Needle in a Haystack (IC)

[Thevshi]

The gunman grunted with pain once more as he was slammed against the wall by Mess .  His eyes went wide with fear as the private detective crushed the barrel of the assault rifle with one hand.  He looked back at the enraged Mess as he stuttered a reply.  "The [Chinese word] is in Singapore, but I have never met him in person.  I do not need to go anywhere to be paid, my fee would be deposited in a bank account form me."

 

He paused a moment, then seemed to regain a slight bit of courage.  "You and your friends have interfered with the Ang Soon.  It will not be long before they send others to deal with you."

[Supercape]

"And we'll deal with them just like we dealt with you, sucker!" laughed the Mess. 

 

"Lets take a ride! I think there is someone you want to apologise to before you get locked away!"

 

With another few mighty steps he launched himself into the air, back out the window, and down to the ground, where the Hound and Mr. Chen were waiting. 

 

"What took you so long?" asked the Hound, lighting up a cigarette and studying the assassin with a smile on his face. 

 

"I'll be faster next time" laughed the Mess, as he stuffed the face of the assassin into Mr. Chen's view. 

 

"Here's your killer, Mistuh Chen" he said, as politely as possible. "You know him? he said he was sent by some...errr...Angthing of Sungthingorother..." he mumbled, before rattling the man with his mighty limb. 

 

"Here, you tell him what you told me!" he shouted at the man. 

[Thevshi]

While Mess was trying to get information out of the would-be assassin, Mr. Chen had regained consciousness after the healing Mess had provided.  "It would appear I owe you and your partner my life Mr. Hound."  He commented as he sat himself back up.  "Even if it was the two of you who inadvertently put it at risk."

 

The Chinese man started slightly as Mess, with the gunman in hand, landed on the ground nearby.  But he quickly recovered and climbed to his feet to regard the man with a cold stare.  "I do not know him."  He replied to Mess, as he began speaking with the gunman in Chinese, the gunman responding in kind.  Mess heard the gunman repeat the words he had not understood to Mr. Chen, who simply frowned slightly.

 

It was about that point that the police arrived.  After some brief statements from the three, obtaining information on how to further contact them, and Mr. Chen's insistence that he was no longer in any need of medical attention, the police departed with the gunman in tow.

 

Mr. Chen looked over at Harry and Freddy as he said.  "Gentlemen.  Allow me to buy you a drink while we talk more."

[Supercape]

"A drink?" smiled the Mess, as he concentrated on the bullet wound in his arm. He may not have been a surgeon, but it was fairly simple to use his blood to push the bullet back out and seal up the wound to stop the bleeding. His arm hurt, and a big black bruise was swelling, but he  wouldn't bleed out. 

 

"Now your talking" he said, flexing his arm. "I'll have a Guinness. Or make that two. Or make that..."

 

"Yes yes we get the point..." interrupted the Hound, snuffing out his cigarette with his heel "Sorry about him, Mr. Chen. But he does have a point. He needs to keep his fluid and iron levels up for his, you know..." he explained, waving his hand at the lump of swollen muscles that was Bloody Mess. 

 

"You got it!" said the Mess, giving the thumbs up. His swollen physique was gradually returning to normal, which was still like a brick wall. 

 

"Let's hit the nearest bar! and somewhere out of Chinatown, I think! I don't want to be spitting out another bullet!"

[Thevshi]

Mr. Chen simply nodded as Harry mentioned Freddy's need to keep up his iron levels.  "I can understand your concern."  He commented as they mentioned going somewhere outside of Chinatown.

 

A short trip later, the trio were in a small bar in one of the Polish neighborhoods in the West End, Mr. Chen ordering several Guinness for Freddy, whatever Harry wanted, and a bourbon for himself.

 

After their drinks had been delivered and they had been left alone, he turned to regard the two private investigators.  "As I said before the-interruption...I am no expert on the Tongs and Triads, but I have had the need to learn some things about them in the past.  That man was sent by the Ang Soon Tong, one of the ones that is currently searching for the girl in the picture.  They are based out of Singapore.  As to who it was that gave him his instructions, the word you did not understand Mr. Furlong is a title often used in the hierarchy of a Tong or Triad, it translates roughly as 'Red Pole.'  Such an individual is usually in charge of overseeing the more, shall we say, confrontational, of the organization's activities."

 

He paused a moment, and then continued.  "And to answer your earlier question Mr. Hound.  From what I was able to learn, while some of the Tongs and Triads are working together in their search for this young lady, there are others that are not.  So there certainly appears to be a struggle as to who will locate her first."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

"The Red Pole eh?" replied the Hound, taking a stiff Bourbon and noting down the name. He still felt jittery after being shot at. And his mac still had Mister Chen's blood on it. 

 

He scratched the back of his head. 

 

"Damn, it ain't even noon, and already we are dodging bullets. Well, must mean we are getting closer, at least" he said, giving the Mess a friendly elbow. It jolted his arm sufficiently for him to dribble some Guinness down his t-shirt and give Harry a withering look. 

 

"By rights we should go back to the barn and clean up" he said, chewing his pencil. "But I gotta hunch we are onto something here. You were saying something about...the Golden Serpent? guess there are some colorful names in the Triads, I'll give you that..." he said, stabbing his pencil back down to his notebook and giving Mr. Chen an expectant look. 

[Thevshi]

"I am not sure if you are closer to finding the girl in the picture, but you certainly may be on the way to learning why there is so much interest in her."  Mr. Chen commented as he took a drink of his bourbon.  He then nodded as Harry brought up his last statement before he had passed out after being shot.

 

"Yes, the Golden Serpent Association.  It is another of the Tongs that is looking for the girl, based out of Hong Kong, but with influence in a number of other areas in Southeast Asia.  I have heard that some of their members are now in Freedom City.  I had thought they would be the greater threat to you in your investigation.  Apparently I was wrong."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

"Seems like we got plenty of heat then" muttered Harry, dejectedly. If there was one thing that ruined his day, it was getting shot at. 

 

"Mr. Zhou is certainly getting his money's worth. But we can't back out now. We need to disentangle this. And not get killed. Yes, I have to say I'm a big fan of not getting killed" he continued, shifting his eyes around the bar even as they spoke. 

 

"Thing is, we aren't much closer to finding this girl than when we started. All we got know is that half of china town - and probably not the good half - is after her. And from the sounds of it, they aren't having much luck either. Which is probably a good thing for little miss mystery..."

 

He downed the last of his drink. 

 

"Take care Mr. Chen, and keep your eyes open. I think this has become a lot more serious than just a missing girl..." he said, dusting off his bloodstained Mac and exiting the bar. 

[Thevshi]

"Yes, there is a considerable amount of resources being used to attempt to locate this girl.  But thus far, no one appears to know where she is exactly, so they appear to be casting a wide net, so to speak."  Mr. Chen replied.

 

Mr. Chen nodded slightly at the suggestion he keep his head down.  "I plan to take some steps to avoid another possible assassination attempt for the near future.  Do be careful yourselves gentlemen.  I will see what I more I might be able to learn, more discretely this time.  Let me know if you learn anything else that might help direct my inquiries."

 

After the two private investigators left, they headed back to the office so they could both get cleaned up.  But before they could consider any further what direction they might want to take next in this investigation, they received a call from their attorney, Lucy Harker, who needed their assistance with something.

 

A few days later:

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

 

The case that Lucy had gotten them involved in had managed to keep the pair too busy to do much on trying to find this missing girl, let alone figure out some of the big questions that still hounded them regarding the investigation.  Today was the start of the Chinese New Year, and as Mr. Chen had informed them, there would be a large celebration in Freedom City's Chinatown tonight. 

 

While Harry and Freddy were sitting around the office in the morning, considering their options, Harry's phone rang.  Glancing down, the rumpled private investigator saw that it was Lance.

"Hey Harry."  Came Lance's voice when Harry answered.  "I've found something.  Your girl's here in town, or, at least was a couple weeks ago.  Why do you two come on over?"

[Supercape]

NPC

 

Harry nearly dropped his hot dog in surprise. 

 

"Get off your backside, Freddy. Remember that missing girl case? Well, guess who struck lucky? our old friend Lance! Says he saw her in Freedom City. Well, I kinda guessed she was here, seeing as bullets had been flying. But it's good to know we weren't shot at for nothing!" he smiled, pulling on his mac and thrusting some cigarettes into his pocket. 

 

Freddy leapt of the sofa, cracked his knuckles, and put on a jacket, bounding into the Caddy with his normal effervescent energy. 

 

Harry was not far behind, opening the door before turning round and snatching the hot dog from his desk. He stuffed himself into the car and ignited her. 

 

"Off to get some answers!" he yelled with a smile on his face. This case had been bugging him and a crack was just what he needed. 

 

"Oh man!" he cursed as the hot dogs mustard flew in a Pollock-esque line over his tie, shirt, and mac. 

[Thevshi]

Thanks to the midday Sunday traffic, the drive to Lance's apartment proved to be relatively short.  The analyst opened the door almost immediately after Harry's first knock, his face filled with excitement.

 

"Come on in."  He stated, letting the two in before heading back towards his office.  "Now, if anyone ever asks, I never showed you what I am about to."  He stated to the pair.  "The only reason I am is that I owe you Harry."

 

Taking his seat at the main computer in the room, Lance looked back at Harry and Freddy a moment as he continued.  "Remember that incident at the Freedom City Aquarium back towards the end of January?  Bunch of heavily armed mercenaries storming into the place right in the middle of a Monday afternoon only to be stopped by two teenage superheroines?"

 

He turned back towards the computer as he pulled up a video on the monitor.  "Well, your girl was one of those two.  This is the security camera footage for the aquarium."  The image on the screen showed a viewing balcony of the aquarium that overlooked the massive three story water tank that was the central focus of the aquarium.  Visible on the balcony was a group of what school kids, an aquarium staff member and two teenage girls, one in costume, the other not.  While the picture was not the best, the girl who was not in costume looked like she could be the one in the picture.

 

"Not the best view."  Lance stated as the video began playing.  "But I can assure you, it's her.  There are better shots later.  So, right now her and her friend are up on the second floor of the aquarium, a short while after the mercenaries had blow themselves an entry into the lower levels of the building down at the water level.  Now watch, several of the bad guys move out on the floor below, trying to secure control of the main entrance of the building.  So the two girls go right into action."

 

Lance switched to a different camera's footage, as Harry and Freddy watched as the girl they had been looking for leapt over the second story railing some twenty or more feet above the ground below, her jump taking her down to the side of the main tank, off which she rebounded while executing a flip before landing safely on the floor below.  She then brought up her hands as a jet of water shot forth, slamming into a gunman with enough force to slam him into one of his companions, knocking them both out.  "So, she blasts a couple more of the guys like that."  Lance said as he began to fast forward the video.  "Her friend jumped down as well and started kicking butt like she was Bruce Lee or something, while having some sort of portal open that allowed the school kids on the second floor to escape the building."

 

Lance put the video back on normal speed once more as the two private investigators watched a hole get blow in the side of the main tank by some spear shot from the upper floor.  "So, the leader of these mercenaries blows a hole in the side of the main tank, threatening all the mothers with their infants and school kid fieldtrips with being swept way when it fully ruptured.  But then your girl does-something to stop the water and keep it in the tank till the aquarium staff can activate the emergency draining system."

 

"But whatever she did to keep the water in place for awhile seems to have prevented her from using her water blasts, but that didn't slow her down much, as when some more gunmen show up, she goes all Jackie Chan on them."  The video Lance had running showed the girl taking down three of the mercenaries with a variety of martial arts attacks.  Lance stops the video and turned back to look at Harry and Freddy.  "It took your girl and her friend no more than forty seconds to take down twelve mercenaries armed with sub-machineguns and pistols.  They then went after the rest and stopped them as well."

 

"Your girl identified herself as 'Tsunami,' and her friend went by 'Warp.'  But you know how it is with teenage heroes Harry, the police did not press for more information about them."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

"Well ain't she a little princess!" said a rather surprised Harry, holding onto his chin in wonder. 

 

"She kicks some serious ass!" agreed the Mess, folding his arms with a look of admiration on his face. 

 

"Lance, you have been a gem, showing us this. Not that we did see it of course. And if we did, we didn't see it here..."

 

"What do you mean, Harry, we just..." interrupted the Mess before he caught sight of Harry's cocked eyebrow and cottoned on. 

 

"I gotcha!" he said, giving the thumbs up. 

 

Harry straightened up, pondering what he had just saw. 

 

"So, we can confirm she is a metahuman, and has got an alias, Tsunami. Persumably she is some kind of water controller. Maybe has a partner, too, although kids are fickle things. Police presumably have a file on her, but that's gonna be like the devils teeth to get - and will probably be redacted to hell. Even if we do get it, no telling how much use it will be. Certainly wont have her name and address on it..."

 

He clicked his fingers in vexation. 

 

"But maybe we should take a look at this aquarium? you never know if they may have a lead..."

[Thevshi]

"No problem Harry, glad I could help."  Lance replied to the rumpled private investigator.  "As far as what sort of file the police may, or may not, have, you know I am only given what I need most of the time for what I do Harry.  So I have no idea what they have on her."

 

 Having decided to follow up on the possible lead involving the aquarium, Harry and Freddy made their way back to the Caddy, and a short while later arrived at the Freedom Aquarium down along the Waterfront.  The aquarium was located on its own pier, a large, three story building that stood out from the other buildings built along the Waterfront.

 

Being in the early afternoon on a Sunday, the aquarium was rather crowded.

[Supercape]

"Hey, this place is cool!" said the Mess, excitedly. "My Pop's used to take me here when I was young. Its even better now! Look! A Sharkinarium!" he said, a bucket of coke in one hand and a pointed finger full of distracted enthusiasm in the other. 

 

"Yeah yeah" waved the Hound "all very neat and everything. Personally, if God had wanted us to swim, he would have given us flippers. Me? I prefer my feet on solid ground! and anyway, don't forget we are here to work, even if we did pay the entrance fee to get in..."

 

"No problems, no problems" replied the Mess, a little disappointed. He shrugged half heartedly and stuffed the guide in his back trouser pocket. 

 

The Mess cracked his knuckles and confidently marched towards a nearby security guard. 

 

"Hi there. Can you help us? We are trying to track down a girl who was here a while ago? She is missing and its really important we find her. Who should we talk to here?"

[Thevshi]

The security guard looked at Mess skeptically for a moment, then looked over at Hound before he looked back at Mess.  "I don't know anything about a missing girl, but I can take you to see my supervisor."

 

A short while later, the two private detectives were in a small office in the basement sitting across from a large, rather overweight man in his mid-fifties who had introduced himself as Don Paulson.  "So, you're looking for some missing girl you said was here awhile ago?"  He stated after the two had sat down.  "I don't have any reports about any missing girl, nor anything about any contact with the police about one either."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

The Hound sighed. He had to admit that his Partner's blunt style of asking questions did cut to the meat of the problem quickly, but sometimes one needed a scalpel rather than a pickaxe. 

 

"Well it's a little more complicate than that, Sir" he explained delicately, and shoving the now slightly creased photograph of their quarry to Don. 

 

"We have been hired to track down this woman. She has gone missing, and her father is very worried about her..."

 

He felt a pang of guilt inside. Something told him this girl was in trouble, but he was beginning to wonder just why her father was so keen to have her back, and just why she was so keen to run away. 

 

"We heard that she caused a bit of commotion here recently, seemed she can control water, or do kung fu, or probably both. Kicked some thugs ass here. Which I suppose might be the reason she is in trouble. Some kind of superhero to be I guess. Which is a dangerous life..."

 

He shrugged, with hope and concern on his face. 

 

"We were wondering if you could fill us in..."

[Thevshi]

Don looked down at the photo Harry held out and listened as the rumpled private eye explained more about the girl and her connection to the aquarium.  "Oh, that."  He replied, nodding his head slightly.  "Well, I don't really recognize her, never got the chance to speak with her or her friend when things went down here the other week.  The police had pretty much taken over by the time they came back from going down in the river to take care of the submarine the gunmen that attacked this place were using."

 

"But from what I understand, she and her friend had been in the aquarium when the attack started, and decided they couldn't sit back and do nothing, so they jumped into action and really cleaned up.  I used to have surveillance footage of what happened, but the police impounded it all.  While it is kinda embarrassing to have two teenage girls do my job for me, they certainly jumped in at the right moment.  Thanks to them, the worst that happened was one of my men suffered a minor gunshot wound.  It probably could have been a lot worse really."

 

"But as to where they might be, or how they got here..I don't really know anything that would be of help I'm afraid."

[Supercape]

NPC

 

Harry sat back, sinking into the chair and holding his head in one hand. 

 

"Well, that's very helpful" he lied, the words almost whistling through his teeth as he tried his best to be positive. 

 

So she can handle herself and has a teen-buddy. Well, I guess, in a curious way, that's reassuring. Given we got shot at just for asking about her, I wouldn't want her to catch a bullet. 

 

He slowly pulled back the picture and stuffed it in his mac. 

 

"Very kind of you to see us Sir. If you hear anything, or indeed need our services, our card" he finished, sliding a crips card of the Bloodhound Detective Agency his way. After all, it never hurt to put in a bit of advertising. 

 

"C'mon Freddy, lets get back to the barn..."

[Thevshi]

"Yeah, sure, I'll give you guys a call."  Don replied as he picked up the card Harry offered.

 

The pair made their way out of the aquarium and back to where they had parked the Caddy.  A short drive latter, they were back at the barn to consider their next move.  The afternoon was starting to grow late, and it would not be long before the celebrations would be starting in the West End for the start of the Chinese New Year.  They knew the girl was in Freedom City, but where they still were not sure.  There was a big question of whether she would show up at the Chinese New Year celebration or not. 

[Supercape]

Continued in