2012-10-20 - Cutscene: Death of Chief Nedal

The work with Arsenal and Oracle had led Kendra Saunders to the truth: St. Roch Chief of Police Albert Nedal was the surviving officer of the pair who'd come across her with her mother painting outside Austin when she was younger and the corrupt cops tried to take advantage of them. Kendra fought back, the other officer was shot and killed, and everything went to hell after that. Nedal was also the mastermind of the plot to murder her parents when they got too close to the truth in the Louisiana city, but it took the help of others to finally find that out.

More than anything else, Nedal was the one ultimately responsible for Kendra's descent into a suicidal state, leading to her rebirth as Hawkgirl, subsequent second death after that, and one more resurrection as an unexpected side effect of Hawkman successfully bringing back his wife, the original Hawkgirl. Kendra came to an understanding with them and took on the mantle of Redtail, helping look after St. Roch while they focused on other needs in between their own interactions.

After discussing what she'd learned with the Hawks - along with a brief argument that led to her assuring them she had things under control and would make sure Nedal was brought to justice the proper way - Redtail and Arsenal worked out plans to set up a meeting. The Craddock Hotel was the only place that made sense, as that was where her parents were killed, and she knew Nedal would figure it out as soon as the message reached him along with who it was from. He'd already begun to make the connection as to who Redtail really was based on the way she scared the accomplice of his, the one who quickly advanced to a higher position in the department.

The way Redtail figured, it was pointless to come up with a complex plan for what ought to be a simple situation. She wasn't a plotter nor a schemer. Her method was to go at her target as straightforward as possible, and both she and Arsenal knew Nedal was likely to try to have backup for himself. He wasn't just going to lie down over this, not after he'd gained the power he had. That's where Oracle came in, setting up diversions only she could that would lead to Nedal being left with just a couple men with him, an elaborate plan enacted to make him think there'd be more backup than there actually was, communications crossed to send about a dozen members of the SWAT team to other parts of the city instead.

Two others would be enough for Arsenal to incapacitate on his own, which was exactly what happened when Nedal and his cronies reached the rooftop of the Craddock Hotel, Redtail waiting with her spear and mace in hands to confront the chief. Arsenal surprised Nedal with a loosened electrified netting that effectively zapped his two cronies into unconsciousness. He then stepped back with arms to the sides in seeming harmlessness, but in reality mockingly as Redtail moved forward to make this encounter a short one.

"It took me a long time to track you down and somehow you hid under my nose the whole time I was here, but you aren't getting away again," she said.

A spooked Nedal went for his gun and actually got a shot off, striking Redtail in the left shoulder. She grimaced, a hard grunt heard, but was only forced a step back with the reinforcement of the Nth Metal she wore. "You think you can stop me? I'm the Chief of Police! I own this city! Your idiot parents got too close to me and I made sure they'd never expose me! I'll send both of you to join them, wherever they were buried!"

He turned to take another shot at Arsenal but just as he fired a cryo arrow at Nedal's gun hand, Redtail lashed out with a wing and both connected. Nedal's gun was dropped, suddenly ice cold, and he was knocked back to the edge of the roof by the force of the wing's strike. A moment later, showing no effects of the gunshot yet, Redtail grabbed the Chief to keep him from tumbling to his death below.

"I could kill you right now, just like you did with my parents, but that'd be too good for you. You're going to spend the rest of your life behind bars like the murderer you are. You're done here, Nedal. Done with the police, done with this city, and done with everything else." She couldn't pass up the chance to backhand him, leaving four bloody lines along his cheek, the result of the spikes against the back of her hand thanks to the mummy wrap.

As Nedal slumped down in a daze, Redtail turned toward Arsenal and said, "Give me some cuffs. I've got a call to place to Isabella and let him know Nedal's ours."

At that moment a pile of rope begins to shift nearby, slowly at first before moving much faster into the shape of a noose. Another voice was heard nearby, a haunting one that chilled both Redtail and Arsenal to the bone when they heard it.

"Oh no, little hawk. I do believe Nedal is still mine."

Suddenly mist began to form nearby, first evidenced by a hazy image of a top hat and monocle that seemed to float on nothing at all, followed by the image of a well-dressed man in a suit and cloak reminiscent of England in the early 1800s. Only the face remained invisible; gloves covered the hands.

"Who..? No, wait. You?!" Redtail exclaimed, grimacing as the sting of the bullet was felt. "I know you."

"Yes. It is I, Gentleman Jim Craddock, more commonly known as Gentleman Ghost. Very unimaginative, I should say." The specter spoke in an English accent, hands manipulating the rope further as the noose slipped around Nedal's neck enough for him to become aware of it, hands darting toward it to prevent it from tightening too much.

The defeated Chief begged, "No! Don't! I did everything just as you said! I set it all up, lured them here, had them killed, and.." Nedal started to sputter, a tightening of the noose in spite of his resistance cutting off his pleading.

"But you allowed /her/ to live, and the Hawks to come back," the Ghost intoned, invisible head moving to shake back and forth in a chiding manner. "And as your judge, jury and executioner, I sentence you to death by hanging."

"No!" Now it was Redtail who shouted, leading with her mace as she swung it at the apparition. "He's mine! He deserves to rot in prison!" When she struck the Ghost it caused a shimmering in his form, enough to expose his true self: black suit and hat, and a decayed face that twisted into one of rage.

"Back, both of you!" the Ghost roared, pointing his cane at the two as Arsenal closed in, blasting both of them with spectral fire that didn't burn physically, but it was enough to chill both of them to the point of being unable to react long enough for him to finish the deed. "Now be silent, watch and be thankful I am here to claim only one life tonight. You and I will have a reckoning another time, little hawk, but not here, not now."

Gentleman Ghost, his pale visage still tarnished from the effects of the contact with the Nth Metal mace, returned his attention to Nedal as he adjusted the rope to anchor the other end of it to a hook driven into the wall, and the Chief's struggling body was lifted up slowly. "No! Please, I can make it all right if you just give me one more chance!"

"I was not given one more chance. Enjoy the afterlife, Albert Nedal. Perhaps one day I will see you there." These were the final words Nedal heard as his body was thrown over the edge, the slack in the rope sitting there until it suddenly went taut at the moment a crack was heard below. With a bow and flourish, Gentleman Ghost turned to the heroes and said, "And now justice has been done, justice you should have done yourself when you had the chance. Until we meet again." Mists swirled once more, leaving Redtail and Arsenal alone again, the Chief's cronies still knocked out behind them.

Swearing under her breath, Redtail was the first to her feet, grimacing as she pushed herself up with the wounded shoulder. "Damn it. Craddock..Craddock Hotel. I should have known." Then she reaches the edge, looking down to confirm what she knew she'd see: Nedal's limp body at the end of the rope, swaying a few feet side to side and turning when it brushed against the side of the hotel as onlookers gasped and pointed from below.

A hand at her uninjured shoulder revealed Arsenal beside her. "There's nothing else to be done, Kendra. Let's call your friend in the department, get out of here, and get you patched up. I get the feeling we'll be hearing from Gentleman Ghost again sometime."

The only response he got out of Redtail for the time being was a silent nod, a grim expression visible beneath the eyes of the black and red helmet, turning away to give Isabella the news. It'd be a while before she was ready to talk about that night at length.

What nagged at Kendra the most? The possibility that Gentleman Ghost was right, that she should have taken action while she could to eliminate Nedal for good.