Avant Guard: San Francisco Meet

[dans]

Retcon alert. I changed the radio report of the bombing somewhat... blue text in the post above.

Dan

[dans]

Never Trust Anonymous Sources!

The explosion drove the motor partway through the driver’s side of the van even as the van was thrown out into the street where it tumbled, bounced once and smashed to a stop upside down, crushing the cabin in the back. Gas dripping from the ripped fuel line ignited, and then there was a muffled WWHHOOMMPPHH!!! as the flames burned back up the fuel line and reached the gas tank and it exploded.

There was a thick hedge running around the block of Alex’s apartment house. Donna had been running as close to the hedge as possible as she raced down the block, and the first explosion threw her partway through the hedge, and she was scrapped and battered and received some puncture wounds from broken branches, and she was knocked out when her head hit one of the sturdy trunks. Tammi was right at the corner; the explosion threw her down the side street. She curled up into a ball and her rump bounced from the rear door of a parked station wagon, leaving a big dent but absorbing some of her momentum, and she sprawled flat on the sidewalk on her stomach when she finally stopped moving.

Both young women were relatively unscathed by the second explosion, Donna being partly sheltered by the hedge and Tammi being around the corner. A few seconds later Alex rushed out of the apartment building and ran to try to free her friend from the hedge. She had a strong sense of déjà vu; shortly before she’d first met Donna, she'd been thrown into a hedge when a car had run her motorcycle off the road trying to kill her. She wasn't making much progress in freeing Donna until a cop from one of the arriving squad cars and two ambulance attendants joined her.

The efforts of Donna and Tammi to get people off the sidewalks on this block had been pretty successful, but people who had hung around to watch from the adjacent blocks had also been battered by the explosions, knocked to the ground, and some of them injured by flying debris.

The paramedics put Donna in the ambulance and judged her as not critical and they would take her to the hospital after they triaged other victims, told Tammi that she should see a doctor, and and then rushed out to help where they could.

"I'm going after Petrova and I don't want to spend a couple hours with the cops!" Tammi declared. "Can I borrow your bike?" Then "“OUCH! My rump HURTS! I’m not gonna be able to sit down for a MONTH!

Alex might have argued – but she was starting to realize that arguing with Tammi was never a winning play. "Well, I'm not sure how you could drive my bike then, small but ferocious!" Alex quipped. "I'm driving - maybe you can stand on the seat?" The two slipped away inside the hedge to the rented yard shed where Alex garaged her bike. Alex had to help Tammi climb onto the seat, and Tammi had to use her best self-control to keep from moaning in pain. "No motor noise this time, Princess of Pain," Alex told her friend with a chuckle. "Hold on tight - we are GONE!"

"Better... no 'tiny' cracks. Gangway! Comin' thru!" Tammi's voice whispered in Alex's ear as they shot out through an opening in the hedge onto the side street next to the apartment building.

“OWW! Are you using your Zoom-in OWW!! vision to hit EVERY bump in the road?” Once again Tammi used some words and phrases Alex had never heard before. She filed them for future reference – she could appreciate art in almost any form.

“Not my fault the roads are so poorly maintained, but I’ll see what I can do…” Alex replied, and did zoom in on the road in front of them a bit… but cautiously, she’d almost wrecked the bike once when she’d zoomed in too far on a pot hole and ignored other dangers of the street. The ride probably smoothed out a bit; Tammi probably didn’t notice. “What do we do at the Cow Palace?”

“You disguise us, we go inside and look for Petrova, and when the Coral Snake shows up, we jump em’! GANGWAY!! Comin’ THROUGH!!” Tammi’s voice in her ear was recovering some of her normal enthusiasm.

“Some of that… might work,” Alex admitted. While Alex couldn't disguise Tammi's height, the Cow Palace was full of teenage gymnasts, so changing her hair, complexion, and facial features ought to be enough. If the two of them stayed fairly close together, she should be able to maintain both their disguises fairly easily. She decided she’d use her “Ray” disguise; she had practice maintaining that one in stressful environments. “We’re going to have to stay far enough apart so people don’t wonder why the cute young gymnast is hanging out with the old skinny guy,” she warned her friend. “And you shouldn’t do anything to call attention to yourself. But I don't think we should confront them inside. They don't seem to care who they kill; they might just shoot us and then anyone between them and the door."

"OWWEE OWWEE! You hit that pothole on PURPOSE! "Can we use our powers to force them outside?" Tammi wondered."Or maybe catch them someplace private?"

Alex sighed, she hadn’t been able to safely miss that pothole… “I’ll be glad when we get there! And when we do, I guess we'll play it be ear... right up your alley!" It didn't really take them another 11 years and 87 days to get to the arena, but with all the bumps that Tammi complained about, it seemed like it.

They were inside and had been milling around for about 10 minutes when the program Tammi was carrying around (which she'd picked up in the parking lot) flickered, and when she opened it, she read in glowing red letters, "The Snake just came in the front door and she's headed for Petrova's office. I'll follow her and keep an eye on her, you catch up!"

Tams looked around; Alex was headed toward the door from the arena floor that led to offices. She could also see the woman they thought was the Coral Snake ahead of her. "I'll be there OUCH in a few seconds. Don't get into trouble without me!" Alex heard a whisper.

With her vision powers it was pretty easy to track the woman and she wasn't trying to conceal herself. She pushed arrogantly through the crowd, ignoring the indignant complaints of those she pushed aside, threw open the exit and rushed into the hallway behind. Alex picked up her pace, drawing on the skills she'd learned as a jammer for the Dolls of Doom roller derby team, while Tammi was frustrated pushing through the crowd. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she projected in her friend's ear. "OOPS!" That left a LOT of leeway. "I mean, WAIT FOR ME!" she amended and tried to speed up.

Alex pushed through the exit in time to see the woman enter one of the several doors that lined this corridor, and instantly a faintly glowing "X" appeared on the outside of that door. She paused until Tammi finally caught up with her. "X marks the spot, partner!" she pointed and the two approached that door cautiously.

"They are definitely in there," Tammi reported. "The Snake says we were killed in the explosion. She heard it on the radio. Boy, is SHE going to be surprised!" she chuckled, quietly. "Now they're discussing tonight's business..." She hesitated a few seconds.

"They're going to steal a painting from San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. They're going to replace it with a forgery... and then they're going to fly out tomorrow to some other city hosting Olympic tryouts in Japan. Oh, no, they're not!"

[dans]

Gangway! Comin' THROUGH!

The art forgery plan reminded Alex of something - it didn't come to her immediately, but she'd think of it soon. Meanwhile...

"I wish there was some way we could just knock them out inside the office, but we'll have to risk jumping them when they come out," Alex mused. "As soon as they open the door and I can see them, I can project black onto their faces and blind them..."

Tammi objected. "They could be in there for hours. We can't just wait here in the hall, sooner or later someone will wonder what's up. Can you make a real bright flash in that room, bright enough to blind them for a few seconds? Then we bust in and use our powers to take them out!"

Alex shook her head. "I need to see where I project my illusions... I can't fill the room with a flash from outside unless I can see into it first."

"OK, suppose we force them to come out? I can make a really loud noise in the room, so loud they'll need to escape, and they'll be at least a little dazed. I did it last night with the muggers. And then we bust in and use our powers to take them out!"

'I will definitely LEARN to project illusions through walls!' Alex promised herself grimly. 'If she can use her powers that way, I can use mine that way too!' But that was a project for another day...

"OK. So you fill the room with a really loud noise, and then when they come out, I'll blind them and then we use our powers to take them out!" Alex was starting to get into the swing of this, along with her enthusiastic friend.

"Sounds like a plan, partner!" Tammi approved. Then, "Say, if we can't be the 'News Crew' how about SASA? For 'Sight and Sound Avengers'?"

"Let's give that one more thought later, little one," Alex sighed. "For now, let's bust in and user our powers to take down the bad guys! Err, the bad girls!"

They stepped to the wall next to the office door, and suddenly, almost as loud as a Stratoliner, even through the office walls, they heard the band from Tammi's circus playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever". They could feel the wall shaking, it was so loud. The music stopped as the door to the office was yanked open and the woman they thought was the Coral Snake stumbled out, blood coming from her ears. Tammi dove at her knees as Alex projected a blot of absolute darkness on her face, and she pitched forward, falling heavily to the floor. Alex jumped on her from behind and slammed her head into the floor - a vicious 'blocking' tactic that she'd been the victim of more than once on the Roller Derby track, though she'd had her helmet on at the time. Tammi rolled free and raced into the room, prepared to unleash another sonic stunner directly into the ears of Nina Petrova, but that worthy was lying on the floor, her ears also bleeding, and she was crying from the pain.

When she saw that the Coral Snake wasn't moving, Alex rushed into the office to help Tammi, and when she saw that her friend didn't need immediate help, she used the office phone to call Police HQ to talk to Ironside. He wasn't there, they said he was either still at the explosion scene or visiting Donna in the hospital. The dispatcher was the same one she'd talked to earlier; she convinced him to get an urgent message to Ironside to come to the Cow Palace as soon as possible. She had more pull with Ironside and the SFPD than an average citizen might, as she had helped solve two high profile murder cases in the past few months. (In fact, Ironside had received a commendation for the speed with with his team had captured the Matinee Murderer...) She had a hunch she and Tammi were going to need a friend inside the SFPD in a short time, like... right now!

Their situation got harder almost right away. Two Cow Palace security officers raced to the office area to investigate the unusual noise, and instantly concluded that since two of the women they found were dazed and bleeding, Tammi and Alex must be the villains in this instance, and they were roughly handcuffed. The police were called instantly; the security officer who called was a bit surprised when he was told that they were already on the way.

It was quickly revealed to the investigators that Petrova had gotten Tammi disqualified from the trials, and everyone instantly assumed that this assault had been for revenge. The two women were told that they would shortly be transported to jail, where they would remain until a trial, after which they'd be lucky if they only got 5 years in prison for creating an international incident! They were interviewed a dozen times, alone and together, got to know the 'good cop/bad cop' routine intimately, and insulted and called liars repeatedly. Nobody believed their story about the murder, the Coral Snake, the assassination attempt, or the planned robbery of the Museum; Petrova was the senior representative of the IOC present, and she and her aide had been with the IOC for 10 years or so and traveled the world on Olympic business. None of the US folks involved in the event had ever heard of any scandal surrounding her.

Their treatment got better after Ironside arrived. He was absolutely furious about an assassination attempt on a member of his team, and grimly determined to solve the case - as soon as possible. It had been his initial theory that the bombing was a revenge attempt aimed at Donna, but he did agree that their story, plus Tammi's recording of Petrova threatening her, was enough 'probable cause' to search Petrova's room at the hotel. He had someone hurry back to police HQ with Alex's photos; maybe checking with Interpol would turn up even more.

"You guys had better be right!" he told Alex and Tammi sternly. "I'll be on a breadline by tomorrow if there's nothing there!" He put the two women in the charge of a member of his own team; Homicide investigations took precedence over assault cases, and told them to treat the ladies better, then headed downtown. It was going to take someone with more authority than a street cop to convince the hotel management to let them into Patrova's room. Before he left, he also ordered his team to take Petrova and the other woman into temporary police custody, just in case.

"I see why you like your boyfriend!" Tammi's voice whispered in Alex's ear with a strained chuckle. "And I told you to cut out the 'little one' cracks!" Alex was too exhausted to object.

[dans]

The 4 women were returned to Police HQ in 4 separate squad cars, each suspect in handcuffs, with Petrova and the woman they assumed was the Coral Snake making loud noises about an international incident and the SFPD violating diplomatic immunity the whole time. The presumed assassin told the police her name was Carol Smith. Tammy was escorted by Detective Stuart McMillan, a very handsome man in a suit who rode in the back of one of the squad cars with her with a pair of uniformed cops in the front. She thought McMillan might be smitten with her - especially her long hair, which came down to her butt. So of course, she played it up.

"Can I call you Stuart?" she asked.

"Detective McMillan, please, Miss Paige," he replied. He still had enough sense that he wasn't going to get busted for fraternization.

"Detective McMillan, when we get to the police station, do you think I can call my aunt in Muskrat Creek, Wisconsin? My folks are at her house, and they will be watching the tryouts on Wide World of Sports, and they'll hear about me being disqualified, and they'll be SO upset! I need to tell them I'm OK!"

"I can't let you talk for more than a minute," he replied apologetically. "I can get away with that, but with long distance being so expensive, I'd get in trouble if you talked longer."

But that's not long enough to tell them the whole story. Can I call collect instead?" He nodded. But she quickly realized: "But by the time I tell them the whole story, the collect charges will be huge! I can't do that to my aunt. I guess I'll just have to tell them I'm OK and I'll give them all the details when I get home. They'll still worry themselves sick!" She sounded frantic with worry for her parents - and her aunt's phone bill.

"I have an idea, Tammi... er, sorry, Miss Paige." The officers in the front seat winked at each other. "If you write down your story, I can ask the teletype operator to send it to the Muskrat Creek police station, and you could tell your parents to go down to the station and pick up the print out. That would save your aunt a lot on collect charges. The teletypes are used round the clock and round the world, so it's no big deal."

"That would be wonderful, Stuart! Er... Detective McMillan!" she gushed as she managed to twist her head around so her hair flowed around in front of her, then tried to smooth it back, but it was difficult with her hands in cuffs.

The collect call eventually took almost 2 minutes, but her parents assured her they had enough in their savings account to cover the long-distance, operator assisted reverse the charges phone bill.

And then there was more story telling and good cop bad cop routines to another a string of investigators, as everyone waited anxiously to hear from Ironside. The two women from the Olympic Committee continually got louder and more abusive, and by the time Ironside called from the Royal Savoy, everyone in the station was convinced who the real bad guys were...

[dans]

And of course, they were right. They found enough evidence in those two rooms to convince the FBI and the CIA to investigate, and Interpol sent some detectives as well. Petrova had been using her Olympic travels for years to cover her theft and smuggling activities, and Carol Smith (not her real name) had been removing witnesses. Bobby Palmer had apparently noticed something suspicious in one of the rooms during his normal hotel duties. Smith had pretended to be smitten with him and set up a date for the next day - and showed up with a crossbow. And the forgery was a big surprise - it was a painting by Alex, a copy of a famous painting she'd made when she was testing her powers - a copy down as exact as she could make it, using her powers for photographic memory, zoom in vision, and projection, down to the brushstroke level, that had been stolen last month.

The Olympic Committee promised to review Tammi's case, and they assured her that by the next Olympics her status would be cleared up. But at this point she didn't care.

"I've gotta go back to the circus and work things out with my folks - but I'll be back!" she promised as she hugged Alex at the train station. "And we'll be the best super hero team in San Francisco!"