Comical clashes

Pat had always considered himself a serious vigilante, like always super serious. If he were anymore serious he would have been like 90’s grimdark, but even he had limitations for his absolute seriousness. Still this was important, like the most important thing he had ever gotten himself into and an undertaking that required the help of friends.

Friend to be specific but matt always seemed like he was busy with...things. Luckily Luke was there, and always willing to help. For the good fight of course. It was nice to have some straight laced vigilante types to help a brotha out. That was why he was waiting outside a little comic shop, tinkering with his phone, fingers dancing over the touch screen in a flurry of motion. Not like he would bore himself out of his mind just because he was waiting for someone.

”Wonder if he’s busy with the silver haired hooker. Totally busy with her.” he muttered to himself, checking over the various cans of what looked to be cola in a small canvas bag, strap to keep it on the shoulder a little frayed. Luckily he had gone out of his way to mess with it, make the thing look like something other than something that could be traced back to him.

Not like he needed strong jawed detectives coming after him, well for arresting purposes anyway. This inner monologue was getting really off track.

Low music issued from his speakers, classic rock in composition from the sound of it, and he waited for Luke to find him however a Luke finds people.

Luke was home alone. It was his day off both his normal job, and, ya know, the one that involved more murder. He was playing a few games on his laptop, having bought a few off Steam just to pass the time. The vigilante was into the indie scene, so Steam was a great place to buy games. For him, anyway. Most of his friends enjoyed consoles and big titles. He didn't blame them of course, some of those games were fun, but he preferred mechanic complexity over graphic design.

Chugging back a vodka and orange juice, Lukas played without a care in the world. No, he wasn't quite drunk, but he was getting there. So, you can bet his heart sank when he got a text from Patrick telling him about some some serious shit that was going down. Apparently his friend needed help, the vigilante kind. Meaning...... Yeah, not Drifter's day off after all.

"God..... Fucking dammit........" Luke said, getting up from his seat in a hurry. He poured the rest of his drink down the drain and went about getting suited up. See, Drifter immediately assumed that this was the usual 'serious shit' the group was used to, ie metahumans or crazy cloaked motherfuckers with ninjas at their back.

Keeping that in mind, you can understand why he was making all the stops. He got his gear, a few extra automatic weapons, all the explosives from his kit he had already made, and finally, his special vehicle. The thing was in nobody's name, had no plates, and was quite well armored for someone on a budget. Not to mention, pretty well suped up.

Getting in the black Honda, Drifter beat feet to where his friend was. He was driving in the triple digits at times, desperately trying to get to his friend before anything bad happened to him. He had failed his fellow vigilantes before, he wasn't going to do so again.

Shifting gears, Drifter drove like a bat out of hell, only taking a few minutes to come screeching into the area Pat was. Luke had taken the time to triangulate Pat's IP to find out exactly where he was, so there would be no mistakes, so that his brother didn't die just before he got there..... But, to his horror, when Drifter pulled up he saw his friend in a most heart wrenching situation..............

And by that, i mean Charlatan was sitting on a curb, phone in hand, with a derpy half smile on his face. When he saw Drifter, fully decked out in his vigilante garb and in an armored sport's car, he just nonchalantly waved....

".....You've got to be fucking kidding me...."

Serious shit might have been a stretch of the definition, but it did feel serious to him. There was likely a difference in priorities between him and Luke, most of the time actually. Boredom eventually came to pass, so he sat down on the cub and types on his phone. ”Yeeesh, now that is massive. Saved.” He muttered to himself, saving just that and looking up when it appeared that his friend drove up.

Looking rather well geared up, maybe a little too well prepared for this. Did he explain this wrong, because this definitely looked like he did. Well, there was no harm in just walking up to his friend and working with. ”Luuuuke! Buddy, pal friend just the guy I was looking for.” he hopped up from the cub, slipping the phone into his pocket, where it would stay and hopefully not shatter. Now that would have been a pain in the proverbial ass.

Approaching his friend and throwing an arm over his shoulder, Pat gave him a small pat on the chest. ”Woulda called Matt but he like rarely ever picks up these days. Always busy with whatever. Knew I could count on you to help a brotha out.” Removing the arm from its position he waltzed back over to his car, throwing a few more things into the canvas bag, nodding to himself, and snapping the clasp shut.

”So what we got goin on in that arsenal of yours..Drifter? Yeah, any stun stuff or whatnot?” He inquired, hand rummaging through his own bag to familiarize himself with the touch of each. It was nice to know that if he reached for something, Pat would get exactly what he wanted. Granted having the bag partitioned off through little walls of cloth did help. ”Also don’t think we’ll need the Ak Mister Punisher.”

The way Pat was going about this........ It was light hearted, at best. Drifter couldn't help but scratch his head, despite the fact it was encased in a mask. The words coming out of his friend's mouth only added to the vigilante's confusion. What was Pat up to anyway?

"Hey, don't go after the AK. Everything is better with an AK." Luke said, but still tossed the assault rifle in the back seat. If Pat truly wanted him to leave it behind on whatever this was, then he would. But that didn't mean he would be going fully nonlethal if the situation was deadly. That was absurd. He had to protect himself. That's why cops carried guns, after all.

"....Um, i guess? I have some taser darts that i use on goons or what have you. I don't just indiscriminately kill people, ya know. There's a process to picking my targets, and they always deserve it." Luke said, finally properly parking his car and then getting out to face his friend. He looked down at the bag in Pat's hand, observing it quizzically. Pat wasn't wearing any gear, so Drifter assumed that's where it was.

"Got some new toys?" Drifter asked. It wasn't a sure thing that he did, but they had talked about changing up his theme in the past. Maybe today was the day.

Whatever Pat's answer, Luke would either nod in approval or simply shrug. He didn't know why he was here and to what extent he was needed, so he was pretty much waiting for Charlatan to explain things. Drifter crossed his arms, leaning on his vehicle.

"So, why am i here? Whadda we doing?" Drifter asked, staring at his friend intently, expecting an answer. He wasn't sure why Pat had called someone he knew was very brutal in how he did things to a nonlethal bash, but Luke was happy to accommodate his friend regardless. If Pat didn't want any death, that was fine and dandy, and Drifter would try to avoid it.

”Never knew a baby shower that was improved with an Ak. Unless it involves shooting babies, then that’s really fucked up Luke.” Charlatan babbled on, giving a small shrug as he spoke and turned away from the whatever he was going on about. Half listening to what Luke had said, he nodded a few times to consider what was being said to him, pleased he was able to fall into the nonlethal part of things. Otherwise Pat would have had to clean up the blood, and of course the whole moral problem that he had with killing people.

”yeah, made a few things and tested them out. All of them work out pretty well so far. haven’t killed anyone so far.” He jostled around the bag a little, letting the slight sound of metallic thing moving around in their little confinement of the canvas bag. The question came about what he was doing, and why he needed Drifter was needed. Now that was when things were going to get fun , or maybe very angry for his dirty blonde friend.

”Well you see, that shop in particular was robbed recently. Of a few pretty expensive comic books. ” He reached into his own vehicle, and removed a large piece of paper with a few comic books printed onto it with red X’s put on it. Two were not crossed out, Charlatan pointing at them in specific. ”This shop has these two, a mint original edition of that hero The Bolt and Electra team up from like...twenty years ago. They’re worth millions from that scandal with the publisher leading to only like  three left.” His voice made it sound like this was important.

”I believe a series of collector item thieves will hit it, and we are going to stop them.” He smirked, looking as if he had a plan beyond that but waited for Drifter to respond.

Drifter's blank stare was all you needed to understand the thoughts running through his head. He sat there, not moving a muscle, as Pat spoke of some robbery. Sure the comics were worth millions, but thieves were not exactly Luke's usual targets, at least not the bank robber types. Finally, Drifter shrugged, shaking his head. At least the whole nonlethal thing would be easy, because frankly the men didn't deserve to die—not even close. Now, if they shot at him, that was another story, but taking stuff fell firmly under 'petty shit' for Drifter.

"I mean, yeah, that's cool....... Don't really concern myself with this type of thing, but I'll help you out." Drifter said, making sure all his gear was up to par as he sat in the driver seat. He cracked his neck, and then took a deep breath.

"So, am i driving us somewhere, or do we wait here? I must say i don't like the idea of doing this without a plan of attack....... So, do you have one?" Drifter asked. What you had to understand about Luke's particular style of vigilantism was that, essentially, he considered himself the prey in all circumstances. He came up with a plan to first survive, and then accomplish any other objectives. This had kept his head on his shoulders this long, and he wasn't about to deviate from it. He made a plan, and if the plan failed, he got out, and he got out immediately. Better to live to fight another day then to die trying to save a failed mission.

Pat didn’t expect Luke to respond overly positive to his little explanation, which made sense. Not like his friend would approve of him stopping people from stealing a few comics, and to an extent that made sense. From a cursory glance it didn’t make sense to have any interest in that, so he just let him react the way did. ”Good. Was hoping I could have some competent help around here and...well I don’t really think I had anyone else to ask. Unless I needed an entire building caved in but that’s another story.” Catching himself in what sounded like rambling, Pat sighed and shrugged. ”As for the plan, well it’s a pretty simple one. The shops security itself isn’t all that great, aside from where they keep the goods hidden. Sorta like how people hide their riches behind well fortified safes.” Without giving any background as to how he garnered the information, Pat removed a small laptop from a small bag stashed away in his own vehicle.

Powering it up, he opened the screen to a crudely rendered map of the shop itself. ”Doesn’t look that imposing on the outside, but it has a small hidden little panel back behind a crude splash poster around...here.” He pointed to a place on the little diagram, something that likely portrayed a backroom behind the front counter. ”Apparently before it was retrofitted the building was a small speakeasy during the Prohibition era. Hidden backroom made sense, and apparently it’s being used to store...important items. Aside from some vintage booze I imagine but our thieves will likely have to come in through only a few entry ways.” A few entrances pointed out, mostly the back ways and roof access.

”They won’t be well armed since I imagine this isn’t exactly a job they’re expecting a fight from buuuut that just might be an assumption from me. When they come, we spring and take them down. Sound simple enough?”

"Simple enough, sure," Luke muttered. He was a bit disappointed in the fact he was not going to be able to use lethal force. After all, the robbers would probably have guns. Luke really didn't understand the problem with evening the odds; cops did it, after all. That said, he would respect Pat's ethical code, no matter the issues he had with it.

After hearing Pat's plan, or at least the vague version of it, Luke would eventually drive them to the shop they would be protecting. He parked a good hundred feet away, across the street. He looked around, surveying the potential battlefield. There was a problem: the street was too open. There was practically no cover or vantage point, and no part of the terrain that seemed like it would give a distinct advantage.

"We can't get them here. This place is too open, and there is really nowhere to run. There also doesn't seem to be a lot of places to set an ambush, unless we break inside first. Let me see that diagram again," Luke said, grabbing the paper from Pat. He looked it over once again, and he started formulating an actual battle plan. From what he could see, there was a back door.

"So here's my idea: we get in first, spring on them once they break through the front, and then retreat through the back if things get tough, or whenever we're done. I'll park the car in the back for a quick getaway, and you can go see if there are any ways in that don't involve the breaking of windows. We don't want to let them know we're already inside," Luke said, folding up the diagram and handing it back. He looked at Pat, expecting him to get out. Whether he did or not, Luke would park the car by the rear exit. It was a fairly simple plan, and the only thing that might throw a wrench in it is if the robbers decided to go through both entrances......

Oh well. If that happened they would just have to go through the weakest group to get to freedom.