Curb Stompers [IC]

[DawnKnight]

A collaboration between DawnKnight and Bluemoon277



-- Monday - 6 PM --

So nothing from Juliet, it would have been fun, but he didn't really care. She was cute, but nothing really special and Luke put her out of his mind. He was well practised at it, it was rare that a girl turned him down, or outright avoided him, no doubt he'd get his own back soon enough. He always did, and unlike him, he knew what she got up to at nights. Not that he could really make use of it without revealing to her the true identity of Faceless. Perhaps he would have to keep that to himself then. He was startled out of his reverie when Mickey clapped him round the head. "Wake up dude, we've finished, back to the showers now."

Luke had been quiet for the whole practice, unlike him after such a recent and crushing victory, normally he would be exuberant, and a few of his team mates had noticed. Mickey, unusually, was the only one who'd worked out why, more because he was in the same Science class rather than anything else, he wasn't renowned for his emotional intelligence, and social phenomena often passed him by without ruffling his hair. But even he wasn't emotionally dense enough to miss the subtle rejection that had happened earlier. "That girl?"

They were in the tunnel now, alone, the rest of the players long since gone into the changing rooms. Luke barely caught Mickey's words. "Hmmm?

"Just forget about her man, it's not your fault she's totally frigid, you're not the first, but you'll always be the one she'll regret."

He elbowed Luke companionably, and Luke dragged himself out of his train of thought, which truthfully had long since strayed from thoughts of Juliet and laughed. He walked backwards in front of his friend, arms spread. "Who wouldn't regret missing out on this?"

He gestured to himself expansively. "Come on lets go, you know what Sarah's like when you don't pick her up on time."

Mickey, of all people had a girlfriend, a girl from the grade below who adored him and ignored any flaws in him and any mistakes he might make. Luke had found it amusing, that Mickey had managed to get himself tied down so early in his life, it had never interested Luke, he intended to enjoy as much of life as he could before anything like that happened. What was it he'd always said? He was too young to be tied down. The truth that he hadn't realised, was that he was actually too insecure to let someone think he wasn't indestructible. He was the star-quarterback, the jewel of High School, a god in his own eyes, he didn't need anyone else. Perhaps couldn't need anyone else.

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-- 9:49 PM --

Faceless stepped out of the shadows, his tall muscled form melting out of the darkness suddenly, as though stepping through some shadowy portal. He hadn't even needed to sneak out tonight. His father was out of town, his mother staying late at the clinic, he'd just packed his stuff in a draw string bag and strolled out the front door, careful to lock up after himself. He'd caught a bus into a town, getting off a few streets away from the bank, glancing around himself before ducking into a darkened alleyway to put the kit on. He slung the bag back over his shoulder, glancing up and down the street once more, before pulling up the hood of his jacket and jogging off down the street.

He glanced up at the building before him, then crossed the street, searching for a way up to the top, seeing a figure already climbing the fire escape he figured that either it was Goldenshot or the rest were already arriving. Behind the mask, Luke smirked, but his cocky attitude was evident from the manner in which he swaggered across the street and through the front door of the building. It was empty in the lobby, people weren't likely to be hanging around at this time, not in this town. There was a dying clang as the lift rattled to a halt and he stepped in, reaching out to press the button for the top floor.

Juliet landed on the ground roughly. It had gotten much harder to jump out her window with the recent injurie. After pulling herself off the ground, Juliet sped away from her house on her step-fathers old motorcycle. Wind blew through Juliet's leather coat then hit Juliet's tightly strapped bag. Juliet stopped at a old run down bar. It was close to the bank, but not close enough for the bike to get stolen. Juliet grabbed her bag from the bike quickly wanting to get to her destination as soon as possible. She pulled up her bandanna to cover the lower half of her face. Juliet flipped up her jacket hood and pulled out a pair of brace knuckles. The brace knuckles slipped on rather smoothly, and fit Juliet's hands well.

Finally reaching the building left Juliet at a loss. She could see no better way in then through the front door, so she entered through there. The elevator doors opened to let in a familiar face of Juliet's. Juliet opened her mouth to cal his name, but then remembered that all of the vigilantes here were supposed to be being sneaky. Juliet quickened her pace to reach the elevator only sightly two late. The door to her only way up had gone past the point of no return. Thankfuly for Juliet a hand came between the door and the closer of it stopping the elevator mid shut. This opening allowed for Juliet to get through before the elevator shut. In simpler terms her kind friend held the elevator for her.

"I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon Faceless" Juliet noted with a bit of a twinkle in her eye.

He had to resist the temptation to call Juliet by her actual name. He'd just spotted her in time, and the temptation to simply allow the door to close in her face in revenge, but something held him back from such petty behaviour and he'd caught it. She joined him in the elevator, and he glanced down at her diminutive form, then back at the numbers that slowly ticked upwards in value. "You kidding? I wouldn't miss this."

He gestured down to her injured limb. "How's the leg? Did anyone spot it?"

At least here he could get some idea whether she suspected him, after all she'd seen him at the game, he only hoped she'd made the assumption any normal girl would have done.

Juliet gained a cute smile at the mention of missing the heist. She thought it was sort of fun to joke about putting yourself in danger as something you wouldn't want to miss. At the time of course Juliet thought it simply a joke. "yeah, but I let my cat take the fall. I said I accidentally spilled some water on him, and then well claws and yeah" Juliet shrugged smally laughing at herself. "what about you, got those annoying scratches healed" Juliet joked playing as if the scratches were major injuries.

The elevator had a slight buzz to it that bother Juliet. It made her body language come off as slight uncomfortable or awkward. The lights were not completely clean giving the entire elevator a strange yellowish green tent. As floors were passed a loud buzz rang through the elevator causing Juliet to jump slightly everyone. 'Jesus I hate elevators' Juliet thought. She always had since she was little. Whenever she was in them she found herself thinking of the cable snapping and her falling to her doom.

He laughed, "yeah they healed up ok, don't think any of them were fatal."

She seemed uncomfortable in the elevator, though he supposed it was explained when she jumped at the bell as they arrived at the top floor. He looked down at her in concern. Concern? What did he care?

"Come on, it's not like it's going to drop us. At least we'll go down together hey?"

The doors slid open slowly and painfully, with a groan of mistreated metal. Luke simply strolled out, the hall was empty and there was a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the hall, up to the roof he assumed, he paused at the bottom. "You coming?"

Juliet felt a bit better at the beginning of Faceless's concerned comment, but at the end the only thing playing in her mind was falling. This time of course she was falling with Faceless. The idea memorized her in a terrifying sort of way. When the the doors opened Juliet didn't react because she was still swirling through her land of elevator horror. Faceless's voice rang through her dreamland pulling Juliet back to reality. "yeah sorry" Juliet said as she quickly exited the elevator, and caught up to Faceless. Juliet climbed the stairs quickly her shoes clacking with every step. The stairwell was dirty. Daddy long legs sat in the corner, and dust littered on the steps. Juliet was eager to open the door, and step out onto the roof. Though, maybe she was a bit to eager.

The push to open the door was loud. The door swung open roughly, and almost hit the wall. Supporting it. Juliet didn't enter as cautiously as the other. She walked in with reckless abandon. This recklessness was soon thrown down the drain when two faces stared back at her.

He'd followed her onto the roof, smirking behind his mask at the sight they were greeted with and how soon she apparently faltered when faced with the two other vigilantes. Luke on the other hand merely strolled out confidently onto the roof, hands wide and a smile in his voice.

"So, did I miss the party?"

[David Starsky]

If you wear a trenchcoat anywhere, you're bound to divert attention... or is it the other way around?

Either way, Winona was wearing one while walking under the cover of darkness until something actually went down. She didn't intend to walk out with her mask which she stashed in her briefcase along with the cherry blunderbuss only to get shot down by somebody who was actually just luring a bunch of vigilantes to a certain spot at a really late hour, ganking them while they were in line. It had been a miracle she even found the damn bank itself and Zoey regretted to keep her out of the loop, although probably for a good cause. Winona felt that she was well enough to fight a couple of pinheads that referred to their gang as a group of people you'd find building a playground. The streetlights once again kept her at bay while she waited for some action. Even as they flickered, it sort of stirred any anxiety she had in a calm manner. Any car that passed, she hid from, seeing as she didn't want to be the seventeen year old who got caught by some perv who thought she was a hooker on her usual rounds. Finding herself passing building by building while keeping to the dark, she loaded up the cherry blunderbuss, whistling a little tune to herself as quietly as she could. The bank was right there and all she needed was some gunshots or an explosion in order to strut in to action, yet she couldn't even see any other vigilantes around.

Around 9:45am, patience was something that had slipped from her grasp when she stood in front of a sign with two street names. A scarf covered her identity from a passing car that slowed down and paused, waiting for the light to go green. Winona tried not to glare at it, feeling like time suddenly just stopped and someone was maybe, just maybe staring back at her beyond the tinted windows. She choked down any fear she had, clutching her briefcase in one hand, heartbeat quickening. Her hazel eyes locked on straight ahead, but once the streetlight changed colors, the car made a turning pass and was now past Winona. A huff of relief took her over, opening up her umbrella even though there was no rain out. Still... it felt nice to be protected by one. Honestly, this little match between crimefighter and greed-filled criminal she was about to take part in kind of gave her stage fright. She really hoped she wouldn't fuck anything up that would result in another bandaged shoulder, hidden underneath a white dress.

"The traffic lights, they turn blue tomorrow. And shine the emptiness down on my bed." Rang in her head upon fast-walking across the street with the streetlight overhead. Jimi Hendrix was one of her favorite artists... the man's era of music is the music she was mostly interested in, including the Beatles and Tommy Jones and the Shondells. Which sort of reminded her to bring an iPod along on the next night of crimestopping.

The parking lot was pretty much empty except for maybe any security guards that were there that hopefully would be on their side when shit hit the fan, considering her little incident during the last time she went out on night patrol. The drive through area was a dark spot where the only thing that illuminated it was the ATM in the middle, where Winona dropped her coat and scarf and put on her mask. Looking for any way in and out, a scaffolding that was put near the side of the building where the bank's name was being placed was her best bet. A little bit of a climb up the ladder along with pulling herself up to the balcony that some of the bank employees would pass through to get from one side of the offices to another and she was set to go. Winona took the door to the right for some reason, having to end up walking through a practical hall of desks and computers. She had even poked a pitbull bobblehead as she passed by, noticing that someone had taken the elevator when she heard the metallic noises it sang. A bit unprofessional, in her opinion, if they were vigilantes... of course she didn't expect a professional vigilante.

Right before facing off against a pack of baddies, there was always some kind of rhythm that felt like a clock ticking down to whatever surprise she might have found herself walking in to. And her boots stomping step by step with staircase by staircase underneath tipped her off to the fact that something was waiting upstairs. That and... you know, the elevator was headed up here. Maybe she should have just taken the elevator, actually. Greeted by a daddy long legs on the wall, she could hear the voice of a male, maybe as young as her, just above her head. The cherry blunderbuss was perched on her back with her fingers gripping it, ready to be pulled out and fired.

Turns out it was nothing more than four vigilantes, one already familiar to her on the roof as she overcame the final step. "As long as you're not the stripper who jumps out of the cake... I suppose not." She said, behind two of them. The four foot Teller shot a look at the six foot Penn known as her caretaker for the time being from behind her cat mask.

Afterwards, she looked down to the floor, which she twirled her foot around on.

[Taka Uchiha]

Collab between Haikufrenzy and Takak Uchiha

Slowly the black charger pulled up to the front of the home that held Kris's companion, or sidekick as he called him, Darren, the right hand of whiteness. Yes that was the name that Kris called him by even if it was just to annoy him. Kris was already geared and ready for what they were to undertake tonight. A fight against the Construction Crew. Hopefully the crew nor police would be able to link Kris to the greatly dubbed "AvengerMobile" since the car was bought and given to him by an uncle in a whole nother state. Also the license plate said AVNGM so, there was that. Kris sat in the car patiently awaiting the Right Hand of Whiteness after texting him to qoute on qoute "Bring your pasty white ass outside and bring a Sprite". Dragging along a gym bag while wearing a gray wife beater with cargo pants and soccer cleats, Darren came out a moment later with two cans of Sierra Mist in tow. Throwing the bag haphazardly into the backseat of Kris' car before getting into the passenger seat alongside his sidekick Kris. The Deputy from Browntown. "Alright I'm here I'm here you impatient spaz." Darren stated plopping a can into the cup holder between them before cracking open the other can. "Alright so you remember the bank we're going too ri... " Darren had to stop for a moment, after looking over at Kris and seeing for the first actual time his best friend all superhero'd out. He had to refrain from having lemon-lime soda come pouring out of his nose. "Wow nice get up Batman, I didn't know we were infiltrating the Penguin's hideout tonight!" Darren stated, laughing inwardly as his almost shook from trying to keep the laughter quiet.

"Haha. Your infiltrating Penguin's hideout while I'll be infiltrating Ivy's 'Hideout'. If you know what I mean. I got my own personal Dick to back me up." Kris replied, turning the key in the ignition. The engine roared quite loudly, displaying the power under the black hood of the vehicle. Foot to the pedal the car slowly started to move forward in direction of the specified meeting place for the vigilantes. One hand on the steering wheel and the other on the can of sprite, Kris brought the can to his mouth and opened it with his teeth. His mind though wandered on just what they may experience during this mission. The Construction Crew seemed to be unstoppable as even the police had yet to stop them so, what did they think they could hope to do against them. Though it didn't matter because there was a chance they could do something about these criminals. This city needed protectors like them. "So....what ya bring because your fist aren't the hardest things in the world. Did you bring a crowbar? Then you could call all your enemies Jason Todd."

Darren turned to look at the duffel bag in the backseat. "Well aside from my uh... 'costume'... because I thought I could change there and not look like... well you on the way over. IE a dweeb on his way back from Comic Con. I also got an old metal baseball bat that used to be my big sister's. I mean I wasn't sure what else to bring since really I am still kinda new to this cracking assholes' heads in and stuff." Darren also was thinking about any and all possibilities about what was going to happen when everything goes down. Just what exactly to expect and how to expect being in what was most likely a small group of like minded and equally silly looking people was going to be the big equalizer to a gang of also probably silly looking people who were more evil minded.

"Dude. I look amazing in this. Not even Clark Kent could get more females then me in costume." Kris replied, the car coming to a stop atleast a block away from the meeting area. It was parked deep in the back of a parking lot, hidden between a van and a car of similar size. "Try not to crack someone's skull to the point of death. Metal bats are vicious. I almost thought my brass knuckles were almost too much." Kris opned his door and stepped out from the vehicle. It was almost time. About ten minutes left. Fortunately Darren's house....wasn't really that far from where they needed to be. Getting out at the same time Darren opened up and got his stuff out of the back seat before closing both doors. "Alright I'm going to go change first..." He strolled into the nearby alleyway to look for a quiet and safe enough spot to change into something more 'hero-y' for the fight. Without anyone seeing him.

[Teen Idle]

It was about quarter to ten - it was dark, but the coupled glow of the streetlights and the full moon that loomed over the city was enough to guide Cavan through the squalid alleyways that littered the city. He knew this area like the back of his hand, and he skulked through the shadows on foot - knuckledusters attached to both hands, a tazer in his pocket and a large, metal pole lay firmly in his grip. The only protection of his identity was the shade cast by his hood as he crept confidently through the backstreets. He was not concerned about revealing his identity - he never had been, and had not donned a disguise on his previous outings. So why start now?

He arrived at the building - he knew it well, and was aware of the fire escape ladder that hid at the rear of the building; invisible by the dark of night. Approaching it with an air of comfort, he gripped the rungs tightly and began to climb. Not too fast, not too slow. He was feeling relatively indifferent about the entire thing. Well, that wasn't entirely true - he was excited, but the combination of his reserved nature and increasing fatigue over recent weeks inhibited him from displaying that emotion. And he definitely wasn't scared or anxious. He looked forward to finally meeting GoldenShot and the other vigilantes... He imagined the fight itself would be no different from the others he had fought single-handedly, and so the thought bothered him not.

Eventually, he arrived at the top of the ladder and swung his leg over the brickwork. Before him was a group of five or six individuals - all disguised with balaclavas, masks and other clobber. Cavan had to smirk to himself from beneath his hood - what were they so afraid of? The city was huge. Revealing their identities to each other was not going to affect their real lives in the slightest. Besides, what's the harm in revealing his face? It's not like he had intentions of giving away his name and address. Heck, if that were the case, he'd invite them to a party while he was at it. He chucked at his own joke.

"Yo, guys," he called from the darkness, before stepping forth into the light in which the group was stood. He looked up, the dim light flooding into his hood and illuminating his face. "BornToDie, at your service."

[Stein]

Kylie's smile grew underneath her balaclava as the other vigilantes started to arrive. It had been tense at first, what with almost no one wanting to exchange pleasantries, because well...there was nothing they could discuss without giving a piece of themselves away. But Kylie could swear she recognized some of the voices from school! But, she couldn't call them out without calling herself out.


She looked down at her watch. It was 9:59. Well, now was as a good time as any to start. She picked up a metal bat, knocking it on the groud a few times to gain the attention of those gathered.

"Umm...I mean err..." Kylie started, lowering her voice slightly and making it sound more gruff. She had the feeling that she definitely knew at least one of thse people. And BornToDie was here, and for some reason, the person gave her the same feeling Cavan did. So, she had to tread a little carefully, lest she give away her identity by voice alone. "Thank you for showing up. I'm GoldenShot. I know it was risky for each and every one of you to be here, but I can't thank..." Kylie paused again, making her voice a bit more gruff. "Can't thank you enough for being here. Now, we don't have much time, so I'll be brief. We're here, as you know, to try and stop the Construction Crew. From what I found out, they'll be here tonight and this is the one chance we have to make an impact. Because it's a small bank, they'll be bringing a small force and with their rubber pellets, they also have no idea we're here. Or...at least they shouldn't. With the element of surprise on our side, my hope is to try and catch at least one of them. Now, I know won't be able to hold or detain any of them, but a few minutes in to the plan, I'll speed dial the authorities."

She took a breath in the middle of her spiel, trying to gather her composure again. She was getting anxious and excited. The time had finally come! They were really going to attempt this and pull it off.

"Now, the bank is old," she continued, "so, though it's been upgraded surely, I don't think they've been able to tech it out in the way the more modern banks are." Indeed, the building they were standing on was older. It was in very good shape, and was considered a psuedo-landmark. It stood at 3 stories tall, an integration of concrete and brick in such a way that made it still look relatively fresh. Being as how it was situated on the corner of the street, it had two entrances, each with Corinthian columns and a lion head above the two main entrances. The back of the building was a bit more nondescript, begging more for function than appearance. Because the building was older, it still housed the money and mail chute that used to be used for banks. It had wide alley on both back sides of the building, with fire-escapes from the higher floors the side alley was walled off from the rest of the street, so loading money in to the armored trucks wouldn't draw attention.

"Because of the bank being one of the smaller in the area, the Crew is betting on there not being much attention placed on this bank, and instead, authorities focusing on the larger ones. Well, they would have been right, had we not shown up."

-----------------

9:37

The leader of the small goup of the Crew heading to their designation seemed a bit more relaxed than he should. It was a small bank, with no nighttime security, and all the cops were focusing on the national bank in the same region. Those idiots still thought the Crew was hitting for money.

The truth was, the Construction Crew could care less about the money. They had made sure they'd built up funds before their sprees somewhat. They were hitting these banks to let all the little gangs in this damn town know that they could. They were encroaching on territory to show that they could and that there was nothing that any of the other crews could do. What the media didn't know is that each time they hit a new territory, they took a member of one of the rival gangs and beat them in submission and left them on the doorstep of each of their respective gangs. Just because they could.

They were the new gang in town to be feared. And it seemed to be working. None of the other gangs had really had the audacity to go after the Crew.

The leader snapped himself out of his daydreaming, turning to the rest of his crew in the van. "Alright boys," he spoke, his voice deep and penetrating. "You know the drill. We get in, take what we can, corrupt what we can and fuck shit up. We got all blues on the national bank, so this one should be mighty quiet. Get your guns ready, we're going in hot, we've only got a limited time to swoop in."

There was a chorus of "Yeah"'s and "Got it!" from the 7 other men.

"If all goes well, we might be able to go ahead and send our message out to the Skull Spades."

--------------

"So, here's the plan," Kylie started as she motioned for the group to come in. They didn't have much time, and she wanted to make sure she didn't miss a single detail. "We know about their rubber pellets and the fact that they'll probably have a small group. They wouldn't want to draw too much attention. I want to get a small team to wait by the back entrance. That's most likely where they'll go. As soon as the Crew goes in, that small group will sneak in behind them. There's a side door that doesn't have an alarm, but it has a series of deabolts. It was design flaw from the original building that leads in to a side office. If one of us can get to that room, we can let the other group in. From there, we fan out and try and take them down one by one. I've noticed from police reports and the media that the Crew often spreads out going through the banks, collecting some data. I have no idea what it is they're after, but it gives us a chance to take them all out one by one.

"We'll have to be careful to keep an eye for the nearest exit, whether it be a window or something like that. Remember, there are fire escapes for each floor. And in case you want to escape quickly, I brougth these." Kylie opened her bag, revealing bundles of rope with hooks on the end. "You just hook the escapes, wrap the rope around your forearm, elbow and upper arm, and slide down. Be gentle about it so you don't dislocate your arm. I've also got bats if anyone should need them."

Kylie gestured to the bag she had, taking a step back and letting the group examine and pick out what they wanted.

"Remember: try not to go off on your own. If you get in surrounded, we'll be hard pressed to help you. For a quick escape, I've also got homemade smoke bombs and goggles for anyone who might need them," even under her balaclava, Kylie was sure that the others could tell she was smiling a proud smile. She'd spent so much time working on her smoke bombs, that she really wanted to show them off. "They act in the same way as those firework poppers, so throw them on the ground hard, and then cover your mouth and nose. The smoke has pepper in it as well that'll aggravate the senses, so the minute you throw them, have an escape route ready. You only get two a piece, so choose your moment wisely." Kylie set about handing a smoke bomb and goggles to each individual, her eyes resting on BornToDie. She wanted so badly to hug them, because they already seemed like old friends, but she felt that might not have been appropriate.

"So, to start this off I want you and you," she pointed to BornToDie and the smaller vigilante that she assumed was a petite girl with the mask on, "with me. We'll be the group stationed outside the entrance they're likely to use. And then I'd like the rest of you to position yourselves as close as possible without being seen. The minute you see us go in, try and get to that side door as soon as possible. I'll flash a light three times

Any questions?"

...

The air was tense as if it was ready to explode all on its own as Kylie and the other two watched, waiting for the Crew to show up. This all felt a little surreal still, but it was really happening. One thing that bothered her that she still hadn't been able to figure out was why the Crew as trying to make a statement. What did they gain by messing up the order that had been established among the other gangs? And why did they make it a point to ransack these banks? What were they looking for? The fact that these questions couldn't be answered, bothered Kylie to no end.

But, she didn't have time to worry about it as she heard tires pull up. From there position in the shadows, behind the dumpster, Kylie could just make out a rather large van pulling in to the area where the armored truck usually parked. The doors of the van suddenly burst open and a group of nine men piled out. Even in the dark, she could make out the yellow construction hats they wore in contrast to their other all black attire. At the sight of the guns they had, Kylie caught her breath. Everything she'd heard pointed to the guns not being real, but she still couldn't help but hesitate. If anything happened to the group she'd assembled tonight, she would hold herself personally responsible.

She turned to the other two behind her, nodding her head. She signalled for them to wait a moment while the Crew piled in. As soon as they piled in to the door, careful to snip the wire connected to the alarm and disarm the system, Kylie took off running, her pace quick and steps light. She stuck out her hockey stick, catching the door quietly just as it closed.

"C'mon you guys!" she whispered over her shoulder as the other two rushed in after them. The back area of the bank was pretty non-descript yet spacious. She ducked down, so as not to be seen by one of the Crew members. The other two followed suit as Crew began their spree.

"Alright boys!" Kylie heard, and instantly froze, "We've only got 20 minutes. In and out. MOVE!" There was a bustling as the men filed further in to the bank. No doubt a few of them were going to start hacking the computers while others headed for the vault. Kylie noticed, with suspicion, that only one man was working on the vault. Why would he do that? Shouldn't they delegate at least two? What were they really after? In fact, the entirety of the Construction Crew seemed to have broken up in to single groups. Each of them heading in a different location.

"Okay, you two, let's let our calvary in!" Kylie whispered to her small group. They made a beeline for the main part of the bank, careful to keep out of view of the men who had set to work on the vault and those who were headed up the stairs to start rummaging the offices. They hugged the wall, heading for the side room with the door. As soon as they entered in, Kylie motioned for BornToDie to close the door. She headed for the outside door, reaching up and disconnecting the alarm and flashed her light out of the window three times. That was the signal.

Unlocking the door, she watched as the rest of their group bustled in, breathing heavy with anticipation.

"Okay, they seem to be splitting up, which should make our job easier. Remember, five minutes in and I'm speed dialing the cops. From then, we'll probably have another five minutes to make like a bat outta hell. Is everyone good to go? Be swift and be silent. They aren't expecting us, but they'll catch on quickly if we make it obvious."

There was chorus of quick nods and grunts. "Okay, let's move out!"

[Blazion]

Quiet breaths. Awkward shuffling. A muffled cough. If there was one thing Zoey would pick to hate about this little endeavor, it was the waiting. Not knowing if their little stealth squad of the group had been seen, if they were even inside yet, if everything was already going to shit … Not for the first time since they had come together on that rooftop seemingly moments before Zoey silently berated herself. She was not one to idly sit back and let the others do the work, yet here she was quietly awaiting the signal from the three others. There was little she could do the protest the group make up after all; even if she was at ease enough to speak to the others properly her towering stature made her one of the least desirable for a sneaking operation. With her blue-gray gaze set intensely upon the door they were to enter she knew she couldn’t miss the signal at least, should everything go to plan and it actually came. At the very least the weight of her upgraded arsenal was comforting, even if the thought of losing someone so quickly was not.

Zoey had been admittedly rather nervous as more and more people showed up, finding herself wondering how many others were in the city donning masks and helping where they could. She knew there had to be at least a handful of course, but it was still stunning to see how many were driven out to that lonely little roof top just to seek justice; to see this band of criminals dealt with despite the dangers. It was humbling. Most of Zoey’s fears however were eased when their apparent leader, Golden Shot, had taken over – and shown them the supplies she had brought along. It was then she thought that maybe they weren’t some clueless high schoolers playing at being a hero. Though, at first seeing the hooked rope Zoey couldn’t help but mentally sulk over how much easier it would’ve been to climb the building with, but had dutifully kept her silence on the issue. She did feel much safer with it; from the rope now tied loosely to her belt, to the goggles around her neck, the homemade smoke bombs and she had even opted for one of the bats. It was certainly no fencing sword, but she could appreciate the devastation it would case with enough brute force. After all, better to have it and not need it.

The thought of needing it almost made Zoey start fidgeting from side to side herself though, barely restraining the motion; she was not some over anxious puppy. When the signal finally came however the vigilante found her feet immediately moving forward with long strides, any chance of hesitation on crossing this final threshold already decided. Only once they were all bustled inside the redhead’s attention was already drawn from the group to dart her gaze around the room, taking in everything she could as Golden Shot prepped them with some last words. Zoey could almost taste the anticipation in the air, the last minute hesitation. If it was hers or not she couldn’t even tell, trying to keep her mind focused on the now. It was just like any competition; eyes on the prize and don’t get distracted.

“Okay, let’s move out!” With only ten minutes for this endeavor the hooded vigilante found herself taking point as she immediately moved forward at Golden Shot’s release, not looking back to see if any others would follow. While she had no doubt that some of them would scatter to find their own heroics she was hopeful they’d group up for protection – with any luck she might even have her own straggler to watch her back.

However her confident gait gave pause as Zoey hesitated from her position at the threshold of the bank, and the steps into the Construction Crew’s territory, contemplating where to go. If the gang members had split up so effectively then there was so much for them to stop. The most pressing were likely the vault and the men who had gone to the offices. The question of if the money was more valuable to the bank’s personal information files was silently weighed, and finally the athlete found herself cautiously heading towards the back offices. A hacked computer system and numerous stolen identities would be hell for those who called the bank their own, but without the financial assets they’d lose all they had anyway.

It was that reasoning that found the vigilante moving towards the prominent vault of the bank, back hunched and knees bent as she cautiously moved forward through the already broken security checkpoint. While stealth wasn’t exactly her forte she knew the basics of hunting both in the wild and on a paintball field; remain quiet and cautious. Catching the prey in a surprise attack was better than wildly running in with hopes of a kill. It was this caution that let Zoey hear the crew member before he saw her. It was just as Golden Shot had said; he was alone.

Sinking behind the last security desk between them Zoey took a deep breath and glanced over her weapons as she contemplated her next move. To use the bat she would have to get in close without being noticed, and that left her trusty BT-Omega. Taking a risk the vigilante shifted to glance over the desk to her target, his back turned to her as he focused on his own task and the tools at his side. Being unchallenged and it being such a small bank it was no wonder he boldly felt no fear nor need to watch his back.

The bright yellow hard hat kept a blow to his head useless, but a shot to the back of the neck or a good one to the ankle would trip him up spectacularly. Mind made up, for the most part, Zoey set her bat aside to cautiously and quietly hoist the paintball gun up, kneeling behind the desk. With practiced motions her fingers found the paintball gun at her side, the digits quietly checking that everything was in order with automatic precision. Zoey’s gaze never wavered from her target. The weight of the gun’s strap lightened as she lifted her weapon, keeping low as the piece was raised up near her eyes for perfect accuracy over the desk. There was no room for mistakes. They only had ten minutes, and a single alert man escaping could ruin it for the others to bring the whole operation down. Her aim had to be true, swift and blinding; it’s just like hunting deer. Wait for the perfect shot…

Poised, ready, breathing deep, Zoey’s finger eased the pressure on the gun as she waited.

‘Don’t make a mistake.’

[David Starsky]

Throughout the whole game plan, the little runt kept her arms crossed, swerving side to side. Although it looked like if she wasn't paying attention, she definitely was. Winona didn't want to use her injured arm that much during this little "battle royale" if she didn't have to. A few times, her eyes peered over to Fezzik over there, wondering how the fuck she was gonna bring up moving out now that she had her rent money and the fact that she totally kicked an abusive father's ass today. And the news that the fuzz were on her ass and all... living with someone who's way more taller than you is very hard, in her case. She twiddled around the smoke bombs between her fingers that was given to her, awkwardly recieving a 'grappling hook' additionally. A bat was something she didn't need, considering she had an umbrella in one hand with the cherry blunderbluss sheathed behind her.

Goldenshot was pointing to somebody in her direction, that's for sure. It struck a surprised reaction that caused her to turn around and looked for someone else at the risk of making herself look like a fool. "Oh, um... alright?" She said, trying not to look back like an idiot again, though automatically assuming they meant her was just as bad. Though it kept ringing around in her head as they went down to set up for their counterattack... what the hell was the purpose of having the meeting on the rooftop and going back down when her legs were practically bleeding?

----------

Even at 10PM, Winona was already getting tired. And she was usually up at about twelve, finishing her rounds. She tried her best to keep her breathing down, she didn't want to sound like a horror movie victim hiding in the spice cupboard to the rest of the vigilantes. Her eyes peered over to... clones of the construction man from the Village People. Her weapon was locked and loaded, the leader of her squadron out of the whole group took off, she of course followed. She did her best to keep up with them, holding the gun tightly so it wouldn't drop to the floor and cause a ruckus, therefore making her the ass of this operation.

Treking through the main bank area while she side-eyed the Crew, anxiously expecting them to suddenly turn around and notice one of them, not even bothering to turn her head. So far, it was pretty good... she never thought she'd be working with a bunch of other crimestoppers, but things were going smoothly so far. Right as the rest of them charged in as silently as they could, Winona kept close to BornToDie and Goldenshot as she was told. She'd do her best to keep an eye on Zoey... though she assumed the giant could take care of herself, considering her size.

Everyone was just about ready to take down the Crew and make like a bat out of hell. Winona stood crouched behind a pillar, one leg stretched out. All she needed was the first shot on either side's part and she could easily knock back one of them. The gun, held confidentally, had Winona's finger on it's trigger. She didn't pull it just yet... but she was ready.

[Bluemoon277]

A collaboration between Dawnknight and Bluemoon277

Juliet's body was buzzing with anticipation. some of the feeling was from fear. The rest was from adrenaline. None the less as they were let into the building Juliet could feel her hands slightly shaking. She hoped that since they were using the buddy system Faceless would follow behind her. She didn't want to ask him to though. Juliet worried it would sound to childish. 'Oh faceless will you come with me to fight these bad guys uh I can't take them on alone' Juliet thought making fun of herself. She actually didn't think she could take on one of these guys alone, but she would rather get hurt then have to ask for help. Juliet slid along an old wall. the floral wallpaper was horrible, thankfully Juliet had other things to pay attention to. A man slipped down a hallway to the left alone. As he turned Juliet could see a slight bulge in his pants that she could only hope to be a gun.

She waited a minuet or so then slipped in after him. He had opened a office door, and the sounds of things being thrown echoed through the hall. This made great cover for Juliet to sneak towards him. She gulped not sure if she could really do what she was about to attempt. She looked down at her watch which she had set to time five minuets. She still had four minuets left. Juliet tightened her grip on her brass knuckles, and started towards the ajar door.


He turned, and spotted QB... Juliet heading off by herself. He was pretty sure they were supposed to be using a buddy system, took a moment to admire the view from behind, then realised he was supposed to be following her and set off after the diminutive vigilante. He slung the bag off his bag and extracted the paintball gun, a WDP Angel G7, it was a little old, but it had never let him down. He hooked it up to the tank slung on the back of his belt and grinned as he heard the slight hiss as they coupled. Time to go.

He followed her into the building, then along the wall and smiled at the brass knuckles he saw flashing on her hand. She'd come prepared, with a proper weapon as well, he felt a little unmanned, with his torch and toy gun. She was obviously somewhat more organised than he had been, maybe this was more important to her. He reached out and tapped her on the shoulder, whispering in her ear. "Right behind you."

Juliet jumped slightly when heard the whisper in her ear. Her first thought was that one of the construction crew had spotted her, but Juliet quickly recognized the voice. She smirked beneath her bandanna. Juliet turned toward him quickly not wanting to waist another second, and she said "Glad to have you there, I'm gonna go through the door, and I want you to close it behind me" Juliet instructed under her breath. She slid along the wall then into the room behind the man who was still throwing about papers.


He raised an eyebrow, without following? Sure. Well if she thought she could handle him then he wouldn't step in and patronise her, he nodded abruptly, then followed her along the wall, stopping at the door as she twisted her way through the ajar door. The silence was almost too much, barely broken by the sound of the papers being thrown around, like as soon as it left the room the shadows of the corridor swallowed it whole. Before she went in he leaned in close again, "shout if you need help."

He slowly pulled the door to behind her and crouched quietly in the corridor, the tension was almost painful, and he tried to distract himself. Why here? Why this bank? There were bigger banks they hadn't already hit and they had shown no fear of taking on the big ones, why suddenly move away from the heavy hitters to the feather weight division?

Juliet didn't waste time. She quickly hit the man in the head jumping slightly to get more force. Him having a shaved head made it clear to Juliet that she had hit him hard enough to break skin. The man grunted in confusion as he fell against a book shelf. Het runes quickly to find what had hit him. Juliet hit him in the jaw as he turned around. This made the villain stumble slightly, but he soon returned a punch to Juliet. His fist landed on her gut causing Jukiettoo hunch over. "bastard" Juliet mummbled regaining her strength quickly. Before the first blow Juliet had been holding herself back. She was worried that if she went all out it would not be good enough so some how it seemed smart to not try as hard as she could.

The pain thankfully brought her back to her senses. Juliet punched the man upward hit the bottom of his already swore jaw. He tried to hit her back, but Juliet was quicker now. She moved out of the way ducking under his punch. Juliet hit the man three times in the stomach. These pinches were quicker then her previous, but not as hard. Before the man could recover Juliet jumped up, and bashed his head in with both of her hands clasped together. The man then dropped to the floor having passed out. His head was bleeding, but it was obvious he would recover.


He gently pushed the door open when he heard the struggles cease, it creaked a little, and he froze, but when nothing appeared to go drastically wrong he simply pushed it open a little further and swaggered inside. He prodded the unconscious, bloody man with the barrel of his paintball gun, then looked up at Juliet. "Remind me not to piss you off QB."

He smiled behind the mask, she certainly was a feisty one, that was for sure. It was oddly appealing, the fact that she was willing to risk life and limb to take down a guy twice her size, for what benefit? He couldn't discern one. But then any psychologist would no doubt scoff at his own motivations. There was a scraping sound at the door, then a gasp and he spun round, seeing a man standing there, a hard hat on his head and a look of shock on his face. He didn't even think and his instincts kicked in immediately, the gun coming up and firing three paintballs at the mans face, one smashed into the bridge of his nose, the other took him in the eye, and as he opened his mouth to shout a warning the third went down his throat. He coughed, his eyes bulged as he clawed at his neck. Then Luke punched him in the stomach and brought the gun down heavily on the back of his head. The man went down, red paint leaking from his mouth. "Shit."

Luke crouched, ripping a glove off, and felt at the mans throat, he nearly sighed with relief when he felt a pulse there, and holding his hand in front of the mans mouth rewarded him with a gentle breath. He was just unconscious then, but judging by the way he'd gone down, he wouldn't be getting up for a while. "Well that was... fun."