[IC] Sudden Payback (Session 2)

Marv taps out a group text, "Two headed for the front doors. Look lively boys & girls." He hunkers down, trying to keep an eye on the two and stay hidden in the process.

"They look military... Or military wanna be. Hard to say." Marv texts out, "Looks like they stopped in front of the door."

A loud buzzing sound comes from a box in Lance's office. "Uh... That's the front intercom," Lance says. "You want I should answer it?"

Max pets Duke's head and shakes his own, "They probably still need to verify your on site." advises before pressing the button himself.

"Name and reason for entry." he states clearly and waits.

A voice crackles back over the intercom. "We are affiliates of Viktor Petrovich." The accent is similar to the one you heard at the abandoned warehouse, Russian or Ukrainian or the like. "We know that Lance Mikoswki and James O'Hara are inside for meeting. Petrovich wants to speak to them to establish peace and end fighting."

"Acknowledged any sight of weapons or combative nature will be looked at as an act of aggression and will be dealt with accordingly and the proper escalation of force. You have been forewarned." Max states over the system before leaving. "I guess I'll let them in. Duke on me." he states snapping his fingers and slapping his side before going to let them in.

"A set of brass knuckles each... they probably aren't going to do this the easy way are they Duke..." Max muses as he scans the area.

Max doesn't see any other people in the immediate vicinity of the gym, just a vagrant in an alley across the street, but that's nothing unusual in this neighborhood.

"You may pat us down if you wish. We would expect nothing less."

"Well I guess if someone has to pat them down I'm literally the most trained to do so..." Max states with a shrug. Slapping his side for Duke he exits the build giving them the customary full pat down via protocol looking for weapons plus a bit of paranoia. "Sir if you can look that way with your hands visible while I search your associate..." Max requests having Duke watch him while he conducts a search of one of the two individuals before switching to the other.

Max's police training kicks in as he pats down the two muscle heads. Both seem clean of weapons, and nothing much stands out beyond that. However, the young cop's search of the second of the two men does elicit a mild cry of pain when he pats down his arms. The man quickly apologizes, saying he hurt his biceps doing yoga. But Max is reminded of a case he worked where a guy had similar pulled muscles from repeatedly pushing a tackle dummy. Maybe this guy's been herding people in a warehouse somewhere?

The first man says, "If you are satisfied, we would like to be granted entry. We need to confirm that Mr. Mikowski is here and that none of you is armed. We must make sure Mr. Petrovich will not be coming into ambush."

"My apologies, I'll text so they know we're good. Please enter once it's open so the discussions can begin." Max states.

Max texts for someone to let them in via a group text and that one of the men, after giving a description has an injury from 'Yoga' or from constantly tackling and caroling people.

Max looks around the area to see if they came in a vehicle or dropped off and to make sure they've parked in an area that won't come out to their car on bricks.

Overhearing the man's words through the doorway, hank looks hurriedly around, then slides the cattle prod behind a rack of free weights against the wall. Then he glances up to the rafters before grabbing a spray bottle and towel and starting to wipe down the equipment. He focuses on his breathing and wills his heart to be calm. Come on in, boyos. Just don't look up and we're golden.

Guy reads the message and shakes his limbs to loose up a bit, settle his nerves. The worst part is the waiting. He hates waiting. This seems too easy. Can't get distracted. This is just a recon. Yeah, that's it. Seeing what kind of force we have so he knows how much of his own force to supply. But he ain't fooling me. I'll be the surprise.

Marv keeps a sharp eye out. He makes a quick, stealthy perimeter of the roof, checking each edge of the building in turn to make sure nobody has snuck into an alley or to the back door before returning to his vantage on the street and resuming his vigil.

Convinced the two men are unarmed, Max confiscates their brass knuckles and gets someone inside to let them in via the remote lock control in Lance's office. Max leads them around the front desk and the locker rooms and onto the gym floor. There they find Hank furiously wiping down equipment, Jimmy staring blankly at the ceiling popping Nicorette gum, and Lance crossing his arms and standing in the boxing ring.

"What is the meaning of this?" the gym owner asks.