The Tale of a Dog Hero

"Where I stand"

Everyone began to worry at what Zuko saw in the creature and flooded him with questions. "What do you mean? How will we lose? Are we gonna die? Is there a chance of making it? What does it want?" Zuko tried to shut everyone up so he could explain. "This beast has no initiative besides killing us. I cannot explain the pain it went through in order to reach this place. But, even worse... Its after Oscar primarily." Everyone slowly turned to Oscar. He had his head down with his eyes halfway open. He pressed and rubbed against his eyes with his left hand, before looking up and walking towards the beast. "I'm calling this grave walking, sad excuse for a dino, 'Alpha'... In fact. I'll class him after the ICAO alphabet." Oscar leaned forward and took off after Alpha. Tippy yelled out "Wait! We should stick together!" Zane rushed forward and began changing the dirt into a smooth material so he could slide along, towards Oscar. Zane caught up and tried discussing the plan again. "Hey. Remember what I said about your being small compared to it. You will act as a bullet, so aim for headshots." Oscar got close to Zane and let him hop on his back. Ohm flew off towards his position. When Oscar got close enough, he pulled Zane infront of himself and spun faster and faster. When they reached a good speed, Oscar threw him into the air, where Ohm was positioned. Oscar sped forward and ran up the monsters leg. Once at its neck, Oscar jumped as hard as he could, which forced Alpha to look downward. Zane was caught by Ohm and they began falling. Ohm opened his wings to try and slow the fall by a bit, while Zane prepared himself. As soon as the ground was within range, he materialized an object with plenty of cushion. They both landed near Alpha's feet and readied themselves. Oscar was on his way down, when Alpha was recovering. Oscar just barely made it past its head, when he readied himself too. Zane created a large spring around 4 foot circumference, 12 foot tall with a large platform on top. Oscar landed and coiled the spring down on impact. When he reached its lowest, Ohm hopped on Oscar while Zane created 2 rocket propulsion devices at the bottom of the platform. The rockets boosted as the spring shot back up and launched Oscar high into the sky. He lifted his arms and braced for impact on the bottom of Alpha's neck. Oscar slammed into its skin as its flesh began ripping and breaking away. He flew through its mouth and up its brain. Oscar made it out of the top with a clean hole in the monsters head. Something was wrong. There was no blood and it was still moving. It tried to grab Oscar, but Ohm flew just out of reach. Now dodging attacks, Oscar fired upon Alpha in an attempt to stop it. Alpha managed to move faster and faster until it moved its large hands toward Oscar and clapped around him like a fly. Oscar held the two hands apart, but the fat around the hand closed in. Oscar was in a pocket with now limited air for him and Ohm. Oscar tried to look around, but it was pitch black. The only thing he could see were the outlines of his body holding the hands. "Ohm. G- get on my stomach. I need to adjust myself." Ohm hopped onto his lap as he rotated, so his back was against one hand and his arms and legs were against the other. From there, he pushed as hard as he could. He made a little progress in opening the hand, but it wasn't enough to let in air or slip out. On the outside, Zuko and Tippy caught up and are coming up with a way to free Oscar with the help of Zane. With no way to get close to the things hands, the group on the ground tried to craft a rope, but they couldn't get around his legs before they moved again. Ohm had begun to fall asleep in Oscar's lap while he was straining himself. "Ohm? Ohm, get up. I can't have you sleeping on me. Not here. I need you." Ohm still laid there, and Oscar began to panic. "Oh fuck. Oh god. Uhm... Uhh. Okay. Alright. One shot to do this. You're gonna be alright, Ohm." Oscar tried to keep the hands open enough for him to remove his jacket. He struggled to take it off and the air was getting thinner by the second with his heavy panting. In Oscar's last burst of effort, he manages to slide out of the jacket. Oscars pupils began to fade, and his breathing got more intense. "No way, I'm dying to something as simple and easy as suffocation!" Oscar pushed hard against the hands and created a crack for breathing room and some light. "Ohm. Let me know your okay, buddy." Ohm gave a chirp as his eyes opened again. Oscar tossed Ohm through the crack and prayed the group would catch him. Oscar sucked in as deep of a breath as he could, pulled his fist back, and uppercut into the flesh of Alpha's left hand. From inside his hand, Oscar pulled out his pistol and let loose on every surface he could aim at. Doing so, shredded the beast's wrist to swiss cheese which resulted in Oscar falling out of danger. He managed to grab his jacket and put it on before slamming into the ground with enough force to leave a crater. Everyone gathered around Oscar and helped him up. Tippy brushed him off and started panicking. "Are you ok? What happened? We caught Ohm, but he passed out." Oscar recovered and put a finger up to Tippy's lips. "I'm fine. Luckily, no broken bones yet. Having full power, gave me more control over my input. Bad thing is that it hurts a lot faster when I'm out of my jacket. Didn't pass out, but couldn't move a muscle after I had my jacket on for a moment." Zane got the groups attention and devised a new plan. "Alright. Plan didn't work, but I got a new one. If Oscar can keep ripping it apart, it cant win, right? We win." Zuko interrupted. "Wont work. Although Oscar did remove its left hand, it will be ready for future repetitive attacks, and will react accordingly. This is why we won't win. It's too powerful for something we have ever gone against." Oscar interrupted Zuko. "Bullshit. I've seen that I live past this day. I'm not gonna let this big punk stop me from doing what I want. I've been forced to live a different life since birth, so I'm gonna do whatever I need to stop this thing." Oscar stormed off towards the monster again. Ohm had recovered and flew onto Oscar's back. Alpha raised its foot and stomped down at Oscar. He jumped to the side and swept his arm at the corner of its foot, creating a decent cut. "YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF NOW! LET'S START THIS SHOW!" Oscar spread his legs into a fighting stance and stared right at the angry behemoth of a creature. "This... Is where I STAND!" Zuko reached into his right pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. "I guess I should stop sitting around doing nothing." He cast a spell that increased Oscar's strength. From there, he began casting elemental spells at the monsters legs while approaching. Zane crafted Tippy some blades to choose from. "Pick any of these swords or knives. Stay close to me, or else it will turn back into useless material." Tippy grabbed a knife and a cutlass, then ran forward with Zane. He produced a katana. One of his favorites, Zane could use it skillfully, as if he had practiced with it for a long time. Oscar began running up Alpha's leg again and punching hard enough to rip chunks of flesh away, while Ohm kept his feet planted. The monster tried to stop Oscar by smacking or swiping him off, but he either dodged, or just punched it away. By the time he reached its shoulder, he threw Ohm as high as he could. He then hopped back down and grabbed Zuko. Tippy looked up to watch as Oscar made it back up Alpha's shoulder, threw Zuko, and removed his jacket. Oscar yelled out as he jumped as hard as he could, knocking the beast off balance slightly. In the air, he caught Ohm and put him on his back. When he reached Zuko, Oscar grabbed his left arm and they both spun opposite each other, until Zuko threw him back downward with blinding speed. Ohm flapped as fast as he could to make him fall faster. Oscar pulled out his pistol and fired 7 shots into Alphas chest. The beast lifted its right arm to catch Oscar, but he drilled right through it. Just before Oscar made contact with its head, Zuko created a large movable barrier on the surface of Alpha's forehead. Oscar reeled back and thought to himself "I've come too far. I get to walk my own path... And I will see my dream through..." He yelled out to Alpha. "JUST ONE PUNCH!" Oscar threw his fist with all his might. There was a loud CRACK as he slammed into the barrier, which created a wide area of impact for Alpha's brain. The monster began to fall to the ground and the barrier shattered. Ohm jumped off Oscar and flew away to find his jacket. Oscar slammed into the ground with a thud at the same time the monster did. Oscar got to his knees and looked at his friends. Tippy was rushing over, while Zane, caught Zuko with a large padding. Oscar slowly got to his feet while pieces of his flesh began to break away and float around him. His left hand had broken and was cracking away. "I WON'T DIIIIIEEEE" Oscar screamed out towards the sky. Zane tried to get close, but the force around Oscar kept pushing everyone back. Zane crouched and made a short, but thick wall to get behind. Everyone else piled behind it too. Zane looked around for the jacket. "Where the hell did his jacket go? Is that why he is like this?" Tippy nodded her head while trying to look for it as well. Just then Ohm flew above and dropped the jacket on Oscar. He quickly put it on and the power died down immediately. Oscar was left standing there with bits and pieces of his flesh missing. Oscar whispered to himself with barely open eyes. "I... Won't...fall." Oscar fell on his face as he lost consciousness. It seemed Oscar managed to knock out the monster, but it was far from dead. Zane created a sled with wheels under it, then created a lift that picked Oscar up. Tippy tried to warn Zane about Oscar. "The sled will break. Oscar weighs like, a million pounds." All the same, Zane knocked Oscar onto the sled and he landed on it with a thud. "As expected. You see, Tippy. The jacket is magic. It only holds weight to living things, so he only weighs his actual body weight when he isn't influenced by an entity. It's why he can go up a staircase without breaking through." Tippy gave a look of interest as she began pulling the sled. "So... What are we gonna do about the monster?" Zuko gave it a quick look before coming to a conclusion. "Nothing. It's already being buried again so whatever it was doing, it's going to recover and try again at a later date. Best we can do is go home and recover. We've got bruises and cuts, Oscar looks hospitalized, and none of us have the firepower to fight anything else." The group headed back to discuss with the mayor, and two went to their now free home, and recovered for the rest of the day. Oscar was put in the hospital and cared for, Tippy was in the waiting room reading a book, Zane was at home in the basement tinkering with his ring, and Zuko was meditating in his room.
During the night, the monster was fully buried and a cave far away, was a person with anger on his mind. He was missing his left arm and was bleeding from the top of his head, neck, and legs. "Those kids... Those damned kids. I'll show them... I've got just the plan too. I just need some time. Still hold all the power... Time to play defence. And with enough brain games... Their group will fall apart, and Oscar is going to fall over that big ego of his... And when he does, it's over." The character started to chuckle to himself. Then it became laughter, turning more and more maniacal. Outside the cave, was a small army of no more than 30 people. They looked decayed or withered down. Like a gust of wind could knock them over, yet they all stood strong...
Oscar woke up in a hospital bed. He looked around the room to see the basics of a hospital room. Uncomfortable looking chair. Small tv mounted in a corner of a wall. Decent nightstand that held remotes and plates with needles on top. A large robotic woman was at the foot of the bed, staring at the door. Her arms were the size of Oscars neck. The top and bottom of her left eye had missing plates of metal. Presumably slashed away. Her right eye was darker and less colorful that the left one. She turned to look at Oscar and her eye blinked from dim to bright twice, before dimming down again. She walked up to the head of the bed and crouched down to Oscars face. "Hello Oscar. Don't worry. The mayor sent me to keep watch over you. How are you feeling?" Oscar sat up and examined her carefully. "So. What are you exactly? You don't seem to have anything to fight with." "I am NX-562. A defence type seeker. I am the last make of my design, but a veteran in hand to hand combat and improvisation on the battle field. You may call me Nexus." Oscar pulled himself out of the bed and stretched. Nexus tried to make Oscar sit back down. As soon as she laid her hand on his shoulder, Oscar drew his pistol and aimed it in her chest. "Let me stand. I'm fine now that I've had rest, and I want to get back to my friends." Nexus' left eye scanned the pistol quickly. "Hm. Nice handgun. High cal revolver. Seems to be able to reload itself, and even has a hair trigger. Seems to mimic something of a Smith and Wesson. You don't know the full capabilities of your gun. Do you? You only know how to point and shoot, but I could give you a few pointers." She let go of Oscars shoulder and walked to the door. "You have been unconscious for three days. I recommend you coming with me to get food before returning to your home." Oscar put on new clothes, cleaned himself up, and made his way out of the hospital. From there, Nexus drove him and Tippy to a restaurant to get some ramen.
After he made it back home, everyone caught Oscar up on current events. The beast disappeared, they got to have the house for free, Zane made furniture and Zuko got supplies to cozy up the house. It turns out, that Nexus also was hired by the mayor to act as body guard. From now on, the group will have a defensive member on their team. Everyone will protect the city and its' people from the dangers of the world, or evil they may come across. In the next 7 years, they become more recognized and popular throughout the city. Oscar better controlled his powers and became fairly good at boxing before developing his own fighting style. Zuko mastered his most of his spells and grew closer closer with Eleanor, which allowed him to unlock more secrets of the universe. Zane discovered 2 new elements that he used to increase the capabilities of his gadgets and upgraded his ring into a watch. Doing so allowed him to have a wider range of materialization. He left after a few months to go back to his dimension. There, he learned that he can manipulate the elements without gadgets. It began with water and ice, and later expanded to fire as well. Tippy learned hand to hand and sword fighting. Afterwards, she entered many competitions and won 2 annual sword fighting tournaments. Nexus continued to live with everyone and offered protection to anyone who needed it. Whether in the streets or newcomers to Dallo, the citizens knew they were safe. The monster hasn't returned since and the army of undead have only been growing with Pollux nowhere to be found...