"Right now. Do you need more bolts?" Adam's voice had an edge to it, bloodlust mixing with something else, like a measure of pride, but not the sort that most people had. The pride that came from his nature, from his "family." The God in him was pleased as ever to acquire a new instrument to work It's will.
"Fuck, you guys really don't waste time, do you? Uh, no. I'm good on bolts, who are we hitting?" Adam gave a slight nod to acknowledge her words before moving as he walked, turning his head back to make sure Sophia was following him. He already knew the few Brotherhood members he had assigned on this task would fall in place.
"The Empire. Storage warehouse, arms, and money inside. Parahuman residence expected. Understood?" Adam's tone was clipped, almost formal if not for the dripping undercurrent of excitement. He was glad to have at least a semblance of info in his hands once more.
"Got it." The excitement was brazen, open in Shadow Stalker's tone. She was the predator, and she had found a "pack", she supposed, to hunt with. Her head was held high as they moved out. She was focused on where Adam was leading the little posse, his pace quick, effeinct.. Adam, meanwhile, was observing the turf he had staked his claim in. Already, differences were apparent. Pleasing ones. Even in the night, some of his men wondered, not to push poison, but to ensure safety. Things looked a little cleaner, orderly.
The gardens the brotherhood had started hadn't borne their crops yet, but it would only be a matter of time until there was more food to go around, as well. It was still a slum, but it was at least a tolerable one, at the moment. Yet, as they ducked around in the city, they slowly saw the streets get cleaner, brighter what with the increase in working street lamps.
There was a reason they were wondering into a more brightly lit part of town. The Empire considered themselves civilized, just. This set Adam's teeth on edge, their false mask of justice one of their worst affronts to his mind. Their justice was just weakness, hate for things that had no weight. Yet, they pretended to be respectable, so they set up shop in the "respectable" part of town. An annoyance, to be sure, but one that could be circumvented. There was only so much police in this town, and Adam had been working on learning this city, such lessons bearing fruit. They made it to the warehouse without notice. Now, time for the plan.
"Here. There are guards posted inside. Significant amounts, from what we could gather. There is a backdoor they keep unlocked, normally with the bulk of forces there. I will enter from the front, drawing attention, you enter through the back after I've done my part. Understand?" The two unpowered members nodded, Adam focusing on them for a moment, centering. The one on the left, he was the one who was a web developer long ago, the one on the right, a former trafficking victim, his men, not tools. Shadow Stalker spoke up, quietly, at least.
"Yeah, got it. Fucking Brute powers wish I could just get..yeah. Got it." Adam noted the complaint with a nod and then focused on his flesh. Slow, steady. He grew, taller, broader, his claws forming, sharpening as thick, scaled plates replaced skin. The changes finished, and his clothes held steady. His men split from him, moving ever so slightly closer to their target, and waiting.
The door was locked at the front. It always was. This did not matter, as Adam wasn't going through the door. Gathering his speed, his might, Adam slammed into the wall, turning it into mere dust in his path. He heard screams, shouts, and then the violence started. Bullets thudded into his hide, the sloppy shots like bee stings at worst. He lashed out, finely honed instinct guiding his hand, claws tightening around a throat. His muscles tightened, applying force. With a sickening tearing noise, the guard's head separated from their body with a sprout of blood. Adam was still moving, using his other arm to backhand another guard into a wall with a roar. They slumped over, alive, but not willing to face His wrath. The third guard, visibly young, looked at Adam, who stared back.
The sinner tossed his weapon to the ground, falling to his knees in the face of Adam's wake. There was a snarl, approving, but no words. Adam moved on. The actual storage area was...almost packed up. There were several people inside, but they did not have guns. A trap, he supposed. A savage smile graced Adam's inhuman face as he drank in their costumes.
He pushed his mind into overdrive, ignoring the words one of them was sprouting in favor of quick assessment, guided by the depictions his Brotherhood had gathered for him. He faced Hookwolf, who was most likely the largest direct threat, Stormtiger, who could prove to be an issue if left unhandled, Cricket, who was much like Stormtiger, if less of a threat to him, Crusader, who was more of an annoyance, and Krieg. Another large threat. A breath had passed, and Adam launched himself forward.
The words died, Krieg's power kicking in as Adam was knocked off course. He struggled to adjust, Hookwolf splitting into a lupine mass of blades, ready to face Adam directly as Cricket darted in with a quick slice that did more damage to her weapons then her foe.
She did not expect, however, for Adam's arm to split apart, part of the newly formed appendage grasping her, pulling her with Adam's movement as it tore into her flesh, the other half throwing an unprepared Hookwolf, even as it got shredded by the blades. Adam's blood fell to the ground as he steadied himself, drinking in the carnage, helping force his energy to fix his body. Another breath passed, Stormtiger rushing forward with a primal scream, the claws he built up slamming directly Adam who just barely managed to stay on his feet, even with his inhuman strength.
He lashed out with his whole arm, Stormtiger's eyes just barely widening as he took a punch that threw him off his feet, shattering his ribs..and his will. Adam's wake was in full force. He wasn't here to kill, oh no. He was here to send a message. In the same moment, he casually tossed aside Cricket like trash. She was broken before him. Adam bought a few seconds with Hookwolf, and so brought his full force to bear against Kreig. His breath caught, a shifting sense of gravity molding it's way around his massive form, but he pushed forward. A spear was stabbed in his side, but it was barely noted, barely even effective at all. Kreig prepared a blow, before toppling right into Adam's hands, a bolt skewed into his knee as a shadow flickered past of the ghostly clones.
Adam shattered Krieg's other leg, dropping the shattered body as it screamed with pain. A red-tinged vision. Hookwolf. They both bellowed, charging at each other. Adam grasped the shifting mass of blades, ripping, tearing. The wounds Adam inflicted bolstering His healing. Hookwolf simply couldn't damage Him fast enough as it was torn apart, again, and again, and again...
Sophia, meanwhile, fired another bolt, growling as one of the ghosts shoved her prey out of the projectile's path. Still...he could only dodge so many angles. She flickered froward as the copies quickly shifted focus to the two other Brotherhood members who made their position clear with covering fire. She aimed low, a vicious punch landed on the scum's crotch, then another, this one to the kidney. Finally, as he fell to his knees, she impaled his palm with a bolt. She had to make sure he stayed down, after all. She withdrew, a bloodthirsty smirk underneath her mask.
Hookwolf's metal production had begun to slow, then finally, cease. Adam lifted up this lump of flesh, this..a breath passed. This man, this sinner. He wheezed out a breath, and Adam threw the full force of his wake as squeezed, snapping a bone. Hookwolf slumped in his grasp, not dead, but no longer a threat. He dropped his foe to the ground as his voice range guttural, inhuman, and powerful.
"Let this be a lesson to your so-called Empire. Let yourselves serve as an example for what will happen to all of the corrupted, the wicked, sinful in my city. Spread the word, for The Brotherhood of Judgement shall have no mercy for those who refuse to repent, and neither shall I. Spread my name. Let the unjust quake in fear when they hear Tanninim, because they will hear of what happened here, and they will know the cost of their Sins."
