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[sub][ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4930104]Prev[/url] ]  [color=#9fc5e8]“[b]FEAT OF CLAY[/b], Part III”[/color]  [ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4945994]Next[/url] ][/sub][/center][COLOR=steelblue][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B L Ü D H A V E N[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=goldenrod]Downtown[/color][/sup][/INDENT][color=silver]It was Chambers’ marked police cruiser, but Dick was behind the wheel.  The lights and sirens cleared a path through traffic, as the former Boy Wonder turned the Chevy Impala into something more akin to a performance vehicle.  

A fact that his passenger didn’t entirely appreciate. “I only get car sick when you drive,” Cissy complained, her knuckles white as she held onto the dash and the auspiciously named [i]oh shit[/i] bar.

For his part, the lines on Dick’s gave lightened as he gave a devil may care grin.  The police cruiser squealed to an abrupt halt, just inches shy of rear ending another police car as Dick threw the car into park and stepped out into the freshly marked crime scene.

Through the crowd gathered on the street, Dick could already make out the fact that the doorframe had been completely ripped away from the storefront. In fact, the entire door to the jewelry store was presently lodged in the Ford F-150 that had nearly been cleaved in two by it. 

[color=#9fc5e8]“Well, that happened,” [/color]Dick uttered glibly, exiting out of the car and standing there for a moment, in awe of a feat that he’d have normally associated with the likes of Bane.

Maybe they weren’t dealing with a metahuman. Just someone coked up on [i]venom[/i]. 

In honesty, Dick wasn’t really certain that was a better prospect.

Something bumped into him. Taken off-step, Dick glanced down in time to see a young girl with dark hair in a red cardigan sweater, yellow blouse, black mini-skirt and a black choker around her neck. He reached out a hand to grab hold of her shoulder, steadying her as the legs seemed ready to give out from under her.

She was a runner. He could see it in her eyes. In the gaunt expression. Her eyes constantly scanning for signs of something, or someone.

Once she’d gotten her feet back under her, two quick steps backward broke the contact between her and Dick. [i][color=#f4cccc]“Sorry,”[/color][/i] she mumbled, looking everywhere except at Dick, as she turned and vanished through the crowd.

In sort order, Dick was just standing there, somewhere between confused and amused as he watched the girl practically vanish right in front of his eyes. [color=#9fc5e8]“Well, that happened,”[/color] he repeated, with a hint of a smile.

[b][i]“Commissioner!”[/i][/b]

The man whirled around. His gaze fixed on Chambers for just a fleeting moment, finding the woman pointing off into the crowd, as she said, “Look!”

Steel blue eyes cut along the path of Cissy’s finger. Which is where he found him. Face of Boris Karloff. With a pair of seemingly blank, piercing eyes. 

Pain lanced up through Dick’s bad knee, even as he started forward. [color=#9fc5e8]“[b]POLICE![/b]” [/color]he shouted hoarsely, even as he bolted toward where the large figure dominated over the crowd. 

Boris Karloff’s twin from another mother bolted just then as well.  For such a large man, he moved with the speed of a NFL defensive lineman.  And in the same fashion just bowled over the people on the street. It gave Dick and Cissy a lot to dodge around as they tried to scramble up the sidewalk in pursuit.

And that was before he chucked a dumpster their way.

No, not a trash can. A dumpster. A [i]large[/i] dumpster. 

Dick saw a flash of green and his Boy Wonder instincts were still sharp enough that he was able to turn and tackle Chamber off to the side, as the dumpster went crashing through where they’d both been just a moment before.

He found that he was winded as he lay on the ground. He started to push himself up, but his knee had locked up on him again, slowing him down.  Cissy Chambers, more than twenty years his junior, was already on her feet and back in pursuit.  By the time one of his patrolmen had come over to help Dick up to his feet, Dick had lost sight of both Cissy and the Karloff-lookalike.

Giving a low growl of disappointment in himself, Dick and the patrolman set off on foot. Reaching down to the radio clipped to his belt, the man spoke into the microphone affixed to the lapel of his coat. [color=#9fc5e8]“Chambers, talk to me.”[/color]

[i]“I’ve got visual. He’s turned down the Post Street alley.  I think he’s headed for the Fourteenth Street tunnel.”[/i]

Dick’s shoes skidded to a halt. His head was on a swivel, until he’d identified the alleyway that would serve as a cut-through. [color=#9fc5e8]“We’ll be waiting on the other side,”[/color] the man remarked, breaking into a sprint as he barreled through the streets of Bludhaven.

There was a fence dividing the alley.

Even just twenty years ago, Dick could have vaulted that without so much as a second thought. Now it was a considerable effort, slowing him down as he pulled himself up and then struggled to swing his leg over and drop down.

He felt like he’d just run a marathon.  And no amount of Aleve was going to numb the pain that was radiating through his knee.  But, be that as it may, Dick and the patrolman arrived at the end of the 14th Street tunnel.

He’d have liked a longer rest in which to catch his breath, but the sound of footsteps forced the haggard police commissioner to steel himself for the approach of their burglary suspect.

Instead, it was Cissy Chambers who came sprinting into view.  And was obviously as shocked to see Dick as he was to see her. “What? You didn’t stop him?”

[color=#9fc5e8]“Stop him? He never came through here,”[/color] Dick countered breathlessly.

Pulling her flashlight from off her utility belt, Cissy turned and shone the light back down the tunnel.  It was all solid concrete construction. To include the pavestones with narrow strips for drainage. “But, that’s impossible...” the woman uttered aloud.[/color][/INDENT]