Post by Alchaea on Nov 1, 2013 22:52:58 GMT -5
The Ant was sitting on a filthy chimney, eighty stories above the street, watching from the shadows as one of the dumbest criminals in the city tried his best to wrap his mind around a hostage situation of his own creation. His name was was Roger Purdue, and he was six and a half inches of bad skin and steroid-fueled muscles. His hostage, and attractive woman, is going with the traditional 'scream her way to freedom' routine. It wasn't going well for either of them.
"No fancy tricks!" Roger yelled to the cops at ground level. "You get me my money, or I swear to God I'll drop her!"
Upon hearing this, the hostage finds a whole new screaming gear, one that James believes may threaten to tear a hole in every eardrum within fifty miles. The hero quickly sized her up: five-foot-seven and one hundred and thirty pounds, blonde hair, and a slim black dress. Dropped from this height, she'd hit the ground in less than thirty seconds. James couldn't let that happen, partially because it would be wrong to let the woman die, but mostly because Mr. Purdue had some information he needed, and he'd never get a hold of him if the police grabbed him first.
"Do it or she's dead!" Roger continued, "You hear me!?"
"Of course they don't hear you," The Ant responds coldly as he dropped from his perch just a few feet away. "They're eighty stories down." Roger whirled around to face the hero, his already ugly face contoured in a look mixing rage with confusion. "She's screaming like a fire alarm, and I doubt they can even hear her."
Purdue's face scrunched up, as if he didn't want to believe what the masked man was saying, but was aware enough of his own shortcomings to know that he probably should. "I'm sure they can hear me," he replied meekly.
"No, trust me, they can't. Listen, Roger, I know it's hard when that blonde woman is planning your crimes for you, but next time you try to do the hostage thing, maybe choose a location where they can actually hear your demands." He didn't care how cold or calculating he came off. This was a criminal, the type of man he had decided to put an end to in this city, but he was going to offer him a deal instead. It left a bad taste in his mouth. "I have an offer for you," the man dressed in black continued, stepping towards the hostage taker slowly. "You have information that is more valuable to me than that woman is to the police. Let her go and give me what you know I want, and I'll pay you double what you were expecting to get from this."
The woman's screaming and the look of horror on her face were quickly replaced by a look of disgust, as if she was offended that the hero would value information more than her life. It didn't matter, the criminal released the girl and shook the hero's hand as fast as he could. "Glad you could see reason."
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Not surprisingly, Roger didn't have much information that the Ant hadn't already gleamed from the other two criminals he had questioned. Apparently, the blonde James met on his first night out as the Ant wasn't new in the crime scene around the city. Criminals in the area referred to her as Kritanta, and seemed to be unilaterally terrified of her. Some even referred to the creatures she controlled as 'demons,' although James didn't give those overly religious fools much mind. Whether they knew it or not, though, they painted a very helpful picture of the villain.
Apparently, the young woman had shown a temper. More than once, minor barbs or insults ended poorly before her cohorts' eyes. Criminals just saw this as a reason to stay on her good side, but James saw it as something he could possibly exploit. Another common thread in their stories was darkness. Whenever anyone saw her, she seemed to appear and disappear in darkness. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a start. Returning to his lab with a grin on his face, James cracked his knuckles, a few ideas for improvements already bouncing around his head.
"No fancy tricks!" Roger yelled to the cops at ground level. "You get me my money, or I swear to God I'll drop her!"
Upon hearing this, the hostage finds a whole new screaming gear, one that James believes may threaten to tear a hole in every eardrum within fifty miles. The hero quickly sized her up: five-foot-seven and one hundred and thirty pounds, blonde hair, and a slim black dress. Dropped from this height, she'd hit the ground in less than thirty seconds. James couldn't let that happen, partially because it would be wrong to let the woman die, but mostly because Mr. Purdue had some information he needed, and he'd never get a hold of him if the police grabbed him first.
"Do it or she's dead!" Roger continued, "You hear me!?"
"Of course they don't hear you," The Ant responds coldly as he dropped from his perch just a few feet away. "They're eighty stories down." Roger whirled around to face the hero, his already ugly face contoured in a look mixing rage with confusion. "She's screaming like a fire alarm, and I doubt they can even hear her."
Purdue's face scrunched up, as if he didn't want to believe what the masked man was saying, but was aware enough of his own shortcomings to know that he probably should. "I'm sure they can hear me," he replied meekly.
"No, trust me, they can't. Listen, Roger, I know it's hard when that blonde woman is planning your crimes for you, but next time you try to do the hostage thing, maybe choose a location where they can actually hear your demands." He didn't care how cold or calculating he came off. This was a criminal, the type of man he had decided to put an end to in this city, but he was going to offer him a deal instead. It left a bad taste in his mouth. "I have an offer for you," the man dressed in black continued, stepping towards the hostage taker slowly. "You have information that is more valuable to me than that woman is to the police. Let her go and give me what you know I want, and I'll pay you double what you were expecting to get from this."
The woman's screaming and the look of horror on her face were quickly replaced by a look of disgust, as if she was offended that the hero would value information more than her life. It didn't matter, the criminal released the girl and shook the hero's hand as fast as he could. "Glad you could see reason."
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Not surprisingly, Roger didn't have much information that the Ant hadn't already gleamed from the other two criminals he had questioned. Apparently, the blonde James met on his first night out as the Ant wasn't new in the crime scene around the city. Criminals in the area referred to her as Kritanta, and seemed to be unilaterally terrified of her. Some even referred to the creatures she controlled as 'demons,' although James didn't give those overly religious fools much mind. Whether they knew it or not, though, they painted a very helpful picture of the villain.
Apparently, the young woman had shown a temper. More than once, minor barbs or insults ended poorly before her cohorts' eyes. Criminals just saw this as a reason to stay on her good side, but James saw it as something he could possibly exploit. Another common thread in their stories was darkness. Whenever anyone saw her, she seemed to appear and disappear in darkness. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a start. Returning to his lab with a grin on his face, James cracked his knuckles, a few ideas for improvements already bouncing around his head.