ROGUES GALLERY - Issue #1: Riches vs Rags (AutumnBreeze & Paperhorse)

[Master Mew]

Acting upon the orders of the terrorist organization Dragonfly, Mac is infiltrating the headquarters of Murphy's Deforestation Company in Des Moines, Iowa. She has a specific goal in mind... Will the Vigorous Vigilante be able to stop her in time?

 

[Paperhorse]

It is nighttime. Mac stands outside the office building of Murphy’s Deforestation Company. She is hiding in the shadows so no one can see her. She waits quietly, unmoving. The last light in the building turns off. She spots an older gentleman getting into his car, leaving for the night.

Mac smiles. This is going to be so easy.

She tiptoes to the door, clutching a small piece of paper with the security code written on it that a technician at Dragonfly gave to her. She already had the code memorized, but she brought the paper with her anyway.
Although the office building is small, the path leading to it is windy; Mac is careful not to trip as she makes her up the path. It is too dark for her to see, but she does not use a flashlight.

Mac reaches the door and carefully gropes the right side of it, trying to find the access panel. She finds it a few inches above her head.

She takes a deep breath and starts to punch in the sequence of numbers.

1347910.

The second she pressed enter she knew something was wrong. A series of high beeps rang out in the air, shattering the silence around her.

Mac let out a series of swears under her breath. Desperately, she squinted at the paper with the code written at it. Maybe I put in the code wrong!, she thought anxiously.

She typed in the code again. 1347610. The beeping automatically stopped, and the doors opened.

I mixed up the 6 and 9, she thought, rather annoyed with herself.

She hoped this would be her only blunder tonight.

 

[Prez]

Meanwhile, the Vigorous Vigilante remained in her small office located at the nearby police station. Letting out an obnoxious yawn, she leaned further in her plush chair and rested her legs on top of the desk. Her feet lazily landed on top of one of the folders that contained her many crime reports. Papers flew everywhere; the actual folder itself being kicked off towards the floor. The Vigorous Vigilante didn't even flinch in response, she just simply closed her eyes and waited for something interesting to occur. Boredom wasn't a foreign feeling to her, as crime never seemed to take up most of her day. Normally, she spent her work hours finishing up paperwork, something she always seemed to loathe due to the sheer dullness of it. Even actual crime fighting was becoming a chore for her. Whether people believed it or not, she once loved to see justice served. Ever since the robbery of her family's restaurant, fighting criminals was incredibly rewarding for her.

Her job at the police station was definitely a huge help to her funds, but this was precisely what made the thrill of fighting crime so much of a bore. Everything became required work and that turned her off from it. The Vigorous Vigilante's eyes soon landed on her bright, blue purse. She reached her arm out towards it and pulled out her cellphone. With a sigh, she began to read the new messages she received on it. "I hate slow nights." She quietly muttered to herself. "I'm always stuck in this cramped office."

 

[Paperhorse]

Mac hurries upstairs, trying to find the CEO’s office. One goal was to gather as much information as possible before burning the place down. She finally finds the office at the end of the hall.

Mac picks the lock rather easily and creeps into the office.

The office was smaller than she originally imagined. It was rather quaint and neat. All drawers and cabinets are labeled. Mac whiffs the sweet smell of a plant from the desk. Next to the plant was a card that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY in bright letters.

Mac began to pull out draws one by one, looking for anything interesting. There were lots of organized papers on tax information, government documents, employee payroll, etc. Mac frowns. Would Dragonfly find any of this useful? What would they want with the CEO’s personal bank statements?

She places a few files in the bag around her waist. Just in case.

She has one more drawer to go through. A cloud of dust rises from the drawer as she pulls it open. The only thing in the drawer was a manila envelope. She opens it and gasps; her heartbeat starts to quicken. She finds herself starring at a picture of her brother. The words DECEASED are written over his face. It’s been a while since Mac has last seen his eyes. Underneath his picture is information about her brother. Mac scans it quickly, confused. Why do they have information on him? She places the file into her bag.

Suddenly she hears a noise from downstairs. Mac freezes.

She sees a light go on downstairs. Mac creeps to the door, and then to the edge of the stairway and looks down. The cleaning crew has arrived for the night.

Mac feels relieved when she sees there is only one man. He is short for a man, around 5’4, and looked to be in his mid-forties. She smooths back her hair and starts to walk down the stairs toward him.

The man looks up at her in shock. “Who are you?” He asks sharply.

Mac says nothing. She takes out her revolver from her jeans, points, and shoots. The shot is louder than expected and rings off the walls. The bullet lands directly into his forehead.

Careful not to slip on his blood, she walks around the body. Time to get out of here.

She heads to the basement where Dragonfly told her to plant the bomb. She has three minutes to escape. As she runs away from the building, Mac is smiling widely. Using her weapon has always thrilled her. She was glad for the chance.

The bomb goes off.

 

[Prez]

Almost as if someone heard her silent plea, the Vigorous Vigilante barely felt the back of her chair vibrate. The sound of something dropping to the floor echoed in her ears soon after. Opening one eye out of curiosity, she looked around the room in order to make sure no one was messing around with her. The room was empty and there was no person to be seen. If anything, the only thing out of place was the stapler that fell to the floor. "That's odd." She commented, lowering her legs down from the desk. Something had caused the room to shake. Glancing around the room for a second time, the Vigorous Vigilante got up from her chair and began to head for the door. Just as she was about to reach towards the knob, she heard many of the police officers from outside shouting about something.

"A bomb went off down by the Deforestation Company!" One man exclaimed, running past the door. This then prompted the Vigorous Vigilante to head outside of her office and try to figure out what was happening. Many of the officers were frantically making their way around the station, trying to see if there was anything they could do. Just as she was about to ask one of them what the situation with the bomb was, a woman ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank goodness you're here, Ms. Roux." She said with a sigh of relief. "Someone let off a bomb down by the Deforestation Company." This information did little to help, as the Vigorous Vigilante had already heard one of the officers say that before.

"Is there anything else known about it?" She asked, hoping the woman would enlighten her on the situation.

"Yes, due to the fact a bomb was set off, this was obviously an intentional attack. We want you and a few of the other officers to head down there and see what you can do." The officer explained.

"Alright... will do." With this, the Vigorous Vigilante headed off towards the building where the bomb went off. She ignored any of the other officers assigned to the case with her, as she preferred to work on jobs like this alone. She truly had no idea what to expect when she got there, but if she was going to get reasonably paid, it was completely worth it.

 

[Paperhorse]

Mac sat in the basement of small office building, several blocks from The Deforestation company. Across from her was a tall man in his early fifties. He had spots of gray in his dark brown hair. He is frowning.

“That bullet can be traced back to you,” he says to Mac.

Mac leans back in her chair and smirks.

“That body is most likely burned beyond recognition.”

Mr. Franco stands up and slams his hand on the desk.

“Mac, this is serious! You SHOULD NOT have killed that man. They are now going to investigate this as a homicide as well as destroying property.”

Mac sits up straighter and uncrosses her legs.

“I think I know how to handle myself,” she says.

“Your brother would have never made a mistake like that,” Mr. Franco counters.

Mac stands up angrily.

“I HAD NO CHOICE.”

“GET OUT OF HERE MARY,” he shouts back at her.

Mac storms out angrily. She didn’t understand why he was so against her all the time. She did everything he asked for. The only thing she kept for herself was her brother’s file. She would turn it over when she figured out why the CEO had it in the first place.

“Wait, Mary!"

Mr. Franco is following her down the hall.

“I have something else for you to do.”

Mac turns around and says nothing but stares at him coldly.

“You need to go back and plant some evidence,” he says.

“What?”

“You need to plant some evidence to throw the police off our trail.”

Mac crosses her arms. “What did you have in mind?”

“On the police force, there is a bomb specialist named Stella Zhang. She is the best they got. You have to back to the Headquarters and plant evidence that she built the bomb in order to frame her. She uses special wires, which we were able to duplicate. You need to go plant them at the crime scene. The wires are upstairs in the storeroom.”

Mac frowns. “And how am I supposed to do that?” I already know the answer.

“Use your ability. Take Carlos with you.”

“It’s already been a couple hours I don’t know if I can go back that far,” she replies in an aggravated voice.

Mr. Franco bristles. “DON’T argue with me Mary, you’re like a child. YOU BETTER NOT SCREW THIS UP.”

And with that, he turns away and walks down the hall.

 

[Prez]

It was a quick trip to the now destroyed Deforestation Company. The Vigorous Vigilante didn't seem the least bit affected upon seeing the remains of the building. Events like this happened all the time; it was nothing new to her at all. Her trip was made in one of the city's local police cars, accompanied by two other officers from the station. Upon arriving, the three of them stepped out from car and began to walk towards the remains of the building. "I have to wonder who would go to such measures to destroy the place." The Vigorous Vigilante stated, looking over at the other two officers. "I think I can understand the reasoning, but I just don't get who."

"We can assume it was some gang of terrorists." The male officer bitterly spat. He stood at a stunning 6'2" with tanned skin and short, brown hair. Appearing to be in his late twenties, it was quite obvious that he was relatively new to the whole crime fighting scene. The only reason why he was included on this case was due to his outstanding skills in relation to the rest of the recruits. "Destroying buildings like this with citizens inside... there's no other way to describe who did it..."

"I think she was wondering who they were specifically, Virgil." The other cop said, narrowing her eyes slightly at the man. Like him, the woman too stood at a tall height, though if anything, was a few inches shorter than him. It was obvious her light brown skin had some wrinkles forming due to age. Her dark hair had seen better days, as spots of grey were creeping through various parts of her scalp. She was now in her early fourties, though her talent and ability as a police officer kept her up and active.

"Talar, have I ever told you I love how smart you are?" The Vigorous Vigilante asked with a cheesy grin.

"Everyday." Virgil answered for her with a groan. The three of them were assigned to the same job every once in a while, and it always seemed like the young super heroine always favored Talar over himself. She even allowed the officer to call her by her real name. Cece Roux. He wasn't bitter. He was extremely bitter. "Anyway, we should go inside and see what's up."

"Don't tell me how to run my job." The Vigorous Vigilante replied, an unamused tone to her voice.

 

[Paperhorse]

“We can do this here.”

Mac sits on the floor of the storeroom facing Carlos Ruiz. Carlos is a young man, no older than twenty, who only joined Dragonfly a few weeks ago. He is always eager to try something new, as he wants to be accepted. Time to prove your worth.

Carlos stares at Mac, his brown eyes wide with anticipation.

“Are there any side-effects?” he asks.

Mac smirks. “Only a bad headache.”

For the first time, Mac sees hesitation in Carlos’ face.

She sighs. “We need to do this now. Going back a few hours is difficult and it’s possible it won’t work.”

Carlos nods.

“Lay down,” Mac commands.

Carlos carefully lays down on the hard cement floor, his head facing towards her. Mac inches forward, and places her right hand on his forehead.

Mac starts to speak quickly. “This is very important. Try not to move and keep your eyes closed. Don’t open them until I say so. In order for this to go smoothly I need your full cooperation. Now, where were you 3 hours ago?”

“I was here.”

“Okay, good. Now what I need to do is when you go back in time, go to the storeroom and pick up the wires. Then, go to the Headquarters. You need to be quick, and plant the evidence before the bomb goes off. Or you can find me before I enter the building and give me the evidence. I will know whether or not you are successful because my memory will change. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

“Oh and another thing,” Mac says, as she places her hand on his forehead. “Don’t sneak up on me, make sure I see you. Now close your eyes.”

Mac could feel her energy leaving her body through her fingers. Suddenly the storeroom darkens, and the only light she could see was traveling from her to her fingers. Carlos is bathed in a surrounding yellow light, his eyes shut tight.

I hope I am able to send him back far enough.

With another breath, Mac sends more energy to Carlos. She starts to sweat slightly, and her head begins to hurt. She ignores it.

She concentrates on three hours ago. Nothing in her memory seems to have changed yet.

Focus. She tells herself. She sits up straighter, and watches as the energy flows from her to Carlos.

She checks her watch. 20 minutes go by. 30 minutes. 45 minutes. Mac wonders if it’s almost time to wake him. She’s getting tired, and her head is pounding. She focuses on her memory. Nothing seems to have changed. She is hoping she would remember seeing Carlos there.

Suddenly Carlos’ body starts to jerk violently. Mac almost loses concentration. She bites her lip and uses her other hand to hold Carlos’s head.

What is going on? She thinks nervously. There have been times where the people she sends back in time have twitched and moved, but this reaction was unusual. Mac tries to search her memory, but her headache has become unbearable that she can’t focus. He better succeed! She thinks. The last thing she needs right now is to fail.

Carlos stops moving. Mac leans close to his face. Still breathing, we might succeed after all. She feels relieved, but her body is shaking and sweating. Her head feels as if it’s about to explode.

She knows her body is at her limit. I can’t do this anymore; I have to wake him up.

Slowly, she stops sending energy to Carlos, and pulls her hand off his forehead. Just like her brother taught her.

The room brightens again.

Mac is breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. She sits and watches Carlos carefully.

He opens his eyes. “Ouch,” he moans, rolling over and sitting up. He touches the back of his head and winces. “Next time I want to lay on a pillow…or a bed.”

“Did it work?” Mac asks, ignoring his comment.

Carlos stares at her with a confused expression.

“I think so,” he said. “I gave you the evidence.”

“You did?” Mac searches her memory, but she is still in pain from the headache.

“Yes, but you attacked me first,” Carlos says. He pulls up his shirt to reveal a nasty looking bruise on his stomach.

Suddenly Mac remembers. She recalls wrestling Carlos to the ground as he was screaming “MAC IT’S CARLOS. YOU SENT ME HERE.”

“I told you not to sneak up on me. Good thing I didn’t go for my gun.”

Carlos’ narrows his eyes. “You could have killed me!”

Mac stands up and heads toward the door.

“I didn’t,” she says as she exists.

 

[Prez]

The Vigorous Vigilante led her team of two towards the wreckage of the Deforestation Company. Numerous obstacles covered their path; large metallic building structures, wooden beams, and even parts of the ceiling threatened to block the way of the Vigorous Vigilante and her crew. Upon arriving at an enormous, crumbled structure that covered the entrance to the building, she merely smirked in response. With one hand only, she lifted it up and simply tossed it out of the way. Both Talar and Virgil had both seen this before; it was nothing new to them. That part of the building structure must have weighed a ton, but they both knew the Vigorous Vigilante had these odd powers which allowed to her lift heavy objects.

"Well, come on." She said, turning around to face the two. "We're not going to get info on this case by just standing here." After saying this, the super heroine began to make her way inside. Her first thought upon seeing it was just 'disaster'. Nothing seemed to make it; horrifying figures lay on the floor and the Vigorous Vigilante could only assume they were once workers for the company. The two officers followed in pursuit, remaining silent as they watched her push various obstacles out of their way. "I think I can smell where the bomb went off." She muttered, looking around. "Follow me."

She then led the group towards a deformed stair case. "Up here. I think it went off up here." The Vigorous Vigilante commented, looking up and sniffing for any kind of new scent. Not only did her powers give her super strength, but it also gave her the heightened senses of an animal. She had the ability to see, hear, and smell a million times more efficiently. At times, it was both a blessing and a curse.

 

[Paperhorse]

Mac and Carlos stroll into Mr. Franco’s office.

“Well?” Mr. Franco looks at Mac.

“We were successful, sir,” Mac says. She tries not to smile.

“Good. Now go rest up for a few hours. I need you alert for our next mission.”

“What mission?” she asks.

“Carlos you’re dismissed,” Mr. Franco nods in his direction.

For a few moments, Carlos looks like he is going to argue and then decides not to.

“You know where to find me,” he mumbles as he leaves.

“What do you need me to do?” Mac asks.

“The owner of the Deforestation Company- his name is Theodore Murphy. He has a daughter named Penelope Murphy. She’s 12 years old. I want you to go kidnap her and bring her back here and we are going to hold her for ransom.”

Mac begins to feel nervously excited. She’s never attempted a kidnapping before.

“Where do they live?” she asks.

“Right in Des Moines.” He hands her an address. “You can plan it tomorrow. Mac, I’m putting my faith in you, don’t screw it up. Now go home, and we’ll meet tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mac turns and leaves.

 

[Prez]

The Vigorous Vigilante and her crew continued their search inside of the wreckage of the Deforestation Company. On top of the obstacles they encountered earlier, there were even more pieces of building that blocked their path. The Vigorous Vigilante managed to move these pieces aside and guide the two officers along with care. After following the scent she picked up, the group of three found themselves in what appeared to be the upstairs of the building. To be blunt, the place was a total disaster.

"Damn." Virgil said to himself, walking further out into the room. "It's even worse up here. You think this was where the bomb went off?"

Making their way out to where he was, both Talar and the Vigilante remained silent for a moment. The young super heroine's eyes landed on what appeared to be a burnt up wire. "You'd think it was." Was all she said in response to Virgil. Crouching down in front of it, the Vigorous Vigilante began to study the remains of the wire. "How odd. There's a different kind of copper used as the conductor." She mused, lifting it up closer to her face. Squinting her eyes slightly, she began to look at the frayed ends of the small cord. It looked damaged, but it seemed much more intact than a wire exposed to an explosion would be. "I can't help but feel it looks familiar."

"You think it was used for the bomb?" Talar curiously asked her.

"More than likely." The Vigilante replied, holding it up for the woman to see. "Looks pretty beat up, but I'm honestly surprised it kept up so well during the explosion."

 

[Paperhorse]

The sun is setting as Mac walks into her apartment building. The apartment building is small, unassuming; it doesn’t stand out. Mac thinks it’s a perfect place to live.

Mac takes the elevator to the fifth floor. She pauses outside her door and listens. Just in case.

Her one bedroom apartment is a mess. A dirty pile of clothes lay in the corner of her bedroom. She has no time for laundry this week.

She is not hungry yet, and decides to look through her brother’s file that she stole from the company.

She sits down on her bed, nervous. What do they know about him? About us? She thinks. Carefully, she leafs through the pages. The first page is simple. It contains Larry’s full name, date of birth, hometown, schooling information, date of death. One younger sister named Mary Frances. The next page contains information about their parents. Mac skims the paragraph about her father, but something catches her eye. Her father has been married twice.

Married twice? Mac is confused. He never told me that. She wonders if Larry knew. However, by the time Mac was 12 years old it was difficult to have a coherent conversation with him since he was high most of the time.

The third page contains information about Dragonfly. Mac reads:

Dragonfly defines itself as environmental activist group, claiming that they are working towards the “greater good.” In reality, Dragonfly is an extreme eco-terrorism organization that will stop at nothing to sabotage and stop all progress towards the growth of communities and cities. They are highly violent, and do not care about the well being of others. They believe that capitalism and the patriarchal society are to blame for all the world’s problems, including the ruination of nature. Dragonfly believes that other living things, such as animals and plants are more important than humans since humans do nothing but destroy, and will continue to if not stopped. Dragonfly believes that acts of terrorism will restore the proper balance to the world. One extreme goal is to return the world to its pre- industrial state.

Larry MacKenna is one of Dragonfly’s key operatives, as there is much evidence that he has been the cause of much property and building damage of the Murphy Deforestation Company. He is intelligent, and very dangerous. He has the ability to manipulate time. If seen, DO NOT APPROACH. Call the police immediately.

At the bottom of the page, there was something written in small, scratchy handwriting.

Larry MacKenna has been taken care of and is no longer a threat.

Mac feels her stomach churn. Anger surges inside of her. She searches her memory the day her brother died.

Maybe, maybe….it wasn’t an accident. Maybe Theodore Murphy had something to do with it.

Mac closes the file. She promises herself she will find out.

 

[Prez]

"Ms. Roux, may I have a look at that?" Talar asked, walking over to the young superheroine. The wires looked oddly familiar to her. Too familiar. Holding the burnt cables up for Talar to see, the Vigorous Vigilante frowned slightly. She knew that the woman was on to something, and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know what that was. While it was true she wasn't too invested in the case itself, it was also true Talar rarely showed such interest in any objects left at the scene of a crime. It wasn't her department of expertise. And if she was interested in the wires and the case, the Vigilante should at least show a bit of concern as well.

"Yeah sure, here it is." She said, giving them to Talar. "Think you have a lead?"

"Quite positive." The woman confidently replied, then studying the wires closely. "I recall you saying the conductor was a special kind of copper?"

The Vigilante nodded her head. "It smelt a bit different. Makes me think it was specially made." At that exact moment, a slight smirk formed on Talar's lips. Almost as if something in her mind clicked.

"Stella Zhang." Was all she said. Looking up at both Virgil and the Vigilante she repeated herself, "These wires belong to Stella Zhang." Of course, her words were a major shock to the two others. Stella Zhang was their bomb specialist back at the station. Well trusted throughout her ranks, no one would ever think she was involved in a terrorist scheme. The Vigilante had seen and talked to her a couple of times, and normally enough, nothing seemed off about her. At least, that was what she gathered. She didn't know the woman well enough to actually draw any conclusions as of yet.

"Are you serious?" Virgil sharply asked, walking over to Talar. He quickly swiped the wires from her hand and began to look at them. "Stella wouldn't harm a fly."

"Stella uses those exact wires. They're specially made for her." Talar dully replied, her voice almost monotone. While the news was hard to swallow, the evidence didn't lie. Talar knew this fully well and didn't bother trying to make up excuses.

Throughout this whole entire time, the Vigilante remained silent. She knew fully well that the evidence seemed to fill in most of the blanks about the case, and to be honest, she didn't feel like digging around the building's wreckage anymore. The quicker she handed in the wires from the scene of the crime, the quicker she was paid, and the quicker she got back home. Of course she noticed there was something funky about the whole entire situation. There was no motive, not to mention someone would have spotted her leave the station in order to plant the bomb. In the end, none of this truly mattered to the Vigilante anymore. Somewhat saddening, but also true.

"Let's just bring the wires back." She quietly said to the two other cops. "The evidence speaks for itself."

 

[Paperhorse]

Mac sits across the street from Theodore Murphy’s house, hidden from view.

She waits.

She has been watching them all day. She notices the girl, Penelope, leaves for school at 7:30 in the morning. Her mother drives her to school.
Her mother came back to the apartment about a half hour later. She leaves again at 11. Came back at 1:00. Left at 2:00. Arrives home with daughter at 2:40.

Mac is annoyed. There doesn’t seem to be a clear schedule except that the daughter leaves at 7:30 and gets out at school around 2:15.

She grits her teeth. How am I supposed to pull this off?

She would prefer to question the father to kidnapping the girl. I have to find out what he knows about Larry’s death. She thinks. The girl would know nothing.

Mac noticed that Theodore left early in the morning around 7:00. He has not returned all day. She wonders where he is. He can’t be at the office since it was destroyed.

I should follow him tomorrow, instead of sitting here all day. Of course, she thinks, she shouldn't stray too far from her original mission.

At 4:00, Penelope leaves with her mother, holding a violin case. Mac assumes she attends violin lessons. Mac notes she should figure out where. Maybe that will be my chance.

She comes back home 5:15. Mac continues to watch the house. Her muscles are aching from being so still; she has not eaten all day.
At 7:00, she notices that Theodore has returned home. He looks exhausted, as he stomps up to the house.

Looks like he’s having a bad day, Mac muses. Tomorrow, I’ll make it worse.

 

[Prez]

The past day had been an unpredictable one. After inspecting the wreckage of the Deforestation Company, the Vigorous Vigilante and her small crew of two finally made their way back to the station. This time, the evidence in hand. Upon further inspection by some of the officers, they discovered the wires were indeed Stella Zhang's. She was soon put into custody, considering the fact that she was the only one with that type of wire. The Vigorous Vigilante remained neutral throughout all of this. As she always told herself, the sooner the case ended, the sooner she got paid. Even with this state of mind, she couldn't help but feel there was something... off about the whole situation.

She had considered all of this earlier that day. Stella Zhang had no motive whatsoever. Not to mention, her alibi was pretty legit. The woman had been in her office the whole entire day doing paper work; no one saw her leave the building. It was because of these reasons that she wasn't locked up on the spot.

The Vigorous Vigilante thought about a lot of things she never mentioned to anyone. She was never fond of having Talar and Virgil along with her for different police jobs. She never truly agreed with the decisions the police station made. After a few years, she learned to remain silent, as speaking out could get her into possible trouble. Not to mention how much effort that would require. To the Vigilante, just doing her job and getting paid was all worth it in the end. She owned a nice apartment and had some money to spare.

 

[Paperhorse]

The next day Mac borrows a car from Carlos, and follows Theodore around Des Moines. It took her a while to convince Carlos to let her borrow the car, but she insisted that should find out “vital information” that will be important to Dragonfly. She was about to knock Carlos out when he finally agreed to let her borrow the car.

“Will you let me come with you?” he asks, hopeful.

“Definitely not,” she replies in a harsh voice.

Carlos sighs. “Just don’t wreck it,” he said.

Mac never got her license, but she finds driving thrilling, anyway. She loves going fast (although Carlos’ black Chevy Cruze was not particularly speedy).

Throughout the day she follows Theodore, but she doesn’t find anything interesting. He stops at a few houses, but not for very long. The longest stop was about 90 minutes. He stops at a deli for lunch; a hardware store; the post office.

Mac feels frustrated. I need to find out who he is talking to at those houses. She writes down the addresses of the places he stops. She will search the computer later and find out who lives at each one.

By the end of the day she has learned nothing. She is about to give up, when suddenly Theodore makes a sharp right turn. She follows him carefully in order not to be seen.

Where is he going? she thinks, as Theodore turns onto the main road.

With a gasp, she suddenly realizes where he is headed: The police station.

Mac turns down the next street in a hurry, almost hitting a pedestrian crossing the road.

Oh no, she thinks with trepidation and rising panic, how could I be so stupid and careless? He probably knew I was following him the whole day.

She abandons the car in an abandoned parking lot and runs home.

 

[Prez]

Theodore quickly made his way towards the station, a strong air of purpose emanating from him as he pushed open the door and entered inside. Many officers perked up upon noticing the foreign figure approach the front desk; getting visitors was an infrequent occurrence for them. Talar was one of these officers in the front, and seeing the man chat with the receptionist peaked her interest. By the sporadic movements of his arms to the way he harshly spoke his words, it was quite obvious he was angry over something. “That’s odd.” Talar quietly mused to herself, getting up from the chair she originally was in. She walked a bit closer to the desk of the receptionist, just barely in earshot.

All she could make out was something along the lines of that ‘his family was being watched by someone’. This caught her attention even more. The receptionist led Theodore deeper inside of the station.

An hour or two seemed to pass as the man continued talking with some of the specialists on the force. Of course, The Vigorous Vigilante was soon notified of these events. After listening to what the deal was, all she could do was let out a long sigh. “And I’m assuming you want me to check out the scene at his house.” She commented, a dull look in her eyes.

“Exactly. I want you to go there in about an hour and set up camp. We want you to wait outside his house, just spying for any odd moments or events.” The man replied, handing her a manila folder. “This is the information we received from our client. It includes his address, phone number, and even some info he told us about this person.”
With yet another sigh, the Vigilante begrudgingly took the folder from him. “Okay, fine.”

 

[Paperhorse]

“You did WHAT to my car?” Carlos looks at Mac with an incredulous expression.

Mac ignores him and watches her boss, Mr. Franco, carefully. She senses his anger. His face was redder than usual, and his lower lip is twitching. His brows were furrowed, and his arms were crossed.

“I’m positive he did not see my face—“ Mac starts to say.

Mr. Franco slams his fist down on the table. Carlos jumps and gasps, but Mac does not flinch. She stares at him, unmoving.

“You could possible ruin this whole operation,” he says angrily, “I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS KIND OF CARELESSNESS.”

Mac sighs in annoyance and crosses her arms. She says nothing but stares at the back wall.

“ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?” he screeches.

Mac turns her attention back to Mr. Franco. “Careful,” she says sharply, “you don’t want to wake the neighborhood.”

She thought he would respond with more anger, but instead Mr. Franco sits down at his desk and puts his left hand on his forehead.

“You take too many risks, Mary…”

At that moment, Mac is reminded how much Mr. Franco respected her older brother. He is now the only one who calls Mac by her real name because he knew Mac before she came up with her nickname. She feels a bit irritated, as she has suspected for a while that Mr. Franco puts up with her because she is Larry’s little sister.

I really don’t need them to tell me what to do, she thinks. I am better than they think.

Mac takes a step forward. “Sir,” she says, choosing her words carefully.

“Not all is lost, I can think of a way to kidnap the girl.” She is surprised by her own diplomacy.

“The police are going to be watching the house now,” Mr. Franco says.

“I know,” Mac replies quickly. “I can use my power to get around them.”

“And how will you do that, exactly?”

“I just need to see the house one more time, I’ll go over there tonight.”

Mr. Franco stands up. “You will do no such thing, it’s risky.”

“I’ll be fine,” Mac responds in a huff.

“I…I have to agree with Mr. Franco, Mac,” Carlos says. Mac turns to look at him. She forgot he was there since he grew quiet.

“It’s dark, I won’t be seen,” Mac insists.

“Mac it’s not—“

But Mac already has her back turned and is walking out the door.

“See you in a few hours,” she says as she walks out the room.

 

[Prez]

As the day began to fade to night, the Vigorous Vigilante started her relatively short trip to Theodore's house. Alone. She was never too fond of working with others, Virgil and Talar included. She took her own car instead of one of the station's, as a white car with some lights on it would have been painfully obvious. It would keep the stalker away for that night and ruin the investigation. Parking on the street next to Theodore's house, the Vigilante finished the trip by walking. She spotted an enormous tree in the backyard of his house, perfect for spying in. As she was in her typical hero garb, a black jumpsuit with a belt full of equipment, it was much easier for the young super-heroine to sneak around the yard without being seen or heard. A grappling hook was one of the items on her belt, and it was used in getting the Vigilante up the tree. One she climbed up, she found a good branch to sit herself up on. There was the spot she set up camp, and there was the stop she would wait.

"Alright..." She muttered, unlatching the hook from the tree and positioning herself on the branch. "Let's see who this little creep is."

 

[Paperhorse]

It is an especially dark night, since the cloudy weather is blocking the moonlight. Mac runs down the street toward the Murphy household. She is out of breath, but she keeps moving. At least I’m alone, she thinks. If she could get one more look at the house, she can figure out the best plan of action.

I need to get this task done soon. She wonders if she could possibly have the chance to interrogate Theodore as well.

If he was involved in my brother’s death… I’ll kill him.

She stops on the street before Theodore’s house and catches her breath. She takes in her surroundings. She spots a car parked on the side of the road and takes note of it.

I need to be careful; there could be police here.

Like a cat, she sneaks down the street towards Theodore’s house. She spies another car parked a few feet from his house. She makes it to the side of the house, careful not to be seen. She peers in the nearby window and sees the dining room. Or at least, she thinks it's the dining room. It is too dark to see. No one is there. It seems like the residents are all upstairs as the only visible light from the house is coming from upstairs.

Mac starts to make her way towards the back of the house. It is possible that she could get in through a back door or window.

She touches the gun on her hip. Just in case.