Bluff City 13: When Justice is Done Pt. 1

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When Justice Is Done Pt. 1 is the first episode of the When Justice Is Done Arc.

Episode description[edit | edit source]

Hi!

Thanks so much for your order. My name’s Louise. At Bluff City Masks and Partywear we take our customer service extremely seriously, so I thought I should reach out, say hello, and ask for a secondary confirmation on your recent order.

There’s nothing to be too worried about, I just want to check that you’re okay with the following purchase:

100x SHARK

If this order is correct, please let us know asap so we can put in an extra order with our manufacturer. Otherwise, also let us know haha! That’s a lot of sharks you’ve got there!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Louise

—

Hi!

Louise here again. Haven’t heard from you so just reaching out with a reminder. Could you confirm for me that you ordered the following:

100x SHARK

Mistakes can happen with the quantity box, lord knows, and that’s a lot of sharks! If you’re planning some kind of shark party though just let me know and we’ll get straight to our manufacturers.

Please respond soon,

Louise

—

Hi there,

It’s Louise. It’s been three weeks now and I really want to get this order out if we need to. Otherwise, PLEASE let me know. We don’t want to move ahead with fulfilling

100x SHARK

without confirmation from you. I hope this hasn’t disappeared into your spam box! Or that your shark party hasn’t passed us by! I don’t know, that’s a lot of sharks.

Let me know as SOON as you can,

Louise

—

Hi.

Thanks for the confirmation. We have processed the order and you will soon be receiving the following goods:

100x SHARK

Bluff City Masks and Partywear thanks you for your custom.

Regards,

Louise

Contents[edit | edit source]

Opening[edit | edit source]

“

Do you hear that, Bluff City? Listen. Listen close. That is the warmth of the radio wave washing over you on this cool summer night. Your ears, your skin, your car’s antennae—all being bathed in the powerful glow of the wave. It connects us. Do feel it? Do you sense it? Do you hear it? Do you—oh wait, one second, that is… that is actually… that’s the sound of a call coming in. This is Hector Hu, who do I have on the line?”

“

It’s Maggie. First time, long time.”

“

Thank you for calling in, Maggie. How can I help you on this fine evening?”

– Hector Hu

“

So, I deal with other people’s money all day, and I’m really sick of seeing the people with the least putting up with the most shit while the people with the most seem to get all the slack they want.”

– Maggie Darcy

“

That is the truth, that is the truth, Maggie!”

– Hector Hu

“

Is there anything we can actually do about this or are we just stuck with it?”

– Maggie Darcy

“

Well, first and foremost, thank you for calling in, Maggie, it is good that you see through them, through their boutique masks and their soft-petaled lies. It is you who they wrote about in proverbs. “The rich man is wise in his own eyes but the poor that has understanding searcheth him out.” People like you, you see the delusion, you see right through ‘em. And it is people like you, people who do the work despite all the odds weighing against you that gives hope, those who submit to the holy path, they say, those who are just in the face of inequity, those are the ones who will find truth, they will find God consciousness. Keep struggling through those thorns, Maggie, we need you, we need you badly.

But to your question—Is there anything we can do about those who take, take, take, and will never give back any? That’s what they do, isn’t it? They take. You hear people call them by other names—the rich, the wealthy, the 1%. But these are all masks they wear, they love masks, that’s a thing they love, let me tell you… But what they really are is takers. It’s not the haves and have-nots. It’s the takers… and the taken.

And so, Ms. Maggie, here is what you must do if you wish to drive them away and usher in an age of justice. Refuse to be taken! They will tell you your house is crumbling so that they may take you in chains from your home and into theirs. Instead, have faith and courage and your own balance and reject their offer of stability in service. They will take your plate and tell you that you will starve, so that they may feed you on their poison and lies. Instead, join with your kin and your companions alike and feast on love of camaraderie. They will tell you they have your best interest at heart, but what does the Prophet Amos say they will do? They will take your innocence and sell you for silver. They will sell the needy for a pair of sandals, they trample on the heads of the poor as the dust on the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.

What else does Amos say about these takers, what does he say? “Though you so-called rich have build stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.” Destroy their mansions, Maggie. Take their wine. Be the bringer of justice! And know that others bring it too.”

– Hector Hu

Plot[edit | edit source]

The episode opens on a hot and humid August night on Black Avenue, in a small apartment building. Grouse got a tip from Mr E Masque, another superpowered person, who told them that an armed robbery would take place. So far, there has not been any sign of it. The team is growing frustrated with waiting; Paternoster is lying on the ground with her wings over her face, Grouse sits off to one side questioning a nearby seagull, Mr Good is hanging upside down off the roof acting as lookout with some binoculars, and The Champ is leaning back with a leg dangling off the ledge in a relaxed pose.

An armoured truck from Moneyward comes around a corner, heading towards the shore. Mr Good watches the truck, noticing too late as it’s lifted up and slammed into a wall. The sound alerts the other members of the team, as well as people in the surrounding area. They see that the truck has been pushed over from below by a woman who looks like a shark-person. They recognise her as Thresher, a local supervillain.

A squad of lackeys arrive wearing shark masks with submachine guns. They spread out around Thresher while she opens up the truck.

The Champ sits up, puts her hands on the roof. They begin to glow as she uses her powers, launching herself off the roof and into the street, heading towards Thresher. The lackeys turn towards her, but do not fire as they also would hit Thresher. Thresher hits Champ in the shoulder with her tail, catching Champ off-guard.

From the roof, Grouse moves to try and get a better vantage point over the fight. She notices how jumpy the lackeys are, and spots a few ways that the police could be summoned to the scene which would disperse them easily.

Paternoster leaps to her feet, unfurling her wings and glances towards Mr Good, checking his readiness. Mr Good says he’s ready to go and she picks him up, dropping him down behind a lackey to take them out. She arcs upwards in the air upside-down, drawing the attention of the lackeys away from the Champ as they shoot up at her.

Grouse sends the seagull she was speaking to earlier to attack one of the lackeys shooting at Paternoster, but the seagull misses them. Mr Good, also seeing the danger to Paternoster, heads towards the lackeys aiming at Paternoster and taking out one of them.

Mr Good picks up one of the lackeys and throws them at another lackey, which does knock both of them out of the fray. Unfortunately, another lackey punches him in the face and he is shot in the bicep and pinned to the ground by the lackeys. Mr Good activates the tourniquet in his armour to stop his bleeding.

Meanwhile, Thresher and Champ are on top of the armoured car, facing off against each other. Thresher asks why Champ is defending casino money, and Champ tells her to shut up. Thresher tries to convince Champ to join her (“you’re little people, you should be fighting with me”), and Champ refuses. Noticing that Thresher isn’t in a proper boxing stance, Champ feints and then hits her with a left hook. Thresher drops off the back of the truck and stabs her tail into the side of the truck to launch herself on top of the truck. She rips the driver door off and grabs one of the drivers with her tail, telling Champ to leave.

Grouse psychically reaches out to a mockingbird to call one to her in order to mimic a police siren to disperse the lackeys. It works, and the lackeys scatter at the sound, hopping down into the hole that Thresher had initially burst out of. Thresher swears, although she doesn’t release the driver.

Paternoster tries to knock Thresher off her feet but soaring high into the sky and dive-bombing Thresher from above. As she comes down, Paternoster realises that her plan is more dangerous than she realised due to Thresher’s tail. Thresher lets go of the driver, cutting him, to charge at the Champ and then jump up to tail whip up at Paternoster. Thresher comes down behind the Champ, and Paternoster rears back and yells at the Champ (“Elana I have a signing tomorrow!”).

Thresher uses her tail to cut through the rear doors of the truck, grabbing two duffel bags of money before running back towards the hole in the ground that she initially burst through. The Champ’s foot begins to glow and she stamps her foot, causing debris on the road to bounce up. She throws the debris at the fleeing Thresher. Paternoster runs after Thresher, launching herself into the air to flap at Thresher’s head, trying to throw her off balance.

Mr Good runs forward, holding Thresher still and putting himself between her and escape. He takes the money back from her, getting hit by her in response and staying in the fight longer than he should. She hits him with her tail, flinging him backways into the alley.

Thresher turns, jumping into the hole. The destruction of the ground that she created when she arrives vanishes, and the hole turns into an ordinary manhole cover.

Paternoster decides that they should not give chase, choosing instead to help the injured driver. She calls Mr Good, who is still in the alley trying to administer first aid to himself. The signal of the call is bad, but luckily Grouse is still above them on the roof and can see where Mr Good is, helping to reunite the group.

Paternoster examines the manhole cover. There is a large hole in it where Thresher initially punched up through the manhole cover. They call an ambulance with a burner phone and leave it with the driver and the money and head back to base.

Back at the base, the group discusses whether they should get to keep some of the money. Waxwing emerges from the shadows and tells them that they have to return it and tells Grouse to bring the duffle bags upstairs so that she can return them.

Upstairs, Waxwing activates some bird drones to deliver to bags back to the truck. She asks Grouse how their mission went (“I’d call it mixed results”), and they debrief on the night. Waxwing chastises Grouse for not sharing that information with the rest of the team prior to the fight.

Later that night, Mr Good returns to the sewer to investigate further. He finds the discarded shark masks from the lackeys, and a little alcove that they had clearly been using to store and prepare equipment. Near a coat rack he finds a coupon for $2 off at Royce’s Roll Carts.

Meanwhile, Thresher is talking to a silhouetted figure. She paces back and forth, angrily pacing back and forth (“you know I need this money”). The figure is revealed to be Mr E Masque, who says he has “something in mind”.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]

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