"Look at you, with the witty banter. Well, I have to run but I've got another tip for you. A fingertip, if you will!" Jenny says, chuckling to herself.
"Wait, what does that-"
Before he can finish, Jenny hangs up on him (one of her favorite things to do). Knowing that calling her back would be useless, he asked H-Chip Aphrodite to open his email instead.
And sure enough, Jenny has sent him quite a fantastic birthday present, a link to a hand-picked heroic case listing. Maybe she's not so intolerable after all….
Travis smiles as he starts to read, because the case has been sponsored by Rexford, HC's wealthiest playboy (his family had a major stake in the construction of the Bloater fusion plant that now powers all of western America). Turns out Rexford recently held a charity gala at his townhouse for the Powered Orphan Fund. Naturally it was the must-attend event of the social season, especially since the theme was a Powered masquerade ball.
The party was a smashing success but the next day Rexford woke up to find one of his most prized possessions had been stolen. A party guest managed to get past the considerable security measures and steal a valuable Angelino artifact: The Gravitas, a mysterious rod rumored to have hidden powers.
What little is known about The Gravitas makes it one of a kind, highly valuable and potentially dangerous. The police are looking into the theft but Rexford wants the artifact back so badly that he has opened the case up to any Powered Hero…
…with a reward of $150,000.
He nearly choke—that's a lot of money.
With such a large reward at stake, along with inevitable media coverage surrounding the high-profile case, he know the competition on this one is going to be fierce. He check the page views on the listing and of course it has already been visited thousands of times.
Still, he promised himself he'd go big or go home. This would certainly qualify as going big.
Though the real reason he wants to take this case is because he really needs that reward.
Being a hero is expensive and having financial security will give him more freedom to operate (not to mention the funds to buy more costume upgrades).
Unfortunately, the only clue available on this case is a photo of the suspected thief who was an unnamed plus-one guest at the gala. The photo features a man dressed in an expensive suit and wearing a mask themed after Regalia, a very flamboyant hero/rock star. To match his emerald-encrusted mask, the thief's suit is lined with green piping and his fingertips are painted red.
The photo isn't a whole lot to go on, so he start to wonder what kind of-
But then a thought hits him so hard, he almost falls off of the ledge.
Jenny's "fingertip"! She's a genius, Travis thinks, knowing those fingertips may be his one shot at solving this case before anyone else.
"Uh... what is it again? agh! d*mn it! I forgot what color is the fingertip of the man!" He thinks hard and finally he remembers. "That's right, his fingertips were red!"
This is a very important detail that no one else is bound to know the significance behind….
HC's government requires that large-scale building projects designate a portion of their budget to Powered Arts spending. Since Grandma has a particularly green thumb, she sometimes cultivates unique flowers commissioned by emerging property owners.
One of Grandma's biggest sales was a species of crossbred orchids that sing classic operas. It took Grandma years to achieve this horticultural miracle, but there was one flaw in the design. If you touch one of these orchids, it turns your fingertips a different color, depending on the opera it was trained to sing.
Grandma sold these orchids exclusively to one downtown high-rise building. This means that if the thief's fingertips were painted red from Grandma's orchids, he know exactly where he lives (since only the penthouse apartment got the red Carmen orchids)!
That's the reason Jenny sent him this case listing—she also knows about the operatic orchid imprinting. She must have seen the thief's fingertips in the case photo and waited on the information, knowing he'd be legally licensed to investigate today, on his birthday.
He leap off the roof in the direction of the red-orchid penthouse, excitement coursing through his veins. This is a very big case.
A case with this much money and publicity at stake should be handled by someone with more experience—or any experience, for that matter.
Still, the fingertip lead is one that very few other heroes could follow, so ready or not, he has to follow his instincts.
The orchid apartment is in central downtown, so his flight over will be super short. It's also good this thief can afford a penthouse because it will be pretty easy for him to access by flight.
His first priority is finding The Gravitas, but catching the thief would be an added bonus.
As the ritzy high-rise comes into view, he can already see Grandma's red orchids on the balcony. He relaxes his muscles and slows his pace as he approaches the building, which proves difficult as adrenaline pulses through his veins.
Travis drop down along the wall, trying to keep out of sight—a building like this is bound to have anti-Powered security measures. Hovering close to the penthouse's window, he peer into the living room to see if anyone is home….
His heart nearly stops when he comes face to face with a man standing inside the apartment, inches away from the glass.
It's definitely the thief from the case photo, right down to the red-stained fingertips. Currently, he looks far less regal and far more menacing, with overgrown stubble and long, greasy hair. Travis freeze, trying to decide what to do.
Unfortunately, the thief thinks faster—he whips out a handgun and points it directly at Travis.
Panicked, he closed his eyes and let out a low-level energy pulse. He hears the glass wall separating him from the thief shatter and when he opens his eyes, the thief's gun lies on the floor, melted beyond repair.
A loud alarm begins to sound and the thief makes a run for it. Luckily, with the glass window now broken, Travis is able to fly right after him.
As he pursued the thief, he expect him to run for the front door—which is why his puzzled when he heads deeper into the lavishly decorated apartment.
Travis races after the thief into the master bedroom suite and as he does, his question about his escape plan is suddenly answered.
The thief didn't head for the front door because he's got a teleportation unit in his bedroom.