Dirty Job [INVITE]

Derrick felt like someone was watching him. He looked around himself to see if there was anyone following him, but alas, all he found were druggies and homeless people littering the alleyways nearby. Derry didn't exactly feel comfortable at that point, so he decided to close his book and continue towards Grizzly's. As Derry got closer and closer towards the garage, fewer and fewer streetlamps worked, and darkness was ever encroaching on him. About a quarter mile away, it was getting so dark that Derry decided to light a small, pink flame in the palm of his hand to light the way. It helped a little bit, but he couldn't make to too large for fear of attracting too much attention, although he already presumed he was going to catch some eyes in the first place. 

At long last, Derry finally arrived at Grizzly's, and sure enough, only a single light was on inside. The light illuminating from within lighting up just enough of the surrounding area to see all of the dirt and grime surrounding both the inside and outside of this once prosperous auto shop. Ripped tires littered the lot, multiple empty oil and gas cans were long abandoned nearby the sidewalk, and the door into the garage was very old and rusty, almost as if it was made over a century ago. Before entering the garage itself, Derry checked around the building itself just to make sure there weren't any signs of other people. After some searching around, Derry found nobody else hanging around nearby the garage.

Before entering, Derry pulled out his phone and began to dial in the boss' phone number. The phone rang once, and John picked up. Upon Derry raising the phone to his ear, John asked, "I take it you're there now?" After looking around himself, checking once again that no one is nearby, Derry replied back, "Yeah, I'm here. No signs of any followers. Doesn't look like anyone broke in. Shouldn't be too much of a problem. Only thing is that it's a bit too dark around these parts. They really need to fix these lamps, boss." John sighed, and stated, "We can worry about that stuff later once this area falls under our jurisdiction. For now, all you have to do is secure Clint and get as much info as you can from him. Once you get the information, I'll leave it up to you when it comes to dealing with him." John ended the call afterwards. Putting the phone back into his pocket, Derry reminds himself his own plan.

Derry isn't planning on keeping Clint alive. Once he gets what he needs, he's torching him down to the bone. There can be no witnesses, no loose ends, or else the Dirty Snakes could be in trouble. It wasn't anything personal, it was just a matter of keeping the Snakes safe. Although, perhaps, if he could convince Clint to come with him, then maybe... Derry grabs onto the doorknob and enters the garage. A single light from a hanging light bulbilluminates part of the room. Inside, there's a desk and two chairs, one of them appears to be occupied. He can't see the man's face due to the lighting, but it's likely Clint, judge from the description he was given beforehand. Jeans, scrawny figure, blistered arms, short sleeve black shirt, all of that is present. Derry then says, "Hello Clint, thank you for your time," before sitting down in the chair on the other side of the desk. Clint didn't respond. 

A little confused at the lack of a greeting, Derry waited a little bit for a response. There was still nothing. Derry asked again, "Hey, Clint, you there? You aren't sleeping on me, are you? It's 8:30, man." Still no response. Derry has grown impatient, and get up from his chair. He makes his way to Clint, and reaches for his arm. Derry shouts to Clint in a rather angry tone, "I ain't playing games here Clint. Say hello to your client!" Once he grabbed Clint's arm, however, Derry froze for a second. The arm felt cold, too cold, in fact. Derry lights a small, pink flame in the palm of his hand, and holds it up to Clint's face. What Derry feared has come to pass. Clint now layed dead in the chair, with a bullet hole straight through his skull. He looks away and recoils at the sight, then illuminates the ground behind Clint, and sure enough, there was blood. Derry extinguished the flame, and immediately ran for the door, only for it to now be locked and... cold? It was practically impossible for the door to get so cold so fast, unless... Derry looked around himself, only to find that some mist was now pouring into the room. with the room getting colder and colder, Derry attempted to use his fire to heat the room back up. It worked for a little bit, but then the mist kept pouring in. Soon enough, every single crack, gap, and hole was now pouring out this mist, and Derry couldn't keep up with it. It was too much for him to handle. As he began to lie down on the floor, holding himself together in order to maintain body heat, only three words came to his mind: They are coming.

Derry's vision was blurry now. He was trying so hard to keep his body warm, but it was clear at this point that it was a losing battle. He had to do something, anything, if he was to get out. He got up, and attempted to bash into the rusty door. His strength, however, has already been sapped, and he fell back onto the floor. Derry tried lifting one of the chairs to break the window and escape there, but the glass was reinforced, and once again, he didn't have the strength to throw the chair hard enough. In one last desperate attempt to get out, Derry extended his hands forward and attempted to conjure a fireball, but only a puff of pink sparks came out. He was out of options.

Derry fell back onto the floor, and curled himself into a ball once again. Was this it? Was this how he would die? But, what about the Snakes? If he died here... If he... Derry then reached into his pocket and attempted to call John. The very least he could do is let his boss know that they're on their own now. There was no signal, and soon, the phone broke in his hands. It couldn't take the extreme cold. Derry glanced over to Clint, who is now covered in frost and icicles. If he didn't have this power, then surely he would be dead by now. His vision was fading now, his legs stopped shaking, he couldn't feel his arms, and for the briefest moment, he stopped thinking.

What happened afterwards was all a blur to Derry. He may have heard a knock on the door. There was a giant burst of light. Something touched him. Someone spoke to him. However, Derry soon began to slowly regain consciousness. It felt as if the room was no longer getting colder. In fact, it was... warmer? It was only then that Derry realized that someone was currently carrying him, his arm now wrapped around their neck and shoulders. He was still very groggy, but he could at least move a little, and his vision has finally cleared up a bit. He got a better look at who was carrying him. The one that was saving him was wearing some suit of black armor, black hair, some sort of pendant on their suit, and the figure was certainly female. 

Derry then noticed something else. As the two of them were walking out, there appeared to be several cars surrounding the building, each heavily armored. Men started pouring out from the cars, each outfitted with large, white suits that covered their entire bodies, equipped with some strange looking weapons, with that same cold mist pouring out. Questions continued to pour into Derry's head, such as who was this person that was carrying him, were these Renegade gangsters, where did they get this kind of weaponry, and just what the hell is happening. 

One of the men approached the duo and said... something. For Derry, it was still hard to make out, but he thought he heard something along the lines of "saiyan" and "goon". Derry was just completely lost. It was apparent that he still needed a little bit of time to recover. Derry looked up at the one who was holding him, and he asked, "Who are you?" In his left hand, which was still free, he attempted to generate some fire. At first, only a handful of sparks came out, but he got a small, consistent flame going. At least he was now making progress. If he could just get a little more time...

As Derry had to continue heating himself up to regain his composure, this saiyan was just blasting away every single one of the gangsters, shrugging off all of the cold and bullets that were being fired at her. It was simply a sight to behold as she effortlessly bolted her way through everyone and everything. And thankfully, that saiyan bought enough time for Derry to fully regain his normal body heat, and he's finally back in the action. Unfortunately, by the time he was in fighting condition once again, the fight itself was already over as all of the gangsters were either dead or knocked unconscious, while the saiyan was holding up a gangster.

As the saiyan was interrogating the Renegade, Derry stopped as he listened to the distant sounds of what seemed to be several cars, and they were getting louder. It appears as if the job isn't quite over yet, as one of the gangsters may have sent in a call when the saiyan arrived. Derry began looking around to see if any of the jerrycans lying around still had some gasoline, and sure enough, one of them was about 1/8th full. Derry grabbed the can, took off his belt, and took both items to one of the armored cars. Derry clogs the can with a piece of paper, and straps the can to the exhaust pipe using the belt. It wasn't exactly perfect, but it'll have to do for now. The aim of the game is to take out the reinforcements before they can even get here.

Derry immediately moves to the front seat of the armored car, and thankfully, the key was still inside. He looks around for a heavy object, and finds a cinder block. He brings the cinder block to the front seat, and falls back behind the car, grabbing the piece of paper that's clogging the jerrycan and waiting to pull it out. The cars haven't arrived yet, but they're definitely getting louder and louder. This gave Derry time to think about the situation that he's currently gotten himself into. He went to find Clint, finds him dead, is almost frozen to death, is saved by a saiyan, who then proceeds to wipe out the rest of the Renegades, while also being a super saiyan. There are many, many questions Derry has to ask his savior, but she appears to be too busy with the interrogation, and frankly, he doesn't care. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Derry thought to himself. 

Derry attempted to listen in on the interrogation, grabbing some keywords such as "saiyan," "stargoon," "beryllium plates," but he couldn't fully pay attention due to the incoming Renegade vehicles. If he wanted to pull this off, he had to time it perfectly. As soon as they rounded the corner, he'll pull out the paper, place the cinder block onto the gas pedal, and watch the car drive away. Once it gets close, he'll simply light the trail of gasoline left behind, and that'll take care of their problem before they could even arrive. Although he still had some time to ponder on a couple of things; especially concerning the beryllium plates that he heard. None of the scouts John sent forward have ever mentioned anything about something as valuable as beryllium plates. Were the scouts lying to them? Was John hiding any secrets from him? Were they simply not aware and were just incompetent. Regardless, this was dire news to Derry, as money from selling off the plates could be used to purchase more men, more firearms, more bribed cops, and more tactical equipment. That, or they could be using it for themselves, and Derry doesn't want to find out what the Renegades will possibly do with the plates themselves. Once this is all over, he'll have to immediately contact John about the whole ordeal.

For now, however, the reinforcements have finally arrived. They've just rounded the corner and are heading straight towards both Derry and the saiyan. Now was the time for Derry to set his plan into motion. He yanks the paper out of the jerrycan and gasoline pours straight out. Derry rushes to the front of the car, and tosses the cinder block directly onto the gas pedal. The car immediately takes off towards the incoming patrol, and all Derry has to do now is wait. "Hold it..." Derry mutters to himself, "Hold it... and... perfect." Pink sparks emerge from Derry's fingertips and lights up the gasoline on the ground. The pink fire hastily makes its way towards the speeding car. Derry looks off into the distance to see the destruction he's caused. Some of the cars began swerving away from the car Derry sent out, and some even attempted to move backwards. At that point, however, it was already too late. The flames catch up to the runaway car, and the vehicle explodes into a gigantic pink fireball that enveloped all of the other cars. It even caused a chain reaction with some of the other cars, as they blew up due to the sheer force of the explosion from the runaway car and the incredible heat from the explosion.

Satisfied with his work, Derry turns back around to see how the saiyan was handling the interrogation.

With the reinforcements effectively taken out of the picture, Derry turns back around to the saiyan, who has just finished her interrogation of the goon. He sees the gangster get dropped to the ground, but before he could run away, Derry slams his foot directly onto the gangster's leg, and all the man could do was cry out in agony as his leg was broken by the sheer force. Derry grabs the gangster by the back of his neck and lifts him up on one foot and looks at the saiyan. From what the saiyan asked him, it was clear that she was, at least for now, no threat to the Dirty Snakes, and she did save him, after all. However, the saiyan's affiliation was still an important piece of information that Derry required, but for now, he'll comply as a thank you.

"Borscht Bowl Club?" Derry replied back to the saiyan, "I know exactly where that is. It's further down this street, then you head towards city square. Once you're about halfway there, there's a street called Erikson Street. Should be the third building on the left. I can show you the place myself, but I also have a couple of conditions myself. First, I wanna know who exactly you are and who you're affiliated with. Second, I also wanna get in on this action. There's no way in hell I'm letting these fools get away with this. Hell, you can even take the plates. You can consider it as a thank you from me." Derry then paused for a moment as he was distracted by the gangster who was still squealing in pain in his hand. He's not entirely sure why the saiyan hadn't iced him yet, especially considering the fact that she seemed like the type of person to, well, take care of things.

Growing rather annoyed by the constant screams and shouts coming from the gangster, Derry turns his attention back to the saiyan, smirks, and says to her, "Oh, and one last thing. I don't know if this is common practice for you, but..." As Derry was speaking to the saiyan, pink flames begin to emerge from the hand that's currently grasping the injured gangster's neck. Derry strengthens his grip, and even penetrates the skin. What little blood pours out is immediately cauterized as flames immediately begin to rush into the man's neck, eventually reaching his head. The man cries out in pain as the fire burns away the flesh of his face, and within a matter of seconds, all that remained was a charred skull and some tiny pieces of burnt flesh. Derry returns his attention back to the saiyan, and states directly to her, "The Dirty Snakes don't leave any witnesses. No loose ends."

Well, one thing was for sure, the saiyan was most certainly arrogant. Although, unlike these Renegade types, she can actually back up her claims, so it didn't bother Derry so much. The saiyan surely was a powerhouse, being able to take down the Renegades in almost an instant while showing no signs of fatigue. Maybe someday, he could reach similar heights, but for now, he's got a family to watch over, and some business to take care of. In response, Derry said, "Well, I suppose I don't have that kind of luxury. The rest of my folk aren't nearly as strong as I, so I've... got a bit of a rule set. Not to keep myself safe, oh no. But I don't want anyone in my family harmed. These Stargoons you run with... I'm sure you feel at least somewhat similarly."

These Stargoons that the saiyan mentioned were familiar to him, although he himself hasn't done too much information. Now that the saiyan revealed her affiliation, her attire begins to make a bit more sense. That giant star in the middle is a dead giveaway. It made sense. Although, it makes Derry wonder what exactly the other Stargoons are like. Perhaps he'll have to meet with John at some point to try and gather some more information about these goons, considering the fact that the saiyan appears as if she's getting a bit irritated at the constant questions. Derry didn't necessarily blame her, though.

Snapping back to reality, Derry began to float off of the ground in preparation to go to Borscht Bowl Club. Before he takes off, Derry states to the saiyan, "We could always talk about this later. I've got some business with these Renegades, and you've got some plates to recover. I suggest we delay ourselves not a second more." And with that, Derry takes off and immediately heads towards the club. He had qualms earlier about flying, since it would attract some unwanted attention, but it appears as if his cover has already been blown, and he didn't think that the saiyan would settle for taking a nice stroll to the club.

Perhaps, Derry thought, this saiyan wasn't so bad after all. Due to her sheer speed, however, the saiyan beat him to the punch and already started taking on the Renegades that were stationed near the back of the club. Naturally, Derry decided to stay out of the saiyan's way and assaulted the front door, opting to crash through. There was almost a dozen guards inside the lobby, all of which had their guns ready to take on the saiyan, only to now have their attention diverted to the man who just crashed the party. 

Derry didn't even give the Renegades a chance and immediately went straight to heating up his hands and preparing to launch several small fireballs at each of the Renegades. Most were equipped with normal guns, but a handful were equipped with some of those cryo tech weapons. Derry made sure to target the ones armed with the freeze guns first in order to prevent them from freezing him and stopping him. Their suits were specially designed to handle extreme cold in order to handle those weapons properly, but they're fire resistance was almost nonexistent. Derry launched his fireballs at the white suited Renegades, setting them on fire in an instant. While they were panicking and trying their hardest to put the fire out, the rest of the Renegades attempted to fire at Derry. Derry, however, was too quick, and quickly dove for cover, peeking out to get several pot shots at the shooters. Eventually, the white suited Renegades were burnt to a crisp, and the rest of the guards were burning up. The lobby was now fully secured.

Derry made his way to the back in order to regroup with the saiyan. As he approached the door, a Renegade and some bald man in a blue suit rushed out as if they were running from something. Derry immediately identified the bald man as a potential leader of the Renegades. Perhaps he has the information regarding the plates the saiyan was looking for. Maybe he also possesses some other valuable information. Derry stood in front of the two and immediately shouted, "I would suggest that you surrender yourselves right now, else you'll end up like these poor bastards!" while pointing one hand towards the charred remains of the goons and pointing the other hand directly at the pair. The guard immediately brought his weapon up in an attempt to shoot Derry, but he simultaneously brought up his hand, shot a small stream of pink flame, and disintegrated the bullets that were being fired at him. Once the clip was empty, Derry fired another small fireball at the guard, setting him on fire. Derry immediately dashed and grabbed hold of the blue suited man and separated him from his burning comrade as he screamed for salvation. As the gangster burned to death, Derry brought the bald man right up to his face and muttered to him, "You ain't going anywhere. I've got a special guest for you..." All the while smiling at the now cowering Renegade.