Sneakthief
A/N: All right, chapter two! Thanks to Spadefire, Xiaolin Fan, ColossalRay, crytvo keeper and TheXGrayXLady for your reviews! To answer Xiaolin Fan's request, there will indeed be Raikim, though it may be a few chapters later. Mooching off of Spadefire's popularity certainly seems to be working! In this one, I will be focusing on Raimundo's perspective. And now, our story really begins…
Raimundo Pedrosa took a deep breath and sighed. The air above his city was cold and polluted, but it still felt like home. He sat on a gargoyle, the stone creature leering over the roof of one of the banks that dotted the city. Night patrol often meant crisscrossing over the facilities that held any money; thieves were as common as sirens here. And while thieves didn't pay any attention to Raimundo, they paid plenty to Vento. His costume was far simpler than the others'. A beanie, a simple dark blue mask, a white t-shirt under a light blue vest, jeans and sneakers. The Crest of the Condor was on his arm, and the Blade of the Nebula hung at his side, but other than that, he looked almost thuggish. People had sometimes said that looked too street to be a superhero, but he liked it that way. And it worked; nobody ever recognized him in his daily life.
Sometimes it was hard to believe he was on a team with the other three Dragons. After all, their costumes didn't even look alike. Kimiko Tohomiko, or Blaze, had the Cat's Eye Draco on her right arm and the Arrow Sparrow tied around her waist, but her costume was more… superhero-esque than his. For lack of a better word. The arm that didn't have the Cat's Eye was bare, and her costume was comprised of a white top that reached up to her neck, and a skirt with black tights. White boots embellished with flames matched the fire running up the right side of her skirt and top, and her mask was a vibrant orange that, during the day, shimmered between red and gold. Omi, their Dragon of Water, wore simple blue monk robes with a wave pattern going across the stomach. His mask was like a ninja's, and matched the blue of his costume. On the sash on his waist was the Shimo Staff, and on his arm was the Kaijin Charm.
On the opposite side of the spectrum was Clay Bailey, Earthshaker. He wore a trenchcoat that acted like a cape, (nobody was sure how it worked, but it was really cool,) and a cowboy hat, both the same shade of dusty brown. His mask was black and simple. Under the coat was a pair of blue jeans, cowboy boots and a simple button-down shirt, on which the right arm was ripped off of to make room for the Longhorn Taurus. He kept that hidden under his coat, though, which only distanced him further from the others. He also had a utility belt, holding a lasso, the Big Bang Meteorang and other stuff that they frequently found helpful. For a guy that was pretty powerful on his own, he always carried it around. Raimundo had once joked about it being a security blanket, and had nearly gotten punched in the face.
Still, they functioned excellently as a team. On a regular basis they beat such villains as Jack Spicer, Katnappé, Chase Young, Wuya and Hannibal Bean. Cathedral was home to as many supervillains as it was heroes, and so they all took their jobs very seriously. Raimundo knew that just as well as the others did, but couldn't help goofing off from time to time. It was in his opinion that they needed to lighten up from time to time, and he did do a good job of getting Kimiko to calm down, including Omi in whatever they were doing and pulling Clay out of his shell. It was no wonder he was the team leader, even if he was a bit immature.
An alarm snapped the young man out of his thoughts, and he peered over the edge of the building to see a figure darting away, bags in hand. Considering the fact that the alarm was coming from the bank underneath him, Raimundo figured the bags were full of money. Wind swirling at his heels, he vaulted off the roof and started after the figure. Whoever he was chasing was fast, he'd give them that, but no one was faster than wind. In a matter of moments he caught up to them, then surpassed them, skidding to a halt to block off their escape. "I don't think that belongs to you," he said, wind swirling around him for dramatic effect.
"You want it so bad, you can have it," the person replied, throwing one of the sacks at him. Raimundo caught it with ease, smirk still in place. "You'll have to do better than-" A beeping noise cut him off, and he glanced down to see a small detonator attached to the bag. He gave a yelp and sent it flying, the bomb going off safely in midair. He sighed in relief, but turned to find the criminal already headed towards the docks. With a snarl, he propelled himself upward once more, pursuing the figure through Cathedral's alleys.
Turned out he wasn't the only one. Glancing down, he grinned at a familiar sight; Earthshaker and Blaze were following the person as well. If they had abandoned their patrol routes to catch up to them, then whatever the person had stolen must have been more than money. By the time they made it to the docks, the person had disappeared. Raimundo landed next to Blaze, glancing around for any sign of the pursued. "You see which way he went?" he asked.
"That wasn't a he," Earthshaker replied, kneeling down to put a hand on the concrete. "From the feel of their footsteps, that was a woman. Inque."
Blaze sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "If it is Inque, that raises even more questions. She normally only steals money- why go for an artifact?"
Raimundo raised an eyebrow. "I thought she came from the bank on 43rd and Clark. That's where I was when the alarm went off, anyway."
Blaze shook her head. "Well, yes and no. She stole something- we're not sure what yet- from the museum. Then she hit the bank, probably to throw us off. What she didn't know was that she tripped a silent alarm in the museum, so at least now we might have a leg up on her." Earthshaker stood and motioned for the others to stand still, then walked silently into the maze of crates, disappearing in the darkness. Raimundo shook his head after a moment, trading a glance with Blaze. "How does he even do that?"
Blaze shrugged. "I have no idea." Then he reappeared, frown deeper than before. "Well?"
He shook his head. "Aqueous was waitin' to cut her off should she get to the water. No such luck. She's either hiding or had an escape route we don't know about. Either way, we need to get back to the Citadel. Omi's gonna meet us there. Ah've got more questions than answers about this." He walked past, Blaze and Raimundo following.
From the darkness he had come from, another figure emerged, sack slung over their shoulder. The person smiled wickedly, turned in the direction of the Dragons, and disappeared into the murk.
"What Inque stole was a talisman." The Dragons were in their headquarters, called Citadel, and were trying to find out what their culprit had taken. Blaze sat in front of a huge monitor, surrounded by several other, smaller screens, each one displaying information about Inque or the night's thefts. The thing she had stolen looked like an egg, golden and rough in texture. "It's linked back to Celtic lore about the creation of the world. She probably only took it to ransom it off or sell it on the black market, but we need to tread lightly. It's got the same roots as our Wudai Weapons and elemental Shen Gong Wu, so in the wrong hands, it's probably got the same effects. Only, you know, evil." The guys traded glances and thought of what destruction Shen Gong Wu had caused in the hands of their other enemies.
"So now Inque is going after power instead of money?" Aqueous asked, scratching his head. He always removed his mask when he came back to Citadel, where he lived, and underneath he had no hair and nine dots on his forehead. "This is most peculiar. She has always sought after money and attention, has she not?"
"Okay. Let's think Inque. Since she's never gone after a Wu before, activated or not, what could her motives be?" Raimundo asked, leaning on the back of Blaze's chair and trying not to be overcome by how good her hair smelled. Like cherry blossoms. He shook his head and looked over the screens. Inque's past thefts, all of them monetary or her being paid to steal something for someone else, were displayed, as well as what they knew about the villainess. She had never killed anyone, but she had hospitalized Jack Spicer once, while they were fighting over a particularly large gem that had found it's way into the Cathedral Bank. The young woman was unlike most of their enemies in two respects. One, she seemed to straddle the fence between good and evil. She had never openly tried to hurt anyone, nor had she ever come after the Dragons. She had no qualms with being paid to steal, or with stealing to meet her own agenda. True, they were clueless as to the contents of that agenda, but she was one of their more morally bound villains, if one of the less sane.
Two, she had helped them before. Inque had been fighting them for years, under other names and costumes. When she first came to Cathedral, she was under the employment of a demolition company acting as a front for Chase Young. Back then, she was Sabotage, committing arson and wreaking havoc in a fireproof jumpsuit and gas mask. During her Sabotage years she had displayed no extraordinary abilities other than a macabre love of explosions. Then she had worked for Wuya as Witch, and later Hex, and had still exhibited nothing beyond using charms and spells through Shen Gong Wu. Two years ago she had struck out on her own as Inque, and this time she seemed to have a real power; the power to bring anything in ink or paint or even graphite to life. She worked with an accomplice, Scrawl, and as far as the Dragons could tell, he was one of her ink creations. Except he, unlike the others, which disappeared in a certain amount of time, stayed alive. But through all this, Inque had never gotten in the way of the Dragons helping others, and had, at several times, helped them get innocents out of the way. As Sabotage, she had never destroyed a building with people in it, and had never actually hurt anyone but the other superheroes and villains that got in her way.
So Inque taking something like the talisman meant that either someone was paying her to, or that she was doing it of her own free will. And with her past crimes, it was probably her own doings. She was certainly an accomplished burglar, thought Katnappé was far better. She was a good fighter, relying on her speed and weapons rather than skill. But… "If she gets a Wu, she could be incredibly dangerous," Raimundo finally said. "We need to take it back before she tries to commit any more thefts."
"Are you negative?" Aqueous asked. "We have never attempted to retrieve a Wu before. It is not even activated, as far as we know. Perhaps it would be best to let lying dogs sleep."
"Omi's got a point. I think. Maybe it'd be best to wait and see what Inque does with it," Blaze said, glancing back at the guys. Raimundo sighed and looked at Earthshaker. "Well?"
After a moment of silence, the Texan spoke. "… We don't even know what it does, and maybe she don't either. Mah vote goes with Kim an' Omi."
"Ugh! Fine," Raimundo cried, throwing up his hands. "Fine, you guys wanna let a known criminal get away with what could be a dangerous weapon, fine. But when it backfires horribly, don't come crying to me!" And with that, he left the room in a huff. The others looked after him for a moment, then traded glances.
"He probably won't do anything stupid. And if he does, we'll just beat him up," Blaze said, shutting off the computers and standing. "As for me, I'm going to bed. You guys should too. It's almost one in the morning." She left, followed by Earthshaker. Aqueous took one last look around the room and went after them, turning off the lights. Perhaps if he had stayed a few moments longer, he would have seen the shadows behind the monitors ripple and surge and become the silhouette of a man. Perhaps he would have been able to stop the ink-man from slinking over to the computers and pressing a hand against the USB ports, his fingers turning to fluid and pouring into the openings. Perhaps.
"Now, then," he whispered, a white line smile on the darkness that was his face. "Let's see what else you know."
Looking into Inque's relationship with the Dragons before moving on. (Xialoin Fan, you are closer than you think.) Please review!
