Here's the second part! Here, we get introduced to several others....
DISCLAIMER: I don't own JQ, I don't own JQ 200...hey, waitasec....I DO
own JQ 2000! MWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!! *ahem* Twilight City
concepts are owned by Nicole Cuazon, Fic partly (I said PARTLY Jaella!)
inspired by the novel "Sweet Revenge." I'm SO not making money outta
this. WARNING: Chaos, Violence, DBN-ish HR, and adult language present
in this fic. Viewer discretion is advised :)
CATEGORY: DBN-ish HR, H, A, 2K, X in the form of the Twilight City MLer
fic.
SUMMARY: Chaos ensues in Twilight City, New York, as thieves,
terrorists, FBI agents, assassins, and cops chase each other with
planes, trains, and automobiles. (heh heh heh heh...).
PAIN TV shamelessly prevents...ah, I mean, shamelessly presents.....
......CRIMES THAT BIND
Blackjack smiled to himself as he heard her frustrated cry echo down
the alley. He jumped down from the building's fire escape and dropped
down on the pavement on the other side of the building.
He took off his black sweatshirt and turned it inside-out, so the blue
color underneath would show out. He tore off his black jogging pants,
revealing blue jeans underneath. He tossed the fabric in an empty trash
can.
Under this guise, he was no longer Blackjack, International Thief. He
was now Jonathan Benton Quest, mechanic for the TC Taxi Service Corp.
He walked in a slow, steady pace, his belt bag heavy around his waist.
He grinned as he spotted an apartment building in front of him.
Jonathan jumped on the fire escape and made his way upward eagerly. He
quietly stopped in front of a closed window, took out a sharp pick from
his belt bag, opened the window, and slipped inside.
He surveyed the dark room. "Hmmm....," he mused. "Travis' probably
asleep already..."
Jonathan walked inside the apartment quietly. Sure enough, he spotted
his friend and partner, Travis Crenshaw, asleep on the couch, snoring
slightly.
He grinned and shook him in the shoulder. "Hey Trav..Trav! Wake up."
Travis opened his eyes, then gave a startled yelp and crashed on the
floor.
Jonathan regarded his friend, grinning slightly. Travis was a handsome
man, in his early twenties, with copper-colored hair and light blue
eyes. He was an inch taller than the thief was, six feet one in height,
lean and muscular in build.
"Quest-man....." he groaned groggily, sitting up. "Whatcha doing here
in this hour?"
"Listen, Trav......"
"Don't you know what time it is?" Travis continued sleepily.
"It's.....aw, it's three o' clock in the morning! Can whatever it is
wait?"
"I got it, Trav..."
"I'm gonna be so sleepy behind the wheel tomorrow," Travis muttered.
"What if I get in an accident when I'm driving someone down Manhattan or
something? I could...."
"Trav!" Jonathan shook his friend by the shoulders. "Listen to me....I
GOT IT."
Travis blinked, then his blue eyes widened, suddenly wide awake.
"You GOT it?!!!!!!" Travis yelped, jumping up from the carpet.
"Cripes! You DIDN'T!"
Jonathan grinned at his reaction. "Took six months' worth of planning,
Trav...but I got it."
WIth that declaration, the thief pulled out the gem from his belt bag
and held it in front of Trav. "Beautiful, ain't it? Solid gold inlay,
ten carat emeralds......royal blue gem, imperial cut,
one-hundred-point-zero-zero carats...."
"Cripes...." Travi whispered softly, taking the gem in his hand, which
sparkled brightly even if the light was dim. "Good GAWD Jonny....it's
so heavy!" He handed it back to the thief. 'As you know, my good man,
we can't sell it...it's too well known to sell safely."
Jonathan shrugged. "Well, we can always break in VIRTEK (tm) or any
other company that specializes in high tech electronics and grab a
powerful laser. to cut it to pieces."
The thief fiddled with the jewel, then accidentally dropped it on the
carpet.
Travis dove for it. "Ack! Jonny, be careful with that thing," he
scolded. "It might leave a dent in the floor or something!"
The red-head dropped on his knees, then whistled. "Ummm.....Jon? I
think you broke it."
"WHAT?" Jonathan yelped. He crouched down next to Travis, eyeing the
jewel.
Sure enough, the jewel broke off the golden ringlet it stood on, rolled
near the corner of the couch. The gold ring broke in half on the
carpet, and a small, tiny roll amidst the scattered gold and emeralds.
Jonathan reached and plucked the roll out of the debirs. He
scrutinized it with narrow eyes.
"Hey...this is...this is microfilm!" Jonathan told Travis. "Something
isn't right here....."
"You're telling me," Travis grumbled. "You went through the Gauntlet
all for nothing!"
Jonny smirked at him. "But I didn't trip the alarm....jeez, look at
this thing, it's a flawless copy of the Vanhellian Sapphire (tm)...but
why the heck does it have some sorta microfilm in it?"
Travis shrugged. "Beats me," he replied. "I figured it's just
there...oh gawd, what if it's some sorta special tracker or something?"
Jonny's blue eyes narrowed. "Possible, but I don't think so...." he
mused absently. "Good grief, I don't even think this century uses
microfiches anymore!"
"You're kidding right?" Travis replied, looking at Jonny as if he were
insane. "Don't tell me you're actually gonna go along with this."
"Well, whoever replaced the real sapphire with this fake went through a
lot of trouble cheating me out of my prize," Jonathan told his friend,
flopping down on the couch and peering at the microfilm. "Hey, what
about the Public Library? Do they still have their old microfiches?"
"Probably," Travis mused, squinting at the tiny roll. "But not the
kind you need to see what's in that thing. Y'see, in the library, their
viewing screens are flatbeds, you need a special kind of microfiche to
unroll the thing so that you won't damage whatever's inside it."
Jonny tossed the film in the air, then caught it in his hand, frowning
in thought. It was too much trouble, he thought, that someone would
bother placing a fake gem in the middle of a virtually burglar-proof
system. Whatever the thing was, it was either very important, or just
an extra precaution in case a thief like him would strike.
But why the microfilm?
"Well, the TCPD might have one," Travis mused. "They always have those
special sortsa equiptment in their forensics lab or something." He
grinned. "I doubt that you'll get in, but hey, you're Blackjack."
Jonathan grinned at him. "Well, I could....but something doesn't add
up..."
The thief frowned, then turned to Travis. "Speaking of the PD," he
told him. "Remember that detective out for my hide?"
"Detective Jenks?" Travis inquired. "Yeah, don't tell me she didn't
quite yet."
Jonathan laughed. "Hell no, frustrated as hell, but she ain't giving
up. I can tell by the way she glared at me when I patted her cheek and
took off after I tackled her."
Travis leaned forward with interest as his friend recounted the events
earlier. After Jonathan's story was finished, Travis smiled.
"You got lucky, my friend," he told him. "That was a close call, does
she know what you look like?"
Jonathan shook his head. "Nah, I had my hood on, plus it was dark.
She woulda possibly seen the color of my eyes and my height, but that'll
be describing almost half this city's population. She's got nothing."
A small smile sread on his face. "Pretty lil' thing she is, dontcha
think?"
Travis chuckled softly and shook his head. "You're crazy."
"Maybe I am," Jonathan replied. He stretched out on the couch. "I
think I'll pay her a visit tomorrow night, I might convince her into
finding out what THIS," He held up the microfilm to stress his point.
"Is all about."
"You're insane," Travis said. "You got lucky once, I doubt she'll ever
let you escape again once you're in close proximity. In other words,
buddy...she'll kill you. You said it yourself, she looked murderous."
"Yeah, well...." Jonathan shrugged and grinned at his partner. "Same
thing with the gem, bud. High profile, high risk, high security...she's
a challenge to deal with, but who knows unless I try, right?"
"You're suicidal, Quest," Travis said. "She'll be even more murderous
if ya try break in her apartment....excuse me, BREAK into her
apartment. She'll kill you, man."
"Okay, I'll make you a deal," Jonathan said, grinning. "If I come out
of there alive, with her cooperation, you'll pay for chinese/pizza
takeout for a month."
Travis grinned and reached out to shake his hand. "Deal."
Elsewhere, a white suited figure leaned back on her seat, sipping an
icy cold glass of Sangria as her private jet sped through the blue skies
of Columbia to Twilight City, New York.
She frowned slightly, swirling the drink inside her glass. One of her
contacts back in Twilight City just relayed some disturbing news to her
about a suspected security breach of her cartel's latest cargo. Her
eyes narrowed as she brushed wispy strands of chestnut-brown hair from
her forehead. She hated losing control over her operations.
Her real name was used not often used, she was more notoriously known
by her alias, Storm...the head of quite possibly the biggest and the
most covert drug cartel in the Americas. So covert that the highest
profiled intelligence agencies in the world knew either nothing or
barely of its existence. ..which was what Storm wanted it to be. The
news she received today can compromise her organization's secrecy.
Storm set down her glass of Sangria and flipped open her cellular
phone. She dialed a number, then waited patiently for someone to pick
up.
She nodded to herself in satisfaction as she heard someone pick up.
"Senator Charles Morrison? Yes..it's me. I received your message
today, and it disturbs me quite a bit. You know that I can't afford
anything to be linked back to me...you are compromising your position as
well as mine."
Storm rolled her eyes as she heard the senator's sweet talk.
"Hmm....anyways, I have heard that Senator Dunley is making trouble for
you as well....especially in the up coming Senatorial elections..."
She drummed her slender fingers on the armrest of her seat. "Do you
mind if I make a suggestion? I might know someone in Twilight City who
can contact someone with the skills you're looking for." She smiled
slightly as she heard the senator approve. "Excellent, I shall make
contact right away...and don't worry...it's on me...for now."
She snapped the phone shut as Michael Zane, her assistant, poured her
another glass of Sangria. She smiled at him slightly. "Are you trying
to get me drunk, Michael?"
Michael Zane can be described as Storm's right hand man..in more ways
than one. Anyone who wished to get through Storm had to get past him,
first. He was a character of questionable nature, who did things
depending on his mood.
He winked at her. "Won't be so bad now, would it?" he quipped, making
Storm chuckle. His face grew serious as he frowned and remembered the
phone call.
"What does Morrison want now?" he inquired as Storm placidly took a sip
from her drink.
"Dunley has the manifest...though I'm quite certain that the buffoon
doesn't know anything about the cargo," Storm reported. "He's a dirty
old man...I wonder why Senator Morrison wants to bother with him....in
my eyes, that spineless pig ain't worth a vote." She looked at
Michael. "Where's Rebecca now?"
"She's somewhere in Twilight City keeping our branch intact over
there," he replied. "Why?"
Storm flipped open her phone again. "I need her to make contact with
someone," she explained. "To get rid of Dunley...for good."
Michael smiled in satisfaction and leaned back on his seat.
"Well..it's about damn time," he remarked.
TBC.....
Flames? Comments? Send 'em all! I need input! I THRIVE for input :)
Please tell me if y'all want this to go on any further...
--
"But that's not the point! The point is that I am now a perfectly safe
penguin, and my colleague here is rapidly running out of limbs!"
-- Ford Prefect, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
---Alexis: Chaos Insanity Ensuer
AGALAIAHRA'n Chaotic Creative Resevoir Philosophy: "HR-ism's like a
computer virus, ya gotta get it outta your system before your hard drive
crashes."
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