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"Sic Parvis Magna."
(Greatness from small beginnings.)
- Sir Francis Drake.
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One day of hard work cleaning around the store and organizing the inventory into a much more comprehensible order was rewarded with a warm dinner over at the community center. The lower funds went immediately noticed due to the repeat of the same food from the previous day. Using leftovers and re-heating what was left from lunch to make something that could be called a stew. It wasn't bad, but it was clear that James was already struggling to keep the nutritional value of the meal as high as he could without putting money from his own pockets into the preparation.
Just half a week and it should be fixed, the people would have to hang in there until we can secure Bella's support.
Such were my thoughts as I ran through the ceilings of the city, doing some pretty awesome parkour to move easily across multiple streets at a time. I figured leaving traces of my presence behind with the webs would be a bit more concerning to the police or citizens, so I kept them to a minimum. Though, by the lack of proper news on it, there was either an investigation going on over the remains, or they just desintegrated after a certain amount of time.
"You're early." A voice welcomed me as I saw the familiar figure of Owl standing on the edge of a particular railing. She didn't look worried, but she was a bit more worn out than I thought she'd be after the previous day.
"I like to be on time." I replied, landing by her side and just leaning against the railing, ignoring the sheer drop that I would take if I slipped since I could always rectify myself mid-air.
"That's good, at least." Owl looked down at the traffic, taking a few moments to think before speaking again. "Checked out your work at the bank. No deaths, one really bad shin injury however."
"I had some trouble keeping my strength on check. First time and all." I scratched the back of my head, the web mask shuffling a little as I did so.
There was some silence next, it seemed like Owl was having some trouble figuring out what to ask or where to even begin to have a conversation. I just remained silent, letting her put her thoughts in order since she seemed more conflicted about my pressence here than I was. And I was the one thrown across reality.
"I ran through our previous conversation." She broke the silence. "It doesn't sound to me like you're lying, not that you'd have much reason to do so."
"It is a pretty bizarre situation." I had to admit. "I wouldn't really blame you for not believing me."
She nodded, before clenching her jaw as she seemed to notice something below. Lo and behold, Mr. Montgomery Burns was making his way into some kind of club. The adult kind that wasn't particularly easy to infiltrate. At least not when you look younger than you actually are.
"Look, I've been doing this for a year now." Owl seemed pretty serious about this. "I'm not going to offer you to work together, but I also can't just leave you to do whatever you want."
"Understandable." I agreed.
"So let's do this." She began her explanation. "You don't do anything too illegal and I don't go after you."
"And viceversa?" I asked, she looked like she wanted to reject the idea, but she held back. Turning down to a nearby alleway and approaching the edge of the building.
"And viceversa. Come, I know a way inside without needing to explain the costumes." She stepped off and gently gluided down the shadow of the office building.
I just walked down the wall and reached ground floor a few moments after she did. Together, we skulked around the club's alleyway. There was a back exit, as always, but it was heavily guarded and there were a few girls taking a smoke break so that wasn't an option. Instead, Owl pointed up to a balcony. It seemed like a special room for special business, which I was praying wasn't being occupied at the moment as I crawled my way up to peek ahead of Owl.
Peeking inside, I made sure there was nobody before giving her a thumbs up. She made her way up and I snuck ahead, checking to see if there was someone outside by sticking my head to the door and taking a really good listen. My senses harpened and I heard a few footsteps, slightly out of rhythm and light, not too far away from the door. Judging by the singular set of footsteps, he seemed to be alone guarding the room. Since it wasn't being used, it made a lot of sense to me.
So, I gently opened the door and peeked my torso out the room, taking aim and *Thwip!* His face was grabbed by the web and I pulled hard and fast. He was tugged all the way across the hallways until I caught him, putting him on a chokehold as I dragged him inside the room. A few seconds of struggling later, and he was neutralized. To make sure he wouldn't try to raise any alarms, I encircled his entire body with web, leaving enough room for his chest to expand and his nose free so he could breathe with no problem.
As Owl entered the room, I dragged the man under the bed and gave her a nod. We walked in complete silence out of the room and peeked around the corner of the nearby wall, two sets of staircases lead down to the ground floor where Burns had entered not too long ago, while the upper floors could probably hold some important meeting he was planning. We didn't have much idea, so I went downwards while Owl made her way up.
I had an easier time hiding since I could just stick to walls or into tight spaces, while her cape would make things a bit more awkward, so she would be the scout to check if there was any other criminal in the VIP area. For not knowing nearly anything about each other, it seemed we were on a similar wavelength.
Anyways, crawling downstairs, the low light environment made it easier to remain hidden away from the glances of the clients and the girls. Most of them enever bothered looking up at the ceiling anyways, and those that did were as high as a kite so I didn't have much to worry about when they started mumbling incoherently. Soon enough, I saw Mr. Burns in the distance, on a more civilized corner of the ground floor, talking with another very familiar face.
'What is Blackwood doing here?'
The two of them seemed to be keeping their privacy, four bodyguards staying on guard around their table in the far corner of the floor. It looked like a private booth of some kind, with curtains covering eye-level view from the other patrons, but not bothering to cover the top, which besides giving me direct line of sight on the two, also allowed me to see...Less civilized conversations going on inside the other booths. Thankfully I kept my eyes fixated on my targets as I crawled closer in order to hear their conversation.
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"With that said, Burns." He spoke, this time way more serious than he sounded when he was annoyed at having to make a personal appearance at the center. "I'm sure the deal can go off without unexpected problems next time right?"
He sounded and looked like....Like a different person altogether, but he was the same, I was sure of it. The discrepancy between the Blackwood right here that seemed like a classical villain and the politician I first thought of him as was rather uncomfortable.
Plus he was talking about some kind of deal? Maybe the cargo from the day before was meant to go to Blackwood? Wow, this was starting to get pretty serious after all. I was hoping they were just doing some good old collusion but it looked like Blackwood was getting into stuff that I'm not sure I was comfortable with. And neither was Burns, by the look on his face.
"Yes, of course." He swallowed his pride apparently, judging by his knuckles tightening on his lap. "I will double the guards and-"
"Triple them. Hell, use some of the guns if you need but we can't have Owl fucking this shit up again. You understand?"
"....Yes, sir." Burns was doing a very poor job at hiding how mad he was at being handled like this.
Good, that meant forcing his hand to give up his dirt on Blackwood would be easier than expected.
"Now go back to your hole, I want to enjoy my night in peace."
Without another word said, Burns stood up and walked right out of the club. Blackwood remained in his spot for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and heading to the stairs. Fearing I might be a bit late on telling Owl to hide, I went ahead of him and stumbled upon her as she was making her way down. Hearing the footsteps below, I pushed her aside and guided her into the VIP room again. There was still no one else there, but Owl seemed a bit annoyed at me pushing her around despite her trying to resist. I was super-strong after all.
"Spider, what the hell?" She asked, a bit mad.
"Burns was meeting with Blackwood, the cargo was meant for him apparently." Owl calmed down and her expression turned a little complicated. I was about to keep talking before I felt a bit of vertigo and my senses sharpened, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching the door.
Quickly, I *Thwip!* shot a web to the edge of the window and grabbed Owl as fast as I could, swinging out and ripping out the web from the concrete, launching us both directly onto the ceiling of the building, where I landed as softly as I could manage, putting Owl on her feet.
"If the cargo was meant for him...What is he trying to do? Elections aside there's not any big gangs around Ark City he might be planning to take out, just what is he...." Owl immediately started to make up scenarios in her head while I just stared down at the balcony, hearing the window being closed and a few comments of complain.
The guard would still be under the bed, tightly webbed in place, but anyone that actually took the time to listen and search would find him rather easily. It would be a good idea to either try and catch burns or retreat and plan out what the next step would be. Nodding to my own thoughts, I leaned back and stood straight, stretching my shoulders as I approached Owl again.
"Blackwood is inside the room, I don't really think we can do much about him right now, but Burns should be on his way back to his base or home, depends where he likes to go when he's angry."
"....Base, probably. He's a workaholic, even when it comes down to crime apparently." She noted and I agreed, he had been eprsonally supervising the cargo drop after all.
"Okay, plan of action." I said. "We go in, one as a diversion while the other gets as many documents or dirt on the operation as possible. Receipts, E-Mails, everything."
Owl nodded along and started to do a check on her equipment, smiling a little as she seemed to find what she was looking. A small dot, a magnet perhaps? With an owl logo plastered on top of it sat nicely under a pouch on her belt.
"You go in as a distraction, I sneak around to his office and get as much data as I can." Owl took the magnet and held it up for me to see. "This baby will track him, all I need is a solid chance to stick it to him or his car and we'll know where he is when he goes hiding."
It sounded like a pretty good plan all things considered. I nodded and made sure my web mask remained in place. The night was already going over midnight, and I'd be sure to regret going out this late when I started work early but it would be worth it if we could knock out at least Burns out of the competition. Of course, punishing him for his crimes was also a good thing, but the elections was my primary objective after all!
"Alright. Meet you at the factory?"
"I'll race you there."
Owl jumped off the ceiling and fired what I assumed to be a grappling hook, launching her at high speeds through the air before opening the feathery cloak to glide, using the boosters hidden inside her suit to straight up fly in the direction of the industrial district.
"I really need a good suit, huh?" *Thwip!*
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Five minutes later and I arrived slightly after Owl made her spectacular landing as usual. The envy was palpable apparently, as she gave me a very cheeky smirk once she saw me land right after her.
"My win aside..." She said, causing me to roll my eyes. "Things are pretty lively down there. At least two dozen guards, four around his office and there's a very concerning needle sitting on top of his desk."
Owl pointed them all out as we peeked over the window. The catwalks were being patrolled as well, so unless we had total darkness it would be pretty hard to surprise them all and take them out before they raised an alarm. Which meant I would need to cause a really good diversion for Owl to glide in there without issue.
"Alright, I'll drop in an beat them up. Will make it look like I'm struggling so you have more time to find a way inside. If you need help shout and I'll see what I can throw your way, got it?"
"Better make a hell of an entrance. I can see the electric panels from here though, give me five minutes and the lights will go out."
I nodded, taking out the light would be the wise move. We could move better in the dark than they could, Owl seemed to have some kind of contacts on that gave her that ability, but mine was built-in on my eyes. Which now that I thought about it was pretty damn weird. But weirdness aside, it was time to put the plan to action, so I walked over the window until I was directly over the middle of the warehouse and gave Owl a two finger salute before raising my leg and...
*CRASH!*
I kicked the window and, upon impact, fell straight down in the middle of the ground floor.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" I made sure to speak as loudly as I could, to grab their attention as quickly as possible. "I have to challenge thee to a most honourable brawl!"
There was a second of silence before the speakers hollered Burns's voice.
[GET HER!]
Being shot at by twenty four guns at the same time was a surreal experience. Dodging all the bullets by moving in and out of cover while kicking the shit out of the metallic firearms was a straight up comic panel given life. I couldn't help my smile as I shot past the ground and onto the catwalk, *Thwip!* I grabbed one of the guns from the clsoest thug and hit him over the head with it, swinging it over my head and launching it across the warehouse to hit another two, knocking one out and tripping the other one to fall into some crates and boxes. I heard something crack, and I wanted to believe it was the carboard and not his spine.
The brawl continued, however, as I jumped over the edge, evading the gunshots from the other thugs on elevated ground, swinging across the air and landing o nthe opposite catwalk, kicking a thug on the jaw and knocking his lights out for good. Another one tried to use the chance to tackle me, and only received an elbow on his head in exchange, dropping him on the spot. The rest opened fire again, a few of the bullets grazing me on my legs, cutitng faint lines across my jeans.
"Hey, those were almost new!"
*Thwip!* *Thwip!* *Thwip!* *Thwip!* *Thwip!* *Thwip!*
A barrage of web assaulted the half dozen guys that remained on the catwalk, rooting them in place by sticking their hands onto the railings along wit htheir guns, making it impossible for them to either shoot or run away before we were done. With one half of the thugs dealt with, there remained the dozen on the ground that had taken cover to make themselves smaller targets for my webbing.
All of a sudden, the lights went out and I took that as my chance, dropping over the edge and going on a kicking and punching spree.
*BAM!* *POW!* *CRACK!*
The room was covered in the sound of obscenities being screamed into the dark void as the flashes of the firearms being shot on full-auto illuminated the scene of a teenager beating the absolute shit out of the thugs. Breaking their guns, knocking them out cold and ocassionally webbing them in place if it was easier than getting closer. Eventually the lights came back thanks to emergency power, leaving Montgomery Burns standing inside his office with Owl right behind him.
He raised his hands as if surrendering.
"Good, now just-" Before Owl could finish speaking the man grabbed the needle and injected the liquid into the side of his neck.
No hesitation, wow.
For a long second nothing happened, and I was about to comment on it before Burns started twitching and Owl just ran out of the office, jumping over the railing that connected the elevated space to the stairs leading to the ground floor.
"Hey what's up with-" Before I could finish asking all I could hear was the roar of some kind of animal, before the window of the office was broken and the ground rumbled in front of me.
From the dust a figure stepped out, three times his original size, muscles bigger than my entire body, eyes shot red in anger and his skin bulging against the artificially-grown musculature beneath. The veins that looked like they were about to burst seemed to almost glow in the dark with a vibrant red, like some kind of LED cable running inside his skin.
"Well shit. Hey there, any chance we can talk this out or?"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Was his response.
Yup, this was not going to be a nice fight anymore. I looked over at Owl, and she looked over at me, a worried look on her face, probably her first time seeing this happen too. So the drugs were not just any kind of drugs, they were fucking superpowers in a needle.
Well, let's hope I can take him down before he breaks every bone in Owl's body. Birds are not the most resilient animals after all.