The Watchwomen

Chapter 16 (Act II): Arrested On Arrival

We last read Chapter 15, in which Hailey a.k.a. The Viper, Carla Rosenblood a.k.a. Nightclaw, Cassie a.k.a. Coldsnap, and Monica Drevis a.k.a. Voltara meet up in the breakfast nook of Dr. Duncan Drevis's apartment complex to discuss their next plans over some pastries courtesy of Dunkin'. Carla also informs the other girls of her "mini-adventure" the previous night which involved her hunting down and killing the boss of a Victor's Vittles Grocery Store branch for indirectly murdering a former employee by firing him and causing him to go homeless; though she gets some flak for it, the others let it slide because she's an anti-hero and such extreme methods coming from her shouldn't be a surprise. 

Monica then redirects the others back on track, informing them that their next move is to take Duncan's airship, go to Salt Lake City, Utah, and visit the Utah State Correctional Facility to see if two inmates named "Ivan" and "Gill" know anything about the mysterious red dust vials provided to Hailey by a random Diamond Legion assassin. The chapter then ended with them collectively rallying as a group, with Hailey suggesting that they should now call themselves "The Watchwomen" since the guys aren't with them. 

This time, we hear from an interesting conversation between Monica and Hailey, and discover that the Watchwomens' visit to the Utah State Correctional Facility may not as be smooth-sailing as they first believed.....

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Monica Drevis a.k.a. Voltara stood on the flat rooftop of her younger brother Duncan's apartment complex, staring upwards in awe at the expansive and majestic airship before her. 

The airship had gone through a number of owners, and Duncan---or technically, Monica---was the latest one in the line. It had first been in the hands of a boy named Fritz Fornwright, who also used to be her lover and the partner and best friend of James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse. But after Fritz was killed in 2019 at the height of an in-depth investigation into a sex trafficking ring in Seattle, Washington, the airship was then passed to James's care instead. However, he quickly became busy juggling his career as a superhero with his day job at his mother's security firm Lockdown, Inc., and so granted it to his fellow Paragon Dr. Duncan Drevis instead. Then, after that, the airship was used in a variety of missions; wherever Duncan went, it went, too. It was, of course, used when investigating the Avian Wing brothel, but it was also used during the Paragons' first outing against Malcorchus, the mission to liberate the Rusted Citadel from the Iron Kingpin, and the campaign against Damien Kraft and the Dark Scions. 

And now, it would be used by his older sister Monica, as well as the other members of the Watchwomen, to travel to Salt Lake City to further their analysis into the recent assassin attacks. 

Hailey a.k.a. The Viper was the first of the others to get suited up and meet Monica on the roof, soon joining Monica in admiring the massive airship. The craft effectively consisted of a robust set of landing gear and a vessel with three main sections: the pilot's cabin, the passenger area, and a series of bedrooms and bathrooms in the back, inadvertently allowing the airship to serve as a "home away from home" of sorts during particularly long missions. 

"Thanks for ordering those pastries for us!" Hailey chirped as she approached Monica and stood at her side. "You said they came from Dunkin' right? They should've totally called them 'Duncan' Donuts.....don't even lie." 

"'Duncan' Donuts?" Monica repeated, chuckling amusedly. "Good one." 

"I know." Hailey then turned her head to Duncan's plane. "Hard to believe this thing didn't get confiscated. Duncan thinks that the Paragons should just accept the governments' charges, so I thought he'd have already turned it over for 'evidence'."