Little fish, Big Apple! (Shadowoof)

As Lorelei’s temper flared, the masked boy reached out to try and calm her. She could feel the pressure being exerted by his grip, though it did not cause her any pain or harm, she was after all build to survive the crushing depths of the sea.  The action had succeeded in its original purpose thought, and soon the rumbling would come to a slow stop. The thug had finally cracked and decided to give the kids what they wanted. The masked one seemed to agree to his proposal, but the look on Lorelei’s face made it seem like she was still on the fence. Eventually she agreed to let the man out of his concrete prison, just enough for him to retrieve his phone.

The ground bubbled a bit and the thug lifted himself cautiously up out of the ground till Lorelei solidified the ground again around his ankles to ensure he wouldn’t escape, though at this point he was more than likely to do whatever they told him. Again the thug took every precaution to comply with the two vigilante kids as he reached slowly into his pocket to retrieve his phone. It was a miracle it hadn’t been crushed when he was entombed in the ground, or from the mini quakes Lorelei had caused.

Within a few seconds he turned on the GPS and a route was laid out on the screen. “We had a tracker placed on the supply truck, this will show you where it’s at in real time.” He said as he handed the phone over to the masked boy. “Just….Just don’t say I didn’t warn ya alright?”

Lorelei immediately rushed to Jake’s side, getting uncomfortably close as she obviously had no concept of personal space. Peering over his shoulder, Lorelei looked as a little red dot crept along the screen. The information did very little for Lorelei as she was still learning all there was to know about the surface world. She placed her hand gently on the boy’s shoulder, seeing as she was new to New York, she had absolutely no idea what any of the streets were, or just where the truck was headed. “Can we catch up to the truck? Think we’ll make it in time?” She was more concerned with the fact that the truck belonged to Clover’s company, than the actual danger they could potentially getting themselves into.

Jake took the phone and had began to track where the dot was going, the small blue girl not exactly helping in the way she got far too close to him, he might have asked for her to possibly make a little space before he felt things would get awkward but her question snapped him out of it. Would they make it in time? This was a truck, not too quick but it had one hell of a head start thanks to the thugs, distracting the two teens and metal domes frustrating defiance in handing over the information.

On foot they would possibly never make it, unless the girl had other powers besides earth and durability and maybe water. But Jake couldn't be sure so he knew he would have to jump but he wasn't sure as to how she'd keep up... He knew how. "We can. Hold on." Jake didn't give her time to argue nor did he have the time to feel slightly embarrassed about what he was going to do next, they had to move. With quick hands, Jake would pocket the phone and grab Lorelei before throwing her onto his back, getting her arms over his shoulder, Jake would grab a hold of both her wrist with one hand and pull the phone out before looking up to the buildings roof. It wasn't that far up to worry about Lorelei's weight making his jump worse and so he jumped, clearing the roof of the building by at least a meter before landing.

With no time to lose, he looked at the phone to track the red dot and found that it was closing in on a street he at least knew how to get too from the gym and in turn they were not far from the gym. With this, he ran to the edge of the building and began to jump across the streets and rooftops with the small girl on his back. "Sorry if.. Uncomfortable.. Name is Zaap by the way... Kinda work in... progress." Jake said between each passing jump, his eyes focused on both the dot and his footing when it came to where they were going if they were going to catch up to this truck in time.

The second the masked boy confirmed that they could indeed catch up to the truck, Lorelei quickly leapt out from behind him and gave the thug a polite bow. She was not expecting Jake’s next move as in one fluid motion he flung the little Atlantean onto his back. She began to blush a bit with embarrassment and was ready to argue with being placed into the boys back, but all soon became clear as in the blink of an eye they were nearly soaring through the air. Lorelei’s eyes lit up in amazement, confusing this super jump with flight. The young girl tightened her grip ever so slightly around the masked boys neck. She did so in a way as to not cause the boy any discomfort as she could only imagine how hard it was to carry a person on your back and still leap from rooftop to rooftop.

Lorelei let out a small giggle when the boy introduced himself as Zaap. “I get it. Like a moniker or codename right?” She said in response while the two continued to soar from roof to roof. When they had finally caught up with the red dot on the GPS, they’d discover that it had stopped completely. Upon seeing this the two came to a stop on a building overlooking the supply trucks last location. Lorelei was lowered onto the gravel toped roof where she straightened herself out before approaching the edge of the building.

From where they were, Lorelei could see that the Sinclair supply truck lay in the middle of the street over turned. Several thugs were in the process of offloading the cargo into the other truck the thugs boss had driven off in. “Oh no were to late!” She said in a partially defeated tone. “We have to get down there and stop them.”

Lorelei was ready to use her powers to create a pillar of earth to use as a makeshift elevator, but before she could a very loud bang rang out. A chunk of the lining to the roof a few feet to the right of the little Atlantean blew apart from the impact of a bullet. Across the street from Zaap and Lorelei was the ‘Boss’. The mysterious thug didn’t look like a thug at all, instead they wore a black and grey metallic suit and had an all white helmet which was marked up to look like a skull. The figure peered out from behind the scope of their rifle, the shot was meant to be a warning of sorts, to both the kids and the thugs currently offloading the truck. “That’s far enough kiddies. Go home and let the grownups do their job.” The metallic voiced echoed across the chasm between the two buildings.

Jake cheeks couldn't help but get warm at the girl's giggle to his name, it all the same made him feel silly but he couldn't help it, real name was a no go and he had no name for himself, nothing he could think of that related to his powers besides 'Red' and that was already taken by what could be considered one of the biggest bad people around, even if he has been a bit more on the low for a while, or at least last he heard from the news and radio.  

Finally, Jake and Lorelei caught up to the red dot, it had been still for a while and Jake saw why, they were too late in stopping the crime before it happened. Lorelei spoke the obvious but as Jake was about to reassure and agree to her words, a shot rang out as the rooftop's lining exploded. Jake froze as he looked across the street to see the big bad chrome done had so much tried to stop them from meeting. A man in a metallic suit with a white helm with a skull looking make up, the guy didn't seem to threatening but the rifle was another question. Jake knew he was durable to bullets, with high powered assault rifles meant for his kind just enough to sting and if continuous, daze but that rifle of his might be enough to seriously bruise or even cut though his skin, a scary thought.

Stepping closer to Lorelei, Jake would keep his voice low and quiet. "Ok. I am going to go for Skull-bones over there. Protect yourself with your earth ability's and if possible deal with the ground floor guys." Once Jake had said what was needed, he would step away and call out. "Alright. We'll go." But as soon as he did he took a step forward so that his foot was halfway on and off the roof before leaning forward to fall, his body angled to the ground before he kicked off the roof, shooting to the ground with his hands outstretched.

Hitting the ground, Jake would curl up into a roll to lessen the impact and as soon as he got on his feet, Jake would dive to the Sinclair truck for cover as a shot rang out and hit the ground he was just standing on, the asphalt exploding in chucks. Knowing he couldn't stay still, Jake backed up and kicked the Sinclair truck, sending it forward along the ground with sparks as Skull-bone's thugs inside began to yell and object to the movement. Following the truck closely, Jake would edge closer and closer to the rooftop that held his target before stepping back and spotting the skull helmet thug, the metallic man's rifle aimed at him as he couched and jumped at the second metal man he had encountered tonight, his hands reaching for the gun as he flew towards him.

The skull masked assassin let out a sigh as each shot was intentionally fired with the intent of missing. The boy was quick, but the assassin was known to be an excellent marksman. Each shot fired was made with the express purpose of toying with their prey. A small chuckle escaped the hired-gun’s mask as the kid kicked the truck down the street, sending the thugs inside on an unwelcomed ride, all while using it to remain out of site. For a split second the masked gunman trained their sights on the overturned vehicles gas tank. One well-placed bullet was all it would take to send the kid and the truck up in flames. Still, the assassin chose not to take the easy way out, instead they continued to play things out.

Meanwhile on the roof across the street, Lorelei was contemplating what to do exactly. Zaap and dove into the fray all so suddenly that the poor little Atlantean was left confused on how to proceed. Things were complicated further when the truck that she was supposed to secure was now even closer to the sniper. Lorelei took a deep breath and heavy gulp as she mustered up the courage to protect her sister’s property. With a small hop from the lining of the roof, Lorelei used her power to extend pieced of the building to create a makeshift pair of stairs for herself to descend down.

Skull Face turned their attention away from the boy for a split second as they noticed the pink haired girl making her slow descent down the building. Another bang echoed out as a bullet nailed the next step the girl had formed. The initial bang was enough to startle her, but now with the next step no longer their Lorelei stumbled from her perch. She fell a few feet before pulling a large slab from the building to catch her.

The assassin lined up another shot, this time looking to take out Lorelei’s new perch, but before the shot could be fired, the boy leaped into his line of sight. It was obvious the kid was trying to get his hands on the skull faced hitman. Thinking quickly, the assassin rolled to their left, keeping their body pressed against the lining of the building. Once the masked boy landed on the roof, Skull Face gave him a cheeky salute before rolling backwards off the building. The assassin tucked their body into a ball and slowly tumbled towards the ground. Then, just a few stories down, the assassin kicked off the wall launching them into a backflip.

The metal clad thug landed with a heavy thud against the pavement, forming a small impact crater. Skull Face stood up slowly, their grim visage looking upwards to the boy on the roof no doubt ready to leap off in pursuit of the thief. The assassin raised their finger signaling for the boy to wait, before producing a small detonator from a pouch on the back of their belt. “I wouldn’t do that kid. I warned you to go home. Think it’s time we cut the little games though. You see the building your standing on, and the one your friend is on? Well they aren’t exactly empty you see. Each of the tenets is currently wearing an explosive vest and are well….a little tied up at the moment.” The skull faced person paused for a moment before raising the detonator in the air. “Either one of you so much as sneezes in my direction and I push the button. You wanted to play heroes, well here’s the grim reality. Can you bring yourselves to stop me? Can you live with yourselves knowing you’d be condemning all those innocent people to death?”

This guy was quick, as Jake landed he expected a sharp pain in his side as he began to turn to skullbones but found the guy was... playing games, that and he was really strong to be able to carry that suit as it made a creator as soon as he landed, very strong. Just as Jake was about to jump down after him, the man rose a finger to wait and Jake, even doe he wanted to ignore the man found himself waiting, a inert sense that something was off, something he hadn't spent the time to think about..

All too soon Skullbones made him realize his mistake, the people inside were bombed, they had expected metas to show up. Planned. Jake just stared at him and looked to Lorelei, who was sister to this Sinclair. And he shook his head at her. "Dot... Best we... Back off." Jake kept his accent light as he called out to Lorelei, giving her a nickname to hide who she was and to hopefully give way to a plan Jake was brewing. He didn't have the speed to take this guy on, he could but at a dangerous cost and if he missed, if this guy wasn't bluffing he would be risking the lives of many. He couldn't take that chance.

Backing off till he was out of sight of the gun men, he'd keep his eyes trained on Lorelei, hoping she would back off as well. That she wouldn't risk lives for a single truck. Because even if these guys walked off, Jake still had the tracker, they could get these guys. They just had to let them think they won this time.

Though no one could see it, the masked thug was grinning from ear to ear. It was funny to them how against their better judgement the two kids had rushed into this mess all while thinking they were doing something noble and just. Despite all the warnings they had been given, it was now that the severity of the situation was finally sinking into their little minds. The two kids were backed into a corner by the assassin and had no choice but to cooperate and yield to his threat.

Lorelei began to have a small break down, her heart was racing a hundred miles a second. Was the mysterious person serious? She couldn’t just let them make off with Clover’s stuff, but she also didn’t want to risk getting innocent people killed. Zaap had the right idea, as it was the only option they were left with. The two kids would have to hold back and let the thugs make off with their prize. The thugs finished loaded the rest of the Sinclair truck’s cargo into their own truck while one of them approached the skull faced assassin to tell them the job was done.

The hitman gave a slight nod of the head acknowledging the message. The lone thug returned to the driver’s seat of their truck and started it up. The shiny white helmet looked back up to the roof top, where the boy had slipped out of sight. A sly laugh echoed throughout the street. “What good little children you’ve been. It’s a damn shame we can’t play a little longer. You know how it is, deadlines and what not. Try not to get yourselves killed now!” The hitman shouted before waving his finger in the air in a winding motion, signaling the driver of the truck to start the engine.

Before hopping into the truck Skull Face approached the downed Sinclair truck and moved around to the under chassis. They reached around where the rear wheel well was before finally producing the tracking beacon the thugs and most likely the children had used to track them down. The assassin dropped the small compact devise on the ground before shooting it with their rifle. Skull Face then hopped into the back of the truck. “Where done here!” they shouted before the thug’s truck began to accelerate down the street. As a sort of middle finger to the kids, the assassin tossed the detonator to the bombs in the street as the truck sped off, their sick metallic laugh almost drowning out the sound of the trucks engine as it peeled away.

Seeing the detonator tossed from the back of the truck was a signal to Lorelei that the coast was clear, but she was so stricken with fear of it being a trap that she refused to get down from her perch. Instead her pink eyed gaze simply trailed from the detonator to the thug’s truck. Tears began to build up as she felt utterly defeated not only as a hero but also in her failure to defend her sisters stuff.

Jake growled as the red dot he had hoped would lead them was crushed, gone. His mood had gone from sour to angry at the metal mercenary as he walked back to the edge of the roof, the laughter of the victor speeding away with the truck, a insult Jake wanted to show would not go unpunished. As he looked down on the street, Jake saw that the detonator was in the middle of the street and Lorelei still remained on her perch, the echo of sobs reached his ears and he got even angrier at the metal man. Jumping down to the street, Jake would walk over and carefully pick up the detonator before jumping onto the roof were they first encountered this mess, carefully placing it down before walking to the edge and climbing down onto the small earth perch in which the pink haired, blue skinned girl rested. "Hey. He an't won this yet Lorelei." Jake said as he sat next to Lorelei, feeling a hand would not be enough to help comfort the girl and while a hug always helped, Jake felt that a hug might have been out of the question.

"So cheer up. Cause we have a few choices on how we want to deal with this. We can. Chase after that truck and most likely get lost. Head back to Chrome dome and hope he hasn't gotten far enough we can get where his boss is going. Or. We can go to your sister, with or without the whereabouts as to where the trucks contents is going and ask her for help cause I assume, she being your sister, will be pretty tough. And would just as much as you, want to get her things back." Jake gave his opinions on what they could do, waiting silently for Lorelei's answer. "Oh but before we do that first, let's make sure the people inside the buildings actually have bombs strapped to them." Jake quickly added before going quiet again, he wanted Lorelei to make the choice because in all respect this matter affected her and her family and he didn't want to be rude but he was sure as hell going to help no matter what. That he could promise himself and Lorelei.

Lorelei let out a small sniffle as she whipped the tears from her eyes. Despite still being upset with the whole situation, having the mysterious kid there to comfort her and present a plan was enough to put her troubled little mind at ease. The two would sit on the brick perch for several more minutes before Lorelei would finally consider what their next step should be. Zaap was right, there was no way they could catch up to the truck now, and the thug from earlier was more than likely dust in the wind by this point. With that in mind, the last two options presented were the ones that made the most sense to the little Atlantean.

If anyone could find the stolen truck it would be Clover. But before the two kids could go seek the aid of the older Sinclair sister, they had an obligation to check on the people in the nearby buildings. “My…My sister will know how to find the truck. T-t-the people in these buildings…we should make sure they’re ok like you said.” With a slight bob of the head, as if satisfied with her decision, Lorelei hopped down from her perch and waited for Zaap before investigating the first building.

Upon opening the door to the building, the two teen heroes would be greeted by an odd odor. It wasn’t sickening at all, quite the contrary, it was semi sweet. The smell had all but permeated into the walls of the building. It was as if there were no gaps or anything for the scent to have escaped through, and it was apparent why as the Lorelei opened the door to one of the first floor apartments. There was an eerie silence as the two teens approached the tenant who seemed to be resting in a recliner facing away from them and towards a blank TV screen. Lorelei attempted to call out to the person several times but received no response. Finally, she spun the chair around to find the elderly man sitting there dead. His body had been horribly contorted as if he had been suffering from sort of seizure, and then there was the sickening grin plastered on his face.

Lorelei let out a loud yelp and leapt back with fright, nearly propelling herself back into the hallway. She clasped her hands to her mouth as she tried to fathom what could have done such a thing. [color:6441=b85ece] “W-w-what….W-who could do such a thing!” she shouted.

Just then the TV flickered to life, the image on the screen was the masked assassin that had stolen the truck. He was in a warehouse, and his minions were offloading the delivery truck behind him. “Well, well, aren’t you two inquisitive. I’ll save you both some trouble. Don’t bother checking the other rooms. Everyone’s already dead. You like my handy work? It’s a special brew I came up with all by myself.”

“How could you do this! All these innocent people!” She shouted at the screen.

The thug didn’t respond to Lorelei, instead they insisted upon laughing at her little tantrum before cutting the feed to the TV. If one looked close enough they could see that White Skull had been monitoring the two kids via a camera in one of the walls.

Lorelei quickly spun around to face Zaap. “We can’t let him get away with this! We need to go to my sister!”

Jake smiled under his mask as Lorelei made her choice and at the time it was by far there best bet out of all of them. Plus, whoever Miss Sinclair was, Jake wanted to meet her seeing as she was sister to the blue girl beside him. Jake followed suit as Lorelei jumped from there perch and led on, however, what they found inside was... Disturbing. At first, the odd order of a sweetness and the fact it was too quiet, at the end of the hall to a room sat a man, silent and as Lorelei made her way towards him, calling out as Jake followed behind silently, he already had a grasp of the situation at hand. There was no bomb... They were already dead.

His theory was proven right as Lorelei turned the dead man and his face came into view, his features contorted and a grin pastured to his face like that of Flat-line, one of crazed wonder... One that would suffocate... Jake kept his mind off the fact everyone was dead inside these surrounding buildings by working out how this was done, trying to picture the how and why while avoiding the unknown faces of woman, children, parents and grandparents.

Suddenly, the TV sprung to life and White skull stood there, the surroundings that of a warehouse and his men off loading the stolen merchandise and as he spoke, all Jake could imagine was a smile under his mask, that this was all some joke... Even as Lorelei protested Jake remained silent, that sweet smell, a special brew.. this was gas, a laughing gas that choked everyone as they laughed away, watching there friends, family die. Laughing. Chrome dome was right. This guy was worse, almost more horrifying that Flat-line ever became in this moment and all Jake wanted to do was show Skull the pain he deserved.

Jake flinched at that thought, before Flat line, whenever things got really bad, all he wanted to do was run, when Flat-line poisoned him with that gas, moved faster then the eye could see and was undead, he just wanted to run. Now, he wanted to punish, not run away and think about giving up. That man is going to pay. Lorelei spoke, snapping Jake out of his own little space as she exclaimed that they needed to find her sister and with that Jake could not agree more, there was nothing he could do here, but he was sure as hell going to do something. "Hop on and point the way." Jake's voice was just muffled now, there was no Canadian accent to help hide who he was, not now.

Letting Lorelei get on his back on her own terms, Jake would exit the building and jump to the roof before running and jumping wherever she pointed, wherever she needed him to go. Silent as a lamb. Skull was going to pay.

Lorelei took quite some time to collect herself, as the grotesque sight before her and the skull faced thug’s words rang deep. Tonight was nothing like she had hoped it would be. All she wanted to do was see the city and instead she found herself in the middle of whatever all this was. Once she had finally collected her thoughts, she thought about what she would tell Clover. Her head had been hanging low as she thought about what a failure she had been tonight. Every instance she had to stop the thugs and failed multiple times. Would Clover be upset? How would she react to all this?

The thoughts echoed in Lorelei’s mind before she suddenly realized that Clover had called her when all this went down. The little blue Atlantean jumped into a small frenzy as she rigorously patted herself down looking for any signs of her phone. “Oh no! I lost my phone!” the small girl sank down to the floor and placed her head in her palms. *Could this day possible get any worse?* she thought to herself.

Suddenly an idea struck her, it would be really counterproductive for her and Zaap to head all the way back to Clover, when they could just have Clover come to them. Lorelei snapped her head around and held her hand out to the boy. “Quick! You still have the other guys phone right? Let me see it!”

After receiving the phone from Zaap, Lorelei feverously tapped away at the number pad as she frantically entered Clover’s number. Each ring only built towards making Lorelei more anxious than she already was, which is why, when the phone finally was answered by Winston, Lorelei’s mouth shot into overdrive.

“Winston! Put Clover on right now, its urgent!”
“You’re damn right it’s urgent young lady. Do you have any idea what time it is? Clover and I have been worried sick about you.”
“I need to talk to Clover now!” Lorelei shouted, ignoring Winston’s obvious concern.

The burly butler held the phone several inches from his ear and the little Atlantean shouted. Reluctantly, Winston turned to Clover and handed her the phone. “Perhaps you should take this, she seems quite flustered, and only wants to speak to you.”

Clover stood silent, looking at Winston with her arms folded across her chest. Sometimes she wondered how it was that someone as big as Winston could fold so easily. Clover reached out to accept the phone and placed it to her ear. “Lorelei, where the hell are you!” she shouted at her adopted sister. Her voice quivered a bit as she tried to hold back tears and frustration. She knew Lorelei was tough, but she was new to this world, and Clover couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to the little blue girl. Before Lorelei could even speak, Clover cut her off. “Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

A nearly silent sorry escaped Lorelei’s lips as she felt almost guilty for not contacting Clover sooner. Suddenly she was back on the offensive as she began to bombard Clover with the details of her ordeal. “Some really bad people have one of your trucks Clover! I tried to stop them I really did! I did my best, but there was shooting and…and all these poor people are dead. I..I---I don’t know what to do!”

“Look, calm down. What do you mean one of my trucks were stolen? Where you the one being shot at? Are you sure there’s dead people?”

“There was a truck with your company’s name on it. This one guy with a shiny suit and white helmet hijacked it and attacked me and this other kid. He threated to kill the people that were in the buildings around us, but…but they were already dead. They took the truck to a warehouse but I don’t know where.”

Clover tightened her grip on the phone, the sound of the cheap plastic beginning to give under the pressure of her grip was enough to prompt her to calm down. There was only one person she knew that wore a shiny suit and paraded around with a white helmet. “Hang in there kiddo, me and Winston are on our way, just tell me where you are. Everything will be ok, just stay put.”

All Winston had to do was listen to what Clover was saying, and knew the newest addition to the Sinclair family was in dire need of help. After seeing the look on Clover’s face after she hung up the phone, Winston was already heading towards the door. Once they were in the car and on their way, Clover took the time to check all the delivery schedules for any inconsistencies. Once she knew what truck was missing, she was able to pin point its location using a tracker that was built into the engine of every truck.

After about half an hour a black car pulled up in front of the forsaken apartment complex. The back door flung up and Clover stepped out. Upon sighting Lorelei she quickly rushed over to the little blue Atlantean and wrapped her arms tightly around her. After embracing her sister for several moments, Clover took a step back and whipped a tear from her eye before turning to the boy standing next to Lorelei. “Who’s your friend?”

(double xp)

Whatever plan Jake had was actually shattered once Lorelei exclaimed that she had lost her phone and thus Jake was brought from his dreaded mood to that of... Perplexity. Why was her phone important? When she suddenly asked if he still had the metal chrome head's phone, he responded with a quick but confused yes and handed it over and as soon as Lorelei called, Jake began to understand what she was doing and he could only assume she was getting a good yelling from the way Lorelei seemed to whisper a silent word.. sorry. made him think as to what his mom would say if she caught him out here.

As Jake waited with Lorelei for her sister Clover to come, Jake gave this whole situation a good thought, the guy was trained, quick on his feet and strong, strong enough to be quick on his feet in armor that could crack the ground from landing, whether he was strong enough to pick the guy up was not much of a question, it was if he could damage the suit with his normal strength. Not only that, he had a gas that could very much choke him to death if he got a good dose of it inside Jakes lungs, maybe his durability could handle it.. maybe not. However this ended, it was not going to be easy, quick or painless and Jake felt that his time to be getting back to Anita would be arriving soon, could he miss it, yes, would he get in trouble. Most probably. Was that worth taking Skull-Bones down. Most definitely.

After a short while, a car stopped by and Clover rushed from the car into Lorelei's arms and the first thoughts that came into his mind was that they were not sisters in the blood sense.... Maybe. Clover looked more like a business like woman crossed with a witch feeling Jake got compared to Lorelei's blue skin and pink hair that gave off a sense of cave dweller or deep sea princess. If they were sisters by blood.. well that's life. Strange but not the strangest thing he'd have seen.

When Clover asked Lorelei who he was, Jake raced to introduce himself first. "Sorry Miss Sinclair, you may call me Zaap." Jake's voice had returned to that of a Canadian accent rather then his normal muffled voice under the mask while  also feeling somewhat awkward from his height compared to the two, he could be the youngest one here and yet he knew his size could make those think of him as seventeen or eighteen, oh the teasing he got back in primary.  "Skull bones claimed that everyone in the nearby buildings are all dead. A.. laughing gas. He took off with the contents inside your truck and I... may have been the one to knock it over. And Damage it more... Sorry." Jake finished as he rubbed his temple and the small brush of hair that escaped the hood on top of his head, hoping she wouldn't be too angry about any extra damage and focus on the much more serious situation at hand.

(Double Exp)

Clover closed her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief, neither Zaap or Lorelei had been hurt, and right now that’s all that mattered to her. All the dead residents of the building aside, there were more pressing matters to attend to and Clover being the uptight business person she was, had already informed the authorities of the bodies. “I’m just glad you’re both ok. You don’t have to worry any more. I located the truck on our way here, and I’ve already let the police know about the poor unfortunate souls inside.”

Clover sincerely wanted to have a taxi come and pick the two up, but went against her better judgement. She made her way to the door of the car and ushered for Zaap and Lorelei to get in. “I don’t like the idea of both of you tagging along, but I doubt my words would have any effect on you two. So come now, get in the car, we’ve got a bad guy to stop.”

Several more minutes passed as the car carrying the small group sped out of town. The skyline shrank ever so slightly as they left the city behind and headed for the docks. There was no subtlety in Clover’s approach as she ordered Winston to drive right up to the large metal door of the shanty looking warehouse.

Winston was the first to set foot outside the vehicle, and no sooner did the sole of his foot come in contact with the pavement, the hanger door to the warehouse began to creek and moan as it ominously crept open. Once the door was high enough they were greeted to more of White Skull’s handy work. The inside of the warehouse lay riddled with bodies of dead thugs, and sitting in the dead center of the building, on top of a pile of sophisticated crates, was none other than the shiny metal assassin. The metal helmet slowly tilted up as the skull faced assassin caressed the edge of their dagger. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d show up……Boss!”

(double exp)

Jake thought that remaining silent was a good bet, he was a stranger to these people and as he got in the car, feelings of weirdness overcame him. Lorelei was wearing casual, Clover was sensible and the buff body guard was a body guard while he wore a red suit with one leg a patchwork of colors and the occasional hole else where. But, if he didn't want them to know who he was in his normal life, then he'd have to just deal with it.

As they left the city, Jake let all thoughts of returning at a early time behind and simply sighed as he waited patiently in the car, till they came up to some docks. Winston was the first to leave and as soon as he did, the hanger door slowly opened to reveal a slaughter fest. Men everywhere laid dead and skull bones simply sat atop his throne of creates.. He had killed everyone, the truck drivers, the civilians, his own men.

This man was truly psychotic. Opening his door, Jake practically jumped out of the car staring at the psychotic thug, not catching the words he uttered beforehand. "You killed everyone... Why.." Jake couldn't comprehend any reason to it, senseless death over and over, the man was... As Chrome dome said, a monster. A monster that needed to be defeated, a monster that needed to be punished.

(Double Exp)

“Don’t you ‘Boss’ me! Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Clover shouted at White Skull. The slick assassin stopped caressing their blade at the raven haired girl’s harsh tone. Winston began to draw close to the girl to calm her down, but a quick raise of Clover’s finger prompted the burly butler to back down and fall back like a scolded puppy.

After hearing everything The shiny assassin had done, Clover felt the need to make an example, and without giving Skull face a chance to reply to her question, Clover’s head whipped around in Lorelei’s direction. “Lorelei, do your thing.”

There was an air of confusion and awkwardness as Lorelei sat still not entirely sure what her sister meant. It was pretty obvious the statement confused more than just Lorelei as White Skull also tilted their head in confusion to Clover’s command. It took a few seconds before Lorelei finally realized that the thugs suit was made entirely of metal. When the notion finally came to her, the skull faced assassin tried to leap off the pile of crates, but their feet would never hit the ground as Lorelei had caught them in her magnetic grip.

The little blue Atlantean began lifting the assassin higher and higher into the air until they sat a good ten feet off the ground. This was the end of it however as Lorelei decided to improvise a bit and finally get some payback on the thug by slowly tightening her grip which in turn caused White Skull’s suit to slowly compress and crush them a bit.

“Now I’m going to make this very simple for you. Just what the hell were you thinking? You steal my property and kill a bunch of innocent and not so innocent people? I thought I hired you to protect me.” Clover barked angrily, expecting some form of explanation from the unhinged hired gun.

The assassin tried to speak but only a few metallic coughs and gurgles escaped their mask as their suit slowly compressed. Clover quickly called Lorelei to ease up a bit so that the assassin could explain themselves.

“You’re right. You hired me to keep an eye on you and protect you, but as far as I’m concerned that also extends to your assets as well. I caught wind that a mob boss was looking to steal a few of your weapons shipments, so I figured this would be an ample opportunity to track them down and kill em for you.” The assassin took a few labored breaths before continuing.

“I was going to leave the good here and deliver false cargo to the guy so I could get close and finish them off. That’s why I killed these guys.”

Clover massaged her temples a bit. In all of her short lifetime she never thought she’d have to be responsible for putting out so many fires, and White Skull was not making things easy. “Why didn’t you just come to me in the first place? I would have probably okayed for you to take one of the trucks. And this doesn’t excuse you opening fire on these two, especially my own sister. And for fucks sake what about all those people in the apartments?”

“Look, I’ll admit not coming to you in the first place might have been an oversight on my part, but my intentions were pure, honest.” White skull let out a small chuckle as they continued effortlessly to free themselves from Lorelei’s grip. The shiny metal thug’s head shifted ever so slightly to look at Zaap and then back to Clover. “Those people…well….Ok I got nothing. I may or may not have killed them just for the hell of it. But come on, think of it as collateral damage. I couldn’t risk having one of the residents calling the police on me. I’d put too much heat on the truck and would drag Clover into a nasty mess.”

Lorelei’s grip began to tighten on the thug again as their disregard for life only angered her. Clover allowed the girl to vent a bit before calling her off again when more gurgling and coughs echoed out from behind the grim helmet.

“Look. I wasn’t going to hurt your sister or her boyfriend. If I was going to, they wouldn’t be here rig-” The thug was cut off as they once again pushed Lorelei’s buttons. Again Clover said nothing at first, almost seemingly enjoying watching the assassin squirm. She might have even let Lorelei kill them right then and there if it wasn’t for Winston clearing his throat as a warning.

White Skull had left Clover with a very tough decision to make now. She couldn’t outright kill them as they were extremely skilled and valuable to her future plans, but their actions couldn’t go unpunished. Then there was the question of the morality of her choice. She’d have to bare the guilt knowing that all those people died for nothing. On top of all that, there was the issue with the mysterious boy that showed up to help Lorelei, he could potentially end up as a liability if the situation was not handled properly. And last but not least there was this so-called mob boss that was trying to steal her company’s stuff.

Clover turned to face her three compatriots and beckoned them to come closer as she planned to discuss how to proceed with this whole ordeal. Meanwhile Lorelei continued to hold the thug in place so they couldn’t escape. Once everyone was gathered around, Clover posed the question. “So what do you guys want to do?” the question was more directed toward Lorelei and Zaap, who had as much a stake in all this as Clover did.
(double xp)

Zaap never really understood how much words could have an effect on people till today, he was always an action person. Being the big and strong boy he was, no one ever tried getting into a fight with him and even if someone tried insulting him, he simply brushed it off because he knew that they would do nothing. That they could do nothing. But now he understood just how powerful words could be, even if they weren't meant to. Jake was taken aback by the conversation between Clover and White skull, the fact he was hired by her took him aback so far. The guy had not only killed almost everyone, everyone he had met but did so because he was trying to protect product. Not Clover, Not Lorelei who he had fired at. Product.

Also, he caught onto another thing, weapon shipments, what was Sinclair industry's? The thought made Jake want to check up every high profile business, there CEO's and product. That and watch the news more often, there would be so much information at just the click of the button that he had been choosing to ignore and now he was left clueless. Soon enough, Clover motioned for them to come together for a chat and Jake huddled in, his eyes glancing to White skull as Clover asked what he and quite possibly Lorelei wanted to do. This was hard on him, he wanted to put this guy away, or at least put him somewhere dark and deep. But he worked for Clover who was sister to Lorelei and he didn't think Clover would like that. That and Lorelei would most likely choose her side any time, which would leave him fighting a powerful trio.. Or Quad if Winston could do anything.

"He can lead us to this... Mob... So let him." Jake looked among the dead that lay scattered, all dead to White skulls hand. His fist clenched, the sound of fabric bringing him back to the conversation. "No more dead.. Enough have died." Jake now looked to White skull, his eyes angry and vengeful. He hoped Chrome dome wasn't among the dead, the guy was an ass but... He actually worried for the two teens and that meant something, that he wasn't as bad as others, that he wasn't as bad or ever could be what White skull was. It reminded Jake that everyone had a reason, some of these people had family's, some had no choice but to do this kind of work and some just didn't know any other way to live. Didn't mean they had to die. Not the way they did.

(double xp)