"Until I find out who I am, I am going to stay at the base as well." says TR. "Of course, It's only been a day, so we'll see where it goes from here."
Kestrel sat very still in the co-pilot's seat, fingers twitching in micro-movements to mirror Minotar's flying. "Crashing at the base just makes sense. Efficient. Money-saver. All that good stuff."
Coldwar lives at the base and is relaxing in the Javelin listening to music waiting for a ride.
Once everyone who is riding in the Javelin is aboard, MINOTAR will signal the missing members by internal comms (text) that they were heading for the bank, in case they wanted to meet the group at that location.
He will then launch the Javelin with Kestrel's aid.
TR climbs into the Javelin and grabs a seat next to Snart.
”Hm, three hot and a cot on the League’s dime does sound good.”
Leon admits with slight shrug as he watches MINOTAR.
”But, I think I like a little more freedom. Maybe when I get some wheels and can get around...” He trails off in thought. ”Of course, not paying rent means I could afford more books.” Leon looks like this is a very serious consideration.
Without turning his head, MINOTAR replies to Leon.
"Statement: Your colloquial language aside, I cannot help you with 'wheels' unless you want them installed on your feet, but I would be able to offer basic lessons on flying the Javelin if needed. It is possible we have a simulator back at the base in order to practice safely."
”Ya, thanks for the offer on the upgrade, but I’m gonna have to decline.”
He says with a smirk.
”But I might just take you up on the lessons.” He watches out the widows at the passing sky and grins mischievously. ”Never know when I might need to... ‘borrow’ one of these things.”
"Hrmmm. I never would have taken you for a reader." remarks TR. "Learn something new every day. Speaking of, did you know that the movie star wars isn't a documentary about the Justice League's battles in space?"
Leon chuckles. ”You don’t say?”
He looks over at Coldwar and thumbs back at TR.
”This guy probably thinks Frankenstein is a true story too.”
Turning back to TR he smirks. ”Let’s just say I have a passionate relationship with books, in fact, you could call it intimate.”
MINOTAR nods.
"Statement: As do I Mr. Leon. I'm always looking for data on how human's process emotions and problems. My favorite was War and Peace. Once I downloaded the writing, it took a whole five minutes to read!"
|
The trip to the bank is short, and soon you are standing before the vault with the police and the bank manager by your side. The door to the vault hangs open, the locking mechanism clearly is broken. Inside, most of the money is untouched, but several of the safe-deposit boxes have been opened and their contents rifled.
"I'm Mr. Green, the bank manager. The police have been over the vault and the only thing missing is the contents of box number 775, a set of blueprints. What concerns me is how they managed to break into the vault.
"The door is two feet of double-reinforced solid steel, with a time-lock. Yet, as you can see, they somehow entered the building and broke the lock on the vault before taking a worthless set of blueprints!"
"I was given to understand that Frankenstein was a story about metahuman experimentation and black magic. Was I given wrong information?"
"Blueprints to what exactly?" TR asks.
Leon shrugs.
"There have been a lot of interpretations of it."
Exiting the Javelin last, Leon's shirt seems to be different again. All black except for red trim around the neck and short sleeves.
Entering the bank with the others he looks over the scene. As the bank manager speaks he moves over to the door to get a better look at the locking mechanisms.
"Who was the box register to?"
He asks off-handedly.
For the sake of argument, MINOTAR double checks the vault for mirrors and mirror-like surfaces.
"And who owns the boxes that were rifled through? Whoever may want to have learned something in the boxes. The theft might be an afterthought." Coldwar suggests, clearly more of a soldier than a detective.
Is the lock actually damaged? Or are they just assuming it was even interacted with...
Kestrel fuzzed out her conscious perceptions, instead focusing on acquiring a detailed cohesive picture of everything around her.
Everyone leaves something behind...
"Yeah we've got Rogues. You see this here?" Kestrel tapped the lock. "You only see a shear like that in stainless steel when it's been dropped to damn near absolute zero, and then super-heated to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. That make you guys think of anyone?"
"Aren't there a pair of people in the justic league that can make fire and ice?" offered TR, trying to be helpful.
"I was at HQ." Coldwar trying to rule himself out
Leon took a closer look at where Kestrel indicated and nodded as she explained the damage.
”Slick.”
He glances back at Coldwar and chuckles.
”Unless your secretly packing a plasma torch I don’t think you’re a suspect here Icecube.”
"Aren't there a pair of people in the justic league that can make fire and ice?" offered TR, trying to be helpful.
Leon grins.
”Oh ya, I seen those two on the news before. You mean those cuties, Fire and Ice.”He shakes his head, smirking again.
”Unless they’ve switch sides, I doubt they were involved here. Course, if they did switch, I might have to reconsider being a good guy.”
Crossing the vault to the opened safety boxes Leon palms a stray hundred dollar bill, forming it into a slender rod shape. He uses the bill to probe the contents of the boxes.
“From what I read in M&M’s file, my money says this was Captain Cold and one of the others he works with, ah, Hot Wave, or something.”
He shrugs.
"I thought you were a criminal, and by extension not a good guy?" asked TR, clearly confused.
”Ex-criminal.”
Leon corrects.
”I’m what you call being ‘reformed’.”
He says, complete with air quotes.
”I have seen the error of my ways and turned over a new leaf.”
He adds in a mock melodramatic tone.
Standing silent in the corner and absorbing the others actions and words quietly after finding nothing, MINOTAR finally pipes up.
"Statement: Labels and/or unproved accusations are for non-evolved people. We have...'work' to do. Please focus on the task at hand rather than worrying about our teammates' past affiliations. We all seem to have things in our past that are not meant to be discussed in our current situation and therefore are irrelevant. Kestrel? Good work. I think we are building a good case for contacting the JL directly. They may have some advice or history we can work with to help us find these super-culprits. Does anybody else have anything to add before we depart?"
”Not unless they were polite enough to leave a post-it detailing their plans and directions to their hideout.”
Leon muses as he continues Poking through the box the bank manager had indicated looking for any notes, papers, or scraps that might give them a clue of what was taken.
”Once Mr. Green can get you those names we can work out our next step.”
"Well what happened to the cameras here? Without opening up all the safety deposit boxes it'd be hard to confirm only one thing was taken without more intel then you've told us about."
"Sorry, I meant no offense; I was just trying to understand what you mean is all."
At Minotaur's question, TR says "I have an idea, but it'll require us getting more information first. I'm going to guess they'll be at least one more prepatory theft before the actual theft takes place."
Seeing himself of no use again, Coldwar ice slides back to HQ to find Straightjacket.
|
|
You can check the cameras in the vault, but they offer no evidence of what happened. Back at headquarters, it is about an hour before Mr. Green's list comes through. There are six names on it:
Amanda Peters
Ignatius Cooper (the box with the blueprints that were taken)
Harold Wilson
Thomas Fiscal
Brenda McNab
Mark Silverstein
A quick check on Mr. Cooper finds that he is something of an eccentric inventor that lives just outside of the city. Most of his neighbors consider him a "nice guy, but a little strange."
After perusing the list, TR says "We should go pay Mr. Cooper a visit, and find out what sort of device the blueprints were of."
Nodding again, MINOTAR waves at the hanger.
"Statement: That sounds appropriate Mr. Rosa. I will take everyone there in the Javelin, but remain in the vehicle on comms. My appearance tends to unnerve some normal humans and I can monitor the Justice League systems to flag any new hits for our thieves."
”Unnerved, by you? I just can’t believe it.”
He teases with a smirk, then continues more seriously.
”But, since you’ll be indisposed. Might be a good idea to check the records on the other names on the list. See who they are, and what was taken from their boxes. The police have probably already started doing that themselves...”
He looks thoughtful for a moment then looks at the others.
”Hey, is it true about Stretch? Is he really haunted or something, like Frosty said?”
TR makes his way down to the Javelin bay and grabs a seat.
Coldwar pours a beer into glass made of ice and cheers the team heading to the Javelin. "Call us if you need us." He pads to the TV room to play video games in his pink bunny slippers.
Coldwar pours a beer into a glass made of ice and cheers the team heading to the Javelin. "Call us if you need us." He pads to the TV room to play video games in his pink bunny slippers.
”Hey, is it true about Stretch? Is he really haunted or something, like Frosty said?”
MINOTAR looks at Leon squarely.
"Statement: I have not 'seen' the man's father. But he talks as if someone else is there, and he seems to have insights that come from nowhere. Actual proof of life after death is illusive, but there are records of similar haunting effects. So I have no real reason to doubt Straitjacket's honesty about it. I know him to be honorable and hard working. He jokes, but I feel there is a sadness that he hides too. A liar? Maybe. But I would need great and obvious proof to believe it. He has 'saved my hide' enough for me to trust him with it. Isn't that enough?"
Leon nods.
”Well, ghost or not, if he’s got a trick up his sleeve like that it could come in handy.”
He says as the group walks down to the hangar.
”We don’t know how cooperative this Cooper is going to be. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone who can snoop around unnoticed while Sherlock and Calvin Klein talk to him.”