Battered

Viper stalked along the alleys of an apartment building. They'd been through the basement scenario enough times to know where the second victim would die. They'd been keeping a close eye on their target since he left the farmhouse. Now they waited for the moment he'd attack. He wouldn't get away with this one.

Reza crept through the moistened soil of a decent rain. Trying not to leave many footprints. Paranoia filled every fiber of his being as he stalked along. He just wanted to complete his mission and get out of this hellhole. The less trouble he had, the better. He didn't need any more murders.

Clambering onto a balcony, Viper readied their rifle. Reza had just entered the basement for its generator. A single shot to the head would end this whole thing. All they had to do was wait...

A runner in repairman gear came around several minutes later. It seemed Reza successfully detached the generator from its slot. He was probably lugging it upstairs at that moment. Good. they'll have an opportunity to strike soon. They just had to wait a little longer...

Reza finally showed his face, generator in hand. He set it down to inspect the area. Viper steadied their aim. They had to be careful since their weapon of choice had no scope. Their helmet hissed softly as they emptied their lungs, and...

They yelped as someone rammed them off the balcony. The Administrator was dragged with them. They both struggled all the way to the ground, where both of them took a heavy hit. A single 'thud' struck the hardest as the runner fell to Reza's blade. Viper drew their own knife and sliced the Administrator across the chest. She tore herself away from them with a swift back step. This left enough room for a muzzle bash from them. Snapping up, Viper bolted for the runner, determined to get him medical attention.

But it was too late. The Administrator bought him enough time to go for the throat. The runner was long dead.

"I promise, I will kill whoever did this..."

Alex's Apartment - Day 4, 9:05 AM

Alex Thompson lay still, fast asleep. His little excursion cost him a decent amount of sleep. Now he paid the price. At least his sleep wasn't turbulent. No nightmares this time. A series of knocks would eventually stir him, with him groggily trudging over to the door.

"Hey Al- whoa. You okay? You look like shit." Bryce greeted with concern. His warm smile from the last two rounds was replaced with a worried frown. His eyes were honest at least. That observation provided a Alex a little comfort.

"Good to see you too, Bryce." Alex retorted. "Don't worry about it, I just stayed up late. So what's going on today?" He played dumb. With that murder, and his fight with the Administrator, there was plenty to do.

"More work. We might need your help again, if you're not too tired..." Bryce stated. Alex wasn't too keen with his lack of sleep, but definitely needed to come. Who knew what that bitch would do to them if he weren't there?

"You're right on one thing; I am tired." Alex began. "But I'm not that tired. Let me grab something, and I'll be with you." He whipped around to face his P90. Like hell if he was going to let last night happen again. He snatched it up by the suppressor, and swung it atop his shoulder.

"What is that?" Bryce immediately questioned. The sight of such a thing intimidated him a little. What would follow wouldn't help in the slightest.

"A weapon. If this work involves Reza, we need to be over-prepared." Alex replied darkly. He'd need to take extra measures if the Administrator was attacking more frequently. Over-preparing was now necessary, even if it meant freaking people out a little.

"Why would an ambassador need a weapon?" A familiar and overly nosy wyvern questioned from Bryce's right. The imp had arrived once again, and she was about to find out what that weapon did.

"I like to be safe, and there's a murderer on the loose. It's only fair that I bring mine." Alex's bluntness made her shrink a little. She looked on in silence as he walked past. Bryce, however, stopped for a few words.

"We'll talk about it later. Just keep this to yourself for now." And with that, Bryce began a trot over to his company...

"So who did Reza kill this time?" Alex asked bluntly. His dragon looked over with confusion and surprise. He certainly didn't expect that to come out of his mouth. Admittedly, it was jarring to hear.

"I'm surprised you think it's a murder I was talking about. For all you know, I could be dragging you along to some old woman's place because she won't let someone leave." Bryce shot back somewhat playfully. It was appreciated by Alex that he could joke at a time like that. 'Laugh or else you'll cry', he supposed.

"So, is it a murder?" Alex dryly parried. It was a shame he already knew the answer. Now it wouldn't be a surprise anymore. What a shame, indeed.

"I don't know. I only received news of an assault last night. At least there's that." Bryce replied dejectedly. He'd been outed, what could he say? He just hoped the 'extra spice' that he added would catch his companion's attention.

"Assault? What do you mean by that?" Alex questioned. The bait worked. All Bryce had to do was set the hook, and he had a decent catch.

"It's just as I said it. Someone was assaulted last night, got pushed off a second floor balcony by someone." Bryce said. His voice was frank, and matter-of-fact as he rumbled out what few details he had.

"Jesus. You think it was Reza?" Alex asked with mock concern. He knew damn well what happened, who did it, and who stopped him from stopping it. He may have been stoic on the outside, but inside was a simmering spite for the Administrator.

"We'll just have to see when we get there." Bryce replied, facing forward with a grim look. They continued to walk in silence for the next several minutes...

"There you are, Chief. I was just looking for you." Sebastian panted. He looked like he'd been running around in a frenzy. The two had come onto the scene to find a suspicious sheet covering an object laying on its side; the recent victim. There was also an imprint in the dirt from Alex's fight. He should've figured trying to snipe out in the open wasn't a good idea.

"Sebastian, tell me that's not another murder victim under that sheet..." Bryce groused. He definitely wasn't in any mood to hear a confirmation. Unfortunately for him, that and much worse was about to happen. Alex had to prevent that shootout from happening, one way or another.

"I'm afraid so. His body was discovered earlier this morning. We have the witness in custody at the station right now." Sebastian responded sadly. Alex himself felt the same, but also vengeful. His blood boiled with spite over that attack.

"Damn. Someone else will have to take care of that today, though. We've got stuff to do. Alex?" Bryce turned to him.

"I'll be right here."

A harsh hiss caught Alex's attention as Bryce and Sebastian continued going over details. He snuck away to find Maverick hiding behind a building.

"What's going on here?" He whispered.

"Seems Reza had company last night. Murder and a fight from the sound of it."

"A fight?"

"Yeah." Alex pointed him to the other section. "There's an imprint in the dirt over there, along with a few scrapes.

"Think he got attacked on the way out?" Maverick's blood eyes glazed over everything.

"I did say boots. He's not wearing those." Alex grumbled. "They're looking this way. Go!" He shoved the dragon away as Bryce walked over. He didn't seem too happy to see his friend on-scene.

"Alex, what's Maverick doing here?" Bryce scowled. Good god, that voice made him melt, even if he was angry.

"He was trying to get information. I politely told him to screw off." Alex glanced back to see him skulking away. Good.

"Dammit. I wish he'd just leave this alone. I get that he got shot, but that's no reason to put his nose where it doesn't belong." Bryce pinched the bridge of his snout. Alex felt for him. His own daughter did similar stuff to him and Chris whenever he got dragged along to a scene. And by him, he meant his alter ego.

"Seems like it's a pain in the ass having to deal with him. Is he a loose cannon?" Alex questioned.

"Not usually. I guess Reza really got to him. I can't say I blame him for being angry, but he needs to let us handle this and focus on recovery. He's no help hurt." Bryce looked to where his friend went. In the distance, he could see the silver scales of his hind end.

"Chief, are you ready?" Sebastian asked, drawing their focus back to the task at hand. The pair glanced at him, and then each other, and shared a nod.

"Yeah. Let's go get the power fixed. Maintenance should be around here..." Bryce trailed off as he scanned for the door leading inside. Alex placed his sunglasses over his eyes as his dragon opened the door, drawing his P90 from his back...

Alex took the lead with a short announcement of 'I'll take point'. His companions shared a confused look before reluctantly following. Sebastian shined his headlamp down the large corridor the staircase encompassed. If someone were to trip, it would be a long fall...

"Ugh. I hate stairs, especially those made for smaller dragons like you." Bryce complained.

"Having it the other way around isn't so great either, trust me." Sebastian chuckled. Alex's head tipped over the rail to check for the Administrator. No sign yet.

"If I didn't have to worry about breaking my legs..." He trailed off to a pair of concerned glances on the back of his neck.

"O-kay. Weird comments aside, this kind of reminds me of when we found that underground base. You remember that?" Sebastian reminisced.

"How could I not? It wasn't even that long ago. I bet you'd be interested, Alex." Bryce mused. Alex glanced back, his nightshades casting a soft glow. His dragon took that as a go-ahead. "That portal wasn't the only piece of ancient technology we found. There was also this whole... lab."

"I thought I saw something suspicious when I first arrived." Alex spoke up.

"You saw that? I'd think that'd be out of sight from the portal." Sebastian replied

"I had some time before Remy arrived, so I wandered a bit."

"And you found that lab?"

"Yes. I didn't enter, though. I saw Remy coming, didn't want to worry him."

"Well, that's something I didn't expect to hear. I imagine that empty hallway wasn't very interesting." Sebastian spoke up.

"It really wasn't. I do wonder what's inside, though." Alex replied.

"Some high-tech stuff. We haven't studied it, though. Most of our time was spent on the portal alone. Not like we got anywhere." Sebastian grumbled. The poor thing seemed quite interested. Then again, Alex did remember someone saying it was the most interesting thing to happen in their town. The trio came to the generator room's door. Alex held a hand up as a motion to stop.

"What's going on?" Bryce questioned.

"Heard something. Hide and we'll ambush. Get that light off." Alex whispered. He raised his P90 as the other two exchanged a quizzical glance. He shot them a warning glare as he slowly pushed the door open...

The generator room appeared empty as Alex scanned closely. His weary eyes focused intently, alongside the sight of his weapon. And then he saw her. She hid behind a crate just barely out of sight. He could feel his heartbeat as the tension grew. Any sudden movement would set off an ambush He didn't want that to happen. He saw her hand. He saw the gun she stole from Reza. The old, but well taken care of revolver was trained on him. In the silence, he could hear the gentle scraping of its trigger.

CRACK! Alex's ear was grazed by the incoming bullet. He didn't have time or balance to counter as the Administrator overpowered him. His gun was forced away from him as a new one shoved itself into his chin. The door burst open the rest of the way, with Sebastian flipping on his light. The Administrator reeled back with a yelp. Reza's gun aimed for him instead. Alex spun her around just as she fired.

CRACK! Sebastian fell, writhing. Bryce charged at the two caught in their grapple. More gunshots erupted, forcing him into cover as a stray bullet hit his leg. The Administrator bashed Alex's head against the wall and made her escape. Alex wasn't about to have that. He sped out after her.

"Bryce, get Sebastian out of here!" Was his only order as he slung his P90 back home. He leaped from stair rail to stair rail in a feat of athleticism trying to catch up. And that, he did. He flung himself back over a level or so up only to catch a bullet in the knee. He drew his P90 and opened fire. Snap, snap! Two bullets exploded from the weapon. One was lucky enough to hit the Administrator in the back. she fell down, but still kept scrambling. That should weaken her enough to deter any more attacks.

"Alex? Gonna need some help down here!" Bryce called from below. Alex took a moment to dig the bullet out before descending once again...

Sebastian and Bryce were certainly worse for wear when Alex limped back in. Bryce's leg was badly injured, and Sebastian? The poor thing had been hit square in the chest. Alex prayed he didn't get hit anywhere vital.

"Either we carry him out, or we stay and call a paramedic. He needs medical attention either way." Bryce was the first to speak, outside of Sebastian's occasional wail.

"It could be dangerous to lift him." Alex took off the headlamp. "He's been hit right here, close to the lung. See?" He aimed it at the wound. Shimmering blood trickled slowly from the bullet hole. Bryce cringed, being reminded of his own.

"If I'm dying, I'm not dying in this damned basement." Sebastian grunted. The other two shared an odd look.

"You need to be stabilized first. Here." Alex pulled off his watch and strapped it onto the runner. "Should help kill the pain. Bryce, can you walk?"

"Probably? It hurts less. Tough bones." Bryce answered with a gentle stamp of his foot.

"Hang on tight, Sebastian. We're gonna get you out of here..."

Alex practically dragged Sebastian up each step, having to readjust every few taken. Bryce followed sluggishly beside. All three of them were battered, and utterly defeated. Nobody wanted to talk. Alex simmered in the beating he received. Bryce winced with every step he took. And Sebastian? He followed Alex limply, almost being pulled along like a corpse. As far as he was concerned, he may as well have been.

Alex checked his signal with each landing they took a break at. He needed to get a medic ASAP. They rested at one, two, three levels of this massive spiral before he had even two bars. Just barely enough to make a call. He had to take it...