"Vincent Vermici." It was a name, spoken loudly, so that a gathering crowd could hear. At first, they'd thought the man was another nameless pit of sorrow waiting to toss himself off of a building and end it all, but those who looked closely saw another being standing behind him. Those who looked with any sort of magnification would clearly see that the man was bound, and held still by the figure behind him.

The news vans had already pulled up; the helicopters wouldn't be too far behind... Perfect. He wanted them all to see, and hear what he was going to say.
"If you watch the news regularly, you know who this man is. After all, he was recently exonerated from quite a long list of crimes. A jury of his peers found him to be completely free of any wrongdoing. I have undeniable proof that they were wrong... I also have proof that his father, don Carmine Vermici extorted and threatened the jury into delivering their verdict." The man, a wildly panicked look in his eyes, tried to struggle again, and only gave his captor more energy. He tried to scream, but his muffle was deep in his mouth, and secured well.

He'd chosen a good location; no real places to post snipers without him being able to spot them; the building's roof was under construction, with decorative walls on three sides, and the last, uncompleted one meant to be where he stood now. It was open to their audience, his own personal stage. He wasn't normally the type to be flashy with his kills, but he wanted to deliver a message to the Vermici family, and their sick little mafia.

He wondered who would show up first... The mafia, or the police... Either way, this area might get dangerous. He would have to end this soon...

"Hey... hey boss?"

"What is it?"

"....Wha'ssat guy doin' up there?"

Elke rolled her eyes. "Clearly, he's going to jum--" Suddenly, a booming voice hushed the gathered crowd. It explained what was what rather quickly, mostly that they guy was a class A jerk and that he was going to be punished. "--p." She finished lamely, blinking dark eyes directly up at the spectacle above her. Both of the girls at her side, who looks pretty much like mirror images of herself, glanced at each other.

"...So.. he wants ta be a pancake? Like in the cartoons?" The other twin giggled and snorted, and the two set about discussing the various funny ways people often died in cartoons. The lead girl, who only stood out because of the feathered, horned hat that sat upon her head and the red from ear to ear across the bridge of her nose, turned and swatted the one closest to her smartly upside the head. "Will you two shut up? You're making me dumber from just being around you!"

The twin who had been struck sniffled, rubbing at her cheek with a rueful expression and a pout on her face. "Okay... so, lets figure out what we're gonna do." She turned fully and slung her arms over a shoulder of each twin, drawing them in close.


After much heated whispering, Elke nodded in agreement and folded her arms across her chest. One girl was marching off toward the front of the crowd. The twelve year old glanced at her other twin, and grinned mischievously..

"Daddy!" Shrieked a voice a few moments later, as the twin who had branched off pushed her way to the front. A few people shot curious glances at her, but none managed to grab a hold of her before she darted across the sidewalk and into the building. A few flights of stairs greeted her, as well as a nicely locked door at the top. The girl tilted her head, wiggled the doorknob a few times, and even tried to break it off with a plank of discarded wood. When all of her efforts refused to pay off, she turned and spotted a window. With another tilt of her head, the girl trotted over, slipped the window open, and threw a leg out...

It wouldn't be too long until the news choppers arrived, and he could see the camera crews below setting up. As much as he hated the grandstanding, he wouldn't achieve his objective if this wasn't caught on camera. He didn't want his audience to leave, though; he would have to stall for time until everything was in order.

It helped that he had plenty to say. His booming voice reached out to the crowd once more, which was growing by the moment.

"I am here today to judge this man for his crimes. I am here to step up where our justice system failed despite overwhelming evidence. I am here because I will not allow the rich and powerful to hold themselves above the law. That is my promise to you. This man will not live to harm another human being, and more of his kind will soon follow." That was enough to get the crowd chattering, and to make a puddle appear at the feet of the man in front of him. It was funny how men like this tended to be cowards when they were confronted with their crimes.

Over the chatter of the crowd a voice rang out. "Daddy!" The crowd went silent, and his eyes narrowed. It was a child... A little girl? Or a boy... He really couldn't tell from this distance... did she think this man was her father? He'd done his research, he had no children, just a couple 'girlfriends' he liked to toss around like rag dolls when they made tiny mistakes. The child disappeared from view as she ran into the building, and he chose to ignore it... She was probably just mistaken, and it wasn't like she could get up here... He'd locked and blockaded the door. No one without a battering ram and some spare time would get that door open.

Still, there was a chance this was some sort of sick ploy on the mafia's behalf... What the objective behind it would be, he couldn't be sure... They normally weren't this inventive.

The crowd gasped collectively when they spotted the small girl climbing out of the fourth story window. They gasped again when she stumbled on the ledge, flailed her arms to catch herself, then glanced down and waved at the crowd. "I'm OK!"

Elke slapped a hand onto her face, not caring that she smeared her war paint a little, and elbowed her other twin in the ribs when she giggled. Back up on the ledge, the girl had turned, inched her way down to a rain pipe, and started climbing. One whole floor wasn't that big of a climb, especially when she was small for her age, and rather light. The people gathered below, however, thought that at any moment she would surely fall. Some started shouting at her to be careful, others bellowed for her to come down right this instant! More than a few mothers in the gathering fainted dead away.

Elke watched from her spot in the back, at the edge of the crowd. The twin was making perfect time, and (surprisingly) hadn't slipped at all. Not even once! "Hey boss?" The child glanced over at her twin, blowing a stray feather out of her face. "...what?" The twin grinned sheepishly. "If she falls off, can I have her stuff..?"

The look on Elke's face shifted from dumbstruck, to entertained, to aggravated. "....She doesn't own anything. You don't own anything!" The twin blinked, her eyebrows furrowed, and she pursed her lips. After a moment of what seemed to be deep inward reflection, she looked up. "Then, if the guy falls off, can I have his stuff?"

Elke groaned, and threw her hands in the air. "Sure! Yes! You can have all of that man's stuff. In fact, if either of them falls off, you can have everyone's stuff!" The twin looked absolutely filled to the brim with joy, until Elke paused, and added, " Cept my stuff. You can't have my stuff."

Back up on the building, the other twin had finally made it to the top. She huffed and puffed, dragging herself up over the ledge onto the fifth floor, and let herself flop face first down onto the wooden floor. "Why is climbing so haaaard..." The girl eventually pulled herself onto her hands and knees, and then to her feet. A stern, serious expression settled on her dirty, sweaty features. She had an important job to do! Her daddy was in there, and that man was being very mean to him! "Daddy!" She trotted forward, through a doorway that had yet to be fully completed, and spotted the masked man and her daddy.

"You put him down, you big fat meanie face! Or I'll... I'll..." What as it the boss had told her? She lapsed into silence for a moment, staring blankly at the floor, before it came back to her. The twin adopted a very heroic pose, hands on her hips, chin held high. "Or I will shove my foot so far up yur backside you'll be poopin' sneakers for a week!"

Okay, something was wrong.

"I'm OK!"

. . . F@#%! No way. No freaking way! He leaned forward, and looked to the side, causing the man in front of him to wiggle a bit as he was pushed just a little closer to the edge... There the child was. climbing the goddam drain pipe. He was at a loss for words. He just... what the... hell was this?

Upon a closer look, he could tell that this kid wasn't likely related to young Mr. Vermici at all. He was pretty sure it was a girl, though it might be a more effeminate boy, and she or he was clearly native american, and bore none of the man's sharp features. Hell, the only thing this child looked like was trouble. She finally made her way to the roof, much to the crowd's relief, and the Judge growled in Vincent's ear. "Stay here, or your death will be way more painful than a short swim in the air." He then stepped toward the child.

"Look, kid. This ai-... This is not your father. This man has no children. So please, let me escort you ou-" Crack! He felt the blow coming, and spun just a little too late... It was a lucky blow, but he found himself on the floor. With a burst of energy, he was rolling through the air to his feet again, ready to defend himself... His attacker wasn't going for him, though...

Somehow Vincent had managed to get his leg bindings off, which allowed his hands to move up an down enough for him to pull his gag out, and double fist him in the back of the head. By the time the Judge made it up again, the horrible man had already made his way to the little girl, where he swung both fists to try and crack her in the jaw so she wouldn't struggle. He would then dangle her near the edge. "Stay back you FREAK! I'll waste this little b@$@% without a second thought, you know I will, so stay back!"

He gave the girl a stiff shake to emphasize his point, and the Judge spoke up. "If you kill her, I won't just kill you. I'll ruin you, let you live for a while, and then come and kill you. Do you really want that?" The scared man didn't falter, holding the girl out toward the almost surely fatal fall.

Damnit... He needed a way to distract him... To make things worse, the news cameras were almost certainly rolling by now, and they'd caught the whole scene.

Her brave, heroic words were... ignored. The twin blinked, stumped on what to do, and simply sat and stared. The masked man turned to talk to her, so she struck her pose again... until the man her sister had told her to call Daddy whacked the guy on the back of the head and ran toward her.

...She panicked a little.

The blow upside the head didn't really help things either. She stumbled, got dragged, and soon found herself being clung to at the roof ledge. The twin blinked up at the man holding her, a cross look furrowed her dark eyebrows, and she pursed her lips. "You... are not a very nice Daddy.... and you smell terrible. Like pee."

Below, Elke and her other twin watched the whole thing play out. It... wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but it would do. She just needed some way to distract the guy holding onto her twin. Leaning over, she lifted a hand to cup it around the other girls ear, and whispered something to her. Then, without another word, she turned and darted off. The twin blinked, nodded to herself, and headed toward the front of the gathering. Once she was toward the front, she cupped her hands to her mouth and hollered, "JUMP!"

The reaction to the people closest to her was shock and anger, but aside from someone telling her to kindly shut her trap, people ignored her. "JUUUUUMP!" Meanwhile, Elke slipped around the crowd and hightailed it next to the building under construction. The structure beside it was a story taller, and well within range. She just needed to get to the top of the building. With her bow slapping around behind her, quiver and arrows bouncing, she struggled with the entryway door for a moment, then hauled ass for the stairwell...

Back up on the roof, the twin was having a hard time thinking of what to do. The man kept shaking her like a doll, which wasn't helping her confusion. Plus, she could see pretty far over the edge and all of the people below were watching. Raising an arm, she waved at them. "Hello!"

She got shaken again, for her friendly greeting. "Hey!" Someone shouted back, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like her own. "What?!" She bellowed back down at the voice, trying to ignore the man's curse words and shaking.

"JUUUUMP! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!"

"Shut up, will you kid?!" A bystander yelled. "No, YOU shut up, pie face!"

The twin up on the roof was puzzled by this, and so decided to ponder it. (because pondering such things while in mortal danger was a regular occurrence for being such as herself) Did she really want to jump off the building? She couldn't think of why... Maybe they had candy down there? ... Maybe she could fly...?

Yup. Something was seriously wrong.

First, a girl climbs a freaking building in order to threaten him for trying to kill her dad, who wasn't really her dad. Then he punches her in the face, proving he has no love for her, and then he threatens to kill her. To be honest, that last part didn't surprise him; they were dealing with a truly evil man.

The girl told Vincent he smelled like pee. He headbutted her in the back of the dome. Things looked like they were only going to get worse, when they took a turn for the... craziest.

The girl waved at the crowd, and greeted them; they freaked out. It was like she wasn't afraid of death at all.

"JUUUUMP! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!" Someone with the exact same voice as the girl before them screamed from the crowd below. Vincent looked down, the Judge stepped forward, Vincent noticed and turned back, holding the girl even further out. He almost lost balance himself, but managed to hold himself before the brink. "Don't move closer, Judge, or she'll die!"

He stopped in his tracks... He'd made a decision long ago that he wasn't going to sacrifice the lives of innocents, no matter how stupid, in order to get to his targets. He clenched his fist and stood his ground, waiting for his time to strike.

After sprinting up the third flight of stairs, Elke collapses at the third floor landing. She was out of breath, her lungs hurt, and her legs were wobbly. Really, she hated stairs more than anything in the world at the moment. She rested for a moment, doubled over with her hands on her knees, before adjusting her bow and hauling herself up even more stairs.

Back out on the street, one twin was watching the other expectantly. Why was she still up there? How was she supposed to get stuff if neither of them were gonna fall? "WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG!!?" She flailed her arms, struggling as someone latched onto her arm and attempted to drag her away. Apparently people didn't like the conversation she was having with her sister.

Up on the roof, the other twin was allowing herself to hang limply in her captors grip. She was still caught up wondering if she could fly, or if she had secret wings that she didn't know about.

"Don't move closer, Judge, or she'll die!"

Die? The twin blinked, and glanced up at the man holding her. "What's die?" Her mind puzzled over that word for a moment, before a little dull light bulb flickered on. Oh! She knew! To die was, like.. death... the final frontier, a commercial on TV had told her that earlier in the day! When you died, you got like, a cool down and stuff... and wings! The girls eyes widened, and she grinned suddenly. Dieing meant she could fly! Surely, that was why her sister was telling her to jump. Also, clearly the man holding her was not such a bad man after all... even if he did smell like pee, because he wanted her to fly!

She started squirming, ignoring the pain in her head from the previous headbutt, and leaned toward the edge of the building. Vincent struggled with her for a moment, before a look of realization washed over his face. His eyes landed on the judge, while he was struggling with the girl, and a cruel smirk curled his lips. "You're going to kill me either way, aren't ya... Said it yourself." The mobster attempted to regain some of his normal coolness, since he was now the one in the position of power... even if it wasn't going to last long. "But, guess what hotshot? I'm not going down alone!"

Without another word, he tossed the girl over the edge. The twin couldn't have been happier, even though it was kind of frightening. She threw her arms out at her sides, started flapping, and sang as loudly as she could while the wind was whipping past her. "I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYYYY~! I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SK--"

SPLAT!

The collective crowd gasped, a few shrieked, and most turned their eyes away. The last twin wiggled away from the people holding her back, let out a crow of delight, and rushed toward the body. It's shoes were gone in a flat second, before she skittered off toward the building Elke had headed for.

The sound of a helicopter slowly escalated in volume... that would be the news crews... Police sirens neared even faster... Good. Everyone was here... now all he had to do was strike at the man, and get the girl from hi-

"You're going to kill me either way, aren't ya... Said it yourself... But, guess what hotshot? I'm not going down alone!" He watched with wide eyes as the man tossed the girl from the edge of the building as if he were tossing a coat into a closet.

"NO!"

He ran to the edge, ignoring the criminal as he watched the girl fall... there was no way he could catch up to her."I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYYYY~! I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SK--" He watched as she hit the ground... he didn't avert his eyes.

He wanted to see it. He wanted the image to be burnt into his mind because he failed to save her. More than anything else, he wanted to see her die so that he could feel the rage that it brought up inside of him as he punished the man responsible.

By the time he turned, Vincent was attempting to remove the barricade on the door. The Judge grabbed him by his collar, and yanked him onto his butt, dragging him toward the edge of the cliff. Oddly enough, the man was laughing. Perhaps he'd cracked.

"Y- You think you're something don't you? Some kinda f&#$ing god! You're just like me you freak. Heh... did you see the look on her face when I dropped her? Crazy little #$%@ looked happy. You're gonna love looking at me when you kill me... yeah... you're just like me. You love to look at them while you ruin em. You and I are two sides of the same f#%^ed up coin!" He ignored him. Sick bastard was babbling nonsense. He lifted him up to his feet, and held him at the edge... He would pay for his crimes, both old and new.

The death of one of her twins caused Elke to pause momentarily as a muted pain washed over her entire body. "Gah! Sonova--" With a hiss and a childlike wiggle, she waited until the sensation had faded before shaking herself and starting up the last flight of stairs. The roof was just up ahead of her, behind an access door.

"BOSS! HEY BOSS!"

A shouting from far below her caused the girl to cringe. Turning with a sigh, Elke trotted back down a few steps and leaned over the guard rail. Her hat tipped forward, causing her to push it back out of her line of sight, and she hollered back down into the darkness. "What!?" Whatever her twin wanted, it was going to have to wait. She didn't have much time to get onto the roof with her distraction gone.

The girl at the bottom grinned up into the darkness above her, flailing her newly acquired shoes around. "GUESS WHAT I HAVE!"

Elke rolled her eyes, flopping against the railing. "...What is it?.." She waited for the reply back, while un-slinging her bow from around her shoulders. From below, the sounds of grunting and the stomping of feet up stairs reached her ears, and the twelve year old growled impatiently.

"I have SHOES!" Came the hurried, breathy reply back. Elke growled again, and leaned a little farther over the edge of the railing. "You already HAD shoes!"

More panting echoed up to her, and then the footfalls stopped. "Yes! But now I OWN these one!" The girl blinked at that, and hung her head in aggravation. Of course.... now she owned a pair. "Just get up here damnit!"

Stepping back from the railing, she left her twin to the six story climb, and hurried toward the roof door. After shoving it open, the girl staggered out onto the gravely roof, and turned to find her position. The doorway and walls surrounding it blocked her from view, and after peeking around a corner, she spied the building where the Masked man was holding his hostage. A little Cheshire grin crept onto her face, as she ducked and scrambled across the roof.

The ledge greeted her quickly, and once she found a proper position, she readied her bow and reached for an arrow. The one she withdrew was no toy, however. It was a Broadhead arrow. One of her brothers had gotten a set for Christmas one year, and she had...erm... borrowed a few of them for her own use.

Nocking her arrow, she pulled back on the string and aimed at the man. She had a pretty clear shot at him, not too close, but not too far away. With her tongue hooked out over the corner of her top lip, she pulled back as far as she could, aimed for his shoulder, and then let her arrow fly.

Everything was set. He had his regrets; a little girl had died because he'd failed to strike fast enough to save her, but there was no time to think of that now. He had the man responsible for the girl's death, and so many more crimes, right in his hands, and it was time for that man to pay.

"Suspect: Vincent Vermici-" "Heh... Look at her down there..." "Crimes: Nearly uncountable, theft, assault, blackmail, tax evasion-" "Ugly little thing, wasn't she?" "All culminating in the rape and murder of Jennifer Colts, only 15 years of age-" "I don't mind that though... I like them stupid." "And the murder of an innocent unnamed girl.-" " She was dumb enough." "Punishment..." He couldn't take it anymore... This man... He was evil. He wanted to make him burn... He couldn't do that here. So he leaned into the smug man, and whispered into his are. "I'm going to make you suffer." He reached a hand up to push the man from the roof, when out of nowhere, he felt something flying toward his right side at a dangerous speed. His hand shot out to intercept it's path, and found it to be A FREAKING BROAD HEAD ARROW . The arrow fell to the ground, and he looked at it for a moment. His eyes slowly drifted to where it had come from.

He pushed Vincent from the edge of the building, and listened to him scream on the way down... It was the first time he'd heard the man scream, but it wouldn't be the last... The fall would almost definitely break his spine, but it was unlikely to kill him. Before the man was even half way down he was walking toward the roof next the building next to the one he stood on... He'd chosen this building because he would be able to spot anyone on this roof fairly easily; any adult sized person would easily be spotted.

Maybe the would-be sniper, was less than adult sized, though. He had a sneaking suspicion that something fishy was going on here... He would get to the bottom of it pretty quickly, though... If the person didn't know that they couldn't shoot him on that side, they sure as hell didn't know how easily he could jump from this building to the next...

Hint: It was pretty damn easy.

....

..... Nothing happened. Her arrow hit him, and then... just fell over. Elke blinked, mind not comprehending what had just happened. Dark eyebrows gathered together, and before she could stop herself she threw an arm into the air in anger and screamed, "Whatthef*$%!? HAX!"

...and then clamped her mouth shut, when the guy knocked the other one from the roof, and started heading in her direction. "Ohsh*t.." She was dealing with a serious badass here, and that was bad. Why couldn't people just get shot anymore?! Turning, she didn't bother trying to slink away. The twelve year old up and sprinted the short distance to the door to the stairwell. Curse words flew from her mouth, many of which she didn't yet know the meanings behind, as she pried the door open and took to the stairs with on hand holding her hat onto her head.

Below, her twin was halfway up. The girl was huffing and panting, dragging her stolen pair of shoes behind her as she slumped along. Elke, flying down the steps two at a time, met her rather quickly, and made sure to toss the incriminating bow at the girl on her way past. "There's free stuff up on the roof! All for you!" She shouted over her shoulder, gripping the railing as she careened around a corner and continued on.

The twin blinked, looking up from the bow in her arms, before a wave of excitement washed over her... coupled with a renewed well of energy. "WOO!" She rushed up the last of the stairs, tripping only once, and was heading up the last flight when Elke hit the bottom and discreetly ducked out of the building.

"Imma be rich!" The clone crowed, Throwing her shoes over her shoulder. (After tying them together via the laces)

"Imma be rich!"

Nope. You're gonna explain why you tried to shoot a superhero with an elk hunting arrow. She would find this out real quick; the second she rounded that last set of stairs, his hand was around her throat, and she was against the wall.

"You're going to talk. You're going to tell me a lot of things. First off, why is there a dead girl who looks exactly like you on the street down there, and if she's your sister, why aren't you acting like your sister just died?"

He then leaned in so that his contact covered eyes peered directly into the clone's hollow little soul. "And more importantly... Why did you just shoot me?"

"Urk!"

Feet lifted from the ground, she clung to her shoes and bow, and tried to peer around the man toward the door. Because behind that door was stuff! ... and she got to have it!

"Lemme go!" Kicking didn't work, she was too distracted... mostly by the questions he threw at her. She had shot him? When..? Oh... The Boss prolly had. That made more sense than her shooting him without remembering. "You mean the Boss shot you, not me, dummy!" The twin squirmed more, and whined. "You were being mean to that other dude, so we were gonna stop you... andyouarehurtingme." The boss had told them to act as dis...dis..tact..shuns, or whatever that word was, (She didn't have time to be gramatically correct, she was in a hurry! FREE STUFF!), so they had done it! She stopped squirming and grinned, not phased at all about the dead twin out in the street.

"I can has lots of sisters! So losing one isn't a biggie... though, it hurt a lot. Like right now... you'restillhurtingme." She wiggled again, and attempted to bonk him with Elke's bow, before remembering that she wasn't technically supposed to be talking to anyone. Especially him!

Her expression shifted to one of forced, overly exaggerated seriousness. "But you'll never get 'nuthin outta me! Not nohow, not noway! My trap is sealed! Gonna have ta slap me in cement shoes and drop me in a bay, before i'll fess up... Myeeea!" It probably didn't help her case that she adopted a very poor mobster accent, but it was fun all the same.

...now if she could just remember if mobsters had hook hands, or if that was politicians...

What the hell was he hearing... The Judge ignored the bonk with the bow, aimed at his right side. He let the little girl go, and eyed her as she dropped to the ground.

"The boss shot me. I was being mean to him... You're out of your damned mind, aren't you?"

He listened to her explanation of why she didn't care her 'sister' was dead... It made sense, actually... Maybe they were golems of a sort... He'd met a man once who could make tiny versions of himself... Maybe there was another man out there doing the same thing? It wasn't the same one, that was for sure... He'd killed that guy dead... Like... Really dead. Super dead.

He couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes when she started talking in a really bad mobster accent... Which brought him to his next question. "Who sent your boss, then? The Vermici family?" He would have her up against the wall again. "Trying to distract me so that Vince could escape? That didn't work too well... How about I make a deal with you... You're going to lead me to your boss, and in return... I'll let you go unharmed."

It was most likely the best deal he would give her; the child seemed rather empty in the head, but he had no proof she did anything wrong, other than petty theft from a dead carcass... He couldn't harm her unless she gave him a good reason to.