| Crooks Crash Crystals |
| Overview: | Jewelry robbery abated - set ablaze |
| OOC Contact: | Aerial |
6.1.2014 - Metropolis Village
Crystal Collections, a private jewelry gallery, was set ablaze in the aftermath of a robbery. Near the end of the business day, twelve men armed with neural stunners entered the store and took the employees and customers hostage. One of the employees tripped the silent alarm, and Ultragirl and Iron Man responded.
First police responders to the scene were amazed at Ultragirl's negatiation skills. The criminals had already released their hostages and eight of the criminals surrendered to her without conflict while four more escaped out the back. As the robbery approached a peaceful resolution, explosions from within turned the store into an inferno.
At the rear of the store, Iron Man confronted a new robotic villain calling himself Metallo, who was apparently responsible for the explosions. Rather than stay and confront Iron Man, Metallo burned an escape tunnel beneath the street and fled into the underground conduits. Iron Man assisted fire rescue with extinguishing the flames. Two of the remaining four criminals remained behind in custody, and two got away in the chaos with over fifty thousand dollars of loose merchandise and several priceless works.
Asked about the strange compliance of the robbers, Police responded, "It was like they wanted to go to jail. They had several opportunities to run and fight back, but they surrendered cleanly and waited for us to put the cuffs on them. Even when the explosions went off, they waited for us to get back on our feet and finish the arrests."
One of the customers who had been taken hostage, "They were disapponted some Grimbal woman wasn't here. They were after some particular kind of green gems, had special scanners for it and everything. Geiger counters, it sounded like, the way they ticked and squealed."