The Streets of LA, Saturday Night
So, Thanksgiving with Nikolai's family had gone fairly well. His mother had scolded him for vanishing for so long without saying anything, as was absolutely her right to do. Then he'd spent a little while dodging questions about whatever that mysterious sickness was that had left him with eyes so sensitive that he had to wear shades all the time.
( Read more... )
Now, months of heroing in Baltimore under her rainbow belt, Kathy was more than ready to go out and clean up the neighborhood she'd grown up in.
She'd meant to get out there a lot earlier than Saturday night, but it was a lot more difficult to sneak out of her parents' apartment than it was her own dorm where no one cared when she came or went. And her parents had very strict ideas when their daughters should wake up in the mornings; vacation, holidays, and late nights out stopping crime be damned.
But she was leaving tomorrow to head back East and Kathy was not about to let her last night go without doing something as Banzai. So one ignominious exit from her bedroom window later (and a mental note to pick up a small bottle of WD40 while she was out), a rainbow-clad superhero was dashing ( ... )
Reply
And Gorgon, without his bike, was following behind the good old-fashioned way, feet pounding pavement and duster flying behind him, just daring Ronald or Rodney or whatever the hell this punk's name was to look in the rear-view mirror. One flash of the goggles would take care of him quick and easy.
Four miles was a surprisingly long distance when you were chasing a speeding car on foot. But not as long as one might think, when one was riding tier three.
Reply
A few months ago, she'd been trying to be a comic book superhero, rather than a real one.
With the benefit of time and experience, Banzai had a much smarter idea than just recklessly flinging herself into danger--at least doing so for a bit of flashy showmanship. Why jump when a loose brick perfectly timed (thank you, AP Physics!) could have the same effect?
The brick flew. The windshield shattered. Brakes squealed and rough Spanish curses were hurled. And only then did Banzai leap down, executing a perfect somersault to land directly on the roof of the car.
"Fancy meeting you here," she said, smiling a bit under her mask.
Reply
Warning first, and then he'd make his way around the car to tap on Rodney's window. A flash of the goggles, and then it was naptime for the last asshole he'd been up against. Gorgon barely refrained from beating the living snot out of him while he was at it, tempting though it was.
"Timely save from your friendly neighborhood superball. You keep bricks in that belt of yours, too?"
Reply
The passenger door cracked open as another Seventeen tried to make his escape from the dude with the terrifying eyes. He didn't even notice her. Banzai sighed and slammed the door shut on him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Barry will be offended if I carried bricks around instead of coming to him for some fancy brick-substitute."
The guy tried to open the door again, clearly unsure why it had closed the first time. His eyes were locked on the driver's prone form, even as he scrambled to get out of the car. Banzai was in no mood for dealing with free-range Seventeens and kicked it closed again.
Six tries. It took a total of six tries before the scared gang member realized that there was something wrong with his door and looked out his window ( ... )
Reply
"That's what I'm going for," he replied. "I'll take a good first impression in Los Angeles if I can get it. Left a half-dozen of his buddies snoozing in an alleyway. I'm gonna have to get back to them before they start coming to, but the Tweedle brothers here were firing bullets off like reckless idiots. I couldn't just let them go. Look to the side for a moment, would you?"
He crouched down again and gave a sharp whistle. The Seven started and jerked around to look at him, and was rewarded with a locked stare with the vampire freak that had been chasing after them. Gorgon held him there for a beat longer than he strictly had to before letting him slump into the seat.
Reply
"This probably shouldn't be as satisfying as it is," she said, looking back to the car when she heard the shutterclick of his goggles closing. "But I've been back since Wednesday and I'm already so over the goddamn Seventeens. Did you know the yice principal of my old high school is out on leave because he got jumped for breaking up a weapons deal based out of a locker in there?"
Reply
He might've given Rodney an extra shake at that, for good measure.
Reply
"Never mind," she said hastily. "Forget I said that. Either way, it's pretty fucked up. The Seventeens have whole chunks of LA under their thumb and it seems like no one official gives a damn about it."
Probably because even in Hollywood, they only targeted poorer sections. So long as they left Brentwood and Rodeo alone, who cared, right?
Reply
"The Sevens have their heels dug so far in, I wouldn't be surprised if someone is paying somebody else to not give a shit," he shared. "I know a couple of cops who would love to put them all down. It's like stepping on fucking cockroaches. Do me a favor and haul this asshole's friend over here? Or at least frisk him for weapons and I'll do the heavy lifting. There's still a gun somewhere in that car."
Reply
Banzai whistled, glad that she was wearing gloves. This was not the kind of thing she wanted her prints on.
"Looks like someone came prepared for a good time," she said, putting the bags on the floor next to the gun. "Depending on which drug this is--" Kathy wasn't good at telling illegal drugs apart just by sight. "--this is probably a few thousand dollars worth of drugs. Crack or meth, probably?"
Reply
He glanced over his shoulder once he was done zipping Robert - or whoever - to the lamppost.
"Don't forget the glovebox. I took a pretty good hit from him, but if he's high on something, he might shake it anyway."
Reply
The glove compartment held no more drugs, but it did have more guns and a few hundred bucks in cash, wrapped in a green bandana. "Looks like they were doing rounds when you caught up with them," she reported, pulling the kid up over her shoulders in an awkward fireman's carry. "Trading drugs for cash with some of their street level sales would be my bet."
Reply
He didn't. His were all still in his saddlebags, back on the island.
Reply
To anyone?
"About my gear?"
People were...people were paying attention. To her. Or, well, to Banzai. She was being noticed. Maybe even...making a difference.
That was huge.
Reply
He pulled out another handful of ties, and then set to work making sure the kid was good and secured to the post, too.
"Think you can spare one or two, tonight? The cops are gonna be interested in these two, and if the rest of their buddies haven't woken up and taken off by now, I'd like to make sure they get rounded up, too."
Reply
Leave a comment