Hotshot took a deep breath as the first rays of morning sun began to peek over the walls of Megacity-01. After spending the majority of last night disciplining some young upstarts in Afterburn, he was grateful to have a quiet moment before long day began. This particular morning, Hotshot was in his usual hiding place: a secluded rooftop on top of a Matsuda Cybernetics clinic. There was an old communication tower on top of the building which Hotshot would climb in order to get a full view of the cityscape around him. Sadly his moment of peace was about to be shattered.
In the corner of his eye, Hotshot saw a blur moving across the rooftops. Once the figure reached the Matsuda building, he recognized the shock of blonde hair and cybernetic arm of Phoenix, another Afterburn Sk8ter and his old friend. Dropping down from his perch, Hotshot immediately recognized the worried look in her eyes.
"What's the beat, Phoenix?" Hotshot turned on his runner specs as he addressed her. If anything was wrong, the first place to check would be SkyNet.
"Nothing good. We've got a dead Burner on our hands. Rotor. He didn't come back to the safehouse last night. When we woke up this morning, news reports in the Hub had his body all over the feed. Dead in the Spire." Hotshot perked up at that last part.
"The Spire? Why would a beginner like him go there? Especially after I told the whole damn cell to avoid the Spire like the plague?" Even though it had been several months since the incident with Firebird, his death at the hands of MCPD still had lasting scars for Afterburn.
"No clue. I checked with some of his buddies, but all they heard was Rotor had gotten hit up for a courier job. He wouldn't tell them anything, only that he was gonna "rule the fucking city" when it was done. What's odd though is the news reports all said he wasn't carrying anything..."
"Well that's certainly cryptic..." Hotshot observed the SkyNet map as several markers began popping up in The Spire. "Rotor said he HAD a job, but no item on him. Meaning someone probably got to him first and took whatever he was carrying." Picking himself off the ground, Hotshot began stretching. It seemed as though he was going to be running A LOT today. "I'm going to hit up a few contacts. Wake up the Cell. Send them throughout the city. Someone murdered one of our own. He's about to learn you don't fuck with Afterburn..."