Vigilante (Under Construction! Please Excuse the Dust!)

Chapter 9: info.

Rain Maker:

        I rubbed my temples anxiously. First the Elemental, now the Shapeshifter had gotten away from the ICPD LockDown unit.

        "Tell me what happened," I ordered of the LockDown lieutenant before me. "How did they escape?"

        The rattled lieutenant looked at me cautiously, unsure of how to phrase how badly he and his fellows had failed as LockDown agents. LockDown was a specialized unit of the ICPD, explicitly dealing with dangerous Powered citizens of the Inner and Outer Provinces. They were chosen from the best of the best and had something that couldn't be taught: bravery.

        To face a raging Strength Hero with a traquilizer gun or a Telepath with only your mind, you had to have no doubts in the face of danger, and yet, here I was, cleaning up a mess that should never have been made in the first place.

        "They were sheduled for deactivation on the 21st," the lieutenant replied, shifting nervously. "The only entry to the holding cells was sealed and all precautions taken by the night staff, but, somehow, in the morning, the Elemental was gone. We questioned his cellmate, the Shapeshifter, but she only told us that she woke up and he was gone."

        I chewed my lip and after a moment, stood from the overstuffed desk chair in the LockDown's captain office, where their commander-Laurel Barnaby-had been last seen before her disappearance along side the two Powered criminals. She was a suspect in orchestrating their escapes, but no evidence had proven viable. Commander Barnaby had solid alibies.

        "Thank you for your cooperation," I mumbled. "Brigade Six will begin our investigation. Please, let us take it from here." I lifted my heavy pack from the floor and shrugged it over one shoulder.

        The lieutenant only nodded and I left the office, striding out the main doors a moment later into the bright sunshine. The Inner City shone like a diamond compared to the drabness of the Outer City. The buildings reflected the sunset on their mirror windows.

        The streets, however, were eerily empty of people. Maybe that was a good thing, or else I'd have been mobbed in a heartbeat. The silence, however, made me uneasy. I tapped the communicator at my ear and muttered Charm's name.

        "Rain Maker," his voice came through clear as a bell.

        "Sir," I replied, trim and careful. "The LockDown agents say that the Elemental disappeared before the Shapeshifter. They questioned her and she only said that he was gone when she woke up."

        Charm was silent for a moment. Thinking, most likely.

        "What about their commander? Barnaby?" he asked.

        "Nothing. Her accounts were cleared and closed and her house is abandoned," I reported. A small breath came over the line, like a sigh.

        "Then we need to find her," Charm growled. "She is our only lead at the moment and so she is our only concern, am I clear?"

        "Crystal," I replied. The communicator bleeped in my ear, signaling that Charm had ended the call. I stopped at the corner market, which was as devoid of life as the sidewalks outside and entered the restroom.

        Carefully, I checked each stall and locked the door before ducking into the largest one. I slid out of my uniform, trading it for civilian clothes from the bag I carried. I folded the Kevlar material and shoved it into my pack. I left the still market.

        I turned down the street towards the Inner City library, where most citizens records were kept. I needed to do some serious research on Laurel Barnaby. After a few minutes on the creepy empty street, I pushed open the door of the library, hit with a rush of cool air that pushed my hair back. It felt good on my sweaty face.