7771/That's the Third Time This Week

That's the Third Time This Week
Date of Scene:	07 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Crystal, Frank Quaid, Omnis

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Crystal has posed:
They call New York City the city that never sleeps. They're sort of right about that - it's definitely a 24-hour town. But like any living creature, it's got its own rhthyms and patterns. For example, there's the morning rush, when all of the city folk are on their way to work. The afternoon hustle home. The pre-theater and the post-theater crowds.

Oddly enough, one of the quieter times of day is mid-morning, when most people have already made it to work but aren't on their lunch breaks yet. Ortega's Bodega used to do their stock and register change early in the morning and late at night, but after getting hit by robbers twice in a row at times that were suspiciously well-planned, they've decided to shake things up a bit.

The front door is wide open as the weekly armored car run is stopped outside. Unfortunately, they forgot to reschedule the grocery delivery, so while the stock boy is carrying things to and from the delivery truck, the armored truck guards are standing outside.

Inside, Crystal is looking through the tiny metal rack display of fruit and vegetables. In jeans and a t-shirt, she doesn't look particularly remarkable for anything except the odd pattern in her hair. But she doesn't look particularly thrilled with the selection.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Frank, this won't take long," Detective-sergeant Elaina Bever, Special Crimes Unit says with a smile. The tall, fit middle-aged woman steps out of her unmarked black Tahoe. She is dressed in conservative pants and blouse with sensible shoes and dark jacket. Her NYPD badge peeks out attached to her belt as she walks toward the store. "I promised Jim I'd pick up the footage from some robbery last week. I kind of owe him."

"I know, let's just be quick," Captain Frank Quaid says. He climbs out of the SUV without looking up from his Blackberry which he taps furiously. He is dressed in a dark blue pin-stripe shirt, white shirt and gold-coloured tie. "We've got another briefing about the mall file in a couple hours."

Frank follows Elaina into the store and to one of the counters where she shows her badge and asks to speak with the manager.

Omnis has posed:
The bike peddles hard as she zips through the streets, avoiding people easily and dodging in and out of traffic. She shifts from spot to spot before leaping on to the sidewalk with a simple bike hop. She comes to a skidding stop near to the stop with her biking gear on, rather than her super gear. Of course, her biking gear is built for speed and not terribly dissimilar from her /other/ gear. She keeps the helmet and goggles on as she is in a hurry. She heads for the door and smiles at the people going on about their business before she slips inside and pulls out a slip of paper, "Hey!" She calls out, "Got an order." She nods her head and heads toward the counter to offer the paper over.

Crystal has posed:
The young man at the counter calls back to the stock area when Elaina shows her badge, summoning out a portly man in his fifties with a very impressive mustache. "Ah, of course you show up now!" he exclaims, holding his hands out and looking at the barely-contained chaos. "I call four times a day, but //now// you show up."

Crystal peeks out from behind the fruit display as things get louder, quirking a brow, but doesn't interfere with things. These people are just doing business. Instead, she turns to the freezer section, looking at the offerings curiously. Frozen...burrito? What's that?

The young man at the counter takes over for Kally's order, stepping forward to take the offered slip of paper. Meanwhile, a man with a dolly full of boxes rolls through the door, and the armored truck guards are gesturing to the owner from outside. "Hey, we gotta job to do here too!" one of them calls.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"I'm very sorry, sir, traffic," Elaina says diplomatically with a plastic smile. "I'm here now though, I will take the video straight to Detective Bailey. He said it was /very/ important to him."

Frank keeps from rolling his eyes as Elaina lays it on thick. The headache threatening to breakout in his temples creeps a little closer as the emails keep streaming in. Every officer above him and the mayor's office were demanding hourly updates, unsolicited advice and generalized ass-covering about the mall disaster. He catches the movement of Crystal looking in their direction out of the corner of his eye and glances in her direction and then back to his phone.

Omnis has posed:
"Thanks." She states and smiles to the police before turning her gaze over to the man who took her order, "If you are busy, take your time. The order isn't due for another 45 minutes." Technically, it is because it is so far away but for her that is not really that big of a deal. She simply will get there as fast as need be. She glances over to see Crystal and gives her a simple smile of greeting before leaning against a wall and crossing her arms. Nothing to do but wait.

Crystal has posed:
"Two times this week, they show up!" The owner is frustrated, and it seems like Elaina is the lucky recipient of his bottled anger. "I change my schedule, they show up. I change my combination, they show up. Do you know what margins are like here in the city? I don't make so much money that I can afford to lose all my profits half of the week."

When the owner mentions the things he's changed, the young man at the counter starts to look nervous. The owner's son, he's one of very few people who would have access to enough information to pull off something like that even despite the changes. Outside, the delivery truck shifts as the driver - a larger man with tattoos on most of his exposed skin - steps out of the truck. There's more movement from the back as well, when the delivery man comes as if to reload his dolly.

One armored truck guard stays with the truck, while the other steps inside to make the hand-off. "Yes, yes, I know!" the owner calls to him, gesturing to his son. "Sure, it'll just be...five minutes," the young man at the counter smiles nervously to Kally. Nervously, because once the armored truck guard is inside, he's followed by half a dozen men from the back of the truck, with the delivery man taking up the rear to close the door and block it with his dolly.

"Eeeeeh, Carlos," the tattooed man smiles wolfishly to the owner's son. "Deadline's up."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank coughs slightly and makes eye contact with Elaina when she looks over from dealing with the owner. He tilts his head just the tiniest bit. Elaina looks toward the men coming in and exhales slowly. She looks annoyed.

"Just minute," she interrupts the owner mid-sentence. Frank hits 911 on his cellphone and leaves it on the counter.

Elaina and Frank step in opposite directions, drawing their firearms and pointing them past armoured car guard at the men coming in behind him. "NYPD, hands on your heads, do it now," Frank orders. He advances in a tactical shuffle to cut down on the amount of angle the guard blocks.

Elaina gestures to the guard to move with one hand while keeping her gun up and eye on the men coming in. Her shuffle, smooth so it does not upset her aim, takes her sideways away from Frank and behind a pillar for standing cover.

Omnis has posed:
A blink at the situation and she looks at the men there before looking over to the two cops. For the moment, she just stays leaned against the wall, awfully calm for just some delivery girl. She is actually a little nervous inside. She's worried. Scared that people could get hurt. She at first thinks about her own identity but then she reaches up and touches the goggles and then the helmet before she smiles a little and crosses her arms. She takes a deep breath of focus as she attempts to keep things calm for the moment but she eyes the guys at the door.

Crystal has posed:
"Carlos. You call the cops?" The man with the tattoos crosses his arms over his broad chest, but the others move for their own cover (with far less aplomb than Frank and Elaina).

"Nah man, nah," Carlos says nervously, raising his hands and taking a step back. "I just- I mean, the cameras are down while Pops pulls the footage, and the truck's coming in, and..."

In the back corner, Crystal lets the freezer door close, brow arching as she hears the chaos up front. She takes a slow step over to where she can see what's going on, trying to read the situation.

Meanwhile, outside, another half a dozen men are making their move on the armored truck. "Officers," the man with the tattoos keeps that smile as he steps toward the counter. "I think you might be misreading this situation, yeah? After all, it's looking a little dangerous outside."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank smiles just slightly at the threat. He drops his aim quickly and fires off two rounds at the man's legs. His gun is back up in the direction of the other five before the smoke clears from the muzzle.

Elaina puts two rounds through the window beside the door. The window explodes and the hollow points mushroom against the side of the armoured truck just beyond.

"Police! On the ground! Do it now!" Franks commands again just after the bark of the gunshots dies down.

Omnis has posed:
A wince as the guns fire and then she frowns just a little before regaining her smile. She seems to chastise herself a little before suddenly everyone in there will feel the air grow suddenly cold. She makes sure the goggles and helmet are in place, curins the fact that she'll need to get a brand new outfit after this, but hey, now she has a biker version of her super suit?

"I think you're the one misreading the situation." She states even as she steps forward, a dark blue aura glowing about her, "Stand down, as the officer said. The situation outside is quite safe." She then moves in a blur of speed. In a brief moment she is outside and then she smiles at the people ahead of her before she is rushing past them. She gives each an open handed slap, trying her best not to put excessive force into it, though it is likely each slap feels like getting slapped by a brick wall. Within mere moments she is at the other side of the men and looking back at the results.

Crystal has posed:
The men inside curse as Frank starts firing, ducking down and reaching for their own guns. If there's gunfire going on, they're not going down without getting off a few shots of their own. The man with the tattoos manages to take a bullet to one leg - unfortunately, it just seems to make him angry. There's another string of curses from him.

Outside, the would-be truck robbres are quickly handled by Kally. It definitely feels like getting hit by a brick wall! Three of the men go right down, but three of them are still up, wavering in place and shaking their heads to try to clear them. "The hell was that?" one asks, looking around blankly.

At the back, Crystal steps slowly to one side until she can set her hand on the side of the ice machine. Extending her other hand, she wills a wall of water to sweep between the police and the shooters, stopping the bullets.

The owner of the shop ducks back into the office, shouting something about 'THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!' before he's taking cover from the fire under his desk. But there's one more piece in play. Behind the counter, with a clear view of the police, Carlos pulls a sawed off shotgun from beneath the registers, aiming it nervously at Frank and Elaina. "You don't get it, man!" he exclaims, voice shaking. "They're gonna kill me if they don't get the money!"

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank smirks slightly at the sudden wall of ice. Only in New York.

He holsters his gun smoothly as he moves toward the man with the shot leg. "Move and she'll put the next one in your face," he rumbles at him. Elaina swears softly to herself, covering Frank.

Frank holsters his gun smoothly.

"Not anymore, son," Frank says calmly to Carlos. "My name's Frank, that's Elaina," he points to his partner without looking away from Carlos. "These guys are going to jail for a very long time for armed robbery. Organized armed robbery. That's RICO, federal. You're gonna have the NYPD and FBI covering you. Unless you shoot me. Then you're gonna be locked up with them. Carlos, is it? It's okay to be scared man, I get it. These guys are crazy. But it's over now, I promise. You've gotta put that down though."

Omnis has posed:
Looking at the three guys, she walks up with a smile and looks at them, "Hi, I'm Omnis. New hero in town." She nods her head as she looks at the dizzy guys. "I just wanted you guys to know that but you really probably should fall down. Let me help." She then will reach out to give each a light shove and then nods her had, "Stay on the ground, cause right now I'm barely trying." She nods her head, "You'd probably prefer I didn't try." And then she looks inside and blinks, "Wow, wall. Neat."

Crystal has posed:
Carlos wavers, looking back toward the office with a pained expression. "My Pops, man. This place is his whole life. He just wanted to leave a life for me. And I just thought..." The gun starts to dip down as he looks to the man on the floor, then back up to Frank. "I don't wanna shoot nobody."

Outside, one more tap is all it takes for Kally to put the would-be armored car robbers all the way down. They're not getting back up. The men who were inside the shop, though? They're scrambling from behind the cover provided by that wall of water, trying to make an escape from the cops inside. Little do they know what awaits them outside!

With another thought, Crystal disperses the wall of water back into the air and into the ice maker, letting both hands fall without saying a word. Since things seem to be under control. She's still not sure about the whole frozen burrito concept, but it doesn't look like anyone's going to be making payments here for a minute anyhow.

Carlos finally lets the shotgun fall, only to crouch down with his head in his hands, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Pops!"

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank's eyebrows knit together when the ice wall vanishes. He freezes for a second before it registers that the men in the shop are running. And that the men outside are... On the ground?.

"I know, you're not a bad guy, Carlos, I believe that," Frank tells Carlos when he admits he does not want to shoot. When the shotgun goes down, Frank drops on the injured man on the floor to try and handcuff him and safe any weapons on him.

Elaina moves forward from cover with her gun pointed at the retreating men until she reaches Carlos. She holsters, empties the shotgun and calls it safe. She barely acknowledges Carlos, calling in on her phone instead while taking her firearm out again. She watches what is happening outside with a bemused look.

Omnis has posed:
The first guy out the door gets to see the others on the ground and Omnis standing there, she looks back with a smile and shakes her head, "Now now, no escaping." As the second guy comes out, he'll get to see the first guy lifted by the front of his shirt and Omnis looking back at him. With boht hands hold the chest of the man's shirt, she moves him slowly left and then uses him to knock the other guy to the side and then repeats on the third guy before throwing him back through the door into the fourth and fifth. The sixth guy was nimble enough (and positioned right) to not get hit. He looks up to see Omnis step up to the door and cross her arms. She smirks at him.

Slowly he looks between her and the cops before slowly dropping to a knee, then the other knee and then he lays on the ground and laces his fingers behind his head. He's been arrested before. She nods, "Smart." She then looks over to the cops, "Is everything ok in here, officers? I am not exactly dressed in my normal suit but this is good enough."

Crystal has posed:
Apparently the bodega is only getting robbed //twice// this week. With the sound of people running and no more gunshots, the owner peeks out of his office. "Carlos!" he exclaims. "Carlos, what did you do?"

"I'm so sorry, Pops, they didn't give me a choice," Carlos sobs. In short order, the two men are occupied with each other, the truth of the story of how the gang leveraged a small debt from Carlos into a larger scheme before it culminated in this showdown.

Outside, there are a round dozen men lying on the sidewalk around the delivery truck and the armored truck, while the pair of armored truck guards are discussing just what kind of paperwork //they're// going to have to fill out.

Inside, Crystal lingers at the back of the store, arms crossed loosely over her chest as she surveys the exit routes. Definitely not out the front. That's a whole lot of questions waiting to happen.