Something isn't right

In the end, going rooftop to rooftop Gemma managed to make it rather rest of the way to the rose in 8 minutes. Landing on the last roof after an over dramatic corkscrew on her last leap which she had done solely for her own benefit. As she crouched on the lip of the building she looked down on the elegant stone building with the intricate architecture that characterised so much of this side of London. From the large double front doors, the stone pillars out front and the stained glass skylight it would have been opulent if The Aerialist didn't know it as an over expensive sex shop for bankers and politicians with expensive tastes.

Darwin lips curled in a scowl as memories of a life before being a hero came swimming back to her, unwanted and invasive.

"This is Aerialist, I've reached the sex shop" she transmitted back to HQ and then second guessed herself and wished she hadn't.

There was a moment of silence on the line before Margaret Walters voice came back to her crisp and clear, but Gem imagined she could hear the angry grinding of teeth down the line.

"How does the situation look from there?" Came the reply.

Gem looked down at the building. It seemed peaceful, but she was still about fifty feet away. The street had been laid out to leave a large courtyard in front with a green area for people to sit and eat their lunch during the days and for **** addicts to stalk at night, looking for people to mug. Something else wasn't right though. There were usually at least two doormen for the club and though she couldn't see the dors due to the overhang of the roof they would usually be walking back and forth but the front, trying to look busy as they smoked expensive cigarettes and she couldn't see either of them.

"I'm not sure ma'am, it looks Q but something isn't quite right" replied Gem "I'm heading down for a closer look."

Walters voice came back quick and clear.

"You are only there to observe Aerialist, do not exceed your limit of expertise."

Anger rose up in Darwin but this time she managed to bite it back even as she bit into her own lip.

"I understand ma'am but I don't know what is happening yet, I'll will radio back when I have more of an idea of what is going on." She managed to say as professionally as possible.

"Received, but remember you are not to enter that building unless it's strictly necessary or unless you see White in there." Replied Walters.

"Received Ma'am."

"And Aerialist, we will be having a chat about your radio usage when you get back." Said Walters before the line cut out.

"Fuck" Gem said, slapping herself across the forehead.

But she was there for a reason and she refocused on the mission. From her position on top of her building she was directly in front of The Velvet Rose and as she dropped down from the roof and down into an alleyway between buildings she slowed her momentum to a slow drift, allowing her armored boots to land with just a soft thud. No sooner she hit the floor however than a massive rat the size of a fox darted out from where it had been hiding and fled down the alleyway towards a pile of bins. Gem heart skipped a beat when she saw it and as she watched she could have sworn it turned, looked right at her and snarled before disappearing from sight into a pile of rubbish bags.

"Fuck me, they get bigger every day." Darwin said to herself before turning back towards The Velvet Rose. From the ground level she still had the green area between her and the building itself but even from this distance she could confirm something was wrong. One of the bouncers lay sprawled on the floor while the other was slumped against the wall with his head tilted down wards. He could have been mistaken for being asleep if he hadn't been completely limp. It was obvious they were dead.

Slowly The Aerialist crept closer, her eyes flicking between the corpses, her own body tensed like a spring ready to pounce at a moment's notice, prepared for anything to happen. And happen it did. Just as Gemma was moving between a pair of tall trees in the tiny park there was a crashing and banging from the alleyway she had just left. Darwin launched herself from the ground, twisting in the air to face the noise and landed between the branches of one of the trees, clinging to it and ready to launch at any attacker. Instead she saw a crow, the size of an eagle swooping out of the alley and disappearing into the night sky with a cackle.

"What the fuck is going on" Gem asked herself as she dropped slowly down from the tree.

When she left the green and approached the few short steps to the front of The Velvet Rose Gem could see more clearly than the security on the floor was laying in a puddle of blood that has already cooled and started to congeal in the cold air. His hands were by his side and he was face down as if he hadn't even tried to stop himself falling forward. As she reached him Gem knelt and made a half hearted effort to roll him over but as soon as she started to move him his head rocked backwards and she realised that his throat had been slit so deep it had turned him into a pez dispenser. She let he drop back onto his front with an unceremonious squelch.

The second guard was still slumped against the wall. Protruding from his ribcage was what looked to be a shard of purple stained glass, roughly two foot long which impaled his body and stuck him to the sandstone of the building behind him. His blood has similarly gushed out but was already congealing and as Gem leaned in to examine the shard of whatever it was that had pierced him she saw the photo ID he wore on his arm band and recognised the face. The man had worked there when she had. He had been a bit of a perv and was very quick to resort to **** with rowdy patrons but had always looked out for the girls and she had always felt safer knowing he was working. Not that she hadn't been able to look after herself even back then but she had had to keep up the appearances of the weak and **** girl.

Pushing the thought out of her mind Gem reached towards the shard of glass and felt it. Even through her gloves she could tell it was impossibly smooth and impossibly thin but despite this when she grabbed the jagged end and applied pressure there was no give in it at all, like she was trying to snap titanium.

“Aerialist to control, I’m out the front of The Rose. The two guards out the front are dead.” She said quietly as she opened up the line again.

The reply was instant.

“Any signs of what happened?” it was too quick. As if Walters had been expecting that update.

“Whatever happened Ma’am it happened fast. These guys didn’t even get a chance to react. Only thing left here is a weird piece of…glass? Something purple and whatever it is it was used to turn one of these poor gits into a kebab.”

“Aerialist, I want you to abort mission and pull back. You are to keep that building under observation and report anyone going in or out, we will have Victoria Drake on the way to you shortly to take over. I repeat, pull back and keep that building on constant observations until Drake arrives. Do you copy?”

Gem Darwin grimaced. Victoria Drake, an 18 year old but already considered a “Real Hero.” A girl who had inherited the powers of King Arthur and so had been catapulted up the ranks of G.O.O.N while others worked diligently and then were told to just stand back and watch. Fuck that.

“Repeat Control, you are not clear… keep comms quiet. I am entering the building now.” Said Darwin as she stepped past the two bodies and pushed the large wooden doors to the front of the club open, ignoring the repeated hails from Walters in the control room as she stepped forward into the atrium of the building.