Summertime. (Open to All)

(Okay, so it's the beginning of Summer over here and that warrants some trouble in Steel City! Feel free to post, any RP'r's welcome!)

85.

It was too hot.

Alyss fanned her face with her copy of the daily paper, leaning her back against the bench and grimacing at the feeling of sweat pressing against her white shirt. It was only this kind of heat that could separate her from her beloved suits - now donning a black tank, navy canvas shoes and a pair of dark blue shorts that revealed her long, evenly tanned pins. She had swirled her hair up into a messy ponytail a while ago, hoping to ease the heat that grew around her neck. Fear was latent in the back of her head for now, occasionally mumbling curses at the temperature and sighing in exhaustion. The park was thriving with people, young and old, all revelling in the sunshine and paying no attention to the precarious situations around them.
It didn't miss the keen eyes of the agent, who sat - albeit covered in sweat- cross-legged on a park bench, seemingly focused in her own world. In reality the girl was watching the people around her - reconnaissance for her evening hunt - clocking the villains in their natural habitat.

A common thief was plunging his hand into the bags of sunbathing tourists, plucking any possessions he could before moving on to the next target. Another male was lurking near a group of near-naked girls, clutching a camera tightly in his sweaty fingers, an excited grin bursting onto his face as one of them stripped down to a skin-tight vest.
Her gaze was currently lingering over a woman who was slipping something into the drink of a young woman who lay asleep in the sun, whilst her 'partner in crime' lay in wait upon the bench next to Alyss.

So much filth for one city. This job was going to take a lot longer than expected. For now, the agent turned her head and jumped gracefully to her feet, spinning to walk down the path that led to the entrance of the park. Upon her exit she spotted an ice-cream vendor on the sidewalk outside Steel's 'City Bank Vault', causing a temptation she could hardly refuse. The girl crossed the street, reaching into her pocket and happily waving a dollar bill towards the vendor.

"Vanilla please! This heat is murde-"

Her words were shortly cut off by the deafening explosion that shattered the City Vault behind them. Breezeblocks and pieces of debris flew from the building, skittering close to the agent and hitting pedestrians beside her. Another piece of stone collided with the back of her head, sending stars before her eyes and concussion to take hold.
Alyss hit the floor, sheltering behind the ice-cream trolley, her arms quickly moving to cover her head. Ringing began to alarm in her ears, the sound of the explosion too loud for her to cope with. The sound of screams vaguely registered with her, gunfire possibly, shouts definitely. The agent stood up, blinking through the dust to see the familiar masks of the Skull Sader's and East Side Gunz sprinting through the cloud. Members of both gangs shot towards each other through the rubble, whilst others began to ransack the crumbling bank, pointing their weapons towards the cashier's and shouting profanities at the top of their lungs. Alyss began to move, before swaying slightly and having to catch her balance upon the trolley. Blinking hard to steady herself, she raised a hand to the back of her head, pulling it back to reveal blood upon her fingertips. She reached into the cabinet of the ice cream truck and pulled out a bottle of water, hoping to relieve her injury by the cool sensation of the liquid. It certainly helped, though her vision still blurred with the fast actions of the gang members.

A Skull Sader stopped in his tracks, seeing her wobble against the side of the vendor, laughing behind his mask.

"Hey there pretty la-" was as far as he managed before Alyss lurched forwards and roughly twisted his head towards her, emitting a clear 'SNAP' from his neck. His body slipped from her hands as the agent began to stumble forwards, stopping only to relieve the criminal of his firearm before continuing her journey towards the bank. The girl's eyes darkened, shadow powers activating, sending a thin layer of darkness around her hands as she raised the gun to shoot towards a pair of fighting Saders.

She couldn't tell whether this was a heist or a gang war - perhaps they were using the fight as a distraction so the others could get to the higher value vaults. There certainly was more important things in these chambers than money, things people might pay billions to access. Things she would fight to protect.

Alyss elbowed another Sader in the face as she ran through the crowd of the bank, ushering the members of the public out towards the exit. There was fire burning around the walls now, sounding off alarms and causing sprinklers to rain down upon them. The girl turned, her face directed upwards, as a female voice rang out over the chaos of the scene.

"...you boys look like you need to cool down a bit..."

Alyss scanned the street until she found the source of the cocky-sounding voice; a teen in a black bodysuit was hanging from a street lamp, clutching a fire hose. The agent's eyes widened and she raised a hand to protest before the torrent of water headed straight for the crowd she was standing in. The water rained down over the mob, distracting them from fighting each other and turning their attention towards the girl firing at them.

"Yo', we got Supers!" one yelled, pushing his foe from him and pointing towards Lizandra. The enemies nodded at each other and both burst out in dark, toothy grins. The mob seemed to stop for a moment, before each turned their guns towards the outside of the bank, aiming for any Supers they might see. Alyss groaned inwardly -this was not the time for distractions. Many other men would already be underground, rifling through the secrets of Steel City and robbing the most powerful men of their possessions. With a frown placed upon her face, Alyss realised the only way to escape the crowd to get downstairs would be by force on her part. She raised her handgun, slamming it across the back of the head in front of her, sending the mobster flying to the floor. As three guns turned on her, she fired breezily, causing each one to fall to the ground, clutching their shattered kneecaps in agony.

"Come on, come on," she urged herself, seeing the broken entrance to the Vaults below only a few feet away. A gargantuan Sader stepped into her path, raising his gun towards her head.

"Tsk tsk, little girl. Supers ain't welcome her-" he tutted, before the bullet from her gun entered his head. The man dropped, and Alyss ran to the access door. She swiped her own ID card, her rank within the FBI granting her entrance to the vaults with a small 'PING!'. The agent turned with a final glance at Spider-Girl, beckoning with her finger.

"We have bigger problems," she shouted over the noise of gunfire. The other teen had made a mistake, yes, but Alyss needed all the help she could get. And with the mob on the outlook for Supers now, they needed the protection.

As one of the men yelled "we got supers" while Liz washed down a large section of them that had been fighting. The others she didn't get in the area would point their guns at Spider-Girl and opened fire on her. Without even having to think about it, luckily the symbiote took control of Lizandra's arm and instantly expanded the symbiotic costume covering over her forearm to form a makeshift shield. The bullets being caught instantly in the sticky substance and protecting Spider-Girl from harm at the moment.

"You guys obviously haven't heard about the new and "Improved" Spider-Girl; as in it's Implied that I can beat you guys without really breaking a sweat and noooow.....It's proven."

As she spoke Spidey's web shileding would seem to wrap up all of the bullets that had been caught and deflected like a heavy metal/lead filled sack and swung it around like a mace that extended when need be, swatting about the men and their weapons. While at the same time leaping into the air to avoid more bullet fire with grace and style. Landing next to Alyss after a few aerial flips and showboating to avoid being hit by stray bullets and battering a few more Sader's and Gunz along the way. As she landed in a knelt position next to Alyss the first thing the web-slinger noticed was the deadman laying not too far away on the floor.

"So erm yaaaa...I don't know where you were raised, but where I come from we usually just say excuse me when we want people to move."

Liz joked, but in all seriousness she hated killers, all kinds in fact. Usually she would've been much more upset about this man's death, maybe even lectured or threated to stop this girl if she attempted it again with promises of consequences for the action within itself. But, for some reason...She didn't really seem to care!? Kind of odd actually, she sort of felt like he even deserved it...Weird...

OT: Was trying to wait for others to reply, but the heck with it then.

"So erm yaaaa...I don't know where you were raised, but where I come from we usually just say excuse me when we want people to move."


Alyss snorted loudly, holding the door open for Lizandra and allowing the girl to walk through. "I was born in Ireland, kids grow up toting rifles and drinking." she laughed, turning and bolting the reinforced door behind them. The gang members had already been here, a trail of bullets being the operative trail that led down the dark corridor to the body of a security guard. Alyss ran to the corpse, pressing her ear to his chest before sighing gently. He'd been dead for a while, poor guy.

"We got Saders down here, be careful." she hissed, stooping lower to the ground and picking the gun from the holster of the security guard, discarding the other empty one. The agent moved slowly down the corridor, refusing to use her shadow powers until absolutely necessary. Without touching Lizandra she couldn't read the entirety of the girl's life, so as she crept forwards she began to profile her partner.
"So, who are you? I'm hoping and guessing that you are a Super of the good variety?" she asked, in a hushed whisper.
As they turned the corner, a gang member thrust a fist forwards, only just missing her face. This guy was only little so there was no need to kill him, so she instead shot him in the upper thigh to prevent him from moving. Alyss slammed a hand over his mouth to stave off the screams, wiping her fingers backwards to reveal a dark, shadow-like substance that remained over his lips, sealing them shut.
Okay, so maybe her powers came in handy every now and then.

The agent smirked at the arachnid. "I can see that theatrics go hand in hand with your role in Steel. But hey, if you've got the flexibility, why not?" she chuckled.

The trick with the two Saders did indeed work though, so an ounce of respect was laced in her words. Anyone who attempted to clean up the town had her trust, but of course they just didn't handle things the way she did.
"SSA Alyss McGee, at your service." she said, tossing her credentials towards Liz. "And yeah, I can do crazy stuff with the darkness - I just don't like to. Sends Fear into a frenzy, y'know?" After a dark chuckle and seeing the other girl's slight puzzling look at her words she coughed gently and in a hushed tone, began to explain. "Fear is kind of...my sister. In my head. She regulates my powers, strengthens them and takes over when things get out of control for me, we usually work together but sometimes she goes haywire. But most of the time she's good."

Fear laughed highly in the back of her head, pressing forwards into their body's consciousness. The girl's eyes darkened, her posture changed instantly, giving her more presence within the room as the darkness that cloaked the corridor began to cool in temperature.
"Most of the time." Fear giggled, offering a hand to Lizandra. One touch was all she needed to read this girl's entire history in a mere second. One touch.

"I am 19, almost 20. And the Government will employ whoever they damn well please, as long as they're useful. Turns out I come in handy." Fear replied, rounding another corner with her gun in advance of her body.

With her current persona present in their body's consciousness, the power of telepathy was far more effective, as well as strengthening her control over the shadows. The alter identity smiled widely, her Cheshire grin casting shadows over her face as she reached out and grasped Liz's palm in a firm handshake.
The connection only took a few seconds; this was a girl of distinction. Her parents were doers of great deeds- a bio-mechanic and an explorer. Well, they must have certainly set the bar high for their precious daughter. A sense of worthlessness settled over her, resonating from Liz's childhood, absorbing the idolisation of the other girl's parents. A love of gymnastics. A holiday abroad to explore the traits of spiders.
Then came a brief interlude of sorrow for the death of her Father, combined with the terror regarding the first sight of the spider that would mutate her genes. A smashing sensation began to take over her body - a bone-crunching, blood-curdling feeling - it lasted only for a fraction of time, but Fear could immediately sympathise with the girl. Such pain for her would be far more intense and lengthy to Liz in reality, it seemed to contrast her own creation inside Alyss's mind. Such pain was breaking. Such pain changed them both.
The penultimate thing she felt was a surging sense of pride as she read Liz's first capture of a criminal, then another miserable chapter when she left her Mother behind.

Fear released her grip a moment later, regaining her own thoughts. It was hard to regulate after such little practice, thanks to Alyss never letting her roam free.
"Yeah, we saw a shrink once. Thought I was crazy, she was in denial." she laughed, darkly. "Let's just say he wasn't fond of this side of me. Anyway, formalities aside. We have to carry on, these guys can't get hold of the stuff that's down here. Steel has a great economy, money doesn't matter so much at the moment - it's the restricted vaults that need protecting. There's...."

The agent paused, flexing her finger over her trigger before pressing a finger to her lips and sliding her thin body against the wall of the corridor. Voices echoed towards them, along with the chimes of multiple footsteps. Fear pointed towards the corner of the hall with one finger, her pupils dilating to form a complete blackness within the sockets of her eyes whilst one hand tightened around the handle of her revolver and the other became enveloped in a thin layer of shadow, moulding her tiny hands into a long, sharpened spikes.

"3...." she whispered.

"....2...."

OT: ??? Writers block/or just forgot about it?