Mission Hostile

Mason drove to the old warehouse, the one that Charon used to call home. When Sam had notified Charon that he was ready for the mission, Charon had requested the meeting be held here. Normally Charon was fine with missions that had little planning, but something like this in a different area of town was going to take more planning and preparation. It wasn't something they were going to just wing. If they didn't do this right the heat would be all over them before they got even a block away, not to mention that someone from SAFE might actually show up. Charon had done well to keep that group of heroes off of his back, he was going to keep it that way.

"You know what to do should I call you?" Charon asked as he hopped out of the car and looked at Mason. The boy nodded, motioning to the back where he had some new and improved explosives. "You've always been a good soldier Mason. Just make sure you're ready then get out of there as soon as you are. I might not need you for this mission, but I'm not going to lose you on it either. Be safe, we all need to be at our best" he reminded the boy.

Charon soon turned and walked inside, making his way to the old planning room. Charon hadn't been back here since after Father's death, as he had quickly moved in to new quarters. The man couldn't help but smile as he walked down the familiar hallway. Charon soon found himself in the room. He took a seat at the table as he waited for Sam to arrive. As always, Charon had arrived early.

Sam entered the room about five minutes after Charon, carrying with him a map of the jewelry store they were hitting, and behind him walked Felix, who was carrying his own laptop. The two entered the room and Sam waved to Charon. "Sorry if I'm late." He said. "Had to pick up this guy." He jabbed a thumb at Felix, who was visibly uncomfortable in Charon's presence.
"H-hello again, sir." Felix mumbled, sitting down across from Charon; not directly across, but across and down a bit so he could look ahead and not look at that red eye of Charon's.
"Place we're hitting doesn't have a night guard." Sam started, wasting now time before outlining his plan. "Issue is, it has state-of-the-art security tech. Owner of it is a nut about the stuff, it contacts the North Sapphire police, Ruby City core police force, SAFE, three private security holders, so on and so forth. If you can think of them, this guy's probably got them on speed dial for if someone busts in. I wouldn't be surprised if Cerberus was on that list at one point."

"Hello Felix" Charon said casually. Since the events of Lazy Eye's Death it seemed like Felix had learned his place. As long as he did his work and got it done, he'd continue to be rewarded for his service to the gang. Charon grew weary of how on edge he always seemed, and it made him wonder if Felix could be trusted for a mission this important. However, Felix knew what the consequences would be if something happened to Charon on his watch. Mute would not be very kind to him.

Charon began to look over the map, noticing the small marks that Sam had made to indicate cameras and other hazards that they'd be facing on this trip of theirs. "That's a pretty paranoid guy, but if he can afford to have that many people on speed dial perhaps this place will be worth more to bust than even I expected" Charon said as he glanced to Sam.

"So what's the plan?"

Sam gestured to Felix. "Take it away, Mitnick."
Felix shifted in his seat and nodded. "For all of his paranoia, he's got rudimentary software protecting these security measures. Seems like some firewall you can download for free online that has lots of holes in it that are fairly easy to exploit. I suppress the alarms for long enough for you guys to get in, snatch everything, and get out. Or try to at least..." He swallowed. "In full honesty, it's not a program I'm that familiar with. The malware I run is guaranteed to buy you guys at the bare minimum ten minutes of silence, during which time I'll be working on buying you guys more time. I can't make any promises beyond that, however."

"Ten minutes, if Sam and I are worth half our talents that should be plenty of time. That being said, I'd like to hear more before we see this through" Charon said before looking to Sam. "This is a heavily populated area Sam. North Sapphire of all things, so once we finish our work we'll need to get out of there fast and not look back. So what's the plan for the smash and grab along with our exit?" he asked.

This mission was too important now. Charon had to make sure that it would work before they risked their necks. If Charon and Sam were captured, the entire organization was going to fall apart.

Sam pointed to the back of building on the map. "North Sapphire isn't exactly a place we want to be having a high speed chase through. Cops here are damn good at jerry-rigging road blocks at the drop of a hat. It ain't gonna be pretty, but we make our way out of the back of the building, there's a manhole cover leading to the sewage system. We can easily follow the tunnels back to Mocca City. That's our safest option for getting out undetected."

"I take it you know the path through the sewers? We don't need to get back to the East District, we just have to get far enough to avoid being pursued" Charon said upon reflection as he was liking the plan more and more. Very well, Charon was satisfied with this. It seemed like Mason wasn't going to be needed unless things got really bad. "Felix, as soon as you know when we're running out of time I want you to tell us over the comms to get out of there. Even if we leave most of the money behind, getting out without capture is the biggest priority. All the gems won't do us any good if we can't get them out and sell them"

"I've got a route planned out, yeah. Won't be my first heist I've had to trek through there." Sam assured Charon.
Felix gave a thumbs up and a nod to Charon at his orders. "Will do. I'll give you a ninety second advance warning." He said. "And if anything goes wrong with the hacking at any point, I'll tell you immediately."
Sam stood up and straightened his jacket. "I've got a car all ready to go. We've got duffel bags in the back for the haul. Ready to move?"

"Ninety seconds, that's plenty of time to bolt" Charon agreed before looking back to Sam. It seemed like everything was set, though he'd make sure of that along the way. "Mason is available for the night, he'll be in the area and might use some of his....toys to create a bit of a distraction to make sure no one's paying attention to the jewelry store" Charon suggested. He hadn't completely decided whether or not it would be necessary, but at least Mason was available should that need arise.

"Felix, where will you be set up?" Charon asked the man. He probably wouldn't be too far away from where the heist was being pulled off, but Charon still wanted to know where he'd be located for his own reasons.

Felix stood, adjusting the backpack with his laptop in it. "Park bench, across the street. Hacking isn't exactly something people can spot in the open, and it's pretty much untraceable, even in today's day and age. Once you guys bolt, I'm gonna turn off my laptop and head home for the evening."
Sam nodded. "We wait for Felix to tell us the signals jammed and Mason's distraction before moving in. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds good enough for me" Charon said with a nod of approval. "I have to do a few small things before we head out, but I'll meet you both outside" Charon said. They had to drive to the North District before ditching the car, they didn't want anyone noticing a few strange guys eerily leaving the car for it to be traced later. "I need to get a new mask, something to wear until we're certain the cameras are off and we're home free" Charon remarked. As nice as Charon's mask was, it was a dead giveaway to who he was. Charon didn't want a perfect description of his mask coming back to haunt him in court.

After Charon got his plain mask on, they moved out to strike at the location. Charon hid his pistol in the back of his pants and under his leather jacket, keeping it heavily out of sight until they were ready for it. Charon just closed his eye and breathed as he felt the driving of Sam taking them closer to the North District. This needed to work, or Typhon wasn't going to be able to last long on its own. This payout was going to be big.

Once they had arrived, Felix immediately went to his position across the street. The doughnut shop was closed for the night, so no one was going to be looking over his shoulder to see what he was doing. Sam leaned casually against one of the lamp posts near the store, waiting for the clock to start ticking.
"I'm almost in." Felix said over the comm in the group's ear pieces. "Mason, start the distraction. I want to get these guys as much time as possible."

"On it!" Mason said a bit too excitedly. From Mason's position, he was near an abandoned building that would do just the trick. He wasn't sure what the purpose of the building was, but it was pitch black and locked up. No one would be inside. It was a few blocks away from the jewelry store, it'd get attention but no one would think it was a cover up for anything else. "You guys might wanna cover your ears" Mason warned.

A few seconds later, the explosion took place.

"That's our signal" Charon said before looking over to Sam. "Lead the way, and let's do this"

Sam held up his hand, telling Charon to wait a moment. "Felix said he was just almost in, not--"
"I'm in the system. Alarms are suppressed for t-minus ten minutes. Move your asses." Felix said over the comms.
Sam shrugged, looked up and down the street to ensure no one was watching, and kicked the door in. He tossed Charon one of the duffel bags and made a beeline for the back exit leading to the alleyway, kicking that open as well. Afterwards, he got to work elbowing open the class cases and grabbing the various jeweled necklaces.

Charon took the bag and moved over to the pieces that he knew held the most jewels, mainly elaborate bracelets and necklaces. He took his pistol and started smashing case after case, working to load everything up in to their duffels bags. They weren't put in any sort of organized way, but that could be changed later. For now, they just needed to get the items and get out of there.

The jewels were coming faster and faster, as Charon started making a nice pace of grabbing everything he could in the room. Occasionally he'd glance to the door to make sure no one heard the glass breaking, but so far it seemed that all was well. "Finding anything extra special Sam? You know I love good news"

Sam turned and smirked, holding up what appeared to be a circlet with a large ruby embedded in it. "This'll fetch a nice price, I think." He said with a chuckle. He closed the velvet box it was in and gently slid it into his bag.
There was a sudden, sharp crackle over the intercom, followed by static and Felix's voice, but it was getting chopped up. "--mething's wrong, gu-... Program's messi-- my hardware. I don't know if--" The comm went silent, then after a moment, Felix returned, sounding frantic. "Ya'll got company coming! Someone just dropped off the roof into the back alley!"
Sam looked back toward the entrance and tossed his duffel bag to Charon. Without wasting a moment, he raced out to the alleyway, prepping for a fight. "Finish the haul." He said. "I'm the better fighter of the two of us, I'll make sure the way's clear by the time you're done."

Charon's head jolted as he felt the crackle over the intercom. It had been harsh and Charon hated surprises, especially on a quiet night like this. Someone was here? Was this a trap or some kind? Who could have gotten here so fast? They were all questions that Charon didn't have the time to find the answers for. They had to push through this or they could lose everything. If Sam and Charon were arrested on the same night, everything they built would crumble.

"Deal with it quickly!" Charon said before moving fast, giving himself one last minute to grab what he could. After that, it was time to go.

Sam entered the alleyway, his turtleneck covering his lower face. He saw a man about his age standing there in loose-fitting white clothes and no shoes. The man smiled coyly at Sam. "Bet you weren't expecting someone from SAFE to show up here, now were you?" He said smugly.
Sam rushed the man, ramming at him at over thirty miles an hour, but the man was fast, impossibly fast, stepping out of the way, grabbing him by the arm, and sending him flying into the wall with a loud crash. Sam let out a shout of pain, and the man was on him again, grappling his arm. Sam exerted the full extent of his power to twist his arm out of the man's grasp, easily pulling free, and swinging at a backhand. The man ducked and leaped backwards. Fucking combat masters. Just handed knowledge, that's bull. Sam thought to himself. He took up his boxing stance and waited for the man's next attack. Sure enough, the man ran forward and went for a head-targeted round house kick, which Sam ducked beneath, then moved forward for a backhand onto his foe's lower neck. The man blocked, but Sam's raw mercurial strength broke through it and sent the man to the floor, but instead of sprawling, he rolled and was immediately back on his feet, continuing his relentless assault of kicks. Sam wasn't able to react in time, and two of the kicks landed squarely on his nose, breaking it. Sam immediately stopped the bleeding with his regeneration, but it still hurt like hell. He swung a firm punch, but caught nothing but air. A firm strike landed on the back of Sam's neck, and he was sent sprawling to the ground.

Charon couldn't hear much about what was happening, but he heard enough to know that Sam wasn't taking care of the fight quickly like Charon had requested. "Damn it Sam" Charon said before grabbing all the bags and heading out. He didn't have much time. "Felix, wherever you are just head out casually and get away from here. Things are going down, there's nothing more you can do for us" Charon instructed.

Charon moved out of the back alley and saw the fight still progressing. It was looking rough, and Charon had never seen anyone fight Sam so evenly in a physical fight. Charon raised his eye to look at the man. "Hey! Try facing someone your own size!" Charon called out before pulling out his gun. Charon was just using it as a threat, the bullets would draw too much attention.

The man turned to look at the newcomer; he seemed surprised at the fact there were two people. Sam took this opportunity and grabbed the man in a choke hold from behind with one arm, and delivering a kidney punch with his other. The man let out a cry, fell to one knee, but used the momentum to pull Sam over his shoulder and send him tumbling towards Charon. He stood back up, coughing slightly, ducking into cover behind the dumpster to avoid being shot. Sam stood up and ran to the other side of the dumpster. He smirked and rammed into it with his full strength, sending the several hundred pound object into the man as though it were empty and made of wood instead of steel. The man let out a cry, leaped up and on top of the dumpster before leaping toward Charon, using a swift kick to attempt to knock the gun out of his hands. Sam saw what was happening and began running up to grab the man again; not full speed this time, as he learned that wasn't a good idea.

Charon didn't expect the gun to be kicked out of his hand. However, he didn't need a gun in order to fight. Charon felt the weapon leave his hand, so he did his best to grab the man mid air before throwing his momentum in to the neartest wall. It likely wasn't going to work, but hopefully it would be enough to daze him for a time. Afterwards Charon moved forward and started to kick at the man, hoping to injure him as much as possible as Sam moved in.

The man stumbled a few feet towards the wall, but recovered incredibly fast. He caught Charon's leg and pulled it beneath his arm, dropping to one leg. Having Charon on just one leg while controlling the other allowed him to easily flip Charon onto his stomach on the ground. He went in for a kick, but this time Sam landed the tackle, preventing any more damage from being done to his boss. The man was plowed into the wall, the wind knocked out of him for a moment. Sam delivered two powerful punches to the man's face, but the third ended up blocked and countered, a powerful palm strike to Sam's throat. For a moment, he was unable to breath, and staggered backwards. Next thing he knew, he was getting kicked in the head, sprawling across the ground, the world sounding tinny and hollow, and looking fuzzy and black at the edges.

Charon was grateful for Sam's interference, but it came at a cost as The Crimson Scar got hit in the throat before being hit hard enough to make it look like he was down for the count. Charon felt his fists clench as the anger rose. He had been through a lifetime of struggle to get here, some punk from SAFE wasn't going to ruin this for him! "Hey!" Charon shouted before standing up and ripping his mask off. Not only would a strong sense of paranoia begin to rise within the man, but everything began to turn black around Charon before he started walking forward. Instead of a man though, the face of an arachnid was staring at the man. The several red eyes all moved in unity, starting daggers at the man who attacked him. Instead of a mouth, a gross set of pincers were visible as Charon took his jacket off.

"Take this" Charon said before pointing at the man. From the walls and floor a multitude of spiders started moving towards the man. They were illusions that Charon had created, but they certainly looked real. While the man was distracted, Charon quickly darted forward, aiming a punch to the man's stomach before launching another in to the man's jaw. He was hoping that all of this at once would be too much for the man to handle. The mental and physical strain on the man was growing large now.

The man looked around the horrifying scene unfolding around him. Charon was easily able to land the gut punch, but the man was able to avoid the one directed at his face. "A-alright, so you've got powers too." He said. "Two supers to rob a jewelry store, veeery brave..." He ran forward, elbowing Charon's deformed face, then shifting his arm so he could grab Charon in a headlock. With his other arm, he delivered a single firm punch to Charon's shoulder, attempting to disable the arm for the rest of the fight. He didn't hit the pressure point due to the feeling of spiders crawling up his legs, but his positioning meant he was likely still going to hit something. He quickly released Charon due to the disturbing feeling of critters crawling over him, however, allowing Charon breathing room.

"AHHH!" Charon yelled as the man punched near the injuries on his arm. The force of the blow was enough to make his arm cringe in pain, but Charon knew that he couldn't give up. The pain was bad, but a life in prison was going to be far worse. He turned his eye to the man again after he was released. Charon focused his illusions again, now making the man feel like spiders were crawling onto his eyes. In the man's moment of panic Charon moved forward, sliding forward and attempting to kick the man's legs out from under him. Your strength only meant so much when you were lying on your back.

Charon grabbed an abandoned chain lying on the ground before placing it under the man's neck. Charon pressed one of his feet in to the man's back before starting to yank up on the chain as hard as he could. He was aiming to suffocate the man or just break his neck.