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Episode
102 |
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“Our domain is the shadow. Stray from it reluctantly, but when you do,
you must strike hard and fade away…without a trace.” Splinter, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles Alan shut the door behind him and
looked at “I’m not getting a lot of sleep
these days,” Alan confessed, beginning down the steps, “There’s a local herbal thing that
they sell at a lot of the convenience stores around here,” he said as they
began down the street, away from the club.
“It works pretty well.” Their
words were lost on the wind, the same wind that kicked the Crimson Rose’s
cape into the air. Standing on the edge of the
building, the red and black vigilante watched the two knights head towards
the end of the block. Waiting until
they were halfway out of sight, she turned to the roof. The tarred industrial layout awaited
her. With regularly spaced lines of tar,
the black roof creaked quietly, the surface feeling like grainy sand beneath
the vigilante’s combat boots. Towards the rear of the building,
a stair access stood against the otherwise flat topography. The weathered, once-white door and sloped
back contrasted with the featureless texture of the top of the building. The Rose approached it, but didn’t touch
the handle. She knelt down, scrutinizing
the small separation between the door and the frame. At the base, she saw a thin line crossing
the threshold, the first of many as she moved her attention towards the
handle. She stood up, considering the
door as a whole, realizing its security. Aborting the doorway entrance, she
walked cautiously towards the edge of the building. She looked down the two-and-a-half story
drop to the car-wide alley below.
Getting on her knees, she carefully bent over the side of the
building, studying the back wall. Several
windows were evenly spaced throughout the rear of the building, from the
bottom floor, half-submerged beneath the street, to the third floor just
beneath her. The Crimson Rose moved towards the
nearest of the windows and leaned over the side. Unable to get a good position, she undid a
pocket on her belt, taking out two dentists’ mirrors. Using them for a vantage, she began to
study the window’s layout. She found no evidence of a security
system, but the white metal frame was locked solidly. She drew the mirrors back and considered
her options. As she waited, she heard
a door open. She slithered back along
the roof’s edge, using the mirrors to see down into the alley below. Two knights had exited and were
making their way towards the street.
“I’m getting tired of waiting,” said the taller of the two red and
black warriors. “If Alan doesn’t pony
up soon on this plan he’s got…” His
words trailed into the distance. The Crimson Rose leaned back over
the roof and looked at the window. She
reached her right arm down and touched the pane of glass. She used her mirrors to see through the
mirror, then slapped the glass with the ridge of the mirror’s handle. A large crack spread through the
window. A second strike knocked out a
chunk of the glass and the high-pitched smash echoed into the Rose’s
helmet. She didn’t waste time as she
snaked her hand into the pane. Finding
the hole she had made smaller than she thought, she managed to scrape her
hand inside and unlock the window. With the window open, the Rose
stepped back from the side. She tapped
the edge of the roof with her toe and took a deep breath. She took a step towards the ledge, but
nearly stumbled back. “You’re psyching
yourself out,” she reassured herself, her voice modified by the gas mask. She took a step towards the ledge again and
stepped over the side. Catching herself on the side, she
reangled her downward momentum towards the window. With her feet just barely passing through
the opening, she released her hold on the roof and swung inside. She clipped her head on the edge of the
window and slammed into the far wall.
In the narrow hallway inside the window, the Crimson Rose collapsed
unto the floor, wincing behind her helmet in pain. As the pain from the landing and
the blow to the head subsided, the Rose got to her feet. She picked up the large pieces of glass and
tossed them out the window, then glanced around to get her bearings. The hallway was just barely wide enough for
her to extend both arms to her sides.
The plywood walls were spray-painted black while cheap florescent
lights buzzed in a continuous line down the length of the hall. At either end of the hall, a staired turn
led into the club. Along the hall were three doors,
all cheaply constructed and spray-painted like the walls. She stepped next to the window, trying to
see the three doors equally. The two
to her left had simple handles, but the door to her right had a lock. The Rose took a moment to consider
the distance to each end of the hall and made for the right-most door. She snapped off her multi-tool case from
her belt and turned it around. Secured
to the back with black electrical tape were ten different lock pick tools. She took them off and looked into the
simple lock. She pressed her thumb
against her index finger, a tiny flashlight beam emitting from the point of
her glove. She shined it at the lock,
then chose two picks. She slipped them
inside and began to work. Behind her
helmet, she closed her eyes, attempting to visualize the lock she was working
with. Feeling the mechanism
surrendering, she chose a third pick and began to slide it in. She heard footsteps. The Rose threw her cape over her
body, the urban camouflage beneath not standing out as much as her red and
black, but hardly blending in. At the
edge of the hall, she saw the shadow of a knight appear. Inside her chest, her heart froze. Her hand moved slowly towards the handle of
her rapier. But the shadow turned away and
disappeared. Allowing herself only a
breath, she went back to the lock.
Working fast, she kept manipulating the picks until she heard a click
and the door handle moved radically counterclockwise. She smiled and withdrew the picks as she
pushed the door inside to find an empty office waiting. |
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