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What's a Hero Anyway? (LilypadNebula & Red-Scarlet)

"I'm hesitant to offer pay to someone who was about to kill a friend of Doormaker's," the commander said.

Della nodded. "Even if we could offer more money, we've got limits that she might not like. Honestly, we're going to have to address the source-and that means the Marchetti's. Commander Walters, if you could, pull all the info AEGIS has on them and get it to Stryker. She'll... Fuck, we should call her and let her know we aren't dead." She got her phone out and quickly dialed the scientist.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" blasted from the phone.

"Yes! Yes, I'm safe, and so is everyone else. Minimal injuries-I think I see someone limping but no one's dead," she told Stryker.

"Okay! Okay... Whew. What happened?" she asked.

"We'll tell you in person. Your lab sounds like about the safest place we can go right now-if that's okay?" Della said.

Her voice almost offended, Stryker said "Yeah, totally."

Della opened a portal, leading to the cluttered laboratory, and waited for Katrina to head through first. She also opened a second portal, back to Halcyon, for the AEGIS folk.
 
"Oh dang, well if we discount people that have tried to kill me, I got nobody," Katrina crossed her arms and stared at the ground to think. Scattershot definitely tried to kill her, but that was a misunderstanding. Technically Liminal didn't try to kill her, she just got trapped in one of their illusions for a while. After Della continued to prove herself that maybe she could actually trust people, the thief started to wonder if maybe she did have friends, or if not friends at least people she knew weren't loyal to Vincenzo. She hadn't felt like she could call them when she was running with the whole city under fire by his men, but now? Maybe. Dang it, trying to figure out who might actually have your back when you had massive trust and abandonment issues was really hard!

Taking it directly to Vincenzo sounded like the best plan. A good plan, an easy plan, neither of those. Still the best if they wanted to really deal with this. She looked up when Della spoke to her, and nodded. "Oh jeez, yeah shoot we need to let her know we're okay," she said, coming over when she called. "Hey! Yeah we're okay, see you in a sec!" she added as Della talked, then went to the portal to step through. It was pretty impressive, seeing how much the AEGIS goons depended on her and trusted her. She was really incredible. With a smile on her face, Katrina stepped through, excited to see the famous lab for herself.
 
The lab could charitably be described as very personalized. Less charitably, an absolute goddamn mess. Mechanical bits were scattered everywhere in piles, most of them having active spiderbots perusing the contents. There were tons of screens, some attached to mounts, some to floating drones, and further back were many work-in-progress projects. Stryker rushed forward and wrapped Katrina and Della in a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Della hugged back. "Pretty happy about that myself, actually," she said with a little laugh. "I don't think we'll be here that long. Just need to figure out our next steps."

Stryker gave one last squeeze and then let go. "Lemme clear a seat for you two..." she said, dumping some metal bits on a stool onto the ground and cleaning it off. "What happened?"

"I think Katrina can explain better. She was there for the whole thing."
 
(Work has been a lot the past week, sorry it's been a bit! Hope you're doing well 😊 )

Katrina glanced around, smiling as she saw it was very 'Stryker.' She knew if she said it was messy, the scientist would claim she had a system or things were exactly where she knew they were. It was like coming into Della's home, it felt loving, safe, comfortable, this place felt focused, personal, effective. Meeting these two amazing gals was a big plus from all of this. They seemed to actually care, more than she could say about most people she'd met. When her arms came around them, she sighed and returned the hug. Safe again.

"Thank you so much, if you hadn't called, and Della hadn't shown up, I, uh, I probly wouldn't be here," she said, holding onto the two of them tightly for a few moments before letting go. She took the seat offered, pulling down her hood and removing her mask. "Uh, so, it was a merc, a really good one. The Black Witch is how I know her. She musta knocked out the power and comms when our call cut out. Blew out a window and I pulled out a knife to fight her. She did somethin to my head, some kinda magic stuff that made me feel off. We fought in front of the house and I was gonna get her, but I didn't notice she pulled something and tricked me. Was gonna...uh, she was gonna kill me, but Della got there just in time. She took off and escaped. Coulda taken her, but she got in my head, all I could think about was bein alone and worthless. S'usually what I'm worried about, but she made it like, times ten in there."
 
Stryker nodded along, listening carefully. "Fucking magic. Witches be bitches-or at least, that witch is a bitch."

"You should be getting some info from AEGIS about the Marchetti family. Hopefully a lot on Vincenzo," Della said. "At this point, he's gone from a passive thorn in our side to an angry threat snake. Cut off the head-get Vincenzo behind bars-and the body should wither. Hopefully."

The scientist paused a moment. "You're really just gonna go out there and get right back into the fight? Isn't that... Incredibly dangerous?"

Della nodded. "Sure-but even from a callous point of view, NOT taking the fight to him is just as dangerous. And that's not my perspective-I'm concerned about how many innocent people might get caught up if this isn't handled fast."
 
"Yeah. She's fuckin...vicious. Super hot but damn. I think she's got her reasons, like it's not like she wanted to kill me other than gettin hired to. I dunno," Katrina leaned back in the chair and sighed. The last few days had totally effed her ability to read people, she had people she could rely on now, when she didn't trust barely anyone before. Could she trust more people? Who knows. AEGIS was still on the naughty list for her, but individuals, maybe? Shrug.

"Yeah, it's not great, but I'm sick of thinkin bout that guy sittin in his shitty office sending more people. We take him out the whole family's gonna implode figuring out what to do. Black Witch bein on his payroll means he's gonna go as far as he can, I bet they're all thinkin this makes him look weak. He's desperate, overreached, so I think we can do this. I know we can, if I'm with you two," she spoke, an obvious blush on her pale cheeks as she spoke, revealing how much she depended on them, how much she liked them.
 
Della reached over to wrap an arm around Katrina's shoulders. "We got this."

One of the monitors let out a ding, and Stryker scooted over. "Right... Lemme drag this over to a screen by you," she said, and used the touch screen to move it. "Marchetti info. You two look it all over, and I'm gonna check the armory. See what kind of stuff I can hand out to make sure you guys make it out in one piece."

I'll let you establish the basics for the Marchetti family. I feel like you've got a better grasp there than I do.
 
Kat nodded and smiled, leaning into Della. "Yeah. We do. It's a lot, so I'm just like, I dunno. Scared or something, maybe? Being able to actually feel safe and relax with you really helped, I dunno where I'd be if we hadn't had that. Hehe, haven't had a lil easy breakfast like that in like, forever," she said. Part of her too afraid to speak up was thinking about what happened next. When the danger was over and she didn't need the protection so much, where would she be? Left alone again? Would Della want her to stay with her? Would she get black bagged and sent to some secret AEGIS prison? That old guy seemed to be going along with Della's ideas, but where would that end? When they had Vincenzo and didn't need Katrina anymore?

The family was divided, Vincenzo was in charge because he had force and connections to back it up, and a thirst for more blood and power. There were others that held influence, even some they could potentially work with. Minerva Belacci was originally from a side family but rose in the group for her cunning and tenacity, but also her respect for others. As much as a crime lord could be, she was compassionate. Vincenzo was suspected to have caused problems for her when the family was picking a new leader, and why she hadn't gotten the support she needed. There was no proof, though. Proof like that, that Vincenzo hadn't just cause so many problems while in charge, but also went against a family member just to put himself on top, could be the key to their success. No one would be protecting him from getting brought in, they might even get some "surprise anonymous evidence" thrown their way to really nail in his coffin. There were defense plans for Vincenzo's mansion, where he usually did business, if they wanted to just go all out on his home.

"What do you think? I think if we go in, surprise alliance with Minerva, she'll take it, and help us take him down. But I guess AEGIS probly won't go for working with them. Ugh. I dunno."
 
"Officially, absolutely not. AEGIS operates as agents of the law, and the law is pretty clear that the leaders of crime families are not to be bargained with," Della said. "That being said, I'm not AEGIS, and neither is Stryker."

"Hell yeah!" Stryker said. "It'd limit how much cooperation we could realistically do with anyone from AEGIS, but that was gonna happen anyway."

Della nodded. "Did you have any interaction with Minerva? Any ins you could use to get closer? You've got a lot more in the way of contacts and connections than I do when it comes to this sort of stuff. I can get you where you need to go, of course, and I'll be waiting in the wings for if you need help."
 
"I've done jobs for her, got her a piece from that art exhibit that was doing tours last year and hit some big corps she was going after that messed with her territory. I think I have some good will with her, like obviously she couldn't do anything publicly with Vincenzo after me, but yeah if we can go to her privately, that could work. I bet my sweet ass she knows where there's evidence on Vinnie but can't act on it. So, like, yeah, if you two are good to go to her, let's do it," she said, a real grin on her face shining with excitement. Hearing them encourage her idea and be willing to bend what AEGIS would want felt good. Just more and more clear that she could trust the two gorgeous gals. She hoped.

"If you can get us into her place, I think I can talk to her. Having you there is gonna be big too, lend some real weight to wanting to bring that asshole down. Stryker, do you go out in the field, or stay in the lab? I know you're gonna be a huge help wherever you are."
 
"I've done field research, but I'm not a great fighter," Stryker replied. "I'll be your eyes and ears, though."

Della nodded. "Keep that smarty pants head of yours safe. Do we have an address? Somewhere we could go to find her?"

With a few strokes at a keyboard, Stryker pulled up some of Minerva's information. "The Velvet Room. Gentleman's club, run by 'Jane Doe', a boring pseudonym for the lady we need. I think you were invited there by Blaster once. No guarantees she's there, but that's a starting place, unless you know a better sport, Katrina."

Both the other women turned to Katrina and waited for her to vouch for Stryker's plan. They trusted her expertise.
 
"Okay, yeah, stay here, stay safe. Thanks for your help, cutie," she said, smiling at her. Kat put her mask on and pulled up her hood, nodding at the two of them. "Yeah, that's where I was gonna suggest. S'her place, s'where I'd go if I wanted to find her. Girls there are pretty hot. If you can get us into the office we can get past her goons and talk to her directly, probly best. Dunno if her security goons will shoot on sight but dunno if we wanna risk that. Maybe if you're there they won't and we can actually walk in. Hm. Whatever you think is best, Della. I can try to do the talking to Minerva if you want. Think that's our best bet," Packrat stood up and nodded at them both. "Still gotta worry about Black Witch, but yunno, one problem at a time I guess."
 
"Unless she can also teleport..." Della said, then paused a moment. "We should assume she can. Better safe than sorry. Well... On to the Velvet Room. Er, Stryker, what's the address?"

Stryker recited the address as Della got her Doormaker costume back on fully. "Load that into your mask," the scientist added.

It took less than a minute for Della to find where to make a portal. It led to a quiet street, with no cars on it-not even any parked. The Velvet Room had valets for that. The outside of the establishment was finely made. A subtle opulence.
 
"Okay, let's do this. We'll stay in touch, Stryke. See you when we get back," she said, hurrying over to give the other short girl a tight hug. Even with both of them at her back, she was nervous. With a deep breath, she released her and nodded, then moved back to Della. She took Della's hand in hers once the portal was open, and gave it a tight squeeze. "Thank you. I seriously don't know where I'd be without you. Everything you've done for me, I dunno if I can pay it back, but I hope...shit," she said, then wiped her eye. "Somethin in it. I, uh, I hope I get the chance to pay you back once this is done. I don't want this to be done when Vinnie's gone. I don't want...us to be done. Shit, sorry, that was sappy, uh, let's do this," she said, stepping through the portal and pulling Della along.

The building was familiar to her, she'd come here quite a few times. Mostly on business. "Bet you never been to a place like this, huh?" she said, chuckling and glancing up at the hero.
 
Doormaker's mask stopped Katrina from seeing any expression, but she'd been getting more familiar with the hero as she spent time with her. She could tell Della was a little nervous, but she wasn't going to let it stop her. "Never. But there's a first time for everything."

She opened the door and strode in, taking attention so that Katrina could be less noticed. Inside the Velvet Room, there were plenty of distractions-mostly in the form of scantily clad and very attractive women. Due to the time, there weren't too many clients, only about a half-dozen visible to Della as she walked in. A woman in a bunny suit approached, her heels clicking along the floor. "And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, ma'am?" she asked.

Della took a moment to answer. "I would like to speak the proprietor of this venue."

"I'm afraid Ms. Doe isn't available right now. If you'd like to spend a little time with me, though..." she said sultrily.
 
Packrat couldn't help ogling the woman, who didn't love a bunny suit? She was hot! A momentary pause of her brain, and then she was back in it. "I bet it would be a great time, but sorry. We ain't here to talk to 'Ms Doe.' We're here to talk to Minerva. So tell her Packrat's here with the biggest hero around and we got a deal for her she'd have to be a total idiot to refuse, so go tell her, now. Uh," she paused, glancing at Doormaker, then back to the woman. "Please." The worker raised her eyebrows, not just surprised to hear the boss's real name from some one like her, but everyone had heard word about Packrat. Then realizing it was Doormaker, she didn't really know how to react. This was probably one of the situations she wouldn't mind being interrupted for. "Ahem, just a moment, ladies," she said, nodding to them, then headed upstairs to an office.

"Hmm. I need to get a bunny outfit," she muttered, mostly to herself, but also to Della.
 
"Focus," Della said. Katrina wasn't sure which one of the two she was talking to, but it wasn't a bad reminder regardless. Despite the obvious lewd displays around, Doormaker was professional, at least through the mask.

The bunny suit woman returned shortly. "She's waiting in the downstairs office. Follow me," she said with a neutral voice. Despite her careful tone, she still had her hips swaying as she lead the way. Just outside the office, she paused a moment. "Just to be clear-I know you can be armed. But it would be very unwise to do anything reckless here."

"We aren't here to cause trouble for her," Della replied. "You have my word we'll keep the peace."

The woman nodded, and opened the door. "Ms. Belacci, your guests."
 
"Sorry," She said, a bashful smirk as they were collected and brought downstairs. "Yeah, we're here to talk. Like, actually," she said, following along with Della to the doors. Kat took a big breath, half expecting the door to open and just reveal a dozen goons with guns to mow them down. They came open, and to her relief, it was a minimal but well put together office. The large desk was made of some expensive wood, and the seats well cushioned with a soft fabric. There was a single plant, possibly fake, in the corner, and a painting of faceless women scissoring on the wall. A tall, dark haired woman in a suit stood behind the desk. It was charcoal, and she wore a red shirt under the jacket, buttons undone to her bra. She had tasteful makeup, a beauty mark on her cheek, and sharp, piercing brown eyes. She held a tablet in her hand, looking at it, then set it on the desk and looked up as they came in.

"Thank you, Natasha. You can leave. Packrat coming in here today, accompanied by Doormaker. My cousin's enemy number one, and a big time goody two shoes hero, in my club. I must say I didn't predict that happening. Have a seat," she gestured at the two comfy armchairs in front of the desk, then sat down herself and crossed her legs. "What are you doing here, and why shouldn't I kill you where you sit, you rat?"

Katrina grimaced at the threat as she sat down. "Well, Minnie, I'm gonna just talk normal and not with all the two faced stuff y'all try to do to not just say the shit you mean. You hate Vincenzo more than I do, he ain't just an asshole or the guy that stole your spot, he's bad for your family. He's gonna drive you into the ground and Manchetti's are gonna be playing defense for years if you can pull it back at all. He's probly spent like, what, over a quarter of the family fortune on useless shit, and how much has he spent going after me? Do you know what he asked me to do? Kill a kid. Really he wanted me to kidnap him by putting him in my pockets, and when I told him he'd die in there, he said good riddance to a weakling if he did. You used to stand for something and care about more shit than putting as much money in Vinnie's pockets as you can. What's the cut from this place gone up to, 60%? 70%? How are you gonna protect the girls when he decides they're his property too? Can you sit there and say-"

"Enough." Minerva put a hand up and spoke with an air that make Katrina shut right up. "Say I agree with you. What's your point, and why is Doormaker here? How do I know she's not wired up and reporting all of this to AEGIS?"
 
Doormaker replied "AEGIS already knows a good deal about your operations. It's your army of lawyers that make things difficult. It's also not a priority-yes, prostitution isn't legal, but you pay your employees well, and generally keep your criminal activities to a minimum of collateral damage. Don't be mistaken-you will face the law some day, if you don't change who you are," she said, her voice not a threat but a promise. "But it's not a priority. Vincenzo is different. He's far less concerned with collateral damage, far more willing to hurt and kill to get his way, and given the job that Packrat stiffed him on, he's quite possibly planning an all-out war to gain more power."

She inclined her masked head slightly, and continued. "We're here to achieve a mutual objective-taking down Vincenzo. Packrat and I want this done to keep Halcyon and ourselves safe. You want it to take more control of the family's business. But we both want it. There's no threat from my end-if you say no, we walk out of here, and leave you to your fate. But I think we all know that you're too smart to let an opportunity like this pass."
 
Packrat nodded along to Doormaker's words. "Yeah, Minnie. I know you got loyalty to the head of the family and all that jazz, but that's to a certain point. When he fucks you over then demands respect, you ain't gonna let that slide, I know you. I liked doin jobs for you! You pay real good and you're fun, and, like, you know, you would never ask me to nab a kid from his parents. Let's work together again, and it's gonna make all our lives a whole lot better. Whattya say?"

Minerva gave the slightest eye raise as Packrat mentioned Vincenzo screwing her over. She'd assumed that was a poorly kept secret, but still, hearing someone out of the family know about it was new. There was a level of trust she had to extend to take this offer of working together. She didn't think Packrat would screw her, she'd even worked with Vincenzo fine up until that last job, and if Doormaker was right about planning something big, it would hurt everyone. He hadn't even discussed it with them. She had to trust that Doormaker was telling the truth and wouldn't immediately turn on her. Minerva knew she could handle AEGIS if she was in charge, she knew how to keep the family strong and prosperous without attracting as much attention Vincenzo was. And Packrat was right. Minerva had been imagining this moment since she'd found out Vincenzo fucked her chances at being the leader of the family.

Still, Minerva played it cool and coy. She leaning forward, resting her head on her folded hands, and staring at them coldly while silence hung in the air for a few minutes. Finally, she leaned back, putting a hand to a locked drawer on her desk. Cameras in the office turned off and pointed down. A ring on her index finger acted as the key, and she pulled out a large manilla envelope to place it on the desk. Minerva looked to each of them in turn and gave a slow nod, pointing at the folder when she looked at Packrat and giving a hand motion to hurry. Katrina stood and nabbed the folder, slipping it into her pocket to vanish it away, and sat back down. The cameras turned back on, and Minerva stood and pointed at the door. "Get the fuck out of my office. I don't make deals with heroes, or enemies of the family," she said this loudly, as though to make sure anyone outside the office would hear it.

"Whatever, Minnie, you're losing a good customer, you know I spent a good chunk of whatever you paid me here anyways. Have fun when the shit hits the fan. DM, let's go," she stood and looked at Della, an excited glint in her eye as she mouthed 'Play along?'
 
Doormaker looked at Minerva, her height letting her loom menacingly. "You will regret this," she said, and opened a portal for her and Katrina to a small distance away-outside of the Velvet Room, a couple blocks down.

Once they had stepped through, Della said "That was way more nerve-wracking than it should've been. I just hope that whatever she gave us is worth it." She took a moment to breathe deeply and steady herself. "Think there's any chance that she trapped it? It doesn't seem like she would've had a chance to, but I guess the fact that she's on the wrong side of the law makes me a little hesitant."
 
Katrina hopped through, once she was out of the camera view she winked at Minerva and waved happily while the portal closed. "Yeah! Dang, that was intense, Minnie can get really hard when she wants to be," she said, then frowned at the envelope at Della's question. She hefted it in her hands a few times, sniffed it, then shook her head. "Nah. She ain't the type to-she wouldn't do that to us, right? I don't think so," she said, shaking her head a lot. Her hands carefully opened the envelope, and pulled out the papers inside.

There were photos, copies of deeds, and a note from Vincenzo mentioning an address, his back up, where he kept records of everything, every interaction with his crooked cops and judges, every meeting with the other heads of the family, proof in case he ever needed to turn on them and get federal protection. "Damn, he is a fuckin snake. If there's proof he fucked over Minnie, sounds like it'll be there. Bet she couldn't act on this, if her people got caught hitting this place it would be war. Us though," she said, handing everything to Della. "If you can get me in, I can do my thing and nab everything that asshole has."
 
"Will that work, though? Our goal isn't to make him mad-it's to stop him," Della reminded Katrina. "If anything, that'd make him more focused on vengeance. Which could be useful to bait him... But we need a plan, at the least."

She thought deeply, hand on her chin. "This would help AEGIS bring in a lot of the family, but their lawyers and guys on the inside are the real issue there. I think what we have to accomplish is to make Vincenzo unwanted by the rest. Make it so they not only don't like him, but can't trust him enough to let him lead. There's already fractures showing, as evidenced by this evidence we have," she said with a small chuckle, "but the average goon has to think he's not worth it."

"Robbing him might help with that-show that he's weaker than he makes himself out to be. I don't know."
 
"Hmmm, yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Uhhh, hmmmm, maybe like, we gotta prove he betrayed them. Loyalty and shit is super important, so if we can leak that he's got dirt ready to share with feds and he already did something to Minerva to get ahead, they'd turn on him. Does that make sense? Sound real? I definitely agree robbing him is gonna be a hit to his reputation. A bunch of things adding up to make the rest of the family decide it's worth it to dump him could do it. Maybe we can get proof he's bankrupting them with all this bullshit he wants to pull, starting some war with kids he's trying to kidnap and turn into super powered goons, and now he's got the whole city a buzz chasing me. I bet a lot of them just need a push. I don't wanna steal from him just to steal, let's take the evidence we need and get it out to all the goons he's promised safety for, and the leaders he's promising things he can't deliver. The whole point of having the family head is like, everybody getting what they want, but he's just focused on himself, so with that proof, I think they'd turn," Katrina spoke through it all aloud, thinking through the possible plans and ideas. In the moment, she felt confident, knowing Della had her back just made her able to go for it without worry, so she spoke her mind, and looked to the taller woman with a hopeful gaze. "What do you think?"
 
Della nodded. "I think we've got a plan. We just need to see it through. Think you need anything from the lab before we put it into action? Or should we strike now?"

Apologies for the short post. Brain not at 100% right no, but I did want to get SOMETHING up.
 
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