Chasing Treasures

by Yukito


9 - Ambush

"So you are Doctor Caballeron," Chrysalis said, breaking the cold tension in the car as she and her team sat opposite to the doctor and his two large bodyguards. The back of the vehicle had been modified to resemble the inside of a limousine, allowing for the two groups to face each other. "I should be arresting you right now. You hold the honour of being on Interpol's top twenty most wanted list."

"I am honoured," Doctor Caballeron said, flashing a smile towards the agent. "If I may ask, what position exactly am I in?"

"… Six," she answered. "Above you are Arséne Lupin, 1412, Tirek…"

"Ah yes, Tirek… I suppose then that I shall soon be number five." Caballeron chuckled as he reached for a bottle of wine nestled in a bucket of ice to the side of the car. "I have no idea what Tirek is planning, but it seems large enough to have drawn some of Interpol's attention away from me. Which means that I cannot afford to leave him alone."

"So you and Tirek aren't working together, then?" Daring Do asked.

"I would think you would know better than that, Miss Do," Caballeron said. "Tirek once offered me a position of employment, but I turned him down. After all, why would I ever work for another besides myself?"

"And why did you save us just now? Was it to get information?"

"Indeed." Caballeron poured a glass of wine and offered it to Daring Do. When she refused to take it, he took a drink from the glass himself. "After my men were confronted by Scorpan in our race to find the Sage's Stone, I fled, and told my men to keep an eye on you, to see if you would survive or not. When they informed me that Tirek had attacked you, I went over to your destroyed little hut personally."

"Why would you-"

"To get the stone, of course. However, I found no trace of your death, meaning that you were still alive. After that, it was simply a matter of hacking into Tirek's network to discover where he had chased you to."

"This is all simply fascinating," Adagio said, rolling her eyes. "But maybe we could get back to the whole reason why we're here in the first place? You want info, and so do we. So let's make a trade already."

Caballeron drank form his glass, and then turned to Chrysalis. "This new recruit is feisty."

"I still haven't decided not to take you in."

"Oh, you will. Once you learn what I have to offer."

"Then let's hear it," Daring Do challenged. "Give us a reason to hear you out."

"… Very well. There is one, very simply reason why you should hear my proposition: Tirek has both halves of the stone."

A tense silence fell over Chrysalis' group, and Caballeron leaned back into his seat, casting an expectant look over all of them. Sunset clenched her fists and turned to Chrysalis. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. If Tirek has both halves of the stone already, then we can't afford to turn him down on his offer."

"It's obviously a bluff," Adagio scoffed. "It's what I'd do."

"Caballeron doesn't make bluffs. He makes threats," Daring Do said. "If he says that Tirek has both halves of the stone, then we can trust that it's accurate."

"In that case, my hands are tied," Chrysalis said. "By chance, I happened to bump into Doctor Caballeron, who approached us as a witness in the Tirek investigation whilst wishing to remain anonymous. As I do not know Caballeron's face, I could not identify him at the time, and he got away before I realised I had been had."

"Then we are in agreement," Caballeron surmised. "Now, you go first, and then I will tell you what I can."

Chrysalis chose her words carefully, giving Caballeron the information that they had on the Sage's Stone without revealing the existence of Equestria, nor confirming the truth behind magic. She left details openly-vague and understated the facts of the case, catching the doctor up without revealing too much that could threaten them.

"And so now, you are on your way to Hong Kong to find this compass?" Caballeron laughed. "I see. In that case, perhaps I should go, too. PandaBubba and I have worked together. He might offer a generous discount if he sees a friendly face." He leaned closed and said, "Besides, it's not the kind of place for a cop to be in."

"We'll be just fine, thank you," Daring Do said. "Now, you said you had information for us. Spit it out!"

"So impatient. Very well. First, I can tell you that the solvent you seek is located in a store in San Francisco. How do I know this? Because I sold it to the shopkeeper myself."

Adagio cast the man a sceptical look. "That seems a little… convenient."

Caballeron's grin grew wider, and he could barely restrain himself from chuckling to himself. "You think that that is convenient? Well, my next piece of information will have you jumping for joy."

"BOSS! INCOMING!"

The car shook as something exploded outside. Everybody screamed as the car rolled onto its back, and then back onto its wheels, before halting suddenly. "What is going on out there?!" Caballeron commanded to his driver. However, question was answered as he saw a small group approaching the vehicle from the front. There were three people, two armed with AK47s and one armed with an RPG.

"… This looks bad," Chrysalis said, opening the door slowly and cautiously reaching an arm out. Nobody fired, so she dared to step out further. "I am unarmed! I am coming outside to talk!"

"Do so slowly and drop your weapons!" the man with the RPG shouted.

"That's Scorpan," Caballeron said. "Tirek's number one and a ruthless man if ever there was one."

Chrysalis stepped out, onto the empty highway surrounded by large, open fields, with nothing around to use as cover should a firefight breakout. She slowly reached for her handgun, making a point to place it onto the ground whilst avoiding the trigger.

"Can you get them?" she whispered to Sunset, whose hand was glowing with a purple flame.

"Not from this range. I need to be closer."

"If I could use magic, I could augment your abilities," Adagio offered.

"Forget it," she said. "Just get us closer."

Chrysalis nodded. "We have a wounded man in here! Please allow us to come closer, so that we can tend to him as we talk!"

Caballeron stared at Sunset's hand with blank curiosity, his gaze captivated by the corporeal flame surrounding it.

"You will stay where you are, or join your dying comrade!" Scorpan returned.

"Scorpan will never accept requests of his captives," Caballeron said. "… Floor it."

"What?!" Chrysalis shouted, but before she could argue, the driver of the car stepped onto the gas pedal. Chrysalis barely had enough time to get back in as the car pushed forwards, racing towards Scorpan.

Suddenly, a rocket was fired at the car. The driver swerved, avoiding the rocket narrowly but entering into a barrage of bullets from the other two targets. The car stopped suddenly, and Scorpan ordered the firing to cease. "That was your last warning! Try that one more time, and we will destroy you all! Now, step outside!"

"With pleasure," Sunset said with a grin, opening the door and jumping out of the car. As she did so, she thrust her hand to the group, sending out three waves of energy that coiled around her targets and constricted them.

As she lifted her hand, the three were lifted into the air, squirming and panicking at the unknown sensation. "Whoa," Daring Do said as she stared at the spectacle.

"Dios mios," Caballeron muttered as he watched.

"… Meh," was Adagio's unimpressed response. "If it were me, those three would already by dead by now."

"Now that I have your attention, let's talk!" Sunset shouted, her eyes attracted to the water tower in the distance. Surely, their sniper was there, and so long as she stayed behind the car's door, she would be safe.

Scorpan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He dropped his weapon and grunt as he focussed all of his might into pushing against his magical bonds. His blood boiled, his veins grew close to bursting, and his shirt ripped as his muscles bulged.

Sunset gasped, as she felt her control over the man weakening. She poured more energy into the spell, but it was useless. Scorpan gave one final push, and broke free of his bondage, falling to the floor and drawing shotgun from his belt. "You bitch! So you know magic, do you?! Well, I know that you can't use magic unless you focus, and so long as you have my crew in your grasp, you can't defend yourself from me!"

"Chrysalis! The gun in my pocket!" Sunset shouted, fear setting in as Scorpan aimed his gun towards her.

There was a sudden howl of pain, followed by the clang of metal hitting the ground. Scorpan fell to his knees and held a hand over his bleeding shoulder, trembling from the pain.

"W-What are you doing, Sarah?!" he demanded.

A voice came from the communication device strapped to his waist. It was a female voice, but not one that he recognised. "Sorry, not Sarah. And I can't stick around, but I promise that the FBI will take good care of you."

Chrysalis ran from the car, followed by Daring Do and Adagio, towards the three men. "Sunset, lower the other two so we can apprehend them! Daring Do, go find out what happened at the water tower!"

"I'm on it," Daring Do shouted as she ran off towards the tower. Chrysalis cuffed Scorpan, followed by the other two members of his crew, who she learned were called Cybil and Dexter.

"Well then, I imagine that things will be getting fairly heated here soon enough," Caballeron said as Sunset released her spell. "I'd rather avoid meeting your comrades at the FBI, so we shall part ways here."

"Wait!" Sunset shouted. "Your info!"

Caballeron simply grinned. "Simply think of it as my insurance, during my stay here in America. I trust you will keep my involvement here a secret, until we meet again."

And with that, Caballeron entered his car and left the scene. Adagio found a car nearby, loaded with weapons and high-tech gadgets, and Chrysalis had the three prisoners sit inside it whilst Sunset contact Blueblood for support.

"Hey guys! You there?" Daring Do's voice came through the device at Scorpan's waist. Chrysalis took the device and pressed the button on the side. "We're here. What have you found?"

"… I was a little too late. There was a woman up here, who I guess her hands tied, but she broke free and shot herself moments before I reached the top. She's dead."

"Sarah," Scorpan gasped.

"There's also a mounted rifle, but it doesn't look like it's been fired."

"But we know that Scorpan was shot from the tower," Chrysalis said, looking around the open fields surrounding the group. "It's the only vantage point around, and judging from the wound, the shot would have to have come from a high position."

"Right. That means that whoever was up here came prepared."

Chrysalis fell silent for a few moments, before responding, "We'll focus on that later. For now, rejoin the group. An extraction team will be here soon."

"On my way."

"Now then… It looks like we'll be able to have a nice, pleasant conversation, after all," Chrysalis said as she turned to Scorpan, grinning maliciously as the man simply stared back, his eyes cold as stone.