An enemy in need (rustler/hawk rp)

@Jack_

Luna Hawk waited in the shadows for The Rustler. Once he arrived she stepped forward. She had her mace but it was on her belt. There were apparently no other heroes. "I'm glad you showed up."

@lunahawk:

The Rustler was flying above the hero that had invited him to help her, holding a large megaphone in front of his mouth.

"ATTENTION SUPER-HERO PERSON. PUT YOUR WEAPON ON THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR. I AM VERY SUSPISCIOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHY I DECIDED TO COME HERE TONIGHT. YOU ARE TALLER THAN I AM, AND I AM AFRAID. TELL ME EXACTLY WHY I SHOULDN'T FLY AWAY AS FAST AS I CAN RIGHT NOW."

The megaphone was pretty loud, but that was mostly for comedic effect. Lucas' GoPro was recording the entire encounter, streaming it live to the internet.

But...there were no other heroes around. He hadn't been arrested yet, and she was standing still with her weapon undrawn. Could it be that she was actually telling the truth about needing help?

@jack_:

Luna Hawk put her mace...and watch...on the ground. "Name is Luna Hawk." She said. Her name was still big on social media, the woman that supposedly killed the Monitor. "You have nothing to worry about I just want to make a trade. You help me get my money back... I help you distribute some of it and destroy an attorney that wants to shut down your website."

@lunahawk:

Realization dawned on Lucas' face as he recognized the the name of the Super.

"Heeeey, you're the chick that killed that guy, right? Monty something? Goin' rogue, huh? Joinin' the fun side of the Force?" She had even put her weapons down as he had asked. She's for real! She actually wants my help! he thought, descending slowly. "Or do you just need a clandestine favor?" The clandestine part wasn't actually true, seeing as how this video was currently being viewed by millions online...this wouldn't help her case at all...

"WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE! YOU AIN'T THE LOONY HAWK! This is a set-up!" cried Lucas. Using his power to disrupt the livestream, he instead manually edited in some movie scenes, psychically spliced to appear as the lady in front of him removing her mask. He strained his frontal lobe, adding little bits of evidence that the person standing in front of him was not Luna Hawk. There would be no doubt to anyone watching the video; this lady was not the same person accused of killing the Monitor.

"Livestream's over, folks! This one's a dud!" he cried into the mic, deactivating the camera. If this person wanted to win the court case of whatever they were convicted of, fraternizing with a celebrity fugitive while being viewed by millions of people was not the way to go about it.

"Alright, I'm not recording anymore. I suppose I shoulda said something about that...but don't worry. Your cover's intact. Nobody will believe you were here tonight. If anything, I've helped your case. So...why do you need me to get money for you? Are you worried about your public image?" The last part of what she'd said clanged through his brain after he'd finished his little dialogue.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, there ain't a person alive who could take down my site, lawyer or otherwise! You'd need someone with a superhuman understanding of coding to do that! Unless, of course, they do have that..." Lucas gulped. If someone could take down RustleVine, his reputation would be ruined.

@jack_:

"Thank you." She said after he turned everything off. "She doesn't have any powers, but her employer does. Get rid of the attorney and you destabilize that part of the conspiracy that has taken me an embarrassingly long time to map out." She pulled a flash drive from her ass pocket. "I don't care about my image anymore, I care about the truth. The trial is over, but they are still holding my money as " evidence."

@lunahawk:

Lucas nervously ran his hand through his statically charged hair, a by-product of his mutant condition.

"When you say 'get rid of'....you mean scare, right? Frighten them away? 'Cos, you see, I don't really, um, kill people. I'll convince him to leave you alone, though...and I can get the money back."

He took the flash drive, holding it in his hands for a minute. His eyes radiated with power for a split second as his brain absorbed the information found within.

"That's a lot of dough," he said. "It's all yours? Jeez. That's quite a swindle. I can almost respect a move like that," he said, forgetting for a second to whom he was talking.

"So, uh, you want me to go take care of these guys? Alright, cool. Who's this employer, and, um, what does he do, exactly?"

Stop saying uh, he told himself. When he was on-camera, he had no problem playing the confident rogue, plundering banks and tricking the rich out of their hard-earned cash. But when he was on his own, it became harder to think straight. Especially with a known super-villain-ass-kicker staring him down. Even without the mace, she was more intimidating than Lucas could ever hope to be.

"One more question. Why me?"

@jack_:

"No one dies." She confirmed. "There is a video there of a very personal nature from six months ago." Judging by the video she *really* didn't care about her image anymore. "She will get disbarred for having sex with a client." Namely, Luna Hawk herself. All on video apparently taken by her helmet. "As for why you? Because your audience is huge and I want the people who did this to me to watch you embarass them in front of the world."

@lunahawk:

Lucas' eyes widened again behind his mask, and he began fidgeting with one of his gloves.

"Y'know, as much as people would love to see a video like that, RustleVine isn't exactly for that purpose...but I'd find a way to make it go viral all the same. Trust me, there is no one more competent in this field, no, nuh-uh, ma'am. So, I'm your weapon then. Just point me in the right direction and I'll scare away whoever you need me to."

@jack_:

She nodded. "Thank you. The money is being held by Byran Financial Group, they are one of the largest lenders in the world with a headquarters in Gothic City. The money though is being held in their high security vault in Memphis." She smiled slowly... "Their business is based on no one ever breaking into it, I doubt I need to tell you what success would mean."

@lunahawk:

Running his hand thorough his hair again and squinting, he frowned, thinking about the latest bit of information.

"Memphis? How do you suggest I get to Memphis? I mean...I assume you want this job done quick, but I've gotta do it in...like...one night. The guys don't know I'm cavorting with a known Super-Heroine...if I'm out for more than a day on this little errand, they'll know something's up...can, uh, you think of a way for me to get there tonight...? Otherwise, this may be a no-go on my end..."

@jack_:

She offered her hand. "I'll take you there." That presented its own awkward challenge, given the video of her he now possessed but it was an obvious solution. "I can fly fast enough."

@lunahawk:

Lucas shuffled his feet and bit his upper lip. On one side, he could do something good for someone and rob somebody at the same time, which was his specialty. Additionally, this job seemed to be pretty difficult from the way she talked about it. There was nothing he loved more than a challenge...and if he really did pull this off, he could rub it in the guys' faces, provided he left on good terms with the crimefighter in front of him...

"Sure..." he responded nervously, reaching out with his metallic right arm.

I wonder how she expects to get to Memphis from here...she'd have to be flying awfully fast...

This was the last thought to cross Lucas' mind, just as he remembered to take a lungful of air...

@jack_:

She pulled him tight to her body and took off with a sudden rush of air and an almost immediate sonic boom. For his sake she kept fairly low where the air was thicker. Although the speed should have been lethal his connection to technology told him her watch was generating an inertial dampening field around his body. Fortunately the journey was a quick one and she soon landed and set him on his feet. "Not so bad was it?"

@lunahawk:

Some sort of field had enveloped his body when they had taken off, but that didn't change the fact that he was terrified.

It had been a relatively short ride to Memphis, but it felt like it had taken forever. He was used to being in control of his flight path, and while he had the utmost faith in his client to take him there safely, he couldn't touch the ground fast enough.

"Woo...okay...lemme just...sit down for a second..." Some supervillain he was. If someone wanted to take him out, they could probably just fly around in a circle while holding on to his jacket. He certainly wasn't cutting a very masculine figure right now; she probably thought he was a weak little punk. Why she even needed his help in the first place, he didn't know. Ah well, it's not like I was doing anything else tonight anyways, he thought again.

"Okay...wow...Memphis. You weren't kidding about the speed. So...I'll just, uh, go find these guys. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you or something." That sounded wrong. "When I'm done, I mean. With messing these guys up and whatnot. Oh, and the video you wanted me to upload? That's handled in about two minutes. I had the arm work on it while you were dragging me across the country." He smirked; he felt back in control now that he had actually accomplished something. It was game time, and his confidence was back.

"You know where to find me! See ya round, and thanks for the lift!"

He took off into the Memphis sky, his HUD pinpointing the location of Byran Financial Group. First things first; he'd need intel. Psionically hacking into the database of the company, he located the most likely location of the money.

Byran Financial Group, get ready for a rustlin'.

@jack_:

The facility was crazy secure once he found it but i had one major flaw...it relied entirely on technology, some areas didn't even have guards.. But the money was surrounded by them and locked in a vault with two super computers rotating lock codes at the rate of several million per second. Good thing he was a technopath.

@lunahawk:

After about three minutes of research, Lucas was able to see deep into the security system of Byran Financial. There were about a dozen ways he could go about doing this, but his devious mind had come up with an even better way to do so.

Flexing his fingers, he took out his "Laptop," a messily cobbled together, paper-thin interface device that he kept folded up in his coat. It may not have any logos on it, but it was perfect for what he had in mind.

Hacking directly into the e-mail account of the CEO, he sent a message to one of the only night watchmen in the area, a desk jockey who had been paid to sit around doing nothing. After all, the vault was so high-tech, even if they got through him, they wouldn't be able to take anything. In theory.

The guard's eyes widened in surprise as he received the e-mail that would change his life.

Access code A-187

Get the money. Vault has been temporarily disabled. Clearance granted for seven minutes. Bring the cash outside. Wait for me.

His hands began sweating. He had been briefed for this, and everything checked out so far. But why on Earth would Mister Byran himself be coming to retrieve his stash? It was in the safest place imaginable. Oh well, he was just a desk jockey after all. He wasn't paid to ask questions. But there was one thing he still had to do.

Negative. Access code invalid. Police report filed.

He sat back in his chair. This was the moment of truth. The "police report" itself was fake, at the moment. If he didn't get the proper response, he'd file one for real. Then there would be trouble. But it would seem there was no need. His screen lit up with a notification.

Priority override 457- Byran

The code was correct. Everything checked out. "Right away, Mister Byran," he said to himself, fetching the money from the now-deactivated vault.

A moment later, he was outside with the briefcase. He had considered making a run for it, but just for a second. Mister Byran would skin him alive if he made off with the dough, but he had followed procedure to the letter. If something went wrong, he wouldn't be accountable.

"Hello? Mister Byran?" No sign of his rich-ass employer. He turned around to run inside with the money, only to find a short teenager in a garish orange and blue trench coat facing him.

"Thanks, bro!" he cried, grabbing the suitcase from the frenzied guard with a grip that could only come from a bionic arm. Blasting into the night, he left the confused watchman in the parking lot, fretting over how he was going to lose his job.

Don't worry, chum. Lucas wasn't without a heart; he had also untraceably transferred enough money from Byran's account into that of the guard's, making it seem like he had just won a contest that provided him with the sudden influx of money. It would be suspicious, and the guard would likely face legal trouble, but hey. He'd have a pretty neat story to tell. Being swindled by the Rustler was like being punched by George Clooney.

Steps 1 through 3 complete. Now for the next part of this little...whatever this is.

@jack_:

It was now that things got interesting... Someone was trying to break through his own technology suddenly to track him. He could feel it, like a crawly thing on his skin. Whoever was doing it was another technopath, and a very good one at that. Luna Hawk had warned others were behind everything and one of them was like him.