“Myself.” He answers. “I answer to no others. Now, what would you know about the recent missing person case? Of a Detective Damian Grey?”
“Ooh, that’s a good question.” He said as he tried to remember if he had information on that.
You know, I should probably look more into it. he thought.
“Yet not one with a good answer, it seems.” He says, unamused.
He shrugs, “Best I’ve got is that he vanished in this city; everyone’s figured he was looking for Silver Tongue.” He said, “If that is why he disappeared, he must’ve found something Silver Tongue doesn’t want people knowing about himself.”
“I’d wager talking to the local cops might be a good place to start, that is if the Demon of Contracts hasn’t already gotten their silence.” He guessed.
“But a guy like you: green, metal, glowing eyes and asking about a cop of all people has got to be on some government fella’s payroll.” He pointed out, “So, now that I’ve told you quite a nice bit of info, I think it’s only fair you answer my questions with the same total honesty I answered yours with.”
While his face was obscured by shadows, the metal man could tell this…kid was being honest with him.
Superhuman growled. Surely Connor must’ve noticed Superhuman wasn’t coming along and had gone back to gawking.
No matter. Shade had managed to avoid his first attack, and he wasn’t going to let it happen twice. He bolted off the ground and attempted to grab Shade by the throat - if that didn’t seem viable, he would aim for the collar of his hideous, tasteless outfit.
Yeuck. At least my first parents had good fashion sense.
The first of the goons to break away finally bolted up, panting, to a warehouse on the coastline. Switchblade had never been there and he never would be, as he detested making it so obvious where he was. But he had to admit, it did come with benefits.
“There was a-” The man panted, before a dirty-faced bouncer on the phone hushed him. “You got it, boss. We’ll see it squared away. Now what do you want?”
“There,” He huffed. “There was a woman who turned into Henry! She looked like she was made out of metal. And then there was, there was this guy… Jumped from the roof or fell, or something… Had gadgets and a mask…”
The bouncer turned and spat out some atrocity which was too mingled with saliva to comprehend. “Set the trap in the sewer once it’s calmed down.” He snarled. “Someone’s bound to come lookin’. I’m assumin’ that’s where all the gunfire was coming from?”
“Yeah. I took off just as it kicked off to cover my getting over here.”
Other members of Switchblade’s crew were lifting and placing massive stacks of suitcases with incredible ease, with a red one in the middle of the tallest stack. Both the goon and the bouncer eyed it cautiously.
Switchblade gingerly set the phone down on his end. He looked up at the ceiling in apartment 131, third floor, apartment complex A, in the heart of New Hawkhood. The traps were being laid. Phase two was coming.
1 Like
Runa scoffed. “I’m simply a man looking for answers and to bring the heinous people of the world to justice.” He answered. “And a government man would only get in my way of doing that, I don’t doubt.”
He would succeed in grabbing Shade’s throat, and he’d stay still, utterly shocked as to what was going on.
After she was away from the scene, Mirror found another entrance to the sewer. She goes in, sure that if they had come out of the sewer of all places, there had to be something down there.
“All that expensive looking tech had to come from some pretty deep pockets.” He told the man.
“Ya got a name, Shiny?” He asked.
It wasn’t a tight grip, but it was a firm one. As Shade felt the individual fingertips along the side of his neck, and really thought someone was grabbing him - well, he might just begin to see the dark silhouette of a hand, a wrist, an arm…
1 Like
Meanwhile the salesman was still draining nthe industrial power plant
He ponders telling the boy, then decides to. “Project: Runa.” He answers. “And you?”
Shade sees the silhouette, and growls. “Who are you.” He says best he could through the grip.
Oni returns to his workshop and begins tending to his gunshot wounds. While they bugged him and definitely needed addressing, there was one more thing he’d need to address soon.
His ear. The gun going off right beside it had rendered him practically deaf in that ear, so he had to make something to bring its hearing ability back up to at least close to average.
“Crimson Blade.” He said with a bow, “At your service.”
Runa nods. “Any more recent goings on I should be aware of?” He asks.
Pulse goes down, using his telekinesis to soften the landing just in time to save himself from a broken nose. Reeling from the sudden ambush, he manages to assemble his thoughts enough to roll over, crossing his arms over his upper body in anticipation of a follow-up. Instead, he finds Shade floating in the air, talking to whatever unseen force was aiding the young hero. He slowly gets to his feet, trying his best to look unfazed.
“How about this: you tell us who you and that other villain are and what you’re up to, and we’ll tell you who you’re fighting. Deal?”
Connor lurks near the edge of the battlefield, having realized that Superhuman was preoccupied again. Wow, heroes sure are busy…
Shade glances down at him and growls. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He chokes out.
“Well, The Salesman, his entourage, Mirror girl, a literal Shadow man and all that seem to be wreaking havoc in general.” He said.
“A little advice: try disguising yourself to look more like a human; you’ll find looking for targets a lot easier when you aren’t super shiny and obvious.” He said.
“I found you without a disguise.” Runa points out.
“You weren’t looking for me and I found you because of your metal leg glinting in the light.” He explained, “If stealth is your desire, a good disguise is what you require.” He advised.
“Wasn’t I?” He asked. “I saw the news. You didn’t think news about a fight in the streets wouldn’t get out, did you?”
“No, a man fighting himself like that only invites talk.” He admitted.
“And I am rarely careless enough to ‘get caught.’ I wanted you to follow me.” Runa continues. “And you have given me what I needed.” He finishes, his wings extending from his back as he takes off in the alley, grabbing onto a roof ledge and flipping over, continuing forwards on the rooftops.