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Post by Zhiel on Nov 19, 2009 12:27:40 GMT -4
Corruption... The governors of the city continues to strike deals with the criminal underworld, in return for "favors" they make sure their operations can be run smoothly and without interference. Decay... Muggings, robberies, murders. Every day and sometimes even in bright daylight. Though kept just out of sight of the common man, the trash littered the street, and problems are made out to be far smaller than they truly are. The city had truly declined since Vigilante had disappeared, and though the rumors of why were many, most believed he had finally been killed. Of course, these were all ancient news, barely anyone knew who "Vigilante" was anymore, fewer cared about some fabled urban legend, his example had long been lost and forgotten. However the man who had once been the cities secret protector was far from dead, however age had taken it's toll on the man and he now spent his days with his adopted daughter. Though even there things were not as they seemed, for he had not only taught her the essentials of a "high-class citizen" as most would call it, but had also prepared her for taking over the 'mantle' of the protector. In ways he would have preferred it if she lived a more peaceful life, but he was not a man who fooled himself with words and knew that the city needed a new Vigilante, now perhaps more than ever. He knew she was ready, he had trained her himself for the last nine years and with her unique 'talent' she had the possibility to become greater than he ever was. True she was not quite as smart as him, but she was still highly intelligent and a quick thinker, all she needed now was experience... What worried him though was the rumors of a new 'syndicate' on the streets, one causing turmoil among the four established crime families and threatening to break the deadlock they were now in, something which could have horrifying results for the city if it got out of hand. It was the group itself that had him concerned though, for their actions did not seem logical as a all-out war between the crime families would only be destructive and accomplish nothing but chaos. And then there was the issue of the break-ins at several research facilities throughout the city, though the media and police claimed it was the Mob, he knew better than to trust them and had so done his own research. Yet there was very little information to be found, but all of it pointed him in one familiar direction... Currently the man once known as Vigilante, James MacNeil, sat in his high-backed leather chair as he was rapidly typing in data into his personal super computer, while simultaneously looking up information. He was now in a secret basement level under the MacNeil Mannor, located in one of the cities Villa districts. It was here that he had made his equipment, where he had done his planning and where he now stored all of his more 'personal' belongings. He paused in his work as he heard the familiar sound of light steps upon the metal plates that made up the floor, and walls, of the shelter-like basement. He did not need to turn around to know that it was his daughter who had arrived and she knew him well enough that he was not a man who exchanged unnecessary pleasantries. "You called father?" Michelle asked with her serene but serious voice. From the way she was dressed it was clear to James, who saw her reflection in the computer screen, that she had arrived from the company just recently. She was dressed in her typical work attire, a white formal shirt over which she wore a black cloth vest which she wore unbuttoned, clearly showing the black and gray tie hanging over her chest. Over her legs she wore a simple yet elegant black skirt which reached to just above her knees, while wearing a pair of black leather 'boots' with high heels, held together with strings from the feet themselves up to where the boots ended shortly under the knees. Her golden yellow hair was tied up in a bun behind her head, and she wore a pair of black rimmed glasses, along with black leather gloves on her hands. Under her arm she held a number of papers related to the company and it's business. "Yes. I think it's time." He said simply, though slightly hesitant out of fear of losing her, he knew she shared his passion for justice and keeping her back would accomplish nothing. Eventually she would probably seek to do things on her own, and if that was the case it would be safer to let her do it herself, while providing aid wherever necessary. He just hoped it would be enough... With how far the city had fallen, perhaps a 'hero' was not enough... “There was a time when a few brave souls stood up against the tyranny of this world. They were changing things and the world was becoming better for it. The people, they were following, they might not have known it all but they knew the tides of change. The good tides were blowing. But then… Then the brave souls got old. And nobody was willing to pick up the mantle. The new generation doesn’t care; few are willing to face the oppression that mounts against us. Fewer still have the skill to do so effectively. I try to continue my age-old fight. But I fear for the future.”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Nov 19, 2009 12:51:11 GMT -4
Zachary stared out the tram window as the world passing him by. It was a perfect metaphor for his life really, passing him by until his destined end. He wasn’t one to usually think like that, but when you had just been told you were going to die half an hour earlier, well you tended to think your existence over no matter your outlook. He had been informed just a bit before of the critical nature of a disease he never saw coming, he wasn’t even thirty and he had always been in good health so to find that he had cancer through virtually the entirety of his body was nothing short of utter shock. After the usual denial and trying to discover options it had become quickly obvious that there were none, he didn’t have the money for treatment and few people in this city actually had quality insurance. The doctor had pretty much told him he had a year and half and that he should go home to die. Eventually he had relented and done just that, getting on the tramway home.
Now he found himself watching the tall downtown buildings as they whipped by and headed toward the more congested uptown slum areas. But he wasn’t really observing the world around him, his thoughts were turned inward. He was thinking of all those times he could have done something with his life but didn’t, or all those things he wished he could have gone back and changed. He wished he could have gone back and saved his father and sister, a silly and impossible dream he knew but one he wished for nonetheless. He wondered if he could have become something if he had just pushed a little harder after college, shopped around for a proper job that would pay him his worth instead of where he found himself. It was all pointless of course, but his mind didn’t have many other places to wander.
As the tram began to slow to one of its many stops along the long route home these were the thoughts on Zach’s mind. He paid little attention as the doors opened and people began filtering in and out, merely scanning the crowd instinctively. It was then with some confusion that he viewed the scene in the car ahead of them as his brain tried to comprehend what he was seeing. By the time he realized what was about to happen it was already upon them, the doors started closing and at the last moment two individuals came darting through sporting facemasks and pistols. Several shots were fired off into the ceiling both in this car and the front and back cars by what were certainly similar hijackers. As the shots went off the semi-packed car was filled with the screaming of citizens as many of them hunkered low.
“This is a robbery, everyone get on the ground and toss any valuables you have on you to the center of the aisle! Everybody cooperates and we’ll be gone soon as you know it!” One of the men yelled out.
Chaos reigned supreme but most people quickly realized who was in control here and did as they were told. The majority of them fell to the ground and a plethora of wallets, jewelry and other goods were tossed into the center row. Zach who was almost at the very back of the second car just sat in his seat, almost as if in a trance. He couldn’t explain it, he was aware enough to see what was happening and know what he needed to do but he just didn’t have the desire to do it. It was as if he didn’t care, he was actually spending the time searching for the answer as to why as the criminals began collecting the fallen goods into bags when he heard one shout out.
“Hey you! Didn’t you hear me?”
At first Zach thought they had finally spotted him but when he looked he saw one of them pointing his gun at an elderly man. Behind the man was a girl who was obviously pleading with the old guy to just do as they said but he was obviously having none of that. He was standing defiantly in front of the criminal and Zach was struck by the similarity of the scenario to how his own father had died. He had loathed the criminal element since that day but he had always figured there was little he could do against them, yet as he watched he was not filled with the mixture of fear and anger he usually was. Just anger. And then the inevitable occurred as the criminal pulled the trigger and it was no warning shot, the elderly man slumped to the floor with a large hole in his head and the girl fell to it after him screaming. That was when Zach had his answer, what this feeling was.
He wasn’t afraid to die any longer, his days were already numbered. And these people, these people were just pissing him off.
“Now see people! That’s why you should listen!” The criminal said standing over the old mans corpse and yelling so he could be heard over the young girls screaming, “So everybody jus- wha?”
He stopped abruptly as if he wasn’t sure what had just happened and he looked down at his hand that was no longer holding a gun. He quickly looked up at the toned man before him that had just swiped the gun straight from him and instinctively tossed a punch at the aggressor. Zach was on automatic, all he could think about was how much he hated people like this and how he couldn’t bear to see another person wind up like his father and sister. He grasped the mans punch in a basic lock but it was more than enough to stop the untrained thug, he applied a slight amount of pressure and the mans arm snapped halfway up the forearm with sickening volume followed by an understandable scream as he crumpled to the floor.
By this point the other man in the car had caught on and raised his gun at Zach letting off one shot that went high. Zach subconsciously looked down at the gun in his hand, he had never used a gun before, he had certainly never used a gun on anyone before and moreover he hadn’t even contemplated using one to kill before. Yet as he looked down at it he saw little more than a clump of metal designed for two purposes, either threatening life, or saving it. He looked up at the man who was firing on him and realized that he fully intended to take his life and possibly others, it was only Zach who could use it to save anyone right now.
He brought the gun up and fingered the trigger, he paused for only a moment before he squeezed three times, the criminal did the same. Each of the criminals bullets missed, Zachs did not, one went wide, one scraped the mans cheek but the third hit him squarely in the neck. The masked man abruptly dropped his weapon and started clutching at his throat while making gurgling sounds before he finally slammed face forward to the floor and began bleeding out, still and motionless. Zach heard intense grunting and looked down in time to see his previously dropped assailant going for his fallen comrades gun with his one good arm, he grasped it and flipped around on Zach. Zach looked down on him with both despair and anger and then held his gun down on the man as well. He took the first shot and at this range had no trouble hitting the man squarely in the forehead before he could let a shot off.
He might have stared down at him for a while, contemplating what he had just done had yelling from both the forward and backward cars not sounded out. He looked up to see two men coming from the front car and leveling their weapons at him, somehow he didn’t need to be told the same was happening behind. He and several others in the car yelled out for everyone to get down as he crouched down and to the side behind one of the seats and shots were fired out above. They continued for a second or two until they realized their target wasn’t there anymore but the sound of someone yelling out proved someone had been hit.
“You idiot!” One man yelled, “The key is shooting the ENEMY not US!”
Several arguments later and it became apparent that one of the criminals had shot one of the others in the crossfire. Zach utilized the short period they were bickering amongst themselves to peek out around the corner toward the back of the car. He saw one man on the ground writhing in pain and holding his shoulder and another making an annoyed gesture toward the men in the front. He wished he could have gotten a better look at the front but he knew if he wasted too much time they would realize he was watching them. So, he tossed himself out from cover, held his gun up toward the back and started firing. The man in the back tried to bring his gun up but only managed to shoot the floor several times as Zach clipped his shoulder and then put three bullets in his chest. Though it might have seemed like he was good at this, it was in fact only because they were in such close quarters with only a few feet separating them.
Zach turned on the front men who were retreating to the front car and leveled his gun. He pulled the trigger when he thought he had lined them up, and…nothing. An ominous click warned that he was out of bullets, thankfully filled with adrenaline and quick wits he remembered the second man he had shot still had a weapon and lunged for it as a flurry of bullets were unleashed from the first car. Luckily despite what had seemed like a good plan on the criminals parts they did not in fact seem to be well trained and their aim and collectedness was no better than his own. He pulled the gun up off the ground and charged toward the front car, as it seemed both criminals had gone to reload at the same time, or they were just out of bullets, one or the other.
Zach kicked the separating door open from its half-closed position and brought his gun up. One man was still close trying to jam a cartridge into his pistol; the other was running for the front of the train. There were just as many civilians here but like those behind in his own car they were cowering on the floor and weren’t in great danger as long as he kept his target high. Zach leveled on the first man and squeezed off four shots before he made a critical hit that took the man down but he had not been in any real danger, the man never having a chance to reload. He took off toward the front where the last man was, ready for him to pop out and start shooting but was surprised when instead he came out holding a gun to the tram conductors head.
“Hey-hey now!” the criminal said in an excited voice, “Everyone wants to get out of here alive so why don’t you just put the gun down and I’ll be on my way?!!”
Zach looked at the man and for the first time he was unsure of what to do though he did not yet put his gun down. Until now it had just been his own life in danger and that of the criminals who in his mind had given up their claim to life when they had chosen to perpetrate a crime. But he wasn’t sure how to deal with someone else, someone put in the middle, that was until his brain started working. He recalled how both of the men had stopped firing on him before and how he had found the other man trying to reload as he came in. Would this man have gone running if he had been able to shoot at Zach as he came through? He tried to look at the gun to confirm this but with his paltry knowledge of guns he couldn’t make the assessment. Regardless he knew that if he gave up now this man would just kill him and likely a few others before making off with the stolen goods in the process, and that he couldn’t allow.
Slowly bending down he deposited his weapon on the floor, but before the other man had a chance to be happy about this he went flying at the criminal and his hostage like a linebacker. His belief that the gun was empty seemed to be confirmed by the fact that the man could do little but curse as he came at him and a moment later all three went flying to the ground. The ensuing scuffle was short, the criminal being buried under two people could do nothing but squirm before Zach re-righted himself, got the conductor off of him and ripped the man off the ground.
He was trying to figure out how to subdue him when the criminal finally pulling himself together delivered a sharp kick to Zachs abdomen. Fighting instinct took over and he smashed his adversary into the closest thing he could find, in this case a window. The sound and air from the speed of the tram came rushing inside and drowned everything else out as the glass shattered. Zach had merely intended to knock the man into submission but as the man passed a short distance through the window he got hooked on one of the many things passing by the tram and Zach could not hold on, watching in disbelief as his prey was sucked out of the window and disappeared into the night. He wasn’t sure but he doubted the man could survive the force of such an impact. He stood watching the window for several moments thinking about what he had just done before he was shocked out of it by a scream.
He wheeled around to find the criminal who had been shot by one of his comrades back on his feet and aiming at him from the other end of the front car. Even if the man had poor aim he still had a gun and Zach did not, he looked down at the gun he had relinquished just a moment before but it was a good ten feet away. His eyes traveled frantically looking for an answer as bullets began to fly from the criminals’ gun, at the last moment he spotted his answer. He jumped and reached out for a bar over the nearest doorway and finally after what seemed like an eon long flight grasped it in his hand and pulled down. The trams emergency breaks kicked in and screams came from all over as people were thrown from their seats by the jarring impact, the criminal received the worst of it though as he went flying down half the car before slamming his head into a metal pole. By the time the tram had come to a full rest Zach didn’t even need to check whether the man would be getting up or not as the giant blood pool forming around his head could attest to the effectiveness of metal poles to the head at high speeds.
Zach got to his feet and stepped forward in a daze, surveying the damage he had done. In the space of a minute and half he had just broke the system more than he had in the entirety of his life. He couldn’t even decide what to do next and yet as passengers on the car began to collect themselves and realize they were no longer in danger he acted. He turned to the door that he was luckily right at, pulled the release switch and opened them out to a small drop to a grassy park like hill that quickly transformed into Brightmoores endless cityscape. He turned once more to look at the nearest dead criminal he had put down before he jumped to the ground below and then quickly disappeared down one of the many alleys.
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Post by kensei on Dec 13, 2009 23:49:53 GMT -4
Jason smiled as he walked down the streets of Brightmoore. Today was a good day in his mind, tomorrow was a big and fancy car show and it was just his luck that some of the guys where getting in early. And in his world this meant a good chance to pay up on his debt. That’s when he heard the unmistakable sound of Audi R8, with the new 525 Hp V10. “Beautiful.” He whispered as he watched it drive by, and park.
His eyes lit up like stars as he walked over to it. A quite whistle escaped his pursed lips as he walked over to the man. The man twirled his keys before dropping them into his overcoat pocket. “Damn this is gonna take a bit of force.” He whispered as he slammed into the man, he put his hand right under his coat and pushed up popping the keys out. He fell to the ground and held them in his hand, before turning around, still holding the keys. “I am so sorry sir. That was entirely fault. Here you dropped these.” The man gave the typical, yeah F off response as he took his keys and left. Jason turned around and grinned as a key formed in his hand. “Yeah you just leave.” He whispered as he walked around the corner.
He placed his back against the building and smiled as he waited. One, two, three, four, five, six. He thought to himself as he continued counting off seconds. He walked back around and slid the key into the door. Another smile crept across his face as he heard the delightful clicking sound of the car door. He got in and turned the car on, revving it once just for the thrill of the engine. He closed the door and locked it before adjusting the seat to fit him. “Lets go baby.” He pushed the clutch in, dropped it into first and took off. “Woohoo!” He shouted as he rolled the windows down.
This is how his world was, there where no rules, no laws. He took what he wanted and he wanted it all. And who could blame him? He grew up living a life where you lived paycheck to paycheck, and he swore that he would never struggle like that. He learned the way of the con, and was blessed with the gift to copy objects. Sue him for using it.
After a nice joy ride that lasted around twenty minutes he pulled into a run down garage. He smiled as he got out and waved to a younger Mexican man, who looked to be in his late teens early twenties. “Hey José, I brought you something nice.” The man was obviously a mechanic, even had the red towel on his shoulder. He placed his hands on the hood and smiled. “Wow Jason, for a while I thought you only stole Junkers.” Jason rolled his eyes and leaned against a wall. “So what will you give me for it?” He whistled and shook his head. “Forty.” Jason stood up and looked at him. “Forty? Are you insane? This car is easily worth triple that!” José slammed his hand against a tool box. “Yes, that’s to a dealer or something, AND NOT STOLEN! I gotta keep it for a few months so the heat comes down, then I gotta find a buyer, and hes going to want it for less, not to mention I need a profit in this Jason. I cant just hand it over next day. This is costly for me Jason, your not my only expenses!” Jason shook his hand at him. “Alright, alright! Forty it is.” José smiled and pulled out Forty Grand in cash. “That’s what I thought. Now get out, your scaring away my other customers, you look like a mother fuckin FBI agent..” Jason shook his head and walked out. “See ya later José.” Forty grand, half in one day. He thought to himself as he got in a old, beat up, rust bucket, Buick.
That’s how it was every day for Jason, just like the line out of Pirates of the Caribbean. “Take all you can, give nothing back!” And he planned to do just that.
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Post by Zhiel on Dec 16, 2009 16:30:57 GMT -4
Night had descended upon Brightmoore, and with it came all the criminal elements the cities government tried to hide from its populace. While it wasn't unusual with crimes during the day, it was never more than a few muggings or a food-stand robbery. No, it was during the night which the truly grim crimes took place as the larger elements, the true rulers of the city began their own acts. That's what Michelle was watching for right now, for through Vigilante's contacts and information sources, they were certain that a big deal was about to come down tonight between the Mob and a larger smuggling ring from Europe. The contents of the deal was uncertain as the smugglers were known for being capable of delivering anything given the right price, but given the recent troubles of the Mob and the other three syndicates that rule the city the most likely scenario was of course weapons...
Sitting atop a tower-like antennae structure near the cities main warehouse district was Michelle, as she scouted the streets below using a pair of small binoculars with nightvision capabilities, enabling her to see several streets away without any real trouble. According to their information the deal was going to come down tonight, and though details had been sketchy due to the Mob fearing interference and having constantly changed their deal location, but from this spot she would be able to survey most of the warehouses in this area and as the Mob more or less owned the streets in this part of the city, it was the most likely place.
However doubt started to creep up on the young woman as she diligently remained in position and continued her search, as the first hour passed with no cars or trucks entering the area and stopping. ["It is unusual for these kinds of people to be late... But it is possible my informant was wrong. In any case, be careful."] James spoke through her ear-piece. Pressing her pointy finger at it to activate her own 'mic' she responded. "Yes, V." As the possibility of someone tapping their radio frequency existed, it was better to not use their names, and in response to that Michelle had taken to calling her father 'V' after his alias Vigilante, and though he did not object to it, she had the feeling he would have preferred something else. Most would have interpreted his "be careful" line as not trusting her enough, but she knew him well enough to know that he was suspecting something foul when the information he had acquired seemed incorrect.
However just a few minutes later, a large truck drove into the district just below her, stopping in-front of the warehouse they had suspected to be the location of the deal itself. With swiftness Michelle tightened her scarf around her face before she put the binoculars away and swung over the railing of the scaffold-like construction and onto the ladder which was just a bit to the side. Grabbing ahold of the sides of it Michelle slid down the steel surface in a matter of seconds and the moment her feet touched the ground she was already heading toward the enge of the building she was on, ducking low as she approached it. By now she could clearly see how the truck had stopped completely and a few men in black clothes had stepped out, some staying near the front, seemingly scouting their surroundings, while two others went toward the back of the truck. Right now, she could clearly see how two other vehicles, seemingly a car and a van, was approaching from the opposite direction. Pressing her ear-piece again Michelle reported the situation to James, before she shifted her gaze to the warehouse roof and with force of will transported herself near-instantly to the top of the warehouse.
It took just a glance to see what was going on down below, as a few of the finely dressed men who had just arrived walked up to the ones standing by the front of the truck, carrying a suitcase with them, while three others walked into the warehouse itself, most likely to man some form of transportation vehicles inside. Deciding to act on this Michelle lightly stepped over to one of the windows lining the roof, testing it to see if it was locked and after finding it was, took out a glass-cutter which she used to remove the entire window, catching it just as it was about to fall and placing it beside her on the roof. Now with a way inside the girl nimbly dropped down the window, landing with a silent thud on a platform which extended from the wall and with a meter high railing, encircled the entire warehouse. There was very little to take note of inside the warehouse however, a few shelves here and there and some boxes lining the walls. The only thing which stood out due to importance, was the two larger transport vans near the opposite wall, being in an area clearly designed for interior loading or unloading.
One of the men was already by one of the vans, while the second one looked like he was waiting for the rest of them, while the third was walking toward the other end of the warehouse where one of many fork-lifts were parked. Seeing it as her opportunity Michelle ran silently across the platform until she came up beside the fork-lifts, and then waited until the man had sat down in one before she rolled over the railing and once more landed silently on the concrete floor just a few meters behind him. Just a moment after the man turned the keys on the machine his head hit the steel frame in-front of him, instantly passing out. The impact had made a distinct sound, but the noise from the engine had masked most of it, but even so Michelle hurriedly dragged the man out of the seat and hid his body in the shadow of a larger fork-lift, before she went behind a shelf that stood nearby and hid behind it, peeking out through a gap. It did not take long before the second man figured something was wrong, and with a few words to the first guy was walking toward the fork-lifts himself, when he saw the started but unmanned fork-lift, he seemed to suspect something was wrong but before he could act upon his suspicions a hand grabbed ahold of him, silencing his scream, before another grabbed him under an arm and he was thrown over Michelle's shoulder and hit the concrete face-first.
Taking a moment to make sure if the man was unconscious or not, Michelle also used it to listen whether or not the first man had suspected anything yet, though she could not hear anything from here. Being confident this man would not stand for a good while Michelle began to dash behind the fork-lifts and around the shelves and boxes lining the walls, until she came behind the van at the very end, where she began to take slower and more cautious steps until she came upon the first van. With a quick peek, it became obvious the man was in actuality already sitting in it, and was just waiting boredly for the other two finish. Thus he was not ready at all when Michelle gave him a strong kick to the face from having swung around the top of the van, gliding past the dazed man, before she came to a stop on the second seat, and with a quick motion slammed the mans head into the steering wheel. A few seconds later Michelle was once again on the roof of the warehouse, scouting the situation outside.
It appeared as though they were still arguing details regarding the deal, and the dealers themselves were still working on getting the stuff inside the truck ready to be moved it seemed, so the obvious target here would be them. Waiting for the right moment when no one was looking, Michelle suddenly appeared upon the back of the truck and just as the black clothed men were about to go inside again, she jumped down while simultaneously drawing her twin-swords and in one quick motion hit them at the back of their necks with the hilts, knocking both to the ground with a groan. It was only now she noticed there had been a third man however, who had been just about to exit the truck and was standing a mere five meters from Michelle. The man yelled out in surprise as he backed off a few feet, while reaching for a gun inside his clothes, but just as he got it out a metal object collided with it and it was forced out of his hand, as the triangular 'shuriken' Michelle had thrown fell to the ground along with the gun. The man had no time to do much else however, as Michelle burst forward with great speed as she ducked low right as she reached him and with a quick spin kicked the man off his feet before she rolled up on her own and just a moment later hit the man on his neck with the hilt of one of the blades.
Though she were expecting it now, Michelle felt panic run through her as she heard the yells from outside. And with great speed Michelle ran toward the exit of the truck, as she jumped up and grabbed the edge and with the momentum she had built up, easily tumbled up on it, where she crawled about a meter before laying flat on it. Due to the size of the truck, and her small frame, it would be hard for them to see her from the ground. However it appeared that the dealers were suspecting foul-play from the Mob, as the screaming she heard was not coming closer but was in the same location as before. Halfly standing up Michelle moved as quickly as she could toward the opposite end, until she saw the top of one of their heads, whereupon she ducked down again and crept closer until she could see what was going on. It appeared as if there was a bit of a stand-off between the two groups now. Michelle could most likely just wait this out, and let them kill themselves, but as one of her rules was to never let someone die needlessly, she had to stop this if possible. And she had an idea.
The lamppost lighting the area suddenly blacked out with the sound of glass shattering, this immediately caught the groups attention and before they could act again a number of triangular objects came flying through the air, some hitting the guns the men were holding, others hitting the men in their hands or legs. Then just a short moment longer Michelle appeared in-front of the two Mob members who were still holding onto their guns and with a quick swipe cut off the barrels of the weapons before she delivered two quick kicks to their faces. Though it might have appeared so for the men here, she had not teleported but rather made use of their temporary blindness due to the sudden darkness, and had simply jumped from the truck itself. The dealers realized that whatever was going on was probably beyond them, and so ran into the truck and seemed about to run away, however the Mob members thought differently as the two remaining ones rushed at Michelle who had re-sheathed her swords. Though these men were a lot more experienced in combat than the ones Zach had fought, they were not much more than street thugs in hand-to-hand combat and so were easy for Michelle to outmaneuver and it wasn't long before they lay beaten on the ground. Looking over the situation she turned around and with a huff pressed her ear-piece again. "Sorry, it appears I let the dealers escape with the weapons..." She said in a apologizing voice, though it appeared she was more dissatisfied with herself than anything else.
["Don't worry about it, you broke up the deal and that's the most important thing. I've contacted a few reliable officers who should be on their way there as we speak, however... There is something I think you should see..."] James said, though she could not read anything from the tone of his voice, something which proved to her that he was either worried or frustrated about something.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Dec 17, 2009 14:49:52 GMT -4
Zach had made his way home in a terrible stupor, his mind flailing blindly for something familiar and relevant in this situation to hold onto. But there wasn’t anything, Zach had just killed several men, he knew even if one or two of them lived at least two were quite dead and this was beyond him. Thus he was left grasping at straws, one half of his mind had already rationalized his actions, the realistic side and the one full of courage and a certain sort of moral vengeance. After all they weren’t simple thieves, they would have killed people, they HAD killed people. But the other side, the introverted side, the side like the rest of humanity wanted to crawl into a corner and hide until all the bad things went away. He didn’t know if this would come back to get him, whether he could forgive himself or where he went from here…all he knew was that he needed to get home, it was the only objective he could formulate in his mind.
As he walked home he passed through several streets of relative safety but soon found himself heading further and further into the ghetto, home sweet home. Nobody would have dared walk these streets alone if they were sane, but Zach stuck in his own little world hardly classified as sane at the moment. Thankfully for him he did NOT look like the man with whom you should fuck, few street thieves would have tried to take him on when there were easier looking targets out. Had he not been in street clothes he could easily pass for a bouncer or high-profile thug given his construction workers build and relatively minimalistic style choices. More prepared muggers might have given him a shot but so far they either were not out or sheer luck was swinging him around them.
The city streets went blaring by, even as a police car went flying past he didn’t respond, maybe he even wanted to be caught? Either way it seemed like both an eternity and a flash when his eyes finally fell upon the entrance to his apartment and wandered lazily up the ten-story structure. It looked like something out of a bad detective movie, worn down and grimy with faint orange light shining through some of the windows and a slight tilt as if it’s foundation might give away causing it to slam into one of its neighboring buildings at any time, though it had stood for many years in this fashion. Yet for all its issues it was home and the glimpse of a welcoming sight brought Zach to his senses slightly, he knew once he was inside he would be able to think things through.
Just as he was walking up to the front door he looked to his side, an alley next to the building. There he saw a man with a jacket pulling packets from inside and holding them out to jittering husks of men standing before him, junkies and from what conversation he caught the man was working them over to get more money out of them than they had. Zach shook his head and was about to start walking again when he heard a scream and turned to look across the seat, witnessing a man running off into the shadows as a group of women pointed and called out after the purse-snatcher to no avail. Zach grimaced; it was strange how oblivious one could be to all the evils going on around them if they allowed themselves to be. He sighed as he pushed the doors open and walked into the building, behind him police sirens could be heard in the distance, chasing more darkness, darkness that might very likely go unpunished.
He made his way to the elevator and hit the switch; the dirty lobby and hallways were empty and quiet. After a minute of waiting he realized the elevator was broken, which was all too common in this place really and with a grunt began his jog up seven flights of stairs to the eighth-floor. Once there he found that though the halls were equally as dirty as below they were far more noisy, it was a regular occurrence for the wannabe gangbangers across the hall to blast their profanity-strewn spoken word music at max volume during all times of the day. It annoyed Zach to great ends but being polite he had never said anything and right now it didn’t even register as he walked down the hall, fished a key out of his pocket and walked into his room.
It was what you would have expected, relatively Spartan aside from the necessities of life. A bed with ruffled and cheap sheets that needed to be made-up, a coffee table with a variety of magazines and an old laptop sitting on top, a closet likely filled with common-place clothes and a kitchen area with a small stove, refrigerator and several cupboards. One other item was a relatively expensive 32-inch screen TV screwed into the wall opposite the bed; one of the few luxuries Zach had allowed himself and which was currently on the news. Zach wandered over to the kitchen and retrieved a soda from within and began downing it in a single long gulp, whereupon he pulled out another.
He was ready to do the same with it when he heard the words “gun battle” and “tram” from the TV and froze. For a moment he didn’t know how to react and then instinctively he was across the room faster than even he could have dreamed possible standing in front of the TV, eyes wide with anticipation. On the screen several cameramen from various cable channels were vying for views into a very familiar tramcar while reporters tried to get comments out of passing investigators and deputies pushed them back, keeping them from contaminating the crime scene. From Zach’s memory of the body placement it seemed the scene had already been cleaned, at least of corpses but a few shots still caught fractured glass on the ground and the broken window from which it had come. Finally a female reporter with unnaturally perfect hair appeared in the center of the screen and began speaking.
“Once again here at 9:05PM we are getting little new information out of the police on this riveting news story but we have been able to secure statements from several of the witnesses to tonight’s shootout. Here is what some of them had to say…”
The video switched to a young white man, it was clear from how it was edited that the video was pre-recorded, “That ba*bleep* could have gotten us all killed! He risked all of our lives to kill some thugs, was probably one himself! More of this god*bleep* gang s*bleep*!”
The screen flickered again showing a young black man, he looked something of the wannabe gangers across the hall, “Nigga was the got*bleep* MAN! Took it to them white posers be up in here trying to kill us all, that’s how you stick it to them man! Saved us all, go and given me *bleep* to get in someones grill the next time they step. YAH!”
To the first response Zach simply kept his hand over his mouth while watching, to the second he almost managed a moment of sarcastic incredulousness but inside his mind was blank, the answers he had hoped for weren’t coming. Regardless of how pointless the broadcast was proving he simply couldn’t tear his eyes away, little as it was doing for his decision making process. That’s when the picture flickered again and a young girl who was actively crying appeared, Zach was enthralled instantly and he knew why, she favored his sister.
“Th…those evil…evil men. My…my sister who has already gone with the police…she…” she broke down sobbing for a full twenty seconds before she wrested enough control to continue, “They ki…they…they killed our grandfather right in front of her. And…THEY GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM!!!” she was suddenly full of rage, “THEY DID AND I DON’T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS!!! It was the right thing to do, IT WAS!!! If we can’t rely on the law to protect us then d*bleep* it we have to protect ourselves. Sir, if you’re out there, th-”
They cut the view short, maybe they didn’t want someone thanking a vigilante put on TV though through chance poor editing it was out anyhow. Back in his apartment Zach had his hands over his face and was slowly backing up from the screen, it switched back to a picture of the train and in his mind Zach flashbacked to one of the gunmen shooting at him prompting him to fall back on to his bed with a yelp. He didn’t get back up and instead began growling to himself, shaking his head back and forth slightly as his eyes watered. He thought about what had just happened, the men he had killed, the grand-daughter of the man crying on the TV, his sister, his father, everything that made him-him, he thought about his visit to the doctors office which now felt as if it had occurred years ago…he thought about how he was going to die. He pulled his hands away from his face and stopped moving, staring at the ceiling for several moments before speaking aloud to himself.
“I’m going to die…?”
He said it as if he had just heard it for the first time, back in that office.
“I’m going to die.”
He said again but this time he seemed certain, like he had come to conclusion without denial in those few moments. He began giggling to himself slight.
“I’M GOING TO DIE!!!” he yelled and then began giggling wildly for a full minute before he finally flipped over on to his stomach and looked at a photo on the small table next to his bed, it was of his family including his father and sister.
He whispered quietly, “I’m going to die…and I won’t have done a damnable thing worth a lick of good. Couldn’t save my family, couldn’t even save that old man, haven’t ever done anything for someone if I wasn’t getting paid. And…I’m not alone, we’re all like that, nobody wants to help. What…what the fuck is wrong with the world? What the fuck is wrong with me?”
His mind flashed back to the girl on the TV and then to his sister, then back to the girl.
“She’s right, it was the right thing to do. No sense in beating myself up, those men killed someone. They made their choice when they got on that tram with intent to kill and commit crime. If to them all other lives there were void then they should have been prepared for their own to be as well…its as simple as that. The law couldn’t be trusted to get the job done; we all know it’s nearly as corrupt as this city is anyway. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do in a pure world but this place is hardly so black and white. But…where does that leave me now?”
He repositioned himself to sit on the bed and looked back at the TV, it seemed they were now repeating the story from the start.
“For those just tuning in, later this evening a tram bound for the Evergreen Mills area was accosted by five gunmen with intent for mass thievery of the innocents making their way home. However after the criminals entered the tram and began their siege, which included the death of one elderly man, they were apparently themselves faced down by what has now been confirmed by nearly five-dozen witnesses to be a single man. Though the police have not said much video from the tram apparently confirms this but the second assailant’s features were unfortunately never viewed straight on. Thanks to witness testimonial a composite sketch has been crafted however and was released ten minutes ago as seen here.”
An image appeared on the screen as Zach wringed his hands nervously. What appeared was indeed a rough approximation of his face but only if you knew it was him in the first place, it would never be enough for someone to pick him out on the street. The hair was far to long and the facial features slightly oriental oddly enough, far from his true self leading him to let out a sigh. Somehow he had gone in ten minutes from almost wanting to be captured to being relieved that they probably wouldn’t, some realist part of him supposed that was the natural progression of most peoples minds.
“He is said to be a tall man at over six feet with a large build. If you see or know this man you are asked to call the police’s tipster hotline immediately. That number is 1-800-SNI-TCHS.”
With the plug finished the woman continued.
“As more of this story develops we here at BCN “News at all hours” will continue to inform you of the newest and brightest highlights, here in Brightmoore. For now all we are left with is, unusually coordinated gang violence or misguided vigilantism?”
Zach was left staring at the screen as the story repeated in abended form shortly and then moved on to a local election for a new Hydraulic Managerial staff for the city. He was far beyond the TV now though and thinking to himself, something strange was brewing in Zach. He was having dreams now, not dreams of grandeur but dreams of setting things right, setting the world right, setting himself right. Far-flung dreams and yet, for some strange reason he knew even now that he was about to walk down a path from which there could be no return. With almost no more thought on the matter he jumped over the side of his bed, bent down and pulled a box out from below it removing the top. Inside were uncountable bills though he himself knew it was somewhere around four thousand dollars. He picked the box up and set it on his bed before walking over to the kitchen area and shuffling through several drawers before he retrieved a screwdriver and looked at it with a certain sort of a malice, as if the last of his inhibitions were about to be taken out on it. Slowly, his eyes looked back toward the TV as he moved to turn it off.
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Inside Larry’s Pawnshop the man at the counter grimaced as he once more heard someone outside calling out after getting on the receiving end of what must have been one mean jab. After several moments of silence the front door pushed open and a large man wearing FBI style sunglasses walked through dragging a box full of so much crap he already knew it was going to take at least an hour just to tag it all, oh well, more money for him. As for Zach, Zach wasn’t sure how he had managed to get all of this here under good circumstances, much less with every petty thief in the county area seeing him as a slow, expensive target. He had managed to beat a path to the pawnshop and looking back now it was probably good practice.
Looking around the store it was everything you could hope for in a pawnshop. Every form of anything you could find, lawn equipment, two-year-old canned food, electronics, hello kitty stuffed animals, knives under a glass top in front of the pawnsmen and a very not-so inconspicuous black shelf in the corner covered with a sheet. Zach hefted the crate filled with just about everything he had on to the counter and after a generic series of greetings the employee began to look through what he had brought. Most of the goods nickel and dimed there way up the payment ladder but the television went for an even 200…given he had paid almost a thousand for it in the first place but that was quite a while now and something deep inside told him he wouldn’t need it anymore.
All in all it came to a total of just under a thousand dollars, even as enthused as he currently was it was almost embarrassing that the accumulation of his life’s earnings came in to such a low amount. Regardless he accepted and then began looking to the walls, he had already looked them over and decided on what he probably needed but now he had to talk it out with the man. He haggled his way through several high-quality knives of varying sizes, a GPS that could be battery operated, nearly five dozen extendable handcuffs and an old Polaroid camera with attached film. Though he knew he would need a camera if he were to make this work this purchase was in fact to throw anyone off, make it appear as if it was something other than what it really was. He would bother with purchasing a better camera later, for now his plan seemed to have worked when the man (whom Zach had learned WAS Larry) spoke.
“Knives…handcuffs…and a camera… I don’t want to know what you’re up to do I?” He said half-heartedly.
“Probably not.” Zach deadpanned, then he pointed toward the black shelf, “Guns?”
The man looked around nervously, “Sir, selling guns in a pawnshop is illegal.”
“Uh-huh.” Zach returned, “What’s really illegal in Brightmoore?”
“Ehhh good point…” Larry said as he walked over to the shelf and after making sure that nobody was coming to the shop on a monitor that was evidently watching the outside of the shop he pulled the sheet down exposing countless weapons.
“I don’t suppose I’ll be needing licensing for these will I?” Zach said half-amused and half-annoyed at how deeply rooted violence was in the society to which he belonged.
The man paused, “Like you said sir, what’s really illegal in Brightmoore?”
They spent the next ten minutes bargaining over the gear, the man was far firmer on his prices here but Zach had the money to spend. In the end he wound up with two Smith and Wesson 908’s and a Remington 887 that while not armor-penetrating would certainly prove useful in heavy situations. It wasn’t that Zach planned to kill anyone, if he could he would like to bring them to justice but he was not going to get himself or a civilian killed for a criminal, as he had already decided, criminals had given up their right to safety when they chose to purport a crime. The last thing he bought was a police quality Kevlar vest, which he immediately threw on while putting the pistols in a backpack he had on his shoulder. When all was said and done he had managed to walk away with well over a thousand still left in pockets, not bad for an instinctive buying spree.
Once their transaction was complete Zach walked away and Larry seemed more than happy enough to be rid of him as he tossed the sheet back up over the gun rack. He exited the pawnshop and made sure he was out of Larry’s camera view before he pulled the backpack off. Opening it he retrieved a large black trench-coat with a high collar, he had bought it once long ago on impulse and never worn it after he had realized it was absolutely ridiculous…however it would serve him well now. He also retrieved a black bandana that he wrapped around his head quickly and then tossing the backpack over his shoulder once more he draped the coat over him and quickly found the Remington fit quite well in one of the coats “wings”. He pulled down on the sides of the coat a few times to make sure they were secure and then walked off down the street.
He got a few strange looks along the way but he didn’t return them and apparently if a big guy alone was enough to dissuade muggers a big guy who looked like he had just walked out of the Matrix was even more so. He used the time to think about what he had just done, he wasn’t sure where to start but he had already insured that his old life was gone now, if he chose to turn back now there would be nothing waiting for him. Of course why should he turn back? He was going to die and strangely that had awoken some vat of courage deep inside him rather than turn him into a bubbling mass of worries like it might many. He had long despised those that preyed on the week, those like the ones that killed his father and sister…it just seemed it had taken an unexpected nudge to force him to make a move.
He was in the middle of these thoughts as he passed an alleyway and heard a girl scream. His head snapped to the side and instantly spotted the trouble, which was how brazen today’s criminals were. A man had a young woman pinned against a wall and was already feeling her up and making his move. He had been so caught up in the moment that he almost jumped through the roof when a flash of light struck him and he turned toward where Zach was with a “WHA---?!!” but by that point he already had a face full of fist to deal with. His nose was broken instantly and most of his consciousness along with it, giving way to incoherent babbles.
Zach dragged him away from the girl who was still up against the wall looking around unsure of what had just happened. He retrieved one of the pairs of handcuffs he had just purchased and wrapped the mans arms around a light post before attaching the cuffs so that he couldn’t escape. He searched the attacker and located a cellphone which he pulled off and dialed ‘911’ and held it up to his ear. He looked at the camera and retrieved the photo, which was already processed to find that it had come out quite well. He hadn’t actually expected to use the camera so soon but it would do until he could locate something with better quality. On the other end of the phone a police operator picked up.
Zach spoke with a deeper voice, it was cliché but it was better than being recognized at some point in the future, “We’re at Adams and Westington. Someone’s been attacked, send help.”
He was hanging up as the operator responded, “Someone will be on their way shortly sir, pleas-”
He walked toward the girl who had moved away from the wall now and forward to watch him. She shirked back slightly but when he held his hand out with a picture and a key in it she looked and then took them though whether she understood or was just reacting was unknown. He spoke to her.
“If you remain here and provide a testimonial along with that evidence you can make sure a bastard like him never doesn’t get put back out on the street for a long time.” He nodded and then began walking off down into the darkness of the alleyway, he called out over his shoulder, “Good luck.”
As he made his way out the opposite side of a series of alleys he could hear as police sirens arrived where he had just been. He found that he had appeared in a nearby small park, which allowed him a view of several of the buildings around him as well as the larger Brightmoore downtown area with its impressive skyscrapers in the distance. As he took in the extremity of the task set before him he could almost feel as if his senses were touching the world and its people, the city spinning about him. All the evil and wrong that needed to be stopped, maybe he couldn’t do much but he knew he needed to try.
This life is going to end, but that doesn’t mean it has to be worthless. I’m tired of it being worthless. If this world can’t fight the evil that surrounds us then by god I’m going to. Maybe I’m overestimating myself, maybe I’m going to die…but I’m going to anyway. So I’m going to try, and not just for my father and sister, and not just for myself…everyone needs this, whether they admit it or not, and whether it sounds egotistical or not.
I’m going to do this.
And for the first target upon which the hammer of justice was going to be dropped he already had a target…ok it was less the hammer of justice and more an annoyed guy who had, had a long day. He WAS going to sleep one night without music about shooting “po-pos” and “banging hoes” playing in the background, oh yes he would.
Then he’d get on that hammer of justice thing tomorrow.
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Post by kensei on Dec 17, 2009 16:35:12 GMT -4
Jason stared into the night sky as his sat on a small carousel. It was obvious the park was just waiting to be torn down. The monkey ladders where completely destroyed, the swing set was almost non existent, and the “tree house” was completely rotten. And the carousel, covered in rust, and the little it moved came with an ear bleeding screech. He let his mind wander to a time far different from this. Flashes of children playing in the park, laughing and crying when they fell off and scraped there knees. There parents rushing over to there side, over reacting about every little thing. These weren’t memories to him, just his imagination wandering. He was sure it was like this at one point. “How did it get to this? How did this world get to this.” He whispered as flashes of all the muggings he had seen, but never stopped flashed threw his mind.
Placing his head into the palms of his hands he moved his feet across the ground slowly turning the off balance carousel. “Why am I thinking about this? I have everything I ever wanted. I can do anything thing I want. Why...” He said as he looked at the stars. “Why do we live? What sick pleasure do you get out of watching us scream?!” He yelled into the sky as he got up from the carousel. He grabbed a near by rock and chucked as high and far as he could. Raised a religious man, Jason still believed in God, but God to him seemed to fade away. “Savior? More like condemner.” He whispered as he walked away. He pulled out his keys and unlocked his newly acquired Aston Marton DB9. “Lets go home.” He whispered as he got in and looked on the passenger seat floor board. There his forty large in cash lay.
It was a quite drive back to his rather plush condo. His mind raced with question, one of which was. “Is what I’m doing really worth it?” He knew in the morning his answer would be yes, once he felt the rush of taking something again. But for now he would just squander in his own self pity, and lose of who he was. As he pulled into the valet parking lot and grabbed his bag with his money in it he smiled. He took the keys out and threw them to the driver. “Take good care of her.” The driver smiled and said. “Yes sir. Welcome home Mister James.” He smiled and said. “I’ve told you a thousand times. Call me Jesse.” The young man shook his head and said. “You have quite the name Jesse James.” Jason smiled and said. “Yes I do, yes I do.” He walked into the lobby, filled with ornate decorations and plush couches. Over head hung a large chandelier made of gold. All this and rent price of nearly twelve thousand a month.
As he walked into his Condo he smiled before turning on the lights and saying. “Home sweet home.” His eyes lifted from the floor as he took off his shoes and laid there eyes upon three guys, all with guns out. “What can I do for you today gentlemen?” He said slightly worried. “Petrovach wants his money mister ‘James.’ And he wants it now!” Jason lifted the bag and said. “Look I don’t have all the money yet. But here.” He said throwing the bag. “That’s forty thousand. Ill have the rest soon enough.” The man was obviously Russian. He walked over to him slowly and pulled out a knife. “For your sake, I hope so.” He sliced Jason across his cheek before kneeing him in the gut and throwing him to the ground. “Get it soon. Or else I might be slicing your throat instead of your cheek.” Jason was about to smart mouth off to him before his heavy boot contacted with his face, knocking Jason out.
Jason’s head swirled as he grabbed his cheek. The blood was dry, and his head was foggy. “How.” He whispered to himself, his body feeling like it was on a boat. He slowly made his way up, his vision like made everything look like white water that was rippling. “Damn that bastard.” He said as he put his hand on his wall and his vision came back to normal. HE shook his head and walked into his bathroom. It like the rest of this place was large and over done. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a few alcohol wipes. He grunted as he placed them on his cheek and started scrubbing the dry blood off of him. It was then, looking in the mirror he realized his suit was ruined. “Crap.” He said taking it off and throwing it to the ground.
In many ways he acted like a spoiled celebrity, but he never forgot his roots of struggling for everything and having nearly nothing. He just had the good life now, well other then owing money to the Russian mafia and having to steal everything for anything that is. But hey, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
He slipped out of his clothes before walking to his closet and pulling out a thick robe and throwing it over himself. He grabbed a remote and turned on his sixty inch plasma TV. “Once again here at 9:05PM we are getting little new information out of the police on this riveting news story but we have been able to secure statements from several of the witnesses to tonight’s shootout. Here is what some of them had to say…” He pulled made himself a slushy as he turned up the volume. He sat down in a chair and watched the news segment. “Bout time someone stands up to those bastards.” He said as it finished. He shook his head and said. “Why do people do things like that? Killing people in cold blood…”
He started to sip on his drink, completely blocking out the TV. Thousands of thoughts filled his head, some including. “IS what I do any different.” After a while he shook his head and turned the TV to a different channel. “Oh stargate.” He said turning on the SyFy channel and watching SG-1. “I only take from those who can afford it.. Im better then them.” He said to himself as he started to watch the already half over show.
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Post by Zhiel on Dec 19, 2009 18:36:12 GMT -4
OOC: Couldn't think of much more to do for this one and I didn't really have the muse for it this time around either, plus a few events which killed the muse for me recently... But I'm probably going to be able to respond sooner next time around. (And longer too, hopefully)
"Who is he?" Michelle asked her father while viewing the recorded news segment showing the subway train shootout. Though she was very anti-guns due to her past experience with them, she had to admit that whoever this guy was, he did a pretty impressive and throughout job for someone who appeared to have never wielded a gun before in his life, or been in a serious fight for that matter. Though it irked her to no end that his face always remained just out of view from any of the security cameras. "I don't know... supposedly he left nothing of his at the scene and even avoided being seen properly. All they have is a rough sketch and with the memory of an average person I doubt it's very accurate." He responded, giving a irritated sigh as he leaned back in his high-backed chair and folded his arms over his chest.
The way he worded it suggested for Michelle that he did not think this to have been mere luck, though how he could think that with such a risky display she could not understand. She brushed her hair out of her face before she folded her arms and leaned forward a bit, closer to the screen. She was still dressed in her blue body-suit with it's yellow highlights (which James detested because he thought it was far too flashy, but he had learned long ago it was futile to argue with her about fashion.), but as she had just returned from her first real ordeal in the city that was perhaps not so strange. "Hmm... Are you sure it isn't just a coincidence? Stranger things have-" She began, sounding doubtful. However she was unable to finish her sentence as James cut in, sounding deathly serious all of a sudden (even more so than usual) "Nothing, is coincidence. You need to learn that it is by studying the flow of even seemingly insignificant events that we separate the lies from the truths. Never discard something as mere luck or coincidence, for while it certainly held great risk for this man to act an amateur, the results speak for themselves. And..." James seemed ready to drone on and on about this lecture of his, and while Michelle was polite enough to keep listening to him he could tell she did not agree and seeing how futile it was, stopped with a sigh. "...Just keep an open mind about situations like this, alright?" Michelle couldn't help but smirk at how easily he gave up this time, but she appreciated how he didn't try to force his own ways on her, but rather gave her time to develop herself properly. "Yes father."
The next day news of the arrested smugglers and Mob members whom Michelle had beat up the night prior was shown, however apart from the smugglers who were branded as common criminals the Mob members themselves was only held for the night before they were released as the Police apparently had nothing on them. The Mob members made the smugglers out to have attempted to break into their warehouse, but that another individual had attacked both of the groups. This person was described as fairly short, probably female, and in some kind of body-suit. However they said themselves they did not get a good look on their 'attacker' as it was very dark. The media went on to brand this as an act of misguided vigilantism, just like the event earlier the same day. Michelle herself was watching this from her office in the MacNeil Conglomerate skyscraper, the companies largest office complex and the center of everything within it. Though she was serious about her work, she always made time to watch the latest news in order to never be caught off-guard if something big went down. Of course, the others at the company thought it was just to watch stock-market developments, though she did watch that too it was not with the same seriousness as she watched the news.
She couldn't help but angrily grit her teeth how the Mob members could so easily avoid arrest, and how the media was covering up for them and making her take the blame. However part of her was angry more at herself than the media and the Police, for if she had caught the smugglers who had made a run for it with the truck loaded with evidence, no money in the world could have covered for them then, since it was very unlikely the Mob would be dealing in teddy bears. She was not angry for not being thanked for her efforts, but rather for being branded on the same level as these criminals who didn't have a lick of conscience, but with how corrupt the world was now it did not really surprise her that much and she quickly let go off her anger and though a bit more tense than usual, continued to work like if nothing had happened.
The next several nights she spent searching for both the smuggler's hideout in the city, as well as where the real deal took place, or would take place, however she was yet to be successful in doing so. Until her father picked up a new lead from one of his more secretive but reliable informants.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Dec 21, 2009 0:03:36 GMT -4
2 Weeks Later
Loud static was interspersed with occasional speech in thick Russian accents. Some of it was incriminating, some was not but more importantly it was proving a count-down to tonights events.
The previous night Zach had taken down several individuals trying to peddle illegal weaponry outside of the Mob's usual frame of influence. After picking them over he had found a short-wave close-band radio, the kind he had often used while working construction. These kinds of radios were not immune to being tracked but the cluttered fashion in which they sent out waves combined with the number of frequencies being tossed into the air by countless other radios in the city actually made them safer to use than cell-phones if you had no way to hide the signal completely. Either way it seemed that their friends had yet to realize their frequency had been compromised and since then Zach had been listening in, seeing if there was anything he could use to his advantage being spoken about.
As luck might have it, there was. Catching it just as he had awoken this morning there was a deal going down in the industrial sector of the mob controlled territory, what was in it was unknown as even on their closed channel they were being careful with their words but it was clearly of questionable legality. Until this time Zach had remained relatively small scale, not out of fear but tactics. If he expanded too quickly and found himself outmatched there would be no second chances, after trying his hand at stopping a variety of crimes he thought now was as good a time as any to step up his game. After all just sitting around taking out a thug here or there wasn't really going to stop anything in the long run.
He had arrived two hours early and scouted the compound where the deal would take place, eventually once deciding where he would strike from he had left as not to tip anyone off. There had only been a single individual walking the compound in what was unmistakably construction clothing, either their scout was in common clothes or he simply wasn't part of it. He wandered for a while and then with about forty minutes left Zach stored his weaponry either in the backpack he had taken to carrying around or into his purposefully baggy street clothes.
He found a local diner very close by that was clearly built for the workers here, thankfully he fit right in. He ordered a coffee and some pancakes and briefly in the back of his mind considered what a really stupid decision that was when you had a deadline to meet shortly. Looking out the nearest window he watched as the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the industrial horizon before a waitress went around the diner turning several TV's on, there volume shocking him back into reality. He was about to go on eating when he realized it was the evening news and as had become his custom he liked to watch it even if what information it provided was spotty in its authenticity. Not only to see if his own actions were having any impact but to see if there might be any further leads to move in on.
It went through the usual, weather, sports and traffic. It talked about a remodeling project downtown and how the mayor was going to deliver a speech in the next day. It passed so much time that Zach was practically ready to go when it got to the local crime report and he settled in for the duration. It first talked about a bank robbery and how the police had several leads as to who had done it and were pursuing those leads now, then it got to what he was waiting for.
“Mark Peneley goes to pre-court today. Peneley who is being charged with multiple murder and sexual assault counts and is suspected of many others has long evaded the law and during the one time he was brought in managed to shake the claims. This time however the district attorney says that they have hard evidence against the man. No further information was given.”
Zach smiled, Peneley had been his crowning achievement so far, coming up with a case against him and taking him down had not been as simple as taking down most of the thugs he had on the street.
“Similarly Eric Dwayne a convicted serial-rapist who was let back on the streets was captured for sexual crimes once more and Matthew Crook a widely feared man who is said to have been the cause of at least ten civilian deaths have both been caught with the district saying heavy evidence has been provided for each. Many other criminals at a far higher rate than normal with crimes varying from theft to murder have also been convicted and in the marina district an actual gun deal was broken up and many of the participants taken into custody. In all these cases the exact source of that information has not been released, however it can be assumed that it has come from the BPD's security and detective task force though the question, how did they suddenly acquire the location of so many high profile targets? Remains.”
Content in what was said Zach arose, he had no real desire for fame in this though it was nice to see his activities justified and the men put into prison, so the fact that the credit wound up with the police was hardly an issue for him. He of course knew that much of the police force was corrupt, only the naive wouldn't have realized such but there was no other way to get rid of criminals. However as long as he continued to provide proof and the individuals were not connected to any of the crime families and thus were of no use to them the police would continue to put them away. To those they didn't, well for the time being there was little he could do about it though he would certainly think on the matter.
He picked his cup of coffee up taking a big sip while checking his watch before he began to walk toward the exit after paying. As he did so he happened to notice that just outside a young man in a hat had attached himself like cement to the leg of an extremely uncomfortable looking elderly gentleman. Zach opened the door walking into the quickly settling brisk night air, however that night air was also thick with the smell of alcohol and even from twenty feet away Zach could tell it was coming from the younger man. As he walked toward them the smell became even stronger and he was able to hear the young man speak, varying between quiet whispers and loud yells.
“I love you dad...you're my favorite friend in the whooolllle world!” He said.
“GET OFF ME YA DAMNED DRUNKEN FOOL!!!” the old man screamed out, barely able to move due to the youngers heft and his own frail body.
“But I reeeealllly lovvvvee youuuuuu!!!” the younger one yelled out as he began dry-humping the elders leg.
“AHH!!! ASSAULT!!! ASSAULT!!! DAMN YOU HOMOS!!! DESTROYING OUR FUTURE WITH YOUR DEVIANCY!!!”
Not particularly fond of either side in this but knowing he couldn't leave them be Zach sighed and then approached. He reached out and grabbed the man hugging the elderly mans leg by the shoulder. The irony that a minute prior he had been listening about his greatest achievements and was now about to attempt to talk down a drunken man having mind-sex with an elderly mans leg whom he apparently thought was his father did not escape Zach.
“Sir...sir if you'd please let go. Yes I realize you love everybody right now but you're making the gentleman uncomfortable and he probably needs to get home. So please let go sir.” Zach approached the situation kindly at first but was more that prepared for a drunken raaaaagggeee that could manifest at any time.
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Post by kensei on Dec 21, 2009 3:12:30 GMT -4
Jason stumbled out of the Sun Dance Salon completely wasted. He smelled like he had taken a bath in whisky, poured vodka on his clothes and polished it off with tequila cologne. He placed his hand on his Fedora as he almost tripped on himself. “Fucking Russians.” He whispered as he leaned against a building walked. Anyone could see it was the only way that the drunken fool could walk. His hat leaned down blocking vision from his left eye, and the vision from his right wasn’t any better. He pushed off the wall as he saw, at least what he thought he saw, was his father.
He walked over to him, practically falling down on the way to him. “Dad? What are you doin here? I thou –hiccup- t hat Brightmore.” The man looked at him and said. “Im sorry you have me mistaken with someone else.” Jason took one more step forward and fell to his knees. “I ko I don’t t ight. I et th you…” As he tried to finish his sentence he grabbed the elderly mans leg. “I love you dad...you're my favorite friend in the whooolllle world!” “GET OFF ME YA DAMNED DRUNKEN FOOL!!!” the old man screamed out, unable to move with Jason holding onto him. The old man smacked him in the head with his cane causing his Fedora to fall onto the ground. “But I reeeealllly lovvvvee youuuuuu!!” He said pulling on the man as he tried to get away.
“AHH!!! ASSAULT!!! ASSAULT!!! DAMN YOU HOMOS!!! DESTROYING OUR FUTURE WITH YOUR DEVIANCY!!!” Jason shook his head before rolling to the side as he started to barf up on the road. He blinked a few times and noticed his Fedora was right next to him and he put it back on before realizing that someone had just finished addressing him before he upchucked. “What?” He said with his head shaking up and down as he looked at him. He slowly got up, practically tripping over himself as he walked over to Zach. “I tryz to auv a combmation with my frada. He isn’t posed to he zere... So mind your buzzness sir!” The sir came with its very own poke to Zach’s chest as he burped in his face.
He slowly turned around and looked as he saw the old man running away as fast as he could. “Daddy.” He said raising his hand in an attempt to grab him, though the man was almost fifty feet away. He took one step forward before falling to the ground unconscious.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Jan 4, 2010 17:17:17 GMT -4
Zach lurched forward just in time to catch the man under the shoulders before he hit the ground. It wasn't so much that he cared about some drunk as it was he had just reacted on instinct. He took a deep internal sigh and realized he shouldn't be so harsh, anybody could get drunk for any number of reasons and though they shouldn't be so careless he couldn't really blame them for wanting to get drunk with all the shit people had to deal with these days. Either way he had saved him from smashing his head on the ground but he was now stuck hefting a drunk around. He knew full well that he was running out of time, it would serve as a lesson not to go so far from the scene while waiting in the future.
He looked about and then began dragging the drunk back toward the diner he had just exited. He pushed the door open and proceeded to drop the man off in one of the many open stalls around the room, he would have just left him on the street but it was cold now and was only going to get colder. Once the man was firmly in his seat Zach began walking back toward the door only to be stopped by one of the waitresses. She looked him square in the eyes and pointed to the passed-out drunk.
“He can't stay here.” She said firmly.
“Ugh...” was all Zach could muster, he didn't really want to do more for the man but he didn't have the time to find him another place so he pulled out his wallet and started thumbing through it, “Whats your cheapest meal?”
“Coffee and eggs, two-fifty” she said without really thinking. Clearly she knew the menu by heart and in the economic times that was probably a common question.
Zach hesitated for a moment and then pulled the money out, “Fine, he should be up soon, give my friend that when he does. Are we good now? You have tons of open seats as it is.”
He eyed her and she eyed him back for a long time before she finally conceded, “Fine, long as we get something out of it.”
The money exchanged hands and as quickly as she had snatched it up Zach was out the front door and off into the looming darkness. He had thought he would have enough time to casually walk there and set things up but after that little episode along with sticking around a little longer than necessary to watch the news he had to run. He took a few cuts through back-alleyways, using the cover of darkness to ruffle through the goods in his backpack and adorn his outfit. He admitted he thought it kind of silly dressing up like some sort of comic book hero but the only other option was being recognized and quickly hunted down, whether by the police or the criminals really made little difference.
He threw the sunglasses on just as the area he was heading to came into view. It didn't appear they were there yet but they should have been at any moment, thankfully he prior prep-work meant he could quickly take his place despite a lack of time. He wound around one of the larger buildings with as much subtlety and speed as he could muster, along the way he spotted a man in the middle of the docking area looking through the open warehouses. Apparently they had sent someone ahead of them to make sure the location was clear but from his movements it appeared he had already made the checks and was satisfied with what he had found. Now he was probably just acting in such a manner so that it looked like he was still doing his job when the rest arrived.
Zach sped up a series of ladders to the roof of the tallest warehouse and slid into place at the edge of the vestment. He poked his head over just in time to spot several vans coming in from one side of the dock where they quickly stopped and men began unloading, there was a little light on them but they were mostly working with flashlights. He didn't have to worry though as he was a significant distance away and where he was there was no back lighting so he was essentially invisible to the naked eye. He watched and while the men were being careful he did spot several weapons hanging on racks in the back of one of the vans, that answered what they were selling. He began tallying the individuals and spotted five in total, he assumed there would be about the same when the buyers arrived, so ten or so in total. It was allot of bodies and more than he had ever thought of taking on at once but he had come prepared and after a few weeks he was picking up on how to move without being seen, as long as he was smart he'd live to fight another day.
Soon a single black Mercedes drove up from the opposite direction and four men holding assault rifles exited, Zach was pretty sure he spotted one other person remaining in the car. But his eyes were on the rifles, he had never dealt with rifles before...they seemed like a good way to get killed. He couldn't back out now though, he wasn't likely to get a chance like this and a potential lead for who knew how long? He was in no great hurry to die but this was the chance of a lifetime, he just needed to think tactically about this and he could emerge victorious.
He began scouting the other roofs for anything he could use to his advantage, he had already done so but only as a backup plan, now he realized he would have to use them. He was deep in thought but that didn't stop him from hearing a distinct clicking sound from behind him, as if somebody had tripped on the graveling of the roof despite trying to be quiet.
He tensed up and tried to listen harder again, he didn't know if they were right behind him or a ways off or even if someone was actually there, it could simply have been any number of city noises echoing about. But yet somehow he knew they were RIGHT behind him, somehow he knew it was a person, as if these weeks on the streets had awoken a sort of instinctive sixth sense to what was around him. He took a shallow breath and then with no warning pivoted his body and performed a broad sweeping kick along the ground with his leg, intent on tripping whomever was behind him. He hoped having not reacted earlier might have lured his foe into a false sense of security.
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Post by kensei on Jan 10, 2010 21:35:13 GMT -4
Jason smiled slightly as he whispered. “Oh that’s the spot, oh yeah.” Then he started to look around, seeing only darkness, until he realized his eyes where closed. He opened them slowly, pulling his arm up to guard his dilated eyes from the ungodly bright florescent lights that loomed over head. He slowly moved his arm away and looked at the faces of many people in the restaurant, they where all staring at him and they all where in utter shock. “Bloody hell..” He whispered as he realized the horror show he had awoken to. He had been talking in his sleep! And to that dream in such a crowd!
He was at a loss, the crowd was eying him and the shock had started to turn to anger in some of the older folks and laughter in others. Then, the meanest, evilest, scariest, ugliest, old dragon lady stood up and started to approach him. His life flashed before his eyes as what seemed to be certain death stared him in the eye! It raised its nasty clawed hand and made a swipe at him, slashing his face right into the back of the both. His face stung like he had just been seared by a cattle brand and the other side of his face felt like it was bleeding on the inside. His eyes widened as he looked at the lady and she started to yell. His ears where ringing, who couldn’t hear anything she said. She stormed out of the complex as the waiter shook her head at him and brought him the meal that had been ordered for him.
He looked down at the meal and shook his head. IT was obviously the cheapest thing that could be ordered, and quite frankly he doubted the quality that went into making it. He sighed and began to eat it. The coffee was strong, the food surprisingly satisfying. As he finished his meal he thanked the waiter who explained it was paid for and began to leave the establishment. That’s when he looked in horror and saw his hat completely squished and utterly ruined. HOW COULD THAT FIEND LEAVE HIS HAT OUTSIDE! Anger boiled inside him, his eyes widened and with the speed of lighting his grabbed his hat. “Damn the bastard who ran this over…” He said as he looked at the small dread mark at the tip of the hat. He clenched his fist and punched the inside of the hat and started to mend it to the best of his abilities.
After several minutes his hat was in wearable condition, but it needed a doctor badly. He figured it could wait until the morning though, he needed to get home and take something for the awful headache he was experiencing. But not a minute later a car stopped right next to him, and the man who came out was Govochov, Petrovich’s dirty worker, and a real jackass. He pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Jason. “Fuck me.” He whispered as Govochov walked over to him laughing manically. “Hello Jason.” “Govochov, Petrovich finally let you stop kissing his ass?” Govochov slapped him with the barrel of his pistol and said. “How bout I pay the rest of your debt off and let your parents take care of your funeral cost? Sound good?”
“Im just about sick of you Govochov..”
“And I you Jason, how bout we end each others misery of one another.”
“Lets.”
He got up and put his hand on the barrel as it started to change into a snake hell bent on biting Govochov. The man freaked out letting go of the snake he backed away and yelled. “What the hell? You fucking freak!” The gun turned back into its original form and he turned it around and pointed it straight at him. “You should thank Petrovich. Because he is your boss I will spare you. Now get out of my sight, you disgusting sack of filth.”
Govochov slowly backed into the car as the driver took off. They learned long ago not to meddle in his affairs, and to that Jason owed his life to Govochovs arrogance. He dropped the gun and walked away slowly making his way to his home. “This hat is going to need so much work.” He said with a sigh as he took it off.
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Post by Zhiel on Jan 15, 2010 0:43:07 GMT -4
Saying the last two weeks had been fruitfull would be an overstatement, at least in Michelle's mind. She had spent several nights just scouting the city, following potential leads from her fathers contacts, but they all turned up void. The best she had done was beat up a few thugs and stopped some muggings, and the occasional small-store robbery. She was happy to help these people, but it wasn't what she was after. Stopping such small-time crimes would lead nowhere, she had to fight the criminal syndicates which ruled Brightmoores underworld, however this proved a more difficult task than she had first assumed.
Though she regretted being unable to help every person who was accosted every single day, she had noticed that someone else was apparently going about beating up small-time criminals, and also helped the victims in question get them arrested. Though according to James, as long as they were not part of any of the larger syndicates, their victim's testimony would be more than enough to put them in jail as the Police were eager to make it seem they were doing their job right, so while in a sense Michelle and this other man protected the people, they also aiding the corrupted Police. However she saw it as a worthwhile exchange until she could do something about the real problems of the city. Still, this other person greatly intrigued her as no word of anyone disrupting the cities criminal activities had gotten around until shortly after that tram shoot-out. Was it all just a coincidence, or were they connected?
She had thought a great deal about this, but could not come to a definite answer for herself. However if this person who were going around helping people was the same as the one on the tram, then it was probably for the best that his face had not been caught on camera as he would undoubtebly have been caught by the police by now if that was the case. True, she did not like the whole killing thing, but people like that were dangerous and she doubted he had much of a choice, seemingly not being prepared at all. Her thoughts were interupted by a slight static sound in her left ear, as her reciever sounded up and James voice came through. "You've been in the same location for a long time, found something?" Though she realized why he asked this, she still felt annoyed as she disliked being rushed to do things and when James said something like this, he usually meant "get going".
"No, I've been thinking about this other person, or persons. Do you think it is the same as the one on the tram?" She asked, though they had spoken of it briefly earlier, she had not asked him this specifik question and would gladly take his own opinion of the matter for consideration. "Can't say yet, but you have work to do. I just got a message from one of my best information sources, they know the location of the deal and it will take place tonight. Here are the details..."
Later that evening (It had actually been very early morning when she had recieved the new information) Michelle was walking down the streets of Brightmoore in a less conspicious outfit. Well to be truthfull she still wore her "body armor", but it was well concealed under a long and thick white overcoat that was at least one size too large for her. It had been make-shift repaired in several places and though it was obviously of high quality, it had obviously seen better days. To anyone who knew her, this was an obvious ploy to not make her look like a very high priority target of theft.
Stopping at a cross-roads she looked around as she spotted what she was looking for, a sign displaying the name of the street she was about to enter. And as she passed along, making sure she wouldn't be run over by any cars, she took note of a diner sign, and below it what appeared to be an old man being accosted by a drunkard... Luckily enough she apparently did not need to intervene as a third man went up to the drunkard and dragged him into the diner. Just to make sure the other guy wasn't taking advantage of the fool, she quickened her steps and passed by the diner, and looking in through the glass that covered a large portion of the wall she saw how the other man put the drunkard down in a seat and was seemingly accosted himself by one of the staff. It seemed there were at least some people who did not mind helping out when they could, this warmed her a bit even if it might have seemed irrelevant to most.
A short while later Michelle had found her way to a dark and abbandoned alley, and after making sure no one was looking snuck inside as she found a nicely secure spot where she unbuttoned her overcoat and then dropped it on the ground in a neat pile ontop of an old cardboard box, as she pulled out her scarf and gloves and put them on. Making sure her swords were fastened to her back and the scarf was not sitting loosely, Michelle pulled a pin out of her hair making the bun on the back of her head loosen up as her hair fell down, covering large portions of her head on all sides except for the front, where the scarf held it out of the way. Having finished her preparations Michelle looked about one last time, before she turned her eyes to the sky and as she reached her arms out for something, she instantly disappeared, a moment later hanging from the edge of the building opposite to her, as she dragged herself up with skill, just moments later beginning to dash across the rooftops as she was making her own way toward the warehouses.
Stopping at the edge of a warehouse roof Michelle overlooked the area where the deal was supposed to take place, however at the moment all she could see was one guy who was standing around idly, probably waiting for the others to show up. She was about to begin moving when she saw the lights of an incoming van, however as she stood up and turnd around she caught the glimpse of movement off to the side on the warehouse to her left and as such instinctively crouched down, nearly laying flat on the ground in an instant and staying still for several seconds until she was sure she had not been noticed, then began to slowly creep toward the other side of the warehouse. As she reached the edge she slowly stood up into a crouched position as she peeked over the concrete railing that surrounded the buildings roof and spotted the man clothed in black still standing by the edge of the building opposite her.
As he seemed busy watching the area below she decided it was time to strike, and as she thought so she immidiately disappeared and in the blink of an eye stood crouched just two meters behind the man. Carefully she snuck up toward him and just as she came within arms reach, she stretched her legs out as she began to stand up to her full height and was just about to raise her arms to hit him on the neck with all her strength when- "crunch". In the darkness she had not seen the small concrete bits that was scattered over the decade old roof and had by stepped on one. The sound had not been very loud, but it was enough to make Michelle herself freeze up as she nearly paniced, trying to figure out just what had gone wrong. Had she been more experienced, she would have known that instant action was necessary if you messed up, not carefull contemplation which she now learned the hard way as the man suddenly whirled around in a low-sweeping kick which caught her by surprise as she was swept off her feet in a split second...
She was well-trained however so rather than become flustered again Michelle gritted her teeth as she let her body flip around until she was almost upside-down, where she reached out with her hands and supported her weight and immidiately struck out with her legs, catching onto the mans arm which had been held out as he did the kick and using both her own momentum and his own, coupled with a bit of her own strength she flipped back up and used her body-weight to make the man lose his balance. Immidiately when she felt him get dragged down she let go with her legs and skillfully landed on the concrete roof as she twisted her arms around his and tumbled him over her back, bringing him away from the edge and hopefully out of sight from the Mob just in case. The man himself seemed to have some experience however as rather than falling on his head he managed to catch himself and roll up into a crouched position. Not giving him any time to warn the others Michelle struck out with a "flying kick" toward the mans face but he was quicker than he seemed and managed to avoid it and then reached out to grab her leg, only to find Michelle's other knee hit him upside the head.
With the momentum her jump had given her this was enough to send the man to the ground, as she herself landed just behind him, rolling up on her feet in an instant. She gave off a sigh of relief as despite the fight the man should not have had any time to contact the others and no loud noises had sounded from the area. She was just about to turn back toward the edge when she heard a crunch behind her as the man himself had managed to get up on his feet again and this time gave a straight punch toward her, which she was only able to avoid thanks to noticing him before it, but doing so she once again twisted her arms around his in an instant, but this time threw him in a different way, and with a lot more force as he had no time to avoid hitting his face in the concrete. With a huff, Michelle walked over to the man, and seeing he was not moving she crouched down beside him and checked his pulse. Finding he was still very much alive she made sure he had not taken any serious injuries to his head and luckily, it was not so. Being satisfied with this Michelle ran up toward the edge of the warehouse as she looked out over the grounds. It was time to nail these criminals...
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Post by GoldenKitten on May 6, 2010 14:50:41 GMT -4
Zachs head was throbbing worse than after any university party he had ever attended back in the day. He had only lost consciousness briefly but the headache that accompanied it would last well into the next day. Those were his thoughts as he opened his eyes to his surroundings and rose groggily from his laying position. He brought his hand to his nose to find blood there but a quick check over with his hands and simply using his senses of his own body he was able to tell he had avoided major damage, which was good considering the tumble he had taken. With that his mind started to wander to what had happened, it had happened quite quickly but he still got a good look at his assailant. From that day forward he would develop midget-ninja-in-neon-spandex-phobia, more importantly he wondered why he had been left alive...or left at all.
But then it occurred to him that, that didn't really matter when he was still in the area he had been. He got to his feet and without thinking about the fact that he might be spotted ran to the edge of the building whereupon his mouth dropped open for a moment. Below him every single individual he had been setting his sights on was laid out on the ground with their weapon either dismantled or broken clean in half, on closer inspection it was obvious that while all injured none of them were dead. And then he noticed that none of the weapon stock had been taken. Ever so slowly it began to occur to him...midget ninja had been here for the same reason he had been, and then midget ninja had knocked him out. DAMN YOU MIDGET NINJA YOU FOOL!
That was when the sirens sounded, police sirens. There were always sirens in this city of course but these were getting closer and closer, soon Zach realized what was about to happen, midget ninja or a friend had called the cops on these sad saps and if he didn't get out of here then him as well. So that made it a fine time to realize that the men below were probably his only way to strike any more big leads anytime soon without pulling street thugs apart all over again. The cops would be there any moment but this was his only chance to redeem this failed excursion.
He ran and jumped from the roof to the small unloading dock roof below it and then to the ground. As quickly as he could he dashed to the nearest man whom had been knocked out and began shifting through his jacket pockets. He retrieved a phone but that was it other than a miscellany of weaponry and by this point the cops were literally seconds away. There was only one other thing he saw worth taking, he didn't know how to fire a rifle but it could come in handy and he certainly wasn't going to be able to acquire one in any other fashion. Sure some might argue using the criminal’s weapons was no better than being one but this wasn't a comic book, the good guy needed all the help he could get. He pulled the mans weapon off the ground and darted toward the nearest alley to the heroic anthem of “SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!!!”...and disappeared into it just as a cop car came pulling around the corner to set its lights upon the gun deal gone bad.
Zach could have been in a lot of trouble had their been more police but alas either they hadn't taken the call seriously, there simply weren't enough of them or maybe they just hadn't all arrived yet. Either way it proved surprisingly easy to get away with there never been any case of anyone coming remotely close to where he was, of course that didn't stop him from freaking out the entire way. Eventually though he was far enough away that even he calmed down and realized they wouldn't come this far. So he spent the next few minutes putting his street clothes on and figuring out how to hide the rifle in his already jam-packed coat. As he did so he looked to the phone he had received, in it there were a list of numbers but that didn't do him much good since he couldn't very well call them and get anything worthwhile. Then just as he was about despair he noted the text messages, it seemed they had all been deleted earlier but received right there just five minutes earlier was one saying.
It was a blessing and a curse. Criminals were transferring un-encoded messages to a meeting for a plan, a big plan maybe, right here in his hand. And yet for all that it told him nothing, after all what place were they talking about? He let out a growl and threw the phone across the road into a nearby gutter. He didn't care anymore, he just wanted to get home and go to bed for now, his head was throbbing...damn you midget ninja.
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The Next Day
Zachs room had been born anew...and by anew that meant that there wasn't anything in it because he had sold it all. He didn't mind, he had what he needed. He had an old television that looked like something his grandfather would have owned in place of the fancy-pants flatscreen he had pawned off days before but it got him the news, which was good enough. He also had his laptop still and most importantly using some money he had...acquired from his...business associates (after all without knowing whose it was he couldn't return it so better to put it to good use than do nothing), he had bought a radio. This allowed him to listen in to the police radio broadcasts and this had turned out to be an even bigger boon than he had initially expected, some for reasons he wished weren't true.
That was to say while he certainly got to hear about crimes being called in he also got to hear just how dirty the law enforcement in this city really was. Of course only a fool didn't know that in the first place but the extent to which it was true was shocking, it was amazing the citizens of this city put so much faith in these people. Not only did they actively decide which crimes to report to and which to not but they also actively spoke about their shady deals over the tax-funded radio. Of course even they weren't so cavalier as to speak about them straight out, but when you yourself were listening closely for codes it soon became clear what they were truly saying, eventually you stopped hearing them talk about their kids and realized they were actually telling their partner how many kilos they managed to scavenge off an unaffiliated dealer. It was sad, it really was, but it also meant that he was going to have a much easier time of finding future deals to break down on.
He was leaning back in his chair, staring out the window and drinking a soda when the completely unexpected occurred. For once it just sounded like the cops on the line were talking about getting together for a round with their buddies. Sure it wasn't exactly what the radio was meant for but better talking about going to get a pint than showing how deep the corruption of the city truly went. Then one of them said something interesting, and by interesting I mean Zach shot bolt upright and nearly choked on a gulp of soda in the process. It was something simple, had he not read that phone message he would never have picked up on it nor would anyone else.
“Hey Frank, want to meet up at The Place at 7 for a drink?”
Zach held his head, he felt so stupid, of course that was why it had been capitalized in the message. He retrieved his old laptop and pulled up the browser. A short search later produced a page for, “The Place: The most happening lounge in all of Brightmoore”. Yah, there was a lot happening there all right, a lot going to happen too.
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Four Days Later
It was a bank heist, it was incredible. By sheer luck he had stumbled on to something big, it might not have been a sanctioned heist by one of the larger criminal powers but that didn’t matter, it was big anyhow. In fact it made sense that it wasn’t after all while he may not have had an expansive information network he had learned enough to know that the Mafia more or less controlled the banking industry in the city, the few not owned by it were owned by one of the other criminal organizations. That’s why people turned a blind eye to crime in Brightmoore, the bad crimes took place in areas the affluent citizens couldn’t have cared less about and crime was tightly controlled by the heads of the criminal rings in prosperous areas so that they continued being prosperous and brought profit to the leaders.
That’s why the worst crimes you usually heard about in the news were random muggings by drug addicts or murders that took place between angered loved ones. This was a chance to change that and showcase the true underbelly of the city. Initially Zach had intended to take the men down at The Place but plans changed. There were apparently more men involved than were there and so he couldn’t have gotten them all, more over he would have come across looking like the bad guy in that case since there would be no evidence to implicate them, more over he realized this was a chance to expose the criminal underworld…after all even the criminal rings couldn’t keep the media from showcasing a heist in the middle of one of Brightmoores fanciest neighborhoods.
They might have been smalltime crooks looking to make a buck but in this case it would do the trick just as well as if it was a criminal ring itself, and if he was lucky they might also have further ties to implicate those groups. As for how he had recovered this information, well, days of sneaking about the city were making him more progressively skilled in all manner of things. Now this was his chance, not only to expose crime on a greater scale but to also prove that he could recover important information via the methods he had been using and that he was capable of doing this realistically. If he could stop this cold then he could only move up from here, or so his thinking went.
He now stood before the ‘Brightmoore National Bank”, owned and operated by Intello-co, one of the more public and trusted faces of the Mafia. He had already scouted the building beforehand but now it was time to prepare it, after all though the men had not yet cemented their numbers during the plan it was still going to be at the very least ten of them. Rushing in headlong was out of the queston; he’d just get killed in a ridiculous fashion. He didn’t mind dying at this point of course but he had no desire to do it either…especially in the public eye looking like a complete buffoon. And so he had figured out how to go about the matter in a more intelligent fashion, it hadn’t been to hard as he was a smart guy. It was just taking some getting used to after all those years of his work favoring muscle over brain.
Sporting a baseball cap and some giant sunglasses that would have made anyone from the 80’s jealous he proceeded inside. He got a strange look from the door guard at first but he greeted the man warmly and he seemed to let his guard down, probably deciding Zach was simply a poor dresser and not a hooligan. After he had moved into the crowd utilizing the bank (he had been sure to come at Lunch during rush-hour so there was more cover to move through) he preceded toward the bathrooms, right next to them was a storage closet. He produced a set of keys he had swiped off one of the janitors early in the day, unlocked the door and cracked it slightly withdrawing a white bundle from under his jacket and placing it in the closet next to a broom. He pushed the door just near closed but not to the point it locked so that if pressed on it would open quickly enough.
He then made his way back toward the larger group of people and reached into his pocket withdrawing a cigarette…of course Zach didn’t smoke. He retrieved a lighter and a bit of toilet tissue from his pocket, lit the cigarette, wrapped the tip in the tissue and then tossed it in the nearest garbage can. All done inconspicuously and on the move of course, then he proceeded to get in line at the third of four counters behind several other customers. He waited for a good two minutes before what he had been waiting for occurred and he heard a yelp from behind, he wasted no time as soon as the shouts began and walked past the others in line as they turned to look. Walking right up behind the man at the front and the cashier servicing him he withdrew a pistol, then shoved it into the deep counter in which credit receipts were presented for customers to fill out.
Just as he did so the man in front of the line and the cashier turned from what they had been looking at to notice him, but he simply produced one of the credit receipts, “Just getting one to fill out while I wait.” he remained cool on the outside but the little man inside him was having a heart attack.
The cashier nodded and he walked back to stand in line once again. He turned to watch as two security guards had grabbed a fire extinguisher and were putting out a mild blaze that had begun in the trash, it was not of the size to be a concern but Zach remained until they had put it out. Eventually everyone’s attention was exhausted on this little diversion but what needed to be done had been done. With attention firmly turned back to their own little duties he broke from the line and walked out the front door, waving to the guard and wishing him a good day on the way out.
He walked out and down the street before turning the corner of the bank and then winding his way around to the backside of the building. There was nobody here, there would be nobody, after all none would ever assume this place was actually a target. A ladder lead to the roof and he traversed it quickly, once on top he retrieved his backpack and set about adorning his usual outfit while insuring his remaining pistol was working. With that in check he proceeded to the door and went to work cracking it open, while inside earlier that day he had been sure to check the flashing panel behind the counter to see that the security system was deactivated. Just as the door clicked open he spun around thinking he heard somebody but was greeted only by emptiness.
…Damn you midget ninja! You were going to give this man psychosis.
He made his way inside and soon found a ventilation shaft that was more than large enough for him, obviously to make it easy for workers to fit in incase of maintenance. After a few minutes of shuffling he finally found the duct overlooking the lobby and went to work unscrewing the vent so that it could be easily removed. Once he had done so there was little more that could be done…except to wait.
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Post by Zhiel on May 11, 2010 22:51:45 GMT -4
OOC: Pretty short and not too good, but I needed to get something out and I'm too tired for more right now.
As sirens began to blare off in the distance Michelle was looking out over the scene she had left behind, now too far away to make any real distinction between the many people she had left unconscious around the area. Thinking back on the event she had acted roughly the same as she had last time, except this time she had been incredibly quick about her actions only sneaking up on the initial henchman who had been holding a machine gun before she sliced it clean off with one of her swords and knocked the man unconscious with the hilt of her second sword before quickly moving behind cover and surprising yet another man before they had even figured something was wrong.
By the time they were aware of her presence she had already taken care of all the guards at the edges and crippled their escape vehicles thus preventing a repeat of last time. Combine that with quick and clever use of both her own inherent agility and ability to teleport and she was quite capable of striking from where they least expected it as she ran around in circles while crippling them with throwing 'stars' and breaking their weapons before she jumped straight into the middle of them and broke the remaining henchmens guns before she skilfully dispatched of the henchmen themselves, all without killing a single one. Oh sure some might have some lasting leg or arm injuries, but it wasn't like they didn't deserve it. No she had managed to take out roughly three times as many people this time and in nearly the same amount of time too, because she had used confusion and fear tactics they had very little chance to begin with, especially when she ran behind cover and suddenly attacked them from behind. She wouldn't be surprised if they thought it had been multiple people who had attacked them, but that didn't really matter to her, no she just wanted them to get thrown in jail.
In retrospect she had perhaps been a bit too reckless this time, had she not worn her jumpsuit which was also a near full-body protective 'vest' it was unlikely she'd have made it out of there in at all as one bullet had scraped her left arm during that final assault, and only one such distraction could have lead to further injury... Though at the same time the higher risk had yielded a much higher reward for her but you never knew when bad luck struck so increasing the risks certainly was not the smartest of choices, no she still had a lot to learn about reading a scene and taking appropriate action. Perhaps going through the scenario with James once she was back home at the estate would help her iron out the issues with her style, though experience couldn't be given or trained it had to be earned over time, she had come to understand that well by now.
With these thoughts still fresh in her mind Michelle crept down into a dark and empty alley, before she put on the white coat she had left in an alley near the warehouses as she took off her gloves and gathered her hair into a ponytail, she'd have time to set it right after she had some sleep. And with that out of the way began to walk back into the centre of the city, avoiding the worst areas and where she suspected there might be muggers waiting for easy prey to fall in their lap, though luckily she only had to beat up one snot-nosed punk who was barely old enough to own a hunting rifle who had gone at her with a knife... She had taken him down gently, or as gently as someone trained to break peoples arms if given the opportunity could anyhow. She had avoided breaking any bones, but he'd probably need someone to fix his dislocated shoulders. She thought she had avoided him truly seeing any of her features too, so she was pretty safe from being connected to the scene a few miles away. Though she had wanted to leave him to police so he could get some proper care, it was sad to see children doing armed muggings after all... She couldn't risk it with her current pair of clothing and so just let him go as she herself disappeared deeper into the city, taking a cab once she reached a taxi hub of sorts and went a few blocks away from James estate. She didn't really need to worry about getting mugged around this area as the police was well-paid to keep the common rabble away from these streets, though she remained cautious until the moment she came inside the estate itself where she let out a sigh of relief, finally letting her tension and exhaustion out as she removed her coat before she made her way into the hidden basement under the estate where James was waiting.
The first true blow had been delivered, the war had officially begun.
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Post by GoldenKitten on May 12, 2010 1:23:57 GMT -4
It took roughly an hour and a half for the action to begin. He had expected it, after all he had arrived early on purpose so he could insure he was prepared in the event of unforeseen hitches in the plan, as it was though it had all gone well and so he was left to wait. When things finally went sour he knew he should have been both angry at the criminals and focused on the mission, but as it was all he could really do was thank the maker he could get out of this cramped vent and flex his legs. The first sign of trouble was when a man, not dressed wholly unlike he had been earlier came in and stood in between two of the lines, another similarly dressed man went to stand between the other two lines. From this angle it was painfully obvious and begged the question how the security officer couldn't have noticed, but of course he reminded himself that it wasn't nearly this clear cut from the ground floor. More over it was still a busy time of day even if the rush hour he had arrived at was gone, meaning there were still plenty of people in the crowd to mask their movement.
Next he spotted a man approach the security guard and engage him in conversation. If he hadn't known there were more in waiting he would have acted now as there was no guarantee they weren't just going to shoot the guard. However if he had acted on this impulse a lot of other people could have wound up dead and sometimes you had to make the rational choice instead of the kind-hearted one. Thankfully though it seemed they didn't intend to kill anyone if it wasn't necessary as a moment later the man slammed the security guard in the face before taking him to the ground and binding his arms, likely as insurance for a lighter sentence if they got caught. Which they would if Zach had anything to say about it, of course he realized such things would be pointless if they did get caught, after all the Mafia would insure they were sentenced as harshly as the law would allow...if it didn't outright kill them.
Nobody had time to notice the take-down, or rather by the time they did it was to late. Within moments five men with shotguns and one with an automatic had entered through the front door in clothing that almost seemed to scream “bad heist movie”. At the same time the two men between the lines drew pistols and one fired his into the air of course inciting immediate panic. However upon turning around and finding their way blocked most simply decided to start freaking out while a few ran into the back offices of the building. However Zach knew full well there was no escape that way, the bank had been built with just such a possibility and so the only entrance was at the front and one fire exit off to the side of the lobby which they could easily see and thus stop anyone going for it. The reason was of course that from the Mafia's point of view other exits would mean more ways for their treasury to be assaulted, in its practical application however all it was doing was trapping the innocents from escape.
One of the men with a shotgun jumped on a nearby cashiers table and gave a speech in a fashion Zach had until now attributed to Hollywoods imagining of criminals and not the real world. He went on and on about how everyone would be just fine if they did as they were told and got on the ground, once they had he directed two of the men to the cashiers desk who quickly found the manager. They weren't stupid, they had picked a bank with an identity, key and keypad lock rather than a time lock, thus with enough provocation this man would doubtlessly open the vault. Meanwhile the others went about emptying the cash registers out front while four remained where they were watching the crowd. Zach realized his mistake quickly and moved down the shaft where he quickly loosed the screws on the vent closer to the vault...and then waited for the two men to pass by it with the manager.
One man watched their back while the other oversaw the manager at the first lock, a retinal scanner. The man needed little prodding, while it was likely he was a Mafia man he was still human and probably did not wish harm to come to those working here he now called friends. When the first lock was undone upon accepting him the latch on a large metal gate unhinged and the man overlooking the manager turned to say something excitedly to the one keeping an eye out. He hardly had time to yelp when he was smashed in the face and fell to the floor unconscious. Zach retrieved a pair of handcuffs from his waist and put them on the man, the other criminal was in a similar state behind him. He raised his finger to his mouth to tell the manager to remain quiet and then turned to walk toward the lobby.
Meanwhile the other men were busy tying their bags or scaring the civilians a bit, it was doubtful they intended to do anything but they were clearly having a good time putting a bit of fear in them. Being mid-level street thugs it was doubtful they had ever had any real power before and were feeling a bit of a buzz over it. That was when the first bagger behind the counter disappeared, it took the other men a few moments to notice but then one asked where he was. When they called out and there was no answer the whole operation froze up as they called several more times and received no answer, then they called out to the men at the vault, no answer. That was when the second man behind the counter yelled out as he was pulled out of sight and after the sounds of a brief fight things went silent.
The main thug yelled about someone thinking they were being funny and how they were going to kill them. They fanned out, two men including the leader waited in the center of the room while the other two went to each side of the row of cashiers desks. A gunshot sounded and the man on the rights legs were taken out from beneath him as he fell to the ground calling out, Zachs aim was getting better, much better. In fact he had the distinct feeling he was progressing at an unnatural rate for the digestion of such skills into ones repertoire, but then he couldn't really complain. But as for the here and now the criminals needed no further prodding and began opening fire on the area they perceived Zach to be in, of course he had chosen to fire from an area where no civilians were so that was not a danger.
He was being careful but he was far from invulnerable and so Zach had to return fire to get them to scatter for cover, since he was blind firing he aimed high as to not strike any civilians in the lobby. This had the effect he desired but had one bad side effect, he was out of bullets and the nearest man who had been to his left seemed to realize this. He called out to his brethren but it was at this moment that Zach dashed from his position before launching into a slide on the casher counter and grabbing deep into the slip shelf. The man had risen thinking he had Zach cornered, and then Zach pulled the gun he had hidden and a moment later the man released his gun as Zach shot him through the hand. Zach charged him and elbowed him hard in the gut before he took him down where he had time to cuff him as he had the rest.
By now the others had taken cover but in doing so they had also limited their range of visibility which allowed Zach to charge over the counter and hide on the opposite side of the room behind similar tables to those they were using as cover. They fired on him, the only problem for them was one hadn't realized he had moved and so was firing on his old position. The other man called him off and told him where to fire but in the middle of their little discussion Zach clipped him on the shoulder sending him to the ground. It was then that two men came through the front door with additional firepower in the form of pistols, they had clearly been waiting outside near a getaway vehicle.
There was a “hallway” created to the right side of where Zach was by a large marble decorative fixture in the room, at its back was a certain closet with it's door ajar. Beyond that the end of the hallway wound up behind the attackers, thus he had a plan. He opened fire on them as the two men who just entered were still trying to figure out what had happened, sending them scrambling for cover themselves. Under this cover Zach dashed and made it behind the marble fixture whereupon he slid over to the closet and opened it, retrieving the white wrap which he promptly pulled a shotgun out of. By this point the men were opening fire on his old position again but when no return fire was given they went quiet, unsure of if they had hit him or if he had moved. As he crept forward on the opposite side of the marble he heard the leader tell one of them to cross the room and go check, they proceeded to argue.
The nearest man was knocked on the back of the head and was immediately knocked unconscious, heavy gun-butts tended to do that. The others noticed but not before he has dashed and smashed the nearest pistol wielder in the face with the shotgun just like his friend. He recovered from this however and went to raise his gun but he did so in a disoriented fumbling manner and was greeted by another strike to the face whereupon he fell. By now the leader had recognized the situation and was opening fire but Zach simply dropped beneath the table cover these two men had been using.
Before the firing had been hard to predict with so many of them but now it was a single man using a pump-action shotgun, not only did this make his firing predictable but it meant he had to reload often. He knew this as well and when he had expended his shells he simply tossed the gun to the side as Zach jumped the barrier and charged him. This however did seem to take the man aback, he clearly thought he would be fired upon. Thus he was albeit unprepared when Zach kneed him in the gut and then slapped him across the face with the barrel of the gun. But this man didn't go down immediately, he struck at Zach and then after pulling back to dodge the mans strike this gave the man time to draw a dagger from his boot. Zach had no time to play nice, he leveled his shotgun...and blew the mans kneecap out, he had been hoping to avoid causing truly serious injuries but it was better than dead.
Missing kneecaps tended to put a halt to peoples aggressive tendencies and all the man did now was roll around and scream, Zach would have tried to stop the bleeding if he didn't know police and medical techs were only a minute or two out at most. He did however have the strangest feeling he was missing something and that something was answered as a bullet shot sounded out, thankfully going high. He turned to find the man whose shoulder he had clipped balancing on a table and aiming in his general direction. Zach charged and jumped on to the table before sliding and kicking the gun out of the mans hand before continuing his spin and planting his foot firmly in the mans face. He was sent to the ground and Zach jumped on him, quickly cuffing him. He rushed to the other unconscious men and did this to each of them, didn't want them waking up and taking one of the civilians hostage after he was gone.
Then Zach walked to the front door and looked down at the security guard, he would have again helped this man if he didn't know how soon the police would be here. He turned once more, surveyed his handiwork, walked out the front door...and was promptly shot. It burned like mad but thats when survival instincts kicked in and told Zach that the bullet hadn't penetrated his armor, so clearly they weren't illegal rounds. He quickly went about discovering where the shot had come from and it didn't take to long, the gunfire had clearly sent any nearby civilians running meaning any movement in the empty street attracted the eye. Across the street in a second story window was a man who had obviously been placed as a lookout, likely to relay information via radio to the men inside. What happened next Zach found hard to explain, other than to say natural instinct and experience must have melded.
He shot forward and the man fired on him but missed now that his target was on the move. Zach looked at the building in front of him and it was as if his eyes traveled to the proper places and soon he had a way up. He bounded off a stone step at the walls bottom, grabbed on to a prominent ledge and with his large stature was at the window faster than seemed possible. The gunner seemed equally surprised when he gained a new friend as Zach entered the room. A mild scuffle later and the man found himself mildly unconscious and lowered from the window using the window curtain to tie him up. Zach looked out the window afterwards, decided he had no idea how he had done that and with the adrenaline quickly fading had no desire to try getting down. He turned away, walked out of the room and into the rest of the building and then disappeared. Soon dozens of cop cars, fire trucks and ambulances were on the scene, later detectives and news stations arrived.
The heist of the Brightmoore National Bank had been stopped before it even started.
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“This is Katey Maline bringing you the latest news here at BCN.” A woman well known for her face in the city appeared on the screen, nine times out of ten if a major news story was being broadcast this was who you saw.
“Some are calling it the crime of the decade, but it might be more accurate to call it the thwarted crime of the decade. An hour ago eight men entered the Brightmoore National Bank with the intent to engage in a heist of everything within and potentially to cause injury to all those involved. Though details are sketchy at this time it has already been confirmed by several anonymous persons that these mens likely had ties to the Mafia like organization that has long been a scourge in the less...financially stable districts of the city.” She seemed to let out a mildly disquieted cough, talking about the ghettos and slum districts was something most of the individuals in Brightmoores affluent districts didn't do, much less think about how they might impact other areas.
“But the surprise came not in the form of the crime, but how it was stopped.” Camera footage of the criminals breaking in and then being subdued played as she spoke, “An unknown third party accosted the robbers and after a roughly two-minute long shootout were all neutralized. All of them, including three watchmen outside the bank who were also neutralized, were captured alive with mild to serious wounds but police say all will survive to see their day in court. The real question is what the third parties motive was, criminal retaliation, rivalry or maybe something to do with the increased talks of possible vigilantism? Whatever the case may be police are now crafting a composite sketch of the individual whose features while hidden from the camera might be better recalled from first hand experience. Police Chief Monroe reminds everyone that no matter what the circumstances dealing with any criminal element is the Brightmoore Police Departments job and to take up arms of any kind, even against vagrants is a punishable offense in itself.” She went on to highlight the still interesting but redundant features of what had occurred.
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Brilliant, it had gone brilliantly. Zach couldn't help but smile as he watched the broadcast, not because he was proud of himself or anything but rather because the outcome had not just fulfilled all his best wishes, it had exceeded them. Even the Mafia couldn't halt the information flow when a crime was this open, but better yet they were already tying the members of the assault to the Mafia. True in time they would likely point out that they were independent criminals but seeing as they couldn't say “THIS BANK WAS OWNED BY THE MAFIA, WHY WOULD WE ROB IT!!!??” that would take some time. While they were working out how to soften the blow the public eye would be turned on them meaning crimes would be less likely to go unnoticed and perhaps best of all, the police would be required to go after some of the more open criminal elements to prove they were doing their job. It wouldn't be long lived on it's own, but if several crimes of this scale could be uncovered in rapid succession then movement could be forced.
Of course he was probably getting ahead of himself but that was the nature of success. Still the longer he sat about thinking the more realistic his thoughts became and moved from the future to the present. It began to occur to him that he would likely be found out soon, once that composite sketch was done seeing as several people including the criminals had gotten half decent looks at him. The fact that he had lived in the ghetto for so long meant any paper trail he had ended a decade ago and even if prints were found his lack of a criminal record meant there was no way to tie him to it. Regardless he wasn't fool enough to think such expansive organizations didn't have the proper means to go about pinning him down. Especially now that he was without a doubt, enemy number one. They might have larger business enemies of course but their view in the public eye was a dozen times more important and he had just brought the largest inquisitive look down upon them in a decade...it was time to start playing things smarter.
He looked around the room, he didn't have a lot but he couldn't very well leave it behind nor could he move it by hand through the city, especially if he was going far enough away to separate himself from this place. Some part of him was amazed at how quickly he had changed in the past few weeks, to be able to think about these things seriously and without pause, but it was quickly squelched in favor of moving with speed. First he would need to get a car, that was easy enough as dozens were abandoned on these streets daily, then he'd pack up and spend the night at a motel until he could find proper and anonymous lodgings.
Then a frightful thought occurred. With the police being crooked and the Mafia both being and having them on the payroll was it possible they already had a sketch of him and were out looking? Then something else occurred, handcuffs... He paused for but a moment, then he walked out the door, he needed to move quickly.
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