Thursday, June 07, 2018, 09:30 AM, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
When I woke up, I found that the two Alchemical Processes that I had started were complete, so I prestidigitated them clean after transferring the materials to appropriately labelled bottles. I started up the Vitus Flask and Unguent, both of which should end before I get back from work. Rex volunteered to stay home, and that I can lock up all of the doors and that he can put chairs underneath the handles to block them from being opened easily. I got everything ready that I could for my regular workday and got my pottage breakfast. There wasn’t a lot of things to get ready for regular workdays anymore, and just a bit of paranoia to activate my “ears of the city” spell to see if there is any movement on me from the various gangs.
What I got from my spell, is that they don’t actually know where I might have been based out of yet, and that the Painkillers were going to be out looking around for me tonight, that they were asking around about me, but there were not a lot of people that had any information about me or where I was living. I realized that I would have to keep my attention split during the day, and keep my ears to the ground, especially if there is any chance that the ones who were captured might be able to be reached, then they could give the rest of the gang information. With the knowledge that we should be at least okay until this afternoon, I figured that the safehouse would be just that, safe. Rex reminded me as I was getting ready to leave that he would really like some fresh fish tonight, and I offered up that I would get one for him. I locked the doors from the outside and ensured that the security was set up until I would get back.
I rode my bike to work, without my cart and everything I owned, and easily got to work. Doug was back today, and I got met by him at the door, where he let me in to the store. Doug asked me how yesterday went, and I shrugged, noting that it went fine, that Steve had left for the day, and it was pretty much just me and Bob. Doug nodded thoughtfully and asked if there were any surprises, to which I shrugged and said that it didn’t seem so. Doug smiled and asked if Bob had shared his tall tales about working with S.H.I.E.L.D. in Vietnam. I smiled back and told him that he had shared a lot of his background.
*****
Thursday, June 07, 2018, 07:30 PM, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
It turns out, that Bob didn’t have that difficult of a time getting a client, as he already had one client already here. It was for just a firearm, but he had wanted me to give it a one hundred percent workover and enhancement. He offered up that as long as the client was satisfied at the end of the day, he would easily pay the fees from both his shop and the improvements. Bob explained that he was going to have me sequestered for another test, that a longtime customer was looking to have his rifle gone over, and as long as this went okay, I would be offered the position officially. Doug shook his head, and said that he wished me luck, and Bob led me to the side room where a beautiful piece of metal was already set up on a bench.
I started out with careful disassembly of the firearm cleaning each individual piece in turn and setting them aside. I inspected each individual piece for wear, tear, or signs of abuse. As they were carefully set on the cleaning cloth, I started making notes for what I found for each individual piece, the condition, wear points, and what I could see could cause issues going forward. Once I had disassembled the entire firearm and cleaned it, I cautiously applied oil to the appropriate parts, before reassembling it to be in factory condition, using mending on each piece that had any sign of wear. With the firearm together, I noticed that the condition of the firearm was such that I could enhance it, and that the salt bags had already been put into this room. I broke open one entire bag and started getting the patterns put out, before opening up the second bag and getting out ten pounds to add to the runes. I put the rifle in the center of the circle and started the focus.
After an hour, the salt dissipated into light and the light absorbed into the firearm before the room dimmed down to normal levels. I gently picked up the firearm and set it back on the display. I opened the door, to where Bob and a large, well built, obviously military man, were both standing. I offered up that the job was completed, and ready for return to the customer. Bob looked to the customer and smiled noting that as he had promised, the improvement was done.
The customer went in to pick up the firearm and gave it a thorough inspection. He looked to me and asked where all of the old parts were. I shrugged, and told him that everything has been taken apart, cleaned, serviced, and returned in specification. The man said that he had to see this, and he started disassembling the rifle slowly, methodically, inspecting every individual piece, muttering to himself. Suddenly he stopped, and looked at me, asking me how I had modified the firing pin to be exactly as it was when it was made. I told him that I did not swap out any pieces, and that I had never looked at or touched this firearm before this morning.
The customer looked at Bob and declared that he needed to see this in operation, and that they should go to an outdoor long range to get good accuracy checks. I offered to put the firearm back together if he desires, while Bob and him go to discuss where they would be going. The customer smiled and said that I would going along with them, and that he would watch me reassemble the firearm. I shrugged, as I already had prestidigitation precast, so I started quickly putting the rifle back together while cautiously wiping away any fingerprints.
The customer, who now introduced himself by the name of Matt, and that he was very intrigued by how well I seemed to be able to put this firearm back together. I thanked him for the complement as I finished up putting everything back together. With everything back in the proper place, I gently handed the rifle back to Matt. Matt looked it over again and remarked how there weren’t even fingerprints from where I worked. I shrugged and noted that fingerprints leave oils that can facilitate rust.
Bob came back and said that we can all get into his SUV now, and that we would head out to the outdoor range that both Bob and Matt knew about. I walked to the SUV and got into the back seat while Bob and Matt got into the front seats. While Bob drove us to the location, the two people in the front seats talked about different things related to military life. Eventually, Matt ended up directing a question to me, asking me if I had done time in the service. I perked up and noted that it wasn’t an option when the time would have been right for me, but that I had worked with the police before the Blip.
Bob spoke up and told Matt that I was being modest, that from what he had found on the background check, was that I was a detective that was helping defend people of my town from a rogue super who had been attacking the people, and that I managed to keep them from hurting more people. Bob added that I was also on the scene in Norfolk when the blip happened and that I was helping the police here render first aid for the car accidents that occurred when some of the people disappeared. Matt seemed to have some grudging level of respect for me after that, and then Matt asked me a question that I couldn’t answer easily, which Super was it? I sighed, and offered up that I didn’t know the name of the super, just that she could fly and launch fireballs at the people. Matt looked like he was thinking for a minute and noted that he had not heard about a woman who could do that, but that if I helped defend against that, I had his respect.
I thanked him a lot but noted that I wasn’t the only one who did it, that there was a man in technological armor, a woman on winged horseback, a martial artist, and an insanely accurate archer. Matt thought to himself, and said that it sounds like Ironman, Valkyrie, Ironfist, and Hawkeye, an unlikely team-up, but hey, at least it seems like I was fighting the good fight. I offered up that I really couldn’t do much, but I helped where I could. Matt offered up that this was all that anyone else could do. I was quiet after that, as Matt started talking to Bob about different members of the “Avengers”.
Finally, we made it to the range, and got to the corral. Matt got the rifle into the cradle, and started to sight it in, using a laser bore sight. He looked at me oddly and noted that it was still on point, even after having been taken apart and put back together. He shook his head and loaded a round into the chamber. Bob, Matt, and I all put on hearing protection, and Matt got into position and got the round fired. Everything went as it should, and the firearm fired as it should, with the bullet hitting the bullseye.
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Matt looked up at me, and then Bob, and then loaded the magazine before setting the firearm up to fire again. Five rounds later, each one into the hole that the previous round had made. Matt looked up at me again and asked me what I had done. I shrugged and said that I had cleaned it and addressed the rifling a little. Matt then loaded up a couple of magazines and cycled them through repeatedly, going to a series of different targets, emptying all of the magazines.
Matt stepped to the side to talk to Bob for a little bit while I stood there with the firearm. I looked over the firearm, acknowledging the power in that firearm, compared to my revolver. I thought about it and figured that if I was going to use a more powerful firearm, I was going to have to enchant it to be able to do non-lethal damage. That is a LARGE expenditure of resources, first of all, finding a way to actually enchant weapons. That will take a while, as I need to find a way to enchant other things first.
By the time I was done ruminating on what I needed to do, Matt and Bob stopped their discussions and shook each other’s hand. I looked over at them and Matt looked fairly happy with the results of this event. An envelope of money passed hands that seemed rather thick. Bob smiled and noted that he was certain that I could do this for just about any firearm that Matt wanted to get “improved”, for the same price. Matt confirmed that this accuracy benefit would last, and I spoke up, saying that as long as the rifle is regularly serviced, as normal, it should remain until the rifle breaks. Matt nodded and thanked me, before we all went back into the SUV and started heading back to the store.
Matt asked me on the way back where I had learned to craft guns, and I told him that I had been apprenticed to a man who had access to a lot of advanced technology, who had trained me specifically. Bob offered up to Matt that he should see the revolver that I had made from scratch. I pulled it out of my holster and handed it to Matt. He looked at it and was very appreciative for the quality. He noted that fineness of the metal and how the grip melded to his hand, before handing it back to me.
When we got back to the store, Matt took his rifle and got into his own, larger, SUV, before heading out. After we watched Matt leave, Bob thanked me for my quality work, handed me a wad of cash from the envelope before putting the rest of the envelope back into his inside jacket pocket before we both headed back into the back of the store. Doug looked up and asked us how well I did. Bob looked at me and said that I had done better than I he could have ever expected. Doug immediately came over to me and congratulated me, slapping me on the back with some vigor.
Bob treated the whole shop to “lunch” after we had got back, and I got to experience something decent called a “Bourbon Street” from some place called “The Grilled Cheese Bistro”. It was fairly nice, with the chicken and other flavors. Doug and Steve both seemed to already know what they had wanted, so they were quick with their orders, and I just picked what was recommended by Doug. I took some time, while the food was being delivered, to hit the privy and take care of business and also count the money that I had been handed. Counting the money from the different bills, it added up to fifteen hundred dollars.
I pocketed the money and left the privy and waited with the others. Doug and Steve were both happy with how happy Bob seemed, with Steve noting that he hadn’t seen Bob this happy in quite a bit. I shrugged and noted that I just did as was asked with detailing that firearm. Doug looked a little more skeptical than Steve was, but he didn’t mention anything about it at the moment. The food got here fairly quickly, and then I got to that sandwich that I had ordered.
For the rest of the workday, I managed to get some more work done on the backlog, and Bob spent some time talking to Doug about something that they didn’t let me in on. The workday finished off pretty much as good as I assume it could, and at the end of the day, we all packed up and headed out. I had gotten directions from Steve to Ghent Seafood to pick up something fresh for Rex. I took my bicycle there and parked for the quick trip into the store to look to see what they have in stock for my loyal friend and saw that they had a few different options to pick from. Apparently, they had this large fish called a “salmon” and it was something like twenty dollars a pound.
I bought one of the smaller ones and paid close to three hundred dollars for it. I hope that Rex knows that he is getting prime quality here. Before leaving the shop, I decided that it would be a good move to do a rumor check to see if there are any updates. I got a hit when did the spell around the back of the store, that the Painkillers were going to be searching in Old Huntersville tonight, since that was the first place that someone interacted with me. At least now I know where I was going to hunt tonight.
I carefully headed home, sticking to other neighborhoods, and got to the back of the house. Rex was ready, having gotten empathic impressions from me starting as soon as I was about a mile away. I gave Rex the fish right away, and he seemed really pleased. I went back to the labs immediately, and saw that while the Unguent was ready, the Vitus Flask was only about a third ready, so I cleaned the first set and set up the Aqua Regia in that set up, before refreshing the castings of Animate tools to get them operating. I put away the money I got and started getting my adventuring gear ready for the hunt tonight.
*****
Thursday, June 07, 2018, 10:30 PM, Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America
We snuck through the neighborhood carefully, keeping to the shadows as we went, dodging between some less well-kept houses. When we got to the area where we had caught the Pepsi Boys, and there was a car outside of the building with someone waiting in the car’s driver seat. Rex and I came up a plan and he flew over to the top of the roof, in his smaller form. I snuck around to the side of the car, not being seen because I had cast “Vanish” before getting close, and then, when I was lined up, I launched an ultrasonic ray at the driver, knocking him out in one hit.
Unfortunately, the driver’s head lurched forward when they went unconscious, and the hit the horn briefly. Knowing that this would have alerted the people inside around inside for clues. Rex got ready and I rushed over to the car to get the pistol from the unconscious thug and check to make sure he was alive. Thankfully he was, and by the time I had the pistol, the three remaining thugs had rushed out the door. Rex launched a burning belch at one of the thugs, and the other two opened fire at me.
I got hit by the first one while I got the pistol’s safety off, and I deflected the second bullet. Firing at the thug who had winged me, I summoned up much of my training in the martial paths, to bring them down to unconsciousness, like the first one. Rex flew down on the far side of the Thug he had burned, expanding into his battle form to bite the thug. The thug attempted to fire at Rex, but missed, likely panicking because he is facing a man-sized dinosaur from his nightmares. The last remaining thug fired at me and hit me this time.
Focusing in on that remaining thug, since I had a second, I unloaded everything I could on them from my focus and ability. That left the remaining thug, who Rex bit again, and again, dodged another fired round from the thug’s pistol. Quickly making my way up to the pair, on the other side of the thug from Rex, I clobbered the thug with a punch from my Cesti. Working quickly, I got Rex’s fire burst touched up on the thug and made sure to have a good “story” for the police to discover when they got here. Cleaning the gunpowder residue from my hand, I transferred it to the driver’s hand.
Rex and I gathered up what items that I thought would be useful and able to be transferred into monetary usage, namely cash and jewelry. I cleaned up any areas where I had could have bled on, and Rex and I left to a safe area. A few more Painkillers in jail, especially, with the one’s bullets in the other’s bodies. Rex and I made our way to an alley a good distance away, and we got to work pulling out the bullets from my wounds, before working to heal the wounds via my badge. After draining that, I took a charge from my belt to finish healing.
We rushed back to the safehouse with our new booty, we went through a circuitous path, trying to make sure that no one could easily follow us. We crossed the last bit invisibly, and then unlocked the back door and got back in. I turned off the alarm condition for the security system and locked down the building again. Rex spoke up and told me how refreshing it was, I snickered and said that it was easy for him, as he wasn’t the one getting shot. I patched up all of my gear and equipment, and further resolved to get myself some of these modern firearms that pack quite the superior punch to my own revolver.
With everything set up and ready for the next workday, Rex and I sacked out to get some rest. I ensured that the items being made would still be going, while he finished up on his salmon. All in all, it was a most profitable day, more villains that will be put away and off the street, more income for me from two sources, and more fish for Rex. I’ll ping the rumors tomorrow morning when I wake up and have the ability to do so, but for now, I can sleep the sleep of the just. All in good time, I guess.