Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica poured on the speed, trying to overtake the truck, then dove, attempting to blow just over it and into the line of sight of the drivers. She knew they wouldn't be able to shoot out the front since the armored windows didn't roll down. She was aiming to startle them into swerving and perhaps crashing, or at least slowing as a result of her intervention. "See how you like this then..."

 

[Halcyon638]

It was a difficult maneuver, but Monica’s superior reflexes coupled with more than a few hours spent speeding down backroads in Tom and his friends’ vehicles allowed her to pull it off, bringing the vehicle down so that it matched speed, avoided colliding with the truck, and obscured the driver’s vision. The driver, a person also decked out in a balaclava, swerved the vehicle abruptly. It went up on two wheels momentarily, barely slowing and scraping the side of a parked sedan, yet remained on the road. Whoever was firing at the cop car went plummeting out into the road, assault weapon clattering across the asphalt. The police car screeched to a hall, nearly crushing the man.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed and considered. The Sliver was probably not easy to repair, shouldn't try that twice. At least the guy with the automatic was out of the picture. That was a plus. Plus whatever they stole might very well have flopped out the back in the meantime as well. She started looking for somewhere she could encourage a crash or a stop without ramming them or being rammed in return. To that end she started looking for a construction zone up ahead, something where the road would narrow and make it harder for them to maneuver, or also the cops might be able to get up ahead as well as behind. Can't outrun the radio... right?

 

[Halcyon638]

Off in the distance in the direction where the vehicle was headed, Monica heard more sirens and saw flashing lights. Another cop car was headed toward them.

The driver took a tight turn and steered the vehicle onto a side street, decreasing its speed to somewhere around 40 MPH momentarily. It sped up as it made its way down a road where vehicles were parked diagonally on either side. About 50 feet ahead, a car was backing out of one of the spots.

The driver of the armored vehicle honked its horn but the vehicle in reverse was already partway out into the right-hand lane. The armored vehicle began to brake slightly.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica cut ahead and tried to move in front of the truck again as she had before. She was more confident they wouldnt try to ram her and a car at the same time, and they'd have to slow and ultimately stop. That was probably doubly true of the back end of the sliver was crowding the traditionally narrow field of view in an armored truck. Trusting luck and her reflexes, she dropped back into position to try to force the stop.

 

[Halcyon638]

The Sliver dipped down in front of the armored vehicle once more. The driver again yanked the steering wheel, jostling them and their masked passenger. It was clear they were trying to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane which had been clear as of a moment ago. However, they over-corrected and the vehicle smashed hard into the rear of a large, gray SUV sticking out of one of the parking spots.

The vehicle that had been backing out sped back into their spot to avoid harm. The collision with the parked SUV sent the armored car spinning into the center of the road. It was now stopped across the center line, though the engine was still going, and both passengers appeared too dazed to react yet.

Monica could hear another set of sirens coming from the area towards which the suspects had been driving.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica dropped the silver in the other direction, opposite the sound of the police. She briefly considered she might be in considerable trouble for interfering, but... that was a bridge she'd cross when she came to it. She didn't expect she'd be able to get into the truck, but for now she could get into the BACK of the truck and take whatever it was they stole. Parking the sliver in the air over the truck she jumped out and onto the roof, then swiftly vaulted into the open back of the vehicle. She realized whatever they took might actually have spun out in the chaos, but if they had it lashed down she could retrieve it and give it to the cops whether they got away or no.

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica sprang into the back of the vehicle, she saw another balaclava-clad man toting a submachine gun. Still shaken from the collision, he was only barely beginning to lift his weapon and point it in her direction as she entered, leaving her with an opening to launch a first attack. "Fuck!" he said, more to himself than to anyone else.

A very large rectangular container took up much of the space—five feet wide, about eight feet long, and about four feet high and strapped into the vehicle, though one of the straps had come loose and another was askew. It left them both little room to maneuver, though her agility made it less of an obstacle.

The truck began to slowly pick up speed once more.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sprang into action, trying to twist the submachine gun or what have you towards the guy so that if he pulled the trigger, it was him that would end up riddled with bullets. She also didn't really want to fall out, and so grabbing ahold of him was her best bet.... unless of course he also started to fall out. Still, she was comnmitted. the plan was to twist the gun around and hopefully eventually get it off him, but for now to point the muzzle at him for sure.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica was too fast for the dazed criminal, angling the barrel of the weapon away from her and grabbing a hold of one of his arms. As the vehicle picked up speed, they both lost their footing momentarily and he nearly lost hold of the gun.

“You stupid fuck!” he shouted, swinging an elbow towards Monica. It caught her in the chest but her armor absorbed the full impact. Both of them had now regained their footing as the truck lurched forward, going about 30 MPH now.

“What the hell is going on back there?” someone from the front of the vehicle called. Fortunately, there was no access or line of sight to the rear from the cab.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica attempted to rip the weapon free, bantering "I appreciate you going non-gender specific in your insults. I'll regret tossing you out of this truck." As she attempted to disarm the man, she widened her stance, planting her feet to try to better stay upright as the truck took off. It was a struggle, she at once had to deal with the moving truck beneath her feet and the man wrestling for the gun. Again, a place where having some training might help. If she lived into her 40s she was going to have to open some kind of superhero school "Just gimme the gun!"

 

[Halcyon638]

The criminal was a burly guy, but Monica’s Centauri strength won out, as she tore the weapon out of his grasp. He swung his fist, trying to strike her in the right side of her head, but she easily ducked it. The truck began to take a turn and both she and her opponent thudded against the side of the truck, though both kept their footing and Monica kept her hands on the weapon.

Outside, she heard horns honking loudly.

 

[siobhancan99]

Not wanting him to get a chance to get the gun back, she slid it back along the bed of the armored car with a kick, hoping to send it out to the street. She'd read that guns didn't actually go off that way, so she was hoping that was true. Figuring the odds were a bit more even now, she then threw a few punches in his direction. Hopefully 3 classes had done their work... though probably not. She had to take him out and fast before he started a grapple or got atop her.

 

[Halcyon638]

The automatic weapon slid to the edge of the truck’s floor and then was dislodged with a bounce, sending it tumbling onto what appeared to be the highway. Her attack lunged for her, trying to get in close before she turned her attention from the weapon, but she recovered too quickly. He managed to block one of her punches with his thick forearm and dodge another.

The third blow cracked him on the side of the head, sending him reeling as the vehicle gained speed. He stumbled forward, then slumped onto the large container, clearly unconscious.

They were now going roughly 50 again. Monica could hear sirens in the distance to the rear of the vehicle.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica pounded on the wall of the vehicle between her and the cabin crew "stop this fucking truck or I'll toss your buddy out onto the road." She wouldn't, of course, because she wasn't the Punish guy or whatever from netflix. She wasn't a killer. She held onto him though, and the guys in the front didn't need to know she wouldn't do anything to him "Stop the fucking truck right now you mother fuckers or your friend is fucking road pizza."

At the same time, she wedged herself against the secured box, praying that the cops got out ahead of the truck, or right up behind. she wasn't too confident about two on one, with two having guns.

 

[Halcyon638]

A moment after Monica had finished shouting to them, she felt the vehicle shift violently. There was a loud screech as the truck took another sharp turn. The force of the maneuver threw her hard. Instinctively, she went limp, knowing it would lessen the impact, and she managed to blunt it by throwing her forearms up in front of her, but she still felt a jolt of pain as her arms and left shoulder collided with the side of the vehicle. Nothing broken, but she was sure she’d feel it in the morning.

At the same time, the unconscious criminal’s body crunched hard against the vehicle’s interior. Now, a cop car was visible about 100 feet behind the truck, with another police vehicle 50 or so feet behind it.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica tried a different tactic "stop the truck or ill toss your fucking cargo out the back and you'll have lost your buddies for nothing." She winced, glad she'd be wearing a flannel tomorrow for the 90s party. Still she'd probably have to explain to austin ... something. and Gabi. Fuck maybe she should just tell Gabi. No that was a terrible idea. She started unbuckling the crate "im fucking serious you dicks. this crate is going out the back unless you come stop me."

 

[Halcyon638]

“You don’t want to fucking do that!” what sounded like the driver shouted.

“Fuck the cargo—just get us the hell out of here!” presumably the passenger could be heard saying. Monica could feel the truck speed up, though it was already probably near topping out. Both police cars were gaining on it, with the lead vehicle less than 50 feet away now. She heard the drone of a helicopter approaching as well.

She heard the blare of a semi’s horn and the chunk-chunk-chunk of a massive vehicle passing them, suggesting they’d just almost collided with something large enough to possibly reduce them all to roadkill.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica consdiered the possibility that whatever it was was explosive. This required a new plan. She instead decided to open the container. She looked through the guy's pockets for a key or anything, and if she didn't find one she'd look to see if she could grab a tool or something to smash the lock on the crate. "you know guys you're not gonna outrun the cops so... you should probably slow down and surrender. You know so they don't fucking shoot you."

 

[Halcyon638]

Looking closer, she saw that what appeared to be the lock was a keypad alongside what seemed to be a touch screen. Not having a traditional lock, the lock release gun her father had supplied her with wouldn’t do the trick, but it was possible that the grappling hook portion of her grappling gun might be able to pry open where two portions of the container came together.

More sirens sounded, this time ahead of the truck. “Shit!” the driver shouted. The vehicle began to decelerate, finally, though she was able to brace herself this time to stay on her feet. The cop cars behind the truck were now just 30 and 60 feet away, respectively, and were also now slowing.

 

[siobhancan99]

She couldn't exactly affect the chase, and so .... well curiosity got the better of her. She fished her grapple gun from behind her back and used the hook to pry the lid up a bit, before pushing to bend it so she could see inside. "Alright boys, what are you stealing." It occurred to her that some of the high tech she was seeing suddenly on the market could be cribbed from Centauri tech. There were, at one point, thousands of them on earth. It would make sense if a few stayed like her father instead of leaving like her mother. It would make even more sense for the ones that stayed to try to cash in. She should start trying to get samples of things to send back for her dad.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica pried open the lid which took nearly all of her remarkable strength. Inside, packed carefully into a molded plasticine material not visually dissimilar to the packaging you’d find inside a box carrying some expensive gadget, was what appeared to be an incredibly high-tech suit of body armor, futuristic in appearance if utilitarian. Emblazoned on the left breast was the sleek company logo of First Line.

The two pursuing cop cars were now parked just twenty feet behind the stopped armored car and already, the officers inside were arming themselves and beginning to step out of their vehicles. One of them was already raising her pistol in the direction of the rear doors of the truck which were still open with about a two foot gap between them.

 

[siobhancan99]

"fuck me I'd love that shit." Monica felt a brief pang that she wasn't a super criminal, and was truth be told quite happy that the cops were there, because she might have run off with the stuff before realizing it was not fit to her specifications. Seeing the cop she called out "coming out with a bad guy. I'm unarmed." then hoisted the knocked out thief over her shoulders in a fireman's carry, moving slowly towards the back "please don't shoot me. I'm bulletproof but it doesn't exactly tickle." She wasn't SURE the suit was bulletproof and she knew the force would still spread across her body and bruise like a mother fucker. Still, best to create the legend.

 

[Halcyon638]

The other cops had emerged from their cars and had their weapons drawn, slowly approaching the vehicle. “Put him down and put your hands in the air,” one of the police officers shouted. “Slowly.” He and his partner stepped toward the back followed by another pair of cops.

She could hear what sounded like more emergency vehicles on their way from both directions.

 

[siobhancan99]

"You're really gonna point a gun at the girl that saved that nice wealthy and super politically connected McKenney girl? huh? That's how you want your career to go buddy? Never wanna make it to sergeant huh? I mean I get it. Some people are terrified of success. Self-sabotage. Learned about that in my psych class."

She slowly put the guy down on the ground and put her hands up. She might enjoy being a smartass a little, but the operative word in smartass was smart, and not complying with police orders in a situation as fraught as this one was a terrible idea. "there's two in the cabin of the truck. Probably armed with like... i dunno. um. some kind of machine gun. I don't know that much about guns that aren't rifles or pistols."