[IC] The Vigilante (rocketrobie2 and Nallore)

[rocketrobie2]

Episode 0

Rebirth

It was a calm and peaceful night in Edging... relatively speaking of course, compared to nearly any other city it was a horrible night to be out and about. The gangs roamed around neighbourhoods, corrupt business men participated in less than moral practices, innocent civilians were mugged in the street and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Amid all the chaos, one thing stood out as especially abnormal.

A lone car drove through one of the old neighbourhoods which had yet to be torn down and turned into acceptable living accommodations. The car stopped outside one of the houses and from the passenger seat stepped Scott Nexton, recluse billionaire, who was well into his seventies. Before closing the door to the car he turned around and poked his head into the car "I won't take long, just wait here." Mr.Nexton said to the driver who simply gave him a nod.

Scott walked into the house taking his time to look at every aspect of the suburban home from its broken floorboards to its mood filled walls. Meanwhile outside another car drove up but this car was very different from the car that Mr.Nexton had ridden in. This car was adorned with spikes and flame decals, all the tell tale signs of Rioteers. Before the driver of Scott Nexton's car had time to react one of the Rioteers had broken the window of the car and knocked out the driver, all with one powerful punch.

On a bad day Scott would have noticed all the noise coming from outside and today was a good day so naturally he was well aware of the thugs outside. With a face that displayed no emotion he walked towards the door, fists clenched. He may not have been as fit as he once was but he was likely still leagues ahead of everyone of the thugs outside. Scott left the door ready for a fight but was taken off guard by one of the Rioteers who had been hiding near the door.

It was not a pretty scene as the Rioteers began beating on Mr.Nexton who was simply biding his time, looking for an opening but one passerby would throw off Scott's plans, one passerby would be destined for greatness, one passerby didn't know what she was getting herself into if she decided to defend the old man.

That passerby was Jennifer.

[Nallore]

Jennifer Reese had walked out of the bar that she had been working at for the past few hours after finishing up her classes for the day, she grabbed her guitar case and left for the night. She never liked walking out late at night due to the rampant crime in Edging, she walked past some creepy old men who looked like they had spent the last several years in jail and were let out. But they simply just stared at her and checked her out, but none of them approached her.

She had tied her hair into a pony tail as she walked down the sidewalk until she passed by an old looking apartment, then she could hear the shattering of glass and then spotted a Rioteer's car right next to a rather expensive looking one. Jennifer wasn't sure why someone with wealth would go into this part of the city, her eyes looked up at the door to see a man in his seventies walking out before getting hit by one of the street thugs and proceeded to beat him up.

Of course she wasn't going to stand for this and looked around, before spotting an old rusted pipe sticking out of the wall and quickly grabbed it. She didn't want to see the old man or his driver to get hurt and dashed over to the driver, Jennifer managed to get one of them caught off guard and knocked the man out. Then Jennifer ran towards Mr. Scott Nexton, though she didn't know of him or who he was, Jennifer managed to hit the mans attacker, which seemed to piss him off. "Well hello pretty thing." He said as he managed to yank the pipe out of her hand and proceeded to hit her. And then several more quickly came in and started wailing on the poor girl while she was down on the ground, if she was going to get beaten by people it was worth it because she had helped someone.

[rocketrobie2]

As the men began to branch off to beat on the girl who had at least tried to come to Scott's rescue, Scott himself found himself an opening in the relentless beating and managed to drop two of his attackers and get up to take out the rest of them. Mr.Nexton had an element of surprise on his side as the Rioteers didn't expect a man in his seventies to be as strong and as spry as Mr.Nexton was. In a matter of seconds the remaining conscious Rioteers ran for their car and took off, leaving behind their comrades. Scott watched as they drove off into the night and then proceeded to walk over to the girl who was laying on the ground. "That wasn't very smart miss. You could have gotten yourself killed by those goons." Scott said as he breathed heavily from the previous exertion. Scott admired that she had tried to help but he thought it was pretty dumb to try to take on Rioteers with nothing more than a pipe.

[Nallore]

Jennifer laid on her side letting out low grunts in pain as the men beat her, she looked over towards the old man who the Rioteers were originally targeting him. She was surpised to watch Mr. Nexton easily beating up two of them and then scaring off the rest of them, when they were completely gone Jennifer looked towards the old man's hand and groaned in pain as she stood up, having a black eye a busted lip and several bruises across her chest and sides. "It was worth trying to help someone for the good, and you pretty much did the same with that fancy car o yours and the driver." Jennifer said before extending her hand towards him. "I'm Jennifer by the way."

[rocketrobie2]

"Scott Nexton." was all the man said as he quickly shook the woman's hand then walked over to the driver's seat of his car. He carefully opened up the door and hoisted his, luckily small, driver out and brought him around to the passenger's seat of the car. "Not a lot of people would have done what you did tonight Ms.Jennifer. That being said there is good reason for that. Goodnight Ms.Jennifer." Scott said as he hoped in the driver's seat and drove off without another word.

What the girl had done was incredible stupid in Scott's eyes, she clearly had little to no experience in fighting and she could have gotten herself killed by on of those brutes yet she stilled tried to help what she thought was just a defenceless old man. This struck a cord in the cold, hardened heart of Scott Nexton and it gave him an idea that would change Edging for better or for worse.

Over the next few days, Scott began making preparation for the return of The Vigilante. He immediately made up his mind that he wasn't going to don the suit again, not after what had happened all those years ago, but he knew just the person for the job...

When that person called Scott crazy and outright refused the invitation to take up the mantle of The Vigilante, Scott settled for his number two, Ms.Reese. Late that stormy night, Ms.Reese would find a letter on her bed with the classic 'V' of the Vigilante printed on the envelope made of real paper. This would be quite a deal since The Vigilante hasn't been in years and nobody used paper anymore.

To Ms.Reese

Dear Ms.Reese,

You have displayed something that this city does notice enough of and that is a genuine will to do good. That is why I am writing you this message. I would like to offer you a job, my job. If you are interested then meet me at Fringe Park at 9:00 sharp tomorrow night. If you are not there by nine then I will assume you do not wish for this painstaking responsibility I which case I don't blame you. If you are interested however, don't be late.

The Vigilante

[Nallore]

@rocketrobie2

Jennifer headed back to her apartment as she finally got there she looked at herself in the mirror seeing the black eye she had been given just a few moments ago and sighed rather loudly as she quickly went to her small first aid kit that was in her bedroom. When she was in there Jennifer found a envelope on her bed, she hadn't seen paper since she was like five years old as she went to pick it up she noticed the wax seal of a "V" on it.

Jennifer quietly read the note, it was The Vigilante she remembered hearing stories about him and how he fought crime and actually protected the city from harm and crimes by the gangs back then. Jennifer wasn't sure why he suddenly took an interest in her though she was interested and curious about the proposition that he had for her and was told to meet him at the park at 9:00PM tomorrow. She went back into the bathroom and quickly tended to the wounds that she had received from the Rioteers.

The next day Jennifer's day was rather normal she went to class, though the entire day for her was long and drawn out her mind was still constantly wondering about last night and how she saved that old man and given a job opportunity from The Vigilante. The school day was finally done and over with and by the time she had finished her homework Jennifer quickly headed over towards Fringe Park she was about ten minutes early as she sat at a nearby bench watching as a few couples passed by until eventually it was just her alone at the park.

[rocketrobie2]

At 9:00 on the dot a voice appeared from behind Jennifer "Ms.Reese." said the man behind Jennifer. Scott had been waiting in the park for around twenty minutes now though he had been doing so from the comfort of his car. He had waltzed over to the bench in his normal stride which after years of stealth turned his normal walk into that of a ninja.

[Nallore]

Jennifer looked down at her watch until she heard the familiar voice and turned around to see the old man that she had helped out last night, she didn't even hear the man approach either as he walked over towards the bench. She then slowly took out the folded up letter that she had in her pocket and went to sit down. "So what is this all about?" Jennifer asked as she handed him the letter and looked towards the old man, she was actually very curious to what sort of offer he had for her.

[rocketrobie2]

Scott calmly took the letter from Jennifer and placed it into a pcoket hidden away in his coat. "It's exactly as the letter say Mrs.Reece. I am offering you the job of protecting this city from itself and those who would wish to harm the innocents of this city." Scott said as simply as he could, he was leaving out a lot of the nitty-gritty of the job to keep it vague enough that if she decided not to take the job and go off and tell someone about her encounter, it would be more difficult for anyone serious to belive her. "Don't take this lightly either though Mrs.Reece. This is a dangerous job and your going to make a lot of enemies and sometimes you'll find yourself on the run from the people you pledge to protect. This is a lonely, gruelling occupation and not for the faint of heart." Scott elaborated, half hoping she would say no as he was beginning to have second thoughts on his choice of a replacement.

[Nallore]

Jennifer looked at Scott and raised an eyebrow at him so was he some sort of crime fighter back in his youth or something? She ran a hand through her hair and sighed softly. She wasn't sure if she could do something like that, the last time she fought it was in front of him and she ended up getting her ass beaten brutally and she was still recovering from the hits now. Then again Jennifer truly didn't want to see anyone else hurt or harmed, and she knew that the police would only be able to do so much. "The last time you pretty much saw my ass get beat, but I want to help people. So I guess you can count me in I know only the police can do so much." Jennifer said and started to second guess herself now.

@rocketrobie2

[rocketrobie2]

Scott nodded in acknowledgement of her answer. Her fighting skills were a big blow to her chances of even surviving a scuffle with some thugs, let alone protecting anyone else from said thugs, but her heart was in the right place and Scott knew that this was better than having training in self-defence. You can train someone to fight, but you can't train someone to be a hero. "If you'll follow me Ms.Reece I'll take you to your new place of work." Scott said having a slight change in the tone of his voice when he said 'place of work'.

Scott turned and began walking back to his car. The Driver from the other night quickly got out of the car to open the door for Scott and Jennifer. The Driver had a few small cuts and a bruise from the other night's scuffle but nothing major seemed wrong with him.

[Nallore]

Jennifer was surpised for a moment that he would actually be willing to give her a job, she would quietly follow behind Scott through the park the same way that the old man had come from, then she spotted the familiar limo and the driver from the night before noticing that he still had some of the injuries from the night before but patched up.

Jennifer would smile slightly towards the man as she headed over and climbed into the rear passenger seat, she slowly ran her hand through her hair slightly nervous she knew that this job would be very dangerous and that she would have to lie to those around her just to keep them safe. "So uhm how are you two feeling?" Jennifer asked the both of them.

[rocketrobie2]

"Eh, I'm still a little worse for the ware but I'm doing good thanks to you and Mr.Nexton. How are you miss?" the driver said casually from the front as he began to drive the limousine. Scott on the other hand simply replied with "I'm fine." rather than elaborating like the driver.

After an hour or so the limo came to its destination, a large old-for-the-time home with tons of overgrown plants littering the grounds. Scott lead Jennifer into the house which was amazingly well kept. The interior of the house was lavish and looked like it had once been used to host parties and galas but it now had a distinct feeling of emptiness, almost yearning for people to once again fill its halls with jolly laughter. Scott moved towards one door which lead to a wine cellar beneath the estate. "What I'm going to show you is completely secret to the public and was commissioned off the books." Scott said as he descended the stairs and headed towards a wine shelf. "If you tell anyone about this place I will deny its existence and put all my resources into keeping it a secret." the man said as he pulled a bottle off the shelf or at least tried to. The bottle only moved slightly and was then put back down as one of the walls opened up slightly revealing another room. "This is your last chance to leave Ms.Reece. From this point on your under my employment." Scott said staring Jennifer straight in the eyes, his stare piercing through the near pitch black darkness.

[Nallore]

"I'm alright just recovering from some bruises." Jennifer answered the driver and would smile slightly towards him, as she looked inside the limousine she had never been in one before and it was her first time. She got into the seat next to Mr. Scott, she watched as they slowly started to drive through the city until they were at the outskirts of the city then she saw an old looking mansion in front of her. Raising her eyebrows for a moment as the car came to a stop. Jennifer got out and quietly started to follow behind Scott until they were inside of his mansion, she was surprised to see how well maintained the inside was. She could imagine a lot of parties were hosted here at a time, she continued following Scott.

Until they headed towards the cellar and looked at the various wines that were held in the cellar, she listened to him as he told her to keep everything a secret, biting her lower lip for a moment once the door opened and she entered she would be working for him. Jennifer was willing to help out the city in whatever way she could. "I am ready." Jennifer answered him her eyes meeting Scott's to show that she was willing to accept the risks.

@rocketrobie2

[rocketrobie2]

Scott gave an acknowledging nod towards Jennifer and proceeded into the aforementioned new room which revealed to be something truly awe inspiring. Through the doorway was a huge man made looking cave with an enormous white, disc-shaped platform resting on the floor of the cave. In the middle of the disc was a large computer screen along with various keyboards, buttons and a very comfy looking chair. To the right of the computer were three cylinders covered by sheets. The cylinders themselves were made of glass as one could see the under the sheets since they were not large enough to cover the containers and reach the ground.

"This will be your base of operation. Here is where most of your rudimentary training will be done as well as being a safe place to compare notes on the current 'jobs' we are doing." Scott explained as he descended the stairs towards the white platform of the cave.

"Now before we get to your actual training I think its more important to get you accustomed to your new business attire." Mr.Nexton said as he walked over to one of the sheets and yanked it off to reveal the artifact that laid underneath. In a glass case sat the last seen used Vigilante suit which consisted of an entirely black costume accompanied by one blue sash like emblem and pure white eyes. Scott pressed a button at the base of the case and removed the costume from it's confines and handed it to Jennifer.

"It should feel off the first time you wear it but after a while it should adjust to feel more natural." Scott said as he waited for Jennifer to put it on. Scott had always worn the suit over his normal clothes but should Jennifer want to change into the suit rather than put it on over her clothes Scott was prepared at his computer to put up a wall for her to change behind.

[Nallore]

Jennifer looked up in awe as she walked into the rather large manmade looking cave system that had been built under the mansion this she was not expecting to see and she could see why all the secrecy to everything. She quietly followed behind Mr. Nexton to the bottom of the stairs, she noticed the rather large monitor with various keyboards and buttons. Then she followed behind him to a group of glasses that were covered by a tarp, as he removed it Jennifer took a step back eyeing the suit of the Vigilante in front of her.

"You want me to become the Vigilante?" Jennifer asked as she accepted the suit as she looked down at the dark suit running her fingers through the flexible material that it was made of. Jennifer watched the old man walking towards the large computer and got to work when a small wall appeared next to her. She walked behind it, Jennifer slowly started to strip down to her underwear setting her clothes down into a neat pile. Jennifer started to slowly get changed into it.

Jennifer started to try and get adjusted to the weird feeling, she remembered reading the many stories of him back when she was growing up she thought it was all a myth but she was completely wrong. After she had gotten all adjusted to Jennifer made her way towards Mr. Nexton. "How do I look?" Jennifer asked while looking up at the giant computer in front of her.
@rocketrobie2

[rocketrobie2]

@Nallore

"You look like you can take a hit though wether you actually can remains to be seen." Scott commented as he turned around in the swivel chair at the main computer. In truth the suit brought up a flurry of positive and negative emotions that the man wasable to seamlessly suppress.

"Now that you have the suit on it's time to get some of the systems online. Initiate start up sequence, code reboot." The old man said as the suit's latent electronics came online. Suddenly Jennifer's eyes were flooded with various read outs ranging from a barometer to stranger things such as an 'astral reader'. Eventually many of the readouts disappeared to be brought up at a later date but a few systems remained such as an aiming assist system.

"Now the suit is capable of quite a few superhuman feats such as increasing the wearer's strength two-fold or enabling its wearer to climb up solid surfaces thanks to built in retractable claws." Scott said as he pressed a few buttons on the computer, bringing up a read out of various unarmed fighting styles.

"Now before we start your training, I'm going to give you the opportunity to choose from a few NON-lethal weapons to become proficient in. Of course you could always go with simply using your fists as they tend to be more reliable in my own opinion." Scott said as he pressed yet another button which brought up a select few items up from the white floor.

The weapons from right-to-left (all of which sported a similar dark colour to the suit) were a pair of Esricma sticks, a retractable Bo staff and finally a circular shield capable of collapsing into a smaller, easy to carry arm plate.

[Nallore]

Jennifer flinched slightly as a Heads Up Display appeared over her vision, she looked through the readouts and was amazed at just how a small little thing would show up right in front of her eyes. Some of it she didn't even know or didn't even try to understand it at least for now, this was all completely new and different for her. Then Scott told her some of the features of the suit, she looked down at her hands and wrists as retractable claws came out as well as her feet for extra grip.

She looked back towards Scott as he told her that the suit also enhanced her strength two fold she wanted to test everything that this suit could actually do. Then her eyes looked down at the white floor in front of her as three display cases came up each holding three different weapons that she could use.

She approached the one in the middle thinking that the range would be better then the others, and grabbed it she then started to approach Scott and stood next to him staring up at the massive computer in front of her. "Seems like you have a lot of things prepared for everything." Jennifer said softly as she looked down at the older man.

@rocketrobie2

[rocketrobie2]

Scott smirked a little at Jennifer's comment "Ms.Reese, you don't get this old in this business without being prepared." Scott said as he began to type on the large computer. Jennifer wasn't the perfect choice for the job, Scott knew that for certain, but she was the best he could do and for all he knew she might end up surpassing his expectations for her. She might even be a better Vigilante than the original.

But first she'd need to learn to fight and Scott would have too much fun pitting her against hi practice bots.

End of Episode 0

[Nallore]

Episode One

Jennifer sat at the back of the classroom looking up at the chalkboard as the professor continued to go on with his lesson on history though she hadn't been paying much attention to the lesson at all. The night before was still going through her head as Scott revealed to her what her new job actually was to become the Vigilante though she kept second guessing herself about the decision to do it. Though she did want to see the city be safer then it was crime had gotten worse since her father became chief of police.

When the class was over Jennifer got out of her seat and started to make her way towards the locker she yawned loudly as she rubbed her eye slightly and stretched again. She had spent the night before talking with Scott trying to get as much information out of the old man as possible. Jennifer made it to her locker and started to grab her backpack and started to make her way towards the food court of her school to grab some lunch. Jennifer walked over towards the line and grabbed some food that was set up, then once she had everything Jennifer made her way towards the table and sat down looking outside the window.

@rocketrobie2