Chapter 47
Days after the whole Sandman debacle and the cleanup crew are still cleaning up sand around the city. Unfortunately, having all this sand around didn’t stop people from committing crime. A prime example of this being an alarm we got of a robbery at a jewelry store. Fortunately, the number of crimes committed dropped because of the sand, so Blake and I don't have to split up that often when patrolling. Hence why we’re stopping this one together. We find ourselves face to face with four people sticking the place up, two men and two girls. One of the men is a large muscular man with short brown hair wearing a white peacoat with rolled up sleeves, black pants and brown shoes. One of the girls is a pretty standard height with long red hair wearing a black leather jacket, black bell bottom pants that stop at her ankles, brown boots, and a white shirt with some buttons undone, revealing some cleavage. The other girl is a bit shorter with grey-brown hair in long pigtails wearing a white sleeveless button up shirt with a grey tie, also wearing black bell bottoms that instead stop just below her knees, exposing some skin between them and her dark grey boots and red gloves. But the most intimidating of the group is the leader, someone I remember Vernal telling me about when discussing some recent escapees. Hanlon Fifestone. A tall man with dark skin, short messy black hair, short beard, sky grey eyes with a scar over the left, wearing a torn white button up shirt under a dark grey jacket, red gloves, black pants with thick brown boots, a red headband and two brown leather belts, one holding his pants up and the other across his right shoulder.
Ruby: “Alright! That's enough playtime for you. Time to put away the toys and go back to your rooms.”
Blake: “By which, of course we mean your prison cells.”
Fifestone: “Huh? Where do little girls like you come off thinking you can talk to me like that?”
Ruby: “The kind of girls with abilities people like you can only dream of.”
Fifestone: “Tch! Yeah right. Brats like you aren’t even worth my time.” He snaps his fingers and his thugs ready their weapons. The big guy comes at us wearing brass knuckles, the redhead ready's an assault rifle, and miss pigtails comes in with a steel pipe. “Keep them busy while I finish up in here. His thug trio come out and attack us on the spot. Fifestone stays in and continues pack up the jewels. Blake takes on the pigtail girl while I handle the big guy, and we both have to fight while avoiding the redhead's shots. I notice Fifestone leaving the store with a huge bag full of jewels and trying to run off.
Ruby: “Oh no you don’t!” He’s trying to run, so he’s moving a bit fast and all I can manage to grab the bag and take it from him with my web. I throw it up and web it to the wall so he can’t reach.
Fifestone: “Damn! Fuck this! I'm out of here!” He runs off, I try to give chase, but the big guy keeps holding me back, so I lose sight of him.
Blake: “Damnit! He’s getting away!”
Ruby: “Then let's finish this now!” I backflip to dodge another punch before webbing the redhead's gun, yanking it from her grasp and throwing it at the big guy's head, knocking him out, and then proceeding to zip over to the redhead so I can push her against the wall and web her up to keep her in place. Meanwhile, Blake manages to snag the other girl's pipe and toss it aside, before knocking her out with a swift kick to her head. Once I’m done webbing them all up, we get going after Fifestone, going in the direction we saw him running. Unfortunately, he had enough of a head start to lose us in the alleys. “Crap! We lost him.” We hear the sirens from the store's direction. So, we head back to oversee the arrest of his thug trio.
Blake: “Well, I guess three out of four isn’t too bad.”
Ruby: “Yeah, except the last one was the boss so he’s supposed to be a higher priority than the others. But I guess we did at least manage to stop the theft. We just need to keep a closer eye out for him.”
Blake: “Remind me again who’s on night shift tonight?”
Ruby: “I think it’s my turn tonight.”
Weiss: “Yes, it is. You spent last night with me to study while Blake patrolled.”
Yang: “Just please try not to stay out so late like you did last time.”
Ruby: “Hey! Come on! I already told you that wasn’t my fault! These guys were driving around like maniacs. If I hadn’t stopped them, they could’ve hurt someone. But they were driving so fast, so catching up with them took way longer than it should’ve.” This conversation led to us all laughing together. But the laughter wouldn’t last forever. Not after tonight. Fifestone can be found within a certain storage warehouse at the docks that is completely abandoned.
Fifestone: “Damnit. So much for that score. I even lost my gang in the process. I’ll need to find a way to come back from this.” That’s when he heard a knock from the front. “Huh? Who the hell could that be around here at this hour?” As he grabs a pistol and makes his way to the front and slowly lifts up the shutter door. Only to see a large crate sitting there with a letter attached. “Huh? Who the hell could’ve sent this?” As he takes and reads the letter. “Sir Hanlon Fifestone, I have taken an interest in your career and am pleased to hear of your recent escape. Thus, why I have sent this gift to congratulate you. I can assure you that this special suit will aid you tremendously in your thieving efforts. I only ask that in return you use it in an effort to eliminate the Scarlet Spider. Signed, the Tinkerer. The Tinkerer? Isn't he the guy supplying some of these recent supervillains?” To which he dragged the box inside and proceeded to pry open the crate with a crowbar. “Hm? Well now. This will make things interesting.”