Send Rook (Rook Must Be Available)

Upon arriving on scene, Rook steps into the diner, looking around, sometimes it helps to remind Rook why he’s here.

The diner is moderately busy, the waitress is quick to rush over, not even trying to be subtle as she points to the corner booth where a figure sits, slowly sinking into the seat as though trying to fade into its plush, slightly ripped surface.

He walks over, stopping at the edge of the table looking down at the somewhat meek figure.

“Hello! I was told yous a bad so I gonna beat you up now!” He says, relaying the information as amicably as he can manage.

By now the entire diner is watching, some people hurriedly gathering their things, other people far too enraptured to move as the surveillance drones scans the entirety of the establishment.

The figure sits up a little, accepting that there’s no avoiding this confrontation now, he reaches up slow, as to ensure that he doesn’t startle the hero in front of him.

He pulls his hood down, revealing the face of an old man, filled with frustration and embarrassment.

The drone is quick to identify him, Mitchel Goodwin, AKA Mr Midnight, a retired villain from way back when.

He was released a few months ago, having served the entirety of his sentence lawfully, his record even suggests he was a model inmate on his latest visit.

The name actually makes you a little nostalgic, way back when you were just a freelancer, you and your team actually brought him in.

His MO was cat-burglary targeting the upper crust of the city, penthouses in the westside, mansions near south beach, the wealthy.

His career culminated in the theft at Juno Valentine’s estate, there he stole nearly every valuable item she had which led to the collapse of her family in its entirety.

You remember him being a roguish kind of handsome, fitting him well as he fashioned himself as a sort of gentlemen thief.

In a way, he represents simpler days, or at least they FELT simpler to you back then, you were just a kid, the only responsibility you had was the kind you asked for.

And now, all these years later he sits here, an old man just trying to fade into obscurity.

“I’ve done NOTHING WRONG… please just… leave me be..” he says, voice trembling; it’s clear this isn’t the first time this has happened sense he was released.

You relay the information to Room when you spot something on the vitals feed, an adrenaline spike.

His fists clench and you spot a light turn on within his eyes through the drone feed his body trembling slightly.

“Donnie… what are yo-“

“You…. I know yous! Yous a bad guy!” He cries before lifting his clenched fists up high, bringing them down into the table.

“Donnie what the hell are you doing?!”

The old man is able to heave himself out of the booth just in time to avoid the attack, leaving him on the floor, his body not strong enough to pick himself up in time for the next strike.

He grabs the man by his collar, picking him up with one hand as he prepares to strike, you know full well what he’s capable of when he doesn’t hold back.

“GODDAMN IT ROOK, I AM ORDERING YOU TO RELEASE THAT MAN RIGHT NOW!!!”

In that moment, he returns to his senses, as though he’s exited some kind of blood rage, eyes wide as he looks up at the man who’s quivering in his grasp, he looks around, seeing the horrified faces of the crowd.

He drops the man, as though in some kind of shell shock; he leaves the diner behind, shutting off his coms on his end, leaving that poor old man, shaking on the floor in the wake of his attack.

Typically when a villain leaves the game behind, they fade into the woodwork, they HAVE to, otherwise they can expect daily harassment or worse still, something like this happens.

Sometimes it’s just not enough to pretend they’re normal, sometimes they just can’t take the stares of citizens, wondering it’s all an act, that they’re just biding their time before their next sin.

And that’s if they’re lucky enough to be of sound mind, the unwell… they never get better… no matter the therapy, no matter the medicine, the stares are just too much.

You don’t hear from Rook for the rest of the day, with how limited your resources are, you can’t really afford to send a cape out to search for him.