Byrd Man

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

<Snipped quote by Sep>

- sends discouraging emails and mean texts -

@Nightrunner

I... think that's cyberbullying?

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Is it bad @Byrd Man if I read your posts in the voice of the guy who plays Snart on the Flash TV show?

@Sep

I mean, if that works for you then it's cool. I've only watched a few episodes with him in, but Wentworth Miller is a bit hammy as Cold. Ditto with Purcell as Heatwave, and I say that as someone who enjoyed both of them in Prison Break. A guy like Richard Stark's Parker is a good model. If Parker had an actual personality, that would be Cold.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

"I'm only the messenger!"
"Now you're the message", Parker told him and shot him.
-- Richard Stark

Central City, Missouri
2:34 PM

The front door swung open. Johnny Frost rushed in with his pistol out and slapped the man in the face with the butt of the gun. Dean Swarbrick came behind Frost and pulled him away from the now bleeding man on the floor.

"The fuck, Johnny?"

"What?" Frost asked as he pulled away from Swarbrick and grabbed the fat man on the ground by the hair and started dragging him across the carpet of the living room.

"Stop!" The man on the ground said.

"We ain't supposed to rough him up, Johnny."

"What? They told us to come over here and talk this fucking guy, right?"

"Yeah," Swarbrick shouted. "That's it. Just talk."

Frost stared at his partner, then down at the man with the bloody face, and then back to Swarbrick.

"There's a shorthand in this business. 'Take care of someone' means kill 'em and 'talk to someone' means to fuck them up."

"I fucking work for the Top," the bloody man cried. Blood dripped off his chin and on to the carpet. "I'm on your side."

"Shit."

Frost helped the man on his feet and passed him a kleenex from his jacket pocket.

"I'm sorry, guy. Like I said, it's a whole shorthand and I got mixed up."

"Fuck you."

Frost saw red and slapped the guy again, this time with an open hand. Blood spattered on the wall and carpet.

"I'm trying to apologize and you want to tell me to fuck myself?"

"Just tell us what's up," Swarbrick said. "Why are we here and why is it all fire important to talk to us?"

"Lawson, you know how the big guy has his stache out in that little town?"

"What about it?" Frost asked.

"I do the money run out there to put it in the bank. Last few days I noticed a few cars following me. Always alternating, but they showed up enough for me to notice them."

"How'd you notice them?" Swarbrick said.

"They were junk heaps. One was a Dodge and the other was like a little car that those guys had in that movie Wayne's World, remember that?"

"That's it?" Frost looked to Swarbrick and then back to the guy. "You call us out here and take one in the mouth just to tell us you notice a few shitty cars on the freeway? Stop wasting my time, man."

The guy held one hand up, the other pressed to his nose to stop the bleeding. "I'm just letting you know. Can't say that I did my job."

Swarbrick lit up a cigarette and blew smoke up over his head. "Look, the effort is appreciated, but that bank is well guarded by both the Top's guys and the local law out there. It's probably the best guarded small bank in all the country. Nobody in their right mind will try to rob that bank."

-----

Lawson, Missouri
2:45 PM

"This bank is getting robbed!"

Pulling back his coat, Digger Harkness revealed his arsenal of boomerangs. The small crowd in the Lawsons Savings & Loans recoiled at first, but looked curiously at the weapons attached to Digger's body.

"Son," an old man said with a puzzled look. "Are those boomerangs?"

"Sure as shit are, old man." Digger pulled one out and tossed it through the air in a perfect loop. "The thing I love about boomerangs is that they... hold on, I put too much muscle into that one... here it comes." He held his hand out and snagged the boomerang from the air. "They always come back. The thing I love about boomerangs is they always come back, that's what I was trying to say."

"Call the cops," the bank manager said from behind the glass partition.

On cue, the power to the bank went out. Two blocks away, Electro flooded the town's electrical grid with excess energy and blew the entire power grid for the city of Lawson before getting in his AMC Pace and driving out of town in a hurry. Out of the highly polished and reflective floor came Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Heatwave, and Rhino.

"Props to the janitorial staff," McCullough said. "Every surface of the floor polished to mirror shine."

"Boomer and Heatwave are on crowd control," said Cold. "Rhino and Mirror Master, you're with me to the vault."

They leaped the counter, Rhino breaking through it, and found the vault door behind the counter. It was a large steel thing sealed shut. Cold stepped up to it and placed his palms on it. A spiderweb of ice began to snake across the vault door. Sweat began to bead and freeze on his brow as he dropped the temperature of the steel down to the extreme cold of liquid nitrogen.

"Go for it," he said as he stepped back.

Rhino's large and powerful fist shattered the steel door into hundreds of brittle pieces. They stepped over the pile and into the vault. There was not a lot of cash out in the open, but Cold's eyes were focused on the rows of safety deposit boxes on the far wall. Six rows of fourteen boxes from the top of the ceiling down to the floor.

"We don't have time to get them all open. Mirror Master, open up a mirror bridge back to Central City and keep it open. Rhino and I will chuck them through the mirror."

"Cops are coming," Boomerang shouted from the lobby.

"Stall 'em!" Cold shouted back.

Stepping outside, Boomerang and Heatwave were greeted by a half-dozen sheriff's deputies with guns.

"Put your hands on your head and get down on your knees," one of the cops shouted.

"Love to," Boomerang said as he flicked his wrist. A blinking boomerang twisted through the air and landed on the roof of one of the patrol cars.

"Down now," Boomerang said to Heatwave.

They hit the ground as the explosive boomerang erupted and sent the car into the air in a ball of flames. Cops started to scatter from the fiery wreck as Heatwave stood and took potshots at the fleeing deputies with fireballs.

"We're ready!" Mirror Master shouted from inside the bank. "The mirror train is leaving the station. Last call!"

The two turned and ran towards the vault. The entire contents, safety deposit boxes and cash, was gone. On the floor, Mirror Master looked up at them through the polished surface.

"Jump towards me, one at a time!"

Heatwave jumped and disappeared through the floor. Boomerang followed suit and landed hard on the floor. Mirror Master laughed while Boomerang shot him the bird. Still laughing, he opened the portal back up and Boomerang fell through the floor. In just five minutes, the bank was cleaned out and the Rouges were long gone from Lawson.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man
who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars,
while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”
-- Eugene V. Debs

Midtown Manhattan
11:22 PM

Sam Symington did a line of coke off his black onyx countertop. Symington cheered, surrounded by three call girls in their underwear who cheered along with him, and said something that Rachel couldn't catch. She was in a perch across the street from Symington's penthouse, watching the action with a pair of night vision goggles. She'd been watching the little shit since earlier this afternoon, taking over for Yorkie. In that time Symington had done six lines of coke, went through five bottles of eight hundred dollar champagne, and had some kind of sexual contact with all three of his hookers. The coke, the champagne, the girls, all of ti was paid for by stealing from others. Hundreds of people lost their life savings and Symington was living it up.

Rachel wished she'd been allowed to bring her sniper rifle tonight. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to put a bullet right through that assholes smug little smile and watch the bullet blow his teeth and brains across that penthouse. But Castle's orders said this was a simple recon job for the moment. Besides, blowing him away from afar wouldn't be justice. It had to be up close, he had to know what he was dying for. Plus, Rachel's company wouldn't like seeing Symington die.

There were two different FBI surveillance teams watching the penthouse, one up in another building watching the penthouse and one down on the streets just in case Symington left. She pulled out her radio and activated the three button sequence that encrypted it. The FBI had bigger fish to fry, but the last thing they wanted was the feds getting wind that someone else was watching.

"They still there, A?" Rachel asked into her radio.

"They left for about five minutes to get some hotdogs. They're back now."

"Shit. I'm gonna get the big man on the horn."

She changed frequencies and ran through the encryption code again.

"F, this is R."

-----

Lieberman's PC Repair
Brooklyn
11:24 PM

"I could do kiddie porn?"

David Liberman, better known by his handle Microchip, looked at Frank Castle with raised eyebrows. The back of Microchip's store was a cluttered mess of computers, motherboards, wires, and cables. Through all the junk he'd managed to carve out a workspace for himself and a chair for a guest. Castle sat in that chair while Microchip brainstormed ideas.

Castle shook his head. "I don't want to frame someone him for something he didn't do. I want to kill him."

On the screen in front of Microchip was Sam Symington's financial records. It took him maybe ten minutes to run down all the bank accounts and offshore holdings that he had. All told there was sixty-five million dollars in liquid assets and almost that much in property. Almost all of the money had been frozen by the IRS in light of the trial, but one of Symington's first legal actions was ordering those accounts unfrozen.

Castle looked at the screen and squinted. He followed the action on Symington's active account.

"Lots of cash withdrawls. Drugs?"

"Probably," Microchip shrugged. "The guy even buys his hookers with a credit card. So far as I know, drug dealing is still a cash and carry business. What about finding out who his dealer is and cutting his coke with rat posion or something?"

"Too sneaky. I want him to know why he's dying and who's doing it to him."

"F, this is R."

"F here," Castle said. "What's wrong?"

"A and I are surrounded by Feds. They're watching him just as close as we are. Two teams on two levels. They're not those Thornguard assholes, but they might as well be another group of bodyguards. It looks likee a straight up assault on the penthouse is a no-go. What do you want us to do?"

Castle sighed and spoke into the radio. "Leave as soon as you can slip away without the FBI noticing you. We'll have to go back to the drawing board. F out."

He disconnected and pocketed the radio.

"Always got to pick the popular ones, Frank?"

Castle grunted and stared at Microchip's computer screen. All that money that man had taken from others, all the lives he had ruined, the way he had perverted the justice system, and now he was getting defacto FBI protection to party all night and do blow and fuck hookers.

"Wait a minute," Castle said as he stood. "Scroll back up. Let me look at something. I may have an idea."

-----

One Police Plaza
12:45 AM

Oscar Clemmons was preparing to call it a night. He'd been here in the basement for close to sixteen hours. The bagel Chase brought him that afternoon served as his lunch, reheated Chinese takeout as his dinner. If his wife were still alive she'd be hopping mad that he spent so much time at work. He would be sleeping on the couch tonight if Sarah had her way. As it was, he slept on the couch every night. He couldn't stand to sleep in that bed anymore. It still smelled like her. He was afraid that if he got in he'd never want to leave.

No, better to spend most of the day down here than to succumb to that. At least here he was making progress of a sort. He had files on files of unsolved murders that occurred in the Five Burroughs. He'd been combing through each one to find something to link any more murders to the Punisher, or the Punishers as he had taken to calling them. There were maybe five additional ones he felt positive were Castle and whoever's handiwork. He knew the brass would be more inclined to stick more on Castle if they could. Nothing brought the clearance and solve rate down like charging a man you couldn't actually arrest. It was a paper clearance, chickenshit in Oscar's mind, and it only made the NYPD look good on paper but looking good on paper seemed to be all the brass cared about.

The elevator door opened. Oscar didn't bother looking up. At this time of night it would only be the cleaning crew. He stacked and filed another group of folders on his desk and didn't hear the man until he cleared his throat.

"Detective Oscar Clemmons?"

Oscar swiveled in his chair and saw a thin man with black hair standing in the doorway. He wore khaki shorts, flip flops, and a plaid button up shirt. Clemmons raised an eyebrow at the man and his dress attire.

He grinned widely. "Hi, sorry about this, but my name is William Rawlins. I was supposed to be here earlier but got tied up in Washington. I tried to contact you at home, but there was no answer so I called 1PP to see if they knew where you were."

"And here I am," Oscar said as he removed his reading glasses. "Who are you and what can I do for you, Mr. Rawlins?"

"I work for the government, detective--"

Clemmons smirked. "Government is a broad term, sir. Mind a little more specifics?"

"I work for the government," Rawlins said with a grin. He removed a sheet of paper from his suit and passed it to Clemmons. "And I have a special order signed by the Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, and even the NYPD commissioner all saying what I'm doing is above board and has their approval."

Clemmons looked at the paper, squinting a bit to read it. He shouldn't have taken his glasses off.

"What is it you're doing, Mr. Rawlins?"

"Officially? I'm consulting and offering technical support. You're in the capturing Frank Castle business, detective, which is something the US government very much wants to be in. So unofficially, I'm your new partner."

Rawlins smiled as Oscar handed him the sheet of paper back.

"Now, how about you tell me everything you know about Frank Castle?"

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

Bunch of chatty Cathys.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

"The beat breaks and your teeth break
Keep your canines embedded in my knuckles as a keepsake
It would seem your veneers just mere souvenirs falling out your mouth and on to the landscape"
-- Run the Jewels

Central City, Missouri
10:30 AM

"This isn't a hate crime, is it?"

Lenny Snart looked in the rearview mirror of his car. Rhino's hulking frame was shoved into the backseat of Snart's '76 Dodge Dart. Riding shotgun was Electro. Dillon shifted in his seat and looked at the big man with an arched eyebrow.

"What do you mean hate crime?"

"Stealing from this guy. He's called the Top, right? Isn't that like a gay thing?"

"I think you're thinking of a twink," said Electro.

"They're both gay things," said Snart.

"Is a twink a top?" Rhino asked. "Or is a twink always a bottom?"

"Depends on the twink," replied Dillon. "A twink being a bottom isn't mutually exclusive. Depends on the bear-- Jesus!"

Electro flinched when he saw Mirror Master in the reflection of the rearview mirror. McCullough smiled widely and winked.

"How long have you been there?" Snart asked.

"Long enough to catch that riveting conversation. I should have recorded it..."

"Where's the money train?"

"Few miles north of here, getting on the interstate. If ya hurry you can catch up."

Just like that, McCullough disappeared back into the mirror world while Snart started the car and sped away.

"What's that squeaking noise?" Rhino asked.

"Serpentine belt needs changing," said Snart. "It's the top of my to-do list if we pull off this heist."

He hit the interstate and gained speed. Every so often McCulloguh would appear back in the mirror and direct them towards the convoy. Ten miles out of Central City they caught up with three black SUVs speeding down the interstate in a line. Snart slowed down and kept a long leash on the cars. With McCullough shadowing them from the mirror world he wasn't afraid of losing them. Twenty minutes turned into an hour, an hour turned into an hour and a half. Snart kept checking the mirror and waiting for Mirror Master to show back up.

"They're getting off at the next exit," McCullough said from the mirror. "Town by the name of Lawson."

Snart veered off at exit 47 and cruised through the one-horse town of Lawson, Missouri. There were two red lights and a McDonald's and that was really it. Within five minutes Snart found the town's only bank. Lawson Savings & Loans was the prototypical small bank with small parking and one drive-through lane. Snart cruised by slow enough for them to get a good look, but not slow enough to draw attention. The three SUVs were parked in front of the bank while three men in suits lugged big metal cases inside.

"This is gonna be easy," Dillon said once they found a parking spot down the street. "Small town banks are easy as shit, bunch of Barney Fife's patrolling town, and it's far enough away that the Flash won't be wise to it unless we start some shit."

"It's going to be tougher than that," Snart said with a sigh. He looked in the rearview mirror. On the other side of the street were two sheriff's deputies in two prowl cars. "Cops are nearby which means they're guarding the transfer from the car to the bank. If as much cash is in that bank as we think, then the Barneys in this town are not going to give it up without a fight. That fucking bank is going to be like a little Fort Knox."

"I know," Rhino said. "If only we had superpowers that sure would help."

Dillon looked back at Rhino before turning to Snart. "I think I get what Cold's saying. If this is going to be a fight then we'll have to use our powers, which will let Top and his people know who ripped them off... plus, it makes all kinds of noise that will result in the Flash ending up here. Us, crooked cops, and the Flash altogether? That's like the gunfight at the OK Corral on steroids."

Snart watched the cop cars pull away as the black SUVs pulled out the parking lot and headed back towards the interstate. "And all it takes is one slip-up. Be a little slow or a little late and it all comes crashing down around us."

Heroes For Hire: Crime, Superheroes, Politics, etc.

Blame Morden for his sexy ass new game.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

<Snipped quote by Byrd Man>

Now I'm going to fight you :P

@Lord Wraith

And Carrie Kelley will be Bluebird and Harper Row will be Oracle!

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

<Snipped quote by Byrd Man>

As Nightwing?

@Lord Wraith

No, as Red Hood. Jason will be Nightwing and Dick will be Red Robin. I want to make things as confusing as possible.

The New Frontier: A Marvel/DC One Universe RP

<Snipped quote by Blue Demon>

Don't get him started on Damian being around before Dick, Jason and Tim.

@Lord Wraith

Just wait until I apply for Terry McGinnis.