The Quicker You Start, The Quicker You'll Finish

[MBCE]

"Arrowhawk, Smarrowhawk. It don't matter. You'll never get your hands on your bow again."

Hrom his higher position, he fires again at the hero but fails to hit its target. The man gives a curse of rage at his failure to hit the already wounded hero.

[Ecalsneerg]

Smarrowhawk? What is he? Two? Dodging the blast easily despite his weakened condition, he reached down and grabbed his bow, pivoting to face his opponent once more.

"Bring it."

[MBCE]

The masked man doesn'T wait any longer, unleashing another blast of electrical energy at Arrowhawk but the blast hits a nearby crate instead. The man gives a roar of rage at missing the hero again but holds his ground.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, shut up with the tantrum," muttered Arrowhawk, firing off a blunt arrow at his opponent.

[MBCE]

The arrow flies with deadly accuracy and delivers a powerful blow that saps a lot of his strength. Now the two combatants were on equal footing, but Arrowhawk had just enough time to take advantage of the man's disorientation.

[Ecalsneerg]

"See? The real reason we keep doing it is because sooner or later, we always win," spat Arrowhawk, fighting the pain in his side to send another arrow flying towards his opponent, but the distraction caused by his injuries caused him to mis-aim.

[MBCE]

The man shakes his head, clearing his vision. The battle was wearing on the solider and he knew that was only a matter of time before the bowman could land another devestating blow upon him.

"Well, I would love to sit around and prove just how wrong you are, hero, but I've done my job."

The man turns and activates his jet pack before flying out of Arrowhawk's sight. The sound of breaking glass is suddenly followed by the sound of police sirens. Someone must have alerted the police when gunfire was heard.

[Ecalsneerg]

This place looks legit on the outside. I'm in trouble here if I don't hurry. Electing not to pursue his foe, Arrowhawk ran over and cautiously shoved the door opposite the elevator open, back to the wall at its side in case of attackers beyond it. I need to get out of here.

[MBCE]

Arrowhawk easily opens the door to find stairs that lead up. This must be the normal entrance for the lowlifes that had to do the work with the drugs. His injuries kept his movements fairly slow but there was no obstacales in sight.

The stairs head up about three flights before reaching another door. At this point he's sure that he is located on the ground floor. The hero takes a moment to listen at the door before carefully opening it to reveal another empty room. Another door was located on the opposite wall but closed. The sound of the police sirens approaching were closer than before.

[Ecalsneerg]

So... many... doors... Arrowhawk continued onwards. With haste being necessary, he didn't stop to avoid possible assault, but merely strode up and gave the door as strong a kick as he could muster, hoping to bust it straight open.

[MBCE]

The door opened into a crowd of panicking people, all trying to escape the confines of the building. A few more guards were knocked out in a corner, men Arrowhawk hadn't seen earlier. Near the unconcious bodies was a figure dressed all in black.

"About time you got up here, Arrowhawk," the figure said as he moved over to the wounded hero. "I thought I was going to have to head down there and drag you out."

[Ecalsneerg]

Tensing and readying to fire, Arrowhawk met the man's gaze. "I prefer to walk. Who are you and how did you know I'd be in there... wait. Lenny. He told you about me. "

[MBCE]

The man in black nodded his head. "Name's Foreshadow and yes, he did. He wasn't sure you'd manage to pull things out all on your own and I was in the neighborhood looking into some other stuff. Thought I'd come over and see if you needed some help."

The man smiled as he said, "And from the looks of things, I think you handled yourself fairly well. Now, if you wouldn't mind following me out of here, I really don't like talking to the police after whopping on some goons."

[Ecalsneerg]

"You're telling me that, I generally have to explain why I saw fit to shoot them," said Arrowhawk, following the hero towards the police. "Did you get whoever was running the show? I couldn't because I came across unexpected resistance."

[MBCE]

Foreshadow quickly leads Arrowhawk away from the building and to the roof of an nearby building. "No such luck on my end. I think the big wig ran when you first showed up. At least this base of operations is out of commission for the time being. They'll have to relocate their business now if they want to continue. And that buys us time to find out who was actually behind this factory."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Damn. I would've got him if I'd planned for the amount of high-tech they were packing. Maybe that'd be a way to track down Mancini. There can't be too many people importing blaster weaponry to the city, and a bit less of that number sell them to the mob." He sighed deeply. "I'll have to do it another night, I'm too beat up now." Arrowhawk proferred his hand to Foreshadow. "I'm sure we'll run into each other again," he smiled, from the darkness under his hood.

[MBCE]

Foreshadow took the hand and shook it firmly. "I'm sure that we will. Good luck to you in the city. Keep your eyes open as well. I think something big is going down soon but I ahve yet to figure out what it might be. Whatever it is, however, has gotten the gangs in Southside all riled up. The Skinheads have been making some bold moves recently and I'm not sure why yet."

Having given the extra information, Foreshadowmoved to the edge of the building away form the sight of the arriving police and disappeared over the side.

[Ecalsneerg]

Something big? Damn, if tonight is any indication then I'm too old to do this properly. I need to sleep. He jogged along to the edge of the building, jumping and diving off the edge, swinging up with his grappling hook. I think I've broken a rib, winced Arrowhawk as he rolled onto a rooftop and kept moving.

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In his room, John took off his costume slowly and gingerly, examining his wounds. His shoulder was charred from the blast, and there was some bruising from the heavy punches the mobster had thrown at him. Have to track down that weapons shipment... he thought as he passed out on the bed. Got to... stop them...