Chapter 9 - Do Not Mess with the Cops
Late Afternoon, Centralway Mall, Los Angeles, America
Hornet had to wonder if Alex bought the bike or stole it. Because it looked like it was stolen by a fashion con gang. And it was custom-made, expensive!
A slim black motorcycle fitted for two people. Well, there wasn't enough space on the cushion seat, but Mira barely got enough needed as she held onto the biker's shoulders. The bike was made to Alex's liking; a turquoise glass covering, glowing light cyan rings around the wheels and a light purple cushion. There was no basket for Hornet to hang on, so he rested in Alex's jacket pocket with his helmet on.
Even Alex's helmet appeared to be custom-made; a black helmet in the shape of a medieval knight's helmet with a purple visor and a hole in it to allow their ponytail to pop right through it.
Mira nearly thought of telling Alex to go slow, but the mall was pretty far, so Alex had to go fast before the cops could. After a few hours, they arrived on the ground of the mall, resting in a suburb far away from the city.
Centralway Mall looked like your ordinary, standard mall. However, the explosion did more damage than just leaving a hole in the ceiling. While the mall was still standing, certain parts of its walls and most of the windows were blown apart. Long yellow tapes covered the entrance of the parking lot, but only as a warning. And from there, you could still see the scattered debris on the dark parking lot from the light of the descending sun. A haunting reminder of a disaster that stripped the friendliness of this mall into an ancient ruin to only gaze at.
It was as if walking into a crime scene that was left unfinished.
That was the trio's intention in exploring this place.
Alex parked the motorcycle near the pavement, allowing Mira to get off the now-hard cushion and stretch a little. Hornet flew out from Alex's pocket, observing the parking lot.
"Think you can stand for the next hour, Mira?" asked Hornet.
"I'm feeling alright!" said Mira, rolling around her shoulders. Her bottom might be a little sore but at least she wasn't feeling stiff. "I'm not too old to take one of these. Now, where are my glasses…" She pressed around her pockets, trying to feel the object. "Oh! There it is!"
"...that's my hair," said Alex.
"Oh, right, right," said Mira, sheepishly dropping Alex's ponytail. "OK, it's still in my jacket…"
As Mira pulled out the right glasses from her jacket, Alex took off their helmet and scanned the entire parking lot. The place looked nearly dead. They felt their sister's presence around here…but they could feel those who were killed in the explosions. Even worse, they could imagine the dead bodies close to the outside. It wasn't like they knew what exactly happened.
It was more of a feeling of how things could unfold. The thousand possibilities of the slaughter that harmed many innocent people.
A shiver ran through their body as they imagined the screams before the inevitable burns or crushes.
Hornet noticed their discomfort, clearing his throat. He didn't even want to dwell on this place for too long as well. "So, where shall we begin?"
Sighing quietly, Alex brought their mind to the current situation. "Well, wouldn't there be any camera footage of this 2 years ago. Or…footprints all around?"
"That can be done," said Mira.
"What about footprints?" asked Hornet. "What did Susan wear on the night she disappeared."
"I remember seeing her pair missing from our shoe shelf," said Alex, tapping their chin. "She always wore an Adidas Original Superstar? I think? Size 12."
"Size 12, huh," said Hornet.
"Well, Susan usually has really large feet. I mean, it could have given her a reputation of being called 'big toe' in school." Their face heated up again. "Crap, crap, crap! I wasn't supposed to say this! She's gonna be mad at me for-"
Mira chuckled, trying to lighten things up. "Don't worry, your secret is with us."
"Don't you dare share," said Alex firmly.
"And her secret is with us," humored Hornet.
"Anyway, that's a really popular shoe," said Mira. "It's easy to buy this kind. It would take too long to find the exact shoe prints and the exact size. There are many similar footsteps!"
"I'm onto it," said Hornet, pressing a couple of buttons from his helmet. "Got to thank Webs for upgrading this before she left."
"What does that do?" asked Alex.
Hornet grinned. "It's a special helmet with an up-to-date scanner! Best fitted for the latest technology. With this, I can even carbon date the types of footprints around here."
"You don't think they might have cleaned the place, right, Hornet?" asked Mira. "The old footprints might not be there. You'll be taking a wild guess in the dark."
"We have to. Nothing's clean from here as cars are constantly driving in and out." Hornet quickly pulled out a small device from Mira's jacket. "You remember how to use the app, right?"
"I already got things adjusted and it should be ready by now to look into devices within this radius."
"Good. Try to link to the intact security footage room. There should be footage dated back long ago. We'll only go in if we cannot find anything."
"Got it then!"
Alex nodded, a little amazed by this preparedness. "You…you guys are really prepared."
"Never go in on a scene without anything!" advised Hornet. "Trust me. I actually nearly got caught in my first crime." And then, he remembered an exact one. He blushed. "Though I got caught when I robbed a bank alone for the first time."
Shrugging it off, Hornet and Mira already got to work. The latter only needed to get a bit closer to the mall building, lifting her device as she waited for it to pick up any available device inside. The former was already scanning through the entire parking lot, trying to track down the old footprints of Susan.
Once he filled in the required slots for the scanner, he pressed his helmet again and in came the results. From high above, the helmet visor showed him footprints, digitally colored in bright white. A couple of footprint trails aged approximately 2 years or more, nearly in the same shoe brand and shape. It took him a while to find the matching shoe size and brand, but it didn't take long to find one that was likely Susan's.
He checked the footprint design and it matched the bottom sole of an Adidas Original Superstar.
The long trail Susan left behind was straight. Just entered the empty parking lot and waited on the pavement in front of the mall's entrance. The trail seemed to continue, evidence of Susan idly walking around.
However, the last few footprints were in the same spot.
Hornet hummed, nearly taking off his helmet to rub his forehead. If he was correct, then there could be many ideas that Susan might have disappeared. Either she was picked up by a vehicle or grabbed and lifted above the ground. But how and by whom?
There were too many trails of footprints that were both human and non-human to gather suspects.
It would be connected to Sunnyside Labs, but he would need to know where she was specifically taken.
He lowered himself downwards. From a distance, he could see Mira already pressing buttons on her device's screen. She must have found something but her furrowed brows meant she was still searching. A clear frustration or curiosity about what she discovered.
As Hornet looked aside, he noticed that the walls were chipped off. A few small holes in them or slight dents.
The little bug blinked. He looked back at the ruined mall and the parking lot walls. Using his helmets, he scanned the damage on the walls and to his surprise, these holes were aged back to approximately 2 years.
These weren't made from the explosion. It happened mostly inside that it wouldn't be strong enough to damage outside objects. These holes didn't look new with noticeably brown stains from aging and its raw concrete's exposure to dirt.
Even the holes created in the walls didn't look typically like they came from an explosion. Hornet took a closer look and his eyes widened.
They were in the shape of bullet holes.
"Guys!" called Mira. "I found something!"
Hornet and Alex reached the journalist, who was squinting her eyes over the newfound footage.
"I tracked back to when Susan disappeared that night," explained Mira. "A couple of camera devices kept changing, but I think I managed to find what was left in the mall's server."
On screen, it had a low-angle shot of the mall's entrance. The night vision mode was on as it was dark. A woman was waiting there at the time, walking around in circles. She was wearing dark casual clothes, similar to Alex's. However, she had her hood on to cover her long hair as if to blend in the dark. If they saw this footage without context, it would more like a random hobo.
"That's her!" said Alex. "I-I recognize what she wore before she disappeared!"
"What happened at this spot?" wondered Hornet.
"Hold on," said Mira, noticing something moving from the corner. "Someone's there…"
Out of the shadow entered a dark figure. It was nearly hard to distinguish the face, but they could see that the person was wearing a leather vest. Another guy popped out in front of Susan, also wearing a leather vest. Susan appeared to be calm as the two men approached her.
That changed when they drew out guns.
Susan yelped, nearly falling back. However, she was able to maintain her balance and then took out her gun from her jacket.
"Wait a second," said Hornet, surprised. "She had a gun as well?"
Alex chuckled, sheepish. "D-Did I…forgot to tell you two that…me and Susan are good shooters?"
"What?" said Mira blankly.
"Yeah…we picked it up at a very young age due to a great paintball game. B-But I didn't know she would take a gun along her from that…training…shooting…practice facility."
It was bad enough that Susan was confronted by those two leather-wearing guys that night, but it couldn't get worse since she had to get herself prepared. That meant she was part of something huge with Sunnyside Labs. But it couldn't be possible that those guys came from Sunnyside. That being said, Susan didn't react at all when they first appeared mysteriously.
From the footage, there seemed to be an argument between them. Susan was yelling back at the two guys threatening her, brandishing her gun around. The lack of audio left it up to the imagination to tell the deals they might be taking, replicating a shady meeting.
Susan flinched suddenly, possibly due to one of the two men shooting in the sky. She whipped around to the shooter, pointing her gun at him.
"Well, this is different than I thought," said Alex worriedly.
And they were right. The camera suddenly glitched and the footage cut.
The parking lot was empty.
It was already three minutes after the previous footage. Susan and the two men were gone.
"Oh no, no, no," said Mira, trying to replay.
"What?" said Hornet, confused. "What is it?"
But no matter how many times Mira tried playing the footage again, it glitched before cutting to the empty parking lot. Like nothing happened before. She rechecked the time. Three minutes were missing from knowing what exactly happened to Susan. No bodies, no blood, no guns.
The only thing that appeared different were a few bullet holes and dents in the floor.
Alex's eyes widened. "Oh…my gosh."
Hornet nodded, sharing the same sentiment. "This cannot be possible that the camera just…blacked out, right?"
"I have two theories," said Mira. "The camera must have been slightly broken that night. How convenient…"
"And the other theory?" asked Hornet.
Mira checked through the footage she collected so far. "Somebody must have tried getting rid of the evidence. If anything, at least tried covering up how Susan was taken away. Good for them if that meant hiding the real identities of her kidnappers."
"But why would she be kidnapped right there?" asked Alex. "And why was she waiting there?"
"I like to think this might be from Sunnyside Labs," said Hornet. "But…this isn't what I expect."
"Oh, so you're thinking someone from Sunnyside Labs was dumb enough to deal with thugs here," said a new voice.
The trio turned around and to their shock, the police cops already arrived.
Unlike Chief Luggins and the local police of Los Angeles, these ones were wearing dark blue uniforms with full long sleeves.
The darker uniforms they wore matched the sky slowly growing dark, a new presence to meet. And they didn't seem to be happy. Hornet's mind nearly stopped. He never came upon this force before. Their quiet march told an implied danger with them. They just came straight out from the shadows without a single sound.
In front of them was a middle-aged man of Asian descent, his short scruffy hair hidden underneath his tight hat. He looked weary, angry. His messy hair forced tightly underneath his hat to not lose his composure.
"I thought that you were told to stay out of any of this," said the chief, coming closer to them. "But I should have known. Detectives always like to get to the bottom of the case."
Hornet wasn't sure how to feel about this guy. He was new. And he didn't appear goofy. His clean face matched the seriousness of the situation.
Alex tensed up, but their eyebrows knitted in tranquil fury.
"Chief Ashton?" said Mira, her eyes widening. "That's you?"
Ashton sighed. "Oh, Mira, Mira, on the wall. The fairest of them all from the crime scenes I investigated in the past."
"You know this guy?" asked Hornet.
"He's one of the upper police chiefs in all of California," said Mira, wearing a neutral look. "He has more direct links with the government. We knew each other from college."
"Glad that you remember," said Ashton, circling them with his hands behind his back. "But unfortunately, this is NOT the time to report."
Hornet narrowed his eyes. This guy seemed to be a bit creepy if not intimidating. He tried seeing what this guy was really about. But he couldn't tell if there was a sense of deceit in those dark eyes. They only bore an iron shield.
"Why not?" asked Hornet.
"We're given a report that the investigation of the mall has been interrupted," said Ashton. "It appears that it is turned into an impromptu camp for criminals."
Hornet, Mira and Alex glanced at each other. They weren't told about this.
"It just happened earlier today," said Ashton. "My station was buzzing around about this."
"So that's why you're back here," said Alex, crossing their arms. "Or is it a cover-up?"
Ashton sighed, exasperated. "Alex Paste. I don't want to explain it again, but we're honest in what we told you."
Alex chuckled sardonically. "Honest? You backed out of making a proper investigation when the others tried to. We figured out the connections to Sunnyside Labs without your help. Why do you think I have to call Mr. Hornet?"
One of the cops stepped forward, but Alex lifted his hand and gestured zipping his mouth. The cops barely moved, but their reactions mixed from impatience, professionalism and soberness. Even in this mix of reactions, they didn't lower their guard.
Ashton kept his voice gentle, calm. "With all due respect, Paste, we did try our best, but there are things we cannot reach or interfere. It's impossible to find what happened to your sister that night."
"I think we found something right here," said Hornet. "Perhaps it would be best if we can-"
"Unfortunately, I cannot have you looking further into this, Mr. Hornet."
The little bug felt the wind becoming colder, a shiver down his spine. "Excuse me?"
Ashton's eyes were suddenly ferocious. "Under charges from the government, you are not to engage with activities and scenes associated with Sunnyside Labs. That includes any associated parties linked to them. But you broke that rule already by talking to Alex."
Hornet was confused. "What?! I'm not allowed?"
"Unfortunately, yes," growled Ashton darkly, coming closer. His taller frame towered over the three, his shadow growing larger. "Now, I can let you off the hook since Alex came to you, but I suggest you back off now."
Hornet hummed, uncertain. "Alex came to me and Mira because they knew we might find a clue not many could find. I'm not saying you're bad at your job. I was only help-"
"Well, angles can change as well!" Ashton was suddenly right up to Hornet's face, his voice loud. In fact, was enough to make the grimacing Alex flinch. "We're doing our best to solve the disappearances. But we cannot have criminals like you taking advantage of this."
The shivering Hornet noticed the sneer in the chief's voice when he said 'criminals'. He pushed down the urge to chew the older man out. There must be a mistake. "I can understand that I may not be reliable to everyone. But that won't mean I'll abuse this."
"You Bad Guys don't convince me," snarled Ashton, rolling his eyes. A crew named 'Bad Guys'? They stuck to that title, barely doing any good? What use to trust them. "The local police might, but at least it isn't on major threats. How are we supposed to know that your involvement won't worsen things?"
"I can reassure you that Hornet is a good detective," said Mira, stepping between them. "I'm a field journalist. You know what I did. Let us-"
"Excuse me, ma'am," Ashton shot down with no patience. "All that gossip and pop culture you've been seeing in the newspapers might have solid evidence, but in the end, they're all false. I don't know how many news reporters can give real evidence before the news team even arrives."
This was enough for Hornet to drop his politeness, venom dripping from his voice. "OK, you can try pushing me out of this, but not because of what you think we only do! What are you exactly afraid of?!"
"I don't know," said Ashton, crossing his arms. His growing temper overshadowed any eagerness to listen, wrestling for control. "Maybe I'm afraid of why the rest of the Bad Guys have suddenly gone missing here? Care to explain?"
This earned a gasp from Hornet, unable to make a quick comeback. He tried his best not to look at Mira's matching expression. It came to him that these police cops wouldn't know where the Bad Guys were nor what they were ordered to do. Giving it away would even betray his friends and their safety.
Despite Ashton giving negative vibes, there was no other way to argue back unless they could negotiate on a better, fair agreement.
When no one else said a single thing, one of the cops spoke up. It was a woman of Asian descent, having long black hair styled in a bob that reached to her shoulders. Proper, stoic to deliver a clear answer.
"Hold on, Chief Ashton," she said. "Forgive him. It's a stressful night."
Hornet's eyes widened in recognition, knowing her from one of his past cases. "Gwen? W-What do you have to say about this?"
"It's not an easy way to sugarcoat this," said Gwen with a serious demeanor. "However, at the moment, we cannot have our forces in close collaboration or contact with illegal groups. If anyone finds out, they might think the higher police force AND the government are working with criminals. They'll place charges on all of us and your life will be ruined. This might even drag a lot of people into unemployment."
"Wait," chirped a male cop with tan skin and bleached ash-blonde hair. "But we still have jobs as cafe workers! And good resumes."
Gwen hung her head in annoyance. "Stefan. Not now."
"Don't you dare encourage them," snarled Ashton.
"I'm not encouraging them," said Gwen matter-of-factly. "I'm stating facts."
"Look," said Alex, stepping in front of Hornet and Mira. "I just want to find answers for what happened to my sister."
"Alex Paste," said Ashton firmly, crossing his arms. "This isn't funny anymore. If you three continue to interfere, I cannot promise you that the charges laid will be merciful nor that the investigation on those missing is fulfilled. Now, bug off."
Hornet was disappointed. But then, he remembered Ashton briefly hearing their discussion on the footage Mira found. "Aren't you gonna…you know, ask for what we found-?"
The chief leaned forward, his nose nearly touching Hornet's face. He pointed a sharp finger at his chest gently to get the message across.
"I. Don't. Want. To. Listen." Ashton's glare intensified, looking like he could go out of control. "Understand?"
Alex was despondent, resigned. They knew this would be the response from irritated cops. And this was the police cop who kept reassuring them that 'everything would be alright' until they found out it wasn't.
Mira looked like she was seeing a new person. She was baffled with the way Ashton was behaving.
Hornet was left disappointed yet shaken by the confusion. It didn't help that Ashton suddenly looked like the enemies who tried striking him with a spear…
With no other choice, Hornet nodded meekly.
"Good," said Ashton, walking past them. "Now go order some dinner. Everyone else, come along. We got to find any sad soul lurking in this dump."
None of the police cops passing by batted an eye at the crestfallen trio. Their stance remained stiff and sharp, looking more like drones with a code programmed inside them. However, there was a few who made quick glances at them. For some reason, their eyes looked like they wanted to tell something. Some of those stares were directed to Alex.
Gwen briefly eyed Hornet with a longing look, but she sighed and continued walking. On the other hand, Stefan took a good chunk of his time to stay behind and shared an apologetic look to Hornet.
Alex sighed sadly. "Well, guess case's close. It's always close."
Hornet, however, remained still in his spot. His wings continuously flapped without taking a break, his energy barely drained. It came from a borned energy of curiosity. This was the second time he was told to keep out of something by an authority figure. This time, Ashton wasn't trying to sugarcoat it.
He found it strange that the cops were also wanting him to not get close. What bothered him was that it was directly to him, not any other criminal.
What skeletons was Chief Ashton hiding behind in his closet? Denying holding out a proper investigation for Alex's sister and leaving them chasing ghosts. The fact that Ashton didn't want to hear what Hornet and Mira found meant he wasn't interested. He could have confiscated Mira's device, but he didn't. Or if it was a case of his temper.
Gwen and Stefan were following up from the back of the cops. Hornet smirked a little in an attempt to feel better, wondering when he did hear about Susan reaching the high rank. He didn't know much about Stefan, but Gwen told good things about him. At least there were some good people handling the case.
"Gonna catch a bad guy," sang Stefan, moving his shoulders and hips around. "Gonna make them eat their own flies…"
He shut up when he saw Gwen glaring at him.
Yeah, they could handle this sort of thing.
But…there must be something hidden in there. If this camp was set up in this mall, then it couldn't be a cover-up the police made to throw Hornet off-course, right?
Without a second thought, Hornet flew forward.
"Hornet?" said Mira. "What are you doing?"
"Just gonna do some…sightseeing," said Hornet, grinning sheepishly. "...nothing like stalking the cops."
"Wait, but you might get caught!"
"Well…at least I'm small enough to hide! Make sure to keep Alex safe and check out for anything else. Don't let yourselves be seen here by anyone."
While reluctant, Mira nodded. "Got it!"
Alex barely responded, but they nodded in understanding.
That settled, Hornet turned back and flew right into the mall's entrance, passing the flimsy yellow tape.
Melbourne, Australia
After a few minutes of recovering from her hangover (and trying to keep her head down from the rude man she attacked), Diane was able to think clearly and looked through Webs' screen. Boy, the computer was small, but at least the screen was visible enough for her to understand where their targets were at. The contacts must have helped since it was bad for her eyes to read small details.
She already had different team strategies and potential locations down, so all that was left was finding the destinations of the Sunnyside researchers' current locations. This would be easy enough instead of doing a full search through the entire city. And boy, she had to thank Webs and Snake for taking extra measures.
"You're sure that these are their LAST destinations?" asked Kitty as she and Fuchsia sat on the other side of the table. "You might not know when they might move out."
"They should reside here," said Diane as she wrote in her notepad, glancing back at Webs' computer. "I know so. It wouldn't make sense for them to leave so soon if there is no other place they can go."
"No place else they can go?" wondered Fuchsia. "But for what?"
"That I don't know. All relevant information is tied to this city. Now…" Diane dropped her pen, looking through the notes she made. "A large amount of people we need to get to, though it's not gonna be that quick. Good thing I got all of this ready."
"And do you think your targets will find out?"
"Webs is an excellent hacker. And we're blending in here. We should be mostly unnoticed."
Kitty cleared her throat. "Hmm, hey, Diane? May I ask something?"
"Ask away," said the fox.
"It's a bit weird that I have to keep my mouth silent about this. I mean, I did plan to go here to visit Doom, but I didn't imagine needing to stick with you."
Diane shrugged. "It wasn't my idea. But as long as you don't interfere, then it should be alright."
"But what is this mission you and the Bad Guys are on? If you want to keep this under secret, then wouldn't it be fair to let me know? I don't want to find out and accidentally spill it."
Diane became quiet, unsure how to answer this. Telling Kitty? Her friend? So far, she already got Hornet, Fuchsia and Kitty to know that she was leading the Bad Guys for a mission, but they never revealed to anyone about what it was truly about. Saying it might cause their task to go out of control and lead to it being ruined. The firm warning from the other governors told her so.
And then, she remembered her phone call with Thunders the day before. The reminder of needing to tell the Bad Guys something vital. But when she thought back to it, she froze. This…would get too personal to them. And she wasn't willing to break it to them.
"…I want to, but I can't," she said quietly. "It's best you don't."
"But I don't think it's easy hiding if you're spying on the wrong people," pointed out Kitty.
"Yeah, but it wouldn't be easy making sure we're distant, so that you won't be targeted. And if you did see us, you would be demanding answers."
The panther thought about it. "Guess that I'll get in trouble any way. I won't ask now. I hope you'll be alright for this one. I don't know what kinds of problems you will get into."
"A lot," said Fuchsia bluntly.
"What? She's a mercenary as well, so that isn't bad?"
"Her mission could start a riot if it did get leaked."
Diane gulped but rolled her eyes. "Nothing's going to get leak. We're tightly secured. Especially when bringing the Bad Guys into this, we wouldn't need to worry about-"
Fortunately, she didn't need to explain further as Fuchsia's attention shifted to outside the window.
"Wait a second," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Why is the same yellow Lamborghini riding in a circle?"
All three women looked through the window to find a yellow Lamborghini lazily driving around in a circle. It refused to go further out on the road, blocking the lanes. Not that many cars were around, so there was no trouble. At first, Diane thought that it was someone drunk.
However, once the car accidentally bumped into another one parked on the side, she got a better look at who was inside.
Wolf was on the wheel. The rest of the Bad Guys were on as well. They appeared drunk.
"Are they using that?!" hissed Kitty, having flashbacks to when the Bad Guys 'borrowed' her Ferrari.
"I thought they were going out on a break," said Diane blankly.
"At least not on strike…" hoped Fuchsia, raising an eyebrow.
And then, Wolf laughed his head off as he slammed on the gas.
The yellow Lamborghini shot off further beyond the road, smoke and dust left behind from the burning rubber of the wheels. Diane's eyes slowly widened in horror as she watched the Bad Guys riding off for the night, into the bigger city. Dark tire marks were left on the road, signifying their public presence. It was awful exposure.
"...honestly, I'm not surprised nor mad at this," said Kitty.
Diane immediately stood up hurriedly. "Someone please keep my files back to our room. I need to pick the kids up."
[Bawitdaba - Kid Rock]
[1:15]
The yellow Lamborghini was a beaut for Wolf. He drove the best cars in America, but this one was already in his top five! Sure, he loved to take the classic cars with some swagger, but he never knew that driving a car from the future would be this levitating!
From its shine to its high speed to the additional cosmetics to inform him where to go. It even had free drinks for all of them, considering that the fancy man didn't touch his lips on the straws.
"I thought that you wanted to go slow!" whooped Webs as she watched at the front window.
"Nah, this is better!" barked Wolf, drunk on joy.
"Yeah, it does!" agreed Snake.
A small part of the Bad Guys knew that they would get into big trouble for this. However, they were used to criminal trouble. Driving through the streets like a rocket was just a day in their normal life. To make them more excited and prepared for the high thrills their mission would bring them.
Wolf was already feeling better, turning back to his more confident self. He wasn't aware that a part of his ego was slowly coming back to light. What better way than to have a silent impact on the city instead of shoving it against Thelma's mouth for calling him poor?
They already got loud music blasting from the radio. The radio seemed restrictive, stuck on a loop with a rock station. But the song blasting through was awesome enough for them to keep bobbing their heads.
As night crawled closer, the city lights turned on. The nearby billboards, signs and headlines brightened up in response, various glows of too many colors to pick. But there was a golden glow that overshadowed the other colors, reminding them of LA. The futuristic lamborghini they were in helped to marvel at the sights.
A rich night under these mismatched shows.
To their surprise, no cops went near them. Not that much in the area they went through. They already broke the speed rate, so shouldn't the fuzz be after them?
"This feels kind of lonely," said Shark.
"Why's that?" cooed Webs. "You're with us!"
"Not that kind. It just feels…empty outside."
"Yeah," said Piranha, searching through the roads. "No cops are coming right at us."
"Obviously," said Snake, snapping his tail. "We haven't done a major crime yet. That's why we don't have an audience yet."
"Ohhhh, right," said the other four.
"Well, any ideas?" asked Wolf.
"We can steal something, but that might cause too much attention," said Webs.
An idea bulb flashed over Piranha's head. "I think I know one way to grab the cops' attention. It may not be something everyone will like here…" He grinned sheepishly, a sweat drop strolling down his head. "But Wolf is driving, so…"
In the distance, a police cop was minding his own business, sipping on his coffee cup to stay awake for his night patrol. He hoped that nobody was doing anything stupid on the road. He couldn't take the stress of anything unusual disturbing the roads. That being said, he looked to the side to find a yellow Lamborghini in the middle of an empty traffic junction.
"Is that a Lamborghini?" he said to himself.
And then, Wolf hit the gas again. He proceeded to drift the car around in circles. Once it picked up speed, it started to emit more smoke than before. Huge circles and then the tires went up in flames! Burnt tire trails were left on the road, creating rings.
The cop's eyes widened in shock. It reminded him too much of online third-person games where another player would spin their characters around. However, due to the characters in the game acting more like robots, it made them look like statues on a spinning platform. Here? It looked like the driver could drill his way into the earth.
"HEY!" he shrieked, turning on his car's sirens. "NO JOYRIDING!"
The Bad Guys laughed as the cop prepared for the chase. Wolf rode off and the police car soon followed behind, noticing the familiar red and blue lights flashing behind them. Nostalgia of the lush chases, even legendary when up against Chief Luggins.
It was only easy so far and no other police car came over yet. Eventually, after driving in a straight line, Wolf drifted the car through the alley, narrowly fitting right through it.
And then, they made it to the other side of the alley. Bumping into a police car.
Alongside a few police cars nearby as well.
Snake smirked, turning to Wolf. "You know what this means?"
"The best part, sweetheart," said the canine.
"We should probably do something bad just in case," said Piranha.
"Oh! I know!" said Snake.
He rolled down the window, spotting a nearby police cop. A kangaroo just kisses away from his coffee cup. With a cheeky grin, Snake snatched it from him and quickly closed the window.
"HEY!" screamed the kangaroo cop. "THAT'S MINE!"
[2:08]
And to rub it in the dirt, Webs cranked up the radio. The speakers could have popped from the intensity of the rock guitar. Bopping their heads to the song's beat, they all pulled out dark sunglasses. Hearing their previous chaser coming in through the alley, they all laughed triumphantly before Wolf drove away.
"GET THEM!" yelled the kangaroo cop, rabid.
"STOP, YOU BLUDGERS!" yelled another cop.
"THEY STOLE A COFFEE CUP!" snarled another.
Nobody knew which was the Bad Guys' greatest crime: breaking the speed limits in the city or stealing a coffee cup from a cop. But whatever it was, it sure paid off and the Bad Guys were onto a spectacular chase. There weren't too many police cars after them, but it was the right size needed for the minimum.
As they drove through the night streets, they started singing along to the rap of the rock song. Shark couldn't stand up since there weren't any roof windows, but he didn't mind at all. They were already having a good time with being on the chase and the stereo, singing their hearts out.
This was great. This felt like themselves. They missed the feeling of being in a huge chase like this.
At one point, Wolf accidentally bumped into a car, to his shock. The driver herself poked out from the window, yelling angry threats at the Bad Guys. The canine poked his body out from the window, mouthing an apology to her as police cars passed by her.
All of a sudden, Snake caught something with his eye and he immediately started hopping up and down.
"Hold on! Hold on!" he said. "Stop round here!"
Wolf didn't know why, but he parked on the side of the road. They were far ahead of the cops, so it shouldn't take too long. That was until he realized that they were parking right next to a small pop-up restaurant selling sweets.
With a large churro on the top of the roof.
The cashier turned to them. "Hey there, how can I help you all…?"
He trailed off when he noticed the predator animals in the Lamborghini. Snake leaned forward to address his order quickly.
"Just one medium-sized churro here, please," he said. "Any kind."
The cashier was initially anxious, looking at the reptile and back at the police cars coming in their direction from faraway. He slowly turned around, facing the chefs busy in the kitchen.
"One churro here, please," said the cashier meekly. He glanced back at Snake. "...mint flavored."
"Yum," said Snake, drooling.
"What the thorax?!" shouted Webs.
"What are you doing?!" said Wolf, his eyes widened.
"Don't worry too much," said Snake. "It's a good snack!"
Shark and Piranha looked back to see the police cars. They were still far from them, but they were approaching. Fast.
"Erm…Snake, shall we move now?" asked Shark nervously.
"Hold on a little," said Snake, grinning. "Give them time."
"We should get going now!" said Piranha, breaking into a sweat.
"Nah. Just chill a little."
"Chill here, sweetheart?" said Wolf, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't the right time to chill."
"The cops are nearly close!" cried Shark.
"Let's just scram now!" said Webs.
"Guys, just wait patiently," said Snake, licking his lips. "You cannot rush cooking."
Just like that, the cashier finally brought in the churro box. He still looked weirded out, awkwardly giving the box to Snake.
"Thanks!" said Snake.
"OK. Now let's get going!" shouted Shark.
"Hold on," said Snake, pulling out Wolf's wallet. "This guy did a good job. Let's be generous!"
"THIS ISN'T THE TIME, CHICO!" screamed Piranha, grabbing Snake by the collar and shaking him around. "FORGET THE PAY!"
Wolf chuckled to himself, liking this side of Snake. Never knew he enjoyed churros, even though Snake wasn't a cake person. He looked behind, seeing the cops coming. They were nearly close.
To be honest, he liked it that way. Would bring in more of a challenge.
He just grabbed a large 20-dollar note (good thing that they switched currency when arriving in Melbourne) and tossed it at the cashier.
"Keep the change!" said Wolf sincerely. "Drink it."
The cashier didn't have time to respond as the Bad Guys quickly drove away. Just as the police cars reached close to the restaurant and passed by it without noticing.
Snake was already onto his churro, opening the box and sucking on the top.
[2:41]
As if on cue, Diane arrived at the restaurant, panting. Her jacket was tied around her waist.
"Guys, wait!" she shouted. "...and you just had to order a churro here. Great!"
"...umm, want some change?" asked the cashier.
The fox glared at him before she ran off.
But the Bad Guys weren't gonna wait around. There was already a wave of police cars behind them, close to the Lamborghini. One police car got near to their left. The Bad Guys were a bit disappointed that the cop inside didn't dare to poke his body out with his baton. To their surprise, he DID bring out a taser gun pointed at them.
"Freeze!" he shouted. "Pull over right now!"
"Oh, hey there, mister!" said Shark, grinning widely. "No need to get this violent."
"You know, this isn't the first time the driver has tried to tell us to stop in this way," sassed Wolf.
"What?!" shouted the cop, unable to hear properly.
The canine didn't need to explain. He pointed to his front and the cop turned to his front…finding the blockade barriers the police force was already putting up. He screamed as he braked, only to end up steering right into several rubbish bins.
Meanwhile, Wolf quickly drove to the far side and up the back of a nearby watermelon truck like a ramp.
Naturally, it only ended up squashing the watermelon load and the car just crashed through the pathetic barrier. Despite still functional, the pair of the vehicle was scratched.
"Well, that worked," snarked Webs.
"Why am I not even surprised?" muttered Piranha.
"Wait, erm, guys?" said Snake.
In front of them was a wave of police cars coming in. Wolf looked behind, seeing another wave of police cars coming after them. They were sandwiched. He looked around, trying to find a clear path for them to get out of this safely. And then, he noticed that they were on a high hill with a narrow road going downhill. That gave him an idea.
Everybody gulped, seeing the fiercely determined look on Wolf's face. They knew what this meant and they would have to get themselves prepared for it. In case they wouldn't survive this fall. Snake immediately gulped down his churro, saving his snack.
And when close enough, Wolf did a tight turn and drove down the narrow road. The police cars scattered like crows frightened by a loud noise, trying to avoid crashing into each other. Only one or two did, leaving the Bad Guys trying to roll down the hill.
[3:12]
Unfortunately, the road downhill wasn't straight. It turned out to be in a zig-zag, squiggly-like pattern, with many tight turns. It was as if they were riding down a worm! And there was no easy way of getting through the bushes covering the rest of the hill. Wolf gritted his teeth hard as he took hard turns.
Going down the hill wasn't going to ensure a safe and fast trip simultaneously. Everyone hung on, feeling themselves crashing into the walls.
"Uh, hermano?" said Piranha nervously, clenching his seatbelt. "Is this a good idea?"
"Don't worry!" reassured Wolf. "I got it here!"
"This is not the mountain I thought we would be on!" exclaimed Webs. "Just drive through the flowers!"
"That would be worse!" pointed out Wolf. "That could slow us down!"
All of a sudden, they noticed something blocking their path. A small ramp made from garbage and a piece of metal. They all screamed, bracing themselves from flying off from it.
Naturally, the car just smashed straight through it.
The Bad Guys sighed in relief…only to realize they were close to the hill's edge.
The car went flying off the edge, diving right into the middle of a supermarket's parking lot. Those nearby immediately scrammed, not wanting to be crushed. This left a couple of trolleys and groceries scattered all over the place. And the closest thing the car was about to smash into was an orphaned jar of Nutella.
Unnaturally, one of the car's tires landed on the jar and the whole car bounced off it, flying at least two stories high.
Everybody in the spinning Lamborghini screamed at the top of their lungs. Webs was covering Wolf's eyes, the former was hugging tightly on Snake and Piranha was holding onto Shark's head. It was nearly hard to hold on when inside a car flying randomly…
[3:43 - End of Song]
10 minutes earlier…
Unbeknownst to the havoc nearby, a group of police cops were investigating a crime scene at a private, secluded restaurant. The crime actually happened earlier upon hearing a distressed call from the owners.
By the time they arrived, they already found four guys lying around at a table in a drunk-like manner, dead at their seats.
It wasn't a usual murder scene, tellingly a lack of bloodshed. No stabs or scratches. The main causes were poisonous tranquilizer darts poked in their chests or necks. Two of them had their eyes opened, blank and lifeless. The rest appeared to be sleeping, but it didn't look like they were relaxing at all.
Surprisingly, the only person who could have bled to death was the guy in the middle. He was in his 30s and with red hair. There was a dark red spike stabbed right into his shoulder, but his dark business jacket covered up any potential blood spilling out. His head was pointed upwards at the ceiling as it was the last time his eyes genuinely saw light.
Even though most of the cops were tough as steel, they could all agree it was haunting. As if stepping right into a huge hospital. There were just…people lying there, already dead. One could only imagine the awful situation. The violence that broke out.
Some would imagine souls still around, but that wouldn't be possible.
Whatever it was, it didn't feel right to be around a death curse, but they got a job to do in finding who was the killer.
One police cop stood out from the rest, but like the others, he was unnerved. It was just how he tried taking it.
A young saltwater crocodile cop entered the restaurant, holding onto a clipboard of notes he took. Despite being the tallest, his eyes reflected the embodiment of a keen, bumbling scientist witnessing a scene they had yet to comprehend. However, they remained iron-reinforced. Being one of the youngest shouldn't be an excuse since he grew familiar in the investigation orchestrated by his police department.
The lights were nearly out, but the chandeliers hanging from above emitted golden rays of light. They seemed to reflect on his light brownish-gold scales. His underbelly on his thick neck, in a lighter shade of the color, was caught in its light, but not too visibly.
His long, thick tail flicked around in agitation, contrasting to his emotionless look, with its dark brown spikes acting as the tail's weapon.
The crocodile briefly adjusted his collar. Despite already being comfortable with it, he likes making sure his uniform fits his size. He wasn't human; a muscular build for a bigger animal would make it hard for him to fit in inclusive clothes. Regardless, it still fit a T: a black long-sleeved shirt, a lime green police vest with gray, light blue and navy blue details, a black utility belt with pouches and a silver buckle, black trousers and black boots.
"Milton!" called one of the human cops, waving from the side. "Found anything that could provide some thought?"
The crocodile shook his face, his black-rimmed glasses nearly falling off. With a huff that exposed some of his sharp teeth, he glanced back at the morbid scene in the middle.
"It's…Officer Gumbo, mate," the crocodile said with a thick Australian accent. His voice was raspy, yet not particularly low-pitched. "The killer didn't step over the roof tiles. Not a single dent in one of the parked cars."
To say that Milton Gumbo was clueless felt foreign to him. However, he should have expected nothing less. He was still learning in his first investigation case. Even though he just graduated from university and only a year as a police rookie, his past successes in figuring out different cases allowed him to take on field investigations closely.
His tail curled upwards as he wrote notes on his clipboard, detailing the bodies.
"I say that it was a turf war," said a female police cop, looking at the pristine bodies at the table. This was giving her the creeps.
"Well, you're only half-right," said Gumbo, looking up from his clipboard. "The call said it was only one person who attacked them."
"I thought it was," said the fellow cop, her finger clicking on the darts on the bodies. "These aren't usual bullet shots. They don't even look too deep. Poison."
Gumbo hummed, taking a step towards the bodies. His blank look masked any discomfort. The smell didn't help at all. But in this moment, he kept his emotions at bay, not wanting to screw up. However, his tail didn't have that much control, wagging in anxiousness.
One male cop was visibly uncomfortable compared to the rest. "OK, so do you think that one guy got all four? I'm saying it couldn't be possible. They had guns on them as well."
"Maybe the killer had superpowers," mocked one of the cops.
Gumbo rolled his eyes, not getting the sarcasm. "No, the witnesses said that the killer was fast. As if they're a former circus brat. Cannot be possible."
"Maybe the killer dropped from the ceiling?" said the male cop, looking upwards.
"No," said Gumbo without looking up. "I just confirmed that they didn't stand on the rooftop."
"I'm just saying, we got four dead bodies here, you know," said the male cop impatiently, already frustrated. "One guy might not be enough to take them all, genius. What if there's eyes outside?"
"They already told you that there's nobody else around," grumbled Gumbo.
The male police cop looked around, feeling certain that someone was watching them from…outside. "M-Maybe it isn't safe to be around here if they managed to kill this many? This is serious."
However, Gumbo was in no mood to leave this case alone.
"Oh heavens," he said sarcastically, adopting a British accent. "It sounds like you are in such a hurry, little chap! I'm just thrilled to be involved here with you all and it looks really LOVELY. I would love to spend as much time here as you do. Now, care for a cup of tea while I observe this sight or just leave it cold?"
An ironic grin crept on his jaw, revealing all of his sharp teeth. The human cop stepped back, a little frightened by the crocodile leaning towards him. However, seeing how he had his arms crossed, his tail curled upwards and his neck stretched for his head to lean forward in the way of acting funny, it was clear that his fusses were unacceptable.
The grin itself started to tremble, difficult to hold in place. Gumbo didn't mean to be intimidating. He also wanted to get out of this disgusting scene. He even felt paranoid that the killer or their team was outside, waiting to slaughter all of them. But it wouldn't be honorable if they rushed through things just for their own safety.
The male cop nodded, embarrassed. "OK, OK. Jeez. Just…don't take too long."
As he walked away, Gumbo's grin faded and he let out a long sigh, his whole body drooping in weariness. It was times like this when he felt as if nobody really thought through. For a brief moment, he felt a bit bad for being slightly nasty. However, it was washed away by his growing frustration. He was a little tired, but he hated wasting time when he should finished his task.
Adjusting his glasses, he peeked back at the clipboard, reading through it several times. From all of those notes, he connected the pieces.
"The killer got close before drawing," he said. "The men didn't attack; the kick provoked them first."
[Bloodmoney - Poppy]
[Repeat 2:27 – 2:40]
Splaarghön entered the restaurant, not bothering to change out of her cyborg suit. She didn't need to tell the rest of the Mecha Underlords about her outing. She was their leader after all. Shaård could take care of the rest. Her eyes were already on the four Sunnyside researchers dining together at their table, bragging about how they could build their foundations on this 'golden land'.
She felt a burning desire to crush them. Her eyes drifted to the suitcase that was sitting next to the guy in the middle. The redhead. It made her sick that this guy was ready to continue using the Eden Apple for his own greedy decision. He was keeping it for himself. How shameful. That was what fuelled her fire within.
As she got close, the four men looked up, grinning. One of them mocked if she was wearing a Halloween costume. She responded by kicking the table and the four men immediately tried taking out their guns.
"The table didn't move because of the four men," said Gumbo, inspecting the large crack at the front of the tipped table. "It was the killer. That much strength."
Customers and chefs hid behind tables, frightened by the chaos occurring. Splaarghön didn't care. Her eyes were on the four men. She didn't need to hide her face for this. The men tried firing her, but their bullets just bounced off her armor.
All that did was make her flinch, unharmed. She had nearly forgotten that she didn't need to worry since her cyborg parts made her bulletproof.
But she wouldn't drag things for too long.
She dodged and even did a few flips backwards. With a dart gun in hand, Splaarghön fired at three men. She missed a few times, but managed to shoot them right in the chest. One in the throat. Whatever. At least they weren't shooting.
The guy in the middle was next, but she intended to leave him for last. She took a spike from her braid ponytail and threw it right at him.
One female cop took over, noting the muddy footprints on the floor. "I don't see any bruises or even knuckle prints on their bodies. And judging from the injuries this guy has, they were targeting him the most."
[Repeat 2:40 – 2:55]
The redhead researcher grunted in pain, trying to use his other arm to grab the spike. But the spike not only went through his shoulder, but stabbed itself into his seat cushion. That prevented him from a clear escape. He could already feel cold blood travelling on his warm skin underneath the thick clothing.
He slowly looked up, seeing Splaarghön lifting her dart gun to his face.
"Say your last words wisely," she said. Her voice devoid of any emotion, robotic.
The redhead gritted his teeth, snarling. "Who do you think you are, freak-?"
Splaarghön only responded by shooting a dart right at the redhead, point-blank. A smirk of satisfaction crossed her face as she watched him cough, his eyes darting around in panic. Her eyes turned to the suitcase next to him and she marched forward. The guy tried raising his arms in a last ditch attempt to keep it, but the cyborg quickly snapped both arms in different places.
The redhead couldn't even scream in agony as Splaarghön walked away with the suitcase. She looked more like a devil than human. And that was his only thought as he found himself welcoming the pain through his body. From his burning neck, the stabbing in his shoulder and the soreness in his arms, it was overwhelming…
"This dart through his throat," said Gumbo softly, poking a pen at the dart that killed the redhead. "It sank in more deeply than the other." He turned to his arms, lifting one of them up. He flinched at the jelly sensation. The bone seemed non-existent. "His elbows aren't in the right places. She wanted to give him a painful death."
"Wait, you said 'she'?" asked the female cop. "How can you tell?"
Gumbo stood up, shrugging. "It's just a theory. A male criminal would be highly likely to use more brutal violence. A female criminal can be more unpredictable. If it was male, they would be more likely to cause more damage with brutal force. Though, she saved it for this guy."
"And what if they just used a gun?"
"If she used just a gun, then she is like anyone else in the city."
[End of Song]
Gumbo noticed a business card sticking out from the redhead's jacket. He pulled it out and tried reading the small words underneath the dim lighting. The female cop near him groaned, disgusted by what they found.
"It looks like she had some history with them," she muttered. "Or wanted something."
Gumbo was new to this, intrigued. "From who exactly?"
"Those California-rich guys at Sunnyside Laboratories."
The crocodile blinked, surprised. "That blasted research company? I thought they closed down foundations here."
"They just never learn to quit, will they?"
CRASH!
All attention turned away from the crime scene when they witnessed another one. A yellow Lamborghini rolling its way down a cliff before bouncing off an object and flying upwards. It caught the police cops off-guard, quickly filing out from the restaurant to catch up to it.
"Crickey!" said Gumbo, alarmed. "What the hell is going on out there?!"
AN: As expected by this chapter, we have our cop antagonists.
On Hornet's, Mira's and Alex's case, they have Officer Ashton, modelled on Remy Hill's performance as Marcus (Arcane). I can confirm that it was the case for Alex that the police neglected any worries of theirs towards the ongoing and current disappearances. The toughest thing for them was that, here, there were more voices in Ashton's crew. Gwen and Stefan are created by Rally for the occasion and they have some sort of significant role.
With the Bad Guys' case, they have my AU version of Milton. Well, Milton Gumbo, to be exact. This character is a combination of Granny Gumbo and Milton the Velociraptor; while he's a young crocodile, he carries characteristics and skills from both characters with a noticeable difference being having too close relations with the Bad Guys. He's probably one of my favorite characters from his design, his later dynamic with the Bad Guys and a different take on the crocodile stereotype. I imagine Jai Courtney to voice him and his personality modelled by Emilia Harcourt (Peacemaker).
The car chase in Melbourne is a clear call-back to the first film but with some twists. Snake wasting his time buying a churro is actually based on a scene in the AO3 story Pride Parade by Daniel_Lee and TotallyNotALemon. The car going haywire down the hill is inspired by 'Thai Feud' from Amphibia. The entire crime investigation scene that introduces Milton Gumbo is based on Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey with one of the noticeable differences being our pink spiky villain not causing a lot of blood spill…
What do you think of the car chase, the introduction to our cop characters and the mysteries piling up? Let me know in your reviews. Thank you for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story so far, be sure to favorite or follow. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but if any flames, then it's down the drain.
Until next time, keep on rocking!