the streets and the artifical lights popped on one by one. It would be kinda lame to bring eternal darkness with the night light on. He jumped on the nearest street light and crouched down so he could hit the bulb. With a pop, that caused the shield on his armor to flare up, the light died.

"Much better," he sneered and turned to Benedict. "Don't you think, my toothed ally?"


Benedict nodded an affirmative and quacked out another order. A team of ducks on another roof set up a slingshot. Taking careful aim, they began shooting out the street lamps with roofing tiles. By the time they ran out of ammo, they'd taken out about two thirds of the lights within range.


O'Malley's laughing only grew louder as the streets closest to them were now filled with an eerie darkness normally only seen during a complete sun eclipse. A sense of doom rolled over the streets as O'Malley raised his voice and flexed his armored fist and jumped back onto the rooftop. "Oblivion! Say goodbye to your precious sunlight because you'll never see it again. When my ducks touch the ground tonight, it will be drenched with blood and we'll be stronger than ever as we feed upon your fear and pain. This town is mine now. Mine to destroy and wipe down to the ground. I'll hang that mut of a mayor from the highest chimney. There will be nothing but ashes left when I'm done with you. Ashes and the sweet memories of torture and death that will be told for centuries from duck to duck and the name O'Malley will forever be quacked over the universe. No one..."


"SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" The cry came from a roof across the street where Tick was standing in a sufficiently dramatic pose with Lockheed flying behind him. After his battlecry finished echoing, he lept, clearing the narrow street with ease. As he landed on the roof next to O'Malley, The Tick ordered, "Give up your foul ways and let go of Tex's body, villain, for you face The Tick!"


If O'Malley hesitated, it might have been because he usually doesn't deal with guys in tight blue spandex who cry spoon. Tilting his head back, O'Malley laughed at Tick's threat. "And who's going to stop me? You and an army of blue canaries? I think not!"

"Benedict, you know what to do while I deal with this blue cockroach!" He ordered and jumped higher upon the roof as he faced Tick.


Benedict quacked an affirmative to O'Malley again and flew off to direct the havoc that the ducks would rain down upon the town.


Lockheed snapped in O'Malley's direction. He was neither a canary nor blue. He was, however, mad.


Tick put a hand on Lockheed's back to keep him from flying off. "Lockheed, I need you to take care of the ducks. Good luck, chum!" With that, Lockheed flew off after Benedict. Tick turned to O'Malley and said, "Nay, fiend! I don't need an army to stop you!" Tick yelled "Spoooon!" as he lept up to O'Malley's new position on the roof.


"That's where you're wrong!" O'Malley lunged forward even before he finished the sentence, his body's speed heightened even more by the armor, and made a powerful sweep at Tick's chest. "I'll flatten you like a blood pancake!"


The Tick was expecting a bit more ranting, so he was unprepared for O'Malley's attack. He was knocked off the roof and landed hard on the street with a terrible thud.


"Too fucking easy," O'Malley laughed and didn't even bother to look down at what he supposed would be a flattened bug. "I hope the mayor won't be this boring, I'd like to work up an appetite."


Taking a moment to regroup, The Tick stood back up and dusted some street rubble from his body showing. He had apparently taken no damage from the blow or the fall. "Hey! No fair!" he called out. "You were supposed to rant a bit more before the fight." Tick shook his head and tsked loudly. "Stay right there, I'll be up in a minute." With that, Tick lept to the fire escape and climbed back up to the roof.


"What the...?" O'Malley looked confused over the edge of the roof. "You're not supposed to survive that!" He complained as he couldn't believe that the guy seemed to be unharmed. "Do you have an armor under there?"


"Nope," Tick said as he reached the roof. He lept back up to O'Malley's position from there and continued, "No armor. I'm just nigh-invulnerable." Then he ran over to smack O'Malley upside the head with a medium blow to test out the strength of the armor.


The shielding shimmered as Tick's fist connected and O'Malley shook it off. "Pitiful!" He laughed and swung for Tick's jaw. "You'll make a great punching bag, you outgrown blue weakling!"


The Tick's mighty jaw took the blow, but he was ready for an attack this time and merely staggered a couple steps back. "Ooh. You're strong. This should be a good fight," Tick said. He then stepped forward with a strong punch to the body.


The blow was a lot stronger than the first hit Tick had dealt him and O'Malley was thrown back, some of the roof tiles underneath his feet loosened and tumbled down to the street. "Yes, and at the end I'll tie a bow in those antennae of yours and give you as a gift to my carnivor ducks!" With that, he threw himself at Tick, punching with first his left and then his right fist at Tick's sides.


Tick blocked the first punch, but the second caught him in the side, sending him a few steps to his left. This gave him good position for a clubbing blow with his left arm. "Has anyone ever told you that you're kinda weird?" he asked as he swung.


"Umph!" O'Malley slides down the roof tiles, bringing him lower than The Tick. "Weird? I am terrifying! I make children and parents weep in terror! I am the bringer of destruction!" He takes advantage of his lower position to run up the roof and try to butt Tick in the stomach with his helmet.


The helmet connected, making Tick double over. Not wanting to give O'Malley an advantage, Tick swung with a backhand to buy himself a moment to catch his breath. He did manage to banter, "You have a duck army, man! Nobody is weeping at you!"


O'Malley reared back, his ears ringing from the blow. He moved out of Tick's range and ran right up to the crest of the roof. "And where is your precious, disgustingly bright sunlight, huh?" He shouted at Tick as he picked up a couple of roof tiles and hurled them at his blue nemesis.


The tiles broke when they hit Tick. Tick didn't even flinch at them. "It's behind a bunch of ducks! Come on, man, that's weird!" Tick said, picking up a nearby chimney and throwing it at O'Malley.


Quickly raising his arm, O'Malley managed to ward off most of the brick stones. It still was enough to bring him off balance and to keep himself from sliding down the other side of the roof, he quickly grabbed hold of the nearest weathercock.

"And it's gonna stay there until you're all dead and the last sound you will remember when you die and go to your special blue bugged hell will be the sound of my Duck Army and my victorious laughter as I trample every bone in your body!" He broke off the weathercock and using it as spear, he charged at Tick.


"You see, that's what I'm talking about. Bone trampling..." Tick started as the weathercock hit. It stood no chance of doing any damage to Tick's nigh-invulnerable frame, so it bent and twisted as O'Malley continued his charge. Tick threw a right-handed punch at O'Malley and continued, "...it's just not normal, man!"


At the high speed O'Malley was at, the punch brought him completely off balance. While his head snapped back, the weight of the armor made him continue to move forward. His heavy boots hit Tick right in the shins as he slid further down, his iron butt breaking the roof tiles on his downward path.


The Tick's legs were knocked out from under him so he slid down the roof with O'Malley, leaving a trail of broken tiles in his wake. When they reached the edge of the roof, they fell and landed in a dumpster. The dumpster closed behind them.


The landing knocked the wind right out of lungs and O'Malley lay dazed on the floor of the dumpster for a second. He was grateful that the armor came with its own air filters when he realised just where they had fallen in. Sadly enough, the night vision did little to allow him to see in the dark, even with the small lights on his tighs and arms on. He concentrated and turned those off as they would just give away his whereabouts. "And wearing blue spandex is normal?" He growled as he got to his feet started pushing through the garbage.


"It is if you're a superhero!" The Tick said. He couldn't see a thing.


O'Malley turned towards the sound. He still couldn't see The Tick, but he was pretty sure he knew where he was. He moved away until his back hit one of the walls of the dumpster and then pushed off against it, lunging towards Tick with his full force and weight.


The Tick's antennae twitched slightly. He turned to attempt to look at whatever it was they could have sensed. In doing so, he dodged O'Malley's attack.


Unable to stop himself, O'Malley hit the wall and broke right through the iron. He lost his footing and went tumbling across the street and rolled into a brick wall, leaving an armor shaped dent behind him. More than a little bit dizzy, O'Malley staggered to his feet and then did the only thing he could come up with and hit his active camouflage to give himself a moment to catch his breath. It probably would have been more effective if there wasn't a leaf of lettuce stuck to his helmet.


Pulling himself out of the hole, Tick saw a leaf of lettuce trying to act inconspicuous. This was suspicious. Tick lunged at the lettuce and punched at it, declaring, "Give up, salady fiend!"


O'Malley was pushed back but grabbed for Tick's arm and aimed a powerful blow right at Tick's chest. "I'll make salad out of you!" He shouted back. "A crispy salad with blue antennea!"


The Tick was pushed back by the blow, but with one hand grasping his arm and the other having just hit him, Tick had a good idea of where O'Malley was, so Tick moved to pick him up.


"This is undignified!" O'Malley shouted as he was lifted up and held up in the air. "Never in my life! Put me down, you big blue lump, or my duck army will tear you into a thousand pieces!" He squirmed about and tried to hit Tick below him.


Tick shrugged, "Okay." He then threw O'Malley at a wall.


O'Malley curled in on himself, protecting his head as he hit the wall. His shield shimmered and the sheer force of The Tick's throw was enough for him to go right through. He slid right across the floor of the NPC Christmas store. It was a weird twist of faith or a bad plot device that made him hit a box of duckshaped ornaments which split right open. He picked up a hand full of ducks and threw them at Tick before he rolled off and disappeared into the darkness as the leaf of lettuce had been finally shaken off during his trip through the wall.


The ornaments shattered against Tick. Against his better judgement, he stepped into the NPC Christmas store.


As quietly as possible, O'Malley moved through the store and waited until The Tick was in just the right position. Hitting his active camouflage, O'Malley appeared again right behind Tick and picked up a completely decorated christmas tree. "OBLIVION!" He shouted and slammed the tree down on Tick's head.


The tree snapped in half, but the force of the blow did knock The Tick into a seated position. "That's no way to celebrate the season!" Tick yelled. He spun around and made a sweep at O'Malley's legs with his arm.


O'Malley hit the floor with a loud thunk. "I'll show you season spirit!" He threatened as he grabbed for the statues that were in reach and threw the three wisemen at Tick's head. Followed by a shepherd and his flock.


The wisemen hit in comedic succession, but Tick moved before the sheep zoomed by. He was up on his feet and running for cover. Then he found a box of multi-colored ball ornaments and threw it at O'Malley.


The balls shatter as they hit O'Malley and leave behind a nice and shiny glitter over his armor. "You are starting to bug me," O'Malley grabbed a golden tinsel streamer and jumped forward, trying to strangle Tick with it.


Being strangled with tinsel wasn't how Tick expected to spend the day, but it did give him good positioning. He grabbed O'Malley and charged forward through some decorations, a toy train, and finally the front window of the store, spilling them out into the street.


O'Malley was still busy trying to strangle The Tick as the rolled around on the pavement. He tugged hard, but the tinsel broke before he could get any strangling done. Growling, he aimed his right fist at The Tick's jaw while kicking him off.


Tick took the hit, but sprung forward with a punch of his own.


As O'Malley was thrown back, he landed right on top of a vespa someone had tied to a street sign. As his punches seemed to be doing very little, O'Malley picked up the vespa and easily broke the chain as he lifted it over his head and threw it at Tick.


The vespa hit Tick squarely in the chest and knocked him over. He rolled with the hit and held onto the vespa, though, so he was on his feet very quickly. With a vespa in hand. Which he then threw back at O'Malley.


Strong as he was, getting hit by a vespa sounded like a bad idea and O'Malley managed to jump sideways in time for the vespa to miss him. There were sparks and a loud screeching as the vespa dragged over the street. O'Malley pulled off the streetsign said vespa had just been tied up to and jumped forward, swinging the 'dead end' sign at Tick.


The sign hit Tick and launched him several feet back. It took him a moment to come to his senses and start to rise to his feet.


Not giving Tick any time, O'Malley jumped forward and struck out. As Tick fell back he reached out and grabbed him by the antennae.


Tick's antennae were one of his few weaknesses. The feeling he had right now was like the world's biggest pinch, right to his brain. He was flailing about and saying, "Gah! Ugh! Nyehhhh!" accordingly.


O'Malley laughed as he tugged at the antennae once more before letting go and pushing Tick off. He watched in amusement as The Tick staggered around. One more blow and he had the blue freak. "That army of blue canaries sounds good right about now, doesn't it?" He snorted as he moved around Tick. "Next time you'll think twice about mocking my Duck Army. Tomorrow, you won't be more than bloody goo and blue spandex while I've burned this town down and fed my Army on the flesh of these weak do gooders. The screams of pain and terror will echo here for eternity and it will forever be known as the beginning of the end as I'll take over the mainland afterwards and then Japan and China and Asia! And then we go to Africa and Europe will be last as it will be like shooting fish in a barrel! I'll let them all feel the true meaning of OBLIVION!"


The Tick reached over and grabbed O'Malley by the helmet. "Spooooooon!" he yelled before slamming O'Malley headfirst into the street.


Normally, O'Malley could take a few hits like this, but the angle was just wrong - or right - and he hit his temple against the side of his helmet. With his last moment of consciousness, he still muttered "Oblivion" before he got to taste its foul Red Bull taste himself.


The Tick nudged O'Malley a couple times to make sure that he wasn't moving. He was going to have to assume that O'Malley - and Tex - were still alive since he couldn't check through the armor. Suddenly, Lockheed landed on Tick's shoulder, a fried duck in his hands, smiling at the sun shining in the duck-free sky.

Taking a deep breath now that the fight was won, The Tick picked up O'Malley's body and walked off to meet Church.

((Preplayed with bugofjustice, fh_anonymous and freelancerchick. Scenes are finished so no IC comments, OOC comment are welcome.))

Comments

[fh-anonymous.livejournal.com]

Benedict flew away from the impending battle between O'Malley and The Tick not really caring who won. He'd seen The Tick in battle so he knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as O'Malley thought it was. But, Benedict had no true loyalty to whoever inhabited Tex's body. He and the other ducks were just in it for the chaos.

He landed on another rooftop about a block away from where he had left O'Malley to his fate and began quacking out orders to his duck army. The ducks in the air began dive bombing anyone brave enough to attempt to travel by foot. There was also a constant stream of ducks ascending and descending from the cover over Fandom Town. Even with the ducks doing strafing runs, the darkness was constant.


As Tick requested, Lockheed flew after Benedict. Feeling no need to be subtle, Lockheed shot off a blast of flame at the nearest group of ducks. He then snickered. This was going to be fun.


Benedict saw the blast of flame take out several ducks at once. Turning to find the source, he saw Lockheed and narrowed his wee ducky eyes. This would not do at all. Quacking out some quick orders to a few subordinates, he took off again and attempted to circle around behind the small dragon while several grunts attempted a frontal assault.


To Lockheed, a duck was a duck, so he didn't notice the lead duck's maneuver. He did, however, notice that these ducks looked like they fried quickly, so he shot flames at the subordinates.


Leading a few brave ducks, Benedict flew at Lockheed from behind and attempted to overwhelm him. Two ducks went for each wing while Benedict aimed to land on Lockheed's back so he could try for his throat.


Noticing that no attack seemed to be coming from the front now, Lockheed took a quick look behind. He grunted angrily and turned sharply toward the left ducks, shooting flame.


The duck rolled further left in an attempt to dodge the flame, but couldn't escape the fireball. The smoldering body fell from the sky. The duck closest to that side waved off and attempted to come around again. Meanwhile, the other three adjusted their trajectories and hit Lockheed quickly in succession. Two sets of duck teeth bit into Lockheed's right wing and Benedict hit him in the back. But, his webbed feet couldn't get a grasp on the dragon's scaled hide and he slid off flapping his wings quickly to try and keep his place in the sky.


Lockheed shrieked but was largely undamaged due to his tough hide. He reached over with his front right paw and grasped at the neck of one of the ducks of his wing and tried to pull him off. He shot a small jet of flame at the other duck on his wing while trying to tear the first duck away.

[fh-anonymous.livejournal.com]

The second duck fell away in a ball of fire while the first one struggled to maintain his bite on Lockheed's wing. Unable to break through the skin, however, his teeth eventually slid off as the paw around his neck pulled him away. He flapped his wings frantically as the dragon held him suspended in the air.


Finally pulling the one duck off his wing, Lockheed quickly spun around to throw it at the duck who had escaped the earlier fireball. He quickly followed with a fireball in the same direction because no duck was quite as fun as a flaming duck.


Disoriented, the thrown duck hit the returning grunt just as it was reaching full velocity for it's second attempt. Both ducks were unprepared for the follow up fireball and fell, still tangled together, back to earth leaving only a smokey trail of feathers.

Meanwhile, Benedict had righted himself and swung around behind Lockheed again. Incensed at the ease with which the dragon had destroyed his grunts, he flew full tilt at his opponent, teeth bared, and tried to bite his throat out.


Lockheed saw Benedict coming, showing his teeth. If he wanted to go for the throat, Lockheed could follow suit. When Benedict came within biting range, Lockheed clamped down on the duck's neck and shook fiercely. He then let go and shot another jet of flame right at Benedict's head.

Lockheed wondered if Tick would let him keep this duck as a trophy. Just in case, he grabbed Benedict's body. He seemed to be the leader, so maybe waving him around would help disperse the rest of the ducks. He kind of hoped they'd still put up a fight, though. It wouldn't be any fun if they didn't.


The ducks in the air had watched the battle below them. They started to mutter amongst themselves. No one had mentioned a dragon. A few of the foreign ducks slowly began to fly away. By the time Lockheed flew around brandishing Benedict's body, there were large gaps in the air cover. It wasn't much longer before all of the ducks dispersed; the foreign ducks flew off to the mainland and the local ducks, what was left of them, flew back to the pond to hide themselves amongst the normal ducks. The skies above Fandom Town were once again clear.