Trouble on the Sunset Strip (Closed to Patriot)

Finally, he was here. The West Hollywood Sunset Strip. Hartley had only read about it in books and magazines, and he had always wanted to go. He had always imagined his first time here to be with his best friend Andrew, but unfortunately that was no longer possible. About a month ago, a portal opened over New York, letting through evil alternate versions of current heroes, and Andrew, after revealing himself as the hero Phoenix, made the ultimate sacrifice to save their world. Hartley sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands, sighing. "Wish you were here buddy.."

After finishing a joint in honor of his best friend's memory, Hartley decided to stop by a bar. The music was loud and angry, just the way he liked it. He plopped down his duffel bag next to a bar stool and sat down. The bartender came over and gave him a look that said "What's up man?" and Hartley ordered a drink as loudly as he could over the music, showing his fake I.D. He sipped his drink, looking around the room. A lotta babes... he thought to himself and smiled, noticing three chicks staring at him from across the bar. For the first time in a month, Hartley was having a good time.

In his Beverly Hills estate, Roy looked out into the city. "I think I'll hit the strip tonight." he thought to himself as he finished off his sixth beer. He was starting to feel a small buzz but wanted to get shit faced. He turned on his laptop and began looking through some emails. I recently started my vigilante career and had opened up a separate account for "The Patriot." He had done his part to make sure it wasn't traceable to him and had received a few messages from people. Since that guy Phoenix kicked the bucket the crime rate out here has gone sky rocketing. Nothing huge, but small time thugs were trying their luck with the big guys mourning. He got a tip off on a man with a hot on him. His eyes widened and he continued reading and got the whereabouts to a bar at the sunset strip. "Looks like I wont be wearing jeans out tonight." The Patriot chuckled to himself as he ran to his room and opened his walk in closet. Opening a small door in the back he pulled out his costume and threw it on under a black and blue suit.

His mask was in his inner jacket pocket, and his utility belt on. Roy tossed on a Black trench coat and off he went. He started up his 2027 Ferrari and starting blasting the Final Countdown by Europe to get himself pumped. It was a classic, be he loved the song. Once at the place he parked and flashed some broads a smile. Inside the place he took his seat and saw some kid showing his obviously fake i.d. Smiling at the kid's ability to sneak past the bartender. Beside the kid was a large duffle bag. "There must be something good in there, you've been looking down at it constantly." Roy said tossing him a grin.
The man he came to protect took a seat right next to him and The Patriot began to listen in on a few guys talking behind them. He heard their threats to harm him, and after he finished his drink they were gunna grab him. Luckily for this drunk bastard there was a hero sitting right next to him.

Outside he saw a van pull up and about 10 men getting out. "Alright, show time." Roy sighed as he inhaled slowly and pressed the top of a smoke pellet. Dropping it behind the counter he waited a second and as soon as gas filled the room he grabbed the man. The Patriot through on his mask, and begin ditching his suit, he took a turn to the bathroom and tossed another smoke pellet inside there. Switching to infrared mode on his mask he tossed his tuxedo in the trash of the bathroom and tied it up. With his costume on and ready for action he dove out of the bathroom to a clear room. Once outside he saw the men standing there all armed and ready to fire. "Stay quiet buddy." Roy said pressing his finger to his lips. He grabbed ahold of the man and grappled up to the top of the roof. Once the man was safe he dropped down to the parking lot. "Waiting for someone?" he asked the goons as the looked at him funny. He pulled out his revolvers and aimed them at the guys. They laughed at him and he blasted one of them in the leg with Freedom. From behind him an arrow buzzed by and stuck one of the men to the wall. "What the hell?" the Patriot wondered as he turned around.

After a few drinks, Hartley was starting to feel a bit tipsy. A man who looked to be in his late twenties came in and made a comment about his bag, which contained all of his crime fighting equipment. "Just a hell of a lotta ganja man." he replied to the man, who seemed strangely familiar. Hartley looked back at the man, who was now sitting at the bar. Suddenly, he realized. That was Roy King, son of some rich guy! He was in magazines and shit! That guy was known for partying. As he was about to focus his attention elsewhere, he noticed Roy drop something behind the counter. Before Hartley had time to think, the room filled up with smoke, and he went into hero mode.

Hartley grabbed his bag and vaulted over the counter, where the smoke was thickest. He ripped off his shirt and pants, revealing the costume underneath. He pulled out his helmet and stuffed his clothes in the bag. Next out of the bag came his belt, containing all of his smaller weapons. Finally the bow and quiver came out, and Seraph was ready. All that was left in the bag was his clothes, his tooth brush, and an ounce and a half of pot.

Switching his helmet to thermal wouldn't help him now, there were too many civilian heat signatures to know who was hostile. Golden blonde wings erupted from the folds in the back of Seraph's costume, and with a few flaps, the smoke was dissipated. Finally getting a look at what had unfolded, he saw a large group of men ganging up on a man in costume. The man seemed to be doing well so far, because one man was already on the ground yelling for his mother. Deciding it was his turn to strike, Seraph drew an arrow and let it fly, crashing through the window and into one of the thugs' shoulder, pinning him to a wall.

Hartley jumped through the window and let loose another arrow, this one with an exploding acid case on the tip. The arrow exploded on another thug's chest, burning through his clothes and sizzling his skin. Seraph glanced over at his presumed ally and shouted "Duck!" He quickly shot another arrow directly over the other hero, electrocuting the thug that was about to hack at him with a machete. As the battle started to get chaotic, Seraph jumped into the air to get a better look at the scene. There were four men down, and eight left. This was going to be easy.

The Patriot ducked when a hooded man showed up to help him out. The arrow Hartley shot had saved him from an attack behind him. Looking at the men he pointed Liberty at one of their throats. "It didn't have to be like this, but you clowns aren't going to leave without killing us." Roy looked over to Seraph as he prepared to initiate his attack. "One of you, please take your best shot." A man came rushing from the side at The Patriot. Smiling he swept out the attackers legs, quickly stood up, and put his foot on the man's throat. Another man came running at him with a bat. Patriot Fired a shit into the man's forehead and he dropped dead in front of everyone. "Don't you heroes shy away from killing?" the man under his boot managed to squeak out from his windpipe being crushed. "All is fair in love in war. This is a war, and you are attacking a free man in MY country." Roy finished he sentence and then fired a round into the suffocating man's skull.

"Who's next?" The Patriot said with a smug grin across his face, pulling his electric button out. The mode was set for lethal, anything it touched would be dead in seconds. "I'll give you idiots a fair chance and put my guns away."
Two more rushed at him, one with a pair of brass knuckles the other an Uzi. The Patriots power kicked in as his eyes turned red and he analyzed their moves and figured out when they would strike. He spun and kicked the armed man in the chest, before swinging around behind him and causing him to shoot 3 of his friends. After the clip was empty he snapped the man's neck, and dropped off his back. He waited as his hooded friend cleaned up the rest of them and looked towards the roof he left the innocent man on. He pressed the button on his belt for his Hog to come, and shot his grapple gun back at the roof with Mr.Dink on it.

"Why are they after you Robert?"
"I don't know, I swear. How do you know my name?"
"The same way I know you're a chiropractor, a golfer, and you graduated third in your class, I do my homework. Now II you want to lie to me, you'll only end up dead."
"What makes you think I'm lying?"
"Most men with clean hands don't get whacked by the mob."
The man smiled a bit.
"You don't look very old, but you are one smart young man."
"Stop playing games with me and and fucking tell me what you know or I'll pull it out of you."
"Do your worst tights."
Patriot was baffled by the man's lack of gratitude.
"How about a thank you for saving your life."
"I didn't ask you to save me." the man said falling over himself in his intoxicated state.
The Patriot thew one punch and knocked Mr.Dink, and slung him over his shoulder. Dropping back down to street level, Seraph had put the rest of the goons to sleep. "Well done kid. Guess we know what was in the duffel bag." Roy whispered to him then smirking. "I'm gunna take this guy back to my 'base' you can come with if you'd like."

Seraph watched from the air as The Patriot took down six of the remaining eight goons. He was surprised to see his ally kill them one by one. It wasn't Seraph's style, but if the man was doing the right thing, who was he to judge? The other hero zipped up to the top of the building to check on the man these crooks were trying to kill, leaving Seraph to finish off the last two. Swooping down like a bird of prey, Hartley plucked one of the men off the ground and soared into the sky. "Please! Let me down!" the man cried.
"I'd be glad to.. ugh.. You're a pretty heavy guy, huh?" the winged archer said with a strain in his voice. Hartley dropped the man, making sure the fall wasn't high enough to kill him.

The snapping of the man's legs was audible even from the air where Seraph hovered, his wings flapping elegantly in the wind. The last thug dropped his gun and made a run for it, and Hartley laughed, stringing up and then firing an arrow through the back of the man's leg, pinning him to the ground. With that, the battle was over, and all that was left was a parking lot full of dead and injured thugs, crying in pain. "Oh, quit crying you sore losers." Hartley said as he landed, kicking one of the downed thugs in the ribs.

The Patriot, seeing that the last of the men had been dealt with, left the rooftop and came to speak to Seraph. He made a comment about Hartley's duffel bag, causing Hartley to pause. Could it be Roy King? With the comment the hero had made, he was almost sure. "Sure, I'll tag along. Just in case you run into any more trouble, you know."

Time passed and the group eventually made their way to one of The Patriot's secret hideaways.
The man in custody was blindfolded and deafened by headphones, so he had no idea where he was.
While they were only a few blocks away, Patriot drove around in circles for about 20 minutes to throw the man off.
"Welcome to Compton." Patriot said pulling the blindfold and headphones off the man's head.
"Oh, you probably want that duct tape off huh?" The hero of liberty said to the suited man.
Pulling the tape off with force, the man let out a yelp.
"Don't be such a Riffle Dropper" The all-American said to the man in question.
"Now anyways this is my friend....Emilio." Roy turned to Seraph and shrugged his shoulders as if saying "Sorry, couldn't think of anything better."


"You're gunna answer all our questions, and then you're gunna pretend you never met us. Understood?"
The man nooded his head yes.
"Good."
The Patriot then punched the man in the face and knocked him out.
He knew Hartley would be confused.
"We gotta tie him up, he looks like a runner." Mr.King said with a grin.

Seraph flew alongside The Patriot's motorcycle as they made their way toward's his new ally's base. "So I think I know your secret identity, but not your hero alias, which is kind of the opposite of how these things usually work..." he said to whom he was almost sure was Roy King.

After a while of just driving and chatting, they finally arrived at the base. Roy started off the interrogation by punching the man in the face, which slightly confused Hartley. Before he had the chance to ask why he had knocked the man out, Roy answered his question. "Oh I see. So, I'm obviously not supposed to call you Roy, so what's your codename?" Seraph said, taking off his helmet and shaking the sweat out of his hair.

Walking over to the unconscious man and beginning to tie him up, Hartley looked back to The Patriot and asked him another question. "So I'm kind of confused here. First we're protecting this guy, now we're beating him up and interrogating him?" He finished tying the knot and zipped open his bag. "I may not have been entirely truthful about what was in this bag when you first asked, but I wasn't kidding about the ganja. You wanna burn while we wait for this sorry sack to wake up?"