♦♦ 3rd Contract

[mortemscintilla]

[ Now is his chance. ]

[ The City is still caught up in the recent snowy curse. The distraction affords ideal cover to make his move. Sneaking into the Deities' Office is a challenge. But not impossible. As Li, he's scouted the outside on seemingly harmless walks. By nightfall, masked, clad in a black bodysuit, he's gauged the security system. Checking for weak-spots. With time and observation, he's determined a vulnerability near the corner exit. ]

[ And slipped through. ]

[ He needs information on these 'Deities'. They appear - ostensibly - to be the string-pullers. More details must be gathered about their history. Not via direct attack, but careful machinations. Whatever allows him to return to his world. Find Pai. ]

[ But his opponents have other plans. ]

[ And armed guards to carry them out. ]

Hold it right there - !

[ Sounds of scuffling. Someone's device clatters to the floor. From its crooked angle, a group of security guards is seen. Facing off against a masked figure. The image only lasts a moment. In a flash, the intruder lunges at the guards. Strobelike flashes of gunshots. Clang and sparks of knives. The ensuing firestorm blurs the feed. Until there's eerie blue flashes and dull zzzts. In the next beat, all the guards slump motionless. Out cold? Or dead? ]

[ No way to know. Offscreen, more thudding footsteps resound. A new team of guards rushes in, weapons at the ready. ]

[ But the intruder is already gone ]

Spread out! [ a guard orders ] Find the bastard! Now!

[ OOC: So! Hei broke into the Deity Office for classified info to escape the City. (Un)Fortunately, the security team discovered him before he could filch anything. Our dear assassin has escaped by electrocuting everyone. EMPTY-HANDED AND PISSED. He also received a parting gift from the Deities. Namely his mask which now looks like this. Never annoy cruel gods, ppl. The video feed is from an NPC guard's device. ]

[ Post is open to action ! Hei may run into your character on a rooftop or an alleyway, as he makes his escape. Just be warned. He will mow you down. Or knock you out. Or kill you :|  Alternately, you may run into his derpy alias 'Li', who'll act like he's returning from work and doesn't know WTF is going on. Which side of the coin you'd like to interact with is upto you~ (*Mod Approved*) ]

Comments

[beyourarmy]

[While interested in the deities and their office himself, Setsuna wasn't actually stalking the place, for a change. He was just flying around, unable to sleep.]

[Either way, it's really hard not to notice someone running from the deities' office with green hair flowing behind them.]

[Stopping for a moment!]

You need help down there?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He hears the call. Hazards a quick upward glance. Someone up in the air. Flying. Not good. They might be working for the Deities. Or they might not. Either way, contact - of any sort - isn't in his best interest. ]

[ Need someplace to reconnoiter. ]

[ And discard the damn mask. He isn't sure how it transformed. But it's bright colors and the flying hair are an impediment. He needs to slip it off - destroy it. Then slink unnoticed into the City streets as Li. ]

[ He ignores Setsuna's call. Vaults the edge of the rooftop he's running on. Grabs a pipe at the side of a building - and lunges, feet-first, into a dark alley below. ]

[beyourarmy]

Oh, yeah. [Look everybody, Setsuna can use sarcasm, too!] That's not suspicious at all.

[Lands down, close to the alley, to see if he can find this person again. How hard is it to miss someone with bright green hair?]

Hey, you okay?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Being followed. ]

[ Worse and worse. Either the boy is on City-security payroll, or too nosy for his own good. Either way, he's an obstruction. Hei keeps hidden near a fire escape. A string of bright clothes - someone's laundry - hangs from a line nearby. Camouflaging the mask's acid-green hair. ]

[ He doesn't answer Setsuna. Waits - perfectly immobile - for the boy to leave. ]

[ If he doesn't - Hei will have to incapacitate him. ]

[beyourarmy]

[Turns out, Setsuna's both.]

[He was also pretty sure the stranger came down this way, but he doesn't see a speck of ridiculously colored hair.]

Hello? [Yeah, he just went IN the dark alleyway, YES.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Entering the alley. Definitely either a City-vigilante or a pest. Hei keeps to the shadows. The hanging clothes obscure his mask, his dark suit bleeding into the background. From his vantage, he gauges the boy. He was flying earlier. What other abilities does he have? If Hei can discover even a fraction of them, he'll know whether or not to engage the boy in combat. ]

[ Fortunately, alleys like this afford an array of useful tools. ]

[ A tangle of wires runs along the wall beside Hei. Connecting to an electric-meter-box near Setsuna. Hei touches the wires with gloved fingers. Behind the shield of laundry, his outline glows blue. A surge of electricity flows from him to the box. ]

[ In a riot of sparks, it shorts out. Dangerously close to Setsuna's face. ]

[beyourarmy]

[Stunned by the bright, sudden sparks, Setsuna jumps back and his wings appear again, three of them. A light, easy to break through, shield went up, but Setsuna lowered it, watching the sparks as they died down, then looking around, cautiously.]

Why'd that happen...? [But no matter how much he looks, he can't see that guy. Maybe he'd have to right this off as a lost cause.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Three wings. And an ability to summon a shield of some sort. Hei shelves the information away. Waits, breath held, for the boy to give up and leave. ]

[ If not, he'll have to resort to more aggressive methods. ]

[beyourarmy]

[Well, he hasn't looked through the whole alley, so there's no reason to give up just yet. Since he's there, might as well. He walks in further, this time keeping his wings out, alert and more focused.]

If you're down here, I was just wondering if you were okay. You can tell me you're fine and I'll call it a night.

[mortemscintilla]

[ It's against every scripture of his profession to converse with a bystander. Let alone allow him any closer. A witnesses can be used against him, if the Deities try to find Hei later. ]

[ Instead he keeps perfectly still. ]

[ Waits for Setsuna to conclude his search. ]

[beyourarmy]

[Okay, he's looked over the alleyway as best as he can in the dark, and without feeling up the walls. Whatever, he's calling it a night, though he turns and gives the alley one last look before he lifts off into the sky.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He counts the moments until the boy departs. Silent. Patient. When he takes to the sky, Hei flattens himself further against the wall. Waits until he can be sure the boy is gone - not lingering behind to scan the area from a bird's eye-view. ]

[ Only then does he remove the ridiculous mask. Slip noiselessly into his civilian clothes - and merge into the streets as Li. ]

[berthierite]

[Ceiling cat is watching you...]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Racing through the warren of dark alleys, he ignores the chill on the back of his neck. ]

[ Is he being followed? Watched? ]

[ More than likely. But he knows better than to glance behind him and make it known. ]

[berthierite]

[ She hadn't come out looking for anyone in particular, this place was still far too new to her for that. However, the cold dark of the night agrees with her far better than the piercing light of the day, reconnaissance is easier in the shadows. ]

[ He'd made a ruckus. Now she follows, a weightless phantom, any glittering from her jewelry easily mistaken for starlight. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ It wasn't his intention to make a ruckus. ]

[ But now that it's been done, he has to focus on extricating himself from it. He's been trained since childhood to keep to the shadows. He does so now. Slipping between alleyways. Avoiding light or open spaces. Putting as much distance between the Deity Office as possible. Ignoring a prickle, all the while, of someone hovering. ]

[ A premonition? Another Contractor? Or a preternatural being? ]

[ The City teems with the latter. It's one more reason for him not to remove his mask. ]

[ Not yet. ]

[berthierite]

[ Where are you headed in that ugly mask, little rat? She alights briefly on the edge of a rooftop overhead, peering down at him while he navigates the maze. Such a frantic scurry, almost tempting to trip him up and see how pathetically and wriggles, but she simply hops to the next building. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ The prickle grows worse. Someone is definitely pursuing him. Not that he'll acknowledge it - or offer any visible sign of awareness. ]

[ Instead, he waits until he's reasonably far from the Deity Office. Stays, cloaked by shadow, in a gloomy alley. Whoever's watching him can either make themselves known - or be prepared to watch him do absolutely nothing. ]

[ He won't make the first move until his tail does. Not until he knows the extent of their abilities. ]

[berthierite]

[ Has he noticed her? Hm. She watches him at a distant for a few moments, but he's come to a standstill. ]

[ She is a very patient woman, Berthier, but she's curious to know if perhaps he is talking to someone inside of that mask and she simply can't hear it... ]

[ She teleports into the air above of him, her braid trailing below her head. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's patient, in turn. And perceptive, by virtue of training and strategy. He's broken into the office of mysterious adversaries. He's in a City where a majority of citizens are inhuman. His escape has roused attention. ]

[ More than likely, someone will be following him. ]

[ And he can intuit that someone is. ]

[ He's not speaking to anyone under his mask. No wires. No teammates. A disadvantage, yes. But he's used to working alone, far more than he is to relying on Yin's pindot scoping or Mao and Huang's intel. ]

[ Silent, unmoving, he waits. ]

[ His tail can either make a move - or prepare for a standoff. ]

[berthierite]

[ Her earring makes a very faint clink when she removes it, letting the crystal lower towards him, scanning the local area for energy, coming from or going to. ]

[ She wishes she had a droid she could send down to test him... ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Attuned to his surroundings as he is, he registers a dull click. Isn't sure if it's simply night-noises, or something more sinister. His mind rifles through any weaponry that might make such a sound. ]

[ But outwardly, he remains still. ]

[ No reaction unless he's pushed to. ]

[berthierite]

[ Not just a human, the crystal reports at least that much back to her. The thin thread that it had descended on retracts, and she returns it to her ear. ]

[ She has the signature recorded, if nothing else. Though the mask will make it difficult to confirm. ]

[ She considers him for a moment longer before deciding she's seen enough, for now. ]

[ She disappears, taking some of the oppressive chill with her. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Just a human. With special abilities. ]

[ The sudden lack of chill is palpable. Accompanied by a sense of relief. Whoever was watching him seems to be gone. Not that Hei relies on hunches. Not in his profession. He stays still another long moment. Wonders briefly what the tail was doing. Gathering intel? Relaying his location to higher ups? ]

[ No matter. ]

[ Bottom line: he needs to move. So he does. Slipping soundlessly from the alley, toward the Underground - and one of the safehouses he's secured there. ]

action - Hei?

[anatural]

[She's given up on meditating (so many snowball fights! she has no regrets) and is now wandering the streets, getting to know her new home.

She doesn't know what to think about the guy in the funny mask running towards her.]

\^^/

[mortemscintilla]

[ Running at full-pelt, he sees the girl ahead. ]

[ But he doesn't swerve or slow down. From his jacket, he withdraws a tennis ball-sized canister. Filled with sugar and saltpeter. Homemade smokebomb. His fingertrips crackle with blue sparks, setting a fuse on the canister alight. ]

[ Still running, he tosses it at the girl. ]

[ A ruse to blind her - while he slips off the streets and onto a nearby rooftop. ]

(>^.^)> <(^.^<)

[anatural]

[Big mistake, buddy. If he had just run past, Korra would've thought nothing of it. But the moment he throws the cannister, her instincts kick in. She quickly bends the smoke away and chases after him.]

HEY YOU!

[mortemscintilla]

[ When she deflects the smoke, he frowns behind his mask. ]

[ Tactical error. It's like half the citizens here have supernatural abilities. Maybe they're all Contractors. When she gives chase, he picks up speed. Scaling a nearby fire-escape with the quiet alacrity of a cat. ]

[ The more limited his contact with bystanders, the better. ]

[anatural]

[She growls. This would be so much easier if she still had her bending. But she's strong and fast and if she can't catch up with him completely, she can at least keep him in her sights.]

What do you think you're doing!?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Still following him? ]

[ Definitely not a Contractor. They wouldn't pursue him unless they had something to gain from it. A reward. Orders from higher-ups. The girl is just fatally persistent. ]

[ He ignores her questions. Continues scaling the fire-escape - and slips to the roof above. Crouches, concealed by shadows, behind a roof-access. If she's still following him, he'll have to get rid of her. Via indirect approach. ]

[anatural]

[Definitely persistent. She finishes climbing the fire-escape and looks around for the stranger.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Still there? ]

[ He listens to her footsteps to gauge how closeby she is. Stays, almost preternaturally still, in his hiding spot. Lengths of wires lie across the roof. He waits until Korra is in his field of vision. Waits - until she's stepped on a wire - before he touches one on his end with a fingertip. ]

[ A zzt of electricity. The surge travels to where she's standing. Not a deadly volt. Just enough to incapacitate her - while he escapes. ]

[anatural]

[She screams as she collapses, writhing on the ground.

No. No. She pushes herself to her feet, limbs shaking. He's clearly up to no good. She can't...she can't let him get away.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He watches Korra fall. ]

[ High up as they are, her scream blends with roaring City traffic below. But when she attempts to rise, he pauses. Definitely fatal persistence. He has no choice but to knock her out. Killing her would be easier - it's certainly what he's used to. ]

[ But this isn't an assignment. No back-up to dispose of the corpse. Anyway, if what he's learnt is true, people don't stay dead here. ]

[ In a flash, he lunges from his hiding spot. Appears noiselessly behind Korra. His palm connects with the back of her head. And delivers another bright-blue volt. ]

[ Time to sleep ]

[anatural]

[It's funny how being electrocuted dulls your reflexes. Before she can register Hei's presence behind her, she's knocked out cold.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He lets the girl slump, unconscious. After a perfunctory check for any bugs on her clothing - nothing - he leaves her propped against a wall. ]

[ The voltage has been strategically tempered. By his estimate - and past experience - she should be up in thirty minutes. Groggy, copper-mouthed, but no worse for wear. ]

[ By which time Hei will be gone. ]