Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 2 Chapter 15: Contract
Tatsu Park, North Side - Day 6, 6:01PM
Alex trudged up to a bench where Maverick sat as expected, prompting him to motion the ambassador over.
"Good. I'm glad you made it. There's something we need to talk about. I'm sure you remember the third murder?" The officer addressed in his usual gravelly tone.
"Yeah. Emera wouldn't listen to a thing I said. I'm just glad the portal was-"
"I'm talking about who died that day. I know that you know it, Alex." Maverick's grim look carried itself over to his company, sending a tiny shiver down his spine. "Save her."
"The scientist? How do you expect me to do that?" Alex threw his arms out for emphasis. That wasn't exactly an easy order, even with his skillset.
"I don't care. Just save Anna's life. You want some chance of redemption? You make sure nobody I care about is killed." The larger male got up to leave, only looking back for one more threat. "Even if it means dying yourself."
It seemed there was another mission on hand that night...
Production Facility - 9:34PM
Alex stalked the still halls of Anna's lab. Just a few minutes prior, she and her assistant had one hell of an argument, leading to her storming out for a coffee. Now he followed closely to make sure nothing happened. Her death was to be prevented at all costs, after all.
The lights came on automatically at her entry. Pressure sensitive flooring: a clever trick for them. He'd have to keep off somehow.
'Guess the floor is lava for this one. But maybe I could use that to my advantage.' The vigilante contemplated. A passing glance at a lab coat gave him the idea of blending in, but was crushed by the whole 'white' thing. If only dark places weren't his forte. Perhaps distractions would be key to a mission success after all.
Anna's wait for that precious nectar was cut off by the sound of a beaker breaking. Peeking out, she noticed an adjacent room switch on with nobody present.
"Great. Just another thing to hate about this place." She made to head back to her now ready coffee when that same room started flickering like crazy. And that was when she saw it. The very top of someone's head poked out from under a counter every time the light went off.
"Hey, asshole, come out and clean that up!" The runner yelled. Her approach stopped the flickering at least, but now she had a new problem. Someone was running around her lab after hours. And the worst part? It was pissing her off to no end.
Alex's distraction worked to say the least. But now he had an angry raptor to deal with. One who was fast approaching. He rolled out of the way just in time for the lights to come back on and his target to stalk her way in. Rage covered every millimeter of her face as she scanned the empty lab. Every item broken spurred a flurry of footsteps toward its source.
The scientist's anger grew ever more potent as she was evaded yet again, this time by the invader jumping onto a rafter.
"Got you now, dickhead! Drop down and I'll make this easier on you!" Anna called out again to her adversary. This person just crawled away under the cover of darkness. An echoing impact near one of the labs made itself well known, along with the opening and closing of a door.
Alex likely had precious few seconds to hide before Anna would be on him. A locker seemed sound, but what were the chances it'd be filled? Behind a counter seemed alright until you got the right angle. What about under it? There were at least three little cubbies currently occupied by barstools that he could use. And at the moment, it was fine by him. He pulled one out and ducked under right as his huntress burst through.
Slow, heavy footsteps much akin to Jurassic Park's T-Rex filled the air as Anna padded through. Her mind was fraught with hatred for whoever decided to interrupt her coffee break. From the vigilante's position, he could see her eye twitching as though she'd gone crazy. He didn't blame her either. Those antics would drive anyone mad with rage.
"Come out. I just want to help you." The runner said in the creepiest tone Alex heard come from her. Then again, he only knew her for a few days out of the three weeks he spent here. That insane eye twitch disappeared the instant she glanced in his direction, having been replaced with something much more sinister.
"Found you." She crept over with a borderline maniacal grin. Only a few feet away was she when a blood-curdling scream, cut off in its prime, turned her own to ice. Stalking forward much more carefully proved fruitless as her former target kicked her legs out from under her. The last thing she saw before everything went dark were two brightly glowing slits...
Alex carefully secured his package for extraction whilst Reza stalked the halls outside. Just another thing to worry about for him. Hoisting the unconscious raptor over his back, he began to leave the factory...
There was a tenseness in the air now that Reza was here. As much as Alex wanted to end him right then and there, he had another thing to take care of. One currently slung over his back.
"Who knew you'd be so heavy? I can barely draw my gun without dropping you." The man grunted. His target only swayed in time with each step in response. "I get a feeling you'd hate me for saying that if you were awake." He let out a dry chuckle at that comment. Rounding a corner, he was met with a completely expected sight.
"Thanks for the generator." There stood Reza, out in the open. A generator sat nice and pretty atop his shoulder as he insulted his fresh kill. It was quite a familiar sight for Alex, having been in the same scenarios himself. Both of them were rather calm until the murderer turned to leave.
"Oh shit!" The white-clad male uttered as a person in pitch black threw a dragon off their shoulder in favor of a bullpup rifle. That was his que to leave. Taking the generator, he made a beeline for an alternate exit right as a volley of bullets left their marks in the wall. Only one actually managed to hit its mark...
Alex would've followed if not for his package. He instead looked to his gauntlet for a call.
"Maverick?" A familiar voice came through the dragon's earpiece.
"You'd better tell me you were successful or I swear to whatever god you believe in..." He growled at the person on the other end.
"Anna's safe, if a bit sleepy. Where should I drop her off at?" Alex spoke calmly and with clarity. If only he could show the dragon everything.
"I'll believe that when I see it. Meet me at her apartment. I'll text you the address." With that, Maverick hung up and shot an address over.
"Good thing he doesn't go back on his word. Let's get you home." The man punched it in and started creeping over...
354 Angel Ave. Floor 3, Unit 10
A moderately annoyed reptile awaited the arrival of the apartment's owner in its gorgeous living room. A rapping at the window caught his attention. Opening it, he caught sight of something very interesting. A person in pitch black clothing hung tightly by a wire. Anna sat atop their free shoulder, only held in place by their hand.
"Who the hell are you?" Maverick snarled. The predator didn't blame him either. He showed up unannounced with his... whatever she is to him. And of course the cherry on top was his armor.
"I'm with Alex. Pull me up!" The human grunted in his own voice with great urgency. The dragon glanced between him and Anna before reluctantly offering a paw.
"Only for Anna. You can leave after this." His company fired back. Irritation and worry burned brightly in those blood eyes.
"Just grab her before she falls. I can't hang on much longer." Alex made a point of letting her slip just a tiny bit for emphasis. Seeing that, his 'favorite' policeman rushed to pull the scientist through.
"What did you do to her?" His claw found itself upon a tiny dart protruding from her neck, with a bloodlust building the more he looked at it.
"I put her to bed. Now would you care to tell me why I just went through all this trouble?" Alex's own annoyance trumped the fact that he finally gained a little lasting trust with the dragon, even if it was by proxy.
"And why do you think I should tell you? You're the one who harmed her." Maverick responded in a guttural growl.
"Tranquilizer darts don't harm anyone. My amnesia darts, however..." The predator trailed off, drawing his ruger. More questions built their way up the more he got stonewalled.
"That's Alex's. What the hell did you do to him?" The larger male readied himself to pounce. "Tell me!" He wasted no time lunging for Alex, who was completely baffled by the speed of such a large beast. His teeth sank into the vigilante's leg with an effective grip. He wasn't going anywhere.
"Aagh! I asked him for it, you idiot! Did you want me to actually hurt her instead?!" This seemed to have stopped the officer from continuing his torture. The only side effect would be that new wound needing disinfectant ASAP. "That dart launcher needs a pistol to work. Otherwise, she'd have a concussion right now. Those are my only non-lethal options."
Only dead silence followed as Maverick let go of Alex's leg to process everything. Not even when he left Anna to rest on her sofa did he break it. The predator took that as his opportunity to go care for his wound. Only when it was clean did he finally climb back down into the night...
And that was when Maverick came back in. Having that person gone released some tension in the air. He hated to admit it, but they did return her in one piece. The only thing he wondered was why Alex didn't do it himself. He seemed competent enough.
"I'm so sorry all this happened to you. If only I could tell you everything without sounding like a nutcase. Let's just hope no one else has to die." With that, he gave her a gentle peck on the forehead. A glass of water for Anna was obtained from the kitchen before her final 'guest' left...
Clothing Store - 11:28PM
Alex's mission wasn't complete just yet. There was still one thing to take care of: that wyvern trying to steal Bryce from him. For all he knew, she'd already done it, and that filled him with searing hate.
Climbing up to her floor gave him a rather nauseating view of her sitting with some ice cream. A satisfied grin lay painted across her features; one he'd be all too happy to wipe off. Someone else had just sat down with the succubus as well...
"Thanks for spending time with me, Bryce. It means a lot knowing that you're here." The wyvern cozied up to his dragon. He glanced down with a presumed romantic smile. Just seeing it made the human's stomach churn. How he wanted to shoot her then and there.
"I'm just glad I got the time to. Between everything with Alex and the case, I've been a bit stressed out." The chief opened up about his opinion toward his so-called friend. It only deepened already irreparable wounds to hear this. He questioned if he was ever anything more than a burden to those he loved?
"It sounds like he isn't very good for you to be around. Why do you even associate yourself with him to begin with?" Camilla asked. Her tone held a light stench of disregard for him, as evidenced by what she already said.
"It's mainly because Sebastian and Maverick are worried, but there's something else. This kid has something going on." The massive male spared himself a drink to wet his lips. "And he's not even being honest about it. I'm trying to be patient, only pressing on it a little, but he's barely giving me anything to work with."
"You want to know what I think? I think you should just cut your losses. This human doesn't seem like the type you'd want to associate with, you know? That's what I'd do in your position." The female advised. Her friend took a long moment of reflection that only made the eavesdropping human feel worse.
"If I do that; I'll lose one of the only people helping to find Reza. Not to mention the loss of knowledge. One human is bad enough." Bryce countered. The points were valid. Alex did heavily consider taking his own life in his first few days back in... whatever this was.
"So you're in a really tight spot? Why not just do it when this is finished?" Alex didn't want to listen any longer. He just wanted to bury a bullet in her eye socket. And yet, his morbid curiosity kept him from doing so. He even climbed over for a better angle to listen in. His body became as the air as his suit's camouflage set in.
"Again, that may not be so easy. There was this... air of familiarity in his eyes when we were last together. It's as if he knows more than he's letting on, and I need to get to the bottom of it. I mean, heck, he and Maverick of all people both act that way." The larger male fired back.
"Maybe you're just-" Camilla cut herself off, glancing toward her balcony. She got up and started creeping toward whatever disturbance she caught.
"Is something wro-" Bryce tried to ask, but was silenced by a hand as the flier advanced. Her ears picked up on breathing. It was faint, borderline inaudible, but still there. The breathing stopped right as her foot hit the balcony.
"I guess it was the wind? Maybe I'm just paranoid or something. So as I was saying; you're probably just so stressed out that you're making things up. Why don't I give you a massage to-" A small click sent Camilla into the chief's chest, unconscious. To say he was shocked at the dart protruding from her neck was an understatement.
"Shit, Camilla!" The massive reptile didn't even have time to set her down before another sunk itself into the sofa just an inch from his face. His target was spotted before it even had a chance to disappear fully behind the doorway. Anger for his friend boiled over as he bolted for whomever that was.
More noise signaled an attempted escape, one he wouldn't be allowing this time. Glancing up, he caught a pitch black figure just within reach. All it took was one swift tug for the suspect to come crashing back down. In the resulting confusion, he pinned them down by the shoulders.
"You have five seconds to tell me who you are before I rip your throat out." Bryce growled, baring razor sharp teeth just itching for vengeance. Alex wasted no time getting himself into a better position for assault.
"I'm the grim reaper." The predator rasped in Bryce's own voice before yanking himself out of his prison, turning the tables with disturbing ease. "Not that you'll remember it." One final dart pierced into the officer's neck, its contained fluid working just as swiftly to render him unconscious.
Alex got up off of him and turned to the sleeping wyvern. He now saw firsthand her intentions with his dragon. It would be a cold day in hell if he dared let her take him away. His previous hatred was now replaced by an insatiable bloodlust. Grabbing her by the neck, he retrieved his dart and delivered a waking slap.
"I knew there was something there! Who are you and what do you want?!" Camilla choked out weakly.
"I'm here to ask of your intentions with the Chief. If you answer truthfully, I'll let you go. But if you lie or leave anything out..." The figure spoke calmly, her voice thankfully keeping the anonymity. "You'll never see the light of day again." His combination of intimidation and already inflicted trauma seemed to do something in the least.
"Who wants to know...?" The flier spoke back, earning herself another heavy slap.
"I ask the questions here. Now what is your relationship to him?" Alex placed the tip of his knife to her throat, giving her a little 'motivation' to speak.
"We're... friends. It's been that way since high school." She managed after a short pause. Something flashed on her interrogator's wrist, prompting him to take a glance. He buried the blade right into her bicep for better effect. An agonized scream was barely snuffed out by his grip.
"There's something you're not telling me. It'd be best if you made this easy on yourself." Was all he said.
"I want more, and that's all. Now let me go. There's something I want to show you." Some of her fire returned, fire which her adversary was too happy to snuff out. He brought her to the balcony for a good view of Bryce.
"I wouldn't risk that, lest you end up like him." Alex warned with much more resistance now than before.
"Bryce! You fucking son of a Bitch!" With great strain, Camilla broke free, only to find herself collapsed to the ground again. Her knee was buckled in and her head smashed into the TV. She was now bleeding on top of being held captive by the throat.
"Only warning: don't try that again. What were you going to do with him before I stepped in? And don't forget that I know when you're lying." The vigilante pinned his enemy in his unspeakably strong grip once again, almost lifting her off the ground.
"I was offering a massage!" The flier rasped through her half-closed windpipe. That thing on the predator's wrist flashed again, seemingly signaling to him any lies or unspoken things.
"That wasn't all. You were planning something else, weren't you? Something much more intimate. I could see it written all over your face." Her silence said everything. The human solemnly pulled his pistol from its holster. "I did warn you to tell me everything."
"No. No no, please!" Camilla's begging was silenced before it even began by a single projectile. Glancing toward his dragon, Alex began to clean up the mess he caused...
