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moonrise

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Heroic Outcasts
[Closed 1x1]
moonrise moonrise & em_beasty em_beasty

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  • In a city where the greatest heroes are both born and raised, two unlikely individuals will come together to unveil the truth behind the curtains. What they find may not be quite so heroic, after all.
    Has true justice lost both its face and name?​
 
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Justin's boots hit the ground with a slight crunch and he nearly doubled over. Hopping fences always looked so easy on TV, but in reality his descent had been anything but graceful. The wires on the fence had snagged a part of his (hero) costume and he was pretty sure he heard something rip. "Shit," he huffed, twisting his neck as he noticed the three-inch tear on the side of his blue and white jumpsuit. It was form-fitting, despite the fact that he didn't have much of a gym body, and had an emblem of two gears boldly ironed over the chest area. His look was completed with a gadget-filled vest, a white LED emoji-displaying helmet, bulky gauntlets, and of course, the dysfunctional jet boots he still had yet to work the kinks out of. For what was clearly a big DYI project, he didn't think he looked too bad.

Pretty much all of his friends would disagree if they ever saw him like this, though. And that worked out for the best since...everything he was doing right now was totally illegal. Snooping around a private warehouse, equipping himself with 'repurposed' technology without company permission, calling himself a hero without having a license, and...did taking an excessive amount of extra napkins and condiments count as a crime, too? Because it definitely felt like one from the way the fast food worker had looked at him during his lunch break earlier.

Right. Refocusing.

Here he was staking out a warehouse belonging to SUPE Nation, and no, they unfortunately don't serve homestyle chicken noodle soup here. Talk about misleading. It was supposed to stand for 'Superhero Union and Paraphernalia'...something, he forgot the rest. Anyway, SUPE Nation was an up-and-coming organization ran by citizens and primarily funded through donations and the goodwill and generosity of venture capital firms that either have way too much money or time on their hands. A lot of private hero companies have tried to rise up over the years, and most of them never made it through the second quarter. There was an incredibly high barrier to entry which included not only monetary and political resources, but also superpowered individuals who were licensed and willing to operate under a lesser-known banner. It was like asking asking Hollywood actors to take on indie gigs. Sometimes it worked and made a big splash, but heroes were ultimately drawn to the larger limelight like moths to a flame. And who could blame them? Being a superhero was now the most lucrative occupation there was, no questions about it.

But somehow SUPE Nation's poster boy, a hero who could produce sonic blasts with his hands and voice, Groovebender, as he was known- totally lame right? No, scratch that, it actually sounded kinda cool. Point is, Justin had noticed the man using Hero Corp technology during his latest stunt, a special brace band that was still patent-pending. Justin knew for a fact that R&D hadn't finished developing it, having overheard that the developers wanted to make a few more adjustments before previewing it to the public. So exactly how did a new hero, unaffiliated with Hero Corps get his hands on the company's secret tech? The only reasonable answer was that he'd stolen it, and that was a crime. Not that Justin wasn't also guilty of a similar crime but...hey, at least he was employed with the company so in his case it was more like borrowing, right?

As soon as he had discovered the possibility that the brace band was stolen, Justin had not-quite-so-subtly tried to bring it to the attention of R&D. They hadn't hesitated to dismiss him on the spot, it wasn't his department, after all. And he couldn't exactly come out and accuse another corporation of stealing from them if R&D wouldn't confirm anything was truly missing. But the reality was that it seemed like a lot of things were going missing, things he probably shouldn't have been aware of in the first place but here he was.

While on his way home from work the night before, he caught an inconspicuous but oh-so-conspicuous white van pull out near one of his Hero Corps building's back entrances. Why is it always white vans anyway? After following the van in his black sedan (which used to be his father's car), he had been brought to this very warehouse, which would've just appeared to be a closed down department store. It's always empty department stores, isn't it?

Once the two men had exited the truck to begin dropping boxes onto the building's loading station, which had been fitted with conveyor belts and mechanical lifts, Justin snuck around the side to find a single door locked behind a card reader with an old sign that read 'Restricted Area. Employees Only'. Okay, technically the legitimate business had been closed, which meant that there weren't any employees. And if nobody was an employee then wasn't that the same as everyone being an employee? ...No?

Justin held his gauntlet up to the card reader, failing to hold back a grin because he was excited to test out the decoding program he had installed the other day. But the notification that came up on his gauntlet's display made him sigh in frustration.

You're not connected to a network.
Seriously? Wi-Fi issues? At a time like this? Justin let out a frustrated grumble before quickly tucking himself against the building as he heard voices around the corner. After a moment, there was silence, and he peeked out to see that the voices had entered the building's large storage facility. Meanwhile, he still needed to find a way into the building himself.

He snuck around the warehouse, eyes glued onto his gauntlet's display as he hoped to get at least one single bar of Wi-Fi. Whatever happened to the promise of 7G? A smile lit up on his face as two bars finally appeared, but the moment he looked up he noticed a dark-haired woman standing before a sealed metal door. Oh god, she'd seen him. But it didn't look like she belonged here anymore than he did...not from the way she seemed to be hiding back here like he was.

"Who the heck are you and what are you doing here?," he asked in a harsh whisper, like she was the threat to having his cover blown rather than his ridiculous outfit. The LED display on his helmet was literally flashing an emoji of: O n O;;.

em_beasty em_beasty
 
One headphone was nestled in the left ear of Camila Greene, a calm beat providing rhythm to her footsteps. The streets were still slick from a light rain that had passed through quickly about an hour ago. Lights from the city's garish billboards and skyscrapers were reflected in the shiny blacktop and small puddles. Cam took it all in as she walked, hands in her pockets and shoulders rolled forward. Sights she'd seen a hundred times before could somehow always look new to her. All it took was a different angle, a different light, and a whole new world could be seen. Not everyone had that mentality. It's why she was so good at her job. Her old one and her new one.

Being terminated from the police division had been a rough blow for Camila, especially since it was a wrongful termination. She'd tried to fight it, but it became quickly apparent that the people pulling the strings were sitting on some pretty high pedestals. Places she couldn't reach. It was either give up the fight, or end up in prison... or worse. Cam wasn't stupid. She knew that people had a way of disappearing when they started asking the wrong questions or pushing back on the wrong people. She loved her job, but she wasn't going to lose her life over it. There were other avenues she could take to satiate that investigative itch that existed in the back of her mind for as long as she could remember. Other ways to keep the lights on. They weren't as savory, and they didn't always pay as well, but... at least she still got to do her own thing. She wasn't tied to anyone's bullshit agenda any longer.

Cam was in the private sector now, doing contract work for a myriad of clients. You could take the kid out of the PD, but you couldn't take the PD out of the kid. Not all of these clients were necessarily "clean", but they were all willing to pay, and at this point... that's the only thing that really mattered. Cam just needed to keep a roof over her head and food in her belly. She could use this freelance work to do just that while she continued working towards her own agenda: finally unmasking Hero Corps for the elitist, corrupt; murdering assholes they really were.

She definitely wasn't bitter or anything.

Tonight, Cam was operating on her own agenda. She'd just tied up a case and was working on a tip she received about a warehouse allegedly owned by a new hero franchise, SUPE Nation. The existence of SN alone was cause for question. Hero Corps had done a pretty good job at monopolizing the hero game in Venture City. Most competing franchises had either been squashed out or bought up. The fact that SUPE Nation was allowed to exist at all was suspicious. There had to be a reason for it, and it probably wasn't a good one. At least not a legal one. Cam was hoping she would find answers; the hard proof she needed to finally bring a case against Hero Corps that wouldn't get tossed out before it could even enter a courtroom.

The warehouse came into view. Camila stopped her music, took out her earbud and slipped it into its case with the other one before sliding the small case into her pocket. Dressed in black camo pants, black combat boots, and a sleeveless black cropped top, the dark-haired female blended in with her surroundings. The shadows seemed to stretch just to encompass her into them, hiding her from view as she walked. Her footsteps were quiet; her breathing was calm. She'd clearly done this before. Camila scoped the building out from afar before making her way onto the grounds without incident. She'd worked her way around back and was trying to think her way through how to get past a metal door when one the most ridiculous-looking "heroes" she'd ever seen suddenly rounded the corner.

Cam rolled her eyes. Hard.

Oh, for fuck's sake...

Cam produced her wallet from her back pocket and opened it to quickly flash a "badge".

"LED," she said, using her abilities to work the illusion over on the stranger. She quickly put her wallet away before any flaws in her deception could be seen. She folded her arms across her chest and gave the person a deadpan look that bordered on annoyed.

"My turn. Are you even sanctioned to be here?" Cam made a show of looking over her shoulder, as if checking to see if she heard someone else coming. She returned her attention to the masked individual. "Backup's five minutes out. I suggest you start talking."
 
The panic that spread on Justin's face under the mask was just as outwardly apparent, the LED emoji display on his mask flashed a few characters to express shock in time with his own reaction. Perhaps he shouldn't have fine-tuned it so closely to his heartrate and body temperature as it nearly gave him away right now. A 'superhero' wasn't exactly supposed to freak out at the sight of law enforcement, after all. But thankfully he managed to quickly override the display on his mask with a discrete press of a button on his gauntlet. Now he had LED sunglasses which was probably the best poker face he had at his disposal. "Yeah, okay, looks legit," he hummed in response, nodding a few more times than necessary. In reality, he wouldn't have been able to tell whether it really was or not. He was an IT guy, not some airport receptionist.

Still...the woman before him didn't seem dressed as an LED. Typically, they wore uniforms and carried equipment specifically designed for dealing with the Enhanced. Maybe she was undercover? Either way, he needed to stop staring at her before things got weird. Well, weirder.

"Sanctioned? Nah, I'm indie," Justin shrugged, it wasn't a complete lie, "perhaps you've heard of Gimmick? Eh?" There was no way she had. He'd only been doing...whatever it was he could call this, for about a month now and two weeks ago he had to scrap the old costume after it got covered in tomato sauce...don't ask. His most notable feat yet was that he'd stopped a man from stealing laundry. If one could call 'accidentally dropping onto a man from two stories up when your jet boots stopped working' stopping someone. Justin was gonna wear that badge with honor, though.

He instinctively looked over his shoulder as the woman claimed that backup was on the way. Really? Did someone already tip the authorities off about SN's theft? Or did he somehow manage to land himself into something much bigger? "Look, I'm here for my own reasons, okay?," the voice filter helped to not make him sound as nervous as he was. Because this woman definitely had an intimidating aura about her and Justin's internal radar was picking up a bunch of 'she can kick my ass' vibes from her, too. "Personal business. Our buddies over there in that warehouse 'borrowed' a couple of things of mine and I was just stopping by to pick them up," Justin emphasized the air quotes, "I'm pretty sure there's a law that says civilians have the right to seek out their stolen property and that's all I'm doing. Just my civic duty."

"So, we good here, officer, uh...what did you say your name was again?" Maybe he really should've looked closer at that ID badge but she did stash it away pretty quickly earlier.
 
Indie?

Cam looked very unconvinced, one dark eyebrow raising in a look that said β€œI’m not buying it”. Her arms were folded across her chest like she was still (not so) patiently waiting for an answer. An acceptable answer. Instead, the stranger followed up with introducing himself as β€œGimmick” and it looked like Camila had taken a blow, closing her eyes and pinching her nose like she was in physical pain.

β€œOh my god…” she muttered, more to herself than anything.

She dropped the look after a moment, both arms falling back to her sides. Her gaze settled on β€œGimmick” once more. She listened to what he had to say but didn’t look any more convinced than she had thirty seconds ago. When he mentioned something about his stolen gear, she couldn’t help that instinctual perk of the brow again.

β€œReally? Your property? Because I’m pretty sure I can see the Hero Corps. logo on your bracelet.”

She nodded towards the device on his wrist. She knew it wasn’t a bracelet; she was just an ass like that. And maybe if she offended this guy enough he’d get the hell out of there before any real trouble started. Cam got the impression Gimmick would be woefully unprepared for conflict, and she really didn’t feel like watching another schmuck get himself killed running around playing hero. Not that she gave a shit, of course.

She didn’t indulge him as to what her name was, instead choosing to breeze right by that little fishing attempt and reiterate her warning. β€œLook,” she began, β€œwhy don’t you tell me what it is you’re looking for, and maybe I’ll-β€œ

Before she could finish her thought, some headlights reflected from around the corner. Camila heard an engine and rattling tires. A second later, a large truck turned the corner around the backside of the building where she and Gimmick were stationed.

β€œShit,” she cursed. Instinctively, she grabbed the guy’s arm. β€œGet down.” She pulled him down behind a stack of boxes, crouching with him to get out of sight. Her fingers remained locked around his arm to prevent him from running off and/or doing something stupid.

Camila watched as the truck came to a stop a little ways down the backside of the building. The mechanical whirring of a door opening could be heard. Cam peeked out just enough to see a large garage door slowly rolling up to provide entry into the building. A couple of men with guns stepped out and stood at either side of the door, keeping watch while the truck slowly drove inside. Camila turned and looked at Gimmick.

β€œDid you know your β€˜buddies’ in there were packing?” She asked. β€œUnless you’ve got some firepower hidden away in that costume of yours, you should really get out of here.”
 
Somehow Justin was getting a slight inkling that this LED officer wasn't his biggest fan, not that he currently had any to begin with if he wasn't counting his dog. So far, she'd been quick to shut down most of what he was saying. Of course, a part of him couldn't blame her but all of this skepticism was really giving off some detective vibes. That would explain why she was here without a partner, because didn't all cops usually work with one? Didn't detectives also have partners though? At least, that's what all his crime dramas implied. Then again...she clearly wasn't a little Miss Sunshine so for all he knew, she probably scared off all the other officers. If looks could kill, he probably would've been zapped into human goo the moment she laid eyes on him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly as she pointed out the Hero Corps logo, muttering a few curses under his breath that only came out as a small series of beeps because he'd modified his voice transceiver to ensure that he'd be a 'child-friendly' hero. Wait, what did she say just now? "I'm sorry– did you say bracelet?," he gawked in disbelief, the LED expression on his mask quickly turning to one of big surprise as he held up his arm for her to see better, "this! This is a gauntlet. And it wasn't easy to come by, mind you– I mean, older model, you know? They stopped manufacturing these a while back." Apparently 'a while back' meant the prototype products that were scrapped for being too bulky and glitchy last month. Both flaws still applied, clearly. He was really going to need to remember to get rid of that stupid logo when he got home later.

The wannabe hero was still caught up in feeling offended that what they were having wasn't even really a conversation anymore. "Hang on, I need to hear you tell me it's a gauntlet first because you're not getting anything out of me 'till we understand each other–," Justin held up a finger in the same manner his father would while lecturing him but was soon cut off by the LED lady grabbing him by the arm and pulling him around the corner as a truck came onto the scene. Well, so much for paying SUPE Nation a visit outside of peak business hours.

It was difficult to steal a peek of the scene from behind the woman, not while she maintained a vice grip on his arm. Justin's intuition had been right earlier. This lady could definitely kick his ass because from what he could tell her arms were pretty toned. Did she lift? Actually, maybe now wasn't the best time to be checking her out. He didn't have to be able to see much, though. Just the sound of the steel gates opening followed by the clatter of heavy footsteps that were definitely rehearsed enough to pass for a military march already implied they were going to be up against some dangerous individuals...which, he hadn't exactly bargained to deal with today.

Like a nervous idiot, which he currently was, Justin flinched slightly as the woman suddenly turned back around to look at him, asking him if he knew the guys were armed. "I mean...shady warehouse, big doors, big trucks, stolen tech– yeah, I'd say them packing fits the bill," he gave a light shrug, the edge of his tone sounding a bit higher than earlier as he processed the second part of her statement.

By all means the smart thing for him to do would be to get out of here before anybody else noticed him. And yet, Justin found himself reluctant to do so. Because this, exposing a superhero company for theft and potentially illegal operation and occupation of an unlisted business, could be the much-needed breakthrough for his barely existing heroic career. He could prove to all the big wigs back at Hero Corp and here in Venture City that he was capable, that not all superheroes needed to have powers. "I'll admit I'm more of a 'stealthy' kind of hero," here he went again with the air quotes, but at least he remembered to turn the knob on his helmet to lower the volume of his voice. The lady in front of him would probably love to know that there was a way to mute him, but he had no intention of disclosing that. "But if it comes down to it, Gimmick's got a few gimmicks up his sleeve."

There was absolutely no way she was going to find any comfort or reassurance in any of that but just like earlier, they had very little time to argue right now.

"Just hear me out for a sec," Justin said, stealing a brief glance at the men unloading the trucks before arching his head back to see that they were right by a door that was equipped with a similar locking mechanism to the one he'd tried to break into earlier. One look down at his gauntlet confirmed that he still had those two Wi-Fi bars. "I can hack the door and get us both in without either of us having to worry about being turned into swiss cheese. I just need you to keep lookout while I do my thing." Because he hadn't finished installing the heat detection radar. And also, because he honestly felt like he'd slip up if this woman watched him work over his shoulder like the witch that was his sophomore English teacher often did.

"What do you say, officer? Is it time for a team-up?"
 
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Gimmick's got a few gimmicks up his sleeve...

Yep. This guy was definitely going to get them killed.

Camila was already unconvinced, but when he went and told her his "alias", she was sure: They were doomed. She had half a mind to ask if he gave himself that name or if there was someone else as hopeless as he was, but Cam decided she didn't want to know. The answer would be painful either way. Besides, there were more important fish to fry, like getting into the building without "being turned into swiss cheese".

Her immediate reaction to Gimmick's proposal was a resounding "hell no". But the more she thought about it, the more Cam realized that doing this alone might be near-impossible. She could use her abilities to provide some leeway, but discretion was important here. She absolutely could not risk getting caught, and as much as she hated to admit it, that would be a lot easier with someone else in tow. Cam had no idea how legit this robotic clown's hacking abilities were. She knew she couldn't risk everything on whether or not he'd be able to pull through, but if he didn't... she could at least use him as a distraction to get the hell out there.

Sighing, Cam closed her eyes. "Mierda..." she mumbled. She couldn't believe she was doing this. Taking a breath, she opened her eyes once more and settled her dark gaze on Gimmick. She stared at him so hard it seemed she could look right through his mask, gaze boring into his very soul.

"Fine," she said. It sounded like it physically pained her to do so. "But this is not a 'team-up', understand? I just need to get in there, have a look around, and get out."

She was still incredibly uncertain about this decision. Cam looked over her shoulder, back towards the warehouse, to remind herself of the situation while she allowed Gimmick time to absorb her words. She seemed to be second-guessing, wondering if she could just handle this on her own, when a logo on the side of one of the trucks caught her interest. She caught just a glimpse of it before the garage door rolled back down and shut completely. The two guards that had been keeping watch disappeared back inside the building, leaving the post unattended though a security camera hung at the far corner of the building. She turned her attention back to Gimmick.

"How close do you have to be to the door?" She asked.

It looked like they were about to do the damn thing after all.
 
"You know I took a semester of Spanish en la universidad, right? I hope you don't kiss your madre with that, uh...mierda." Now it was obvious that it hadn't been his best class at the time. The imperfect pronunciation had already implied that though.

Right now, this woman– who still had yet to provide her name, sounded about as confident in Justin as his mother was about him getting a girlfriend anytime soon. Ouch. "What a coincidence! I also need to get in there, have a look around, and get out," his sarcasm was lousy, and the voice filter didn't help, "wow, we have so much in common." Hardly. Didn't this woman know how to loosen up? She kept staring at him like he was some sort of freakish idiot. Too bad they didn't have time for more...wait, was this banter? Sweet! Banter with law enforcement and witty quips was a staple for any charming superhero. Oh, he was definitely on the right track now.

He had already taken to fidgeting with his gauntlet before she had posed the question. Thankfully, he still had those two bars of Wi-Fi. The connection out here was horrible, but attenuation was unavoidable given all the thick walls and interference out here. It was honestly a surprise that the place even had Wi-Fi up and running if they wanted to keep a lower profile. Plus, Wi-Fi was so unreliable these days. Even a high schooler could hack a router. Fiber-optic was the good stuff. "Here should be good," Justin spoke as he unclipped a metal cube from his belt. There were a few partitions along it, but from the way it lit up displaying rows of squares around its surface, it looked like a fancy Rubik's Cube.

So, of course, Justin started to play with it, only rather than matching colored squares on each face, he seemed to be tapping some in a certain order. "Oh, crap. Wrong yellow," he clicked his tongue in annoyance and waited for the lights to fade before trying again. After about a minute and a half of fiddling, the cube transformed into a little robot with a matching facial display to his own. "Ta-da!," Justin held it out in the palm of his hand– and it did give a small wave, as if they even had the time for this right now. "This is G-12, or Giz, since the number two on a calculator kinda looks like the letter 'Z' and– right, right. Focusing," he managed to stop himself from testing her patience (again).

It'd probably be more effective to show off what his little friend could do. "Giz, I need you to help me hack into that door– no, the other one over there." Okay, so the natural language processing could use a bit of work. A little propeller popped out of the small robot's head, and it soon took to flying over towards the metal door...at a speed of about 2mph. "Cute, isn't he? Or, uh, them. We haven't decided on a gender yet. Wait, is that even grammatically correct?" Ah, yes. English wasn't his best subject back in school either. But he blamed the teacher for that.

It was a miracle that they hadn't been spotted yet, but for some reason the few men standing by the truck that had pulled in seemed rather tense. They had to be hiding something.
 
Camila watched Gimmick work with her arms folded across her chest and a continued look of suspicion on her face. Well, suspicion and concern. Watching Gimmick pull out what appeared to be a glorified Rubix cube, she worried. What was this guy's superpower? Being a major nerd? So far, it seemed like his skills included... moderate understanding of (probably stolen) technology and... subpar creation of nicknames. Hero Corp., must've really been scraping the bottom of the barrel these days. That thought brought a little smirk to Camila's face. Nothing made her happy quite like the idea of Hero Corp.'s demise (and the demise of all things Prometheus Inc.)

These happy thoughts kept her occupied while Gimmick worked and talked, two things he seemed incapable of not doing at the same time. It wasn't until the tiny robot took off in lazy flight that Cam snapped her focus back to the task at hand. "Are you sure that thing is going to make it to the door?" She asked. She didn't seem too confident in its abilities.

Giz answered her question before Gimmick could. The robot made it to its destination, and she watched it hover by what she assumed was a control panel to hack. Unfortunately, these things took time, and the propeller on the robot wasn't exactly silent. The armed men by the truck seemed to be getting suspicious. Cam pulled her attention off Gimmick and towards the men, brow furrowed in focus. She was completely still, just looking at them and not appearing to do much more than hope they didn't notice what was going on behind them. That hope seemed to manifest itself moments later, because a clattering noise by a section of the fencing that enclosed the whole place got the guys' attention. One started heading in that direction, only to be followed by the other when the first's voice sounded, beckoning the other guard to follow.

The truck was now unmanned, which meant the door was too. Just in time for Giz to hack the system, it would seem. The door started to roll upward, albeit not as quietly as Cam would've hoped. The noise might distract the guards and bring them back, which meant she didn't have much time. She needed to move. Standing up, the brunette pulled a gun from where it was tucked beneath the waistband of her jeans at the small of her back. The weapon was cocked and held down at her side. She took a few steps out from cover, paused, and looked over her shoulder at Gimmick. She knew that leaving him here on his own was probably a terrible idea, but bringing him into the warehouse with her also felt like a bad call. There were no right answers here, but leaving him unsupervised seemed to be the least right one. Cam released a heavy sigh.

"Come on," she said, jerking her head in the direction of the now-open door.

She didn't wait to see if her invitation was accepted. Perhaps she just didn't want to see whatever "satisfaction" looked like on that mask of his. Regardless, the woman was turning and, keeping low, heading for the door. She slipped inside and stayed close to the wall as she observed the situation. They seemed to have stepped into some type of loading zone, where crates and boxes were stacked in organized rows lining the room. The containers were suspiciously unmarked, prompting Camila to approach the nearest one to try and open it. There wasn't any give, especially not one-handed. Her eyes quickly roamed the area in search of a crowbar or something that could be used to pry the lid off one of the boxes. Her gaze landed on Gimmick instead.

"Don't suppose you have any tools for opening boxes, do you?" She asked. She was legitimately afraid of what making this guy feel useful could do to his ego, but... she didn't have a whole lot of options here, and she really wanted to see what they were carting in here.
 
Indeed, his superpower was being a major nerd.

Contrary to this prickly LED officer, Justin was nothing but supportive and hopeful as he watched Giz make its way over to the door. Right now, he felt like a proud dad, which was something he'd never had all his life, but whatever. His mask displayed proud tears as he put two thumbs up when his little robot companion finally made it to the door. "All you can do is raise em and let em fly," Justin shook his head, placing a hand over his chest. The woman wouldn't be able to see it, but he was starting to feel a little teary eyed under the mask right now...which was a bit of a problem. For one, he had no way of wiping those tears. More importantly, however, was that this kinda wasn't the time to be getting all sentimental. That didn't mean he could control it, though.

After all, this mystery lady couldn't possibly know that this was Giz's first official mission that didn't involve fetching TV remotes, resetting Wi-Fi routers (yes, he was a bit of a hypocrite for what he thought earlier but fiber was expensive and his current apartment didn't allow its installation), or helping him find his missing socks. Yeah, they were going to make a great duo one of these days. Gimmick and Giz. Oh, Justin could see it so clearly now.

Thankfully, his daydreaming hadn't left him deaf because he also heard the men shifting by the truck and only now did he realize he probably should've invested in a quieter propeller for Giz. 'Please don't notice. Please don't notice,' he chanted internally, heart beginning to race before he released an audible, but soft, sigh of relief when the men stepped away to investigate something else. "Yes! That's my little buddy!," Justin cheered as quietly as he could, pumping a fist in the air only to freeze as he noticed the woman beside him pull out a gun. It shouldn't have been surprising for an officer to be armed, and yet here he was, feeling surprised anyway. Guns weren't a normal part of his life (yet) and he was definitely feeling a bit more cooperative now that there was one in his presence.

Suddenly he really didn't want to do anything to tick her off now. This lousy jumpsuit of his already had a tear in it so he didn't even need to guess if it was potentially bulletproof. "Right behind you, seΓ±orita!" Justin was careful to follow her from a safe distance and made sure to scoop up Giz on the way inside. Giz soon went back into his standby cube mode and was clipped back onto Justin's belt before the guy himself had walked right into a crate. "Sorry, that was me," he whispered, an expression with a sweatdrop flickering on his mask's display.

It was kinda surprising how many of these large crates there were. Kinda unsettling too, if he was right about them stealing from Hero Corp. Perhaps it was due to that sense of wary unease that Justin didn't bother to let the woman's request for help get to his head. "Yeah, I think I got something," he told her with a small nod, circling around the crate and testing the material against his gauntlet, "I'm guessing this stuff is made of steel so it should be magnetic."

There was one way to find out.

Justin pressed both palms of the gauntlets against the flat top of the crate. A light whirring sound came out of them as the compartments near his elbows opened to release air. More accurately speaking, it was reverse-suction, and to Justin's credit, that feature hadn't come with the gauntlet. In a few moments the lid of the crate stuck snugly against the magnetized gauntlets and popped up without a sound. He carefully turned to the side to set it down gently. Who said Bob the Builder wasn't educational? Good ol' Magnetic Lofty.

"So...what are we looking at?," he leaned in to steal a peek. 'Please be top secret stolen tech.'
 
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"Don't call me 'seΓ±orita'," Cam said, though gave him absolutely no other name to call her by. First or last names could be dangerous. The last thing she needed was for Gimmick to pull up a Google search on that little helmet of his and find out that he was dealing with not a cop. Those were waters that just didn't need to get muddied right now. Especially not when she was so close to finding something. She didn't know for sure, of course, but she could feel it. There was something here. There had to be.

While Gimmick worked on removing the lid, Cam took another look around. She located a little tablet magnetically attached to the base of the crate. Holstering her gun, Camila took the tablet to have a look. Her brow furrowed in concentration and perhaps concern as she scrolled. The more she read, the deeper the expression fell.

"These are transit logs..." she said, more to herself than anything but definitely loud enough for Gimmick to hear. Her attention snapped to him when she heard the metallic sliding of the lid being lifted from the crate. Despite her best efforts, she perked a brow, unable to not be impressed by the way science enabled what she could only assume was some scrawny pencil pusher to lift an incredibly heavy lid with the power of magnets. Any compliments she might have considered paying him were pushed aside by the urgency to look inside the box. Cam replaced the tablet and moved to stand beside Gimmick to have a look.

Most of what was inside was also boxed, so the exact contents were still a mystery. But the boxes were labeled for transport, with the telltale logo of Prometheus Inc, small but noticeable, positioned in the corner of each label. Cam pulled her phone out of her pocket and started snapping some pictures. "These are logged," she mused aloud. "Unless a truck got hit and it somehow didn't manage to make the news, Prometheus knows these are here."

But why would they be willingly sending product to a competitor? And what were they sending?

Cam rolled up onto her tiptoes and reached into the depth of the container in an attempt to open one of the boxes. Her upper half curled over the lip of the crate, lower half dangling over the outside. She managed to pull the corner of the lid off one box enough to peek inside, but it was hard to see. She thought she saw what appeared to be vials, but... it was hard to tell. Continuing her balancing act, Cam utilized her phone again to take some more pictures. She'd gotten one photo taken when a door on the other side of the room opened and three men, two of them armed, stopped in their tracks.

"Hey!" One of them yelled.

Oh shit.

Camila popped her head up from inside the crate.

"What the hell?!" Another man shouted. He raised his weapon.

Cam hopped down and turned to face Gimmick. "Time to go," she said urgently.
 
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Yeah, they definitely weren't on their way to becoming BFFs any time soon. And here Justin was thinking about how cool it would've been to have a connection in law enforcement. The Jim Gordon to his Batman...except younger and maybe kinda hotter? It was difficult to tell from how often she'd glare at him. Those daggers from her eyes would've already made a human pincushion out of him and he wasn't all that squishy. Didn't help that the vest wasn't particularly flattering either. He made a mental note to really consider hitting the gym later. And then a second one to remind him to seriously consider the first mental note. His track record implied both would be for naught.

His hopes had just about reached the ceiling before the woman had informed him that the boxes were logged. Logged? As in verified and approved for shipment? No way. He definitely noticed the Hero Corps logo in the corner and knew for a fact that his company wasn't in the business of distributing goods to suppliers. The whole reason Hero Corp was even so successful was due to its wealth, talent selection process, self-sufficiency, privatization, access to both coveted and scarce resources, public support, celebrity endorsements, and good ol' monopolization. Justin could not bring himself to believe that Hero Corp would actually choose to give any of its resources away. Even older models and damaged goods were eventually recycled and repurposed...assuming a dumpster diver didn't get to them first.

"No. No, I don't like this," he decided then, shaking his head as he stepped away from the crate, "this whole thing's fishy. It stinks. I know Hero Corps. They wouldn't just give all this stuff to some other company, let alone a new competitor like SUPE NATION. I mean, c'mon. These guys don't even have soup." Okay, now he was starting to get off topic but as he whipped back around it seemed that the LED officer had stopped paying attention to him. Right now, it sorta looked like she was being devoured by the crate.

For a moment he just stood there awkwardly, unable to be certain of whether she needed help or would kill him for even thinking about touching her. Actually, he was pretty certain about the outcome for the latter. "Hey, uh, chica, whatcha doin' over there?," Justin tried to ask as he stepped closer for a better look. His scanner was able to pick up the presence of an active camera. Oh, that was a smart idea. Why didn't he think of that? His own helmet had a camera installed in it, but before he could steal a page from the woman's book, a few men had caught onto them.

"Mierda!" He cried out in a shrill robotic voice at the sight of the armed men, visibly startled. Was everyone here but him armed? How embarrassing. "Wait. What's that over there!?," he gasped audibly, extending an arm across the woman's face to point dramatically at the wall. It was the oldest trick in the book, but he didn't necessarily need the men to fall for it right now. In reality, Justin's actions were to protect the woman as he splayed his other palm out before the men as if to say 'don't shoot'. A compartment in his palm slid open and in the next moment a blinding flash of light came out of it, disorienting the surprised men and then continuing to do so as it blinked in uneven intervals. Hopefully this woman with him wouldn't be too sensitive to flashing lights since his costume didn't exactly advertise an epilepsy warning. Hell, it didn't even warn him about malfunctions most of the time until after they'd screwed him over.

"Hurry, grab one of those boxes," Justin told her in a hushed whisper as he ripped a spherical device off his utility belt and tossed it in the direction of the men who were still regaining their bearings. The ball rolled to a stop a few feet in front of them. "C'mon, we gotta get out of here, that's a smoke bomb," he waited for her to start running before following after her.

But when they got outside, there was a deafening sonic shriek that came from where they left. "Ah, mierda! Wrong bomb!," he cried out in dismay. Thankfully, his helmet protected him from sounds that went over a certain decibel– well, after a manual command, anyway, but the woman with him didn't have anything like that. There was no time to deliberate on whether it was appropriate or not so Justin just did it anyway. He pressed his hands against her ears, enabling the thick material of his gauntlet-not-bracelet to help insulate the sound for her. Technically, he was still within range to disarm the bomb but if he did that all the guys in the area would be on them like ants at a picnic.

So this was the best option he could think of, even if it'd soon get him murdered once the sonic bomb stopped on its own in a few moments.
 
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"Who said they gave any of this stuff?" Her response was muffled while she was still in the crate. "They probably sold it." Anything to make a dime, right?

Unfortunately, they didn't exactly have time to debate. Their visitors had arrived, and Cam was stuck in a brief "deer in the headlights" moment as she tried to discern the best course of action here. She wasn't helpless. She knew there was a lot she could do, it was just a matter of how much she should do. How much did she want to reveal here? There were a lot of ways she could disguise her powers, make things happen without Gimmick noticing. She'd already done it once, but in this situation they found themselves in now... it might be a bit harder to pull off. It had her actually weighing what would be worse: to let this guy know she had powers, or to just get shot.

Turns out, she didn't have to do either. Well, not yet anyway. Cam's first thought at Gimmick's "over there" comment was that they were both going to die, but it turned out his trick wasn't as elementary as it seemed. A moment later, bright light flashed from his palm. Being behind it, Cam didn't suffer much of the effects, but she did make sure to avert her gaze. She had no idea what kind of tech this guy was running around with. For all she knew, he could be radioactive. All the more reason to exercise caution with this one. For now though, it seemed that the danger was contained to the men trying to shield their eyes from the flash. Camilia would be lying if she said that didn't give her some relief.

The former officer leaned into the crate once more and grabbed the first, most easily accessible box she could find. It was relatively small, about the size of a good, thick book, and only weighed a few pounds. The box was marked "fragile", though, and she could hear some light clinking around inside. Great choice for a getaway. She thought dismally. Regardless, she tucked the item against her chest and hopped away from the crate. Turning, Cam started jogging for the exit. They made it outside, without getting shot, but any moment of relief she might have experienced was brought to a screeching halt by the very sudden, very deafening shriek coming from inside the building.

Camilia nearly dropped the box in an effort to shield her own ears from the sound. But Gimmick's gauntlets were there first, and they did a much better job at dampening the noise. Still, Camila made a pained face, shoulders crunching up towards her ears. "What the hell is that?!" She tried to yell over the sound of the noise, but it was simply too loud. Which meant others had heard it too. The men Camila and Gimmick originally spotted outside had returned from the little scouting session Cam had sent them on. One of them was pulling out a walkie talkie like device, no doubt calling for backup, while the other started aiming his weapon. It looked like some type of concussion rifle. He leveled it at the pair and pulled the trigger.

Cam threw all her body weight into Gimmick, knocking them both out of the way of the blast. They hit the ground, Cam landing mostly on top of Gimmick; the box smushing between their bodies. She found herself entirely too close to his LED mask and staring at a reflection of her wide-eyed self in the black screen. Quickly, she rolled off of him and onto the ground on her back. She looked down at the box. The lid had collapsed, and one side was a bit splintered. She could smell something permeating from inside, and soon saw a blue liquid beginning to leak from one corner.

"CoΓ±o..." she cursed. Acting fast, Cam pulled off her black jacket and wrapped it around the box. With the item secure, she pushed herself up on one knee and looked over at Gimmick. "I have an idea," she said. "Head for that section of fence over there," she said, pointing to the west. "That's where I came in from. Just keep running for it."

She handed him her jacket and the box. "Don't stop," she informed him. "No matter what you think you see, got it?"

Camila waited long enough to make sure he understood and would heed her words, throwing in a stern glare to hopefully motivate him to listen, and then she was moving away from him. Keeping low-- and mentally reaffirming her choice to wear all black tonight (and, let's be honest, most nights)-- Camila got into position a bit off to the side of their assailants. She kept an eye on Gimmick, making sure he got to the fence line. When he did, should he choose to look back, Gimmick would see Cam's figure trying to sneak between boxes on either side of the garage door they'd just come out of. When she was about dead center in the doorway, she paused and looked at the armed men. She pulled her own gun from her waistband and aimed it.

The guy with the rifle shot first. A concussive blast blew right into her, right through her. The blast carried into the warehouse, where it hit a stack of boxes and sent them exploding into fragments of metal and wood. The bright blue light of the shot eventually faded. There was no sign of Cam. That is, until she was suddenly ducking under the fence she told Gimmick to head for. She seemed a bit breathless, and was definitely paler than when he'd left her, but she was also decidedly not blown up.

"Let's go," she said, urgently but tired. Apparently they were sticking together. At least until they were out of the hornet's nest.
 
No, Justin didn't believe for a moment that Hero Corp would allow a potential competitor to have access to their technology. Reverse engineering was a big threat to industries these days and there was a reason why Hero Corp owned so many patents in the first place. Was it possible that SUPE Nation could've stolen everything they saw back there? It would've taken a few armored trucks to load up all those boxes and it wasn't like trucks were allowed to just come and go from Hero Corp's premises without authorization. The most believable solution was what the scary cop woman said: they probably sold it.

But that didn't make any sense! Somebody in marketing would've blabbed about that for sure and Justin knew quite a few blabbermouths in marketing.

For now, he was forced to shove the more logical thoughts to the back of his mind while panic came forward. It was impossible to hear their pursuers and any gunfire amidst the earsplitting screeches from the sonic bomb he accidentally triggered. People could be shooting at them right about now and if the adrenaline was pumping too hard he might not even notice he'd been shot. Dear Buddha. Was he going to die here?

"What!? I can't hear you over the noise!" Justin yelled back in response, but it was just as futile as the woman's question, both of their voices being snatched out of the air by the persistent sonic blaring that didn't seem to be getting any lower as they hurried away sloppily. The ground suddenly slipped underneath him and in the next moment he was staring up at the sky in a daze. A weight pressed against his body and when he looked to see that the LED officer was currently on top of him...damn, was it getting kinda hot in here? Why was his helmet starting to fog up a bit?

His heart was pounding so hard he didn't even realize the sonic bomb had stopped going off. He didn't even notice that the box had gotten slightly crushed between them. "Are you okay–," Justin started to ask, but now wasn't the time for that. "Ugh! What the hell is that?," his nose scrunched up at a smell that very much reminded him of his high school biology dissection labs. Was SUPE Nation in the dissection business now? Were they going to be dissecting chickens for the soup they didn't have?

Again, it wasn't the time for questions, but his mouth was, unfortunately, incapable of shutting up.

Propping himself up on his elbows as the woman leaned in to share this idea of hers, he had been about to refuse before that glare of hers prompted him to swallow any and all defiance. Justin had to remember that this LED officer could probably very easily kick his ass so maybe she was the better bet between the two of them to deal with these...bad guys? Or were they the bad guys for breaking and entering and stealing? At least they were on the side of the law!

"Alright, I got it," Justin gave a shaky nod, not terribly fond of the idea of just leaving a woman to fend for herself but losing the box would render this whole ordeal pointless. Plus, she was the only one between them with a gun. And she also stood out significantly less compared to him in his dumb jumpsuit and equipment that would catch eyes anywhere. Scrambling to his feet, he tucked the box under his arm before pointing a finger between the woman and the direction of the men who wanted to turn them into swiss cheese. "But I'm only gonna give you five minutes before I call your LED buddies for back up, got it, chica?"

He didn't wait for confirmation and took off running towards the fence. Panting, he reached out to steady himself and catch his breath, finding a few trees and bushes that could at least help to obscure him. Maybe he could pass as one of those big white trash drones. They did have a habit of traveling out of bounds, though pranks and vandalism were typically involved in those instances. "C'mon, chica...," he murmured, his breath unsteady and thick with anxiety, "whoa, whoa, whoa, what is she doing out there?" Justin gawked as the woman faced down the armed men and a beam soon shot through her, and an explosion followed.

His heart sank and he nearly dropped the box in his hand. It was difficult to make out anything from the smoke, but Justin soon realized he didn't need to because the woman he was looking for was suddenly by his side.

Wait, what!?

"Aiyah!," he yelled out in surprise, back slamming against the fence as he took a moment to do a double-take, glancing back and forth between the mess in the warehouse and the pale-faced woman and ultimately deciding it didn't make sense. "Hold the phone, what'd you do out there? I saw you get shot!," Justin flailed the arm that wasn't holding the box in an exaggerative and honestly bad reinterpretation of what he witnessed, "but now you're suddenly over here?"

Now there was a flash of realization in his eyes, though on his LED mask display it was a lightbulb. "Yo...that was your superpower, wasn't it?," pure awe spilled from his words but a slight twinge of envy also squeezed his chest. "Man, why didn't you tell me you could teleport? That would've made everything so much easier back there!"
 
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Camila wasn't wasting time with explanations. Not now, at least. Gimmick would just have to deal with her silence while they made their not-so-speedy getaway. She looked at him and was half-tempted to ask if he had some kind of getaway vehicle but ultimately decided she didn't want to know. He probably didn't have one, and if he did... it was unlikely she'd want to ride in it. Given his getup, it was probably some "souped up" minivan with a robot decal job or something. They would just have to hoof it for now.

She hardly seemed to be paying attention to his questions as they made their escape. She was moving fast but not running, sticking close to alleyways and other shadowy places where they could easily hide if need be. It was easier to use her powers-- which were decidedly not teleportation-- in lower light conditions as well. Camila was hoping she wouldn't need to use them again, but she wasn't banking on it being an impossibility. Given the little sonic boom mishap in the warehouse, she was hoping the goons would be more worried about their destroyed merchandise than finding who broke into their hideout.

Gimmick's questions were given non-committal hums in response, making it clear that Cam was paying more attention to leading them away from danger than anything else. There was little hope of them catching a railcar or taxi without question, but the former officer was well aware of certain shortcuts and cut throughs throughout the city that lent themselves to her cause. Spend enough time chasing criminals and you learned all their hacks.

Eventually, Camila led Gimmick down an alley behind a restaurant. She bypassed a couple doors until she got to one that was chained. The chain was loose enough that she was able to open the door wide enough to slip through, though she realized that Gimmick and his... gear... might be a bit bulky for such a thing. She had half a mind to ask him to slip her the box through the door and then tell him to get lost, but she sincerely doubted he would listen. He seemed the curious type, and his curiosity was definitely piqued.

"Here," she held a hand through the door. "Hand me the box. I'll try to hold the door open enough for you."

If the offer was taken, Cam extended her hand through the doorway to take the box. She pulled it back in and then used her shoulder to push against the door and open it wider than she was able to from the outside. It would hopefully be enough room for Gimmick to slip through, but it meant more close encounters, as he would have to brush awfully close to the officer to get inside. Despite the fact that he was fully geared and masked, Cam still tried to lean her head away to give him as much space as possible. Something about that mask of his was... unsettling, the way it hid his face, emotions and voice and substituted all three with digitized responses. Cam was definitely more of a "face to face" kind of gal.

It was dark inside, but light coming in from outside was enough to at least see by. Cam traversed the space like she was at least familiar with it, walking through what was clearly a kitchen at some point, though it was almost entirely gutted now. She led them to the stainless steel door of an old walk-in freezer unit and opened it with a heavy tug. The plastic flaps gave way to an empty and noticeably not cold freezer. On the opposite end was another door, which Cam opened to reveal... steps? She headed down without hesitation.

"This used to be an underground fight club for supes." She said as she walked, her voice bouncing off the narrow walls of the stairwell. "LED shut it down about six years ago. Someone sold a story about it being radioactive from too many supes bleeding and getting their bodily fluids all over the place, so... no one's bought it."

She stepped off the last stair, feet hitting the solid ground of the lower level. It was pretty much pitch black down here, but the light coming from Gimmick's suit provided a dim glow that was enough to navigate through until she found a breaker on the wall. Cam flipped the switch and turned on a single row of buzzing fluorescent lights, half of which flickered or didn't work at all. The were in an open room with a large, octagonal cage in the center where fights clearly used to take place. Some chairs and a couple tables still littered the outskirts of the area. Cam approached the closest table and deposited the box on top of it before hoisting herself to sit on the table as well. Sighing, she unwrapped her coat from around the box and began fishing through her pockets for something to smoke.
 
Justin nearly blurted out that he did have a getaway vehicle. The only issue was that said vehicle was registered under him and it wouldn't be hard for an LED officer to get someone down at the police station to run a plate. Then this cop lady would find out his name, that he was employed at Hero Corp as an IT guy, that he wasn't registered as an Enhanced Individual, and that she could report him for a number of incidents not limited to the handful of ones from today that could easily cost him his job and might even land him in prison.

Then he'd be the total failure his parents were afraid of him becoming this entire time. And worst of all, he wouldn't get to have that big heroic debut he'd been dreaming of all his life. So, yeah. Between losing all of that and burning some calories outside of the gym he still refused to go to, the choice was obvious.

I'll come back for you later, baby. He mouthed silently through his helmet as they hurried past where he had stashed his black sedan. At least, it wasn't parked in a towing zone and there were a handful of other cars around too. The most reassuring thing about all of this was that he didn't have to worry about their destination being too far away...unless this scary cop lady was also a cross-country runner. It would look all too suspicious if he had a taxi driver bring him out here later because Justin was sure that a bunch of officers were going to be swarming the scene soon, what with the sonic bomb and explosion and all.

Even though it didn't seem like they were going very far, he started to feel a bit more uneasy with each corner they snuck around. Was this cop lady the type who had connections in the criminal underground? Dear buddha, was she a dirty cop? A part of Justin wanted to get away while he could, except...well, she could probably catch him easily and beat his ass. Was that sad to admit? Worst of all, if he wanted to report her to the cops then he wouldn't be able to without explaining what he was doing, snooping around Hero Corp. But anonymous tips were still a thing right?

He stopped before the chained door alongside her and his LED display betrayed his desire to 'play it cool' with the nervous and sweating emoticons. Justin really should think about creating a mini display to have better control over what expressions he was showing. He hesitated at her offer, thinking for a moment that she was totally gonna snatch the package and bail but then there'd have been no point in dragging him along this far, right? He'd already seen her face and everything too.

Plus, they kinda had a moment back there...didn't they?

Once more, he put his faith in this woman who still refused to give him her name, and with a bit of effort, was eventually able to squeeze himself through the door. "Okay, no more Taco Tuesdays for me." That was a lie. Justin Tang would never give up Taco Tuesdays.

In response to the darkness, his helmet flashed a bright beam of light. Yeah, he wasn't getting a very good vibe here. Dark, dusty, chained up buildings were never a good sign. Yet the cop lady seemed perfectly comfortable in all of this. When she brought them in front of the freezer, Justin started to panic. "You know, this suit really isn't heavily insulated–,' he tried to excuse, though he wasn't actually concerned about the suit at all. Rather, he was very afraid of what he might see in that freezer, having watched a bunch of crime dramas and documentaries over the years.

She wasn't planning on murdering him and stuffing him in the freezer right?

"Oh. It's not a freezer," he chuckled with a loosely nervous edge, unballing his fists and seeming to ease up considerably, "cool, cool...or is it? Eh?" There was no way she'd appreciate that dumb joke any more than she appreciated anything else he said today. But for whatever reason, Justin was bent on wearing her down. He liked the challenge. Even if it scared him whenever it glared at him.

If the freezer murder idea wasn't scary enough, this radioactive blood thing was definitely concerning. He hadn't tested his suit against radiation...yet. But the woman wasn't even wearing a suit, so it had to be fine, right? Unless she was immune. Did her teleportation abilities come with other things too? It was super rare but not totally unheard of for a person to possess more than one. Those who possessed none, like Justin, were far more common.

"Was it one of those 'you don't talk about fight club' fight clubs?," he had to ask, gaze trailing along the wall and steps to see if there was any radioactive blood lying around. Thankfully, there wasn't. Justin knew it was a dumb question, but he was keen on asking anyway because he didn't want to think about how angry it was making him to think about all these people with superpowers using them in underground fights instead of helping people. That's what heroes were supposed to do, right? And the laws of Venture City made it clear. Enhanced Individuals were only allowed to use their abilities under certain criteria laid out by the legislature, which was basically hero-ing or policing.

Those who refused to cooperate would have their abilities taken away. As far as Justin knew, it didn't often come to that. He didn't know exactly how abilities were taken away since that wasn't made public knowledge. Mostly they'd just make people wear inhibitor ankle monitors, like the ones for restraining orders.

"I don't get it," Justin finally said as the woman lit up the room, causing the light from his helmet to shut off as he made his way over towards the cage, "people came here to beat each other up instead of helping everyone else out in the city? For money?" He reached out a hand and gripped at the cage. Did the bigshot heroes come here too? Or was it just the small-time ones looking to make an extra buck?

Hero work in Venture City paid really well, and as far as Justin knew, their insurance coverage was amazing. They'd get discounts everywhere throughout the city, VIP treatment at just about any event, invitations to celebrity parties and talk shows, their names and faces on the billboards and...he just couldn't understand who wouldn't be happy with a life like that. Sure, it wasn't easy or even possible for everyone to make it as a popular hero. But even signing on as a public volunteer had to count for something right? Plus there were plenty of other places out there that were demanding for more heroes.

Yet Justin also knew that if he did have the natural makings of a hero that he'd want to don the suit here. In Venture City.

Even the digital filter couldn't quite hide the twinge of envious longing in his voice. "I dunno, it just seems like a bit of a waste to me."
 
"Aren't all underground fight clubs the 'you don't talk about fight club' fight clubs?"

A very sarcastic answer to Gimmick's question, and yet... kind of true. This was definitely one of those places that didn't get talked about, which was probably made obvious by the fact that one had to pass through a walk-in freezer and down a set of secret stairs to get to it.

"Mierda."

Cam breathed the quiet expletive when her fishing attempts resulted in empty hands. Her cigarettes must've fallen out of her coat pocket at, like... any point during the exchange at the warehouse. There was nothing but lint and a few rolled up straw wrappers, neither of which would satisfy her oral fixation at the moment. She opted to chew on the inside of her cheek instead, upper body rotating so she could take the box from beside her and set it in her lap. She had wrapped some coat sleeve around her hand and was just starting to cautiously pry at the broken top of the box when Gimmick made his observation.

Pausing in her movements, Camila flickered her dark gaze up to the man. Her expression suggested she was trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. His... idealistic... views were very "hero in training". They were also quite possibly a load of crap. Since the monetization of the hero industry, no one was actually "in it for the people" anymore. Sure, they put on a good face, made their public announcements and "say no to drugs" videos, but when the cameras were off, the "heroes" were all just... corrupt superstars who made entirely too much money. Cam didn't know Gimmick, but given her past experiences it was hard for her to imagine he was any different from the rest of his so-called co-workers.

And yet... something about his statement seemed genuine. Or at least as genuine as anything could seem when coming out of a voice modulator and emoting LED screen.

"Not everyone makes the cut, I guess." She said a bit dryly. "Or not everyone wants to."

Her gaze stayed locked on his digital face for a few more seconds. Then, Camilia was turning her attention to the box once more. She finished prying it open and set the broken lid back onto the table beside her. Inside, the broken vials had spilled blue liquid all over the interior. It had a certain sheen to it that Cam had never seen before. Carefully, she sifted through the broken parts to grab the one vial that remained intact. She wiped the blue liquid off its exterior with her coat before precariously elevating the vial for a better look. She held it in her other hand, which was bare, and turned it this and that way in the light. On the bottom of the vial was the same Hero Corps. logo they'd seen on the shipping logs.

"These pendejos cut your checks," she said, looking at Gimmick. "You recognize this? Or heard any talk about blue serums that smell like..." she held the vial a little closer and gave a sniff. "Antifreeze?" There was no way it was actual antifreeze, but the sweet scent garnered the same reaction.
 
Clearly Justin had never been to a fight club before. He wasn't exactly built for fighting...when it didn't involve a keyboard. Briefly he wondered if this mystery cop lady could claim otherwise. She did look like the type that could kick ass and the 'Justin jury' was still out on determining whether she was a dirty cop. Maybe it was a good way to blow off steam for all he knew. Better to beat up consenting people right?

"Yeah, I guess we all can't win American Idol, huh?" It stung to hear the second part of the woman's response. Justin knew there were people out there who didn't care for the whole hero-ing thing regardless of whether they were blessed with supernatural abilities or not. But he wasn't one of those people. Because he couldn't stop clinging to this silly childhood dream of his. The one where he got to make people's lives safer and his parents would be proud of him for it. Where he wouldn't just be wasting his days away fixing computer issues for companies and individuals who just treated him like another piece of expendable hardware.

Justin wanted his life to mean something, and up until the day he pulled discarded components out of Hero Corps' dumpster...nothing else ever felt right. But now? Something in his gut told him he was finally on the right track.

"Whoa, hey! Don't open it without me!," Justin tore himself away from the cage to hurry over like he was checking out a friend's Christmas present. "Aw shit," he groaned at the sight of the smashed vials and tensed as the woman reached out to grab one, "I don't think you should be– ...touching this stuff without gloves. Did you not have to take biology classes?" Okay, maybe that was a bad example since most of his biology labs didn't require gloves...or even hand-washing. Ugh, biologists.

All caution flew straight out of his head once he'd spotted the Hero Corps logo. Yep. That was his employer's logo for sure, but what did this mean for him now? It was a chance to step up as a hero for doing the right thing (albeit with questionable methods) but...if Hero Corps truly was selling whatever this blue stuff was to SUPE Nation secretly– and really, when were secret dealings ever a good thing?– then there was likely more to the story. Justin wasn't dumb enough to believe this was a matter he could go to the HR department about. No, if they were being hush-hush about it then they definitely had their reasons. This may have been his plan to make it into the hero leagues but it was already risky enough without his job and future prospects directly hanging in the balance too.

The rational part of him was growing more anxious, wondering if this investigation was worth the risk, if all of this wasn't just him making another huge mistake. Yet the bigger part of him knew he'd never be able to let it go if he walked away now. Better an 'oops' than a 'but what if', he decided.

And then the dumb part of him leaned in closer to smell the vial, momentarily forgetting he was wearing a thick helmet.

"Closest thing I can think of is that limited edition Tidemaster's Blue Razzledazzle Berry Sparkling Protein Water they rolled out a few years back," he paused, cocking his head as the nostalgia set in, "it was too fizzy for my tastes. Hold on, does it smell like blue raspberry?" A moment barely passed before he retracted the question. "Nevermind, scratch that. I forgot it's not a real fruit."

A large question mark filled his helmet's display and soon became a running string of them as he hummed in thought. "Well, rule one in science lab was to never taste anything. I do have a buddy in forensics though. Actually buddy is kind of a stretch, he's just this dude I had a few classes with." Specifically the only reason why he even passed his biology classes in the first place. Justin leaned against the table, folding his arms and looking towards the cop lady, "but since you're LED you could probably get this sample into an actual lab or something right?"
 
Camila was watching (and listening to) Gimmick carefully. She was trying to gauge how affected he was by this discovery. His emotions, or lack thereof, could be a pretty good indicator as to how involved in this he was. It wasn't lost on Cam that, as far as she knew, this robo-flop could've already been privy to what was happening in that warehouse. There was a chance (slim as it was) that Hero Corps. had sent him there... for what, Cam didn't know, but she was exercising caution until she was sure she could trust this guy. Well... trust was a relative term. She didn't really "trust" anyone, but if she could at least be confident he wasn't going to try to take the vial and go running back to his employers to tell them all about her... that'd be enough for her. For now.

The more Gimmick talked, the more Cam became sure that this guy was not who she would've imagined Hero Corps.'s first choice would be for a recon job. Still, the last thing she was going to do was let him take the vial off to his "buddy" to examine.

"Right..." she agreed to his assumption, albeit a bit absentmindedly. Since Cam wasn't, in fact, LED (not anymore at least) the situation was a bit more complicated than that. But those were details Gimmick didn't need to know. She set the vial back into the box and, after wiping her hands off on the thighs of her jeans, retrieved her phone.

"I can probably take it in for analysis tonight," she said, mostly just thinking aloud as she typed a message on her device. "Got a friend in CSI who owes me a favor."

Pausing, she glanced up at Gimmick. Like him, her contact wasn't exactly a "friend" but... those were just more details he didn't need to know. She stared at his face screen for a few seconds, as if wondering what might be hiding beneath the mask, before she returned her attention to her phone. Silence stretched between them for a few moments, broken only by the light tapping of her fingertips against her screen and the occasional vibrating of her phone in response. Something that came through made the woman smirk and push a light chuckle from her nostrils. Whatever it was would remain a mystery though, as she was locking the phone and hopping down from the table a few moments later. She slid the device into the back pocket of her jeans before turning to face the table, giving Gimmick her back so she could start to wrap the box inside her coat once more.

"I'll take these in," she said as she worked. "And you..." The word stretched out for as long as it took her to finish her task, turn, and face Gimmick once more. "You've been a great help, but..." One hand extended towards him, motioning at the plethora of Hero Corp. gear he'd piecemealed together to make this little alter ego of his.

"Well... you can see the conflict of interest here, si? Probably best if you leave this one to me."
 
Was this whole thing suddenly going a little too smoothly or was he just paranoid? Normally, Justin would've been thrilled to delegate the more tedious tasks to someone else, finding that he was occasionally an unwanted and annoying presence from every lobby room he's ever graced with his presence. The ADHD didn't really help with that since, according to the shrinks, that was the reason why he was always so fidgety and impatient. So yeah, standing around and waiting for results about this mystery blue-probably-not-raspberry-serum wasn't how he wanted to spend his Saturday.

And yet, like a child, telling him to stay out of something only made him more eager to be a part of it. Specifically in this case since he was getting the slightest feeling that the cop lady was trying to cut him out of this entire investigation. "Hey, hold up, I put my life on the line back there too. Remember who got us into that warehouse? This guy!," he gestured toward himself and his LED display followed up by presenting a blinking display of a grumpy face, "SeΓ±or Gimmick." Well, there went his momentum.

"And Giz," Justin added a moment later, plucking the cube from his belt and waking the small robot from standby mode. Giz made a series of confused blip noises as it flew around the pair, seeking some sort of purpose since its master had not yet provided him with one. "But speaking of 'conflict of interest', how do I know you LEDs aren't just gonna try to cover this whole thing up?," he folded his arms and didn't have to try too hard to sound accusing because...well, classic dirty cops, right? "Maybe someone on your side's already been bought out and as soon as I walk away this whole thing's getting swept under the rug."

He wasn't about to admit where he got the parts of his, ahem, hero costume, since he couldn't deny that Hero Corps was definitely involved, but he couldn't just let this opportunity fly right over his head either. "Let's split the sample 50-50. You don't really need all of it, so leave some with me and Giz. Then we can both walk away happy." At his prompting Giz's little stomach compartment opened up to reveal a tiny corked test tube that was extended towards the lady.

There was no way for either of them to really know what the others' intentions were and maybe that would remain a mystery since there seemed to be no plans for either of them to meet up again. It was understandable given that...well, he was an illicit superhero who couldn't afford to let anyone find out his identity and she was clearly not very fond of him.
 
A single, dark brow was perked at Gimmick's incredulous behavior. "SeΓ±or Gimmick?" She repeated dryly. "What are you, superhero telemundo, now?"

He wasn't wrong, of course. He had risked his hide back there as well. Maybe not as much as Cam had risked hers, but it wasn't a competition. Altruism was kind of an all or nothing thing. You were either willing to help or you weren't, and Gimmick proved that he was. He could've ran when he realized he was standing face to face with a former LED officer as a hero without a permit. He could've ran when he saw men with guns, but he didn't. He stuck around and... as reluctant as she was to admit it, he'd helped Cam. She was thankful for that. Still didn't mean he got to call her a dirty cop.

"You wanna call me dirty?" She scoffed in Spanish. Now it was her turn for incredulity. How quickly the tables had turned. "You're the one running around playing hero without a license, wearing probably stolen tech from the company in question. Handing half my evidence over to you seems exactly like something a dirty cop would do."

It wasn't lost on her that this wasn't the only suspicious activity of the evening though. If they really wanted to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb, Camila was sure a lot of red flags would go up. Like the fact that she hadn't called for backup when they were fired upon, or at any point during or after the exchange for that matter. Cam had no way of knowing how privy Gimmick was to the actual inner-workings of the LED, but she imagined he'd be able to figure it out pretty quickly. He seemed... smart. In some ways, at least. Having him call her out, or worse, call the actual LED, would be bad for her. Really bad.

This realization pulled a long sigh out of the woman. She lifted one hand, momentarily forgetting about the possibility of sticky blue residue on her fingers, and raked her digits through her dark curls. She scratched her scalp and squinted one eye in reluctance over the decision she hadn't even fully come to yet. She was sure she was going to regret it, but... probably not as much as she'd regret some others. Hopefully.

"It's very weird that you keep a test tube in that thing's stomach, you know."

Her first words were in regards to Giz, whom she came a half-nod to. There was something unsettling about the little bot holding its belly open expectantly, as if it was about to receive some kind of snack. And yet, Cam soon found herself approaching it so she could pour some of the blue liquid from her vial into the bot's (scrunching her nose the entire time). When it was finished, she capped her own vial and returned it to the box that was wrapped in her coat. Her dark gaze found Gimmick. She stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowing as she seemed to be considering something important. After a moment, she reached into her back pocket and produced her wallet, from which she slid a single thin, white card.

"If you find anything," she began, extending the card towards him, "you can reach me here."

This time, the item produced was no illusion. The old LED business card was one of the few things Cam held onto. She didn't have many, and she didn't use them often, but now seemed like the appropriate time. Beneath the LED logo was her name, Camila Greene. Beneath that, her cell number. "Text only." She felt the need to tell him, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She just got the vibe that this guy would be the type to call her to report any minute finding or suspicious activity.

After she was semi-sure the point was made, she released her hold on the card and returned her wallet to her pocket. "Don't make me regret this," she said, almost tiredly. Cam's track record of trusting people wasn't exactly a good one. She'd been burned more than once-- finding this city was filled with people who were even more morally adrift than she was-- and yet here she was... stepping in front of the fire once more. Hopefully Gimmick was as good as he seemed... or at least as good as he pretended to be.
 

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