Thunder rumbled low over the harbor, flashes of lightning catching it in photographic glimpses and predicting the next dull roar. Condensation rolled from Wisp's goggles as she cast her eyes across the dock from on high, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of movement from behind a chain link fence. [CENTER][I]DANGER: ELECTRIFIED FENCE NO TRESPASSING. TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT.[/I][/CENTER] Wisp wasn't stupid enough to test the warning the rusty sign next to the gate called out. The electrified part, not the trespassing part. Trespassing was kind of her hobby. "Not seein' anyone yet..." she mumbled to Seeder over her headset. [i]"It's probable that anyone guarding this place would be taking shelter from the rain outside. Do you see anything like a guard shack or entrance...?"[/i] "What would I be looking for in a guard shack?" the intrepid Mistress of Gravity questioned back. [i]"Probably a larger building. Sometimes they have weapons clearing posts on the outside of them. Brightly colored weird sign post looking things or a barrel of some sort, they like to color them red to make them stand out."[/i] "Okay, I see one of those next to a building out in the middle of the docks... and cameras." [i]"Keep in mind those probably aren't the only cameras you see. They usually face downward, so if you keep up high you should be fine."[/i] "Works for me." Wisp took a couple steps backward, and made a running leap over the fence. She soared high, gripping a nearby light post and swinging around it like a gymnast before propelling herself to the top of the building she had seen, twisting and flipping in style. She landed with a splash, arms outstretched to her side. "D'you see that, Seeds?" she beamed. [i]"Wisp... I'm on the phone with you..."[/i] he stated dryly. "Pfft. [i]Buzzkill[/i]," she retorted. She happened to think it was a grade A triple twist, much better than what those carnies at the ball were capable of. "Alright, let's do thi-" [i]"Wait!"[/i] the nerd cautioned over his end of the phone. Wisp halted in her tracks and crouched low. Maybe he hacked into a camera or something...? [i]"Just because you don't see anyone doesn't mean there isn't anyone. Did you take one last look?"[/i] Wisp scoffed. "Yeah, Seeds. I'm good. It's a fucking ghost town out here, they all have to be inside." [i]"So far so good. Are there any windows?"[/i] Wisp clambered down like a spider upon the wall to bear witness to a single window facing toward the gate. "Yyyyyep. Here, see for yourself." Wisp took her phone from within her satchel and played with the screen, bringing up the video settings. Turning on the camera, she held it in front of one of the top corners. "What do you see...?" she whispered. It might've been raining cats and dogs, but it was better not to take the chance of anyone hearing her. [i]"About five of them, monitors over the whole yard, coffee and donuts. Nothing you wouldn't expect. Two of them are holding rifles and just kind of hanging around, but the other ones are sitting down. I don't know if they've only got pistols or the lazy fucks have'em lying against a wall or in a rack somewhere, but either way it's good news."[/i] "Okay, time to make a delivery," Wisp hushed triumphantly. [i]"Eh, what?"[/i] Skittering down the wall, Wisp nonchalantly walked up to the door. She lazily took her crowbar from the sling on her back and twirled it around in her fingers, getting used to the heft of it. Casually, she took a step forward and pounded loudly upon the metal hatch to the tune of 'Shave and a Haircut'. "Little Ceaser's!" she called out to the goons within, a smirk curling upon her masked lips. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the cramped quarters of the security booth, the small collection of guards diligently watched the three-dozen screens that lined the entire front counter. A small tablet was propped on its' kickstand, a hockey match blaring away as the men spoke with one another. Three of the men kept their eyes trained on the security monitors, looking through the guests and empty hallways in search of anything out of the ordinary. Louie, the smallest and youngest of the guards sat on the far end of the row of three, nervously peering across the electronics. He had sworn he saw something on Screen Seven, right past the back courtyard fence, but couldn't seem to see anything down the road or near the loading docks when he tried to follow the sudden movement. "Did you see that?" He asked no one in particular, who were busy joking around. Most of the other guards had been transferred from one of Carver Industries' various other labs, so they were at least acquaintances. This also led to a relatively relaxed feeling- they were simply moved from their regular station to watch a party between the poor and wealthy. The 'high security' labs didn't seem to be anything of particular importance during their shift earlier in the day. Vernon, one of the senior guards turned his head to Louie. "Seen what?" He growled. Instantly cut off, there was a loud rapping noise from the other side of the steel door. The shift change for walking around the compound wasn't supposed to take place for another ten minutes. Maybe one of the guards was sick of the rain? "Little Ceaser's!" A voice called out from the other side. Vernon snapped his finger and pointed to the door. With two rifles trained on the steel entrance, the other three guards began to back their chairs up from the monitor screens. Two of the guards at the monitors were equipped with pistols and night sticks, while Louie hadn't received his license yet- leaving him with nothing but a meager taser. With a silent count to three, the guard holding a pistol at the monitor nearest the door swung it open into the night air. Before the trained men stood... nothing. Not a soul. Not even a trace of one. It was as if the ghost of a pizza delivery girl had visited their doorstep. A ghost... or a wisp. The wary mook slowly stepped out into the drizzle and blowing haze, searching for a sign that someone had been there. He cautiously panned his weapon from right to left. But he never looked up. A sleeved hand darted out from the top of the door frame, grasping him by the wrist, and he disappeared with a shrill cry. And then there was silence. More thunder rolled in the distance, and raindrops drummed upon the window. "[i]Fuck![/i] Tanner!" The senior guard shouted, steadying his rifle on his shoulder. Extending his arm forward, Vernon and one of the other guards from the monitor stepped out into the rain; they trained their weapons on the sky initially, before turning to cover the roof as well. Louie and the remaining rifleman stood inside the post, unsure of the fate of their teammates in the downpour. The rifleman elbowed Louie in the shoulder, silently urging him to contact the other guards. The timid, young employee jumped at the contact from his coworker and fumbled with his compact walkie-talkie, dropping it to the ground. Most of the other guards had microphones clipped to their ears- but again, Louie had been given to spares. "Attention-" He said in a pathetic whisper, leaning halfway over when he reached for the radio. "Attention-" Wisp ran her phone along the edge of the building, picking up on the splish and splash of the panicked guards' footsteps with her noise enhancing applet. She stalked like a tiger on the edge of the building, waiting for the right moment. And when they had moved to the opposite side... [i][b]CRRRRRRRSSHH![/B][/I] The window exploded into shards as Wisp powered through feet first. Stupid mook was watching the door, of course, but happened to turn his head just in time to catch the edge of her crowbar across his face, going down like a sack of doorknobs. Using the momentum, Wisp planted her feet and bent over, scooping up the kid's head in her palm like a basketball. With the inertia helping her, she twirled once on her toes and forced the back of his head to give salutations to the brick wall behind him. As she flowed through the motions like a powerful stream, she kicked off from the wall to perch on the one next to the door, slamming it loudly and twisting the lock. The heroine cartwheeled to a position below the window and waited for the mice to take the cheese... The security guards came running when they heard the glass break, just as Wisp had anticipated. Stacking up on the door, Vernon sent his foot into it. The deadbolt held for the first kick, giving Wisp enough time to slink out of the window when the second kick thrust it open. Both men stormed into the room to find both of their comrades beaten and broken on the floor. "What the hell!? There's no o-" The patsy with the rifle was cut off by the sharp clink of metal to the back of the skull, and Vernon turned in time to shield himself from an androgynous punk charging at him with a crowbar. He threw his pistol up toward her chest, causing her to strike upward with her weapon to knock it away before he could put a slug through her. His weapon discharged into the ceiling, but before the freak could recover he threw a mean left cross straight across her face. Wisp stumbled back from the blow in a daze, head pounding and lights dancing before her eyes. She glanced upward to see the glint of metal and reacted immediately by chucking her crowbar at the man. The old guard ducked out of the way, but was rewarded for his efforts by a rising knee to the face. Wisp gave a shrill war cry, grabbing him by his blouse and tossing him upward, making the ceiling his floor before performing a half backflip to follow him. She landed squarely on his ribs with bone-cracking force, knocking the wind from him and blurring his vision in intense pain. He fell from the ceiling as she did, smacking against the ground and taking a falling axe kick to the throat. The heroine held her head with one hand, wandering dreamily over to one of the fallen chairs, turning it over and sitting back into it as her temples throbbed. Her brain felt like slurpee, and she could feel hot blood run from her nose, the metallic taste caressing her lips. "[i]Goddamnit...[/i]" she growled, untying the bandanna around her face. [i]"Wisp, what's wrong?"[/i] the geek over her headset asked anxiously. "Mudderfucker nearly broke by fuckin' dose!" she mumbled, cupping her face. She slid her goggles up over her eyes and onto her forehead, stumbling into what appeared to be the bathroom in the guard shack. [i]"Damn, you gonna be alright?"[/i] Hope looked at her haggard face in the mirror through her tear-soaked eyes. Dripping wet, puffy eyed, with crimson running down her face. [i]Reeeeaaal[/i] heroic. "Dat fuckin' [i]hurt![/i]" she shouted at Seeds from the other end of their line. [i]"Don't be such a baby, you fight guys like this all the time. You're strong, you can take a punch."[/i] "Dey usually don't punch be in da face! Ugh, I'm bleeding everywhere!" Hope grabbed several paper towels from the dispenser, wiping at her bloody nose. For good measure, she twisted a couple of them and shoved them up her nostrils to stop the flow. [i]"Be vewy vewy quiet. Hunting rabbits there, Wisp?"[/i] Seeder mocked, chuckling at her misfortune. "Laugh it up, at hole. I bet if I slapped you you'd [i]die[/i]," Hope seethed at him. [i]"Ooh, I'm shaking."[/i] "Shut da fuck up and dell me how the fuck I gid in here, Freakazoid." [i]"Oh man... Alright, there should be a freight elevator somewhere in the guard shack. Pretty small building, should be obvious."[/i] "I dink I passed it on my way do da batroom... Fuck, I need a breather." Hope threw open the door to the bathroom and into the main area once more, her sneakers squeaking on the tile as she moseyed over to the a tall white fridge. She rummaged through it, being lucky enough to find a stockpile of energy drinks for their long-expected night shift. Should be a hell of a lot longer now... A hiss escaped the can as Hope cracked open a can of Full Throttle and slammed it back. Her skull felt like someone was trying to give her an unwanted cranium piercing, and she sat on the table for a few minutes to rest. A couple different things drifted through her mind. How much this fuckin' sucked, how hard she was going to hit the next guy that so much as raised an eyebrow at her, why the hell it had to rain that night, but she got an idea as she gazed emptily at the freight elevator. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes and her bandanna up and over her tissue-stuffed nose before pulling her phone out and putting on some Limp Bizkit as she got to work. Bodies, motionless, laying slumped in a pile of random assorted garbage. The table, all the chairs, the fridge. Everything she could find in that room had been piled into the center of the now very crowded elevator. She'd been busy all right. Like usual, she zip tied all the assholes' hands and feet together, bundled together their weapons and radios and other junk and threw them as hard as she could in a random direction, and put them somewhere they wouldn't be a problem. And the wouldn't be a problem right there in the elevator. "Alright, let's do dis," she stated rather unenthusiastically, clambering over the trash and also the random objects she arranged in the freight elevator. [i]"You sound happy,"[/i] the hacker snarked. "Like a ball of fuckin' sunshine..." the heroine retorted. "What floor?" [i]"No idea.[/i] "[i]Awesome.[/i]" Her words dripped with what could only be described as bottled, liquid rage. [i]"Got a hunch, though. The good stuff is usually on the bottom floor. And even if it's not, you can start from the bottom and work your way up."[/i] "*Sigh*... Oookay."