2.1 - Edited by: Rellawing, AlliterativeArts - 2/1/2021

 

With the information provided by Ronnie Chan, Aurora was able to track down and spot fresh tire tracks within the area the Blue Max gang was supposedly holed up. From following those, she was able to pinpoint the shed in question. The structure was large enough to house two of the minivans she was looking for, but only one garage door to accommodate it. 

 

Flying around it, she again thoroughly scouted the surrounding area to get a lay of the land. As she scouted, she noted a few avenues of escape for any gang members inside but another important detail commanded her attention. Not far from the shed, an area of dirt and weeds had been smoothed and compressed by something very large with no tracks leading to the depression. It was indeed something large, like say, a dirigible!

 

Leona grinned at having discovered a possible clue. After examining the shed’s door from a distance, it was clear that it had been crowbarred open making the key Ronnie provided useless. 

 

Landing, she stepped forward and approached the doorway. 

 

There had been no reaction to her presence so far.

 

Ten feet to go.

 

Still nothing.

 

Leona readied her defenses just in case, wary of a potential ambush. Carefully stepping near the doorway, she hoped against hope that the suit awaited her inside, waiting for her to easily snatch away. Even if it wasn’t here, perhaps a new lead or two would be found. 

 

She clenched her fists, ready for a fight as she stepped inside to find there were no windows, nor any other ways to gain entrance.

 

Leona carefully stepped back from the door and, back to the wall, sidled around the side of the building, choosing to not make use of such a dangerous chokepoint by instinct. As she circled the periphery, she charged a bolt to create a second artificial doorway. 

 

The bolt flew and broke a hole directly through the side of the shed. Before the cloud of dust and wood chips fully cleared, a single man standing frozen in shock beside the minivan she was after came into sight. He gasped, dazed and scrambled to get into the vehicle.

 

Jumping through the hole, Aurora glided to the minivan. “That won’t work, guy,” Leona stated as she targeted the vehicle’s tires with finger-wide bolts of her concussive blasts, one by one flattening them within moments. 

 

To demonstrate her statement more puissantly, she stepped in front of the escape vehicle to blast the hood with her envelopment aura, looking for the clasp that would pop the front hood. When the bonnet swung up she decisively blew apart the alternator. 

 

It hadn’t been a performance vehicle before, but now it was nothing more than a derelict mess of scrap metal. The horn sounded a pitiful death rattle for a second as the van started to die messily. 

 

The criminal, having seen enough, raised his hands and forced his lips into a sheepish grin as if to beg, ‘don’t hurt me.’

 

Leona grinned in return, nodding companionably but then gestured for him to step out while carefully looking around to make sure she hadn’t missed anything else important. 

 

The man slowly stepped out even as she kept half an eye on him while inspecting the shed. Nothing else drew her attention, so she returned it all to the man who offered a nervous greeting, “F-fancy meeting you here!”

 

“Ah, I remember you.” She chuckled at the recollection of when she’d last seen him. He was one of the guys who’d shot at her during the blimp heist! “Since we’re getting to know each other so well now, why don’t we have a nice little chat, eh?” She patted her new ‘comrade’ on his shoulder and winked. “Where’s the exo-armor stashed?”

 

“You mean that big metal suit thing?” He frowned. “It’s not here. If I tell you where it is, will you let me go?”

 

Leona’s smile broadened as she tilted her head. “Now, I can’t promise that… you’re an escaped prisoner after all… but, I can promise that I won’t be rough on you though.”

 

“How about this, you give me a thirty second head-start after I tell you?! After all, you don’t want to waste time chasin’ down some nobody like me, do ya?”

 

More well reasoned or truer words had never been spoken. 

 

“Hmm, now you have me curious about how that suggestion might actually work out for you.” Aurora appreciated the harmless cunning implied. 

 

“Alright, but first you’re going to guide me to where it is. If I like what I see, we’ll see if I can catch you while I’m dealing with the thing. By the way, it’d be in your best interests if I could focus on keeping my powers to a minimum, which would be tough if I was fighting.”

 

“Oooo-kay! I’ll lead ya,” he nodded, agreeing instantly to the terms. The thug looked towards the open hole and back to Aurora. “We gonna use your hole or the door?”

 

“Smart mouth.” Aurora slapped him on the shoulder lightly, not seriously. 

 

“You point and we’ll go where you direct me.” She placed a hand on him and surrounded him with a field and took a handful of his belt in her hand before swooping out of the entrance she’d made with him in hand, making him yelp, but since he seemed somewhat sensible, he stifled his outcry. 

 

Barely managing to stifle a chuckle at his reaction, Aurora said, “Point the way, my little guiding light.”

 

Without hesitation, the guy quietly passed instructions as though he was worried someone would see or hear him and he babbled a bit, “That way! Wait, this way now… you went too far to the right.” Leona supposed he was leading her towards the refinery which was going to be her next stop anyway. Pretty obvious, actually… but had the gang actually shacked up right where the thing got its fuel?

 

Leona flew over to the building with the thug in hand. “What’s the best way to get in without being noticed, you think?” she asked while midair.

 

“Whoooooa! Wait a minute! Don’t go up so high!” He squirmed. It was hard to concentrate with him thrashing like this, but she managed.

 

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” he cried desperately.

 

“You really don’t know?” Leona faked dropping him and grabbed one of his legs. “By the way, I wouldn’t squirm too much if I was you. If I lose concentration, you might really fall.”

 

“I don’t know! Oh God, I don’t know!” he started yelling louder.

 

“Tsk… okay… new plan!” Aurora smiled and spiraled down to a place that seemed safe and set him down easy. 

 

“Here’s what we’ll do instead,” she changed her hair again and put on another dress, experimenting with touches like makeup that she hadn't tried before. In order to determine whether she’d successfully modified her appearance, she slipped her phone from her boob pocket and used the mirror app. Ugh…. not yet. The thug stifled a laugh when he saw the clown-like result.

 

Ignoring his reaction, she thought about the lessons that Quinn and Goonie had given her, particularly channeling the techniques that Quinn used on her face when they went to the rave where she met Sarah. She brushed her face with her fingers and perfected the look and when she was satisfied she smiled predatorily as though she’d smeared on war paint. 

 

The man stopped sniggering and watched with fascination at how her appearance changed right before his eyes. When he eventually tried to edge away, Aurora gestured at him and put a ring around his ankle so he couldn’t move.

 

“You’re going to escort me like the lucky gentleman you are. I’ll be on your arm. Nothing to be anxious or nervous about.” She paused to give him a firm glance. “If you try to say anything to anyone though, you’ll be the first one that gets a taste of my, um… lightshot? I haven’t really named them yet. But I’m sure you remember--- foom.” He winced, clearly appreciating the consequences. “Anyway, that would knock you out nicely until I address any bigger issues that might crop up.”

 

“Y-yeah, yeah!” he said. “But you said you were going to let me go after I showed you! I thought you super-types didn’t lie!”

 

“I didn’t lie. ‘You get a head start,’ remember. Besides, showing me isn’t just a general set of directions, it’s more useful. Plus you’re my cover. Escorting me means showing me exactly where the suit is, that way I don’t have to guess where in the building that thing’s held.”

 

Leona smiled again at his nervousness. “Calm down. You’re already quite the lucky guy for having such a sexy young thing on your arm, aren’t you?” She winked. “Think about the cred that might get you if you escape. You could just as easily say ‘Hey, she duped me!’… You might catch some flack for it, but it’s believable enough.”

 

“Y-yeah… sure,” he said nervously, sweating already. He tugged at the light ring until Aurora dissolved it. She took his arm, guided it into a decidedly platonic position and held it there firmly.

 

Arm in arm, the pair walked towards the refinery. As they came near, the smaller man-sized door next to one of the larger vehicle-sized ones opened up. 

 

A guy with a gun looked out. “What are you doing?” the newcomer asked, “You said you wanted to stick to the car, didn’t you? And who’s this?”

 

“S-Super… Sue Per Hino?” he halfway asked nervously.

 

“Sue Per Hino, eh?” He tossed a quick glance at Aurora before continuing his interrogation, “And didn’t I hear you yelling before?”

 

Aurora grinned and interjected, “That’s why they call me ‘super Sue Hino,’ baby.” She winked. “I was giving him the ride of his life earlier.” She stuck out the tip of her tongue mischievously. 

 

Thankfully, she’d chosen to go with a darker hair color for her current disguise as that might imply an asian bloodline paired with the silly name the man had chosen for her. He’d already subtly tried to betray her. Noted. 

 

She posed like the racy model girls did in videos online on social media, winking with a little salute. “Don’t get your hopes up though, buddy. I think I’ve grown really attached to my baby here, and I’m a one guy girl, right baby?” She stroked her chained canary’s chin lightly with a finger and another wink.

 

“Um… y-yeah. She’s… uh… she’s my baby?” he said nervously, looking at Aurora fearfully.

 

“Nice,” the man said with conviction. “Well, get your ass back to the car. We’re almost done here, and then we’re taking off.”

 

It’d cause problems if the thug ran back to the car.  Aurora had to interject, “Awwww… baby was telling me all about the big awesome robot thing you guys used to bust up a police station! I got all hot thinking about it, pulling a job like that. Baby told me he’s the pilot and the ringleader. Isn’t that amazing?” Aurora cooed and petted her ‘baby’ fawningly. 

 

“Why do you treat your star pilot so harshly though?” She grinned. “Anyways, I told him I’d give a real ride to ANYONE who showed me that awesome thing…” 

 

While she was keeping it together somehow, Aurora nearly died on the inside delivering such lines.

 

“WHAT?” her prisoner cried, shocked.

 

“Ha, you told this trick you were the man in the armor? Boss’ gonna twist your head off, man.”

 

“No, I ain’t never said that! You tell him, you tell him I didn’t say that! I ain’t no snitch!” he declared, suddenly hyperventilating.

 

“Yeah, well you wait right there, ‘baby’. I’ll get the boss and you can have a talk with him yourself. He’s gonna love this story.” 

 

The sentry started to close the door to check with someone inside, but the thug broke out from Aurora’s grip and dove to try to get past.

 

“No! I ain’t never said that!” He said over and over again.

 

Aurora grinned at him. “It’s okay. I’ll tell them you manned up and told me the truth. Oh, bestill my maiden heart. To be lied to by my first lust, what cruelty. Oh well, such are the trials of the heart, I hear.” She waved her hand. “Now, thirty seconds as promised. If you get away from here they’ll think you just chickened out. And trust me, your boss isn’t going to get the same chance you’re getting, if he even thinks twice about you.”

 

Without any need for further prompting the guy took off running, pumping so hard he touched his knees to elbows. Aurora watched him go with a small smirk. She only had to wait for a couple of moments before the door opened again. “Okay th--?” The guy from before looked around. “Hah, he shit himself and ran off. All right, kid, come in, the boss wants to see you anyway.”

 

Aurora wiped a fake tear while smiling faintly. “He did. Poor baby… he broke my heart when I found he lied to me, but forget ‘em. The real pilot wants to see me! So exciting!” She put on a dreamy airheaded expression. “Would you escort a wayward lady?” She extended her arm with a warm smile.

 

He smiled and waved Aurora forward with his gun instead. “Uh uh, Boss wants you, I ain’t dumb enough to go touching the boss’ stuff.”

 

“Well, aren’t you the gentleman?” Aurora smiled and stepped inside, affecting a little anxiety about the gun being pointed at her as they progressed. 

 

She allowed him to direct her as being too forward and assertive would automatically be suspicious. She wondered idly whether she’d meet the boss or the suit first. Assuming the boss was the pilot himself, she could eliminate the biggest threat quickly without much of a struggle.

 

As soon as she walked inside, the sentry slammed the door behind. 

 

“Sorry sweetheart, no witnesses,” he said, putting the gun right to her head.

 

“Oh dear!” Aurora blinked, definitely surprised and feeling quite put out. 

 

Ah, and it had seemed like such a good plan, but she wasn’t surprised enough to not automatically activate her shield. She waited for the gun to fire. It had to be the skin-tight variety since he was so close, so she hoped he didn’t get hit by his own ricocheted bullet. 

 

Once he squeezed the trigger, Aurora spun and thrust her arms out to grab his weapon arm, turned again and simultaneously applied her weight-negating field to the man. The bullet ricocheted off her aura and she glanced to see with relief that it struck a near wall. Having confirmed his safety, she slammed his arm on her knee to break his grip on his gun. Having disarmed him, she crouched and struck his chin below with a smooth movement. She wasn’t much for martial arts, but with the agility she’d gained in her super-form, it was child’s play. 

 

The man didn’t fall over, though his eyes glazed a bit thanks to his brain being rattled. Aurora wasn’t done quite yet. Placing a hand on his chest while he was stunned, she put a golden ring around his arms and torso and tightened it. 

 

Not a moment after the sentry had been subdued, a voice came through his walkie-talkie. “Have you killed that moron and his girlfriend yet?” it asked.

 

Aurora reached below and firmly palmed his balls through his trousers. She grinned and nodded very exaggeratedly as if to say, ‘you won’t have them anymore if you cross me.’

 

“Y-yeah…” he yelled in reply, “He ran off but I got the girl!”

 

“Good. Get the van then, and pull it up to the second bay.”

 

Leona leaned to his ear and spoke quietly. “Van’s no good… it won’t start… baby came to say that and it slipped your mind... You were too worried about the girl…”

 

“Van’s dead! Girl told me it was dead ‘cause I shot her… I mean before I shot her… !”

 

“All right then. Everyone fan out, search for a new vehicle, quick, otherwise we’ll pay that yellow bastard another visit and get one from him.” The owner of the voice laughed a little at the end.

 

A number of booted footsteps quickly moved in the other room and the vehicle-sized entry doors started to rattle as the motors that controlled them activated.

 

“When it’s safe, take me to your boss. Should be nice and cleared out. You do as I say, and neither of you will be harmed…” She patted his pouch to remind him of his danger. 

 

“By the way, what you don’t know is I can shoot people too… non lethally, mind… but with the power of a shotgun blast. It stings real good. If I think you’re too much trouble, you’ll be out like a light before you know it.” Aurora listened carefully to the men’s movements fading. 

 

Gesturing for her newest hostage to move, this time she kept her ring in place.