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Post by swapgo on Sept 5, 2024 16:45:13 GMT
 There's too many buildings in New York to count, but there's always people counting. Running water and a Wi-Fi signal are nice and all, but sometimes the best place to hang out at is the most decrepit, frozen, unappealing slab of concrete there is, that way, there's no distractions when counting up the loot. The Daily Bugle will have the scoop by tomorrow for sure, a gang of burglars storming into a jewelry store just as they were closing shop. One person was knocked out cold and might not wake up if not taken to the hospital in time, the other was kidnapped and forced to help with the thorough smash and grab. It was over in less time than it would take an elderly man pick out his anniversary gift, and there was nothing left to pick from, quite the incredible foresight for ruffians that were behind bars for what feels like a couple of hours ago.
Jackson Creek and Yiqing "Jockey" Yun had a lot in common, and a lot of time to discuss it in the time they spent in prison, despite being there for somewhat different reasons. They liked similar sports, held contempt for similar groups of people, and both didn't really have respect for authorities, given that they somehow never seemed to learn despite being their 3rd and 4th rodeo in the slammer respectively. It was almost too convenient that they both got out the same day, and they both already had a gig set up for them. That seemed quite disrespectful to more consummate crime syndicates.
Four people got down from a vehicle that parked near the building, three very suspicious looking men in layers of black to protect them from the cold and from prying eyes, and a fourth, less haggard looking young adult with a single black coat over their bright work clothing. For having been allegedly kidnapped, he seemed to walk quite at ease with these criminals. The building inside was pitch black, save for a small light coming in from a window on the third floor, far away from the fire exit. You ask people to keep a low profile but someone always pulls out their damn phone anyways.
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 7, 2024 17:16:50 GMT
It wasn't hard to track criminals that had just been released from prison. Not when you were specifically looking for them, anyway. For Mayumi Manning, it was just another hunt. Another judgement. She knew who they were as soon as their feet stepped into freedom, and had eyes on them as they took their first breath.
Jackson Creek and Yiqing "Jockey" Yung had been on the books for a while, and were both up for release. Same day, same minute. Curious indeed. Their intel reckoned they probably had a car waiting for them on their release. When she saw them from the prison's discharging car park, sure enough there was another vehicle waiting. Someone had set these two up with something. That was clear enough.
The bank heist was a surprise. Mayumi kept tabs on them as they went in and out, keeping a distance but following their tracks. They had taken a hostage, cementing their judgement pretty solidly in her books. That always made it easier.
As they entered the building, Mayumi made her way to the top of another opposite, and waited. Fury laid low, not moving a muscle, and from the rooftop she just watched.
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Post by Countess on Sept 9, 2024 1:00:39 GMT
Fury isn't the only hunter out tonight on the rooftops. A good hunter, just as she had done, makes sure to research. These two, Jackson Creek and Yiqing "Jockey" Yun, had the tell tale signs of escalation. Professionals, when they are good at what they do, don't typically use lethal force. Get in, get what they want, get out. There's no need to add messy attempted murder, or outright murder, charges to their docket. Means more time on the inside, less time using their ill gotten gains. Some people just don't care, however. Matias' quarry has all the hallmarks of the ones who don't care. Next time, they will hurt more, maybe even kill outright. They've already been to prison once, and tonight is a testament of the rehabilitative nature of their stay. Matias knows the system is one that sets up criminals to fail- recidivism keeps the people who own these private institutions rich. At this point, though these two are far beneath him, and his abilities... He is here to put down rabid dogs. Suffering creatures, that will hurt others if he doesn't. Someone has to.Matias isn't alone on this rooftop. The Instinct rolls in the pit of his stomach, but it isn't outright... danger. It could be. It has the potential. Matias shifts, stalking low on the ground towards this other person... They could be with the criminals that now seem to have gathered followers... The Instinct disagrees. In fact- the Instinct says he knows her. Quietly, he moves. He has always been an adept stalker, moving with sounds of the concrete jungle to mask himself. The individual's voice tells him where they are, and who they are.
"A pleasant surprise, I didn't know we hunted the same quarry," Matias says from the darkness. He likes these moments, likes his team. "Why are you here, mija?" he asks, stepping forward with his hands raised. Matias is in his full uniform as Agent X. It cuts for an intimidating, if not out of place, figure.
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 9, 2024 11:33:13 GMT
Fury barely turned, just looking slightly behind her to take in Matias in his full glory. She gave him the smallest of smiles, so faint it was almost nothing.
"Agent X. I think you and I are here for the same reason."
She turned her head back to the building, where the third floor light shone like a beacon. Almost out of reflex, Fury's fingers curled around the hilt of her blade. Not for Matias. He was a fellow Godkiller, a brother in arms.
"There's two on my list, but there's more down there. I've been tailing them for a while. There's a hostage down there, as far as I can tell. What do you think?"
Fury glanced back at him, expression placid, but her eyes as hard and sharp as diamonds.
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Post by Countess on Sept 10, 2024 2:31:18 GMT
"We usually are," Matias growls, keeping to where he is and leaning back against a wall. He folds his arms over his chest, amusement rolling off of him. A deep chuckle emanates from him- it seems kind. He has a soft spot for her, one he doesn't mind showing.
Even when they had first met, Matias had known she was something special. Someone to keep an eye on. His Instinct had long since approved of her, and he trusts that more than he trusts anything else.
"Got a plan?" he asks, idly. How will they hunt tonight? It is a dance they have carried out many, many times.
"The others..." he starts, shrugging his shoulders. "They made their choices to get here. If they die, they die, but I do not seek it. I know you have your methods... you know mine. If they deserve it... you will know better than me. If they don't, I'll make sure they remember this hard lesson," he says. Scared straight works sometimes, especially if you lose your knees.
Blood for the blood gods.
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 11, 2024 19:14:16 GMT
"You always do."
Fury smiled again, then turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Three floors up. Fine. Easy. She just needed to make her way from here to there without being seen. Shadows danced across the street.
"I can get up to the roof from the outside. Just a simple matter of scaling the walls. From there, I'll make my way into the building. You provide support, and keep me informed of their movements."
Fury rose to her feet, turning to face Agent X with a nod.
"Sound good?"
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Post by Countess on Sept 13, 2024 1:15:52 GMT
"Perfect," Matias says, moving closer to her. For a moment, his bulkiness is intimidating as he quickly pats her on the shoulder. He always wants to make her feel uplifted in this. Then, he ends up bypassing her to get to the edge of the building. Reaching into one of his many pockets, he pulls out binoculars, compact.
"I know the routine. Mark the ones you can, I can finish them off," he says, looking over the building. "Would you rather have me close quarters, or covering you from a distance?" he asks, already willing to play to her talents. He doesn't need to take control- his ego doesn't demand that sort of thing. He wants a job done, and done well.
"Do you have your coms?" he asks, then reaches into another pocket. He pulls out an ear piece. "Just in case," he murmurs, placing it on the railing next to him. Fury knows him well- he is weirdly the dad of the group, sometimes. Not as much as Nokk, though.
"You know my needs..." Matias says, then pulls his head up so she can see his eyes through his mask. He has taken charcoal or something similar around his eyes to darken them, but his eyes themselves are a warm brown. "Make them bleed."
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 16, 2024 16:55:38 GMT
Fury took the earpiece. Matias was always so well prepared. She gripped her sword, obvious to him where she wanted to be.
"You take point. I'll go in close quarters. Any that I don't take down, you drop."
He would know what she meant. Her blade only cut through those who truly deserved it. His bullets did not. She took out a grappling hook, attaching it to the side of the building and leaning backwards over the edge.
"Agent X, you know me too well. Those who deserve it... will bleed tonight."
And Fury was gone, dropping down the side of their building, out of view of the other. Swiftly she made her way through shadows and behind cover, and shot another hook to the top of their target building, from behind the main entrance. She made quick work of it, landing quietly on the roof.
"Alright... if you see anything worse than us, let me know."
With a clean motion, Fury drew her blade, stepping towards the door.
"Let's make them pay."
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Post by swapgo on Sept 17, 2024 0:38:00 GMT
Mayumi's only resistance at the rooftops was the snow, and a slightly ajar door that might make too much noise if not handled delicately. She was 4 stories above target, which was plenty of space to move around. The top floors were barren, but the staircase had a locked gate, flimsy thing, but it would slow her down. From the hollowed echo inside, she could hear the elevator moving in this derelict building, somehow they managed to utilize the elevator shaft for moving around the building rather than the locked doors, quite inventive for two bit criminals, even though she had her targets, perhaps there was a bit more to this operation. Perhaps once the ricketing of the elevator ceased, she could listen into what she was dealing with better.
Matias had more time to scout the outside of the building. The windows near the fire exits were barricaded, heavily. Surely one could bust through them, though hardly without the entire block knowing about it. The tantalizing, illuminated window was not so inviting. Amidst the backdrop of the pale light on it, Matias could notice a tripwire of some description. That entryway was a trap as well. Beetle could confirm to Matias that their target was on the move to the third floor, but he could still vaguely see movement on the first floor, perhaps they left someone to do rounds.
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Post by Countess on Sept 18, 2024 2:40:53 GMT
"Understood," Matias says, nodding. "I had a better vantage point where I was," he says, then points over to another building, slightly higher. "If I need to move, I will. If you need me inside, I can get there quickly. Tell me the floor, and I will move," Matias agrees.
"Good luck out there," Matias says, looking at her briefly with a grin under his mask as he starts walking lowly to his place before. She can hear him chuckle in the earpiece, the sound warm and close. "Not that you need it," he tells her over the coms, getting to his spot he had scoped out before. There, his rifle lays, waiting for him. "I'll let you know if the water gets too hot for us," he says, laying down on his stomach, preparing himself. He looks down the scope, taking everything into account...
Though he is not down there, he already knows how he will need to enter the building if needed. As he waits for the signal, he sets up the anchor for a grappling hook, just in case. Once the action starts, it will damn well start. He will pick off who he can through windows, and enter after Fury if he needs to. He listens to his Instinct, that more animalistic side of him surging to the surface. Aiming is easy, his reactions predictive of movements. He is more interested in covering Fury than anything.
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 19, 2024 13:29:20 GMT
Fury smiled in the dark. She trusted Matias on every mission she had been on. Her heart was beating steady, but only because she had trained to keep it that way. She felt the adrenaline pumping through her blood. Fury didn't enjoy her work, as she wished it wasn't necessary, but she had to admit it felt good. The thrill of the hunt.
"Movement on the third floor. Elevator's running, too. They're active, which suggest they're nervous... anticipating something."
Beetle crouched by the locked gate, pulling out her lock picking kid and getting to work on the gate.
"How are we looking, Agent X?"
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Post by swapgo on Sept 22, 2024 23:12:12 GMT
With the top door lock out of the way, Mayumi could progress through the building. The elevator came to a screeching halt, and she could hear the previously muffled conversation continue.
"-id not want to kill him!"
"Ya didn't kill him"
"That was Jockey's job"
"Jockey didn't do it either, it's just, well, his life is in the hands of this city's wonderful emergency response system. Great for stopping alien invasions, but god forbid your cat gets stuck up a tree..."
"-b-but"
"Hey Jockey why are we even keeping a witness"
"He stands more to lose than to gain by ratting us out. We honor the deal"
"Wooow, in front of him?"
"Equal parts assurance and deterrence, Jack"
There was a sigh between gritted teeth and they picked the pace back up.
Finally there was movement in the windows. The lights of the suspicious room turned off, and however many people were up there stormed off. One of them stayed in the now obscured room to stare down at the streets from any law enforcement activity, which was unfortunately the wrong direction to look at. Activity was still light at the bottom floor, a small light lit up, it seem someone decided to have a smoke break.
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Post by Countess on Sept 24, 2024 23:49:24 GMT
"Elevator? We could use that against them," Matias murmurs. "Predictable movement," he continues, looking through the scope of his rifle through various windows.
"Fire exits are barricaded, windows included. Single, unbarricaded window, previously lit, likely trapped, looked to be a meeting room. Treat all ground floor entrances as trapped. Movement on the first floor, possibly someone on rounds. Follow the scent of cigarette smoke. A lot of obscured movement. How many do you clock?"
Matias takes the time to count as many as he can, and pick out the most obvious distinguishing features. His sight sharpens, picking out the most obscure of details.
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 26, 2024 20:08:13 GMT
One hostage, someone they had leverage over. So they were definitely those kinds of people. Fury stuck to the shadows, listening to Matias' instructions.
"There's a hostage, just like I thought. Careful of your aim. We're not spilling innocent blood tonight."
She maintained her breathing, calm and steady, as she paused in a patch of darkness at the top of a flight of stairs. Fury sniffed, searching for that cigarette smoke. Still a few floors up, but there should be activity at the bottom.
"At least three plus the innocent... I have a hunch that the leader is Jockey."
Fury said all of this as a murmur, amplified by her microphone. She raised her sword slightly as she made her way down the stairs. The next person to show their face would get a faceful of steel, and they would have to hope that they were innocent. Her blade would cut down any sinful enemy placed before it.
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Post by swapgo on Sept 28, 2024 20:28:02 GMT
The echoing conversations became more incomprehensible as the criminals left the foyer and entered one of the appartments, one with an unbarred window. There was very little light, but Matias was getting visual contact. One person entered the room from the left, and thus couldn't be their target that should be coming from the right, another came from the left, and a third one, none of them were on Matias' hit-list, and they were all younger than the grizzled jailbirds he was hunting after, though surprisingly well armed. One person finally came from the right, or rather, was shoved in from the right, the kid that just entered the building. One of the men in the room shoved what appeared to be a very miserable wad of cash on the kid's hands to then turn him around and shoved him outside, for services rendered. Mayumi would hear some more complaning and step going towards her, at the very least, the innocent man is gonna make this easy for her. The cigarette smoke, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found, but she could feel a completely different smell from the bottom floor. It was distant, not easy to pick apart, but definitely misplaced
Matias could now see his targets enter the room, they had removed their balaclavas and tossed huge bags of valuable into the room, the spoils were here, it was time to open them up, revealing the glint of gold and jewelry in the dim light. A flash of light would challenge his concentration, and he would immediately feel imperiled. It was as if a firearm had been pointed at him and shot, but there was no bullet of any kind, it did not come from the left window, that one had been abandoned, no, it came from the first floor, the only thing he could see was a broad figure, wearing a coat and holding a bright, lit cigarette that emited no smoke, walking away from the window and towards the stairs. He said that he would know if something in this building could kill him, and this wasn't it; it felt like it was something that didn't need to kill him.
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