2018.08.11 - The Night Angel Strikes

**Emitter:** Derek Hale

*Stiles and Dash are both investigating mysterious goings-on at the La Push marina, where it turns out that the mysterious eco-terrorist "Mr. Green" plans to blow up a shipment--but the equally mysterious Night Angel is on the scene to stop him!*

September 2015

La Push Marina

It's a quiet weekday night in September, and La Push has gone to bed for the night. That, of course, means that certain sorts of individuals will be prowling the streets--people outside the law, people with trouble on their minds, or perhaps just people with nothing better to do.

The mysterious masked vigilante--known dramatically in the media as the 'Night Angel'--has gotten wind of a shipment of woodcutting equipment coming in on a boat. It's being shipped illegally to the tribe's port to avoid paying inspection fees and the like, but more importantly, the word is that an anonymous eco-terrorist--someone the vigilante has been after for some time now--is planning to blow up the ship when it reaches port. It could lead to the crew being killed, of course, but it could also cause a panic or other trouble for the locals.

Clearly, the game is afoot--or something like it.

Not everyone is after terrorists, though. Stiles Stilinski sits in the cab of his jeep, binoculars in hand, as he observes the port with great interest. He's heard, too, that there might be something going down here tonight. His stake in it is different, though. He just wants to catch a glimpse of the Night Angel, hoping to discover some evidence of who the vigilante really is...

Dash took a quick sip of coffee, then turned his attention back to the screen of his laptop, well, it wasn't really his, and neither was the fishing boat that he was currently in below deck either, but Dash was nothing if not resourceful. He used 'his' laptop to turn on the night vision to the camera hidden on the upper deck of the boat, giving him a night-vision view of the docks. He'd heard from rumors on the bad side of town that something untoward was going down on the docks tonight, and he was going to find out what it was, hopefully to solve the mystery of why things just didn't feel right...

It's not that the masked vigilante, called Night Angel, has a particular love for the law per se. It's just that he doesn't think an explosion will help the already bad situation of illegal woodcutting equipment and obviously sketchy personalities attending it. So here he is, and Stiles may catch a glimpse of him, on a nearby rooftop and moving suddenly.

Naturally, he's wearing a skintight outfit, and with a number of safety features that will help him from being prematurely taken out by any number of dangerous weapons. He thought of all that, and it's one of the reasons why Night Angel is being taken seriously: he seems not only committed, but intelligent enough not only to avoid being caught, but also to avoid being defeated or set back to any appreciable degree.

Once Night Angel springs into motion, keeping himself stealthy, he starts to set out little traps in his wake at the same time as he consults portable high-tech equipment, trying to find out where the potential explosives are and how to interfere with their triggers. It would be very difficult for someone to find him...unless they were looking specifically for him, like Stiles.

The ship--bearing the named *The Drowned Muskrat*--is just pulling into dock as the Night Angel arrives, and both Dash and Night Angel will no doubt get a clear glimpse of its arrival. The men on the deck are milling around, clearly not aware of any danger, almost lazily doing their business. However, another group of shadowy figures gathers nearby, too, and as the boat slides to a stop, they slip into the water.

Stiles, meanwhile, nearly spits out his cocoa when he sees that glimpse of the vigilante. Scrambling for the high-powered camera he borrowed for the occasion, he adjusts the night-vision lens and starts aiming to take pictures. This, he thinks, *this* could change everything. Everyone would have to believe him with photo evidence! Well, maybe Scott would, at least...

Dash nearly spits out his coffee as he sees the *The Drowned Muskrat* slip into port, almost right next to the boat he's currently 'borrowing'. He also notices several figures, clearly up-to-no-good types, come seemingly out of nowhere and slip into the water. Dash quickly shuts off the laptop, stowing it into a black backpack. He leaves the pack on the boat as he slips above deck, keeping an eye on the new ship, and making sure to keep himself out of sight. He thinks to himself that he probably shouldn't be getting involved, then shrugs, thinking that some old habits are hard to break. Keeping quiet and to the shadows, he slips off the boat and onto the dock, hiding behind some nearby, conveniently-placed crates, and takes a final peek at the boat, waiting for it to get in closer.

The group does not escape the Night Angel's notice, and immediately he makes his way around to engage them. Whether or not he ends up getting the ship's crew involved, at this point, is not much of a consideration: they won't be on these people's side, and he might be able to let them resolve the situation with less need of him to intervene personally. Win-win!

He figures that these waternauts, whoever they are, will probably have dangerous equipment on them, ready to blow that boat to smithereens...and so Night Angel makes a point of following them into the water. He moves like a creature of water, like an animal trained in swimming, which is impressive in that suit.

Said aquanauts don't seem to have noticed the Night Angel, as they're too focused on not being seen by the ship's crew. They're also trying to be very quick about their work, as they begin attaching small, precision charges to key points along the ship's hull. The Angel will have no trouble sneaking up on the first of them, who is carefully attaching his bomb. Dash goes unnoticed, too.

*Click--click--click*, goes the camera, but then Stiles loses sight of the vigilante. He glances to the passenger seat, almost as if prepared to argue with a passenger about what he's about to do, but since nobody's there to talk him out of it, Stiles shakes his head, puts down the camera, and snags a smaller one. Scrambling out the Jeep's door, he begins to move as swiftly as he can up to the edge of the dock. He even manages not to trip over anything in the dark! Dash, though, will probably notice his approach.

Dash notices something at the corner of his eye, and sees a boy, about a couple years older than him, sneaking toward the boat as well. 'oh great...' he thinks to himself. 'Now I have to deal with aqua-terrorists, *and* this dude.' He silently appraises the figure advancing toward the boat, thinking 'I could probably take him if I had to...'

He decides to avoid that for now, and creeps around to the other side of the boat, which is now nearly pulled into the dock. He jumps up, grabbing onto the side railing, pulling himself up and over. Almost not believing how silently he pulled that off. He sneaks up to one of the eco-terrorists arming a bomb, and quickly pulls what looks like a futuristic-looking pistol out of his coat pocket. He sets it to 'stun' and pushes it right up against the terrorist's side and pulls the trigger. A jolt of unknown energy shoots into the unfornuate thug, who is rendered unconscious. He continues to sneak along the upper deck, unaware of the masked man doing almost exactly the same thing on the other end of the boat. 'hopefully...' his internal monologue goes, 'I'll find what I need here...'

Night Angel moves quietly and with deadly purpose. He throws an arm around the first mysterious figure and gets them in a chokehold, designed to take them down silently, quickly, efficiently, and with minimal injury. Not wanting to leave them to drown, he drags them along to the shore, then returns to try and defuse the bomb. Or at least detach it. In the water, it will cause far less harm; if he can't stop it, it can at least be disposed of where it will do the least amount of damage.

But he's careful to keep the other figure in sight, so that he'll know where the other explosives are.

Dash takes out the guy who was sent to plant a bomb on the boat's bridge, thanks to that stun gun of his. The bomb, much like the bomb Night Angel is removing, is not difficult to detach, and (unlike in all the movies) defusing it looks like it's as easy as hitting the "cancel" button. The bad news for Dash is, the ship's crew notices him doing this, and they get the complete wrong idea.

"Hey, you!" one shouts. "What the hell are you doing?"

Meanwhile, Night Angel's job is made much easier thanks to Dash distracting the ship's crew. These guys are saboteurs, not fighters, and it proves quite easy to render them unconscious. It's a bit tricky getting them up onto the dock, but it's nothing a bit of muscle can't solve.

Stiles, meanwhile, reaches the edge of the dock just in time to hear the shout, and he immediately hits the deck... just in time to have an unconscious eco-terrorist tossed up next to him. Clapping a hand over his mouth so he doesn't scream, the plucky young self-appointed investigator then fumbles for the camera, beginning to snap photos of the bad guys, the crew and their illicit cargo, and (if he's lucky) maybe even a closer-up shot of the Night Angel!

Dash looks up at the guy asking him the question, and answers with "Saving you all?" As he points his fancy gun at one of the sabotuers and fires, rendering him unconcious. He looks back at the interrogative crewman. "Do you really wanna be wasting your time with me? I don't know how many more bombs those guys planted. You should be skeddadling like hell out of here." The crewman were gathering around him, and they looked unconvinced.

The next thing either Stiles or the masked man would hear is the sound of stun shots filling the air. A few minutes later, Dash came running off the ship and onto the dock, with what looked like a logbook and other ship-related documents under his arm, tucking them into one of his coat pockets as he ran. He skidded to a stop as he realized that the masked figure was blocking his path. "um.... hi?" was all he could think to say.

Night Angel has muscle. He has muscle to spare. He could probably make people more sculpted just by standing close to them, if his clingy costume is any indication. Will Stiles get abs because of Night Angel?!

Nah, probably not. But Night Angel can't worry about Stiles since he hasn't noticed him; the other saboteur in the water is his higher priority, and so he's quick to try and sneak up to do the chokehold thing again if he can. It's possible, since the activity on deck is loud and distracting. This might be an easy night. Easier than the usual, especially since someone is being very accommodating in keeping the deckhands busy. Night Angel should have no problem taking care of this potentially explosive situation!

The good news is, nobody's getting blown up tonight. The Night Angel has no trouble taking care of the last saboteur, though when he goes to exit the water, the vigilante might be met with quite the odd sight! For, the bad news is, Dash is making off with all the evidence that would have incriminated the smugglers! Score one against the terrorists, but then again, the Night Angel isn't exactly known for making it his priority to pursue those who cheat on docking fees...

And as Dash flees the ship, he practically runs right into Stiles, who's been snapping pictures this whole time. Blinking at the younger teen skids to a stop in front of him, Stiles says, "Dude! What the hell? Are you trying to get us both--!?" But he just shakes his head, reaching to grab at Dash's coat, and says, "Come *on*! We've gotta get out of sight!" He tries to haul Dash back over to their previous hiding place behind the crates before anyone spots them, but the Night Angel's keen senses may notice them anyway...

Dash instinctively reaches for his gun as his coat is grabbed, but decides that's not the best course to take. He was trying to escape the scene, after all. He lets Stiles take him back behind the crates. When they get there, Dash takes a quick look around, trying to make sure they weren't being trailed by the masked man. "This was just supposed to be a simple snatch and grab, but noooooo... there just had to be complications!" He said to no one in particular. He fixed his gaze at Stiles, noticing his camera for the first time. "And who are you?" He asked, "Boy reporter gone insane?"

Night Angel makes short work of the would-be explosives engineers and just drags the second one to join the first, on the docks. He won't return their explosives to them, of course. Those, he intends to keep for their potential usefulness later. He's not made of money, so appropriating these might come in handy some other time, and it'll save him from having to spend on something else. But he'll make sure at least one is sufficiently broken and left beside these two, to make it clear what they intended to do.

Taking the opportunity while Stiles and Dash confer, he comes up easily enough to the crates and, crouched behind them and hidden as well as them, clears his throat. His breathing is deep, though it's still a little fast, probably from all the physical exertion. But boy, is he ever fit. The way the light plays on the wet material just makes it seem almost...naughty, or something. And he doesn't say anything! The strong, silent type.

"I'm an *investigator*!" Stiles declares indignantly. "Do you have any idea the kind of stuff going down here tonight, kid? Or are you just some kinda... Artful Dodger type?" Huh. Who knew that reading *Oliver Twist* actually *would* have a real-life use? That was unexpected. However, Stiles' rant is cut short when the Night Angel appears, all wet and hulking, beside them. Giving a little *eep*, Stiles chokes out, "*Holy crap--it's you!*" No, he doesn't know who "you" is, but this is definitely the real deal. Scott will *have* to believe him, now! He's too distracted to stare at the tight, wet suit. Mostly.

"Oh great, freelance detective. This night just keeps getting better," Dash says, obliviously irritated. "And it's not any of your businiss-" He continued, but I was looking for information, and it just happened to be on that boa-". It was at that moment that Dash heard a throat clear, and it wasn't him or Stiles. "Oh, for f---'s sake..." He half moaned out, as he turned and drew his gun on the masked man. "And you are?" he asked, keeping his gun on the mystery man.

Night Angel gives Dash a surprisingly illustrative and clear *look* in answer to his question. He's Night Angel, or whatever he might be called, obviously. Pursing his lips in an expression of some mild annoyance, he turns his head to look back at Stiles, then at Dash again, tilting his head slightly, slowly back afterwards. It doesn't stop him, or even slow him down; if anything, the situation gives him a reason to move closer to Stiles. He smells of the clean water, the night, the various materials that make up his costume...and something else, something that is probably unique to him. It's not a cologne or any artificial perfume; it's one hundred percent whoever this man is.

Stiles stares at Night Angel for several beats before just reaching over to put a hand on Dash's hand to make him lower the gun. "Dude," he hisses under his breath, "Don't point your tazer at the *good guys*." He gives Night Angel an apologetic (and perhaps appreciative) look, saying, "Look, we don't want to cause any trouble for you, dude. We're just--well, *I'm* a big fan, and this kid--actually, I've got no idea what this kid's deal is. He's gone prematurely gray, and he's got a tazer."

"Do we actually know he's a good guy?" Dash asks as he reluctantly lowers his weapon, stashing it back inside his coat. He shoots and annoyed glance at Stiles. "We've been over this. I needed the information that was on that boat." He turned again, looking mistrustingly at Night Angel. "And I still have no idea who the heck you are. A weird look doesn't really answer anything. And what the heck were those other dudes upto?"

"They were trying to blow up the boat," Night Angel explains, breathing slower and deeper steadily now that he isn't having to swim around and disarm anyone. Yet. "You need to make sure that information gets to the proper authorities, or else this won't be the last time a situation like this happens." His voice is rough, deep, and sounds a little...artificially roughened, maybe a little more than usual. Stiles might think it's a little familiar, but it's not...exactly like one he knows. Not exactly.

And perhaps it's the consideration that Stiles is familiar to him, which makes the vigilante look him over again. It's an appraising scrutiny, but he settles on the young man's face and very, very slightly, almost imperceptibly, smiles a little bit. Just the corners of his mouth, and just enough to show. "I wasn't aware this kind of thing attracted fans."

Stiles gives Dash a pointed look and says, "You can look at that stuff if you want, but all it's gonna do is show whatever the people on that boat were up to--probably no good." He's curious about the tazer, but it's not the foremost thing on his mind, either. Looking up at the Night Angel, Stiles' eyebrows lift a little. "Seriously? Dude, you're basically real life *Batman*. That's the coolest thing *ever*. If this were a comic book, I'd totally figure out your real identity and use it to get you to take me on as your partner, then you'd train me to be a badass like you, and we'd fight crime together!" He pauses, straightening up a bit, and tries to regain a more casual air. Lifting the camera a bit (and only fumbling it slightly), he says, "I'm just... y'know. Documenting all this. I don't wanna *stop* you. I just think what you're doing is awesome."

That was not what Dash wanted to hear. He frowned slightly at Stiles and Night Angel. "I'm interested in the *specifics* of what they were upto..." Dash explains. "I'm pretty sure whatever they're involved in is also tied to something else. Something I've been looking into for a while."

He has to roll his eyes as he listens to Stiles gush over his hero. "Easy there, boy wonder." He says with just a hint of sarcasm. He looks back to the "Night Angel." "There's gotta be someway to settle this that works for everyone.

The answer he gets from Stiles makes Night Angel pause before continuing, although the hesitation quickly dissipates from his tone. "...I don't know. You seem like you'd be resentful of green trunks and elf shoes." It's only slightly teasing, although there is appreciation in the way he looks Stiles over. "So you're into appreciation via blackmail," he notes to Stiles, grinning just a touch before turning to Dash, "and you're into...what exactly?"

The muscular vigilante folds his arms on his chest. "The crew of this ship are smuggling in illegal logging equipment. Illegally," he adds, as if this were not readily apparent from the previous description. "Not only have they attracted attention of...volatile parties," he nods to the unconscious people a short distance away, "but they're endangering the environment. Either way, the people of La Push are put in danger by them. We're *all* put in danger by them. So I'm asking you, what do you intend to do with that information? Because if the authorities don't have it, there's no chance they can be stopped next time."

Between Dash's quip and Night Angel's teasing, Stiles blushes visibly, but he puts on a determined face, raises his hand to point at the vigilante, and declares, "Dude! You'd be *surprised* what I'd go through to be part of something that cool. And--no! Not blackmail, just like... y'know, proving myself." Sighing, he says, "It makes sense in the comics." He quiets, then, and nods along with the Night Angel's questions. Those are very *good* questions! So, Stiles looks over to Dash to see what he has to say for himself.

Dash sighs. He clearly wasn't prepared for this night to turn into so much trouble. He silently cursed those damn eco-terrorists. They ruined everything! "Great, it's Captain Planet..." he mutters to no one in particular, before returning his attention to the pair in front of him. "I need to find out who was paying the smugglers..." Dash explains. "I had info that whoever these guys are getting their money from might be connected to The Commitee. I have a big, big score to settle with those guys."

"I don't have to be Captain Planet to be aware that this is going to stretch me thinner than things already are." Despite his eyes being hidden and so much of him shrouded in mystery and protective clothing, Night Angel manages to exude a formidable presence. "If you don't help me get that information where it's likely to be used to stop this, it'll happen again...and again...and whatever this Committee is, they're gonna win too. If we can stop them now, before they get confident, we have a chance that this won't even come up again."

"The 'Committee'?" Stiles echoes. "No, no *way*, dude! These guys were working for the guy I'm calling 'Mr. Green.'" He looks to Night Angel, explaining, "I don't know if your nemesis has a real name or not, but y'know, 'green' 'cause he's all eco-terroristy." He gestures to the book Dash took. "That might have something to trace back to him." He coughs a little and looks guiltily at the vigilante. "I've been hoping I'd be able to figure out who he is and who you are, then I could come find you and turn over the identity of your biggest enemy." Then, blinking, he asks, "Wait, the Committee is a real thing?"

Dash turns and gives a quizzical glance at Stiles. "I think you have it the other way around, who ever you are. It's more likely that this Mr. Green reports to The Commitee. All I've been able to find out about them is that they have their fingers in a lot of pies, and they *really* don't like to be known about."

Dash then turns and adresses both Stiles and Night Angel. "It's really complicated. The short version is that almost one year ago I woke up in an alley in a town called Eerie, in Indiana, with no idea who I was, how I got there, or anything that happened to me before that. Then I wound up in this town, very much against my will. I think The Commitee had a hand in both of those things".

Night Angel's brow lifts, but it's subtler since he's wearing the mask over his eyes. "Regardless, I'd appreciate you sharing the information. We can look through it, analyze it, make copies if necessary, and then provide it to the proper authorities." He doesn't know, or particular have any stake in, Dash's apparent tendencies for amnesia. Or maybe hard partying. Who knows, really? He's a kid with a stun gun.

"Eerie, Indiana?" Stiles asks, frowning. "Well, it's got a cool name, I'll give you that. But Mr. Green's operating out of this area, and I've never seen anything about him having links to a bigger group." He sounds skeptical, but he also sounds curious. That would be one hell of a twist--like finding out that Lex Luthor worked with the Legion of Doom or something! "Anyway, whether it's true or not, Night Angel's right! We should share our information, then you can do whatever you want. But these guys are endangering people. The whole town could be in trouble." He frowns some. "Which reminds me. Someone should call the sheriff."

Dash looks to both Stiles and Night Angel. "Fine." He says. "We'll do it your way. I'll give you the documents, but only after we look them over, and make copies of anything important. Speaking of, hold on a sec..." He runs over to the other boat that he was crashing at earlier, retrieving his backpack, giving Stiles and Night Angel time to talk amongst themselves.

When Dash comes back, he frowns at the mention of calling the sheriff. "Call in the cops if you want, but leave me out of that. The last thing I need is the local PD messing things up more than they already have been."

"After we're done," Night Angel nods to Stiles in response to the proposal that they call the sheriff. He seems satisfied when Dash agrees to the terms he's tried to present evenly and fairly, and then for a time, the two are alone. He doesn't let Dash out of his sight for one second -- and that sight is extraordinarily keen -- but he does eventually break the silence between himself and Stiles.

"So you want to fight alongside me, do you?" Night Angel waits to let Stiles answer, but he continues on smoothly enough. "It's not fun and games. People get hurt and worse." It's not a *no*, though. There's a *possibility*.

Before it can go much farther, Dash returns and Night Angel returns as well to his usual tone and keeps his stance stock still. "They haven't had the information to mess anything up. But this information you've got there should make sure they'll do the right thing...since they'll be able to act."

Stiles gives the vigilante a look that all but says aloud *don't joke about this*. "Dude, are you serious? That would be *so awesome*." Then, glancing back at Dash, he says, "Seriously? No. The sheriff can actually make a difference if someone gives him some useful information. We can call it in after we leave." He looks over to the Night Angel. "Uh, do you have a car? My jeep's parked right over there." Then, shrugging, he says, "Or we could just do it all here and go our separate ways. I'm good with whatever as long as I get a copy, but these guys won't stay knocked out all night." He lifts his camera illustratively. "Let me take some pics of all the info, and then we can share it. Cool?"

Dash rolls his eyes and scoffs at Stiles' defending calling in the authorities. "Fine, we'll call them in after we've got all the info we need." He tells the other teen. What he doesn't mention is that the real reason he doesn't want the sheriff involved is that he and cops tend not to get along. Stiles' comment reminds hom of the knocked-out dudes on the dock and on the boat. "We should get out of here, I don't know about your bad guys..." Kr nods in Night Angel's direction, "... but the dudes on the boat won't be out long. and they probably won't be too happy to see me."

"We'll take your jeep." Night Angel waits for Stiles to lead the way. That seems to have decided it. They can get away from here and later, Night Angel can presumably collect whatever transport he used to get here. If he doesn't live here. Which he probably doesn't? There's that kind of nagging feeling that he's familiar to Stiles, but everything he does seems to say otherwise. Once Stiles starts back towards his car, the vigilante is close behind him, making sure that Dash is coming along too.

Stiles leads the way to the Jeep, opening up the door, and says to the vigilante, "I'd offer you shotgun, but maybe you'd rather sit in back, where it's harder to see you?" The last thing anyone needs is to get caught. Stiles would never hear the end of it, and he'd probably end up suffering the wrath of a very irate Noah Stilinski. "My place is not a good idea," he says, "plus it's all the way back in Forks. Where should we head to? Just find a good spot to park and go over everything in here?"

"hmmm. Nice Ride" Said Dash as he headed toward the front passenger side of the vehicle. He cast a glance back at the Night Angel, noticing that he was being watched like a hawk. 'That one is trouble...' he thought to himself. 'I may have to deal with him too, later on...' Dash deciding now was not the time to dwell on such dark thoughts. "Well, the place I was staying was there, so not a good option..." Dash explained as he motioned towards the boat he was on earlier, not mentioning it wasn't his. "You probably have some kind of fancy-ass hideout, don't you? That should work." Dash asked the masked man as he got in the front seat.

"I'm not taking you to my headquarters." Night Angel climbs in the back and...pretty much disappears. But when he speaks again, it's clear he's still there and hasn't somehow melted into the shadows. "We can go somewhere just out of town where we'll take pictures, you can look up what you need to look up, and then we can split up after the authorities are notified." And that would settle it, at least in the masked adventurer's mind.

"Sounds good," Stiles says, turning the key in the ignition and then putting the Jeep into gear. "I'll find a quiet spot, and we'll exchange info." Glancing a bit dubiously at Dash, he almost looks like he wants to ask more questions, but he just shakes his head. This isn't the time. Right now, they've got work to do--and besides, if he's honest, Stiles is really much, much more interested in the mysterious (and, not that he's admitting it right now, decidedly sexy) Night Angel.

This has proved to be a most memorable night...