Futuristic [Argon City] - Open World Cyberpunk RP - Always Open

[Viper Actual]

Bishop nodded. "There's a club. Club Venus. We have a CI there, Eliza Knight, she can brief you on the situation. Keep in mind though she's deep undercover- anything goes wrong both of you need to haul ass out of there." As he spoke the other plaincloth officer scratched his chin before checking his watch. He turned towards Bishop and leaned against the car. "Commander, we need to move soon."
Bishop nodded once more. "Get the car ready." He returned his gaze towards the young man next to him. "Good luck. Be smart. We'll keep in touch. If you manage to find anything juicy we'll throw in a bonus." Before getting into the car Bishop extended his hand. "I'm Bishop by the way."

TARDIS06

 

[TARDIS06]

Mitchell slightly nodded, he hadn’t been to the club a whole lot but at least he knew where it was. He tossed the sucker, now just a plastic stick, behind him before laughing under his breath: “As if I’d actually choose to stay there if something goes off the rails.” As the other flatfoot spoke about the time he latched the small bag onto his backpack, making sure to pull a few straps over so it wouldn’t keep bouncing whenever he walked. When chromedome extended his hand, Mitchell just stared for a moment; unable to comprehend if it was a mirage of some sort. Eventually he shook cueba- Bishop’s hand after fighting down the sick feeling that rose in his stomach: “Mitchell, but don’t you dare write that down.” He planned on making a joke about the amount of people named after chess pieces of all things, but his own last name halted the hypocritical comment in his throat.

After watching the car roll over the broken cement and out of the alley, he released a heavy breath of relief; time for a little side trip. As Mitchell walked up to the tunnels leading to Midway he paused, stuck for only a moment as he stared at the rusted and leaking pipes that lined the circumference of the tunnels. Lightbulbs behind their little steel cages flickered throughout the length of the passage, every few were smashed from attempts to gain access to the Argon mains; too bad that the lights ran on their own power source. As he walked the end of the tunnel shone from the outside light, opening up to one of the many run down shopping districts in the city. A crimson legion symbol was spray painted across the destroyed shops and tents, the few fires that were present continued to burn on the remains of a wrecked cybernetics stand. Mitchell’s pace quickened as he passed the rubble, eyes focused away from the few bodies that were riddled with bullet wounds. The sight was getting more and more common, it’s one of the reasons he usually stayed away from this part of Argon; at least he could blackmail the gearjunkies.

Finally making it through that mess, he set up his laptop in a quiet motel that was a few streets over from the club. Using a router that hid a back door connection to the the federal police database, it was night by the time he was able to properly delete the file. Mitchell yawned loudly before taking a look through the bag he was given. He spread the contents over the tattered mattress before choosing to open up the data pad. It slightly annoyed him that after using fake thumbprints the code name ‘Big Kahuna’ was taken, but easily laughed when ‘Igneous’ made the check mark light up green. He liked puns, sue him.

After locking the surprisingly solid door behind him, Mitchell made his way towards Club Venus; the paycheck alone was enough to make him stay for the ride. The three story building shone in the dark. Its blue and green geometric lights popped against the casual neon advertisements that were on the surrounding buildings. Much to the distaste of the line occupants that stood all across the sidewalk, he adjusted his orange jacket as he strode into the VIP section. After flashing the bouncers ‘his’ identification card he walked through the entrance, it felt like the emergency beacon was burning a hole in his pocket.

The inside of the club was interesting to say the least, deep purple lights shone across the dark walls while the stairs leading to the assumingly VIP section were picked out in green. A large bar was decked out with red stools and full of people desperate for alcohol while the dance floor was electric with people. A remix of a retro pop song was bursting through the speakers as a large mass of dancers jumped to the beat; a DJ stood at the brunt of it all, headphones half off and mixers displayed on her stand. Mitchell eyed a few stone-faced security guards before heading towards the bar, figuring that that would be the best place to start for now. Ignoring the bartender’s raised eyebrow when he asked for a milkshake, he sat in silence as he sipped on his drink and occasionally scanned the club for whoever Eliza Knight might be.

Viper Actual

 

[Viper Actual]

Club Venus was busier than usual. Plenty of people guessed it had something do with the series adverts launched across most Sagax-platforms to promote the club. On the opposite side of the spectrum people credited the increased gang violence as the reason- if you're going to end up as collateral damage anyway then why not get wasted like every day is your last? It was a good question.

Liz didn't have the answer though she believed that both reasons could be why the club so heavily populated this early into the evening. She glanced at her Sagax and the picture currently displayed. Apparently she was going to work alongside some hot-shot CI sent from somewhere up-top. Maybe he was with the Federal Government? Liz looked at the picture once more and shook her head. he was too rough. Most likely some unlucky bastard scooped up the ACPD Gang Unit.

Looking down onto the masses below Liz maintained one eye on her screen. She was supposed to meet this "special resource" here, at the club. After a examining a group of dancers Liz suddenly stopped. Bingo. A guy at the bar looked very similar. It also looked like he was drinking something non-alcoholic, though Liz wasn't entirely sure.

Making her way downstairs, Liz made sure to spice up her hair a bit. She was in her casual attire, minus the backpack, scarf and headphones. Her dreadlocks had been braided and rested against her left shoulder. Once she arrived at the bar she stopped next to her soon-to-be colleague and glanced at him with a judgmental look. "You must be fun at parties."

TARDIS06

 

[TARDIS06]

“What’s wrong with dairy? Er, synthetic dairy.” Mitchell turned his head towards the woman and he took a sip of his drink, eyebrow raised in a skeptical and accusatory manner. “Plus, I’d rather not make an ass of myself.” He gave a sideways glance towards a man that was a few seats away, slurring his words to no one in particular. The once purple bar lights transitioned to a shade of teal as its rainbow cycle continued at a snail’s pace. “I’m assuming you’re Eliza Knight?” There wasn’t a whole lot of information on the data pad to go off of, all he could find in the moment was just a short description of Eliza and some other files he simply deemed miscellaneous and unnecessary.

“If so, you might want to start talking fast; those guards have been eyeing the same three people for the past five minutes, including me.” He took another, slightly more nervous, sip of his drink. Mitchell already counted out the nearest air vents and rated the exits 1-10 on the ease required to escape through each. Admittedly he was slightly biased in his ratings, he just couldn’t pass up the chance to use the proper trap door that he saw peeking out behind the DJ’s stand.

Viper Actual

 

[Viper Actual]

In response to Mitch's question about her name Liz nodded slowly. "You can call me Liz."

As Mitch started to study his surroundings Liz chuckled. "Relax," she said as Carl, one of the bouncers, grabbed the mumbling drunk and escorted him to the door. "I know the guys running security. You're safe as long as you're with me so let's not make a scene."

As the beat from the music shifted Liz moved closer. "Look, it's not my business to question the higher ups but I hope you know what you've been thrown into."

Liz paused and sighed. In the back another drunk got escorted out after trying to climb up to one of the dancers.

"Midway isn't what it used to be. The gangs are riling eachother up and I suspect there's more outside factors involved than just the Ringmaster. We need to tread carefully and, most importantly, I need to know I can trust you on watching my back."

TARDIS06

 

[TARDIS06]

Mitchell scoffed at Liz’s remark, rolling his eyes slightly: “Thrown into’s definitely a way to describe it.” He took another hefty swig of his drink as his new colleague spoke, staring into the now empty cup while considering her words. A pained look flashed before his visage before he ran a hand through his hair, sighing afterwards. “There’re reasons for why I don’t visit Midway very often... Just don’t stab me in the back while I’m watching your’s and we’ll be square.”

Upon receiving a refill for the shake Mitchell immediately started to drink from it, pausing every so often to unwittingly glance at the black security cameras hanging from the ceiling. Adjusting his orange jacket, he did his best to ‘subtly’ make sure no one was eavesdropping before speaking: “So, what info do you have so far on the gang situation?”

Viper Actual

 

[Viper Actual]

"I don't stab colleagues," replied Liz with a sly grin. She took a sip from a drink that had suddenly appeared in front of her. Bartender always knew what she wanted. In response to Mitchell's question she took a deep breath and adjusted herself. "So far? Two gangs. Gearjunkies and Crimson Legion. Both are big players from the Underground but back in the day they weren't usually at each others throats. With the Crimson Legion expanding into Midway they entered enemy territory and now they're both fighting in the open. I don't know why the Legion showed up here though if I were to guess there's probably another gang down below which forced them out."

Liz paused as she noted that a man in a hoodie was watching her and Mitchell. Fuck, how long has he been there? She grabbed Mitch by his arm and made a subtle nod in the general direction of the hooded man. "We're being watched, let's dance."

That said she gave a him a quick kiss on the cheek before leading him out onto the dance-floor. Liz held him closely and whispered into Mitch's ear while keeping watch behind him. "I've reached out to one of my Legion CIs. At least one attack on the Legion was staged. Carried out by someone who's not with the Gearjunkies. My first guess would be the Ringmaster though he doesn't benefit from the gangs, who all have some form of loyalty towards him, waging all-out war against each other. There might be another party involved and if there is we need to find out."

TARDIS06

 

[TARDIS06]

A quick glance in the man’s direction was all Mitchell could manage before being pulled onto the dark colored floor; he tried to ignore the slight heat that was present on his visage. The neon lights danced around them to the ever increasing beat of the music, greens and blues mingling like the crowd below them. Observing the people that he can, he did his best to multitask: “There’s a lot of people that could benefit from a gang war, we just have to narrow it down a bit.” Taking a small breath he started to move towards one of the side exits, more specifically away from person not so subtly eavesdropping. Here’s hoping Liz would understand what he was doing.

The music continued to speed up as they neared closer and closer to the exit. “There’s this person on the other side of Midway, big time trader in the market, she owes me a fav...” An eyebrow rose on Mitchell’s visage as the beat accelerated, moments passing as the song continued to increase in velocity. The Dj appeared to cease moving, her arms laying limp at her sides as the dancing population started to become antsy; nervous looks consistently began to flash upon their visages. They were nearly at the dark brown door when the DJ twitched, her steely white eyes locked with Mitchell’s irises as a light on the mixer shifted to red... “Son of a—“

All that happened next was a blur; Mitchell coul only remember a high pitched ringing that coursed through his body and an occasional shout or scream that pierced the veil of white noise. Dust started to collect in his lungs, forcing a handful of coughs to erupt from his diaphragm. After a few pained moments he was able to relatively sit up, with hair matted and a blood trail coming from his forehead. Rubble littered the once clean floor, and a few hearty lights continued to shine in the cement concentrated air. Sirens blared in the distance, though they fell short to Mitchell’s senses. A light sprinkle of rain started to patter against the chunks of building that were sprawled across the previously virtuous club, the neighbor’s neon advertisements were visible from the ground. This paled in comparison to the people who were still, he refused to look at them: “... B*tch.”

Viper Actual

 

[Viper Actual]

Liz followed Mitchell towards the exit. Hopefully they could lose their would-be stalker on the dance floor though Liz kept one hand on her concealed pistol just in case.

As the couple moved forth Liz couldn't help but notice a second figure who appeared to be homing towards her and Mitch. Just as she was about to warn Mitch he stopped talking, alerting Liz to the DJ.

Before she could say or do anything a bright flash forced her down.

Liz could barely feel her left leg. Something was laying ontop of it. Struggling to force herself up she soon discovered that the something was in fact a someone. A pair of empty blue eyes stared at Liz. A young girl. Her final expression of fear forever captured.

Liz cursed and looked away. Just then Mitch coughed and got himself sitting up. "You," she said with a raspy voice followed by a cough. As she tried to remember his name Liz realized they hadn't greeted eachother. Or had they? She couldn't think straight.

Soon people could be heard screaming for help. One of the bouncers, Mike, was trying to dig one of the bartenders out of the debris.

Liz got up and unholstered her weapon. She crouched down next to Mitch. "Can you walk?"

-----

"Dispatch to all units, Dispatch to all units. Priority call at Club Venus. Code 10-80. I repeat, 10-80. Explosion. EMS and Fire Rescue are enroute. Over."

Bishop and his team were silent as the call came through. They were all dressed in plainclothes with tactical gear ontop. Currently they were en route to raid a possible gang hideout.

The driver looked over at Bishop. "Commander, should we assist?"

Bishop couldn't hear the man. In his mind all he could think of was a single word, or rather, a name. Liz.

Without even responding to the driver he grabbed hold of the radio. "Taskforce Taurus en route to Club Venus. Be advised, undercover assets may be on-site. Potential aggressors may be armed and dangerous. Support from any available units would be much appreciated."

After notifying Dispatch the grizzled commandee looked over his shoulder into the rear compartment of the armored car he was sitting in. "Ready up. We're going to Club Venus."

Outside civilian vehicles drove to the side as the large armored police vehicle started its sirens and made an aggressive U-turn.

TARDIS06 RayPurchase

 

[RayPurchase]

Sergeant Reynolds was about halfway through his cooked breakfast, a hearty plate of bacon, sausage and all the trimmings, when his radio began going into overdrive. 10-80 priority call, nightclub bombing. Within seconds he was off his barstool, flinging a handful of cash onto the bar.

"Keep the change,"

He hollered as he burst through the door, almost sending a patron flying. 10-80, this was some serious shit, and at a club as well. Depending on the size of the blast, and how many people had been there... casualties could be off the scale. He slams the patrol cruiser's door shut behind him as he gets in, the engine roaring into life and the sirens begin warming up, a squeal of tyres and sirens echo down the street as he drives off with haste. He grabs the onboard radio in one hand.

"Dispatch, this is Sergeant Reynolds, responding to the Code 10-80, currently en route, ETA under 5 minutes, over and out,”

After only a couple of minutes a plume of smoke rises over the buildings ahead. His hands tightened on the wheel as he stared up at the sight. This was big, fire services and medical had better move their areas. He swings round the corner, and is immediately confronted by scenes of devastation, fires blaze as smoke is pumped into the air, wounded and stunned clubbers dotting the streets around the blasted remains of the club. It appeared he was pretty much the first on the scene. But from the sounds sirens, additional help didn’t appear to be too far away. He swings his car up onto the kerb, allowing room for the incoming emergency service vehicles. He leaps out pulling his helmet on, his hand drops to his holster, checking the side arm there. This was still a terrorist incident and for all he knew there could still be hostiles in the area of amongst the victims. Makes his way towards the building ducking through the ruined entrance and past a crowd of terrified clubbers. The interior was no better than the exterior, bodies and assorted body parts lay strewn across what remained of the dancefloor. His helmet mounted torch flickered into life, his lip curling into a grimace at the carnage which was illuminated before him. He probably should have stayed outside, maintained a cordon, but right now he was the first one here, and there were still people trapped within, and the urge to help had quickly over powered any other need. His torch swung this way and that, only picking out bodies before settling on a dazed young woman, she seemed physically fine aside from a thin trickle of blood around her temple, he crouched next to her, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder.

“You're alright love, I just need you to start making your way to the exit, it’s all clear and help will be here shortly,”

He gently guided her up and she stumbled her way towards the exit of the club. He turned away from her, focusing on any survivors deeper in the club. He picked out 2 figures, looked like a male and female. He frowned for a moment as his torch illuminated something in her hand... frack, she's armed, they’d said something about undercover assets, but right now it was too risky to risk anything. He upholstered his own pistol raising it up, his finger resting against the trigger guard. His torch increases in brightness, illuminating the pair in its beam.

“ Argos City Police Department. Drop your side arm nice and slowly ma'am, no sudden moves from the pair of you, hear me?”

He tells out, his voice echoing about the room.

(Interactions: Viper Actual TARDIS06 )

 

[Viper Actual]

Before Mitch could respond Liz heard someone identify himself as ACPD. Looking up she was blinded by a pistol-mounted flashlight. "Don't shoot!" Yelled Liz. "ACPD Gang Unit!" She gestured towards her left arm. A holographic armband suddenly formed, spelling out the letters 'ACPD-GU' in bold holographic text. Holobands were commonly used by undercover units though using them for identification wasn't as valid as showing an actual badge. Hopefully this officer in particular wasn't too jittery or trigger-happy...

RayPurchase

 

[TARDIS06]

A haze still clouded Mitchell’s mind as he shakily stood up, waving away at the blurry form of Liz as a series of cracks emanated from his back: “That could’ve gone better.” Upon turning around, the flashlight nearly blinded him as the officer’s words finally reached a form of cognition. It took a moment for him to look around, the debris and horror striking his mind as it passed through his irises. Shit. Instincts took over as he rashly pressed the embedded buttons in his orange hood, thanking himself for actually charging the EMP at the motel.

Without even checking to see what happened in the wake of the light blue wave, his feet were pounding against the wrecked floor; legs burning as he hurdled pieces of rubble. No time to think, no time to think. The same mantra looped in his mind as he zigzagged through the thankfully standing support columns. He didn’t get very far before tripping on an exposed rebar, skidding face first to a halt on the debris covered cement. A pained groan emerged from Mitchell’s throat as he turned onto his back, exposing the now blood covered visage of his; rain only just beginning to cleanse it. Upon opening his eyes, the dark sky was lit up by the surrounding neon and small fires, a rainbow of blues and oranges wafted against the edges of his vision. A pair of mud ridden ACPD boots came into view as he pulled the emergency beacon from his pocket, pressing its dark green button. The small device started to flash red while a high pitched beeping was produced from its speakers. Holding the beacon up to the standing figure, he jokingly smiled: “Look at that, it works.”

 

[Succuboi]

The air in the Underground was dank and suffocating, a grim reminder of the misery that it permeated. Call however did her best to pay it no mind, only occasionally taking note of the crackling Geiger counter built into her wrist. She was slumped over beside a derelict ventilation unit, screwing a battered, purple-painted metal plate to her lower leg. She had paid far too much for it, her logic-based programming unable to shield her from the cutthroat tactics of the local scrap dealers.

She was still happy to have the gaping hole in her leg covered again though, it was her most reliable limb after all. Another quiet whir of the drill bit sticking out from where her finger would be set the plate in place, and she immediately rose to her feet in a smooth, calculated manner. The worn out computers in her head whirred noisily as she planned a route to her next location; A mechanic's shop up top had put out an ad for work an hour ago, and she was determined to get her name in.

With efficient yet janky movements, she marched on through the tunnels in the direction of the nearest stairs, replacing the drill bit with her actual finger as she walked.

 

[RayPurchase]

Reynolds immediately lowers his firearm as the holoband flashed into life. Clearly the undercover assets that dispatch flagged up.

"Copy that ma'am. Can you move at all...?"

His question is answered not by her but the other individual activating some sort of device. As the blue wave washes over him his flashlight flickers and dies, as well as the heads up display within his helmet. To make matters worse the bugger jumps up and starts to run. His own instincts kick in immediately, she may be ACPD, but he's legging it, and an innocent bloke doesn't run at the first sign of the policy, especially in a situation like this. Flinging his now more or less useless helmet to one side he sprints after him.

"Stay where you are ma'am, additional units are almost here,"

He yells as he sprints by, all his attention flicking to the male currently trying to make an escape. For all he knew this could be the bomber himself, caught up in his own attack. He rounds the corner to find the guy just standing there, some sort of device in his hand. a weapon? another bomb? He gritted his teeth, either way he had to stop him, if this was another explosive device it could bring what was left of the building down. Head down he sprinted at the figure, lowering his shoulder into a rugby tackle, moving to take him to the ground.

Viper Actual
TARDIS06

 

[Viper Actual]

Just as Liz was about to respond to the officer Mitch's fight-or-flight-mode kicked in. The EMP-blast caused her to grimace as her cybernetic communications implants screamed with white noise before shutting down. Once the officer started running after Mitch she shook her head and followed closely behind. "Don't shoot! He's with us!"

Suddenly a bright light illuminated the entire scene as an ACPD dropship hovered above the scene followed closely by one of the fire department's aerial water crafts which began to target the largest fire among the rubble. As the light turned on three armored vehicles standing at the edge of the area became visible and with them the dozen masked plain-cloth police officers. Holographic emblems and letters lit up on their plate-carriers and if Reynolds's helmet had still worked he would have been able to see the numerous IFF-tags.

Bishop lowered his rifle as he spotted Mitch, Reynolds, whom he had worked with before in the past, and Liz. Thank God, both of them are okay.

Wearing a balaclava and a pair of tactical shades allowed Bishop to avoid any questions related to Liz. It was better if she wasn't distracted. He looked at Mitch and Liz. "ACPD! On your knees!" He glanced at Reynolds. "Officer! Status?"

TARDIS06 RayPurchase

 

[TARDIS06]

The emergency beacon clattered violently out of his hand and onto the ground, casting a small shadow as the dropship light flickered over the rubble stained structure. A small grunt emitted from Mitchell after the officer slammed onto his prone form, knocking the wind out of his already ragged lungs. Liz’s words echoed in his eardrums as he lifted his heavy arms to try and push the officer off of him, “Just because she said don’t team kill doesn’t mean you should tackle me...” In a final hefty push, after quite a few unsuccessful attempts, Mitchell heaved the flatfoot off of him: “How in all of Argon do you manage to lug that armor around all day?”

A scowl became etched on his visage as the armored vehicles and copperheads appeared, causing him to immediately bring himself into a shaking stand, about to run again. Yet a voice cut through the gathering crowd that made the small edge of his frown perk up. Mitchell walked towards the the masked officer, doing his best to step over the larger cement piles. “Cueball! You wouldn’t believe the night we’ve had so far.“

The next instant he was on his knees, forced to by one of the masked coppers; Mitchell’s arms were held above his bloody face and dark eyes. Here he thought that an explosion might’ve been enough reason to break the whole secrecy thing. The rain continued to pour as more people began to gather around the hastily placed holographic police tape, around the crater of a building on the near edge of crimson legion territory. Pedestrians slowly began to litter the surrounding streets as the time slowly passed, rusting vans with distinct insignia began to become more visible against the dark buildings. Two more explosions rang off in the distance, and Mitchell swore he saw some of the club dancers caught under the rubble begin to smile.

Viper Actual
RayPurchase

 

[Shindoku]

Ringmaster was having a walk through part of the Crimson Legions territory, well it used to be before the Gearjunkies started raiding it, it was a bit of a warzone now, then something caught his attention, an explosion, then radio broadcast, talking about a bombing at a nightclub a level or two above him, with a smile he quickly returned to his vehicle, now a red and black hoverbike, and rocketed off to go and enjoy the show.

When he nears the scene he climbs off his bike while on the rooftops and walks towards the club, catching sight of a man running from an officer at a dead sprint, he chuckles to himself and follows the two wanting to see what will happen. Slightly saddened when the chase ended so abruptly and watched the situation unfold from a nearby rooftop. Then there were more explosions, while he had initiated a war, this wasnt what he wanted. There were too many civilians here, this is not what he had in mind. He stood no longer even trying to hide his presence from the officers down below as he turns to leave, muttering to himself "I will kill whoever is responsible..."

 

[RayPurchase]

The skinny little bugger goes down quite easily, but I mean that was to be expected. He slaps a pair of cuffs on his wrists and wrestles him up from the ground, Sergeant Reynold's armour is now splattered with mud and debris, a low growl escapes his lips.

“Stupid fucker, this is why you don't run, and if my gear doesn’t start working soon, you’re paying for it one way or another,”

Any further threats are interrupted by the arrival of the additional ACPD officers, keeping a hand on the suspects shoulder he sticks an arm out to the masked officer who approaches, turning his attention to the ranking officer who appears to be in charge of the group and who the suspect clearly recognised.

“All under control Sir, he one of your undercover officers, if so he should know better to run. If not I’ll bag and tag him now, take him down the precinct for processing,”

He tightens the grip on Mitchell's shoulder as he says this.

 

[Viper Actual]

Bishop shakes his head as Mitchell addressed him as 'Cueball'. Even with a balaclava to mask his face he should've thought of a voice modulator. Looking at Reynolds he nods towards Mitch. "That won't be needed, officer. We'll take it from here. Though we could use an escort- these two need to get transported out of here." Pausing for a moment Bishop relayed orders to his men. By now multiple officers and rescue personnel were on the scene and as such there were no need for a group of heavily armed counter-terrorist officers.

As two more explosions could be heard the ACPD comms flared up with chatter. It was going to be a busy night. Bishop glanced over his shoulder at one of his officers. "Rhino! Secure our friends. We're leaving in five."

---

Liz was trying to keep up with the events. As Reynolds grabbed hold of Mitchell and the, or at least she guessed, special officers arrived she figured it would be wise to holster her gun. Staying close to Reynolds she could identify her father easily by his voice. So did Mitch. Great.

Once the other explosions erupted Liz widened her eyes. We need to get out of here.

She looked around and for a brief moment she thought she saw someone on a nearby roof...

TARDIS06 RayPurchase Specialist Shindoku

 

[Shindoku]

Ringmaster rode through the streets, heading to both of the new explosion sites. With each one he paused, then left, now going to his home, what seemed to be an old abandoned apartment complex on the lower levels, underneath were tunnels upon tunnels from long forgotten levels of Argon this is where he hides himself, as he closes the door behind him he sighs and pauses.

He hadn't realized it, but he is angry, more than just that, he is livid, then he smiles and laughs to himself, it had been so long since he had felt anything, now he was even feeling a bit of joy, but he knew what he had to do.

He had a plan from a long while back that never panned out, he sat down at a computer and got to work, trying to hack into every screen he could, phones, holograms, everything, he needed them all, and he needed them soon...

After an hour or so he got it, and he begun, he stood up, and flicked a switch. Every screen in Argon flickered off then on, from ads, to television, old and new, and on them stood Ringmaster "Hello citizens of Argon, I am sure many of you know who I am, but allow me to introduce myself, I am the Ringmaster, I am a criminal" he looked directly into the camera "hours ago explosions rocked the cities underground, killing many innocent people" he looks down "I would first like to pay my respects to any of their families, they did not deserve what happened to them, but that is now why I am here, I came to give a message." He looks back up "I am not sure who the bombers are, but to them I say this, I am coming for you, you have killed and injured innocent men and women, and I will be the reaper who avenges them"

With this he steps forward, The eyes of his mask now the only things visible "and when I do find you" he removes his mask showing his eyes, a golden yellow color, obviously not natural but oddly beautiful "I will ensure my face is the last thing you see before you are sent to hell."

He puts the mask back on and steps back showing himself in full "And to those in the ACPD and to their special units, once I have accomplished my goal, I will relinquish my title as Ringmaster, this will be my final act." Then the signal cuts completely and Ringmaster sighs, it's time to get to work.

 

[Specialist]

[Argon lower echelon - Club Venus - 1XXXhrs.]

The attack at Club Venus and the explosions nearby made John keep on alert as he stepped out of the vehicle. Things weren't looking good on the front of the ACPD/U-ICE relations department, and two days ago the Gearjunkies, Crimson Legion and a few others thought it'd be the best time ever to enact simultaneous strikes throughout the district. Normally this wasn't a problem- business as usual in most cases, but it royally pissed him off nevertheless to see another innocent junction attacked. The gruff man shot his gaze over to Bishop, one of his trusted superiors, and nodded as he began to stride toward the two. He looked to Liz and Mitchell as he approached them. "I'll get him from here, Reynolds." John said, before kneeling down and standing the man up by the back of his arms. He turned his gaze toward Liz, and for a moment glancing over the infamous GU armband, he swore he could have recognized her from somewhere. Blinking, he asked, "I'm trusting you have an explination for this." He looked over to Bishop and called out within earshot "Secured over here, Sir!"

 

[TARDIS06]

A guttural laugh echoed from Mitchell’s vocal chords. “Don’t worry, it’s only the internal software that’s fried. The heavy shell is still as useless as it always was.” The words towards the officer were laced with ego and a tinge of spite; at least some flatfoot personalities were predictable. His head winced when officer turtle spoke about the precinct; there was no way in hell he was going back there.

Thankfully Bishop passed him and Liz onto whom Mitchell could only describe as sergeant gruff, and not to the beige home of the corrupt-yet-still-goody-two-shoes officers. Nearly tripping over the uncleared rubble, he limped as the officer walked them to the front of the once immaculate building. The dark overhead glowed with the still burning fires of the other explosions, the smoke glowing in the light; Mitchell really hoped to ventilation system would be enough to clear the slowly thickening smog, the underground and midway already have enough problems to deal with.

A single vibration from his sagax hummed in his pocket. The device rung again. And again. And again. Immediately Mitchell hastily wrung himself free of the copper’s grip and awkwardly pulled the shaking machine out of his pocket. All of his alerts were flooding in at once, he could barely even see which were actual alerts and which were scared messages from previous clients of his. All he knew was that there was a broadcast happening everywhere at once, and he was missing it.

Pushing past the loud nerves in his leg, Mitchell continued to ignore any of his common sense and vaulted over one of the ACPD hover cars, soon after running painfully down the now empty cement road. A single shop covered in dull orange lights was overflowing with people, and a tv echoed across the silent crowd. Struggling against the cuffs, he desperately tried to remove them; this type of stream couldn’t be tracked on his sagax, he desperately needed his laptop that was caged in the backpack he was wearing. There was probably yelling coming from somewhere, unfortunately he barely heard anything else over rythm of his blood reaching his eardrums. Finally stopping at the crowded window with a heavy breath, he stared into the shop as he just barely caught the tail end of the broadcast given by Ringmaster himself before the display clicked back onto it’s normal program. Shit.

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[Specialist]

Before John could reply, the events happened in a blur. The suspect had reached for a device in his pocket in a panic, and soon thereafter wrestled out of his grip as Mitchell vaulted over the ACPD car's hood and booked it down the street. "Hey- st- God dammit!" John vaulted over the car after the man and pursued him down the road, calling into his headpiece, 'This is Rhino- Suspect fleeing scene; 10-39 to my 10-20; Code Two!" He ended the transmission- hopefully enough distance still for any units that witnessed the pursuit to tag along or even intercept ahead of him and the suspect. Drawing his M408 Deathadder, he held the snapcannon in his right hand with his index finger resting behind the trigger. "STOP OR I WILL OPEN FIRE!" John barked in a commanding tone, surprised at his voice for being able to reach a level of that threshold. John didn't carry stun-rounds or any nonlethals with him- he wasn't a standard beat-cop for Christ sakes. He also knew that this was the most powerful weapon he had on him, and even a non-lethal shot would result in the heavy trauma or outright loss of a limb. Of course, he couldn't explain what he had while this madman ran away from him and was concentrated on his own escape.

Mitchell was injured from his gait, John could tell that much. Bluffing that he would injure him again would hopefully serve as enough of a deterrent to make this bastard compliant- otherwise he was going to lose a leg. John was getting closer, yet paced himself to prepare for any more tricks this man had up his sleeve. "I don't want to hurt you Mitchell- stop running and I can ensure your safety!" Indeed, the last thing he needed was a reprimand from Bishop and an amputee at the end of this encounter. He outright ignored the strange broadcast sweeping across every monitor in the city- presumably, that's what this guy was after. Either way, the chase was on. He hoped like hell Liz cooperated with his orders and was still by the goddamn truck. Viper Actual TARDIS06

 

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As John started to carry out Bishop's orders and the rest of the men stood down their technical devices went haywire. Even with strong encryption software installed these devices were still linked to the city network and as Bishop tapped on his wrist-mounted datapad the Ringmaster appeared. Then Mitchell bolted all of a sudden. "Shit, Mitchell! Stop!" He didn't even have to give the order- John and two other officers followed alongside Liz.

Shaking his head Bishop looked at Reynolds. "Reynolds. Would you mind giving us an escort when they come back? Off the book."

---

Liz widened her eyes as Mitch took off in a sprint. "Mitch!" Cursing under her breath she followed after him, outrunning two of the other Taurus tactical officers in pursuit. She managed to keep the same pace as John and as the two of them reached the newly-recruited CI they found him staring at the Ringmaster broadcast alongside a small crowd of people. Liz pushed past John and grabbed Mitch. "What are you doing? Let's go."

As some of the bystanders turned to see what the fuss was about Liz flashed her badge. "ACPD. No need to worry."

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John kept running, and even as Liz pushed past him, painfully gripped onto Mitchell's forearm with his outreaching bionic hand, holstering his Deathadder and hissing to Mitchell with a venomous undertone, "You're goddamn lucky you didn't lose a leg, asshole." He turned to Liz with a visible scowl. "What the hell are you doing? I've been asked to secure the both of you; you should have stayed at the transport when you were asked to. If you've got something privy with this man, it can wait after the detainment cycle is up." He motioned to the two officers alongside him to move in and properly take the reigns to field-search the man, if able. TARDIS06 Viper Actual RayPurchase