New Hawkhood, Massachusetts
Heroes, villains, and many in between have flocked to this city to find this “Silver Tongue,” as enigmatic as they seem to be. Whoever it is, it’s clear to an outsider that this person has quite a bit of sway in the city. So the question is posed: who will find them first?
@Holi @TheOnlyGuyWhoLikesMistika @Jcton @Ghid @Distraxx @Mctoran @meepinater
“It’s the Tongue. He’s finally decided to pay attention to you.”
The section of sewer had been backed up by debris and hat stopped the flow of water from continuing past that point. This was causing it to spill out more in less than health code standard locations in different less inhabited areas of New Hawkhood. All this was done to create a dry series of catacombs out of the sewers for him, the criminal mastermind of the relatively weak criminal underworld of New Hawkhood, to operate out of as a headquarters and elaborate storehouse. Should anything go wrong the floodgates could easily be opened and drown any intruders in muck and waste.
However the aforementioned mastermind was less than pleased to hear the news. A thin, papery set of metal shards shot out from the shadows, nearly stabbing the emissary in the neck. He jumped up against the opposite wall in shock.
“And his words were?” He hissed.
“None.” The crook responded, pulling himself together but eyeing the blades carefully. “All I know is that he’s decided to be aware.”
“Then send him this,” The large figure said, creeping out of the shadows as he spoke. “Stick a written message in the waistcoat of the one agent who’s been attempting to open the south dam. ‘Your presence in this city is equally noticed. My offer is still the same. Step down and let this city fall, or I pull the rug out from under you.’ Place the corpse on the first step this time, 3 A.M.”
“The, uh… The agent’s corpse?”
“YES!” Switchblade shot his face right into the terrified man’s. “NOW GET TO IT!!”
A young boy looked nervously about the dark room, his heel digging slightly into the floor.
Across the floor were five men, professional burglars, armed to the teeth, contorted on the floor in a dazed state, some foaming at the mouth, others twitching involuntarily. He slowly walked forward, his bright eyes glancing about nervously at the situation, eventually fixing on one fellow with a black eye who appeared to be in a pot of pain.
“Iosif.”
The boy stiffened violently. “Sir.”
“Here.”
Iosif slowly stalked towards a very large figure in the shadow of the wall. Suddenly the figure spun around, drew out a massive hand, grabbed Iosif by the head, and dragged him towards his stomach, hunching over him. There was a dreadful silence followed by a shuffling noise across the street and a gunshot so loud it almost broke Iosif’s eardrums. It came from the large man currently hunched above him.
“They’ll come soon when they hear that.” Iosif said after the figure finally released his grip. “Who, um… Who was he?”
The man said nothing, hunching over a metal box. After a moment he produced a string of pearls and a bag of diamond rings. “No identification. Bring them home to break.”
Iosif gingerly took the items presented to him and stuffed them in his coat pocket, zipping it shut. The man walked over to the window.
“We’re floating to the water.”
A resounding groan came from Iosif as he zipped his other coat pocket. “Please tell me we’re not going under again, Elias.”
“Buoy.” Fever spoke, walking to a window and ripping it out of its proper space, them placing one leg out of it. “On.”
Iosif climbed on, and Fever slipped out of the window. Iosif shut his eyes and concentrated hard. As Fever leapt off the building, he could hear sirens in the distance, but they would never catch him as he floated gracefully through the air, descending at just the right speed to land at the water’s edge.
“I treat you tonight.” He said, his mouth muffled by the heavy scarf he wore. “We walk tonight.”
Iosif did not respond. After a moment Fever stepped onto the water’s surface, and the pair began the trek around the shore to their place of residence.
A being appeared, wearing a red suit and holding a cane by his side, in the district four powerplant. “Oh my, a buffet.” He said with a grin, then muttering “Though the checks are always quite shocking”
Robert Wilheim III sat in his office, sipping from a cup of tea. His ice-blue eyes flicked up to the door, a mere second before a young, cleanshaven man entered.
“Sir,” the young man said, “The charity went well. We gained a lot of money.”
Robert smiled. “Good… have the secretary send me the report as soon as it’s finished.”
The man nodded and left the room. Robert’s smile faded and he took another sip of his tea. His gaze traveled to a notebook, with information about the Silver Tongue. His face turned to a scowl. He closed the notebook, frustrated. This ‘Silver Tongue’ was putting him out of business.
Robert shook his head and finished his tea.
Scott arrives in New Hawkhood. So, this is where I’ll be living now. Doesn’t seem too bad… After about an hour of driving, he gets to his house. I wonder what this ‘Silver Tongue’ that everyone keeps mentioning is. I should try to avoid it…
“Jake!” Marcus yelled, Jake yawned “C’mon boy, we’re going to be late for the school trip!”
“What?” Jake asked
“I hear hawkhood is very romantic!” Marcus smirked “Maybe you could finally ask her out…”
“Maybe another time!” Jake replies, going back to sleep
“You’ve liked her for like a decade dude!” Marcus sighs “It’s finally time!”
“Alright!” Jake sighs, they get dressed and board the bus
“Whelp Marcus, let’s sit together!” Jake smiles
“Sorry dude, I promised Britney-“ he starts
“She’s probably with her friends…” Jake sighs, he enters the bus, one free seat
“Hi Jacob!” Cheryl smiles
“Oh uh… hi Charlotte!” Jake replies, he looks over at Marcus, typical old Marcus, with a load of girls doing what… Marcus does
“So, I got this cool new game!” Cheryl smirks
“What’s it called?” Jake asks
“I kinda brought my DS here…” Cheryl sighs
“Well I’ll have to have it then!” Ms Andreis, the headteacher says
”it doesn’t matter…” the coach driver sighs “Bus has been cancelled, shooter on the street!”
“Everybody act calm!” The teacher says, watching the chaos, suddenly a bullet blasts the bus
Harvey is coming!
Meanwhile, underground in the sewers, Coldbood had just been finishing e̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ Apprehending several criminals that he had been assigned to.
“Great work”
said a female voice in his head, which Coldblood had long grown tired of.
That stupid woman with her stupid voice, from that stupid device in his head.
“We now need you to head back to HQ. We have another assignment.” the voice then said.
Grunting, Coldblood nodded, polishing off a bone and licking the blood from his lips as he then stomped away from the gruesome scene.
Switchblade growled. The distant agonizing shrieks had stopped.
Someone or something was taking people to the sewers and killing them violently. The agonizing shrieks were enough evidence for that. Whatever it was hadn’t found the stopped-up sections Switchblade controlled, and obviously wasn’t bright enough to avoid the sections backed up by sewage and muck.
But the sewers were his.
Sooner or later whatever it was would come tramping around his territory, and then it was a game of cat and mouse - his men were the mice, whatever it was the cat, and he himself… The dog.
Iosif threw his coat off onto the floor, stopped, looked back up at Elias, and begrudgingly picked it up and hung it on the wall.
“We can crack those tomorrow.” Elias muttered as he stalked to a large recliner chair which was near the end of its life. “More heroes are coming to the Hawk.”
“What about Silver Tongue?” Iosif said with a heavy russian accent, practically jumping onto a torn and weathered couch with obviously missing springs in several places. “I hear he doesn’t like many heroes.”
Elias sat in confused thought for a moment. He undid his scarf and laid it on the arm of the chair. “I do not know. But more heroes means more likely someone will come here. All of the poor sing in praise to my name an it echoes throughout the city streets.”
Iosif didn’t respond. He sat on one leg with the other drawn close to his chest. The ticking of a clock on the wall was the only sound that penetrated the silence. Elias finally spoke with a long and drawn-out sigh.
“Bed.”
Iosif showed some signs of frustration at this, but clambered over the arm of the couch and drew up a thick woolen blanket, drawing it back over himself. The fumes of Elias’ body had made the air stuffy, and it only took a slight application of his power to instantly drop Iosif into a deep sleep.
Elias continued staring at the entrance until he finally closed his eyes.
Runa landed on top of a building, near the dock. He looked out onto the city below, scanning for any sign of his target. “Case file.” He says, to which a file pops up on the HUD of his mask.
May 18, 20##. Missing person: Detective Damian Grey. Last seen in New Hawkhood City, Massachusetts. Last known actions were a trip to the city to investigate rumors, and discovered an individual named 'Silver Tongue.' Retracted statement and went missing shortly after. 'Silver Tongue' theorized to be responsible.
After looking it over, he continues to scan the city skyline, looking for any suspicious figures before he goes to do anything, walking the side of the building top as he did so.
A young man walks up to a chair facing away from him, obscuring the person within it. “Uh, sir, we have a message, from this Switchblade person you talked about.”
The seated man is silent.
“Uh, he said-”
“I can guess what he said.” The seated man responds calmly. “He wants me out of the picture. A shame, really.” He waves the man away, not getting up or turning around. “I was hoping to have a nice chat with him, see if we can maybe see eye to eye on something. Oh well, I’ll just have to see what happens, now.”
The young man nods. “Um…sir, he also…killed, Agent Murray.”
The seated man sighs. “Alright. We’ll leave him alone for now, until we can afford to focus on him. It’s not like he’s much of a threat. What does he have? Petty thieves, a few smugglers and drug dealers? We have other priorities for now.”
The young man nods. “Alright, sir, will do.” He says, turning out and leaving the room.
A cop on patrol in the residential district notices the man at the power plant. “Sir.” He says to him. “I’m afraid this is not public property. Please back away from the building.”
If Runa dug deeper into New Hawkhood’s news reports he’d hear of a mysterious person the poor praised constantly. His name was Elias, and neither the police nor the media had any details of his appearance or location.
Runa would notice this, and think for a second. Praised by the poor. Likely sees them often. I expect he’d be in the slums. He deduces, dropping down into the alleyways and sneaking his way into the lower income area of the residential area, wondering about this “Elias.” He puts up the hood of his hoodie to hide his mask, walking through with his head down.
Scott walks into his house and starts unpacking.
Robert steps into his black car and turns on the engine. He shifts into reverse and backs out of the parking lot, before turning and driving towards the newspaper to glean more information on the Silver Tongue.
“oh? My apologies. I was just about to have a lite snack.” The officer would then feel an intense heat behind him, “now if you don’t mind I feel you may have bigger problems depending on whether or not you walk away and forget this happens.” Said the salesman, as he walked towards the powerline.
The policeman froze. “What are you going to do?” He asks, against his better judgement.
He silently grabs the line, and began absorbing the energy from it rapidly
He took a step back, but stopped himself as he felt the heat. “S-sir…” He said, trying and failing to be threatening.
“officer…” It said disapproving, “do you have a family?”
He’s silent for a moment. “…Yes.” He finally answers.
“and what would they do if you were found dead tomorrow morning?”