[IC] Devious Plots and Evil Minds {Private}

[RedBalloon]

It would've been the end for both them if it hadn't been for Trick. A cloud of dense smoke enveloped around Viper and Tiger, causing the Puppeteer and Doll to miss their targets. A few of the wires snagged their skin and suits, and one golden thread captured Viper's wrist but she quickly yanked it away. Trick appeared behind his fellow heroes, placing his hands on their shoulders. "Puppeteer and Doll cannot see through the smoke," he told them quietly. "Make quick work while I release the rest of the civilians." And with that, he disappeared once more.
Viper glanced around the smoke, pursing her lips in thought. The whites of her eyes became swallowed up by the bright green of her irises and her pupils became slits. Now she had an easier time with seeing the heat signatures of the villains and victims around them. "I'll go after Doll, you go after the Puppeteer?" She suggested, glancing towards Tiger. They had a few moments before their perfect time to attack would go amiss.

[1Hawkeyes]

Tiger breathed out the biggest sigh of relief anyone had ever breathed when he found out he wasn't dead. He would always be thankful to Trick after and decided he would take him out to dinner one of these days, if they made it out of the fight of course. He was a bit upset that his costume was torn but decided that in the end it was much better than dying. At Viper's proposal he nodded, "Sounds good." He didn't know exactly how to best either of the two villains but knew the strings were most important. He popped out from the cloud and sent a few slashes to Puppeteer, hoping he could get her off guard and catch some key strings.

[RedBalloon]

Puppeteer hadn't expected Tiger to attack. His claws managed to cut two of the golden strings that wrapped around her fingers, which had allowed her to control the victims. About half of the citizens were released from her grasp. If she had emotions, then she certainly would be annoyed. Her blank, gold eyes turned towards him as she said, "You are a pesky kitty." From out of the smoke, three of her puppets emerged, rushing towards Tiger.
Viper slunk through the smoke, her snake eyes trained on Doll. Just as she thought she was about to prepare her strike, Doll spun around and sprung towards her. Viper let out a snarl/hiss, her snake claw catching Doll's arm. Her venom wasn't going to work, seeing as the villain wasn't human nor did she have flesh. Without thinking, she reacted quickly to the attack by slamming the porcelain girl into the ground, hand around her neck. Luckily for both of the heavy hitters, Trick knew how to detain the villains. The small, ginger boy landed next to Viper with a necklace in his hand. One of the escaped citizens had a necklace with a cross charm. Since Doll was a spirit inhabiting an inanimate object, the only way to suppress her was a religious item. Doll began to freak out, attempting to pierce the heroes with her wires, but Trick wrapped the necklace around her wrist. Doll went limp and her fierce features set back to that of a smiling statue.

[1Hawkeyes]

Tiger caught glimpses of Trick and Viper stopping Doll, but he payed more attention to his attackers. Three citizens rushed at him. He didn't want to hurt them, but he didn't want the freed citizens getting hurt either. Tiger leaped up when they were about three feet away. He clipped one string, but missed the other two. One of his attackers gripped his foot and pulled him back to the ground. He landed, but his arms were straight out. Something popped in his elbow and he winced. He wasn't sure how serious the injury was, but it hurt. Tiger leapt up again at the second rushing and was able to catch the strings he needed. "Everyone who's free please leave!" he shouted, not sure if they could even hear him.

[RedBalloon]

The citizens who did hear him sprinted their ways to the nearest exits, and those who saw the fleeing people soon followed after. Trick handed Viper something before he picked up the now limp Doll to carry her out of the building for detainment.
Viper turned sharply on her heel, facing Tiger and the Puppeteer. The Brazilian woman was quick to slither up behind Puppeteer but was cut short on her attack as the villain spun around on her toes like a ballerina. She swung out a hand, the golden strings that were wrapped around her fingers stretching out towards Viper. But luckily for the snake, she was quick enough to bend backwards and catch herself with her hands, one still curled into a fist as if she were holding something. Just as she was about to get up, one of the puppets came up behind her a pulled a string to her neck. Viper hissed, swinging out her arm, but instead of trying to hit something, she threw the syringe that she had in her hand over to Tiger. She curled up and kicked the puppet in the chin, not too hard but hard enough to get them off of her. Her other leg shot out and tripped the Puppeteer. Viper was incredible flexible, plus her black catsuit was great for her rapid movement (despite how much it showed of her figure and exposed her chest).

[1Hawkeyes]

Tiger was relieved when everyone ran out. He wouldn't have to worry so much now. When Viper got caught, his muscles tensed. He easily caught the syringe. He didn't know if it would work, but he trusted it would. Tiger watched Puppeteer carefully and stalked around her, similarly to how a real tiger would. "I didn't want to do this," he murmured. The man put the syringe in his mouth and ran for Puppeteer as hard as he could. The pain in his arm pulsed and screamed, but he ran even faster. He jumped up and made it look like he was diving for her face, but tweaked the angle at the last possible second to slide down between her legs. While she couldn't find him, he shoved the needle at her neck.

[RedBalloon]

The Puppeteer felt the prick of the needle in her neck and her eyes instantly fluttered. She stumbled a step or two before falling to the ground limply. All of her puppets were released. All of the golden strings disappeared, turning to soft glitter that littered the air.
Viper was still on the floor but she was more relaxed now that the threat was taken care of. "I f*cking hate those two," she chuckled. Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself to her feet then stretched her arms. "Are you alright?" She asked, looking towards Tiger.
Trick returned back to the room but only to ensure that the civilians knew they were ok and that the threat had been eliminated. Someone had to do control damage.

[1Hawkeyes]

Tiger watched Puppeteer fall. "They just keep coming back," he muttered. He turned towards Viper and nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay, just popped my elbow. I'll be okay. So where to now? Your spot or help the cops?" He really hoped the bar. He needed a drink now, especially seeing the lifelessness of Puppeteer's victims while they were still very much alive. "Maybe Trick can take care of the cops," he suggested, scratching his head through his costume. He wasn't trying to kick Trick out or anything, he just didn't want to deal with the authorities.

[RedBalloon]

Viper pursed her thick lips before nodding slowly. "My place, I'm no good with cops," she stated, her voice softening at the end. She looked towards Trick and said something in Portugese. Trick just rolled his eyes behind his red-lensed goggles, then responded and continued on with his work.
"Alright, we can leave," Viper chirped, grinning. She turned sharply on her heel to head towards the exit that wouldn't be crowded by cops or pedestrians.

[1Hawkeyes]

Tiger nodded. He didn't understand what she said in whatever Latin language it was, but he doubted it was of any harm. When she left he followed her closely. "I've never seen you fight. Well, beside Agent," Tiger chuckled. "It was really cool. You should teach me a few tricks." He added a goofy wink and followed her. It made him happy to work with good heroes like Viper and Trick. He doubted he would have as much trouble fighting Agent if they fought three on one. "Thanks for saving me back there."

[RedBalloon]

Viper smirked, crossing her arms as she walked. "Well thank you," she murmured, in response to his compliment. "And no problem." She paused her words for a moment for a thought. "If you want me to show you a few tricks, I will hope your bones are dense." She laughed at her own comment, fangs showing. As her voice was lowered, her odd Brazilian/islander accent peeked through, which made the s and c letters stronger and more drawn out as well as a slight roll of her r's.

[1Hawkeyes]

"Dense is my middle name," Tiger joked. When they arrived at the back entrance of the bar, he stood aside to let Viper unlock it. "Do you have anywhere to change? I'd do it back here but someone would probably see," he even looked around out of slight nervousness, not wanting anyone to catch them. "Hiding identities sure isn't easy."

[RedBalloon]

Viper took out a key and unlocked the back door, glancing to the entrance of the alley to make sure no one was there. "Tell me about it, I don't even think Trick tries half of the time," she muttered, unlocking the door and pushing it open her foot as she put the key away. "The bar is closed right now so you can change in the restroom if you'd like." Viper stepped inside the back storage room then flipped on the light. "It's out that door and to the left, she instructed, removing her mask.

[1Hawkeyes]

"Doesn't try?" Tiger asked. He supposed Trick didn't care at this point. "Alright." Tiger went into the bathroom and immediately stripped down. He had an extra pair of clothes in a stitched internal pocket, but it was the bare minimal, a thin shirt and pants and flexible shoes. Once he was done he met Lacy. "Sorry for the sweat. Hero work and all," he laughed, stretching out his elbow. He figured it wouldn't be hurt for long but he wasn't going to take risks. "How much would a drink cost?"

[RedBalloon]

Lacy had changed into a low v-neck shirt with jeans but no shoes. Who needs shoes when you owned the place? She was behind the bar, fixing herself a glass of whiskey on the rocks. She looked up after pouring the drink to see him. "Cost? Oh no, Hun, don't worry about it," she said, smiling at him. "It's on the house. What do you want?" She raised her glass and took a sip while she waited for an answer.

[1Hawkeyes]

"Oh wow, I finally don't have to use the 'left my wallet at home' excuse," Adam joked. "I'll take a scotch." He rested his chin on the bar and let out a long sigh. "They only ever keep coming back. What's the point in fighting?"

[RedBalloon]

Lacy grabbed a glass from underneath the counter then reached for the scotch. She was beginning to pour when he spoke again. She didn't say anything at first before murmuring, "So that maybe one day they won't come back. Without us, the bad guys would hurt others then where would we be? In a world that is way more painful than it already is." She placed the glass in front of him. She had filled it up more than she would for a regular customer. "How long have you been in the crime-fighting business?"

[1Hawkeyes]

"I guess that's true," Adam replied and drank. "I've been in the game for maybe three years. Definitely not the longest. It's just been taking a tole for a while. I don't know Agent's identity but when she moved here I had to move to stop her. This town is terrible, but I need to help it. I know Agent's weaknesses, but she knows mine. What about you? How long have you been at it?"

[RedBalloon]

Lacy had to consider that question for a moment. "I don't exactly consider myself a hundred percent hero," she snorted, swishing the contents of her glass around. She reached to her side and dragged a chair over to her spot. After seating herself, she leaned her elbow against the counter to rest her head on her palm. "I only do this hero business because of Ace, er, well, Trick. But let's just assume I'm all good and all of that crap and say I've been at it for about five years." Lacy gave him a little smile. "So, why do you do it?" She questioned.

[1Hawkeyes]

"Anyone willing to do this has to be at least a little good," Adam said, flicking the glass. "Why do I do this... I guess because I have the power to, so I kind of have to. I don't get any kind of reward for being a hero. Don't get me wrong, saving lives is great, but it doesn't pay the bills. My apartment isn't the best, roaches, annoying neighbors, heck I've even been robbed once. I wish being a hero came with more ups than just satisfaction." Adam sighed and looked at Lacy again, "You do this for Trick? Why? I know you two aren't... together, like a couple. Are you best friends?"