Chapter 7: Last Friday Night
[Friday, January 19, 2018]
Richard had just gotten off his call with Slade. At first, he was doubting about hanging out with Jason, Ivy, and Harley but after being told that he was gunna stage a heist alongside Will and Jade, he eventually decided to relent.
'Besides.', he thought, 'One night out wouldn't hurt.'
He'd change into a new set of clothes and took a set of keys from his nightstand; he was going to take his Navigator out tonight.
Just as he got into the elevator, he got a text from Jason saying: 'Yo, where you at Goldie? Don't tell me u gon bail out on us?'
Richard chuckled to himself for a bit then replied; 'Hold your horses dead man walking, I'm on my way.'
Just as he pressed "Send", Richard's eyes grew wide as he backtracked his text.
'Dead man walking?', he thought, 'Shit, Jay ain't gunna like that one…'
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[X-X-X-X-X]
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[Jersey City, New Jersey – 6:30PM]
Richard pulled up his SUV in the open space in-front of Wesson's Diner; seeing that Jason's Audi was parked right ahead of him, the gang was most likely inside already.
The bell rang as Richard opened the door and entered the quaint but lively diner. Spotting a few familiar faces he'd gone to know over the past few years, he went on and made his way to their booth.
"Well look who finally decided to show up!", the familiar voice of his adoptive brother rang out.
Richard chuckled, "Sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible today."
"Pfft.", Jason rolled his eyes, "That's what they all say."
Richard eyed the assortment of fiends in-front of him. At first glance, no normal person would ever suspect that the table was sitting 4 of the nation's most-wanted criminals since all of them look so… Very… Normal…
Jason was wearing a regular black t-shirt with a jacket and a pair of joggers; Ivy was more fashionable in a sense, going for a crop-top, a blazer, and a pair of white pants; Harley on the other hand, had the most shocking transformation amongst all of them.
The crazed psycho was wearing a regular t-shirt with a pair of skinny jeans and a good ol' pair of sneakers, obviously, she wasn't wearing any of her jester/clown make-up.
Richard, obviously, took notice after knowing the woman for such a long time.
"The hell happened to you? You look like an actual person for once.", he quipped.
Harley scoffed, "Sorry I didn't live up to ya expectation Boy Blundah. But Ivy over 'ere said I should look like a human being every once in a while."
Richard chuckled and took the open seat next to Jason, just then, a waitress walked over to their table to serve them.
"Welcome to Wesson's! My name's Rachel, how can I help you today?", the woman greeted.
"You guys know what you're getting?", Richard asked.
"Yeah.", Jason answered, "We were just waiting for you to show up."
"Well shit then.", Richard spoke, "I'll just have whatever it is you're having I guess."
Jason snickered and faced the waitress, "We'll take 2 Number 5's, a medium beef brisket, and a plate of carbonara."
The waitress scribbled words on her notepad as Jason dictated their order.
"Will that be all you folks are having?", she asked.
"You guys want anything else?", Jason questioned.
"I'll have a Sprite.", Richard answered.
"Get me one of their milkshakes.", Harley followed.
"And I'll have an iced tea.", Ivy spoke-up.
"Alright then.", Jason then faced the waitress, "I'll have a Sprite, a Diet Coke, an iced tea for the lady, and a milkshake for the bitch."
The waitress snickered as the last bit.
"The hell did ya call me?", Harley scoffed.
Jason had a smirk plastered on his face, "A bitch, why? You got a problem with that?"
"Damn straight I gotta problem with it! You sack o' shit!"
"Alright, break it up you two!", Richard intervened, "I don't want any trouble tonight."
The waitress held her notepad close to her face as she covered her mouth, doing her best to hide a smile, "Will that be all?"
"Yes, that'll be all, thanks.", Richard smiled, he also gave her a small wink hoping that it might get the woman flustered.
Jason gave him a curious look, "So what? You're hitting on the waitresses now?"
Richard let out a light laugh, "Nah man, it's just… Something about her looked… Familiar…"
Jason kept the look on his face, "Familiar? How familiar are we talking about?"
Richard's eyes then went on to trail the waitress that left their table, something about her just oddly looked so familiar. Was it her purple hair? Or that little gem-thingy on her forehead?
Whatever it was, Richard couldn't quite put his finger on it…
"I don't know man, I just don't know.", he replied
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Meanwhile, the lady in-question was having a similar dilemma herself…
'There's no way in hell that's Dick, right?', Raven thought.
Although many (if not all) of her old teammates kept close contact after the Titans disbanded, Richard was the one who especially kept close tabs on her the most. Even when he became Nightwing, he still made sure to check up on her from time-to-time. Sometimes, they'd even have a drink at a local bar.
It was because of her closeness to Richard that made her heart feel like a massive void was growing within it when she found out that he disappeared. When she heard that the League had decided to call him as KIA, she felt as if her heart had shattered completely.
After the Titans disbanded, she decided to live a secluded life as a regular civilian in Jersey City, getting by with the substantial salary she earns a waitress. She decided to take on the name "Rachel", the same name that her mother gave her the day she was born. She just adopted the surname "Roth" as credence to her late yet beloved mother.
Eventually, Rachel reached the kitchen whilst still being lost in her thoughts; she was snapped out of her daze when one of her co-workers got to her.
"Rae? Earth to Rae, can you hear me?", the young woman asked, waving a hand in-front of Rachel's face.
"Oh! Sorry Julie, I was just thinking about something.", she answered.
The peppy young woman known as Julie gave her a smug look, "You sure? Or are you just daydreaming about that hot guy wearing the blue jacket on that table over there?"
"What? Hell no!"
Julie was having none of it, "Bitch please, I've known you for years, I ain't having none of yo' bullshit."
Julie was a very bright and cheerful person, apart from her run-of-the mill Jersey accent; she had dyed green hair, brown eyes, and was only a few inches shorter than Rachel. She was also very attractive, especially when she's wearing her waitress uniform. In terms of age, she was no more than a year younger than Rachel.
Rachel met Julie when she first moved into her apartment building, Julie was the one who showed her the ins-and-outs of the building they were staying in. Aspiring to graduate from art school, Julie decided to take the job of being a waitress in order to get by on her day-to-day life. Whenever she can though, she sometimes commissions artwork for various people to which she gets paid a relatively hefty sum.
"I'm serious you dingus, it's just that… He looked a little… Familiar."
"How familiar we talking about?"
"Nothing much, he just looked like an old friend."
Julie gave her a devilish grin, "An old friend? Or an old flame?"
"Just a friend, he kinda passed away a year or so ago."
Upon hearing those words, Julie's mood did a full-180, "Ohh… I'm sorry to hear that…"
Rachel gave her a light-hearted smile, "It's okay Jules, besides, we should probably get back to work. We don't want Olga breathing down on our necks again."
"Not gunna lie, that old hag is probably one of the very few people that I'm genuinely scared of."
The duo laughed as they made their way to continue on their work day…
'Friends?', Rachel thoughts drifted back to the fallen former Boy Wonder as she went to take a tray of food.
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'I only wish we'd been so much more than friends…'
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[X-X-X-X-X]
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[Jersey City, New Jersey – 7:20PM]
After a hearty meal over at Wesson's, the gang decided to cruise around the city to figure out whatever it was they we're going to do next. Jason decided to keep his Audi parked in-front of the diner and hopped into Richard's Navigator alongside the others.
"Did you really have to give the waitress that big of a tip?", Jason asked as he buckled-up his seatbelt. He was sitting shotgun whilst Ivy and Harley were at the back.
Richard chuckled, "It's not that bad, I just gave her a little something-something as a little token of appreciation, y'know?"
"You literally handed the chick 500 bucks man."
"Okay, maybe it was a little too much but I don't mind. Besides, it's not like $500 is gunna affect me or anything."
Jason rolled his eyes as the SUV accelerated down the road.
"So.", Richard asked the gang, "Where to next?"
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[Mel's Tavern, Jersey City, New Jersey – 8:40PM]
After cruising around the expanse of Jersey City and neighbouring Manhattan, the gang wound up at Mel's Tavern, a bar not far from Wesson's Diner.
The squad took their seats at the counter, seeing as how they didn't bring enough cash with them (since they didn't think they'd be going drinking *wink* *wink*), it was obvious that Richard was gunna have to cover for them, again.
"Have I ever told you how awesome you are man?", Jason spoke up as he downed his shot of scotch.
Richard scoffed, "You've mentioned it once or twice over the years, why?"
"Oh nothing, just wanted to reinforce my statement."
The duo winced as they heard the sound of hands slamming on the countertop followed by the voice of a familiar New Yorker.
"Gimme another shota whiskey you bastard! And make it snappy!"
Richard and Jason gave Harley a knowing look, their gazes soon turned over to Ivy.
"Whatchu guys looking at me for?", Ivy asked, "I ain't Harley's babysitter."
The duo simply shook their heads.
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[Mel's Tavern, Jersey City, New Jersey – 10:35PM]
At this point, the four of them were absolutely trashed, it was only a miracle that none of them had either passed-out or thrown-up their guts yet.
Eventually, mistakes are ought to be made when people run their mouths while they're drunk. This right here was no exception.
Surprising no-one, it was Harley who started the shebang by uttering the immortal words:
"Hey? How 'bout we hit up a bank huh? Just for the fuck of it."
(Yep, this is how it started alright…)
The trio gave Harley a knowing look, there's no way in hell she was serious.
"There's no way in hell you're serious.", Jason reasoned, "Look'atcha, you're barely keeping yourself awake!"
Sadly, Harley was having none of it, "Does it look like I'm shitting ya? Ya fucking zombie!"
"I say we go for it."
Richard and Jason's gazes set down on the one-and-only Poison Ivy.
"What? It's not like we can't take on them bastards or some shit like that. And even if we end up at the slammer, big woop, we can always break out."
Eventually, the booze made its mark on Jason when he slammed his fists at the countertop.
"Y'know what? Fuck it! Lezz do this shit!"
Richard could only facepalm, 'Clearly they're sure as hell not serious about this? Right?'
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[Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, New Jersey – Saturday, January 20, 2018 | 12:15AM]
"YA KNOW, WHEN YOU GUYS SAID YA'LL WANTED TO ROB A BANK, THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND!", Richard yelled to the gang, now in his Renegade combat suit.
They decided to head on over to Richard's apartment to suit-up, along the way, they also picked up Jason's Audi.
One can argue that Richard's apartment has more weapons and equipment stashed in it than a National Guard Armory but that's open for discussion. By the time they we're ready to roll, they we're decked out with all the weapons that they needed for their impromptu heist. Richard also kept spare reserves of everyone's uniform; not knowing that they'll be used in a scenario like this.
"How exactly do you have extras of our suits lying around in here?", Ivy asked.
A red tinge began to appear on his cheeks, "N-Nothing much, it was just in the event you guys needed to use this place as a safehouse. It's better to be prepared."
Harley snickered, "Uh huh, keep telling yourself that ya perv.", she quipped as she made some last adjustments on her top and on her make-up.
"As much as I wanna join you guys in ganging up on good ol' Goldilocks.", Jason interjected, "We got a bank to hit so I suggest ya'll save that for later."
Richard made some final adjustments on his wrist gadgets and donned on his mask, "What bank are we even hitting for fuck's sake? We don't even got a plan."
Jason smirked under his helmet, "Leave that to me."
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In essence, Jason was right, The Federal Reserve Bank can be classified as a "bank" depending on who you ask. Richard on the other hand just held a look of disappointment under his mask, they were pissed drunk and yet here they were, popping caps in the heads of Bank Security Personnel as they made their way to the vault.
Obviously, Richard did his magic prior to the attack by disabling all of the building's cameras, alarms, security systems, sound recorders, motion sensors and by jamming the communications and radio transmitters. Nobody would get in or out, there's no way in hell the guards could call for backup; there's no way in hell a superhero, a vigilante, or a member of the League will show up to save the day. The guards are essentially trapped and left to fight off Renegade, Red Hood, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy all alone; they're basically waiting to get picked of one-by-one, like lambs left to the slaughter.
The dead bodies of the guards littered the building floors as Renegade and his ragtag gang of misfits made sure to not leave a single one alive and breathing. With the building cleared, they made their way down to the basement vault. After Renegade did some more of his techno-magic and broke into the vault, their eyes grew wide as they bear witnessed what lay ahead of them. Stacks of loot that not even Jack Sparrow nor Captain Hook think are physically achievable in their lifetimes.
"SWEET MOTHERFUCKER THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!", Red Hood exclaimed as he saw the vault filled to the brim with both stacks of gold bricks which bore the label and seal of the US Federal Reserve and bountiful stacks of 100-dollar bills.
"Alright, it's clear that we ain't gunna be able to haul all of this so listen up.", Renegade barked as he took command, "The way I see it, stash as much gold as you can carry on my ride, the custom suspension and mods I made to it should be able to hold all of the weight. The cash, stash 'em over to Red Hood's; Harley, Ivy, you two are gunna ride in with Red Hood once we're done. I don't think my car will be able to hold the weight nor have enough space for passengers, alright?"
"No probs Jason Voorhees, we gotchu covered.", Harley answered as she twirled her baseball bat.
"Right then.", Ivy spoke up, "Let's get to work."
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[Philadelphia, New Jersey – 1:30AM]
The crew sped out of the Federal Reserve Building and into the streets of Downtown Philadelphia; with them were 5 million dollars' worth of cash and another 10 million dollars' worth in gold.
Prior to leaving the building, Renegade made sure to disable all of the city's surveillance cameras as they made their way of out of Philadelphia's city limits.
"HA HA! WHAT DID I TELL YA BIRDIE! I TOLD YOU WE WAS GUNNA PULL IT OFF!", Harley exclaimed over their commlinks.
"Yeah yeah big woop, we're lucky we even got out of there alive.", Renegade answered, it was only via divine intervention that they weren't on a one-way bus trip to Arkham but he digresses.
"Hope you don't mind man, but I was hoping we make one last stop before we call it a night.", Red Hood spoke over the secured line.
"And what stop will this be?", Renegade asked.
"Just trust me.", Red Hood smirked under his mask, "Oh yeah, I also left a present back at the Fed building."
"Present? What?"
As if on cue, a massive explosion blasted through the city as a large chunk of the Federal Reserve Building was blown to pieces. The alarms of all the surrounding cars and vehicles went haywire as they were rocked by the shockwave of the blast.
"Goddamnit Red!", Renegade exclaimed.
Red Hood, on the other hand, was laughing his ass off, "HELL YEAH MOTHERFUCKER!"
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[New Jersey National Guard Armory, Newark, New Jersey – 2:15AM]
"WHAT THE HELL RED?!", Renegade exclaimed as he continued to gun down squads of National Guard Troops and Army Reserve Units that protected the military facility.
"Trust me man! I got word that the Army shipped in a lot of good stuff this month, I was planning on doing a raid myself but since we're already here, I couldn't pass-up the opportunity!", Red Hood retorted.
"Besides.", Harley interjected, "It's not like we can't handle 'em! They're just a bunch of weekend soldiers!"
Renegade could only sigh, Harley had just singlehandedly offended every single American Serviceman and Servicewoman that died in the name of serving and protecting the United States.
"Relax Renegade.", Poison Ivy spoke up as she summoned another massive vine, "I'm having a good time, Red and Harley are having a good time, what's not to love?"
"Yeah, you're right. Besides.", Renegade could only smirk, "I need to work on my aim and I'm sure these practice dummies are more than willing to help me out."
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[X-X-X-X-X]
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Richard had no idea how the hell they'd managed to pull it off but they did. Soon enough, the gang found themselves at Ivy's flat and were shitfaced as booze kept them up all night long.
They we're all on the counter of the kitchen island and Ivy poured the gang another shot of celebratory whiskey.
"Here's to pulling off one of America's Largest Heists while being trashed! And I sure as hell know we won't even remember this in the morning!", Ivy called out as she raised her shot glass in the air, "Salut!"
"Salut!"
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[Ivy's Apartment, Jersey City, New Jersey – Some Time After 4AM]
At this point, all of them were trashed, the whole apartment was a mess with everything and everything that could be scattered, was scattered.
After finishing 2 bottles of whiskey, a bottle of scotch, and half a bottle of gin, the shitfaced motherfuckers no-longer gave a fuck about life.
Some time later, Jason and Ivy were up to their usual banter until suddenly…
"Bitch please! You wouldn't know jack shit even if a bat was shoved up your ass!", Jason exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? Bring it on mothafuckah!", Harley retorted.
Soon enough, Jason took Harley's bat and shoved it deep in her, yeah…
Harley on the other hand was either screaming in pain or in pleasure. Having enough of her shit, Jason suckerpunched Harley in the face and she collapsed on the kitchen floor. After downing the bottle of left-over gin in one bottoms-up, Jason would pass-out on the sofa a little later.
Where were Richard and Ivy you ask? Simple.
Within the sanctity of Ivy bedroom, she and Richard could barely keep their hands of each other as their lips strangled for supremacy; their hands touching and grabbing whatever it was they could find.
"Did you… Lock… The Door?", Ivy whimpered. To his credit, Richard was sure as hell amazing with his mouth and his hands.
"You bet your ass I did.", he answered.
Ivy licked her lips as a devilish smirk graced them, "Good."
She then tackled and pinned Richard onto her bed.
"Ivy, wait, are you sure about this?", Richard tried to reason.
Ivy however, was hell-bent on her ways and won't stop until they're seen through.
"Don't question me Boy Wonder, now shut up and kiss me.", she demanded.
No too soon, Richard pulled down Ivy and encompassed her in a fierce liplock; their clothes flying across the room as they hastily tried to get them off.
Eventually, as the night went on and as the moon began to vanish from the night sky with the sun steadily rising on the horizon to take its place; the couple, which already succumbed to their primal and carnal urges, already vanished beneath the sheets…
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