Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 15: Tension
City Streets: Day 6 - 10:34PM
Alex lay prone on the rooftop of a business office, surveying the scene in front of him. There wasn't much to it: just a couple of drunk people belting out some pop song he wasn't interested in. What he was more doing was baiting his hunter out. Their reign of terror over him was going to end, one way or another.
The mounting disinterest prompted a heavy yawn. Absolutely nothing had been going on for the last hour or so. This stakeout was approaching the point of being painful. He felt sorry for the police if this was what they endured, only to have the rug pulled out from under them. He never deeply thought of the repercussions officers faced because of him. He'd normally just go by what Mongoose had for him and hand-delivered any evidence he found to the Chief's office.
The human was on the brink of passing out when he noticed a peculiar sight. Something was moving on the shadowed roof across from him. It seemed like someone had the same idea. Switching to his night vision revealed exactly who that was. It was the officer from the other night. Her mauve scales shimmered not unlike Bryce's during daytime. She took a seat and pulled out some sort of book. Alex shook his head, berating himself for getting distracted.
There still wasn't much to be noted. Some dragons headed home from somewhere. Others went off, presumably to their night jobs. The sound of boots on gravel made the human jolt up. Someone had climbed up to him, knowingly or unknowingly. He ducked behind a roof vent with very little hope he'd stay out of sight. None other than Pseudo-Viper inspected the area where he once was. He presumed they figured out how to use his helmet if they were looking...
'Oh shit' His heart began racing. They could use his visor against him. Worse yet, Mongoose had installed sonar on the headgear before he came here. This was beyond horrible now. He needed to leave or disable Viper's helmet somehow. There was no escape with the former, so another fight may be necessary.
A multitude of bullets zipped past him as he vaulted off. Alex needed to act fast or else he'd be perforated. There weren't any window sills he could drop to either. He hissed out a single profanity. The one time the human didn't want architecture to not make sense was right now. There weren't any dumpsters he could drop into either, but it did give him an idea. Viper was formidable, but not invincible. One fall and they'd at least have some broken bones.
Viper padded closer to the wall their prey vaulted over. Sonar let them know he was still alive and well. Not quite what they had in mind, but it'd work. He was probably screwed either way. They were at the wall now. The ambassador's heart pounded out of control. His focus became laser accurate. Everything seemed to slow under the influence of adrenaline. He zipped up to yank his assailant over the instant their helmet became visible. They weren't even vocal as they fell to their hopeful demise. The sickening crack that came after could be heard from his position. Viper's landing startled the few dragons who were walking by. And that was his que to get the hell out.
Hauling himself back over, he came across a police unit. Even better! Now he had to sneak around them with little more than his gun. He was honestly just glad they were chatting amongst themselves for now.
"So what's this Naomi called about again?" A wyvern decided to utter in a bored manner.
"Weren't you listening to her? It's a murder/tresspassing. She just saw a human pull someone over the roof." An earth dragon chastised him.
"And you'd better get moving already. We're wasting time like complete fools." A third startled the two. She was similarly dressed to Naomi with a bit more protective equipment. The brunette had a feeling she was in charge of the operation.
"Yes ma'am." The two retracted. Yep, this runner was most likely a sergeant or lieutenant. At least she didn't seem corrupt.
"Well, what are you two standing around for? Get on it already before I make you clean the bathrooms." Both dragons bolted for his position at the threat. It seemed she was either more intimidating than he thought, or was drunk with power. Either way, Alex wasn't going to be the one dealing with it yet.
He waited for the leader to skulk back inside before going himself. The door creaked more than he initially thought, but it seemingly didn't alert the officers. Maybe they were a little more dense than he thought.
There was a stairwell leading into the main building immediately visible. The person in command was out of sight now, and hopefully, out of earshot too. The human crept down with exceeding caution. More and more of the building's layout became visible as he pressed onward. He could see Miss 'I'm in charge here' strutting around with confidence for ten people. Yep, she had to be on a power trip.
But that still wasn't his problem. He had to leave before he was spotted. The last thing he wanted was to become like Reza. Catching his breath, Alex moved up to the cubicles. There was a pipe from his perspective he could probably use to get around, instead of having to knock people out. The only problem was the grouping of officers nearby.
There were about five guys on the floor, not counting the bitchy officer. Not a lot if the vigilante considered the places he'd been and their security. He had two options from there: wait for them to split up or distract them, and risk others being on guard.
Settling in, the human honed in on the discussion a trio was having. It seemed that they were talking about the recent murders.
"You guys really think it was Reza?" An earth dragon questioned. The one beside him rolled their eyes.
"Ugh, this again. There's already evidence against him. Even that blood we found on the first victim is human. Don't you think he'd be a little smarter than to randomly kill someone?" The other brushed his coworker off.
"He did injure Maverick, though, and nobody gets out of that unharmed. So either he's really stupid, or someone else is an evil genius framing him for just running away." A third offered from next to a water cooler. The former two looked at each other and back to her.
"Who are you again?" They asked in unison.
"Name's Sheila. I'm with building security." The third, now Sheila, stated simply.
"O-kay then..." The two officers resumed their discussion in a more hushed tone. Sheila just shrugged and went back to the water she'd just gotten. Now that Alex had more of a window, he moved up. A large copier provided good enough cover for the time being.
Sheila tossed her cup and whipped out a flashlight. The human froze the moment it was flicked on. That dragon had it aimed right at him. Thankfully, she was looking elsewhere, and started her rounds swiftly. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding and checked by the pipe.
'What's that even for? I get if this place was converted from an industrial building, but...' There was no time to contemplate then. He just had to leave. Remaining in the few shadows there were, he progressed without much of a hitch. That pipe was within arm's reach when someone called out.
"What the heck?! I think I saw something moving just now!" The earth dragon panicked. His friend was startled from the sudden outburst.
"Dude, don't do that! You scared the shit out of me. Now what's this about someone moving?" The second grabbed his flashlight. Alex jumped up and grabbed the pipe right as it came on. Now both officers had noticed something there, and were scared out of their wits.
The lighting fixture above them was shot over and knocked the earth dragon in the head. The bruentte thanked god his shirt caught the bullet casing and pressed on, whilst the other officer yelled into his radio receiver about the incident. Two more officers came sprinting in right as the human dropped back down.
"Sorry, dude. I hope you get better." He whispered. He turned back around and hit the stairs down. The first floor had some more security in the form of a few guards. It seemed that he attracted most of the cops to the top floor. With that last thought, he pushed onward.
Most everyone was jumpy now thanks to Alex's little stunt. Jumpy meant easily scared, which meant easily distracted. What a perfect opportunity for someone like him. Now he just had to figure a path out.
That was much easier said than done. A big open space like the lobby only had so many hiding spots, especially with Alex's dark clothing on white walls. The front desk wasn't completely viable since anyone could see something coming. No potted plant would hide him from flashlights either. Sure, he could just go full assault and get himself caught. Then that would lead to him losing all trust with Bryce and the others. So the only other option was to pick something off the desk and throw it elsewhere.
And now the human thought about how he'd actually leave without tripping the alarm. It looked like the doors were electronically locked from his viewpoint, so he'd need a keycard. That's one security guard taken down already. Then comes hiding the body and keeping out of sight. The latter is normally easy, but with so few hiding places...
"Shit." The brunette barely hissed. Though, come to think of it, he already knocked out an officer. What difference would a guard make? He swallowed his concerns and crept up to the desk as soon an noone was looking. There was a small cup of pens and a paperweight sitting there for the taking: perfect. Some pens were swiped along with the weight.
Even if Alex was in plain view of the cameras, he was sure Viper's gauntlet was still disrupting the feeds. Just another thing to be grateful Mongoose made to begin with. With that out of the way, he took a few pens and the weight, and hucked the latter at the light above him. The shattering startled every last one of the guards.
"Geez! Someone go check that out, that light did not just break like that by itself!" One of the guards yelled. Another crept up to the desk, claws at the ready.
"Careful, Xin. There's someone else in here." A third spoke up from Alex's right. He could hear Xin's claws gently scraping against the marble now. Just a few steps and he may have his keycard.
One. He prepared for engagement, pulling out his pistol.
Two. She started raising her hand, polished claws like razors in the low light.
Three! Alex grabbed her legs and ripped them out from under her. He wasted no time in bashing her with his gun, taking the card on her belt. The others barreled towards their fallen comrade, giving him the chance he needed to slip out semi-quietly. That was one excursion he didn't want to face again.
He left the keycard in the midway and blended in with a passing crowd until he got to Viper's death point. The body was gone, having been replaced by something: a case of augments for his watch. He remembered packing one for superhuman strength and speed, but the others slipped his mind. Now all he worried about was the cameras. That gauntlet was the only thing jamming them.
There wasn't much of anything else in the alley. Not like he could ask the police either. They'd just find him suspicious or guilty of breaking and entering. This did get Alex wondering: who was under the helmet? The entire suit wasn't even possible to remove anyway without the user specifically taking it off. He had it programmed that way specifically so the OPD wouldn't find him out.
With the police as alert as they were, The brunette found it best to head back. The case was tucked away in his shirt pocket and he blended in with a crowd. Little did he know someone was watching the whole time...