Chapter 110: Palace of Minos (Part 1)
The City of Townsville. Outskirts. Precinct 77.
09 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1347.
A girl walked through the sliding glass doors of Precinct 77. It was the middle of the day, just after lunch. It was busy by that time, with most of the seats in the lobby taken up by crime victims. Upfront, several police officers were arguing with a group of bikers. There was a train of officers bringing handcuffed criminals to the back. Not a single moment of silence was to be found.
The girl stood in the middle of the lobby, waiting, looking especially upset. She waited as the police officers manning the crime report desks continued to argue with the group of bikers. One of the bikers got especially angry and had to be pulled away by his fellow leather jackets. When it was all over, the girl, who was in a pink blouse and blue jeans, started forward, wiping tears away quickly.
"Hey! Wait your turn, you lil' shit!" someone yelled from the seats, a man with a deep voice who sounded more like a criminal than a victim. The girl seemed undeterred. She went all the way up to the reception area even as a few others protested that she had jumped the queue.
One of the police officers stood up and leaned over to her. A white man of tall stature, intimidating due to his height, which reached over six feet, he listened intently, his face soft. He seemed sympathetic.
"Is there something wrong, little girl?" the police officer asked.
"My sister's in big trouble!" the girl cried as she sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "It's my Dad… He- he's in trouble, too."
"I see," the police officer said. He waved a hand over to the seat at the reception, offering it to her: "Why not sit down so we can talk about it?"
"But people will hear me if we sit here!" the girl cried. "What if they hear me?"
"Honey, no one's going to care…" the tall police officer said.
"They-they'll kill him! Please!" the girl said, shockingly. The police officer surmised that it might have something to do with the mob, whichever one of the two hundred or so present in Townsville. The cop looked around the room, now paranoid that someone was indeed listening.
"Hey, sarge, lemme handle the girl's case, let Philly take over the front," the tall cop said, before rounding his desk and going past a pair of saloon doors. Putting a hand on her back, she led the girl to the back, towards one of the interrogation rooms.
"C-can I use the washroom?" she suddenly asked.
"Sure, this way," the officer said before leading her down another corridor, one where there was a blue male sign and a pink female sign. The officer led her to the female washroom. The girl didn't budge after that. "Well, go on. What are you waiting for?"
"I don't want to be alone," the girl claimed. "Can you come with me? I feel safe with you around."
The officer sighed, but with a smile on his face. It'd made him feel needed, useful in some way. It'd stroked his ego a little.
"Alright, but you gotta use the men's room. Guys like me don't get to enter the women's water closet," he said, before leading the girl into the other washroom. He led her to the closest stall and waited.
The City of Townsville. Outskirts. Precinct 77.
09 MAR (Thursday) 1989. 1351.
Bunny smiled, feeling victorious that she had almost effortlessly brought herself into Precinct 77's bowels. While she was sitting on the toilet, she brought up her x-ray vision and saw that the friendly tall cop's back was turned to her stall. Her heart immediately sank. The cop had been nice to her. It wasn't that Bunny did not agree that killing was bad - it was just that she thought killing was necessary sometimes…
Even if the target to be terminated was a good man. Bunny removed her belt before moving to stealthily open the door of her stall. Silently, she pushed it open. She didn't open it all the way, just enough for her to squeeze through without making a sound. She stared at the door for a second, her x-ray vision still up. No one was going to stumble upon them anytime soon.
Letting herself hover, Bunny slipped her belt around the tall cop's neck and tightened it. The cop couldn't even yell. All he could do was make a gurgling sound as he struggled to breathe, but couldn't. She pulled him back into the toilet stall, and when she saw that he was reaching for his gun, she tightened the belt so hard that it'd crushed his windpipe entirely, the shock of it precluding any attempts at self-defense.
It was then that Bunny had genuinely cried, as the good officer was choking to death with no further effort from her. She hugged him from behind as she laid him down gently to the floor and whispered apologies in an attempt to make it easier for him to die. She shushed the dying man as he struggled in his death throes, unable to even take in his dying breaths. She kept at it until he was motionless. It was back to business after that. There was simply no time to waste. Putting the dead cop on the toilet seat to hide him better, Bunny followed the same routine of locking the stall from the inside and flying out from the top.
Bringing up her cloaking field, Bunny stared at the door with her x-ray vision once more as she waited for everyone in the corridor outside to turn the corner before rushing for the door and leaving the men's washroom.
Bunny had been briefed on the mission after she had agreed with General Blackwater's strategy. It was strange though - since when would a general ever need the approval of a subordinate? It felt as if he had warmed up to her, perhaps even a little too much.
Regardless of that, the mission remained the same as before. She was supposed to find the target's office and extract whatever incriminating evidence and material before leaving. She knew the exact layout of Precinct 77. The police chief's office was on the top floor, towards the back of the building, where it was safest.
But the mission was two-fold, and obtaining evidence of Police Chief Feig's corruption was only one of her objectives. Her other objective was to reconnoiter the precinct in preparation for a possible assault, to properly identify and account for the number of future enemies in the building, identify any useful features around the building as well as come up with a plan of action for an assault.
On a quick round around the first floor, Bunny passed by the breakroom. There, she saw men wearing heavily customized uniforms. Some of them wore the uniform of the military, but with the insignias replaced hastily with the TPD's. Others wore what could not really be considered uniforms, but a mix of civilian clothing and bits and pieces from their former affiliation. They carried their weapons and gear around, despite being on break time, and they would put a SWAT team to shame. They had with them assault rifles, light machineguns, and even grenade launchers, backed by military-grade bulletproof vests and helmets. They were the STARS. Bunny had been informed during the training about their formation. They would make things harder for her if they get in the way.
There was also something else she noticed. The windows were all shut and locked, and they were grated or reinforced with bars and wires. These TPD officers were ready for anything. But it wouldn't be a problem for her, as she could just yank the whole frame along with the window out of the wall.
Climbing up to the second floor, she noticed, too, that the building was swarming with police officers. A group of SWAT officers had rushed down the stairs and she was barely able to get out of the way. It was like being in a hornet's nest, and she wondered how it would be like to kick it if it was already so ready to pounce on an intruder as it was.
On the third floor, the number of police officers - and civilian staff, did not decrease. The building was packed to the brim. Bunny did not know the full extent of this, but it was due to the fact that Police Chief Feig was selected to be the city's foremost police chief placed in charge of a history-making task force assembled to clean up the city for good.
The corridor was arranged in a square. Bunny had to walk along the corners to avoid crashing into the officers walking towards the stairs. But it was tight. The precinct wasn't like a police headquarters, and it wasn't built for heavy traffic. Once or twice, an officer's hand would brush against her head and she would bolt when it happened. The officers who felt her would then turn to investigate what they had touched, only to shrug it off, thinking that it was their imagination.
It didn't take long for Bunny to reach the door of Feig's office - Rook's plan to acclimatize her to a stealth mission like this had been the right call.
Stopping by the door, she surveyed her corridor for any pedestrians. Finding none, she brought up her x-ray vision once more - and found that a cop was about to round the corner towards her. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. The cop rounded the corner and passed by.
Pulling out a pair of lockpicking tools, she began working on the lock. As the cop disappeared around another corner, she pushed the lock aggressively, as she saw another cop coming towards her using her x-ray vision.
It helped that she was able to see through the door to peek at the mechanisms of the lock inside. It had made lockpicking vastly easier. The lock couldn't hold for even a minute the moment Bunny started working on it, as her enhanced nimbleness, senses and reaction speeds made the lock's mechanism seem like child's play.
There was a mechanical sound when the lock finally gave way, which was sweet to Bunny's ears. Looking over her shoulder, she saw with her x-ray vision that the second cop was looming closer, so she opened the door quickly and went through as soon as she could, gently closing the door without locking it, as locking it again would create too much noise, slight as it was. Bunny braced herself against the door, gripping the doorknob tightly just in case the cop decided to try his police chief's door - it would give the impression that the door had been locked.
Using her x-ray vision once more, she saw that the cop passing by hadn't even noticed her. Regardless, the man tried the door and discovered that it wouldn't open. Bunny had held firm to the doorknob, successfully tricking him. Cautious, she continued watching the unaware police officer, and when he was rounding another corner, locked the police chief's door again.
With that, she began searching through the police chief's office, first searching the tabletop, and on finding nothing, began picking the drawers of the desk and rooting through their contents. But the desk was completely clean.
Rook had to assist her through the radio as Bunny was barely literate, and knew only so many words at that or their various connotations and implications. The next thing she did was to go through the file cabinets, quoting titles to Rook, or failing that, spelling out the titles to him. She would query interesting-looking words that she couldn't understand in an attempt to form a picture of what she was looking at.
It was a slow process. Half an hour passed, then one, but Bunny was kept motivated by the fact that it concerned her sisters, her family, and how close she was to eliminating Feig as a threat. Eventually, they did come upon something, and it had something to do with a victory parade just a couple days away. It wasn't a thick file. It was deceptively light, the file itself smaller and stuck between two larger, fatter files such that it would have been easy to miss. The first page seemed innocent enough, though what caught Bunny's eye was its mention of the Powerpuff Girls:
Date: 03/06/89
From: Commissioner Davis
To: Police Chief Feig
Title: Victory Parade Security
As you might be aware from our previous meeting, there will be a victory parade to be held this Saturday, on 11 March. It will commence at noon exactly and end at around 1:15 pm. It will begin Uptown, in the Townsville Stadium, proceed through Downtown and finally end at the Central District, by the Townsville Museum. The victory parade will center around the Powerpuff Girls. They will be put at the head of the column, on their own floater. Attached are more documents with all the details.
Considering that you are the man behind dismantling some of the mobs in Townsville, I have decided that you will be in charge of security for this event. I have a feeling that lots of people would want revenge for what you and the Powerpuff Girls have been doing. Preparations for the event have been ongoing for a while, and now the route is being prepared for it. I want you to begin making putting men on the job, starting now. I want three thousand men on the case, all along the route, and I want you to make plans now and let me know how it looks like.
Date: 03/07/89
From: Police Chief Feig
To: Commissioner Davis
Title: About Parade Security
Commissioner Davis, you have appointed the right man for the job! I have just the thing for this important event. Due to the mobile nature of the event, I will assign two hundred men to follow the victory column as it moves towards the Townsville Museum - regular officers, SWAT officers and STARS officers will be part of this mobile company, and they'll become part of the victory column. I've already made arrangements with the event coordinator. Teams of police officers will line the entire route on the ground, on both sides. I will have sniper teams in every building. More SWAT teams and STARS teams will be on standby at key buildings along the route. All will be supported by cruisers and vans. I will fly helicopters in the area.
With all due respect, commissioner, the recommendations for the captains and men you've forwarded to me will not do. I would like to handpick my own men for the positions to be filled. As you know, you've made me the head of Townsville's clean-up task force, and I know exactly who will be fit to run the security of the victory parade. I've already sent the word out. Let me know if you would like me to reverse the decision, but due to the tight schedule, I would rather that you just trust me on this.
Date: 03/07/89
From: Commissioner Davis
To: Police Chief Feig
Title: Re: About Parade Security
Very well, choose your own guys for this, you have earned the right. I will be expecting the rest of the plans soon.
Bunny knew that something was up when Feig was put in charge of her sisters' security. She tried searching through the files for the plans, but there was none to be found. It couldn't be that the police chief had made no plans, which meant that a copy of it hadn't been made, either due to security reasons, or the fact that Paul Feig had something to hide. The faxes between Commissioner Davis and Police Chief Feig did not serve as evidence for corruption however, as it appeared clean on the surface. Bunny had thought that it was good enough, but Rook had set her straight after she read him the faxes.
She went through the rest of the file's content, hoping for anything incriminating - not because she earnestly believed in due process this time, but because it would bring her one step closer to killing Feig, as stated by the rules of General Blackwater's game.
Date: 03/07/89
To: Captain Sanders
From: Police Chief Feig
Title: Break Out the Good Stuff
Captain Sanders,
The victory parade for the Powerpuff Girls is going to be held this Saturday. I want you and the people you trust to be part of the security detail. You'll be close to them - those THINGS. You are going to help change history for the rest of us, and of course, such a job comes with great rewards.
It is time you break out the good stuff. Those drugs that stupid bastard Mullens kept in evidence? Bring them out and start handing them out to your pals. You will be getting more from certain sources. In fact, try to rope in the cleaner guys too, see if they will fall for it. Put them in their drinks or something, I don't care. Just get more of them hooked on the stuff and put them on the parade detail.
And don't ask. This is coming from them. You know who. Just do it, and you will get to retire sooner than you think.
When Bunny saw this letter and read it to Rook, they knew that this was it. It was evidence that Feig had been involved in the drug trade, though with what kind of drugs and how much, it wasn't certain. Why and how it was related to Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup's victory parade, Bunny had no idea. Furthermore, why and how a damning fax like this could be found in his office was another mystery. Wouldn't Feig had wanted to hide it? The fact that the fax to Captain Sanders was the only one suggested that every other similar fax to other members of the TPD was likely removed from the file, either because they were made redundant or that the fax to Sanders was left inside by accident.
It didn't matter. Bunny had found it. She felt ecstatic as if she was the winner of a treasure hunt. Hugging the file against her chest, she brought her cloaking field up again, pleased with herself that she could cloak the file along with her then. What else could she turn invisible this way? she wondered.
Things were looking up. She could feel it. Soon, she would be back in the warm embrace of her sisters once more, and there would be peace in her family within mere days. That was when she felt it again. She dropped to her knees, dropping the file. Sharp pain had stabbed her chest, multiple points of them. She wheezed and coughed, spitting out blood. On wiping her face, she noticed that her cloaking field had been disrupted with a flash of bright purple - and there was blood on her hand. In fact, her entire face felt slick. As it did before, the pain lingered for a while before spreading to other parts of her body - this time, her heart, her stomach, then her kidneys. She felt it down there too.
Sinking to the ground, she curled up into a fetal position as she bore with the pain…
"Bunny! Bravo-five-zero! What's your status, over?" a voice spoke into her ear. General Blackwater. "This is Blackwater, I repeat, what is your status, over?"
Bunny shook awake upon hearing it. Upon realizing that she had been immobilized for a time, she got up quickly, looking around as if the walls had ears. No, there was no one around her - it was odd because she thought someone was watching her. She'd felt it so acutely. Yet, she didn't remember seeing anyone come in as she writhed in pain on the ground either.
"This is Bunny, General Blackwater," Bunny replied over the radio in hushed tones. She was still in enemy territory. She wondered if she should tell the general about her sickness. She wondered for a while, wondered until she was afraid the general might yell in her ear again. "I'm fine," she eventually decided against it. "I just had to hide for a while."
It would take some time after that, but Bunny was able to escape Precinct 77 undetected, despite every window in the building being barred or reinforced by other means. Back at 5 Kirkwall Street, she had made sure to enter a public restroom cloaked first to wash the blood away before she saw General Blackwater again. It was at this time that she discovered how much further her 'sickness' had progressed…
For she had seen, before a mirror, that she had bled through her eyes and ears in no small volumes. No wonder her face was wet.
