ISSUE #4 (July 2018)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Dare
Thrill Devil
Electrocutioner
Pathfinder
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Thrawn Park, Bludhaven
Stepping out of the lavatory stall Hayden Morris AKA Thrill Devil went to the sink, washed his hands and took the helmet out from under his arm and placed it over his head. Walking out the door of the toilet block in Thrawn Park he stretched, removed the keys for his bike from his pocket and then felt a sharp pain in the small of his back as something heavy slammed into him, sending him skidding to the floor. “Well look who we have here.” Aliki announced as she pushed the recovering Thrill Devil into his bike hard. “I’ve been looking forward to a conversation with you.” She added as Thrill Devil’s hand wrapped around a micro-Uzi strapped to his bike and levelled it at his attacker, a quick burst of gunfire sending his assailant vaulting away to safety. “I’ve got nothing to say to you!” Thrill Devil snapped as he swapped a new ammo clip into his weapon and mounted his bike. Gunning the engine, he watched in the rear-view mirror as Aliki sprinted the distance to him and leapt onto the bike behind him just as he pulled away. “Not what I heard.” Aliki replied as she hung onto her target as he pulled out of the entrance to the park and headed into the flow of traffic heading east along ‘Skunk Avenue’. “I didn’t want a long fight I have a shift to get to in an hour so do us both a favour put the toy away and pull over.” “Never going to happen!” Thrill Devil replied as he gunned the bike through a red light at an intersection towards a fuel tanker. Holding on for dear life Aliki watched as her opponent corrected his course at the last moment and threaded the bike round the oncoming traffic before pulling down an alley towards a chain link face. “That leotard and sneakers fireproof?” He asked as he twisted a dial on the end of the bike’s handlebars and fired an incendiary warhead out of a launch tube disguised as a headlight and ignited the fence. Barrelling through the flames and fence, Thrill Devil felt Aliki leap off just in time as he roared towards freedom. “Didn’t think so.” He stated as he saw Aliki pull herself up the side of the building. “Stick to parkour and keep off the roads.” He added as he re-joined the flow of traffic just as an ambulance and a police car sped past. Slowing down and paying attention to them, he saw Aliki drop towards him a little too late, this time landing on the front of the motorcycle, knocking his Uzi away with a swift swipe. “Anything else you want to tell me?” Aliki asked as Thrill Devil struggled to see round her as he missed the intersection and sailed into a multi-story car park. Not bothering to respond Thrill Devil threw a punch at her, only to be flipped over Aliki’s shoulder, his head now hanging perilously close to the front wheel and the ground as his attacker put herself in the driver’s seat. “Anything at all?” Aliki asked as more police cars went whizzing past as the pair spiralled up the ‘down ramp’ up to the roof. “You don’t scare me half as much as your sister.” Thrill Devil stated as he kicked the handlebars of his bike, the blow triggering the vehicles defence system and sending an electrical immobilisation pulse through the metal work and the two people holding onto it. Insulated, Thrill Devil took the moment to push himself off the bike, winding himself but ultimately landing in a predatory crouched position. Sitting where she was and un-insulated the electrical blast sent Aliki flying off the back and onto the concrete hard. “And like her,” Thrill Devil stated as he swung his bike round and twisted the dial on the handlebars, “you’re dead!” He snarled as a salvo of three mini missiles streaked towards Aliki, who leapt into action by vaulting over the side of the five-story carpark and landing on a covered walkway two stories down. Groaning in pain and anguish she heard Thrill Devil’s bike roar into life and knew she’d never catch up, and that she’d need to figure out a new plan to take him down. Annoyed she vaulted her way up to the roof of the opposite building and headed south, if she was lucky she may just get to work on time for her shift to begin. Wild Horses, Mealtide, Bludhaven The run back to her squat did little to improve Aliki's mood, nor did the fifteen-minute jog to Wild Horses. In fact, if anything her ire had increased until it could be visibly seen bubbling on her face. Pulling pints and feigning smiles to the drunkards that came in seemed to make it worse, and it didn't help that they seemed to be annoyed at something or someone themselves. "Allison at least try and look happy, this crowd looks like it’s getting hostile." William stated as he brought a keg of a local Gotham ale up from the basement on a hand cart. "It's not been a good day for me so far. " Aliki replied as she slipped a dollar note into the till. "Look around, it's not been a good day for anyone." William replied as he watched Aliki hand the customer his change. "The slaying at Echo Mall was bad enough, but it appears as if that Dare girl was so close that she could have stopped it. People are feeling let down by her, reassessing whether she's a criminal or a vigilante." Aliki stood there for a moment before asking through gritted teeth, "What slaying?" William answered by pointing a fat remote at the TV on the back wall, the volume turning up. "...tage is disturbing, but we can clearly see the assailant that the BPD has cautiously named as Pathfinder attacking the crowd of shoppers." The newsreader announced as the man dressed in a black with white bars running down his back shoved his hand through a mall security officer, his skeletal fist emerging out of his victim's back, before scything his way through the panicking crowd. "The death toll is standing at fourteen people so far but is likely set to rise as Pathfinder was able to evade the police as he made his escape." The newscaster announced as the footage changed to a dashcam showing Aliki's fight with Thrill Devil. "It appears as if the so-called vigilante Dare was in the area fighting what appears to be a motorcycle courier. Many people are angry that she did nothing to help prevent Pathfinder's attack. Here are just a few of their opinions." "I always knew that she was a criminal why else would she ignore us when we needed her." A woman being interviewed announced. "It's clear that Dare attracted this guy here." An elderly dark-skinned man stated. "Our city was fine without her, but as soon as she moved in, so did the other super creeps." "I'm just saying Batman would have caught them both and saved everyone." A man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt sporting the 'Bat' symbol on it told the camera. "Seen enough?" William asked. Nodding her anger now clenching fists with sorrow Aliki went back to serving the patrons. Courtyard Logistics, Waterloo Docks, Bludhaven The Countess smiled as she put the phone down and looked up at Thrill Devil and the Electrocutioner, the later standing slightly behind the biker. "Soames pulled some strings, the public officially know you as a poor bike courier targeted by a mad vigilante." The Countess told the men as she got to her feet, her three-piece suit rustling slightly. "But I know you Hayden and so does Blockbuster, he’s upset with Dare's ambush of you, thinks that you should be punished for your negligence." "Wait I can explain!" Thrill Devil gulped as he quickly looked at Electrocutioner for any kind of support. "I didn't tell her anything I swear!" "I believe you, that's why we're not going to punish you." The Countess explained as she pressed a buzzer on her desk. Moments later the doors to her office swung open and Pathfinder stalked in. "He is." She added as Electrocutioner stepped away from Thrill Devil and returned to the Countesses side. "Wait, WAIT!" Thrill Devil screamed as Pathfinder phased his hand through the thug’s legs, the energy surge sending the biker convulsing to the ground. "Will he be okay?" Electrocutioner asked as he went to take a step towards Thrill Devil only for the Countess to hold him back. "He'll be fine in a few hours." Pathfinder replied as he glowered at the Countess. "Now give me the information you promised me or you will be at war with my employers, and trust me you don’t want to be fighting Intergang." "You’re right we don't want war with Intergang." The Countess purred as she went to her computer and typed in a few commands. "Your target now calls himself Liam Beckett now and has been moved to Lanely Point. As you probably could guess there is a police presence at the house, and the federal marshals are on their way." She added as a printer hummed to life, printing out the information. "The bosses will be told about your first-class cooperation." Pathfinder announced as he stepped over Thrill Devil on his way to the printer. "When we said that we don't want war with Intergang I hope that the same is true in reverse, we are not your henchmen or your local branch, we are equals, and as such next time you're in the city we expect to be treated as such." The Countess announced, her words causing a sneer to form under Pathfinder's mask. "Or what?" He asked as Electrocutioner's hands lit up with cracking blood red energy. As they did Pathfinder felt a stinging sensation in his head right under an old 'x' shaped scar on the back of his head. "A little memento from your time on the Suicide Squad." The Electrocutioner snorted as he crossed his arms. "You may have disabled the bomb, but as you can see finding the right frequency to reactivate it didn't take long, more time than say it would take to detonate it." "Go about your business." The Countess ordered. "When you get debriefed tell the bosses about our hospitality, but don't forget to mention that, from now on, nobody screws 'the Block' and lives to brag about it." Centre Cross Square, Bludhaven "And back to our main story; the Slaying at Echo Park shopping centre." The newscaster on the big TV screen mounted on the side of a building stated as a shadowy figure darted past it. "Not only has the death toll risen to fifteen, the youngest victim has been named as nine-year-old Charlotte Oken. Her older brother Sam, the only surviving member of her family had this to say. The image was replaced by that of a young man. "Superhuman violence took my family, I'm only sixteen, and I've seen my entire family wiped out in the space of twenty seconds. I know that the super villain is to blame, but the vigilante, the super hero, they are to blame to." Sam announced as a tear ran down his cheek. "I want to know what authority someone like Dare has to decide who lives and who dies. My family never had much but I'm backing the Bludhaven Police Department in their efforts to capture Dare and bring her to justice." "Poor bitch, she doesn't stand a chance." The man playing 'Space Invaders' on his phone muttered as he turned off of the square and removed the bulletproof case strapped to his leg and placed it onto a skip. "Kind of like me with this annoying game." He complained unaware of the figure silently descending towards him. "Try paying attention to the proximity of your enemy." Aliki suggested as she clapped her hands round the man's phone and elegantly flipped down to the floor. "It works on so many levels." "I'm not frightened of you." The man snorted as Aliki twisted sending her prey falling to the floor. "The Countess and 'the Block' own these streets. Your days are numbered!" "I'm not here to frighten you, not if you answer my question." Aliki stated sweetly. "So, which one of your bosses hired Pathfinder and why?" "We didn't hire him, truth is Blockbuster isn’t happy that Intergang are sniffing around the 'Haven'. And if the Block isn’t happy then the Countess isn't happy." The thug announced with a sigh of relief. "Then it would be in their best interest to tell me where Pathfinder is." "I don't know, we were told not to give you anything, especially anything tech based." The thug sighed as he looked at his smashed phone. "Well if you won't give it to me." Aliki sighed as she eyed the skip. Aliki sat on the rooftop flicking the screen of her newly acquired phone as she watched a blinking red dot jump around the city. Her plan was to intercept Pathfinder as he passed the area, but ultimately, she was ready to adapt it on the fly if needs be. The thug, one Martin 'the Mouth' Montague had been more than willing to show her how the app worked and all it had taken was twenty dollars and the promise not to throw him in the skip, Thursday was after all bin day. Suddenly the dot stopped, Pathfinder must have found his target somewhere on Lanely Point. Getting to her feet Aliki tossed the phone off the edge of the building. As she headed into battle her head asked her heart if this was really the best thing to do. Her heart replied with one word. "Yes." Before adding, "just this once." |