"So, you been doing this sort of thing for a while?"
Windup gives me a grin, though it's hard to make out - now that we're in the field he's wearing a full face mask, including his mouth. His suit's mostly gray, blending into the dark streets around us, but there are green lines crossing the whole thing like...some sort of abstract nervous system, I guess? "Got my 'Ten Years' plaque just the other month. How about you, newbie? Feeling nervous for your first big raid?"
I chuckle as I glance around at the people moving around us. Cops are sealing off the nearby streets and making sure that the civilians around here stay indoors, but we're still out of sight of the pawn shop for now. "Only excited! Although...if I was nervous, is that something you could help me with?"
He tilts his head in a thoughtful way. "Hrmm, a lot of that's in the brain, and I try to avoid messing with that - but I could help calm the heart, lungs, stomach, that sort of thing. Although if I go too far on that I can turn a body part numb, and you can probably guess what happens if I slow down or speed up someone's heart rate too much."
My eyes widen. "Holy shit, you can give someone a heart attack just by touching them!?"
Windup chuckles, but I think he's a bit uneasy about it. "Aha, well, I've practiced a lot to make sure I don't do that. Fortunately I've never had to. Although there was this one time where - "
"Hold up, I'm getting word." Silver Sensation waves for us to keep quiet, and we both turn towards him. A moment later he gives us a nod. "Police have secured the neighborhood, and backdoor team is in position. It's go time in ten."
Windup immediately puts his game face on - presumably - and I do the same. Silver counts down on his fingers, and on zero we rush around the corner and make our way to the pawn shop. We take a quick second to glance through the windows before we enter, but Lightweight's been keeping good tabs on the traffic so we know what to expect - three staff, four customers, all men. Silver's through the door first, and he flashes a blinding light into the shop while shouting.
"Liberty Stars! We are undertaking a law enforcement action, everyone in the building must lie down on the floor with your hands behind your head!"
We don't wait to see if they listen, though - it'd only take a second for someone to hit an alarm switch! While Silver focuses on the shoppers, Windup and I go for the staff. One of them's standing out in the center of the floor so I leave him for Windup, given that I'm more agile. I barely glance at the first guy behind the counter as my tail whips out to sting him in the neck, but for the guy in the back of the shop I have to prep something of a jump and a tackle to reach him. Making sure I don't put my foot through a glass case full of second-hand jewelry slows me down for a second, and it gives the scruffy-looking clerk time to reach for something.
Fortunately it was just for a gun, not an alarm. Flicking a safety, taking aim, and actually firing the thing at me? I'm way too fast for that, criminal scum! Oh wait, I should probably say that out loud. As my fist slams into his jaw, I do just that! "Ha! You wanna shoot me? Not a chance, I'm way too fast for that, criminal scum!"
"Red shirt!"
I blink, wondering why Windup is throwing random Star Trek references into things. Do we call criminals redshirts around here, or - oh. As I glance back behind the counter, I notice that Windup is pointing towards one of the customers, one wearing a red shirt - and one who's definitely not lying down all submissively like the others. He must've been plainclothes security, because I can see him reaching for a gun. In his case though he'd need to outdraw the speed of light, because Silver is on the case. A beam of light flies from Silver's palm and hits the guy in the face, lighting him up so much that I'm seeing spots for a second. I can tell the dude is considering whether or not to risk firing blind anyways, but it's a moot point a second later. Windup is there in no time, and with a Vulcan nerve pinch the dude is spasming and down on the ground.
The other customers are looking pretty freaked out, but they do at least seem to be more or less complying, so it seems like we've got things under control. I jab the guy beneath me with my stinger to make sure he stays down, then look over to Silver. "Shop floor secured!"
"Seems like it - good work. Rear team, front area is secured."
I don't hear any immediate response on my earpiece, but a few moments later I do hear a few slamming noises coming from a door marked 'employees only'. I look back at the others, wondering if we should rush back there and help them out, but I hear Tiptop's voice on my earpiece first. "Rear entrance secured, two guards neutralized, baselines. Checking for hidden access routes."
I start to head towards the door then, since it sounds clear, but Silver orders me back. "Super Stinger, you get some restraints on these guys - civilians included, for now. Windup and I will join the rear team, you follow along once that's handled."
I frown a little at that. "Eh? I'm good in a fight, I shouldn't be hanging back!"
Windup gives me a shrug as he passes me by. "Sorry, newbie. Newbie work!" There is a lock on the door, but Silver burns through the handle easily enough, and I groan as I get left behind.
"Fine! Hope you boys appreciate getting hogtied by a heroine!"
Getting restraints on one guy isn't all that difficult - we've got special metal cords that are a lot tougher than zip-ties, but just as easy and flexible to use. Some hero invented them for their gear, I suppose, and Liberty Stars didn't mind handing out some of the special toys for this job. Unfortunately I do have seven dudes to round up and restrain, and it takes longer than it did to disable them all in the first place! Funnily enough I think one of the customers does appreciate me straddling him and tying his hands behind his back...but no time to think about any funny business! We've got supervillains to take down!
When I finish I head back through the door, and a short hallway and a turn brings me back to the loading dock area. There's a few boxes and larger items, probably stuff too big for the shop floor, but most notably I spot Greenwar standing next to a hole in the wall. It looks like the drywall was designed to slide open, revealing an elevator behind, but I guess someone just tore the whole thing right open. There's no elevator waiting though, just an empty shaft.
Greenwar gives me a nod, and I can hear the roots making up his armor creak at the movement. "Not risking them turning off the power halfway down, so the others rappelled. If you need a hand, my vines can hold on to you as I go down."
I give him a grin. "Tempting thought, but I can climb fine on my own! Ropes are for losers!" I can spot him blinking through his mask as I jump into the open shaft, and sure enough, this is easy as pie. There's plenty of structural supports for me to grab on to, and the construction here's not the best so I can even sink my fingertips into the shitty concrete if I need to. The elevator car's waiting for me at the bottom with the top already opened up, so I hop inside and get my first look at this secret lair.
Down here at least it seems like they actually cared a bit about pandering to their VIPs. The shitty construction is...well, if not gone, at least covered up by carpets and hanging artwork. Somehow I doubt this place panders to billionaires or anything like that, but supervillains with some cash to burn, or upper-middle class folks looking to dabble in the scene...call this an entry-level conspiracy group, I guess?
The first room I come up on is some sort of...bar? Lounge? I don't know how fancy-people-places name their rooms, and everything down here is so cramped I'm not sure if they even apply. I do spot Redline tying restraints onto a couple of people though - looks like a server and maybe a couple of customers given their fancy outfits. Two dudes in suits, and a woman in...well, not exactly a fancy gala dress, but maybe more of a club outfit? What even is the market for this sort of place?
Redline glances up at me and gives me a nod. "I've got these, the others pushed on ahead."
I nod back and keep on moving. The next room seems to be the main auction hall, and it's definitely bigger. Room enough for a stage and maybe forty seats? There's a bunch of civilians here scrambling for cover, and more notably, a fight going on between Silver, Cold Call, and Front Man, with a guy that I recognize as Endzone. It's a pretty hectic fight with the speedster kicking off one wall then another, aiming for the guys when he can, but Front Man seems to be taking most of the hits and the two basically seem to bounce off of each other.
Probably gonna be really messy for the civvies if any of them end up in the line of fire, but not really my problem! With three-on-one I figure they can probably handle it, and keep on moving.
As I keep heading down the hall I get the impression I'm in more of an employees-only area. There's more locked doors, although the ones I pass by have all been forced open. Utility closet...maintenance closet...oh, hey, a security room! The guy sitting in front of the monitors has already been trussed up and tossed into a corner, but I decide to pop on in and take a look for myself.
One of the feeds is for the shop up top, so I suppose an alarm probably got triggered regardless, unless the guy whimpering in the corner was sleeping on the job. There's the lounge, there's the auction hall...oh hey, Tiptop is fighting Rep-Tail in some backstage area! Dammit, did I miss out on all of the cool supervillain fights tonight? I mean, maybe Rep-Tail will win...but after watching for ten seconds or so, that's clearly not gonna happen.
She puts on a damn fine show to watch though, I'll say that. She doesn't have superstrength or superspeed, not really, but every damn move she makes is perfect. A dodge, an uppercut, a kick, every move flows from one to the next like she'd spent hours choreographing this one specific fight. Shit, I'm pretty sure I couldn't take her, and the fact that Rep-Tail has a pretty similar fighting style to mine really drives that home. His extra appendage isn't giving him any advantage at all, and his claws don't do any good given that he can't land a single hit on her.
Kinda makes me wish more now that I'd been the one to run into him, but sucks to be the newbie, I guess. There's still other objectives to worry about though, and as I glance through the rest of the camera options I notice that I'm not finding them. Turning back to the guy in the corner, I grab him by the collar and pull him up to face-level.
"Where's the captives, scum?" I let my tail hover menacingly over my shoulder, and my stinger pops out for a second for extra emphasis. From the way the guy eyes it, he's definitely not being paid enough to withstand a little 'heroic encouragement'.
It still doesn't mean I get a useful answer, though. "The special merch? It's...uh, it's complicated?"
I let my sharpened fingers press against his throat. "Complicated how?"
"Well...they're not exactly here, if you get my drift..."
What in the Void is this guy talking about?