Duke got nervous as the crowd of reporters flooded the scene but immediately became eased as the Police Chief firmly commanded them to leave. Though he had never met this Police Chief before, he felt secure and almost comfortable as he approached Duke. The Chief offered his thanks and a favor if he ever needed it.The Chief ducked as the AEGIS roared above them. "SWEET JESUS!" As it flew away to the confusion of the LAPD, he shook his head and laughed. "That must have been that ice fella. Shame he couldn't stick around..." The rotund police commander looked around at the glistening snow, melting in the July heat. "The media's taken to calling him the 'Snowman', if you can believe that. Say, what's your name? You got a secret identity or something?"
"Thank you, sir, but I hope I'll never need it. I saw on the TV that a reporter said the robbers were taking hostages, which is why I came so quickly. Looks like she was wrong."
Just then, the other Super took off in a whirl of snow and ice, escaping into his aircraft above.
"One thing, sir. Who was that guy?"
"Staff Sergeant Ellis Duke, sir. But people just call me Duke. No secret identity. Never saw a need for one. That "Snowman" must be hiding something, though. He ran off as soon as he could. And if the reporters ask about me, I'd prefer if you kept my name out of it. I'm no hero."The Chief returned the handshake with a firm grip. "Of course. Your identity is safe with us." He looked around. "Do you need a ride out of here? We can get you past that crowd over there."
Duke then held his hand out to the Chief for a handshake.
"It was good to meet you, sir, but I'd rather not stick around with all these reporters."
The kid watched the match fall from the boss' hand and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a loud *crack* like a weird-sounding bullet, and after a moment he realized that he wasn't on fire. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was now inexplicably hundreds of feet away from the burning gas tank. A man he had never seen before in a strange red suit was carrying him, safe from the flames. The other man drove off in the car, leaving the trio behind.-snip-NCIS: Office of Special Projects, Undisclosed Location near Los Angeles
Barry was working late trying to solve a case about a dead petty officer. He was just about to wrap up for the night when he heard the police radio light up in chatter. Just yesterday, he had finished rigging up his system to hear all major police chatter all along the west coast. It was working perfectly.
"Be advised, possible 10-10 and 10-70 near Shell gas station along Madison St. There may be a minor involved. All available units, please respond. Over."
Barry knew it was in Seattle and that he was in LA, but normal police response times would be around 12 minutes. He quickly crunched the numbers and realized that he could get to Seattle with tachyon enhancements (mach 13.2) in less than 6. He knew he would be fatigued, so he quickly grabbed a protein bar, donned his (almost) frictionless suit, and sped off.
Old Gas Station in Seattle
It felt like he was running for forever. A kid's life was in danger, and he just wouldn't be fast enough. Thankfully, he arrived in time just to hear a man's voice, "You can fucking die, that's what you can do. You make me sick to my god damn stomach. You didn't stop when they were begging for mercy, why the hell should I?" The man stepped back from the expanding puddle of gasoline and drew a line towards him with the nozzle. "You know, it's funny. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Although I'm pretty sure both you and I prefer it warmed up." Barry's head was spinning. "They" were begging for mercy? Who? he thought. What the hell have I gotten myself into? What exactly did this kid do? It didn't matter. There was a kid's life on the line. He sped in just as the man struck a match, hoping to get the kid out.
Barry reacted quickly, dodging the bullets and ripping the gun from the boss's hands. He then stood a couple yards away from the man, and asked, "Why are you doing this to the kid? ANSWER ME!!"The boss put his hands up. "A-alright, look, I don't know who or what the fuck you are, but I do know one thing. I know that you have absolutely no idea what you are doing."
Quil, now satisfied with the conversation, returned to searching the site, and found the weapon used by the robbers. Interested, he actually slipped inside the weapon, noticing modifications not normal of typical weapons, or typical of anything for that matter. Intrigued, he continued looking through the weapon. Deciding he was safe for the moment, he hardened his body around and inside the device to be the same texture and density of rubber, and on the inside examined the gun for any traceable objects.Los Angeles
Barry didn't know what to think, but at least the boy was safe. His thoughts were interrupted by the boy's voice, which said, "H-Hey, thanks for saving my life and all, but can we get out of here, too? I do not want to be around when that explodes."He looked down. "I dunno. I'm not from here, and I don't wanna go back to where I'm from. Don't you have a place I can stay?"
Barry shook himself out of his thoughts. "Oh yeah, that'll explode. Sorry, I'm starting to get a bit fatigued. Give me two seconds." He pulled out his protein bar from his pack and quickly wolfed it down. He glanced up, looking rejuvenated, and asked, "Where to?"
"Well kid, I'm not from around here either, and I don't think I have enough energy to get home," Barry replied in his distorted voice. "I can check you into a motel, but I won't be able to stick around the help you. That reminds me, the police'll be here soo-- "The kid blanched at the sight of the police. "Wait! I can't-" He stared at the streak of lightning that the Flash left behind and swore. "Dammit! Don't leave, you idiot!" As the police arrived, he finally managed to unwrap his hand and let loose a huge burst of flame at the cop cars, causing them to slam on the breaks and turn away.
Barry's voice was cut off by the screech of sirens. "They should be able to help you kid, but I gotta run. Can't let the police find me." He glanced at the fast approaching police cars and back at the kid, nodded, and disappeared from sight, only leaving behind a red streak of lightning.
The police chief and several other plainclothes officers and detectives were in the office, having a meeting. In front of them was a older man in a suit, with grey hair yet a chiseled face and physique.-snip-Quil slipped through the streets trying to avoid as many cameras as he could. He had calmed down since the run in with the officers, and his eye had returned to normal. His usual thirst for knowledge returned and he eyed the police department office. He figured he could slip in unnoticed and look around for any info on the robbery, like who the thieves were. Making up his mind, he slid around to the office and slipped into an air vent, intent on making progress.
The owner of the hardware shop, a bespectacled middle aged obese man with a messy beard, was distracted by an article in the local paper and didn't notice the heavily armed robot enter. The man muttered to himself: "Mass arsons in Seattle... What on earth is this world coming to?"-snip-Porshen loved his new acquisition, or at least a form of appreciation an android can "feel". It's only been one day, but the gun was mostly integrated into his left arm. Not much was left of the original weapon other than bits of plastic he could not find a use for (shaping plastic requires a modification that he has not yet cared to install). Those were, of course casually tossed into a small pile next to a motel. He was very impressed with the inner workings of the gun. Using multiple rails was impressive at this small of a scale, and the loading mechanism was impressively smooth, but the magazine was by far the most interesting part. The small rounds were in fact tiny warheads, and the battery powering the railgun was like nothing he has ever seen. The storage was immense, explaining how the gun could fire such a large magazine.
The gun isn't made to be in a small enough space to fit into an arm, and too inconvenient to place anywhere else. Anything more drastic than this and it would not make much sense to use a human disguise.
Once finished with integration, he started his usual signal splicing process, at the same motel. "...ding to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the weapons theft and Bank Robbery will be given a $500,000 reward! I will also be donating $5 million dollars to the retirement funds of the Las Angeles Police Force, and to the families of the fallen officers. Thank you very much, and thank you as always for trusting in Aegis."
Concerning. Large reward. Two parties now searching for self. Stealth: maintained, becoming difficult to maintain. Necessary to achieve greater combat preparedness. Processing capacity: 87%. Necessary to improve. Considerable computer hardware distributor nearby. Next target found. Starting course.
Leo jolted in surprise and got his flames ready, but relaxed a little bit when he saw it was Barry and smiled. "Hey! You came back! I knew you were a superhero!" The smile disappeared and turned into a scowl when he started asking questions. "I did that because they were chasing me, duh! You ever been chased by pigs before?"-ship-Barry didn't go far, just out of sight from the cops and off the road, and he peered through trees to see if the kid would be safe. He was astonished as the kid unwrapped his hand produced fire at the police. Barry sighed, and thought, This kid needs help, just as he heard an explosion. The gas tank had detonated, and now he had no idea where the kid was. He stayed where he was, aware of what was going on, and he saw a small figure slowly walking towards his direction. This kid is alive! he thought. He waited for the kid to fully emerge from the smoke, and he called out, "Hey kid, why'd you do that?"
Quil was startled by the sudden loud noise, surprised that someone had noticed him. Immediately he fired three tendrils at the hands of the officers, intending to remove just the guns. However, in mid flight, the feeling returned and instead of the guns, he ended up removing the hands of the officers instead. Making sure not to show his actual face, he continued to appear as a physical shadow with one eye and a toothy grin. Realizing his plan had been foiled, Quil backed slowly towards the vent from which he entered
The police chief and several other plainclothes officers and detectives were in the office, having a meeting. In front of them was a older man in a suit, with grey hair yet a chiseled face and physique.
"Okay, last thing. I know this last day has been rough on you guys. I want what you all want: to catch these sons of bitches, and put them behind bars. We might have different methods, we might be different people, but if we are going to do this, we must do our best to work together and-"
"What the hell is that!?" A detective interjected, pointed at the vaguely humanoid shape that was Quil. Suddenly, every gun in the station was drawn and pointing directly at the super.
"FREEZE!"