[IC] The Unsung Heroes (Superhero,Always Open)

[WeepingLiberty]

Nova covered her eyes as a bright light forced the entire area back, knocking the owner of the flash grenade down to the ground. Following through with her request, the vigilante did his best to pin the monster with his weapons but it didn't seem to do him much good. It was obvious the man was severely injured, and Nova didn't want to leave him to bleed out unnoticed during the commotion of the fight. As much as it pained her, Nova held her tongue as Agent Chandle fired right into Flash Bang's skull. "Nighty night." Nova cooed, linking her arm under the vigilante's and pulling him up to a standing position. Moving to support his weight with her own, Nova glanced over her shoulder at him warily. "I'm Agent Black with NAIL. Not to be an ass but you look like crap, let's find you some help before you pop like a water balloon. Can you walk on your own?" She shifted carefully to allow the man a chance to stand on his own feet without completely dropping his weight. Slowly Nova looked around, making sure that no one was within earshot of the two before speaking again. "Thanks for taking the hit though, I got careless." Nova had to physically bite down on her lip to keep from continuing her statement, wanting to follow up with how it would never happen again and that he shouldn't expect any favors from her in the future.

Suddenly a low hum drew Nova's attention, belonging to her brother's drone. "You alright Nova? You had me worried with that one when you weren't rushing into things like your usual self. Are you injured?" Nova chuckled silently to herself, waving the drone off nonchalantly.

"Minimal damage. A few cracked ribs from being tossed around, nothing too major. Start filling out your report while I make sure this one over here doesn't run off for mine." The bot remained silent but Nova could feel the eye roll from miles away. Reluctantly the bot began sweeping the area, hovering over the villains body to inspect it.

[Inertia]

As the bullet flew straight through Flashbang and he dropped dead with a limp, Matthew breath air and looked up. A blur of police and other special agents started spewing about, until a strong arm lifted him up. It was the agent he pushed out of the way, and she introduced himself as Agent Black. "I wonder why?" he replied with a slight smile, "Probably not, but I can try." he said as he tried to walk, but quickly stumbled down, turning back to the agent and continuing, "D- Don't mention it, I chose to take the hit so you don't owe me anything at all." while wiping a bit more blood out of the corner of his mouth.

His earpiece turned on, with Anna asking "Matthew, you alright?", Matthew replies in a whisper, "Probably not, I think this agent is going to bring me to medical attention, I hope."

[WeepingLiberty]

Nova chuckled to herself as she readjusted the man's weight and began leading him away from the bulk of agents, all of which were running around collecting their things before returning to give their reports. Approaching the ambulance, she noticed it's occupation by an 'upset' civilian. "They witness one fight and suddenly they're traumatized." She growled to herself, flashing her badge to the paramedic before staring the patient down coldly. "Beat it... Before you end up like that guy back there." Nova motioned to the giant corpse left behind by Flash Bang, watching as the horrified witness rushed away still wrapped in her shock blanket. "Miss, you can't just go around scaring off the patients." The paramedic frowned disapprovingly as Nova set the man down where the woman had been sitting, shooting the young man a glare that radiated aggressive power. "This man was in a head on fight with the idiot you see back there. This badge? Says I'm entitled to rid you of your phony "shock" cases to get this man the medical attention he requires. Don't test my patience." She hissed at the young man, watching him jump into action.

Pleased with the outcome of her threats, Nova relaxed her body and crossed her arms while she waited for the paramedic's report. "So, Mr. Robin Hood... Why don't you tell me a little about yourself while this guy figures out what's wrong with you? Maybe start with a name so I can stop referring to you as a children's book character?" She wasn't expecting to get much out of the guy, but every little piece of information helped to create the profiles for the list of vigilantes NAIL kept.

[Brodie]

Detective Jay Woodcrest sat at his desk doing paper work. He hand gotten himself in trouble with the higher ups for making another "mess" as they called it. To the chief and other important people death was not a good image that the G.C.P.D liked to portray, so after his last case he got benched for a few weeks. The chief said that he was too young to understand the sensitivity of the situation and now he will have time to think it over. Jay was catching up on his paper work when the report about Flash Bang came in. For some reason the G.C.P.D did not mobilize as fast as they should have and Jay was still stuck doing paper work.

Jay watched as the events unfolded on television. He begged to be let out of the cage and finally his wish was granted, they let him off with a warning not to start any trouble. He got his gear on and left with the unit sent to clean up the mess. By the time he arrived there were already ambulances and G.C.P.D officials on the scene. He approached the tapped off area and flashed his badge to get in. The bank was ruined, blood and broken glass all over the place. The body of Flash Bang was massive, larger than any normal man Jay had ever seen. Two other detectives had come out from the bank; they had a condescending look in their eyes. This always happened with older detectives on the force; they all thought Jay was too young for the job so they tried to treat him like a kid with a toy gun and a fake badge. “You finally out of time out Woodcrest." One of them grunted while handing Jay the report. " Well you know, they let me out on good behavior." Jay said with a fake simile, he hates having to put up face to say on the force but it’s necessary. The other one handed him the report and he read it while walking around the body. Jay thought the kill shot to the head was a work of art and might have praised it, if he wasn't on the job.

He stepped inside the bank and looked around; Jay could tell that N.A.I.L was on the scene. They did quite a number on the bank and it was sure going to be a cleanup job. “There is an eye witness who said that she knew the perp, said they were co-workers and that his name was Franklin." The other detective said. " That's all good but why didn't he steal any money, I mean he could have." Jay said as he knelt and gestured at the wide open vault that is still full. “Well he took something else, we asked the witness, her name is Ashley, but she said that it was "classified", and I asked by who and she said N.A.I.L. When I tried to ask for more info some agents popped up and...Well that was the end of that." He said with a scowl and it got deeper at the mention of N.A.I.L. Jay could not remember the names of these two so he was going to call them Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. " So he comes in here and shakes the place up, gets into the vault, steals something that we are not allowed to know, N.A.I.L comes in along with some new guy and puts him down with one to the head." Jay summarized, not caring if they are listening. “That’s what it looks like, boy. Got anything else to add on." Tweedle Dum said with a chuckle. Jay glared at them both, hoping they choked on their laughter. " Well then I only have one question; What did he steal and why is N.A.I.L getting in the way?" Jay said this as he got up and walked out the bank. He needed to find answers, but he didn't know where to look.

[Jinxer]

"Actually, Robin of Sherwood is less a child's tale but a myth brought about by decades of pent up unrest towards authoritarian masters seen to have no claim to their power." Alexis stepped around the open door of the ambulance as she spoke, eyeing up the 'Robin Hood' now that she was up close; there was only so much that could be determined through a rifle scope. She still carried the briefcase with her weapon within, disassembled easily and in a short time. Most of the NAIL agents who knew her had given the briefcase a sideways look, as if fearing the contents with the evidence of its work was laid out for all to see barely a hundred foot away.

"The 'Hood' part of his name was assigned by the authorities who sought to cast him as a mere villain, sadly for them he reclaimed it and turned the name Robin Hood into a badge of honour. Somewhat appropriate in this case... for a vigilante." She looked at the man who might as well have come straight out of a comic book before becoming aware that her little speech might appear to be utterly out of left field, especially as the two had not actually met her in person. She thus stepped forwards to shake Nova's hand.

"Agent Black, a pleasure to meet you in person. I'm Alexis Chandle, your support on this case." She gave a telling, sideways glance at the corpse at the bank's entrance in a 'That's my work' manner. "I'm somewhat interested to here your story as well. All the American super heroes have origin stories, as I remember." She raised an arched eyebrow at 'Robin Hood', as he was still known, before turning back to Nova.

"And then I might suggest we find a bar and toast to a successful mission."

[Inertia]

Through blurred eyes, he sees Nova being threatening and growling towards a patient and generally being rude to the paramedic "Feisty, I like it." he said outloud as he was laid down to be tested by the rather... unwilling paramedic. After he was asked anything about himself, even a little. Hesitantly, he reached in an inner pocket on his clothes and clicked his voice modulator off, his british accent lacing his voice, "Well, for now I can reveal my accent if you'd like." he joked with a slight grin, followed by a wince from his medical test, "And quit calling me Robin hood, I don't even have a hood."

Another agent promptly appeared, explaining the origins of Robin hood, "Thanks for the history lesson." he replied sarcastically. "You people need to give better codenames to the vigilantes."

[WeepingLiberty]

@Jinxer@Inertia
Nova shrugged at Agent Chandle's assessment of the ancient story, knowing she was correct but still not agreeing with it. "Still, I'm fairly certain our governments were worried about such stories having the power to start riots. That's why they had them turned into children's cartoons with talking animals and happy endings for everyone... Including the villains. Take away their power and the threat of riots goes down, not that many people in this country would be willing to get up off their couches for five minutes anyway." Nova chuckled and accepted Alexis' hand, shaking it firmly.

"Good work today, not sure where we'd be without that shot of yours. You serve somewhere? I get that fierce army blood feeling from you." Something about this particular agent interested Nova, this one seemed to have real life to her. Many agents, despite being part of NAIL were quite by the book and a stickler for rules. This one didn't seem like the type to cause trouble but she would take anyone's crap either. "Drinks on me then, just pick a place." Nova turned her gaze back to the vigilante, raising an eyebrow at his new voice.

"You know, for an Englishman I expected more manners out of you. Must be American raised." She jested, stuffing her hands into her pockets and resting her weight on her hip. "Just because you don't wear a hood doesn't mean that you don't resemble the guy. You've even got an accent to match." Nova's mischievous streak had returned, her eyes flashing playfully to match her laugh. "But in all seriousness..." She started, unpocketing her hands to fold her arms across her chest. "We'd use your vigilante names if you'd just give them to us, but you guys have a bad habit of shutting down every time we attempt to make contact. You're the first I've ever had a conversation with if we're being totally honest here. If you want a better codename than 'Robin Hood' then why don't you tell us who you are and that'll solve that." Nova stated definitively, a movement in the corner of her eye catching her attention. She turned her head slightly so she could watch a young man wandering around, asking questions.

~~~

@Mugin
Caden typed furiously from his desk at an internet café he'd chosen to use for the day. The room around him was dimly lit and isolated, like all the other cubicle like rooms in the joint. Unlike the other rooms, however, the desk space had been cleared for his own equipment, which he carried around in a backpack. The young man ran a hand through his hair before pulling up the live video feed to his drone Yuuko, who had been pulling various amounts of data NAIL could use for the deceased villain's profile. "Geez, this guy's anatomy is a mess. I sure hope he wasn't planning on returning to normal after this. Caden mumbled to himself, moving the drone about the scene. He had planned to check up on his sister, who had taken the vigilante to get medical assistance but a wandering G.C.P.D. detective caught his eye. Sighing to himself, he knew how frustrated the young blood must have been. "We could be nicer to these guys, they try their best." Moving the drone closer to the young detective, Caden made a point to catch the man's attention before speaking, so as not to freak out the detective as badly.

"You're with G.C.P.D. correct? I'm Agent Black, NAIL intelligence officer. You look a bit lost, is there something I can help you with?" Caden wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what the man was doing. It's what all new detectives tried to do, find answers. It wasn't easy with all of the agents walking around blocking them from witnesses and censoring all information. He sighed to himself, the idiocity of it all. How were they supposed to do their jobs if they had no information, and yet they were blocked from information because NAIL viewed them as incompetent and untrustworthy at their jobs. It didn't make any sense.

Taking a deep breath, Caden sat back in his chair and linked his hands behind his head. "Sorry about the appearance, by the way. I'm not much of a field guy, so I use these drones instead. I apologize if she startled you." He chuckled, knowing how odd it must have been to be speaking to a person through a flying toy.

[Inertia]

The paramedic was about done with the rather personal 'test', and with a slight groan he sat up, eyeing the agents who were getting along rarther well, more than Matthew thought. Agent Nova had turned to Matthew, and another barrage of statements laced with sly questions subtly added. "Well, the same can be applied to you, Miss Agent." he replied teasingly, "First time I've heard that the legendary Robin Hood had an accent too, I feel honored." getting up, and rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand and on the other he fished something from his belt pouch. He began writing something on a small note, under the eye of both agents. Also noting that he himself might need a drink, he might just go to one.

"I guess us Vigilantes prefer the lone-wolf style, huh? Who would've known." he said, with a slight chuckle "Just don't call me Robin Hood." he continued, glancing at the his electric wristwatch. "Time's up." he continued, doing a two finger salute towards Nova and then releasing circular metal balls from his wrist, when it landed it released a short burst of smoke covered a small area and only lasted around a minute. When the smoke dispersed, Matthew had all but disappeared, and a small note could be found on Agent Nova's back. A sewer cover could be seen, slightly open and could be noticed.

On the note

Below the 'Kick Me', there was a PS:
Thanks for the company, I'll be alright so don't worry.
When you need me, just fire out that 'Robin Hood' logo in the sky
like a certain bat fellow?

Pss: I am kidding, don't actually do that.

-----

Reaching the Mercer household, Anna greeted him, "Matthew are you al-" she cut off, plugging her nose tightly "Eyuck you smell, go take a bath then we can go and I'll call that personal doctor." Matthew promptly lift his arm and took a whiff, only to snap his neck back. "I see what you mean." he replied "Call doc, I still need one." After a warm bath, he put on his relatively normal clothes.

The doctor, Doctor Preston soon came in, with the same face as when Matthew would call him with deep injuries. "Matthew, why do you always have some injury that are usually broken bones" he said with a deep sigh, "Well, you'd probably just come up with another excuse." he continued, wrapping layers of gauze on his chest and stomach area. "Well, don't move too much, the injuries were fortunately not deep." he mentioned while injecting a serum into Matthew. "Be careful 'golfing' next time." he joked, packing his bag and getting up to walk to the door, before bowing to Anna and taking his leave.

"You're gonna have to tell him sometime, he's not dumb you know." Anna said, with folded arms and a grin. "Sometime, not now." Matthew replied, putting on his 'civilian' clothes, a green leather jacket and black jeans. "I am heading out for a drink, wanna come?" he asked, motioning his hands. "Hmm, Nahh, Appreciate the offer Matt, but I wanna sleep, tad tired." she replied, while patting Matthew's back, to which he winced in pain. "Alright, but you know, that still hurts." he said to her, rubbing his back.

Walking out the door, his breath was visible. Walking back inside, and putting on a red scarf. The streets were as busy as usual, and after a while of looking he found a bar that served light drinks. Entering, the smell of booze and desperate men entered his nose and visions respectively. The creak of the boards were invisible under the loud chatter of drunken men and women, and sitting on the corner of the bar, he motioned for the bartender and said "Something light." before snapping his eyes at the flirting individuals.

[Jinxer]

Alexis slammed her pistol back into its holster, the weapon free and primed the moment she had become suspicious of the As-Yet-Unnamed hero's movements. Sadly there had been nothing she could've done about his escape, even if she had the inclination to do so.

"Saves on the paperwork, I guess. I'm pretty sure we'll see him again though, now that we're all pals." She said with a casual shrug; as far as she was concerned the matter was now out of their hands. She turned on her heel and pointed in the direction of the hotel she had made her nest in earlier.

"During our activities today I happened to notice a dive bar, disguised as a classy one, about a block away from here. I think that can be the first destination for our celebratory tour." Catching the look Nova gave her she spread her hands in an unapologetic gesture.

"What? You guys were in the bank and he hadn't gone all Hulk-Smash so I had time to scout around a bit. A good sniper knows the lay of the land, which includes the best place to forget their victory immediately after."

She headed off before stopping, back peddling to Nova. "That reminds me, I left my car that way. Can I hitch a lift?"

[Gurren1]

Salty Crab Bar

Three men all wearing your typical attire except for some odd features enter the bar and sit the farthest away anyone which is situated next to the big panel window just as you enter the Crab. They order shots and after a few minutes of subtle looking around one of the men wearing a yellow vest talks.

"You think Orion is going to get them crystals."The one in the vest says with an odd accent.

"Keep your voice down dummy!" One with a Mohawk says.

"Sorry Popback- I mean Tyler."He says back to him.

"You idiot Barry! What if someone hear you!"One with a bald head scolds back.

"Calm down Dan. Now that I think about it nobody here would know what we are talking about anyways." Tyler says to his two colleagues and after a quick pause to look around continues,"I heard Orion has some friends in that agency and the police department and knows exactly where those Eyes are. I talked to him a few hours ago and he told me once he gets them we can be one of the dealers."

The two men smile and Barry chirps back,"When is he getting them?"

Tyler smiles and motions them to move foward as he whispers to them so low that nobody in the whole bar could hear them even if they tried.
"Tonight at that Marathon Chemical Plant. He says that tomorrow a lot of those damn police and agents are going to be dead."

Just as he finishes the shots arrive. "Boys lets celebrate!" He then says with the biggest smile on that Mohawk face as he grabs a shot of whiskey.

[WeepingLiberty]

@Jinxer

Nova stood completely still, growling with irritation as the man dropped his own smoke bombs to cover his escape. "Is it bad that his escape isn't what's bothering me right now? I mean, honestly... How could you not know that Robin Hood had an accent. He's a character from a folklore originating from medieval England." She sighed, reaching her arm up behind her back and tugging the piece of paper from her clothing. The man might have been secretive in writing the note, however he'd failed in his attempt to attach it to her unnoticed... She had felt the slight pressure of his hand on his way by. The agent read the note, rolled her eyes and crumbled the piece of paper. "I really hate vigilantes. She groaned, throwing a sideways glance at Alexis who had been going on about a dive bar down the street. "Hey, what you do on the job doesn't really concern me as long as you can continue making shots like those. Nova shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, referencing the various shots the woman had taken through out the whole ordeal.

She laughed a little as Agent Chandle began walking away, only to stop short and return to her side. "Sure, why not." Taking the lead Nova approached her bike, pleased to find it had no scratches from the fight. Unclipping her earpiece and stuffing it into a pocket, Nova slipped on her helmet and mounted the large bike. As she waited for Alexis to get herself settled Nova reached into an easily overlooked compartment on the bike, pulling out a spare helmet and holding it where the other agent could reach when she was ready. With her free hand Nova clicked the display on her helmet on, eyes flickering over each of the information quickly before she activated her comms mode. "Caden... Agent Chandle and I are heading out for a drink at a nearby dive. You're welcome to join us if you'd like." She said as she revved the engine to life.

Drinking so early in the day? Caden sighed disapprovingly, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair. Thanks, but I think I'm going to have to pass. There's a rookie-looking detective here who doesn't seem to be getting our knucklehead field agents' hints. I'm going to try sweet talking him into dropping the subject like the other guys. Nova glanced around, spotting the drone and the detective Caden was talking about, nodding to herself. "Good luck with that. He seems like he's going to be a handful." Laughing, Nova pushed the bike into motion, turning it around so that she could leave. "Alright... Well, I'll text you our location just in case you can meet up with us later."

Having finished with Caden, Nova shifted her comms to connect with the spare hemlet so Alexis could hear her clearly. "So, where to?"

[Jinxer]

Marvelling at the helmet and the technology inside it, the sudden sound of Nova's voice, unmuffled as she had expected it to be, came clearly through the speakers embedded in the helmet and nearly startled her. Catching her calm she took a moment to think of the fastest route, considering whether Nova would follow normal driving rules now that their mission was over.

"It's actually near the bar, two down from the hotel I was nesting in. You'll know the beauty when you see her." She tapped on Nova's helmet. "Nice kit. If we're on missions a lot can I get a purple one? I like to mimic the Queen."

A few minutes later, after an 'interesting journey' that had reaffirmed Alexis' suspicions that motorbikes were screaming metal death traps, the sniper was stowing the case containing her rifle into the boot of her deep blue BMW M5 Series. Upon arrival she had gestured to her pride and joy, largely to rid herself of the recent motoring experience, with a wide grin.

"See? Told you she was beaut. NAIL sure didn't hold back when I demanded more than they were offering." Truth be told, she would have taken the job even if they had refused her demands as it promised to give her some closure from her experience in the SAS; however, there was no harm in getting some extra perks.

The dive bar itself was quieter than it had been the first time she had caught sight of it, probably people either running away from the nearby combat or towards it. What a perfect example of human nature: curiosity or caution, fight or flight. It was still busy enough inside to not feel like they were being watched as they walked in, others readily stuck into their drinking even at that time of the day. Alexis was about to make a joke to Nova about Americans and then remembered some of the pub crawls she had been on back in Britain, starting before the crack of dawn and going on unto that of the next day. One had been done on cycles, she vaguely remembered. Although the bike she ended up with was different to the one she had set off on.

There were two bar stools next to one another, a rare occurrence as regulars usually fought to claim their favourite spot; arriving at ridiculous hours of the morning to ensure they could drink themselves into oblivion with the comfort of familiarity. Gesturing to the two stools, Alexis took the lead and swung up onto the bar stool before doing that bar-wave, somewhere between a wave and a jock's faux-salute in a cheesy teenage romantic comedy, to get the barman's attention.

"What've you got in the way of whiskey?" She asked, the man raising his eyebrows but not commenting on her taste, stepping to one side and gesturing at the semi-impressive array behind him. "Hmm, you're missing some of the greats, but I'll take two fingers of the Glenfiddich, on the rocks." She gazed at the half-frosted glass in front of her, admiring the gentle yellow tinge of the drink before taking a sip and sighing with relief, relaxation flooding her veins for the first time after the earlier events.

"So, Nova, let's jump straight into it. Robin Hood - snog, marry or avoid?" She had a wide grin on her face, the cold facade of the sniper had fallen away completely; an amused, sly twinkle shining in her eyes instead.

[WeepingLiberty]

@Jinxer

Nova laughed into her comm, nodding her head. "Sure thing... But I wasn't aware that the Queen was into motorcycle helmets. She joked, rounding the corner sharply. Most of the time Nova forgot that most normal people didn't like to speed through traffic the way she did on a motorcycle, not holding anything back as the bike dipped in and out of traffic on her way to Alexis' car. Slowing to a controlled stop behind the BMW, Nova parked her bike and removed her helmet with a whistle. "Indeed she is. You must have made quite the impression on the higher ups, they don't hand out this kind of stuff to just anyone." As nice as the car was, Nova had a preference to the freedom she felt on the back of a motorcycle. She couldn't possibly ask for anything better. Before the pair departed from their vehicles Nova tucked the spare helmet away in its compartment, picking up her own and balancing in between her arm and her hip.

The place itself was rather cute looking, your run of the mill dive-bar for a city like theirs. She could smell the brandy and whiskey hanging in the air, not an unpleasant scent but not a drink she would usually order herself. Nova scanned the area with her eyes before hopping up onto the bar stool beside Alexis, placing her helmet on the bar in front of her. She wasn't entirely surprised by Alexis' choice in drink, ordering a whiskey with an air of experience about her. A badass drink for a badass sniper. "You make me look like a kid, ordering something like that. She laughed, turning to the bartender. "I'll just take a hard cider." Nova shrugged, nodding her appreciating as the man placed a beer bottle before her. Picking her own drink up, she turned to Alexis, almost dropping it in the process.

"Excuse me?" She asked, half laughing and half choking on her disbelief. Perhaps this particular sniper could surprise her yet. Righting herself, Nova took a swig of her drink before speaking. "That man is a menace, I don't care how cute that accent was." She took another swig, leaving silence in the air for a few moments. "Alright, I guess the accent makes him at least "snog" worthy." Nova emphasized the word snog, poking a little fun of her own at the woman as payback for the sudden odd question. "Your turn. Kiss, Kill or Marry the menace?" She asked, realizing how much more polite the British version of the game was. "Wow, we really are obsessed with killing things." She mumbled to herself with a shrug.

[Brodie]

As Jay walked away from the bank and the body to go talk to the forensics officer he was looking through the case file to try to connect the dots. He was coming down the stairs when he herd some one speak to him.

"You're with G.C.P.D. correct? I'm Agent Black, NAIL intelligence officer. You look a bit lost, is there something I can help you with?"

[@WeepingLiberty
@Mugin

@WeepingLiberty
"Yes....I am, Detective Woodcrest." Jay said as he looked around and found the drone.

Jay had only met a few N.A.I.L officers in his career as a detective and had never worked to one. Jay had always herd that NAIL brought the heat no matter what department they worked in. Jay wondered why this one was talking to him, let alone offering him help. This meant he had to be careful or he might get in trouble again. Jay decided to try this out to see if it gave him any leads in this case, and most importantly some answers.

"Well if you really want to help you can fill in some holes in this case. Like what exactly did he steal and why? Was he put up to this or just personal motive? And how can we prevent something like this from happening again."

[WeepingLiberty]

@Mugin

Caden couldn't help but to chuckle to himself, relaxing in his chair. "You know, Detective Woodcrest... You sound a bit more like a reporter than a detective asking questions like that. Relax kid, I'm not going to bite you." Leaning forward at his desk, Caden typed in a few keywords to verify the classification of the information the detective was looking for. Taking a deep breath, Caden quickly ran through what he was going to say before speaking again. "Unfortunately, the answer to your first compound question contains classified information that NAIL is unprepared to have released at this time. However, I think I can help you with the rest. As far as we know, Franklin Evans AKA Flash Bang, was acting alone on this. This was the bank he was recently fired from so more than likely this was a revenge hit to redeem himself in the eyes of his peers." Caden shook his head, feeling bad for having to lie to the guy. It wasn't as if what he said was completely false, but it was meant to be misleading to keep him occupied until NAIL completed their own investigations.

"To be honest, there is no way to prevent these attacks. Ever since we lost our heroes, crime has been on the rise. At this point all you can do is improve your response time to keep the civilians safe from harm. This city has gotten too used to peace so until we can get back on our feet, we'll have to settle for reacting before we start trying to predict and prevent future attacks." Caden reached down beside him, plucking a soda bottle from the floor beside his chair. Gulping down half the bottle, he shifted in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm going to be honest with you, Detective Woodcrest... You're not going to get many details here, NAIL has everything pretty locked down. However, I can tell you that there was a vigilante involved in the take down of Flash Bang. Maybe if you can track him down you can find the real answers you came for, but that's something you'll have to do on your own. NAIL has no definitive records on this particular guy." It wasn't much, but it was all he could do to help the guy out, everything else was off limits when it came to sharing with the police. "Was there anything else that you needed, Detective?"

[Jinxer]

@WeepingLiberty

Alexis swirled her drink as she considered the question, sipping a the refreshing drink which was cool while starting a fire on her throat; truly invigorating.

"I suppose he's worth a kiss, although I wouldn't want to step in on your relationship. Maybe a bit more, some of the bad boys can actually walk the walk." She took another sip, realising she was reaching the end of her drink so she signalled to the bartender and he refilled her glass with neither speaking. "That said, I find women to be a bit better versed in the arts of pleasure, amicable and otherwise. Depends on my mood, I guess. You don't see many female vigilantes around; even our 'heroes' adhere to a largely patriarchal structure."

She gave Nova a wink before twisting on the bar stool to have a look around the bar, slightly dismayed by the average being out of her normal comfort zones. There were a few that caught her eye but none that she was in a desperate hurry to converse with. She turned back to Nova, glancing at the younger woman and noting the slower pace of her alcohol consumption. A small part of her acknowledged this as healthier than her own speed but the rest of her dismissed the thought; she probably had more baggage than her younger colleague.

"Tell me, Nova, how long do you think you'll stick with this job? I've often thought about just giving up the action and finding a nice person, bloke or gal it matters not to me, and trying the normal life thing." She stared into her drink as if there were some answer to the great mystery of life concealed admits the yellow liquor and ice blocks. "Then I realise my talents aren't meant for a normal life, once you've been in the SAS for some time you see things differently, you know? It's impossible to switch off, even here I've got escape routes in my head, potential cover and the like. I wouldn't wish it on someone younger, not to patronise you of course."

She shook her head, knocking the rest of her drink back before getting a refill.

"Sorry, morose topic. Where were we? Oh yes, you're potential bad boy romance!"

[Brodie]

@WeepingLiberty
"Do I now?" Jay said with a smile. He kinda did after he thought about what he said. "Well I will try not to."

"Anyways NAIL really does bring the hammer down on these types of cases, don'they." He said with a chuckle. Jay thought that this guy was okay for giving him what he could, but now he had a lead and needed to track it down. Vigilante, the one who shot the arrows, his best bet would be to go talk to the paramedics and then head back to the precinct to report in wit the chief.

"Thank you for what you could give me and if you ever need someone inside the G.C.P.D just call." Jay said as he walked of to go catch up with the paramedics team.

One he came up to the van he saw a paramedic working on a civilian. The young man looked up set, he was working o the girl a little bit to rough. "Dumb N.A.I.L agents and their badges" the man said to him self as he tightened a bandage that made the girl wince. "Hey now, don't you think that is a little bit to tight." Jay said to try to calm the man down. He flashed his badge and approached the girl, she got up and left too fast. "So you want to tell em anything about the man you treated." The paramedic look even more upset than before. "YA...some guy in pretty flashy gear and N.A.I.L agent, got treated by me, the dude left in a puff of smoke and the chick......well i don't quiet care were she went." He said with anger dripping in his tone. "Thank you....for the information, have a nice day." Jay said with a little uncertainty.

Now it was time for him to report in to the chief. He was told not to start any problems and he did't. Jay had not even un-holstered his gun this entire outing and that was one of the few. He got in hiss car and drove back to the precinct.

[Inertia]

His drink arrived, and taking slow sips while watching the flirting drunks. Most of them struck out as they had no idea how to pick up even drunken ladies, to which Matthew chucked to himself. He was also approached by some, although he just quickly dismissed them and was content with just observing. While taking another sip some rather familiar figures enterred the bar, one he saw just earlier this evening- The Agents. Matthew almost spat his drink out but managed to gulp it down before it came out. Hell of a coincidence he thought to himself.

They walked to two open stool bars, that was somewhat close to him, and with a bead of sweat he just continued casually observing the energetic bar, and keeping an especially open ear to the two agents who began talking something about... a vigilante? It was most likely about him but he took no heed to it. It turned melancholic for a moment but it turned back to the 'potential' love interest. With a sigh, he began listening to some rather rugged looking fellows. They were talking about something, crystals of some sort. Matthew narrowed his eyes and began listening more intently, Strange. the last bit was whispered and unfortunately he didn't hear it, to which he clicked his tongue. Grabbing a sticky note from his pants, and a pen. He wrote something on it.

Getting up, he passed by the conversing agents with a group of people that he paid in an effort to hide his presence and tagged a note on Nova's back, figuring that that would have been the best way to get her to notice,

Note

Those individuals over there by the big panel window, the one int he yellow vest mentioned something about a crystal. Perhaps the same one Flashbang might have used?

Stay on your toes, Agent.

Ps. Also, yeah I heard everything.

With a ding he left the bar and called Anna, telling her to ready his suit and his tech as he might need it soon.

[WeepingLiberty]

@Jinxer

Nova rolled her eyes, matching Alexis' mischievous look. "The more the merrier... I don't judge." She did, however, agree with Alexis that some of the bad boy characters in the world could actually follow through with their promises. Not many, but some. "Who needs female vigilantes when you've got us. We're kick-ass enough for the whole world." She held her bottle up in a salute of sorts to her comrade before taking another swig from it, having only consumed half the bottle by this time. Compared to her sniper friend, she probably looked like a kid with her alcoholic apple juice.

She caught Alexis' glances around the room, setting her bottle down lightly so that she could fully turn to face her. "To be honest, I can't see myself doing anything else. I was taken in by NAIL, at my brother's request, after my parents died when I was thirteen. Sure I can still remember what a "normal" civilian life is like but I put everything I had into my training, I doubt I could ever feel comfortable settling down like them." She commented, gesturing to the various faces around them, complacent in their dull lives. "I guess if we ever retire the world will gain a few more female vigilantes, wouldn't you say so?" Nova's body shook with her laughter, a sight quite unusual for the young agent. Perhaps the alcohol was doing its job of loosening her up a bit. Tipping the bottle back, Nova drained the remaining half of the bottle before ordering another from the bartender. As she twisted to pick the bottle up, she could feel something touch her back.

Reaching behind her, Nova growled as she plucked the piece of paper from her back for the second time that day. Scanning the small piece of paper, Nova gritted her teeth against shouting in the small place. "I change my mind. I'd kill him, I would definitely kill him in the most painful way known to mankind. I'll have him begging for death by the time I'm done with his sorry ass." She hissed in a lower tone, trying not to draw attention from anyone but Alexis. As annoyed as she was though, Nova had already entered "agent mode". Muscles relaxed, she slid the paper across the bar to Alexis for her to read while she did a general sweep of the area. "I don't know how reliable this information is, considering its source... But it wouldn't hurt to call it in." Knowing Alexis' specialty, Nova left the option for her to excuse herself from the bar to make the call, additionally putting necessary distance between the sniper and the possible targets.

@Mugin

Caden sighed, but with relief this time. The detective didn't sound angry with the lack of answers to his questions, instead he sounded grateful... Not something he was used to hearing from them. "Indeed they do, but it's for a good reason. Some information is better kept under wraps for as long as possible." Typing a command into his computer, a couple of lights on the drone flashed dimly. "Good luck with your investigation Detective." He watched the young officer take off in the direction of the paramedics before giving the drone the return command. Sinking in the chair, Caden covered his face with his arm to await the return of Yuuko, planning to send out one of the other drones for the next patrol.

[Jinxer]

Alexis nodded with a soft smile, both sad and pleased with Nova's answer. Pleased that there was another like her, sad and worried what the future might hold; Alexis had a few years of experience on Nova but she had been deployed in more consistently violent and extreme scenarios with the mission of killing whole groups of men and women. At least Nova would be helping people, Alexis conceded; her downcast mood washing away with the younger woman's laughter.

"I'll drink to that." She said, laughing at the thought of being a masked vigilante. "We'd have to team up though, sole and sidekick female vigilantes always meet bad ends; just look at Batgirl/Oracle." She applauded Nova as the agent threw back the rest of her drink before ordering another one. The note came as a surprise, Alexis had barely registered the person walking close behind them; she wondered whether the alcohol was dulling her senses already.

With a laugh, she nudged Nova's shoulder. "And that's why I'm rooting for you two!" She glanced around the bar, having read the note, identifying the group by the window.

"You know what, I think I'll go call him. Let him know how you feel. Back in a mo, I'll just pop outside." She said, nodding at the door before forcing herself to casually finish her drink before making her way outside. Once out of earshot she put the call in about the suspicious individuals before returning to the inside, hanging around near the door. A lone woman, aged between Nova and Alexis, provided her with some good cover and she struck up a mildly flirtatious conversation.

After a few exchanges they went to an empty table, Alexis taking a seat that gave her a view of the bar, particularly Nova, and the suspicious group; her hand resting in her lap so as to draw her handgun easily if it came down to it.

"So, Sasha, what do you do? Besides being gorgeous and alone, which is a tragedy by the way, in a bar like this?"