10. Stakeout

Posted on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 @ 2:17pm by Duke Drake & Mary Reynolds & Kai & Miles Newsteller & Rebecca McMillen & Sakura Tanikawa & Caitlin Thompson PhD & Andrew Hallows

1,660 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Catching the Crooks
Location: Downtown New Orleans
Timeline: October 1992 10 PM

2200 CST
"It's 10 PM all is quiet here at 'The Golden Ring' jeweler," Doc said into the handheld radio. "Teams Two and Three check in," he said as he waited to hear back from Sakura and Rebecca. His seat on the park bench was getting uncomfortable and he'd read and re-read the same article in the newspaper so many times, he could see it with eyes closed. Doc hoped that the other teams hadn't seen anything yet, but on the other hand he hoped for almost anything to break the monotony.

“Team Tech Geek here,” said Sakura into her radio, trying out a nickname, without checking with her team. She was on the roof of the building across the way from their target, a wire running from a machine in her lap toward the jeweler’s CCTV. She could see the building, while being invisible herself under a black cloak. She used her senses to watch the camera feed in her mind’s eye. The rest of her team had other stakeout spots. “Nothing yet at Marilyn's.”

"Good job, Tekku, let us know if you see anything," Doc radioed back.

"This is team Analyswiss." that was Rebecca on the radio, no doubt. It wasn't just the voice, it was the cheese pun. "Things here are quiet." The radio didn't squeak her voice up as much as, well, being tiny would have. Might have been because the radio was tiny along with her. "A little too quiet. Over."

"Thanks Critter, keep your ears open," Doc replied using Rebecca's code name and attempting to return the pun.

Hearing it over the air, hearing someone else use it, it sounded good. Better than who used to use it. He wasn't wrong, though. Her hearing was fantastic by comparison. "Radar running. Over and out." a joke about mouse ears. Her ears were by NO means that big.

As the radio clicked off, Doc paced the rooftop of the bank that overlooked the jewelry store below. He adjusted his mask and smiled at the sound of his cape as a gentle night breeze caused it to flutter. He began thinking of his favorite nurse, Mary Beth, he wondered what she was doing, most likely making coffee and preparing for another long night working in the Emergency Room. We should meet up for beignets again soon, he thought to himself before focusing once more at the mission that brought him here. The break-ins and robberies, Drake wondered what they were up to. He hadn't become wise to the ways of the world until his late teenage years. His time working in and out of hospitals exposed him to humanity's best and worst. He didn't understand people, and even worse he didn't understand why people with abilities like his own wouldn't use those powers for the betterment of mankind. 'That must be the motivation behind the school' he thought to himself as he continued to pace.



((Team - 2 Marilyn's Magnificent Masterpieces))


Andrew was in his beat-up 1989 Ford Bronco II AWD, he was parked about a block away from Marilyn's, the reason he was there was because his father's old partner was now the captain of the Robbery Division in NOPD. Harold Dumas had heard from Andrew's mother that he had taken a job as a teacher in New Orleans and had asked him to check things out as a favor, he knew about Andrew's special skills.

Sakura looked up over the roof ledge she was leaning on. There was a car a block away that seemed to have an occupant. She logged that for a moment and kept an eye out.

Once reported in, she switched back to the main channel. "Doc, this is Tekku. We have one car, one occupant, a block out from my position. Looks like it's staking out Marilyn's too."

"Yall keep an eye on it," Doc radioed back, "They could be acting as a spotter for our thieves or they could be an undercover cop, either way let's not assume anything."


((Team - 3 DeeDee's Jewels ))

With the latest check in resolved, Rebecca turned her attention to Caitlin. "So, ready for.... I guess whatever?"

Caitlin shrugged. "Well, if it becomes a fight, then maybe not. I've yet to replace my marbles." She looked around for a moment. "I hope I'm ready."

The mousey blonde smiled, "It's a little late to tell us you've lost your marbles." she teased, knowing her talents revolved around those marbles of sorts from the meeting they had.



The Daughters of Iris sped into DeeDee's Jewels after breaking the glass front door at 11 PM. They used their speed to disable the cameras before they could get a clear picture. The group's leader nicknamed Emerald began breaking glass display cases and taking the bracelets, while the red-haired Sapphire focused on the rings. The youngest of the group paused to fix her topaz-colored hair before snatching up necklaces. "Let's get a move on Daughters," Emerald said after glancing at the clock on the wall.

Rebecca thought she heard something, a buzzing in her ears. Might have been the sound made by high-speed moving speedsters running on the pavement, or maybe not. Though in the end, the glass smashing caught her attention as the blurs moved about. They were moving fast, very fast. Impossibly fast. Except for the one that stopped to fix up her hair.

"Caitlin, got anything handy that can stop them, or slow them down, or turn the ground to .... I dunno, mud or something?" Rebecca asked, grabbing at straws. When someone could do anything with enough prep, how do you ask them how they prepped? She did say she hadn't replaced her marbles yet, though. So maybe this was less a STOP them as it was FACT FINDING. "Doc, this is Critter. They're here! Got eyes on three blurs. Green, Red, Yellow... ish? She stopped to fix her hair, so I got something of a look at her." Rebecca called it in.

Caitlin reached in her pouch and pulled out what little she had. Nothing that could destroy the store. "Strobes, mostly."

"I'm on my way" Doc radioed back before bamfing into the darkness only to reappear and disappear across the rooftops moving ever closer to Critter's team.


Sakura quickly signaled Gabe that they were converging on Critter's location. They were too far to run, and the Professor probably shouldn't use his power to double-back for them. There had to be another way.

She used her line to make a controlled drop from her roof spot to the street and made a beeline for the stakeout car. She jumped onto the hood, pulled down the cloak from her head to show her face (lavender hair in full display, but facial features covered by a silver domino mask).

"Gomen nasai," Sakura said, bowing her head, "but we need your car." She sat in front of the windshield, hands gripping the hood. She remotely activated the car's engine and took full mental control.

Andrew was seated in the driver's seat, dressed in the stealth suit specially built around his powers, the hood was down, which made it look more like a track suit then anything else, over it was a tan trench coat. The trunk of the Bronco was filled with a couple of boxes, a suit carrier and a military duffel bag. He was taking a sip from a thermos which likely held coffee in it when Sakura dropped on the hood.

"Let me guess, the thieves are at one of the other sites." So, he wasn't alone on this stake out. He would have to explain to Dr. Drake why he was late coming to the school.

Resting on the center console of the Bronco was what looked like a pair of specially made collapsible tonfas in a carrying case.

"I was hoping to catch them here anyway, so drive on. Careful on the turns, the brakes are a bit janky."

"I wasn't planning on braking till the end," she called behind her.

Moments later, the car skidded to a stop, prompting the passenger on its hood to leap off. She tried to land into a roll but ended up landing awkwardly, instead tumbling out of control, stopping at Critter's feet. Thankfully her costume contained some (albeit limited) padding in the elbows and knees. But she would be sore tomorrow, and the bruise to her ego would take longer to heal.

Rebecca was about to return to her more standard height when a shadow fell over her. A massive form in costume and garb rolled to a stop right in front of her. A high pitched squeak, followed by a more controlled huff and a dusting off of her outfit. Just a drab gray one piece, really. "Tekku you okay?" stood before the heap of her friend. Oooooo, she'd give Sakura a piece of her mind, if she wasn't two inches tall now. Instead, she'd just make sure her friend was intact and active.

Sakura have a quick thumbs-up.

Doc appeared moments later beside Critter and Caitlin just as the sound of squealing tires stopped at the jewelry store. "Now that we're all here, We need to slow the thieves down any ideas?"

Shivering, Andrew could just hear the brakes squeal like a stuck pig as the car surprisingly came to a sudden stop. Stepping out of the Bronco, he grabbed the only weapons he had, the tonfas which attached to each hip of the stealth suit.

He stepped beside Sakura and offered her a hand up. Now, they could see what this mystery man looked like. Dressed in a black, gray and green form fitting suit. The shoes of his suit were some form of step muffling pads. Sewn into the chest were plates of limited protection.

“Ideas are easy, execution can be tricky. But it would be hard for them to react to something they can’t see.”

“Also, name’s Andrew Hallows.”

#Continued 11. Showdown

RSS Feed