Chronicle XXII

Undercover meant something very different for Officer Mike Nasty. He found it difficult to form attachments with all the women who begged for his love. The only ladies he would wake up in the morning to were Lady Justice and Sally. One woman Mike hadn’t yet tamed, intriguing him so, was his precinct’s new Captain. In the mornings, he would stare in one of his many mirrors and grind on the air, mouthing out her name ‘Oh, Captain Stacy’. He planned to seduce her by bringing in some big name criminals, thereby gaining more accolades, her respect, and ultimately, her desire.

A bulletin board inside Big City Sheriff's Office displayed all the biggest nuisances to the citizens as well as the more elusive wrong-doers. Mike saw Gilberto Matute on the bulletin board and his face shook the big man to his core, even knowing Gilberto was locked up.

“He’s still doing it.” an officer said as she noticed Mike staring.

“He’s locked up.” Mike acted as if the officer was mistaken.

“His body is.” the officer stated and walked away.

Mike didn’t think anything of the brief interaction at the time, but he held it in his memory. On the most wanted list, he checked out all the bad boys and girls that he could take down. A shadow of BD was all they had beside his initials. Too mysterious, Mike thought. He’d go after someone he could locate easily and prove some grit in defeating. Puff was reported to have left the country, so he wasn’t an option. Nothing on the list seemed to jump out at him, so he left the Sheriff’s Office and placed a call.

HardStop quickly arrived at the Officer’s home.

“What do you have for me, Mike?”

“I need a mission from you. Give me some names. I need to bring in someone big.”

“Are they threatening to fire you or something?”

“No, no. I’m their number one Officer. They’d never fire me.” Mike got defensive, forgetting how many times he’d been released from the force.

“Then why are you looking to go after my caliber of criminal?”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Your caliber is right where mine is, tin man.” Mike jested. HardStop chuckled and Mike smirked. “My new captain is an absolute smoke-show. I gotta win her over.”

“Maybe talk to her.” HardStop suggested. The both again broke out in laughter. “Alright, why don’t you try finding Killer Kite. She’s been using her goons as decoys to evade me. I don’t have the time or patience for his games. The last robbery I know of from his crew was Big City Casino. Start there.”

“Thanks, Henry.”

“Don’t forget that invitation. Bring Sally.” HardStop reminded him to join him at the arena sometime.

“Copy that.”

Officer Mike Nasty had given up on Killer Kite once HardStop got involved, expecting a quick incarceration. He rode Sally over to the casino and flashed his badge until he reached the general manager’s office.

“Officer, I don’t know why this needs to be reinvestigated. HardStop showed up right after they left.”

“He sent me. Now… how much did Killer Kite take?”

“Her crew cleaned out the small chamber of the safe. They got away with fifty million.”

“You need a better safe.”

“There is no better safe. What we need is a police department that catches criminals.”

Mike stood from his chair. “Careful how you talk, huh?”

“Relax. I’m glad you’re here. They left through the roof. Rode their kites into the sky as we had weapons ready at the vault door.” The manager walked Mike into the chamber. “See that?”

“Boom.” Officer Mike Nasty exclaimed, taking a torn piece of kite string from the jagged hole in the ceiling.

“Only noticed it today. Some hero HardStop is.”

Mike shoved the heavy man against the wall in defense of his buddy. “And you?” he asked, keeping as calm a demeanor as ever.

“Just catch the kite crew. Get my money back.” The manager removed Mike’s hand and wiped off his jacket.

“No promises on the money.”

Mike hopped on Sally and rode towards the factory district, showing all the local manufacturing plants the string to see if they knew its origin. One worker told Mike to meet him there at night for the info. He went home, then returned when the sun went down and waited outside to see if the guy would show.

“Sounds like you’re looking for us.” A woman's voice came from above.

“Hah.” Mike knew some shenanigans were afoot. “Thought you were tough to find.”

“Not for a low caliber vigilante.”

“Leave my caliber out of this. Are we gonna dance, or you just want to follow me to the precinct?”

Killer Kite cut Mike off by slashing at him with the leftmost kite of her three. The middle one kept her in the air and the one on the right was in her hand.

“Let me stretch a bit.” Mike said, blocking the paper thin, metal blade kite with the barrel of his pistol, which received a large scratch from the strike. The villain looked in disbelief as Mike did one leg squats with one leg up on Sally. She tried to take advantage of the Officer and slashed with her other Kite.

“Nice moves.” Mike said. He lifted his leg even higher, flashing his flexibility and allowing the kite to swing under him and Sally. He quickly mounted his bike and began to ride, which caused the string of the kite to become wrapped up, yanking it from Killer Kite’s hand.

“Idiot.” she growled.

Killer Kite’s frustration at losing her kite caused her to leave the fight as Mike rode down the empty industrial warehouse bays. From those bays came a few other flyers of the kite crew. Some walked and some flew over to him as he parked up.

“One at a time, ladies.” Mike stated to the male majority of enemies. “Be right back, Sally.”

Officer Mike Nasty removed packets of oil from his pockets and loaded them into the barrels of his two pistols. He shot at all the kites surrounding him, covering everything and everyone in oil, including himself. As everyone closed in on him, Mike slid past the crowd and shot up at their kites again. He unloaded bullets until all the kites were tangling together and the crew was gathered in one spot. Then he shot a single bullet at the ground, causing it to burst into flame along with the group.

Mike’s own trail of oil was alight, so he wiped his feet calmly and stepped backwards so that it reached only a couple inches ahead. He watched the beauty of justice burn down the enemies up until he was satisfied. Then he tied the strings to Sally and dragged the entire kite crew to the precinct to be booked.

“You couldn’t bring in Killer Kite?” Captain Stacy scolded Mike. He noticed her hand was wrapped poorly, looking as if she had some sort of rope burn.

“Captain Stacy, your hand…”

The new captain subtly moved her hands towards the back of her waistband. Mike quickly drew his gun, pointing it directly at her. It was a stand off.